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Alexis Hogarth has always noticed the glances. They were a regular part of her youth soccer career — she and her twin sister were often the only Black girls on their teams.
For all the goals and assists they poured in, it was something else that drew the stares of their teammates: their twists.
“The girls would ask me questions like ‘Oh, look at her hair,’” the Maryland women’s soccer defender said.
And Hogarth didn’t know what to say.
She loved the game of soccer, a game that would eventually bring her to College Park. It would yield her a spot on Sportscenter’s top 10, as well as a berth in the Big Ten tournament with the Terps.
But those microaggressions? That fear of speaking out? That part was hard to reckon with.
“I didn’t want it to be that I was the Black girl with the attitude,” Hogarth said.
It’s an all-too-common feeling among Black players, an imprint of systemic racism and its unique impact on women’s soccer. It’s hard to feel relaxed in a cascade of French braids and ponytails.
But, while the world of American soccer grapples with fostering a culture of diversity and inclusivity in a sport so dominated by its whiteness, Maryland women’s soccer is an outlier. Coach Ray Leone’s squad featured 11 Black players last season, the highest number in the Big Ten and one of the highest among Power Five programs.
Conversations about racial equity and the reality of life for Black women — both on this campus and beyond — have been a constant theme in the locker room. And it’s this pursuit of true representation that motivates the Terps to keep advocating for themselves and their experiences.
You never know what little Black girl might be watching.
“We really just want to [show] … how diverse we are,” Hogarth said. “To show little Black girls who are interested in soccer that there is representation and that they can play.”
“A little uncomfortable”
The first touch was always going to be the most important for Alyssa Poarch. She was just a youngster, watching along for the first time as her brothers and cousins knocked a soccer ball back and forth.
And Poarch just had to get involved.
It’s the family business, after all. Two older brothers ended up playing Division I ball. And one of those cousins, George Campbell, has established himself as a rising prospect in the Atlanta United FC setup.
Poarch followed in their footsteps, turning out for local sides soon after being introduced to the game.
“I’ve just stuck with it since then,” Poarch said. “It’s just been part of our family.”
Poarch’s game, defined by quick feints and even quicker step-overs, developed on those grassy fields back in Delaware.
She’d send defenders to the turf with the drop of a shoulder, and when she tiptoed into the box, she’d conjure up magic moments: solo goals, audacious assists, fancy flicks.
But for all her skill, it wasn’t easy. Not as one of the few Black players on her team.
A Women’s Sports Foundation report found that Black girls account for only 28.3 percent of all current female youth sports participants, 7 percent less than any other race or ethnicity. That disparity is a part of youth soccer, as well, exacerbated by a “pay-to-play” model that largely inhibits Black and brown participation.
Per a 2019 survey conducted by the Aspen Institute, the average annual cost of youth soccer is $537 — over $50 more than tackle football and over $100 more than basketball. Meanwhile, fees for the U.S. Soccer Development Academy system — a pipeline linking local club teams to the American soccer governing body — ranged from $2,000 to $5,000 annually before its dissolution in April due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While soccer is often branded as “a global game,” the American youth soccer machine has long funneled its resources into white, suburban enclaves.
“We were not a soccer country. The suburban, more well-to-do white people were the ones who then appropriated it,” said Steven Miller, a professor at Rutgers University who teaches a class about critical issues in sports media. “When they started building their club system, it was built by people who weren’t of color. It wasn’t recruiting people of color.”
This racial disparity can make for a jarring existence for Black players. For Poarch, this discomfort often was accompanied by self-doubt — from hairstyles to conversations, she always felt different from everyone else.
“I had to go through a lot of different things that they didn’t necessarily have to … because there were a lot of girls who looked like them,” Poarch said. “For me to be one of the only Black girls in situations like this, it did make me a little uncomfortable.”
Still, Poarch persisted, rising into a Division I level prospect. With that status came a chance for a cultural reset. She wanted to feel the relaxation of being in an environment where her hair wasn’t some taboo, where her existence wasn’t some topic of debate.
And after weighing her options, it was Leone’s program that stood out, its pursuit of diversity — on the field and on the sidelines — playing a central role in her commitment.
“I wanted to experience something new,” Poarch said. “Diversity within my sport would be that something new.”
“That sense of community would just feel different”
Alexis Hogarth marauded up the left flank against George Mason on Sept. 5, 2019. It was an area she hadn’t exactly gravitated to in her collegiate career.
Failing to tally a goal or assist in her first two seasons in College Park, Hogarth brings more steel than stealth to Leone’s squad. She’s a nuisance, pestering opposition attackers into mistakes. She tackles. She intercepts. She makes clearances.
And on the few occasions when the grass opens up for her and she’s able to push into the attack, Hogarth opts for a more bashful approach — feeding the ball to her more attack-minded teammates.
This time around, though, Hogarth had different plans. She latched onto a Sydney Staier pass 40 yards from goal and set herself, shuffling her feet as she prepared to whip a ball into the area.
Then, she swung her left foot.
Was it a cross? Was it a shot? Only Hogarth knows. But, as the ball swirled through the autumn sky and nestled into the top corner of the net, one thing was certain: Hogarth was officially a collegiate goalscorer.
She turned to her teammates and shrugged. She didn’t have much time to think about what had happened — they all came swarming.
The goal would appear on Sportscenter the following night, pushing Hogarth into the national spotlight, if only for a fleeting moment.
But it was the celebration that encapsulated Maryland’s culture. It’s a close-knit group, molded on the practice pitch and fortified in the locker room — where Black women are encouraged to discuss their realities at the intersection of race- and gender-based discrimination.
“Being able to look at the people who share those same experiences with you is super important,” Hogarth said. “If I didn’t have a lot of the Black girls on my team, … that sense of community would just feel different.”
It wasn’t an easy thing to foster. Since joining the Big Ten in 2014, Maryland has been mired in mediocrity, suffering five consecutive losing seasons from 2014 to 2018. Patience can wear thin, particularly when season after season goes by without a significant uptick in victories.
But there were signs of life bubbling behind the scenes. Leone joined the program in 2016. With him came a top-25 recruiting class — helping push the Terps to a four-win turnaround in 2017.
That commitment to recruiting has continued in the years since, a philosophy centered around bringing in players who are not only skilled but also representative of the campus community and, more broadly, the state as a whole.
“It is a reflection of the state of Maryland in general,” Leone said. “We’re a very diverse state and a very diverse university. … It’s a great example of what a team could and should look like.”
Most teams don’t. Per the NCAA Race and Demographic Database, 7 percent of Division I women’s soccer players are Black.
The racial disparity goes beyond the numbers. Misconceptions about Black players and their technical capabilities are rife, even in the coaching sector.
“I know there are coaches still out there who treat Black soccer players differently than white soccer players,” defender Anissa Mose said.
Not for the Terps, though. Armed with an expansive recruiting policy, Maryland has brought in players from a raft of non-traditional soccer hotbeds: Atlanta; Philadelphia; Brampton, Ontario.
Leone’s squad has cultivated an environment of inclusivity. It’s a space where Black players can speak candidly about their experiences at the fault-line of race and gender. It’s a space where their worldviews won’t be invalidated.
“Just being able to have open dialogue, open conversations about what is going on has definitely made me feel better supported on the team,” Poarch said.
Shaped by their commitment to create a truly inclusive locker room, the Terps began to blossom in 2019. Powered by Poarch’s second team All-Big Ten antics, Leone’s squad finished the season with nine wins and — for the first time ever — a spot in the Big Ten tournament.
“I just love seeing the camaraderie with this team, the chemistry with this team,” Leone said. “You can just feel the experience, the chemistry, the closeness of the team. We are proud of that culture we have.”
“It’s giving me hope”
With a rainbow-colored umbrella in one hand and a handmade poster in the other, Anissa Mose was ready for a wet — and emotional — journey across Washington, D.C.
It was June 5 and, like so many others, Mose marched through the streets of the nation’s capital, protesting against racial injustice and police brutality in the aftermath of George Floyd’s killing.
“Black Lives Matter” was emblazoned on the center of her poster. On the sides read names and phrases that have come to define the movement: “enough is enough,” “stop killing us,” “no justice no peace,” “Ahmaud. George. Breonna.”
It was a dreary day, sopping and nasty throughout. But it was right where Mose had to be.
“The energy was just so positive, it was rejuvenating,” she said. “It’s giving me hope right now.”
Mose wants to see greater equity and equality for Black people. Institutional racism touches every aspect of American society, an inescapable force constantly pushing down on Black life.
Those institutional forces rear their heads in women’s soccer, too. For Mose and other Black players, it’s yet another structure that needs re-imaging. The goal is to get Black girls into the sport — and keep them in it.
Oftentimes, that starts with empowerment. The Terps are setting the standard for college programs, a fact not lost on Mose.
“To see a team like ours,” she said. “It’s very promising for the sport in general and for younger girls looking for role models.”
Black players have often played a central role in the American soccer machine. Briana Scurry was a force in the net throughout the 1990s, pushing the U.S. to a World Cup victory in 1999. Players such as Crystal Dunn have carried the baton in the years since, racking up numerous accolades for club and country, all while speaking candidly about her experiences as a Black woman playing a predominantly white sport.
However, the lack of diversity, even within the professional game, remains stark. It’s a major motivating factor for Maryland’s Black players, who want to see more representation on — and off — the field.
“People have asked me ‘Do I want to be a coach?’ And I’d say no,” Hogarth said. “You don’t see Black women in a head coach position. Seeing people speak up and saying their title that ‘I am a Black coach’ and getting that representation for the game can help and get more Black girls into the sport.”
In the meantime, some proponents are calling for an uprooting of the current youth soccer system.
Changes will take time, of course. But for those to happen, Miller says, the “powers that be” must put in the effort.
“It’s time for the adults in the room to take back the sports,” Miller said. “Maybe it will lend itself to getting away from this [model].”
Still, optimism remains, at least among Maryland’s Black players. The reignition of the Black Lives Matter movement has shown that large swaths of the American population want misogynoir and systemic racism eradicated across all institutions.
It’s this belief that has powered many of the Terps’ group messages and Zoom calls over the summer. Whether it be through Hope Lewandoski’s VoTERP initiative to educate Maryland athletes on the voting process or distribution of reading and viewing material centered on the Black experience, the Terps are making their voices heard.
It’s not a new realization for Leone’s squad, though. Everyone else just caught up.
“I think that in the past, a lot of times, schools have tried to silence their student-athletes,” Poarch said. “People are starting to realize that it’s important to understand athletes, it’s important to emphasize their voices. What they’re doing doesn’t necessarily only impact themselves but their platform in general just impacts a lot of people around them.”


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Edge recently spoke with the folks from The Asbury Park Press for an in-depth interview covering all things pro wrestling and WWE.
During his discussion with the local media outlet, “The Rated-R Superstar” sounded off on WWE running shows without live fans in attendance throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and some of the struggles that this causes the performers and the company as a whole.
Featured below is an excerpt from the new interview where the WWE Hall Of Fame legend talks about this particular topic.
“Our audience, it’s our phantom limb. Without them there, it doesn’t feel quite the same yet. It’s not going to feel the way it’s supposed to until we get there that night and you actually hear a rumble and a roar out there from an audience. Then it will become fully real to me, I think.
“Right now, as a company, we’re all kind of flying blind because we have these stories and we have this creative but we don’t know what the actual reaction is going to be. When we walk out there, who knows how they’re going to react? An audience has never seen this (version of) Roman Reigns, and I think this is the Roman Reigns they’ve wanted to see for a long time. So how are they going to react? We don’t know. How are they going to react to me at this stage and kind of flipping the switch on finding the old Rated-R Superstar? Who knows. I think the bottom line is you’ve just got to hope they react. And I’d like to think, as starved as we all are just for entertainment and a walk back into whatever our new normal is, I’d like to think that’s going to be a pretty ravenous crowd, reaction-wise.”
Check out the complete interview at APP.com.
WRESTLING NEWS REACTION & DISCUSSION
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domain: entertainment


text:
Relations between Serbia and China, characterized by a comprehensive strategic partnership and intense political dialogue, are at the highest level in history and have enabled Serbia to be a significant point on the New Silk Route, said Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic today.
Dacic said at the international roundtable "Belt and road" in the Serbian parliament that Serbia is one of the first countries which fully supported the "Belt and Road" initiative from the very start in 2013.
He said that the geostrategic position and the extraordinary relations with China enabled Serbia to be a significant point on the "Belt and Road" route, included in a large number of, above all, infrastructure projects.
- Over the Pomoravlje Silk road for the 21 century, although a continental country, Serbia will be connected with China through the Indian ocean and the Aegean Sea, from the Port of Piraeus, the Express Sea and Land Line project via Greece and Macedonia, with the fast track on the Belgrade-Budapest route, whose construction is in progress, all the way to central and northern Europe - said Dacic.
He added that the construction of ancillary infrastructure and the inclusion of new countries in the project should not be neglected, which will result in increased trade exchange and new regional projects in different areas.
As he said, the positive ideas are and will be supported by the funds from the Silk Road Fund, which was earmarked by the Chinese side and which offers the opportunity to both underdeveloped and developing countries to realize projects of national interest.
(Telegraf.co.uk / Tanjug)

domain: geography


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domain: artistic


text:
Challenges and Opportunities of the Beekeeping Sector - Presentation at the European Parliament
Updated: Sep 17, 2020
On the 9 of July, 2018, MEP Daciana Sarbu organised the event "The European and Romanian Apiculture Sector - Challenges and Opportunities" at the European Parliament. Andrés Salazar, Communications Officer of BeeLife, was a guest speaker to present our view on the challenges that European, and particularly, Romanian beekeepers are facing today. As other speakers did during the event, he remarked the problems surrounding labelling and fraud in the honey market. However, the focus of BeeLife was mainly on the emergency authorisations of neonicotinoids, which Romania has granted for five consecutive years after the initial restrictions came into force in 2013. The event was broadcasted live in Romanian. You may watch the full video or find the extract from Salazar's presentation here. The transcript of the original English version is available below.
Extract from the full event streaming. Retrieved from Calea Europeana http://bit.ly/CaleaRomanaStreaming
-Original Transcript- Thank you for the introduction. Good evening to everyone. Before beginning, I would like to thank Romapis for the Romanian translation of this presentation. In today's discussion, we have seen some interesting points about beekeeping in Europe. Now, from BeeLife European Beekeeping Coordination, in joint efforts with the European Professional Beekeepers Association, I will present you some of the challenges we identify beekeepers are facing today. First of all, we might see that there are three main identified challenges: - Labelling and Fraud. - Interaction with the Agricultural Sector. And - Nutritional Habitats, regarding the quality and quantity of resources. For this last one, we will see the case of neonicotinoids, particularly in the case of Romania.
Price evolution of exported honey 2015-2016, ITC-UNCOMTRADE
Initially, we may see that the price of exported honey has significantly declined between 2015 and 2016. This condition adds pressure to beekeepers who need to face many other challenges to reach a good production and an adequate place in the market. This has been identified as one of the consequences of fraudulent honey, and the need for a labelling scheme that better protects the value of local and export-quality kinds of honey.
World Evolution of tons of exported honey vs number of hives, 2007-2014, FAO ITC-UNCOMTRADE
The rising trends in the last ten years are awing. Exportations of honey have doubled, but the number of hives has not seen such a dramatic increase. Better support for beekeepers would need to comprise the balance between the quality of honey and productivity. How do we explain these trends? The adulteration of honey has reached large-scale levels. Which, no doubt influences the market price as would occur with any other product. But in the end, it is not only a problem of balance in the market. It is a problem for beekeepers, some of who are reaching a point on which their activity is no longer sustainable. Their profession and livelihood are now at risk. There are of course two extremes of the honey market. We can see a more rustic one and, on the other hand, an industrialised one. I would like to leave you with the reflection - which one of them needs support? Especially taking into account the large number of beekeepers that we currently find in Europe. Moving on, we will consider the problems of nutritional habitats. Related to the interactions between beekeepers and the agricultural sector, we can see that there is a problem with the nutritional habitats of our pollinators. Although, we must say that there have been significant developments. Mainly thanks to the agro-environmental measures included in the second pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy, and the Habitats Directive. It has been a good start, but beekeepers are still concerned. Because of crops profiles and the rate of intensification of agriculture, there are periods of time in the year when there are limited to none available resources for pollinators. But there are opportunities to improve the situation. Namely: - To promote and apply good agricultural practices at Member State level. - To ensure that farmers and beekeepers have an effective collaboration (which can be achieved by continuing to open dialogue spaces and incentivising their joint work). - Encouraging ecological agriculture, one that includes actions such as crop rotations, natural alternatives to pesticides, and other practices that ensure the overall quality of the environment. - Promote and include greening, and, PARTICULARLY, FLOWERING MEASURES that benefit pollinators. - Improving the selection of crops quality taking into account their nutritional value for bees. So that they have high nectar secretion and longer flowering periods. There are also legal challenges that beekeepers are facing today. Particularly in the form of emergency authorisations for substances banned in the EU. One of the most challenging cases beekeepers continue to report in some Member States, is the emergency authorisations for neonicotinoids. This has been one of the great battles beekeepers have fought and, unfortunately, there are still adverse effects on the field. Even though it is usually a tough discussion, there is no doubt that neonicotinoids are harmful to bees. Besides, they persist in the environment for long periods of time thanks, in part, to their solubility, causing long-term effects on the ecosystems. We can quickly review the background for the neonicotinoids case. In the nineties, European beekeepers began to complain about the effects of neonicotinoids on bees. They initially observed that sunflower crops that were treated with neonicotinoids were toxic to bees. In the 2000's, several countries independently banned the use of neonicotinoids after receiving reports and complains of their high toxicity. Later, in 2013, EFSA reviewed scientific publications that reported that some pesticides containing neonicotinoids did not meet the approval criteria for their authorisation. The review by EFSA confirmed the findings, presenting them to the European Commission. In the same year, EFSA's confirmation led to the implementation of Article 21, withdrawing the authorisation for neonicotinoids Clothianidin, Thiamethoxam and Imidacloprid. The Commission heavily restricted the authorised uses of these products. This year, we finally saw the complete ban on all outdoor uses of these substances. And yet, unfortunately, the problems continue. Member States continue to issue emergency authorisations year after year. Let's remember that emergency authorisations are not a joker to avoid EU regulation. Countries should only issue them when, and I quote: "exceptional and restricted cases of obvious dangers to plant production or ecosystems that cannot be contained by any other reasonable means". The criteria for derogation includes: - Economic damage. - The lack of available alternatives. - Planning and delimitation of limited and controlled application of the authorisation. - The presentation of research projects to find alternatives. We can see that emergency authorisations are to be reserved exclusively for exceptional circumstances. However, this is not being respected around Europe. We have seen over a thousand emergency authorisations issued between 2013 and 2016, of which 62 allowed the use of banned neonicotinoids. BeeLife has a clear position. The mechanism is clearly being abused.
Industry participation in emergency authorisations 2014-2016, Bee Emergency Call
Here we can see an interesting report that the industry is continuously present in the cases where derogations are provided. It is a subject worth enquiring, notably since the Commission's Guidance states that "applications solely based on industry interests should be refused". I invite you all to see our joint report with Client Earth, PAN Europe and Romapis. You may find that in the Bee Emergency Call document, there are some interesting insights on the derogations which continue to trouble beekeepers in some Member States. We have found that Member States do not adequately provide information on the dangers or risks on which they base their derogations. In fact, 82% of notifications to the European Commission did not provide economic evidence of the threat. And 79% of notifications did not list any alternatives to control the pests. Moreover, the majority failed to provide any information that the banned pesticides will be used in a "limited and controlled way". One of the cases that concern us the most is Romania. It is worrying to see that the pleads of some Romanian beekeepers to fix the situation continue to go unheard. Regrettably, 2018 marks the 5th consecutive year that the government issues derogations to the three restricted neonicotinoids. We need to put this into a serious examination. Are these to be considered as "emergency authorisations" after five years? From 20 notifications between 2014 and 2016, Romania has presented 0 evidence of research on alternatives. Other authorities have found issues as well. The Food and Veterinary Office has already reported numerous breaches of the derogations' rules.
Here you may see the extension of neonicotinoid use under the derogations around Romania. You may notice on this map the extension of neonicotinoid-coated seeds of oilseed rape.
Second, coated seeds of corn and sunflower. And due to a lack of geographical delimitation for the use of treated seeds, they have been sowed even in areas with low levels of pest infestation. The European Commission has reacted to the situation, but it is still not enough. It mandated the EFSA to provide technical assistance to assess the emergency authorisations of 2017, but as it published the results less than a month ago, it was too late to avoid abuses. What good is this assistance if it comes at a time when crops have already been planted, reaped and even commercialised? So far, there are no concrete actions to impede Member States to abuse article 53 to avoid EU-wide bans. Reviewing the procedure of emergency authorisations is imperative. Romanian beekeepers in 2018 are experiencing the same issues that their French colleagues did in 1995. Have we not learned anything in the last 20 years? With the new ban on neonicotinoids at hand, we have the opportunity to stand right with the beekeepers and the respect of the ecosystems. That's why BeeLife and its members ask, Will the EU enforce the legality of the ban and avoid the use of emergency authorisations as a loophole? We propose to you today: Let's conceive bees as a bioindicator of the quality of the environment. If we want bees to thrive, they need resources in both quantity and quality; and beekeepers need the proper conditions for their labour. Thank you for your attention. -Transcript Ends-
For further information on the emergency authorisations, see also Bee Emergency Call. Report on emergency authorisations around Europe, including more extensive information on the Romanian case.

domain: agronomy


text: It feels like two cement blocks tied tight to the shins, skin rubbing raw and ragged, coming undone. Similar to being frozen, heart dipped down into the bed and buried 10 feet past reachable. Like every vibration hangs on and swirls around in my head until I can’t pay attention to anything else. Drowning in air and all the things that I can’t quite manage to master and it haunts the soft spaces in my head that I kept for only beautiful. It collides with reality, spreading wounds and pushing past what’s bearable. And loneliness is inevitable because there is no room for eyes on mine and a comforting word, only the wonder why and pulling of come on and get past this. What if it feels like there is nothing past this because I have been around and around and come up and went down. Not jaded, not hard enough, no callouses, just the pale pink of vulnerability and wet cheeks under drooping lids on pillow cases that can’t quite absorb it all. Falling down, my body tells me when I refuse to listen that this can’t go on. Changes coming and each tight breath in my chest brings me closer to the edge, when I am finally ready to lose enough to win, it will begin. Underwater, the image comes in dreams and in the morning when I have to start the day but hate the processes that take me further away from my destiny. Slow motion with those dragged down legs, I am on the bottom of the ocean and it’s never-ending. When I know where I have been, how I have overcome yet still, this is a new battle with lessons sharp enough to kill me. It’s a narrow route, flowing from the source into my core, telling me ‘no more’. Exits blocked, time warps and curls around to kick me out, into emptiness and the divine.


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Full name Nkateko Ethy Mbhalati
Born November 18, 1981, Phalaborwa, Northern Province
Current age 39 years 109 days
Major teams Northerns, Northerns B, South Africa A, South Africa Emerging Players, South African Invitational XI, Titans
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm medium-fast
|Last First-class||Cape Cobras v Titans at Paarl, Apr 7-9, 2016 scorecard|
|List A debut||2002/03|
|Last List A||Titans v Knights at Benoni, Jan 29, 2016 scorecard|
|T20s debut||Warriors v Titans at Port Elizabeth, Apr 1, 2005 scorecard|
|Last T20s||North West v Easterns at Potchefstroom, Nov 22, 2015 scorecard|
|Bat & Bowl||Team||Opposition||Ground||Match Date||Scorecard|
|1*, 4/85, 8, 1/49||Titans||v Cape Cobras||Paarl||7 Apr 2016||FC|
|0/118, 0||Titans||v Lions||Centurion||31 Mar 2016||FC|
|2/34, 0*, 0/43||Titans||v Warriors||Port Elizabeth||18 Mar 2016||FC|
|0/50, 1/52||Titans||v Dolphins||Durban||10 Mar 2016||FC|
|4, 2/29, 2/32||Titans||v Knights||Centurion||3 Mar 2016||FC|
|0*, 0/40, 0, 0/15||Easterns||v Northern Cpe||Benoni||25 Feb 2016||FC|
|12*, 2/44, 1/29||Easterns||v KZN-Inland||Benoni||11 Feb 2016||FC|
|1/48||Titans||v Knights||Benoni||29 Jan 2016||LA|
|5*, 2/39||Titans||v Lions||Potchefstroom||21 Jan 2016||FC|
|4/48, 0*, 3/42||Titans||v Dolphins||Benoni||14 Jan 2016||FC|
An indefatigable seam bowler, Ethy Mbhalati was a stalwart at Centurion, where he played for 13 seasons. He racked up 129 first-class caps, the same number of List A matches and 92 T20 games, taking 594 wickets across all formats. That long career was ended when he as implicated in the match-fixing scandal in South Africa's T20 tournament in the 2015-16 summer.
Mbhalati made his debut in the 2002-03 season and at first made an impression in limited-overs cricket. In March 2008, Mbahlati became the first South African to claim a hat-trick in T20 franchise cricket. In that year's T20 competition, Mbhalati was the second-highest wicket-taker with 14 wickets at 14.21. He was third overall in the 2009-10 List A competition with 16 scalps at 19.12 and, in the 2010-11 season, Mbhalati was second on the first-class wicket-takers' list with 39 scalps at 20.58.
His consistency, accuracy and unwavering ability to bowl spell after spell were all worthy characteristics but in a country rich with bowling talent, Mbhalati did not get the opportunity for higher honours. In 2014, Mbhalati was given a benefit year by his franchise as his career seemed to be reaching its twilight stages but he stayed on as a senior player for another season.
On August 1, 2016, Mbhalati was banned for ten years for receiving a payment to fix in the 2015-16 Ram Slam tournament.

domain: sports


text:
The transmitter has stable performance, high sensitivity, fast response and stable output, and is suitable for various soil types. It is an important tool to observe and study the occurrence, evolution, improvement and water-salt dynamics of saline soil. By measuring the dielectric constant of soil, it can directly and stably reflect the real moisture content of various soils. It can measure the volume percentage of soil moisture, which is a soil moisture measurement method in line with current international standards. It can be buried in the soil for a long time, resistant to long-term electrolysis, corrosion resistance, vacuum potting, and completely waterproof.
The transmitter is suitable for soil moisture monitoring, scientific experiments, water-saving irrigation, greenhouses, flowers and vegetables, grassland pastures, soil rapid testing, plant cultivation, sewage treatment, precision agriculture and other occasions temperature and humidity, conductivity, PH value testing .


text:
Las Vegas from '73 to '92
We read yesterday's NYTimes with great interest, as it beamed in on the still growing world population in cities and urban areas: U.N. Predicts Urban Population Explosion. According to the UN Population Fund report, "By next year, more than half the world's population, 3.3 billion people, will for the first time live in towns and cities, and the number is expected to swell to almost five billion by 2030."...
Meanwhile, in the US, there was a companion story: Biggest Urban Growth Is in South and West. According to the latest US Census, during the past few years "the biggest population growth nationwide occurred in urban hubs in the South and the West — now home to 7 of the 10 most populous cities." Of course, Las Vegas was right in there, but so was Phoenix, Dallas and our own Newark, next door.
All of which means, that there's going to be a lot more people who are going to need help with their homes. When you get fast growth, you get a loss of memory, a loss of all the collective wisdom you need for setting up good homes and communities.
We've been thinking a lot about where to take Apartment Therapy next, and remembering our original vision to spread out and push down locally into more cities so that each one really reflects the area and provides a specific community for home owners and renters. With this type of urban growth being reported, it seems to make even more sense, but what would AT: Phoenix look like? Although it's growing, are there enough blogreaders and furniture choices in Phoenix to make it work? What would we find in Scavenger at AT: Dallas?
Got some feedback? Let us know. We're going to be thinking about the road ahead all summer.
(Pic: US Geologic Survey)

domain: news


/tex-texmate-doc, Documentation for tex-texmate
2, Package name:
tex-texmate-doc-2, Maintainer: minskim
Documentation for the tex-texmate package.
Required to run:
Master sites: (Expand)
Version history: (Expand)
- (2011-02-15) Package added to pkgsrc.se, version tex-texmate-doc-2 (created)
CVS history: (Expand)
| 2015-11-04 02:03:03 by Alistair G. Crooks | Files touched by this commit (1194) |
Add SHA512 digests for distfiles for print category
Problems found locating distfiles:
Package acroread7: missing distfile AdobeReader_enu-7.0.9-1.i386.tar.gz
Package acroread8: missing distfile AdobeReader_enu-8.1.7-1.sparc.tar.gz
Package cups-filters: missing distfile cups-filters-1.1.0.tar.xz
Package dvidvi: missing distfile dvidvi-1.0.tar.gz
Package lgrind: missing distfile lgrind.tar.bz2
Otherwise, existing SHA1 digests verified and found to be the same on
the machine holding the existing distfiles (morden). All existing
SHA1 digests retained for now as an audit trail.
| 2015-05-06 11:09:27 by Thomas Klausner | Files touched by this commit (3) |
Set HOMEPAGE, LICENSE. Simplify PLIST.
| 2011-02-15 12:38:36 by Thomas Klausner | Files touched by this commit (8) | |
Add tex-texmate packages:
TeXmate formats chess games from very simple ascii input. The clean
"1. e4 e5; 2. Nf3 Nc6; 3. Bb5 a6" will produce the same results as
the sloppier "1 e4 e5; Nf3 Nc6 3.. Bb5 a6". The resulting format
is fully customizable. There are 4 levels of commentary: 1 is the
main game, 2-3 are commentaries. Each has its fonts, punctuation
marks, etc., and these are also customizable. The package includes
a tool for the creation of diagrams. The package works in conjunction
with skak to produce diagrams of the current position automatically.
For chess fonts, the package uses the chessfss system.


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Crepe cakes are a really fun Passover trend, and this copycat of Faigy Grossman’s Strawberry Crepe Pie shows how to make your holiday preparations that much easier by using store-bought Gefen crepe batter – these days, who isn’t looking for a shortcut? Watch this showstopper come to life in the accompanying video.
Prepare crepes according to package directions.
Blend together strawberries and confectioner’s sugar until completely combined.
Lay one crepe on a cake platter. Spread whipped topping over, then a layer of strawberry puree, then another crepe, more whipped topping, and more puree. Continue layering until desired height is reached.
In a separate bowl, whip up the whipped topping.

domain: food


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SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s internet supervisors have taken down more than 5,500 illegal apps for disseminating pornographic and violent content among other things, the official Xinhua news agency said.
The move is the latest step taken by Beijing to clean up its cyberspace, having launched a crackdown on virtual private network services that allow users to bypass censorship on Monday.
More than 1,600 mobile video apps circulating pornographic and violent content were taken offline, said the cyberspace administration in China’s southern province of Guangdong on Monday.
Over 1,200 social apps had pornographic content, while others hacked users’ private information, infringed upon other rights or charged malicious fees.
The administration said illegal apps had been available on app stores operated by Tencent, China Mobile and other smartphone producers like Huawei, ZTE, Coolpad, Meizu, OPPO and VIVO.
Tencent, China Mobile, Huawei, Coolpad, Meizu, OPPO and VIVO could not be reached for comment. ZTE declined to immediately comment.
The administration said the apps violated cyber laws in China and said it would step up supervision.
The app purge follows closely on the heels of a new initiative by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) to crack down on unauthorized connections, including VPN services, that allow users to bypass restrictions known as the Great Firewall.
The MIIT Technology said in a notice on its website on Sunday that it is launching a nationwide clean-up campaign aimed at ISPs, internet data center and content delivery network companies.
It ordered checks for companies operating without government licenses or beyond the scope of licenses.
The ministry said it was forbidden to create or rent communication channels, including VPNs, without governmental approval, to run cross-border operations.
VPNs can be used to gain access to blocked websites.
China has the world’s largest population of internet users – now at 731 million people – and is home to some of the biggest internet firms such as Tencent, Baidu and Alibaba Group.
The government also aggressively censors the internet, blocking many sites it thinks could challenge the rule of the Communist Party or threaten stability, including sites such as Facebook and Google’s main search engine and Gmail service.
The MIIT asked telecoms infrastructure providers to verify their clients’ use of network resources.
(Reporting by Engen Tham and Sijia Jiang; Editing by Michael Perry and Robert Birsel)


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“I finish with the observation that our view of the past is created by photographs made by people with a clear bias on how they want their subject to be seen. Walker Evans is famous for recording the poverty of 1930’s rural America, however, the view he left us has as much to do with his personal stance as the actuality of what was recorded. The subject of his most iconic image, Allie Mae Burroughs, stated quite publicly that he constructed these images of poverty, moving things around the house, changing how people were clothed. These are great photographs, but they are not a realistic reportage on the events or conditions of the time. They are not history, they are pictures” – http://sclarke-socdoc.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/assignment-2-moods.html
The quote above comes from fellow student Shaun Clarke’s Social Documentary blog Assignment Two – Truth and like all students of photography, especially those who have an interest in veracity, I was struck by this concluding paragraph in his essay regarding truth. And in particular the last two clauses in the ultimate sentence. “They are not history, they are pictures”
The statement, “they are pictures” is of course indisputable and, as there are no references to other photographers in the paragraph, then it is the pictures of Walker Evans that are, I suspect, the ones that Clarke is referring to. But what are they if not history? These photographs that were, in the main, constructed to deliver a narrative – at once dictated by Ron Emerson Stryker who headed the “Information Division” of the “Farm Security Administration” (FSA) and, of course, by the photographers own perspective. If we leave Walker Evans’ infamous stubborn streak aside what we are left to consider is whether the photographs he produced for the FSA, or indeed at any other time, were truthful and/or whether they are historical documents.
Evans was nothing if not prolific, variously gifted with the title of ‘the most complete documentary photographer of all time’ – how would one test that theory? – his catalogue of images is large and perhaps only eclipsed by the likes of Gary Winogrand in terms of volume. Evans’ politics aren’t at question here; though there isn’t much to read anywhere about Evans’ political thinking that i’ve found, unlike his accomplice James Agee who did have connections with the left. It would seem that Evans took the brief from Stryker, and mostly adapted it to enable him to photograph what he himself wanted to photograph – much to almost everyone’s frustration. This tendency to write his own brief, about the conditions that beset him in the depression hit states of the South, about how these sharecroppers lived – where he too lived amongst them – enabled him to understand their lives to a greater extent, than maybe Lange, a much more committed photographer, someone who avowedly wanted to “make a difference” and did expressly lean to the politics of the left. Evans may have rearranged the furniture and the landscape – something I write about in the photograph scene in the Negro Quarter, Tupelo, Mississippi, USA, 1936 one of his more famous photographs – where he seems, not content with merely rearranging the landscape, he appears to have rearranged physics to make his point.
The moments that Evans depicts are instants in time – each like a Cartier-Bresson moment – captured explicitly as a record that projects into the viewer an impression of the life being lived beyond the ken of the reader. It is of course part of Stryker’s role to edit these images for the consumption of the world; these images were created under the auspices of the FSA (and previously the Resettlement Administration), but for what purpose? Isn’t there an Orwellian undercurrent in the term Farm Security Administration? Why would the Government of the United States of America want to document the plight of bankrupt tenant farmers, during the depression years of the 1930’s, when the plight of the dustbowl exacerbated the ruination of the stock market? Why, when the communist state of Russia was just burgeoning would it want to direct the light of documentary photographers and writers to this area if it didn’t want to “document” the sorry state of affairs? It is an odd construct to consider.
Constructions, be they visual, or literary, for example that of Tom Joad in the “Grapes of Wrath” serve to deliver “a” truth and in “a” context that make available a truth that hadn’t really been available beforehand. The “pleb’s” had only a politic, a truth, that had been sourced through a media that wouldn’t have allowed the proletariat anything other than a view that cozied up to the view of those that owned the media. The documentary photographer in that most democratic of mediums enabled the dissemination of, at least one person’s truth, to the masses, utlising the market which, whilst it hadn’t reached the sophistication that we know today all responded to market pressure. Lange’s “Migrant Mother” whilst it succeeded in providing 20,000lbs of food-aid to the starving “Oakies” within two weeks of publication in a San Franciso paper it also sold lots of newsprint as well for the owners of the journal.
So they are pictures and not history? No, I think they enable a veracity that provides the historian with an armoury of documentation that would have been easier to deny without them. The truth of Evans’ images can be measured in the tonal structure of his photographs – black and white with a lot of grey in the middle. And it is the mid-tones that provide the narrative, the singular fact of black or white will deliver nothing we already knew. It was the depression. These people were living on the edge of starvation and a lot died there. Whether Evans , and I would suggest all the FSA cadre of photographers, manipulated the view in the lens to develop a clearer message isn’t the point for me. The point is about enabling the message to get out there and in a narrative that Steinbeck would also echo. It was a construct to begin with. The tenant farmers stood no chance against the greed of the banks and financial institutions who begat the whole sorry state of affairs in the first place. If Lange asked Florence Owens to lift her arm to her face and asked that her children turn away from the camera – then it is a construct, but it didn’t alter the fact that Owens was “dirt-poor”, was mal-nourished and homeless and dependent on charity to get through. These pictures were “a” truth and one that needed to be told. The truth of how the banks and the financial sector contrived to create the scenario isn’t one that gets an airing very often if at all ever – where’s the truth in that?


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27th June 2021: I found a lot of great reviews on Simon Hicks on VouchedFor. After meeting him I was impressed straight away. I only needed a mortgage, but he seemed to know a great deal about pensions, life cover and investments too. He was able to advise on the most suitable mortgage initially, rather than just picking a standard 5 year fixed off the shelf like a mortgage broker would do. Look forward to moving on to the investing side. Have told friends and family about Simon and would always recommend.
27th June 2021

domain: finance


Feb 6, 2012, 3:18 PM EDT
Karl Malone and Jazz owner Greg Miller have been going at it. Malone said in an interview that Deron Williams got Jerry Sloan fired and management didn’t back their long-time bench leader. Malone also said had to buy a ticket to get into a Jazz game after Jerry Sloan’s retirement. Miller was on twitter saying Malone was lying and in a blog post said Malone was “high-maintenance,” “unreliable” and “unstable.”
Stay classy, Salt Lake City.
Now both John Stockton and David Stern have stepped forward calling for an end to the feud.
Stockton suggested to the Salt Lake Tribune the crazy step of the two sitting down and talking face-to-face like adults.
“I’ve certainly been in disputes with people as close to me as my brother,” Stockton said from his home in Spokane, Wash. “You get after it and say a lot of things. But I have never seen one [disagreement] that couldn’t be resolved by sitting down and talking to a person face to face. It has always worked for me.”
Stern told the Tribune he also thinks a face-to-face meeting is a good idea.
“I’m looking forward to the next meeting between Greg and Karl,” said Stern, during an exclusive, wide-ranging interview with The Salt Lake Tribune at the league office. “Not for the sparks that I expect will fly, but for the calming that I think will and should occur. Because [Malone’s] meant so much to the franchise and the city over the years and to the Miller family, and the Miller family has meant so much to the franchise and the city for so many years.”
Sometimes David Stern is right. This is one of them. Time for everyone to grow up and act like mature adults. And move on.
- NBA players’ union head believes new labor deal can be reached without a work stoppage 7
- Kendrick Perkins says you’re blowing the LeBron James/Kevin Love thing way out of proportion 18
- Mark Cuban rips officials, NBA: ‘It’s criminal’ how Monta Ellis doesn’t get calls 25
- Shaquille O’Neal says he regrets leaving Magic for Lakers 43
- Cavaliers coach David Blatt: ‘LeBron James is our MVP’ 22
- No Durant, what does that mean for Thunder in these playoffs? Trouble. 15
- Kevin Durant to have third foot surgery; is done for season, playoffs 39
- Goran Dragic leading feisty Heat’s playoff push 29


Having completed her studies at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Siân is now a highly sought-after musician around the UK and Europe.
She enjoys a varied career playing orchestras including the Royal Opera House, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as for TV and film productions - her most recent shoot being for Netflix's 'Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story'
Siân is also a keen pit and session musician, regularly playing across the UK.
- Off Broadway
- London/United Kingdom
- Other Countries
Interested in touring?
- Instrumentalist/Pit Musician
- French Horn


MK Plastics is a global leader in the production of corrosion-resistant industrial and commercial blowers, fans, and ventilation systems. Patented in several countries, their products are AMCA Certified for Air and Sound Performance. Fans and blowers are marketed and installed wherever there are problems with corrosion due to the contaminants in exhaust air or process gas streams. Product listing includes Perchloric Acid Systems, Control Products (Dampers & Louvers), Mist Eliminators, K-Kore Composite Air Plenums and Energy Recovery, Centrifugal Fans and Blowers, In-line Centrifugal Fans, Axial Fans and High Plume Dilution Fans.
Air Reps offers distinct advantages in solving challenging problems that often arise in HVAC design and installation projects. We don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to any HVAC challenge. Instead, Air Reps employs some of the most creative minds in the business who can provide innovative answers that stand the test of time.


text:
Search The Knowledge Base
Browse By Category
|How do I recover a damaged file with NRGship UPS Pro?|
Power failures, hardware problems, or other factors can damage a NRGship database file. If your database becomes damaged, you will need to recover the damaged file. When NRGship discovers a damaged file a dialog box appears telling the user to recover the file. Even if the dialog box does not appear, files can become corrupted and exhibit erratic behavior.
NOTE: If the recover process has been completed in the past, you need to locate the file with "old" in the filename and put it in a new folder, before you begin the recover process.
To recover a damaged file:
What to expect during the recovery process
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domain: library


text:
AlphaPlugins DigitalChaos for Mac
Download AlphaPlugins DigitalChaos for Mac 1.0 from our software library for free. Our built-in antivirus scanned this Mac download and rated it as 100% safe. The file size of the latest downloadable installer is 14.3 MB. This software for Mac OS X was originally designed by AlphaPlugins.
From the developer:
AlphaPlugins DigitalChaos - the simple and qualitative plug-in filter for Adobe Photoshop and compatibles. This plug-in is aimed for creation randomly patterns consisted from symbols and digits. These symbols patterns can be used in complicated compositions and lets to generate fantastically looked abstract arts. The plug-ins contains build-in text editor what allows setup sets of used symbols and fonts.
You may want to check out more software for Mac, such as AlphaPlugins LaunchBox, AlphaPlugins Engraver III for Mac OSX or AlphaPlugins RichText for Mac, which might be related to AlphaPlugins DigitalChaos for Mac.
Viewers & Editors

domain: design


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There’s nothing more encouraging on a Monday morning than to have your state cited as an egregious example of poor judgment. From the Associated Press:
Washington — State officials had plenty of warning. Over the past three decades, two national commissions and a series of government audits sounded alarms about the dwindling amount of money states were setting aside to pay unemployment insurance to laid-off workers.
“Trust Fund Reserves Inadequate,” federal auditors said in a 1988 report.
It’s clear now the warnings were pretty much ignored. Instead, states kept whittling away at the trust funds, mostly by cutting unemployment insurance taxes at the behest of the business community. The low balances hastened insolvency when the recession hit, leading about 30 states to borrow $41.5 billion from the federal government to pay unemployment benefits to their growing population of jobless.
The ramifications will be felt for years….


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Why I've made amplifying women's voices in media my mission
One of my greatest role models is my grandmother, who believed that access to information should never limit an individual’s ability to change their life. Driven by the desire to educate and inform everyday citizens of the possibilities that existed outside of their town, village or city, she led newspapers across Asia with the dream of leveling the playing field by democratizing media throughout the region. This was a dream I had every intention of carrying out — and then some.
In the digital age, our world is much smaller and people can share a lot easier. While geographic location hardly impedes access to information anymore, the playing field is far from leveled. The reality is the majority of information hubs in which millennials share information and perpetuate news are dominated by male voices. With such a large portion of content being generated and shared by men, it is vital that women raise their voices and contribute to the conversation. More important, it is imperative that they do so in a space that respects and supports this distinct voice.
After making Forbes' "30 Under 30" list in 2014, I began receiving hundreds of emails every day from young girls asking for my advice. I realized there were women all over the world not satisfied by the existing social platforms and seeking answers. At the time, Reddit was the only other platform providing an open forum for communication, yet it seemed to lack authentic female perspectives. Fueled by my grandmother’s mission, I created Mogul as a space where women could be themselves and access practical, useful information, as well as utilize their authentic voice to connect with others whose questions mirrored their own.
Just over a year later, Mogul reaches 18 million women per week in every country on the planet. It has become the main stage for millions of unheard voices to make their mark. This overwhelming success is proof that women everywhere are thirsty for information sources that are empathetic, relevant, aspirational and accessible.
Raising up the female voice in media is not only a matter of increasing the volume of content for women, it's a matter of improving the context in which women are portrayed by sharing advice and success stories from female role models. It’s refreshing to see a group of thought-leading women encouraging one another to succeed every day, rather than judging, shaming and comparing each other with unrealistic cultural standards of beauty or behavior.
Historically, women have been pegged with the stereotype of staying silent, particularly in media and popular culture. Only 15% of major Hollywood films, for example, feature a female protagonist. In fact, male speaking parts in these films outnumber female ones nearly three to one. Defying this stereotype means taking action together by nurturing and fostering a community where everyone’s voice is heard and respected. It is our responsibility as women to urge others to take the microphone.
It’s not a question of whether women have a voice but rather a matter of how we as a global community can amplify those voices. I believe we can all feed the growing demand for female voices in media simply by sharing our own. Here’s what you can do starting today:
- Mentor younger women in your workplace or school, and encourage them to be vocal about issues that are important to themselves and other women.
- Support charitable causes or nonprofits whose missions align with empowering women to live their best lives, such as the United Nations Foundation’s Girl Up.
- Share stories from female writers, producers, directors and multimedia artists that present positive images of women in the media.
We recently launched #IAmAMogul, an influencer campaign running throughout the month of March. Honoring Women’s History Month, the campaign features inspirational women such as Kelly Osbourne, actress Jenna Ushkowitz, motivational speaker Lizzie Velásquez and Jen Welter, the first female NFL coach — all encouraging females to raise their voices to create change. The more we speak up and flood the communication space with positive messages by sharing real stories and supporting each other, the more we drown out the noisy, oppressive and outdated views that attempt to silence us.

domain: sociology


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While pads absorb and hold leaks after they’ve already happened, Finess prevents them from happening to begin with. To use Finess you simply place it over your urethral opening, and the gentle hydrogel adhesive seals it in place until it’s removed at your next bathroom visit. When you sneeze, laugh or lift something heavy, Finess prevents the urine from escaping, so there’s no fluid to absorb. That’s how Finess puts science to work for you.
Read the Finess clinical study
Did you know that 1 in 4 women experience stress urinary incontinence (SUI)? Unfortunately, not many of them are talking about it. Let’s start the conversation and take the stigma out of bladder leaks. Head over to our community page to hear from women just like you and join in!Check out their stories
Dr. Toni Harris has been a urogynecologist for over 30 years, specializing in urinary incontinence and pelvic floor disorders. Click below for her expert answers to frequently asked questions.About Finess Using Finess About Urinary Incontinence Is Finess only for Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI)?

domain: medical


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20 Country Walks for all the Family
20 walks around one of the most beautiful areas of Britain, exploring the quintessentially English villages, rolling hills and spectacular woodlands and valleys. The routes are easy to follow, with clear directions by simple maps.
Nearly all the walks are circular, many with optional shortcuts and extensions, making them suitable for all the family.
Watch out for butterflies, Highland cattle, and other wildlife as you pass through some of Britain’s richest habitats and discover churches, windmills and other historical features along the way.
Extent 96 pages
Size 180 x 120 mm

domain: travel


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Are you a Level Designer? Are you looking for help/support or other level designers? Then this is the group for you! Doesn't matter what you map for, if your a beginner or a professional this is the group for you.
Updated well known Arma Help SK-CZ to current ver.3.01.8
Designed ONLY for the Czech-Slovak community!
Illustrated reference manual for advanced mission makers. Currently updated for Mod ver. 2.20.
Latest version of ČSLA Mod has been released - v2.20 This release contains all previously released data and now includes new addons and features. See...
The editor files of Wreckage which allows you to open the maps in the Sandbox editor.
This small maptrailer shows most of the maps, included in the last three mappacks from the maverickservers.com level-design competitions. It should give...
***NOTE: Desura Does not work on this version (It only works on the Crysis version and I cannot remove the link)*** McKool presents The Mutant Factor...
McKool presents The Mutant Factor, a single player modification for the hit PC games Crysis and Crysis Wars. This is a new single player campaign with...
Version 3.0 of The Mutant Factor Available For Download!
Four different wallpapers in established resolutions.
The full standalone version. Playable without any installed game.
This version will allow many players to fully enjoy the gameplay without performance drops. The quality of the visuals stays very impressive (uses the...
I've been working a long time on this... The concept is simple: Fun, non-violent video game, mixing adventure, action, and putting in correlation beautiful...
After more than five months of work, here it is ! Including the complete single player campaign, it does only require Source SDK Base 2007 !
Take a look about our shoulder and explore the secret material that was created with the CryEngine 2 during the development about two years. [Only in...
Zip file. that's all.
The final episode of the popular singleplayer-mod-trilogy for the game Crysis Wars! Wreckage offers an action orientated presentation, teambased combat...
Ten new Sandbox 2 FlowGraph nodes for Crysis Wars Modder.
A new Beta release of XBA with edited levels , the levels becomes more hard and make a lot of fun
Hi, and welcome on the new fixed Tokra map b2. The Map is created by "Mappers-Alliance" and fixed by me = (SG-A)[Admin] Dr. McKay alias Dustin Banduch...
Maparchive is updated to ZIP !! You can download now. Today i show you my new map "sg_a_vengeance". It is a remake of Stargate Atlantis Season 3 Episode...
White Night full release v1.1
This mod is a total conversion for Amnesia: The Dark Descent.
Please read instructions carefully.
Map made by Lodka (FR) . On this map you can play with bots because i added my Nav file for the Bots in it. I hope you like this Map. "Hallowed are the...
This Atlantis map is converted by me and made by Venin. I have the premission to convert the map for CS:S. It's an old Atlantis map from Half-Life² :DM.
Discover the forest through the Alps and explore the pathways, alone, left to yourself.
This is my 3th Puzzlemap for our Server. with 8 difficult Levels. Try to finish all 7 Level to unlock Level 8.
My new Map Nemesis plays on a Asgard ship and in a Building in the Pegasus Galaxy.
Hi, my new map is converted by me and the map is created by ØldDeath [GTG]. On this Map you can't play with Bots because they jump down by the time mashine...


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Written by Liz Broscoe
Liz Broscoe is a professional drummer/percussionist, author, adjunct faculty at Lake Tahoe Community College, teaching artist for schools and at-risk youth, and a corporate team building facilitator. Through her drumming programs, she continues to inspire others throughout the Tahoe/Truckee/Reno and Carson Valley areas. Learn more at www.drumchik.com or call Liz at: 530-318-2330.
We drum because it’s fun! That is a given. There is something very rewarding about the sound, feel, effort and the unifying experience created within a community drum circle. I am a long time professional drum set player, but this all-inclusive communal drumming I am referring to is very different than playing in a band focused more on entertainment.
Current research shows that specialized group drumming provides many health, wellness and therapeutic benefits. Experiencing steady, rhythmic drumming improves cognitive brain function – increasing our ability to hold attention and focus. This is so good for kids and adults these days with all of our technology pulling our attention everywhere.
Drumming increases cancer fighting white blood cells in the immune system, decreases stress, anxiety, blood pressure and pain. It is a “Whole Brain” activity that provides the rare experience of activating and balancing both sides of the brain simultaneously. Consequently, drumming can benefit people dealing with Cancer, Parkinson’s, stroke, PTSD and many other conditions.
In her book, “When the Drummers Were Women”, Layne Redmond expressed that it is our primordial desire to get back to our roots of drumming. Archeological findings confirm that many cultures have drummed since ancient times.
Drumming is fascinating to me. As a professional drummer of nearly four decades and an educator/facilitator for the last twenty years, I am continually inspired and motivated in helping my students gain a deeper understanding of themselves through drumming. From at-risk kids to adults, whether I facilitated in schools, juvenile treatment centers or at corporate team building events, I continue to enjoy the challenge and rewards of bringing folks together collectively and communally in mind, body and spirit through drumming.
From a science point of view, our ancestors did not understand why they drummed, but they certainly knew intuitively.
Yes, it’s super fun, but now we know it is also really good for us!!
See the full schedule and book your Wellnesse Weekend getaway here.
Learn more about Sierra Soul and book your wellness getaway today.
Keep in touch! Click here to sign up for our email list, and be the first to know about deals, events, and more!

domain: psychology


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I had to check a couple because they were so old but, luckily for me, they were all still good.
So . . .
Debenhams: a nice wooden bread board, a splatter guard (my old one fell apart) and, because it was a money off day, I was able to make it up to £20 with two little boxes of Ferraro Rocher which will make most acceptable little gifts, always supposing I haven't eaten them first! One card down!
Then into Waterstones: after much enjoyable rootling around I bought Nigel Slater's 'Real Food' because it looks great. Normal ingredients, not stuffed with glossy coloured pictures to the exclusion of recipes and just really sensible looking recipes and lots of them. Delia is my hero but I do have a very soft spot for Mr Slater. Two cards down
Then I did a few boring but necessary things, such as paying in a couple of cheques and making a long overdue hearing aid appointment. I also went into Whittards and bought one of those ball shaped tea infusers.
|Mine is the one with the blue teapot. It's cute|
Photo can be found here
M&S was pretty crowded and I focused on the food area. I got some roasted garam masala powder because the current lot has nearly gone. Then I spotted one of their meal deals in the Chinese display cabinet. Two mains and two sides for £8. It was supposed to make two dinners but - blush - I've just finished it off for breakfast. Ooops. It was delicious though. The card lives to spend another day.
After some time picking strawberries (so relaxing) I went over the road to Abercorns and spent all my garden vouchers. Some plants, some plant food, two nice pots and a rake head (I have a system of tools where you buy the handles you need and the heads are interchangeable. Very sturdy, very convenient and I used the rake to good effect before sowing some seeds in my newly created veg bed last night. Just carrots and radishes for a quick return! I also got some tomato food, some herb food (I didn't know there was such a thing), some bug spray and a few bits and bobs. All useful stuff and a mixture of useful and spoiling.
If any of 'my' mums read this, thank you very, very much for the vouchers and I love what I have spent them on! Please pass that on.
So that was four cards down and one slightly battered.
And then I went home, had lunch and fell asleep for a couple of hours! I slept again in the evening and it's just as well I did because it was a most uncomfortable night, hot and humid and full of restless dreams and waking ups. Horrid really. We're now in the middle of a storm. Not a violent one but some lightning and thunder and some rain. It doesn't feel any less humid though - yet. Fingers crossed.
Providing the weather is OK, I plan to pot up my tayberry into one of the pots I bought and place it where it's going to be trained along the fence. No tying up yet as the fence has to be painted and anyway it's not big enough for that. Yet!
|Borrowed from Google.|
Tayberry (Rubus fruticosus x idaeus) is a cultivated shrub in the genus Rubus of the family Rosaceae patented in 1979 as a cross between a blackberry and a red raspberry, and named after the river Tay in Scotland. The fruit is sweeter, much larger, and more aromatic than that of the loganberry, itself a blackberry and red raspberry cross. The tayberry is grown for its edible fruits which can be eaten raw or cooked, but the fruit do not pick easily by hand and cannot be machine harvested, so they have not become a commercially grown berry crop. As a domestic crop, this plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
When I was living in London decades ago we had a loganberry at the bottom of the garden and the tayberry reminds me a lot of that. It's not the same, as it says above, but both have blackberry in them. The loganberries made lovely jam.
Apologies for such a long post and congratulations if you've made it to the end without dozing off. Have a good, cool day.

domain: hobby


text: Dr. Ghose’s work focuses on structural interventions in the areas of incarceration, substance use, homelessness and HIV, both at the domestic and international levels. His research examines the manner in which contextual factors such as housing, community mobilization, access to mental health care, and organizational characteristics influence substance use and HIV risk. He is currently collaborating with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York, The World Bank, and the United Nations on initiatives to end AIDS by 2030 through structural interventions that address the social drivers of risk in marginalized communities around the world. Dr. Ghose is a founding member and CEO of The Center for Carceral Communities (CCC), a collective of service providers and people with a history of incarceration. CCC collaborates with the Community College of Philadelphia, the Mural Arts Program, as well as judges and parole officers in the criminal justice system to re-engage people who have been released from incarceration. He has developed the CHATS model, a cognitive behavioral group therapy intervention that has been implemented with sex workers suffering from depression, people living with HIV who need to adhere to their medication, and released prisoners dealing with substance use issues. Dr. Ghose works with collectives of sex workers, homeless transgender communities, survivors of natural disasters, and substance users in places such as Philadelphia, New York, Puerto Rico, Haiti, and India to examine the effectiveness of social movement mobilization in reducing HIV risk. He has worked on the Gates Foundation-funded Parivartan HIV intervention project with sex workers in India, and is currently collaborating with sex work collectives in India, New Jersey and Philadelphia to examine the manner in which global movements strategize around health in order to resist marginalization. He is the founding director of the Institute of Sex Work Research and Action in Philadelphia which engages in participatory research with sex work communities around issues of safety, legality and health. Dr. Ghose’s projects have been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services, the MAC AIDS Foundation, the Robin Hood Foundation, the Department of Health, Philadelphia, and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York. He has developed and taught classes on the foundations of social work practice, group therapy, postcolonial social work practice in India, practice with substance users in Puerto Rico, and social work practice in the Affordable Care Act era. Dr. Ghose has served as Chair of the MSW governance committee, the first year Foundations sequence, and the Racism and Social Change sequence.

domain: health


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During a past visit to Knox’s studio, he had both of us sit for him while drawing—first James, then me. I sat in a director’s-type chair about three feet from Knox. He instructed me to look directly at his nose. We didn’t speak as his eyes intently calculated my face. I tried to contain the electricity within to keep my composure while he worked. The feeling was staggering as I listened to his pencil grazing the surface of the paper.
I know there were other things going on around me in the studio, but I was in his contemplation at that moment and I was oblivious to any other activity. Knox later posed us together and took several photographs of which he would use to complete the portrait.
Months later, a cardboard tube arrived at home. Knox completed the drawing. I’ll always remember that moment of elation and joy seeing the reflection of Knox’s vision. I will cherish that image forever.


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Happy 30th: The Jesus and Mary Chain, DARKLANDS
30 years ago this month, The Jesus and Mary Chain released their second album.
Co-produced by John Loder, Bill Price, and J&MC member William Reid, DARKLANDS was recorded variously at Wessex Studios, Southern Studios, and Livingston Studios, which means that the band managed to finish the album without ever having to leave London. The more impressive task that they achieved, however, was soldiering on without the gentleman who’d served as the drummer on their debut album: Bobby Gillespie, who’d moved onward to focus on his own band, Primal Scream.
Following in the footsteps of a critically-acclaimed debut like PSYCHOCANDY was always going to be a challenge, at least in terms of satisfying the critics in the British music press, but the J&MC were up to the task. With singles like “April Skies,” “Happy When It Rains,” and the album’s title track in their holster, the critics ate up DARKLANDS, with praise being lavished on the album both in the UK and in the US.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering, yes, DARKLANDS still holds up quite well 30 years on. Not only has it found its way into the mammoth tome 1001 Albums to Hear Before You Die, but it remains William Reid’s favorite of the J&MC’s albums.
Spotify: Listen here
For more information, click the buttons below:


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NOTE: This post has been updated to add comments from Union manager John Hackworth’s news conference on Wednesday afternoon.
Philadelphia Union have acquired 39-year old-former Bundesliga goalkeeper Oka Nikolov, according to a news release from the club.
Nikolov becomes the third goalkeeper on the Union roster, joining starter Zac MacMath and backup Chris Konopka. He will become eligible to play for the Union when the summer transfer window opens for MLS on July 9.
“We’re excited to have a player with Nikolov’s experience and leadership join our team,” Union manager John Hackworth said in a news release. “We think he will provide excellent depth and mentorship to our young goalkeepers.”
During a news conference Wednesday, Hackworth characterized Nikolov someone who would not join the team as an immediate starter but rather have a role to play as a backup and mentor. That said, Nikolov would compete for playing time, just like any other Union player, Hackworth said. Nikolov’s willingness to accept that role, character, experience, and on-field performance convinced the Union to sign him as a free agent, Hackworth said.
The Union knew as far back as February that they planned to sign Nikolov and kept only two goalkeepers on the roster as a result, Hackworth said.
The Union will be only Nikolov’s second team in a career that began in 1994, most of which was spent in Germany’s top flight. After coming through the Eintracht Frankfurt youth system, Nikolov remained a faithful servant to the club, remaining with them for the next 20 years until today’s transfer to the Union. He played 414 matches for Frankfurt, including 229 in the Bundesliga, and also earned five caps for the Macedonian national team.
In recent years, he has played mostly as a backup, but he stepped in for injured starter Kevin Trapp to start eight games and help lead his club to the Euro League this year. He saved 23 of the 32 shots he faced this past season.
The decision to leave Frankfurt appears to have been Nikolov’s. Frankfurt released him Tuesday from a one-year contract so that he could end his career in the United States. He appears to have been the longest tenured player with any Bundesliga club.
“Eintracht are my one and only,” Nikolov said in a news release from the Bundesliga. “I had an absolutely incredible time with this fantastic team and I would like to thank both the club and the fans. However, throughout my career an opportunity to move to America and expand my horizons was always a dream of mine and one which I hope to fulfill now.”


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Communicating across the world via your computer. . SHOUT AROUND THE WORLD
Relive your childhood memories & see what was out on those special times of your life. This forum gives a weekly view of the Top 40 songs from 1955-today. I hope this will be a true gem for all music
This is a warrior cats forum if you dont know what warrior cats is go and read it then come backi hope you have a fun time here
Free to play, immersive Dragon Ball Z roleplay site. Custom characters, races and you can even control planets and command an army. Or defend the Earth to your last breath.
A forum full of people who love to roleplay and write stories! Whether you are a novice or experienced roleplayer, we welcome anyone to come join us! Come make new friends with interests just like yours and improve your writing skill!
roleplaying, roleplayers, character, creativity, creative, writing, literature, #poetry, characters, roleplay, roleplays, imagination, creation, action, adventure, sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, videogame, anime, manga, historica
Islamic Art - Exclusive Graphic Designs, Free Islamic Graphics, Poems and Short Stories by Muslim Sisters, Islamic Art for Children.
Forum about Poetry, Urdu Adab, Diary, Stories, Jokes and many more.
Here at the Legend of Kingdom Hearts, we seek to deliver aforum unlike most others: with a blend of fanfics, challengestournaments, and many, MANY other things, this forum wantsthe members to be as happy as can be. We hope you enjoyyour stay!!
An advanced/serious role-playing forum, FoG caters to aspiring and acknowledged writers with literate capabilities beyond that of the average person.
roleplaying, forum, writing, role, play, roleplay, role-playing, message, board, advanced, serious, character, story, stories, blog, #poetry, literate, depth, mature, casual, community, footsteps, ghosts
A forum for Gothic poets and their poetry.
Please feel free to join and take part in the many rps that have been posted up! The site is currently trying to bring in new people, so please! Bring your Magic! ! ! ! : )
We are a Christian based Ministry with a small group feel. We offer Prayer, support, learning and discussion in an environment that brings focus to Jesus Christ.
A forum for like minded individuals to come and mingle. Acceptance is greatly encouraged here.


Project management software giant Procore Technologies Inc has held its cards close to its chest in the decision to go public, but last Friday the answer came forth loud and clear as the company filed the paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announcing its plans for an initial public offering (IPO). No date for the IPO has been set, but they say it will happen in the “near future”.
In its S-1 – “Registration Statement Under the Securities Act of 1933,” Procore provided information regarding its financial position, achievements and even investor risks, all of which are designed to give the public a solid idea of what the company is all about prior to the sale. That includes information that Procore was not obligated to divulge as a private company.
Procore reported its annual revenue was $289.2 million, a huge leap up from 2018’s $186.4 million and 2017’s $112.3 million. In those years, the customer base has almost doubled. Last year, each client invited about 170 users, bringing up Procore to a total of 1.3 million users at the end of 2019. Customers are currently being offered a special where they can invite an unlimited number of users at no additional charge, with the goal of encouraging “rapid, widespread adoption.”
Although no prices have been set for the IPO, Procore claims the company has a $9.4 billion annual market opportunity.


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ISACA have just released part 1 of their 2019 State of Cybersecurity report, which can be downloaded here.
Here are a few headlines that yet again demonstrate that it is essential to focus on people and skills, and improve your Digital Skills Management maturity.
“Skills gap still not shrinking”
“69% say their cybersecurity teams are understaffed”
“58% have unfilled (open) cybersecurity positions”
“32% say it take...
The 5th Annual Spring UNLEASH Conference & Expo returns to the ExCeL in London to roadmap the Future of Work by gathering a community of thousands of decision-makers, visionaries, technology buyers, and disruptors. Europe’s #1 HR conference will showcase smarter ways of working, powered by innovative HR technology and the latest business transformation insights led by global executives from some of the world’s most exciting...


Delivered by Timberplay in association with the Irish Landscape Institute, please join us for a study day which explores the best way to support the development of stronger communities through effective play provision.
Held at Ormond Meeting Room, Ormond Quay Upper, Dublin 7, the day promises to be an illuminating and inspiring event, perfect for Landscape Architects or Planners and Developers with an interest in play design.
Speakers from a range of sectors and backgrounds will be presenting on play strategy, managing risks within play, inclusivity, green infrastructure, the importance of consultation and play theory. Presentations will be from:-
Laurence Colleran, South Dublin County Council
Joanne Coghlan, Studio Aula
Neil Bolton, Head of Housing, Respond Housing
Debbie Clarke, Dublin City Council
Alick Ford, Head Teacher, Castle Tower School
Harry Harbottle, CATE Consulting
Beth Cooper, Creative Play Consultant, Timberplay
We shall also be exploring a local site which showcases an unusual variety of sensory play equipment.
Lunch and refreshments will be provided. To secure your place please email [email protected]. For further information please email or call Lilly on 0044 7941 661269.


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Start your Organic Journey with a Set Box.
Our Farmers Choice Set Boxes include what's best in season from our farmers each week which are perfect if you are busy.
Customisable boxes below are valued at $80-$100 due to seasonal price changes so the value may be slightly higher or lower however you will see the current pricing in your cart.
After you add the products in the Set Box to your cart, you can review the pricing, edit the cart and make changes to suit your needs and add other products that you love.
FARMER'S CHOICE SET BOXES
Farmers Choice Set Boxes are carefully designed by our Head Forager to ensure that you receive a wonderful array of what is best-in-season this week.
These boxes are perfect if you are short of time or you just like someone else to make good decisions for you.
When the box arrives you can enjoy the ever-changing seasonal delights allowing you the pleasure to style your cooking and food preparation around what's freshest each week.
Our promise to you is to deliver great value in every box.
Naturally, the contents of the box will change week to week. On the morning that your order is packed if something is not available as planned, we will substitute it for a similar product that we know you will love.
CUSTOMISABLE SET BOXES
Mixed Fruit and Veggies Customisable Boxes
This box is perfect for a couple or smaller family who loves to include seasonal fresh produce at mealtime. (13-15 Varieties Included)
Veggie Selection Customisable Boxes
This Box provides an inspirational selection of the best vegetables coming in from our farmers this week ready for your culinary creations. (13-15 Varieties Included)
Fruit Selection Customisable Boxes
For the Fruitarian, this box provides access to the mouth watering, super sweet fruit that tastes like it was just harvested and ripened perfectly. (10-12 Varieties Included)
Greens Selection Customisable Boxes
Now it’s easy to include the freshest greens in your cooking with the Greens Box compiled by our Head Forager. (10-15 Varieties Included)
Pantry Selection Customisable Boxes
Gather around all foodies!!! This Pantry Box will always contain the essentials as well as new products that you will fall in love with. (10-15 Varieties Included)
Juicing Selection Customisable Boxes
If you are looking to get more goodness into your body through juicing, this Juicing Box contains the perfect mix of fresh produce to support you. (10-12 Varieties Included)
BUTCHER'S CHOICE SET BOXES
Eating Certified Organic Meat means much more than great taste. It means the opportunity to deliver people a healthier product that's free of hormones, additives and chemicals. Allowing those with food intolerances and allergies to feel good about what they eat. Choosing Organics gives the peace of mind that we are all contributing to reduce our impact on global warming, by making the decision to support traditional farming methods for the benefit of this and future generations of Australians. By raising the awareness of organics we can increase the demand for produce, fair pricing and encourage more farmers to adopt organic farming methods.
Select the Box that suits you and your household or head to the Butcher department above and put together your own selection.


It was the year body positivity went mainstream. In 2019 Rihanna's game-changing lingerie brand Savage x Fenty slayed the Victoria's Secret dragon, pop star Lizzo ruled the charts with her self-love anthems, and designers including Tommy Hilfiger, Simone Rocha and Kate Spade New York embraced size inclusivity on the catwalks.
Yet it was also the year Elle Fanning fainted at the Cannes film festival due to an overly tight corset, Kim Kardashian reportedly made $2m in sales within minutes of launching her "solutionwear" line Skims, and Spanx leggings became a street-style sensation. Dublin store Arnotts reported a 24pc increase in shapewear sales for 2019, and according to fashion search platform Lyst, online searches for bodysuits grew 83pc, while searches for bike shorts were up 137pc.
Shapewear - foundation garments such as control pants, slips, bodysuits, waist trainers and thigh shorts designed to alter the wearer's silhouette - occupies an uncomfortable position in our modern world. Its critics argue that the idea of compressing the female form into a particular shape defined by the male gaze is antithetical to body positivity, while its defenders say that shapewear allows its wearers to feel more confident in how they look.
Five years ago, The New York Times reported that the shapewear industry was outmoded, with sales down 3pc. So what's driving the recent resurgence?
It may be that brands are increasingly aware of the body-positive movement, and have taken steps to reshape, if you will, their marketing to reflect this new consciousness.
Browsing their websites and promotional materials, I notice that rather than focusing on slimming, shrinking and controlling, the emphasis is firmly on ease, comfort and support. Brands want to support me, to hold me up, to empower me to live my best life. Yes, their shapewear can also erase 3.5cm off my waist, but what they're really interested in is "enhancing" and "celebrating" my features.
Gone are the perfectly smooth, hourglass silhouettes of traditional lingerie models, replaced by the stretch marks, tummy rolls and dimpled thighs of "real women", just like me! The diverse casting and largely unretouched photography are very on-message, but brands are still struggling to reconcile the fact that what they're ultimately selling is a product to change your shape - a "solution" for the problem that is your body in its natural form.
Today's shapewear can be traced back to the corset, which was worn by Western women from the 16th to the early 20th century. Throughout history, the corset has undergone many evolutions: the torso-flattening Elizabethan styles, the rib-crunching whalebone versions worn by the Victorians, Christian Dior's wasp-waist corsets for the post-war New Look, and Vivienne Westwood's underwear-as-outerwear in the 1970s, when strapping oneself in became, somehow, liberating.
Sara Blakely's Spanx arrived on the scene in 2000, and the "scary stomach-holding-in pants" played a starring role in the film adaptation of Bridget Jones's Diary the following year. They rapidly became a mainstay in occasion wear, and celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence, Chrissy Teigen and Kristen Bell brayed about wearing them on the red carpet in a bid for relatability, a trend which reached an alarming peak in 2012 when Adele revealed she had worn "three or four pairs of Spanx" to the Grammys, though had to remove two before she could actually sing.
In 2020, the once-secret undergarments are flaunted on the street and on social media, as Irish influencers rave about Spanx leggings and Kim Kardashian strips down to her Skims on Instagram.
The launch of the reality TV star's Skims - briefly waylaid by a pesky cultural appropriation scandal over the original name, Kimono - has drawn shapewear into the spotlight and introduced it to a younger market. The pressures of our selfie culture have likely also contributed to its renewed appeal, as shapewear can help to create the photo-finish smoothness usually only achieved through Photoshop.
"It definitely is a category that's growing, and it's one of those categories that goes across the age spectrum, from young girls going to their debs all the way through," says Lianne Dunne Robinson, lingerie and shapewear buyer for Shaws department stores.
"But it's moved on a lot. It's not about wearing these constricting garments that make you two sizes smaller, it's about you feeling good in whatever you're wearing."
Rachelle Hanley, lingerie and shapewear buyer for Brown Thomas Arnotts, explains: "There has definitely been a move away from 'this is the ideal body shape' or 'this is the ideal size', and more into 'we want to make whoever comes in and tries our product look and feel the best that they can'. I think ultimately it's about how you feel.
"Everyone has something that they're a little bit self-conscious about, and what shapewear pieces offer is that they help you feel better in that dress that you really wanted to wear. I think it comes back to customers wanting to feel great about themselves, and it's an option there for them to go to - that being said, I want to move away from the word 'solution' because I'd agree it's not a solution, it's more something that will help the customer feel better about themselves."
With Skims, Kardashian has also revived a heated debate around shapewear. Such arguments highlight the feminist generation gap, illustrating the split over "choice feminism", where women make choices that seemingly prop up the patriarchy. While older second-wave feminists would typically reject physically oppressive shapewear as an instrument of patriarchy, today's more flexible feminists tend to feel that a woman wearing or not wearing shapewear is fine, because she's the one making the choice about her body.
The London-based Heist Studios, a self-described underwear disruptor that calls its products "an instrument for progress", tackled the issue head-on last summer with a campaign that asked: "Shapewear is anti-feminist, right?"
"Off the back of the Kim Kardashian launch, it was one of the questions we were asked a lot through customer care and our quite active social channel," says Hannah Craik, the brand's VP of marketing.
"We wrote a blog article about it asking what people thought and to send us their opinions. You can't really deny, to be honest, the history of shapewear, which is corsets, but actually there are a lot of things you can look back on, like makeup, which used to have arsenic in it, and most of us probably wouldn't put arsenic on our faces now.
"The blog post generated a real reaction, and it felt like something that was worth engaging on, and there was also a lot going on in public discussions around who you're dressing for and what it means to be a feminist.
"What we thought was quite interesting from the discussion was how the calling out becomes, of itself, a bit churlish. Our opinion of it was: is it any more anti-feminist to wear shapewear than it is to call out other women for what they're wearing? It felt like there was a lot of negativity after the Kim Kardashian launch, and most of our customers were like, 'I decide what I do and don't wear, not someone else'."
Craik adds: "The thing we all have to face up to is that we, all of us, are living in the society that we happen to be in, and for all its faults and positives, that's the one we're in. Given that those ideas exist and people want to wear makeup, dress in certain ways, change their appearance; actually, the most we can contribute to that - and I will emphasise, it's not the fight for equal pay, it's not that serious - is at least a garment that works and feels like a positive in all of that."
Maybe Heist is right, and if we can't escape the trappings of the society we live in, we can at least make those trappings a little less uncomfortable. For those who are self-conscious about lumps and bumps and would rather conceal them, is it really any more "body positive" to cover up in formless, baggy clothes - essentially hiding their bodies - than with shapewear? Wouldn't it be better to feel like you can wear whatever you want, with a little help from a shaping bodysuit or pair of shorts?
The case for shapewear rests largely on the assertion that it makes women feel more confident. No woman should ever have to feel like she needs to occupy less space, but some of us just want to go to a wedding and not spend the whole time worrying about whether everyone can see our muffin top.
Even if you can't settle with the notion that shapewear can empower women, take yourself out of it and think about another woman, with another body and another perspective and another life, separate from your own. Why should you deny her right to feel empowered wearing it? In the end, it's a question of personal preference.
But opponents of shapewear would have you believe that that personal preference comes at the expense of women's collective empowerment. In choosing to wear shapewear, we're also choosing to participate in a culture of contained, controlled femininity, devoid of any bump or bulge. Each time we put it on, we're telling ourselves that our bodies need to be manipulated into a more palatable, appropriate form. We've internalised the messages that women's bodies are inherently imperfect and inherently disruptive, so now we can effectively police our own.
However much I assure myself that I'm perfectly aware of the unrealistic demands of man-made beauty standards as I'm wriggling into shapewear, distorting my body to conform to those standards can only feed that unhealthy self-image. I'm still submitting to wearing a garment designed to hinder my movement, designed to stop some parts of my body from moving altogether. The ideal woman does not jiggle!
Why are we trying to fool other people that we don't have tummy rolls or cellulite or back fat? Or, if we are indeed dressing for ourselves, why can't we define our own standards of beauty and show ourselves just as we are?
Shapewear is full of paradoxes: it glorifies, idealises, supports and deforms the female body, expressing competing messages of containment and liberation, femininity and power. Perhaps this is why it's still such a part of our world, and why modern women respond to it so readily - such contradictions are part of nearly every choice we make. Perhaps in a few years' time, shapewear will be as inarguable as lipstick and stilettos. Or, we can hope, a world where women will be comfortable letting it all hang out, rather than sucking it all in, will get here first.
Growing up, girls are taught that a marriage proposal will go something like this: their partner will whisk them away to some dreamy locale, get down on one knee and produce that luxurious little box, before popping the all-important question.
If there's one thing in fashion women are united on, it's pockets. A dress with pockets is always an easier sell, and gowns with pockets tend to get everyone very excited on the red carpet, as seen recently on Margot Robbie and Ana de Armas at the Golden Globes.


Boosie’s still behind bars, but DJ Smallz got his hands on an unreleased track for his That Southern Smoke! Vol. 5. Boosie is expected to be released from prison November 2014.
Hot 97’s DJ Enuff gave this a spin this afternoon and Omen got his hands on the MP3. Produced by Bink, this is a pretty lackluster track from Foxx featuring the Teflon Don and a Biggie sample. A bad combination. Still and all, Jamie’s Body album drops Dec 14. I hope the Drake written “Fall For Your Type” makes the cut.