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Since its inception in 1992, the Premier League has been home to some of the best players from every continent in the world. From Park-Ji Sung to Harry Kewell and Lucas Radebe, the Premier League has provided a platform through which various cultures can see one of their own whilst picking fragments of other cultures from players they watch on various media.
The first African player to play in the Premier League was Peter Ndlovu. The Zimbabwean striker had been in England since 1991 and made his Premier League debut on 19th August 1992. He played for four clubs in England, and is best remembered for his time in the top-flight with Coventry City.
Since Ndlovu, 245 African players have played in England’s premier division since 2016. Thankfully, this list will be focusing on the very best the African continent has blessed the Premier League with, some are true legends of the sport:
10. John Obi Mikel
Mikel’s reputation started to grow after performing well in the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship. This led to him signing for Norwegian side Lyn 1896 in 2004. The midfielder then burst onto the global stage at the 2005 FIFA U-20 World Championship. Mikel starred as Nigeria reached the final, losing to Argentina 2-1. He was rewarded for his performances with the silver ball, being crowned the tournament’s second-best player behind Lionel Messi.
This led to the fiasco in 2005 between Manchester United and Chelsea in which United signed the Nigerian midfielder without representation in April, and rushed him out in a press conference wearing a Red Devils jersey. His agents meanwhile negotiated a deal with Chelsea. This saga lasted for slightly over a year, with Chelsea eventually paying £16 million to settle the future of the player (£4m for Lyn, £12m for Manchester United).
With 11 years of service for the Blues, that fee was made to look like a bargain in the end. Mikel was a reliable presence in the centre of midfield, making 249 league appearances for the London side. Good in the tackle with an expansive range of passing, Mikel would often keep things simple and recycle possession whilst maintaining his defensive positioning. He often left attacking to the more offensive players, and his 1 goal in the EPL serves as evidence of this.
Mikel is one of the most successful African players to have played in the Premier League. He won 9 trophies with Chelsea, including 2 Premier League titles and 4 FA Cups. His success extended to European stage also, with UEFA Champions League and Europa League honors. He left Chelsea in 2017 to join Tianjin TEDA in China, and has played in Turkey and the EFL Championship since his departure from Stamford Bridge.
Lauren was the child of a family fleeing from war. His parents fled Equatorial Guinea due to persecution. The family then settled in Seville, Spain where he grew up. His football career began through luck and bravery, as an 11-year old Lauren told a Sevilla kit man he wanted to play for the club. It worked, and so his career began. His first experience of first-team minutes came at fourth-division side Uretra, where he played 30 league games in 1995/96. The Cameroonian then began playing for Sevilla’s reserve team the next season, registering 17 appearances.
Lauren moved down the Spanish second division to get more minutes, and he became a starter at Levante for the ‘97/’98 season. Playing 34 games in the league, he was ever-present for Los Granotas. This led to a move to Mallorca. At Los Bermellones, Lauren also became the starting right-back, with over 30 league appearances in his two seasons at the club. His 2nd season was his first in the Champions League. Lauren’s work ethic at right-back impressed bigger clubs, and Arsenal signed the Cameroonian in May 2000.
Injuries hampered Lauren’s first season at Highbury, but he soon replaced Lee Dixon as first-choice right back the next season. He remained the first-choice right back for 3 more seasons, playing over 25 EPL games in each and starting 30+ in the Invincibles season of 2003/04 and the subsequent FA-cup winning season. A knee injury in January 2006 sadly cut his time in an Arsenal shirt, with the right-back having started all 22 league games till that point. He never played for the Gunners again, leaving for Portsmouth in January 2007. While not a regular starter for Pompey, he formed part of the 2007/08 FA Cup winning team, playing a part in the prior rounds enroute to the final.
A reliable right-back willing to work hard for the team, Lauren was defensively solid but also contributed in attack. His performance in the Invincibles season was so immense that he was rewarded with a place in the ‘03/04 PFA Team of the year. In 184 Premier League games, he scored 6 goals and had 8 assists. He won 2 Premier League titles and 3 FA Cups with Arsenal, as well as winning another FA cup with Portsmouth.
8. Michael Essien
Essien began catching the eye of scouts at the FIFA U-17 World Championship of 1999. Ghana came in 3rd place at the tournament. A contract with Manchester United was almost signed when Essien was a teenager, but work permit ineligibility prevented the move. He ended up signing for Ligue 1 side SC Bastia in 2000. After 3 years, the Ghanaian moved to Lyon in July 2003. He scored on his first appearance for Lyon, helping OL win the Trophée des champions vs Auxerre. Essien was only at Les Gones for 2 years, but he was ever-present whilst at the French club. OL won Ligue 1 in both years Essien was there, while he also won Ligue 1 Player of the Year in 2005.
Essien had scored 5 goals in 10 appearances for OL in their 2004/05 Champions League run to the quarter-finals, leading to interest from the biggest clubs in Europe including Chelsea and Manchester United. This led to him signing for Chelsea in August 2005, ending a three-month transfer saga which started with an initial £10 million bid in May and concluded with a £24.4 million transfer fee. This made him Chelsea’s most expensive signing at the time.
Nicknamed The Bison whilst at Chelsea, Essien hit the ground running, playing 30+ games in the EPL in his first two seasons. Replacing Tiago in the midfield three also consisting of Frank Lampard and Claude Makelele, Essien was the perfect box-to-box player. He could progress the ball with either passing or running whilst still retaining a reputation as a tough tackler and hard worker.
Not a great goal scorer, Essien compensated for this by being a scorer of great goals. He twice won Chelsea’s goal of the year, once for an outside of the foot shot from over 25 yards vs. Arsenal in 2006/07 and the other for a left-footed volley against Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final of 2008/09. The Bison was also named Chelsea’s Player of the year for 2006/07, becoming the first African to win the award.
Essien played 168 times for Chelsea in the Premier League across 8 years of service, scoring 17 goals and providing 10 assists. He was nominated for the Ballon d’Or for 3 consecutive years, with two of these occurring whilst he played for Chelsea (2005/06,2006/07). Essien won 9 trophies while playing for Chelsea, with 2 Premier League titles and 4 FA Cups among them, as well as the UEFA Champions League. Two anterior cruciate ligament injuries post-2007 meant Essien wasn’t at his best for large portions of his spell at the Blues, but he was near-on unstoppable when in his pomp.
7. Nwankwo Kanu
Fondly known as Papilo; Kanu was born in Owerri, Imo state of the West-African nation Nigeria in 1976. Kanu scored 5 goals as Nigeria won the 1993 FIFA U-17 World Championship, beating Ghana 2-1 in the final. This led to global attention, and Ajax signing the Nigerian forward. Kanu scored double figures in the Eredivisie in two of three seasons at Ajax. He won the Dutch league in each of the three seasons, also appearing as a sub as Ajax won the UEFA Champions League in 1994/95. The Nigerian was sold to Inter Milan in July 1996, but went to the Olympic Games in Atlanta before his medical.
He captained Nigeria to Olympic Gold in football, scoring 2 important goals in extra time of the semi-finals vs. Brazil, overturning a 2-3 loss to a 4-3 defeat. Upon returning to Milan for his medical, a heart defect was spotted by the doctors. There was a possibility of Kanu never playing again, but he underwent surgery in November 1996 to replace the ineffective aortic valve in his heart. Papilo then did not return to training until April 1997. Kanu ended up playing only 17 games in 3 years for Inter, scoring 1 goal. Arsenal signed Kanu in February 1999.
He quickly developed a reputation as a super-sub, scoring 6 league goals in 12 appearances in 1998/99, with only 5 starts. His good form carried over to the next season, where the forward scored 12 league goals in 31 games, with 24 starts. This season also included a fifteen-minute hat-trick against Chelsea, overturning a 2-0 defeat single handedly.
However, the emergence of Thierry Henry led to Kanu’s minutes decreasing annually. By the year of the Invincibles in ‘03/04, Kanu only managed 10 appearances and 1 goal in the EPL, with 3 starts. A transfer to West Brom followed, but it was his subsequent move to Portsmouth which cemented his status as a Premier League legend.
After not hitting double figures in the EPL in two years at West Brom, Papilo scored 10 in his first season at Pompey. He followed this up with winning goals in the FA Cup semi-final and final in the next season. Remembered as a tall player with an excellent first touch, Kanu also had fantastic timing in his movement, allowing him to score important goals. With the third-most substitute appearances in EPL history, his super-sub status is also cemented. He scored 54 goals in 247 games in the top-flight of England, winning 2 Premier League titles and 3 FA Cups along the way.
6. Riyad Mahrez
Riyad Mahrez was often told he was too skinny to become a professional footballer. He played for his local side, AAS Sarcelle from 2004 till his move to then-Championnat National 2 side Quimper in 2009 via a trial. Mahrez spent six months with their second team and lived with Mathias Pogba. It didn’t take long for the Algerian to get noticed, and with his pick of the big teams in France, he instead joined Le Havre in 2010 due their youth system. Talents such as Paul Pogba and Dmitri Payet had been developed at Le club doyen.
Mahrez progressed from playing for Le Havre II only in his first year to the first team in the next. By his departure in 2014, he had become an undisputed first team player. He left Le Havre having scored 6 goals in 60 games in Ligue 2. Joining Leicester for an undisclosed fee, he wasn’t even their initial target. The Foxes had been watching his teammate Ryan Mendes, but Mahrez’s technical quality caught their eye. Mahrez, on the other hand, thought Leicester were a rugby club.
It took Mahrez a few years to fully adapt to the English game. He started 37 of his first 49 league games in England (Championship and EPL), yet only scored a combined 7 goals in his first 2 years. However, Mahrez exploded in the title winning season of 2015/16, scoring 17 league goals and laying on 11 assists in 36 starts as Leicester won the EPL against all odds. Mahrez was rewarded for his performances with the PFA Players’ Player of the year for ‘15/16, the PFA Fans POTY and an inclusion in the ‘15/16 Team of the year. Only 9 goal involvements in the next season led to speculation of a one-hit season, but the Algerian winger silenced the naysayers with 12 goals and 10 assists in 34 starts in 2017/18.
‘17/18 was Mahrez’s last season with the Foxes. He had been agitating for a move since the league-winning season, and finally got his wish as Man City paid £60 million, making him City’s most expensive signing. He also became the most expensive African footballer of all time.
A left-footed right winger, Mahrez has silky dribbling and a first touch which enables him to beat a man and cut inside to either cross or shoot. A la Arjen Robben, Mahrez has used this move frequently, leading to devastating results. His first two seasons at Man City have yielded double figures for goals in all competitions, while he is currently in his third. In 210 Premier League appearances, Mahrez has scored 61 times and laid on 41 assists. He has 2 Premier League titles, 1 FA Cup and 2 League cups to his name so far.
5. Sadio Mane
After beginning his career at the Académie Génératìon Foot academy, he eventually moved on to FC Metz thanks to a partnership between the two teams. He made his pro debut aged 20 in Ligue 2. After 19 games and 1 goal in the French second division, Mané went on to play for the Senegal team for the 2012 Olympic games, starting every game as the U23s lost in the quarter-final. His performances at the tournament put European clubs on notice, and Red Bull Salzburg paid Metz their third-highest ever transfer fee to acquire the services of Mané. The fee was €4 million, and Metz were obliged to accept having been relegated to the Championnat in Mane’s debut season.
In Austria, Mane flourished. The Senegalese forward scored 31 league goals in 63 games for Salzburg. He was an undisputed starter from his first year at Salzburg, and scored double figures in both full seasons in the Austrian Bundesliga. Following interest from abroad, Mane forced a transfer out of RB via being MIA for training and a crucial UCL qualifier. The forward moved to Southampton in September 2014, in a deal worth £10 million. Mane needed no adaptation period at St. Mary’s, scoring 10 goals in 30 games. This season included Mane scoring the Premier League’s fastest ever hat-trick in a 6-1 trashing of Aston Villa; he scored three in 2 minutes and 56 seconds.
Mané’s good form continued into his second season at Southampton. The winger scored 11 goals and assisted 6 in 30 starts as the Saints finished in the top 6 of the EPL, their highest ever finish. Having scored against big clubs in his first season, Mané continued that trend in ‘15/16 with a brace against Liverpool and a hat-trick vs Man City. It was then Liverpool who swooped and paid £36 million. Klopp claimed to have watched Mané since the 2012 Olympics. Mane didn’t disappoint the Reds, scoring the decisive goal on his debut in a 3-4-win vs Arsenal, the winner in a 0-1-win vs Everton and 2 goals in two minutes vs Tottenham.
Mane scored 13 league goals in 27 games in his debut season at Anfield (26 starts), winning Liverpool’s player of the season. He has hit double figures in the Premier League for the next 3 seasons afterwards, even winning the Golden Boot in 2018/19 with 22 goals in 36 games (35 starts). He is a Champions League winner with Liverpool in ‘18/19, and won his first Premier League in ‘19/20. A winger capable with either foot and his head, Mane is quick and direct with good decision-making, leading to prolific goal tallies. In 210 Premier League appearances, Mane has scored 90 goals and laid on 31 assists.
4. Mohammed Salah
By the age of 12, Salah joined his local team, Ittihad Basyoun. Scouts from Cairo – the capital – came to watch another child, but noticed 14-year old Salah due to his speed and twinkle toes. This led to the Egyptian signing for the youth team of Al Mokawloon, an Egyptian Premier League club. Salah made his senior debut 4 years later in May 2010, and scored his 1st professional goal in December of that year. He became a regular the next year in 2011/12, starting every game until the cancellation of the Egyptian league due to a massive riot by fans which led to fatalities. With 7 league goals and 3 assists in 15 games in his last season in Egypt, Salah left having scored 11 league goals in 38 overall.
FC Basel had been scouting Salah, and used the cancelation as an opportunity to organize a friendly with Egypt U23s. Salah scored 2 in a 4-3 win, despite only playing the second half. This led to him being invited to train at Basel, and a 4-year contract was eventually signed. Salah scored double figures in all competitions in 2 seasons/18 months in Switzerland. More importantly, he scored against Chelsea in the Europa League semi-final in 2012/13, then scored in both home and away wins against the Blues in UEFA Champions League in 2013/14. This led to Salah moving to Chelsea in January 2014 for £11m, making him the first Egyptian to sign for the London club. Salah was rarely used at Stamford Bridge, making 13 appearances with many being as a substitute. He scored 2 goals in these brief cameos, before joining Fiorentina on loan on transfer deadline day, 2 February 2015.
Salah scored an important goal vs. Tottenham, the winner vs. Inter Milan and a brace in the Coppa Italia semifinal vs. Juventus. This prompted Fiorentina to activate the option to buy Salah, but the forward rejected the move. Salah instead joined Roma on a loan worth 5m euros in August 2015, with the option to buy for around 15m euros. Fiorentina filed a complaint to FIFA, which was eventually rejected by CAS. Salah came of age in Rome, scoring double figures for league goals in both his loan season and the season the loan was made permanent. He won Roma’s player of the year in his 1st season, and scored his first career hat-trick in his 2nd season.
Salah returned to the Premier League in June 2017 via Liverpool, who paid £43m to bring him to Anfield. Salah scored on his league debut in a 3-3 draw vs Watford, and never looked back. 32 goals in 36 league games, 44 in 52 for all competitions. Salah’s first season was record-breaking, as he became the EPL’s highest goal scorer in a 38-game season. This won him his first Golden Boot, PFA Player of the year, and PFA team of the year honors. He also won Liverpool’s player of the year. Salah has hit 10+ league goals in every season since, even winning a second Golden Boot in the subsequent year with 22 league goals. A rapid winger with good dribbling; flair and an eye for goal, Salah is a Premier League and Champions League winner, with 88 goals and 32 assists in 137 Premier League games.
3. Kolo Toure
The current Leicester City coach began his professional career with Ivorian club ASEC Mimosas after developing in their youth academy. He made his debut in 1999, and began receiving call-ups to the national team swiftly after in 2000. By the time his move to Arsenal came about, he had become a regular for his club, and had over 10 caps for the Cote D’Ivoire. The move to London was secured on 14 February 2002 due to Toure impressing on trial at the club, and his international status made him eligible for a work permit. The fee was £150,000, with Wenger a fan of his versatility and fearlessness.
Kolo did not appear for the first team until the next season, coming on as a sub in the 1-0 Community Shield win vs. Liverpool. Seen as a utility player initially, he was played in defensive midfield and right-back in his first full season at Highbury. This changed in 2003/04, however, as Toure formed the backbone of Arsenal’s central defense alongside Sol Campbell as the Gunners went unbeaten the whole league season. Toure played 37 EPL games that season, starting 36. In his next 5 seasons at Arsenal, Kolo never played less than league 29 games in each season. His partnership with Philipe Senderos led Arsenal to the 2006 Champions League Final. Toure became one of the team’s captains soon after.
Toure eventually left Arsenal after a bust-up with fellow defender William Gallas, joining Manchester City in July 2009 for £14 million. He was also appointed club captain by then-manager Mark Hughes. The armband was stripped from him by new manager Roberto Mancini the next season, who handed it to Carlos Tevez. Toure started off as an invaluable starter in his first season with 31 league appearances, but then became a squad player after the change in manager. A six-month suspension for failing a drugs test in March 2011 didn’t help, but he had already lost his starting place by then. The Ivorian was allowed to leave to join Liverpool on a free transfer in May 2013.
He made his Premier League debut for the Reds on opening day in a 1-0 victory vs Stoke at Anfield. He played 20 league games, starting 15 of them as Liverpool almost won the Premier League. Whilst his EPL game time reduced in his 2nd and 3rd season at Anfield, he still made 20+ appearances in each season before he departed for Celtic on a free transfer. Toure was a dependable, consistent defender who was also comfortable on the ball. He was known as an attacking center back during his early days at Arsenal, and he showed his versatility when needed by his team. What is most understated about Toure were his leadership qualities. Toure made 353 Premier League appearances, with 108 clean sheets and 12 goals. He is a two-time Premier League winner, with 3 FA Cup medals as well.
2. Yaya Toure
Younger brother to Kolo; Yaya Toure joined the ASEC Mimosas youth academy in 1996 and remained there until 2001. He then moved to Beveren, a now-defunct Belgian team who played in the Belgian lower leagues. Beveren was used as a feeder club for Ivorian players to showcase their talents in Europe. Toure had a trial at Arsenal, like his brother, but wasn’t signed by Arsene Wenger due to work permit issues. Toure then moved Metalurh Donetsk in December 2003, a Ukrainian football club (also now-defunct). After 18 months in Ukraine, Olympiacos swooped and acquired Toure’s services.
Yaya impressed in Greece, and after a strong showing at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Monaco paid €5.75m so Toure could play for principality side in August 2006. Initially, the Ivorian midfielder had issues with manager Laszlo Boloni playing him out of position, as Monaco flirted with relegation. This led to Boloni’s sacking and the return to form of Toure, who’s 5 goals after January played a part in saving the team from Ligue 2. Toure made 24 starts that season, scoring 5. His upward trajectory continued, as Barcelona came calling. He signed for the Catalans in June 2007, with a fee in the range of €10 million.
For Barca, Toure initially began in midfield, but was given more defensive responsibility upon the arrival of Pep Guardiola as manager. As Sergio Busquets was preferred in the CDM role, Toure was often used as a makeshift CB at the Camp Nou. He played 20+ league games in each of his 3 seasons at Barcelona, and over 30 in all comps for each. He was an important part of the treble-winning side of 08/09, as well as playing a role in other triumphs. However, his best was yet to come. Man City acquired the services of Yaya Toure in July 2010, a year after bringing his brother, Kolo, over to Manchester as well.
At City, Toure either played as an 8 in a midfield 3, one of the double pivots in 4231 formation or the number 10 in the aforementioned formation. This newfound freedom allowed the Premier League to enjoy the best of the Ivorian midfielder. He scored over 5 league goals for 7 consecutive seasons, with his piece de resistance coming in 2013/14 when he scored 20 league goals in 35 games from midfield while laying on 9 assists as Man City romped to a League and League Cup double. Truly a complete midfielder, Yaya Toure was unstoppable in his pomp. His long strides belied his true speed as he ran through midfield lines; he could pass, dribble, finish, shoot from distance and take set pieces on a world-class level. Lest we forget, defending was also in his arsenal. In 230 games in the Premier League, the younger Toure scored 62 goals and laid on 32 assists. He is a 3-time Premier League winner, with 2 League Cup medals and 1 FA Cup.
1. Didier Drogba
The third Ivorian in a row, clearly the Francophone nation and the English League are just meant to be. This Ivorian, though, is arguably the most iconic African player in Premier League history. Drogba alternated between France and Cote D’Ivoire in his developing years. He moved to France permanently at 11 years-old to live with an uncle due to economic hardships in the Ivory Coast. Drogba lived with this relative till he was 15, when he then moved in with his parents who had settled in Paris after moving some years ago. Here, he began to play football more frequently, joining the local youth team. Initially beginning as a right-back, he was encouraged to play further forward by his uncle.
Drogba then signed for now-defunct semi-professional club Levallois, where his good attitude and prolific record impressed the coaches. These factors led to him playing briefly for the first team, but the first team coach wasn’t convinced. This led him to move to Ligue 2 club Le Mans as an apprentice. It took the Ivorian four years to get his body used to daily training and weekly games, dealing with myriad injury problems initially. A lack of academy training also worked against him at first, but a good attitude, being attentive and the realization at 21 that time was running out to go pro pushed Drogba to better himself. He signed his first professional contract soon after in 1999, as well as making his first-team debut for Le Mans.
The striker showed glimpses of his talent at Les Mucistes, with 12 goals in 64 games in Ligue 2. Guingamp showed interest and acted upon it, signing Drogba for £80,000. His 3 goals saved the club from relegation to Ligue 2, and his 17 goals in 34 games in the subsequent season led Guingamp to 7th place, their highest league finish. The bigger French clubs took notice, and Marseille swooped in to secure a £3.3 million deal in 2003. While in the south of France, Drogba continued his fine form. He scored 19 league goals in 35 games, with 11 other goals scored in both the UCL and Euro League as Marseille reached the Euro League final. With 32 goals in 55 games in all comps, his prolific form led to an even bigger club moving in for him.
Chelsea signed Didier Drogba in July 2004 for £24 million. A powerful striker who could occupy an entire back four on his own, Drogba was as much a great goalscorer for the Blues as he was a scorer of great goals. He only ever scored 20+ in 2 seasons (‘06/07, ‘09/10), but hit double figures in 5 of his 9 Premier League seasons. Known as a big-game player, he scored 10 goals in 10 cup finals, many of them winners. He scored the equalizing header in the 2012 Champions League Final, and the winning penalty. In 254 Premier League games, Drogba scored 104 goals and laid on 54 assists. He is a 4-time Premier League winner, 4-time FA Cup winner, 3-time League Cup winner and a Champions League winner.

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On June 30, 2019, you can finally read novelette three in the Yom Tov romance series: Forgive Me, I Love You.
Falling in love with the one man she dislikes was never in Nora life plan, now she has to earn his forgiveness before its too late.
Nora and Noah have always been enemies. Even as children they hated playing together. Now as adults, they’re learning that liking each other isn’t necessary for great sex. That is until Rosh Hashanah dinner, when Nora does something Noah can’t seem to forgive. Normally she wouldn’t care, but something’s different this time. She cares about Noah more than she realized. She might even be in love with him.
Nora needs to reconcile her hurtful behavior with her changing feelings. Over the week between the new year celebration and the day of redemption, Yom Kippur, she will ask for and hopefully earn forgiveness from Noah and even from herself.
You can officially pre-order the book for $0.99 on Amazon. Kindle Unlimited members will be able to read the book for free. Watch Amazon, a few days before the release, book one, Purim Fling, will be free to help introduce you to the series.
Kraulaak’s trailer is out and the cover is revealed! You can now order the book on Amazon, Nook, and Kobo. More retailers coming soon. The book will be released on April 8, 2019. Pre-sale price is $0.99, but after the release, it will go up to $1.99 so order your copy now!
It seems like a small, quiet library in a small New England town. Underneath is a secret that enslaves them all. Kraulaak, a frozen wasteland, demands sacrifices, waiting on the other end of a concealed portal.
These eight stories consider different points of views: the children who know something is wrong, the reporter who stumbled on something strange, two of the librarians managing the portal, and even Kraulaak itself. What is Kraulaak and what does it want? Explore this hungry world with author Sara Marks.
Sometimes you can become a slave to other people’s expectations of who you should be.
Jenna enjoyed her fling with Asher. It was just what she needed to remember the woman she wants to be. She’s on the right path, but only wants a partner who wants the same life she does.
Asher didn’t like the way things ended. He’s angry with himself for acting like the entitled, aggressive jerk. He wants to see her again, but not for another fling. All this self-reflection has made it clear that he wants more, but he has to open up to her.
Passover is the perfect opportunity for him to show Jenna the man he really is if she’ll let him. He has until the annual Matzo Ball party at her synagogue to discover if they belong together.
Release Day: April 1st

domain: library


RIM BlackBerry Storm Passes (Extensive) Screen Scratch Tests
By Al Sacco
Managing Editor, CIO
RIM’s new BlackBerry Storm is currently getting lots of attention, and the focal point of most of the hype/gossip/negativity is the device’s stunning 480 X 360 display. That’s for good reason: The Storm is RIM’s first touch screen BlackBerry, and all throughout the Web, it’s already being pitted against the uber popular iPhone, which is also touch-screen-based.
One of the initial questions that comes to mind when considering touch screen mobile devices is how well that display will hold up to everyday wear and tear—especially if you’re like me, you avoid holsters at all costs and end up carting your handset in pockets along with keys, pens, money clips, lighters and other potentially damaging knickknacks.
Thanks to Brian from CES911, you can now quell your curiosity on the subject of Storm screen durability. Brian dutifully put the Storm’s screen through the paces, and though I won’t spoil the outcome, the results ought to be a weight off the shoulders of all new and potential Storm owners.
Let’s just say that none of Brian’s tests, which involved a rather unfriendly looking pocket knife, a “receipt catcher” with a large spike on its end, and fully-loaded key ring, do any sort of significant damage.
Al Sacco was a journalist, blogger and editor who covers the fast-paced mobile beat for CIO.com and IDG Enterprise, with a focus on wearable tech, smartphones and tablet PCs. Al managed CIO.com writers and contributors, covered news, and shared insightful expert analysis of key industry happenings. He also wrote a wide variety of tutorials and how-tos to help readers get the most out of their gadgets, and regularly offered up recommendations on software for a number of mobile platforms. Al resides in Boston and is a passionate reader, traveler, beer lover, film buff and Red Sox fan.


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You’ve probably heard the word 'detoxification' a lot but what does it actually mean? Well, It’s any chemical and/or mechanical process that removes a substance that is harmful to your body or that changes a toxic substance so it’s no longer harmful.
A number of different detoxification methods exits. The most critical and important one: YOUR DIET
Depending in where it takes place, you can split detoxification into 2 categories: INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL
Our bodies have an extraordinarily complex array of internal detoxification systems that change, break down, attack, destroy, or eliminate threats to our internal environment and health.For thousands of years these systems have helped humans to enjoy relatively good basic health.The primary internal systems for detoxification are the stomach, intestines, liver, immune system, kidneys, and lungs. Each one works in a different way to keep us as clean as possible, and you can enhance the detox strength of each system.
When it comes to external detoxification, your skin is second to none.Your skin serves as an important barrier that keeps many toxins from entering your body.Your sweat glands, which are extremely important sites for detoxification, are also housed in your skin.
WHAT DETOXIFICATION CAN DO FOR YOU
Toxins can affect virtually every system and part of your body, causing a substantial decrease in efficiency and function. Toxins also cause disease. Removing toxins or minimising them in the first place can have some truly startling positive effects on your health.
Here are few examples
Many toxins directly affect the production of energy in your body; when your toxin levels are high, you have far less energy than you would have if your systems were not burdened by such toxic substances.The more toxins you can keep out or remove the more energy you will have.
Your immune system plays a major part in detoxification.The more it has to work towards getting rid of toxins, the less work it can do on its normal tasks, such as preventing infections and killing cancer cells.Getting rid of toxins makes life easier for your immune system, which allows it to do its job effectively.
We usually think of stress as an emotional response to an unwanted situation or worry about a threat. That’s what we call psychological stress,which can affect the rate at which you age and also weaken your immune system - a weak immune system decreases your body’s detoxification ability and increases your risk of disease. But there’s another type of stress when toxins put a strain on your body cells, causing the cellular stress response. Unfortunately, this second type of stress can harm your body in many different ways, including organ damage and brain problems. Being able to adequately manage both toxic and emotional stressors can contribute to good health.
Everyone needs a little stored energy, and fat is one of the ways you fulfil that need. Unfortunately, many of us are storing enough energy (in the form of fat) for several people. That’s a medical problem - a very serious one. In addition to the strain excess body fat put on your cardiovascular system, there’s a toxic element of obesity that many people don’t understand.Fat-soluble toxins are stored in your fat cells, and these cells release toxins into your bloodstream on a regular basis. Also, visceral (abdominal) fat secrets chemicals that increase inflammation throughout your body; it affects your heart, and it increases your risk of cancer, arthritis, and stroke. Eliminating excess fat can lower these risks.
WHERE EXACTLY ARE TOXINS HIDING?
When you start looking around for toxins, it’s not necessary go very far. Start by looking under your kitchen sink. What are the health warnings of those disinfectants and cleaners? They contain mostly man-made chemicals.Open your kitchen cabinets. Do you keep processed foods in there? If you check a label and it lists certain ingredients that you can’t recognise, they’re probably artificial food additives.Head into your bathroom next. Your deodorant, shampoo, cosmetics, body lotion, and personal hygiene products are likely to contain preservatives and petrochemicals.
OTHER TOXIN HIDEOUTS
Other toxin hideouts include your garage; you could spend an entire day in there discovering toxins!The toxic gasses in the air your breathe outside your house, down the road or the main street, from vehicles, factories, or power plants, are the more obvious ones.But if you don’t feel like walking outside, just take a deep breath indoors.The fumes from your carpet, your washing, or your freshly pained wall add to the toxins that you take in.
SO WHAT’S THE HARM?
In reality, the amount of toxins you’re exposed to at one time can be small.The real issue is when you take in large doses or more than the body is able to deal with. In those cases toxicity and poisoning can occur. However, small doses of toxins can also accumulate in your body and add up fairly quickly.You can think of this process as a bucket under a leak from a sink tap. Although the leak is really slow, before you notice it the bucket is running over
If you are feeling under parr it may be time for a detox /cleanse. Take a look at THE PROGRAMS we offer here at Atsumi Healing and their BENEFITS.

domain: biology


text:
“We can distinguish two different things here, pieces that, musically, think outside the box and create new and memorable experiences for the listener. Then there are pieces that are within the realms of basic but still beautiful grudge style, that will definitely strike a nostalgic chord with the early 90’s scene. ”
Expand to read review translations *
“Μπορούμε να διακρίνουμε δύο διαφορετικά πράγματα εδώ, κομμάτια που, μουσικά, σκέφτονται έξω από το κουτί και δημιουργούν νέες και αξέχαστες εμπειρίες για τον ακροατή. Στη συνέχεια, υπάρχουν κομμάτια που βρίσκονται μέσα στα βασικά αλλά ακόμα όμορφα στυλ μνησικότητας, που σίγουρα θα χτυπήσουν μια νοσταλγική χορδή με τη σκηνή της δεκαετίας του ’90.”
“Podemos distinguir dos cosas diferentes aquí, piezas que, musicalmente, piensan fuera de la caja y crean experiencias nuevas y memorables para el oyente. Luego hay piezas que están dentro de los reinos del estilo de rencor básico pero aún hermoso, que definitivamente alcanzarán un acorde nostálgico con la escena de principios de los 90.”
The original review of “City Dig – A Circus” is written in the native language that is spoken by the dedicated, for this song, Nagamag’s Rock reviewer and followed by two translations*, of which the one depends from the country of origin of the artist “City Dig” (United Kingdom) and the other one is translated to a different language than original review and the country of origin of the artist.
* Automatically Translated
Nagamag already found for you the “A Circus”, a masterpiece by “City Dig”. A song of Rock genre, that also offers Alternative Rock, Grunge characteristics. That for, Nagamag is pleased to share with you this music review, thoughtfully written by one of our expert Rock reviewers, whose expertise in unraveling the compositions like “City Dig – A Circus”. A Rock discovery that brought to you and to the worldwide community of Rock enthusiasts who speak the universal language of music as well.
The song “City Dig – A Circus” is released by Small Pond Recordings
Song Sources for “City Dig – A Circus”:
Apple Music: music.apple.com/us/album/a-circus/1704861145?i=1704861150
Nagamag takes pride in supporting Rock artists like “City Dig”, providing music reviews and music discoveries like “A Circus”.
This music post about song “A Circus” by “City Dig” has been arranged in Rock page on Nagamag.
There you can find similar Rock artists to “City Dig” and more Rock, Alternative Rock, Grunge songs like “A Circus” that have been carefully selected by Nagamag’s Rock experienced curators and reviewed by Nagamag’s Rock dedicated reviewers.
If you enjoyed “City Dig – A Circus” but you have never listened before to any other Rock song or you are interested in learning more about Rock music gerne then click here to visit Rock music page on Wikipedia.
Rock music refers to a distinct style with common characteristics. Each genre carries its unique sound, instruments, and cultural influences. For a deeper understanding of Rock music, Wikipedia provides comprehensive insights into its history, notable artists, and iconic works. Delve into the diverse and dynamic world of Rock music through this valuable resource, broadening your knowledge around Rock genre.

domain: artistic


text:
Magners firm buys Waverley rights
THE intellectual property rights of drinks distributor WaverleyTBS have been sold by the administrators.
The deal sees C&C IP Sarl, part of C&C Group - the company behind cider brand Magners, secure the right to the Waverley name, brand and trademarks.
Chesterfield-based Waverley went into administration last month leading to the loss of 685 jobs. Around 50 further staff have subsequently left and 45 remain in post.
Daniel Butters, joint administrator and restructuring services partner at Deloitte, said: “We... For the full story register now for free or login below...

domain: economics


text:
I was born in TromsÃ¸, a town in Northern Norway, north of the Arctic Circle. My work is dealing with climate change, maps, geography and landscape.I am influenced by experiences of the landscape where I grew up. Huge solely landscapes seen from mountain peaks are transformed into paintings or drawings with an atmospheric approach to the climate change and the melting glaciers.
2011-12 Curator, Bø college, Telemark, Norway, 2003-2007 BA (Hons) Fine Art Painting (2:1), Northbrook College, Worthing, UK2007 Short listed for the JERWOOD DRAWING PRIZE 2007, London2007 ANTHONY AMIES DRAWING PRIZE 2007, Worthing, UKSOLO:2008 (10-15/7) Hop Gallery, LEWES, UK2008 (1/5-27/6) Gallery 100, BRIGHTON, UK2008 (4/5-8/6) The Nelson Gallery, BRIGHTON, UK2008 (29/3-6/4) Crypt Gallery, SEAFORD, East Sussex, UKGROUP SHOWS:2008 (17/4-13/6) Gainsborough House, CRAWLEY, UK2007-08 Jerwood Drawing Exhibition 2007.UK Tour including LONDON, CHELTENHAM, GLASGOW, BRISTOL, CARDIFF, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE.2007-08 (23/11-15/3) Vestfoto Gallery, Karmoy, NORWAY2007-08 (8/12-10/2) ARTSWAY OPEN 07, Sway, NEW FOREST, Hampshire, UK2007 (8/12-12/1/08) WREXHAM OPEN 2007, Wrexham Arts Centre, WALES2007 (21/11-9/12) Cafe Gallery Projects, Open Exhibition 2007, Southwark Park, LONDON2007 (3-7/12) Union Place Gallery, Northbrook College, WORTHING, UK2007 (12/09-5/10) St Ives Society of Artists Gallery, September Festival Open Exhibition2007, ST IVES, Cornwall.2007 (25-29/9) Crypt Gallery, East Sussex, SEAFORD, UK2007 Free Range, Brick Lane, Truman Old Brewery, LONDON.2005-07 Union Place Gallery, WORTHING, West Sussex, UK:2007 (12-15/6) 'BUD' Degree show, WORTHING, UK2007 (1-11/5) Drawing Open, WORTHING, UK2007 (26-31/1) Exhibition, WORTHING, UK2006 (6/12) Student Open, WORTHING, UK2006 (17-27/10) 'Untitled', WORTHING, UK2006 (9-19/5) 'Synergy', WORTHING, UK2006 Brighton Festival Open Houses, BRIGHTON, UK2005 (31/1-11/2) 'Exploring', WORTHING, UK2003 Gallery Atelieret, Storgt. 40, Andenes, NORWAY.2003 Gallery Herre-ekviperingen, Andenes, NORWAY.2002 Gallery Hisnakul, Andenes, NORWAY.,
GROUP SHOWS:2008 (2/7-1/8) Stroud House Gallery, STROUD, Gloucestershire, UK2008 (1-30/8) Torquay Fringe 2008, TORQUAY, UK2008 (18-21/9) Brighton Art Fair 2008, BRIGHTON, UK2008 (3/9-7/10)Re-Worked 2 at Washington Gallery, Penarth, Wales 2008 (15/10-7/11)Cyfarthfa Castle in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales CURRENT:GROUP SHOWS:2008 (5-30/7) Gallery Kysten, Tromso, NORWAY2008 (29/5-5/9) LONDON ZOO, UK2008 (26/4-30/11) OSTLANDSUTSTILLINGEN 2008, Tours East NORWAY & Lubeck, GERMANY2008 (Jan-Dec) DEN NORDNORSKE KUNSTUTSTILLING 2008, 'Nordnorsken' (The Northern Norwegian Art Exhibition), Touring NORTHERN NORWAY Jan-Dec 2008.

domain: geography


text:
Sport.co.uk is our central hub for all sport related news, reviews, results and interviews
(PRWEB UK) 29 January 2012
Digital Sports Group has announced they have completed ‘Phase 1’ of their refurbishment plans for their sports news hub ‘sport.co.uk’. The site is one of many recent developments within the online sports media giants’ network to be re-designed, following on from projects such as their Football News site, football.co.uk.
Web Designer Matt Tait commented ‘Sport.co.uk is our central hub for all sport related news, reviews, results and interviews, and phase one is just the beginning of many exciting new features. We are now happy with the layout of the site and our visitors can enjoy a much cleaner layout and easier usability’.
The two major changes to the sports news site are the dedicated news section for this Year’s two major sports Tournaments, Euro 2012 and the Olympics and as well as live updates on all the action and breaking news stories, DSG plan to hold regular interviews with the athletes, players and coaches.


Maxwell® 16 MDx Instrument Technical Manual
Literature # TM320
The Maxwell® 16 MDx Instrument provides automated nucleic acid purification methods for multiple analytes. The methods use sample lysis and binding to paramagnetic particles as the primary separation principle. It has two modes for different elution volumes. The Standard Elution Volume (SEV) mode allows elution in a volume of up to 400μl. The Low Elution Volume (LEV) mode allows elution in as little as 25μl. Up to 16 samples can be prepared in a single run.
Printed in USA , Revised 4/13.


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Knife Bayonet Modified from M/1894(-43) to M/1956 for the M1 Carbine
After WWII a total of 31,000 M/1894 and M/1894-43 bayonets for the Krag Jørgensen rifle was modified to fit the M1 US carbine. The modification was ordered by the Hærens Våpentekniske Korps.
At 2. November 1956 the Norwegian army ordered 30.000 bayonets and later additionally 1,000 more. It is not known which company performed the actual conversion. According to Walther Svendsen, Nordisk Våpenforum no. 3 1986 it should be a company in the Oslo area.
For the bayonet to fit the M1 carbine three changes had to be done.
- The mortise on the bayonet was widened with 0.2mm to fit the bayonet lug on the M1 carbine.
- A part of the opening on the hilt was cut away, to make the bayonet fit better. As shown on the picture below.
- A slot was ground to create an opening where the muzzle ring was attached.
The scabbard was modified by adding a frog in web fabrics. To the fabrics it is attached a metal hoop that fits the Nato belt.
There was an early attempted to convert the existing leather frogs to fit the new American style pistol belt. But the attempt was abounded. I have not seen any pictures of a modified leather frog, but this solution is documented on drawings (Source Walther Svendsen). This solution was simple to fasen the metal hook in the loop of the leather frog.
Both M/1894 and M/1894-43 bayonets was modified. The picture below shows a modified wartime produced M/1894-43 scabbard (at to top) and an older modified M/1894 (Steyr) scabbard (at the bottom)
The modification of the bayonets and the frogs was performed separately, therefore it is not common to find bayonets with matching numbers.

domain: history


Resin Ribbons for Thermal Transfer Printing
Different substrates require different thermal ink materials to achieve the desired print. Resin ribbons extremely hard-wearing and durable and produce an excellent quality print.
Resin ribbons for thermal transfer printing:
- Ideal for printing on to all synthetic materials
- Suitable for applications that require high resistance against extreme temperatures and harsh outdoor environments
- Water and/or chemical resistant
- Scratch, smudge and abrasion resistant – ideal for when the print needs to be readable for a long period of time
- Require a higher temperature to print
Ribbon testing service
If you need to find a suitable ribbon for your application but are unsure of what you need, Rotech can help with our free of charge testing service. All we need is several metres of label material. We will test all of our recommended grades and send you details of the most suitable including a quote, printed test results and a free of charge sample.
Please contact us for more details.


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Top 1% Invisalign Provider in Dallas, TX
Braces and Invisalign, College Park
Completed over 3,000 Invisalign cases & ranked by Invisalign as a Top 1% Invisalign Provider since 2014.
Top 1% In Nation
7 Years in a Row!
Dr. Kanabar, Owner
Dr. Kanabar has completed over 3,000 Invisalign cases since 2005 & ranked Top 1% Invisalign Provider in all of North America.
Meet Dr. Choi
Dr. Judy Choi is an orthodontic specialist that offers beautiful smiles for patients of all ages.
Which Orthodontic Treatment is Right For You?
Visit our Dallas orthodontics office for a Complimentary Consultation! Dr. Kanabar or Dr. Choi will examine and discuss your treatment options, use X-rays if necessary, and give you a detailed treatment plan. To schedule your orthodontic consultation, call us by phone at 214-692-5688. We are conveniently located on the SW corner of Walnut Hill Ln. and N. Central Expy. near NorthPark Mall.
Braces are not what they used to be, from ceramic and clear to reduced-friction, treatment has never been faster, more comfortable or less obvious.
An alternative to braces where patients wear a sequence of clear, removable aligner trays that gently move your teeth into their optimum positions.
I am a client and also have brought three of my children to be treated by Dr. Kanabar and her associate Dr. Choi. Their level of professionalism is second to none, and my whole family has experienced amazing results, especially with their Invisalign treatment. They are the best at what they do, and I strongly recommend them!
Carlos Machado – World master’s champion in Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Braces & Invisalign College Park from one of the top providers in Texas – Walnut Central Orthodontics
Orthodontics & Invisalign Treatment – Get the Perfect Smile with Invisalign or Braces
Having a comfortable & gorgeous smile not just contributes to your overall appearance but also lets you greet the modern world confidently, make a first good impression, & express yourself genuinely.
It is uncommon to find someone maturate with a naturally perfect smile. The majority of folks possess some kind of misalignment plus the misaligned or crooked teeth will make it tougher to keep the teeth & gums completely clean, spoil your smile and make chewing very hard.
In many cases, a misalignment poses a critical problem as it may damage the teeth or the abnormal positioning of the jaw and teeth could affect the shape of the facial area. Not only this, crooked teeth could also have negative influences on one’s confidence and self-pride. That’s why, men and women obtain orthodontic procedure to enhance the appearance of their teeth and smiles impacted by misaligned bite patterns.
Common bite alignment problems and Orthodontic solution
If your jaw or teeth position is off, it means you have a malocclusion – an official word widely used for the misalignment of teeth & bite. A malocclusion or “bad bite” occurs when the lower and upper teeth don’t meet up correctly. A acute malocclusion may possibly impact biting, cause speech issues and make keeping the teeth thoroughly clean more of an issue. The good news is, well-timed orthodontic procedure can certainly correct your bite issues and systematically reestablish proper bite patterns.
The power of orthodontics
The goal of orthodontic treatment is to align the teeth and build a healthy beautiful smile. Treatment method will improve the overall look of the teeth, supercharge your dental health and makes it much easier for you to bite, chew and speak. The orthodontist relies on a variety of dentistry devices, which includes metallic braces, aligners & retainers, to align the teeth and enhance a patient’s bite. They’re trained in numerous methods to identify problems and cure teeth and mouth irregularities. Orthodontists can not just rectify existing ailments but are also educated to prevent issues that may develop later on.
Types of tooth alignment problems
Overcrowding or Crowded teeth is a common dental issue where all of the teeth don’t fit within a narrow jaw. When there is not enough space within the jaw to fit normally, one’s teeth can overlap, bunch up, distort or get pushed to the front or back of the mouth. Braces, Invisalign, extraction and dental veneers are among the fixing choices orthodontics provide for overcrowded teeth.
Overbite, underbite, crossbite, openbite
Ø An overbite or deepbite is when the top front teeth come down too much over the bottom front teeth
Ø An underbite happens when the lower teeth or jaw stick out ahead of the top front teeth or jaw
Ø A crossbite is when some of the upper teeth stay inside the bottom teeth if the mouth is shut
Ø An openbite is when the upper and lower teeth do not connect with one another after the jaw is totally shut
Several treatment procedures exist to fix all these kinds of bite alignment disorders. In most cases, only tooth braces treatment alone will be adequate to provide you with the proper alignment. In extreme cases, tooth extraction along with orthodontics will be the only approach to correct the malocclusion.
Gaps between teeth or Diastema
This is the total opposite of overcrowding. A diastema is actually a space between two teeth, generally the upper front teeth (midline), but this can occur between any two teeth. If a tooth is lost or the teeth are small compared to the dimensions of the mouth or are forced out of alignment, gaps arise between teeth.
This really is much more than a beauty problem because food items can get trapped within the gap and is often hard to thoroughly cleanse. This causes oral plaque to develop and might cause tooth decay. With proper orthodontic treatment, gaps between teeth can be corrected. Both Invisalign and braces are effective in fixing spaces in between teeth however the treatment choice will depend on the actual size of the gap.
Misplaced midline bite is an asymmetry problem wherein the centre of the top front teeth and bottom front teeth do not align or match. Some of the most typical factors behind midline shift include extended thumb-sucking habits, oversized teeth, undersized teeth, jaw misalignments, and congenitally missing teeth. A variety of treatments are readily available for midline misalignment and you can opt for the one that meets your needs and lifestyle.
Your treatment solutions
Metal braces are the most common and effective treatment solution in shifting teeth into the desired position. No matter how challenging your case is, metallic braces are really effective at fixing complex malocclusion issues. Whether you have unaligned teeth, protruding teeth or crooked teeth, conventional braces could correct your multiple dental issues with ease.
Braces are generally non-removable and the individual needs to wear them for anywhere between 1.5 years and 3 years. One main disadvantage with metal braces is that the wires generate tiny spaces all-around your teeth which can trap food items and promote oral plaque deposits. This might lead to other dental problems like cavities & permanent whitish stains on the teeth. Moreover, metallic braces are visually unpleasant.
Invisalign is an orthodontic treatment solution to fix or straighten teeth. A sophisticated alternative to traditional tooth braces, Invisalign uses a series of transparent tray aligners to straighten teeth, rectify gaps & crowded teeth, and resolve underbite, crossbite and overbite problems.
Invisalign could straighten your teeth successfully and discreetly without adding unnecessary nervousness about drawing unwanted attention to your mouth area.
How Invisalign works?
The dentist will use computer-generated photographs & impressions of your mouth and teeth to create a accurate aligner tray to ensure that it fits snugly over the teeth. Composed of smooth, BPA-free clear plastic, the aligners are worn over your teeth 24/7 (except during drinking, eating or brushing) to discreetly shift your teeth and gradually alter their position.
You’ll put on a set of trays for a particular set time period and each tray is created slightly differently. The trays are going to be replaced every 2 weeks and your next tray in the series will enable the teeth become slightly straighter compared to the last tray. One’s teeth will move around 0.25 mm with each plastic tray replacement.
Sometimes attachments are essential for some individuals to get the expected results. Invisalign attachments are small, tooth-colored dots composed of bonding compound which are affixed directly on teeth in precise places. They serve as an anchor for the aligner to generate new angles of force on the teeth so the teeth shift into alignment & move into place where they have to go.
So how Invisalign is different
Not only will classic braces cause pain and discomfort for some individuals, but they may also cause dental yellowing and even cavities due to poor flossing & brushing. The Invisalign method is not really painful and it addresses crowded and crooked teeth with ease.
Invisalign tray aligners are made of a special plastic that fits firmly over the tooth and puts a light push, delivering consistent low-intensity tooth movement & superior preciseness when compared to off-brand aligner supplies. This plastic is totally free of gluten, latex, bisphenol-A (BPA) and bisphenol-S (BPS) and is specifically designed for very high flexibility and durability.
Invisalign system has already been approved by the FDA and its clear aligners are safe for children, teenagers & grown ups. Considering the fact that Invisalign aligners are removable, you can easily clean your mouth and also the aligners.
Invisalign is clinically proven to shift teeth quicker than various other clear aligner brands because its aligners offer an all-around pressure on your teeth for faster movement. It is much more very discreet to wear than traditional metallic braces. Actually, Invisalign is a preferred option among teenagers & grown ups as this orthodontic system comes with transparent plastic aligners that are virtually invisible due to being clear.
The Cost of Invisalign
Invisalign treatment expenses range from $3000 to $7000, though the majority of people pay about $5,000 or less on Invisalign tooth straightening system. The overall cost depends on exactly how complicated your treatment is & whether you need any attachments along with aligners. Numerous dental insurance providers cover Invisalign much the same way they pay for traditional metallic braces. Besides that, the majority of orthodontists & dentists offer flexible and affordable monthly payment plans for their patients to help them spread the expense of Invisalign aligners over the entire length of the treatment.
Do Invisalign braces lead to teeth cavities?
In short, no. Invisalign does not lead to teeth cavities. A common fear is that putting on aligner plastic trays may prevent saliva circulation within the mouth – the mouth’s natural protection against harmful bacteria, and the food particles can get stuck inside the trays. Nevertheless, with routine oral hygiene and also a proper oral care routine, you do not have to stress about oral cavities during your treatment plan. Extensively flossing & brushing your teeth just after every meal, drinking lots of water, and washing the aligners just before inserting them back inside your mouth prevents the development of tooth decay & cavities in the course of aligner treatment.
How long does Invisalign take to align teeth?
Clearly, it’ll be different from individual to individual since everyone’s teeth are different. The therapy time varies depending upon the severity of the problem and your particular requirements but generally, you have to put on the aligners for 6 to 18 months to straighten your teeth.
What are the main benefits associated with Invisalign?
There are a number of amazing advantages of getting Invisalign instead of choosing metallic braces. Here are a few positive aspects when you choose a clear set of aligners over traditional teeth straightening techniques.
Since Invisalign plastic trays are completely clear and virtually invisible, most people won’t even know you are using braces. This is a wonderful choice for grown-ups and teenagers who don’t like a mouth filled with metal plus they could smile boldly while aligning their teeth.
No food restrictions
There are numerous foods that you cannot eat if you choose traditional methods like metallic braces for teeth aligning. But since you are able to take out the trays beforehand, you could eat whatever you desire with Invisalign. Just make sure to brush the teeth before reinstalling the aligners.
If you wear metal braces, frequent visits (every 3 to 4 weeks depending on the complications) to the dental office are required for tightening the wires and the treatment method may take up to 5 years. On the other hand, with Invisalign treatment method, you need a check-up just every six weeks and most treatments could straighten the teeth within a year and a half.
Invisalign trays are much convenient to put on than conventional metallic braces since they are created from smooth plastic and don’t possess any wires or sharp edges. Since the trays are custom made to fit your teeth and mouth, the aligners won’t cause any kind of soreness, painful nicks and cuts inside your mouth.
Superior oral health
Invisalign trays are 100 % removable. You’ll be able to brush & floss the teeth just like you would do normally without worrying about device getting in the way. This would keep the mouth a lot cleaner when compared with conventional tooth braces.
Cons of Invisalign
• The patient must be self-disciplined to use aligners just as directed to obtain the ideal results. You must wear them for the mandatory 22 hours each day but if you ignore to put them on regularly or give up wearing your aligners for a couple of hours here and there, your teeth will not keep up with the aligners and the end result will be less than perfect
• Aligners must be removed just before drinking or eating anything and you will have to replace them immediately afterwards. This is often bothersome particularly if you’re in public areas. You may additionally have to wear a retainer after Invisalign treatment to maintain your final results
• Though Invisalign braces can fix the vast majority of the alignment & bite problems as conventional braces and often in less time, it might not always be the best treatment option for more difficult orthodontic cases.
• Due to the breakthroughs in 3D mapping technology and also the material utilized in making the aligner plastic trays, the expense of Invisalign treatment could be comparable to traditional braces. But, the fee could increase based on your course of action, progress and final results.
Fixing misaligned teeth will take time and needs a good plan. Speak with your orthodontist about your choices and what kind of orthodontic treatment solutions could be ideal for you. Your orthodontist will identify the root causes and then develop a customized treatment strategy that addresses your particular problems, whether that features metallic braces, Invisalign, headgear, space maintainers or retainers.
Both metallic braces & Invisalign have their own place in helping individuals to accomplish an attractive, healthy smile.
Call us to learn about our affordable payment plans for both braces and Invisalign and to get a free evaluation to see which one is right for you!
- Balch Springs
- Beverly Hill
- Blue Ridge
- Camp Dallas
- Cedar Hill
- Cockrell Hill
- Cooper Creek
- Copper Canyon
- Corral City
- Cross Roads
- Deep Water Point Estates
- Double Oak
- Farmers Branch
- Flower Mound
- Glenn Heights
- Grand Prairie
- Green Valley
- Hickory Creek
- Highland Park
- Highland Village
- Lake Dallas
- Lakewood Village
- Lavon Beach Estates
- Lavon Shores Estates
- Ledbetter Hills
- Liberty Grove
- Little Elm
- Lowry Crossing
- New Hope
- Oak Point
- Paloma Creek
- Paloma Creek South
- Pilot Point
- Providence Village
- Shady Shores
- St. Paul
- The Colony
- Trinity Park
- Trophy Club
- University Park
- Yucote Acres
Orthodontics in other areas:

domain: medical


text:
Housing Opportunities in Huron
The South Dakota Community Foundation (SDCF) presented a $10,000 Community Innovation Grant (CIG) to the Huron Housing Authority. Offered in partnership with the Bush Foundation, the Community Innovation Grant program supports efforts to find breakthrough solutions to community challenges across the state. The grant will help them begin to address challenges identified within Huron’s housing market.
“With the addition of the grant from the South Dakota Community Foundation, this project represents community-wide collaboration to improve housing in Huron”, said Andrea Del Grosso, Executive Director, Huron Housing Authority. “This Community Innovation Grant and the support of our local partners will help us establish innovative and sustainable programs that will have meaningful impact on the condition of Huron’s current housing stock. We believe this will lead to neighborhood revitalization and ultimately increase our community’s expectations for housing opportunities in the future.”
The need and community demand for housing rehab activities were identified through a public event called “Huron Rising – Reimagine our Future” sponsored by the Huron Community Foundation. As a result, an ad hoc “Housing Committee” was formed. Through a year-long collaboration, they identified essential functions and activities they felt were crucial in addressing conditions that currently exist in Huron’s housing market.
“The South Dakota Community Foundation is pleased to partner with the Huron Housing Authority as they work to address housing concerns in their community”, said Ginger Niemann, SDCF Senior Program Officer. “Many South Dakota communities are struggling as they strive to provide safe and affordable living spaces for their citizens. We applaud the Housing Authority’s efforts to be pro-active in addressing these challenges.”
A total of $400,000 will be available to nonprofits in 2020 through the Community Innovation Grant program. The first round for 2020 application submission just closed with successful applicants being announced in April. Visit our website at https://sdcommunityfoundation.org/for-nonprofits/community-innovation-grants/ to learn more about eligibility guidelines, deadlines and on-line application instructions.
About our donors
The SDCF distributed nearly $18 million in grants in 2019 which made a tremendous difference in communities statewide. This would not have been possible without the generosity of our donors. If you have a specific cause you would like to support or would prefer to give for the general good of our state, please visit https://sdcommunityfoundation.org/for-donors/ to learn more or give us a call at (605) 224-1025.
About the Bush Foundation
The Bush Foundation invests in great ideas and the people who power them. Established in 1953 by 3M Executive Archibald Bush and his wife Edyth, the Foundation encourages individuals and organizations to think bigger and think differently about what is possible in communities across Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and the 23 Native nations that share the same geographic area.


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$8 AT THE DOOR
Two sets from this trio.
John Raymond (trumpet) Bryan Nichols (keyboards) & JT Bates (drums)
Always happy when John Raymond comes back home for a couple of gigs, this time with some old Minneapolis friends..
Rooted in both traditional and modern forms, John's music incorporates jazz, classical, folk and indie-rock influences. Recently selected by Downbeat Magazine's Critics Poll for the Trumpet "Rising Star" category, he has performed with musicians such as Billy Hart, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Orrin Evans, Linda Oh, Ethan Iverson, Dan Tepfer and Gilad Hekselman among others. He has also recorded with Grammy-nominated singer Sara Bareilles, Dove Award-winning producer Darnell Davis, and performed at events such as the Austin City Limits Music Festival and on NPR's 'Toast of the Nation.'


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Knit if you want. Crochet if you must. But don’t talk to me about braiding. Because I found out recently that there is actually no such thing as a braider!
The shock came when we were watching Countdown on Friday 10 November. For those who have never seen it (ie, about two hundred thousand Americans for a start 🙂 ) contestants have to get the longest word possible from a selection of nine letters. Winners stand to take home the grand prize of…a teapot.
Anyway, one hapless anagrammer suggested the word ‘braider’ and was promptly informed by the venerable Susie Dent of the Oxford English Dictionary (an excuse for a lexicon if ever there was one 🙂 ) that ‘braider’ was not a valid word.
So if you are (or think you are a) a braider, sorry but your time is up. Prepare to live the rest of your days in an existential quandary.
Or alternatively, take up knitting instead. You know you want to.
Knitting. It’s not just a skill: it’s an art. But what happens if you are one of those multi-creative types who just can’t make up their mind whether to craft a beautiful sweater or churn out a few watercolours?
As you may have guessed, I have the perfect solution.
With a smattering of primary colours on standby (or in my case a few tubes of dried-up gouache) and your favourite plastic palette, you can safely grab a ball of artistic chunky acrylic and a couple of art brushes and start knitting away, safe in the knowledge that you can frog your boring yarn project whenever the call of the post-Impressionists reaches your artistic ear.
I did a few rows of what I have dubbed ‘artist’s two-by-two rib’ before I realised I was destined to be the next Monet. Being a typical artistic rebel I used two different brush sizes: number five and number three. Is that radical or what! 🙂
Not sure if she was inspired by my incessant verbal waffling. (Unlikely 🙂 ) Or by my enjoyment of toasted waffles for breakfast. But whatever the reason, Shana recently treated me to not one, not two, but three whole 50g balls of Sirdar ‘Husky’ Super Chunky waffle yarn. Shana thought the white flecks were little pieces of marshmallow, but perhaps she was feeling hungry when she looked at the yarn. Like the starving character played by Charlie Chaplin in silent classic ‘The Gold Rush’ when he ate his own boots, sometimes almost anything can look like food. But if I find Shana eating my most recent project, I shall take immediate umbrage. Marshmallows indeed!
Anyway, as it was proper man-sized yarn I could hardly knit little pieces of chunky lace patterns, could I? So I did what any super chunky yarn is meant for: I knitted a scarf. I did it (in proper fisherman’s rib stitch, no less) using a pair of 150mm wooden needles. Did I say 150mm? Well that must be either a typo or a telegraph pole. Figure that out for yourself (consider it a bonus Craftshack puzzle, why not?).
For stats obsessives, I just measured the scarf and it is easily eight feet long. And if Shana helps me put it on and stands of one end of it, she can probably get it quite tight too. That should keep me warm when the Arctic blasts arrive 🙂
Not long ago I wrote about how I had made my parents a scarf each for Christmas. Well, that wasn’t all, because I also collaborated with Shana to make them a Christmas wreath too. No point reinventing the wheel though (or in this case, the wreath) so Shana found an excellent set of instructions in a book called ‘Twas the Knits Before Christmas by Fiona Goble (Ivy Press, 2011). The link, by the way, is just a straightforward link. In other words, we earn nada, zip, and doodly-squat if you click on it, so boo-hoo for us but buy the book anyway ‘cos it’s good.
Anyway, I knitted all the various shades of green for the base colours on this ten-inch masterpiece. And Shana did the bird and the flowers and petals that adorn it. Finally, I hopped onto my trusty lucet and magicked up a goodly length of hanging cord so Ma and Pa can dhow it off to all and sundry, or just sit and wonder at it themselves.
Aren’t they the lucky ones? 🙂

domain: hobby


text:
When Tamils in
The world’s worst genocide after WW2 occurred in
Admittedly, this has not happened in
A close comparison of the two situations shows up important similarities, both in terms of the evolving conditions in which a minority comes to be subjected to exterminatory attacks by a majority and, just as importantly, in the conduct of the world’s leading states, especially the Western democracies, in relation to the crisis.
Here are a few summary points. The Rwandan genocide of 1994 took place,
- after an internationally (United Nations) sponsored ceasefire and peace talks had led to a tentative ‘peace deal’ - on ‘power-sharing’ – had been reached between the majoritarian government and the minority group;
- as the international community continued to remain diplomatically engaged and aware of the deteriorating situation (but refusing to intervene);
- after the government had re-armed its military during the peace talks;
- after large numbers of the majority community had been organised into ‘civil militia’ against the ‘terrorism’ of the minority;
- after several decades of ethnic animosity had intensified into communal attacks and pogroms against the minority by the majority;
- after the majority had come, after independence from colonialism, to dominate the state and the armed forces;
- after decades of the international community denying there was an ‘ethnic problem’;
This article, the last in a three part series looking at the notion of ‘genocide’ and Sri Lanka – therefore examines the build up to Rwanda’s catastrophe, focussing on the role of the international community.
Not long before a million Tutsis were slaughtered in an organised attempt at extermination, there had been internationally-brokered peace talks between the Hutu government (of President Habyarimana) and the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), representing the Tutsis.
After the talks the Tutsi were on the verge of a credible, internationally-backed power sharing agreement– the Arusha Accords.
That was when the ethnic crisis finally erupted into extermination.
Academic Michael Mann - whose thesis was examined in part 2 (TG375) – explains why: “the danger zone” from which ethnic conflict turns murderous is reached when two rival ethnic groups lay claim to political sovereignty over the same territory; and where both claims appear legitimate and realizable.
As with the majority Sinhala in Sri Lanka, the historical ‘grievances’ of the majority Hutu included the claim that prior to independence, the Colonial rulers had discriminated against the majority ethnic group in favour of the minority.
Moreover, like the Tamils are positioned in the mythology of the Sinhala, the Hutus considered the Tutsi to be ‘invaders’. As Colonel Bagosora, a Hutu commander: “the Tutsis never had a country of their own; they were people who came to
The Sinhalese consider the Tamils to have invaded from south
When these pogroms occurred, the attitudes of the majority rulers of both states, say between President J. R. Jayawardene of
For example, Jayawardene blamed the genocidal 1983 pogroms on the Tamils’ intolerable demand for a separate state. He freely admitted: “I am not worried about the opinion of the Tamil people ... if I starve the Tamils out, the Sinhala people will be happy.”
President Kayibanda told the Tutsis in 1963: “some of you are causing trouble for your brothers who are living in peace in a democratic
Kayibanda also warned that if the Tutsi sought political power, their whole race would be wiped out.
Linda Melvern says of the Rwandan pogroms: “And in each case the role of propaganda and the distortion of history …were paramount” in paving the way for the violence.
Hutu- and state-controlled media were key to whipping up anti-minority sentiments amongst the majority and portraying the former as violent upstarts who should be put down before it was too late.
(Remember also how the Arusha Accords had given considerable legitimacy to Tutsi demands for power-sharing and further angered the Hutus).
Similarly, Sinhala- and state-owned media in
It is not accidental that last month, the Free Media Movement and four other media organisations said in a statement republished by the AHRC (Asian Human Rights Commission), that: “[the] language and behaviour of the Rajapakse administration's apparatchiks reminds us of Radio Mille Collines in Rwanda, which laid the groundwork for genocide and large-scale violence.”
Just as importantly, as in
Nonetheless, as also in
As Linda Melvern puts it,
There is no basis for this sanguine view. Even by 1959, the United Nations was aware of genocidal tendencies – that year the General Assembly sent a special commission to
Notably, along with a refusal to countenance mass racism, international engagement with the Rwandan state involved the steady supply of military assistance and provision of economic aid. The only ‘counter-balance’ was support for the “strengthening” of human rights mechanisms.
Furthermore, in the period 1990 to 1993, there was pressure from the
A multi-cultural political opposition was constructed and sponsored by the internationally community. The Belgian government arranged for this new opposition to hold talks with the RPF of the Tutsis.
However, as the International Criminal Tribunal (ICTR) investigations subsequently revealed, even as such reforms were being wrestled with, in parallel, through 1990 and 1991, extremist sections of the Rwandan (i.e. Hutu) army were planning the genocide of the Tutsis.
A critical component of the genocide was the countrywide civil defence network staffed by Hutus and established with military support.
During the eighties and early nineties, tens of thousands of Sinhalese were mobilised into so-called ‘Home Guards’ and sent into Tamil areas to clear out the minority and establish colonies in the Tamils’ homeland.
And in the past three years, as the Rajapakse government has pursued a military campaign against the LTTE, Sinhala civilians are being trained and incorporated into civil-defence groups.
Although, the 1994 genocide in Rwanda is said to have been ‘triggered’ by the plane crash that killed President Habyarimana, the slaughter of almost a million people in three months (almost ten thousand a day!) had been pre-planned (ironically by Habyarimana himself among others).
In other words, the organising of the death squads and distribution of weapons had been planned and carried out well before the killing started.
Every step of the Norwegian peace process in Sri Lanka produced Sinhala anger and sometimes rioting: the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement, the 2002 agreement to explore federalism (note the ferocity the word alone invokes these days), the proposals for and interim administration (ISGA), the Post-Tsunami aid sharing mechanism (PTOMS), and so on.
Indeed, since independence, the numerous efforts by Tamil political leaders (long before Tamil militants emerged) to seek accommodation with the Sinhalese, were met by anger and violence.
Habyarimana provided a list of papers and names of journalists who worked for them to the Ministry of Justice for prosecution, prompting condemnation from the Association of Journalists.
Today, the Rajapakse government is recognised as one of the world’s most repressive in relation to media freedom. The military establishment’s attacks, both physical and verbal, on journalists said to be ‘betraying’ the country have been so commonplace as to become expected.
It is the international community’s conduct in the years preceding the 1994 Rwandan genocide that is of particular relevance to the Tamil question.
And it should be remembered that
In the three years that lead to the genocide,
Not even when the Director of Amnesty International in
Similarly, despite the tens of thousands of Tamils who have died in massacres, airstrikes, artillery shelling and embargoes on food and medicine, the West, including former Colonial power, Britain, continues to train, equip and share intelligence with the Sri Lankan armed forces.
While internationally sponsored negotiations were prepared in 1992 between the government and the RPF, violence against opposition parties escalated. Propaganda campaigns accused the new political parties as “fronts” for the RPF.
And as early as 1991, the RPF alleged the President’s brother-in-law – a key architect of the genocide – had planned to eliminate political opponents.
In Sri Lanka, Tamil political parties that have stood up for Tamil political rights have been denounced as ‘cat’s paws’, ‘lackeys’ or ‘fronts’ of the LTTE.
The latest to suffer this is the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) which has seen several of its parliamentarians, party workers and supporters assassinated by the Rajapakse government.
Linda Melvern says that concern over
But the French government, which hosted the preliminary talks, simultaneously trained up new Hutu army intelligence units to identify, infiltrate and eliminate targeted members of the RPF. Hutu militias were also trained.
Similarly, just as the
In the three years to the run up to the Accord,
In 1993, amid demonization of the minority, the Rwandan state began to distribute weapons amongst the majority. It imported vast quantities of machetes and other agricultural tools – axes, blades, knives, hoes etc. Melvern says there was one new machete for every third male in the country.
The “Interhamwe” or Youth militia was formed in 1991 and began small-scale ethnic killings shortly thereafter.
The militias were also provided with new AK-47s and grenades. By the time the 1994 genocide started, 85 tonnes of ammunition had been distributed through the country.
Post-genocide investigation showed flagrant misappropriation of funds, but there has been no explanation as to why five World Bank missions failed to question the level of military expenditure relative to the stated development goals of funds provided.
A senior defector from President Habyarimana’s party alleged massive corruption by radical sections in the military: “these oligarchs are treating the country like a private company from which maximum profits can be squeezed.”
The point here is that even in the context of peace negotiations, the international community donated or lent the money that the Rwandan – and Sri Lankan – state needed to buy vast quantities of weapons and equipment from abroad – from Western states.
Just as importantly, the Western democracies indirectly funding and directly providing weaponry, were well aware of the weapons’ potential in the context of an attempted genocide.
Indeed, the g-word was not far beneath the surface in
One Rwandan human rights group had already labelled the 1993 Bugesera massacre of 300 Tutsi as genocide. But the International Commission of Inquiry that investigated Bugesera considered the word “too politically charged” for its report (interestingly, the Commission’s press officer disagreed and the word “genocide” appeared in the title of the press release accompanying the report).
The 1993 report of the UN Rapporteur for Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions noted that in the previous two years, some two thousand Rwandans, mostly Tutsi, had been murdered.
The UN Rapporteur was also concerned at the mass arrests of Tutsi following the first RPF attack, and the government’s use of propaganda to create a situation where all Tutsi were portrayed as complicit.
Nonetheless, the ethnic question was so sensitive that the Arusha negotiations avoided framing
Moreover, the kind of war being fought by the Sri Lankan military – mass bombardment of Tamil areas, the driving of hundreds of thousands of Tamils from their homes, the abduction and murder of thousands of civilians, etc – makes the context plain to see.
Yet, a decade after
As the above and previous articles in this series have, drawing on the academic literature on genocide, argued, Sri Lanka, like Rwanda, has most of the requisite conditions for genocide: a supremacist ideology among the ruling elite, a climate of impunity, the presence and increasing use of militias, rapid rearmament in the context of a ceasefire, mass arrests and murders of ethnic minorities, corruption, international funding without adequate supervision and government intimidation, of the media.
In other words, there is no difference between what is happening in
But in Sri Lanka, as in Rwanda in 1993 and 1994, ‘ethnic conflict’ and ‘genocide’ are the two things the international community simply will not accept (last month, for example, the US ambassador to Sri Lanka, Robert O’ Blake, was emphatic that there was no such thing as an ethnic conflict there).
Any period of transition from war to peace is a dangerous time, especially when it involves a majoritarian state begrudgingly sharing power with a hated minority.
But the US and
As Melvern notes, UNAMIR’s mandate in Rwanda (UNAMIR) excluded protecting civilians, collecting illegal arms or taking action against armed gangs – the very things that precluded UN intervention in a vicious project which had been built p in the preceding three years. ‘Security’ of the country, moreover, meant security in the capital,
An American foreign policy specialist, Samantha Power, provides an illuminating analysis of the international and in particular, US, role in the Rwandan genocide.
Her 2001 text (“Bystanders to Genocide”) is based on a three year investigation and sixty interviews with US officials.
Samantha Power identifies three weaknesses in the international strategy that accompanied the Arusha Accords.
Firstly, whenever the negotiations were not going well, the international community threatened to pull out the UN troops. Not only was this exactly what the newly rearmed Hutu extremists wanted, such a threat only makes sense if the UN troops were there for purposes other than to protect the Tutsis.
Secondly, she says, “before and during the massacres
Thirdly, the international community was happy to accept a certain level of ethnic violence in the region. When the genocide started, “US regional specialists initially suspected that
In short, adamantly refusing to accept the ethnic basis for
The parallels with
Throughout the Norwegian peace process, the international community, refused to blame the Sri Lankan state for its role in the gradually escalating cycle of violence. They refused to accept the role of the state and the LTTE as straddling a deep ethnic faultline. They either blamed the LTTE (‘terrorists’) or “both sides” when the Sri Lankan state escalated its military campaign against the LTTE.
Just as importantly, the international community was more concerned with “the peace process” than the plight of the Tamils. Which is why over eight hundred thousand Tamils continue to remain displaced while the Sri Lankan military – in direct contradiction of the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement – continues to occupy their homes, farmland, schools, places of worship, etc.
UNAMIR was even warned by an informer of a plan to exterminate the Tutsi. And that was in January 1994, 4 months before the killing began. The informer revealed the existence of plans and stockpiles of weapons for this purpose.
Major General Romeo Dallaire, the head of the UNAMIR, sent his famous “genocide” fax to UN head quarters – four months prior to the actual genocide. He cited evidence of a plan to exterminate Tutsi and requested permission to seize the weapons stockpiles as a defensive measure.
He was refused permission.
When he telephoned to protest, Dallaire was told the
On April 6, 1994, a surface-to-air missile brought down the plane carrying the Hutu President. The genocide promptly began.
Within 3 days, over 10,000 Tutsi had been massacred in the Rwandan capital.
Major General Dallaire repeatedly asked for expansion of his mandate to intervene to protect Tutsi civilians and for reinforcements for his vastly outnumbered (circa two thousand) troops.
He was refused.
Samantha Power identifies the following reasons for international failure:
 Refusal to use the term genocide, for fear of legal implications;  a foreigners first policy;  a US policy shift (encapsulated in the PD225 memo by Richard Clarke) that the US would only support intervention where US national interests were served and clear benefits arose from the intervention.
The ‘foreigners first’ policy had immediate repercussions, diverting UN resources from protecting the much larger number of Rwandans at risk. For example, Belgian troops guarding some 2,000 Rwandan Tutsi, including 400 children, who had grouped at a local school were withdrawn to help man airport where foreigners were being evacuated, even though the school was surrounded by shouting militia waiting to massacre the Tutsi.
More importantly, the foreigners being removed itself gave the green light for the genocide: 20,000 Tutsi were killed in the capital itself over the three days that the evacuation took place.
As if to reinforce the point, the
As Major General Dallaire described it: “Mass slaughter was happening, and suddenly there in
When the evacuation of Americans was complete, President and Mrs Clinton visited the people who had manned the emergency-operations room at the State Department and offered congratulations on a "job well done."
If there is an assumption that mass killings of Tamils in
However, what was critical to successful progress of the mass killing was the international community’s steadfast refusal to classify it as ‘genocide’.
As Samantha Power puts it, “even after the reality of genocide in
“American officials, for a variety of reasons, shunned the use of what became known as ‘the g-word.’ They felt that using it would have obliged the
Power cites a discussion paper on
Regarding issues that might be brought up at the next interagency working group, it states: “Genocide Investigation: Language that calls for an international investigation of human rights abuses and possible violations of the genocide convention. Be Careful. Legal at State was worried about this yesterday — Genocide finding could commit [the
Linda Melvern concludes: “as permanent members of the UN security council, the US and UK could have taken action in accordance with the 1949 Convention on the Prevention and the Punishment of the Crime of genocide, a legally binding treaty… while these states resisted even using the word genocide, this would appear to indicate they were aware that it carried some form of obligation to act.”
Samantha Power says of PDD-25 (or Presidential Policy Directive) drafted by Richard Clark at the time of the genocide: “PDD-25 did not merely circumscribe
“Before such missions could garner
(PDD-25 can be seen at http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/pdd25.htm)
Thus, in an act of arguable complicity, the
Disregarding credible evidence from the ICRC, Amnesty and other Human Rights groups, they argued that the Tutsi civilians were caught up in what was merely a civil war.
It is beyond the scope of this article to examine all of the ways in which the international community obfuscated the issue of genocide, obstructed each other’s attempts to “resolve” the problem and generally contributed to the continuation of the mass killing in
However, the above crystallises into one inescapable fact;
Given the dynamics of US (and like-minded Western) bureaucratic calculations over mass killing, Tamils in
Samantha Power quotes an official in the Bush Administration on changes in attitude since

domain: sociology


Optimal Stomatal Behaviour Around the World: Synthesis of a Global Stomatal Conductance Database and Scaling from Leaf to Ecosystem
Tuesday, 16 December 2014
Stomatal conductance (gs) is a key land surface attribute as it links transpiration, the dominant component of global land evapotranspiration and a key element of the global water cycle, and photosynthesis, the driving force of the global carbon cycle. Despite the pivotal role of gs in predictions of global water and carbon cycles, a global scale database and an associated globally applicable model of gs that allow predictions of stomatal behaviour are lacking. We present a unique database of globally distributed gs obtained in the field for a wide range of plant functional types (PFTs) and biomes. We employed a model of optimal stomatal conductance to assess differences in stomatal behaviour, and estimated the model slope coefficient, g1, which is directly related to the marginal carbon cost of water, for each dataset. We found that g1 varies considerably among PFTs, with evergreen savanna trees having the largest g1 (least conservative water use), followed by C3 grasses and crops, angiosperm trees, gymnosperm trees, and C4 grasses. Amongst angiosperm trees, species with higher wood density had a higher marginal carbon cost of water, as predicted by the theory underpinning the optimal stomatal model. There was an interactive effect between temperature and moisture availability on g1: for wet environments, g1 was largest in high temperature environments, indicated by high mean annual temperature during the period when temperature above 0oC (Tm), but it did not vary with Tm across dry environments. We examine whether these differences in leaf-scale behaviour are reflected in ecosystem-scale differences in water-use efficiency. These findings provide a robust theoretical framework for understanding and predicting the behaviour of stomatal conductance across biomes and across PFTs that can be applied to regional, continental and global-scale modelling of productivity and ecohydrological processes in a future changing climate.


SAP SD - Revenue Recognition
SAP SD – Revenue Recognition
Overview: The client has an immediate need for an SAP SD subject matter expert to be a critical member of their SAP team on a project to implement new Revenue Recognition standards. His/her role in this effort will include the evaluation and optimization of systems and resources, management of re-engineering initiatives and ensuring alignment with project objectives.
Description: The ideal candidate will have expert knowledge of SAP Revenue Recognition concepts, configuration, and processes; and be responsible for leading the planning, design and implementation of business process changes within assigned areas of responsibility (SAP SD). He/she will develop and maintain a thorough understanding of existing business processes, and the information and data they require and generate, as well as the application functionality required to make those business processes effective.
Additionally, he/she will lead periodic review and assessment of current business processes versus the required functionality, and initiate proposals to modify or replace processes as necessary; lead analysis, design, development, implementation and support/troubleshooting of new and existing interfaces to/from SAP to external systems; develop requirements for the technical architecture supporting the business systems initiatives; organize effective tasks management to address complex and cross-functional project requirements, issues and objectives, etc.
- SAP SD: 5+ years
- Strong hands-on configuration experience
- Expert knowledge of SAP Revenue Recognition concepts, configuration, and processes.
- 8+ years of experience in a Business Systems Analyst capacity.
Job Type: Contract


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