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Having a small landscape in your backyard doesn’t mean you can’t make it stand out. You can maximize your small-spaced landscape with some ideas. If you don’t have ingenuine ideas on how to make your small backyard garden a beauty to behold then you’ve got to visit ReviewsBird.com as they provide different ideas on how to beautify your garden.
Landscape ideas for small spaces
Getting the right furniture in your small garden
Maximizing the small spaces demands you clearly layout how the garden landscape would look like and the number of furniture you would have. If you need to buy furniture online, there are several furniture stores that offer different sizes of furniture that would fit small spaces.
Creating a view
Adding a small and simple pergola could bring out the classy look of the garden, adding small shrubs, trees, and even pieces of garden art can recreate a scenery that is lovely to look upon.
Creating a backyard zone
This might sound counterintuitive but on the contrary, breaking your open areas into small spaces makes it feel larger. You can have different furniture groupings and paths to divide the small landscape.
Making it cool
Since the space is small, putting so much furniture and items can heat up the place, this is where the previous tips come into play as breaking the space into small areas would allow for better ventilation thus making the place cooler than it would be.
Apply the right color pattern
Putting up bright colors in front of your space is important as it helps catch people’s attention, this makes the small garden landscape recede and help it feel larger.
Apply the power of perspective
Perception is stronger than reality thus using long, straight line tricks makes the small garden landscape bigger than it really is. You can take advantage of the illusion it creates on viewers by slanting the far end of the lines towards one another and creating a focal point.
Mix with different elements
Some of the best ideas revolve around mixing different elements to produce a unique effect. By adding paving materials, container plantings, lawn, and some other elements, people will hardly notice the small size of the garden as the eclectic blend of elements captures them.
Borrow the view
If you have neighbors that aren’t involved in much gardening then take advantage of their enormous space to create a vista for your small garden landscape.
Create a small destination in your garden
Creating some sort of firepit that includes some welcoming chairs could make people feel the landscape in the garden is spacious, also placing sits at the paved patio, and creating a secondary sitting spot near the fence can do the work too.
Keep the plant in the garden vertical not horizontal
What does this mean? Horizontal spaces are not so much considered in small space ideas as it gives viewers an impression that the space is really small so sticking with keeping plant vertical can do the magic.
You can take advantage of the many landscape ideas to make your seeming small space a beauty to behold.

domain: design


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Convention of the Rights with Persons with Disabilities, Disability, disability rights, http://sosaveme.com/, Paralympics, rejectapathy, russia, Reject Apathy
The commencement of the 2012 Paralympics commencing today marks a victory for the 13 million Russian citizens living with mental or physical disability— and the 200 athletes representing them on the Russian team. In May 2012, the Russian government ratified the Convention of the Rights with Persons with Disabilities to advocate for the equality of citizens regardless of physical or mental capacity. But years of discrimination take time to break from. Human rights advocates are looking to the Paralympics with high hopes for the disability rights of Russian citizens.

domain: sociology


This week has seen the announcement of Analytic Engineering, a pioneering German AI engineering firm, choosing Verne Global’s data center in Iceland as the location for their intensive computing. This represents another impressive AI and Machine Learning client win for us, following DeepL joining us just before Christmas.
Analytic Engineering provides an AI supported decision support system that examines large amounts of data to allow customers to make complex engineering decisions more easily and more efficiently. To do this, the company’s software utilises large-scale combinatorics, discrete and continuous optimisation, and finite element simulations. Analytic Engineering’s service is deployable to a number of industries from the wider manufacturing sector to large-scale construction and capital works projects.
To provide a more streamlined decision-making process Analytic Engineering’s AI applications analyse vast amounts of data from thousands of different touch points and sensors, and this process - using graphics processing units (GPU) hardware - is extremely power intensive.
Interestingly the common denominator between DeepL and Analytic Engineering - other than them both using leading edge AI and Machine Learning technologies - is that they’re both German based (Cologne and Dortmund respectively) and have together told us they’ve struggled to find a data center in Germany that can offer specialised facilities and hosting for intensive and high performance computing (HPC). This is exactly what we’ve also identified and one of the reasons we took the move in late 2016 to fully focus our Icelandic data center and our industry outreach at HPC and related forms of high intensity supercomputing.
While there is a growing number of AI, Machine Learning and Deep Learning clusters starting up in Berlin, Munich and the Cologne-Düsseldorf-Dortmund triangle, there does appear to be some common constraints in Germany for this kind of technological transformation. A lack of appropriate, tailored, high performance facilities to host this level of infrastructure and a domestic German power profile that includes some of the most expensive energy anywhere in the world.
For small, niche, high-tech firms like DeepL and Analytic Engineering – technical restrictions and cost-prohibitive energy bills are the last thing they need, and it can be no coincidence that since DeepL joined us in Iceland, they have rapidly expanded, and produced a widely acclaimed product that in tests massively outperformed existing translator services provided by global hyperscale developers – Google, Microsoft and Facebook.
Verne Global is increasingly seeing interest from businesses looking to run applications that leverage AI and machine learning more fully into their processes. In response to this we are pushing our technical limits to provide customisable compute environments and solutions to meet their exact needs. This makes it a thoroughly exciting time to be at Verne Global – we aren’t selling ‘one size fits all’ solutions and we’re continually being challenged at technology’s bleeding edge.
Across all successful, innovative companies that you examine you will find one thing in common, the push to deliver a better service to the customer. The reality of growth within an industry is that if you can’t keep up with new technologies and quickly adapt, you will be left behind. If you’re running AI, Machine Learning or Deep Learning technologies or developing compute environments which utilise these please follow DeepL and Analytic Engineering’s lead and contact us to see how we can help reduce your energy costs, enable your innovation to truly scale, and provide you with an optimised platform on which to advance.


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Submitted to: United States Japan Natural Resources Protein Panel
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/19/2001
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: Interpretive Summary:
Technical Abstract: Corn fiber can serve as a low cost carbohydrate feedstock for production of fuel ethanol and other value-added fermentation products. The structure of arabinoxylan in corn fiber is very complex and commercially available hemicellulase preparations do not effectively saccharify it. A fungus, Fusarium verticillioides (NRRL 26518), was isolated by screening soil samples using corn fiber xylan as carbon source. The extracellular xylanase and beta-xylosidase from this fungal strain were purified to homogeneity. The purified xylanase (specific activity, 492 U/mg protein; MW, 24,000; pI, 8.6, optimum temperature, 50 deg C; optimum pH, 5.5) released xylobiose and higher xylooligosaccharides from various xylan substrates. The purified beta-xylosidase (specific activity, 57 U/mg protein; MW, 94,000; pI, 7.8, optimum temperature, 65 deg C; optimum pH, 4.5-5.0) hydrolyzed xylobiose and higher xylooligosaccharides to xylose. The biochemical properties and modes of action of these two enzymes and their synergistic role in xylan hydrolysis are presented.

domain: chemistry


Boston-Area Shopping Center Trades for $86M
- May 22, 2019
DWS Group has acquired Meadow Glen, a premier shopping center in Medford, Mass. The company purchased the 291,860-square-foot asset from a New England Development partnership for $85.7 million, according to public records.
The property, located at 3850 Mystic Valley Parkway, was built in 1979 but underwent a complete redevelopment in 2017, which resulted in new storefront facades, renovated parking area, new site lighting and landscaping, as well as updated exterior signage. Meadow Glen is fully leased, with Wegmans anchoring it. The tenant roster includes Kohl’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Marshalls and Petco.
The building is situated adjacent to the Mystic River State Reservation. Additionally, it offers visible location on Route 16 and Interstate 93, while downtown Boston is a 15-minute drive away.
An HFF investment advisory team including Senior Managing Directors Coleman Benedict, Riaz Cassum and Jim Koury, alongside Senior Director Ben Sayles arranged the sale. Last year, members of the same team orchestrated the sale of a Washington, D.C., landmark mixed-use asset.


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Buy Sleeping Medicine from Online Medical Storeby Pmm Ltd Zopiclone Sales Valium Medication is connected to a group of drugs called "Benzodiazepines". Valium medication is basically used for Relieve Anxiety problem like Nervousness and Worry, Tension problem, Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms, Panic disorder problem like Fear, Muscle spasms problem and Valium medication is sometimes used with other medicines to treat seizure problem.
Buy Zopiclone is made by ingredient "Diazepam". Diazepam changes chemicals in the Brain that may become Unstable, disturbed and cause Anxiety problem. Valium Medication may be used for other purposes that we don't know about but Medical Doctor wills prescription this Valium medication according to his knowledge and experience.
Sleeplessness has become like the modern epidemic and this malady cannot be understood by anyone expect who those who ever have faced the inability in getting sleep. In this difficult situation sufferer only think what to do in between the night hours; insomnia patient sudden rises especially in the UK and they think Valium is the fair key to deal with this trouble. However, this sleeping aids formed for the insomnia patient but the condition is patient treatment is under the doctor monitor.
One must understand that this pill composed by the chemical reaction of the organic and inorganic compound that associates with several mandate things like pill must be food and drug approved and should be used at least 15 days before the expiry date and water must be the only acceptable liquid inhaling the tablet. Prudent people know that regular use of Valium UK for falling asleep could lead the dependency that could be a serious concern for internal and external muscles tissues. While lack of sleep means sleeping organs are losing their strength either due to the disrupted diet chart or physical problem some time drug addiction also makes the person awake and its side effects also produce the similar problem to the individual.
The medical representative says that the normal human body falls asleep after the whole day work and relax for a minimum 7-8 hours. If one's body is not under this routine and their eyes don't shut down even in tiredness than it could be the insomnia symptoms and initially it can be controlled by improving its generating cause. However, Ambien is also a sleeping aid but its working phenomenon is quite different with other tablets reason it's prescribed by the doctor for 2-6 weeks.
The physician believes that with its chemical reaction it balance the brain cells and induce the sleep to individual and its 6 months use is prescribed by the physicians exceptionally. Alcohol should not be used before and after the Ambien tablet and also in days especially if you are going on drive avoids its consumption completely reason immediately it doesn't produce sleep take minimum 30-40 minutes to make the person unconscious. Insomnia patient can buy these sleeping aids either online drug website or FDA approved drug pharmacy. The correct dose is 10mg in case it doesn't affect you in bringing nap than without exceeding dose at your own choice have the advice of your consultant if recommended by them can exceed the quantity. To order online, please click@ https://zopiclone.eu/product/bensedin-diazepam-10mg/
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domain: medical


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full view recommended...
something i've been working on over the course of a week. last year, during christmas, i made a graphic of myself as a gingerbread cookie for my website. thought i'd ressurect the idea and turn it into something interesting.
this was done completely in photoshop, using the bevel & emboss layer style. i tried to make it look as realistic as possible; i may have succeeded in some parts of the image and failed in others. for the "cookie" texture, i drew the gingerbread man shapes, used the craquelure [sp?] texture, and then beveled and embossed them. the frosting is basically the same technique, without the craquelure. i had to tweak the b & e settings to get it to look the way it does. the tablecloth background is simply a checkerboard pattern with a little texture added.
i didn't want to put this in the wallpaper section, although it is wallpaper-sized (so feel free to use it). i didn't really do this with the intention of making it a wallpaper; i just needed it to be big enough so that there was enough space to fit most of the characters. since it was that big, i decided to make it 1024 x 768.
note: the things on the shino cookie are chocolate sprinkles, supposedly representing his bugs. i got jimmies! ^_^

domain: hobby


Julia Restoin Roitfeld has several titles- model, designer, art director and most famously known to the world as daughter to Carine Roitfeld of Paris Vogue. The stunning 31-year old will now add model for Eddie Borgo to her luxurious roster of fashion work.
Eddie Borgo’s editorial advertisements are lesser known on the pages of magazines since most of his campaign pieces are purely circulated to editors directly. He has chosen Julia, a close friend, to be featured for his Autumn/Winter 2013 collection. The lovely statuesque model drips in his bold Cyprus necklace, bracelet, and earpiece and each sultry photo was photographed by Paul Maffi. The edgy collection pays homage to Cleopatra in an effectively, fresh way.
The au courant jewels, available on Moda Operandi, feature a hinged scale-like design with faceted howlite and jade stones. A look fitting for a contemporary woman in search of a creative statement. | Dawn Del Russo


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About Brazil Photos
We specialize pictures of Brazil, Amazon rain forest and Third World Issues. In case we do not have what photo buyers need on file, probably we will be able to find it among the extensive list of brazilian photographers we know.
Thorough geographic, cultural and anthropological coverage of the country, unusual views and particular aspects of all regions only possible by long-term in-depth coverage by residents.
A really comprehensive and encyclopedic coverage of flora and fauna, mirroring the diversity of the natural world. Environmental issues widely covered.
Entensive human and civil rights inventory. Major areas of concentration include labor & modern slavery, Third World, health, poverty & hunger, housing, children at risky situations. Complete photo stories on women´s issues, child labor, social work, religion, minorities, indigenous people, violence, drugs, homelessness & landlessness.

domain: geography


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BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores here last week reported fourth-quarter profit climbed 16% on a 12% sales gain. Earnings came to $1.09 billion, or 48 cents a share. In the prior-year period, the discounter netted $942 million, or 41 cents. Sales in the fourth quarter jumped 12% to $30.9 billion from $27.6 billion. The Wal-Mart division, comprising discount stores and supercenters, logged an operating profit of $1.89 billion, up 14.5% from a year earlier. Sales were up 12% to $22 ...
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domain: economics


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Gator tri-fold tonneau cover the gator tri-fold tonneau cover is a stylish cover at an affordable price. The tri-fold provides a hassle free, low maintenance cover that will keep your belongings safe and dry. The cover features very durable, tear resistant vinyl tarp with a nice textured finish. The high quality finish will add style to your truck you didn’t even know it could have. Aluminum support bows keep the vinyl supported and tight, especially important when a heavy snow fall or hail occurs. A weather seal surrounds your bed aiding in keeping water out of your truck bed when it rains. The best part is the entire cover comes pre-assembled out of the box. There are no loose parts to connect minimizing the amount of time it takes to install.
- 5.5 ft. bed 2015-2017 f150
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- Cover unlocks from underneath, a tailgate lock with keep your things secure and out of reach
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I've changed my goal of getting a pilot's license to simply "fly in a fighter jet."
Two reasons: first, although I got my "co-pilot's" license when I was 17 and enjoyed the course, I'm not such a fan of aircraft that I feel a deep enough desire to commit the time and money it would take to become qualified to fly myself.
Second, the Abbotsford Airshow is on today, and I've been watching the fighter jets zooming around the sky outside my place and have realized it would be a major thrill to be in one of those things going that fast, doing those crazy turns. Serious fun.
So, I think I will make that my goal. I want to ride in one of those one day. I've been in countless jets, and a couple of times I got to ride in small four and six-seaters. A good time, but not the sort of thing I think I really need to make a life goal.
The next time I get in a plane I hope it's with the intention of jumping out of it with a parachute.


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Andrews Davis Law Firm to close in June
Oklahoma business briefs
Fri, May 18, 2018
After 77 years, the Andrews Davis Law Firm in Oklahoma City will close its doors June 30, the firm said Thursday.
The firm said its staff will be communicating with clients regarding the handling of their matters going forward.
The firm had its beginnings in 1941. in June

domain: news


Apple iPhone XR
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Brilliant. In every way.
All-new Liquid Retina display — the most advanced LCD in the industry. Even faster Face ID. The smartest, most powerful chip in a smartphone. And a breakthrough camera system. iPhone XR. It’s beautiful any way you look at it.


Drone submarine Russia claims could destroy US by triggering underwater earthquake with nuke nears completion
VLADIMIR Putin’s underwater “Poseidon” drone capable of “destroying America with a nuclear earthquake” is in its “final testing stage”.
The Russian Ministry of Defense made the revelation while promoting its “super weapons” on the country’s Navy Day last month.
Testing of the Belgorod submarine, which will carry and launch the drones, is nearing completion and is awaiting an assembled Poseidon to test launch, officials said.
Putin’s regime first leaked information about the nuclear drone – then called the “Ocean Multipurpose System Status-6” – in late-2015.
It can travel up to speeds of 85km/h, has an intercontinental range up to 10,000km and carries a 100-megaton warhead, according to media in Russia.
Russian Navy Captain Konstantin Sivkov said recently that a Poseidon attack could cause a tectonic break up and totally destroy the North American subcontinent, reports the Jamestown Foundation via Gazeta.ru.
City-destroying earthquakes are caused when the planet’s tectonic plates grind together along fault lines.
Captain Sivkov said “the US is terrified” after Washington called on Moscow to stop the development of the doomsday weapon.
In the 2015 leak, Poseidon was said to have been developed to “destroy important economic coastal regions of the enemy and cause long-lasting massive radioactive contamination”.
The Belgorod sub can carry up to six of the nuclear drones which can obliterate coastal cities by detonating close to the shoreline creating huge radioactive tsunamis, Russian media reports.
In January last year, Fox News reported that a former senior adviser to US President Donald Trump admitted there are “genuine concerns” about the Poseidon.
Former State Department senior adviser Christian Whiton said a blast would create a “wave – and a highly irradiated one” but because the water would absorb a lot of the energy the wave would be less damaging than getting hit by the bomb itself.
Speaking in St Petersburg on July 26, Putin boasted about the Poseidon and Russia’s new hypersonic land nuke missile.
Fears serial killer could be at large as cops re-examine ‘murder-suicides’
He said: “The deployment of advanced technologies that have no equals in the world, including hypersonic strike systems and underwater drones, will increase naval combat capabilities”.
In 2018, the Russian President spoke glowingly about the terrifying Poseidon weapon, calling it “really fantastic.”
He said: “They are quiet, highly manoeuvrable and have hardly any vulnerabilities for the enemy to exploit.
“There is simply nothing in the world capable of withstanding them.”


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EFFORTS to trace part of the N70 trillion generated by the Federal Government through the oil and gas but which was diverted into private pocket, began on Monday, at the consultative workshop on development of roadmap on beneficial ownership in the sector.
At the well attended ceremony organised by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), held at Apo Apartments in Abuja, the stakeholders stressed the need for the Federal Government to recover all the funds stolen by individuals.
Delivering his welcome address, the Executive Secretary of NEITI, Mr. Waziri Adio, said Nigerians, especially stakeholders in the sector must ask questions about where the money went.
According to him, “at a time when most resource-intensive countries are in financial turmoil on account of fall in commodity prices, it is tempting to rain on the openness parade, especially with a country that made more than N70 trillion from oil and gas between 1999 and 2014 to slump into economic recession in the second quarter of 2016. By all means, we should ask the N70 trillion question: where did all the money go?
“But we should never give up on transparency. At a time like this, we need more openness, not less. NEITI will continue to push the envelope on transparency and accountability. We are already going beyond revenue transparency, we are already on the bandwagon of ownership transparency, and we will do more work on expenditure transparency.
In his keynote address, the Minister of Mines and Steel development, who is also the Chairman, NSWG of NEITI, Dr Kayode Fayemi, enumerated the task before the stakeholders which was to determine the appropriate and most effective framework for beneficial ownership disclosure.
Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, on Monday said the Federal Government would give more attention to the development of gas as a major revenue earner for Nigeria.
Kachikwu, who stated this in Abuja at the 10th Nigerian Gas Association International Conference, said that the country was determined to reverse its over-dependence on oil as benchmark for the economy.
The theme of the conference is “Nigerian Gas Roadmap and Its Potential for Regional and Global Influence: Its Implementation, Challenges, Opportunities and New Way Forward.”
“I must say that over the years there has been a blatant neglect of this sector. We really haven’t focused on gas; all had been on oil production.
“With regard to the recession today, it is clear to us that if we develop a two window of economic earnings, a lot of emphasis will move to gas.
“We are going to be introducing new technical resources, restructuring existing departments and assigning new managers to the existing departments. These reforms are clearly articulated in the proposed national gas policy,” he said.
The Group Managing Director, NNPC, Dr Baru Maikanti, also speaking at the event, said “there exists over $51billion investment in gas processing/transmission and general infrastructural development in the country.”
He stressed further that $16 billion investment opportunity still exists in pipeline milling and fabrication yards, FTZ infrastructure development and concession, port infrastructure, central processing facilities, gas transmission pipelines, as well as LPG plants and real estate development.
He said for Nigeria’s gas sector to grow, it requires a new Gas Policy and an appropriate pricing template structure and guarantees for payment. He stated other enablers for growing the nation’s gas sector to include enabling fiscal regime, host community engagement and conducive business environment.
Furthermore, Dr. Baru stated that beyond growing gas for power sector, there has been a strategic positioning of the sector to support massive gas-based industrialization. “The intent is to position Nigeria as the regional hub for gas based industries such as fertilizers, methanol, petrochemical, CPFs etc. Nigeria holds 9th largest gas reserves in the world and the largest in Africa with about 192TCF.”
“Our vision is to grow reserves to support domestic and export demand put at about 15bscuf per day by year 2020. To increase reserves, we need to expand the areas for gas exploration. The frontier basins need to be explored more aggressively,” he stated.


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The coming of the New Year is a time for celebration and reflection on past accomplishments. In this regard, 2014 can be considered a very productive year, replete with many important milestones for crewed and robotic space exploration alike. At the same time, the holiday season is also a chance to contemplate on all the future accomplishments that still lie ahead. Next year, 2015, is certainly poised not to disappoint, with many treats awaiting space advocates throughout the year, including the long-awaited start of the New Horizons spacecraft’s long-range science observations of Pluto on Jan. 15 prior to its historic close flyby of the distant dwarf planet in July and the upcoming arrival of the Dawn spacecraft on dwarf planet Ceres in April. Yet, as is often the case, the coming of the New Year—besides new beginnings—marks the time for endings. After conducting a highly successful, decade-long mission of exploration and discovery of the Solar System’s innermost planet, NASA’s MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging spacecraft, or MESSENGER for short, is nearing its end of operations, following its final plunge to the planet’s surface, which is scheduled to take place in April. Before that happens, however, MESSENGER will get an additional few weeks of science observations, which will enable it to even collect more data until the very final moments of its mission.
Even though it is located fairly close to Earth, Mercury has remained one of the Solar System’s most mystifying and largely unexplored planets, even after the dawn of the Space Age during the second half of the 20th century. Due to its very close proximity to the Sun, Mercury presents a real observational challenge for astronomers, remaining visible at the night sky only for brief periods of time at dusk and dawn. Its location deep inside the Sun’s gravity well, at an average distance of 58 million kilometers away from our home star, presents a challenge for any visiting spacecraft as well, which have to endure the extreme heat and radiation environment around the planet, where the Sun can be up to 11 times as bright as it appears on Earth. Furthermore, any spacecraft that would approach Mercury on a direct course from Earth would have to carry a prohibitive amount of fuel on board in order to decelerate enough so that it could avoid being drawn toward the Sun by the latter’s immense gravity field. For these reasons, Mercury had only briefly visited by the Mariner 10 spacecraft in the mid-1970s, while returning the first-ever, close-up images of the planet’s scorched surface back on Earth, during a series of three close flybys.
The results of the Mariner 10 mission had shown that Mercury is the planet of the extremes. Despite being the smallest of the terrestrial planets, with a diameter approximately one-third that of Earth, it is nevertheless one of the most massive, with a density of approximately 5.427 g per cubic centimeter—only slightly less than that of our Home Planet. Furthermore, Mercury exhibits the greatest temperature range of all the planets in the Solar System: When it is at its closest distance to the Sun, its day side bakes at a scorchingly hot 430°C, while at the same time the temperatures on its night side can plummet as low as -180°C. Furthermore, Mercury’s surface topography, which greatly resembles that of the Earth’s Moon, as was revealed to the spacecraft’s cameras, hinted at a dead world whose geologic activity had for the most part ceased long ago. Nevertheless, due to its specific trajectory, Mariner 10 was able to image only half of the planet’s surface while offering only tantalising clues as to its fascinating nature and underscoring the need for a more thorough, in-depth study from a follow-up mission.
A new age in the exploration of Mercury began with the launch of NASA’s low-cost, $446 million Discovery-class MESSENGER mission in August 2004, onboard a Delta II rocket. Contrary to the Mariner 10 mission, which had only conducted three brief flybys of Mercury between 1974 and 1975, MESSENGER’s goal was to study the planet extensively from orbit instead. To that end, the spacecraft’s flight path was designed in such a way so as to take advantage of the gravity fields of Earth, Venus, and Mercury, respectively, in order to decelerate enough before it could be captured by latter’s gravity. Like clockwork, the spacecraft, following a 7.9-billion kilometer, seven-year trek through the inner Solar System, which included 15 loops around the Sun, one flyby of Earth, two of Venus, and three of Mercury, finally became the first-ever man-made object to enter into orbit around the fast-moving planet in March 2011, beginning a historic mission of in-depth study of the first rock from the Sun. Ever since that time, MESSENGER has helped to revolutionize our understanding of Mercury, providing new insights about its surface geology, chemical composition, exosphere, and magnetic field, while yielding some unexpected surprises along the way. The huge volumes of data returned by the MESSENGER spacecraft have drawn a new and different picture of the planet, revealing a world which is far from being a dead chunk of rock—proved to be truly distinct and active in its own right instead—while also raising as many questions regarding its fascinating nature and enigmatic origin as it has answered.
Ever since the Mariner 10 mission, it had been established Mercury’s interior structure was unlike that of the other terrestrial planets. By studying the Mariner 10 data, scientists had calculated that Mercury had a very large core which accounts for approximately 60 percent of the planet’s total mass, surrounded by a silicate mantle and a thin crust. It was previously thought that this large core would have cooled off long ago, leaving behind a frozen relic that would be unable to generate an internal magnetic field. Nevertheless, a series of detailed measurements by MESSENGER, coupled with previous ground-based radar observations, showed that the planet’s magnetic field was caused by an active internal dynamo effect, indicating the presence of a core that was at least partially molten instead and was most probably even bigger than previously thought. “MESSENGER’s measurements indicate that, like Earth, Mercury’s magnetic field is mostly dipolar, which means it has a north and south magnetic poles,” says Brian Anderson, the mission’s Deputy Project Scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md. “The fact that it is dipolar, and that we did not find the signature shorter-wavelength anomalies that would signify patches of magnetized crust, supports the view that we’re seeing a modern dynamo.” Furthermore, MESSENGER discovered that Mercury’s internal magnetic field is offset by 20 percent north off the planet’s center. The spacecraft’s onboard magnetometer detected that an asymmetry exists in the field’s geometry, with the magnetic lines converging differently in the geographical north pole than in the south, leaving the latter more exposed to the flow of energetic particles from the solar wind. The magnetometer’s results also revealed that even though the strength of Mercury’s magnetic field is just 1 percent that of Earth’s, it nevertheless is strong enough to create a magnetosphere that can trap solar wind particles, creating bursts of energetic plasma particles in its magnetotail, leading scientists to characterise Mercury’s magnetic field as being as active and complex as that of planets like Earth and Jupiter.
The study of the planet’s topography and chemical composition revealed several surprises as well. While the images that Mariner 10 beamed back to Earth revealed a world very similar in appearance to the Moon, MESSENGER showed that Mercury was indeed very different in many regards from the Earth’s natural satellite. Although the surfaces of both planetary bodies show similar geologic features, like impact craters and evidence of past volcanic activity, many others are unique to Mercury. The most striking of these features as revealed by MESSENGER were a series of thousands of strange shallow depressions that were peppered across the planet’s surface and were typically located inside impact craters and surrounded by diffuse halos of bright, highly reflective material. Even though these peculiar depressions, which scientists have named “hollows,” bear some similarity to a series of enigmatic surface features called “irregular mare patches” that are found on the Moon, they remain an enigma to this day. “These hollows were a major surprise,” says David Blewett, a member of the MESSENGER science team at APL. “We’ve been thinking of Mercury as a relic – a place that’s really not changing much anymore, except by impact cratering. But the hollows appear to be younger than the craters in which they are found, and that means Mercury’s surface is still evolving in a surprising way. We’ve never seen anything quite like this on a rocky surface.”
One other really surprising discovery to come from the MESSENGER mission involved the chemical composition of Mercury’s surface and extremely thin exosphere. The latter is so tenuous that it is closer to being considered a vacuum than a real atmosphere per se; yet, it is quite active. Constantly replenished by elements that are released from the planet’s surface from volcanic outgassing, micrometeorite impacts, and the constant battering of the solar wind, Mercury’s exosphere was found to be surprisingly rich in hydrogen, helium, oxygen, calcium, sulfur, sodium, potassium, magnesium, water vapor, and other volatile elements that were thought to be absent in the space environment around the planet. In addition, the radiation pressure of the solar wind, coming from the nearby Sun, pushes sodium away from the planet’s surface into its magnetosphere, forming a long comet-like tail that extends for thousands of kilometers into space, which was observed by MESSENGER during its first flyby of the planet in January 2008. “MESSENGER was able to observe Mercury’s exosphere in three areas—the dayside, the day/night line, or terminator, and its 40,000 km sodium tail,” says Dr. William McClintock, a senior research scientist at the University of Colorado and Co-Investigator for the MESSENGER mission. “Atoms of hydrogen, helium, sodium, potassium, and calcium have been seen in the exosphere, and many other elements almost certainly exist there. These atoms are accelerated away from Mercury by solar-radiation pressure and form a long tail of atoms flowing away from the Sun. But their abundances differ depending on whether it’s day or night, effects from the magnetic field and solar wind, and possibly the latitude. Mercury’s exosphere is remarkably active.” These findings contradict established theories regarding the formation of Mercury, which predicted that the planet should have been depleted in volatile elements, forcing scientists to throw them out the window. “Theorists need to go back to the drawing board on Mercury’s formation,” says Larry Nittler, a staff scientist at the Carnegie Institution of Washington’s Department of Terrestrial Magnetism. “Most previous ideas about Mercury’s chemistry are inconsistent with what we have actually measured on the planet’s surface.” “Learning how Mercury formed will have major implications for the rest of the planets,” adds Blewett. “And MESSENGER is showing that, up to now, we’ve been completely wrong about this little world in so many ways!”
Yet what most probably constitutes the mission’s single greatest scientific result to date was the first direct imaging of the long-hypothesized water ice deposits inside permanently shadowed craters at the planet’s polar regions, whose presence had been previously indicated by ground-based radar observations during the early 1990s and had also been confirmed through indirect measurements by the MESSENGER spacecraft in 2012. More interestingly, these images show evidence that dark, organic-rich material is also covering several of these crater floors, similar to what might also be found on the Moon as well. “One of the big questions we’ve been grappling with is ‘When did Mercury’s water ice deposits show up?’ Are they billions of years old, or were they emplaced only recently?” comments Nancy Chabot, instrument scientist for MESSENGER’s Mercury Dual Imaging System, at APL. “Understanding the age of these deposits has implications for understanding the delivery of water to all the terrestrial planets, including Earth.”
Following the successful conclusion of its primary science operations in March 2012, MESSENGER’s mission was extended two times by NASA in 2012 and 2013, during which time the spacecraft successfully completed the mapping of the planet’s entire globe in high-resolution, while also re-adjusting its highly elliptical orbit around Mercury from 12 to eight hours, as part of a low-altitude imaging campaign to provide scientists with even higher resolution views of the planet’s surface features. Now, more than 10 years in space, MESSENGER is on the final leg of its mission, with its orbit around Mercury slowly decaying, which will ultimately lead the spacecraft to crash on the planet’s surface sometime in March 2015. Ground controllers have managed to prolong the spacecraft’s life throughout its second extended mission, by raising its minimum orbital altitude during a series of orbit-correction maneuvers on June 17, Sep. 12, and Oct. 24, with the help of its four largest onboard monopropellant hydrazine thrusters. These have already used most of the spacecraft’s fuel reserves, leaving barely enough for one final orbit-correction maneuver, which is scheduled for Jan. 21.
Nevertheless, the mission’s engineering team has devised a way to delay MESSENGER’s inevitable end for a while longer. By utilising the helium gas which was previously used to pressurize the onboard fuel and oxidizer inside the spacecraft’s propulsion system, scientists hope to keep MESSENGER going for as long as a month more, until late April. “MESSENGER has used nearly all of the onboard liquid propellant,” says Dan O’Shaughnessy, member of the mission’s engineering team at APL. “Typically, when this liquid propellant is completely exhausted, a spacecraft can no longer make adjustments to its trajectory. For MESSENGER, this would have meant that we would no longer have been able to delay the inevitable impact with Mercury’s surface. However, gaseous helium was used to pressurize MESSENGER’s propellant tanks, and this gas can be exploited to continue to make small adjustments to the trajectory.” Although less efficient than liquid hydrazine, helium is an effective alternative for adjusting the spacecraft’s trajectory during the last few months of its life, allowing it to collect as much data about Mercury as possible. “During the additional period of operations, up to four weeks, MESSENGER will measure variations in Mercury’s internal magnetic field at shorter horizontal scales than ever before, scales comparable to the anticipated periapsis altitude between 7 km and 15 km above the planetary surface,” says Haje Korth, instrument scientist for MESSENGER’s onboard Magnetometer. “Combining these observations with those obtained earlier in the mission at slightly higher altitudes will allow the depths of the sources of these variations to be determined. In addition, observations by MESSENGER’s Neutron Spectrometer at the lowest altitudes of the mission will allow water ice deposits to be spatially resolved within individual impact craters at high northern latitudes.”
Besides the treasure trove of data that MESSENGER has already collected about Mercury throughout its mission, the spacecraft’s inevitable death plunge itself on the planet’s surface promises to be as much scientifically valuable. Scientists are already conducting a high-resolution imaging campaign of the regions on Mercury around which MESSENGER is expected to crash next spring. By pinpointing the exact impact site, scientists hope to study its surface material before and after MESSENGER’s crash, hopefully revealing new information about the planet’s composition. “One of the interesting aspects of crashing onto Mercury, is that we will expose fresh material, that has not been exposed to space weather processes,” said Sean Solomon, Principal Investigator for MESSENGER at Columbia University in New York, during a recent interview for the Planetary Society. “We have an opportunity to monitor a small impact that is not only fresh, but whose timing is precisely known … And we want to hand those images to the next mission that will visit Mercury a few years from now and say ‘please look in this area, because whatever change you see was a result of the crash of our spacecraft.'”
This next mission will be BepiColombo, a joint ESA/JAXA mission, which is scheduled for launched onboard an Ariane 5 rocket in July 2016. Following its arrival on Mercury in January 2024, BepiColombo, which will consist of two separate orbiters, will build on the previous discoveries by the Mariner 10 and MESSENGER spacecraft. “When you look at the planet in the sky, it looks like a simple point of light,” remarks Dr. Ralph McNutt, Project Scientist for MESSENGER at APL. “But when you experience Mercury close-up through all of MESSENGER’s ‘senses’ seeing it at different wavelengths, feeling its magnetic properties, and touching its surface features and energetic particles, you perceive a complex system and not just a ball of rock and metal.”
If the history of planetary exploration is any indication, BepiColombo is poised to provide its own revolutionary insights about the first rock from the Sun.
A flyover of Mercury’s north pole, captured by MESSENGER in June 2014. The image frames were taken once per second while MESSENGER was at altitudes ranging from 115 to 165 kilometers above the surface. The movie is sped up by a factor of seven for ease of viewing. The images have resolutions ranging from 21 to 45 meters/pixel. Video Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
Below are more images from the MESSENGER mission (Credit for all images, unless otherwise specified: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington)


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Ice Cube and Kevin Hart hijack Fitzy & Wippa's ice-cream van
Ice Cube and Kevin Hart hijacked Fitzy & Wippa's ice-cream truck down in Dawes Point yesterday to hand out much needed ice-cream in Sydney's heat.
Comedian Kevin Hart and THE Ice Cube were scheduled for an interview with FItzy & Wippa but instead decided to borrow the boys ice-cream truck and hand out sweet treat to unsuspecting Ride Along 2 fans. Kevin Hart manned the counter while Ice Cube took on more of a 'supervisor' role.
Watch what happened.


text:
A publication for alumni, friends and donors of the University of Washington Division of Gastroenterology
READ MORE DR. ALEXANDER ENDE: SYMPTOMATIC PANCREATIC DUCT STONES IN THE DISCONNECTED BILE DUCT. PUBLISHED IN PANCREATOLOGY. Pancreaticobiliary maljunction refers to the union of the pancreatic and biliary ducts outside of the duodenal wall. Patients are at increased risk of bile duct and gallbladder cancer, likely secondary to pancreatic juice refluxing into the biliary tree, and it is recommended that they undergo biliary diversion. DR. FENG SU (FELLOW) AND DR. GEORGE IOANNOU: ASSOCIATION BETWEEN RACE/ETHNICITYAND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF DIRECT ANTIVIRAL AGENTS FOR HEPATITIS C VIRUS INFECTION. PUBLISHED IN HEPATOLOGY. New direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) have substantially changed the hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment landscape. Different racial and ethnic groups in the United States are known to have different responses to traditional, interferon-based HCV regimens. It is not yet clear whether the effectiveness of DAAs varies between racial and ethnic groups. READ MORE READ MORE DR. GEORGE IOANNOU: TRANSPLANT-RELATED SURVIVAL BENEFIT SHOULD INFLUENCE PRIORITIZATION FOR LIVER TRANSPLANTATION. PUBLISHED IN LIVER TRANSPLANTATION. Transplant-related survival benefit is calculated as the difference between life expectancy with transplantation and life expectancy without transplantation. Determining eligibility and prioritization for liver transplantation based on the highest survival benefit is a superior strategy to prioritization based on the highest urgency or the highest utility, because prioritization based on the highest survival benefit maximizes the overall life expectancy of all patients in need of liver transplantation. FACULTY IN THE NEWS DR. JOHN INADOMI: SCREENING FOR COLORECTAL NEOPLASIA. PUBLISHED IN THE NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE. Colorectal cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and cause of death from cancer in the United States; however, it can be detected in asymptomatic patients at a curable stage. Multiple strategies are available to screen patients who are at average risk for the development of colorectal cancer. Each strategy has differing characteristics with respect to accuracy, invasiveness, interval, costs, and quality of evidence supporting its use. READ MORE READ MORE DR. NINA SAXENA (FELLOW) AND DR. JOHN INADOMI: EFFECTIVENESS AND COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF ENDOSCOPIC SCREENING AND SURVEILLANCE. PUBLISHED IN GASTROINTESTINAL ENDOSCOPY CLINICS OF NORTH AMERICA. Guidelines for the screening and surveillance of Barrett’s esophagus continue to evolve as the incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma increases, identification of individuals at highest risk for cancer improves, and management of dysplasia evolves. Advances in diagnosis offer promising strategies to help focus screening efforts on those individuals who are most likely to develop esophageal adenocarcinoma. DR. LISA STRATE: ARE MAJOR DIETARY PATTERNS ASSOCIATED WITH RISK OF INCIDENT DIVERTICULITIS? PUBLISHED IN GASTROENTEROLOGY. Dietary fiber is implicated as a risk factor for diverticulitis. Analyses of dietary patterns may provide information on risk beyond those of individual foods or nutrients. The increasing incidence of diverticulitis has been attributed to changes in diet and lifestyle, predominantly a decrease in dietary fiber consumption. READ MORE
DR. STEPHEN VINDIGNI (FELLOW) AND DR. CHRISTINA SURAWICZ: FECAL MICROBIOTA TRANSPLANTATION. PUBLISHED IN GASTROENTEROLOGY CLINICS OF NORTH AMERICA. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is the transfer of stool from a healthy donor into the colon of a patient whose disease is a result of an altered microbiome, with the goal of restoring the normal microbiota and thus curing the disease. The most effective and well-studied indication for FMT is recurrent Clostridium difficile infection. The field is rapidly emerging and has become a focus in both the public media and peer-reviewed literature. READ MORE READ MORE DR. JOSEPH ROBERTS (FELLOW) AND DR. ANDREW KAZ: ANAL INTRAEPITHELIAL NEOPLASIA. PUBLISHED IN THE WORLD JOURNAL OF GASTROINTESTINAL ONCOLOGY. AIN is a premalignant lesion of the anal mucosa that is a precursor to anal cancer. Although anal cancer is relatively uncommon, rates of this malignancy are steadily rising in the United States, and among certain high risk populations the incidence of anal cancer may exceed that of colon cancer. DR. BRIAN REID: GENOMICS, ENDOSCOPY AND CONTROL OF GASTROESOPHAGEAL CANCERS: A PERSPECTIVE. PUBLISHED IN CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR GASTROENTEROLOGY AND HEPATOLOGY. Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EA) is remarkably similar to gastric adenocarcinoma CIN subtype. Current enthusiasm for endoscopic control of EA has little impact on mortality. Current strategies need to be revisited given emerging evidence that many cancers develop rapidly by punctuated and catastrophic genome evolution. READ MORE READ MORE DR. WILLIAM DEPAOLO STUDIES BACTERIA, BUT HIS SCIENCE GOES VIRAL. PUBLISHED BY THE WHOLE U: FACULTY FRIDAY SERIES. The associate professor of medicine’s videos exploring the bacterial science behind everyday objects have amassed millions of hits on BuzzFeed and led to appearances on The Today Show, but DePaolo, the director of the University of Washington’s new Center for Microbiome Sciences and Therapeutics (CMiST), says he sees his sliver of cyber celebrity as a means to an end. DR. GEORGE MCDONALD: PREDICTIVE VALUE OF CLINICAL FINDINGS AND PLASMA BIOMARKERS AFTER 14 DAYS OF PREDNISONE TREATMENT FOR ACUTE GVHD. PUBLISHED IN BIOLOGY OF BLOOD AND MARROW TRANSPLANTATION. The frequency of acute graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD) after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation is in the 50% to 70% range, with gastrointestinal symptoms the most common presentation. A recent study examines the hypothesis that plasma biomarkers and concomitant clinical findings after initial glucocorticoid therapy can accurately predict failure of GVHD treatment and mortality. READ MORE READ MORE DR. TATIANA KHOKHLOVA: BOILING HISTOTRIPSY OF DEEP ABDOMINAL TISSUE TARGETS. PUBLISHED IN ULTRASOUND IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY. Boiling histotripsy (BH) is a high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU)–based method of mechanical tissue fractionation that utilizes millisecond-long bursts of HIFU shock waves to cause boiling at the focus in milliseconds. Multiple clinical applications for BH have been suggested, primarily in oncology, to mechanically ablate unwanted soft tissues. The most relevant applications, in which traditional HIFU is faced with substantial problems, are deep abdominal organ malignancies, including the liver, pancreas and kidney.

domain: biology


text:
Vikings online games ncaa basketball predictions against the spread
We kick things off with the Cowboys and Vikings on Thursday night and Dallas took its first loss against the spread on the season last week. Minnesota Vikings Team Report including odds, performence stats, injuries, at Pittsburgh | Recap; Next Game: Sep 24, , PM vs Tampa Bay; Matchup. FANTASY BASKETBALL New Orleans Saints odds: Picks from expert who went on NFL that Tierney is leaning Vikings -3 for his against-the-spread pick. As a result, Saints games generated about 58 points, Minnesota's just olenchinkov.info is a registered trademark of CBS Interactive Inc.
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Getty Images Thearon W. Not only will the Patriots not lose two straight games, but I have no faith in this atrocious Saints defense, especially on a short week. We could be in for a weird Week 8. Sportsbook Review Home Best Sportsbooks Rating Guide Blacklist Bonuses File Complaint How to Bet Betting Tools Bitcoin Sportsbooks Best Mobile Betting Sites. The five-day forecast sees a high of 39 degrees and a significant chance of snow in Green Bay on Sunday. You are using an unsupported version of Internet Nhl betting picks cricket login account. Account Settings Log Out.
March 19, 2017 - NCAA College Basketball Picks Today - Picks Against The Spread ATS - 3/19/17

domain: sports


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DIY chain B&Q has pledged to keep the 16 Focus staff at the Spalding Holland Market store which is due to close tomorrow.
But yesterday morning staff were still in the dark as they were awaiting official confirmation from administrators Ernst and Young that their jobs are safe.
A spokesman for B&Q said her company could not give staff the good news because B&Q does not take over officially until Monday.
A press officer for Ernst and Young said he would find out why staff hadn’t been told.
As the Focus closing down sale continued, there were signs on shelves appealing to customers to be understanding towards staff who would be losing their jobs when the store closed.
Kingfisher, B&Q’s parent company, announced on May 6 that following the appointment of administrators at Focus and Do It All it had agreed to buy up to 31 leasehold properties for £23million in cash.
B&Q says it will bring “a fresh offer, investment and jobs to the local community” when it opens in Spalding.
It says stores will be transferred to the B&Q format as soon as possible and some will open as early as next month.
B&Q chief executive officer Martyn Phillips said: “We are delighted that the OFT (Office of Fair Trading) has acted swiftly, meaning we will be able to bring new investment to communities like Spalding and safeguard more than 600 jobs nationally.
“We’re looking forward to welcoming Focus employees to B&Q and to becoming part of communities that we haven’t previously operated in.
“We’re on a mission to make DIY easier and more accessible for everyone and can’t wait to bring B&Q’s range of well priced products, services and advice to your local community.”
l B&Q is Europe’s biggest home and garden centre retailer and the world’s third largest. It has 360 stores in the UK and is visited by three million customers each week.


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"Plastic money lovers and RUDE service!"
Completely unsatisfying, the website assured me that cash or credit was acceptable for both the room fee and deposit, but the rude receptionist insisted "credit card" only and made ZERO effort to assist my family after that! Fortunately we found a polite, family run and family friendly hotel nearby!Genuine Hotels.com guest review
I really enjoy the place i would remend it to anyone to stay i didn't want to leave it i will remend it to anyone to stay again i rate it 100 percentGenuine Expedia guest review
"Very convenient for Stone Mountain (Laser Show A++"
Enjoyed Managers Night on 1st night at hotel. All the staff very helpful especially Amy. Better restaurants not very convenient to hotel. Had problems with TV remote (poor design for changing channels). Very convenient for Stone Mountain & Laser Show was fantastic.Genuine Hotels.com guest review
"Awesome Service and Awesome Location"
I had an excellent stay at the Hampton Inn in Stone Mountain. After a 12 hour drive it was the best thing to happen to me. The staff was exceptionally friendly and customer service oriented. My room was clean and quiet. The location was perfect for visiting Stone Mountain and for visiting the other attractions Atlanta has to offer. Breakfast was great […] and the pool was an awesome oasis in the Georgia heat. I look forward to my next trip to Atlanta. Also, the manager on duty Maikalia was excellent. Read moreGenuine Expedia guest review
"REAL NICE STAY AT HAMPTON INN"
IT WAS GREAT, AND VERY COMFORTABLEGenuine Hotels.com guest review
"REALY NICE HOTEL"
OUR STAY WAS REALLY GREAT.Genuine Hotels.com guest review
this hotel was very clean, the staff was super friendly and the pool was excellent... would definitely stay again and again. Thank You Hampton Inn...we truly enjoyed our stay!Genuine Hotels.com guest review
"I love this hotel...always clean and comfortable."
I have stayed at this hotel several times and enjoy my stay each time. My only complaint is when housekeeping comes knocking at the door at 10:00-10:30 but check out is not until 12:00. I've had the door opened as I stepped out of the shower...thank goodness for the latch preventing it from opening all the way. This last stay, in an attempt to avoid […] being disturbed, I placed the Do Not Disturb sign on the outside of the door. That did not deter housekeeping at all, they still attempted to enter the room. Read moreGenuine Expedia guest review
"Clean and nice place"
The bed and the bathroom are really clean. And nice breakfast. The only thing annoying me is the noise of the air conditioner.Genuine Expedia guest review
The room was immaculately clean. I was pleasantly surprised. 4 star hotel quality.Genuine Hotels.com guest review
"Very friendly staff"
Hotel was convenient for our Memorial Day trip to Stone Mtn. Surrounding area is mostly industrial parks. The entire staff was very friendly and helpful. As with most Hamptons, the room was clean, well-equipped and maintained, and had a very comfortable bed. Nice breakfast too. Thank you staff!Genuine Hotels.com guest review
"Fantastic staff during a stressful time"
The staff from the front desk down to the young man who was cleaning the floors in the lobby was fantastic! We were experiencing a very traumatic family emergency and not only was the entire staff supportive, compassionate and accommodating, they all showed that they all care for their guests! Thank you so much to everyone during our time of stress […] ! Read moreGenuine Hotels.com guest review
Overall the stay was great. The room was super clean and the staff was helpful and friendly. The breakfast was not something to write home about though. I think they have some refrigeration/food dating problems because one of the packets of cream cheese I got was spoiled, and the cut pineapple had gone bad. The apple I ate was also on the bad side of […] edible. All the cooked things looked good though... Read moreGenuine Hotels.com guest review
I had the most amazing sleep. And also to be accompanied by an awesome complimentary breakfast was a big plus!! I love the Hampton!Genuine Hotels.com guest review
"close to stone mountain"
we loved it! excellentGenuine Hotels.com guest review
Great!Genuine Hotels.com guest review
"Hotel is about 5 miles from Stone Mountain"
Hotel was very nice. Typical of what I would expect from a Hampton InnGenuine Expedia guest review
"Weekend in Stone Mountain"
Spent the weekend in Stone Mountain for my nephew's birthday. Picked this hotel because of the excellent reviews and closeness to family's home. It is right next to a bowling fun center and a couple blocks away from everything you could need. Very comfortable beds, professional staff, and great hot breakfast with fresh food. Would definitely stay here […] again and recommend to others. Read moreGenuine Expedia guest review
"Not a good stay"
Usually I like Hampton Inn, but this time it was not organized, there were errors in my check in and, when I asked to switch rooms they gave me a dirty room. Bed not made, someone's luggage left i the room and sheets were balled up in a chair.Genuine Hotels.com guest review
Beds and pillows not as comfortable as most Hamptons but a great place to stay.Genuine Hotels.com guest review
Very nice hotel. Staff very friendly. Would definitely stay there again.Genuine Hotels.com guest review
"Quick over night stop"
Good location. Very good breakfast. Courteous staff.Genuine Expedia guest review
"Clean, friendly staff"
I chose to return to this hotel after having had a great experience previously. This didn't seem like same hotel. 1.Poor customer service. Remote control needed batteries. We asked for some replacement batteries. It wasn't until the 2nd request the following day that we received them. 2. At check-in, the toilet paper roll was 2/3 empty. I was glad I […] brought a box of tissues because it took a 2nd request to get another roll. 3. At check-in, we were told cookies were complimentary on evening but none were made. Other small inconsistencies occurred. I was 100% pleased 2011 when I stayed at same facility/location. The next time I'm in the area, I can't say that it will be my choice hotel. The afternoon/evening receptionist was very nice. Read moreGenuine Hotels.com guest review
it was what I expect from Hampton Inn.Genuine Hotels.com guest review
This Hampton is older and needs some updates. You can smell the smoke in the hallways. There is nothing close to the hotel to eat, except a bowling center that didn't look very safe. On the brighter side, the staff was excellent and was very helpful.Genuine Hotels.com guest review
Staff was very helpful and accommodating. Hotel was wonderful.Genuine Hotels.com guest review
n/aGenuine Hotels.com guest review
A good experienceGenuine Hotels.com guest review
"It's a very nice experience"
Nice rooms , nice service , smiling people , good food ..Genuine Hotels.com guest review
The actual hotel room was nice. The showers are tiny though. There was hair in the tub. When I called down to the front desk to get some clean towels, the lady at the front said I will see if I can get someone up to you. I was not advised of a $50 free that was placed on my card for holding. The staff was not very helpful.Genuine Expedia guest review
"Conveniently located near Stone Mountain"
Hotel staff was extremely nice. Breakfast, especially the coffee was delicious!Genuine Expedia guest review
Hard to find.Genuine Hotels.com guest review
"A gem, if you need to be in Stone Mountain Area"
a good hotel, offering a Hampton-level facility and doing it very, very well.Genuine Hotels.com guest review
The hotel was wonderful, very nice and clean rooms staff was nice. The breakfast was more than expected and very good. We very much enjoyed our stay,Genuine Hotels.com guest review
"Hotel was nice"
The hotel staff was very nice at the front desk. Our room was clean and big. We had two rooms booked for our family, a king suite and a queen double. Both rooms were nice. The only bad thing was the noise on our floor was loud. There was a party going on next to us which we could hear quite well as well as many inconsiderate people talking loudly in […] the hall way. They did quite down by 11:30pm but we were awaken by pounding on a neighboring door at 4:30am and more loud talking and doors slamming. Not really the hotels fault but annoying all the same. The Beds were not all that comfortable. Probably won't stay there again. Read moreGenuine Hotels.com guest review
I can't wait to come back!Genuine Hotels.com guest review
"Awesome All Around Hotel"
Awesome stay and very comfortable beds. Will definitely be staying there in the future. To add the complementary breakfast was very good and a big selection.Genuine Hotels.com guest review
Felt like a commercial office building, but it was ok for a quick stay.Genuine Expedia guest review
Even though it is near a major highway, the room itself was very quiet. We didn't hear our neighbors unless we were in the bathroom. The bathroom was a good size and had a stone-like countertop. The bed was comfortable. The desk was large enough to do work. Overall very nice for a non-luxe hotel. The breakfast included several hot entrees. The eggs […] however seemed artificial - the omelets were all perfect circles; the scrambled eggs were sulphury. They also had hot oatmeal, and breakfast meat - sausage patties one day and bacon the other. As well as the standard make your own waffle and the cold stuff. A better breakfast buffet than many budget offerings. Read moreGenuine Hotels.com guest review
Comfortable and cleanGenuine Hotels.com guest review
It was very good, especially the friendliness of the staff. However, I booked two rooms and I did not receive the one with the fridge. Their error there.Genuine Hotels.com guest review
I have stayed at most of the hotels around Stone Mountain and this one is my favorite. I would not believe that someone could write a bad review on this place !! Everybody raved about this place among our party of 10. Breakfast was very busy the day we were there and probably should had a waffle maker ( a person ) making them so that the flow could […] go faster. But its really some people don't know what their doing. We will stay here again next year !!! Read moreGenuine Hotels.com guest review
"Okay place to stay"
Hotel not alongside main road, had to wind thru other businesses parking lots to hotel entrance. Hotel staff very friendly, room was clean, quiet, although seemed small. Basic amenities. Breakfast service leaves a lot to be desired...okay if you just have cold cereal, waffle, or dried cupcake. Eggs (powdered?) were crusty. Group of young men from (Caribbean) […] hanging around dining area very loud, inconsiderate of others....upon arrival previous evening and during breakfast. Did not feel threatened, just annoying. Lodging was okay for one night just passing thru stay. Read moreGenuine Hotels.com guest review
"Terrific Stay Near Stone Mountain"
We were 100% satisfied with out room at the Hampton near Stone Mountain. The staff was amazingly friendly. The room was very clean. The beds were awesome and the breakfast was appreciated. A+Genuine Expedia guest review
Hotel service was excellent- great attitudes from all employees!Genuine Hotels.com guest review
"Nice & friendly.. but where to eat?"
The room was clean, breakfast was great, well stocked...the staff was incredibly friendly and positive, real close to Stone Mountain. The only drawback was the lack of restaurant ... not many “tourist-like” places.Genuine Hotels.com guest review
"Nice hotel and was close to where we went."
Great staff and was very nice to us all. Will consider again.Genuine Expedia guest review
We were pleasantly surprised with our room. The space, the quaility, all a surprise but the best part was the price!Genuine Expedia guest review
"First time to Atlanta area"
The hotel was very clean. Perfect location away from busy road yet close access to the highway.Genuine Expedia guest review
Clean spacious room, very quiet. Very enjoyable.Genuine Hotels.com guest review
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domain: travel


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Ministry of Commerce and Industries (MoCI) on Tuesday said Afghanistan and Uzbekistan will hold a meeting on June 20 in Uzbekistan in which they will discuss trade and transit matters and Uzbekistan’s possible investment in Afghanistan.
The meeting will be held under the theme of Discourse between the Private and Public Sectors.
MoCI spokesman Musafir Quqandi said government officials from the two countries, representatives of the private sector and investors will attend the meeting.
Quqandi said in the last year a number of agreements have been signed between the two countries which has paved the way for an increase of trade volume and stronger transit ties.
“The main focus is on the private sector on how we can bring them closer. Our trade ties with Uzbekistan increased after President (Ashraf) Ghani’s visit to Uzbekistan and in this meeting we will discuss how to strengthen the ties. We will discuss how to export more goods from Afghanistan through Uzbekistan to other countries and to Uzbekistan and also import the necessary goods from Uzbekistan,” said Quqandi.
Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) meanwhile said delegates would also discuss issues with Uzbek investors interested in investing in Afghanistan industries and mines.
According to ACCI officials, they will also talk about the use of cold storage facilities, and process and packaging centers in Uzbekistan’s Termez city. This would be for Afghan exporters sending their goods to Central Asian countries and Russia.
“Cold storage units and processing centers are being established in Termez city on the border of Afghanistan and Uzbekistan and we agreed with Uzbekistan to transfer our goods there to keep them there and after processing export to other countries,” Seyam Pesarlay, ACCI spokesman said.
ACCI statistics show that the trade value between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan last year was $600 million of which $200 million was of Afghanistan exports to Uzbekistan.


ASLA Online Learning opportunities are open to all. ASLA members may purchase this presentation at a reduced rate.
The Complete Streets movement has focused much discussion on the opportunities for healthier and more humane public streets. This panel, in particular, will focus on the Take Back the Boulevard grassroots initiative in Los Angeles as a case study for how communities can self-organize to bring about Complete Street improvements.
Sustainable Development & Design
Health, Safety and Welfare
1) Learn how landscape architects can be a catalyst for Complete Streets. 2) Learn key first steps in organizing for change. 3) Discover partnerships with community organizations and political offices that are vital to success. 4) Understand the challenges and opportunities of communicating change to a wide audience.
Allen Compton, Mott Smith, Jeff Jacobberg, Bob Gotham
American Society of Landscape Architects


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A TV talent show hopeful’s hometown paper has given him its backing with a front page wrap encouraging readers to elect him to stardom this weekend.
Today’s edition of the Croydon Advertiser also features a four page spread on X Factor finalist Ben Haenow which includes interviews with him, as well as his mum, brother, aunt, girlfriend, and former teacher.
The usual teasers and promos were wiped off the Advertiser’s front page to make way for the ‘Vote for Ben’ poster, pictured below.
The Local World-owned title has also run an exclusive blog from Ben every Friday since the start of the live shows and have featured weekly stories on him – from interviews with his family to the butcher who named a sausage after him.
Editor Glenn Ebrey said: “The X Factor is the biggest show on TV and Croydon is very proud of Ben’s achievements, so we wanted to give his story the full treatment ahead of the final.
“Reporter Polly Albany-Ward did an absolutely first-class job, getting all the material a local paper should – his family, his girlfriend, his former teacher, the landlord of his favourite pub – she covered every conceivable angle, topped off by an interview with Ben at the local pub where he used to gig.
“The front page looks really striking, thanks to some great design work from Alex Leys and the photography skills of Grant Melton.
“We hope plenty of people put the poster in their windows and that it encourages more votes for Ben, to push him over the finish line.”
The final shows will be broadcast tomorrow and Sunday.

domain: entertainment


New affordable, energy-efficient homes coming to Kelowna
KELOWNA - Construction is underway on 122 affordable, energy-efficient rental homes in the final building of the National Society of Hope's Apple Valley development in Kelowna.
The building will be constructed out of mass timber, which has a much lower carbon footprint than other traditional building methods.
"Projects like this make life more affordable for people and help create a cleaner future for communities," said Harwinder Sandhu, MLA for Vernon-Monashee. "People with a range of incomes will soon have access to 122 comfortable, energy-efficient homes that will bring peace of mind to residents for years to come."
Located at 2175 Benvoulin Rd., the modern nine-storey building will provide a mix of one- and two-bedroom homes for moderate- and low-income individuals, families, seniors and people with disabilities.
All projects primarily funded by BC Housing must meet at least Step 3 of the BC Energy Step Code for residential buildings. The goal for this project is to surpass that requirement by including energy-efficient features, such as triple-glazed windows, central heat recovery ventilators, electric car charging stations and a highly efficient central boiler system.
Named Capstone, the project is a partnership between the provincial and federal governments, the City of Kelowna and the National Society of Hope, which will own and operate the building. The society also owns and operates the three neighbouring buildings that make up the Apple Valley community, which provides 200 homes.
"Capstone completes a 25-year vision of the society to bring well-located affordable homes to the Midtown area of Kelowna," said Philip Lambert, president, National Society of Hope. "Through the generous donation of land by Gordon and Helen Ziglar in the 1990s, the society, in partnership with BC Housing, the City of Kelowna and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, have been able to develop 322 housing units and beautiful amenity spaces for the tenants."
The new homes are expected to be ready for occupancy in spring 2023.
This project is part of B.C.'s 10-year, $7-billion housing plan. Since 2017, the Province has funded more than 30,000 affordable new homes that have been completed or are underway for people in B.C., including nearly 1,800 homes in Kelowna.
Ahmed Hussen, federal Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion and Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation -
"Every Canadian deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. Our government is proud to be involved in these projects at their earliest stage, in order to ensure that they realize their goal of housing Canadians that need it most. This is one of the ways our government continues to ensure no one is left behind."
Patrick Weiler, MP for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country -
"Every Canadian deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. Our government is proud to be involved in these projects at their earliest stage, ensuring that they realize their goal of providing housing to Canadians that need it most. This is one of the ways our government is building more inclusive communities where no one is left behind."
Colin Basran, mayor, City of Kelowna -
"It's great that the city was able to help reduce the costs of building Capstone, keeping the housing units more affordable. By waiving $300,000 in development fees, the Society of Hope and BC Housing were able to go ahead with another 122 homes for Kelowna residents at a time when we have a serious need for more affordable housing."
- The Province is providing approximately $12.9 million through the Building BC: Community Housing Fund for the project. The Community Housing Fund is an investment of $1.9 billion to build more than 14,000 affordable rental homes for low- and moderate- income families and individuals over 10 years.
- The National Society of Hope provided the land, which is valued at approximately $5.1 million.
- The Government of Canada, through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, provided supportive funding through the Seed program, which is designed to support costs for completing pre-development activities related to the construction of new affordable housing across Canada.
A map showing the location of all announced provincially funded housing projects in B.C. is available online: https://www.bchousing.org/projects-partners/Building-BC/homes-for-BC
To learn about the steps the Province is taking to tackle the housing crisis and deliver affordable homes for British Columbians, visit: https://workingforyou.gov.bc.ca/
BC Energy Step Code: https://energystepcode.ca/


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Serial Distractions by Shedrick Pittman-Hassett is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.serialdistractions.wordpress.com.
Posts by Category
Tag Archives: nanowrimo
I’m not going to be participating in this year’s NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Not because of any animosity toward the event, but because I simply have too much on my plate this year. This actually makes me a little … Continue reading
So..this was the third year I attempted the NaNoWriMo challenge (50,000 word novel in 30 days). And I failed. I managed to get a little over 28,000 words and just stopped. There were a couple of factors (illness, a friend’s … Continue reading
I’ve gotten about 28,000 words into my NaNoWriMo project…but I think I’m done. Put a fork in me. [Insert various quitter’s cliches here]. I could attribute my failure to a number of factors. I got ill for a couple of … Continue reading
Wow…it’s been forever since I’ve posted anything. A big reason is that I’ve been out of town for the past week visiting family and such. Another is that there just hasn’t been a lot of new stuff going on. While … Continue reading

domain: literature


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Here is all about how to open a nursing school business.
Increasing demand for such schools presents unique nursing business opportunities for persons seeking to establish nursing schools and colleges.
There’s a lot of potential for persons having what it takes to start such schools. So, how do you create a nursing school? You’ll find all the details as you read on.
How to Establish a Nursing School
Nursing is a noble profession that requires study in an accredited institution of learning. Due to their importance, the number of nursing schools in the U.S is around 1,035.
These are spread across the 50 states and help churn out the desired workforce needed to bridge the gap of skilled health personnel.
About Nursing Schools
Before we get into details on starting a nursing school, we must provide brief background information.
While churning out a competent and skilled workforce, nursing schools offer training in different specializations. You can become a school nurse or neonatal nurse with a nursing degree.
Other nursing specialties include home health nurse, cardiac care nurse, pediatric nurse, public health nurse, community nurse, and nurse case manager.
There are more specialties like charge nurse, hospice nurse, nurse manager, nurse practitioner, nurse midwife, medical-surgical nurse, and ER nurse,
Starting a Nursing School
Starting a nursing school involves a whole range of factors. Of course, much work is needed to attain such lofty objectives.
The basic requirements for such an undertaking include conducting research & feasibility studies, having a plan, funding, finding a suitable facility, developing a nursing curriculum, and purchasing equipment and supplies.
Who are your competitors? What kind of challenges will you face as a business? The choice of a suitable name is essential. Hiring your workforce is also a crucial step in setting up your operations.
Now get accredited, advertise, and admit your first students.
i. Conducting Research & Feasibility Studies
Any meaningful economic venture, such as starting a nursing school, will require researching and finding out about the sector.
There are many things to learn as an investor, including the demand for skills such as this, the number of schools across the country, and those within your state.
How significant is the demand for nursing skills, and what have long-term and short-term trends been? Feasibility studies help lay the groundwork for the proper takeoff of your nursing school.
ii. Writing a Business Plan
A business plan is one of the essential requirements for a successful launch of your nursing school. Within your project, critical sections must be included and thoroughly covered.
Such sections include the executive summary, the business description, and the market analysis & strategy section.
Others include marketing & sales plan, competitive analysis, management & organizational description, product & services description, operating plans, financial projections & needs, and exhibits & appendices.
Starting a nursing school will require a significant amount of startup capital as it is a capital-intensive business venture and must be seen as such.
So, what are your funding sources? Do you have what it takes to raise the required funds? Your feasibility studies and plan should give you an idea of how much is needed.
iv. Finding a Suitable Facility
You’ll need a suitable facility to host your nursing school.
This takes up a significant part of your funding. You have the option of leasing one or constructing one from scratch, which can attract steep costs.
Luckily, you won’t need a massive facility at the onset as the school can be expanded as more students enroll.
v. Developing a Nursing Curriculum
A sound nursing curriculum needs to be developed. You might not have all it takes to do that.
Competent help can be hired or sourced to draft a nursing curriculum. Part of preparing such a curriculum includes finding what’s approved by the authorities.
vi. Purchase of Equipment & Supplies
For a nursing school to be functional, it must have all the necessary equipment and supplies. These include catheters, beds, syringes, IVs, and mannequins.
Others include lanyards or badge clips, blood pressure monitors, compression socks, instant pots, medical penlights, medical scissors, medical supply bags, and a host of others.
vii. Identify your Competitors
Competition is a real thing in nursing schools. There are lots of nursing schools scattered across the country.
Each seeks to build a reputation through programs taught, the quality of the workforce, and a whole range of other factors. Knowing your competitors enables you to compete favorably.
viii. Identifying your Challenge
What are your specific challenges in setting up a thriving school?
Identifying such challenge(s) is only part of the process. It’s also necessary to know that challenges are typical and must be overcome.
You can address any challenge by researching ways to get around the problem.
ix. Choice of a Suitable Name
Choosing a name for your nursing school is one necessary action you’ll need to take. Name ideas for nursing schools are almost inexhaustible.
Your creativity will come into play in picking a befitting name. Referring to your state’s naming guidelines is one of the first things to consider.
x. Hiring your Workforce
All available positions need to be filled with competent staff. This means you’ll need to hire your workforce. This process can be challenging for first-timers.
To get it right, consider outsourcing your recruitment needs to reputable recruitment agencies. This help finds competent staff.
xi. Getting Accredited
Without accreditation, your nursing school will be considered illegal.
The National League for Nursing Accreditation Commission (NLNAC) of the Department of Education is the body saddled with the responsibility of accrediting nursing programs.
You’ll need to find out what the requirements are and meet them.
xii. Advertise your Nursing School
Knowledge about the existence of your nursing school is necessary to attract your first students. This is where advertising or marketing becomes essential.
Leverage all channels of marketing to spread the word.
xiii. Admit your First Students
With more people becoming aware of your nursing program, it won’t be long before you begin to receive your first applications.
These are basic ways to establish a nursing school.
Again, we must state that the process isn’t easy and requires significant financial investments and commitments.


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Much of the civilized world has hedged in nature, where wildlife exists on mankindís whim and allotment, but Bird Island is exactly the opposite; nature continues on her inevitable path as you stand by and watch. Bird Island was the first in the Seychelles archipelago to offer eco-tourism, where visitors exist harmoniously with the world around them while that world is largely preserved. This coral cay is a little different than the others, in that it does not offer super luxury in its resort, literally forcing its visitors to forgo those highly self-indulgent activities and focuses, truly, on the gifts the island has to offer.
| Where to stay
Wondering what's the best place to stay at close to this beach? Book your favorite vacation rental or hotel nearby.
You will find no televisions here, no mobile phones, no air conditioning; instead, the chalets and huts are given every comfort but those things, with an open-air design and a single ceiling fan that works remarkably well in keeping the accommodation cool, though the visitor will realize exactly what that means when they have to share a room with geckos, a few birds to act as an alarm clock, and perhaps a skink or two. Nature rules supreme on the island.
Bird Island is home to a huge amount of bird, land and sea life, though not nearly what it could claim a hundred years ago.
Like the rest of the Seychelles, it too became a coconut plantation and guano extrication point, and then fell into disuse when the copra was no longer in such high demand and the guano had been depleted.
Accidently introduced animals, such as rats and rabbits, now removed from the island, had skewed the population of animals once inhabiting the cay. Much wrong has now been righted, thanks to diligent efforts on behalf of the islandís owners and the research done here, and efforts will continue indefinitely. In the meantime, visitors enjoy the oneness and relaxation a restoring ecosystem has to offer, and that is to say quite a lot.
The entire island is rimmed in soft, shimmering white sands and the ocean is of the most amazing bright and deep blues, colors so pure as to be shocking, with shallower areas boasting turquoise and jade waters, warm and flat, almost like a swimming pool at times. Snorkeling is beyond par in the lagoons and beaches, especially when the tide is lower and marine life is mere inches away. As the entire island is a raised coral bed, the reef sights are beyond compare, and healthy coral gives housing to many species of fish and eel. Parading past snorkelers like a Mardi Gras extravaganza are rays, turtles and all kinds of smaller fish glinting their colors in the sunlight. Deep sea fishing is also offered here, and part of what you catch will be used for dinner. In fact, the entire island sustains itself, and all meals are prepared using ingredients grown on the island or caught in its waters, so the food is exceptionally fresh and delicious.
There is so much to experience on Bird Island, aside from all the birds flying to and fro, that only a personal experience could do it justice. Recommended stay is three days or more, else getting the hand of true relaxation may not find its peak. No spa, no swimming pools, though a pool table exists and some board games, it is more or less you and nature and the loop of beach that takes 40 minutes to walk for a full circle of the island. Incredible, decadent in its simplicity, indulgent in the sumptuous wildlife, Bird Island is paradise personified, and a lifelong memory waiting to be explored.


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Sime Darby and landgrabs in Liberia
MONROVIA, LIBERIA, February 1st, 2013 – Palm oil companies are grabbing more than 1.5 million acres of land in Liberia and are violating the human rights of local communities, warn Liberian NGOs including Friends of the Earth Liberia (SDI - Sustainable Development Institute), Save My Future Foundation (SAMFU) and Social Entrepreneurs for Sustainable Development (SESDev).
The contracts for land concessions signed by Sime Darby and the Liberian Government violate several Human Rights principles in conventions ratified by the Liberian Government as well as principles enshrined in Liberian Law. Affected communities and civil society have organised to demand from the company and Liberian Government that communities’ rights are recognized and contracts between Sime Darby and the Government are renegotiated. Read more in this fact sheet.
October 2012 interview with the town chief of Momblitaa, in Bopolu District, Gbarpolu County. Momblitaa is located directly the concession area allocated by the Liberian government to Malaysian palm oil company, Sime Darby. According to the contract and the concession map, Momblitaa can be encircled with palm trees and lose access to farmland and forest resources at any time the company decides to develop the land. The contract was signed without the knowledge or input of communities like Momblitaa, despite containing terms that grant the company nearly 700,000 acres for a renewable term of 63 years.
This woman tells a public meeting about her experience and what happened to her land. Palm oil companies are grabbing more than 1.5 million acres of land in Liberia and are violating the human rights of local communities, warn Liberian NGOs. On the eve of a United Nations meeting in Liberia, Friends of the Earth International is backing the local NGOs’ demands - including renegotiation of contracts for land concessions and a reassessment of the Liberian agricultural development strategy on which these concessions are based.
In response to recent developments in Liberia’s agricultural sector, a coalition of Liberian civil society organizations offer a formal statement on events that have transpired in the past few years. Liberia presently finds itself embroiled in an international controversy over the allocation of huge concessions to foreign oil palm concessions, with numerous observers commenting on the troubling circumstances faced by communities whose land was leased away without their consent.
A statement by Community Members affected by Sime Darby and Golden Veroleum Concessions clarifying the background to the situation and outlining the way forward.
Letter from Superintendent of Gbarpolu County, Allen Gbowee sweeping aside the concerns of the communities and the Sustainable Development Institute on the flimsy pretext that the concerns are 'bad for development'.
A report outlining the impacts of Sime Darby's operations on communities in Liberia
Sime Darby reply to the findings in the Uncertain Futures report.
In order to propose a solution to the current crisis rather than continue to dwell on the problems, SDI offered a three-point plan for the government, companies, and communities. Unfortunately, rather than engaging with the substance of SDI’s proposal, Malaysian oil palm producer Sime Darby chose to attack our credibility and make a series of false allegations about SDI and its supporters at Friends of the Earth.
Human rights-based analysis of the agricultural concession agreements between Sime Darby and Golden Veroleum and the Government of Liberia Tom
Amended and restated Concession Agreement Between The Republic of Liberia and Sime Darby Plantation (Liberia) Inc, April 30, 2009
An Act to Ratify The Concession Agreement Between The Republic of Liberia and Golden Veroleum (Liberia) Inc., September 1, 2010
Rights free images for use. Please include captions. Click on the images for large size, print-quality files.


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In the absence of major national clues, a few key global events will take center stage on Dalal Street this week, as concerns over aggressive COVID-era interest rate hikes and their impact on economic growth continue to rattle financial markets.
All eyes will be on testimony from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell as the U.S. central bank faces the task of reining in inflation without disrupting growth.
A multitude of macroeconomic data points will also be closely monitored.
The week that was
With the exception of Apollo Hospitals, all Nifty50 voters suffered weekly losses.
Broader markets also bled, reflecting weakness in major indexes.
|Index||Weekly variation (%)|
|Clever Midcap 100||-6.2|
|Clever small cap 100||-7.9|
The road ahead
“The US central bank’s aggressive stance has sparked fears of a recession, which is rippling through markets around the world. However, easing global energy supplies could change the dynamic ahead. , participants should follow the trend, which indicates more pain to come,” said Ajit Mishra, Vice President of Research at Religare Broking.
A short cover bounce cannot be ruled out this week, according to Yesha Shah, head of equity research at Samco Securities.
Shah recommends traders maintain a negative to neutral outlook and use any bounce as an exit opportunity.
She sees immediate support at 15,200 and immediate resistance at 16,200.
Mishra is of the view that the Nifty50 is approaching the 14,800-15,000 area, having decisively given up major support around 15,650.
Here are the main factors and events likely to influence Dalal Street in the week of June 20:
|June 20||Construction output in the euro area||Chinese loan prime rate|
|June 21st||Home Sales Data||Hong Kong Inflation Data|
|June 22||Testimony from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, Fed officials Tom Barkin, Charles Evans and Patrick Harker will speak||Eurozone consumer confidence data||Minutes from the last BoJ policy meeting|
|June 23||Unemployment Insurance Claims Data, Services and Composite PMI Data, and Oil Inventory Data||Eurozone manufacturing and services PMI data||Manufacturing and services PMI data|
|June 24||Fed Bank stress test results, home sales data||Inflation data in Japan|
Institutional fund flows will continue to be on investors’ radar, with Dalal Street on track to complete a ninth straight fund of equity sales by overseas institutional investors.
Domestic Corporate Actions
|Store||Date of departure||Objective||Registration Date|
|Advait Infratech||June 20||Final dividend Re 1||June 21st|
|Agro-tech foods||June 20||Final dividend Rs 3||–|
|Baid Leasing and Finance||June 20||Bonus number 1:1||June 21st|
|Bharat seats||June 20||Dividend Re 0.8||–|
|Bliss GVS Pharma||June 20||Final dividend Re 0.5||–|
|Brittany||June 20||Final dividend Rs 56.5||–|
|Bank of Maharashtra||June 20||Dividend Re 0.5||–|
|Morarka Finance||June 20||Dividend Rs 4||–|
|Rane Brake||June 20||Dividend Rs 20||June 21st|
|Tincture Shankar Lal Rampal||June 20||AGE||–|
|Alaji Amines||June 21st||Final dividend Rs 6||–|
|Bhansali Engineering Polymers||June 21st||Final dividend Re 1||–|
|Diamonds and Jewels of Golkunda||June 21st||Final dividend Re 1.5||–|
|nelco||June 21st||Dividend Re 1.8||–|
|Panasonic Carbon||June 21st||Dividend Rs 12||–|
|Polycab India||June 21st||Dividend Rs 14||–|
|Raghuvansh Agrofarms||June 21st||AGE||–|
|Rane Holdings||June 21st||Dividend Rs 12||June 22|
|Supreme Industries||June 21st||Final dividend Rs 18||–|
|Tinna Rubber and Infrastructure||June 21st||Final dividend Rs 4||June 22|
|Sons and Fabriks||June 21st||Dividend Re 0.1||–|
|Ajanta Pharma||June 22||Bonus number 1:2||June 23|
|Deepak Spinners||June 22||Final dividend Rs 2.5||–|
|GHCL||June 22||Special dividend Rs 5||June 23|
|GHCL||June 22||Final dividend Rs 10||June 23|
|Indian hotels||June 22||Dividend Re 0.4||–|
|Dr Lal Pathlabs||June 22||Final dividend Rs 6||June 23|
|NDR auto components||June 22||Final dividend Rs 2.5||–|
|NGL Fine-Chem||June 22||Final dividend Re 1.75||June 23|
|GNP||June 22||Dividend Re 0.64||–|
|Sagar cements||June 22||Dividend Re 0.7||–|
|sky industries||June 22||Final dividend Re 1||June 23|
|Union Bank of India||June 22||Final dividend Re 1.9||–|
|Walchand Peoplefirst||June 22||Final dividend – Rs. – 1.25||–|
|Alufluoride||June 23||Final dividend Re 1||June 24|
|Ashnisha Industries||June 23||Stock split from Rs 10 to Re 1||June 23|
|IT Age Management Services||June 23||Final dividend Rs 12||June 24|
|Dalmia Bharat||June 23||Final dividend Rs 5||June 25|
|Happiest Minds Technology||June 23||Final dividend Rs 2||–|
|Nath Bio-Genes||June 23||Dividend Rs 2||–|
|Navkar Urban Structure||June 23||Stock split from Rs 10 to Rs 2||June 24|
|Welsh India||June 23||Dividend – Rs. – 0.1500||–|
|Dhanvantri Jeevan Rekha||June 23||AGE||–|
|Balkrishna Industries||June 24||Final dividend – Rs. – 4||June 27|
|Nazara Tech||June 24||Bonus number 1:1||June 27|