text:
Secure Act 2.0 has important updates for Defined Benefit Plans, including increased RBD age and reduced excise tax on missed RMDs. Stay up-to-date with these crucial changes to ensure your retirement plan is compliant.
The Bipartisan American Miners Act of 2019 allows in-service distributions for retirement plan participants to commence at age 59 ½. However, in a defined benefit plan, to receive in-service lump sum distributions at age 59 ½, the distribution must satisfy certain thresholds. Read on to learn more about defined benefit plan lump sum distribution requirements.
The market drop of December 2018 seems like ages ago, considering recent market volatility, Coronavirus, and the missing March Madness. However, the December 2018 drop did result in lower AFTAPs for many calendar-year plans. Unless your plan’s AFTAP has been certified...
A qualified retirement plan must meet various requirements throughout the year in order to retain the qualified status. If you are responsible for administering your company’s defined benefit plan, it’s critical to meet these deadlines. From making quarterly...
The National Retirement Planning Coalition has designated April 11-15 as the 2016 National Retirement Planning week. In celebration, each day this week Watkins Ross will share some fast facts and planning tips on the various types of retirement plans we service....
Traditional pension plans, or defined benefit plans, are the original backbone of the corporate pension system. Retired employees who have worked for a company with one of these plans are enjoying benefits provided well into old age. Middle aged employees...
We track a minimal amount of your anonymized browsing data in order to continually monitor and improve our site.
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
The technical storage or access is required to track the user on a website for similar marketing purposes.


CEO of Wondery Hernan Lopez is planning to fight back on federal corruption charges.
Lopez along with two other former FOX TV executives has been charged with money laundering and wire fraud over bribes taking place involving the broadcasting right s to the World Cup and other soccer tournaments, according to the LA Times.
“I’m completely confident that when I have the chance to be before a jury if it ever gets to trial, I’ll be vindicated,” Lopez said.
The charges have not played a role in his standing at the company. Lopez says he has no intention of stepping down.
“I poured my heart and soul into this company that I’ve built from the ground up, and I intend to do that for as long as I can and for many years,” he said.
Lopez founded Wondery four years ago after hearing the podcast “Serial”. The company has since become one of the nation’s largest podcast publishers, according to LA Times.
As podcasts have become more popular, it has gotten harder for the startup to survive on its own. They have been approached multiple times by large companies that seek to expand their content.
“It shouldn’t be surprising that we continue to get approached over the years by companies that just want to directly take us private or make us part of their company [or] funds that want to invest in Wondery to help us continue our growth,” Lopez said.
According to Wondery executives, the business raised $15 million from investors. Last year the company was worth $100 million.


text:
Albuquerque, NM Part V: Sandia Peak
Although the Sandia Mountain Range is only about 17 miles long, it dominates the horizon northeast of Albuquerque. The mountains lie within the Cibola National Forest. The highest point is Sandia Crest at 10,678 feet. Sandia means watermelon in Spanish, and it is thought the name may be a reference to the pink color that the mountains take on at sunset.
Sandia Peak Tramway ascends the western face of Sandia Peak to one of the highest points on the mountain. The elevation of the upper terminal is 10,378 feet. The lower terminal of the tramway is located at the northeastern edge of Albuquerque. The photo below shows the lower boarding platform looking up toward the first of only two cable support towers.
The tramway is the world's longest passenger aerial tramway at a total diagonal distance of 14,657 feet (over 2.7 miles), and it has the third longest single span at a length of 7,720 feet from the second tower to the upper terminal.
The tram is powered by a 600 hp electric motor, and there is a 429 cubic inch Ford industrial engine as a backup. It takes approximately 14 minutes to travel each way.
The tramway started service in 1966 and was built by Bell Engineering of Lucerne, Switzerland. The tram cars were replaced in 1986, and new track cables were installed in 1997.
The photo below was taken from the back of the tram car just after we passed the second tower. There is a slight sway as the car passes over the tower.
As with most aerial trams, there are two cars. As one ascends, the other descends. Shortly after passing the second tower, we passed the other car.
The views from the tram are impressive as it passes rugged rocks and spires.
The photo below is Golf Ball Rock.
And the next photo is The Cannon.
The Sandia Mountains are made up primarily of granite, but they are topped by a layer of sedimentary rock. The sedimentary rock, which is mostly limestone, indicates the mountaintop was once under water. The mountains are a fault block range at the eastern edge of the Rio Grande Rift Valley. The mountains were uplifted when the rift was formed. The photo below shows the sedimentary rock at the crest.
Shortly after we got to the top, we watched our car depart for its descent.
As impressive as the views were coming up the mountain, the views at the top were even more spectacular. They say you can see an area of 11,000 square miles.
In the photo above, the darker, greenish line that runs across the picture near the horizon is the Rio Grande River lined by trees and other vegetation as it runs down the rift valley. The next photo is a little different location and also shows the green line that follows the Rio Grande.
On the eastern face of the mountain, which is not as steep and rugged at the western face where the tram is located, is the Sandia Peak Ski Area. The bottom of the ski area is accessible by road, and the top of the chair lift is located just west of the upper tram station.
In addition to the ski area, there are numerous Forest Service hiking trails on Sandia Peak. Paul walked a short distance down one of the trails, but the trail was a little too close to the edge for Margery. She waited at the top and met him when he returned.
We did walk a short nature trail together; and, yes, there is still a little snow left. They had a 19-inch snowfall a few weeks prior. The sun was warm, but the air was a cool 51 degrees.
Along the nature trail, there were plaques describing some of the rocks and plants. We were a little too early for wildflowers, but one interesting thing we saw was a hanging lichen called Old Man's Beard. It is not a parasite, and like Spanish Moss, it obtains moisture and nutrients from the air and only uses the tree for support.
Also at the top of Sandia Peak is High Finance Restaurant. The name scared us a little, but we checked their menu. Although we initially thought the prices were a little high, we were hungry; and the green chili cheeseburger really sounded good. We rationalized the price wasn't all that bad considering it was a half-pound burger and it included fries, so we decided to split one. Man, was it good!
After our shared lunch, we caught a tram back down the mountain. We headed back to the motor home and got ready for our next excursion.

domain: travel


text:
Milford MI Pet Waste Removal Services
Animal Waste Management Services Offered in Milford Michigan
Milford dog waste removal
Pooper scooper service
Dog poop pick up
Dog poop clean up company
Professional dog poop service
Local dog poop cleaning service
Pet waste removal service
Local Dog Waste Management Clean Up
Composting Dog Poop - How To Use Pet Waste As Compost
Having a pet is a great experience for a family. From providing companionship and comfort to teaching responsibility, pets bring families closer together. Most of the aspects of pet ownership and fun: going on long walks, having a Netflix buddy, playing fetch, having an extra set of eyes to make sure the house is safe. Some other parts are not so fun. Things like barking at 3 am or finding a chewed shoe once in awhile.
The part of pet ownership that people most frequently complain about is picking up dog poop. That’s right. Picking up dog poop is that part of owning a pet that people dread. Often times, this task is rotated among the kids in the family and let’s be honest, kids more often than not conveniently “forget” that they were on pooper scooper duty for that week.
This means a messy yard and an unpleasant build up of dog poop to pick up. Usually, the parents are the ones who have to go out and pick up dog poop because they want the yard to be clean and your son needs to finish his homework before dinnertime. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a service to deal with this nuisance? Well now there is!
What Are We Talking About?
We are talking about a full-scale, professional pet poop removal service. For one monthly price, we will come to your home and pick up all the dog poop in your yard. We offer custom solutions that fit your busy schedule.
We are professional pooper scoopers. That’s right. We take one of the least fun parts about owning a pet and make it easy. Our professional technicians come to your home on a regular schedule to perform a thorough dog poop pick up and then dispose of it for you. Gone are the days of spending an hour or more trudging through your yard looking for your dog’s poop.
Our staff comes uniformed and ready to work with all the supplies they need. We are incredibly efficient with our work and you won’t even know we were there (aside from coming home to a sparkling clean lawn that is).
Keep Your Pets Clean, Safe, and Happy
Being a pet owner comes with it’s own share of messes, your yard and property included. We know that most pet owners have experienced that dreaded moment when you see your dog lie down in your yard and start rolling around in poop. A messy clean up isn’t the only thing you should be worried about though.
If you don’t properly clean up your yard, your pet can not only roll in the poop, they can track it into your home and even eat it. This subjects your pet to harmful diseases and parasites (as well as creates a nightmare for you. Our professional pooper scooper business will make sure that your yard stays clean and your pet stays safe with fast and efficient dog poop removal.
Keep Your Neighborhood Clean and Healthy
You hate seeing other people leave their pet’s poop all over the neighborhood, so why should your backyard be any different? By keeping your yard clean and free of pet waste, you send a clear message to everyone that you are committed to a safe and clean neighborhood for all.
Additionally, you are protecting the environment. That’s right. By having your pet’s waste cleaned up you are doing your part to help the environment. Leaving pet waste out can actually cause it to seep into the ground, contaminating the groundwater. This can mean that your water can be contaminated and no longer safe for drinking. Our pet waste removal team make sure that the poop is cleaned up efficiently and regularly to avoid this problem.
Why Choose Us?
We are professionals. We are one of the best pet waste removal services in the area. Our technicians have all the tools and expertise to clean your lawn right every time. We come to your home on a regular schedule and pick up dog poop and wild animal waste. Our thorough cleaning is one of the reason our customers sign long term contracts with us!
We will always come to your home in our uniforms on the designated day and clean up your entire lawn. You can rely on our service at all times no matter the weather. Rain, sleet, snow, blistering hot it doesn't matter, we will always be there to clean up your yard.
We want to make sure that everyone can get the dog poop removal they need so we will work with you to create a plan that is great for you! Contact us today!
Dog Crap Disposal For Yards
How to Dispose of Dog Poop?
Importance of a Dog Waste Removal Service
Top Tips For Environmental Dog Feces Disposal
When you think about what you have to do this weekend is picking up the dog’s poop one of the things on your list? Maybe you have assigned that job to one of the kids and maybe you have stepped on poop more than once when you ventured out in the yard. Now you have to go inside and clean your shoe and then go back out and pick up the dog poop.
Wouldn’t it be great if there was a service to deal with scooping poop? No more accidentally stepping in poop, no more adding it to the to do list, no more scolding your son or daughter for forgetting one of their chores.
Sound like a dream? Well luckily for you, it’s not a dream at all.
We Pick Up Dog Poop
That’s right! We do that part of pet ownership that everyone kind of hates to do. Each week, one of our uniformed technicians will come to your yard and expertly clean up all of the dog poop in the yard. After we have cleaned up everything, we will haul the poop away and dispose of it. You don’t even have to see it in your trash can.
Why Use Our Service?
We are professionals. We know how important it is to have a clean yard and a happy pet. We develop custom solutions for picking up pet waste. We will come to your home and walk your property with you. During the walk we will measure the size of your property, ask you about your dogs, find out when and how often you want your yard to be cleaned. Then we will figure out the schedule that works for you.
There are six convenient sizes that we offer pricing for:
- Extra small (dog run or about 20’ by 20’)
- Small (60’ by 120’)
- Medium (Half an acre or under)
- Large (2 acres or under)
- Extra-LArge (4 acres or under)
- Custom pricing (Anything larger than 4 acres)
Have a large property? Still give us a call! Custom service is our specialty so if you have a large area that you needed serviced we are happy to help! No matter the size of your yard or dog, we are your go-to pooper scooper service!
Other Services that We Provide
We actually do more than just pick up dog poop. We also do wildlife poop removal services. Living near a lake or pond can be great! Until you get to the season where ducks are in full force. We can help keep their droppings at bay by performing regular cleanings. We want you to be able to have the best outdoor experience possible. That is why we want to help keep your yard clean and beautiful by making it pet poop free.
If you own a dog or live near wildlife, you should call us. We will come to your home and provide you with a no-obligation, free estimate and evaluation. After we evaluate your property we can give you an estimate on what it will cost to clean up your yard. We will then work with you to develop a schedule that is best for you.
Dog Waste and Our Community
Dog Droppings Disposal System Review
How to Dispose of Dog Poop?
How to Dispose of Dog Poop?
Do you enjoy a pleasant stroll around your town or in the country? Fresh air and exercise to put you in an excellent mood until...squelch, that dreaded moment when you step in a dog's number twos. Responsible dog ownership maybe a crap topic, excuse the pun, but the general public are becoming less tolerant of the littering of our towns and countryside. The first step is to encourage all owners to pick up after their dogs but we also need to encourage environmental disposal of the waste.
Dog fouling creates problems that are more than just a nuisance. The health effects can be far reaching, a dog poop contains millions of bacteria and parasites which can make you, your family and pets very ill. A runny tummy would be inconvenient, permanent blindness however would be a disaster, and this can occur if you get any in your eye.
1. Keep your hole at least 1 foot deep and a good distance from your vegetable plot
2. Use an old dustbin to line the hole with the bottom cut out and holes in the sides
3. Add stones at the base for drainage
4. When you place dog waste in the hole also add water and a septic starter
5. Keep the compost well covered to deter attracting animals
Another simple way of disposing of the poop is using a fertilizer-producing worm farm, but beware as the worms will only feed on the dog waste so do not add any vegetable scraps.
Cleaning up after your dog has never been easier and with our tips described here you can go one step further and dispose of the waste in an environmentally friendly way.
- 1 Milford MI Pet Waste Removal Services
- 1.1 Animal Waste Management Services Offered in Milford Michigan
- 1.2 Composting Dog Poop - How To Use Pet Waste As Compost
- 1.2.1 Dog Crap Disposal For Yards
- 1.2.2 Dog Waste and Our Community

domain: pet


text:
It might be too late to sell high on Colorado Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez, after he allowed six runs (four earned) in 5 1/3 innings against the Florida Marlins on Monday, giving him a 6.39 ERA in his past five starts. There's no indication a bad second half is coming, but fantasy's No. 3 pitcher had better value a month ago.
The New York Mets were excited to have Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes in the same lineup for the first time in 214 games Monday. They combined for three hits in nine at-bats. If only they could pitch. Starter Mike Pelfrey allowed six hits and didn't escape the second inning; his ERA is 9.11 in his past six starts. Run away, quickly.
Box Score Bits
Get your daily look at the previous day's box scores first thing every Monday through Friday.
Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Wade Davis tossed eight innings of one-run ball in Baltimore on Monday, his longest outing of a disappointing season. Davis lowered his ERA to 4.41, the best it has been since May, as he tries to hold off excellent prospect Jeremy Hellickson. Davis remains talented, and someone to invest in.
Toronto Blue Jays closer Kevin Gregg is struggling to find the strike zone. Monday's blown save and loss to the Kansas City Royals was Gregg's fourth of each. Only nine of his 21 pitches were strikes; on Saturday, Gregg had the exact same rate of strikes and pitches. Shawn Camp seems to be next in line ahead of Jason Frasor.
Boston Red Sox third baseman Adrian Beltre isn't showing signs of the sore hamstring he had at the All-Star game. Beltre homered Monday, his second in four games since the break, and his batting average is up to .333. Most people would view that latter number as unsustainable, making Beltre a sell-high option, but the power looks very real.
Houston Astros third baseman Chris Johnson smacked his first major league home run, a two-run shot off Chicago Cubs reliever Justin Berg on Monday. Johnson is hitting .301 in 93 at-bats this season, which is unlikely to last, but the power should emerge. Johnson has drawn two walks and fanned 22 times, a poor ratio.

domain: news


Friday, 6 January 2012
MARGATE FOOTBALL CLUB LEASE PROPOSALS
No further intrusion into public open space will be permitted, that’s the message from Cabinet Members over the proposed lease extensions for Margate Football Club.
At a meeting last night (Thursday 5 January), Cabinet agreed a series of recommendations, which will now go to Full Council for a final decision. The recommendations from Cabinet are as follows:
· Support the extension of the current lease for the main ground from 10 to 24 years.
· Refuse granting a lease for an extended area for a football pitch, as this is too intrusive in Hartsdown Park.
· Advise the removal of the extended parking area from the proposal or, at most, grant a small extension to the current car park. This would require the developers to seek an alteration to the current planning condition on parking provision. The reason for this is to avoid any further significant intrusion in Tivoli Park.
· Support the granting of a lease within the current football ground area for the construction of a hotel in line with the approved planning application, but try and ensure that the lease is as short as possible, whilst still making the project work financially.
· Support the extension of the lease for the current five-a-side pitches and car park from 15 to 24 years, to coincide in timing with the main ground lease.
Cabinet Members were clear that, whilst supporting the football club’s development and success in the future, this could not be at any cost to the parks.
Cabinet Member for Environmental Services Cllr. Alan Poole, said: “Let’s be clear, our recommendations to Council are not based on a lack of support for Margate Football Club. The council has already shown its support by granting planning permission for the new hotel development and improvements to club facilities, which we hope will see many more fans through the gates. This cannot come at any cost though. We have to be firm with any proposals that simply encroach too far into what is currently public open space. We’ve listened to local people through our consultation, and the public site visit, and I believe our recommendations reflect the range of views we received.”
Cabinet’s recommendations for the proposed lease extensions will be considered at Full Council on Thursday 19 January.


text:
Friday, March 16
The St. Anna Society at St. Anna Parish in Leominster will serve its annual Lenten fish dinner from 4-7 p.m., or until sold out, at the church on Lancaster Street (Route 117). The meal features baked haddock, coleslaw, potato, vegetable, macaroni and cheese or pasta with marinara sauce, dessert and a beverage. Tickets are $10 for adults or $5 for children (half portion). In addition, a bowl of chowder is $3.50 and a macaroni and cheese dinner (all of the above except haddock) is $5. Wine will be available for purchase for $3 per glass during dinner for your added enjoyment. Take out is available for all of the above except wine and soda. There will also be a 50/50 raffle, as well as a TV Raffle, now featuring a 43-inch TV. Visit www.stannaparish.org for more information.
The Leominster Lions Club will sponsor a Meat Raffle at 6:30 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus, 484 Lancaster St. (Route 117), Leominster. Doors open at 6 p.m. There will be seven meat tables, with items such as large roasts, premium steaks, hams (on tables 3-7), turkeys, ribs and chops.
Saturday, March 17
The Our Daily Bread ministry serves free breakfast every Saturday from 8-9 a.m. at Pilgrim Congregational Church, 26 West St., Leominster. Everyone is welcome.
Children ages 8-12 are invited to join the Leominster Public Library for a 3-D printing workshop on Saturday, March 17 at 2 p.m. or 3:15 p.m. Toys In Box Associates will introduce us to the world of 3-D printing. Participants will learn how 3-D printers work, and then use a Makerbot 3-D printer to make a small, multicolored 3-D miniature bunny, mini robot, or a St. Patrick's Day surprise, that they will get to take home. They will also get to try out 3Doodler 3-D pens. Registration is required by visiting the library, calling the library at (978) 534-7522, ext. 5, or visiting https://tinyurl.com/leomlibevents. This program is generously sponsored by Digital Federal Credit Union.
A Church Supper will be offered from 4-6 p.m. at the Congregational Church of Christ, 583 Main St. (Route 13), Leominster. Come in out of the cold and enjoy a freshly cooked turkey dinner served with mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetables, cranberry sauce, stuffing, bread and butter, coffee/tea and home baked desserts, all for $9. Tickets will be sold at the door.
A St. Urho's Day Dinner Dance will be held at the Finnish Center at Saima Park, 67 Scott Road, Fitchburg. A Dance Lesson will start at 5:30 p.m., with a Social Hour at 6 p.m. (with appetizers, BYOB) and dinner at 7 p.m. (meatballs with mashed potatoes, vegetables and dessert), followed by entertainment and dancing. Only 100 tickets will be sold for a 50/50 raffle. Bring your St. Urho-themed hat for the decorated hat contest. Wear purple and green, or wear a themed costume. Admission is $15 per person. For reservations, call Mauri and Laila at (978) 827-4387.
Chaffin Congregational Church, located at 155 Shrewsbury St. in Holden, will hold its annual Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner at 6 p.m. The menu will include corned beef, cabbage, red bliss potatoes and carrots, with cupcakes for dessert. The cost of the meal is $10 (free for children under 12). Take-out is available. Reservations are needed, whether eating in or getting take-out, by calling the church office at (508) 829-2146. Please bring a donation of canned food or other non-perishable items for the Wachusett Food Pantry. The church building is handicap accessible.
Sunday, March 18
Join writer, photographer and maritime historian Jeremy D'Entremont at the Leominster Public Library for a fascinating program about the lighthouses of New Hampshire and Southern Maine. D'Entremont's presentation combines historic and new photos, film clips, and audio clips to give the audience a stunning "virtual tour." The program will be held at 2 p.m. in the library's Community Room. The program is free, and no reservations are required. However, attendance is limited to the capacity of the room. The program is sponsored through donations by family and friends of Flo Wood and the Friends of the Leominster Library.
Dance2Swing with Eight to the Bar will be held from 6:45-10:30 p.m. at the Leominster-Fitchburg Lodge of Elks, 134 North Main St. (Route 12), Leominster. A Beginner Group Swing Dance Lesson will be offered at 6:45 p.m., followed by the show at 7:30 p.m. Admission for the band is $14. For more information, call (978) 728-4533 or visit www.dance2swing.com.
Monday, March 19
Children ages 2-5 and their families are invited to join the Leominster Public Library at 10 a.m. to celebrate the books of Paul Galdone. Families will enjoy stories, art, music and movement. Each family will leave the program with a book to take home and enjoy. Please note the author will not be present. Registration is required by visiting the library, calling the library at (978) 534-7522, ext. 5, or visiting https://tinyurl.com/leomlibevents. Sponsored by Project Apples, CFCE, in conjunction with the Friends of the Leominster Public Library.
The Leominster Golden Age Club meets every Monday starting at 1 p.m. at the Leominster Senior Center, 5 Pond St., Leominster. There is a short meeting and lunch, followed by bingo. Dues are $5 per year. Call Arline Ouellette about bus trips at (978) 537-7323.
Yoga with Linda is offered each Monday from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in the Guild Conference Room at HealthAlliance Hospital-Leominster Campus. Advance payment is required. For more information or to register, call (978) 665-5800.
Kids aged 8-13 are invited to join the Leominster Public Library from 6-8 p.m. for a Video Game Design Workshop with Empow Studios of Lexington. Participants will go from gamer to designer. Kids love playing video games, but they have even more fun playing games designed by them and their friends! This Video Game Design class encompasses storytelling, pixel art, and object-oriented programming, all through a user-friendly, 2D game design platform. Empow's non-violence policy keeps the games cringe-free and shareable once the kids bring their games home for everyone to play! Registration is required by visiting the library, calling the library at (978) 534-7522, ext. 5, or visiting https://tinyurl.com/leomlibevents.
Learn mindfulness meditation for positivity and relaxation. Free drop-in class every Monday at the Leominster Public Library from 7-8 p.m.
The Christian Life Center, located at 53 Main St. (Route 12) in Leominster, is offering a free, weekly support group for anyone who has someone in their life who is struggling with an addiction. It is designed to support parents, friends or other family members of those who are addicted. The group meets every Monday from 7-8:30 p.m. For more information, please feel free to contact Peter at (978) 660-9827 or Tammy or Tim at (978) 660-2532.
Friday, March 16

domain: library


text:
Inflation and Your Portfolio
Even low inflation rates can pose a threat to investment returns.
Have A Question About This Topic?
Do your insurance needs stay the same when the nest empties?
Have you explored all your options when it comes to managing your taxable income?
Taking regular, periodic withdrawals during retirement can be quite problematic.

domain: finance


text:
Scandalous Women in Fiction: The Confessions of Catherine de Medici
by C.W. Gortner
Ballantine Books, May 2010
From the Publisher:
To some she was the ruthless queen who led France into an era of savage violence. To others she was the passionate savior of the French monarchy. The last legitimate descendant of the illustrious Medici line, Catherine suffers the expulsion of her family from her native Florence and narrowly escapes death at the hands of an enraged mob. While still a teenager, she is betrothed to Henri, son of François I of France, and sent from Italy to an unfamiliar realm where she is overshadowed and humiliated by her husband’s lifelong mistress. Ever resilient, Catherine strives to create a role for herself through her patronage of the famous clairvoyant Nostradamus and her own innate gift as a seer. But in her fortieth year, Catherine is widowed, left alone with six young children as regent of a kingdom torn apart by religious discord and the ambitions of a treacherous nobility.
I confess that I was never a huge fan of Catherine de Medici. I always fell into the Diane de Poitiers camp. The story of how Henry II fell deeply in love with her as a boy which ruined him for all othe women including his wife, well I thought that was terribly romantic. To me, Catherine was a jealous shrew who tried to get between two lovers. How wrong I was!
My change of opinion comes after reading C.W. Gortner's masterful new novel, CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI. He takes the story of this vilified Queen and makes it fresh. We meet Catherine as an orphaned 11 year old living with her aunt in Florence, a pawn on the chessboard of European politics, subject to the rise and fall of her uncle Pope Clement VIII. When Charles V invades Italy, the powers that be sent Catherine to a convent where she is treated miserably, hair sorn, forced to pray all day, starved of food. When her fortunes change, she is sent to Rome and married off to the Duc d'Orleans, the second son of Francois I.
Here's where the novel really takes off, and gets juicy. Neglected by her husband, Catherine is taken under the wing of Francois' mistress, the Duchess d'Etampes. The doings of teh court are described in vivid detail, giving the reader a front row at the greatest show on Earth. Catherine learns to navigate the court, who is an ally, who is to be avoided at all costs, and who her enemies are. Enduring the snigers and gossip of those who would be only to happy to see the foreigner fail. Catherine navigates the obstacles placed before her with cunning and strength. She also suffers from visions which frighten her, a gift that she doesn't want. During the course of the novel, she seeks out the help of Nostradamus to help her and relies on the help of a young astrologer who has escaped from Florence which has unforseen consequences.
Under Gortner's pen, Catherine becomes a three dimensional character, sympathetic, neither black nor white, with shades of grey. In many ways, her story is the journey of a woman beginnng to fully realize her own power, and not just within the realm of the court, but discovering her inner strength and disguising her weaknesses. Catherine is treated as a foreigner who is not good enough to be the future Queen of France when she arrives at court, facing the possibility of being banished if she doesn't give birth to an heir. She becomes a widow and a single mother fighting for her children's right to the throne. A mother who outlives most of her children.
Henri II remains a cipher in the novel, a shadowy figure dominated by the sun and the moon as it were, in the persons of Catherine and Diane de Poitiers. I'd almost feel sorry for him if he weren't such an ass at times. If there is a villainess in the book it is Diane de Poitiers. Gortner depicts her as a cold, controlling, reptilian creature who has no real love for Henri. The politics of the time which can be a convoluted minefield is particularly well explained in this book. At all times, the reader is aware of who the major players are. The Guise family, who I've always been intrigued by, and their war against the French Protestants is gripping. All the secondary characters come to life in this book, Gaspard de Coligny who I had actually never heard of, Margot, the young rebellious princess, and all of Catherine's sons leap off the page. I felt immediately immersed in this world, gripped from the very first page.
I'd been in a bit of a reading slump lately but Gortner's book jolted me right out of it. I stayed up all night reading the book, wanting to know what happened next, how Catherine would deal with the next crisis, cringing when one of her children did something stupid and she would have to fix it. This is the second book of Gortner's that I've read, and I'm in awe of writers like him, Sharon Kay Penman, Catherine Delors, and others who make history come to life so vividly in their books.
I give high marks to this book, and I can't wait to read what Gortner comes up with next.


text: This book is about Harriet who spy's on a whole town of people and writes her thoughts in a notebook. Harriet's notebook comes up in the hands of others and everyone finds out what Harriet truly thinks about them . This book will be best used in upper elementary. It is important to inform students to not make fun of people and say mean things. I will allow my students to carry notebooks and write only good things about their classmates.


text:
Things are going well with Athanor Isle. I have most of the characters written, though they’re all missing supporting characters and many are missing the “Capabilities” section. The relationship map is done, and I like how it came out. Today I’m hoping to fill in a few blank spots in the characters and to work on the map. The city may be ever-changing and unmappable, but that doesn’t mean I can’t show the rest of the island.
Although, for the city… I could create a few hex-shaped geomorphs for the city and have a random generator that puts them together in different orders. The programming for that would be easy; the hard part will actually be creating the geomorphs and not having them look awful. I’d only need 14 of them, since no part of the city disappears. Hmm. Food for thought.

domain: artistic


text:
add an exhibit
add a comment
Dear Ramon, thank you for your positive feed-back! we are looking forward to having some of your work on our site!
on Tuesday 08/24/10 at 2:11 AM
Ramon, I like the surreal background of your work. Something that is under the skin of reality. Greetings from Poland! Best! Jarek
on Tuesday 06/15/10 at 11:18 PM
Hi Ramon, congratulations for winning an award! I can see why you won it - great work! You might be interested in Rise Art www.riseart.com Best wishes!
on Sunday 06/13/10 at 7:29 PM
Hi, Congratulations on winning the Juried Showcase-3! I am looking forward to seeing more and more of your exciting art in the coming months. Keep the creativity flowing All the Best! Cheers ! Seshadri
on Friday 06/11/10 at 1:36 AM
comments cor visser
You have a good eye for the tragic side of our live
Comment by: visser on Thursday 06/10/10 at 4:54 PM
add to saved list
forward by email
Share on Tumblr
JOIN THE TEAM
Copyright © 2006-2016 by ArtSlant, Inc. All images and content remain the © of their rightful owners.


Last year, the Montana Department of Transportation classified the Madison Street and Higgins Avenue bridges in downtown Missoula as being structurally deficient. Now, after a year of study, public comment and input from the city, MDT has recommended two options for the deteriorating structures: major rehabilitation or total bridge replacement. How it will pay for either remains up in the air.
MDT prefers to rehabilitate the bridges, and Bridge Bureau Chief Kent Barnes says he’d be “very surprised” if this option doesn’t prove to be the most feasible, most affordable and best suited to meet users’ needs.
“What would really drive us toward [bridge replacement] at this point,” Barnes says, “is if we get in there and we start looking at the structural rehabilitation and we start recognizing that there’s more problems with the structure than we believe there is.”
- Grace Ryan
- The Montana Department of Transportation suggests a major rehabilitation of the “structurally deficient” Madison Street and Higgins Avenue bridges in order to stabilize the deteriorating structures while also increasing bike and pedestrian access.
The known structural problems with the spans, which connect downtown to the Hip Strip and the University of Montana, are outlined in the Missoula Bridges Planning Study, which the department released earlier this month. The study describes “several forms of deterioration,” including cracked concrete decking, corroded steel and leaking joints in the deck. As a result, the study ranks the bridges “poor for structure condition and deck condition.” It also describes the steel-and-concrete structures as “vulnerable” to seismic activity. In addition, the bridges fail to meet current needs.
“When we talk about major rehabilitation, there’s really two goals here,” Barnes says. “One goal is to rehabilitate and preserve the structure. The other goal is to reconfigure the bridge deck and widen it as best we can to meet the needs and desires for increasing pedestrian and bike access across the bridge.”
Barnes explains that meeting those goals means finding a way to repair the bridges’ existing problems, slow future deterioration, preserve the existing four lanes of traffic and expand the width of bike lanes and sidewalks—all without exceeding the bridges’ existing foundation capacity. It’s no easy task considering the decks of both bridges are already crowded. The challenge for engineers is to find ways to make more room without adding too much weight and overloading the existing spans. That will likely mean removing medians, narrowing traffic lanes and widening the decks to the extent possible.
In order to determine exactly if—and if so, how—the bridges can be rehabilitated, MDT must conduct a structural analysis, which will take money currently not budgeted. MDT plans to rely primarily on the federal Highway Trust Fund to initiate and complete the project, but that fund is projected to be completely depleted this summer. Until a new transportation spending plan is signed into law, the MDT can’t proceed. The planning study estimates work on the rehabilitation project will begin within one to five years. The funding uncertainty, though, means “one year is drifting away very quickly,” Barnes says.
The total cost of major rehabilitation is projected to be $4 million–$8 million for the Higgins bridge and $2 million–$5 million for Madison. According to the study, that would buy approximately 25 to 50 more years for each structure. It’s not a permanent solution, but Barnes thinks it’s for the best.
“Where is Missoula going with the whole transportation network?” he asks. “Some of the traffic studies right now say that what we should be doing with Madison and Higgins is expanding them to three lanes each direction.”
One such study predicts annual average daily traffic on the Higgins bridge will go from 18,148 vehicles in 2010 to 23,578 in 2040. Traffic on the Madison bridge is projected to almost double over that 30-year period, rising from 12,685 vehicles a day to 22,411. As a result of such data, MDT did consider an option for replacing the current spans with six-lane bridges. While such a plan was rejected, it remains a future option.
“It could be that in 30 years, there is a pattern change that we have to expand those bridges out to support higher actual traffic lanes,” Barnes says.
Ellen Buchanan, director of the Missoula Redevelopment Agency, says she and others in city government acknowledge the possibility of increased downtown traffic, but she has a different vision of how best to manage that growth. Instead of larger bridges that would disrupt downtown’s character, she floats the idea of an electric streetcar crossing the Madison bridge and combating the rising traffic patterns. She also says additional one- or two-lane bridges could be added to the downtown area to meet demand.
“Traditionally in the United States our traffic engineering answer to congestion has been to make streets wider,” Buchanan says. “The thinking now is slowly but surely shifting to maybe you just expand the network, you disperse the traffic over more streets instead of making three streets so wide no one wants to be on them. That same thinking could apply to a bridge.”
In the meantime, work on the Higgins and Madison bridges will have to wait until Congress and the Obama administration agree on a way to increase revenue for the Highway Trust Fund, which currently relies on the federal 18.4 cents-per-gallon gas tax. Proposals include closing corporate tax loopholes, adding tolls to more highways and raising the federal gas tax for the first time since 1993.


By any fair minded analysis Cairns had a good few days this July. The Premier was here with her cabinet colleagues and for three days there was frenzied activity with press conferences, town hall style meetings, promises here, new announcements there and speeches everywhere. There is an old adage and that is: you get between a politician and a microphone at your mortal peril, be you a journalist or a protestor. There were lots of “announceables” with dizzying dollar values bandied about. That is the easy part. The harder part is the “deliverables” and that is where we must now focus our efforts.
At long last the worst kept secret in town was released and we learnt that we can dredge the inlet to allow bigger ships into the port with no impact on the environment. What a surprise. We have been dredging this inlet since Cairns was established. Final approval for that project is expected by the end of December for work to commence soon after. The tourism industry is happy at confirmation again, and again and again, that the Cairns Convention Centre is to be expanded to lift it to the next level of excellence. This is not just tourism infrastructure, but vital community infrastructure as well, so this is really good news.
Long suffering peak hour commuters from the Northern Beaches are expected to get some respite from their daily traffic woes with the construction of a bypass road avoiding the Smithfield roundabout to link up at the Yorkeys Knob roundabout, but not until 2020 on current predictions. They were the big ticket items. There were other announcements and re announcements as well for the region that were largely made in the recent budget, so nothing new here. This whole Government exercise was carefully and clinically managed and it was refreshing to see the engagement with so many interest groups and the ease at which these groups engaged with the Premier, Ministers and senior staff. It was a good exercise that has been replicated in other regional areas.
Whist these events are an excellent PR exercise, we need to remain focused on having governments deliver on a narrative that provides for real opportunity for our regions to grow their wealth around real job creation opportunities in traditional and developing industries that will deliver long-term regional economic diversification.


text:
The front panel of the single-sheet leaflet features a rough pencil drawing of a turkey, and within that turkey is the title text (Thanksgiving Dinner) plus the menu for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Below the drawing is additional text reading Courtesy Of Home Service Department, Lansing Ice & Fuel Co., then Suggestion: Let Us Help Plan Your Party, Luncheon And Dinner Menus. The background color of the leaflet is goldenrod. The back panel is blank.
Donor: Foust, Julie Chamberlain
Brand Name: Lansing Ice & Fuel
Publisher: Lansing Ice & Fuel Co. (Lansing, Mich.)
21.6 x 17.1 cm
Copyright: This item is under copyright.
Citation: Thanksgiving Dinner. The Alan and Shirley Brocker Sliker Collection, MSS 314, Special Collections, Michigan State University Libraries. Available at http://www.lib.msu.edu/exhibits/sliker/detail.jsp?id=8891


text:
If you’re driving on a freeway and know there won’t be a cop for miles, will you follow speed limits anyway? Maybe not. And if you run America’s second largest credit union and know the cops either aren’t there or can’t figure out how to run the radar detector, is there any reason to slow down? Definitely not.
According to the Wall Street Journal, when PenFed employees raised concerns that one of the nation’s largest and fastest growing credit unions was doing little or nothing to prevent fraud and money laundering, management turned a blind eye.
Perhaps this isn’t surprising, given PenFed’s CEO openly brags that he follows a management philosophy of “No Speed Limits.” But what was surprising was the response – or lack thereof – from the outfit charged with regulating credit unions and ensuring compliance, the National Credit Union Association (NCUA).
A recent investigative piece revealed that employees at the almost $25 billion credit union raised concerns about “understaffing, gaps in reporting of potentially suspicious transactions to the government, insufficient monitoring of wire transfers, a lack of anti-money-laundering training for senior leaders and inadequate scrutiny of potentially high-risk customers” in both 2016 and 2017. The response from regulators was crickets, which was better than the reaction of PenFed execs, who nicknamed the employees “Chicken Little” to discredit their claims.
And it gets even worse.
The article states that in 2015 NCUA said the anti-money-laundering program at PenFed was “overall appropriate.” Shortly after NCUA’s analysis, employees at PenFed began tracking and documenting issues and compliance gaps, demonstrating that even those within the industry had no confidence in NCUA’s ability to fairly analyze the program.
If NCUA isn’t carefully examining the basic regulatory programs at one of the largest credit unions in the country, what about the other 5,756 credit unions they’re supposed to be monitoring and regulating?
Fraud and money laundering aren’t the only laws PenFed ignores in its quest to make as much money as possible.
Credit unions were founded to provide thrift to people who shared a common bond, such as place of work or church. In the case of PenFed—better known as Pentagon Federal Credit Union before their creative rebranding a few years back—that’s military families. Judging by their management philosophy (No Speed Limits!) and slogan (Great Rates for EVERYONE!! No military service required!!!), which in and of itself makes a mockery of federal regulators, it appears the only thing PenFed requires potential customers to have in common is that they have a pulse.
In the process, the military families the credit union was chartered to serve lose out.
Which brings us back to NCUA. One would think that the people who are responsible for oversight and regulation of the industry would be alarmed by such behavior. But they aren’t. They might not even know about it. It would be one thing if taxpayers weren’t affected by PenFed’s reckless behavior, but they are. PenFed is exempt from federal income taxes, and its risky behavior is enabled because deposits are insured by the taxpayer-backed insurance fund. The fact is, NCUA’s negligence and incompetence puts taxpayers, and credit union members, in more danger.
This is just the latest in a long line of examples of NCUA being asleep at the switch. In the past, multiple CEOs of massive credit unions have been charged with embezzlement and theft, while risky loans to taxi medallions have shuttered credit unions. Throughout all of this, NCUA has continued to hand out “overall appropriate ratings” like candy.
It’s time for the NCUA to rein in big credit unions. If they continue to abdicate their responsibility, Congress needs to step in and find someone who will.


Vice President of Service Planning & Senior Project Manager
Years of Experience: 23
Years at Foursquare ITP: 9
As a Foursquare ITP Vice President and the Transit Service Planning lead, Josh has been afforded the opportunity to use his creativity and ingenuity to develop processes, methodologies, and tools that have impacted both the industry as a whole and the communities where he has worked. The key projects that he has led during his time at Foursquare ITP include the BaltimoreLink complete bus network redesign; Hampton Road Transit’s Transit Strategic Plan, which was awarded $31 million in dedicated annual transit funding; and the Eastern Panhandle Transit Authority’s Transit Development Plan, which resulted in a transit renaissance across the region.
BA, Urban Studies (City Planning)
University of Pennsylvania


text:
We all aim to eat healthy, but once in a while we all want a treat -- and while we deserve to indulge, you no longer need to worry that it will throw your healthy habits completely off course.
Our Superfood Chocolate bars might taste like a dessert, but with 2g of fiber, 1g of protein and only 90 calories, these delicious bars made with organic chocolate and fresh fruit will help keep you satiated and satisfied without the guilt that your indulgence of fruit and chocolate will throw off any dietary goals.
Featuring raspberries and cherries grown in Oregon, Washington and California, our fruit does not have to travel far from orchard to your bar, allowing them to retain their naturally delicious flavors. We then add dark Pascha Chocolate mini-chips for an added decadence you can taste!
In addition to our bars being vegan, gluten free and so much more, we also refused to cut corners when it came to quality testing. Each of our products have been created with a “family first” mindset to ensure that what you put in your body and what you share with the ones you love each meet the highest quality standards -- and our Superfood Chocolate bars are no exception.
Every product on this website was formulated with the mindset that my family and I would be using each nutritional supplement.
When you go into a product formulation knowing that your own family and children will use these products it ensures there will never be any compromise…
Plus, I want only the best for my online community and private practice clients. And, since people come to me for results after failing many times in the past, I have to know that every one of these products are truly the best of the best and will help people on their healing journey…
It’s important to understand that not all nutritional supplements are created equal.
For example, in a Functional Medicine practice only methylated or highly bio-available vitamins and minerals will be used in order to make it easy for the body to utilize.
Not only do these formula get better results, but they do not build up as toxins in the body or simply get excreted in the urine like most cheaper forms…
I made a promise to myself when I first started formulating the EquiLife line that I would not compromise on quality…
Even if a product cost me a few more dollars, I would not take any shortcuts in order to make a product for less.
This has enabled EquiLife to set itself apart even in the Functional Medicine community as a leader in the best ingredients used.
Besides never compromising on using the highest quality ingredients available when formulating our nutritional supplements, I make sure that each batch is 3rd Party tested for contaminants like:
This then allows me to be confident when consuming these products myself and knowing that the dosages are what is stated on the bottle.
Again, this leads to better user results and happier customers and wellness clients!
Another way in which the Equilibrium Nutrition supplement line sets itself apart as the leader in the industry is by always producing fresh orders every couple of months.
Our products do not sit in warehouses for over a year…
Instead we maintain freshness with smaller continuous batch orders along with climate controlled fulfillment centers.
This guarantees purity, freshness, and taste.
This is a difference you can both see and taste with every bottle!
At EquiLife we strive to provide the fastest and most convenient shipping available!
Since I know you’re going to absolutely love and see & feel the difference by using the Equi.Life supplement line I’ve formulated for my private practice, my family, and online community I'm happy to offer you my “Empty Bottle Guarantee!”
This means if you don’t see or feel the results you were looking for, or just don’t believe this was the absolute best product in its class that you’ve ever used, simply ship back the empty bottles, within 60 days of your purchase, for 100% of your product purchase price (not including S&H).
My team and I firmly believe in putting our clients and customers first, and we only want the best for you in your wellness, weight loss & anti-aging goals!
These bars are awesome. I try to only eat one, but they're so good, I always have another one. Will continue to buy forever (when they're in stock).
The bars are sweeter than I expected, a pleasant surprise. The bars are soft, not a solid chocolate bar. They taste good with nothing unhealthy for you in them!
These are my guilt free pleasure. Perfect amount of sweet and good chocolate flavor.
Great snack, chocolate flavor is great!
I enjoy the chocolate flavor bars, serve as a great snack!

domain: food


text:
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Excellent book, with especially breathtaking photography,
This review is from: The End of the Game: The Last Word from Paradise (Paperback)
This is an absolutely amazing book, full of beautiful photographs many of them dating back to the early 1900's. It is a very well presented look at the way attitudes have changed in East Africa, from the early hunters and photos of Karen Blixen, her guests and characters familiar from her books, excerpts from Pattersons diaries, and looking at how game control has evolved and the problems now facing the environment and game wardens as human impact interrupts nature's balance.
I however, most enjoy this book for it's photos. There are some amazing photos in here, made all the more so when you consider how long ago they were taken and the equipment that the photographers were using. I cannot recommend this book enough.

domain: hobby


Urgent statement from Benny Wenda after two more West Papuan teenagers were shot by the Indonesian police yesterday in the town of Timika, exactly one month after 6 other West Papuans were shot by the Indonesian military in the same town.
Yesterday my people once again witnessed the brutal murder and shooting of more West Papuan youths by the Indonesian authorities.
It is with yet more sadness that I and my people learned yesterday of how two 17 year old boys, Kaleb Bagau and Efrando Sabarofek were shot by the Indonesian police in Timika yesterday without any reason. Efrando, who was shot twice is now in hospital but Kaleb was shot dead instantly.
I want to send an urgent message to the world that West Papua has become a killing field for the Indonesian military and police.
According to recent information, the boys were simply sitting with their friends under a local tower when the Indonesian police arrived at the area and began to ask people “where are the messed up children?” Apparently someone told the police that the “messed up children” were here and that the boys “parents are part of the Free Papua movement.” Within 10 minutes, Indonesian police with 8 cars and 15 motorbikes pulled up and began raiding houses. It seems that Kaleb and Efrando were scared and ran into the street where they were then shot by the police.
Today as people from the West Papua National Committee carried the body of Kaleb through the streets of Timika in his coffin, thef funeral procession was blockaded by This is another example of the Indonesian authorities having no respect for Papuans in life or death – they killed Kaleb Bagau as if he never existed.
How can the Indonesian police do this to our children and think they can get away with it?
It is exactly one month to the day since two other West Papuan youths were shot dead and up to 4 more injured by the Indonesian military in the same town of Timika. 5 more West Papuan children were also shot dead by the Indonesian military last December.
We West Papuans are always mourning over the murders of our people and yet always during our mourning more innocent West Papuans are being murdered. Recently 700 more Indonesian soldiers were sent to West Papua, adding to the more than 40,000 already stationed there. They are sent expressly to wipe out the Melanesian race in West Papua. My heart really cries at all the constant bloodshed and murder endured in this land.
Ever since Indonesia illegally occupied West Papua in 1969 they have never made any effort to bring to the perpetrators of any human rights violations to justice. Papuan lives are not just cheap under Indonesian rule, they are worthless. We are treated as if we do not even exist and there is always impunity for those that kill us. In the last 2 weeks, the Indonesian government made very suspicious claims that some West Papuans had kidnapped Indonesians and taken them into Papua New Guinea. The Indonesian government immediately identified who they claimed were responsible for the kidnapping and reportedly even prepared a military force with scores of soldiers ready to enter PNG.
If the Indonesian government can always manage to find and target the exact West Papuans they blame, why do they never manage to find or attempt to bring to justice any Indonesians responsible for murdering West Papuans?
We West Papuans know perfectly well that the Indoensian police, military, courts and government are working together to perpetuate the illegal occupation of West Papua with total impunity. When we are tortured, when we are shot, when our family members are killed, who can we go to? The police? They are the perpetrators. This horrible killing yesterday sickens and saddens us West Papuans to the core. Over 500,000 innocent West Papuan men, women and children have been killed by the Indonesian authorities and yet there has been no justice whatsoever. True justice will only come when West Papua is free.
We know that this constant cycle of Indonesian police and military violence is used as a tool to keep West Papua under Indonesian occupation. The Indonesian government is so scared of our international Independence movement, they are trying to torture, murder and terrify us into submission. We will never submit to Indonesia. After 50 years of illegal occupation, every new generation of West Papuans is only growing up with more and more sentiment to resist Indonesian colonial rule and to campaign for the freedom of West Papua.
My people have never been allowed to choose our own destiny. We have never had our fundamental right to self-determination fulfilled and as a result, the Indonesian government has felt free to treat West Papua as their own colony. The torture, rape, shootings and murder of the West Papuan people has continued ever since and Kaleb Bagau has become the latest victim of this ongoing genocide that has claimed the lives of over 500,000 people.
Therefore, I appeal to people and organisations all around the world, including parliamentarians, civil leaders and the media to please spread the message about the truth of what is happening in West Papua. We West Papuans desperately need the outside world to learn about our situation and spread the truth about our story.
I also call upon the leaders of our fellow Pacific Countries and the United Nations to continue to push for sending an urgent Fact Finding Mission to West Papua to investigate this ever worsening human rights tragedy. The situation in occupied West Papua is only getting worse and worse and we urgently need this fact finding mission to unravel the real truth of the atrocities before it is too late.
As my people continue to learn of more and more of these tragic cases with tears in our eyes and pain in our hearts; we hope so dearly that the international community will look to West Papua with sympathy and act to help us before the West Papuan people vanish completely.
We will not let the murder of Kaleb Bagau and the shooting Efrando Sabarofek be in vain. Their names are part of the proud but long suffering history of West Papua and they will always be remembered as 2 of the hundreds of thousands of victims of Indonesian state attacks and killings against us.
My deepest condolences and sympathies go with the families of these brave boys; may Efrando Sabarofek be healed and may Kaleb Bagau rest in peace. Together, we all say “No more killing. No more rape, no more torture, no more prison. One day we will be free!”
I would like to thank everyone around the world for all their ongoing support for the freedom of the people of West Papua.
My best wishes and regards to you all


text:
AT THE 2009 Science and Innovation Awards for Young People in Agriculture, Minister for Agriculture, Tony Burke, presented the $30,000 Minister for Agriculture Award to Dr Leah Bradbury, University of Melbourne.
She also won $20,000 for her research into the use of anti-inflammatory drug carprofen for long-term pain relief in sheep.
Dr Bradbury is a vet at the University of Melbourne and will use the award to expand her research to determine optimal timing and dosing levels for pain management in juvenile sheep.
“This research will provide key information to support licensing of the drug for use as an anti-inflammatory and analgesic in sheep,” Dr Bradbury said.
Grants of up to $20,000 were given to another 13 young Australians aged between 18 and 35 years who work or study in the agriculture, fisheries, and forestry, food or natural resource industries.
The projects cover research such as investigating new breeds of perennial grasses to withstand climate change impacts, developing a mechanical pollination system to improve onion crop yields, and improving the fertility of dairy cows.
Mr Burke said young people considering careers in our primary industries now have more role models to follow after key awards were announced for young people in science and innovation.
* More information: www.daff.gov.au/scienceawards
Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date.

domain: agronomy


(RNN) – Minecraft, an immersive computer game in which players use blocks to build the world they inhabit, is now trying to build something in the real world.
The makers of the game are using a new ocean update – which will be the first to give players a chance to focus on building underwater worlds – to promote rebuilding actual corals.
The game’s website announced the initiative, the Coral Crafters regrowth project, on Tuesday.
Developers are planning six Biorock installations, fixtures placed in ocean waters around which new reefs can grow. They are said to facilitate far quicker growth than natural reef processes.
They intend to put them off the coast of Cozumel, Mexico.
Biorock structures can be arranged in elaborate designs, and Minecraft’s site said three of its fixtures will be fashioned to look like two of its iconic block characters, Alex and Steve, as well as a sea turtle.
The other three will be designed by popular YouTubers who play the game.
Reefs are collections of small marine animals called polyps, which come to host the algae that gives them their fantastic colors in a symbiotic relationship.
According to a recently-updated post on the website for Columbia University’s Earth Institute, 75 percent of the world’s coral reefs face environmental risk and a quarter are already permanently damaged.
Citing a report by the World Resources Institute, 90 percent of coral reefs could be in danger by 2030, and possibly all of them by mid-century.
Reefs are one of the most important habitats for marine species. Fishing and pollution have long threatened them, and now warming waters are frequently resulting in what’s called coral bleaching. That process robs them of their rich colors, and more seriously can lead to disease, reproductive issues and death.
A report published in the journal Nature this week notes that Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest and most famous reef, lost a third of its corals in a bleaching event in 2016. The lead author of the report, Terry Hughes, told The Atlantic that initial research indicates a heat wave last year triggered another bleaching, and the reef has now lost half its corals since 2015.
“We can do something about this – with YOUR help!” the Minecraft post says.


text:
The bacteria's cleaning power comes from their ability to "inhale" toxic metals and "exhale" them in a non-toxic form, explains team member Brian Lower, assistant professor in the School of Environment and Natural Resources at Ohio State University.
Using a unique combination of microscopes, researchers at Ohio State University and scientists from Austria, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States were able to see how the bacterium Shewanella oneidensis breaks down metal to chemically extract oxygen.
The study, published online this week in the journal "Applied and Environmental Microbiology," provides the first evidence that the Shewanella bacterium maneuvers proteins within the bacterial cell into its outer membrane to contact metal directly.
The proteins then bond with metal oxides, which the bacteria utilize the same way we use oxygen - to breathe.
"We use the oxygen we breathe to release energy from our food. But in nature, bacteria don't always have access to oxygen," said Lower. "Whether the bacteria are buried in the soil or underwater, they can rely on metals to get the energy they need. It's an ancient form of respiration."
Stained with dye, Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 bacteria are growing without oxygen on solid iron oxide. (Photo by J. Burns)
With better knowledge of the bacterium's abilities, scientists might one day engineer a Shewanella that would remediate nuclear waste. Since the bacteria can reduce chromium and uranium from the liquid phase to form insoluble compounds, they may be used to eliminate these two environmental pollutants from water.
"For instance, if you could enhance this bacterium's ability to reduce uranium by having it make more of these key proteins, that could perhaps be one way to clean up these sites that are contaminated," Lower said.
"This kind of respiration is fascinating from an evolutionary standpoint," he said, "but we're also interested in how we can use the bacteria to remediate nasty compounds such as uranium, technetium, and chromium."
The last two are byproducts of plutonium. The U.S. Department of Energy is sponsoring the work in order to uncover new methods for treating waste from nuclear weapons production in the 1960s and 1970s. The agency estimates that more than 2,500 billion liters of U.S. groundwater are contaminated with uranium as a consequence of nuclear weapons production.
Shewanella is naturally present in the soil, and can be found at nuclear waste sites such as the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in central Washington state, said Lower.
The danger at such waste sites is that the toxic metals are soluble, and so can leak into the local water supply. But these bacteria naturally convert the metals into an insoluble form. Though the metals would remain in place, they would be stable solids instead of unstable liquids.
For this study, Lower and his colleagues used an atomic force microscope to test how the bacterium responded to the metallic mineral hematite.
An atomic force microscope places a tiny tip above the surface being studied to measure how much the tip rises and falls as it passes over the surface. It can measure features smaller than a nanometer, a billionth of a meter, and detect atomic forces between the probe tip and the surface material.
The scientists combined the atomic force microscope with an optical microscope to get a precise map of the bacteria's location on the hematite.
For this study, the researchers coated their probe tip with antibodies for the protein OmcA, which they suspected Shewanella would use to "breathe" the metal.
Whenever the probe slid over an OmcA protein, the antibody coating would stick to the protein. By measuring the tiny increase in force needed to pull the two apart, the researchers could tell where on the bacteria surface the proteins were located.
The microscope detected OmcA all around the edges of the bacteria, wherever the cell membrane contacted the hematite - which suggests that the protein does enable the bacteria to "breathe" hematite, Lower explained.
Lower's coauthors on the paper come from Corning, Inc.; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Johannes Kepler University of Linz, Austria; Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland; and Umea University, Sweden.
In the future, Lower and his partners want to test whether the Shewanella bacterium leaves OmcA on the cell surfaces when exposed to uranium and technetium, a radioactive metal produced in large quantities by nuclear fission. Technetium spreads more readily than many other radioactive substances, but despite of the importance of understanding its toxicity in animals and humans, experimental evidence is thin.
As a result of nuclear fuel reprocessing, technetium has been discharged into the sea in a number of locations along the British coast, and some seafood contains tiny but measurable quantities.
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2009. All rights reserved.

domain: chemistry


text:
Latest statistics and disclosures from BCK Partners's latest quarterly 13F-HR filing:
- Top 5 stock holdings are VOO, VCSH, VO, VB, IGIB, and represent 82.41% of BCK Partners's stock portfolio.
- Added to shares of these 10 stocks: VCSH (+$6.4M), IGIB, VO, VOO, VB, SCHF, SCHE, BRK.B, GLW, SPTM.
- Reduced shares in these 10 stocks: SPSB (-$6.2M), SPIB, VTI, SCHA, IJH, SPDW, AMZN, SPEM, JNJ, IVV.
- Sold out of its positions in AMZN.
- BCK Partners was a net buyer of stock by $1.3M.
- BCK Partners has $148M in assets under management (AUM), dropping by 6.71%.
- Central Index Key (CIK): 0001845867
Tip: Access up to 7 years of quarterly data
Positions held by BCK Partners consolidated in one spreadsheet with up to 7 years of dataDownload as csv Download as Excel
Portfolio Holdings for BCK Partners
BCK Partners holds 27 positions in its portfolio as reported in the December 2022 quarterly 13F filing
|Company (Ticker)||Portfolio Weight||Valued At||Change in Shares||Share Count||Share Price|
|Vanguard Index Fds S&p 500 Etf Shs (VOO)||26.0||$38M||+2%||109k||351.34|
|Vanguard Scottsdale Fds Shrt Trm Corp Bd (VCSH)||20.3||$30M||+27%||397k||75.19|
|Vanguard Index Fds Mid Cap Etf (VO)||15.7||$23M||+5%||113k||203.81|
|Vanguard Index Fds Small Cp Etf (VB)||11.7||$17M||+5%||94k||183.54|
|Ishares Tr Ishs 5-10yr Invt (IGIB)||8.8||$13M||+25%||263k||49.51|
|Schwab Strategic Tr Intl Eqty Etf (SCHF)||4.1||$6.1M||+8%||189k||32.21|
|Spdr Ser Tr Portfolio Short (SPSB)||2.3||$3.4M||-64%||114k||29.38|
|Schwab Strategic Tr Emrg Mkteq Etf (SCHE)||1.7||$2.5M||+14%||106k||23.67|
|Vanguard Index Fds Total Stk Mkt (VTI)||1.4||$2.0M||-29%||11k||191.19|
|Spdr Ser Tr Portfolio Intrmd (SPIB)||1.3||$1.9M||-55%||60k||31.83|
|Schwab Strategic Tr Us Sml Cap Etf (SCHA)||1.1||$1.7M||-28%||42k||40.51|
|Corning Incorporated (GLW)||0.7||$1.1M||+3%||34k||31.94|
|Berkshire Hathaway Inc Del Cl B New (BRK.B)||0.7||$1.1M||+21%||3.5k||308.90|
|Spdr Index Shs Fds Portfolio Devlpd (SPDW)||0.5||$801k||-32%||27k||29.69|
Setup an alert
BCK Partners will file the next quarterly 13-HR in about 3 months. Would you like to be notified?
|Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)||0.4||$644k||-9%||3.6k||176.65|
|Ishares Tr Core S&p500 Etf (IVV)||0.4||$593k||-7%||1.5k||384.21|
|Ishares Tr Core S&p Mcp Etf (IJH)||0.4||$568k||-53%||2.3k||241.89|
|Norfolk Southern (NSC)||0.3||$388k||1.6k||246.42|
|Spdr Ser Tr Portfoli S&p1500 (SPTM)||0.2||$364k||+4%||7.7k||47.29|
|Nextera Energy (NEE)||0.2||$357k||4.3k||83.60|
|Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM)||0.2||$341k||3.1k||110.30|
|Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)||0.2||$273k||1.1k||239.82|
|Spdr Index Shs Fds Portfolio Emg Mk (SPEM)||0.2||$238k||-48%||7.2k||32.96|
|Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO)||0.2||$228k||414.00||550.69|
Past Filings by BCK Partners
SEC 13F filings are viewable for BCK Partners going back to 2020
- BCK Partners 2022 Q4 filed Jan. 20, 2023
- BCK Partners 2022 Q3 filed Nov. 7, 2022
- BCK Partners 2022 Q2 filed July 20, 2022
- BCK Partners 2022 Q1 restated filed May 13, 2022
- BCK Partners 2022 Q1 filed April 21, 2022
- BCK Partners 2021 Q4 filed Jan. 18, 2022
- BCK Partners 2021 Q3 filed Oct. 13, 2021
- BCK Partners 2021 Q2 filed Aug. 10, 2021
- BCK Partners 2021 Q1 filed April 28, 2021
- BCK Partners 2020 Q4 filed Feb. 16, 2021

domain: economics


Volvo's Cross Country AWD estate wagon, jacked up in the suspension and rigged with a permanently engaged all-wheel-drive device for...
Perhaps the most notable thing about the Volvo C30 was that it was in Twilight, which must have spurred at least 3 or 4 overly expensive movie-memorabilia purchases.
Read This Article
Volvo recently announced that it will not be developing a flagship sedan to compete with any of its competitors.
If we're playing word association, Swedish automaker has a few we can think of that fit it well: Safe, practical, and wagon.
Volvo unveiled the R-Design versions of the S60 and XC60 today at the New York Auto Show, both featuring a redesigned face for a more sporty appearance, as well as driving-focused chassis and 325 horsepower.


text:
However, the Kestells stand tall when it comes to dairy herd genetics, milk production per cow and forage production.
Kestell, along with his wife, Gin; their son, Chris; and his wife, Jennifer, are partners in Ever-Green-View Farms LLC, near Waldo, Wisconsin. The family dairy was featured on the Forage Stage of the 2018 World Dairy Expo, presenting a seminar: “On-farm Feed and Forage Management for a 44,000-Pound Herd.”
Tom and Gin started farming in 1973 and purchased the current farm in 1975. Through the years, older buildings and a desire to manage registered cows as individuals has kept a lid on herd size, generally between 85 and 90 head. The Kestells have made the conscious decision to improve internally and not increase cow numbers.
“They’re well built and well insulated,” Kestell said of the two barns on the farm – built in 1850 and 1903. “They’ve been updated with tunnel ventilation and long-day lighting.”
“Team Kestell” also includes veteran nutritionist Steve Woodford of Nutrition Professionals Inc., Sheboygan, Wisconsin. He and Kestell call the shots on a feeding approach that scores … and scores … and scores.
There’s plenty of statistical evidence showing the Kestell dairy herd can put up basketball-style numbers: The rolling herd average was approaching 46,000 pounds of milk per cow per year by the time the World Dairy Expo seminar was held in October 2018. That’s nearly double the national average milk production per cow. The herd’s production per cow jumps about 1,200 pounds per year compared to recent national averages of just over 300 pounds.
The herd averages 133 pounds of milk per cow per day with 3.99 percent milkfat and 3.1 percent protein. By lactation, first-lactation animals’ average peak is 140 pounds of milk per day, second-lactation cows hit 174 pounds, and third-lactation animals peak at 180 pounds of milk.
The Kestells’ brightest star is Ever-Green-View My Gold-ET, who, until she was passed in 2017 by Selz-Pralle Aftershock 3918, held the Holstein breed 365-day record of 77,480 pounds of milk, 1,992 pounds of fat and 2,055 pounds of protein.
Forages and feeding
Whether it’s dairy cattle or forages, everything at Ever-Green-View starts with genetics. On the forage side, the goal is to produce consistent, palatable feeds on the dairy’s 600 acres. They took five cuttings of alfalfa in 2018.
Rained-on forages are a technical foul. Forages not affected by rain are harvested and stored quickly to preserve quality. Forages are stored in six upright silos and as baleage, so forage allocation remains flexible.
“I believe feed allocation is just as important as the feed itself,” Kestell said. “If you have one big bunker on the farm, and you have any damaged forage, or forage that got rained on, or forage that is below par, or there were harvest delays, you have to feed that to all the cows. We’re able to segregate the feed and feed it to the cows we want to feed it to – the heifers, the dry cows, the milking cows. You don’t want anything going into our milking herd ration that’s been compromised at all. We try and keep a very uniform feed going into them.”
“We chop our corn silage and haylage at virtually the same length,” he said. “We don’t want sorting.”
Kestell also stressed it’s important to keep cows and feedstuffs cool.
“It’s just as important to keep the feed cool,” he said. “Keep the cows as cool as you can, and get them to eat at the coolest time of the day.”
In addition to raising their own dairy feed, the Kestells sell roasted soybeans, corn silage and shell corn – but won’t part with homegrown hay except in rare circumstances.
He doesn’t put a lot of grass seed in new alfalfa seedings, preferring to segregate some pure grass stands for dry cows and calves.
During the past two years, alfalfa haylage has tested in a range of 21 to 25 percent crude protein (CP) and 34 to 39 percent neutral detergent fiber (NDF). They rarely have haylage testing higher than 200 relative feed value (RFV), striving for the 160 to 190 RFV range.
“We don’t like ‘rocket fuel’ that much,” Kestell said, noting he doesn’t like to dilute forage quality with straw.
Woodford said Ever-Green-View’s dairy ration isn’t markedly different than those of his other clients: 16 percent protein, 27 to 29 percent NDF and 5 percent fat. The ration starts in the field and is founded on good homegrown forages – generally 60 to 70 percent of the total diet.
BMR corn silage has been part of the feeding program for more than 10 years and represents about 60 percent of total forage dry matter. Recent management changes included chopping the BMR corn silage at 34 inches in height and processing as shredlage. Kestell said chopping the corn silage higher didn’t detract much from tonnage but dramatically changed the forage analysis.
The 2016-17 corn silage crops averaged 31 to 35 percent NDF, 40 to 41 percent starch and 64 to 70 percent NDFd (30-hours). Initial tests of the 2018 corn silage crop tested at 48 percent starch.
Woodford said going to the higher chop height for BMR corn silage boosted average dry matter intake (DMI) by about 4 pounds per cow per day – up to 66 to 67 pounds per cow per day. With the change, milk production has averaged better than 2 pounds of milk per pound of dry matter – and increased by about 10 pounds per day.
With the high-starch corn silage, Kestell doesn’t feed a lot of grain – about 8 to 10 pounds of high-moisture shell corn (harvested at 27 percent moisture and stored in Harvestore silos) per cow per day. Lactating cows get no dry hay.
For the lactating herd, everything but the roasted soybeans and baleage is fed as a one-group TMR two times per day. Feed is pushed up every few hours around the clock. The roasted beans are top-dressed in the morning before the new TMR is fed, and then baleage is put on top of freshly delivered TMR.
“I’m amazed how much our cows eat overnight: They eat more than 50 percent of their feed between 12 midnight to 6 a.m.,” Kestell said.
After feed is pushed up, it’s top-dressed with 3 pounds of roasted soybeans and 4 pounds of baleage. They believe that process boosts DMI by about 1 to 2 pounds per cow per day.
“Cows love roasted beans,” Kestell said. “We could put the roasted beans in the TMR, and it would test the same, but then we wouldn’t get that kick of eating up the feed. We want them to eat most of the ration, or it’s not a balanced ration.
“It’s like putting sprinkles on your ice cream cone,” Kestell said. “The cows like it, and we want our cows to be happy.”
Woodford believes elite milk producers like the Kestells’ herd defy conventional wisdom – and current feeding models. The nutritionist’s goal is to maximize rumen fermentation, with milk components serving as a sensitive indicator of ration performance.
“His cows are making 5.5 pounds of butterfat per day, or about a quarter-pound of butterfat every hour,” Woodford said. “That’s like a stick of butter every hour of every day, and they’re only getting about half of that from the diet. All the rest of that fatty acid precursors are coming from rumen fermentation.”
When adding in the 3 percent protein, the cows are making 10 pounds of solids per day.
In addition to cutting BMR corn silage higher, the Kestells’ forage management has another unique aspect. After combining corn for grain, they harvest the cornstalks in round bales, then wrap them in plastic. They prefer line wrapping to individual bales.
The following summer, the stalks are spread on the top of first- and second-crop alfalfa haylage windrows in the field, chopped together and put into upright silos as a feed for heifers.
“It’s like a TMR with the cornstalks mixed in,” Kestell said. “It lowers the protein from about 22 percent to 17 percent. We can lower it more by putting on more cornstalks.”
Cattle breeding, genetics
The Kestells strive for longer days in milk (DIM), preferring not to breed cows back when they’re over 150 pounds of milk per day. The average lactation length is 340 days.
When it comes to cow genetics, Kestell uses Net Merit as the basis but also looks at individual components of that index. He also has a heightened concern for udders.
Kestell scoffs at the idea producers can select for type and manage for elite production. “Breeding for type and feeding for production is an oxymoron,” he said. “That’s like drafting me into basketball and trying to teach me to jump higher.”
“When you’re under 30,000 pounds of milk, management can override almost anything,” Kestell said. “But if you want to go over 45,000 pounds, genetics in every area of the farm becomes more important. It’s easy to get cows to milk at 25,000 pounds; it’s harder for them to get to be 70,000-pound cows.”
All animals are genomically tested. Heifers are running 2.5 times breed average for milk, fat and protein.
“Cows want to express what they have inside them,” he said. “We don’t want cows with weak spots: we don’t want cows with extreme milk production but low components,” he said. “If you have a low-component herd, you can’t feed them successfully for high components; if you have a high-component herd, you’ll damage a cow by forcing her down to more moderate components.”
For more on the Kestells and Ever-Green-View, visit their website (Ever-Green-View).
PHOTO 1: Partners in Ever Green View Dairy Farm are Tom and Gin Kestell (seated) and their son, Chris, and his wife Jennifer.
PHOTO 2: Ever Green View dairy herd
PHOTO 3: A focus on forages – from seed to feedout – helps the Kestells achieve a herd average of nearly 46,000 pounds of milk per cow.
PHOTO 4: Tom Kestell, his son Chris and grandson William. Photos by Harlen Persinger.
- Progressive Dairyman
- Email Dave Natzke


MMG's DJ Scream releases visuals for his new single "Hood Rich Anthem."
Curren$y and Harry Fraud drop visuals for "Biscayne Bay," which appeared on the Cigarette Boats EP
Live stream of Jay-Z's last of 8 shows for the opening of Brooklyn’s Barclays Center
Jadakiss drops visuals for his Emanny featured track "Cuz We Paid" that appeared on his Consignment project.
50 Cent unleashes the official lyric video for his new Street King Immortal single "First Date" featuring Too $hort.
Ryan Leslie talks to Sway about his 2 albums in the works, the Presidential election and more
Jay-Z's Saturday night show from the new Barclay's Center will be streamed online
RZA gets up with Chunk Dirty and schools them on the game
TDE's Ab-Soul drops a freestyle live in the Shade 45 studios for StreetHeatTv.
Prodigy drops off visuals for "Without Rhyme or Reason," which appeared on HNIC3.
B.o.B. drops visuals for his Chris Brown and T.I. featured single, “Arena,” which appears on Strange Clouds
The legendary Masta Ace checks in with Episode 1 of his new diary series
New Feature - DefSounds goes back to the classics for Throwback of the Week
While on his promo run for good kid, m.A.A.d city, Kendrick Lamar stops by The Breakfast Club
BET releases the first 3 Cyphers from the 2012 Hip Hop Awards
Nas and Amy Winehouse together again in the official video for Cherry Wine
High quality footage of Gunplay's Hip Hop Awards fights vs 50 Cent's entourage has surfaced
Rick Ross releases visuals for his T.I. featured "Bury Me A G," which appeared on MMG’s Self Made Vol 2.
Esohel releases visuals for the lead single, "Paid Dues," from his collab project, On Purpose With A Purpose with Ricky Dub's.
Ever wondered how some musicians celebrate their birthday
Pharrell Williams relaunches the Ice Cream Skate Team .. Video featuring an unreleased track by Pharrell
New interview series that uncovers what successful actors, musicians, chefs, athletes and others, did to get to be leaders in their industries


Resulting of the value analysis, the design to cost process allows to create the new product on the market with the maximum efficiency – to increase the product performance and to reach the customer expectations at targeted costs.
Design to cost approach should be involved as early as possible in the product development cycle and obtained by the cooperation of all actors (marketing, product, engineering, procurement, industrialization, sales and maintenance).
Our design to cost support allows you to generate the cost savings by bringing to life the new innovative and best in quality product.
We provide the business cases arbitration and profitability studies to support project management choices.
We ensure the cost transparency and the cost drivers understanding by forecasting the future total cost of ownership (TCO) of the product, and creating and following the risks/opportunities portfolio.
We helping to understand the cost breakdown of the commodities, analyze it with target cost analysis and to create the shared with other internal stakeholders action plan to reach these target costs.
We develop the maturity of the purchasing function from the procurement strategy elaboration to the direct project purchasing support.
Define the strategy and organization of the purchasing.
Find the right sizing of the function, its positioning in the enterprise and maturity increase.
Sourcing and supplier evaluation.
Support to the contracting.
Strategical suppliers management.
Purchasing performance measurement shared with the finance/controlling.
Labor cost being the dominating factor during decades driving the delocalization movement of the production activity.
The relocation (also called backshoring) is related to the other drivers, such as quality, flexibility, lead time and access to the high level of skills and technology.
We offer our support to the start-ups and the large groups in the business cases analysis, research and identification of the industrial partners, and operational management during the transitional phase of industrial installation.
We perform make or buy studies – in order to decide whether to manufacture a product in-house or to purchase it from the third party. This decision should be based on the company’s core competence.


Actionable Lead Generation for Manufacturers
Thank you for your interest in the Actionable Lead Generation for Manufacturers webinar! You can watch it here on your own schedule.
See How MFG Helps Companies Like Yours
Needed manufacturers that specialized in making machined aluminum housings.
GTI Precision Components
Became focused on complex machining and needed jobs that would align to their growth.


text:
Totally Texas! The Big Book of Activities
Puzzles, Games, Coloring and More!
Kids of all ages will be entertained for hours with this BIG book!
Find out why Texas is totally awesome by solving mazes and crossword puzzles, decode messages, connect the dots to find hidden images, unscramble word jumbles, doodle, color, draw and more!
Solutions to puzzles are found in the back of the book.
Oversized paperback measures 8.5×11″.


LEXINGTON, N.C. — It is an experiment that ended in great success.
Southwood Elementary School in Lexington has Davidson County’s first Spanish Immersion program.
It has been very successful so far. It started in the 2016-2017 school year with a Kindergarten class. Each year since then it has added one more class as the students moved up.
Teachers for the program come from different Spanish-speaking countries through a company called Participate Learning.
For them, its an opportunity to teach in and learn about a different country.
Kindergarten teacher Angellica Yepes started at Southwood with the first class. She says she has learned so much while in Davidson County.
“I’m all about languages,” she said. “I love languages, and I love to see how the kids will start from saying nothing to you and then at this point of the year they are trying to talk to you in Spanish. In a foreign language.”
Yepes has seen the children progress and learn to speak her native tongue.
“It’s very amazing to see the third graders. They understand every word you say,” she said. “They say it back to you with our accents, with our words. With everything. Or the second graders, or the first graders. It’s pretty amazing to see how they are evolving through the years. I’m really proud of them.”
At Southwood, the students are fluent by the end of their second-grade year, which is earlier than other Participate programs.
The students are held to the same North Carolina standards as other classes. Principal Ashley Lemley is proud of that.
“In second grade, we do start teaching them English because obviously we want them to read in both languages. However, once a student learns to read in Spanish, its very easy for them to learn to read in English because reading skills are reading skills. Reading foundations are reading foundations. We go back and teach them the vowels in Spanish and English because there are marked differences that they need to learn, but as soon as they pick up on those, they can read in both languages, and you’ll even hear them converse sometimes using both Spanish and English merged together,” she said.
While the program isn’t for everyone, it is very beneficial for those who do participate.
“You hear so much about having students ‘globally ready,'” said Lemley. “I can’t think of a way to have them more globally ready than to be teaching them about the culture of other countries all along their elementary career as well as having them fluent in another language.”
Currently, the program runs Kindergarten through third grade. In the next two years, it will be expanded to fourth and fifth grades.


text:
Next part was to create realistic SSS and candle flame effects. Well, SSS was easy to handle with my textures but flame was the hardest part. Finally I find a way by multiplying and mixing bunch of falloff nodes in Octane Render. And result was pretty convincing for me.
Especially I love the feeling when soft light of candles fell on the gold coins.
So candle creation is determined like this. After all items done, I will consider the setup of the scene and decide that what kind of candle, candlestick or candlestand is ideal for the scene.


On Friday, a Minnesota administrative law judge ruled the state can proceed with finalizing new clean car standards that will give Minnesotans more control over air quality improvements and progress toward the state’s greenhouse gas reduction goals, as well as increase vehicle model choices for Minnesota car buyers and save drivers money at the pump. Read more >
August 24, 2020 3:19 PM EDT
As a young engineer who has recently entered the workforce, I can confidently say that the technology needed to meet the Obama-era clean car standards still exists, and, that they are plentiful and accessible to manufacturers. Read more >
February 11, 2020 2:08 PM EDT
One of the questions I’m most frequently asked about electric vehicles (EV) is: “Are they really a cleaner option?” While it’s obvious that a fully-electric vehicle eliminates tailpipe emissions, people often wonder about the global warming emissions from generating the electricity to charge an EV. The latest data affirms that driving on electricity produces significantly fewer emissions than using gasoline and is getting better over time.
March 8, 2018 10:48 AM EDT
UPDATE, 2/26/20: Read the latest installment of this blog, “Are Electric Vehicles Really Better for the Climate? Yes. Here’s Why,” which includes electricity power plant emissions data for 2018 and its impact on electric vehicles.
New data from the US EPA on power plant greenhouse gas emissions are in, and electric vehicles (EV) in the US are even cleaner than they were before. The climate change emissions created by driving on electricity depend on where you live, but on average, an EV driving on electricity in the U.S. today is equivalent to a conventional gasoline car that gets 80 MPG, up from 73 MPG in our 2017 update. Read more >
December 1, 2017 1:53 PM EDT
Last year, transportation became the sector with the largest CO2 emissions in the United States. While the electricity industry has experienced a decline in CO2 emissions since 2008 because of a shift from coal to natural gas and renewables, an equivalent turnaround has not yet occurred in transportation. Reducing emissions in this sector is critical to avoiding the effects of extreme climate change, and the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions standards are an important mechanism to do so. Read more >


text:
We are all over the place!
Check out or upcoming public events
Derby Lawn Party at Turner House - May 5th, 2018 - 3:00 PM
Oak Cliff Society of Fine Arts is proud to present the inaugural “Derby on the Lawn” party! Join us on May 5th, 2018 for bottomless bubbles, unlimited mint juleps, and delicious treats, as we welcome new members to our small corner of Winnetka Heights.
Chef Justo Blanco with Familia Catering and Events will bring his expertise to an afternoon of races, cocktails, and southern inspired fare.
Preservation, History, and Art have long been the tenets of our mission here at Turner House. To honor those missions, we are showcasing hats by House of Macgregor, and fashions by Timeless Style in our 2018 Derby Fashion Contest. Prizes will be awarded in the categories of “Most Unique”, “Most Derby”, and “Most Classic”.
Most importantly, we are here to create new membership at Oak Cliff Society of Fine Arts. Join us as we celebrate a new era of Turner House events. Don’t forget to tell your friends, as we would like to showcase our clubhouse to those who may be visiting us for the first time.
Tickets are only $50, and available for purchase at turnerhouse.org
Buy your tickets here www.turnerhouse.org