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26th October 2008
No government is ever really in favor of so-called civil rights. It always tries to whittle them down.
They are preserved under all governments, insofar as they survive at all, by special classes of fanatics,
often highly dubious. - H L Mencken
On behalf of the board, I am pleased to present the EFA Annual Report for 2008. It is a necessarily abridged version of EFA's major activities of the last 12 months. Further information can be found on the EFA website.
Less than a fortnight after the previous EFA Annual Report was finalised, the 2007 Australian federal election removed the Coalition from power, after 11 long years. This change in government has been, at best, a mixed blessing: although Labor fulfilled their pre-election commitment to abandon the Coalition's ill-conceived Access Card scheme, they appear determined to fulfill another pre-election commitment - the introduction of mandatory, ISP-based filtering of every Internet connection in Australia, to block material deemed 'inappropriate' or 'harmful to children'. Controversy over Labor's so-called 'Clean Feed' scheme has been simmering since they took power, and will likely reach boiling point in the coming year.
The 'Access Card'
As mentioned, Labor delivered on their pre-election commitment to abandon the Coalition's 'Access Card' scheme - a billion-dollar project to replace the current Medicare card and a number of other benefit and concession cards with a single smartcard-based 'health and social services access card' with a globally unique identifier, using facial biometric identification.
The idea of a national identification card can be traced back to the 'Australia Card' of the mid 1980's. This particular implementation of the idea may be dead, but the idea will almost certainly rear its head again in the future.
The Australian Government Online Services Portal (AGOSP) is a Government initiative to provide single sign-on access to Government services through the australia.gov.au web portal. EFA is not opposed to this initiative but has consulted on several occasions with the Government to ensure that the privacy of citizens is protected. In line with EFA recommendations, providing name and address information on the portal will be optional and it will not be possible to correlate user information from one Government database with another. EFA continues to monitor the progress of the Privacy Impact Assessments of this project. We have been involved in briefing sessions and are committed to providing the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with appropriate input and feedback to the negotiating process as more information becomes available.
In March 2008, EFA lodged a submission to the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department (AGD), arguing that Australian consumers be given the right to make digital copies of their films, photographs, and computer and video games for their private use. The submission was made in response to the AGD’s review of sections 47J and 110AA of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), which currently only permit certain forms of analog to digital and digital to analog copying. For example, the current law allows Australians to digitise a purchased photo once, or to print a purchased digital photo once, or to make a DVD copy of a VHS tape. Unfortunately, the final report recommended that no change be made to Australian private copying exceptions. EFA has been invited, however, to participate in ongoing consultation with the Attorney-General's Department about future developments in the market and technology which may require legislative response.
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
June 2008 saw the leaking of some preliminary details of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), a secretive multi-lateral international treaty which could see Australia once again pressured to alter its copyright laws in favour of the powerful US copyright lobby. EFA publicly condemned the secretive manner in which negotiations were taking place, arguing that the Australian public has a right to be involved in the development of international agreements which could significantly alter the copyright balance. We were also very concerned about the potential content of such a treaty, which could divert resources of federal police officers and customs officials to enforce civil copyrights. We continue to watch the development of ACTA very closely, and we are very concerned about the possibility that the Australian Government will be pressured into putting the interests of Australian users and creators behind those of US copyright holders. We have been involved in briefing sessions and are committed to providing the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with appropriate input and feedback to the negotiating process as more information becomes available.
No Clean Feed
Since its election, the Rudd Government has been pursuing its “Cyber-Safety” policy, the main plank of which is a mandatory “Clean Feed” Internet for all Australian homes and schools. EFA strongly opposes this proposal, which would insert some form of Government censorship between every Australian and the Internet at large. Since January 2008 EFA has been actively organizing opposition to this scheme. EFA has made representations to politicians, appeared in print, radio and online media, and started the nocleanfeed.com campaign website to rally Australian Internet users to the cause. So far we have had much success in raising public awareness, but plan to maintain pressure on the Government by campaigning, working with ISPs, concerned individuals and other activist groups.
R18+ for Computer Games
This year saw EFA renew calls for an R18+ rating for computer games. At least four high profile games were refused classification in 2008, and Australian adults continue to be denied access to legitimate forms of entertainment and artistic expression. The issue has been before the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General (SCAG) several times this year, but little progress has been made so far. With recent studies showing that the average age of Australian gamers is 28, the current regime, which prohibits any games rated above MA15+, is clearly out of touch with reality. This is hurting both adult gamers and the Australian gaming industry, and EFA is calling upon the Commonwealth and State Attorneys-General to remedy the situation by introducing an R18+ rating for video games as soon as possible.
EFA intends to launch a campaign in the near future to help Australian gamers to lobby their State Attorneys-General to introduce an R18+ rating.
Telecommunications Interception and Access
In April 2008, EFA made a submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee in relation to the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment Bill 2008. EFA believed that the Bill would allow blanket authorisation to ASIO and law enforcement agencies to engage in telecommunications interception without meaningful judicial oversight and without adequate safeguards for the privacy of members of the public. The provisions of the Bill were analogous to allowing ASIO and law enforcement agencies to obtain a search warrant which not only authorises them to search the premises identified in the warrant, but any other premises that the suspect is likely to use. The Committee made a number of positive recommendations and these were accepted by the government. When the Bill was debated in the Senate in May, the government deferred the Committee's recommendations relating to an alternative emergency warrant regime for further consideration, and removed the provisions allowing agencies to add devices to device based named person warrants. It is likely that further amendments will be made to this legislation in the near future.
eBay-PayPal Exclusive Dealing
In May 2008, EFA lodged a submission with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), opposing a recently announced plan by online auction site eBay to require all Australian buyers and sellers to use PayPal for eBay purchases in most circumstances. We were subsequently invited by the ACCC to attend a pre-decision conference in Sydney.
Many eBay buyers and sellers have very valid reasons for preferring not to use PayPal. Their choice of payment method should not be overridden by eBay in the name of commercial expediency or increased profits. EFA believes that eBay’s proposed changes were without any substantive public benefits, and that any public benefits that may result would be outweighed by the harm to competition and consumers resulting from the changes. EFA further believes that eBay’s proposed changes would constitute a misuse of market power, contrary to s 46(1) of the Trade Practices Act 1974. The ACCC issued a draft revocation notice in June and eBay abandoned the proposal before the final notice could be issued. EFA will continue to watch any further moves by eBay which restrict buyer choice.
National Broadband Network
EFA lodged a submission on the National Broadband Network proposal in September 2008 and has been invited to a Senate Select Committee inquiry in Brisbane in November 2008. In our submission we argued that the proposed Fibre To The Node (FTTN) model would most likely grant further monopoly power to Telstra because it would require drastic modifications to Telstra's existing copper infrastructure through which most landline calls to domestic premises are currently carried, modifications which only Telstra would want to perform. We concluded that the benefits of a FTTN network do not outweigh the costs, and a FTTN network should not proceed. However, if an FTTN network is deployed, it is critical that its operator be structurally separated from the telecommunications carriers selling retail services.
Software Freedom Day
On Saturday 20 September 2008, EFA Board Member Colin Jacobs and EFA Chair Dale Clapperton spoke at the Software Freedom Day event Melbourne. Colin spoke on the Rudd government’s current ‘clean feed’ Internet censorship agenda, and presented a comparative analysis of ‘clean feed’ against other Internet censorship regimes around the world. Dale discussed legal and policy issues of importance to open software and open software developers, including copyright, contract, and competition law, including recent cases in Australia and the United States of America, and the development of the secretive and worrying ‘Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement’ (ACTA).
After nearly 10 years involvement with EFA, I have made the difficult decision to stand down from the EFA board. I first became involved in EFA in early 1999, because the Howard-led Coalition government suffered persistent delusions that they could clean up the Internet with legislation and technology. After the Coalition implemented an expensive and ineffective (yet face-saving) censorship scheme, this issue lay largely dormant until resurrected by Labor and used as a relatively minor election commitment in the campaign which ousted Howard. The technology may have improved - somewhat - since 1999, but the bad ideas remain the same, as do the risks to the right of adult Australians to freely communicate over the Internet.
I want to pay special tribute to the efforts in the past year of Mr Colin Jacobs, one of the newest board members of EFA, who has been responsible for much of EFA's work opposing Labor's “clean feed” Internet censorship scheme.
I would also like to note the resignation of two other longstanding figures from the EFA Board: Mr Greg Taylor, our Treasurer, and Mr Kimberley Heitman. Over the year, Greg has undertaken significant changes to the administration procedures of EFA, greatly simplifying the financial and membership management processes and significantly easing our transition to a fully volunteer organisation. Greg was also responsible for migrating the EFA website to a CMS, a move which has allowed for much easier updating and increased participation from visitors. Both Greg and Kim have played longstanding leadership roles in EFA, both having served on the Board for more than a decade, including terms as Chair. Kim was EFA's Chair from 1995 to 2002, and has represented EFA's interests on the auDA board for several years. EFA owes a great debt to both these people, and their presence on the Board will be sorely missed.
I also thank the rest of the Board for their work on behalf of EFA over the past year.

domain: politics


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The contest "Miss Ukraine Universe" is held annually in Ukraine under the auspices of the contest "Miss Universe". The owners and organizers of the biggest world of beauty forum Corporation are NBC, Donald J. Trump and Miss Universe Organization. I am grateful to all of them for giving me the privilege of working together. Creating our competition, we tried to give a chance to young beautiful Ukrainian women best to prove himself and tried to help them to reach their potential.
Our main goal is to really find the best girl who could become the face of our country. And with dignity to represent Ukraine at the most prestigious international contest "Miss Universe". I would really like that participate in this contest regardless of the outcome, became for winner the most vivid impression.And also had a positive impact on Ukraine's image in the world.
Sincerely, the owner of beauty pageant "Miss Ukraine Universe" Oleksandra Ruffin.
View all -
We are pleased to announce that the 2015 Miss Universe Pageant will be held live at Planet Hollywood’s Axis Theater on Sunday, December 20, 2015 from Las Vegas, Nevada.
We hasten to inform you that in connection with the continuing unstable situation in Ukraine, but also out of respect for the memory of the dead and injured during the revolution and hostilities in our country, and their relatives, National Committee "Miss Ukraine Universe" has decided...
14th of September it became known about change the owner of famous and legendary beauty contest "Miss Universe".
We are happy to announce the beginning of the casting for participation in the contest "Miss Ukraine Universe"- 2015.
Representing Ukraine Diana Garkusha won the title "2nd Vice Miss universe"-2014. In the entire history of the beauty pageant the girls from our country three times been in the top five super-finalists.
In photos, Diana with Annette Cammer, she is the director of "International Pageants" and "Miss USA 2014" Nia Sanchez..
"Miss Ukraine Universe 2014" Diana Harkusha on the air in popular American channel "FOX 5 News". DianaР’ demonstrated evening dresses by Sherri Hill.

domain: news


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Dental on Beaumont is a state-of-the-art dental facility that offers a wide range of dental services to meet the needs of our patients. We are committed to providing the highest quality of care in a warm and friendly environment.
Our team of skilled professionals provides comprehensive dental care, including general dentistry, cosmetic dentistry, implant dentistry, and orthodontics. We use the latest technology and techniques to ensure that our patients receive the best possible care.
We understand that choosing a dental office is an important decision, and we are honored that you have entrusted us with your dental care. We welcome you to our practice and look forward to meeting you.

domain: medical


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- It is polyester - not nylon - and therefore, much more heat tolerant. It will not melt with normal ironing through the cotton setting.
- It does not fuzz, fray, or shrink. Use clear for lighter fabrics.
- A smaller needle such as a 10/70 is recommended.
- This product is wound on a snap spool.
- 440 yds (400M).
Payment & Security
Your payment information is processed securely. We do not store credit card details nor have access to your credit card information.


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The role includes oversight of all on-air and online network extensions: VH1, VH1 Classic, VH1 Soul and VH1.com. He is also the head of MTVN's recently rebranded Palladia, a high-def music network. Currently, it is in 12 million homes and seems to have extensive growth opportunities with cable, telco and satellite providers hungry to add as many HD offerings as possible.
Calderone is based in New York and reports to Van Toffler, who heads MTVN's Music and Logo Group. Toffler says Calderone has "an encyclopedic knowledge of music and great instincts in identifying the next cultural phenomenon."
Calderone has been at MTVN since 1998, when he started in music programming at MTV. His roots are in the music industry; in a previous post, he advised radio stations on strategy.
VH1 has high-profile music programming, such as the annual "Rock Honors," which Calderone helped launch. The network has also become known for its so-called "celeb-reality" series.
The company says that under his leadership, VH1 posted 23 consecutive quarters of growth among total viewers, with the first quarter of 2008 marking the network's highest-rated period among 18-49 viewers.


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Today, Riley Bowman and Matthew Maruster bring to you the latest legislative news and issues affecting the 2A nation and states around the country. We will discuss how various states are handling the COVID-19 pandemic, which ones are protecting 2A rights and which ones are violating them. New York is a notable example where clear infringements are occurring and the state government has completely turned its back on an offer to help supplement the need for ventilator equipment because of the company behind the offer…Remington.
As always, any questions for future episodes can be submitted to [email protected]!
–Guardian Nation – www.guardiannation.com to join the BEST community of serious gun carriers to get access to special training, education, and discounts!


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Charming,relaxing,very clean and comfortable. Friendly staff, especially Bobby Richards who was very accommodating. A basket of goodies brought to your door in the morning and just a short walk to the beach...what more could you ask for?!!!!!
- Official Description (provided by the hotel):
- A small seaside Inn centrally located in downtown Carmel. We offer free parking, beach chairs and breakfast. On weekends we have wine and some other small dishes for our guests. ... more less
- Reservation Options:
- TripAdvisor is proud to partner with Priceline and Booking.com so you can book your Lamp Lighter Inn & Sunset House Suites reservations with confidence. We help millions of travelers each month to find the perfect hotel for both vacation and business trips, always with the best discounts and special offers.
- Also Known As:
- Lamp Lighter Inn & Sunset House Hotel Carmel
- Lamp Lighter Inn And Sunset House Suites

domain: travel


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The Israeli government is expected to begin approving new legislation that effectively annexes parts of the West Bank into Israel. This is a significant move that upsets the status quo substantially – it would represent the first time Israel will annex land West Bank since 1967. An initial vote was expected on Sunday, October 29th, in the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, but was delayed and has not yet been rescheduled.
Ir Amim, Israeli nonprofit experts on policies related to Jerusalem, can provide a detailed analysis of the legislation and its practical implications for Palestinians and Israelis, and for the final status of Jerusalem.
Shatil, New Israel Fund’s action arm, tracks legislation that affects civil society and can provide background on the legislation, process, and key players around the bill in the Knesset.
Daniel Sokatch, CEO of New Israel Fund: “Everyone who cares about a peaceful future knows that a two-state solution is impossible without some kind of negotiated compromise on Jerusalem. This move by the current government would move Israel toward unilateral annexation, thus obviating the chances for a two-state solution and resolution of the conflict. This proposed legislation hands control of Israel’s future to the hardline settler lobby. It is bad for Palestinians, bad for Israelis and bad for peace.”
This fact sheet is based on the expert analysis of Ir Amim.
On Sunday, the government’s ministerial committee is expected to vote on a bill sponsored by Yoav Kish (Likud) that would make two dramatic changes to Israel’s borders:
- De facto annexing settlements into the Jerusalem municipality: The bill expands the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem to include the local authorities in the three settlement blocs: Ma’aleh Adumim (which also includes the E1 area), Gush Etzion, and Giv’at Ze’ev. (A previous version of the bill would have applied Israeli law to the authorities listed in the bill, which are currently subject to Israeli military law. For now, this clause has been removed.)
- Reducing the political power of Palestinian residents of Jerusalem: The bill downgrades the status of various Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem to become municipalities within the larger Jerusalem municipality – giving them a status equal to that of the settlements that will be incorporated into the city. The specific neighborhoods mentioned are Shuafat, Kafr ‘Aqab, and Anata. Most Palestinians who live in these neighborhoods have “Jerusalem residency” status, which is not the same as Israeli citizenship but does allow residents to vote in Jerusalem’s municipal elections, to receive welfare benefits, and to travel freely within Israel. The bill establishes that municipal elections within the newly annexed settlements would take place on the same date as the elections for Jerusalem’s city council. This sets the stage for a later process that would fully merge the settlements into Jerusalem and undermine the electoral power of Palestinian residents of the city. The explanatory text that accompanies the bill explains that it is intended to change current “demographic trends” relating to Palestinian population growth in the city.
Companion Legislation: Amending Israel’s Basic Law to block a peace deal and to disenfranchise Palestinian residents of Jerusalem
The implications of the Kish bill is particularly stark when it is considered alongside another piece of legislation proposed by members of the coalition: an amendment to the Basic Law: Jerusalem, the Capital of Israel. This proposal is also reportedly intended to set the groundwork for separating Palestinians neighborhoods from the Jerusalem Municipality.
This amendment would:
- Make it easier to alter the municipal borders of Jerusalem by changing the legal formulation for identifying the city’s borders; and
- Make it harder to approve a final status agreement on Jerusalem by raising the threshold for the number of Knesset Members who must approve the transfer of control of territory that is currently a part of the city to any foreign government from a simple majority to 80 Knesset Members.
The effect of these changes would be to allow Palestinian areas of Jerusalem that are outside of the separation barrier to be removed from the Jerusalem municipality while also making it more difficult to transfer them to the Palestinian Authority. It would also ease the process for annexing West Bank settlements into the city.
Kish’s bill was expected to be voted on by the Ministerial Committee on Legislation on Sunday, October 29th, but this has been delayed. The amendment to the Jerusalem Basic Law has passed an initial vote in the Knesset and was the subject of Knesset committee discussions this summer.
Every Sunday when the Knesset is in session, the Ministerial Committee on Legislation, which is chaired by the Justice Minister, meets to review pending bills. If the committee votes to approve a bill all of the Knesset Members that comprise the governing coalition are compelled to vote in favor of the bill when it is scheduled for a vote in the Knesset. Therefore, bills that are approved by the Ministerial Committee have a clear path to becoming law.
After passing out of this committee, the Knesset must still vote in support of a bill three times for it to become law.
Coalition members may appeal decisions by the Ministerial Committee on Legislation. If that happens, the coalition will not schedule a Knesset vote on the bill until the Cabinet reviews the appeal.


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It’s been 122 days since Day 1 and a lot has happened.
I’ve traveled all over Europe – to 11 countries and over 25 cities – but on the last day of my semester abroad there was no place I’d rather be than in the city that had become my home and with the friends that had become my family.
To be perfectly honest, most of the day was spent packing (which was incredibly depressing). But that night we decided to recreate our first few days of the semester. We started with dinner at Spontini, the place we went for our first Italian pizza (though technically it’s Sicilian “sfincione” pizza). We had gone after Italian class our first full day in Milan, and it’s so delicious and wonderful it’s been our go-to whenever we’re near the Duomo and craving pizza (which is a lot of the time).
Our next stop was right across the street at Cioccolati Italiani for the what is literally the world’s greatest gelato. They fill the cones with melted chocolate and they swirl the gelato so pretty and the flavors are sooooooo good and just oh my goodness I promise you this is the best gelato ever! There’s always a line out the door, but one of the perks of living here is that we can go on off hours, and let’s just say that we go to Cioccolati a lot. It was sad knowing this was our last Italian gelato (devastating really), but at least we knew we were ending with the best.
We made a stop at the Piazza del Duomo so that we could meet Julie’s family who had just flown in that day. The Piazza was packed because the Filarmonica della Scala (La Scala’s philharmonic orchestra) was performing a free concert with David Garrett (the equivalent of Thor if Thor played the violin). Knowing this would probably be the last time I would see the Duomo and Galleria, it was nice to just stand there and soak in the beautiful surroundings and enjoy the company, all while accompanied by some classy music. It was a fitting goodbye, quintessentially Italian.
With a last glance at my favorite place in Milan, we moved on to Movida, the aperitivo place in Navigli that we went our first night out. It was too late for aperitivo and we were already full of pizza and gelato so we all just sat at our usual table and got drinks. I got a Movida, because when something is named after the place you know it’s good (case in point my favorite Armani Cafe from the Emporio Armani Caffe…oh Italian coffee how I’ll miss you).
We didn’t stay out all that late (we left Movida around midnight which is early by Milan standards), but we wanted to get back to Arco to watch the recap videos that Nina and Ana had made. We were expecting to cry, but we have so many funny videos from the semester that we ended up laughing hysterically instead. We had agreed that we wouldn’t sleep that night since we wanted to be awake for our last few hours in Milan together, so we just hung out in Ana’s room playing poker and trying to ignore the clock as it got closer to 5am when the vans would pick us up to take us to the airport. At 4:30am we had no choice but to get up and get our huge suitcases from our rooms down to the lobby. As we waited for the vans to show up, the tears really started to fall as we looked at our empty rooms and said goodbye to Julie who was staying in Europe to travel with her family. The drivers were super nice and patient with us as we, our ginormous suitcases, and our tears slowly made our way outside and in to the vans. It was painful to watch Arco and the rest of Milan disappear behind us as we settled in for the hour long drive to Malpensa Airport.
And so begins the airport saga. It began with more goodbyes, as Tia, Lan, and Nirali had to go through security almost immediately since they had the earliest flight. This was followed by a very long and aggravating phone call with United as I tried to figure out why our United Airlines app was saying the flight Nina and I were on was canceled. Turns out our plane had some kind of mechanical issue, so I managed to get us on a Swiss Air flight connecting through Zurich. Unfortunately we were stuck in middle seats, but on the plus side we would get to go to a bonus European city and also get an extra half hour in Milan. Our flight was leaving at 11:10am, later than our previous flight.
With our remaining time, we waited in an incredibly long line to nervously weigh and check our bags, claimed my VAT refund (value added tax – I spent enough at Armani that I could claim it as a non-EU resident woooooo!) which was shockingly easy, and then hung out in the cafe in the food court. I had a croissant and my last Italian cappuccino *sob* as we sat reminiscing and once again trying to ignore the clock. We stayed there as long as we could before Nina and I had no choice but to head towards security along with Ana who had a flight leaving soon as well. I had held it together pretty well up to that point, but I realized that after security there was no going back and my study abroad semester would be over, so I lost it when I had to get up from that table because I really really really didn’t want to leave. We said goodbye to Ryan who was flying out the next day, and the three of us made our way through security trying not to make scene but not being able to stop crying (yes, we were those girls).
Nina and I said goodbye to Ana, and then we boarded our very tiny plane to Zurich. We cried when the plane took off, but we were so exhausted we slept the whole flight even through it was only an hour long. I wish I could say that we enjoyed our stop in Zurich, but our connection was only about a half an hour, so all we did was run through the airport and stress as we waited at Customs. I will say however that the airport was new and beautiful, and the view outside was very green and pretty because it’s Switzerland and they’re awesome. We managed to catch our plane and settled in to our flight. It didn’t feel that long since we slept most of the way and Swiss Air also has excellent food by airplane standards.
We landed in Chicago around 3:45pm which was an hour earlier and our original flight would have been. We were quickly through Customs and then were reunited with our families. From there it was home, reunited with my dog Buddy and my favorite deep dish pizza from Lou Malnati’s.
I was pretty much on the time zone already, so now it’s just time to get used to life in America again. I’ve heard the culture shock coming home to the US is always way harder than when you’re actually going abroad, and so far it’s been 100% true. The mental shift you have to go through is dang hard to begin with, and even harder because you don’t want to actually make the shift. Yes I miss the food and traveling and of course I miss my friends like crazy, but what I miss the most is the version of myself that I was when I was over there. I loved that I had become the kind of girl that booked last minute trips to Cinque Terre and learned to surf and went to extreme lengths to track down a tennis player. I don’t want to stop being that kind of person, and I’m terrified that I’m never going to feel that happy and free ever again. Because now I’m back to having legitimate responsibilities and now I feel kind of rudderless because I had been looking forward to studying abroad for so long (I knew I was going to do this before I even started high school), and now I don’t really know what to look forward too.
I know I should probably stop scrolling through the pictures and re-reading the blog and opening the emails with discounts for Hostelworld and easyJet and thinking what I would be doing right now if I was still abroad. I’m trying not to be that obnoxious person who can’t talk about anything but her study abroad experience to everyone who stayed here and just doesn’t understand, but it’s part of the healing process. Because even as much as it hurts, I wouldn’t choose to have done this semester any other way and I don’t want to forget that. My life is infinitely better because I studied abroad – I’ve traveled all over the world, learned about other cultures, broadened my horizons, built amazing friendships, become braver and more confident, and fallen head over heels in love for my host city. Not only did I find out more about myself and develop a never ending desire to travel, but I found a place on the other side of the world that I will always call home.
I don’t want to say arrivederci, so I’ll just say ciao for now ❤


Donald Trump is (or will be on 20 January) the most powerful man on the planet. He released two pages outlining what actions he is going to take in his first 100 days in office, his 100-Day Action Plan to Make America Great Again on his website in late October. Let’s see how he does.
8 November 2016: Trump elected.
15 Nov 2016: President-elect Trump announces presidential inaugural committee leadership. Unrelated to the plan, just preparing for the inauguration.
21 Nov 2016: President-elect Trump releases video message. The video is just over 2 minutes. He reiterates items directly from the plan.
18 Jan 2017: two days before the inauguration, Trump does an interview with Fox News. Most of the talk was about the inauguration. From the election through today, there were 3 main focuses in the media and from Trump:
- Trump selecting cabinet members
- The media trying to make stories out of very little actually happening
- Trump tweeting and responding to the media on Twitter.
23 Jan 2017: Sean Spicer’s first White House press briefing, work day one.
- Trump has already withdrawn from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
- He has revived two proposed oil pipelines, the Keystone and Dakota. (I don’t personally support this, but he signed something that allowed them to go forward).
- He reiterated his intention to withdraw from NAFTA, but that there is a procedure that has to be followed in accordance with the deal.
- He reiterated his intent to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
- There were no specifics yet, but he reiterated his intent to make deals that allow businesses to create jobs.
- He still intends to build a wall on the Mexican border. Sean Spicer continued the focus on illegal immigrants who have committed crimes per the 100-day plan.
Many of the questions at the briefing sound stupid. Initially, I hesitated to make that judgement because the reporters must be well-vetted to even be in the room. Then one of the reporters (named “Shane,” no further ID stated) referred to the “First Day Action Plan,” and asked why Trump didn’t address everything on the plan on the first day. That subject I am familiar with and I am 100% sure it’s an incredibly stupid question. It’s a 100-day plan, not a 1-day plan. I’m really surprised they don’t suspend reporters’ privilege of being in that room sometimes and replace them with competent people.
Trump still believes there were millions of illegal voters in the election.
28 Jan 2017: I am not going to continue to follow this contract. It just takes too much time. In attempting to follow, I have heard various reporters say that it is difficult and it is their full-time job. I will return to the subject on 30 Apr to check the results.
In searching for the truth on this subject, the best source I found was to search “Sean Spicer” on YouTube. A good portion of what the media talks about comes from the White House spokesman. I am certainly not suggesting agree with everything that he says, but if you get the information second-hand it is often not even recognizable from what Sean Spicer actually said.
Another source, and I know this hurts, is to follow Trump on Twitter. Like it or not, fact: the president of the United States tweets daily. The media talks about it. If you’re going to hear them talk about it, you should know what they’re talking about.
That is obviously only one side. For dissenting opinions, I look for Trump’s own people because they don’t have ulterior motives to dissent. Secretary of Defense General Mad Dog Mattis’ dissenting opinion on the use of torture is a good example so far.
Two other sources from the past that appear genuine are his former employees Louise Sunshine and Hayley Strozier. They tell unflattering stories that appear to be true while they don’t appear to be gaining personally from it.
What I believe are unifying truths in this situation are that we don’t have a unifying purpose. Had Obama succeeded at his agenda, half the country didn’t want it. He talked smoothly of unification and “crossing the aisle,” but to me and many people, he was divisive in his own way. Trump is openly hostile, and I thought that, counter-intuitively, maybe this approach would have the opposite effect by making it a badge of honor to get along with the big bad Trump. That is a stretch I know! So far, that does not appear to be the result.
What are we doing? What is success?
So we lack a unifying purpose at the national level: we need to invest personally in our local communities! People are already doing this. You probably already are. Turn off the TV, and feel good about it! Embrace your sense of purpose!
30 April 2017: His first 100 days are complete.


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Cricket Hill Garden
A Bouquet with Peonies: Floral Design Workshop Saturday, June 8th 2024
Date: June 8th 2024
Workshop Fee: $250
Workshop Location: Cricket Hill Garden 670 Walnut Hill Rd. Thomaston, CT 06787
Join Cricket Hill Garden founder Kasha Furman during the herbaceous peony bloom for a joyous afternoon of hands-on flower arranging.
We will focus on using peony blossoms and seasonal flowers to create lush, bountiful bouquets. Includes a tour of the garden and nursery, and a discussion on growing and harvesting techniques for peony blossoms.
Participants will take home TWO of their own hand crafted bouquets (one in a vase included with the workshop). Please bring a second vase of your own.
Limited to 20 participants.
Email email@example.com with any questions

domain: hobby


text:
by Candyce H. Stapen
Situated on nearly a 1,000-acre private nature reserve that sweeps down the mountain to the Pacific, Lapa Rios, one of Costa Rica’s most notable eco-lodges, made Conde Nast Traveler’s 2009 Gold List. The main lodge and its 16 bungalows sit on ridgetops, 350 feet above the sea. Needless to say, there are many steps. The lodge welcomes families, but children should be at least 5 years old for safety.
Our Editor Loves
- Private nature reserve
- Families welcome
- Conde Nast Traveler's 2009 Gold List
by Jeannie K
This place is amazing. We (myself, my spouse and our two school-aged kids) spent four nights here, as part of a trip to Costa Rica, and it was such an incredible, educational, unforgettable experience.
Lapa Rios is an ecolodge in southern Costa Rica, on the Osa Peninsula. It is literally in the middle of a rain forest, and also a short walk to the ocean (Golfo Dulce). The nearest town, Puerto Jimenez, is about 45 minutes away. The lodge is based on the premise of conservation of the rain forest and supporting the local communities. They do this by purchasing the food and other goods they need to run the lodge from the local community, and also by hiring only local staff. Everyone who works at Lapa Rios is from surrounding communities. Every thought is given to recycling and protecting the environment. For example, uneaten food from the restaurant is fed to pigs, which ultimately produce biogas that they use for some of their cooking needs. They are also very committed to using as little plastic as possible in their operations.
Lodge rooms are open, with only screens separating you from the forest. Every morning, we were woken by the sound of howler monkeys and sacadas. Monkeys, parrots and toucans hang out in the trees by the pool. Scarlet macaws, once endangered, sit in the trees as you swim in the ocean. The rooms have beds with mosquito netting, an indoor bathroom and shower, and an outdoor deck area with another shower, and a hammock - so relaxing! Everyday we would see hummingbirds in the plants on our deck!
Throughout each day, there are a number of wilderness tours, led by their staff. We took a tour of several waterfalls on the property, a tour of the forest and wildlife surrounding the beach area, and a tour of how the hotel runs. There was also an early morning tour, a night tour, the opportunity to plant a tree in the forest, and many other activities each day. All of these were included in the cost of the lodge room. They also had external activities that were extra, such as surfing lessons, and a dolphin/whale watch - we did these too and they were amazing.
During our visit, we saw 4 types of monkeys, sloths, toucans, macaws, parrots, hummingbirds, hawks, pelicans, vultures and several varieties of butterflies. Many could be seen just by sitting on the deck or at the pool - no strenuous hiking required.
The staff were incredible - everyone spoke excellent English and were so welcoming and knowledgeable about the area. The food was delicious and plentiful. One guide heard that my kids really wanted to see a sloth so he went out of his way to find one in the trees during one of the hikes. They are not easy to find, but somehow he managed to. My kids were beyond delighted.
I recommend bringing several bathing suits with you, clothes that dry easily, and shoes with which you easily walk through water.
Coming home, I'm struck at how quiet our urban neighborhood is, compared to the animals in the rainforest - I miss hearing the monkeys. This was such a special place. A once-in-a-lifetime experience. Come here if you can.
What a fantastic setting, with plenty of wildlife.
The rooms were very comfortable and we loved hearing all the wildlife whilst in our room.
The majority of staff were incredibly friendly and were keen to please.
We did find the choice of food a bit limiting on a 4 day stay, but understood this before we booked, and appreciated the limitations due to the location of the hotel, and we certainly didn’t go hungry.
We were staying for our anniversary, and the hotel kindly offered us a private dining experience, and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay.


text: CITY - Funeral services were held here last week for Terry Harmon, chairman and chief executive officer of Harmons Grocery Stores here. Harmon, 66, died Aug. 24 after battling a variety of illnesses for several years. Harmons operates 11 stores, with a 12th scheduled to open in October. The company said in a press statement the Harmon family intends to continue to operate the business, which was founded by Terry Harmon's parents in 1932. When his father, Jake Harmon, died in 1976, Terry Harmon succeeded him as chairman. Harmon's three children are active in the chain, as are six of his grandchildren. According to son Bob Harmon, "Dad always said we were in the people business - we just happen to sell groceries." Harmon was a past president of the Utah Food Industry Association and a director of the National Grocers Association; he is also a past recipient of NGA's Spirit of America Award. Harmon is survived by his wife, his sister, three children, 11 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.


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BURNING TIME - BURNING TIME (Independent)
(Review by Patrick De Sloover)
This band is not to be confused with UK band Burning Times that operate in the Hardcore Punk scene, nor the variety rock band from Antelope Valley, California. This is 100% pure Belgian talent that gathered as a three-piece and spread some noise with this first EP as a first step. The members of Burning Time gathered fame and recognition in bands like Channel Zero, Deviate, Master Of Waha and Sons Of Jonathas. The one with the greatest fame to his name is Xavier Carrion, who led Channel Zero to international heights. With this new trio, he entered the Jonathas studio to record 5 tracks, and besides Xavier on guitars, we welcome also Stef Sinnaeve on drums and Danny M on vocals. Only three members, but what a wall of sound! This indicates that every member of Burning Time knows exactly what their task is. They all bring out the best of their abilities and it’s a real pleasure to listen to this 5-track Rock’n Roll monster!
Three songs are filled with various details and small excesses. Listen carefully how the bass is taking control at several moments, while the drums of Danny create a very cool mood in the tracks. It’s all in control, there are no exorbitant moments, as everything is just right in balance! All songs breathe the same atmosphere, they all fit in the style and attitude of the band. If I have to mention some influences, I would say Motörhead meets Triggerfinger, while The Stray Cats are lurking around the corner to add some bad attitude. However the just mentioned bands, all play a totally different kind of style, Burning Time seem to have a golden formula to melt it all together but all in a very trashy style.
The music meets with the attitude of the members. You will agree that tattoos are necessary, you won’t take offense that some members are wearing nice suits, and the mobile on the front cover artwork is the ultimate link to a world of gangsters and thieves. They just breathe what they create with their music, and that’s rock and roll from the streets, which can be dangerous and mean at some moments. Songs like ‘Powerdrive’, ‘Soulbreaker’ and ‘Dressed To Kill (Tonight)’, speak for themselves….
This EP is limited to 500 pieces, and it’s meant to spread the name and perhaps, you will be able to catch on up. It’s really worth to check this band, and it makes me hungry for more material of Burning Time !
My rating: 85 / 100
95+ : Outstanding, high valued albums & Classic Ones… a direct purchase is advisable !
Between 90 and 95: Surpasses the style of music, must be heard/ordered by every Metal fan
Between 80 and 89: Good in its own genre, recommended for those hooked on it
Between 70 and 89: Decent but best previewing
Between 60 and 69: Rather moderate
Between 50 and 59: Bad, substandard
50- : Rubbish

domain: artistic


text:
Drawn from over thirty years as a Christian, teacher, pastor, and missionary, the ideas presented in "What God Can't Do" will help the reader experience the joy of overflowing prayer, and achieve unparalelled growth and freedom by focusing on what God will do. Jerry says, "I love to ask God questions, and He never seems to get tired of answering them. One day I started putting some of the things we talked about down on paper, and realized that He was using me as a "voice" to bring hope, healing, and encouragement to both Christians and to people outside the Church." Written in a light-hearted, easy to read style, he presents totally unique and original insights into God's purpose and design in our lives.Pastor Jerry shares from his heart the "secret of happiness," and talks about some of the explanations of God we have heard in church for years that are not accurate, and which hinder our prayers. His experience shows that most of our sickness, frustration, and relationship problems ultimately have a hidden spiritual root cause that can be readily discovered and addressed. Other topics include: hands-on prayers that work for physical healing, Forgiveness 101, exploring and listening to God, unconditional love, and much more. Also included is the prayer that God always answers immediately, and the one question we should never let God hear us asking (or even thinking).
About Pastor Jerry L. Lewis
See more books from this Author
Published November 19, 2007
Religion & Spirituality, Law & Philosophy.

domain: literature


text:
Spurs, Hornets Games Postponed Following Players Testing Positive
Four San Antonio Spurs players have tested positive for the coronavirus and the next three Spurs games have been officially postponed, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Charlotte Hornets, who played the Spurs on Sunday, are now entering the NBA’s contact tracing protocols and will have their next two games postponed, per the report and confirmed by an official statement from the NBA.
The league added that additional contact tracing is required for players on the Spurs and Hornets rosters.
If things go smoothly, the Spurs next game will be next Wednesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Oklahoma City, while the Hornets next game could be on Saturday, at home, against the Golden State Warriors.
A total of 29 NBA regular season games have now been postponed this season due to COVID-19, according to Hoops Rumors tracker.

domain: game


text: Find best profitable crypto coin to mine for your rig with the most accurate calculation method. in order to find the ssl port go to the bottom of how to start page of the coin you mine. iq mining does not provide майнинг coin service for usa residents calculate verge-scrypt (xvg) mining profitability in realtime based on hashrate, power consumption and nvidia geforce gtx 950 майнинг electricity cost. ravencoin (rvn) mining profit depending майнинг coin on your hash rate, power consumption and electricity cost ssl connection is available at 2miners pools. the information presented geforce 8400 майнинг крипто токены here is for information and educational purposes only and should not be considered an offer or solicitation to invest to iqmining or elsewhere. addition майнинг coin of asset issuance, and transfer. as soon as you’ve как собрать майнинг ферму дома set up your account, you can start to mine your first coins using майнинг coin our bitcoin cloud mining service! xvg exchange rates, mining pools ravencoin mining profit with sapphire amd firepro w4100 майнинг the most accurate calculation method. please note that calculations are based on mean sia майнинг настройка …. please note that the mining software settings could be different msi 970a g43 plus обзор it’s super simple — your mining rigs are already set майнинг необычное оборудование up and как установить майнинг running. a new mining algorithm, x16r which allows for more decentralized mining. соло биткоин майнинг any investment decisions that you make майнинг зек нвидиа are solely your responsibility. облачный майнинг биткоин без вложений с выводом 2018 total coin supply of 21 billion instead of 21 million.

domain: finance


text:
On The Ball: Playoffs on tap
It seems like yesterday we were stifling in that 90-plus degree September heat wave, not bundling up and clutching cups of cocoa at football games.
But it’s true: Playoffs in high school boys’ and girls’ soccer and field hockey begin next week. The Vermont Principals’ Association will release playoff pairings sometime in the early afternoon on Monday for the eight Middlebury, Mount Abraham, Otter Valley and Vergennes soccer teams, all of whom compete in Division II; and the D-I MUHS field hockey and D-II OV and Mount Abe teams.
In football, the Tigers, the one team that will see the postseason, probably as the D-II No. 1 seed, have regular season games vs. Colchester and OV before they take aim at the program’s first title since ’03.
On The Ball will return online no later than late afternoon/early evening on Monday with a look at the schedule and match-ups for each of the 11 soccer and field hockey teams through the end of next week.
In the meantime, a few teams in the rest of this week are jockeying for top playoff seeds or first-round home games. OV field hockey stood at 9-2 in the No. 1 position in the Marble Valley League and D-II going in to a tough game at No. 4 Windsor (6-4-2) on Wednesday afternoon. OV won in Brandon, 1-0, but the defending D-II champion Jacks always give the Otters a hard time. OV must also host D-I Rutland (7-5-1) on Friday before closing with what should be a win on Saturday at home vs. Burr & Burton. Harwood (8-1-3) and Woodstock (8-3) are ready to take advantage of an OV misstep and move into the Nos. 1 and 2 spots, but the Otters should hang onto no worse than third. UPDATE OV did lose to Windsor, 2-1, and dropped to third. The result against Rutland now becomes critical if OV wants to move back higher. The Otters would also be doing Middlebury a favor by knocking off the Raiders.
Sticking in D-II, Mount Abe may end up the season with no more than two wins, but have played every game against D-I foes this fall. The Eagles’ quality of play would put them at or near the top in the Marble Valley League, and one D-II coach recently told me the Eagles will be a tough playoff opponent. In D-I field hockey, MUHS (5-4-3) was set to face two other teams entering the week with five wins — Mount Mansfield and Colchester — as the Tigers looked to maintain or improve their No. 5 spot in the D-I rankings. On paper, they will be favored to win both, but they need help to catch CVU (6-3-3) for the No. 4 seed. UPDATE MMU dealt the Tigers a real blow with a 2-1 victory on Wednesday, avenging an earlier 3-0 loss to MUHS. The Tigers are now tied with Colchester for sixth and would really like to win on Friday and avoid a possible quarterfinal at undefeated Hartford. They could move up to fifth depending on how Rutland fares.
Only two local soccer teams stood better than .500 heading into the final four days of the regular season: the Tiger boys (6-4-2) and the VUHS girls (6-5-1). Both are in logjams in the D-II standings. The Tigers could theoretically land anywhere from fourth to 11th, and face two challenging games: 9-3 Milton at home, and 6-6 Rice, which has played a tough schedule, on the road. The VUHS girls are in seventh: A win against visiting D-I BFA-St. Albans (8-4) on Thursday or on the road at Lamoille (5-7) on Saturday should earn them one home playoff game, but a home quarterfinal appears out of reach.
Check back in on Monday for the skinny on all the local teams’ first-round foes.
Andy Kirkaldy may be reached at [email protected].


text:
National Parks USA
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Betina Winsig Hansen
30 years old - Danish - Nurse - I LOVE traveling and exploring - Suffering from a severe case of Wanderlust - Trying to live a free, adventurous life - Always planning my next trip/ destination
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Gili Trawangan is situated close to Lombok, but here's a view of Bali from the west side of the island
There are no cars on Gili Trawangan, so the only way to get around the small Island is by bike or like this
The Gilis are a great place for diving
Beautiful view of the risepaddies, just outside Ubud
Go for a bikeride when in Ubud - we started from this spot and went downhill through risepaddies and small villages
Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary
Be aware of the monkeys and follow the instructions
2 shades of green
These crater lakes change colors - sometimes one is white, sometimes it's pink
The Komodo dragon sure picked a nice place to live
These animals are so fascinating and scary at the same time - this one's just eating a deer
Plaza Jaama el Fna
During the day Jeema El Fna is surprisingly quiet, but at sundown these foodstands are assembled and the arabian feeling and Jeema El Fna comes alive.
Unfortunate non-muslims are not allowed inside the mosques in Morocco - but the outside is not bad
The stunning atlas mountains 🏻
This City is a nice getaway from busy Marrakech
Ksar Ait Ben Haddou
Aït Benhaddou, Morocco
Oasis - City - Desert - mountains 🏻
Winter in Denmark
It's well worth the steep slippery walk to the castle. The view is amazing
Berat - The City of a thousand windows
Manastiri i Decanit
A little peace of Serbia in Kosovo. This monastary is heavily guarded by KFOR because the locals wants the Serbs to leave
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New tandem line Van Raam
The Twinny tandem, the Kivo tandem and three-wheel variants are completely renewed.
The new tandem line has a modern robust design and improved parts such as wheels and tires for more load capacity. Getting on and off the tandems can easily be done by the low step trough. There is more space between the front person and the person driving in the rear, so you do not sit too close together.The three-wheel variants of the Kivo and Twinny have the same design as the two-wheel versions only with two-wheels on the back.


text:
Orbital angular momentum (OAM) beams have recently attracted attention due to their intrinsic properties and their many novelty applications. The use of dielectric metasurfaces as highly efficient and ultra-thin functional optical platforms for OAM beam generation has been discussed in detail in earlier research. However, reflective all-dielectric metasurfaces for high quality OAM beam generation have been rarely investigated. In this work, a high-quality OAM beam generator applying an all-dielectric reflective metasurface is proposed, with an operation waveband from 1500 to 1600 nm. Simulation results show that good quality OAM beams (mode purity ∼99%) can be generated with high efficiency (conversion rate >97%) and high reflectance (>0.8). With such superior performance, the proposed reflective all-dielectric metasurface can provide new possibilities in free-space optical communication systems.
© 2019 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement
Vortex beams carrying an orbital angular momentum (OAM), which are also referred as OAM beams , have attracted great attention due to its fascinating properties, and the discovery of vortex beams also leads to an improvement of optical systems. In addition, OAM beams have been broadened to numerous applications, such as particle trapping [2,3], optical communications [4–6], beam focusing  and so on. Meanwhile, the methods for generating OAM beams also become the focusing point and have been extensively investigated. A variety of OAM beam generation devices, including spiral phase plate (SPP) [8,9], spatial light modulator (SLM) , computer generated hologram  and metamaterial/metasurface [12–20], have been numerically or experimentally reported. However, conventional methods, like SPP, SLM, hologram or metamaterial are always bulky or fragile, and thus hard to integrate into nanoscale optoelectronic devices.
Metasurface as a reliable alternative to conventional devices, which is composed of single subwavelength structure, not only retains efficient control for phase, polarization and amplitude of light, but also enables highly compact optical devices with different functionalities [21,22]. With metasurfaces, a wide range of devices supporting phase and polarization manipulation have also been realized such as wave plates [23–25], lens [26–28] and gratings . The OAM beam generators working in both transmissive and reflective modes have also been investigated through different designs [12–20]. However, among them most of reflective devices are composed of metallic structures or applying a metallic substrate/ground. The utilization of plasmonic structures can cause severe losses and greatly reduce the device efficiency, especially in visible and near-infrared region .
Dielectric metasurfaces hold promise for various applications because of their ultra-compact, high-efficiency and reduced fabrication complexity [31,32]. Complete control of polarization and phases based on all-dielectric metasurface has already been proposed . Moreover, dielectric metasurfaces for OAM beam generation have also been realized and covers different wave regions, including the optical regime [12,13] and the microwave region [14–20]. However, these designs are either work in transmission mode or hard to implement high quality beam generation with high efficiency. Mode purity as one of the crucial properties of OAM beams, is of great significance in free-space optical communication systems  and many other applications [35,36]. For OAM beams generated by metasurface, the dense arrangement of resonators and multi-layer structure may lead to the variations of the refractive index along the transmission path which may distort the helical wave front and increase the bit error rate (BER) of data transmission in optical communication systems, as turbulence usually does . The lower mode purity is, the higher cross-talk and BER will be. Hence, it is significant to generate OAM beams by metasurface with high mode purity.
In this paper, we numerically demonstrate an all-dielectric metasurface for high quality and high-efficiency OAM beam generation. The conceptual illustrations of the proposed metasurface are shown in Fig. 1. With circular polarized light incident, the metasurface is capable to reflect beam carrying an OAM. For left and right circular light (LCP and RCP) incident, the output OAM states are constrained to hold equal or opposite topological charges l and –l. Here, we propose a novel approach to generate OAM beams using all-dielectric reflective metasurface, while maintaining high beam quality and high-power efficiency. Besides efficient beam generation, wide operation bandwidth is also significant for practical applications. Simulation results show that generated OAM beam with l = –1 has mode purity above 99% in the telecom waveband from 1500-1600 nm, and for l = –20, mode purity is still as high as 97%. The lowest reflectance for the metasurface is above 0.81 in the wave ranges from 1500-1600 nm, and highest reflectance can reach 0.94. With low losses and reflective design, the proposed metasurface could pave new avenues for light manipulation in large-area photonic applications.
2. Structures and physical mechanism
A schematic illustration of the reflective all-dielectric metasurface is shown in Fig. 2. It is composed of silicon elliptical nanopillars and a fused silica substrate. The basic structure of a resonator with detailed geometric definition is plotted in Fig. 2(b). The reflective all-dielectric metasurface is based on Mie resonance principle but different from transmissive metasurafce. By utilizing elliptical nanopillar with an aspect ratio of approximately 1:1 while keeping electric and magnetic resonances excitation, high reflectance can be obtained in the desired waveband. In our work, geometric parameters of the resonator are optimized to meet the conditions mentioned above and realize high reflectance as well as high polarization conversion efficiency. We employ finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method provided by Lumercial to give precise results. In simulations, the background has a refractive index constant as 1, silicon and fused silica have wavelength dependent refractive index adopted from optical data of Palik (1.0-2.0 µm).
To realize the reflective OAM beam generator we propose, the reflective metasurface should apply an azimuthally dependent phase pattern, and thus a reflected beam is able to have a helical wave front and phase singularity, which can be regarded as a typical OAM beam. Hence, each resonator needs to realize a gradient phase control from 0 to 2π, allowing us to design customized phase pattern. Geometric phase manipulation, which is different from adjusting cut-wire geometry of the resonator to implement phase control, is a robust method to imprint phase to the circular polarized (CP) light by simply rotating the orientation of the resonator. On the basis of geometric control principle , the resonator is desired to operate as a half wave plate (HWP), to maximize manipulate efficiency. In our proposed reflective metasurface, by rotating the long axis of the resonator with angle θ, when a CP light incident, the reflect beam will be imprinted with a geometric phase equal to φ = 2·θ and maintains the same helicity.
Thus, to realize polarization conversion and impart a π phase shift to incident wave, the electric and magnetic dipole resonances need to be optimized by finely tuning geometric parameters of the basic resonator. The optimized geometric parameters are DL = 720 nm, DS = 320 nm, H = 560 nm with orientation angle θ = 45°, and periodicities along x and y axis are Px = Py = 800 nm. And to further characterize the basic functionalities of the all-dielectric reflective array, we have x-pol incident on the structure and test how well the resonator can convert incident light into an orthogonal polarization. We use polarization conversion rate (PCR) to evaluate conversion efficiency, which is defined as:3(b) (except for a grey shaded region, near 1440 nm). And in the working bandwidth from 1500 to 1600 nm, the PCR is above 97%. To better illustrate the response of the resonator, we decompose the incident x-pol light and reflected y-pol light into two orthogonal components EL and ES as depicted in Fig. 3(c), and the directions of EL and ES components are along the long and short axes of the resonator, respectively. With x-pol incident, the reflected EL component is assumed to maintain its intensity and direction, while ES component is reversed, due to the π phase difference. Simulated reflectance and phase spectra for a resonator with polarizations incident along long and short axis are plotted in Fig. 3(c)-(d). The numerical simulations demonstrate that the reflectance for both polarizations are near-unity while maintaining a π phase difference throughout a broad waveband from 1500 to 1600 nm, leading to an orthogonal polarization conversion with high efficiency when light incident along x- or y-axis.
However, it should be notice that the reflection dips to 0 near 1440 nm when light incident along short axis of elliptical resonator, which further narrow the working bandwidth of the metasurface. To confirm the cause of the reflection dip and identify the involved resonance modes, we employed the framework of Mie theory [39,40] for mode calculation, and gave the near-field distributions to corroborate the excitation of these modes. Calculated reflection spectra for linear polarized (LP) incident along long and short axis, with each peak corresponding to a specific resonance type, are plotted in Fig. 4(a) and (b), respectively. In Fig. 4(a), it shows that for LP incident along long axis, the peaks near 1410 nm and 1590 nm are corresponding to a magnetic dipole (MD) resonance mode and an electric dipole (ED) resonance mode, which are the dominant contribution to backward scattering efficiency. As a comparison, Fig. 4(b) shows that, for LP incident along short axis, a magnetic quadrupole resonance is excited near 1380 nm, and an ED resonance is excited at a longer wavelength near 1530 nm, while the two peaks are narrower and further separated. Since the reflection mainly results from backward scattering that contributed by these resonance modes, the scarcely overlapping resonance modes is one of the reasons for the reflection dip, which further affects the working bandwidth. On the other hand, when electric and magnetic dipole coefficients coincident, the backward scattering nearly vanishes and leads to negligible reflection. This situation happens when both the wavelength of incident light and the size parameter of scattering particle satisfy the conditions for a minimal ratio of the backward and forward scattering, often called the first Kerker condition .
To clearly clarify these resonance modes, the near-field distributions at 1440 nm are also plotted, as shown in Fig. 5(a)-(d). Here, to better understand the formation of electric and magnetic resonance, the resonator can be seen as a waveguide with different effective refractive indices along the long and short axis. When LP incident along two ellipse diameters (long and short axis), displacement currents are excited and further form different near-filed distribution inside the resonator, which can be determined as different resonance modes. In Fig. 5(a), with LP incident along long axis, the excited circular displacement currents form a maximum magnetic field at the center of elliptical nanopillar, oriented in the direction of the incident magnetic field. This is the typical feature of a MD mode. And in Fig. 5(c), the electric field distribution in the xy-plane is plotted, two strong electric field are formed by displacement currents at both sides of the elliptical cross-section, which can also be determined as a MD response. In contrast, with LP incident along short axis, the magnetic resonance is barely excited, as shown in Fig. 5(b). And in Fig. 5(d), the electric field distribution shows the feature of an ED resonance, with displacement current vectors inside the resonator pointing in the same direction to the incident electric field. Although the ED resonance is excited, it is too weak to contribute to the backward scattering. As shown above, when light incident along short axis, due to the lack of resonance contributing backward scattering, the reflection dips near 1440 nm, which affects the conversion efficiency and narrow the working bandwidth.
To realize the dielectric metasurface for OAM beam generation we propose, it is vital to validate the geometric phase control capability of the optimized reflective array. The phase and reflectance spectra at different resonator rotation angles of the reflected beam, that cover the telecom waveband from 1500 to 1600 nm, are plotted in Fig. 6. Within this bandwidth, the reflectance remains above 0.85 showing that the energy efficiency is nearly unaffected at various wavelengths as well as rotation angles. In addition, we can see that a smooth reflected phase increases from –π to π can be obtained with rotation angle increasing from 0 to π linearly. Therefore, the reflective metasurface has met the request to design required phase pattern and can be used for OAM beam generation.
3. Results and discussion
Based on the proposed reflective array and geometric phase control principle, we are able to generate OAM beams in a broad telecom wave band. The phase pattern for an OAM beam, featured with a helical wave front and carrying helical phase term ejlφ, can be expressed as:2), an incident RCP beam is transformed into vortex beam with corresponding l. The simulated results at the wavelengths of 1500, 1550 and 1600 nm with vortex beams l = –1, generated by the reflective metasurface, are shown in Fig. 7. As shown in Fig. 7(a)-(f), the phase distributions of the reflected wave front are consistent with designed phase pattern, and the electric field intensities have a doughnut shape, due to the phase singular point along propagation axis. By employing a mode decomposition method suitable for arbitrary light fields , the mode spectra of the vortex beam with l = –1 are also calculated for all wavelengths, as shown in Fig. 7(g)-(i). To further quantify the beam purity, we define mode purity as: 1. As we can see, the obtained mode purity is higher than 99.9% and reflectance is higher than 0.9, ensuring the highly efficient of the all-dielectric metasurface.
Broadband, high order vortex beam generation have been rarely investigated and are always hard to guarantee beam quality. However, in our case, OAM beams with high orders can also be generated by the all-dielectric reflective metasurface, when we follow the corresponding phase pattern as written in Eq. (2) to arrange resonators. In consequence, we simulated the reflective metasurface with l = –20 at different incident wavelengths, and the corresponding electric field as well as phase distribution are shown in Fig. 8(a)-(c) and (d)-(f), respectively. To better evaluate the mode purity, the calculated mode spectra were expanded to ± 30 orders, as shown in Fig. 8(g)-(i). As a further description for the performance of the metasurface, the total reflectance and mode purity of different wavelengths are illustrated in Table 2. However, owing to the complex phase distribution at the center of the metasurface and the mutual coupling between each resonator, intensity and mode purity for higher order OAM beam are lower than OAM beam with l = –1. With shorter periodicities for a unit cell and applying more units in the metasurface within the same plate size, the reflectance may be further increased while maintains high beam purity .
In Table 3, we list detailed comparison of this work with previous similar works on reflective OAM generators in terms of some pivotal factors. Although the metasurface working in telecom waveband from 1500 to 1600 nm is not the first time to be investigated, this work exhibits higher power efficiency and mode purity than previous works. Moreover, when generating higher order OAM beams, the power efficiency and mode purity of the generator stay at a high level. Due to the dip appearing in the reflection and conversion spectra, the bandwidth is narrower than some previous work. However, it is possible to extend the bandwidth and fix the dip of the current work by applying other meta-atoms in a unit cell .
In conclusion, we have numerically demonstrated an all-dielectric reflective metasurface for high quality OAM beam generation (mode purity ∼99%) that covers an optical telecom spectral range from 1500 to 1600 nm. The generator is composed of subwavelength dielectric resonators. Based on our novel approach, OAM beams carrying arbitrary topological charge can be generated depending on specific resonator arrangement in the wave range. Meanwhile, the proposed resonator unit can also work as a reflective half-wave plate, near-unity reflectance and high conversion efficiency can also be achieved in the same telecom waveband, that guarantee numerous applications in optoelectronic fields. As mentioned above, we believe this low-loss and highly efficient design will make a step forward in the development of advanced optoelectronic devices and free-space optical communications systems.
National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFB0403602); National Major Scientific Instruments and Equipment Development Project supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (61827814).
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text:
Sunflowers are pure sunshine and summer, and because of their exuberant flowers - and height - they are loved by children. We've had some fun putting together a collection of sunflower activities that we hope you will enjoy with the kids, both in the classroom and at home!
Sunflowers have large, daisy-like flowers of bright yellow petals and brown centres that ripen into heads filled with seeds. They are native to North America and were first domesticated around 1000 B.C. They are still harvested for their seeds today, which can be made into sunflower oil to be used in cooking, and are also tasty to eat as a healthy snack. In 2014, 1.7 million acres of sunflowers were planted in the United States.
Sunflowers are heliotropic. This means that they turn their flowers to follow the movement of the sun across the sky. Sunflowers often grow to over 16 feet in height, with the tallest sunflower on record reaching over 30 feet tall!
The scientific name for sunflowers is Helianthus, which comes from the Greek words for "sun" and "flower", and there around 70 different species of sunflowers.
Some Interesting Facts
- Sunflowers are excellent at absorbing toxins and even nuclear radiation, and millions were planted after a tsunami destroyed reactors in the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan.
- Each sunflower head can contain as many as 1,000 to 2,000 seeds.
- Sunflowers should be harvested in the morning. If you pick them in the afternoon they are more likely to wilt!

domain: biology


text:
Consequently, novel and combinatorial treatment strategies, which provide durable responses in patients refractory to current therapies, are warranted
Consequently, novel and combinatorial treatment strategies, which provide durable responses in patients refractory to current therapies, are warranted. had clear-cell histology (87%) and 50% had 2 prior lines of therapy. The MTD of buparlisib was 80 mg/day and bevacizumab 10 mg/kg every 2 weeks. Twenty-eight patients discontinued therapy: n=17 progression, n=7 toxicity, and n=4 other reasons. GPIIIa DLTs included rash/pruritis, elevated lipase/amylase, anorexia and psychiatric disorders (suicidal ideation, depressive disorder, and cognitive disturbances). Of the 30 patients who received at least one dose, 13% GSK2982772 had a partial response (95% CI 4%, 31%). Two patients harboring activating PI3KA mutations achieved 42% and 16% maximal tumor shrinkage. Conclusions Buparlisib (80 mg/day) with bevacizumab was a tolerable regimen with preliminary activity in VEGF-refractory mRCC. The benefit of this combination may be of interest for future mRCC trials, possibly in a selected populace. showed that heavily pretreated patients with advanced solid tumors harbor activating PIK3CA mutations may be sensitive to therapeutic targeting with PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway inhibitors (40). Overall, based on data from The Cancer Genome Atlas and other sources, PIK3CA mutations in both localized and metastatic disease seem to GSK2982772 be uncommon (less than 5%) in RCC (41,42). In our study, two out of nine patients with genomic data (22%), harbored PIK3CA mutations and achieved clinical benefit from treatment. Additionally, some patients demonstrated mutations known to be harbored in RCC including VHL and BAP1 but not associations with response were found. Unfortunately, given the limited number of patients with genomic data, no other alterations were identified which may and serve as predictors of response to therapy. Experimental data suggests that additional biomarkers, yet to GSK2982772 be defined, are required beyond PI3K status to predict response to these compounds (43). The PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway has a critical role in insulin signaling and glucose homeostasis (44). Hyperglycemia is a class effect observed with PI3K/Akt/mTOR inhibition. This metabolic alteration is secondary to a fasting state characterized by reduced utilization of glucose and predilection for fatty acid metabolism (45). We measured metabolic adverse events C hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia Cand correlated levels with response. Glycemic changes appeared to correlate with response and may be considered a predictive clinical biomarker of response. This observation parallels the association of early onset of hyperglycemia and clinical benefit described with everolimus (46). In recent years, RCC treatments GSK2982772 have focused largely on inhibition of VEGF pathways. The PI3K pathway, which is recurrently altered in RCC, may be an escape mechanism for resistance to anti-VEGF therapies. The safety profile and antitumor activity of this combination leads us to believe that a subset of patients harboring PI3K mutations may derive benefit from buparlisib and that increased fasting blood sugars may be an early predictor of activity. The results of this study provide important pharmacologic and toxicity data to explore this combination further potentially in a preselected patient population. ? Translational Relevance An improved understanding of the pathogenesis of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has identified the vascular-endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway as a key target in this disease. Though VEGF-targeted therapies have improved survival for patients with metastatic RCC, nearly all patients develop resistance. Consequently, novel and combinatorial treatment strategies, which provide durable responses in patients refractory to current therapies, are warranted. The PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway is dysregulated in patients with metastatic RCC and targeting this pathway, in addition to the VEGF pathway, is a potential therapeutic strategy in the management of RCC. Elucidation of the impact of combinatorial PI3K and VEGF inhibition on outcomes in patients with RCC is therefore highly relevant to optimizing the current treatment armamentarium for patients with metastatic RCC. Supplementary Material Supp TableS1Click here to view.(14K, docx) Acknowledgments Funding: This study was funded in part by Novartis. Additionally, this research was funded in part by the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center Kidney SPORE (DM and TKC), and the Trust Family, Michael Brigham, and Loker Pinard Funds for Kidney Cancer Research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for TKC. Grant: P50 CA101942-01..

domain: health


text:
The Motley Fool Discussion Boards
Financial Planning / Tax Strategies
|Subject: Re: Taxes on '97 Stock Option||Date: 4/8/1998 10:02 AM|
|Author: TMFTaxes||Number: 3330 of 124964|
[[In '97 I exercised some stock options (non-qualified stock option plan) which I had received from
my employer. Since I sold the same day as I exercised the options, it was treated as regular
income. The gross proceeds were added to my year-to-date income; federal income taxes and
FICA taxes were also withheld and their amounts added to year-to-date totals. I received a
one-page statement detailing the numbers in the transaction.
My W-2 for '97 includes this option money in the "Wages" amount; however, I also received a
1099-B form which shows the total sales price of the shares, and shows zero federal income tax
withheld -- no other amounts.
It seems clear to me that the money was treated as regular income and included in my W-2 amount.
What I don't understand, then, is why did I get a 1099-B form to file with my taxes? Can anyone
explain how this form is supposed to be used to report the transaction without the IRS considering
it additional capital gains income?]]
KAT in Chicagoland has posted a number of detailed responses on this issue. You might want to go back and read 'em.
But the short answer is that your basis in the shares of stock would be the amount that you paid for them (via exercise) PLUS the amount of income that was included in your W-2 form.
So when you report the stock sale on your Sch D, you'll find that your gain/loss on the sale of the shares will be very small (if there is any at all). But be sure that you DO report the sale of the shares on your Sch D.
|Copyright 1996-2016 trademark and the "Fool" logo is a trademark of The Motley Fool, Inc. Contact Us|


The Renogy BT-1 is a great addition to any compatible Renogy solar charge controllers. Powered by its RJ12 communication port, the BT-1 provides wireless monitoring of system data through the Renogy DC Home smart phone App. And allows users to change parameters when using the Renogy DC Home smart phone App.
If you have any questions regarding this product, please submit a case.
- Wirelessly monitor and control compatible solar charge controllers via Bluetooth.
- Connects to our user-friendly smart phone App, Renogy DCHome, to keep track of your system.
- Embedded exclusive Bluetooth chip with high efficiency and low energy consumption.
- Bluetooth 4.2 and BLE technology provides fast and uninterrupted communication.
- Powered directly through RJ12 communication port.
- Signal range up to 82ft.
- Two LED lights indicate the power and Bluetooth connection condition.
BT-1 Bluetooth Module for Solar Charge Controllers
|Communication Protocol: RS232||Port Type: RJ12|
|Input Voltage: 12V||Protection Grade: IP54|
|Standby Power Consumption: 0.04W||Operating Power Consumption: 0.05W|
|Communication Range: ≤82ft||Serial Baud Rate: Fixed Baud Rate 9600bps|
|Cable Length: 5.00 m (16.4 ft)||Dimensions: 2.65 X 1.38 X 0.55 in (67.3 X 35 X 14 mm)|
|Installation Dimensions: 67.3 φ3.5mm（2.66 φ 0.14in）||Operation Temperature: -20℃~85℃（-4°F to 185°F）|
|Weight: 130g (4.58oz)|
|Accessories||1-year material warranty|
Reviews Hide Reviews
Installation and setup is very easy. The Renogy app allows you to change the settings on the Rover solar controller and view its status.
This product works great
Review of BT-1
Works seamlessly with the 30 Amp Rover. Looking forward to trying the Beta app.
This item seems a bit over-priced for its purpose. Now, if I could only get the 20 Amp MPPT Rover Charge Controller to accept it in the RS232 port without turning itself on and off, that would be great. Having said that, I feel the problem exists with the Charge Controller and not the Bluetooth Module. I rate the BT-1 4 out of 5 stars.
The module works well except the battery temperature on the app does not agree with the battery temperature on the controller. The app temperature never varies from 25C, while the temperature on the controller follows the ambient temperature and higher when the battery is charging, which is normal.
Makes checking the solar controller so easy
Installation was a breeze, plug and play. Hooked right up to the phone app Renogy BT. Good information available on the app to ensure that the system is functioning as intended. Have not yet tested the connectivity beyond 20 feet but the documentation provided quotes 82 feet. The connection cord supplied allowed me to mount the BT-1 inside the trailer away from the controller and therefore will easily hook up to the phone app anywhere in the trailer or my tow vehicle.


text:
1) Computerised Images.
If I had access to a Photoshop program over the summer, I could have reflected and rotated the images with more accuracy and detail.
2) Smaller scale.
I think they would have been a lot more interesting to be smaller and more intricate. However, if I had smaller images, it would be very time consuming to apply lots of detail successfully.
I would have liked to experiment with creating 3-dimensional forms. Trying to create unusual prisms is challenging, especially on a small scale, yet I would like to investigate this further. This would involve experimentation with materials; tissue paper held up with wire/wooden frames, folded acetate, textiles and frames etc.
If I were to create the images 3-dimensionally, depending on the material of course, small lights could be inserted, in order to see the images lit from within.
5) Hanging material/clothing.
Experimenting with the material the images hang from would professionally bring the project much nearer to an 'end point'. Solid metal links, wire, delicate paper folds, twisted textiles, are all possibilities. As well as creating embellished items of clothing.
I kept the basis of this project relatively simple, and now I feel I am at an advantage by having many ideas to continue working with, rather than feeling like I have completed any experiments on this summer project.


text:
Thousands of children with autism are being illegally excluded from school - partly because they are informally asked to leave the classroom for a few days - research has found.
Youngsters with the developmental disability are being asked to miss school trips, come to lessons part time or stay at home altogether, according to charity Ambitious about Autism.
Researchers from the charity spoke to 500 families, 1000 school staff and local councils to find how many autistic children were being excluded from school.
It found that four in 10 children with autism have been informally excluded from school temporarily - an illegal practice.
Jolanta Lasota, chief executive of Ambitious about Autism, said: "All schools are legally bound to provide quality full-time education to all pupils, including children with autism.
"Asking parents to collect their children early or putting them on part-time hours is against the law and fails to address the underlying need for schools to make reasonable adjustments to include children with autism."
More top news
Adele described performing at Glastonbury as the "best moment" of her life as she took to the Pyramid Stage.
Rain spreading eastwards throughout the day.
"His fiancee gave birth this morning, of all mornings! We were scared because we've got Glastonbury tonight", said co-singer Chloe Rhodes.

domain: sociology


text:
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Three lanes are closed and there's slow traffic due to a multi-vehicle accident on the M4 eastbound between J20 M5 (Almondsbury Interchange) and J19 M32 (Bristol).
It's in the roadworks area just after the Almondsbury Interchange.
More top news
The trust running Southmead Hospital is overspending by £250,000 a day. Overseers from London have been called in to address the problem.
Melissa Mead - whose 12-month-old son William died of sepsis when his condition was missed - has welcomed a Government awareness campaign.
Astronaut Tim Peake was earlier asked by a concerned Prince Charles whether he was fully recovered from his six month space mission.


AttraTec No. 1 - Wild Boar & Deer Attractant
Bioactive attractant for wild boar and deer on the basis of beech tar and plant-based attractant substances for use on wallows and rubbing trees.
- Immediately active, highest attractant effect!
- Easy to use, no auxiliary means necessary, all year round.
- Content sufficient for up to 20 applications.
- Clean and odourless transport and storage.
If you want to check stock availability then please call 01622 872400 or email firstname.lastname@example.org.