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Image Credit: Biodiversity Heritage Library
Seed catalogs are one of the Gardeners favorite past times during the cold winter's months. Making wish lists from garden catalogs and dreaming of a bountiful spring and summer garden keeps hope alive.
I suppose it helps keep us warm as well during such dismal times to fill our minds with vibrant colors and reflecting on cherished moments in last years garden. Remembering how wonderful it feels to have the sunshine on your back and your hands in the dirt and life unfolding before your eyes.
In the south, we must make important decisions early in the year about the rotation of vegetable crops. Laying out plans, pulling out notes and getting ready to sow seeds during January in hot boxes, greenhouses and sunny window sills.
As the first seed catalogs come in the mail, it becomes important to begin inventory and organize all those leftover seed packets and jars of saved seeds. I like to categorize mine by season. It helps me to put them in order as a reminder of what is next to be planted.
It's so important for the success of your garden to select varieties that grow best in your garden zone. You can be selective in the same way about your garden catalogs as well by selecting ones that specialize in seeds for your area.
I'd like to share a few of my favorite garden seed catalogs with you. Although there are other favorites, I've not listed them all here. The point I am making and what I'm really wanting to share is how some garden seed companies have had a tremendous impact on saving precious heirloom varieties and use pure and natural growing methods.
Some have an enormous impact in countries around the world by showing hungry people how to grow more food on less land using organic and bio-intense methods. They are organic, they are heirloom and what they provide as well as their actions is what they are giving to the hope for future generations.
I choose three companies to show you what I look for in a garden seed Catalog and what makes them the best natural resources for a healthier food system and the best hope for a healthier future. Keep in mind that heirloom seeds can cost more in the initial investment, but because they are open pollinated, you can save seed from your stock and most likely not have the need to purchase those things a second time.
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. As heirloom varieties continue to decline, many lost forever we can count on this garden seed catalog. They pinpoint my growing region in Southeast Texas. Their logo and motto is “Saving the Past for the Future.” They practice diversity and believe in organics. They promote a non-GMO world and are part of the 270,000 farmers against the agribusiness giants “Monsanto”.
Their efforts are well worth supporting. They are very prompt with shipping and very reasonably priced. This is the first catalog in my mailbox to ring in the New Year.
Bakers Creek Heirloom Seeds. This is my ultimate favorite garden seed company. I would have to say that at least 75% of my garden stock seed comes from here. It is the most amazing catalog you will ever view.
The photography will literally make your mouth water for heirloom vegetables. This will most likely be the next catalog I receive in my mailbox. Their logo and motto is “Americas Top Source For Pure Heirloom Seeds” and they mean it and totally organic!! Maintaining purity is not an easy task in this day and age of the GMO seeds that cross-contaminate heirlooms.
Remaining organic is a feat of its own with major agribusinesses pouring the chemicals out on thousands of acres of land. You will also receive plenty of information about non-GMO's and how to support the effort. They also are major contributors in the plight against Big Ag and part of the lawsuit against Monsanto. They bring us hope. This year they launched the first ever Heirloom Expo in California. It was huge!!!
They have also launched their first Magazine that is Rich with information about heirloom varieties. This family of growers should be supported in every fashion. Even though they are based in Missouri, they carry such an assortment of seeds from all over the world. You will be sure to find many things just right for your region of the world. You will never be disappointed. Fast shipping and fair prices and a free pack of seeds with every order.
Bountiful Gardens. This company will not just supply you with heirloom seed varieties, but they will TEACH you everything you need to learn about growing a bio-intensive garden. A garden and farm that is not just organic, but totally sustainable. I study there website growbiointensive.org on a regular basis.
They are based in California and their logo and motto reads “Heirloom, Untreated, Open-Pollinated Seeds for Sustainable Growing.” They are a non-profit Project of Ecology Action and have a line of publications, videos and workshops to teach about the methods of growing bio-intensive. This is a company that can prove that the world can be fed and be sustainable using organic methods of growing food crops.
They reach over 130 different countries like Afghanistan and Kenya where they have teams working with the people helping them to learn to be sustainable. I order from them every chance I get. They have taught me how to incorporated grain crops into my garden as well as crops to increase my compost and mulch.
They are teaching me how to grow crops for calories so my family can be nourished and fed by what we grow without the reliance of a supermarket. Their prices and rates are far cheaper than any other heirloom company. Their catalog is down and dirty, plain and to the point.
I could keep going and name several more, but I just wanted to mention my top three that I order from every year. What I have written about each company are important factors for considering where and whom you purchase your garden seed. It is my hope that I've given you some guidelines to follow when considering a purchase.
Whether you use someone else or not, it is my hope that you will purchase your garden seeds going into the New Year of 2012 in ways that will have the greatest impact for a healthier effect on our environment and for the future our worlds food supply.
Have a Very Happy and Bountiful New Year!!

domain: agronomy


Over 10,000 people attend concert of Jamala in Kramatorsk. Photos06.07.2016 12:08 1565
More than 10,000 people have attended the concert of Ukrainian musicians headlined by Jamala in the town of Kramatorsk, which yesterday celebrated the second anniversary of its liberation from the Russian-backed invaders.
This is reported by the press service of the National Police department in Donetsk region.
"Ukrainian musicians headlined by Eurovision 2016 winner Jamala congratulated residents of Kramatorsk on the second anniversary of liberation of the town from terrorists. The police took unprecedented security measures for the concert which gathered more than 10,000 people," the report reads.
The singer posted photos from the concert on her Facebook page and thanked all those who came.


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This is a truly extraordinary documentary which sheds light to the extend of manufactured industrial environments. It is the project of large scale photographer Edward Burtynsky which is as much art as it is an environmental statement.
We get to experience seemingly alien places in China from an usual perspective. The underlying questions seem to be what world we have created, what for and at what price does it come.
The film deals with the impact of industrialisation and environmental issues in a new and eye-opening way.
Watch the full film here...

domain: geography


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Ewaâ€™s trip of lifetime By Ewa Marczuk
My Journey Hello everyone, my name is Ewa. One of my dreams is to go to Kenya, Australia and Hawaii. I will sail there on my yacht. The whole journey will take me about four months!
Kenya - Malindi Malindi is one of the African cities near the sea and its population is around 70,000 citizens. The trip from Seoul to Malindi will take about 40 days. To get there from Korea I will have to cross the China Sea, then the Pacific Ocean, then the tiny cross through the Timor Sea and finally the Indian Ocean. I chose Malindi because itâ€™s nice and hot there. You can go to some beaches and see the coral reef. Also I would like to see the Pillar of Vasco da Gama.
Australia -Sydney Sydney is a city on the south east coast of Australia. Its population is about 4.6 million citizens. To get there from Kenya I will only have to cross the Indian Ocean but it will take me around 40 days!
I would like to see the Sydney Opera House, I think it is a beautiful building. Also, I would like to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It must be very exciting! I hope to see koala bears and kangaroos in Australia.
Hawaii - Honolulu Honolulu is the capital of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Its population is around 400 thousand citizens. I will have to cross the Pacific Ocean. I will pass by Micronesia and Melanesia islands. It will take me about 30 days. I would like to go there for a resting vacation and play on the beaches. I would like to learn to surf and learn the popular Hula dance.

domain: travel


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Holiday seasons are now coming near, have you already planned your vacation? If you are planning to have it in Asia, why don’t you try one of the top destinations in the continent?
Hong Kong is actually being visited by various tourists for it vast attractions and if you are thinking that Disney Land is the only spot Hong Kong can offer you then you should read these places I have listed for those single men looking for a great vacation at Hong Kong with some Hong Kong girls.
Hong Kong Cupid
If you wanted to look for Hong Kong women even you are not yet in Hong Kong, you may consider using some dating sites where you can find various Hong Kong women who are also interested to meet some foreigners. I have a list of my top 3 dating sites in Hong Kong:
A lot of people really love to use this site for it is accessible and easy to use and the site is actually much recommended for those expats looking for some Hong Kong women. Hong Kong Cupid costs $20 per month which is not that expensive thinking that you’ll be able to get the Hong Kong women through this price.
If you are familiar with China Love Cupid, they are actually being ran with the same companies. Although the site is for everyone in China, you can still find a lot of Hong Kong women using China Love Cupid.
If you don’t want to shift through nightclubs to meet girls and rather have a girl come to your hotel or Airbnb discreetly, I really like Smooci Hong Kong as you can choose between in-call and out-call.
Their website has dozens of local Hong Kong girls who will come to your room. You simply pick your girl, time and prices are fair and their service is one of the best if not the best in Hong Kong if you’re new to the city and don’t know your way around. You can see their entire list of girls here: www.Smooci.com
The Ale Project
A pub found at Mongkok, Kowloon where you can spend a great night with some drinks and food. The place is also called TAP and is known not just for Hong Kong girls but also with the food they offer that is always on a sold out. They also offers seasonal drinks that would definitely lighten your mood whatever season it is today.
TAP has been running since 2014 and they’ve got a really good name for the past 2 years. With the pub’s crowd, you can always find great Hong Kong girls inside the bar to whom you can spend the night with. The pub is open from 12:00 noon to 12:00 midnight every Tuesday to Thursday and 12:00 noon to 2:00 AM every Friday to Sunday although they are close every Monday.
The bar can be seen at Landale St., Hong Kong where you can spend a great Friday night. The bar is open from 12:00 noon to 11:00 in the evening every day. If you wanted to just go out to chill, the place is indeed the place for you for it offers a relaxing atmosphere with a view of pretty Hong Kong girls.
The place is actually for big groups thus, a good choice if you are going to with some friends but is not, you can always have your drinks along the bar side where you can also meet new acquaintance with some professionals who also prefer bar side.
The bar is located at Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong and is a great place for both Friday and Saturday nights. The place is a home to a wide variety of Hong Kong girls. You can enjoy the bar’s attractions from 6:00 PM to 11:30 PM.
Aside from the Hong Kong girls, Pingpong 129 is also known for its gin cocktails and tapas which can definitely make you go back and forth from the place. They also have an amusing art collection that would keep you entertained while in the place.
Salon No. 10
Are looking for electric tunes and disco classics in Hong Kong? Well, Salon No. 10 is a well-known bar for such theme. The bar is located at Central Hong Kong which makes it accessible for both locals and tourists which gives you a good chance to meet Hong Kong girls.
Salon No. 10 is actually a Western Bar that serves a variety of drinks and the most recommended one is their gorgeous cocktail. The bar is open from 6:00 PM until 2:00 in the midnight which gives all night long to party with a lot of Hong Kong girls around the area.
The bar is found at Wan Chai Hong Kong and is operating from 6:00 PM until 2:00 in the midnight from Monday to Sunday. If you are looking for drinks that is a mix of Asian herbs and aromatics then you should include the bar in your list.
This bar that can be found in Brick Lane, Central Hong Kong. The place is known for their Mexican food but if you are into a budgeted nightlife experience in Hong Kong for search of Hong Kong girls then you must think twice before choosing Brick house for it has a relatively high price menu.
Brick house was also able to accept various awards such as being the best restaurant from 2013-2015. If you wanted to have a try with Brick House’s menu and night experience, you can visit the place from 6:00PM to 2:00AM during Monday to Wednesday and 6:00PM to 4:00AM every Thursday to Sunday.
The bar is located at Graham Street, Central, Hong Kong and is open every 10:00AM to 2:00AM every day. The Globe is a great place for those who are looking for a sassier place where they could spend the night hanging out or looking for Hong Kong girls.
Are you looking for something unique combination of drinks and food? The Globe is actually a place known for both their beer and pies add together. If you are going to visit the place, you should definitely try their pie and salad which is the delicacy of the bar itself.
Lily & Bloom
The place is actually a restaurant that can be found in Central Hong Kong. What made me include Lily & Bloom in my list is with how great their food is. Lily & Bloom’s operating hours is from 12:00 noon until 3:00 PM and reopens from 6:00 PM to 11:00 PM.
Want some seafood for dinner? No worry for they have various seafood dishes for you such us their oyster, marinated mussels, and shrimp. The restaurant was also able to be awarded with the best lobster mac & cheese in Hong Kong. If you are looking for some sassy Hong Kong girls then, you must try one of the best restaurants in town.
Once you are already in Hong Kong, you can find various places for you to enjoy the stay and there are actually a lot more bars, pubs and even restaurants in Hong Kong in where you can find Hong Kong women, you just have to look for the place that fits your taste and preference.
Hong Kong is indeed a very great place where hours are long and yet, the time is short. If you are going on a trip at Hong Kong you’ll surely be amused with the country’s top destinations such as their Victoria Peak, Ocean Park Hong Kong, and of course, the very known Hong Kong Disneyland which are the places that you shouldn’t be missed when in the country.
You can also see how Hong Kong people value their culture and traditions which is evident from their museums, monastery and big Buddha that is also a must visit place for everyone touring around Hong Kong.
If you are visiting Hong Kong, it is much more enjoyable if you do the tour with someone with you thus, going out with some Hong Kong women is a highly recommended one especially if you are single men looking for the perfect girl for you. If you’ll just go through the attitude if Hong Kong women, you’ll see how kind and affectionate they are; an attitude everyone would surely love.
Macau is actually one of the cities in China that tourists from all over the world love to visit. As you stro
Want to meet Hong Kong girls for free, click here to learn how.


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Publisher : Chronicle Books (CA) Category : Fiction ISBN : 0811832007 Type : PDF, Epub and Audiobooks
Views : 48
Including never-before-seen artwork, a special postcard, and a letter from the author, the saga of two unlikely lovers is told through their private correspondence, celebrating the tenth anniversary of a critically acclaimed landmark trilogy.
Publisher : Chronicle Books Category : Fiction ISBN : 0877017883 Type : PDF, Epub and Audiobooks
Views : 68
A novel in colorful postcards and letters depicts the enigmatic relationship between British artist Griffin Moss and Sabine Strohem, a mysterious woman living on a Pacific island who can see Griffin as he works in London
Publisher : Chronicle Books Category : Fiction ISBN : 9781452163925 Type : PDF, Epub and Audiobooks
Views : 60
A beloved bestseller, the saga of Griffin and Sabine has captured the imaginations of millions of readers around the world. It is a romance told in a glorious way, sharing the extraordinary correspondence that Griffin and Sabine exchange on their quest to find each other. As you unfold each letter from its beautifully illustrated envelope with a tap of your finger or read Griffin and Sabine's intimate postcards, each page weaves together words and exquisite artwork that reveal a sensual and metaphysical romance, one full of doubts and dangerous forces, myth and mystery. At last available as an ebook, here in The Pharos Gate is a love story for the ages, one that will surely delight Griffin and Sabine's fans old and new.
Publisher : Chronicle Books Category : Fiction ISBN : 145215595X Type : PDF, Epub and Audiobooks
Views : 48
"Wondrous, ingenious, gorgeous . . ."—USA Today "Extremely original . . . classical myth, reality, and fantasy are blended artfully in this modern allegory"—Los Angeles Times Beloved by millions the world over, Griffin & Sabine redefines the art of the novel. With its combination of lush illustration, creative storytelling, and the guilty pleasure of reading other people's correspondence, Griffin & Sabine is part romance, part mystery, and completely a work of art. Each turn of the page contains a new card or letter to be unfolded from its envelope, and is vibrant with wildly imaginative creatures, landscapes, and intrigue. Destined to become a collector's volume, this limited, 25th anniversary edition contains new artwork, an original postcard, and specially created decorative stamps, making this a book that is as rewarding to enjoy all over again—or to discover for the very first time.
Publisher : Chronicle Books Category : Fiction ISBN : 0811806960 Type : PDF, Epub and Audiobooks
With more than two million copies in print, Nick Bantock's trilogy of romantic intrigue is now available as a set, beautifully packaged in an illustrated slipcase created by the author. A lovely gift for those new to the saga of the mysterious lovers, this distinctive collection also makes an enduring keepsake for devoted fans.
Publisher : Raincoast Books Category : Imaginary letters ISBN : 1551925230 Type : PDF, Epub and Audiobooks
Views : 74
"Alexandria will continue to delight the 3 million readers who fell in love with the epistolary romance of Griffin & Sabine. Awash with gorgeous artwork, the mystery of Griffin Moss and Sabine Strohem now entwines Matthew Sedon, an archaeologist steeped in Egyptian antiquity, and Isabella de Reims, a student in Paris whose vision holds the key to a new reality. Intrigue turns to danger and romance turns to passion as Matthew and Isabella struggle to make sense of a world-and feelings-beyond experience. Only the guidance of Griffin and Sabine, expert navigators of myth and reality, can keep them safe. Author and artist Nick Bantock brings a new sensuality and romance to his vivid dreamscapes and unique visual perspective. Alexandria is a breathtaking new chapter in a saga that has captured hearts, minds, and imaginations the world over."--Raincoast Books.
Publisher : Chronicle Books Category : Fiction ISBN : 145216603X Type : PDF, Epub and Audiobooks
Views : 16
From the creator of the bestselling Griffin & Sabine series comes a visual epistolary puzzle posed by a mysterious character named Magnus Berlin. Readers must study Berlin's introductory note, list of clues, and 16 multifaceted notes and envelopes to decode cryptic anagrams, picturegrams, number puzzles, and wordplay. When solved, each clue reveals one word—but the rest remains a mystery. Packaged inside a folio with a tuck-in flap cover, spine stitching, and all 16 envelopes bound, Dubious Documents is an art object, keepsake, and puzzle in one treasured volume, and a distinctive gift or self-purchase for fans of puzzles, riddles, and anyone who enjoys an exquisitely designed challenge.

domain: library


For the last few weeks I (like the rest of the world) have been attempting to come to terms with the events that occurred on November 8th south of the border. Putting my disappointment and disbelief into cohesive words hasn’t really been possible (further than shaking my head at the world in incredulation), but I was at a concert the other week and the MC summed it up more perfectly than I ever could. He said (and I’m paraphrasing here) “in the next four years we’re going to see more punk rock music than we’ve ever seen - and personally I can’t wait!” The system might be totally fucked up and the potential for individual lives to become equally as fucked up is even greater (and that’s a scary thing), but out of adversity comes the words of change, songs of protest, and hopefully actions that drive social justice. Oddly enough, this year saw the return of a lot of classic punk acts and some of the best new punk tracks I’ve heard in a long time, so without further ado: here’s my top 5 albums of 2016 (in no particular order, since choosing an actual favourite is just not possible)!
Green Day: Revolution Radio
They had me at the opening riffs of “Bang Bang.” If there was ever a shoe-in for the top 5 list, this triumphant return of classic punk-rockers Green Day is it. Unlike their previous multi-concept-album release in 2012, Revolution Radio returns to their roots, giving us the rock-out-inducing riffs, social commentary-heavy lyricism, and wild antics that we expect from a band that’s going on 30 years of action and expertise in their genre. The first singles and title track are expectedly catchy, but I think that as with the off-single tracks of American Idiot the entire album is packed full of auditory and lyric gems waiting to be discovered. Do I even have to mention how timely the album is, considering American political events? I didn’t think so, but I fully expect Green Day to be riding the same anti-Republican wave back to the top of the punk-arena for the next four years.
Against Me!: Shape Shift With Me
I’ve never been a huge fan of Against Me! over the years; they have some excellent tracks, but the albums as a whole just didn’t seem to add up. But this one stuck in my head and refused to leave, so it makes the list this year! The opening track’s chords and vocals left me initially sceptical (too repetitive and too potentially screamy-metal sound which isn’t my thing), but by the time I finished listening to the full album I was willing to give it time to grow. And grow on me it did. The looping melody from “Crash” is nothing if not aurally addictive and the lyrics from “Boyfriend” strike a perfect balance between harsh and beautiful (both effecting a surprisingly charm, coming from a harder-leaning punk band). It helps that the driving themes and concept behind the album seemed to reflect the specific atmosphere of the world when I was listening to it (late September and the Halloween season), so it’s not really surprising that it’s becoming a staple in my October Country collection.
Tegan & Sara: Love You To Death
The latest from Tegan & Sara is a latecomer to the list, but I figured that I should throw some synth-heavy pop onto it just to mix it up. And also because it’s full of strangely beautiful melodies, deeper-than-you-think lyrics, underlaid with a definite must-dance feeling in most of the tracks! You wouldn’t think that duplicating the oddly weird (but absolutely addicting) stylings of Heartthrob would work a second time (it’s been three years, do you think we’d forget), but the girls seem to have settled into a style that works for them and I for one am happy that they’re continuing in this direction. Ironically, I’m not really fond of the first single for the album (“Boyfriend”), but the totally dance-able beats of “Stop Desire” had me hooked. The best track of the album though has to be a tie between “U-Turn” and “Faint of Heart;” catchy beats aside, the world needs more songs that celebrate love in this troubled time. And not just simple love songs (there’s only about a million of those), but these songs embody the complexity that real love is - “It's dangerous to take this path/Everyone will tell us,” but we soldier on because love has the power to change the world.
Almost Alien: Crash Landing EP
Local bands are normally so far off my radar that they have a chance in hell of getting onto the top 5 list (I’m seriously bad at going to shows, so many bands are flatout terrible, and many of them don’t release actual albums even if they are great…), but I couldn’t not include the debut EP from Almost Alien! Sure, it’s a touch underproduced and only has a handful of tracks, but for a first effort EP it’s actually pretty damned good! Of course, the real catch is their live performances (which I’ve been able to see a handful of times this year - yay), but having an album to listen to in-between live shows means that I can relive their antics in memory. But back to the album: even though I’m quite a few years older than these young dudes (not by a lot, but enough that I feel it some days), the album is really reminiscent of being young and being wild and experiencing the hardships of life for the first time. They cover high school in the wonderfully sarcastic “Frankencharlie,” hit a bittersweet note about love and/or friendship in “I Was Wrong,” and party hard like the punk-rockers they are in the rest of the tracks. I shouldn’t even have to mention how hilarious “Hole in the Wall” is, since it always a crowd-pleaser at their shows and makes for some amusing thematic merchandise - just don’t listen to it at work (haha)! Can’t wait to see what’s next up for these guys - now where’s my signed copy Colton!
Catfish & the Bottlemen: The Ride
When I heard that Catfish & the Bottlemen were releasing a second album a mere year a half after the Balcony (and the time was even shorter for us Canadians who had to wait an extra four months for the Balcony to get to us) I was ecstatic. The fact that I found the album in HMV in Regina on the actual day it was released made me even happier, since I was scheduled to go to the UK a few short weeks later and wasn’t sure I could resist the temptation of buying it there and then having to deal with the annoying UK copyright laws that deny making a digital personal use copy. Skip the internal screaming upon purchasing the album to a few hours later - instant obsession, as fully expected. The singles for the album are great (the opening bassline of “7” is perfection, “Soundcheck” is sonically glorious, etc, etc), but the surprise hit for me was the ballad “Red.” For a song that lilts along and has such a chill mood, it doesn’t really try to hide the underlying anger, frustration, and abject sarcasm of the lyrics. It is absolutely one of those songs that arranged differently would make a killer punk rock anthem, but the dissonance between the lyrics and the melody makes the song even more powerful. It’s punk for logical grown-ups, if you will - the anger and rage is still there, but the delivery is highly controlled. If this is what the band can produce on only their second full-length release, it’s really no wonder that they’re selling out massive stadiums all over the world and are poised to keep doing so. So here’s to The Ride - may it never end!
**album artwork from Wikipedia and Almost Alien's BandCamp page


The No Limit Entertainment CEO said his son did not receive proper medical attention after suffering a hip injury during the first game of the season last month. A wrong diagnosis almost led to the end of Miller’s basketball career.
“We’ve got a great program at Tennessee State, we’ve got great people, we loved the culture, we just don’t have enough trainers,” Master P said. “We don’t have enough medical people to take care of what needs to be taken care of. We don’t have the technology that the Dukes and all these major universities have. An injury like this could have been prevented.”
The media mogul told The Tennessean that he does not blame TSU. Instead, he accuses the disparity in medical resources between HBCUs and major universities on a general lack of funding. Earlier this year, the Office of Legislative Budget Analysis reported that TSU “had been underfunded by as much as $544 million in land-grant funding over the years,” according to the outlet.
However, several athletics department officials said that TSU’s sports medicine department isn’t underfunded or understaffed. “The issue is not that we’re underfunded at all,” Trevor Searcy, TSU director of sports medicine, said. “It’s actually the opposite. The issue is that since [athletics director Mikki Allen] has been here we’ve been growing and when you grow your facilities have to grow as well and that’s what we’re in the process of doing now.”
Regardless, Master P was not pleased with the medical staff while his son was enrolled and believes officials are trying to cover up the truth. “How can we help HBCUs if we’re going to sugarcoat the truth? Then we are failing the next generation,” he said. “What do we need to fundraise for if staff members are saying we have everything we need?”


Post a New Topic
Seven plans surface to control creek flooding
Original post made
on Apr 25, 2008
Seven potential flood-protection projects were unveiled Thursday by planners for San Francisquito Creek, a sign that help may be on the way for thousands of at-risk residents and businesses. The alternatives follow an announced $3.5 million bail-out by Santa Clara County's water agency to replace missing federal funds.
Read the full story here Web Link
posted Friday, April 25, 2008, 9:05 AM


text: IBM develops sub-20nm nanofluidic channels for lab-on-chip Nanofluidic channels are useful for many biological and chemical applications, such as DNA sequencing, drug delivery, blood cell sorting and molecular sensing and detection. But in the effort to build a versatile lab-on-a-chip, it has been challenging to develop a wafer-scale nanochannel fabrication process compatible with CMOS technology. At the upcoming International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), to be held December 9-11 in Washington, D.C., IBM researchers will report on a CMOS-compatible 200 mm wafer-scale sub-20nm nanochannel fabrication method that enables stretching, translocation and real-time fluorescence microscopy imaging of single DNA molecules. Through the use of sacrificial XeF2 etching and various UV and e-beam lithography methods, sub-20-nm patterns in silicon were converted into macro-scale fluidic ports, micro-scale fluidic feed channels, and nano-scale channels for DNA imaging. Gradient nanopillars were located in the channels to stretch DNA molecules prior to imaging them. Fluid wasn’t pumped through the channels, but instead was transported by the force of gravity. The researchers say their techniques lead to highly manufacturable structures and can produce chips for a variety of biological applications. A schematic of the nanochannel architecture. Grey represents silicon layers, while blue represents SiO2. The silicon layers serve as sacrificial material. The etching sequence of the silicon layers is shown: A) silicon-patterning with sub-20 nm features (note the inset SEM electron microscope photo); B) capping-oxide deposition followed by vent-hole patterning: and C) XeF2 gas-phase etching of silicon patterns embedded in SiO2. SEM electron microscope photo of silicon nanochannels. Optical photos showing A,B) nanochannels with vent holes on 1-2 µm SiO2 capping layer, on top of silicon patterns; and C,D) following gas etching and removal of silicon patterns.

domain: biology


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A North Bay man is in custody after a home invasion near Kirkland Lake.
On June 6, Kirkland Lake OPP officers, the North East Region OPP Crime Unit and the North East Region OPP Forensic Identification Services, responded to a home invasion on Georgina Street in Matachewan, southwest of Kirkland Lake, where the occupant was assaulted by two people.
The victim sustained serious non-life threatening injuries as a result of the attack and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
As a result of the investigation, police have charged two people.
Louis Roy, 33, of North Bay, and Edgar Mohr, 39, of Cambridge, were charged with:
- Break, enter a place, commit an indictable offence,
- Uttering threats - cause death or bodily harm,
- Mischief under $5,000, and
- Cruelty to animals - unnecessary pain, suffering or injury.
Both were remanded into custody pending a bail hearing.

domain: news


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Process and design articles, reports, infographics, and podcasts almost universally discuss the best projects, the ideal cases, and our favorite ways of working. But many of us don’t work within ideal environments. In the last edition of Ask UXmatters, “Prioritizing Parts of a Design Project,” a reader asked what to do when you’ve come late to a project, find there’s no time or budget to make maximal UX impact, the team expects you to just design the user interface (UI), or you run into technical limitations or political resistance to change?
I realized that I had a lot more to say on that subject than I could share there. Also, I often get such questions or, in my consulting work, must help teams by answering exactly this question. Unfortunately, there’s no one clever trick that can solve every problem and every organization is different. Nevertheless, here are some tactics that have worked well for me, which you can apply in your work—as well as some pitfalls to look out for when you have to work on quick-and-dirty design.
Make Your Case
I very often get asked how quickly and cheaply I can engage. My answer is always: as quickly and cheaply as you want, but with reduced time and effort, the results would be correspondingly less consequential. Sure, I’ll take the job almost no matter how limiting, but I try to make it very clear what I will be doing, what I will not be able to do, and what that means for the user experience.
Especially when you’re coming in late on a project, teams usually ask whether you can “improve the UI.” Of course, you can. But an improved user interface does not result in an improved product experience. It is important to say that, so everyone has the proper expectations. For example, no UI design can compensate for a bad information architecture. If the process is not what customers want or would understand, nothing would make them happy. So be nice about it, but don’t over promise. Otherwise, they may declare any later failures to be your fault.
Plus, sometimes improving the user interface works, and you can work your way into more budget, more coordination, more scope of work, and at the least, more ambitious plans for the next release. This has happened to me, but it certainly won’t happen if you don’t ask.
Design Only the Structure
When there’s a limited budget, but I join a project early enough or they’re promising a clean-sheet redesign, I’ll often start by discussing the limited effectiveness of a beautiful user interface or UI-only revisions and instead propose taking a structural approach.
If I had to choose only one thing to do on every project, it would be to work at the information-architecture level—process, flows, tasks, behaviors, functionality, and data —without designing actual pages. In my ideal process, this is already a key part of what I do before drawing anything else. It’s pretty much just boxes and arrows, with bulleted lists of what is in each of those boxes.
For a team that’s expecting you to choose colors and deliver Sketch files for every page, this can take a little explaining. You can often can get away with doing this by approaching design from a consulting point of view rather than letting everyone view you as a production resource. Remind the project manager, project owner, or executives that changes of process are more important, and process is harder to change later on. The costs of fixing a faulty process are almost invariably much higher than building something right the first time. If the project is on a budget or is explicitly a minimum viable product (MVP)—they’re already planning for throwaway work. It is nearly impossible to throw away the data store, application programming interfaces (APIs), and business processes, so planning for the user interface to be the throwaway is the best use of your time and theirs.
What would the app or Web site look like then? Well, you can use any old framework as the user interface on top of that foundation. The development team might be happy that they get to execute those details themselves or not worry about them at all.
Limit the Product Scope
A similarly strategic, consulting-level approach to making your limited impact and their small budget pay off is persuading the team to change the scope of the project entirely.
I often get asked to come in and “make an iPad app”—or otherwise find that they’ve already assumed what technology they’ll use. Once I get into the project, I’ll find that there’s no compelling reason for that choice. It may even be a bad idea because, say, very few of their users are on that platform. I love a mobile app, but if you don’t need one for technology capabilities such as hardware integration and the budget is tight, start with a solid Web site that works well on every platform instead.
An organization may be very locked into their thinking, so be careful about asking for such changes, but if the team is open to considering a different platform and you get on it early enough, it can save them a lot of money—even to the level of not hiring developers for the unnecessary platforms. While this savings rarely translates into more budget and time for your UX design work, it might at least cut down your effort. Plus, you have proven your value and your outside-the-box thinking, right away, which sets you up well for having other discussions outside pure UI work.
Find Out What You Really Know
Don’t trust what the team tells you at first. Ask for followups, investigate, and get real data. For starters, always confirm the scope of work, timeframe, and all the details of technology and collaboration with everyone who is involved. I have often found that so-called clean-sheet design projects already have their scope locked in, that we must keep using very limiting legacy technology such as old data stores or bad APIs, or they’ve got only two weeks of development time assigned to implement the UI changes, which is essentially nothing.
When you are revising an existing design or even a launched product, you need know how it works today. If you’re already working on a limited engagement, you probably won’t be able to get usability testing much less fly around the world to do ethnography, but at least start with a heuristic evaluation. Don’t let them just give you a demo or take a look at their training PowerPoint deck. Get a real account and try the actual product.
In general, try to gather your own data. Don’t trust the goals and objectives you see on the kickoff PowerPoint. Instead, find out where those assumptions came from and why. If one executive or a few customer complaints are driving all of them, dig deeper. I have often seen a few complaints lead to changes that angered the many other customers who liked the user interface the way it was. Complainers are always loudest, but not always right.
Even without usability testing, you can learn more by reading other sources of data such as customer-care records, digging into analytics logs, and trying to get the raw data from whatever surveys or focus groups Marketing conducts. Gathering data from multiple sources may be useful and is a good way to tell how valid their results really are.
Watch Out for Third Parties
When you need to ask your product team questions about what technologies they’re using and the scope of the project, ask explicitly what they’re building and what is hosted, what is on a different server that uses a different framework, and what they’re buying off the shelf from a third party. A lot of organizations buy various functions such as their help system from some vendor. The problem is: they are what they are. You can’t usefully integrate such functions, so just link to them and maybe add the company’s logo in the corner.
Think about how to deal with third parties early and at a high level. Say you are working on a registration process inside an app, with a nice step-by-step wizard that shows the user is on Step 1 of 4. But Step 3 is payment-system registration, which a third party provides on a Web site, with minimal opportunities for you to customize their user interface. You can’t just decide that you’ll do your part well, then open a dialog or go to the Web for an unlabeled Step 3, and finally, pop back into your app for Step 4. Doing that would make nonsense of your process, so you’d need to consider everything again from scratch. Similar issues arise with development frameworks and other infrastructure. Companies may purchase them for their amazing capabilities and cost savings, but they can end up being very limiting.
Perhaps the most troublesome issue for the UX designer is that organizations often assume the biggest providers of such services and frameworks are all knowing. Even when you could modify them or use an API to get your own user interface, companies often reject such approaches because they assume the vendor knows best. We, of course, know that success does not equal quality, and the design choices such vendors make are very often demonstrably wrong. Security providers are a good example of this, with many of their user interfaces still in the 1980s, despite the current state of the art, government advisories that say passwords are bad and long passwords are horrible, and the fact that governments have all but banned secret-question systems from use.
There are two tactics you should take when you find out that you are working with limiting frameworks, environments, or third-party services.
Push for more. Pushing back directly never works because they’ve already made the decision to use these services, but you can often push for more details and greater capabilities. Many of these platforms have tiers of service that offer more options, other templates, or even full UI customization. Often the documentation of these capabilities is poor or hidden, so you need to ask about them.
Find the limits. Understand what you can and cannot do, and try to stay within these guardrails. Pushing against them won’t usually get you anywhere, and you might get a reputation for “UX wasting time,” which doesn’t help in your future work. To level set again, be sure to remind everyone occasionally why you’re limiting your answers. It’s not your fault that the solution isn’t ideal if your hands are tied.
Do It Right Anyway
While I have done a lot of work in whatever tool the client wanted—for example, I have drawn high-fidelity user interfaces in PowerPoint and Visio—and working within their process, I often agree to a limited engagement, then do more than they asked for or do it differently. For example, just this past week, I did a quick UI design for just a few pages, as a concept for a client review. However, I also sketched some extra pages and added many notes about process and conditionality, making me more confident that the user interface that I drew makes sense for the process. As a result, we’re well prepared for the next stage of work.
Remember that digital systems are arbitrarily complex. Most interactive systems aren’t just a page, but a view into the system. Don’t even try to draw every possible view of every page or let development add many error messages and popups for all the conditions they haven’t addressed, but design for complexity. Specify how everything works, with tables describing component behaviors, instead of drawing dozens of variations. While a lot of teams might initially reject this approach as adding needless overhead, a set of rules for specifications or a table is generally no slower to create and much faster to update, revise, and maintain as complexity grows and new features get added over time.
Make a Style Guide
The biggest design issue that I see resulting from UI-only design methods is consistency. Too many design groups are their own worst enemy and approach each feature and each page individually. To create a single vision of a product design, you need a style guide.
Note that I am saying style guide, not design system. We have two terms because they are two different things. The currently trendy design system bridges design and technology. The UX team builds actual widgets in code, which the development group then uses in implementing the user interface. Ideally, the design system is so well organized and so cleanly named and commented that the code is the guide on how to use it.
But I still say we need style guides, in the old print-media sense. These are documents, wikis, Confluence pages, or whatever that define how everything in the user interface should look and work. The style guide can extend to overall structure and provide details on writing formats as well. The best part is that they are more about look and feel than how to achieve them. This means you can use them across codebases. Rather than just sharing parts between apps and the Web, you can use your app or Web experience across many platforms or even apply it with agreeable third parties and partners.
A style guide keeps your design on track, and as long as it’s a style guide instead of a design system, you can do it yourself without actually getting approval or even telling anyone you’re doing it. Just design a few pages that cover most of the primary design cases, declare them the templates, and create a document in which you can store the templates and all the widgets you make. Again, the minor overhead of creating, storing and maintaining all of this massively and almost immediately pays you back because it makes you much, much faster as you build other parts of a user interface.
Use UI Defaults
Consistency is important, but identifying what must be consistent and with what can be the trick. The style guide can help you maintain consistent structure and a general look and feel across platforms, but you mustn’t take this guide too far. You should use a whole lot of things just as they are for the operating system (OS) or Web browser.
Dialogs, toasts, delay indicators, pickers, and input fields and buttons for form elements are some of the things for which you should always leverage the defaults and, at most, style them a bit to make them work better or mesh with your design. OS defaults are mostly well thought out, bug free, accessible, automatically get improved over time, and behave in ways the user expects.
This principle plays well with the concept of doing most of your UX design work at the architectural level, then letting the user interface be what it is. Or, as someone I worked with long ago called it: Programmer User Interface, or PUI, which is what you get by default, without doing explicit design. With Web frameworks and defaults built into app-development tools, they don’t look that bad. Plus, doing this sets up the product well for customization in a later release—simply and easily.
Don’t Build What You Should Borrow or Steal
Let’s take this even further—to features, not just UI widgets. As an example, a lot of the products I have worked on had a mapping feature, which would take some enormous amount of development effort to complete, be hard to build and buggy so would take more effort to maintain, and would also be pretty hard to design around, in part because maps are two-dimensional scrolling areas.
In many cases, once map features get launched, it turns out creating them was actually a bad thing for users—literally worse than not having the map—and when the team removed and replaced the map with a link to a map app, the satisfaction and star ratings on app stores went up. In many cases, duplicating functions with which users are familiar just annoys and confuses them, reducing their usage rates. So, instead of designing and building such complex features, just link to other apps.
Especially for mobile apps, this is a very simple, effective approach. Just link to the user’s favorite map app for driving directions to your store, to their email program for a feedback form, to the camera app, and so on.
It is important to design these features as options that other apps are clearly providing. For store locations, list each each location fully, then provide a link the user can click to get directions. Integrating the link in such a way that users would be surprised when a new app opens is as bad as for the third-party processes that I discussed earlier.
The user experience matters, not just the user interface. Keep pushing your clients and product teams to make sure they use your skills properly and fully. Let’s reject the trend to become pure UI designers, just taking orders and giving back what they’ve told us to create. Instead, we should do our part to make the product our team is building safer, better, more ethical, and more effective.
For his entire 15-year design career, Steven has been documenting design process. He started designing for mobile full time in 2007 when he joined Little Springs Design. Steven’s publications include Designing by Drawing: A Practical Guide to Creating Usable Interactive Design, the O’Reilly book Designing Mobile Interfaces, and an extensive Web site providing mobile design resources to support his book. Steven has led projects on security, account management, content distribution, and communications services for numerous products, in domains ranging from construction supplies to hospital record-keeping. His mobile work has included the design of browsers, ereaders, search, Near Field Communication (NFC), mobile banking, data communications, location services, and operating system overlays. Steven spent eight years with the US mobile operator Sprint and has also worked with AT&T, Qualcomm, Samsung, Skyfire, Bitstream, VivoTech, The Weather Channel, Bank Midwest, IGLTA, Lowe’s, and Hallmark Cards. He runs his own interactive design studio at 4ourth Mobile. Read More

domain: design


About This Ad
The Political TV Ad Archive, powered by the Internet Archive, is pulling together resources from a variety of sources to create an archive of political TV ads in key primary states. Each ad has its own canonical web page (sample here), and associated downloadable metadata. Some metadata are added by the Internet Archive; some generated via the media itself (such as count of ads, how many times an ad has aired, etc.); and some come from our partners.
Is legislation backed by Paul Ryan to help debt-ridden Puerto Rico a 'bailout'?
The Center for Individual Freedom, a Super PAC, says in a TV ad that Ryan backs a proposal that would be a "bailout" of Puerto Rico.
The ad is misleading in its repeated use of the word bailout, in that legislation supported by Ryan -- unlike past bailout bills -- would not direct any U.S. tax dollars to the debt-ridden island.
But the ad was careful to say the "bailout" would hurt "savers and seniors." And experts told us the bill almost certainly would result in lower returns for Americans who invested money in Puerto Rican bonds.
For a statement that is partially accurate but takes things out of context, our rating is Half True.READ MORE


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Athletic Brewing to Match First $100,000 Donated to The MJF Foundation’s 2nd Annual Diversity Campaign
The Michael James Jackson Foundation for Brewing & Distilling (The MJF) has launched its second annual matching fundraising challenge in partnership with Athletic Brewing Company and ProBrewer. Beginning today and continuing through May 8, 2023, Athletic Brewing will match the first $100,000 in donations made to The MJF’s latest campaign, including contributions from both individuals and organizations.
For over 140 years, the Siebel Institute of Technology has attracted an extensive global following. Our alumni span more than 60 countries and are found in almost every major brewery on earth. Our on-campus classes include a mix of participants from breweries of all sizes who hail from locations all over the world, enhancing our student’s learning experience by exposing them to differences in culture, equipment, methods and beer styles.
ProBrewer will also support The MJF as an official media partner and promote the campaign to its base of industry members and daily newsletter subscribers.
This matching campaign will create the opportunity to raise more than $200,000 toward The MJF’s technical education scholarships for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in the brewing and distilling industries.
Since its founding in 2020, The MJF has funded scholarship awards supporting the career advancement of 29 individuals. This year’s matching fundraising challenge will enable the organization to increase and accelerate the impact it’s having on diversifying the brewing and distilling industries.
“The impact that these MJF scholarships are having are both immediate and enormous,” explained Garrett Oliver, Founder and Chair of The MJF. “For example, one $40,000 donation put ten brewers of color through Siebel’s WBA Concise Course in Brewing. That’s massive. Our awardees have told us that not only have they been able to put their new knowledge to work immediately every day, but they are now able to dream bigger than they had before and to join the industry leaders of the future. We are grateful to our current donors who’ve stepped up and hopeful that the big breweries will get more involved this year as well. A diverse industry is a healthy industry with a big customer base – and that’s what we all want to see.”
In just three years, The MJF has already had a significant impact as its past scholarship award winners advance in their careers and assume leadership roles. A number of past winners now hold titles of Head Brewer and Head Distiller, while others have joined the production or fermentation teams at such renowned organizations as Russian River Brewing.
Part of what has made The MJF successful over those three years is partnering with like-minded organizations, both inside and outside the beer and distilling industries, that can help drive awareness and impact.
“It’s no secret that Black, Indigenous, and People of Color are underrepresented within the brewing industry,” said Bill Shufelt, Co-Founder & CEO of Athletic Brewing Company. “We’re proud to support the MJF, and we hope other breweries will step up and contribute to the campaign as well.”
There is still plenty of work to do to create that more inclusive, equitable, and diverse future that is the vision of The MJF. It’s estimated that 8.2% of brewers in the beer industry are people of color1. That number contrasts starkly against the 40% of the U.S. population that identifies as a person of color2.
“The brewing industry has historically lacked diversity, and it’s critical that we continue to support education and career advancement opportunities while building a more inclusive community for everyone,” added Shufelt. “We have an opportunity to make a significant difference with this campaign, but only if enough people take action.”
Pat Hagerman, Co-Founder of ProBrewer, echoed those thoughts, “The support received last year was amazing. Breweries, suppliers, brewery employees, and consumers all contributed generously. I hope we receive the same level of support this year, if not more. The more we receive, the more impact we can have in changing the industry for the better.”
The fundraising campaign will start today and continue through May 8, 2023. To contribute to the campaign and have your donation matched by Athletic Brewing, go HERE.


text:
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Free access for print subscribers
1946 – Born in Paris in 1934, Brigitte had originally trained as a ballet dancer. After appearing in several fashion shows and in magazines, she was approached for a film role.
HOW TO GET THE BARDOT LOOK
Credit: Rex Features

domain: artistic


text:
Year : 2014 | Volume
: 21 | Issue : 2 | Page : 119--124
Barriers to breast cancer screening among a sample of Egyptian females
Heba M. Mamdouh1, Hazzem El-Mansy2, Ibrahim F. Kharboush1, Hanaa M. Ismail3, May M. Tawfik5, Mohamed Abdel El-Baky5, Omnia G. El Sharkawy5
1 Department of Family Health, High Institute of Public Health, University of Alexandria; Department of Research , Alexandria Regional Center for Women's Health and Development, Alexandria, Egypt
2 Medical Research Institute, High Institute of Public Health, University of Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt
3 Department of Family Health, High Institute of Public Health, University of Alexandria; Department of Nutrition, High Institute of Public Health, University of Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt
Background: Breast cancer (BC) is usually diagnosed in late stages in countries with limited resources. Early detection of BC is likely to improve the outcome of the disease for women in these areas. Objective: The aim of this study was to understand the possible personal, economic, and systems barriers to BC screening in a sample of Egyptian women. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in family health centers representing the seven districts of Alexandria governorate, Egypt. A total of 612 women were randomly selected from the chosen centers. Results: In this sample of Egyptian women, the most frequently identified potential barriers to BC screening were the following: 81.8% would not seek care until they were ill, 77% were unwilling to have a mammogram until it was recommended by the doctor, 71.4% blamed the, lack of privacy, 69.2% thought that medical checkups were not worthwhile, and 64.6% blamed the cost of services. The study further revealed that women of lower education, women in the lower income category, women who did not do paid work, those who had poor knowledge of the risks of BC, and women with no family history of BC were more likely to perceive different screening barriers compared with their counterparts.
Conclusion: Many potential personal, economic, and health system barriers were identified. Addressing these barriers by increasing the awareness of BC and dealing with the misconceptions that the women have can help the policy makers to design more culturally relevant strategies to motivate women to utilize screening services.
Heba M. Mamdouh
Alexandrian Regional Center for Women«SQ»s Health and Development, Abdel Hamid Badawy St., Opposite Ibrahim Pacha Mosque., Ramleh Square Station, Alexandria
|How to cite this article:|
Mamdouh HM, El-Mansy H, Kharboush IF, Ismail HM, Tawfik MM, El-Baky MA, El Sharkawy OG. Barriers to breast cancer screening among a sample of Egyptian females.J Fam Community Med 2014;21:119-124
|How to cite this URL:|
Mamdouh HM, El-Mansy H, Kharboush IF, Ismail HM, Tawfik MM, El-Baky MA, El Sharkawy OG. Barriers to breast cancer screening among a sample of Egyptian females. J Fam Community Med [serial online] 2014 [cited 2020 Jul 5 ];21:119-124
Available from: http://www.jfcmonline.com/article.asp?issn=2230-8229;year=2014;volume=21;issue=2;spage=119;epage=124;aulast=Mamdouh;type=0

domain: medical


Capital Credit Union became a Sustainable Energy Community (SEC) to become a champion of sustainability in our local community. As part of being a SEC, we completed an Energy Master Plan (EMP) of our catchment area to understand the energy needs of our community.
Using this EMP as a foundation, we are working with Energy Team to deliver workshops that help our members become more sustainable and inform them about retrofitting their homes.
The goal of the ‘Better Energy Use’ workshops are educational and focus on helping members reduce their energy consumption, understand their energy bills and learn about other options to make the best use of their energy. These workshops are in-person events and members can register to attend here.
There will be an ‘Energy Upgrades’ Workshop on 30 March dedicated to members interested in a retrofit and improving the energy rating of their home. At a time of rising energy costs, we think these workshops are more relevant than ever.
If you are interested in retrofitting your home, Energy Team can help you with the grant application process and manage the works for you. To get in contact with Energy Team, complete our online Expression of Interest here.
Capital Credit Union is also providing finance with discounted Green Loans and you can see our Loan Calculator here.
There is a lot to consider but we encourage everyone to attend one of our free ‘Better Energy Use’ workshops to make an instant impact on your energy bills – register here.


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Four Royal Marine commandos were killed in Afghanistan yesterday in one of the bloodiest days for British troops since they were deployed to fight the Taliban seven years ago.
In one incident, three marines, two from 45 Commando and one from Commando Logistics Regiment, were killed in an explosion south of Sangin. It was reported last night that the marines died when they were approached by a 13-year-old boy pushing a wheelbarrow, which exploded. It is not known if the boy was aware that he was carrying a bomb.
One marine died instantly, a second died of his wounds before he could be evacuated and the third died of his wounds at the military hospital in Camp Bastion, the Ministry of Defence said.
In the second incident, a Royal Marine taking part in a routine patrol was killed in an explosion believed to be a mine blast near Sangin. The marine, from 45 Commando, died of his wounds while being taken to the hospital at Camp Bastion, the MoD said last night. The deaths brought the number of British troops killed in Afghanistan since 2001 to 132.
Meanwhile, in Iraq, a British soldier died after shooting himself, it emerged last night. The soldier was the second in Iraq to die in eight days from wounds which are thought to be self-inflicted.
Commander Paula Rowe, spokesman for the British task force in Helmand, said: "Today is an incredibly sad day for Task Force Helmand. Our heartfelt sympathies go out to their families, friends and comrades at this terrible time".
Next of kin had been informed, the MoD said. The marines are expected to be named today.
Gordon Brown last night sent his condolences to the soldiers' families, saying: "I know that the whole country is immensely proud of all those who serve in our armed forces and of what they do to protect each and every one of us," he said.
The deaths come at a time of concern about the worsening security situation in southern Afghanistan, particularly Helmand province where 8,000 British troops are based.
Nato commanders also admit they have reached a "stalemate" with the Taliban, whose fighters are proving more resilient than they anticipated.
Ministers have recently cited the relative stability of the Sangin area as evidence that British troops are winning the battle against the Taliban.
British defence chiefs are awaiting reinforcements from the US. America is expected to deploy some 10,000 troops in southern Afghanistan early next year.
Eleven British soldiers have been killed in southern Afghanistan since the beginning of last month, nine of whom were marines. Three soldiers were killed in one week in November.
Forty British troops have been killed in southern Afghanistan this year.
Two of the marines killed last month were victims of an explosion which hit their new Jackal armoured vehicle. They died in a blast from a roadside bomb when they were patrolling with Afghan soldiers in the Garmsir district of Helmand province. Two other marines were also killed last month, north-west of the capital of Helmand province, Lashkar Gar. They were attacked by insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades.


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The holy city of Banaras or Varanasi is located in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is one of the ?Sapta Puri? or seven holy cities where one can attain ?Moksha.? It is believed that Lord Shiva was the founder of this city that dwells on the banks of the holy Ganga. Hindu pilgrims perform ceremonies, ritualistic ablutions as well as cremation and last rites in the river ghats which are embankments made of stone slabs. The Dashashwamedh Ghat is the most spectacular one that attracts a lot of tourists to see the beautiful evening rituals. Numerous devotees and tourists from all over the world flock to Varanasi every year to visit the famous Kashi Vishwanath Temple among several others. There are several mosques and Jan temples in and around the city as well. Tourism boosts the city?s economy, along with certain medium and small-scale industries and agricultural produce. The fertile Ganges plains help the farmers cultivate crops like wheat, maize and sorghum. Copper and brass goods are also manufactured in this city apart from the small-scale industries that produce rugs, carpets, clay toys and other handicrafts. All of these contribute to the city?s economy. Varanasi is also well known for its perfumes, silk and muslin fabrics, jewelry designs, sculptures and ivory crafts. This ancient city is indeed rich in its culture and traditions.
The Punjab and Sind Bank was established on 24th June 1908 with an idea to uplift the weaker section with the far-sighted vision of luminaries like Sir Sunder Singh Majitha, Bhai Vir Singh, and Sardar Tarlochan Singh. As on 31st March 2015, the net worth of the bank is Rs. 4812 crore. A Punjab & Sind Bank branch was established in London in the 1960s. In 1991, the Bank of Baroda acquired the Punjab & Sind Banks London branch on the request of the RBI based on the Punjab & Sinds involvement in the Sethia fraud. The Bank confirmed to have a network of 920 branches or extension counters and 63 ATMs spread across the country as of July 31, 2010. Notably, they have 49 specialized departments, out of the 920 offices. The government owns Punjab & Sind Bank, and it is based in New Delhi. Its 623 offices are in Punjab state out of 1554 branches spread all over India. The Punjab & Sind Bank sponsored a regional rural bank known as Sutlej Gramin Bank. The products of Punjab and Sind bank includes Debit Card, ATM, Internet Banking, Mobile Banking, SMS Banking, BHIM, UPI, POS Machine, AADHAR PAY and BHARAT QR.

domain: economics


text:
$59.95 - $39.85
(as of Sep 28,2022 08:38:08 UTC – Details)
Probiotic Premium Plus by PetVitalityPRO – The premium formula with 20 VALUABLE INGREDIENTS in ONE PRODUCT! Carefully formulated to combine the right ingredients in the right proportions to work for your dog. Increase gastrointestinal health Boost immune system Enrich your dog’s diet with antioxidants, bioavailable vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients + increase absorption Boost energy and stamina Support and restore digestive tract during and after antibiotic and steroid treatments Support digestive and overall health during training, travel and times of increased stress Support your puppy to develop a stronger immune system and healthier body systems thus reducing the risk of developing future health issues like allergies and digestive tract issues. Help your aging dog support vital body systems and boost its health and vitality. RECOMMENDED FOR dogs of all ages and breeds. Especially beneficial for dogs with any kind of + gastrointestinal disorder (i.e. diarrhea, constipation, gas, malabsorption) + immunity deficiency + dogs on antibiotics or steroids treatments + allergy issues + skin and coat conditions + bad breath + vitamins and minerals deficiency + energy and stamina deficiency + working dogs + aging dogs + puppies + dogs during training, travel or times of increased stress. MADE IN USA Manufactured in USA in an inspected facility. All certified ingredients. We make sure, that our product is 100% SAFE for your dog. Every production batch is MICROBIOLOGICALY TESTED in a third party lab, to proof safety and purity. Produced in small batches – always benefit from a fresh product with long shelf life.
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
Product Dimensions : 3.7 x 3.7 x 4.5 inches; 13.2 Ounces
Date First Available : May 25, 2016
Manufacturer : PetVitalityPRO
ASIN : B01G5CB410

domain: pet


MST Performance Cold Air Intake System - Volkswagen Polo GTI 6R & Audi A1 1.4 TFSI
* Every system includes a nanofiber dry air filter
* High strength 3-ply silicone construction
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* Mounting hardware and comprehensive installation instructions included.
* Come with a limited lifetime warranty
2010-15 Audi A1 1.4TFSI 185HPS
2008+ VW Polo 6R
Note: please make sure our kit can compatible with your car before place an order, if you have any question please contact us.
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Welcome to the Friends of High Point State Park blog! We are glad you are here. Feel free to take a look around and make yourself at home. Learn about the Friends of High Point State Park and our activities. Save the date and join us on the mountain for our upcoming programs. We greatly appreciate your support. Please consider becoming a member, sponsor, or dedicated volunteer. Thank you for visiting.
The Friends of High Point
State Park invite you to a special evening of music in the park with national
folk and Americana music veteran Jonathan Edwards on Sunday, August 19, from 6
pm to 8 pm on the beach at Lake Marcia. Edwards will perform the third and
final concert in the Friends of High Point State Park 2012 Summer Concert
Edwards’ highly respected repertoire
includes such classics as “Honky Tonk Stardust Cowboy,” “Sometimes,” “One Day
Closer,” “Don’t Cry Blue,” “Emma,” “Everybody Knows Her,” “Athens
County,” “Shanty,” and “Sunshine (Go Away Today).” The barefoot troubadour, whose
career spans over 40 years, is sure to entertain both longtime fans and
soon-to-be fans at this special night of music under the setting sun on KittatinnyMountain.
Seating is lawn and
beach seating. Bring your own blankets and chairs. The concert is a family-friendly
event. Picnicking is encouraged. Alcohol is strictly forbidden.
In the event of
rain, the concert will be held in the High Point State Park Interpretive
Center. To learn more about Jonathan Edwards and his music, please visit www.jonathanedwards.net.
Friends of High Point State Park is a non-profit organization that fosters and
supports activities at High PointState Park in Sussex, NJ. Proceeds of the concert
will go toward funding this and future events.
Lake Marcia beach
We hope to see you on the mountain Sunday, August 19!
Friends of High Point State Park


What a performance! Years 4 and 6 combined to tell through drama and song the story of evacuees during World War II. With stunning costumes, sound effects and period set, this musical experience will live long in the memories of the audience and cast. A mighty well done to you all!
12 July 2019


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WILLOWBROOKE FARM WINTER CHRISTMAS DAY CAMP
Located at Willowbrooke Farm, 7461 Brookville Rd., Plymouth, Michigan.
Jennifer Blades/Jenny Steinmetz – Camp Directors – 313-938-9221 (Coaches of the University of Michigan Equestrian Team)
1/2 Day Session - $175/session 9 a.m. – noon Availability is limited.
Reservations require a $75 Non-refundable deposit with the remainder due 2 weeks prior to camp session.
Activities for ages 6-15, with all levels of experience welcome!
Activities for ages 6 - 15 include:
Drinks and snacks will be provided.
Please dress warmly - we are inside a barn, but it's not heated. Hand/toe warmers, and under layers are encouraged.
Choose a Session:
Please indicate level of experience:
City: __________________________ State: ____________ Zip: _________
Phone Number: ______________ Emergency Number: _________________________________________ _____________________________
For questions, contact Jenny Steinmetz at 734-737-0899.

domain: hobby


Want a deeper understanding of the latest Qi low power specification? Click below and fill out the form to gain access to more details about the inner workings of Qi wireless charging.
Qi specifications are numbered with three digits: X.Y.Z. For example 1.0.3
The current version of the Qi specification has version number 1.2.2.
The Wireless Power Consortium has developed Qi wireless charging guidelines to help developers create products for the automotive aftermarket. These guidelines, available as a downloadable PDF, can help you make attractive Qi automotive chargers that deliver the promise of the technology while adhering to our adopted standards.


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- Promoting plant growth: what type of gravel you use has a large effect on the growth and health of the plants in the aquarium. Some types of gravel allow aquatic plants to take root easily and thrive inside the tank while others can be harsh and prevent their growth. For example, Aquael’s H.E.L.P. ADVANCED SOIL regulates the water’s PH level and ensures they are ideal for your plants. On the other hand, if you decide to go with artificial plants, you wouldn’t need to worry about this.
- Ensuring the fish are safe: ensuring the fish don’t get hurt due to the gravel is also important. There are two main ways the fish can directly get hurt: if they have extended contact with gravel that’s harsh, they could cut themselves and get hurt or if the fish mistakenly swallowed small gravel with food which could make them seriously sick and even die. You need to ensure the gravel you add to your aquarium doesn’t hurt your fish in either way. All the gravel Aquael offers are safe and tested to ensure they don’t hurt the fish.
- The quality of the water: the gravel also affects the quality of the water. Some lower quality gravel has chemical interactions with the water as they decay or dissolve in the water over time throwing up the chemical balance of your aquarium’s water – other types of gravel, however, can even help in regulating it. Whether you’ll choose fish tank sand or fish tank gravel also affects how the water interacts with it. Gravel is larger and allows water to more easily flow between the grains which prevent water stagnation and mould buildup. Sand, on the other hand, doesn’t let water pass through as easily but it provides a better habitat for fish who like to burrow in the sand.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Gravel is Best for Your Aquarium?
There are no fast-and-easy answers to this question. You need to look at whether you want artificial or real plants, what types of fish you want to have in your aquarium, and what type of filter you have and how it interacts with the gravel.
Why Should I Buy Aquael’s Gravel?
With more than four decades of experience manufacturing and being able to offer the products in more than one hundred countries, Aquael has proven itself it is a company that can both stand the test of time and different market tastes being able to provide high-quality gravels anywhere in the world.
Is Fish Tank Gravel or Fish Tank Sand Better?
This is another question that doesn’t have a set answer. If you have fish that need sand to thrive like the Cory catfish, then you obviously need to have sand. But, most of the time, the fish can survive in both environments, and you’d need to decide based on aesthetics, plant growth, water flow, etc.


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Beautiful Wooded Corner Lot in established Southpointe neighborhood on Lake James. Deeded Boat Slip #31 conveys with this property. Southpointe offers community pool and clubhouse, and walking trails in sister community of Dry Creek. Lake James has over 150 miles of shoreline, come enjoy all that Lake James has to offer!
Request More Info:
|Elementary School:||Oak Hill|
|Middle School:||Table Rock|
|Listing Courtesy Of:||Lake James Real Estate, Inc|


Small Business Administration Agenda
December 14, 2009
About This Video
Run time: 61 minutes
Karen Mills talked about efforts of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to boost the small business sector and create jobs. In her remarks she addressed actions the SBA took following the financial crisis to encourage banks to begin lending to small businesses again. She responded to questions submitted by audience members.


The current Senate version of the health care reform package contains a public option as well as a mechanism for states, like Texas, which has a history of denying its citizens adequate health care protections, to opt out of the public option.
There's no question that a majority of Texas political leaders are in bed with the insurance companies. (It should also be noted that many of these same hacks -- I'm trying to discover exactly how many -- are on Medicare, meaning they are denying their constituents the same kind of health insurance they themselves enjoy.) That's one of the reasons Texas leads the nation in the disgraceful category of the most citizens without any health insurance at all -- 24.1 percent.
Yet, polls indicate and overwhelming majority of Texans, like the rest of the country, wants health insurance reforms that will increase competition and provide more quality, affordable options for the middle-class.
So here's the good news: That majority of Texas leaders can't, by themselves, opt Texans out of the public option.
From what I've learned, here's how the reform package will be implemented. The National insurance exchange is phased in and reforms begin taking effect in 2011-2012. The public option begins in 2013. The earliest states can opt out is 2014 and will require a two-thirds vote of both houses of the legislature to pass an opt-out bill. Thus, to vote in favor of opting out will put legislators in the precarious position of taking away constituents' health insurance, a little dicier proposition than just denying them health care, which they are doing now. Plus, the governor could veto opt-out legislation, but if either Gov. Hair or Sen. Hutch is in the governor's mansion, we know that won't happen.
There's a couple of election cycles between now and 2014. It is incumbent on every editorial board of every newspaper in Texas to include in its interviews with legislative candidates whether they would vote to opt out of a public health care option and report that information to its readers. That question must be posed to any legislative candidate in any public forum. As for me -- and I'm betting many other middle-income and lower-income Texans feel the same way -- a candidate's position on that issue will determine whether he or she will receive my vote. By going to the polls and voting for those candidates who care about the health and well-being of their constituents, we can make sure the legislature never comes close to having the two-thirds majority needed to pass opt-out legislation.


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“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” So begins the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Whether one reads it in in Abkhaz, Zulu or any language in between, the declaration represents the common heritage of all humanity.
It is fitting that thinkers from every continent helped craft this fundamental statement of human rights, and fitting also that Human Rights Day is December 10, the date when the United Nations General Assembly adopted the declaration.
How do you define human rights?
At the United Nations’ very first session, in 1945, a Panamanian, Ricardo Alfaro, first proposed a bill of international human rights. The new U.N. Commission on Human Rights was tasked with drafting one. It wasn’t a small task. To succeed, a document needed both to capture the essence of what we mean by “human rights” and to secure the approval of the diverse international community. Former U.S. first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, chairwoman of the commission, was unfazed by these challenges. “We make our own history,” she said. “It is more intelligent to hope than not to hope, to try rather than not to try.”
An all-star team of international diplomats set to work. Constitutions of all U.N. members and other documents were discussed, debated and scrutinized. Committee member Charles H. Malik of Lebanon was a strong proponent of natural rights. China’s Zhang Pengjun contributed a Confucian outlook. Lawyers John Humphrey from Canada and René Cassin of France drafted the initial text.
Delegates from all parts of the world community refined the document. Latin American delegates argued for inclusion of socioeconomic rights. Egypt’s delegation strengthened the statement on universality. And India, the Dominican Republic and Denmark fought to recognize the rights of women.
The discussions continued over 80-plus sessions. More than 160 amendments were debated. Finally, consensus was achieved.
“Thousands of minds and hands have helped in its formation,” said Malik as he introduced the declaration for a final vote at the U.N. General Assembly, a hush falling over the gathered diplomats, press and onlookers.
In the end, 48 nations voted to adopt the declaration and none voted against. In its 30 articles are the promise of fundamental economic, social, political, cultural and civic rights and the promise of a life free from want and fear.
The Universal Declaration’s enduring legacy
The Declaration’s impact has been profound. It forms the bedrock of international human rights law. Constitutions in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Haiti, Indonesia and Jordan, among others, incorporate its language.
Perhaps more importantly, the declaration continues to inspire men and women everywhere. Fifty years after its adoption, South Africa’s Nelson Mandela reflected: “For those who had to fight for their emancipation … the Universal Declaration of Human Rights served as the vindication of the justice of our cause.”
Human rights champions from Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma to Shirin Ebadi of Iran have cited the declaration as both a guide and a call to action. Seventy years after its adoption, the declaration remains the world’s pre-eminent statement of the rights that we all share.

domain: politics


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Museums in Dar es Salaam
Travelers are voting Dar Es Salaam Village Museum and Dar es Salaam National Museum as the best museums in Dar es Salaam. There is 1 museum in Stone Town a city just 85 km from Dar es Salaam. The most popular of these is House of Wonders in Stone Town. You can find 7 Museum in the country of Tanzania and Dar Es Salaam Village Museum is our members favorite Museum in all of Tanzania. Want more? Check out our map of museums in Dar es Salaam.


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Furthermore, Fox ordered the closure of the unit library and the screening of the library’s inventory to cull any books that violated the obscenity ban. The screening culminated in the purging of 21% of the library’s stock.
Cline’s attorney, Robert Bastress, Esq., of West Virginia University College of Law in Morgantown, argued the Policy Directive and the warden’s actions were unconstitutional in that they restricted Cline’s right to information by purging the library. Cline and Fox filed cross-motions for summary judgment, and, on May 7, 2004, the court granted Cline’s motion in regard to the purge. Additionally, the court enjoined the enforcement of P.D. 503.00(V)(P) and ordered that it be amended “in a manner consistent with this court’s orders and other governing federal law.” See: Cline v. Fox, et al., 319 F. Supp. 2d 685 (N.D.W.Va. 2004).
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Related legal case
Cline v. Fox, et al.
|Cite||319 F. Supp. 2d 685 (N.D.W.Va. 2004)|


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Category: Symptoms Sinusitis
Does Sinus Infection Cause Dizziness?
Consult a balloon sinuplasty doctor with regard to sinusitis
Balloon Sinuplasty - Complete Solution for Chronic Sinusitis
For New Yorkers, Instant Respite from Sinusitis is a Walk in Clinics
Treating Sinusitis with Nasal Nebulizer
Symptoms of Sinusitis
Desperate for Sinus Relief?
Suffering from Nasal Allergies? It could be Sinusitis!Sinusitis Symptoms Sinusitis usually begins with a cold or perhaps a nasal hypersensitivity attack that remains with regard to an interval longer as compared to the most common cool symptom length (one week).
What to do When your Sinus Medication Fails YouSinusitis Signs and symptoms Sinusitis is a condition concerning a stretch of uncomfortable symptoms in which impact day to day living.


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XC requires the rider to pedal and utilize their power about 80 percent of the ride. What is this? Cross country bikes are short-travel bikes with 100-120 mm of travel. They are light and built with a frame geometry that is comfortable for pedaling.
What is considered cross country mountain biking?
Cross country (XC) mountain biking is a form of mountain biking that is performed on paths consisting of forrest paths, smooth roads, singletrack, and paved roads connecting trails. XC biking emphasizes endurance above technical skill.
Is 160mm travel too much for trail riding?
160mm of travel is only really needed if you’re hitting big hucks, or you’re smashing really long bouldery fast descents. Do I need 160mm travel? 99% of the time, no.
How much travel should you use MTB?
We recommend that a trail fork ideally have 34mm stanchions, at 130-140mm, for a 29er – possibly, up to 150mm, for the smaller 27.5in wheel size. As fork travel increases with trail bikes, the latitude of responsiveness from your damper becomes more complex.
Is 120 enough to travel?
In addition, you’re not likely to notice much difference between a 120mm, 130mm, and 140mm fork. Honesty, a 120mm fork is enough travel for most Trail riders.
Can you ride XC bike on trails?
Can you ride XC trails on a trail bike? Yes, you can ride a trail bike on cross-country terrain! Having the right bike for the terrain that you are riding is always going to improve your overall experience.
Is XC mountain biking dead?
If you are wondering whether cross country (XC) mountain bikes are dead, rest assured, they aren’t. The discipline grows more popular every day with new bikes are being churned out to meet the technical demands of new courses.
What do XC riders wear?
Can XC bikes jump?
Yes, you can jump a XC bike and in fact it happens all the time in normal cross country usage. Like everything else, however, there are limitations to how far you can go before you damage your bike.
How much difference does 20mm of travel make?
As a rough estimate, each 20mm of travel added will correlate to a one-degree difference in the head tube angle.
Is 140mm travel too much?
140mm of travel is not much in real terms…its just like a slight bend of the legs… I think many people get caught up in exactly how much travel to use. The important thing is that the travel you use suits the bike design and wont spoil the angles or turn it into a “chopper”.
Is 150mm travel enough for Enduro?
What should I look for in the best enduro mountain bikes? An enduro bike is basically a mountain bike with at least 150mm of suspension travel, but more commonly 160-180mm. They’re built for the rigours of racing full-bore downhill whilst being sufficiently efficient on climbs and contouring trails too.
Is 150 mm of travel enough for downhill?
Long-travel bikes usually have 150-170mm of rear travel to handle tough downhill trails. Front travel often matches rear travel but sometimes can be more. Trail and enduro bikes fall into this category. They absorb big hits and smooth out rough terrain.
Is 150mm travel enough for bike park?
150 mm travel fork is plenty! You will have fun for sure. If you are the biker for big jumps & drops and bike parks the Swoop is a great bike. But takes fun away when doing trail biking on tamer trails.
How much travel should a hardtail have?
It depends totally on your riding style and the intended use. For pretty much XC or dirt jump, go with a 100mm XC or dirt jump fork. For general trail riding a 120 to 130 would work well. For AM to light Free ride a 140 to 160mm fork would be the ticket.
What does 120mm travel mean?
travel is how far down the fork can compress (how much shorter it will get when it is pushed as far as it will go) like spawne said, short travell (usually 120mm or less) is for cross country, medium (130-160mm usually) is for trail, or all mountain riding. anything 160mm or more will be for downhill or freeride.
How much travel should you use?
Set sag between 20-30%. If you only ride smooth trails, you should still use about 3/4 of the travel. Measure this, since the exposed stanchion is longer than fork travel. If you start to ride harder or start to ride rougher trails and bigger drops, you will need to add air.
How much does it cost to go to Whistler?
The average price of a 7-day trip to Whistler is $1,547 for a solo traveler, $2,778 for a couple, and $5,209 for a family of 4. Whistler hotels range from $53 to $164 per night with an average of $104, while most vacation rentals will cost $220 to $1000 per night for the entire home.
Can you jump a hardtail?
So, are hardtail mountain bikes good for jumps? Hardtail mountain bikes are good for jumps. It is also easier to jump on a hardtail mountain bike compared to a full-suspension mountain bike. However, because of the lack of a rear suspension, the drop on a hardtail won’t be as forgiving compared to a full suspension.
Do I need a trail bike or XC?
Considering the overall speed, the cross country bikes are far much faster than trails bikes. While the trail bikes can take a corner quite aggressively with more grip, the cross country is able to maneuver sharper corners with more agility. The trail bikes do break faster and more precisely.
Are XC bikes versatile?
Short travel Dual suspension or XC bikes
These versatile bikes are designed for cross-country riding and racing, singletrack and general trail riding and typically feature 4″ (100mm) of travel.
Are Hardtails more fun?
Hardtails are a little rougher, but that just adds to the sense of speed, even if you’re not riding as fast. They can even be more fun on some trails: the kind of trail that isn’t too rough and needs a bit of pedaling, a sweet jump trail, or a fresh secret trail where you’re surfing loam all the way down.
What is a XC bike good for?
Cross country bikes are changing, fast. A new category of cushier, “endurance” XC bikes has emerged. These bikes are designed to balance marathon racing, stage racing, and everyday trail riding. They’re still focused on climbing, but with more consideration for how the bike will descend.
What is the difference between XC and Enduro?
Enduro tracks are more technical than XC which involves bigger drops and jump sections to fuel your adrenaline thirst. Enduro competitions are staged races completed over a few days and involve steep climbs and timed descents.
How can I make my XC mountain bike faster?
- Practice the course. …
- Make sure to fuel and hydrate before and during the race. …
- Don’t arrive at the start line cold. …
- Get off to a flying start (but remember it’s a marathon, not a sprint) …
- Pace to perfection. …
- Taming technical descents. …
- Time your overtake to perfection.
Do I need gloves for mountain biking?
Gloves. Full-finger gloves are favoured by the vast majority of mountain bikers and provide more comprehensive protection than mitts. The coverage provided by full-finger gloves helps protect the hands from crashes and undergrowth, and some gloves will come with padding on the palms to provide additional cushioning.
Why do XC riders wear lycra?
When it comes to road cycling, many wear lycra in order to minimise wind resistance. This keeps cycling as fast and comfortable as possible. In mountain biking (mainly downhill) this is less of a concern.


I was approached yesterday morning by Anne Spackman to pen 500 words on the Twickenham farce/pantomime.
I sen this in and most of it has survived in this morning's newspaper on p36:
English Rugby: A manifesto for change
by Derek Wyatt
I doubt if any rugby supporter in the land was that surprised when reading the leaked documents about the off and on the field revelations of our England
players who so badly misrepresented our country in the rugby world cup a month ago. They should be ashamed. I doubt if they are.
Will Carling said, as rugby went professional in 1995. "If the game is run properly as a professional game, you do not need 57 old farts running it." From memory, I think he was told to stand in the corner for a week and write out a hundred lines. He was, of course, referring to the Council made up of members largely drawn from the counties. His comments are as pertinent today as they were then - the more so since the county championship has withered on the vine.
The current RFU administration is dysfunctional and over the past 18 months, there has been a systemic loss of trust at Twickenham which has festered and poisoned the game. This led to the Blackett Report which reported in July but was stopped from being published until September. This was an outrage. And the subsequent briefings to the media and the ongoing leaks – something which the Blackett report highlighted – again shows why fundamental reform is required.
You need a structure for the professional game (men and women) and a separate structure for the amateur game (men and women) and an executive board which unites them. You need independent, professional chairmen or women. Elections to these committees should be open, transparent and allow all club members a vote. Board members should be elected for five years and their voting on motions, expenses and ticket allocations should be placed on the RFU’s web site.
It is not all doom and gloom. Professional rugby had no preparation time and you have to hand it to Premiership Rugby at the way they have created a world class product. True the senior clubs struggle to make ends meet as so few of them own their own grounds. For sure, it is still a work in progress but the RFU has virtually abdicated its responsibilities. They are our shop-window but the players need to be reminded of their duties to the wider game. I dread suggesting this but maybe we are inching towards a code of conduct.
There are hopeful signs elsewhere. Richmond and Rosslyn Park, both London based clubs, had difficult times post 1995 adjusting to the mantra of professionalism. Both have decided to become beacon community clubs. They have returned to the core values of the game. Both are thriving. Theirs is the model to follow below the top two leagues.
I hope the new CEO, when announced, will be given proper executive authority. He must be in charge of appointing the new coaching team for England. There is no rush. We need the best person in the world. It will be worth the wait.


Disclaimer: The legal status of Land Between the Lakes’ roads and OHV trails are subject to change. Please refer to the current Land Between the Lakes Motorized Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) for official legal road/OHV trail status. The Forest Service uses the most current and complete GIS data available. GIS data accuracy may vary. Using GIS data for purposes other than those for which they were created may yield inaccurate or misleading results. The USDA Forest Service reserves the right to correct, update, modify or replace GIS data without notification. Forest Service Law Enforcement violations will be determined by use of official Land Between the Lakes maps: MVUM, General, Recreation, Hunt Area, Campground, and Trail.


WSJ: Japanese Government Gives OLED Development A Boost
The Wall Street Journal reports that OLED technology, the lightweight flat panel display technology that could unseat plasma and LCD, will get a kick from the Japanese government. By initiating a joint research effort by 11 Japanese companies,
including materials and parts suppliers, the government is hoping to
speed up development and to give Japanese electronics companies an
edge. In addition to Sony and Sharp, a joint venture between Toshiba Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. is participating.
Although it is new technology, Texas market researcher DisplaySearch
expects OLED displays to become a $5.3 billion market by 2015 from
$497.4 million in 2007. Sony became the world’s first manufacturer to
start selling an OLED TV set last year, but it is small, at 11 inches,
and is priced at about $2,500. The set, made in small quantities and
sold in Japan and the U.S., remains the only OLED TV on the market.