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Mercedes loves bananas, so I decided to make a lesson out of it.
We read a book telling step by step how bananas get from trees to our kitchen.
We made banana and chocolate chip faces.
And we made banana bread. Mercedes loved smashing the bananas.
Click HERE for the recipe.


Chris Boucher's injury only ends Oregon Ducks' dream season if they let it
Oregon’s effort at the end Saturday night was valiant.
Early on, the Ducks were clearly off. The news of Chris Boucher’s season-ending knee injury was fresh in their minds, and it showed.
No. 5 Oregon lost 83-80 to No. 7 Arizona in the Pac-12 tournament championship game without Boucher, who averaged 11.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game this season.
The loss of Boucher clearly hurts more than the loss to Arizona.
We’ll find out Sunday how the NCAA tournament selection committee views both losses when they release the bracket and Oregon’s seeding.
No question, the Ducks will miss Boucher.
But as Oregon showed Saturday night, this is still a great basketball team.
The starting five — Dillon Brooks, Tyler Dorsey, Dylan Ennis, Payton Pritchard and Jordan Bell — are still intact, and this is a team that enters the NCAA tournament with a 29-5 record.
But for a team with Final Four goals, losing a player like Boucher this late in the season can be a killer.
Everybody will need to step up their game for Oregon.
Brooks and Dorsey will need to be sharp. Ennis will need to lead like this is his last run in college, because it is, and Bell needs to play like the Pac-12 defensive player of the year he is.
But other players need to step up as well. Pritchard needs to contribute much more than the one point, three assists, three rebounds and two steals he had Saturday night. They also need Casey Benson to hit big shots, and they need Kavell Bigby-Williams to grow up quickly. This is the big stage now.
Losing Boucher is a big hit, no question. But it doesn’t have to be a fatal blow.
It’s gut-check time for the Ducks.
MORE ON THE DUCKS
Pac-12 live updates: Without Boucher, Oregon Ducks fall just short in title game
Oregon Ducks player Chris Boucher done for season with torn ACL
Video shows 'family' moment with Oregon Ducks basketball and Phil Knight


When? 12/19 – 12/21/17, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Where? Gate 9 entrance to Polo Park Dr. and northwest on Polo Park (map below)
What? Roadwork and boring underground to replace failing Puget Sound Energy line. Traffic will be slowed to one-way. Please watch for signs and follow instructions from flaggers. Please use caution in this area for the safety of road crews. Thank you for your patience as we work with utility agencies and engineers to improve your access to services.


Spin Hall effect of visible light due to monolayer graphene on SiO2/Si
We have investigated the Imbert-Fedorov (IF) shift, commonly known as the Spin Hall effect of light, due to monolayer graphene on SiO2/Si. We have numerically calculated the transverse IF shifts using the transfer matrix method and determined which incident wavelength gives the maximum shift. We have calculated physical shifts of up to 1.6μm when using 45o linearly polarized and 543-nm wavelength incident light. This study presents the potential of the Spin Hall effect of light as a tool for characterization of graphene and other 2D materials.


By Sarah Sell, University Communications and Marketing
A $1.5 million National Science Foundation grant will allow researchers to develop a web-based application that gathers crowdsourced data in coastal communities to identify flooding risks and inform policy. Led by USF St. Petersburg GIS and Remote Sensing Professor Barnali Dixon, the research team will create the CRIS-HAZARD app.
The app will combine volunteered geographic information and community crowdsourced data such as photos and videos with near real-time data on flooding. Using dynamic modeling and mapping tools including artificial intelligence, the app will identify and extract estimated water elevation for near real-time flood models that can inform emergency managers and policymakers.
“To develop a custom policy that meets the needs of each unique community, you need to know the data,” Dixon said, who is also executive director of USF’s Initiative on Coastal Adaptation and Resilience (iCAR). “The power of this system is that it allows us to see the needs of these communities on a very granular scale, so you can then put policies in place.”
The new app, which will provide an interactive user experience, is based off the existing Community Resiliency Information System (CRIS), a website created in 2020 by iCAR.
The CRIS platform leverages crowdsourced data to identify climate-related vulnerabilities in local communities. Residents can input information related to issues such as flooding and power outages. The information can be used by policymakers and neighborhood leaders to make decisions about policy and resource allocation. The data also allows emergency managers to identify areas with concentrations of people who need transportation assistance or are reliant on power for medical needs.
Dixon has been working with community leaders in St. Petersburg’s Childs Park neighborhood for several years, where residents have successfully used the system to prepare for extreme storm events. Through the CRIS website, participants can view maps and see their risk of storm surge and sea level rise. They can also share their own information and suggest ways to improve the system.
“We have used the application at all our community town halls,” said Erica Hall, executive director of the Florida Food Policy Council. “As a community leader and liaison, this will help communities tremendously to understand the connection between sea level rise, climate change, extreme heat and coastal flooding. Some coastally vulnerable neighborhoods also show food insecurity, health disparities and environmental justice concerns. Having CRIS map those concerns tells a story that will allow the community to understand.”
After Hurricane Ian in 2022, Dixon and her team used GIS to map areas identified as coastally vulnerable communities that experienced inequitable access to disaster relief and assistance but also showed that the neighborhoods were food insecure. Some of them were without power and food for much longer than they should have been.
As principal investigator, Dixon is developing the new application alongside co-principal investigators Yi Qiang from the School of Geosciences at USF and two others from Georgia Tech, Subhrajit Guhathakurta from the College of Design and Peng Chen from the College of Computing.
The research team will continue to work with community partners in St. Petersburg’s Childs Park and expand to other coastally vulnerable areas of Pinellas County, including Shore Acres, West and East Lealman and Bahama Shores.
The CRIS-HAZARD app will be developed by researchers using community and emergency management input over the next three years, and then can be used by both local neighborhoods and communities nationwide.


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Living in the Company Town
Since it commenced operations in 1881, the principal activity at the Hercules powder works was the manufacture of dynamite and later black powder and TNT. The location was chosen for its isolation from population centers and its access to rail and water transportation. Nearby Pinole and Rodeo were then sparsely settled agricultural areas. Providing residences for workers at the Hercules plant became a practical necessity.
The Gothic-revival home for the assistant superintendent was later converted into the Bachelor's Club.
Chinese workers, who made up the largest part of the Hercules workforce in the 19th century, lived in rough, wooden buildings at the waterfront. These men worked through a labor contractor who also charged the men a fee for lodging and meals. This arrangement continued until 1914, when the waterfront camp was dismantled. Many of the other plant workers lodged at the plant boarding house or one at Pinole.
In the late 1890s, a large home called White Columns was built for the superintendent, as well as 12 cottages for workers and their families. The company-owned village eventually grew to some 100 houses and duplexes. Workers were charged a nominal rent and paid no property taxes.
White Columns was built in 1899 for the plant superintendent.
The demand for housing rose and fell according to the level of production orders, but never was the need so great as during spring 1918. The hundreds of workers then hired to build the TNT plant were advised to bring a blanket.
During the build-up related to World War I, additional houses and temporary dormitories were added to the housing stock to accommodate workers. Also, a residential hotel was built to house some 45 to 50 men.
Hercules had the largest population of the company towns in the East Bay. A guide to 1930s California listed its population at 392, while the company town at Oleum was estimated at 217 persons, Selby had 141 residents, and Giant had a population of only 90. Although it had no retail district, Hercules did have a clubhouse, and like the other nearby company towns, it had its own post office and rail depot.
During World War I, these dormitories housed four men to a unit.
At Selby, the American Smelting and Refining Company owned two hotels plus 52 houses at the adjacent village of Tormey where there was a small school. Those employee-rented homes are now gone and the industrial site is paved with a thick layer of asphalt. Oleum, the town at the Union Oil Company refinery between Crockett and Rodeo, once had hotel for men and a few homes for managers, some of which have been relocated to Rodeo. The village of Giant at Point Pinole, owned by a commercial rival to Hercules, had a school, Craftsman-style bungalows, and boarding houses for workers. Most of the surviving buildings in Giant village were torn down in the 1960s.
Hercules has undergone many changes. White Columns was dismantled in the aftermath of a huge December 1944 explosion that damaged it and other homes in the Hercules village and shattered windows in nearby towns. All of the dormitories are gone, as well as the hotel. In the 1970s, during the last years of plant operation, many houses were torn down as they became vacant and fell into disrepair.
Workmen's cottages on Pinole Street were among the first company-owned residences built at Hercules.
However, remnants of the company-owned village survive. Several historic dwellings, which have not been rehabilitated, await their next use. These include two former management homes and Quinan Inn, originally a residence for technical employees (now known as the Masonic Hall). A restaurant currently operates in a former company-owned home at 1991 Railroad Avenue that dates from 1917. Today, visitors to Hercules can also see 20 restored workmen’s homes on Bay and Pinole streets. These architecturally and historically significant buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
More about the first 100 years of the town of Hercules can be found in the recently published history Hercules, which features 219 images of the plant and residential village. It can be purchased here.

domain: history


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Great shot.Sydney - City and Suburbs
Great looking sky. So much rain lately I just decided to work with what God provided and posted a stormy sky.
Hi! You are just one post away from me this week! I am so glad you and Christina inspired me to do Skywatch Friday, I look forward to it each week and try to make sure I post.You clouds are lovely and at least you are getting some rain this time of year. Ours is pretty much gone until October or thereabout.My Skywatch this week is about drought!http://uberrhund.wordpress.com/
What a shame you've had so much rain. Hopefully you'll soon be seeing the lovely blue of your photo again.Our skies are definitely fresh.....it's been pretty windy here!!
Very nice cloud formations. That's really interesting.Have a lovely weekend.AlexanderAlex's World! - http://www.kakinan.com/alex
It's a beautiful sky....I love it when the clouds hang low like that...
What a lovely summers day! We are all grey skies here but whatever the clouds are doing, I love looking!Happy Skywatch to you!
Looks like a nice sunny wintery day! I'm sending you some sunshine...hope it arrives soon! Thanks for visiting my SWF post.
I just love skies with pretty cloud formations. LOVELY!
Nice sky shot!My SWF photos are from this afternoon, a hot, sunny day, though humid.
That's a beautiful, bright sky though Dot. Maybe it cheered you up in the midst of all that rain. :(
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domain: geography


Panathinaikos' forward Sasha Pavlovic wrote on his blog about team's victories and his visit to Akropolis.
"After the defeat against Zielona Gora, we managed to win Apollon Patras and remained undefeated at Greek Basket League. Against Zalgiris Kaunas we were impressive, thanks to the return of James Gist and the performance of Nick Kalathes, despite his finger injury. At this time, we are preparing for Arkadikos' game, it is a newly-promoted team with high motive. In personal level, I had the chance to visit Akropolis with my wife, a stunning monument, one of the real miracles of the world", were the words of 32-year-old Serbian on his esake blog.


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Access to medications prescribed by your physician is important to both control seizures and ensure the best possible outcome for your health. However, it can be difficult to understand and navigate how prescription drugs get from the manufacturer to the pharmacy and what determines whether or not your insurance will cover the cost. The health insurance and prescription benefit ecosystem in the United States is incredibly complex. The information below provides a high-level description of the process so that you can better understand the various players and know where you may encounter obstacles to obtaining your medicine.
Watch our Navigating Prescription Medication Access & Patient Support Online Forum for more resources on this topic.
Manufacturers are the companies that produce pharmaceutical products. You may be familiar with some of the companies that manufacture antiseizure medications. For example, SK Life Science manufactures Xcopri® (cenobamate). UCB manufactures Brivact® (brivaracetam), Vimpat® (lacosamide), Fintepla® (fenfluramine), and Nayzilam® (midazolam nasal spray). Jazz Pharmaceuticals manufactures Epidiolex® (cannabidiol).
The prescription medications that manufacturers produce are either branded, generic, or branded generics. Brand-name medications are drugs that have been approved by the FDA and have patent protection so that no one else is permitted to manufacture them. For example, UCB was the original manufacturer of the drug levetiracetam, known by its brand name Keppra®, when it was approved by the FDA in 1999.
The duration of the patent protection for each drug varies, but once it expires, other companies are then allowed to apply to manufacture the drug in addition to the original branded manufacturer. Keppra® lost its patent protection in 2008. At that point, several other manufacturers obtained approval from the FDA to manufacture a generic version of leviteracetam.
A generic drug uses the same chemical name that the branded drug uses (e.g. leviteracetam) and it contains the same active ingredient as the branded medication. It has the same quality, the same safety, and the same strength as the branded drug. However, the generic may differ in several ways. It may contain different inactive ingredients, and importantly, the FDA only requires that the generic drug be “bioequivalent” to the branded drug. Bioequivalence is declared when there is no significant difference between the generic drug and the reference drug in the rate and extent to which the active ingredient becomes available when administered at the same dose under similar conditions and in an appropriately designed study. This allows for some small variability between a branded and generic drug.
So, if you fill a prescription for levetiracetam or any other medication at the pharmacy, there is a high likelihood that you will receive a generic version. And usually, there are several manufacturers of each generic medication. Therefore, it is possible that when you are filling a prescription for levetiracetam or lamotrigine or carbamazepine, you may receive a drug manufactured by a different pharmaceutical company from month-to-month or from pharmacy-to-pharmacy.
One last category of prescription medication is a hybrid called a branded generic. These are generic drugs that the FDA has approved, but the manufacturer has decided to give them a brand name instead of simply utilizing the chemical name. An example of this is the antiseizure medication Vigadrone® which is a generic form of vigabatrin, but branded with its own name. Branded generics are often marketed like branded medications and may have similar patient support programs that you see with branded medications such as a call center, copay cards, and patient assistance programs. Branded generics often cost more than generics, but less than their branded counterparts.
Your pharmacist can tell you if you are receiving a generic version of a drug or you can look at the prescription information to find out.
The primary way that drug manufacturers get their medications to pharmacies, and ultimately patients, is through drug wholesalers such as McKesson and Cardinal Health. Wholesalers buy large quantities of the drug from the manufacturer, manage the inventory, and then distribute it to retail chain pharmacies (e.g. CVS), independent pharmacies, specialty pharmacies, mail-order pharmacies (e.g. Express Scripts), hospitals, long-term care and other facilities.
Generally, the public has no interaction with wholesalers. These are business-to-business transactions.
Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are companies such as Prime Therapeutics, Express Scripts, or CVS Caremark, that contract with health insurance companies (e.g. Blue Cross Blue Shield, United Healthcare, etc.) to manage the prescription benefits for people enrolled in their health plans.
The PBMs contract directly with the pharmacy chains (e.g. CVS, Kroger, etc.) to set agreed upon pricing for the cost and reimbursement of prescription drugs. The PBMs also work with the health insurance companies to establish and/or maintain a drug formulary. The drug formulary (sometimes called a Preferred Drug List) is a list of branded and generic drugs that the health insurer will cover in a specific health plan. Lastly, the PBMs process and pay drug claims from the pharmacy.
So, if you go to your corner pharmacy to pick up a prescription, the pharmacy technician will process the prescription by using the computer to “ping” your health insurance plan and see what drugs are approved on the formulary, and what the cost or co-pay will be to you. If you are prescribed a brand name drug and a generic version is available, this may be where a switch is made because of the formulary associated with your health insurance plan.
Pharmacies are the licensed bodies that are able to dispense prescription medications to the public. You are familiar with the pharmacy in your local CVS, Walmart or Kroger store. However, there are other types of pharmacies besides these retail chain pharmacies. There are also specialty pharmacies, mail-order pharmacies, and on-line pharmacies that may supply your antiseizure medications.
The price of prescription drugs is not regulated and can vary dramatically from pharmacy to pharmacy. Even if you have health insurance, it is important to compare prices if there is an out-of-pocket cost or co-pay with your medication. Figuring out where to go for the lowest prices on your medications can add up to significant savings.
Pharmacy chains such as CVS, Walmart, Kroger, or networks of independent pharmacies such as Good Neighbor Pharmacy buy the medications from the wholesaler (or sometimes directly from the manufacturer) and make them available in their retail stores so that it is easy for patients to fill their prescriptions. They are the last stop in the supply chain for the consumer. The retail pharmacies generate the prescription drug claims that are then sent to the pharmacy benefit managers and health plans (insurers) to determine if the prescription drug will be covered and, if so, how much it will cost the patient.
Specialty pharmacies are a type of pharmacy that is licensed by the state and is used primarily when the cost and/or the complexity of the therapy require increased management. The use of specialty pharmacies has increased dramatically in the past ten to fifteen years. Drug manufacturers decide which specialty pharmacy or pharmacies they want to distribute their medication through.
Drug manufacturers may choose to use a specialty pharmacy instead of going the traditional route of retail pharmacies for a variety of reasons. For example, the medication may require special storage and handling such as refrigeration. The medication may need to be administered by injection or infusion. The medication may have a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy associated with it, so it has special requirements before it can be dispensed, such as an eye exam or an echocardiogram. The medication may have an extremely high cost or be for an extremely complex, rare or chronic condition.
Several antiseizure medications can only be obtained through specialty pharmacies, including Sabril® (vigabatrin), Achtar® Gel (corticotropin injection), Epidiolex® (cannabidiol), and Fintepla® (fenfluramine). If you are prescribed a medication that is only available through a specialty pharmacy, your prescribing physician’s office will let you know. You will likely have to fill out a special intake form to get the prescription. You will not get a paper prescription nor will an electronic prescription be sent to your corner pharmacy.
Medications that are dispensed through a specialty pharmacy usually come with a significant amount of support services. You will likely have access to a call center to help ensure that your prescription gets filled. There is a good chance that there will be financial support services such as a co-pay program to help you cover the cost of the medication. You may even have access to a nurse or other healthcare professional to answer your questions.
A mail order pharmacy is another type of pharmacy that contracts with your health insurer or pharmacy benefits manager. If your health plan has a mail order pharmacy, you may choose to have your medication delivered directly to your mailbox instead of having to go to the corner pharmacy and pick it up. Examples of mail order pharmacies include Express Scripts, OptumRx, CVS Caremark, and Walmart Pharmacy Mail Services.
Your copay and coverage may differ at a mail order pharmacy than at your local retail pharmacy. Oftentimes, filling your prescription at the mail order pharmacy is cheaper than getting it from your local pharmacy, and they often fill a prescription for 90 days instead of just 30 days, which may also save you money. However, it may take longer to receive your prescription from a mail order pharmacy and mail can be unpredictable. This is important to consider if you have a life-threatening condition that requires medication or if you need your prescription immediately.
In recent years, some new options have come to the marketplace offering alternative models for getting your prescription medications. These can be very good options for people who do not have prescription drug insurance, and even if you do have prescription insurance, it may be worth comparing your out-of-pocket cost for the medication with their pricing.
Cost Plus Drugs
Cost Plus Drugs was founded by serial entrepreneur Mark Cuban in 2022. The business model is founded on providing low-cost medicines with transparent pricing. The cost for each medication that Cost Plus Drugs stocks is its purchasing price plus a 15% mark-up, $3 for labor, and $5 for shipping. You can see the pricing for each of the drugs that it stocks on its website. Cost Plus Drugs is able to offer low pricing because it eliminates the middlemen in the supply chain that we described above (wholesalers and PBMs).
Cost Plus Drugs is not a full-service pharmacy; it only supplies selected generic drugs. However, it does have a very robust list of hundreds of generic medications including many antiseizure medications.
Amazon launched Amazon Pharmacy in 2020 as a digital drugstore. It is a full-service pharmacy and offers both generic and branded medications. You can use your health insurance pharmacy benefit or you can pay out-of-pocket for medications. Amazon Pharmacy offers transparent pricing, so that you can put in your information and see what the cost for your medication(s) will be. Your medications are mailed to you, including free 2-day delivery for Amazon Prime members.
Amazon Prime members get other special perks including a small set of generic medications for $5 per month, including several antiseizure medications. There is also a new feature where manufacturers’ discount coupons for branded medications are automatically applied to the cost of a prescription when available. This ensures that a patient getting a branded prescription filled is paying the lowest out-of-pocket cost available. This feature is only available for products from some manufacturers right now, but Amazon Pharmacy is working to add more coupon selections over time.
GoodRx is a company that gathers current prices and discounts to help you find the lowest cost pharmacy for your prescriptions. It offers a competitive price by looking across the various retailers, including Walmart, Costco, and CVS. That price is often cheaper for the consumer than the cash price you would be offered at the register, which is typically highly inflated.
GoodRx also offers free discount cards and coupons for consumers to take to the pharmacy, often allowing them to get a lower price. In addition, it offers membership programs that may save you more money for a small monthly fee. GoodRx markets its service to the ~30 million Americans who are uninsured, as well as to people with high deductible plans who might still get a deal on their generic medications.
There are also several competitors to GoodRx (e.g. pharmacychecker.com, singlecare.com) and many online pharmacies as well. It is definitely worth the effort to price shop if you do not have prescription insurance or if you have a high co-pay or co-insurance out of pocket cost for your medication.
Private health insurance, also known as commercial insurance, is provided by employers or can be purchased by individuals directly from insurance companies. Most health insurance plans provide some sort of prescription drug coverage or prescription drug benefits. The exact type of coverage varies from plan to plan and the type of medication that you need. A small percentage of prescription medications are covered by your medical benefit instead of your pharmacy benefit, but that is more the exception than the rule.
Not all health plans cover all prescription drugs. If you need a drug that’s not covered, it can cost you hundreds to thousands of dollars out-of-pocket. Because of this, it is important to check your plan to see if the medications that you need are covered. This list of covered drugs is called a formulary. Check the plan’s formulary if you are looking to switch insurance plans due to a job change, a major life event (e.g. marriage), or even if you are considering changing plans within your employer’s options.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted to make affordable private health insurance available to more people, especially those who are uninsured. The law provides consumers with subsidies (“premium tax credits”) that lower costs for households with incomes between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level (FPL). The ACA requires health plans offered on their marketplace to include prescription drug benefits. Information can be found at www.healthcare.gov.
There are several types of public health insurance including Medicaid, Medicare, and TRICARE.
Medicare is a federal health insurance program for adults aged 65 and over, younger people with disabilities, and those with permanent kidney failure or ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). It has different parts and options, such as coverage for prescription drugs.
Medicaid is a joint federal-state program that provides free or low-cost health insurance to low-income families and children, pregnant women, older adults, and people with disabilities. Although pharmaceutical drug coverage is an option benefit under federal Medicaid law, all states currently provide coverage for outpatient prescription drugs.
TRICARE is the uniformed services health care program for active duty service members (ADSMs), active duty family members (ADFMs), National Guard and Reserve members and their family members, retirees, and retiree family members, survivors, and certain former spouses worldwide. TRICARE includes a prescription benefit program.
Patients using Medicaid, Medicare, or TRICARE are ineligible to utilize many of the support programs provided by drug manufacturers including copay cards, starter packs, or free trials.
Most manufacturers of branded antiseizure medications, and some generic manufacturers, have a Patient Assistance Program (PAP) to assist people in getting medications if they do not have health insurance and if they are not covered by Medicare, Medicaid, or TRICARE. Most of these programs will provide free medicine if you can demonstrate financial need. Each company has different requirements, but usually, you have to demonstrate that your income is less than some multiplier of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). You can find information on the PAPs on each manufacturer’s website.
Patient assistance programs run by independent charities help patients pay for the cost of prescription drugs. They generally are set up to provide assistance within specific disease states, regardless of treatment. Below are the links to a few of these foundations; however, this is not an exhaustive list:
Prior authorization (also called “preauthorization” and “precertification”) is a requirement by health insurers and/or prescription benefit managers that requires approval by the plan before they will provide coverage. This authorization is generally performed either by your doctor’s office, or the manufacturer of the medicine may have a customer service center that will take care of this approval for you. Following the process is no guarantee that the request will be approved; the benefits manager may deny the request.
Prescription benefits managers put prior authorizations in place so that they can evaluate whether they deem that the medication is necessary and is being prescribed appropriately. It is a cost-saving measure.
Step edits are a mechanism designed by health insurers and pharmacy benefits managers to control costs. Usually, but not always, this means that patients are expected to try cheaper drugs before trying more expensive drugs. Step therapy means trying less expensive options before “stepping up” to drugs that cost more.
Some states have laws which require pharmacists to dispense a brand name prescription if the physician or healthcare practitioner expressly indicates that there should be no drug substitution of a generic. The specific rules also vary by state, but generally speaking, the physician needs to expressly write “brand necessary” or “no substitutions allowed” or “dispense as written” on the prescription.
It is important to note that just because the prescriber indicates that the brand drug is to be provided, it does not mean that the health insurer or prescription benefits manager has to cover the branded drug. The drug may not be covered, or it may be at a different, and more expensive, tier in the insurer’s drug formulary. Therefore, you may be paying more out-of-pocket if you want the brand name prescription when a generic version is available.
A letter of medical necessity may be helpful when your physician has prescribed a specific medication, but your insurer or pharmacy benefits manager has denied approval and payment. The letter is an instruction and a legal document that states the doctor’s clinical decision-making recommendation. It is written on your physician’s letterhead and it must show a powerful argument for the medical need.
You have the right to follow your insurance company’s drug exceptions process, which allows you to get a prescribed drug that’s not normally covered by your health plan. Because the details of every plan’s exceptions process are different, you should contact your insurance company for more information.
Generally, to get your drug covered through the exceptions process, your doctor must confirm to your health plan (orally or in writing) that the drug is appropriate for your medical condition based on one or more of the following:
If you get the exception:
If your health insurance company won’t pay for your prescription, you have the right to appeal the decision and have it reviewed by an independent third party. There are two ways to appeal a health plan decision:
Information on appealing is on healthcare.gov: (https://www.healthcare.gov/appeal-insurance-company-decision/appeals/)
Data: Adapted from Congressional Budget Office, “Prescription Drug Pricing in the Private Sector,” January 2007.

domain: medical


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The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) on Friday called for the release of Siham Sergewa, a member of the Libyan House of Representatives, or the parliament.
Sergewa was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen and taken to an unknown location six months ago in the eastern city Benghazi.
“Siham Sergewa, an elected member of the House of Representatives, was seized at night from her home in the heavily fortified Buhedima District of Benghazi. Since her violent abduction, Sergewa’s fate remains unknown,” UNSMIL said in a statement.
“UNSMIL continues to follow up on the enforced disappearance of Sergewa and reiterates that the authorities in eastern Libya are responsible for respecting international human rights law and are legally obliged to establish the fate and whereabouts of Sergewa,” the statement said.
In July 2019, unidentified gunmen kidnapped Sergewa from her home in Benghazi, took her to an unknown location and shot her husband.
The UN-backed Libyan government based in the capital Tripoli held the rival eastern-based army responsible for the incident.
Benghazi is under the control of the eastern-based army, which is currently engaged in a deadly armed conflict against the UN-backed government over the control of Tripoli.

domain: news


It was a warm and beautiful night – far from the reports of the cold weather I was warned against. The next morning I was to meet the director of Julius Caesar, Estelle Shook, at her apartment on the east side of the city. I was here on a creative mentorship programme supported by the NAC and part of Canadian Stage: Spotlight South Africa, to work with Estelle’s creative team on her new production.
I decided to walk to Estelle’s as I was afraid I’d get lost using public transport and it seemed like a good idea as I could discover more of the city on foot.
I arrived at Estelle’s apartment about half an hour early – all walked out and dying to sit down. I walked over to an apartment and knocked. There was no answer. “Am I really at the right apartment?” I looked upstairs and decided to go knock at the apartment door up there. A charismatic, charming and friendly man opened! I knew he was an artist from the moment I saw him. I told him I was from South Africa and looking for Estelle Shook. He was very excited to hear I had finally arrived and exclaimed; “The director from South Africa! We’ve been waiting for you!”
He then escorted me back downstairs to Estelle’s apartment and unlocked the door for me; it turns out he was the owner of the building! He introduced himself to me as Michael and as it turned out he was indeed an artist, an actor who was also going to be acting in Julius Caesar! And just like that I had met the first Canadian artist I was going to be spending the next two months with.
A few moments later Estelle walked in and to her surprise found me in her apartment. A beautifully spirited person, she opened her heart and home to me and allowed me to be a part of her creative team for Julius Caesar in a generous and rewarding manner.
The next eight weeks spent in Toronto were to be an eye opener and learning experience for me. As a storyteller and creator I was given the privilege of growing purely by working in a different country with different approaches to making theatre. I also came to value the importance of a wider frame of reference when making theatre work.
Whilst I was in Toronto, I also had the privilege of seeing other plays and, by watching other director’s work, I was inspired and creatively stimulated. I also got to interact with a bigger circle of actors, directors and the movers and shakers of theatre in Toronto.
One of the many exciting moments of my trip was being invited to be a part of a cast of 12 storytellers in a theatre experience called The Dinner Table, as part of the Toronto Fringe Festival. I told a story about my home, Africa, from the eye of a young and free black man living in a country ‘alive with possibility’ regardless of its past. The evening was a success and made me feel proud to be an African at that moment in time so far away from home. It was a defining moment in my journey both as a human being and an African storyteller.
During my time in Toronto I made relationships that I feel will last forever and are the beginning of interesting and hopefully sustainable theatre making collaborations and exchanges. I felt myself grow and undoubtedly my life has changed forever.
I would like to thank the National Arts Council of South Africa, Canadian Stage and The Market Theatre for putting together this amazing mentorship programme. I want to do my best to ensure that their efforts will not be in vain as I endeavour to contribute significantly to the theatre industry in SA and the world as a whole. Working on the creative team for Julius Caesar at Canadian Stage was an incredible experience, one that will stay with me forever.
Clive Mathibe’s production of Cincinnati has just completed a successful run at The Market Theatre, Johannesburg www.markettheatre.co.za


In a bid to quell the Freedom Convoy, Canadian officials lumped crowdfunding platforms into a “terrorist” funding law Monday, days after a judge unsuccessfully tried to freeze millions donated to the truckers.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the never-before-used “Emergencies Act” on Monday, announcing among other things that financial institutions will be allowed to regulate and prohibit the use of the property to fund or support illegal blockades.
Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland said the government would be broadening their “terrorist financing” rules to cover crowdfunding platforms raising money for the Freedom Convoy.
“We are broadening the scope of Canada’s anti-money laundering and terrorist financing rules so that they cover crowd funding platforms and the payment servers providers they use,” Freeland said. “These changes cover all forms of transactions … the illegal blockades have highlighted the fact that crowdfunding platforms and some of the payment service providers they use are not fully captured under the Proceeds of Crime and Terrorist Financial Act.”
GoFundMe took down a fundraising page started by organizers of the Freedom Convoy and refused to disburse the funds. The website cited police reports of “violence and unlawful activity” as justification for its decision. (RELATED: ‘So Much Love’: Ottawa Locals Discuss Freedom Convoy, Say People ‘Spewing Out Hate’ Haven’t Talked With Truckers)
“Following a review of relevant facts and multiple discussions with local law enforcement and city officials, this fundraiser is now in violation of our Terms and Services (Term 8, which prohibits the promotion of violence and harassment) and has been removed from the platform.”
GoFundMe originally said the $9 million in funds would be sent to “credible and established charities chosen by the Freedom Convoy 2022 organizers and verified by GoFundMe.”
GoFundMe announced all donations would be refunded to the donors, following pushback.
Donation pages for the truckers popped up on GiveSendGo, with the platform issuing a stark rebuke Thursday after a judge tried to freeze the funds.
A spokesperson for Ontario Premier, Doug Ford, said Ontario’s attorney general successfully filed a request with the Superior Court of Justice for an injunction preventing GiveSendGo from distributing funds donated to the site’s “Freedom Convoy 2022” page and “Adopt-a-Trucker” page.
GiveSendGo later said “Canada has absolutely ZERO jurisdiction over how we manage our funds here at GiveSendGo. All funds for EVERY campaign on GiveSendGo flow directly to the recipients of those campaigns, not least of which is The Freedom Convoy campaign.”


Russia has successfully tested a new version of its RS-24 Yars
- published: 27 Jan 2018
- views: 1980
Russia says it has successfully tested a new version of its RS-24 Yars nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with an “experimental warhead” design. The three-warhead configuration could make the weapon more accurate, as well as harder for an opponent to track and intercept. The Russian Strategic Missile Force conducted the test launch from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in the northwestern Arkhangelsk Oblast, flying approximately 3,500 miles before impacting the Kura Missile Test Range in Kamchatka Krai on the other side of the country. It was unclear whether or not this was the first test of the new warhead arrangement on the RS-24. Read More : https://goo.gl/yPxGAr...


Awesome customer service I have taken my 3 vehicles to them for the la... read more Awesome customer service I have taken my 3 vehicles to them for the last 3 years. Reyde Tucorazon
This an older location, but welcoming. Setting an appointment couldn'... read more This an older location, but welcoming. Setting an appointment couldn't be easier, and the staff is eager to meet your exact needs. Justin is an insanely busy man, but an excellent multi-Tasker, and the epitome of professional, a true machine. The staff's knowledge on mechanical aspects, along with speed, and customer service, are unbeatable. There's a reason why this location is so busy, and I recommend them. Ariel Earhart
The Jag service was just my most recent work done there. I have been t... read more The Jag service was just my most recent work done there. I have been taking my 1974 Triumph TR6 to Andy for the past three years and had work done on the 2005 Altima of a student my wife and I help. I have always been nothing but completely satisfied with their work. Their rates are fair (below that of the dealer or lesser quality work done in other shops. I found their knowledge and work superior and there research to be thorough. I recommend them to anyone with both modern and classic cars, both American and foreign.


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Rooms available at a group rate at the Days Inn Vancouver Downtown (5 blocks from Harbour Centre)
- Single Queen Bed room rate: $239/night
- Two Double Bed room rate: $259/night
- Quote group CGSFUG for group rate
- The group rate will be available until April 1, 2018 or all 15 rooms are booked (rooms still available as of April 5th, 2018)
Rooms available at the Ramada Limited Vancouver Downtown (2 blocks from Harbour Centre). *Group rate rooms are fully booked. Contact the hotel to inquire about rooms at regular rates.
For those looking for more economical options, we suggest:
YWCA Hotel (about 8 blocks from Harbour Centre, less than 5 min. bus ride on the #5 or Skytrain from Stadium/Chinatown Station to Waterfront Station)
- Rooms from $86/night
UBC Conference Accommodations (30-40 min. bus ride from Harbour Centre on the #44)
- Various options including hostel, bedroom in shared apartment, and suites
- Standard Suite from $135/night
Harbour Centre is located in downtown Vancouver, a few blocks west of Gastown and the city’s Downtown Eastside. As a tourist destination, Vancouver hotel rates are quite expensive from May-September. Hotel booking sites may suggest less expensive accommodation options in the Downtown Eastside. Safety is rarely a concern, but conference attendees should note that the neighbourhood is home to low-cost rental housing, low-barrier social services, and two supervised injection sites.
Visit translink.ca for public transportation information. Harbour Centre is near numerous bus stops and one block from Waterfront Station.
“Waiter” by kaicho20 on Pixabay.com. No rights reserved (CC BY 0.0). https://pixabay.com/en/waiter-bread-deliver-serve-food-492872/ .


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(Courtesy: Kunkumam – September 2016 Issue: http://kungumam.co.in/Articalinnerdetail.aspx?id=10986&id1=9&issue=20160902)
கிரேஸி மோகன் IN Download மனசு – Kungumam Tamil Weekly Magazine
(Courtesy: The Hindu, October 1, 2015)
It has been a rewarding year for Tamil theater, with many new groups entering the fray and staging plays that are technology-driven. The audience, too, is ready for such productions.
Despite many hurdles, Crazy Creations has had consistent success and is now in its 37th year. Retaining most of the actors who joined the group in its founding days, the troupe launched its latest laugh riot, ‘Google Gadothgajan’, where Crazy Mohan has scripted both story and dialogue.
Mohan’s play is meant for children of all ages, which incidentally ensures a full house, as children have to be escorted by grown-ups.
The play comes packed with Mohan’s typical word play, interspersed with some rather juvenile jokes. Clearly, he has not yet gotten out of the Krishna mode he donned for ‘Chocolate Krishna.’ Here, too, he appears as Krishna in the beginning and the end, but it’s his role as Gadothgajan (costume designed by cartoonist Keshav) that steals children’s hearts.
The story is typically Crazy. The hero goes through a considerable scrimmage to marry his first love, fighting his close friend who is also trying to woo the same girl.
As is Mohan’s wont, impersonation again rules the roost. Even the bears (make-up by Natarajan) interchange roles! Finally, Gadothgajan befriends the hero Madhu and helps him win his sweetheart.
Crazy Mohan is in his elements as Gadothgajan and Lord Krishna while his brother Balaji essays his role easily. Noteworthy performances by Sundararajan as Kausalya patti and Appa Ramesh as Beggar Ramanujam help sustain the momentum.
Yet another segment the children will enjoy is the scene where Superstar Rajinikanth, Sachin Tendulkar and Amitabh Bachchan ‘greet’ Madhu. Badava Gopi has mimicked their voices with perfection. Neelu’s love for the stage is evident in the one scene he appears as the roadside laptop peddler.
S.B. Khanthan has directed the play, which ends on a philosophical note, which might leave the children a bit perplexed but is a good message for the grown-ups. He has beautifully used P. Suseela’s old song, ‘Kadhal Siragai’, in the play and the manner in which Kausalya patti transforms herself into a 16-year-old girl must get special mention.
After the show, Crazy Mohan was ready for a quick chat. “I have to capitalise on my strength which is comedy. Now I have reached the stage where I have to live up to my brand image.” Talking about ‘Chocolate Krishna’, one of the most successful plays in recent times, which will soon reach 1000 shows, Mohan says it had a huge influence on him, which is why he decided to reprise the role in ‘Google Gadothgajan’. Interestingly, he has completed a set of verses on Lord Krishna in a book titled Kannan Anuboothi.
“The Crazy group is my extended family and the camaraderie I enjoy with the group is the reason for my success,” says Mohan, as he poses for selfies with fans.

domain: artistic


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One of the more popular North Indian recipes, chicken makhani can be as hot or as mild as you like (this recipe is mild). Marinating the chicken produces a succulent and tasty dish.
Yield: 6 Ready in 45 minutes
favorite of 6 people 1 people want to try
|-- for the chicken marinade --|
|12 eachChicken thighs|
|200 millilitersThick yoghurt|
|1 tablespoonGinger; finely chopped|
|3 cloveGarlic; crushed|
|100 gramsAlmonds; ground|
|2 eachRed chili; finely chopped|
|2 eachCloves; ground|
|1 teaspoonGaram masala|
|6 eachCardamom pods; crushed|
|400 gramscanned tomato; chopped|
|70 gramTomato paste|
|-- For the Butter Chicken --|
|1 largeOnion; finely chopped|
|4 tablespoonCoriander sprigs; finely chopped|
Chicken Makhani Preparation
For the chicken marinade:
Remove the skin from the chicken thighs and debone, cutting each thigh into 2 pieces. Discard the bones and the skin. Make the marinade by mixing together all of the ingredients, including the chicken, together. Coat well. Cover and place overnight in the fridge. (The marinde might not look as bright red as you'd imagine, but when it is cooked in the oven, the colour changes.
For the butter chicken:
Fry the onions and bitter together in a large pan until the onion is golden brown. Add the chicken marinade and fold in the chopped coriander and the cream. Stir over a low heat for 10 minutes until everything has combined well and then tip into a large casserole dish. Place in a preheated oven (180?C / 350F) for 50-60 minutes.
Serve with basmati rice and roti or garlic naan.
Link to another BigOven recipe
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domain: food


Meeting the housing needs of Britain’s ageing population was one of the key themes to emerge from the Lyons Review of Housing Policy that was published by the Labour Party on 16 October. The report made a strong case that – as half of all the projected household growth between 2014 and 2021 is projected to take place in households that are headed by someone aged over 65 – Britain’s housing system needs to come up with innovative new ways of adapting to their needs. They recommended a range of key policies which could have a significant impact on the supply of housing for older people.
Incentives for downsizing
One of the suggestions made by the Lyons Review is that older households could be given greater incentives to downsize into smaller properties, as this would free up family-sized houses for younger people while enabling older people to move into accommodation that has lower running costs and is physically more manageable for them.
The Intergenerational Foundation (IF) submitted evidence to the Lyons Review based on our research into downsizing, which argued that there could be as many as 25 million “missing” bedrooms in England where no-one sleeps on a regular basis because they belong to households that are officially classified as “under-occupying”. IF’s 2011 report into the problem of under-occupation – Hoarding of Housing: The Intergenerational Crisis in the Housing Market – found that a third of all English householders were under-occupying their homes in 2009/10, with the two largest groups of under-occupiers being pensioner couples aged 50–79 and single-occupant pensioner households. IF argued that this is an incredibly wasteful use of Britain’s existing housing stock when there is a national shortage of housing that people can afford, and especially as growing numbers of children are being forced to grow up in overcrowded housing.
This was supported by further evidence derived from IF’s follow-up study, called Understanding Downsizing, which used interviews with a group of pensioners who had downsized to form a picture of what their experiences had been. This study found that the downsizers regarded it as an overwhelmingly positive experience, as they had been liberated by having smaller energy bills, a smaller house to maintain and less gardening to do. These two reports led IF to advocate that the government should do more to encourage older households to downsize, with tax breaks for downsizers being an obvious policy lever that could be implemented.
The section within the Lyons Housing Review devoted to improving the housing options for older households expressed agreement with this sentiment, as it advocated that older households should be encouraged to downsize in order to free up family homes and to increase the volume of transactions in the housing market.
One option which the Review suggested was that older households could benefit from plans discussed elsewhere in the Review to make it easier for people to develop self-built or self-commissioned housing projects, as this would enable asset-rich older households to develop their dream homes. On the tax side, the Review echoed IF’s suggestion that stamp duty incentives could be considered to help encourage older people to downsize, although it acknowledges that the public-spending implications of this would need to be analysed further.
Is design the key?
The Lyons Review also particularly stressed the importance of good design in providing housing that is specifically aimed at older households. They advocated that all new housing aimed at older people should follow the guidelines which have been developed by the “Housing our Ageing Population Panel for Innovation” (HAPPI), a group of housing experts which has come up with a range of features that they think all housing aimed at older people should embody, such as being energy efficient and well-insulated.
The Review also praised some of the bespoke retirement housing developments that have already taken place, such as the Panel Croft Retirement Village near Birmingham, which is the result of a partnership between Birmingham City Council, the Homes and Communities Agency, the Department of Health and the ExtraCare Charitable Trust.
Although it is still too soon for the Labour Party to have converted most of the findings from the Lyons Review of Housing into official policy, it will be interesting to see what the party has to say about housing for older people at the 2015 general election.


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This is Yoshiko Sakurai. A rather stylish young woman living in Japan who just
happens also to be a fashion designer for Lolita style. We first met Yoshiko out with
her friends shopping in Harajuku, then another on her own for a chat about
her style and her designs along with many other things. A lovely woman.
We hope to bring you more of this woman of style in the future. Check out her
blog when you get a chance.
This is Marimo Asakawa. A model from Chiba that we spotted in Harajuku,
Tokyo. She wears a top by Adidas, a chain necklace by Emoda and winged
shoes by Jeremy Scott with a used backpack.
Cool Adidas Originals shoes by Jeremy Scott
This is Momoko from Tokyo spotted in Harajuku, Tokyo. She wears a shirt
by Jean Paul Gaultier, statement jewellery by Freak Circus, corset by
Dangerous Nude with trousers and shoes by Malaika.
After a quick shoppinfg spree we found the super stylish Momoko rocking
some beautiful boots from Jerffrey Campbell
Lots more street style action to follow. JSTREETSTYLE
Don't forget to leave us your comments

domain: design


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Bus after bus rolled into North East High School’s parking lot Sunday, but the kids getting dropped off weren’t exactly from the neighborhood.
“Well it was a long bus ride. We were about 14 hours away so we stayed the night at a church,” said Lola Baudek.
Baudek and her mission group traveled all the way from Minnesota to take part in Workcamps.
Teens from across the country will work together to repair 60 homes locally, and their to-do list is pretty hefty.
The program’s local coordinator JoAnn Jeska said, “porches, steps, wheelchair ramps, painting inside, painting outside, trailer skirting, roofing and some weatherization.”
Volunteers told us with God on their side, they’re ready to take on that work load.
“Everyone knows that it’s just the right thing to do. You always want to help people because you never know. They could’ve served in the war for you. People have died for us and stuff so I always think it’s great to do that,” said Andrew Yevlli, a volunteer from Virginia.
Coordinators said teenagers doing good for others is a message that deserves more attention.
“Here’s a great example of an awful lot of great kids willing to serve in a community that they don’t belong to, just sleeping on the floor, eating cafeteria food,” Jeska said.
Lily Kerska, a volunteer from Minnesota said, “I think it shows that we can have a brighter future than we do now and that this generation is stepping up to making the world a better place.”

domain: sociology


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A former Walt Disney executive thinks Depp could make a comeback
Johnny Depp could return to the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise after winning a defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard, a former Walt Disney executive believes.
Depp, who has been embroiled in a highly heated trial over the past six weeks, issued a statement following his victory.
The actor insisted that “the jury gave me my life back” and that “the best is yet to come”.
How many Pirates of the Caribbean movies has Johnny Depp made?
Depp is best known for his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, although he has also appeared in many other films over the years.
He was nominated for an Oscar for his lead role in the 2003 original film “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.”
Could Johnny Depp return to ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’?
While the actor is expected to take a break after a tense trial, he may be back for another “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie after the first five films have been released.
A studio insider told PEOPLE: “I absolutely believe that ‘Pirate’ is ready for a reboot with Johnny back on board as Captain Jack.”
“There’s just too much potential box office treasure for a beloved character deeply rooted in Disney culture.
“As Jerry Bruckheimer shines on Tom Cruise’s massive success in Top Gun: Maverick, there’s a huge interest in bringing back bankable Hollywood stars in hugely popular franchises.”

domain: entertainment


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Olde World Miniatures is the brainchild of three friends, Maciej Fitrzyk, Kevin Cyrulik, and Daniel Cardoso. The three of us have been avid war gamers and hobbyists since we were kids.
In 2012 we decided to start developing and producing our own 28mm fantasy miniatures we could use both for the RPG games we played as well as the table top ones. Soon after we made the decision to begin developing our own game, along with a game world. We wanted a game with both a strategy and battle aspect as well as a deep RPG, character building and development experience. So was born Carpathia and with it the world of Arasas.


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The play is about a group of plucky mischievous orphans led by the red-headed, hence "carroty" Nell. They are often visited at their orphanage by various pious, sanctimonious, do-gooders and Nell has had enough. She decides to show them their hypocrisy and devises a plan that involves sending away the Matron and housekeeper and then assuming the role of matron herself. she is joined by the other orphans and two other a young girl named Beth, whose mother is looking to adopt an young girl with red hair, and Beth's German maid Hebe. Nell's plan works very well and soon Mrs. Croker, two society girls and Helpful Gleaners, a pair of women who sing to raise the orphans spirits are all forced into a variety of crazy antics.
The play is a lot of fun. It would be very fun to perform and despite its brevity of text would work out to be fairly long as it was played as the time to have all the characters engage in their antics would pad out the play. Nell is a funny character with a lot of good malapropisms and asides. Hebe is also pretty cool because as an adult she readily joins in the mayhem and in some sense this legitimizes the shenanigans. There is also nice plot twist in that the Matron and housekeeper each receive real notes which draw them away that are basically the same as the fake ones Nell write to achieve that end. Also there is a clear and satisfying happy ending.
This play has a very big cast for its size and would be good for a student show. I also like that all the characters are female.


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Benecol® – Clinically proven cholesterol-lowering foods recommended in guidelines
Hypercholesterolemia can be effectively managed with diet. When guiding patients on a healthy, cholesterol-lowering diet and lifestyle, recommending the use of Plant stanol ester is encouraged by national and international guidelines. Plant stanol ester is the active ingredient in all Benecol® products.
Benecol® is a pioneer in cholesterol-lowering foods. We want to support you in your work as a healthcare professional. This website provides information and materials to help you in your work with hypercholesterolemia patients.


text:
Paperback: 372 pages
Publisher: Crescent Moon Publishing (September 3, 2012)
Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.8 x 9.2 inches
Amazon Rank: 12360669
Format: PDF Text TXT book
JOHN HUGHES AND EIGHTIES CINEMA John Hughes is the acclaimed writer and director of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Pretty In Pink and many other classic movies of the 1980s.This book is the first full-length analysis of all of John Hughes's films throughout the 1980s; not only the features that he directed, but also those for which he provided the screenplay. By analysing these pictures and discussing their social a...
pdf ebook subtangent.duckdns.org Food Over Medicine The Conversation That Could Save Your Life pdf download In Due Time Hope and Encouragement in the Waiting pdf download unescutcheoned.duckdns.org australioid.duckdns.org postrevolutionary.duckdns.org

domain: library


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A fan site for the Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Game by Margaret Weis Productions
Hello to all Plot Pointers! My name is Joshua Unruh and I’m the newest blogger to join the Plot Points stable. It took the death of the Marvel part of Marvel Heroic to force my involvement in the fan community, but I’m very glad to be forced. And I’m even happier that Plot Points would have me.
By way of bonafides, I’m 35 years old and I’ve been reading superhero comics for thirty of those years. I’ve been a tabletop roleplayer for about twenty-five of those years. Now, while I cut my teeth on the TSR Marvel game and have a lot of nostalgic love for it, Marvel Heroic is the first superhero RPG that I’ve enjoyed as a superhero game.
Slow down, ye fans of Champions or Mutants & Masterminds! Let me explain! The thing that MHRPG does that no other superhero RPG has bothered to do is emulate the genre. The fine folks at Margaret Weiss Productions didn’t set out to do a game with superheroes in it, they set out to do a game that worked like a comic book story. And that, friends, has made all the difference.
Over the last few years, I’ve become interested in the so-called “story games” end of the RPG pool. One of the main hooks for story games is that the rules reinforce the genre. I make my living as a professional writer, mainly as a novelist, and this approach appeals to the novelist in me. The “hero” of my hardboiled detective novella doesn’t act like the heroes of my Young Adult Spy-Fi who don’t act like the hero of my Viking saga fantasy. The worlds around these heroes don’t act the same from story type to story type. Even physics serves the whim of all-powerful genre.
And freeing superheroes from the tropes of more traditional roleplaying games to instead build a game around how superheroes work…well, that’s just magic.
As a writer and longtime comic book fan, I have spent literally countless hours thinking about how superheroes and their stories work. Meta-mythologies, jointly created universes under a deadline, the superhero as super-category, I can wax poetic about all of them. But at the end of the day, I’d rather play them. (Well, most of all I’d rather write them, but that’s a work in progress.)
And if there’s a piece of good news mixed into Heroic’s newfound freedom from the Marvel IP, it’s probably that Heroic is now utterly free of Marvel’s IP. We can now, with an utterly clear conscience, play in other sandboxes, from the most obvious (like DC) to our own sandboxes (my three tween girl spies could totally work in a Heroic game).
While I struggle with a lot of the output from either of the Big Two these days, I’ve been predominantly a DC guy since college. So the first thing I’m going to do for Plot Points is some write-ups of the major players at the Distinguished Competition. I plan to start with Batman, but that’s not just because he’s the greatest character in the history of Western Literature.
I’m going to start with Batman because, thanks to Batman Incorporated, he’s probably the best character to show how versatile in its simplicity Heroic is. Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson are very different Batmen. Tim Drake and Damien Wayne are very different Robins. Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown are very different Batgirls. And while the powers and their attendant dice may be very similar, things like affiliations, names for SFX, and Milestones (the crown jewel of Heroic) are going to show how different they can feel and play.
I hope that sounds really exciting to everyone! I know I’m excited to get started. So give me a few minutes and I’m sure I’ll have some controversial things to say about Batman in an upcoming post. Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!
All right, some DC! Although I use DC Adventures for that, let’s see how this one goes 😀 Can’t wait!
very cool man!
welcome to Plot Points 🙂
@Salsatheone If I remember right, DC Adventures is built on the Mutants & Masterminds engine and…well, I do not love it. So hopefully I can convince you to just do DC with Marvel rules as I go along. 😉
@William Thank you, sir!
I’m quite interested in what you have to say here, especially upon seeing that you call Milestones the Crown Jewel of the game system. Milestones are something I’ve basically dispensed with because I can’t figure out how to do them justice without a well defined Event and taking some care to make sure the XP rewards are balanced among the players. Unfortunately, I don’t really have time to prepare an event, and the existing ones aren’t to the taste of my play group. I like the game, but I’m just not sure how to actually GM a campaign with the players and the tiny amount of prep time at my disposal.
Hey Chris! We’ve had some real life creep up behind the scenes but you should see a whole slew of Milestones for Batman in two posts (I do the datafile first).
In the meantime, let me clarify. I’ve been a GM for decades and yet never managed to learn how to read my players’ minds. Because of that, I’ve become a huge fan of games that put what my players want to see in their games right there on the character sheet. FATE Aspects, Smallville’s relationship map, and Marvel’s Milestones are my three favorite examples.
I’ve only written a couple of Events myself, but there are several wonderful fanmade examples out in the world. As for Milestones, yes, obviously, the GM would be responsible for the Event specific ones. But PC specific Milestones should be created by the player or with the GM and player in tandem. With a player created PC, they have to be based on an arc the player wants to see character go through.
I admit there isn’t much I can do about limited prep time, but does that illuminate my love of Milestones at all?
I get what you mean. I love that Milestones drive how the characters are played and result in some kind of advancement or reward. And honestly I believe there IS a way for me to handle a Campaign-based MHR game, even if it’s by adapting Events other people have made. I just haven’t hit upon the way to do it yet. I think it will involve adjusting XP rewards. I think starting with the character “Advancement” and what the players want and working toward story and world is the proper way to do all this, and I haven’t ever done it before, so I am out of my comfort zone and looking for options. Does that make sense?


Wikidata Taster Session
UPDATE: A write-up of this event can be found on this blogpost.
On World Open Data Day, Saturday 6th March 2021, we’ll be running an introduction to Wikidata and showing how to use it to generate and link open data.
We’ll use the theme of Aberdeen’s Industrial heritage as a subject – but it could be anything. Once you know how to use Wikidata you can run your own projects.
We’ll aim to cover:
- Sourcing data
- Manipulating and enhancing data in Google Sheets
- Using Google sheets plugins,
- Uploading data
- Querying Wikidata to return data that we can resuse
For this session you’ll need a pc and a Wikidata account – that’s all.
The session, which will be completely online using Zoom, will run from 10am to 1pm, so it shouldn’t eat into your weekend too much.
We’ll post more info and useful resources here in the run up to the event.
If you sign up you’ll get a reply with a link to the CTC Slack group where you can discuss this session – before during and after the event.
If you are attending please sign up for an account at Wikidata (or if you have one from Wikipedia sign in with that) before the Saturday Session.
You’ll also get a link to the Zoom call.
Tickets are free (although we do ask you to consider a small donation to help with the charity’s admin overhead costs.
Header image by watty62, Own Work via WikiCommons


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The human body is of complex constitution that is not easy for the common man to understand. However, when we face medical problems, we try to understand it to the best of our abilities. This gives us confidence in the treatment and the doctor helps patients in that regard. However, the problem starts when you have to gauge the seriousness of the disease prior to commencement of treatment. This is the time when you have to decide whether the condition warrants medical treatment and if it is to be done then which specialist has to be consulted. A case in point is those suffering from venous diseases who often do not understand the seriousness of the problem in medical terms. This delays the commencement of treatment that should be done by the best cardiologist only.
Be informed and aware
It often happens that due to lack of awareness, the right treatment gets delayed. Some people treat venous diseases as something related to cosmetic surgery without understanding its deeper implications. The delay in treatment can turn out to be costly as it can weaken the heart and damage the cardiovascular system. Venous diseases affect the veins and arteries through which blood flows. These are the prominent members of the cardiovascular system that is controlled by the heart. Like treatment of heart disease means the treatment of the entire cardiovascular system it is the same for venous diseases. Since some members of the cardiovascular system is affected by venous diseases, consult the best cardiologist for treatment and cure.
The heart is at risk
When the cardiovascular system gets affected, it is only normal that the heart gets weakened. The heart that pumps blood across the body is highly dependent on proper functioning of arteries, veins and capillaries that carry blood. If there is in restriction to blood flow or excess blood is allowed to flow, the blood pressure starts fluctuating. This in turn affects the pumping action of the heart, which needs adequate blood supply for proper functioning. Problems of heart are thus likely to be encountered in such situations. This in turn affects the overall health. If venous problems are treated in isolation then there is high risk to the cardiovascular system. Moreover, unless the cardiovascular system is set right, venous problems keep recurring even after treatment.
Looking deep inside
What is seen on the surface as inflated veins is actually the effect of venous disease and not the disease itself. If you suffer from blood clots on your legs or have varicose veins then doctors would know that you are suffering from superficial venous thrombosis or even deep vein thrombosis. To diagnose the problem the best cardiologist will advise blood analysis and some elementary ultrasound imaging. If this is not enough then they can even advise CT angiography and MRI to trace the source of the reflux disease. This would ensure that the right treatment is advised.
If you do not have any existing cardiovascular problems, then even you have to consult a cardiologist only for the treatment of venous diseases due to its close links with the cardiovascular system.

domain: biology


The Chicago Blackhawks seemingly can’t get any luck when it comes to injuries. With another Hawk headed to what looks like another week-to-week situation, should they be looking at free agency or possibly making a trade to bring in some depth as things thin out further?
The trade market as it looks is relatively quiet for now. Here’s a look at some teams with some rumbles here and there.
Hockey Now Trade Talk
It’s been on again, off again trade talk with Jake Debrusk. It might be on again? From Boston Hockey Now that the Boston Bruins are at a crossroads with the forward, and a trip down memory lane of trades of NHL past that were different
From New Jersey Hockey Now, a clarification on the earlier reports regarding the New Jersey Devils Michael McLeod who was potentially the source of trade rumors–to which it turns out the Devils have no intent on moving him.
Blackhawks Stories You May Have Missed
- The Blackhawks are shutout 3-0 by the Nashville Predators and lose Anthony Beauvillier to injury
- Grumbling because of the result included some complaints about head coach Luke Richardson. Believe me, he’s the least of the Blackhawks problems this season
- Connor Bedard keeps racking in the awards–netting his second consecutive rookie of the month honor
- The 2005-06 Pittsburgh Penguins remain a great measuring stick for the Blackhawks rebuild. A look at how things shook out after 36 games, and then at the halfway point of the season
- Connor Bedard will win the Calder, Jason Dickinson should be considered for a contract extension, and three other musings as the New Year dawns
Hockey Now Network
Calgary Hockey Now: There are four slumps holding the Calgary Flames back from getting it together through December
Detroit Hockey Now: The Detroit Red Wings 2023 draft pick plays hero at the World Junior Championships for Sweden.
Montreal Hockey Now: The Blackhawks couldn’t take care of business against the Dallas Stars. But the Montreal Canadiens sure did
Nashville Hockey Now: Nashville Predators prospect Dennis Gurianov earns top honors in the AHL
Pittsburgh Hockey Now: A rough night for the playoff chasing Pittsburgh Penguins, who fall to the Washington Capitals 4-3
Philly Hockey Now: It’s barely the new year–but are the Philadelphia Flyers already in trouble?
San Jose Hockey Now: The San Jose Sharks are working hard for that top lottery spot–falling to the Red Wings and extending the losing streak to nine games
Vegas Hockey Now: A review of the Winter Classic for the Vegas Golden Knights–including a plus and minus of the experience


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Dudley roadworks: Traders say they're suffering
Small businesses in Dudley say they are suffering due to roadworks in the town centre - some have even had to lay off staff.
The works started in January and are expected to last until May. Dudley Council says they will improve the town centre and Dudley Market, but some traders have told Pete Morgan they're not convinced.
Pete asked Steve Parker, chairman of the Black Country Federation of Small Businesses and Dudley councillor Khurshid Ahmed why there has been such negativity to the works.

domain: economics


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I have seen Dr. Aubuchon and he was awesome. He is very informative and very patient and friendly with my son. He wanted to "wait and see what happens" on one occasion with my son's tooth rather than jumping to charging us for a procedure. I thought that was awesome. Most businesses would've taken our money right away but he didn't.
They have a very friendly staff and patient staff and a very clean and kid friendly office. Give Dr. Aubuchon and Dr. Ford a try, you won't be disappointed!!


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The comfortable Super 8 Holbrook Hotel offers non-smoking rooms in proximity to Petrified Forest National Park and Navajo County Historical Museum.
The city center is 30 minute walking distance from the hotel.
A short walk to a national park and woods as well as ski resorts.
The hotel's superb location offers to get to Show Low airport in 75 minutes by car.
There are 69 rooms including king room, deluxe double room and double room in Super 8 Holbrook Hotel, where guests can enjoy a fantastic view of the park and make use of a writing desk, television, a laptop safe, ironing facilities and a kitchen. Some rooms feature views over Petrified Forest National Park. They come with a fridge, coffee/tea makers and a dishwasher as well as bathrooms with a bidet, a spa bathtub and a hairdryer.
Eat & Drink
A complimentary breakfast is served daily. Offering various dining options, Pizza Hut and McDonald's are about 5-minute walk away.
A photocopier, a meeting room and a business centre along with a luggage storage, a vending machine and parking are available for guests.
Wireless internet is available in the entire hotel for free.
Free public parking is possible on site.

domain: travel


A new report reinforces fears raised by civil society groups on the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’s newly adopted policy in November.
The agency has been regarded as a major player in the global fight against HIV and AIDS: Its total investments in HIV and drug use programs up to its Round 10 funding have amounted to $582 million. Thus, many were worried of a reversal in the gains achieved in fighting the disease when the fund canceled its Round 11 funding last year.
The report, “HIV, Drug Use and the Global Fund: Don’t Stop Now!,” by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance urges the funding agency to “revoke” its 55 percent rule when the board meets May 10 and 11. The new policy requires 55 percent of all renewal funding in a year to be allocated to low-income countries, limiting funding to middle-income countries.
The report warns of on an impending HIV and AIDS crisis in Eastern Europe and Asia. It says 80 percent of HIV infections in the regions are due to drug injections. And the fund’s policy, plus reduced financing from donors, may adversely affect the U.N. target to reduce HIV transmission via drug injections by half come 2015.
The United Nations, meanwhile, launched May 8 a campaign to end new HIV infections among children by 2015. The campaign, titled “Believe it. Do it.,” will be featured on Good Morning America and CNN, among other media outlets. Several personalities are also expected to join the campaign, including Naomi Watts, Annie Lennox, Blair Underwood and Whoopi Goldberg.
Read more development aid news online, and subscribe to The Development Newswire to receive top international development headlines from the world’s leading donors, news sources and opinion leaders — emailed to you FREE every business day.


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We are in a pivotal time of change in the world. A time when racial injustice has seared the global conscience. When stories of #MeToo continue to reframe our understanding of sexual and other forms of harassment. And when instances of hate and hostility seem to impact the very ways we live and work together.
These struggles permeate every facet of society, and how an employer chooses to respond can define its workplace and public image—positively or negatively. Employees are increasingly raising their voices about critical racial, ethnic, and social justice issues, making these important, but challenging, times for employers that wish to mobilize to answer the call.
Morgan Lewis’s workplace culture consulting and training practice helps employers rise to these challenges, shaping them into opportunities that honor business imperatives while valuing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and meeting the demands of employees, clients and customers, boards, investors, and the public.
Our workplace culture services are curated for each client’s unique needs. We build on the foundation a client has created, serving to amplify and actualize those aspirations. We develop holistic diversity initiatives, antiharassment approaches, and general workplace policies; conduct investigations and defend claims, including reverse discrimination claims; partner with labor economists to conduct demographic data analyses; and provide guidance on workplace training issues.
Our team encompasses diverse talent—including along racial, gender, ethnic, sexual orientation, disability, and age lines—and we have varied backgrounds as litigators, former government officials, and professional trainers.
Whether the journey is just beginning or it has been years on the path, our team is a trusted guide leading our clients ever upward to their ideal workplace.
We develop programs geared to nonsupervisory employees, managers, executives, and board members to assist in avoiding undesirable behavior and to address missteps. Representative programs include:


Gone are the bad old days when we had rubbish prime ministers like Margaret Thatcher who, in all seriousness, chose the Beverley Sisters' version of How Much is That Doggie in the Window as her favourite song. Instead, we are fortunate enough to have a prime minister who is both sexy and cool. Sexy? "He is every woman's favourite shape, 6ft tall, good shoulders, lean hips, weighing just under 13 stone, less than he did 10 years ago," drools Valerie Grove this week in an exclusive interview with Tony Blair for Saga magazine to celebrate his 50th birthday. Cool? "Every so often, I feel I should graduate to classical music, properly," the PM tells doe-eyed Valerie. "But the truth is, I'm more likely to listen to rock music. I listen to what the kids play."
But what exactly does the snake-hipped sexpot dig, rock music-wise? Mark Ellen, who 33 years ago played with the prime minister in the Oxford student band Ugly Rumours, disclosed on Radio 4's Today programme yesterday that Blair still loves Free and King Crimson.
Yeah, that's what the kids are playing all right, if by the kids you mean Tim Dunlop, who will probably find the Free revelation amusing. Me, I'm left giggling at this bit:
And yet it is one of King Crimson's songs that still weighs heavily on the prime minster. "I saw him not long ago and we spent about 20 minutes talking about the music we listened to at college," said Ellen. "We were talking about 21st Century Schizoid Man, which had an incredible guitar solo in the middle of it."
The track 21st Century Schizoid Man is the first on the 1969 album In the Court of the Crimson King, a record that bears responsibility for launching the progressive rock movement in all its misguided pomp, Tolkienesque noodling and sonata-form mellotron solos.
Anyone who's got KC's Epitaph album and read Fripp's "prog rock pond scum" essay therein will have an idea of what he'd make of a statement like that. He's probably wishing he'd held off releasing the latest album until this article appeared so he could work that into the booklet notes...


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Cash-rich governments blindly plundering away their easily earned wealth. It’s an easy picture to draw of the new big boys in the investment world — the sovereign wealth funds (SWFs). That’s not only an oversimplification. It’s basically wrong. Many of these state-controlled entities are looking for good prices and strategic advantage.
Sure, there are a few tales of dud investments from SWFs. China’s $3 billion (Rs11,880 crore) investment in Blackstone Group Lp. last year was top of the market. The shares have since tanked. Qatar came close to making the same mistake with its overly generous £11 billion (Rs85,690 crore) near-bid for UK supermarket J. Sainsbury Plc. Its last-minute retreat may have looked farcical, but at least it showed good investment sense.
If anything, SWFs seem to be snapping up bargain basement buys that are likely to generate decent long-term returns. The US subprime debacle and falling property prices across the West have provided attractive opportunities. SWFs have invested more than $75 billion in Western banks. The Investment Corp. of Dubai is sniffing around the troubled Spanish developer Inmobiliaria Colonial SA.
Funds are also astutely negotiating deals which promise more than pure investment returns. The Kuwait Investment Authority’s capital injection into Merrill Lynch and Co. Inc. included an agreement for future cooperation. Chinese companies are understood to be asking foreign partners allocate a proportion of business to China.
Even when SWFs do buy trophy assets, they often carry strategic benefits. Qatar clearly expects that, in return for its stake “protecting” the London Stock Exchange from an unwanted takeover, Doha will receive assistance in promoting its stock market. Dubai’s interest in the Liverpool Football Club would act as a “marquee investment” granting the emirate large amounts of publicity for a relative pittance.
For developing countries, buying large stakes in Western corporations is an effective way of shooting up the value curve. These investments offer both the potential of financial returns and much needed expertise.
Global economic power is shifting towards the developing world. SWFs, which represent the world’s future power brokers, are readying themselves to take the reins.

domain: finance


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Sometimes photography is more about quick thinking and problem-solving than actual photography. Taking a photo isn’t the hard part. Figuring out what photo to take and how to take it is the hard part.
For photojournalists working under tight deadlines figuring out the “how” is made even harder by a looming deadline.
Sometimes the solution isn’t always the best or most visual answer but hey – it’s a solution that allows the photo to be taken by the deadline.
We just have to do the best we can with each assignment and then move on to the next one.
One of our reporters is doing a story on rising milk prices. Rather than photograph a dairy (which we’ve done before for another high milk prices story) arrangements were made to photograph a worker re-stocking the milk case at a local grocery store.
When I got to the store (15 minutes ahead of the appointed time) I was told the case had already been stocked. I still needed to get some sort of milk photo so I had to quickly find a solution to this problem.
My solution? Shoot from the inside of the cooler looking out and hope that a customer would stop and pick up milk. I wanted a customer in the photo to add at least some human element to the photo.
Perhaps the hardest part of getting this photo was waiting in the near-freezing cooler for a customer to stop at the dairy case. I was dressed for warm weather, not the cold of a milk cooler. And since it was a weekday morning I had to wait nearly a half-hour for a customer to come along. By that time I was starting to shiver but I didn’t want to step out of the cooler for fear that I would miss a customer.
I know this is not a particularly dynamic photo but it is eye-catching in that it’s shot from a different perspective. It illustrates the story – sort of.
But I was able to beat the deadline and then move on to my next assignment.