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Chemicals strategy for sustainability
In “A European Green Deal”
In its 2020 work programme, the European Commission announced, under the European Green Deal, the launch of a Chemicals strategy for sustainability in the third quarter of the year.
On 10 July 2020, the European Parliament adopted a resolution outlining its key demands and priorities as regards the upcoming strategy. It required that the strategy achieve coherence and synergies between chemicals legislation, occupational safety and health and related EU legislation, including specific and general product legislation; legislation on water, soil and air; legislation on sources of pollution, including industrial installations, as well as legislation on waste. It underlined that the strategy should be based on robust and up-to-date scientific evidence, taking account of the risk posed by endocrine disruptors, hazardous chemicals in imported products, and combination effects of different chemicals and very persistent chemicals.
The EP requested an action plan to close the gaps in the current legal framework preventing the presence of chemicals in products, giving priority to the products that consumers come into close and frequent contact with, such as textiles, furniture, children’s products and absorbent hygiene products. It also supported the ‘one substance – one hazard assessment’ principle (meaning that substances should be reviewed by only one EU agency), as well as the creation of a fully connected and interoperable EU chemical safety database.
Parliament further called on the Commission to present a legislative proposal to include substances that are toxic for reproduction within the scope of the directive on carcinogens and mutagens at work; to come up with a clear action plan and, if necessary, legislative proposals to address persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic substances; very persistent and very bioaccumulative substances and persistent and mobile substances; to set specific targets to significantly reduce both the use of chemical pesticides and the risk arising from them. It also reaffirmed its calls for a comprehensive EU framework on endocrine disruptors.
The Commission presented the announced strategy on 14 October 2020. It is based on five strands of action:
- Innovating for safe and sustainable EU chemicals. Measures foreseen include developing EU safe and sustainable-by-design criteria for chemicals; introducing legal requirements on the presence of substances of concern in products through the initiative on sustainable products; making amendments to the EU legislation on industrial emissions to promote the use of safer chemicals by EU industry.
- Strengthening the EU legal framework to address pressing environmental and health concerns. Actions will be targeted at the protection of consumers and workers against most harmful chemicals; endocrine disruptors; chemical mixtures; chemical pollution in the natural environment and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
- Simplifying and consolidating the legal framework. Proposed measures include the establishment of a ‘one substance, one assessment’ process to coordinate the hazard/risk assessment on chemicals across chemical legislation; a proposal to strengthen the governance of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and increase the sustainability of its financing model; a proposal to revise the REACH authorisation and restriction processes.
- Building a comprehensive knowledge base on chemicals. It is notably foreseen to develop an EU early warning and action system for chemicals to ensure that EU policies address emerging chemical risks as soon as identified by monitoring and research; and to create a framework of indicators to monitor the drivers and impacts of chemical pollution and measure the effectiveness of chemicals legislation.
- Setting the example for a global sound management of chemicals. Actions will aim, notably, at supporting capacity-building of third countries in chemicals assessment and management; and at ensuring that hazardous chemicals banned in the EU are not produced for export.
The strategy proposes several amendments to the REACH Regulation (including on authorisation and restriction processes, compliance checks, requirements for registration). A revision of REACH 'in the most targeted way possible' is announced for 2022.
In an exchange of views with the Environment Commissioner on 15 October 2020, ENVI Committee members generally supported the strategy, acknowledging that it takes on board many of the elements highlighted in Parliament's July resolution.
The Council endorsed the strategy on 15 March 2021. In its conclusions, it expressly supported the five main areas of action. It welcomed the aim of the ‘one substance, one assessment̕ approach and stressed the importance of clear legal provisions in EU product law and in the sustainable products initiative ensuring that chemicals, materials and products are safe and sustainable-by-design. It underlined the need to ensure that PFAS are eliminated, unless their use is proven essential to society; and to strengthen the EU legal framework in the area of endocrine disruptors. It supported the announced amendment of REACH in a targeted manner, accompanied by a comprehensive impact assessment.
On 16 May 2022, ENVI discussed progress in the strategy implementation with the Commission and ECHA. Key steps taken so far include the publication of the 'restrictions roadmap', which contains a rolling list of substances - the most harmful to human health and the environment - that will be prioritised for (group) restrictions under REACH. The Commission also adopted a recommendation on a European assessment framework for 'safe and sustainable by design' chemicals and materials; and proposed a revision of the regulation on classification, labelling and packaging of chemicals.
A broad PFAS restriction proposal under REACH, prepared by five European countries, is currently evaluated by ECHA.
It is uncertain when the revision of REACH will be presented.
- European Chemicals Agency, ECHA publishes PFAS restriction proposal, press release, 7 February 2023
- European Commission, Recommendation establishing a European assessment framework for 'safe and sustainable by design' chemicals and materials, C(2022) 8854, with annex
- European Commission, Commission work programme 2023. A Union standing firm and united, 18 October 2022
- European Commission, Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability. Towards a Toxic-Free Environment, COM(2020) 667
- European Commission, Restrictions Roadmap under the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, SWD(2022) 128
- European Commission, Adjusted Commission Work Programme 2020, COM(2020) 440, with Annexes
- European Commission, Commission Work Programme 2020 - A Union that strives for more, COM(2020)37
- European Parliament, Resolution of 10 July 2020 on the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability
- European Parliament, Resolution of 15 January 2020 on the European Green Deal, 2019/2956(RSP)
- Council, Sustainable Chemicals Strategy of the Union: Time to Deliver, Council conclusions, 6941/21, 15 March 2021
- European Economic and Social Committee, Opinion, Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability. Towards a Toxic-Free Environment, NAT/807
- European Committee of the Regions, Opinion, Safe and sustainable chemicals for a toxic-free environment in Europe's cities and regions, CDR 5137/2020
Author: Vivienne Halleux, Members' Research Service, email@example.com


Suspected Russian air strikes in a rebel-held region in Syria have killed at least 44 people overnight, a war monitoring group says.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said five children were among those killed when air strikes hit the area of Zardana in the northwestern Idlib Province late on June 7.
"Warplanes, which are likely Russian, targeted the village of Zardana in northern rural Idlib overnight," Rami Abdulrahman, the director of the Britain-based war monitor, said.
The attack is the deadliest in the region this year.
The death toll was expected to increase as some of the 60 people wounded in the strikes were in critical condition, he said.
Rescue workers were still searching under the rubble for survivors.
Idlib remains the last major bastion of resistance to the government of President Bashar al-Assad, who is backed by Russia and Iran.
Russia has conducted a bombing campaign in Syria since September 2015, helping reverse the course of the seven-year civil war in Assad's favor.


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The 21-Day Healthy smoothie Diet plan, created by wellness coach Drew Sgoutas, claims that changing several of your meals with healthy smoothies will result in quick as well as simple fat burning. Just like a lot of weight-loss strategies, consisting of restrictive diet regimens similar to this one, the details are essential 21 day smoothie detox diet.
As part of a well balanced diet regimen, smoothies can assist you slim down. But components, portion size, and also your total consuming strategy will make all the distinction. A diet plan containing mainly shakes, nevertheless, might not work for everybody as an option for long-lasting weight management success.
Sgoutas (that is not a signed up dietitian), developed the 21 Day Smoothie mix Diet regimen to aid his clients slim down. His e-book, “The Smoothie mix Diet regimen,” contains 36 smoothie mix dishes, shopping lists, as well as a three-week timetable that details which smoothie mixes to prepare daily. The electronic book also supplies a “detoxification” plan with dishes and guidelines for replacing 3 dishes a day with healthy smoothies for a total of three days.
The 21 Day Smoothie mix Diet suggests consuming usually (yet still “healthy”) someday each week and includes an advised food list for that day. Sgoutas recommends duplicating the 21 day cycle whenever you would like to reduce weight, however there is restricted research study to suggest that a shake diet plan is an effective technique for fat burning.
In the short-term, followers of this diet might lose weight. But to keep it off, they might need to stay on the diet past the 21 day period, which is not a healthy long-lasting service given that it implies that important food teams including crucial nutrients are remaining to be limited.
For many people, 2 home made meal-replacement shakes daily, plus a “regular” meal, may not give the right equilibrium of calories, protein, carbs, and also healthy and balanced fats the body requires. Any kind of meal-replacement diet plan is tough to stick to for the long haul given that these replacements often aren’t as pleasing as solid food.
What Can You Consume?
On the 21-Day Healthy smoothie Diet, followers prepare and also drink two smoothie mixes a day as dish replacements. The shake active ingredients differ, focusing on lots of fruits and vegetables with some protein and healthy fats.
The diet’s e-book supplies some guidance on the one solid-food meal fans are encouraged to take in every day (including suggestions wherefore to eat and some “whole food” dishes), in addition to recommendations for low-sugar, high-fiber snacks. You are likewise permitted to consume usually someday weekly, so long as the dishes abide by the suggestions in the electronic book.
What You Need to Know.
The stringent “detoxification” plan changes all 3 daily meals with shakes for three days. On the 21-day strategy, you’ll consume 2 meal-replacement healthy smoothies (breakfast as well as lunch), one solid-food dish, and a couple of snacks. Though not a part of Sgoutas’ “official” healthy smoothie diet, some plan for a “flex day” to make the diet regimen more lasting.
However, Sgoutas explains that if the routine dishes are too expensive in calories, the diet regimen most likely will not be effective for weight reduction. Additionally of note: The electronic book suggests that this diet regimen is except individuals with food allergies.
What to Consume.
- Lots of fruits and vegetables.
- Healthy dish when each day.
What Not to Eat.
- No solid food for two dishes a day.
The recipes included in the 21-Day Shake Diet include a lot of fruits and veggies, have a tendency to be low in calories, and supply essential phytonutrients. While fruit supplies healthy nutrients, it additionally includes naturally happening sugar, which might not help you if you’re trying to minimize your sugar intake. Some shakes additionally ask for honey, which just adds even more sugar.
In addition, a lot of the diet regimen’s shakes are extremely low in healthy protein, and also a few fall short in healthy and balanced fats. Sgoutas does stress obtaining enough protein throughout the day as well as recommends at the very least 50 grams daily by consuming a little with each dish and also snack. However, some individuals might find it challenging to meet their everyday protein needs on this plan, particularly those who don’t spend a great deal of time meal preparation.
If you are making use of a healthy smoothie as a meal substitute, see to it it includes each necessary macronutrient: healthy protein, fat, and also carbohydrates. You might take into consideration seeking advice from a nutritional expert or registered dietician for even more support– though they would likely recommend that you avoid a smoothie-based diet plan as well as attempt other, much healthier approaches rather.
Advantages and disadvantages Of The Smoothie Mix Diet.
- Emphasis on vegetables and fruits.
- Much less calorie-counting as well as food tracking.
- Shopping lists consisted of.
- High in sugar.
- Prep work could be time-consuming.
- Not sustainable.
- Does not have scientific support.
Is the Shake Diet a Healthy Option for You?
Generally, fruit healthy smoothies often tend to have calories from carbs and a small amount of fat. But to provide a well-shaped dish, they likewise need an excellent source of lean healthy protein.
Protein aids develop muscular tissue, which you need to maintain a healthy and balanced metabolic rate. A diet regimen including primarily smoothie mixes would likely disappoint meeting your day-to-day consumption of protein.
Smoothie diets like the 21-Day Smoothie mix Diet are popular, however you’ll additionally locate resemblances between this diet regimen and also various other temporary, low-calorie, meal-replacement diets such as SlimFast. Know that these diets do not satisfy professional advice on healthy eating strategies.
The USDA 2020– 2025 Dietary Standards for Americans advises eating a range of nutrient-dense foods and beverages while staying within the advised limitation of 2,000 calories a day for weight administration.
The 21-Day Smoothie Mix Diet plan does not comply with federal standards considering that it excludes numerous healthy foods that comprise a balanced diet.
For weight-loss, the USDA advises a daily calorie consumption of about 1,500 calories. While Sgoutas advises approximately 1,500 calories daily in the e-book, the healthy smoothie dishes in “The Healthy smoothie Diet regimen” appear at a lot less than that, making it difficult to reach the 1,500-calorie target without bing in the one everyday solid-food dish.
Developing a calorie deficiency is usually the most effective way to lose weight efficiently and sustainably. But a healthy and balanced day-to-day calorie goal is various for everyone, due to elements such as age, sex, weight, and also activity degree. Utilize this calculator to determine the calorie objective that may benefit you.
It is likely that people will reduce weight swiftly when they begin the 21-Day Smoothie Diet because they are reducing calories (while likewise potentially reducing nutrients like healthy protein and healthy fats). Yet replacing meals with liquids, and also residing on so couple of calories, isn’t something that most individuals can safely remain to do for the long term.
There is no solid scientific evidence to support the concept of detox diets– partly because there is no clear meaning of what a “detoxification diet regimen” does. The body normally “detoxes” itself with food digestion and discharging (such as defecation and also sweat). Detoxification is a main function of organs like the liver as well as kidneys. Nobody food or food mix can do this on its own.
The high sugar from the Smoothie Diet plan could be an issue for individuals with particular medical problems (which is why it’s not advised for people with diabetic issues). Additionally, it is possible to shed muscular tissue mass if you reduce weight as well swiftly. And if someone following the weight-loss diet returns to their regular eating habits and also raises their calorie consumption, they are not likely to preserve their weight reduction lasting. This could be why the electronic book recommends repeating the 21-day diet plan as frequently as required.
Bear in mind that “detox” diets are not shown for some people, consisting of children, expectant and also nursing people, and individuals with certain health and wellness problems. Prior to beginning any type of diet regimen make certain to discuss it with your healthcare provider initially.

domain: food


Sept 2016: Arlington Mill Civic Association Meeting
Post date: Sep 16, 2016 4:21:52 PM
WHAT: Arlington Mill Civic Association Meeting
WHEN: Tuesday, September 20, 2016, 7:00 pm
WHERE: Arlington Mill Community Center - Senior Lounge -
second floor at Dinwiddie Street entrance
Tyrol Hill Park Upgrade. Last phase of the master plan on the western side of the park. Josh Serck, Arlington County's Department of Parks and Recreation, will give a presentation on proposed upgrades.
Presentation on Columbia Pike Multimodal Improvements. This fall, pre-construction work will begin on the west end of Columbia Pike between the Arlington/Fairfax County line and Four Mile Run. The work is part of the County's Columbia Pike Multimodal Project to make Columbia Pike a safer, more accessible route for all users, which includes upgrading and undergrounding utilities and improving the streetscape.
Please pass the word around. We look forward to seeing you


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To be eligible, visitors need to purchase one of the four types of Expo tickets -- Standard Day Single Day Admission, Standard Day Special Admission, Three Day Admission or Seven Day Admission -- three days in advance at the branches of Shanghai Sightseeing Bus
Center, or the 23 tourist distribution centers.
Plus, when you book a short stay fare, you can enjoy discounts on attractions like a city sightseeing bus
tour, Glasnevin Cemetery Museum and Tour, Jameson Distillery Tour or the Tayto Theme Park.
Stagecoach North East have donated the use of a City Sightseeing bus
for the children to use on their tour on Saturday morning.
uk GETTING AROUND The hop-on, hop-off City Sightseeing bus
stops at many attractions - including the Kelvingrove and Riverside Museums - and is a great way to get a taste of Glasgow.
Michael Abdou, aged 19 and Michael Dugmore, aged 21, had been travelling in a black Ford Fiesta when they were in a head-on collision with a City Sightseeing bus
in Pathlow near Stratford.
The accident happened in Featherbed Lane, close to the village of Wilmcote, and left the City Sightseeing bus
- operated by transport firm Stagecoach - embedded in a stone wall surrounding a house.
Hopping on a sightseeing bus
, visitors can also savour the broad sweep of Llandudno Promenade, whose natural bookends - the Ormes - other resorts can only dream of.
They will be taking part in a sightseeing bus
tour, visiting Whitehall, 10 Downing Street and a tour of the palace of Westminster including the House of Commons and House of Lords.
Eton Do what we did and jump off the sightseeing bus
when it arrives in Eton.
A body is found on a sightseeing bus
in Oxford but nobody remembers him taking the tour.
A sightseeing bus
with 46 people aboard crashed through a center divider on an expressway in Shibukawa, Gunma Prefecture, on Saturday, injuring 33 people, police said.
THE world's biggest sightseeing bus
operator has added Liverpool to its list.

domain: travel


text:
Clinical School (St Vincent's Hospital)
Collections in this community
Potentially modifiable respiratory variables contributing to outcome in ICU patients without ARDS: a secondary analysis of PRoVENT. (Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2018-03-21)BACKGROUND: The majority of critically ill patients do not suffer from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). To improve the treatment of these patients, we aimed to identify potentially modifiable factors associated ...
(NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP, 2017-12-20)

domain: literature


AirPods connect immediately to your iPhone or Apple Watch, and sound switches seamlessly between the devices. Want to listen to your Mac or iPad? Just choose AirPods on those devices. Easy setup, magical results.details as possible.
– With the Wireless Charging Case, charging is as simple as placing the AirPods case on a Qi-certified charging mat. That’s it. The LED indicator on the front of the case lets you know that your AirPods are charging. And when you’re away from a charging mat, you can use the Lightning port to charge.
– After a simple one-tap setup, AirPods are automatically on and always connected. Using them is just as easy. They sense when they’re in your ears and pause when you take them out. And the AirPods experience is just as amazing whether you’re using them with your iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, or Mac.


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Summer 2021 was full of musical events. Brave! Factory Festival should have been the loudest one. Although due to quarantine restrictions there was no certainty that the festival would take place.
We understood that the audience, exhausted by the lockdown, craves to spend the summer to the fullest. At the same time, attendees choose between events. Because of the worsening financial situation, and high concentration of events during the summer season. We needed to get across that Brave! Factory is unique in its format. It is an event that brings together audio-visual artists and transforms a working factory into a territory of music, freedom, and art for a few days.
SO WE HAVE COME TO THE THOUGHT BRAVE! FACTORY IS A SPIRIT WITH MAGICAL POWER. INVISIBLE TO THE HUMAN EYE BUT WITH CHARACTER.
FLASHBACKS FROM 2020
In 2020 Brave! Factory was scheduled to take place in August. Over 1,500 tickets had already been sold when the Covid-19 pandemic started. The cancellation of the event entailed huge losses: flights, advertising campaigns, rent, and salaries.
It was very tough because the losses concerned not only the festival but also the work of Closer in general and amounted up to UAH 5 million. Therefore, in May 2021, when the question of holding the festival arose again, the situation did not look great. The festival's debts and losses in 2020 fell on the budget for 2021. Although, because of the pandemic, the event could still be canceled, at any time. The foreign audience, which in previous years was up to 20% of visitors, could not visit Ukraine due to quarantine restrictions. And we only had two months to develop the campaign and promote it.
Our business challenge was to bring at least 7,500 visitors, which would make it possible to hold the festival without any money loss. The difficulty was that the cost of tickets was much higher than for other musical events (1800-2400 UAH for Brave! Factory vs 350-1800 UAH for competitors), while the purchasing power of the population fell, compared to pre-quarantine times.
We had to build a unified communication strategy for the festival, attract a new audience and remind existing fans of ourselves. We were looking for a big idea that would convey the whole essence of the festival. It should also be omnichannel, due to broadcasting it on all communication channels: video ads, SMM, merch, and posters. And while everyone crossed their fingers in anticipation of Brave! Factory 2021, together with the team of art center Closer, we continued the festival communication from the place where we left it in quarantine 2020.
363 DAYS A YEAR METRO CONSTRUCTION FACTORY IS UNATTENDED. ONLY DURING THE FESTIVAL IT TURNS INTO A REAL HOME FOR RAVERS. YOU MAY FEEL A SPECIAL ATMOSPHERE, NATURALLY THE SPIRIT OF THE EVENT!
We could not ignore this insight. To emphasize that the festival is a magical, elusive spirit that turns a factory into a territory of freedom, we went to the field of surrealism. The creative idea was based on a mystical detective story with multi-layered meanings and absurd plot twists.
We thought that the spirit of the festival needed a person-translator through which he would communicate with the audience. Thus, another hero of the video trilogy has appeared - the security guard of the Metro construction factory. He unfolds an investigation into the strange events taking place at the factory. He starts the traditional detective board, collecting facts about the mysterious spirit on it. This board, filtered by surrealism, has become the essential element of the visual platform.
IN 2020 WE SHOT THE MYSTERIOUS HORROR ABOUT THE GUARD AT THE FACTORY WHO ANNOUNCED THE FIRST PORTION OF PERFORMERS.
Kyiv International Advertising Festival KIAF КМФР
Bronze in Film Craft / Production design and art direction Shortlist in Film / Travel, Leisure, entertainment, HoReCa, Culture & Education
Shortlist in Film & Radio
IN 2021 WE CONTINUED THE STORY AND LAUNCHED A NEW CHAIN OF BIZARRE EVENTS.
The surrealistic plot of the new video in the style of David Lynch was just a dream of our director! We shot a video trilogy that immerses the viewer in an atmosphere of mysticism and suspense.
Of course, the viewers could still have questions, but they exactly knew where and when they would receive all the answers.
We also created 10 teaser videos based on the technique of shooting locations at different times. First, it's an empty location of the factory, and then - a dance floor filled with people during the festival. Thus, we showed how much the Metro construction factory is changing at the time of this event. It is also a flashback with a touch of nostalgia for the carefree pre-quarantine time.
Last year's logo was handmade in the best traditions of design maniacs. Our head of art, Max Balashov, cut out each letter separately from thick paper drenched in coffee grounds.
To add volume and depth, additional supports were glued to the thin edges of the symbols. This is how the unique shapes of the logo with the effect of an old newspaper turned out.
One of the tasks was to update the logo and fill it with the spirit of a new idea. In other words – to create a smooth adaptation without changing its structure and style. The most important thing was to create a full-fledged logo block, which will include dates, a slogan, and an easy-to-remember image. The key associations were with the black and white colors of the logo. We saw many different meanings in this, explaining the ideology of the festival: day-night, heavy-light, quiet-loud, fragile-strong.
The poster of the festival was also created manually in the form of a real detective board in a single copy. The whole team, from designers and managers to the director, glued and assembled the board.
Festival posters 2020 / 2021
We took a map of Paris, an old cardiogram, the token for the Kyiv metro, a bracelet from the last Brave! Factory, drawings by our designer, and many other artifacts, and combined them with photos of "suspected" artists with a red thread, like detectives in the movies.
IN THE FINAL OF THE VIDEO TRILOGY, WE BURNED THIS BOARD. WE HAD ONE TAKE, WITHOUT THE RIGHT TO MAKE A MISTAKE.
MEANWHILE BRAVE! FACTORY PAGES ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM STARTED THEIR DETECTIVE INVESTIGATION, ANNOUNCING THE ARTISTS IN A SPECIFIC WAY.
We had a limited budget, but the festival had a significant loyal audience of subscribers and visitors from previous years. So festival's social media accounts became an important channel for communication and the organic spread of information.
Accounts on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Telegram became platforms where post after the post we created a solid feed in the form of a detective board. Posts with investigative elements connected with red threads. This way we supported the idea of key visual and the video trilogy.
We are pleased that Facebook frames were used by artists and brand ambassadors for additional coverage. After the festival, artists posted their sets on Soundcloud with our recognizable visuals.
WE HAVE CONNECTED THE THEME OF THE DETECTIVE WITH THE TICKETS LOTTERY TO THE FESTIVAL. BECAUSE OPENING THE “CASE” IS MUCH MORE INTERESTING THAN TAGGING 5 FRIENDS UNDER THE POST.
We took a photo of the factory and hid a symbol from the Brave! Factory logo – an exclamation point in it. Then we created a separate Instagram account @bravefactoryquest and invited users to search carefully and write in the comments the number of exclamation points found.
Another way to win tickets to the festival that we came up with is to tell stories about your most courageous act. You have to be brave enough to get to Brave! Factory.
We also made an Instagram mask “Who is your totem DJ?”, in which the already well-known background with a detective board was pulled up, as well as real photos of DJs and their music.
OFFLINE ACTIVITIES, MERCH
The story that we have been telling for 2 months in digital has spilled over to the location itself. As well as other brand elements, such as festival bracelets and uniforms of security guards. We also made a map of the festival by hand and placed it on the main alley at the entrance, on the board of honor of the factory. Each of the visitors could add something to the map and connect the elements with red threads, thereby continuing our detective story.
AND OF COURSE,
WE MADE MERCH
T-shirts, tops, and phone cases so everyone can take a piece of Brave! Factory with them.
Till the very beginning, we had no confidence in the holding of the festival. At the same time, there was a critical goal of 7500 tickets sold. Despite doubts and fears, a difficult year for the industry, and increasing competition among similar events, we were able to attract 10,600 visitors. +41% of planned sales!
It was the largest indicator for the entire festival. For the first time in its 5-year history, it became profitable.
And yet, after such a large-scale preparation, it was so pleasant for us to enjoy the festival!
Денис Мартинов - Co-owner
Яніна Шабанова - SMM Lead
Маріанна Мурашко - Creative director
Макс Балашов - Head of art Альона Голубєва - Graphic Designer
Марк Кушнеренко - Art Director Дарина Тітова - Copywriter
Назар Щукін - Motion designer
Павло Різник - Graphic Designer
Сніжана Гончаренко - Graphic Designer
Сергій Шевцов - Director
Дмитро Недря - DOP
Євген Шкляревич - 1-AD
Антон Резніченко - Producer
Денис Задорожко - Production manager
Іванна Гавлюк - Production designer
Олександра Вєтоха - Props
Євген Бублей - Focus puller
Валерій Будков - Gaffer
Саша Казаков - Key grip
Майор - Electricity
Данило Крива, Дмитро Зайцев - Light
Максим Щербонос - 1-AC
Сергій Герасименко - 2-АС
Ярослав Ільницький, Микита Соловйов - Dolly
Вася Бондаренко - Style
Ельдар Шерифов - Style assistant
Ольга Трофимчук, Віктория Турок - Make up
Аня Фурія - Hair Style
Ілля Петриченко - Sound (Easy Casting)
Маша Котсар - Casting director (Easy Casting)
Вадим Лисак - Sfx (tornado Sfx)
Михаїл Бондаренко, Тетяна Косянчук,
Марина Марущак, Олександра Сухецька - Actors
Віктор Лісін - Edit
Ольга Коржинська - Colorgrading
Тімур Баша - Sound Design
Keller Bar, Oleg BSF/Anya BSF, Garik Pledov, Studio 31,

domain: artistic


Mirai Chief Engineer Doesn’t See EVs as Viable Alternatives
As if the efforts of Lexus to convince customers that EVs are terrible for road trips and generally not as fun to drive were not evidentiary enough to the conclusion that Toyota really doesn’t like electric cars, perhaps the comments of the chief engineer of its hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle will do the trick.
According to Yahoo! Autos, the chief engineer of the 2016 Toyota Mirai, Yoshikazu Tanaka, told Reuters Canada that he does not believe battery-electric cars are viable alternatives to vehicles with conventional combustion engines. Tanaka cites long charge times and short ranges as a reason for Toyota avoiding EV technology almost completely.
“Toyota isn’t denying the benefits of EVs,” Tanaka said. “But we think the best way to use them is to charge them at night (to avoid peak power consumption hours), and use them for short distances during the day.”
While other automakers have promoted the idea that high-speed charging units will reduce range anxiety, Tanaka suggests that these chargers’ energy usage would almost completely offset any green benefits of driving an EV.
“If you were to charge a car in 12 minutes for a range of 500 km (310 miles), for example, you’re probably using up electricity required to power 1,000 houses,” Tanaka quipped.
News Sources: Yahoo! Autos, Reuters Canada
The News Wheel is a digital auto magazine providing readers with a fresh perspective on the latest car news. We’re located in the heart of America (Dayton, Ohio) and our goal is to deliver an entertaining and informative perspective on what’s trending in the automotive world. See more articles from The News Wheel.


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Orange County Psychiatrist Sentenced to More than Four Years in Federal Prison for Writing Illegal Opioid Prescriptions to Drug Dealer
SANTA ANA, California – A psychiatrist who practiced at a Santa Ana clinic has been sentenced to 57 months in federal prison for issuing prescriptions for dangerous and addictive narcotics, such as the opioid oxycodone, without a medical purpose, to a drug dealer in exchange for cash, knowing the drugs would be sold on the street.
Dr. Robert Tinoco Perez, 57, of Westminster, was sentenced at a hearing on Monday afternoon by United States District Judge Andrew J. Guilford. Perez pleaded guilty on February 25 to one felony count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
Perez wrote prescriptions for “patients” he had never met or examined, including an undercover officer. Perez also created fictitious medical records for drug customers to provide justification for their prescriptions.
Perez used bogus patient names to write the fraudulent prescriptions to co-defendant William Jason Plumley, 41, of Huntington Beach, who sold the prescribed drugs – and also heroin and methamphetamine – to an undercover law enforcement officer. Plumley now is serving a 70-month federal prison sentence for selling prescriptions written by Perez as well as the drugs filled from Perez’s prescriptions. Plumley pleaded guilty in October 2018 to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
The drugs prescribed illegally by Perez included oxycodone and hydrocodone (both opioid pain medications), amphetamine salts (sold primarily under the brand name Adderall), and alprazolam (sold primarily under the brand name Xanax).
Perez admitted in his plea agreement that between December 2017 and January 2018, he wrote prescriptions for fictitious patients for 240 pills of Adderall, 300 pills of Roxicodone (oxycodone), and 250 pills of Norco (hydrocodone). Perez sold the prescriptions to Plumley for at least $1,400, according to Perez’s plea agreement.
This case is part of Operation Hypocritical Oath, a series of investigations led by the Drug Enforcement Administration targeting medical professionals with criminal charges, search warrants, and administrative actions that have led to the revocation of DEA licenses.
This case is the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Costa Mesa Police Department.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rosalind Wang of the Santa Ana Branch Office.

domain: law


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I’m of the mind that terrible violence on the scale that the Gears of War series has always shown us is a good thing. Bullets, and especially chainsaws, should always cause a massive amount of havoc on an alien body. In the original Gears, pools of blood erupted all over the place, including the player’s camera. This earned the game a very understandable ESRB rating of “Mature.” Gears of War 2 will have the same rating and level of violence, except according to WhatTheyPlay, Microsoft will now give parents an extra option to turn off naughty words and replace blood “with sparks.”
I haven’t had the pleasure to see the spark-laden action, but I instantly get the image of the “Grunt Birthday Party” skull in Halo 3 when I think about this. Of course, violence filters are nothing new when it comes to “Mature” rated games. The Mortal Kombat series has always been kind enough to gives us green blood when the action gets too intense.
My question is, if you are this much of a concerned parent, why even bother with buying your child a game that promises to be as violent as Gears of War 2? There are tons of alternatives available on the market. Games like Viva Pinata and the upcoming Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts will be plenty of fun without gore, guns, and chainsaws. Perhaps the Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff were on to something when they said, “Parents just don’t understand.”

domain: game


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Cuomo and Nixon at the debate on CBS
Governor Andrew Cuomo, a two-term incumbent Democrat running for reelection, came face-to-face with his primary challenger, actor and education activist Cynthia Nixon, at the first and only scheduled debate of the race on Wednesday evening at Hofstra University on Long Island. The two Democrats exchanged acerbic attacks over the course of an hour, with no shortage of finger-wagging from the governor and eye-rolling from his insurgent opponent.
The debate, taking place just over two weeks from the September 13 vote, reflected much of the campaign rhetoric from recent weeks, with Nixon taking aim at what she sees as Cuomo’s lackluster commitment to progressive policies and the governor pivoting to paint himself as the incumbent with accomplishments who is also more qualified to take on President Donald Trump. The debate aired on CBS-2 and was moderated by anchor Maurice DuBois and political reporter Marcia Kramer.
Nixon has sought to portray herself as an outsider to a broken culture and legislative process in Albany, depicting her lack of experience in government as an advantage, rather than a weakness. “Experience doesn’t mean that much if you’re not actually good at governing,” she said in an aside at Cuomo, while touting her background as a longtime advocate on issues that include education funding, LGBTQ, and women’s rights. Still, Nixon struggled to firmly answer the first question of the night from DuBois, which was, in part, to explain what has prepared her to be the chief executive of the state.
“The governor of New York is not a job about politics, it’s not about advocacy,” Cuomo said, while arguing that he is leading New York as the “first line of defense” against Trump. “It’s about doing, it’s about management.” Though many have speculated that Cuomo has been laying the foundation for a presidential bid himself, he also said for the record that he would serve as governor for the full four-year term if reelected. “The only caveat is if God strikes me dead,” he joked.
Nixon attempted, as she has on the campaign trail, to tie Cuomo’s record, and his apparent failures, to his wealthy donors. “When it comes to opposing Donald Trump in New York State, we already have a corrupt corporate Republican in the White House, we don’t need a corrupt, corporate Democrat in Albany as his main opposition,” she said, excoriating Cuomo for failing to give driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants, refusing to push for a single-payer healthcare system, and failing to pass the Reproductive Health Act, the Climate and Community Protection Act, and the Liberty Act.
For his part, Cuomo repeatedly accused Nixon of making misleading claims, while calling her a “corporate donor” herself, an apparent reference to her setting up an S-corporation to file her taxes. “My opponent lives in the world of fiction. I live in the world of fact,” he said. While Nixon has indeed established an S-corporation, as she explained a common tactic for actors, she does not appear to have used it for political donations, instead making those personally, including to Mayor Bill de Blasio, whom Nixon supported vigorously in his initial 2013 mayoral run.
At several moments in the debate, especially in the early going, Nixon interjected as Cuomo spoke, sparking one particularly heated exchange. “Can you stop interrupting?” Cuomo said.
“Can you stop lying?” Nixon retorted.
“As soon as you do,” the governor replied.
There were sharp disagreements between the two on funding the MTA to repair the broken subway system, on implementing single-payer healthcare, and on allowing public sector union workers to strike.
Pushed on improving the city’s subways and whether he would consider delaying or cancelling an upcoming fare hike, Cuomo sought to displace the blame for the system’s troubles, saying as he has in the past that the city bears more responsibility than the state, despite the fact that the governor appoints a plurality of the MTA board and its top leadership. “I would support cancelling the fare hike because the service is not what people deserve. It has to be a joint funding responsibility between the city and the state,” he said, suggesting a 50-50 split on both covering a hypothetical cancellation of the long-planned fare hike and whatever portion of the $33 billion funding needs for the system that won’t be covered by tolls and fares.
Nixon said a fare hike would be “unconscionable” and said she would, as governor, have the state assume the estimated $325 million cost for it. “[The MTA] is a state agency and to pretend anything else is completely disingenuous,” she said of the authority, noting Cuomo’s penchant for diverting MTA funds for unrelated or unnecessary costs in the past. “[Cuomo] used the MTA like an ATM and we see the result,” she quipped.
Nixon also said the state, and the Democratic Party, should embrace a proposed single-payer health care proposal laid out by Democrats in the state Legislature and evaluated in the Rand Corporation study released a month ago. The plan could cost roughly $200 billion to implement in the short-term but would likely lead to long-term savings for both the state and taxpayers. “This is the kind of change that New Yorkers really care about, this is the kind of change that our Democratic Party should be embracing in order to address the incredible inequality here,” she said. “Healthcare is a human right.”
Though Cuomo agreed on that last point, he said single-payer ought to be implemented by the federal government rather than funded by the state budget, which is already roughly $170 billion. He said long-term it might save money but that it would be very expensive in the initial years.
Even in other areas, when they seemed to agree, Nixon took every opportunity to critique the governor’s seven-and-a-half years in office. On campaign finance reform, for instance, Cuomo reiterated his calls for ending the LLC loophole, banning outside income for legislators, and greater financial disclosure by lawmakers. He said those changes, which he has supported for years, could only happen with a Democratic majority in both houses of the state Legislature. As he has before, he also offered them as answers to corruption scandals that have hit his administration, without naming policies more closely in line with his economic development programs that were abused.
Nixon has advocated for similar reforms -- but has also refused corporate and LLC donations to her campaign -- and insisted that Cuomo is a flawed messenger having raised millions from LLCs for his own campaigns and for tolerating and empowering the Independent Democratic Conference, which shared power with Senate Republicans for seven years before disbanding in April. “To say he is disincentivized to close [the LLC] loophole would not begin to describe it strongly enough,” she said, also criticizing Cuomo’s 2014 closure of the Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption, which he set up the previous year, as it looked at his donors and allies.
The two repeatedly bickered back and forth. Cuomo accused Nixon of being less than transparent herself, bringing up her failure to release her tax returns from the past several years until last Friday, when reporters were given three hours to peruse them in person. In response, Nixon noted that Cuomo did not release his own tax returns when he first ran for governor until after he was elected.
Responding to a moderator’s question, Nixon touted her support for the right of public union workers to strike. “We need to return to public sector workers every tool in the tool kit,” she said. Cuomo called it a “terrible idea” that could paralyze vital public systems such as schools, transit, and sanitation, and even cited de Blasio’s opposition to the idea.
Cuomo and Nixon did converge on the legalization of recreational marijuana, though Nixon views it as a racial and economic justice issue while Cuomo, until last year, called it a “gateway drug” and only recently changed his position -- something Nixon takes credit for, a theory Cuomo dismissed when she offered it again at the debate. He created a state taskforce in January to explore the issue, and it recommended a regulated, legalization program last month.
Perhaps the most alignment between the two candidates occurred when they were asked if either wanted de Blasio’s endorsement. Neither said they would accept or refuse it.
Cuomo, who has famously feuded with the mayor for years, said, in what could easily be taken for sarcasm, “I love Mayor de Blasio, I’m sure he loves me in a strange sort of way. After 30 years, we have a dysfunctional relationship. He makes his own political decisions, not me.”
Nixon, an ally of the two-term mayor who even sat on stage at both his inaugurations, said, “This is a race that I am running on my own. This does not have to do with any particular endorsement that I’ve gotten or haven’t gotten. But this has to do with the vision I’m enumerating for New York State, a vision of New York as a real progressive beacon, not just as a rhetorical progressive state the way we have now.”
Was that a yes or a no?
“It’s neither,” she said.
The debate didn’t end with hostilities, however. Cuomo, who refused to even look his last primary opponent in the eye in public, walked over to Nixon who was still seated and the two shook hands, smiling.
by Samar Khurshid, senior reporter, Gotham Gazette

domain: news


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Fire breaks out at a high-rise in Indian city Kolkata, four people rescued
September 02, 2014 , 11 : 29 am GST
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Smoke and flames billowing out of a window after a fire at the 24-floor iconic Chatterjee International Building in Kolkata on Tuesday morning. Photo - PTI
A major fire broke out on Tuesday morning in the 24-floor iconic Chatterjee International Building in the heart of the Indian city, Kolkata. Fire personnel rushed to rescue those trapped inside the high rise, which houses many commercial establishments.
The fire is yet to be doused and 20 fire tenders have been rushed to the spot.
"Four persons who were trapped inside have been rescued using a ladder and they have been sent to hospital for treatment for smoke-related complaints," West Bengal Fire Services Minister Javed Khan said.
"No one else is trapped inside the building," he told reporters while supervising fire tending operations at the building situated at the crossing of Park Street and Jawaharlal Nehru Road.
Some people who were in the second and third floors of the building were also evacuated, he said.
The fire broke out between the 12th and 15th floors of the building and around 20 fire tenders and two hydraulic ladders have been pressed into service to bring the blaze under control, fire services control room said.
He said fire services and disaster management group personnel reacted very quickly and was thus able to contain the spread of the blaze.
Khan said that it was only after the fire is doused that the cause of the blaze in the building, which houses many offices and business establishments, can be ascertained.
The area has been cordoned off to conduct the operations.
With the fire breaking out just before the office hours and several major thoroughfares closed due to fire tending operations, huge traffic snarls were caused inconveniencing office-goers.
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North Jersey Notes: Dive, Gotham Rocks, InDisguise and More! Tim Louie June 5, 2013 NJ/NY My bro Tom Herres from Scarlet Carson recently posted something on Facebook stating that he was asked to go on tour and play bass for a band called Dive. But wait! Tommy, you’re a singer now! Leave the bass playing to bass players! Who’s going to sing for Scarlet Carson? Tommy says that a “super-surprise” fill-in will be doing the SC shows while he’s on the road. Anyway, I had to give this group Dive a quick listen and apparently, they have a record deal already. Why have I never heard of this outfit from Clifton, NJ? I gave their songs “Fall Away,” “Last Call Romance” and my favorite track “Change” a listen, and it’s no wonder Tommy is playing with them. They remind me so much of Scarlet Carson. They’re a great rock band with cool guitar riffs, amazing melodies, and awesome vocals. I’m still baffled as to how I’ve never heard of them. The boys from Dive formed back in 2004, but they were in no rush to make things happen. They decided to take the time to hone in on their craft while playing local clubs and bars on the music scene. In 2007, they released their self-produced CD, The Truth About Us, which gained them much attention and in 2009, signed with Phase One/MadRock. In May 2010, Dive’s debut CD, Picture Perfect, was released through Sony RED and is currently available on iTunes, Amazon and in stores at FYE, Hot Topic and Barnes & Noble. Later in 2010, Dive became one of the first acts to ever play the new MetLife Stadium alongside Bon Jovi and Train. According to their bio, the band is made up of singer Jonny Dive, guitarists Evan Canova and Jeff Moczydlowski, bassist Martin Delahaye, who since has been replaced by Tommy Herres, and drummer Will Ferguson. Back in March 2012, Dive released The Acoustic EP, which featured four songs from previous albums stripped down and a brand new track called “Goodbye.” The Acoustic EP is also available on iTunes and everywhere music is sold digitally! Dive are currently putting the finishing touches on their third full-length and have recently embarked on a U.S. tour with my bro Tommy Herres from Scarlet Carson on bass. Check out the guys from Dive at divemusic.net. NORTH JERSEY NOTES UPDATES: One of my favorite rock promotions out of NYC, Gotham Rocks is celebrating their fifth anniversary on June 8 with a show at Irving Plaza. Over the past five years, Tech-9 Music, also known as Gotham Rocks and No Mercy Metal, has staged hundreds of shows. This Saturday, they will celebrate with a gala event featuring five bands from the NYC area like Charetta, who will be releasing their new CD Apocalypse this week, Woods Of Arden, Machine Elves, The Amatory Murder, and ISpaceWalkSometimes. The official after-party begins upstairs at Irving Plaza immediately following the show. This is one event that will be hard to miss! For more info, log onto gothamrocks.net. Dave Incognito recently emailed a new song that his band InDisguise had recorded during pre-production for their extremely long-awaited debut CD, Ashes Divide. I swear Dave must be taking a chapter out of Chinese Democracy. Anyway, the song is called “Ghost,” and I have to say that it might be the best song he has ever sent me from any of his projects. The music was nice and ballsy, his vocals were strong and diverse with screams that he pulled from his death metal days, and Jay Prussack’s guitar solo was tasty. I hate admitting this, but bravo to Dave and the boys from InDisguise! Check out “Ghost” at youtu.be/K4tN1k8qgHE. And finally, my pals Joe and Crystal Cattano from Aarius Studios in Old Bridge are at it again! They recently released their latest installment of their reality tv show Project: American Studio on YouTube. The synopsis of the show is that Joe and Crystal put together a dream team of professionals, including yours truly, to help a local act rise to the next level with the right marketing, recording, and imaging. The band featured in this particular episode is my bros, Lower The Veil. You have to check this show out! It’s pretty good and I come in at around 9:31. Take a look at youtu.be/Z_IGYOlI420. That’s all for now! If your band is from North Jersey, and you want some exposure, send your press kits to Arts Weekly, c/o Tim Louie P.O. Box 1140, Little Falls, NJ 07424, or you can email me at firstname.lastname@example.org, where you can also let me know where you’re performing next! Just remember….We’re all in the same boat, so every little bit of exposure counts! Tim Louie is the Author of S**t Happens. NJN Concert Calendar: 6/7—Julius Seizure/The Browning—Championship Bar and Grill, Trenton, NJ 6/7—Frankie Mob reunion show—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ 6/8—Charetta (Gotham Rocks Five Year Anniversary show)—Irving Plaza, NYC 6/8—Vision/Arrogant Response/Ogre—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ 6/8—Meatplow/BlackOcean/Blackmass Mafia/Lifesblood/BlyndSyde—Mojo 13, Wilmington, DE 6/9—Seas Of Wake/Thanatotic Desire/Beyond Dishonor/My Iron Heart/Oceans Of Illusions—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ 6/14—Lower The Veil/BlackOcean/Audio Machine/Panzie*/Scarlet Carson—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ 6/18—The Dirty Pearls/Ten Ton Mojo—The Mercury Lounge, NYC 6/20—False Icons/Strap On Halo/Fhtagn/Rebuilt In Time/Answer Infinity—Dingbtaz, Clifton, NJ 6/21—HYNGD/Fuel—The Chance, Poughkeepsie, NY 6/21—Carbomb/Torrential Downpour/Resolution 15/Bangladeafy—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ 6/22—Charetta—Even Flow Bar and Grill, Bayshore, NY 6/22—Long Gone Day/Social Distortion—Stone Pony, Asbury Park, NJ 6/22—Julius Seizure/Throw The Heat/Torch The Throne/Franchise/Big Man With A Little Band—The Parkside Tavern, Pearl River, NY 6/22—Lowdown—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ 6/23—Syka—The Beachcomber Bar, Seaside Heights, NJ 6/23—Anti-Citizens/Gnar Life/The Unknown/Half-Witted Dogs/Raging-Semi/Darrow Chemical Company/The Murder Junkies—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ 6/27—Wasted Theory/Jaw Horse/Altar Of Dagon/Useless—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ 6/28—Kosmic Daydream—Hat City Kitchen, Orange, NJ 6/28—Rockmore 64/Spider Rockets/Long Gone Day/Hair Metal Time Machine/Zyris (Reunion!)—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ 6/29—Killcode/Borgo Pass/Mother/Breakage Rising/American Sugar Bitch—Revolution Bar And Music Hall, Amityville, NY 7/5—King Kelly—The Bitter End, NYC 7/6—Fever Vein/Sinners/Ogre/Reverser—Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ Leave a Reply Cancel Reply Your email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.


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Open Medical Publishing recognizes the importance of having its journals available in the main directories, indexes and other online resources that allow research findings to be easily available for all the scientific community members. Open Medical Publishing is fully committed to achieving this by respecting the rigorous criteria and standards of production quality and adherence to scientific and ethical principles that have been established by these organizations. All articles are given DOIs as soon as they are published (CrossRef).
Open Medical Publishing journals are available in several indexing databases:
Pubmed Medline/Pubmed Central
Web of Science/Journal Citation Reports©
Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS)
Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
CAB Abstracts (CABI)

domain: medical


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Canyon Mountain Trail -
Most of the trail is dry, but there are a few streams along it. The road is not maintained by the Forest Service. Recommend 4X4 vehicles only during dry months of year. Stock trailers are not recommended on this road as they may become high centered.
Directions from John Day: From John Day, take US Highway 395 south for approximately 2 miles. Turn right onto County road 52 (Marysville Road) in Canyon City. Travel approximately 2 miles, then take a right on County road 77 for approximately 1/4 mile, then take another right on Forest Service Road 7700333 and follow the road to the trailhead.
Normally Open: June through November .
Read more at Travel Oregon


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Editor’s Note: If you need inspiration and motivation, you NEED to read this post! This beautiful submission came from one of our SPANily members and fellow survivors named Julie Liang. Not only is she a gifted artist, but she is an inspiring example of someone who is beating the odds and creating the life she wants and deserves. I am so honored to share Julie’s artwork and thoughts with you here. She is truly amazing on so many levels! Thanks to Julie Liang for giving me permission to share. ~Angie Atkinson
Artwork and Story By Julie Liang
I drew this picture last night to empower myself as well as add some positive energy to my room, which is being turned into a galaxy/space sensory room. I have Down syndrome and I am also on the Autism Spectrum. I just enrolled in college for an associates degree in physical science. My plan is to then go to university for my bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering.
Ever since I was little I have been obsessed with outer space. All my life people told me that I would never be anything. That I could never accomplish anything. My mother didn’t put me in special education classes instead she pushed me into regular classes that with time turned into advanced classes.
You see, first, my mom was the game changer. She knew that one day I would achieve great things and she didn’t let the world or anyone put her daughter into a box.
I’ve been abused and taken advantage of and pushed around my whole life. Narcissistic people have tried my whole life to pull me down, but I’m a fighter.
Something inside me changed when I found out that my mom is very sick. I had to become my own game changer. I needed to believe in myself and just look up.
My time of looking down is over and it’s time for me to put my helmet on and block out all the voices that say I will never touch the stars. It’s time for me to show them who I really am. I am powerful. I am strong. I am smart. I know who I am now. I remember and now the game has changed.
The abuser has harmed you again, is perhaps gone having discarded you, or you’ve left.
…but you’re still thinking you “love” them. These are the words in your own voice echoing in your head—the soft-focus, romanticized ideation that your abuser actually deserves your love. You may likely be telling yourself that you have to stay in/get back in this nightmare relationship because you can’t ever get anyone else who’d treat you properly anyway.
This your internal narrative…and it needs significant redirection, an upgrade, and remodeling. This is a brainwashed-by-abuse mindset that must be corrected with truth.
Seeing an abuser as a person to still merit your feelings of love is a target point for telling yourself the truth. Remember the old adage, “The truth shall set you free”? Truth is your light to banish the darkness of abuse.
Change your internal narrative…you need to tell YOU the truth:
This person harmed you purposely and repeatedly without remorse.
The abuser did this because he enjoys harming people.
This will not change.
They have no human merit, therefore
Tell yourself the truth…change your vision of the abuser to the truth. No more twinkling, soft-focus ideations of still loving or the abuser being worthy of those feelings.
You’ve always been the person of merit…the abuser never has. Abusers target good people to oppress because it gives them a power high to cause harm to the admirable.
It’s time to get real. Is your toxic relationship making you fat? How exactly does the narcissist affect your health? Can being in a relationship with a toxic narcissist cause you to gain weight, or to have otherwise disordered eating? How does it work and why does it happen? Being manipulated by someone with NPD can be exhausting and can do a real number on your self-respect, not to mention your mental health. This kind of manipulation can lead to obesity and a number of other health issues. That is exactly what I’m talking about today.
What is Self-Love? (the carpenter’s level illustration) ______________
The concept of self-love and honor is woefully undertaught, even being misunderstood as egomania. To love, care for, appropriately protect, and maintain yourself is absolutely necessary for a healthy life, healthy life choices, and healthy relationships.
Self-love reflects upon how you nourish yourself, how are you keep healthy practices such as self-care, nourishment, and exercise, and even reflects upon such things as the job you choose and how you choose to maintain your home environment and its protective, nurturing qualities.
What happens when we do not love ourselves? Often, we do not think we deserve good structures in life such as a safe home environment, or decent, honest, appropriate people in our lives to honor us and treat us well. We often think to ourselves, “Oh well, I should just go ahead and date this person because I can’t get anybody any better anyway”, or “It’s okay that he/she treats me miserably, lies, etc. … he/she pays that bill or did that nice thing that one time, etc.”.
A tidal wave of horrendous treatment is not wiped away by some small measure of what looks like good. That’s a little like someone shooting you, but handing you a Band-Aid.
So what does self-love look/feel like? Imagine a carpenter’s level with the fluid-filled cylinder holding a single bubble.
Your sense of self and self-honor are represented by that bubble. Self-love keeps your bubble between the centering lines. If someone mistreats you, you are tuned in to the fact that your bubble is being pulled out of center. You are not being appropriately honored as a human being with value and merit. This is your moment to stand up and clarify your right to be treated well.If that person mistreating you will not correct their behavior, gaslights you, projects upon you, etc., then that is an individual who does not deserve to be in proximity to you.
It’s very important also to understand that self-love exists appropriately when you love yourself as well as loving and honoring the good people around you. Only can self-love be construed as narcissism/sociopathy when it exists in a detrimental state, cutting out honoring any/every person around.

domain: psychology


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The pet supplies store is the place that you can find many things to care for your pet. They offer a wide range of pet products and accessories for your happier, healthier pet as well as your sanitized and odorless house.
pet supply stores is one of the most important products sold on FooNar, with 97515 item count.

domain: pet


AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, attends DIMDEX 2014 (Doha, Qatar, March 25th – 27th) exhibiting its range of modern rotorcraft solutions.
AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, attends DIMDEX 2014 (Doha, Qatar, March 25th – 27th) exhibiting its range of modern rotorcraft solutions. AgustaWestland has a well established and long standing presence in Qatar and the Middle East in both the military and commercial market. The Qatar Armed Forces operate Westland Sea King/Commando helicopters and have more recently started operating 21 new generation AW139 intermediate twin multirole helicopters ensuring outstanding flexibility and covering a number of applications including utility, troop transport, search and rescue, border patrol, special forces operations, law enforcement and homeland security. Three of these AW139s are dedicated to emergency medical service duties and the Qatar Armed Forces have become the military operator with the largest AW139 fleet.
In the commercial market, Gulf Helicopters is already using most of its 18 AW139s on order for offshore transport missions and is also the biggest customer of the new generation AW189 super-medium helicopter for the same application. Initial deliveries of the new type will start later this year. This customer is also an authorized training centre in Qatar for the AW139 with a full flight simulator and has more recently ordered an AW189 full flight simulator as well.
State-of-the-art technology, outstanding performance, low operating costs and the only helicopter in its class to meet the latest safety standards, have made the AW139 the helicopter of choice in the medium twin market. The standard configuration provides seating for 12 or 15 passengers in a large and bright 8.0 m3 cabin with excellent ease of access and egress via large sliding cabin doors. Excellent payload and performance ensure unmatched productivity for offshore operations. Over 200 customers from more than 60 countries have ordered over 750 helicopters to perform a wide range of roles including government missions, law enforcement, utility, EMS/SAR, offshore transport, VIP/corporate transport. Over 650 AW139s are already in service with customers worldwide and have logged more than 850,000 flight hours. The global fleet is expected to set the 1 million flight hours milestone by mid 2014.
Featuring the largest and most modern range of naval and maritime applications-dedicated platforms, AgustaWestland attends DIMDEX as a leading player in naval missions as well. Company’s maritime product range also includes the NH90 11 ton class medium twin and the AW101 medium-heavy three-engine models. The NH90 is the result of a successful cooperation among AgustaWestland, Airbus Helicopters and Stork Fokker through the NH Industries consortium and is based on a multirole platform offered in two main variants, the TTH (Tactical Transport Helicopter) for land-based operations and the NFH (Naval Frigate Helicopter) for naval applications. The programme has been highly successful with orders made by 19 customers in 14 countries for 529 units so far and is nearing 200 helicopters are in service today. The NH90 features an all composite airframe, fly-by-wire controls and state-of-the-art avionics.
The AW101 16 ton class helicopter is the most advanced multirole aircraft in its category, featuring a large and comfortable cabin able to carry up to 30 troops or passengers or up to 54 people in high density disaster relief configuration or up to 16 litters plus medical attendants. The three engines solution allows outstanding performance and safety standards in the most demanding operational conditions. Almost 220 AW101 helicopters have been ordered so far by several nations also including Italy, UK, Japan, Denmark, Canada, Portugal and Norway to perform a wide range of missions such at both land and sea as Anti-Submarine Warfare, Anti-Surface Warfare, Helicopter Early Warning, utility, Search and Rescue/Combat Search and Rescue, Special Forces operations, VVIP Transport duties.


Max on Movies
Max interviews Karyn Kusama! Plus, reviews of The Invitation and Demolition!
REST IN PEACE PRINCE RODGERS NELSON. Plus, Snow White and the Huntsman, The Huntsman: Winter's War, and Miles Ahead!
The Forest, Carol, and The Hateful Eight.
The Jungle Book!
A ROGUE ONE trailer breakdown! Star Wars: The Force Awakens is out on blu ray! A review of The Boss and an interview with Wyatt Weed.
Reviews of Pee-Wee's Big Holiday and Everybody Wants Some! Plus, Tyler Hoechlin, Ryan Guzman, and Blake Jenner are in studio for an interview with...
This week, an entire hour devoted to all four Hunger Games films!
Sudhir Rathod calls in!
CAUTION: The podcast contains MAJOR SPOILERS for the film Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice. LISTEN AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!
Man of Steel, Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, and Brooklyn!


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Michael and Susan left Florida in April 2007 aboard their Westsail 43 INFINI to fullfill a dream of full time cruising. They completed their circumnavigation in June 2017.
Nov 28 - A very busy day
I had chipped a tooth yesterday and finally found a Dentist who would see me immediately. This morning, we took the train to Fish Hoek, and Dr Kloppers (office number 021 782 1404) did a commendable job of using a composite to fill in the area and fix the problem. After, we ate lunch at the Beachcomber Restaurant, and returned the scenic train route back to Simon's Town to do some browsing along the shops lining the beautiful waterfront. In the late afternoon, we met with Sam (ZS1SAM) and his wife Marijke. Sam is the dedicated Amateur Radio enthusiast who runs the South African Mobile Maritime Net, and who provided us with weather summaries every morning (and some afternoons) on our passage from Madagascar to Richards Bay, then from there to here in Simon's Town, with assistance from Graham and others on the Net. His advice was spot on, and we came to rely on his interpretative skills. We had long looked forward to meeting him, and he and his lovely wife Marijke came over to the False Bay Yacht Club to get together. The conversation was lively, but was then interrupted by a waitress who brought over a couple of trays of hors d'oeuvres and we found ourselves at the book signing of a long time member of the FBYC who had just published a Commemorative History of the FBYC. To cap off that ceremony, the Club's cannon was set off, and Sue caught the moment perfectly from our vantage point on the bar's balcony. We later drove to nearby Dixie's Restaurant in Glencairn, where we had a very nice dinner. It was a wonderful evening, and we really enjoyed Sam & Marijke's company. Pic: Cannon firing

domain: geography


Pastors. Affairs. Power. Ethics.
It all unravels eventually. Whether it’s getting tired of hiding the indiscretion, telling a lie, living a lie. Or, getting caught red-handed.
Another pastor admits an emotional and physical affair. It’s wrong and there are tons of consequences. I think in the information age, with the openness of the Internet, more bad news is known and spreads faster. Moral failures have been around before, easier to hide in some sense, though just as devastating. This past weekend, another pastor falls, even more in the public eye because of social media. And the online chatter perculating.
Scott Williams lists 4 Reasons Leaders FAIL, i.e. fake, attitude, integrity, lacking. Geoff Surratt warns pastors of how they’re already toast if they think they aren’t vulnerable. Ron Edmondson adds his thoughts and Todd Rhoades adds his prayer for another fallen servant.
To reiterate, from Why Pastors Fall Into Affairs: “What is it with pastors and affairs? I did a brief search through Google and found all kinds of stories about pastors having affairs with secretaries, the wives of other ministers, and who knows who else. … Curiously, many pastors fall into affairs when their ministries grow. Success has a way of turning on its master. … Of course we’re not big fans of learning from our mistakes. … I know if I started pastoring a church tomorrow I’d say to myself, “Those other guys fell, but not me. I’m going to be fine.”
Pastors know what they’re supposed to do. They teach it and preach it. And the inevitable stresses of ministry will come (or never goes away, in many cases). Pastoring the most stressful job I can think of. Sometimes the church is overly successful. The stresses of marriage and family life will show up too — nobody has a perfectly easy marriage. And there’s always someone of the opposite sex who is more attractive to the average red-blooded male. I’m one, so I know what I’m talking about (tongue in cheek.) Plus there’s the spiritual realm too. Pastors have a red bulls-eye on their back, constantly in the cross-hairs of Satan’s destructive schemes.
My own thinking is that keeping precautions and rules won’t guarantee moral & marital purity. Rules don’t change the heart. From my vantage point, I’m of the opinion that high-capacity leaders tend to be task-oriented, and not as relationally-oriented. Task-orientation is what makes them that much more effective, but it’s also is the achilles’ heel, because there’s going to be the tendency of not spending enough time in close relationships with a few trusted others — especially in transparent vulnerable friendships where they are fully known. If friends knew the struggles and temptations in the heart & soul of a leader, especially in this area of temptation, then a leader doesn’t have to bear it all by himself. It’s true that leadership is lonely at the top, and the higher you go, the lonelier it gets. No one will understand what the leader is going thru. Partly true. Others don’t have to understand, but others can know. At least get a professional counselor to relieve the stress that mere rest and sports will not.
In other words, a pastor’s moral failure via an extra-marital affair (or other immoral addictions) is not only breaking the rules and bad decisions and lack of self-control. It’s a failure in relationship. It’s a broken relationship with self, with the spouse, with the accomplice, with the congregation, and with God. All of the above.
It’s even worse than that. It’s unethical. It’s clergy abuse. It’s a power play. Rules alone won’t do it. Maybe counting the cost and seeing the ugliness of pastoral affairs will shock us to be desparate for support and help. Men and women, we need all the help we can get!
MarriageRestored.com spells it out bluntly in Emotional Affairs with Pastors: Forgiveness is Not a Neat Little Package: “There is always an element of spiritual abuse when a pastor is involved and on behalf of any kind of pastor I apologize. If you have been in any type of affair this will be a good read but especially good for those of you involved with clergy.”
The Hope of Survivors, a support ministry for victims of clergy sexual abuse and misconduct, provides sobering realities and resources for victims and pastors. The article, Careful Observations, describes the power relationship dynamics that factor into sexual abuse between clergy and congregants:
Illicit relationships that form between male pastors and their female victims are often mislabeled “affairs.” Such language immediately sanitizes the situation. It is easier to talk about affairs than it is adultery or abuse. Adultery sounds so… sinful. Abuse sounds so violent. … Victims of pastoral sexual abuse are exactly that—victims. They are not generally partners in an affair. That is not to say the relationship is violent or forced, it is to say that the balance of power in the adultery is decidedly in favor of the pastor.
The pastor is frequently known as a good man, who cares, who expresses himself well, who often treats her with dignity and respect, who takes the time to listen and has a heart to understand her. … Thus by virtue of the initially legitimate relationship between pastor and counselee, she is often unintentionally set up for victimization as the relationship continues. That is if the emotionally protective lines get fuzzy and ultimately crossed.
When you add to the above situation a pastor, who is not watching his boundaries, who may be denying the possibility of personal wrong doing, who is not taking care to keep his “home fires” burning, and who is taking his own walk with God for granted, who enjoys the power of his position a little too much, you have the fuel for an explosive situation.
Opportunities for pastors abound, opportunities which offer remarkable potential for pastors and other Christian leaders, especially when their emotional and/or physical needs are not met. Such opportunities abound and are seized with striking regularity. A 1988 survey in Leadership magazine reported
- Nearly one in four pastors admitted doing something “sexually inappropriate” with someone who was not their spouse;
- One in five pastors confessed to sexual misconduct of some kind;
- One in eight admitting adultery; and
- Only 4 in 100 were found out by their local church.
This and other data is more startling when the potential for multiple affairs is considered. Staheli indicates “people who have affairs are likely to have more than one, especially men…About 25% of men and 15% of women who have affairs have four or more [affairs].”
That article explains the sobering reality of our human-ness and how we’re prone to wander:
… Pastors have affairs for many of the same reasons non-pastors do. They have needs, drives, and opportunities.
… Affairs come in all types and varieties.
… women have affairs because, like men, they have needs, drives, and opportunities. According to Staheli, “Women are every bit as willing as men to have an affair!”
One more piece of advice to men for avoiding affairs: “Guys, we’re always attracted to what’s missing in our lives. And the thing we miss most will sometimes show up in the form of a woman.”
I think this is the key question: do you know your needs? Are you humble enough to admit you’re needy? You will either consciously meet those needs in good legitimate ways, or you will subconsciously meet those needs in other scheming ways. Come to your senses. Stop pretending. Stop hiding. You can’t do it alone.
And if the statistics above are any indicator, there are pastors and people out there who have failed or currently in an affair. Come to your senses. Come clean now and get on the path towards recovery, restoration, and healing. Cut your losses. You can have less shame now or more shame later. You don’t have to stay on the losing streak.
God help us all.


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Some of you may be wondering what you can throw together to take to Thanksgiving dinner. Here’s a cute idea that you may already have the ingredients for and is sure to steal the show.We aren’t reinventing the wheel…you can find this same idea all over the Internet. The great part is that you can make it your own with whatever you have in your crisper right now. Here are the basics of how we did it, but feel free to substitute different veggies that you may have on hand.
- a variety of peppers
Cover your platter with lettuce to make a nice fluffy backdrop for your turkey. I used carrots and red peppers to make the feathers. The sliced cucumbers form the body. The bottom of a pepper makes a nice face. I used pepper remnants to make the beak and waddle. I used raisins for eyes, but you could use blueberries, black olives, or anything else that resembles little turkey eyes.


The trombone has been primarily an ensemble instrument from the beginning. It found its first use in the bands sponsored by towns beginning in the 1300s. In fact, the bands predate the trombone. They started out as ensembles of shawms and trumpets, but rising standards of shawm playing left the natural trumpet in the dust. The trombone came along because shawms needed a competent companion. Ensembles of trombones alone came later.
The 1500s saw a great deal of experimentation with new instrumental combinations. Courts in Italian city-states, notably Florence, led the way. They presented elaborate theatrical entertainments to project their power on such occasions as births and marriages of members of the ruling family. The long-established, everyday standard ensembles did not provide sufficient opportunity to show the court’s riches and extravagance. Little music is extant, but records indicate that several pieces called for a singer backed only by (usually four) trombones.
Meanwhile, the ordinary town bands grew in numbers all over Europe. The earliest ones had had three members. Even at the dawn of the 1500s, by which time cornetts had largely supplanted the shawm, a five-piece band was exceptionally large. By the end of the century, towns all over Europe boasted a professional cornett/trombone ensemble of seven or eight players, plus one unpaid but surely active apprentice for each member.
Such a large group rarely played as a single ensemble. Their size enabled them to provide several four or five-part bands for jobs in different parts of the city. Some of these may have been trombone ensembles. Little music survives until well after 1600.
Praetorius described how to combine voices and instruments into separate choirs of different registers. Following his instructions, choir masters could assign four trombones to play one of the lower-voiced choirs. It was not necessary to have written arrangements for these ad hoc performances. On the other hand, seventeenth-century composers began to write pieces for singers accompanied by trombones. Heinrich Schütz’ masterpieces “Fili mi, Absalon” and “Attendite, popule meus,” both for bass voice and four trombones, are but two of numerous such pieces by German composers.
Providing players for church music was one important task of German town bands. They also played daily concerts from the city hall tower. PIeces for three and four trombones by Daniel Speer have become a familiar part of today’s repertoire. Speer wrote them as teaching pieces, but they must be representative of the kinds of music heard in German cities long before and long after Speer’s time. Leipzig’s town band maintained its ancient structure and privileges into the 1860s.
Beethoven wrote his “Equali” for four trombones in 1812. It was played at his funeral, and then has dignified countless more funerals ever since. Frenchman François René Gebauer published six trombone trios in about 1795. Three are arrangements of music by better-known composers. Like Speer, Gebauer wrote them as teaching pieces, in this case for use at the newly formed Paris Conservatory.
A later Conservatory trombone professor, Antoine Dieppo, created a sensation when he presented some very difficult trombone quartet arrangements on one of Jules Rivière’s Promenade concerts. Since novelty was the name of the game in Promenade concerts, Rivière did not program trombone quartets again for several years. Other popular conductors probably did from time to time.
Near the end of the 1800s, the rediscovery of Schütz’ music included numerous performances of “Fili mi, Absalon.” At least one professional trombone quartet emerged to take advantage of this new vogue for the sound of trombone ensembles. The Times of London carried advertisements for the Concert Trombone Quartet from 1894 into 1896. Unfortunately, when it expanded its repertoire beyond the Beethoven and Schütz pieces, it turned to arrangements of mediocre tunes. The only newspaper review I have seen called them tiresome.
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Trombone ensembles, from duets to twelve-part choirs, continue to be an important adjunct to trombonists’ education. Students play duets with their teachers at the very least. Once they reach the college or conservatory level, they take part in larger ensembles. Well into the 1900s, they played mostly arrangements of other music. After graduation, trombonists still love to gather together to play large ensemble music. Informal groups comprise both professional and amateur trombonists and occasionally perform in public.
Over the past sixty years or so, trombone ensembles have collected a considerable repertoire of original compositions. There is no point in trying to list significant pieces here. Trombonists know them and, for the most part, the composers will not be at all familiar to concert goers. Of course, trombone ensembles still play arrangements. They’ve gotten much, much better–better music, more imaginative arrangements, and probably a higher standard of playing than in the days of the Concert Trombone Quartet.
Trombone ensembles are by no means limited to student or amateur ensembles. Los Angeles studio trombonists used to gather in a garage every week to play through some often difficult music by Hoyt Bohannon, Tommy Pederson, and others. This music has become an important part of every other ensemble’s available repertoire.
At least two professional European trombone quartets achieved international fame and stayed together for over 25 years: The Paris Quartet and the Slokar Quartet. Although both have long since disbanded, a Google search for “professional trombone quartet” brings up a number of currently active ensembles from all over the world. Check out the video below for a stunning performance by a quartet called Bones Apart.
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Photo credit: Some rights reserved by The United States Army Band


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Whether you like your news real, fake, or Fox, you’ve probably heard about the recent push for increased Wall Street regulation to reform the risky banking practices that resulted in the 2007 financial collapse. Back in 2010 when members of Congress actually did their jobs, the Senate passed the Dodd-Frank Act, which aimed to reform the industry by increasing federal regulatory powers and oversight.
Federal regulatory agencies are set to vote on Tuesday on the Volcker Rule – a key provision of the Dodd-Frank Act that banned certain types of proprietary trading and hedging. Proprietary trading is the kind of trading you hear Rachel Maddow or Jon Stewart rail against for hours: where banks invest for their own profit, not their clients’ profit, using federally-insured taxpayer money to finance high risk trades.
Now that may not sound so bad – mostly because the ‘simple explanation’ could still be lost in translation. To really illustrate the concept of proprietary trading, think back to the economic crisis of 2007. Banks issued loans to people with terrible credit who might never pay them back, known as subprime loans. Investment banks then bought these subprime loans and bundled them into mortgage backed securities, or basically a sellable bundle to be handed off to willing investors (usually Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac). Unsurprisingly, those loans were never paid back, the housing market crashed, and once there was no interest payments or property value, mortgage backed securities become useless.
Basically, the banks went to Vegas with the taxpayers’ money and lost it all at the blackjack table (or they blew it on hookers and cocaine, which may be closer to the truth).
Many lawmakers believe that the Volcker rule could change Wall Street’s wicked ways, though. The Volcker Rule, named after former Federal Reserve chair and current Obama advisor Paul Volcker, faces the challenge of defining exactly what proprietary trading is in the context of the law. Regulators can rest assured that corporate lawyers are already printing out all 970 pages of the rule, looking for loopholes big enough to hide some risky business. The rule is more “gray” than the sides of Mitt Romney’s hair, ladies and gentlemen.
The anticipated version of the rule is expected to allow for market making activity, even though it technically falls under the umbrella definition of “proprietary trading”. Market making activity – when a broker “creates” a market for a stock by being ready to buy and sell an infrequently traded stock, allowing investors to cash in their holding at the broker’s designated price– will not be in danger by definition, but making the distinction between proprietary trading and market making activity won’t be easy for the regulators. Especially when the regulators are the banks themselves.
Yes, you heard right. When this law is eventually implemented in July of 2015, CEO’s are going to be responsible for attesting to their bank’s compliance with the rule. Self-reporting seems a bit idealistic on the part of the government, considering they are trying to regulate an industry that makes its livelihood through a persistent asymmetry of information. To the banks’ credit, though, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley have preempted the regulation and ended their proprietary trading branches to comply with the Dodd-Frank regulations.
Further complications arise when considering the bond market. While stock trades are made on a central exchange, the bond market relies on trades through dealers, and therefore each dealer must own the bond before selling it to someone else. Such trades are not necessarily the risky trades the rule means to prevent, but they definitely fall in the gray area.
Yes, there are holes and gray areas in the Volcker rule. Yes, there are clever lawyers and traders who will climb through the holes and wade through the murky gray waters. But there is no doubt that Wall Street needs to be reigned in, and the Volcker rule is a good place to start.
For anyone worrying about the Volcker rule collapsing the banks with regulation, take a look at the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act that separated commercial and investment banking practices for 66 years – banks survived with even stricter regulation. The Volcker rule is just a step in the right direction – not a step on Wall Street’s toes.


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My final project for my flat pattern class last fall was to design and draft a corset. The teacher asked me to create something for challenging then she asked the others. I'd always been ahead in the class and really needed something extra. I began with some inspiration on pinterest and got started on something simple.
After my first fitting, I decided to split the pattern down further and remove an additional 2 inches from the waistline. I wanted more shaping then what I started out with.
From my final pattern I created bust padding which is simply quilted fabric and quilt padding. I hand stitched the padding into place using the seam allowance of my outside material. I used up-cycled jeans from my stash for the outside fabric and the same red material for the lining as the bust padding.
I used basic plastic boning slid into the seam allowance on the jean material. At the top and bottom of each section I added a decorative and functional flossing. The holds the boning in place permanently.
After I stitched the lining along the top edge I turned everything right side out and sewed a piece of biased binding along the bottom edge to finish it out. I hammered grommets in place along the back and laced it up with the flashy gold lacing. I chose not to put a front busk in since I was short on time. I have no issues getting in and out of the corset and lacing it myself.
Finally, I made a lace undershirt to complete the ensemble. It fits perfectly and I love how it feels on. This was really a great project that stretched my skills and I love how it turned out!

domain: hobby


Hello CIA, glad you could join me
I’m not sure how the CIA will rate this blog post, but I doubt I’ll raise too many red flags. The spy agency’s investment arm is reportedly pouring millions into a company that monitors blogs and social networking sites.
In-Q-Tel, the investment arm of the CIA and the wider intelligence community, is putting cash into Visible Technologies, a software firm that specializes in monitoring social media. It’s part of a larger movement within the spy services to get better at using “open source intelligence” — information that’s publicly available, but often hidden in the flood of TV shows, newspaper articles, blog posts, online videos and radio reports generated every day.
Visible crawls over half a million web 2.0 sites a day, scraping more than a million posts and conversations taking place on blogs, online forums, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter and Amazon. (It doesn’t touch closed social networks, like Facebook, at the moment.)
Visible’s customers get feeds of what’s being said, plus ratings on whether posts are positive or negative, neutral or opinionated, influential or not.
The company already has quite a few clients in the business world. For example, the maker of Spam (the meat, not the email) is using Visible to monitor what animal rights activists are saying about Hormel.
While it sounds scary that the CIA is watching, this stuff is, of course, out in the open already. It’s how the information might be used that could be a problem:
“Anything that is out in the open is fair game for collection,” says Steven Aftergood, who tracks intelligence issues at the Federation of American Scientists. But “even if information is openly gathered by intelligence agencies it would still be problematic if it were used for unauthorized domestic investigations or operations. Intelligence agencies or employees might be tempted to use the tools at their disposal to compile information on political figures, critics, journalists or others, and to exploit such information for political advantage. That is not permissible even if all of the information in question is technically ‘open source.'”
Whew, what a fine line that is.
But as far as just collecting the data, wouldn’t the CIA be remiss if it didn’t do this? Wired says the CIA’s investment will likely be spent on boosting Visible’s tracking capabilities of foreign social networks.
Former Defense Intelligence Agency technology officer Lewis Shepherd says it this way:
If the intelligence community ignored that tsunami of real-time information, we’d call them incompetent.”
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Rafael Nadal lost 6-7 (4), 4-6 to Juan Martin del Potro in the BNP Paribas Showdown in his Madison Square Garden debut Monday night in front of 15,984 deafening fans—the bigger takeaway—his knee survived the hard court:
I really enjoyed it a lot. It was an amazing experience for me playing in a huge arena like Madison Square Garden. It was an amazing feeling out there, the fans were very nice, the crowd supported me a lot, they know about tennis and it was great to play against Juan Martin tonight.
There was never any pressure on Nadal to win, but he had 1.5 million reasons to perform and entertain, as the Spaniard was guaranteed a $1.5 million fee for his participation.
He looked spry out there on the hard court, immediately crushing a backhand winner down the line to win the first point of the match.
Later in the first set, Rafa worked his way into net after a long baseline exchange, where he proceeded to hit three consecutive jump overheads, one bigger than the next with the third and final one flying wide, but his athleticism electrified the Garden crowd.
There were certainly more lighthearted moments of the evening than there were intense ones, but Nadal was moving like a deer and his serve looked exceptionally sharp—getting 68 percent of first serves in, winning 67 percent off his first serve and smacking two aces.
The expected silly moments that tend to occur in an exhibition match were also on display.
At one point, Nadal stopped his service motion to blow a kiss to an adoring fan who held up a sign and screamed his name. Shortly after that, del Potro and Rafa used their heads literally and showed off their futbol skills mid-point by rallying the ball as if they were futbol players hitting headers.
The impromptu highlight of the night came when Ben Stiller was called out by Rafa to play doubles against del Potro and a young girl that he hand-picked from the crowd. Juan Martin and the lucky girl went on to be victorious in that match within the match.
Fun and games was had by all, but Rafa showed the feverish New York crowd enough "I'm back and I'm fine" flashes.
Despite the strong positive showing on the hard court Monday night, Nadal still needs to prove himself at Indian Wells next week, but he's not getting ahead of himself.
I cannot predict the future. I have to see how the knee will last at Indian Wells next week. Having the chance to play at Indian Wells is great. I didn't know one week ago if I would be able to play at Indian Wells.
Rafa only came back a month ago after the highly scrutinized seven-month absence, but he's already won two titles, lost in the final at Vina del Mar and showed he's ready to compete on hard court again.
It's yet to be seen whether hard-court tournaments will remain a regular part of his schedule going forward, but there are a lot of positives for Nadal and his camp in his short time back on tour.
If Rafa decides that hard courts could potentially shorten his career in the long run, then tennis fans should embrace the idea of him playing out the majority of his career on clay and grass.
It wouldn't be the worst thing, and it beats the alternative of Nadal being forced into premature retirement because of poor scheduling decisions.
Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.

domain: sports