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The People’s Majlis is the supreme legislative authority in the country and is one of the three principal organs of the State. Unicameral in Constitution, the People’s Majlis is vested with the power to enact, revise or amend the Constitution.
The Speaker and Deputy Speaker
- The Speaker and the Deputy Speaker are elected among Members of the Majlis by secret ballot.
- The Speaker of the Majlis presides over the sittings of the Majlis. He or she is responsible for orderly debates within the Majlis by ensuring that members comply with the rules and regulations.
- The Deputy Speaker takes over responsibilities of the Speaker in his absence and assists the Speaker in the discharge of functions conferred upon him.
Structure of the People’s Majlis
The current 18th People’s Majlis is comprised of 85 elected Members, instated on 28 May 2014. The term of the People’s Majlis is 5 years.
Functions of the People’s Majlis
1. Formulating, amending and abolishing laws.
2. Amending the constitution.
3. Holding the government accountable by supervision of policies and actions.
4. Approval of State Budget.
5. Holding public referendums.
6. Determination of matters related to independent commissions and independent offices.
The Quorum of a sitting of the Majlis is 25 percent of its members. If any time during a sitting of the Majlis, quorum is lost, such sittings are then adjourned or suspended until quorum is met.
Functions of Members of Parliament
Members of the People’s Majlis should be guided in their actions by considerations of national interest and public welfare foremost, and should not exploit their official positions in any way for their own benefit or for the benefit of those with whom they have special relations. They shall represent not only their constituencies but the whole country as a whole.
There are two types of parliamentary committees in the Majlis: Standing Committees and Select Committees.
Standing Committees are permanent committees to which members are elected by the Majlis for examining Bills in detail and to conduct further review on the subject matter for a comprehensive study.
Select Committees are temporary committees elected among members to deal with a specific issue or a Bill and they cease to exist once the inquiry is over or the issue is resolved.
There are 13 Standing Committees in the Majlis. They meet regularly to study bills, issues, petitions, motions, etc. referred to them by the Majlis. During the Second Reading, the bills are debated and amendments are proposed in the Committee. Once the review of a bill is completed, the Committee will issue a report to the main Majlis outlining their findings and recommendations pertaining to the bill.
The People’s Majlis Secretariat
The administration of the People’s Majlis is served and managed by the People’s Majlis Secretariat. Independent from the Government, the People’s Majlis Secretariat is headed by the Secretary General. He is responsible for organizing the proceedings of the Majlis.

domain: law


November 29, 2010 by popseeker
DON’T EVEN BOTHER READING ANYTHING, JUST CLICK PLAY BELOW RIGHT NOW:
If by ANY chance you just watched that and it wasn’t on full volume and you didn’t get goosepimples then either you’re no true pop music fan or you are deaf, simple as.
RedOne has once again produced an absolute STONKER of a track that well and truly deserved to sit in the top spot of the charts for the next few months, and that performance by the lady herself was absolutely legendary. From the entrance to the outfits, to the live singing, to the incredible choreography, absolutely EVERYTHING in that performance said “deserved worldwide superstar” to us here at Popseeker.
The single is out to download RIGHT NOW, let’s get it to the top of the charts for next Sunday.
Also, we’d like to share this promo shot with you, because it’s so beautifully perfect:


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The rumors are true! Judges who misbehave occasionally face consequences for their actions. Well, they are anyway if their behavior is extremely outrageous and widely publicized.
And so West Virginia’s Louise E. Goldston stepped down from the bench after being publicly called out, fined and threatened with impeachment for acting more like a Bronze Age chieftain than you’d expect from a member of the US judiciary. It’s a good start for imposing some behavioral boundaries.
“On Tuesday, West Virginia Family Court Judge Louise Goldston stepped down from her position amid a legislative effort to impeach her for violating the rights of West Virginia residents,” the Institute for Justice reported last week. “The Goldston impeachment resolution specifically mentions the judge conducting the warrantless search of Institute for Justice (IJ) client Matt Gibson’s home. Despite her retirement, Matt and IJ will continue to move forward with their lawsuit against Goldston.”
In March 2020, Goldston led an impromptu trip to Gibson’s home to settle a post-divorce dispute between Gibson and his ex-wife, who claimed Gibson still owned some of her property. There, Goldston ordered a warrantless search of the home, refused Gibson’s request to stand down and ordered him to stand by while officers canvassed the scene. While Gibson was prohibited from recording the proceedings, he secretly recorded some audio, a neighbor made a video from outside, and a bailiff at the scene also made an audio recording.
The details of the case were reported in 2020 by Chris Dickerson from West Virginia record, which documents legal matters. Goldston faced disciplinary proceedings on charges related to compliance with the law, trust in the judiciary, avoiding abuse of prestige, impartiality and integrity, outside influences, competence, diligence and cooperation, and extrajudicial activities in general.
“Goldston admitted that she did not inform Gibson of the purpose of the home visit and did not give him an opportunity to object,” Dickerson added. “She also said she thought it was proper to visit parties’ homes. In fact, she said she had done so 11 times on different occasions over the years.”
She was not alone. Last summer, during the denial of Goldston’s judicial immunity claim (a rare event indeed; you’re welcome), Bailiff Jeff McPeake and Deputy Bobby Stump, who are also being sued, testified that these formalized home invasions are quite common in local courts.
“The record raises a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the Raleigh County Commission had the requisite municipal policy of allowing police officers to participate in house searches with family court judges of the type at issue here,” U.S. District Judge Frank Volk wrote.
This was a year after West Virginia courts had already censured Goldston, as civil rights attorney John W. Bryan, who represented Gibson, noted at the time.
There was no end to Goldston’s consequences either. The judge’s sly courtroom shenanigans attracted the attention of the press and then the West Virginia Legislature. In January, lawmakers began impeachment proceedings against Goldston (a three-time president of the West Virginia Family Court Judges Association who, by the way, had the worst performance on the bench since 1994) “for violating the constitutional civil rights of the citizens of West Virginia, violating the constitutional separation of powers, incompetence, neglect of duty , and some serious crimes and misdemeanors.”
The resolution was sponsored by 11 members of the West Virginia House of Delegates. Wisely, Goldston decided this was an opportune moment to find a non-judicial pursuit to devote her energies to.
Maybe he will bring some friends with him.
“As of today, I just discovered this breaking news: two more family court judges in West Virginia have also been indicted for their roles in conspiring to help Judge Goldston avoid disciplinary action,” attorney Bryan wrote on February 1.
Family Court Judges Deanna R. Rock and Glen R. Stotler appear to have sought employment from people who investigated Goldston’s misconduct and more a judge prone to tripping. Now they are in trouble too.
That’s a lot of judges in hot water, which is rare. The doctrine of judicial immunity has long protected judges from any real consequences for their wrongdoing, as long as those actions are clearly within the scope of their job.
“As early as 1872, the Court recognized that ‘it is a general principle of the greatest importance for the proper administration of justice that a judicial officer, in the exercise of the powers entrusted to him, [should] to be free to act upon his own convictions, without fear of personal consequences to himself,'” according to the US Supreme Court in Stump vs. Sparkman (1978), a case in which an Indiana judge ordered the sterilization of a mildly retarded 15-year-old girl.
As is the tendency with privileges for government officials, the doctrine grew.
“The recent expansion of the judge-ordered exception to the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1871, the primary means of redress for civil rights violations, has made state judges immune from suit for even the most bizarre, corrupt, or abusive judicial practices,” Robert Craig Waters he argued in a 1987 article for The Cato Journal. “Over the past decade, this ‘doctrine of judicial immunity’ has led to a disturbing set of legal precedents that effectively deny citizens any compensation for the injuries, inconveniences and wrongful imprisonment caused by errant judges.”
But Goldston and friends pushed their luck so far that they finally found the outer limit of their colleagues’ indulgence.
“Judicial immunity is reserved for judicial actions, and the search of someone’s home is not a judicial action,” the Institute for Justice points out regarding the current case. “Just as police officers cannot act like judges, judges cannot act like police officers. The trial court correctly recognized this principle and denied Goldston judicial immunity for her actions.”
Importantly, this case also defines the limits of the public’s and legislators’ patience with judicial shenanigans. Judges can currently only cover each other; something’s bound to give when high-handed behavior infuriates the people the justice system is supposed to serve.
That still leaves a lot of room for the referees. But, after the Goldston case, it seems judges can’t really search our homes on their own.


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A century of innovation and commitment to quality is behind our worldwide supply of machinery to pulpmill, sawmill, panel board and biomass facilities. We are relentless in our efforts to help mills produce the highest quality fiber and achieve the greatest return on investment.
Acrowood has been engineering and manufacturing heavy equipment for the forest products industry since 1892, when the Pacific Northwest’s logging industry was at its height. Backed by more than a century of experience, the Everett, Washington-based company specializes in large and high capacity machines to create, screen and clean wood chips, sawdust, shavings and debarking.
A high quality chipper built by folks that know what it takes to produce quality chips with a chipper built to stand up with low maintenance cost. Look closely at what makes a chipper produce consistent quality chips and the Acrowood is the only answer. I’ve never seen a chipper take the constant high volume of wood we put through our Acrowood, we are extremely pleased with this chipper.
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Tel: 1 (425) 258-3555
Fax: 1 (425) 252-7622


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Ted Turner: ‘War is Obsolete’
Ted Turner regrets losing his job at Time Warner, his wife, Jane Fonda, and $7 billion of his fortune. In a Bloomberg interview out yesterday he also says we’ll get out of Afghanistan:
“War is obsolete…The last time someone surrendered was Japan and that was 60 years ago. The Afghans will never surrender. We will just get tired and come home. We’ve already given up on Iraq and there’s oil in Iraq, there’s no oil in Afghanistan.”
Always colorfully quotable, the man who pledged a billion dollars in 1997 to establish the United Nations Foundation compares his charitable giving to passing around a joint:
“If you were around at the time, I gave everybody a hundred thousand dollars if they came up with anything,” Turner said. “I just couldn’t hold onto it. I wanted to keep it moving. I get a dollar, I give it to you, you spend it, somebody else gets it. You know, pass it around. You know, it’s kind of like a joint — you just pass it around, light it up, you know, share with your friends.”
The CNN founder and Atlanta billionaire has dropped to number 196 on the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans. Balloon Juice’s DougJ chooses to quote Ted joking about losing billions. As does Jerome Armstrong.
Turner remains a business man I admire, both for his media innovations and for his philanthropy.

domain: news


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domain: artistic


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The “Dark Sun…” special TV broadcast for Persona 5 the Animation will take place in Japan on December 30, 2018 at midnight.
Tagged: Key art
Key visuals have been revealed for the November 25, 2018 Persona 5 the Animation cast event called “Masquerade Party.”
The cover for the fifth Blu-ray and DVD volume of Persona 5 the Animation has been released, along with a special visual for events.
Atlus showed off the Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth animated cutscene showing the 1st meeting between both P3 Protagonists, and released official key art.
Atlus has released a large number of direct feed screenshots for the upcoming Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, as part of a Japanese press release.
Full character art for the BanG Dream! Girls Band Party x Persona series collaboration has been revealed, along with additional details.
The second cour of the anime adaptation for Persona 5 will begin on July 7, 2018, and the key visual for it has been revealed.
Atlus has opened up the official site and released new details for the “Persona Show Case” event, which will be the launch event for Persona 3: Dancing Moon Night and Persona 5: Dancing Star Night.
The eighth promotional key art for Persona 5 the Animation has been released, this time featuring Haru Okumura.
The seventh promotional key art for Persona 5 the Animation has been released, this time featuring Futaba Sakura.

domain: entertainment


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When writing a brief note on Sally Hemings [c. 1773 CE – 1835 CE] a bit of context might be deemed necessary. As an American male of European heritage, I do not claim to fully understand the dynamics of the evils of slavery, especially when complicated and intensified by issues of sex and child bearing. My years living as a racial minority in China’s Sichuan Province in the 1980s do not qualify me to discuss the Black Experience in the United States, however enlightening it may have been to be held to be representative of a people the women of which were often considered bad smelling and promiscuous, though not particularly fertile, and the men of which were usually thought of as physically strong but generally none too bright.
Fortunately since 1998 when the process of modern reevaluation of the relationship of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson began in earnest, there have been many thoughtful analyses of the racial aspects of their connection, as well as a few stalwart dissenters from the historical consensus that written records, DNA analysis, and oral tradition all support the contention that Jefferson fathered six children by his slave, four of whom survived.
There are many issues of interest, including the rationale behind Hemings’ return to Virginia and slavery from Paris, where she could have petitioned for her freedom. There is an oral tradition that indicates Sally may have been pregnant as she returned from Paris, and was told by Jefferson that he would emancipate their children. The relationship was, to say the least, complex.
One of the complications sometimes underemphasized is the fact that Sally was evidently the younger half-sister of Jefferson’s wife Martha Wayles, who died in 1782.
John Wayles, Martha Wayles Jefferson ’s father, took Sally Hemings’ mother, a mulatto slave named Betty Hemings, as his concubine after his third wife died. They had 6 children over the course of 12 years, all born into slavery. Sally, née Sarah, appears to have been born in July of 1773, two months after the death of her father, 25 years after the birth of her half-sister Martha, and 30 years after the birth of Jefferson. Sally’s relationship with Jefferson appears to have begun about 1787, when she at the age of 14 accompanied Jefferson’s youngest legitimate daughter to Paris, where the future President was living as a 44 year-old widower. Some hold, however, the liaison did not begin until they returned to Monticello in 1789.
There seems to be something a bit strange about having a sexual liaison with your dead wife’s younger half-sister. Jefferson was never entirely conventional about religion, but in any case relationships between a widower and his dead wife’s sister fell into a gray area in which local custom played nearly as great a role as the Table of Kindred in The Book of Common Prayer and the doctrines of Canon Law regarding prohibition of marriage between individuals related by marriage and blood. Legal clarity, such as it was, in the English-speaking world was not provided until much later: the United Kingdom’s Marriage Act 1835 prohibited unions of widowers with their wife’s sisters, but sanctioned such unions as already existed. The Deceased Wife’s Sister Marriage Act 1907 allowed such relationships, while permitting individual members of the clergy to refuse on grounds of conscience to conduct marriages which would previously have been prohibited.
The practice of taking slaves as concubines in pre-Civil War Virginia, as evidenced by both Jefferson and his father-in-law, deplorable as it was on many grounds, seems almost straightforward by comparison.
The psychology of a man who would maintain a relationship with his dead wife’s half-sister might in some ways be as disturbing as the psychology of a man who would choose to have such relationship with a slave he owned, or a woman 30 years his junior.
As interesting, and possibly less pathological, is the psychology of a woman in such a relationship. It is probably too facile to draw parallels with the putative domestic slavery of most unenfranchised married white women of the day, or to ascribe her accommodation and compromises entirely to internalization of the limits chattel slavery placed upon its victims. But few circumstances illuminate the weirdness underlying the peculiar institution of slavery more intriguingly than the contrast between the situations of Sally Hemings and her half-sister Martha.
- The comments of John and Abigail Adams about Jefferson, and Hemings, in their correspondence are usually written off as hostile sniping by Jefferson’s partisans, but seldom demonstrated to be factually inaccurate: there are many collections of their letters.
- Joshua Rothman’s Notorious in the Neighborhood: Sex and Families across the Color Line in Virginia, 1787 -1861 starts with a description of the Hemings-Jefferson affair, and proceeds to provide a scholarly, detailed, and perceptive analysis of the relationship of the races in the pre-segregation days of outright slavery.
- Gordon Reed’s The Hemingses of Monticello chronicles the family’s history, including the entry of many of the descendants into white society.

domain: library


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Divisional Dean for the Social Sciences
Professor of History, Spatial Sciences and Environmental Studies
As the divisional dean for the social sciences, William Deverell helps coordinate strategic planning in research and faculty recruitment and retention across social science departments and programs. He is an American historian with a focus on the nineteenth and twentieth century American West and has appointments in the USC Dornsife Van Hunnick Department of History; Spatial Sciences Institute; and Environmental Studies Program. He has written works on political, social, ethnic, and environmental history. He is the founding director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West (please see the Institute’s website for more information: website (www.usc.edu/icw). He is one of founding directors of the Los Angeles Service Academy, a high school outreach initiative that teaches high school students about the infrastructural networks of Southern California (LAServiceAcademy.org). He also directs the USC Libraries Collections Convergence Initiative. His graduate students at USC work on a variety of topics on the history of the West, ranging from the region’s racial and ethnic history, to the rise of conservative politics in the Southwest, and the western U.S. connections to and across the Pacific Rim. Current projects include the Chinatown History Project and the West on Fire Initiative.

domain: geography


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Today in this recipe, I’ll show you How to Make Pie Crust Cookies or you can say that you will know the great recipe How to Make Pie Crust Cookies, today. So, without wasting time let’s start:
For numerous bakers, the homemade pie crust is paramount. While fillings such as pumpkin, apple, and cherry are delightful, a deliciously flaky crust is a must-have. What if you could create a dessert that brings out the best features of the pie crust? Cookies and pie crust make the ideal match. These small cookies are quickly assembled. They are based in a pie crust and are dusted with cinnamon sugar to add some spiciness.
Ingredients For Make Pie Crust Cookies
- One pie crust, either homemade or purchased
- Two teaspoons of sugar, granulated
- One-third cup light brown sugar
- two tsp of cinnamon
- One egg
- One tablespoon of milk
Directions For Make Pie Crust Cookies
Roll out your pie crust
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper to have it ready. Turn the oven on to 425°F. After flouring the rolling pin, roll out the dough to a thickness of about 1/4 inch.
Slice the cookies
Cut the dough into circles with a cookie cutter. Place every dough piece on the baking sheet that has been prepared.
Use an egg wash brush
Before baking, brush the dough with egg wash to achieve the perfect golden pie crust cookies! Whisk the egg and milk together in a small bowl. Apply the egg wash on the cookies’ tops.
Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar
Combine the cinnamon, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a separate small bowl. Dredge each cookie generously in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Bake the cookies
Put the baking sheet inside the oven. Bake the cookies for 12 minutes, or until the tops are brown and the cookies are fluffy. Take out of the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for ten minutes, then take them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Recipe Variations for Pie Crust Cookies
Do you dislike cinnamon? Ignore it. To decorate the top of these cookies, use only sugar.
No cinnamon sugar
Just use the egg wash for a straightforward treat.
Like other cutout cookies, pie crust cookies can be shaped in any way. Use other shapes of cookie cutters instead than a circular one. This is a fantastic chance to use adorable cookie cutters with holiday themes!
Conclusion(How to Make Pie Crust Cookies)
So, this is all about “How to Make Pie Crust Cookies” from our side. And we hope that you understand and like the Recipe. Please share your ideas and recommendations in the comments section below!

domain: food


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We had an amazing conversation with author of "Johari the Great," Naomi Dunsen-White. She shared her passion for diversity and inclusion in our schools, her love of reading and writing and the Kickstarter campaign for her latest book, "Why Am I Here?" So before October 13th, let's help her reach and exceed her goal. [Successful Kickstarter Campaign ended October 14, 2021]
Stories of a Colorful World
SOCW Author Conversation Naomi Dunsen-White
September 24, 2021
Naomi V. Dunsen-White is a children’s book author who seeks to inspire children with messages of diversity, purpose and pursuit of their dreams. She believes that all children have a gift within them, just waiting to be discovered. It’s up to us, the adults in their lives, to help them discover it. Positive representation of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) characters in children's literature is of utmost importance to Naomi. She supports and shares the work of the Children’s Cooperative Book Collective (CCBC) in its research on the lack of diversity in children’s books. Believing that every child deserves to see characters in their books who look like them, Naomi strives to make a difference by raising awareness about the need for equity in the children’s book industry.
As a former foster care specialist and educator, Naomi believes the academic and therapeutic benefits of children’s books far outweigh the entertainment value. She loves writing stories that encourage children to use their creativity, imagination, and discover their unlimited potential. Her debut book, “Johari The Great,” features an African American student, inspired by his teacher to use his imagination to write. In doing so, he discovers his greatness and the gift he has inside! This engaging story encourages reading, writing and the reward of setting and pursuing goals. Naomi focuses on vocabulary and reading comprehension as stepping stones to reading excellence, and includes worksheets in her books to enhance learning and encourage family discussion.
Naomi is also an editor, specializing in children’s and YA books. Her dream is to establish a nonprofit organization that promotes diversity and equity in literacy, and provides coaching, support and publishing assistance to independent BIPOC children’s authors, and ultimately distribute their books to communities in need. Naomi resides in Novi, Michigan.
You can follow for more updates about Naomi and her books on Instagram @naomibooksllc.
For more author conversations and books featuring BIPOC characters by BIPOC authors, head over to www.storiesofacolorfulworld.com.


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Report for Changes
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Profile of Dr Vandana Singh
Dr Vandana Singh, MBBS, MS is a renowned ENT Specialist in Faridabad currently practicing at
Santosh Multispeciality Hospital located at 3F/139 Metro Road New Industrial Twp 3A New Industrial Town Landmark Near Gurgaon Faridabad Highway . Dr Vandana Singh is highly skilled and experienced in treating major and minor ent diseases. Some of the best treatments provided by the doctor are ent diseases treatment, ear infection treatment, foreign body throat examination, general ent checkup, nasal disorders treatment, nose disease etc.
Services of Dr Vandana Singh
Ear Infection Treatment
Foreign Body Throat Examination
General ENT Checkup
Nasal Disorders Treatment
Ear Micro Surgery
Nasal Bone Fracture Surgery
Salivary Gland Surgery
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domain: medical


Segment 1 - Teresa introduces the show and reports the news of the day.
Segment 2 - Teresa's Two Cents - Teresa talks about the Catholic Women's Conference in Marquette, MI this weekend that she will be speaking at. Click here for details.
Segment 3 - Chelsea Gheesling is the Founder of Good Girl Comeback. She's here to tell us all about the group and their upcoming conferences in Orchard Lake and Flushing, MI next month.
Segment 4 - Robert Muise is with the American Freedom Law Center. He's here to tell us about a new case he is working on concerning an Ann Arbor resident who is suing the City of Ann Arbor for banning anti-abortion signs displayed outside of a local Planned Parenthood office.


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I'd still be outraged about them opening fire on people without warning just for driving trucks, but if they took him into custody, then no.
The fact of the matter is that the police only have the authority to use violence and destroy property if...
1) They have a warrant
2) To protect the innocent
3) To subdue someone who is VIOLENTLY resisting (and if they had shot Dorner while he was engaged in a shooting fight, that'd be fine). They're supposed to use the minimum amount of force necessary. This is a bad precedent to set to allow the cops to burn down houses and fire at innocent people without warning. The cops were the ones putting the public in danger during this manhunt.


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- Spotify will soon let you block R. Kelly Monday 6:01 PM
- New Click to Pray app lets you pray with Pope Francis Monday 5:30 PM
- Social media influencer known for hiking in bikinis dead at 36 Monday 4:54 PM
- Trump posts altered pics on social media to make fingers look longer, report Monday 3:20 PM
- Twitch user banned after telling woman to ‘kill yourself’ during stream Monday 3:06 PM
- Facebook introduces ‘Community Actions’ tool to petition the government Monday 2:04 PM
- Sarah Sanders, NRA deliver truly misguided MLK tributes today Monday 12:58 PM
- MAGA teen who confronted Native elder says he ‘respects all races’ Monday 12:57 PM
- Popular YouTube channel in danger of disappearing because of copyright claims Monday 12:24 PM
- The Krassensteins’ Reddit AMA gets trolled off the internet Monday 12:08 PM
- No, Trump didn’t break open the Pizzagate scandal in 2011 Monday 11:23 AM
- Producer of anti-abortion film says Facebook refuses to run his ads Monday 10:58 AM
- Ja Rule thinks he was also a victim of Fyre Fest Monday 10:21 AM
- YouTube beef between RiceGum and H3H3 gets ugly—and personal Monday 10:02 AM
- ‘Fox & Friends’ accidentally airs obituary graphic for Ruth Bader Ginsburg Monday 9:40 AM
2 injured in Las Vegas trans bar shooting—yet media remains nowhere to be found
And activists are furious.
A transgender bar in Las Vegas experienced a shooting last Friday, leaving at least two injured from gunfire. But despite ongoing concerns over gun violence in America, the shooting went unreported by news outlets across the country, sparking outrage from trans activists
The Feb. 23 shooting took place at the Las Vegas Lounge, a local transgender bar sporting a trans flag on the outside. Shots broke out around 5:15am, leaving at least two injured, two initial reports from both the Las Vegas Review-Journal and local station KVVU reveal. The shooter is unidentified and still at large.
For now, Captain Kelly McMahill from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police stressed that there isn’t enough information to say that the incident is a hate crime. But she stressed that she would “never rule that out,” according to a report by the T.R.A.N.S. Network. An investigation appears to be ongoing, and police have “a good lead on who the suspect is.”
One victim, a Black transgender woman named Callie Lou-Bee Haywood, was shot in the leg after the shooter opened fire. Days later, the attack left her with shattered and broken bones in her leg, which cause her “excruciating” pain. She has since criticized both the media and the larger LGBTQ community, calling the incident a hate crime that has remained ignored by the outside world
“How is it that a whole transsexual bar get shot up and there is NO coverage?” Haywood said in a public Facebook post. “This was merely a hate crime! No LGBT Community having our backs? What’s going on?”
How is it that a whole transsexual bar get shot up and there is NO coverage? This was merely a hate crime! No LGBT Community having our backs? What's going on? 🤔❤
Despite the fact that America is still reeling from the Parkland high school shooting from earlier this month, LGBTQ people fear the media is selectively covering shootings, particularly ones that impact the Black transgender community. Only one major website, the queer online magazine INTO, covered the incident in detail. And in light of the magazine’s report, trans allies and activists are turning to Twitter in outrage, demanding the world pay attention to violence against the trans community.
This weekend, a trans bar was shot up. Las Vegas Lounge is the only transgender club in Las Vegas, and one of only THREE left in the US. Someone shot through windows draped in the trans flag, targeting the people inside. Where is the coverage? https://t.co/pYqDOTm4Ku
— Mahdia Lynn (@MahdiaLynn) February 27, 2018
Why do we yell about other things yet whisper about this!? L, G, and B left the T hangin. Smh 🙄🏳🌈 where? https://t.co/xUXAS3Oj4i
— Ruby Fuala'au (@rubyfualaau) February 27, 2018
Las Vegas trans bar latest scene of gun violence in America:https://t.co/pvlJQLrD2Z
— Morgan M Page (@morganmpage) February 27, 2018
One activist is even trying to get a hashtag going, #WeDemandTransCoverage, stressing that media outlets must make room for stories that impact the trans community. Others are tweeting at major LGBTQ figures, asking them to shed a spotlight on what happened at the Las Vegas Lounge.
It’s disgusting that this happened, but more disgusting that no media aside from a focused website bothered to cover it. Even other LGB media didn’t cover this story of VIOLENCE AGAINST TRANS PEOPLE.
Here’s a hashtag for you #WeDemandTransCoverage
— Raven The Shepherd (@RavenT_Shepherd) February 27, 2018
— David D. Garcia (@DavidDGarcia1) February 27, 2018
@ladygaga @maddow @HamillHimself @Lawrence @JoyAnnReid @allinwithchris @MarkRuffalo @votevets @Alyssa_Milano #SayTheirName These shootings deserve coverage too. These lives matter too. https://t.co/7ugTzNqSgb
— Lynda Aulenti (@fl_lynda) February 27, 2018
Transphobia against the transgender community remains prominent, with Black transgender women particularly impacted by institutional oppression throughout the United States. For LGBTQ activists, the Las Vegas Lounge shooting’s coverage (or lack thereof) is just another example of a larger pattern of bigotry and apathy hurting transgender people every day.
Ana Valens is an LGBTQ reporter and essayist for the Daily Dot. Her work has previously appeared in Bitch, the Establishment, Vice's Waypoint, Rolling Stone's Glixel, and the Toast. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

domain: sociology


KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday rejected the application of the dismissed employees of the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), demanding restoration of their services. The Supreme Court of Pakistan vide Judgement dated August 17, 2021, in civil Appeal No. 497 of 2072, titled “Muhammad Afzal and others” has declared Sacked Employees Act 2010 as ultra vires of the Constitution. The SHC bench terming the application not acceptable for hearing directed the sacked employees of the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) to contact the Supreme Court (SC) for review. It is to be noted that the SSGC, in adherence with the judgement of the SC, had relieved 1951 individuals, including 385 Executives and 1566 subordinates, from their service that were reinstated under the Sacked Employees (Reinstatement) Ordinance 2009/ 2010 /Act 2010 with immediate effect. The Supreme Court abolished the Sacked Employees (Reinstatement) Ordinance Act of 2010, ruling that the legislation enacted by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government did not fulfil the criteria set down by the court in many cases.


This article is over two days old and may contain outdated advice from the authorities regarding the koronasmitten.
Keep yourself updated in The overview, or through the FHIs website.
Low infection rates in the North of Norway gives time to rig capacity in the intensivavdelingene and in the prehospitale services, so that, to a greater extent are aware about it are more seriously ill, according to the Aps helsepolitiske spokesperson Ingvild Kjerkol.
– Therefore, I understand that in Northern Norway at this time want to drive a stricter line with regard to quarantine and innreisekontroll from the South-Norway, while preparing the health system and building out intensivkapasiteten, ” she says to NTB.
Aps helsetopp Ingvild Kjerkol understand that a number of municipalities in Northern Norway at this time want to drive a stricter line with regard to quarantine and innreisekontroll from the South of Norway.
Photo: Pål Hansen / NRK
Kjerkol points out that Northern Norway has a more fragile health than other parts of the country. The distances are greater, intensivkompetansen further away and anestesilegene and spesialsykepleierne fewer.
the Entire Health in the North has, in principle, only 26 intensivplasser.
Read also: Strict municipalities in the north think the country should learn from them – Undermines the trust
This is based on the professional smittevernråd from kommuneleger. Currently it has North-Norway 0,13 infected per 1.000 inhabitants, while Oslo has 0,65.
the Municipalities in the north asks for dialogue with national authorities about how you together can prevent “the infection spreads quickly from the south to our region”.
From: the Mayors of Alta, Bodø and Tromsø To: Government– the Background for karantenekravene in our municipalities, is that we currently have a relatively favorable situation with get infected, and it is important to limit the main purpose of this legislation.
Kjerkol calls for “clear and thoughtful answers” on why one national will not support local karanteneregler.
– the Government risks to undermine the confidence in the recommendations from the local smittevernleger, after smittevernloven carries the academic responsibility, she points out.
Read more: the Government will remove the southerner-quarantine, but municipalities in the north, refuses Here closed the schools five days before the rest of the Uk – warns against to modify the demands – Need to weighed
Health – and care services ms. Bent Tall (H) says the government in all areas have to weigh the effect of the measures against the negative consequences. In this case, considered the negative effects that are larger than the positive, ” he says.
I hope the municipalities are listening to, say High to the NTB.
– It is not the case that every action that may seem smittebegrensende, nevertheless, is a good measure, because the social consequences can be very negative.
High, says the health and other important social institutions can be affected by local karanteneregler.
May affect the business
the ministry of Justice and beredskapsminister Monica Mæland (H) responds that the matter of the individual being tried is portrayed as a conflict between Northern Norway and the rest of the country.
It seems we should keep ourselves for the good in the situation we are now in, ” she says.
the ministry of Justice and beredskapsminister Monica Mæland says local karanteneregler can lead to challenges for the business world
Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB
the Minister emphasizes that she has great respect for that local politicians makes decisions to protect its residents, but that local karanteneregler can lead to challenges for the business community.
– It is not good for the country if the shipbuilding industry in Møre and Romsdal that could have survived, now goes over the end of the world, ” says Mæland.
More about koronaviruset OversiktSiste nyttSpørsmålNyhetsbrev


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Queensland Governor Dr Jeanette Young has personally thanked the 260 members of the Moreton Region SES Unit for their work during the flood emergency.
Dr Young visited the unit’s Murrumba Downs headquarters on Sunday.
Fifty volunteers and officers representing the seven groups which make up the unit were present.
She spoke to each asking of their experiences and their length of volunteering service.
The Governor commended the group overall and praised many volunteers personally.
She also thanked families for supporting the volunteers.
Her Excellency heard the unit had already completed nearly 2500 flood-related tasks and had clocked-up 5000 hours.
But for some of the volunteers present, the work was not over as they left to complete the last six outstanding requests for assistance.
See our photo gallery from the flood here


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|Content||Tarantula by Advanced Nutrients is a liquid blend of beneficial microbes and secondary bud- developing elements. Tarantula increases your growth rate and yield, strengthens roots, and protects by using specially-bred beneficial microbes.
Made from beneficial microbes
Increase yield and growth rate
Protects plant and strengthens roots||Overdrive®
Overdrive Your Plants for their Strongest Finish
During the final weeks of bloom phase your plants need the ingredients in Overdrive to maintain flower maturation, flower growth, and overall vigor. Many growers neglect the last weeks of bloom phase, but now you can kick it into Overdrive for a strong finish and get bigger smiles at harvest time.
After your peak bloom phase, your plants enter their late bloom phase (the precise timing and length of which depends on the plant strain you’re growing). By that time, most growers don’t expect to see much more floral development ahead. Instead of accepting this, you can get even more out of your plants during the finishing phase with Overdrive. When you use Overdrive, you’ll reinvigorate your crops with a second wind. Your buds will pack on more weight and density by filling their structures with extra essential oils –well past the point when the late bloom phase typically shows signs of slowing down. This, in turn, will give you much bigger yields when harvest day dawns. And with additional essential oils come better flavors, fragrances, and colors, not to mention protection from oxidative stress from a powerful antioxidant: ascorbic acid. Apply Overdrive to your garden today and get more out of the last weeks of bloom. As always, our Grower Guarantee ensures your 100% satisfaction at zero risk.||One Gardening Secret You’ve Got to Know
Have you ever met a grower who fed his crops the best nutrients and they still gave him weak performance and small harvests?
In many cases, there’s a hidden problem that blocks plants from absorbing nutrients. The problem involves what chemists call “pH.” This term describes the relative alkalinity and acidity of the water and root zone media your plants grow with.
If you want your plants to grow quickly and produce fantastic harvests time after time, you need to carefully balance the pH of your hydroponics root zone and nutrient water.
You’ve got to be a bit of a chemist to do this, and you’ve got to use Advanced Nutrients pH Up and pH Down to carefully regulate pH levels so plants can absorb maximum nutrients and grow well.
Acidity and alkalinity are extremely important factors in your crop’s water and root zone. Ideal pH for your plants is 5.8-6.3. A pH reading out of that range indicates conditions that very much decrease your plants’ ability to take in hydroponics nutrients, grow well, and produce large harvests.
If pH is too extremely out of range, your plants may die!
We advise you to do daily monitoring and adjustment of pH. Whether you’re using hydroponics, sphagnum moss, coco coir, rockwool, aeroponics, soil, or other types of gardening technology, you need a pH meter and pH adjustment formulas like Advanced Nutrients pH Down and pH Up.||Heal Your Plants And Give Them The Best Chance Of Survival With This Specific Formula…
After hundreds of different tests and experiments with our types of plants in a variety of hydroponics garden types including rockwool, coco coir, aeroponics and soil this team of scientists determined a specific blend of nutrients and healing ingredients… delivered as fast as possible… is the best way to ensure your plants survive and rejuvenate when they’re in trouble.
After extensive research, experimentation and extensive testing, the team at Advanced Nutrients developed their exclusive REVIVE formula.
REVIVE is an easy to use formula that works with all types of gardens… can be added to your hydroponics solutions or used in a foliar spray… AND… is specifically created to rejuvenate the types of high-value plants we grow.
The proprietary formula rushes highly-chelated iron, zinc, calcium, nitrogen and other crucial nutrients directly into your plant’s cells to give them the maximum healing power they need…||The Advanced Nutrients Starter Kit is a comprehensive introduction to the brand that goes beyond the seven products found inside the box.
pH Perfect® Sensi Grow Part A&B: Advanced Nutrients’ two-part pH Perfect® Sensi Grow base nutrients prime plants for a profitable bloom phase. Both parts come complete with the company’s proprietary pH Perfect® Technology, which works around the clock to keep pH levels in their sweet spot.
pH Perfect® Sensi Bloom Part A&B: This two-part base nutrient system provides plants with comprehensive nutrition for promoting a bountiful bloom cycle. Growers can also depend on the same pH Perfect® Technology featured in Sensi Grow for a streamlined and seamless flowering phase.
Voodoo Juice: Growers rely on Voodoo Juice to feed their root zones with select strains of bacteria, specially chosen to promote the optimum vegetation cycle. Not only does a stronger root zone directly impact the grow cycle: the bacteria in this root mass expander also produces natural biostimulants that directly benefit the bloom phase.
B-52: People take B vitamins when they’re stressed or need a quick energy boost; similarly, professional growers give their plants B vitamins, especially during cloning, seedling phase, early growth, and bloom phase. B-52 contains an exclusive menu of B vitamins and other ingredients that reduce stress and allow the plant to focus its energy on bud production.
Bud Candy: Achieve sweeter buds with Bud Candy, the industry’s leading horticultural carbohydrates formula. Advanced Nutrients’ scientists identified the exact carbohydrates necessary to support a fruitful harvest, and added the crucial plant nutrient magnesium to bolster the formula’s effectiveness.
Big Bud®: Big Bud is a technically advanced bloom phase supplement engineered to make growers happy at harvest time. It provides forms of the nutrients and L-amino acids that plants require during bloom phase. A longtime favorite of cannabis cup winners, Big Bud features premium ratios of phosphorus and potassium that are crucial for bloom phase growth and photosynthesis.
Overdrive®: Overdrive is a late-season bloom booster engineered for the last quarter of bloom phase. This popular Advanced Nutrients additive is carefully crafted to assist plants as they approach the end of their life cycle. When other growers’ plants are slowing down, a bloom phase that includes Overdrive will be packing on weight.||As you can see, beneficial fungi are a valuable tool you use to maximize your gardens production. But please remember that it matter what type of fungi you use. You need to add the right types of the two major categories of beneficial fungi.
Funny thing is, plant scientists used to assert that endomycorrhiza were the only type of fungi that inserted themselves into root cells, and that the ecto variety stayed outside roots.
New research conducted by our scientists reveals that super-strains of ecto and endo beneficial fungi both penetrate roots, so they have designated these strains as a mega-category called “ectendomycorrhiza.”
The good news is that whatever you call them, beneficial fungi form a web of root enhancement called a “fungal mycelium.”|
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domain: agronomy


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Davivenda Snaps up HSBC’s CentAm Assets
HSBC has sold operations in 3 Central American countries to Colombia’s Davivienda for $801m, as the global bank continues to cut back in LatAm The move also marks a big step for Colombia’s largest bank in its ambitious expansion plans abroad, allowing it to grow some 20%. In the all-cash deal, Davivienda takes over HSBC’s retail, corporate, commercial and insurance businesses in Costa Rica, El Salvador and Honduras, a network of 136 branches. As of September,...
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domain: finance


text: Born in 1971 in Tangier, Morocco, Narjiss Nejjar is both a filmmaker and a screenwriter. She made her first documentary film in 1994 L’exigence de la dignité (The Demand for Dignity). In 1998, she co-produced the documentary series Les Salines (The Saltworks). She is the author of a novel published in 1999, Cahiers d’Empreintes (Imprints’ Notebooks). Her first fiction feature Les Yeux Secs (The Dry Eyes), 2003, was selected at the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs in Cannes, at the FIFF, at Marrakech Festival and obtained numerous honors.


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*SOLD* '63 Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilt Builder Select 1963 Stratocaster Relic - Yuriy Shishkov White Strat, Tortoise Guard
2015 Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilt Builder Select Strat Relic! Truly a special Strat by Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilder Yuriy Shishkov! This guitar has everything you'd ever want in a vintage...
2015 Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilt Builder Select Strat Relic!
Truly a special Strat by Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilder Yuriy Shishkov! This guitar has everything you'd ever want in a vintage strat without the issues and huge price tag. This guitar has wonderful playability with the 9.5" radius and the classic strat tones and response that you've been longing for. The guitar is minty with very little fret wear and is all original. Comes with the original hardshell case and all the case candy as shown.
"This inspired example of Shishkov’s luthiery reflects an instrument that has been played with loving respect versus careless abandon. The Aged Arctic White Journeyman Relic® finish shows the marks of countless gigs over the years. The quartersawn ’60s “C”-shaped maple neck reflects a master’s touch—a smooth, silky finish on the front and lack of finish on the back, where the player’s hands would caress the neck. “The neck is the part handled the most,“ Shishkov said, “so it had to be comfortable and reflect a well-loved instrument.” Using authentic ’60s-era construction techniques, Shishkov created an eminently playable 9.5”-radius round-lam rosewood fingerboard with 21 jumbo frets to top off this exceptional neck.
The Custom Shop Hand-Wound ’60s Strat® Single-Coil pickups include a reverse-wound, reverse polarity middle pickup for hum-free playing while accurately recreating classic Fender tone and dynamic response. In a personal touch, Shishkov included a modern five-way pickup switch along with Vintage Modified Stratocaster wiring. The traditional master volume and neck pickup tone controls are left unmodified, while the second tone control affects the middle and bridge pickups. Period-accurate touches include a responsive six-saddle American Vintage synchronized tremolo, nickel/chrome hardware and nitrocellulose lacquer finish—allowing the guitar’s body to breathe with extra resonance and a more natural sound."
• Arctic White Relic Finish
• Select Alder Body
• Quartersawn Maple Neck
• Rosewood Fingerboard
• 25.5" Scale Length
• Bone Nut
• 1.650" Nut Width
• 9.5" Radius
• 21 Frets
• Oval "C" Neck Shape that gets fairly thick like a real '63
• Fender Custom Shop Handwound '60s Strat Single-Coil Pickups
• Brown Tolex Case
Weight: 7.6 lbs.
Fast WORLDWIDE Shipping Available! Please contact us for more details.
For additional photos, please check out our website!
Thanks from KC Vintage Guitars!

domain: design


text:
With the nominal growth expected at 7.5% this year, which is lower than the budget estimate of 11%, the fiscal deficit may breach its target of 3.3%.
The rise in retail inflation, though sharp, hides a more important statistic which is core inflation. Core inflation excludes the more volatile items - food & fuel from computation of the inflation index.
Inflation in manufactured products showed a degrowth of 0.25 percent as against (-)0.84 per cent in November
India's GDP growth slowed for the sixth consecutive quarter in the July-September quarter to 4.5% as manufacturing slumped on low domestic consumption.
Manufactured goods inflation remained same at (-)0.84 per cent.
A granular look reveals the disarray: All lead indicators point to a dismal manufacturing growth.
The troubling state of India's economy requires the ability of rate cuts to flow through the economy.
The earlier high was reported in June 2018 when the retail inflation print was recorded at 4.92 per cent.
An economy with moderately high inflation “signals growing consumption and spurs investment.”
India's GDP growth slowed to a five-year low of 5.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2018-19.
India's annual retail inflation picked up in February to 2.57 per cent.
Retail inflation rises to 2.57 per cent in February from 2.05 per cent last month on the back of modest rises in food and fuel prices.
Tension between the rivals has the potential to hurt investments & sour business sentiment.
When India adopted inflation targeting, it chose CPI. To look at anything else would be shifting the goal post.
It is only the headline inflation which has come down and there is no room for complacency, says Shah.
Since the last policy, domestic and global economic outlook has further deteriorated.
We as a community are prone to think of economic cycles as cycles that last for an extended period of time. But “macro trends” these days are akin to “fashion trends”, and have a very short life span.
India’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 6.7% in 2017-18. OECD projects GDP at market prices to grow 7.3% in 2019 and 7.4% in 2020 from 7.5% in 2018.
The retail inflation number is the lowest since September 2017 when it had touched 3.28 per cent.
Retail inflation eased to a nine-month low of 4.17 per cent in July from a peak of 5 per cent in June.


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DEBT COLLECTION FOR COMPANIES
In Israel, if you own a company, whether big or small, you would at some point have debt collection issues to deal with. Knowing your rights as an owner as well as the legal procedures are key to a successful and stress-free business venture.
From a legal standpoint, there is a difference between being a private individual and a company. A company is an entity that can be owned either by one or more individuals and, therefore, is treated differently when it comes to debt collection. Companies have several solutions to debt collection, some of which can be flexible and advantageous to the company, though this largely depends on how experienced a lawyer is in debt collection. For debt collection from a private individual however, approaches can vary, among other things, depending whether or not the company is a limited company. In other words, each case is unique and needs to be treated likewise.
This is a phenomenon that has become increasingly prevalent in recent years. In Israel, for instance, it is not uncommon to see checks being returned and businesses going bankrupt. Going through bankruptcy, whether as a business or company, is no doubt highly unpleasant. However, the consequences of bankruptcy on creditors can make it more challenging. Almost every business accumulates debts whether it is from paying its suppliers, employee salaries, or meeting other expenses. Not being able to pay off a debt by a certain date further leads to a debt build-up that can amount to billions of shekels every year! So, it is important to know what can be done in such dire situations and the possible ways to get out of them. Are there ways to collect the debt or is it lost?
Lost Debts: Do not Lose Hope!
If you have a lost debt, you will be encouraged to know that most of the debts are indeed paid off, even if it is a debt settlement that spans months or even years. But in order for debts to be paid off, it is important to act on time. Surveys and studies have shown that chances of collecting debt decrease significantly over time. One possible explanation for this is the fact that you are probably not the only creditor of that company/business. While other creditors are working to collect the debt through lawyers and other execution bodies, you may not be doing so, thus your chances of collection only decrease with time.


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It is often assumed that atheists have no interest whatsoever in participating in any religious practice, but a recent study conducted by Rice University in partnership with the University at Buffalo-SUNY indicates the opposite is true. According to the study, 17% of atheist scientists with kids and 10% of atheist scientists without kids attend some type of religious function more than once in a year.
In a survey done of 2,198 atheists involved in the sciences at 21 research universities, half identified themselves as having ties to a religion while half said they had no religious affiliation. Of those surveyed, 275 were interviewed and those 275 interviews brought about the interesting findings.
There were three basic reasons why the atheist scientists attend religious functions:
- Their spouses participate in religious services.
- They want their children to be exposed to all kinds of knowledge so they can decide for themselves what they want to accept.
- They like the moral influence and positive behavior that religious communities tend to exhibit.
Those conducting the study came to the conclusion that this shows religion still has an important role to play in American society. Several questions came to my mind when I read about this research. First, were the atheists really genuine when they gave these reasons for attending religious services? Second, could this maybe, possibly be a case where atheists are on a covert mission to sway people in the church their way? Third, does this show that there are atheists who deep down inside envy Christians? Fourth, were the answers given so these atheists could just cast themselves in a positive light as being not really bad people?
Sources: David Ruth. Some atheist scientists with children embrace religious traditions, according to new Rice research. Eurekalert.org. December 1, 2011.
posted by Harry A. Gaylord


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A study published in Frontiers in Psychiatry has found new evidence that too much sitting can negatively impact mental health. The study found that while mental health tended to improve among US residents in the aftermath of the initial COVID-19 outbreak, those who spent more time sitting showed slower recovery from depressive symptoms.
Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, mental health professionals have expressed concern about citizens’ psychological health. One way the crisis might impact mental health is by increasing sedentary behavior, with citizens spending much more time at home in an effort to follow public health guidelines.
Notably, the first wave of the coronavirus was unexpected, requiring rapid changes in people’s behavior. Researchers Jacob D. Meyer and his colleagues recognized an opportunity to explore how sudden changes in sedentary behavior within a short period of time would impact mental health. The researchers used a longitudinal research design involving repeated measurements over an 8-week period during the pandemic. This allowed them to assess how changes in sitting behavior would relate to changes in mental health over time.
US residents completed an initial survey in April 2020, shortly after a state of emergency was declared in the United States due to COVID-19. The respondents were then invited to partake in eight follow-up surveys one week apart. In total, 2,327 participants between the ages of 18 and 74 completed at least two surveys and were included in the analysis. Three separate questions asked respondents how many minutes per day they typically spend in front of a screen, sitting, and engaging in moderate or vigorous exercise. Respondents also completed measures of anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and positive mental health.
The results revealed that participants’ mental health tended to improve over time, suggesting that their initial reactions to the pandemic faded as public health measures were put in place and people adjusted to the “new normal.” However, time spent sitting appeared to hinder improvement in depressive symptoms.
By week four, participants who scored in the top 10% for sitting time had significantly higher depression scores than those who scored in the lowest 10% for sitting time. By week eight, this difference grew so that those who sat the most were even farther behind those who sat the least in terms of depressive symptom improvement. “High levels of sitting may have limited the improvement in depressive symptoms that occurred across time,” the study authors say, “and continued high sitting time may be a key behavioral risk factor for lasting depressive symptoms.”
At baseline, those with the highest levels of screen time had significantly higher depression scores compared to those with the lowest levels of screen time — but these differences disappeared by week 3. Physical activity was not found to impact depressive symptoms, anxiety, or positive mental health either at baseline or across time. The researchers note that the number of inactive participants was low, which may have limited the statistical power to detect differences.
Previous studies suggest that depression increased during the pandemic, and Meyer and his team say their study suggests that too much sitting dulled recovery from these heightened depressive symptoms. They say it will be important for future studies to examine the relationship between sitting behavior and mental health over the long term, to see whether the relationship weakens or strengthens over time. Strategies to limit the adverse impact of sitting on depression may be to reduce overall time spent sitting or to break up sitting time with other activities.
The study, “High Sitting Time Is a Behavioral Risk Factor for Blunted Improvement in Depression Across 8 Weeks of the COVID-19 Pandemic in April–May 2020”, was authored by Jacob D. Meyer, John O’Connor, Cillian P. McDowell, Jeni E. Lansing, Cassandra S. Brower, and Matthew P. Herring.

domain: psychology


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In the “Unfaithful” section of www.oprah.com, the staff weighs in on some surprising infidelity statistics:
Infidelity & Divorce:
69% of marriages don’t survive after an affair.
Studies suggest that only 31% of marriages make it through infidelity.
80% of couples who go through with a divorce after an affair regret the decision.
17% of divorces in the United States are caused by infidelity.
Research suggests that 56% of divorces are caused by an obsession with pornography.
Weight loss surgery patients have an 85% greater chance of divorcing their spouse than people who have not had weight loss surgery.
Studies suggest that 75% of married couples with special needs children get divorced. From the stress and strain on the marriage associated with caring for a special needs child, perhaps?
Men. Vs. Women
Recent studies suggest that there is infidelity in 8 out of 10 marriages in the US. The “type” of infidelity, whether it is physical or emotional, is not specified.
68% of women in the US say they would have an affair if they knew they would never get caught.
74% of men say they would have an affair if they knew they would never get caught.
54% of married men do not know that their wives are involved in extramarital affairs.
Studies suggest that 70% of married women do not know their husbands are having an affair.
14% of married women in the US admit to having had an affair.
Cheating Types & Results:
12% of Americans spend up to ten hours a week online looking for extramarital sexual encounters.
44% of men cheat on their wives because they feel they are not having enough sex in their marriage.
40% of married men who have an affair use an escort service.
64% of adults believe that sexting can be an act of infidelity.
Research suggests that almost 3% of all children are the product of infidelity.
Studies show that 75% of relationships which start out as affairs end in failure.
10% of adulterers eventually marry their lovers.
Infidelity, unfortunately, is a factor spouses have to deal with in many marriages in the United States. Above all else, you deserve the truth and peace of mind. If you believe your loved one is stepping out on your marriage, contact ICU Investigations today for your free consultation. Suspicious? Get Answers.
Posted in Articles | Tagged cheating, ICU, infidelity, marriage


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Great location100% of recent guests gave this home’s location a 5-star rating.
Great check-in experience100% of recent guests gave this home’s check-in process a 5-star rating.
Ocean front house 2.5 miles from downtown St. Augustine. *Holiday pricing may apply.
Free parking on premises
Laptop friendly workspace
1 queen bed
2 single beds
No parties or events
Check-in time is 3PM - 6PM
Check out by 11AM
Great spot on beautiful Vilano Breach. Wonderful dog-friendly beach with terrific sunrises as well as views of the sunset over the marshes. While not fancy, the cottage was clear, comfortable and well appointed with everything we needed. Close to St Augustine although best in min…
We just spent a week at this lovely cottage. It is perfect for those who want non-commercial beach vacation. It is right on the beach. You can look out the sliding glass doors and view the ocean from anywhere in the kitchen or living room and the master bedroom. Furniture is comf…
Perfect! Place was perfect for me and my little 9yr old daughter. We stayed for a week at the Tomolato Beach House. Definitely coming back and staying again. No complaints, great accommodations, just add people :) Clean comfortable beds, clean towels, wifi, cable TV, all the nece…
Response rate: 70%
Response time: within a day
Always communicate through AirbnbTo protect your payment, never transfer money or communicate outside of the Airbnb website or app.

domain: travel


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Motorcycles, Scooters, and ATVs For Your Enjoyment
Call Today! (516) 935-6969 67 N Broadway, Hicksville, NY 11801-2943
Visit Our Companion Websitefor a Complete Look and More Details about Our Extensive Motorcycle, Scooter, and ATV Inventory
Motorcycle Dealers in Hicksville, New York
Satisfy your sense of adventure with vehicles from Long Island Kawasaki -Yamaha of Hicksville, New York. We sell new and used motorcycles, ATVs, watercraft, scooters, and utility vehicles from quality brands that include Yamaha® and Kawasaki®. If you like to go exploring during the winter, we make it easier by providing you with top-quality snowmobiles, too. Enjoy the land and water with all types of vehicles from our motorcycle dealers in Hicksville, New York.
We Proudly Offer
• Scooters • Watercraft
• Utility Vehicles • Motorcycles
• Power Equipment • Snowmobiles
• All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs)
We Want You to Have Fun At Long Island Kawasaki -Yamaha, we have more than 100 years of combined experience. We opened the business to provide customers with a full range of land and water vehicles for their outdoor enjoyment.
To keep your machine running at top condition, we offer a first-class parts and service department, too. Contact us at (516) 935-6969 for more information on selecting the right equipment for your needs.
Contact us to learn more about purchasing from our motorcycle dealers.

domain: hobby


While the iPhone range typically attracts the most attention, and this is set to continue with the iPhone 7, the iPad Air 3 will also be a strongly anticipated release later this year. The tablet series is almost equally as iconic as the iPhone, and will probably be updated once more before the end of the calendar year. Apple has yet to announce the iPad Air 3, but a recent concept video provides us with some idea of what we can conceivably expect from the tablet.
iPad Pro to replace iPad Air?
Existing iPad Air consumers may be slightly concerned by the policy of Apple recently, as the consumer electronics giant chose to introduce a new 9.7-inch iPad Pro recently. The latest iPad Pro even included the Apple Pencil stylus, indicating that Apple intends for this device to be a serious productivity unit. Could the existence of this smaller iPad Pro potentially threaten the future of the entire iPad range?
Well, despite this suggestion having been floated in the media, there is an increasing expectation that Apple could be about to announce a new iPad Air 3, possibly even at its World Wide Developers Conference. There is plenty of incentive for Apple to release new devices, as the consumer electronics giant has already promised the city that it would create new revenue streams in 2016. And Apple’s sinking share price makes the necessity of this even more urgent.
iPad Air 3 – Concept design
In the meantime, as we await news of the release of the iPad Air 3, artist Geert van Uffelen has provided an intriguing concept of how he believes the tablet may ultimately turn out. van Uffelen proposes a raft of potential improvements for this prospective iPad Air 3, with a 3D Touch display included for the first time, full support for the existing Apple Pencil, quad-speakers delivering outstanding sound quality, and a Retina Display with an A10 processor delivered as standard.
The specs suggested by the designer would lead to a truly outstanding iPad Air 3 unit, and one that could sell in its own right against the existing iPad Pro. It is notable that the designer also suggested that the iPad Air 3 could embrace 7000 Series Aluminum; a sophisticated substance that has been linked with Apple products for quite some time. This hints at an extremely advanced tablet that would be a match for anything already on the market.
Macworld also suggests that the iPad Air 3 will be significantly slimmer than the existing iPad Air 2 when it releases. This is a perennial focus of Apple devices, with the Consumer electronics giant always committed to producing ever sleeker and more attractive devices. It is worth noting that the existing iPad Air is already thinner than the fourth generation of the original iPad series, and that the iPad Air 2 was the slimmest tablet ever produced by Apple at the time of its release.
Indeed, Apple had described the iPad Air 2 as “impossibly thin” when it hit the stores, so this would suggest an absolutely incredible iPad Air 3, if indeed it is slimmer than the 6.1mm of the existing iPad Air 2.
It is also believed that Apple could upgrade the screen resolution of the iPad Air 3 to 3,112 x 2,334 pixels; amounting to 401ppi. When one considers that the iPad Air 2 featured a 2,048 x 1,536 resolution, this would obviously be a significant jump, and in fact a virtually 50 percent improvement in terms of pixel per inch rating.
Apple could also include a rear flash in the iPad Air 3, suggesting that this tablet would have superior photographic capabilities to any of the previous iPad releases. Of course, cameras are hardly particularly important in the tablet marketplace, but it is believed that Apple will look for any conceivable way to improve this tablet competitor once it reaches the market.
In what has been a testing time for the California-based corporation, Apple continues to deliver excellent sales and revenue figures; even if the city is lukewarm on these numbers. $50 billion of revenue and $10 million of profit in the most recent fiscal quarter pointed to a company in rude health, regardless of the recent slump in its share price. Despite some of the negative press that Apple has received recently, the iPad Air 3 can still be released into a positive climate for the corporation.


text:
"The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S release on November 10. Until then, download these scale-accurate paper models of both consoles to plan how they’re going to fit in your lifestyle."
i already know the SS will fit right where my SAD is now. Its the SX that Im unsure of where I want to put it. But who in the hell has that size of printer paper to make one to scale?
This is pretty neat and clever idea
Show us the f***ing games!!!
Dude what are you talking about?! We've all seen plenty already from both sides. Calm down, Take a deep breath and go watch Xbox's two games showcases.. This article is about papercraft..
What are the specs of the paper consoles?
4 Folds and 12 Folds with actual real world full path ray tracing on the boxes.
N4G is a community of gamers posting and discussing the latest game news. It’s part of NewsBoiler, a network of social news sites covering today’s pop culture.


Generals 'misled' ministers on progress in Afghanistan
According to Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, politicians were consistently deceived by the military over the progress in Afghanistan
Politicians were consistently deceived by the military over how well the campaign in Afghanistan was going, a former British ambassador to the country said yesterday.
Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles said the top brass were ‘misleadingly optimistic’ – and if any official or minister cast doubt on them, they were attacked as ‘defeatist’.
The ex-diplomat, who resigned from the Foreign Office last month, also warned that Afghanistan could descend into civil war if troops pull out too quickly.
He said the Taliban and local drug warlords would fight it out across the south of the country once British soldiers leave – unless the military accepted that a political solution was needed, and worked to put one in place.
Sir Sherard was British ambassador to Kabul from 2007 to 2009, and a special representative until last month.
He told MPs on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee that the military painted Afghan operations in a relentlessly positive light, and this ‘distorted the understanding of the problem’.
‘I think it is a question of politicians and civilian officials having the confidence to question some of the very optimistic military advice they get,’ he said.
‘I saw papers that went to ministers which were misleadingly optimistic; and ministers and officials who questioned them were accused of being defeatist and disloyal in some way. It is time for the politicians to take charge.’
Sir Cowper-Coles says the Taliban and local drug warlords will fight it out across the south of the country once British troops leave (file picture)


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This month, the Know Spokane team set out to rate Spokane's average street quality by neighborhood, and look at the quality of our most heavily-used arterials.
You can read the results here, but for you wonks out there, here's an explanation of what we did.
The City of Spokane keeps a GIS file of its roads, with the most recent pavement ratings attached. Those ratings are called a pavement condition index, or PCI, and range from 0-100.
They're based on annual summer surveys of the roads, where city employees chart cracking, patches, weather damage and other road quality issues, then give the street a grade. Arterials are rated every two years, and residential streets every four, though ratings are also updated when improvement work is done on a street.
The city's data
We requested a copy of the city's PCI data, which included this spreadsheet detailing the ratings, block by block. The "Street" column showed the street being rated, while columns C and D describe the block.
Each of these city blocks is in a neighborhood, but the city didn't track that, so we had to add it by hand. We scrolled through, street by street, using the city's map of neighborhood division boundaries at maps.spokanecity.org and put each block in the neighborhood it belonged in.
(If you're wondering, that took two people about two and a half weeks, spending a few hours per day on this.)
In cases where a given block was the boundary line between two or three neighborhoods (which happened on a handful of streets), we made extra columns, so all boundary streets were counted in each place. That means if you add up the total number of blocks in each neighborhood, you'll get a total higher than the actual number of blocks in the city.
Once we had the blocks grouped into neighborhoods, we had to figure out the average pavement score for each neighborhood.
Rather than doing a simple block-by-block average, we decided to do a weighted average based on the length of each block. If one street was twice as long as another, it should count twice as much toward the neighborhood's total.
We split each neighborhood into its own file, then ran those through a Python script to calculate a weight for each block and determine a total score.
We divided the length of each block by the total length of all blocks in the neighborhood to come up with a weight, then multiplied the weight by that block's PCI. Once we had a weighted score for each block, we added them all together to get the neighborhood total.
We did the same with major arterials or groups of arterials, and the city as a whole. You can read more about what we found on our main post.
The city rates all unpaved roads with a PCI of -1. We debated whether to include those roads in the averages.
On the one hand, we were concerned that might skew a neighborhood unfairly negative because of a few unpaved roads around otherwise good streets. On the other hand, driving over an unpaved road, particularly in winter, is not a pleasant experience, and overall quality scores should reflect that.
We ultimately ran the scores both ways and found there was less than a 0.3 point difference for every neighborhood between the two methods. The neighborhood rankings were the same regardless of the method used. The scores were cited in our article included unpaved roads.
Shortcomings of the data
Though scores are updated with road maintenance, it's inevitable that some of the scores in the city database aren't current. Roads deteriorate in the time since they were measured, and the brutal freeze/thaw winter we just had sprung up a fresh crop of potholes all over the city.
New road maintenance won't show up in the database until the city has closed the project, which means all finishing work has been done and invoices are paid. Often, that's well after the road work has been finished. Late last year, the city did significant work on Monroe Street between Main and Riverside, smoothing over ruts and depressions. But because the project isn't closed, that block still has a PCI of 2 in the city's database.
We're hopeful that the relative scores are fairly accurate, since worse quality roads are more prone to potholes and other weather damage. But if a city rating seems vastly wrong for a block you're familiar with, that might be why.
We were diligent in checking roads and finding correct neighborhoods, and checking for errors after our initial data entry, but it's possible we misclassified a block of two. In a database of more than 11,800 blocks, it's unlikely that would make much of a difference in overall scores.
Shortcomings of our analysis
There are all kinds of ways you might decide which neighborhoods have the worst roads. We picked one here that was straightforward, easy to analyze and didn't push the boundaries of our mathematical and statistical skills.
If we had all the time in the world, we'd love to do an analysis that weights arterials more heavily or takes into account actual traffic numbers, since the impact of a major arterial having bad pavement is much higher than the impact for a small residential street.
North Division Street is one of the most well-traveled streets in the city, and we'd be willing to bet most city residents care about its pavement quality, whether they live nearby or not.


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BALTIMORE (WJZ) — A series of shootings in Baltimore overnight left two people, including a 16-year-old girl, dead and six others injured, police said Saturday morning.
Between midnight and 4:15 a.m., police responded to a half-dozen shootings in the city.
Around 12:20 a.m. officers in the western district responded to the 2300 block of Druid Hill Avenue where they found a man with a gunshot wound to the leg.
At the same time, officers in the northwest district were called to a hospital for a report of a walk-in shooting victim. The 21-year-old woman, who was shot in the arm, told police she was possibly near Gist and West Strathmore avenues when she was shot.
Two hours later, officers in the central district responded to the 100 block of West Franklin Street for a report of a crash. When they arrived, they found a man inside a vehicle with a gunshot wound to the neck.
He was taken to a hospital for treatment; his condition is unknown, police said.
Just before 3:20 a.m., patrol officers in the southwest district were called to a hospital for a report of a walk-in shooting victim. When they got there, police said they found a 16-year-old girl with a gunshot wound to the throat and a 30-year-old man with a gunshot wound to the back.
The teen died at the hospital.
In the southern district, officers were called to a hospital around 4 a.m. for a report of a walk-in shooting victim. When they arrived, they found a 31-year-old man and a woman who both had gunshot wounds.
Police said the victims were walking in the 300 block of Key Highway when they got into an argument with a suspect, who then shot them.
The man later died; the woman’s condition is unknown, police said.
Just after 4:10 a.m., officers in the northeast district were called to an area hospital for a report of a walk-in shooting victim.
The 34-year-old man was reportedly in the 2700 block of Erdman Avenue when a man pulled a handgun on him and tried to rob him. The two began fighting over the gun, at which point the victim was shot in the leg.
Police are asking anyone with information on any of the incidents to call them or Metro Crime Stoppers.


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Malaysia is no third world country. Over the past decade the pace of progress has accelerated, and the capital, Kuala Lumpur, is truly a city of the twenty-first century. It has become a major center for electronics manufacturing and now boasts the worldís tallest buildings, the Petronas Towers, a glitzy new international airport and shopping centers that rival Rodeo Drive.
The Cement Wreck, off Labuan, was carrying a load of cement for the Sultan of Brunei when it hit the reef.
Diving has expanded and matured as well, particularly on the island of Borneo. Although Sipadan remains the most renowned dive site, others such as Mabul, Layang Layang and Labuan are becoming well-known. As word about these places spreads and they became more developed, I wondered how the diving would be affected. So when an opportunity arose to return, I jumped on a Malaysian Airlines 747 and headed west.
Starting my journey in Labuan saved one travel day more than going directly to Sipadan. This island city north of Brunei Bay has been targeted by the Malaysian government as an offshore financial center; 80 banks already line its streets. Itís also a free port and an oil town, so people come to wheel, deal and relax. You can stay in a comfortable hotel, eat at your choice of restaurants, enjoy shopping and other amenities.
Labuan is also the shipwreck capital of Malaysia. Four wrecks await in 80 to 100 feet of water, two of them dating back to World War II. The Salute was an American minesweeper that sunk in 1945 ironically after hitting a mine. She is broken in half, the bow section split open and the stern intact. Munitions and supplies can still be found inside, with depth charges ready in their launchers.
The Aussie Wreck had several incarnations. Originally a Dutch passenger ship, she was converted into a troop transport during the war and was scuttled when the Japanese attacked Borneo. Salvaged and renovated as the Imbaru Maru, she served as a Japanese freighter until hitting a mine and sinking in 1944. The wooden deck is long gone, revealing the insides of the ship and a rugged construction that dates back 100 years.
Two recent shipwrecks lie farther out in the bay: the Cement Wreck and the Blue Water Wreck. Visibility is better and marine growth more profuse on these wrecks. For photography, the Cement Wreck is one of the best Iíve seen. The Tun Huang from Taiwan was carrying a load of cement to Brunei for the sultanís new palace when it hit a reef in 1980. It lies upright in 80 feet, every surface covered with spectacular sponges, gorgonians and soft corals. Deck stairways and lifeboat davits are gardens of color. The forward mast forms a huge cross, swarmed by water column fishes. This is a wreck the way it ought to be, totally alive and colorful. And the best of it is shallower than 60 feet.
Every day this school of Bumphead Parrotfish eats its way around the island of Sipadan.
I got into the barracudas again after running out of film, but had a pretty productive photo dive up until then. The late morning light was streaming down over the wall, and I worked on schools of snappers silhouetted by sun rays. But it was time to get disciplined and save some film. I had been in that barracuda school three times now, with only one frame to show for it.
In truth the best diving is near the surface, and although there are some pelagics, the main attraction is reef life. Sipadan is near the center of the Indo-Pacific realm, where the diversity of fishes and invertebrate life is the greatest on the globe. Reef fishes range from Clown Triggers to Mandarin Gobies, frogfishes to Whitetip Sharks. In the water column are enormous schools of barracuda, batfish and jacks. If there is a better place to encounter and photograph turtles, I havenít found it. They are totally fearless of divers. One diver remarked that he had to push the turtles out of the way to see the scenery.
The entire life cycle of turtles is on display, from conception to death and beyond. Itís not unusual to encounter mating aggregations, sometimes with several males chasing a female and fighting over their turn. At night, females come ashore to lay their eggs, which were once collected and sold for food. Now theyíve established a hatchery on the island, and several times a week visitors can watch babies being released on the beach and heading for the water.
Underneath the island is a cavern with a narrow passageway, leading to a hidden cave. Turtles occasionally wander in there, lose their way and drown. Itís called Turtle Tomb and may be visited only by qualified divers accompanied by a cave-certified guide. Inside are more than 30 skeletons in various stages of decay. One had died recently, rotten meat still hanging from the bones, giving rise to a cloudy layer under the otherwise pristine water. Lying in the shell were dozens of eggs that will never hatch. Despite thousands of dives in my logbook, I always feel like a beginner inside a cave, totally dependent upon my guide.
Turtle Tomb, off Sipadanóthe entire life cycle of a sea turtle can be encountered at this island.
Recently, the Malaysian government stepped in and imposed strict environmental controls on Sipadan. There is now a limit of 80 divers and 40 staff, divided among five resorts. Desalinators are used for drinking water, and a sewage treatment plant has been built.
The resorts are separated by jungle foliage. At the end of an old pier is the Dropoff Cafť, a bar that becomes the social center of Sipadan at night. Borneo Diversí original huts are long gone, replaced by two-story buildings with four rooms each, that are basic but comfortable. Boats go out three times a day for diving; beach diving is available at any time.
How have the reefs held up after ten years? Much better than expected. Most of the underwater topography consists of sheer walls, which are resistant to inadvertent damage from diversí fins. Animals are easier to approach than on my two previous trips. Every day a school of giant Bumphead Parrotfish used to eat their way around the island, munching coral and defecating sand. But at that time I never got within 20 feet of the school. On one morning dive this year, I watched them gather from their sleeping places and literally joined the school as they paused momentarily to be serviced by cleaner wrasses.
Circling barracudas have an uncanny habit of showing up just after youíve run out of film.
A half-hour boat ride away is the island of Mabul, a mecca for muck-diving macro photographers. Unlike Sipadan, Mabul is on the continental shelf so its reefs slope gently to a maximum of 60 feet. The treasures here are tiny and sometimes well-hidden. But patient and observant divers may find ghost pipefish, cuttlefish, Mantis Shrimps, juvenile sweetlips and several species of nudibranchs.
Mabul is also an answer to the housing shortage on Sipadan. Itís a larger island with more room for resorts, so divers can stay there and make it a base for occasional trips to the nearby islands.
Labuan, Sipadan and Mabul offer vastly different diving experiences: wrecks, walls and muck diving. What they have in common is the richness and diversity of their marine life.
Last Dive at Sipadan
I finally shot the barracuda school. Rashid, the dive guide, pointed toward the reef top, and there were the big guys. I moved underneath them and shot whatever I could, stopping only to take readings and adjust settings. Finally realizing they werenít going anywhere, I calmed down enough to compose the last dozen shots. They circled overhead, forming a ring around the sun. As they swirled around me, a turtle swam into their midst, and I nailed a couple of shots. After the earlier disappointments, it was as if the barracuda were giving me a final chance on my last dive at Sipadan.


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The Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) is one of the largest publicly owned electric utilities in the United States, serving more than 310,000 customers in southeast Nebraska counties. The utility receives about 140,000 remittances per month, which are processed by three full-time, three part-time employees and rotating personnel to assist with peak volumes. OPPD processes a peak of 8,000 payments a day, representing 20,000 documents. Its payment processing is fairly straightforward: remittance mail is opened and processed, payments are posted to client accounts and checks are deposited to OPPD’s bank accounts.
Like most utilities, OPPD has seen more and more of its check-based remittances migrate to electronic payments. Over the last 10 years, the number of checks OPPD receives has dropped from 66 percent to about 41 percent of its total remittance volume. In the past five years alone, its check volume has dropped an average of seven percent per year.
Against this backdrop, OPPD faced two challenging operations issues: the increasing expense of maintaining the utility’s legacy remittance system—a two pass solution that required every item to be handled twice—and the rising cost of delivering paper deposits to the bank.
In 2007, OPPD began an extensive search for a new remittance system that would solve these challenges and better position the utility for the emerging electronic payment environment. After receiving proposals from seven vendors—and immediately eliminating three of them because their price far exceeded OPPD’s budget—representatives from the utility saw demonstrations of each product, made reference calls and toured the operations of customer references. During the product demonstrations, one vendor separated itself from the others.
“Creditron impressed me,” said Tim Vasquez, Supervisor, Receipts and Technical Support for OPPD. “Going into their product demonstration, I thought for sure that we had already identified the solution we would choose. But the ease of use and flexibility of ItemAge Express was very good. During the demo, Creditron programmed our stub as we watched. And they weren’t intimidated by our questions. We knew that they would be receptive to our needs.”
Vasquez said another point in Creditron’s favor was that many of its customer references noted how good the company was about adhering to schedules. “Noneof the references from other vendors mentioned that,” Vasquez said. This was a key issue for OPPD since its last system implementation was behind schedule. In contrast, Creditron met the implementation plan it provided to OPPD: Creditron arrived on May 5, 2008, OPPD processed its first batch on May 6 and it began live production on May 7.
OPPD’s solution from Creditron features the ItemAge Express remittance processing application, along with courtesy and legal amount recognition (CAR/LAR), mark sense detection, image archive and retrieval, and a flat file interface to OPPD’s CIS system from SPL Group. ItemAge Express processes all remittance types, including: singles, multiples, check-only transactions, stub-only transactions, credit card payments and exceptions. OPPD uses a separate solution for check-and-list processing, a task the utility automated years ago.
ItemAge Express runs on two NCR iTRAN 3000t tabletop scanners with three pockets per machine. Replacing its old image transports with tabletop scanners enabled OPPD to save nearly $100,000 on upfront hardware expense, reduce its equipment maintenance costs by $50,000 a year and more closely align its mail extraction and remittance processing throughputs. “With declining check volumes, we wanted a system that we could shrink into, rather than one that we would grow into,” Vasquez explained. “It has worked very well so far.”
OPPD now processes work in one pass (meaning items are handled only once) and deposits all of its checks electronically to two banks in Omaha using the ItemAge Express Check 21 module. The utility also plans to deposit checks electronically to a third bank. By eliminating the encoding pass and depositing electronically, OPPD has accelerated processing and saved thousands of dollars a year in encoding supplies, hardware maintenance and courier costs.
Overall, the ItemAge Express solution has helped OPPD reduce its total cost per transaction. Vasquez expects to realize even greater cost savings as the utility allows other departments to access images stored in the ItemAge Express archive (the remittance department now handles all research requests) and as banks reduce their fees associated with electronic deposits. Vasquez said the ItemAge Express system is so straightforward that new operators can be “up and going” on the system in as little as 10 minutes. “With our old system, it took 10 minutes just to boot up,” Vasquez said. “Now, all you really need to know is how to start and end a batch. It’s very intuitive.”