text:
The Ross Ragland Theater is excited to announce the 2017-18 Classical Series begins on Sunday, October 8 at 2 p.m. As always there will be a free pre-concert lecture prior to the concert at 1 p.m.
Comprised of two sensationally gifted and acclaimed virtuosi - clarinetist Maksim Shtrykov and pianist Misuzu Tanaka - the Shtrykov-Tanaka Duo has been heard throughout the U.S., with patrons often demanding they be rebooked immediately.
Clarinet and piano duos are considered rare gems on the modern concert stage despite the immense repertoire. With its innovative programming, master classes and recitals, the Duo has made it their mission to transform this instrumental combination from a rare occurrence to a welcomed guest in concert series across the globe – a goal the Ragland is happy to help them achieve.
he Ross Ragland Theater invites you to go on a “Surfin Safari” this Friday, September 22 at 7:30 p.m. with Catch a Wave, a Beach Boys Tribute.
The show features four incredibly talented vocalists who painstakingly recreate the surf-pop sound of California circa the 1960’s. According to the band, the exact striped shirts, white instruments and wavy hair combined with the harmonic blend of voices are so realistic you’ll be able to practically smell the salt-air of the beach!
“We’re really excited to kick off both the 2017-18 season for the Ross Ragland and the second annual Arts on the Flyway festival with this amazing tribute group,” says interim executive director, Mark McCrary, “they’re really very good musicians and performers.”
Indeed, Catch a Wave has performed all over the world as the famous Beach Boys, including being a regular featured act at Disney’s California Adventure. Additionally, they are the only Beach Boys tribute group to have been invited to perform for the surviving band members and their families.
The original Beach Boys are widely considered to be one of the most influential acts of the rock era. The group pioneered novel approaches to popular music form, combining jazz-based vocal groups, 1950s rock and roll and R&B to create their unique sound. The group had over eighty songs chart worldwide, thirty-six of them US Top 40 hits (the most by an American rock band) and four reaching number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. They also sold in excess of 100 million records worldwide, making them one of the world's best-selling bands of all time.
Tickets to the event range from $19-29 before transaction fees.
Get a ticket to ride a trip down memory lane (or is that Penny Lane?) when Paperback Writer: The Beatles Experience comes to the Ross Ragland Theater Saturday, September 24 at 7:30 p.m.
Paperback Writer - The Beatles Experience takes its audience on a trip through the musical years of the world’s most popular rock group! The four piece band will play hits that range from the famous Ed Sullivan Show appearances through the colorful Sgt. Pepper’s years and on to “Let it Be” all while donning authentic and memorable costumes.
Paperback Writer has been heralded by critics for their "spot on vocal, look and sound alike ability.” This show has been featured at Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure park. In addition, the quartet has dazzled audiences around the world performing fairs, casinos, theaters and cruise ships.
... has been announced!
On Wednesday, July 19 the Ross Ragland Theater held its annual Season Launch Party. The event was free and boasted both live and video sneak peek performances of the upcoming Season.
“Next season is a really diverse and amazing line up,” says Mark McCrary, outgoing executive Director of the Ross Ragland Theater, “there’s literally something for everyone. We’re really proud of this season.”
“Getting LeAnn Rimes, is of course, HUGE,” says McCrary, “But some of the smaller acts are just as exciting. There are two groups in the lineup that I think are poised to be really big on a national level, including the John Welsh Band and the Black Market Trust. We’re also excited to share the 2018 Community Musical: The Wizard of Oz – which is just a really fun show for families and communities.”
Blastoff for the 2017-18 Season!
The Ross Ragland Theater and Cultural Center would like to invite all of its patrons, fans and community supporters to their 2017-18 Season Launch Party on Wednesday, July 19, 2017. Launch is a celebration and unveiling of the upcoming performance season, slated to start September 22, 2017.
The Ross Ragland views Season Launch as not only a party and a place to announce the upcoming season, but also as a thank you to its patrons and the community for the enormous support it receives throughout the year. As a result, the season launch party is always free.
The festivities begin with a no-host bar and mingling at 5:30 p.m. in the theater lobby. Next, attendees will then enjoy a cabaret-style show with executive director, Mark McCrary acting as emcee for the night. After that, each of the upcoming acts will be announced by videos or live sneak-peak performance. Also performing at the event is the cast of Mary Poppins, the upcoming community musical, due to open at the Ross Ragland on August 4, 2017.


The LA Galaxy face Club Tijuana in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals. Is this the best MLS – Liga MX match up?
Spurs – Benfica and Juventus – Fiorentina in the Europa League on Fox Sports 2 and Fox Soccer Plus on Thursday’s soccer TV schedule. Read More
The San Jose Earthquakes drew 1-1 with Toluca in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals. Alan Gordon equalized in stoppage time. Read More
Tuesday’s soccer news roundup has Barcelona looking to make a point against Manchester City and MLS faces Liga MX in the CONCACAF Champions League. Read More
Barcelona – Manchester City and PSG – Bayer Leverkusen are the Champions League Round of 16 games on Wednesday’s soccer TV schedule. Read More


You depend on software like Exchange, SharePoint or Quickbooks to keep your business running smoothly. But what if you could outsource all the stress this technology creates and enjoy only the benefits? With Hosted Services, that’s exactly what you get.
Because your software and applications are hosted by the experts at Monroe Tech, you’ll never have to worry about the management, maintenance or equipment that keeps them running smoothly – so you can focus on running your business.
With Hosted Services from Monroe Tech, you get:


text:
Despite claims Canadians are growing fatter than ever, the ratio of overweight adult Canadians is virtually no higher than its level a decade ago, according to the right-leaning Vancouver-based think-tank, the Fraser Institute.
Experts in the field, however, say the report undermines the seriousness of Canada’s weight problem.
Data from Statistics Canada shows obesity rates among men appear to have levelled out and “may be turning a corner,” while rates of overweight and obesity among youth aged 12 to 18 remained largely unchanged between 2005 and 2012, according to the report.
The outliers are women, where rates of obesity have climbed steadily since 2003.
Overall, in 2012, 34.1 per cent of the population were estimated to be overweight, defined as a body mass index, or BMI, of 25 to 30 — virtually the same proportion as in 2003. Conversely, the rate of obesity (a BMI of 30 or above) increased between 2003 (15 per cent) and 2012 (18 per cent), “though again there is no statistically significant difference between the rates in 2009 and 2012,” according to the report.
“There is no epidemic,” said author Nadeem Esmail, director of health policy studies at the Fraser Institute.
The true definition of an epidemic is the outbreak of a disease or sickness that spreads rapidly and exponentially, he said.
According to Statistics Canada, from 2003 to 2011, obesity among men rose from 16 per cent to 19.8 per cent and, among women, from 14.5 per cent to 16.8 per cent — a rate of growth that is “clearly not exponential,” Esmail said.
The health consequences of excess weight are also being exaggerated, he said. Studies suggest that the risks associated with obesity lie at the higher end of the scale, above a body mass index of 35, and that people classed as overweight (with a BMI of between 25 and 30) may have a lower risk of premature death than the “normal” weight.
That makes the case weak for anti-obesity policies such as calorie counts on menus, tax hikes on sugary drinks and other policies that “vilify” certain foods, given that a “sizable portion” of the population “are neither overweight nor obese” according to their BMI, Esmail said.
“It’s a myth to say … that only government interventions will save us from ourselves. We know that most of the costs of obesity are actually born by the obese individual in terms of a shorter life span, fewer opportunities at work and increased rates of illness,” he said. “The only consequence for Canadians is the increased burden on Canada’s tax-financed health-care system.”
He added that even then obese people may not be a net burden to taxpayers over their entire lifetimes because they die sooner.
Experts say the report ignores that diabetes is growing at alarming rates, and that obesity is one of the single most important drivers of the diabetes.
“The more obese the person, the greater the risk,” said Dr. David Lau, a professor of medicine and chair of diabetes and endocrine research group at the University of Calgary. “To trivialize the importance of addressing the issue of obesity is misguided.”

domain: health


text:
A Brother’s Envy is an erotica novella fanfic for The Walking Dead TV series. My first fanfic!
The story is seen through the eyes of Beth Greene, and centers around her inner turmoil and her secret love. It takes place during the third season shortly after the initial attack on the prison. It was inspired by the behind the scenes photo above.

domain: literature


text:
You are here
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022
The climate crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic and an increased number of conflicts around the world have placed the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in jeopardy, according to The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022, released by the United Nations today.
The Report highlights the severity and magnitude of the challenges before us, with these cascading and intersecting crises creating spin-off impacts on food and nutrition, health, education, the environment, and peace and security, and affecting all the SDGs, the blueprint for more resilient, peaceful and equal societies.
COVID-19 AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
According to the latest data presented in the Report, the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc across the Goals and its effects are still far from over. Global “excess deaths” directly and indirectly attributable to COVID-19 reached 15 million by the end of 2021. More than four years of progressin alleviating poverty have been wiped out, pushing 93 million more people worldwide into extreme poverty in 2020. An estimated 147 million children also missed more than half of their in-person instruction over the past two years. The pandemic also severely disrupted essential health services, derailing hard-won progress on SDG 3.
Meanwhile, the world is on the verge of a climate catastrophe where billions of people are already feeling the consequences. Energy-related CO2 emissions for 2021 rose by 6 per cent, reaching their highest level ever and completely wiping out pandemic-related declines. To avoid the worst effects of climate change, as set out in the Paris Agreement, global greenhouse gas emissions will need to peak before 2025 and then decline by 43 per cent by 2030, falling to net zero by 2050. Instead, under current voluntary national commitments to climate action, greenhouse gas emissions will rise by nearly 14 per cent over the next decade.
WAR IN UKRAINE
The war in Ukraine is creating one of the largest refugee crises of modern time. As of May 2022, over 100 million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes. The crisis has caused food, fuel and fertilizer prices to skyrocket, further disrupted supply chains and global trade, roiled financial markets, and threatened global food security and aid flows. Projected global economic growth for 2022 was cut by 0.9 percentage point, due to the war in Ukraine and potential new waves of the pandemic. The world’s most vulnerable countries and population groups are disproportionately impacted. Women have suffered a greater share of job losses combined with increased care work at home. Some evidence suggests that violence against women has been exacerbated by the pandemic. 2 | P a g e Young people continue to have higher unemployment rates than before the pandemic, and child labour and child marriage are on the rise. Least developed countries struggle with weak economic growth, rising inflation, major supply-chain disruptions, policy uncertainties, and unsustainable debt.
A ROADMAP OUT OF CRISIS
Today, we are on the verge of a critical juncture. Either we fail to deliver on our commitments to assist the world's most vulnerable, or we step up our efforts to rescue the SDGs and deliver meaningful progress for people and planet by 2030. “The road map laid out in the Sustainable Development Goals is clear,” stated Mr. Liu Zhenmin, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs. “Just as the impact of crises is compounded when they are linked, so are solutions. When we take action to strengthen social protection systems, improve public services and invest in clean energy, for example, we address the root causes of increasing inequality, environmental degradation and climate change.” The report also emphasizes that to emerge stronger from the crisis and prepare for unknown challenges ahead, funding our data and information infrastructure must be a priority for national governments and the international community.
Additional key facts and figures:
• The combined crises could lead to an additional 75 million to 95 million people living in extreme poverty in 2022, compared with pre-pandemic projections.
• About 1 in 10 people worldwide are suffering from hunger and nearly 1 in 3 people lack regular access to adequate food.
• Immunization coverage dropped for the first time in 10 years, and deaths from TB and malaria increased.
• In 2020, the global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by an estimated 25 per cent, with young people and women most affected.
• In 2021, an estimated 17 million metric tons of plastic entered the world’s ocean and the volume of plastic pollution entering the ocean is expected to double or triple by 2040.
• About 24 million learners from the pre-primary to university level are at risk of not returning to school.
• The number of Internet users surged by 782 million to reach 4.9 billion people in 2021 from 4.1 billion in 2019.
• In low-income countries, the total public and publicly guaranteed debt service to export ratio rose from an average of 3.1 per cent in 2011 to 8.8 per cent in 2020.
The Sustainable Development Report 2022 presents data provided by over 200 countries and areas around the world. While this year’s report demonstrates the dire impacts of the current crises on the 17 Goals, it clearly demonstrates that realizing the SDGs is the remedy needed to address our global challenges. To achieve the SDGs demands urgent transformative action and evidence-based approaches at a global scale.
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022 is available at https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2022/

domain: sociology


text:
The tea, the jam and the toast
I get up early. I have breakfast. I have go to office
I see photographs winter, autumn and spring. Now spring season.
I don't play sport. I'm not a fan of any sport. I like to watch only tennis.

domain: hobby


text:
Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network (ICAHN)
Top Flex Activities
CAH Quality Improvement
Quality improvement and reporting strategies remain a top priority for the Illinois Flex Program. After the reporting was suspended during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the program is focusing on engaging with hospitals to encourage them to return to prior reporting levels. Patient engagement has been a top priority of Illinois CAHs, and has been demonstrated by all CAHs currently participating in Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) scores, either through an approved Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) vendor or through independent data collection.
The Illinois Flex Program continues to focus on transitions in care through the creation of Nursing Home Navigator programs meant to engage with long-term care facilities to facilitate efficient transfer communications. These programs will focus on reducing readmissions, improving communication, and increasing the coordination of care as the patient transitions from acute care back to the long-term care setting.
For the 2021 Flex Grant year, Illinois will be doing the following:
- Encourage Illinois CAHs to participate in the Swing Bed Patient Engagement Program, which has been an ongoing project for the Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network (ICAHN). As part of this program, swing bed patient engagement and feedback on their Swing Bed stay will be collected using handheld tablets. This information can be utilized by the CAHs to improve patient experience.
- Illinois will coordinate with subject matter experts (SMEs) to provide in-depth training on Medication Safety. After a kick-off webinar to provide training on the data collection process, the hospitals will complete a self-assessment of current practices related to high-alert medications as well as targeted info about opioid prescribing practices. This information will then be used to tailor an educational webinar to address the needs of the hospitals and compare their findings with national benchmarks. This information can be used to identify and prioritize opportunities for process improvement—both at the individual hospital level as well as guiding future Flex initiatives. This activity will be monitored by the number of hospitals participating in the education as well as how many implement changes on how they handle high-risk medications at their facility.
- The Illinois Flex Program will continue to improve its outpatient departmental quality and productivity benchmarking portal. This portal allows outpatient service departments (currently diagnostic imaging and laboratory) to enter quality data and productivity measures. The departments can then benchmark themselves against other Illinois CAHs. The program allows the departments to download charts and graphs that can then be used in reports to hospital-wide quality groups. This year the Flex program will be working with rehabilitation departments to define quality and productivity measures that are meaningful to their workflows so that they can be integrated into the portal.
- The Illinois Flex program has chosen Swing Bed Quality reporting as their Quality Improvement Project for this grant year. The Illinois program is working in coordination with several other states to collect basic information from Swing Bed programs such as length of stay, readmissions, and return to their previous residence. This data is collected monthly, and the aggregated data is shared with the other state programs.
- The Illinois Flex program will support the critical access hospitals quality programs by providing targeted QUEST training. The hospital quality leaders will be educated on multiple quality concepts and tools. The program will help them devise a quality project, utilize the tools given during the course, and provide technical assistance during the project implementation.
CAH Operational and Financial Improvement
The Illinois Flex Program plans to continue to offer small project grants by focusing on the 15 CAHs on the Federal Monitoring Teams (FMT) CAHs at risk. The project grants will focus on financial and operational improvements to assess and determine appropriate outcomes based on individual facility needs. The Illinois Flex Program will also provide small project awards to assist hospitals in improving operations, conducting community outreach projects identified in the community health needs assessment (CHNA), increasing access to mental health services, supporting local emergency medical services (EMS) through educational awards, and addressing outpatient and emergency department service needs. In addition, funds will provide resources and training on physician documentation and coding, telehealth regulations, revenue cycle management, practice management, and compliance.
ICAHN will continue to offer their 16 different peer network groups where CAH staff members meet via Zoom, either monthly or quarterly, to learn about new ideas, share problems or concerns, and network among peers. ICAHN is continuing to provide a monthly CEO COVID call. This call allows ICAHN to provide regulatory updates as well as allowing the hospitals to share their current policies and discuss COVID challenges. ICAHN continues to offer continuing education and training programs based on identified needs. Accordingly, an advanced practice clinical education is being planned in conjunction with a university provided Simulation lab. The COVID surge continues to challenge the CAHs with the inability to transfer sick patients. Therefore, they must manage these sicker patients for longer periods of time. Patients that previously would have been quickly transferred out to a higher acuity hospital are now being managed by the rural hospital.
For the 2021 Flex Grant Year, Illinois will be doing the following:
- Work with a subject matter expert to present a two-day webinar-based training for both hospital and clinic practice staff. This workshop will focus on rural health clinic general coding and billing issues as well as providing updates to evaluation and management (E/M) coding practices. This activity will be measured both by the number of facilities that participate in the workshop as well as by pre and post-workshop surveys to measure learning and the adoption of the best practices implemented by workshop attendees.
- Emergency preparedness is important for all hospitals. However, for the past two years, hospitals have been focused on surviving the public health emergency. Therefore, they may not have had the capacity to do a deep evaluation of their non-pandemic emergency preparedness plans. The Illinois Flex program believes it is important to provide training for the hospitals to analyze their current emergency workflows, prepare their response teams and validate their non-pandemic emergency processes. This project will target all critical access hospitals in the state and will be facilitated by the state hospital association.
- The care management services certification program continues to be a popular educational program for the Illinois critical access hospitals. The Flex program continues to support this program by continually updating the educational content as well as providing scholarships for CAH personnel who participate in the class. This web-based asynchronous training program allows care management practitioners to better understand the regulations as well as how to implement best practices into their hospital’s care management program. The outcome measures will be the number of people trained and the number of care management programs that are created or enhanced in the CAHs.
- The Flex program continues to support the Illinois Critical Access Hospital Leader Fellowship program. Currently, this 8-month program has 16 participants from CAHs from around the state. The participants will meet in person as well as participate in twice-a-month Zoom meetings. These meetings will provide in-depth education about the fellowship’s four Core Learning Pillars: Rural Health, CAH Operations, Finance, and Leadership. This will be a deep dive into rural health care and each participant has been assigned a mentor with experience in rural health care leadership. Mentors provide feedback as the fellows complete a project for their health care system or local community. The success of this activity will be measured by the number of participants as well as by feedback from the second class about the fellowship program.
- The Illinois Flex program has also created a Rural Physician Leadership program. This project was a direct request of several hospital CEO’s. During the initial Spring 2021 cohort, the topics to be covered included communication styles, developing relationships with senior leadership, how the physician impacts the financial health of the hospital, and building effective teams and coaching for improvement. The course includes both in-person meetings as well as virtual meetings.
CAH Population Health Improvement
The Illinois Flex Program will provide support for highlighting best practices from CAHs' CHNAs and implementation strategy development. This will include continued coalition support on the opioid crisis and behavioral health service needs within rural communities. ICAHN highlights best practices from CHNAs throughout their state during workshops, webinars, peer-group sharing, and newsletters. The Illinois Flex Program also provides special project funding to assist hospitals in assessing project feasibilities for population health projects, developing chronic care management programs, and providing technical assistance on population health strategies, wellness, and coaching strategies.
For the 2021 Flex Grant Year, Illinois will be doing the following: (1) ICAHN will continue its Clinically Integrated Network project. This project is supporting a CAH as it works with the coalition that has been created in the community to address diabetes in their local population. The pilot hospital has contracted for technical assistance with the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation (Heart of New Ulm Project) on how best to encourage community buy-in and support. This project is bringing together the hospital, school districts, local health providers, public health officials, and civic officials. (2) ICAHN will host another statewide workshop for local coalitions on substance use disorders, medical treatment modalities, and support programs. This is a continuation of previous Flex activities. The workshop brings together providers, community-based programs, and knowledge experts. This activity will be measured by the number of CAHs participating in the program.
Rural Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Improvement
The Illinois Flex Program plans to continue efforts to strengthen the CAH stroke readiness program, ST-segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) response times, and provide funding for EMS education and training. The Illinois Flex Program will continue to support the work through the EMS Alliance and partner to provide stroke education.
For the 2021 Flex Grant Year, Illinois will do the following:
Provide funds to the critical access hospitals to partner with their local EMS agencies to promote educational opportunities for the EMS personnel. Projects for this year include providing Prehospital Trauma Life support certification training, hosting a local EMT basics class, and in-depth education on trauma simulators. Other hospitals have chosen to purchase mannequins that will be used by the EMS personnel to practice airway management, advanced CPR training, and the handling of obstetric emergencies.
Innovative Model Development
ICAHN will identify two more pilot CAHs to develop and implement a Skilled Nursing Home Navigator Program that oversees the coordination of skilled care services of identified Medicare beneficiaries discharged from a CAH and are moved to a skilled nursing facility outside the hospital organization. The previous pilot hospitals will continue working with the Nursing Home Navigator program to strengthen their workflows. The navigator program would connect the primary care office to the Medicare beneficiary’s plan of care. This activity will be evaluated by the best practices and feedback from the participating pilot sites.
ICAHN is partnering with Lilypad to promote the use of the Practice Operations National Database (POND) tool to collect data from Illinois rural health clinics (RHCs) for benchmarking against national results. Lilypad is providing in-depth technical assistance to allow ICAHN to better understand RHCs and to evaluate the quality and financial metrics of the individual clinics for possible targeted assistance next year.
Please provide information about network activities in your state to support Flex Program activities.
ICAHN began as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation in 2003 and now comprises all 51 CAHs, along with five small rural facilities. ICAHN has created several cost-effective hospital services based on member need, such as rural recruitment, access to group purchasing, HCAHPS, engagement surveys, external peer review, CHNA, rural nurse preceptor training, rural nurse residency program, information technology (IT) technical support, access to managed care contracting, coding, and other shared services. ICAHN hosts 16 peer network groups and has more than 45 listservs designated to specific management and leadership roles within the hospitals and clinics. ICAHN manages the MBQIP program.
Please provide information about cross-state collaborations you may be working on related to the Flex Program.
The Flex program is working on Patient Experience/HCAHPS quality measures for Swing Bed. The Kansas Flex program is using the same Patient engagement tool. Plans are to increase the knowledge transfer between the two states about best practices.
Please describe how your state Flex Program is reaching out to non-traditional partners to support its work.
ICAHN partners with several different nontraditional partners. One of these is McKendree University. This university has created a Master's of Nursing (MSN) program with a concentration in population health. These students are partnered with Illinois CAHs or public health departments to work on population health projects. The Illinois Flex Grant, through several different grant activities, is including Long Term Care (LTC) facilities in the process of implementing better care management for patients that are shared between the LTC and the CAH. Collaboration between these two partners will increase the quality of care as well as decrease unnecessary health care spending.
|Type of Organization||Non-profit Organization|
|Number of CAHs||51|

domain: medical


text:
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President, Dana White, recently expressed his interest in signing former Bellator MMA Lightweight champion and free agent, Michael Chandler. But it’s another one of Scott Coker’s fighters who has been lighting up social media trying to get White’s attention.
That is none other than the promotion’s current champ-champ, Patricio Freire. “Pitbull” not only scoffed at Chandler possible signing with UFC, but took it a bit further while posting on Twitter, laying down a $1 million challenge to White saying that he would easily defeat current UFC Featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski.
In doing so, not only would Freire prove that Bellator MMA’s fighters are equal — if not superior — to UFC’s, but also become a whole lot richer and become the owner of Max Holloway’s belt (an obvious dig at “The Great’s” split-decision win over “Blessed” last month).
“Alex Volkanovski, just so you know you are fighting Pitbull the fighter not the rapper. I’m glad you recovered from your cauliflower pussy,” “Pitbull” responded to Volkanovski accepting his challenge in a since-deleted tweet. “Dana White it would be my pleasure to take your money. I’ll even pay for Alex The Average’s hospital bills. It would an honor to wear Max Holloway’s belt.”
Freire — who also holds Bellator’s Lightweight strap — is currently on a five-fight win streak and is one of the poster boy’s for the promotion, having competed for the Viacom-owned company for a decade now.
Volkanovski, meanwhile, is on a 19-fight win streak and holds back-to-back championship wins over Holloway. While a fight between the two men would be a sight to see, White isn’t exactly in favor of cross-promoting. In fact, he’s only done it once before, allowing Chuck Liddell to head over to PRIDE FC in 2001 and 2003 in an attempt to win the Middleweight Grand Prix, though he ultimately came up short in his quest.
Still, when you see two fighters from rival promotions chirping at each other, it gets you hype but ultimately reminds us of all the great fights we will likely never be able to see.

domain: news


text:
Whether you have been married 30 years or 30 days, in-laws have likely come up in your relationship. For somepeople, their in-laws are a glorious fountain of support, wisdom and encouragement. For others, this is not the case. If you find yourself in a tough place with your partner and in-laws, read ahead.
Tip 1: Remember that you both love the same person dearly.
If all you have in common is that you both love your partner, you’ve found at least one thing in common. Whether you are the spouse or the parent in the situation, you both love the same person. Remembering this mutual point of interest can help you lower your defensiveness towards the other person. If you love your husband but can’t stand his father, can you find appreciation for how his father helped raise your husband into the person you love?
Tip 2: Work on yourself first.
Warning, hard pill to swallow ahead: in conflict, confront yourself first. I don’t know the specific problem you are facing with your in-laws but I’m willing to bet some of it feels personal. Working out conflict with your daughter-in-law will begin to go smoother if you first figure out why she sets you off so much.
Tip 3: Fight Fair.
You may be thinking, “well we don’t fight, we just don’t get along.” Fighting fair doesn’t have to mean a screaming match. Fighting fair means you don’t take cheap shots at each other, hold grudges, or name call. Don’t do any behaviors that make you feel great in the moment but never help move the relationship forward. If you are feeling a slight tingle of your consciousness as you read this, you probably know what I’m talking about.
Tip 4: If you can’t pick your battle, pick the time.
Not every issue needs to be hashed out when it is immediately brought up. I’m not suggesting you sweep things under the rug. Rather, mutually decide if this is the best time to have this discussion. Remember tip three on this one because demanding that “this isn’t the time for that” is not mutually deciding to come back to the issue.
Tip 5: Express Appreciation.
You may not have the relationship you’d like with your in-laws. You may not be as close, warm, and open with them as you’d like, and you may never see that ever happening. They may unjustly not like you. Or, you may have an overall good relationship, just with some small disagreements here and there. Whatever your situation, continue to express appreciation. While this might seem like a suggestion to appease them, in fact it is actually for yourself. When you are able to hold multiple conflicting emotions about a person or situation, you strengthen your emotional muscles.
Sometimes conflict is greater than 5 tips can solve. If this is the case for you, contact us at (816)537-1350 to set up your appointment with one of our relationship specialists.

domain: psychology


text:
The tour will be on Saturday June 4, 2011 and Sunday June 5, 2011. There will be a show preview “From East to West” May 14 – May 31, 2011.
Opening Reception is May 14 from 7 – 9 pm.
Greenly Art Space
2698 Junipero Ave. #113
Signal Hill, CA 90755
Long Beach, CA—Long Beach artists will open their studios on Saturday and Sunday, June 4th and 5th, 2011 from 11 AM to 5 PM. The public is invited to see a diverse range of art works, including paintings, mixed media constructions, handmade artists’ books, prints, photographs, and jewelry.
The free event is called The Mid-City Studio Tour because of the neighborhood locations of the artists’ studios within Long Beach. This fifth biennial program celebrates the vital visual artist community in this city. Sue Ann Robinson, known nationally for her innovative, handmade artist’s books, comments, “There are many wonderful, creative artists in this area who outnumber the arts venues available to present work to the public. The Mid-City Studio Tour provides a special opportunity to see artists’ environments and processes.”
Invitations and maps for this self-guided studio tour are available before the event at Greenly Art Space (2698 Junipero Avenue #113 in Signal Hill), Long Beach Museum of Art (2300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach 90803), Free Spirit Yoga (3910 Atlantic Ave, Long Beach 90807), Arts Council for Long Beach (110 Pine Avenue, Long Beach 90802), Utopia (445 E 1st St Long Beach, CA 90802), and various It’s a Grind coffee houses in the mid-city area.
Please visit our website for images, more information about the artists, and the tour map.
The Mid-City Studio Tour is sponsored by Arts Council for Long Beach and It’s a Grind coffee houses in the mid-city area.
CONTACT: Gail Werner/Slater Barron
This show features photography, painting, ceramics, and other meida
By Jim McKinniss

domain: artistic


text:
Creators and critics exist in all walks of life and industries. This article explores some of the fundamental differences between them. Obviously there are shades of grey that can exist when assessing differences between things. This posting takes a binary view which is more black and white in nature.
Continue reading Creators and Critics
This website celebrates the joy of photography and features a wide range of photographic subject matter. The content is designed to appeal to a wide range of people interested in photography. The website also demonstrates the image creating capability of small sensor cameras including micro four thirds, 1", and 1/2.3" cameras.


text:
A silent night, a holy night…. the best night of the year! Every year at this time everyone is waiting that night! You feel it in the air! You are talking about the tree (Oh! Christmas Tree!), you wish for snow and you are making the list (Don’t forget to check it Twice)!!!! All the people are dreaming Christmas!
You are dreaming a cold night at cinema. It’s snowing outside but you are safe in front of the big screen! You are with your loved ones and a Christmas movie is about to start! You are ready to feel the magic of the season! This year a new movie is ready to entertain you! Arthur Christmas is the best way to spend a night at cinema! The movie at last reveals the incredible, never-before seen answer to every child’s question: ‘So how does Santa deliver all those presents in one night?’ Find the answer in a cinema near you!
Visit @ http://www.arthurchristmas.com/
Arthur is here:
Every Christmas you love to listen your favorite Christmas music! Oh, God! You can’t remember how many times you played All I want for Christmas is You, your favorite Mariah Classic! Can you believe that this year you will listen a new version of the song by Mariah and Justin Bieber? Justin is ready to make a new Christmas classic album! Under The Mistletoe is the number 1 album of the season! New music and Classic tracks in an album full of quest stars! You have a new Pop Christmas album to listen, to love and to place in your Christmas Album List! You only have to find your favorite song!
Visit Justin @ http://www.justinbiebermusic.com/

domain: entertainment


text:
Did Luis Suarez agree to Mario Balotelli’s bizarre request? Find out here…
Mario Balotelli is so desperate to start scoring regularly for Liverpool, that he’s turned to former Reds star Luis Suarez – who scored 31 goals last season – as a source of inspiration.
Reports in the Daily Mirror have revealed that the Italian, who has only managed four goals in 23 games since his £16m summer move from AC Milan, recently discovered Suarez’s old shin pads, and has now asked to wear them.
Suarez joined Barcelona in a £75m deal last summer, but forgot to take his protective wear with him when he left. Learning of their availability, Balotelli decided to call the Uruguayan to ask if he could use them in a match.
According to the source, Suarez was only too delighted to agree. An insider told the Mirror: “Luis was in great form and only too happy to help when he received the call from Mario.”
Balotelli will be hoping to get the chance to shine later today, when the Reds face his former club – Manchester City – in the Premier League. A win could see us further close the gap on Champions League places, and move level on points with Arsenal in fourth place.

domain: sports


text:
At the sixth edition of the world Government Summit in Dubai, India was the guest country and Prime Minister Narendra Modi a keynote speaker. This was Modi’s second visit in less than two years and comes on the back of his hugely successful previous visit of 2015 which in itself was a landmark for no other prime minister from India who had visited the UAE for more than 34 years, until Modi’s visit in August 2015. There can be thus no better occasion to explore India’s rise than at this year’s event in Dubai, a knowledge hub, where taught leaders around the world gather. It provides the perfect backdrop to examine the Indian exceptionalism, a claim that the country has been reticent to make until recently. But under the prime ministership of Modi, that has changed. The country has a leader that has the mandate to shift gears, the perfect spokesman and agent to rebrand and reset India’s trajectory: A country labeled habitually a cautious power, is stepping up to reclaim its natural global role. A paradigm shift from its ingrained diffidence and reticence born out years of colonial rule.
During the announcement of the agenda of the three-day summit, the UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs and the Future, and Chairman of the World Government Summit, Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, said India carries exceptional experiences worthy of being global models to follow; He then went on to add: “ The World Government Summit has transformed into the largest platform for shaping future governments and a meeting point between international organizations and governments from around the world… and in this edition, the Indian delegation participating in the annual gathering will bring across the latest technologies developed by the country, covering space exploration and technological advancements”. A variety of expressions-a palimpsest, a sinkhole for gold, as abstract an idea like the equator have been used to grapple with this conundrum called India. From Winston Churchill to Romaine Rolland, from Mark Twain to Adam Smith to more contemporary writers like Ramachandra Guha, Shaski Tharoor to Patrick French have written domes to understand India.
Yet, a recently published book which is worth to read, “Our Time Has Come”, by Alyssa Ayers, brings a distinctly unique view on India on account of her more than 25 years of experience in India, she was the United States deputy assistant secretary of state for South Asia from 2010-2013 and her insights are based on a variety of conversations with interlocutors, both in India and the US. The very title suggests that Ayers has topped into India’s yearning for recognition, for the tag sits well on a self assured India ramping up its presence on the world’s stage and it echoes the ambition of its live-wire prime minister. It resonates perfectly with the Prime Minister’s speech in Kuala Lumpur in 2015: “Now, it is India’s turn. And we know that our time has come.” Pitch perfect to Indian ears who had earlier heard Modi thundering in Madison Square Garden, New York: “Our country used to play with a snake, now we play with a mouse.”
Ayers make clear that India is not looking for ‘global dominance’. On the contrary, its desired goal is far more finessed and some would even say modest. India is not an expansionist power. It takes a more nuanced and evolved idea of greatness and Ayers makes an earnest attempt to understand the country. Her book explores India’s idea of itself and how it wishes the world to ‘rediscover’ the country. Uncover its unique heritage starting from antiquity, whether through a study of Chanakya, the Indian equivalent of Mackiavelli, or that ancient Hindu concept of universalism called “Vasudhaiva Khulumbakam” or the Hindu theory of international relations based on the doctrine of “Mandala” (the sphere of influence). And through this unpeeling of its riches, India wishes to influence the world in a distinctly Indian way of thinking. From matters, spiritual to material, from statecraft, astronomy, mathematics to healing through Ayurveda and yoga.
Re-emerging Great Power
Former Indian foreign secretary Nirupama Rao had Said: “India has not got its clue on the world stage, despite its size, its democracy and its accomplishments.” And parliamentarian Jay Panda had observed: “I see India as a re-emerging great power and… India’s previous foreign policy of diffidence is being gradually supplanted.” Ayers calls India a living laboratory for politics, while former secretary Larry Summers says: “The country could be a part of the biggest story of the era, the coming of age of the developing world.”
It is time, therefore, to examine if India under Modi is charting a new course. Is a so-called Modi doctrine being crafted or is it essentially old wine in a new bottle? For much as the India-rising story is beguiling and music to the ears of Indians, especially its middle class which is our focus and which is obsessed with tags like ‘Super Power’, the ground realties are stark. While some of its aggregate indicators, especially in military terms, are indeed impressive, the India story is riddled with disappointing statistics. Some would say bleak for while India boasts of top-class space technology, the country also happens to be the epicenter of stunted children, more than 60 million and endemic malnourishment akin to sub-Saharan Africa. India’s consistent underperformance in key areas is legendary.
It still lacks a mass manufacturing base like China and so unemployment continues to bedevil its rise. Close to half of all India’s employed work is still in agriculture, which only contributes 17.4% to its gross domestic product. The share of manufacturing in India’s GDP is a paltry 18%, compared to China’s 30% and South Korea’s 31%.
India’s inability to eradicate poverty and its shodely record in health care and education as well as its creaking infrastructure and the snail’s pace of ushering in much needed reforms in area like labor laws, foreign direct investment, the ease of doing business are in glaring contrast with China. Yet, despite these stark differences, India’s proclivity to fall short of expectations and the Indian state’s consistent habit of failing its civil society, Indian watchers still keep faith in India. Indeed, there is that remote possibility of the Washington consensus slowly giving way to the Beijing consensus and finally setting for the Mumbai consensus.
Meanwhile, how clearly can we define the Modi doctrine? Is Prime Minister Modi India’s Deng Xiaoping? Are we seeing a new India emerging with accelerated growth and on the way to becoming a paramount maritime power in the Indian Ocean region and beyond and thereby breaking free from the geographically circumscribed continental view of itself? To explain this, there is none better than recently retired Indian foreign secretary S. Jaishankar. He listed five “innovations” in the way India was using the tools of statecraft to further a proactive foreign policy: Narratives, lexicon and imagery; soft power; the Indian diaspora; and the link between foreign policy and national development. First, the Modi government was developing a narrative as part of a transition to making India a leading power. For instance, Jaishankar said, attention to India’s sacrifices in the First World War, or its record in peacekeeping operations, strengthens its case for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.
Second, the creation of a new lexicon and imagery, whether it is from a “Look East” to “Act East” policy or the image of a “first responder” in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. This has been critical in signaling and driving foreign policy changes.
Third, the Modi government has emphasized the use of soft power in Indian foreign policy, as evidenced by the International Day of Yoga and its links with the country’s culture and heritage.
The fourth “innovation” is related to the Indian Diaspora. While their achievements have long been broadly appreciated, the Modi government has been more direct thus far in engaging with overseas Indians as evidenced by the turnout at Madison Square Garden during his visit to the US earlier.
Finally, there has also been a more explicit link made between diplomacy and national development efforts, with India working hard to leverage its international relationships to bring resources, technology and best practices to further its own development such as through the “Make in India” initiative.
Powerful In an Aggregate Sense
According to policy analyst Dr. C. Raja Mohan, director of Carnegie India: “If you take classic indicators of hard power… India’s aggregate indicators make it a major power… that does not mean we don’t have problems…we are still a 2,000 USD per capita economy… We’re going to be powerful in an aggregate sense before we are individually rich.” This indeed is the thin end of the wedge that has become part of a larger debate and the epicenter of the ideological wars being waged within India. Particularly, those from the left of centre who refuse to accept that India’s compulsions to ramp up its hard power is inherently linked to the coercive pressures it faces in its backyard. Its geography, its size, its diversity and legacy issues on account of its colonial past demand unfettered strategic autonomy to tackle its gargantuan problems. India lives in a hostile neighborhood with forces inimical to its interests. Its complexities are unique, it faces exceptional challenges unlike any other country and it also pays the so-called “democracy tax” unlike China that is a one- party state. The Indian democracy is noisy and dysfunctional, yet it has delivered results.
The India story is intact even if its narrative gets occasionally frayed at the edges. Indeed it will be no exaggeration to say much hope and optimism for humanity as a whole runs on the back of this story. The 21st Century could belong to India and Modi, the strongest Prime Minister the country has had in 28 years if he takes the right approach and reforms, embodying the will of its 1.3 Billion people, has within his grasp the ability and mandate to truly transform the country. The Mumbai consensus, the third way, could well be the biggest story of the 21st Century.
We are monitoring the development process of India very carefully and believe in great opportunities which India will offer over the next few years. If India is processing in the right direction we see us getting permanently operated in India in the second half of 2020 which is currently our aim.


Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called out the Italian government’s stance on LGBTQ rights during a bilateral meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Hiroshima, Japan.
“Obviously, Canada is concerned about some of the (positions) that Italy is taking in terms of LGBT rights,” Trudeau told Meloni at the start of the meeting.
“But I look forward to talking with you about that.”
The comments were made at the start of the meeting, prior to media being ushered out of the room.
In March, gay rights activists denounced as homophobic moves by Meloni’s far-right-led government to limit recognition of parental rights to the biological parent only in families with same-sex parents.
In a move that would impact hundreds of families, the government told the city of Milan to stop automatically recording both parents in same-sex couples on city registers.
It was the last major city to continue the practice that had been briefly adopted in Rome, Turin, Naples and elsewhere after Italy’s high court in 2016 made it easier for gay people to adopt a partner’s biological child.
In a readout of the meeting sent out by the Prime Minister’s Office, it says the leaders “exchanged views on the importance of protecting and defending human rights, including the rights of 2SLGBTQI+ people.”
“Prime Minister Meloni responded that her government is following court decisions and is not deviating from previous administrations,” the summary said.
Trudeau met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida earlier in the morning, where both leaders discussed increasing co-operation between G7 countries to further peace and economic prosperity.
The G7 Leaders’ Summit is taking place between Friday and Sunday.
The summit is expected to focus on geopolitical and economic threats from Russia and China.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
Read the full article here


text:
Check out this new soul-lifting track Momore By Ronke Olubo.
Gospel artist and Worship leader, Ronke Olubo is collaborating with Mike Abdul, CEO of Spaghetti Records to release her latest single – “Momore”.
Speaking about her new song, Ronke Olubo said that “Momore” is taken from her thought that with all the sacrifices and blessings that have been made available to her throughout the entire history of mankind, she should only say thank you, Lord!
“I believe that praising God for His unfulfilled blessings requires more pure faith than the ones we have enjoyed. Every time we remember saying“ thank you, ”we experience nothing less than heaven on earth.
Momore produced by Tianx.
Moronke Olubo is an iconic and distinguished cult leader, singer, and songwriter whose expressive mission is to create an environment for manifesting the presence of God.
Her musical style is also a characteristic of the cheerful and excellent singer.


text:
A new Web portal for the revamped Harvard Library is opening the window on a massive reorganization effort that is designed to preserve the incredibly valuable print past while embracing the increasingly important digital future.
Even as books, manuscripts, and papers continue to be treasured and tended, the multiform products of a digital age, including massive gigabytes of stored data generated by scholars, are being gathered, cataloged, and stored.
“We’re living in a mixed world, where information comes in many forms and flavors,” said Mary Lee Kennedy, senior associate provost for the Harvard Library. “If we are here to support research, teaching, and learning, we have to create the ability to package it all up.”
Packaging up digital content was one mission of the library’s transition into a cooperative organization, the first time that all of Harvard’s libraries have been brought under one operational roof. After nearly four centuries, the speedy expansion of the digital age prompted a single library mission and an integrated structure.
The most dramatic and visible outward sign of the reorganization is the new online library portal, which went live Sept. 18. Users can search multiple catalogs, can quickly search library hours, Schools, and amenities, and can review library-related events and articles. There is also access to a library-wide staff directory.
The updates have been long in the planning. With reform in mind, the Task Force on University Libraries filed a report in November 2009. Its core recommendations: Share one administration; streamline information technology; use a financial model that eases intralibrary cooperation; rationalize acquisition and access; and accelerate collaboration with peer institutions. The goal, the report said, was to create “a sustainable information ecosystem for the 21st century.”
One month later, the eight-member Library Implementation Working Group was formed to put the recommendations in place. By August 2011, after 18 months of groundwork, the design phase began.
The resulting structure is what experts call a “held-in-common” organization. It was quietly launched on Aug. 1, “a red-letter day,” said Helen Shenton, the library’s first executive director. “It’s unprecedented in Harvard history to create one organization from all the different Schools.”
The 31-month transition gave Harvard “the gift of time,” Kennedy said, time enough to do a thoughtful, thorough job. But it was not easy.
“My metaphor was three-dimensional chess,” said Shenton, who came to Harvard in 2010 from the British Library. “We did a lot of analysis. It was very comprehensive.” The reorganization required assessing systemwide needs, examining functions across the dozens of libraries, and creating a system of shared services for access, preservation, conservation, digital imaging, and information and technical services.
Next came developing an organizational structure. Harvard tapped its own in-house experts, and enlisted others from the Rochester Institute of Technology, the New York Public Library, and Cornell and Stanford universities. New hires came next, most of them from within. Over the summer, more than 400 library staff members were notified of new roles and supervisors.
It was important that all of the libraries retain their unique identities and relationships with researchers. Still, the Aug. 1 changeover required finding a way to make the many libraries thematically coherent. So the transition included creating five “affinity groups,” charged with working across all libraries. Their primary task is to focus in content development. Their overarching question is: What should Harvard collect and provide access to in order to support the mission of research, teaching, and learning?
The organizational structure is now in place, “but we’ve got a lot of foundational work to do,” in part to identify areas of collaboration, said Shenton. “We have to look at all the collections and content as part of this integrated whole.”
The machinery of the transition went on behind the scenes, but library users already can find some benefits. Faculty and students have more ways to get information from other sources. They also now have access to more than 30 million additional items through Borrow Direct and 10.5 million online volumes through the HathiTrust Digital Library. Later this month, Harvard Library will launch data management training for scholars using the Dataverse Network. Researchers can deposit their own data in a stable platform, and they can access data from other sources worldwide.
In addition to the new library portal, Tell Us, an online student feedback tool for library services, also formally launched this fall.
There is more is to come. The library’s Innovation Initiative issued a report recommending future actions. A “technology tiger team” will start work on two large-scale pilot information technology projects. One is the Harvard Library Innovation Lab’s LibraryCloud 2.0/OA Metadata (open-access metadata). The other is a programming interface for integrating applications with HOLLIS, Harvard’s online library catalog.
The team will also work on two smaller projects, involving online carrel seating reservations, and Highbrow, textual annotation software developed at Harvard’s Office for Scholarly Communication. It allows a user to map points of high and low scholarly interest in a literary work. (Highbrow is being used this semester in Professor Jeffrey Schnapp’s “The Cosmos of the Comedy,” a sometimes-digital exploration of Dante’s “Divine Comedy.”)
In the rich, complex world of Harvard libraries — with 17 million-plus books — necessity was the mother of all this invention. We live in a “democracy of information,” said Kennedy, a world in which education is more critical than ever, and in which learning is increasingly enabled by technology. “The reality is we’re in this magic moment,” she said. “We were given the opportunity to re-create ourselves.”
How times have changed. In Harvard librarian John Langdon Sibley’s world 150 years ago, there was no magic moment. In the fall of 1862, Sibley could be found in the damp basement of a Boston bookstore rummaging through old pamphlets. They were about to be ground into pulp, because materials for making paper were scarce. Langdon was fearful that “an immense quantity of publications will be exterminated.”
In Sibley’s books-only world, he struggled with dust, drafts, mold, paper-eating worms, window-breaking toughs from East Cambridge, and undergraduates careless with matches. Gore Hall library was then Harvard’s sole repository for books, the information technology of the day.
Today, Harvard Library deals with a “continuum” of holdings, said Shenton — from medieval manuscripts to books to paper archives to film and to digital content that never saw print and never will. The reorganization is designed to cope with an increasingly digital future that “is here — now,” said Shenton.
What’s required is “very different than the library of the past, that tried to contain things,” said Kennedy. “You really can’t contain information anymore.”

domain: library


text:
“Oh my God, we’ve got scobies coming out of our ears,” says Clare Lattin, shutting the fridge door and placing two bottles of glowing kombucha on her vast kitchen table. For the uninitiated, a scoby is a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast used to produce fermented, effervescent tea. “Come by the restaurant and we’ll vac-pac one for you,” she offers.
The restaurant could be one of two. Lattin is the co-founder of the diminutive European gastro-chic Ducksoup in Soho, and Rawduck in Hackney. A third venue with a focus on pickles and ferments is in the making. She also co-owns the food and drink PR company EightyFour (the client list includes the Hix restaurant group and the Chiltern Firehouse). Finally there’s a ceramics line, Vessel & Time, for which she sketches designs that are then produced by a potter in Dorset. She also finds time to handbuild her own ceramics. A board of clay vessels sits drying on the floor of her apartment. “One day, the dream is to just design and make jugs,” she says.
Lattin’s apartment is on the ground floor of a converted factory in Hackney Wick. The building was turned into studios by a community of artists in the 1990s. “I came to a party here about 15 years ago, so I knew the community existed,” explains Lattin. “Then, four years ago, my friend [the artist Sue Webster] heard an apartment was coming up for private sale. I came to view it and that was that.”
When I visit, the Crittall front door is left permanently open. Delivery men come and go, and over the course of the day, a small pile of brown packages amasses at the front door, including a box addressed to Mr Reason and Mr Squalor (aka the Chapman brothers, whose studio is a few doors down).
“It was very masculine when I moved in,” says Lattin of the cavernous apartment. Slowly, she has transformed the space, opening up the spare bedroom to create an office, adding internal French windows to the one remaining bedroom, and replacing the bathroom and kitchen. The industrial proportions of the property have been softened and apportioned with hanging fabric from Caravane and Linen Works . By the front door, Lattin has stitched offcuts of vintage Berber skirts from The Cloth Shop on to a plain linen panel. “I love hanging fabric,” says Lattin. “It’s an affordable way to divide space and it creates a sense of airiness that reminds me of being on holiday.”
On open shelves throughout the space are


text:
Sexy is Mystery & Discovery
“I had so much fun during my boudoir photo shoot and it helped me open up. Couldn’t have asked for a better session! … Thank you!!!!”—Ms. Carol S.
“I had such a wonderful time working with Roben. Such a fun personality and really makes you feel like you've been friends for years! Truly amazing shots and I received them fast! Thank you so much Glimpse Photography and I hope to get together again in the future! ” —Ms. Chey W


It was great to see a packed house on April 26 for the third annual concert tribute for Mai Cramer, who lost a battle with breast cancer in 2002 at age 55.
The show, at the Regent Theatre in Arlington, featured a rare live appearance by Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters - and an even rarer one by Jody Williams, an old-school Chicago bluesman who has dusted off his guitar after quitting in disgust three decades ago.
Described as a kind of blues “Rip Van Winkle” by Mai’s husband, guitarist Peter “Hi-Fi” Ward, Williams, 73, played and recorded with Howlin’ Wolf, Otis Rush, Jimmy Rogers, Willie Dixon, and many others before he gave it all up for a more steady gig as a Xerox technician.
In the heydey of Chicago electric blues, Williams - like many other black musicians – believed he was being taken advantage of by record companies.
So he quit.
But in 1999, he was coaxed by a Chicago music journalist to make a comeback. Williams performed that year with Robert Lockwood Jr., and in 2002, released a new album, Return of a Legend. That was enough to give him the confidence to return to the music he loves.
In his earlier days, Williams’ big hits were “Lucky Lou,” and “I Was Fooled.”
He still has it.
At the Cramer benefit he wowed the crowd with powerful electric riffs, up and down the neck on “Lucky Lou.” (I thought he had a slide, but didn’t.) A song from his new CD, “Life Long Lover,” was also terrific.
He was clearly enjoying his new found popularity, referring to his CD sale table as going to the “Jody Williams Benefit.”
The show also featured the great Tony Lynn Washington, pianist David Maxwell, and the 2120 South Michigan Avenue band, led by Peter Ward. (How many of you know that Hi-Fi was also a top-notch reporter for the Lowell Sun?)
His brother, bassist Michael “Mudcat” Ward was there, as well, backing up Williams’ band along with Neil Gouvin on drums, Sugar Ray Norcia on harp, Greg Piccolo on saxophone, and Shinichi Otsu on keyboard. The sidemen, all stars in their own right, were fantastic.
I even ran into Ann Ward, the boys’ proud mother, who was there with some friends. (I didn’t get to ask her about those nicknames, though.)
2120 South Michigan Avenue (the name is derived from the old Chess Records address in Chicago) featured Texas-born singer Sunny Crownover, looking marvelous in a satin teal dress and belting out tunes in a powerful voice.
The evening, which was a benefit for the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition, was hosted by another Boston blues radio diva, Holly Harris, who worked with Mai on WGBH, and was a good friend.
Ronnie Earl, who opened the show, talked about his 18-year battle with substance abuse and depression, and his diabetes. Now recovered, he said he intends to do more live shows. He did several songs from his super new album, Hope Radio, and blew the audience away.
Many of us remember impatiently waiting for 9 p.m. on Friday to arrive, just to hear what great songs Mai would play, or who she might have in the studio for a live interview and set. She was extremely cool, and quite adept at making her guests comfortable. She also had unsurpassed taste in blues music.
I remember the first time I called in, during a contest. I correctly answered that a Sugar Ray and the Blue Tones song was playing. An enthusiastic Mai gave me free tickets to see John Lee Hooker at Jonathan Swift’s in Harvard Square. Outstanding.
Mai did that show, “Blues After Hours” on WGBH 89.7 FM for 24 years before succumbing to what was at first thought to be treatable cancer. Her death came as a shock to her fans. I still can’t believe she’s gone.
Raised in New York City, Mai grew up listening to mostly classical music – her mother was a classical pianist – but eventually heard blues on the radio, and sought out records in the back bins of record stores. She saw Muddy Waters at the Apollo Theater.
Mai moved to Western Massachusetts in the 1970s and was making films when she made friends with some radio folks. That led to a blues show in 1975 on WGRG, and later to the WGBH show.
I hope her spirit lives on, and that the annual tribute concerts continue to sell out.


text:
There may be a reason why you are not conceiving and it has to do with stress. The way people hurry about in this mobile society does not make things easier. In fact, research reveals that close to one-half million people suffer from stress and anxiety, both of which are related to their careers. As a result, people often suffer from stress-induced illnesses that are preventable. People just need to learn to slow down and think about things in a different way.
Therefore, it is not surprising that researchers have found that a woman will have a more difficult time conceiving when she is under stress. That is because stress creates an elevation in the enzyme called alpha-amylase. This enzyme increases the risk of infertility. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), one study showed that women who exhibited increased levels of alpha-amylase were about 12% more likely to experience infertility.
How Stress Affects the Pituitary Gland
When a woman feels stressed, the pituitary gland is affected as well. This gland is situated on the lower area of the brain and is extremely small. However, it causes women problems when they feel anxious. The gland transmits hormones to the ovaries through circulation. These hormones, in turn, cause an egg to develop and support ovulation. When a woman is stressed, however, another hormone is also triggered; this is a problematic hormone called cortisol.
How Cortisol Can Prevent Conception
Cortisol is a culprit in infertility as it affects ovulation. As a result, it can make it hard for a woman to get pregnant. In fact, ovulation can stop altogether when a woman releases excess cortisol. If a woman is unable to release an egg for fertilization, any quantity of sperm will not help facilitate the process.
Stress not only prevents passage of an egg but it also degrades semen quality. Research has revealed that stress may be to blame if the semen quality is poor. In addition, one study showed that the age or health issues of a man do not influence the quality of his semen. Stress is the main reason for any challenges in this regard.
Some Questions to Ask
When a couple is stressed, getting pregnant can indeed become an issue. That is why it is important to find ways to de-stress. If you want to start a family, relaxation is the key to pregnancy success. Therefore, you need to develop your own special methods for feeling calmer and coping. First, think about what is causing you stress. What aspects of your job are making you feel anxious? How can you overcome these feelings?
Adopt a New Way of Eating
Once you determine the reasons for your stress, you can take the necessary steps to prevent stressful reactions. You can also reduce stress by practising certain activities. Begin by following a healthful diet. Refrain from eating junk or processed foods. If you are a woman, this can be helpful as you will need to develop a healthy eating plan once you become pregnant. You do not want to make potato chips your snack of choice. Instead, concentrate on eating foods that are natural and organic.
Some Dietary Suggestions
Because processed or sugary foods spike the sugar in your blood, making you feel hungrier, they can cause you to feel more anxious as well. Therefore, you need to make some food substitutions. For example, eat yogurt and bananas instead of ice cream (full of sugar) or enjoy cashews instead of taco chips.
Make Some Lifestyle Changes
You need to adopt certain practices that will make you feel better overall. These practices might include meditation, yoga, or even visiting a spa.
Develop a New Attitude and Demeanor
What you conceive in your mind can also prevent you from conceiving a child. That is why it is helpful to pinpoint the reasons for your stress and do something about them. If your goal is to start a family, you need to learn what you need to do to make it happen. Sometimes you just need to get rid of those components that are making you feel stressed out.
Try Not to Be Everything to Everyone
Also, it is important not to take on tasks that are over-taxing. Whilst it is nice to get along with people, do not try to be everything to everyone. Sometimes you just need to know your limitations. By taking this approach, you will also get along better with your co-workers and you will know where to draw the line.
Make Certain Priorities
Prioritizing is an important part of de-stressing. What things are really important? What things can wait? You do not want to be a multi-tasker if it is preventing you from becoming effective in your job or keeping you from starting a family.
A Major Life-Changing Responsibility
It is good to learn right now what factors may be causing you to feel nervous or anxious as you will need to remain calm and mature when you finally get pregnant. This indeed is the time to overcome those obstacles that are making you feel overburdened. Taking care of a child is a major life-changing responsibility for which you will need to be prepared.
Why Relaxation Is the Key
That is why overcoming stress is important to your health. Think about it. When do many couples announce they are pregnant? Is it after a harried day at the office? No, it usually occurs after they have been on holiday. This fact alone is very revealing. If you want to conceive, you need to learn what methods to use to overcome your concerns and reduce stress.
Stop and Smell the Roses
As the saying goes, “Take time out and smell the roses.” What really matters in life? If you want to start a family, you need to remember this. By slowing down, you can also prioritize more easily. Connect with your loved ones and family. Take time to give thanks and admire nature. There is a lot of beauty in life that is overlooked when you are moving too quickly.
If you are worried about Stress and looking for some advice on Fertility, please get in touch with a specialist at First Fertility here.


text:
Grand Prairie Mayor Ron Jensen invites residents to the semi-annual Mayor's Community Table. This series of dining events hosted by Mayor Ron Jensen are designed to bring together the community to get to know new people.
"I wanted to start something that everyone in the community, regardless of differences or similarities, would feel welcome to attend. If we get to know someone's background, we're more likely to see and appreciate their point of view." - Mayor Ron Jensen
CANCELED: Thursday, April 30, 2020
Canceled in an abundance of caution regarding community gatherings to slow spread of COVID-19 virus.


text:
As the nation entered the worst phase of the COVID-19 pandemic to date, data from the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA’s) weekly Health Center COVID-19 Survey indicate that the number of patients tested for the COVID-19 virus this week (244,945) neared the peak level (251,246) reported in mid-August. Similarly, the number of health center patients (31,519) and staff members (1,164) who tested positive for the virus also trended upward, raising additional concern.
Key Updates from the Health Center COVID-19 Survey (Week #29) Community Health Center Telehealth Utilization in Rural and Urban States During the COVID-19 Pandemic
With routine operations disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, many community health centers rapidly pivoted to providing telehealth or virtual visits.
Months into the COVID-19 Pandemic, Community Health Centers Report Signs of Improvement, But Face Financial Uncertainty
This policy brief reports on the COVID-19 experience of the nation’s community health centers over a six-month period, utilizing data from the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA’s) weekly Health Center COVID-19 Survey from April 3rd, 2020 to October 2nd, 2020. The data demonstrate that community health centers were immediately responsive to the public health crisis, initiating diagnostic testing for the COVID-19 virus, and adapting care such as telehealth to address patient needs.
Community Health Centers on the Eve of the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Overview of Findings from the 2019 Uniform Data System
By Jessica Sharac, Peter Shin, Sara Rosenbaum
Key Updates from the Health Center COVID-19 Survey (Week #21): Community Health Centers Reported Improved Turn-Around Times for COVID-19 Viral Test Results as They Conducted Nearly 218,000 Tests
By Jessica Sharac, James Hernandez, Maria Velasquez, Peter Shin, Feygele Jacobs


Using a load balancer
Websites that deal with huge traffic generally use a technique called load balancing to improve the availability and responsiveness of applications. A load balancer distributes incoming traffic among multiple servers hosting same content. The distribution of load is determined by various scheduler algorithms.
In this section, we will see how to add a load balancer in front of our application servers (assuming that they are running on the IPs
127.0.0.3 on the port
9000) using different HTTP web servers.
The Apache HTTP server provides a secure, efficient, and extensible server that supports HTTP services. The Apache HTTP server can be used as a load balancer through its


text:
FAIR WARRING: You are about to be gutted.
This is why i love Revival Tour, you get the most perfect kinds of collaborations.
I have no idea what was going on with Brian that day, but he clearly left it all on the stage. Just his expressions through the whole thing, and when he shoots himself with the finger gun and hits his microphone, heart-wrenching.
when he sings Dan’s song, and Dan sings his, truly a glorious golden moment.
I suppose I would be gutted, but I did see Dan and Brian sing this together on The Revival Tour when they played the Shepherd’s Bush Empire.
I love love love how Brian sings the Alkaline Trio song and how Dan sings the Gaslight Anthem song. Alkaline Trio were on seriously heavy rotation on my CD player when I was about 15/16 (…round about 12/13 years ago. Jesus Christ.) until… actually pretty much till the year before my last year at university (though I still do listen to them a lot).
I started listening to Gaslight Anthem when The 59 Sound came out which was…. 2008? and I’ve listened to them pretty solidly since then. I’ve always thought that it would have been great to have gotten into them earlier, so that I could have gone to see them with my Dad or listened to them with him because I think they’re one of the bands that I like that he would have really enjoyed - rather than just gone to the gigs with me to keep me company (although he quite liked AFI, he probably wouldn’t have listened to them on his own).
What I love most about this is how it pretty much overlaps the two periods of my life - when my Dad was alive, and then when he wasn’t - within one (and a half (kinda)) of my favourite songs ever. I think I’ve seen Alkaline Trio about 6 times now and they’ve played Crawl probably at 4 of those gigs. It’s a song I could listen to for hours on repeat and not get tired of.
I dunno. I guess I have a lot of “feels” about this song.
- straypaper likes this
- mattshame reblogged this from the-cheapest-key
- mikme12 likes this
- flamingoinaflockofpiegons reblogged this from fuck-yeah-alkaline-trio
- neenertheweener likes this
- fuck-yeah-alkaline-trio reblogged this from the-cheapest-key and added:
- jimthepunkrockfan likes this
- herdivineshadow reblogged this from the-cheapest-key and added:
- what-a-tragic-mess reblogged this from neverender2112 and added:
- neverender2112 reblogged this from sweetdeltablues
- neverender2112 likes this
- sweetdeltablues reblogged this from the-cheapest-key
- the-cheapest-key posted this


text:
Our time at Self Build Live! February 2020
Tuesday, 25 February 2020
This past weekend our teams were at Self Build Live! to show off our selection of tiles for everyone interested in a new build project.
We had a wide selection of tiles on our stand from concrete effect porcelain, wood effect, encaustic style and large format tiles among others as well as some of our bespoke manufactured materials, The Artisan Collection.
We even had a little garden area to show off our wall cladding and various 20mm porcelain paving options. These pavers are perfect for extending your living spaces outside onto a patio or into the garden!
Our very own Martin Mallon did a talk on 20mm Porcelain Pavers too on Saturday and Sunday.
He was able to show off the advantages of porcelain pavers over traditional concrete pavers and even had a bit of audience participation!
Martin taking a well deserved break during the setup of the stand at the show.


Hyderabad: Asserting that formation of
separate Telangana is their ultimate goal, Congress MPs from
Telangana today said they are ready to quit their posts again,
"if necessary", although they were rejected by Lok Sabha
Speaker earlier in the day.
"We have quit our posts in protest against the delay
in the formation of Telangana. We had even boycotted the
Parliament session. But yesterday, we had decided to attend
the coming Parliament session to effectively raise our
demand," Congress MP Gutta Sukhender Reddy said.
"Our goal is separate state. We are ready to quit our
posts, if necessary, for the sake of our demand," he added.
Resignations of 12 MPs from Telangana region,
including TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, were rejected by Lok
Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Tuesday.
The resignations were "not accepted" by the Speaker as
they were not in proper format.
The MPs included eight from Congress and two each from
TRS and TDP. They had resigned en masse on July 4 to press
for separate Telangana demand.
The Congress MPs, whose resignations were rejected by
the Speaker are Ponnam Prabhakar, G Sukhender Reddy, M
Jagannath, S Rajaiah, P Balram Nayak, G Vivekanand, Suresh
Shetkar and Madhu Goud Yakshi.
The others, whose resignation was rejected, are TDP
MPs, Ramesh Rathod and Namma Nageswara Rao, and TRS chief K
Chandrashekar Rao and party MP Vijayashanti.
The resignations of two MPs KRG Reddy and M Rajmohan
Reddy are still under examination of the Speaker. Rajmohan
Reddy, who has been a Congress member, had joined the YSR
In the Rajya Sabha, Chairman Hamid Ansari is yet to
take a view on the resignation of Congress member K Keshav
Rao, according to sources.


text:
Get your free email accountLog in
‘Downton Abbey’ actress Jessica Brown Findlay is the latest victim of the massive celeb phone hack on Aug.
This is amazing news!
Before the stars of ‘Love & Hip Hop’ come together for a Season 3 reunion on Sept.
Get ready, Storybrooke.
Ricky Gervais, are you serious?
‘Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta’ had an explosive Season 3, and it’s not even close to being over.
Beyonce is showing off a whole new look!
Tony Stewart returned to NASCAR on Aug.
Nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence leaked online on Aug.
Just when you thought Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez couldn’t get any cuter, a new PDA pic shows that these two are SO in love.
Jenny McCarthy and Donnie Wahlberg finally wed on August 31, and now you can see Jenny’s wedding dress!
It was the threesome everyone was talking about — but did it actually happen?
Justin Verlander and Kate Upton are two victims of the massive celeb phone hack on Aug.
As expected, Nickelodeon star Victoria Justice is shocked by the celebrity phone hack that leaked alleged nude photos of her.
Actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead is one of the victims of a massive nude photo leak on Aug.
Doctors have started to bring Joan Rivers out of the medically-induced coma she was put in following her hospitalization on Aug.
Nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence hit the web on Aug.
Kourtney tells Scott that she’s pregnant on the Aug.
Kim tells Bruce on the Aug.
It’s official, Jenny McCarthy & Donnie Wahlberg are married!
Congratulations, Ashlee Simpson and Evan Ross!
Poor JLaw and Ariana!
Joan Rivers is still on life support following a medical emergency on Aug.
Many thought that Mark Wahlberg was throwing shade at Jenny McCarthy after he skipped brother Donnie Wahlberg’s nuptials.
Hollywood Life - Entertainment: Breaking news channel for Hollywood Life. | Webmail | Email address | Mobile Clients
Copyright 2014 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Copyright © 2014 1&1 Mail & Media Inc. All rights reserved.

domain: celebrity


text:
The orchestra made its debuts on 19 May 1992 at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire and on 21 May the same year at France’s Salle Pleyel in Paris. The orchestra has performed with great success at many famed and prestigious music venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatoire, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Barbican Hall in London, the Tivoli in Copenhagen, the Berliner Philharmoniker and in Wellington (New Zealand).
The orchestra has performed with soloists including Sviatoslav Richter (piano), Gidon Kremer (violin), Mstislav Rostropovich (cello), Viktor Tretyakov (violin), Maxim Vengerov (violin), Vadim Repin (violin), Sarah Chang (violin, USA), Barbara Hendricks (soprano, USA), James Galway (flute, USA), Natalia Gutman (cello), Lynn Harrell (cello, USA), Mario Brunello (cello, Italy) and Thomas Quasthoff (bass, Germany).
In 1994 the Moscow Soloists with Gidon Kremer and Mstislav Rostropovich recorded a compact disc for EMI. A disc of works by Dmitry Shostakovich and Johannes Brahms with Sony Classics was named “best recording of the year” by STRAD magazine critics and nominated for a Grammy. The orchestra received a repeat Grammy nomination in 2006 for a disc of chamber symphonies by Shostakovich, Georgy Sviridov and Mieczysław Weinberg. In 2007, the Moscow Soloists won a Grammy award for a recording of music by Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Prokofiev.
The orchestra has frequently performed at the most prestigious music festivals, among them the Rostropovich Festival in Evian (France), the Music Festival of Montreux (Switzerland), Sydney Music Festival, Bath Music Festival (UK), The Proms at London’s Royal Albert Hall, Prestige de la Musique at Paris’ Salle Pleyel, Sony-Classical at the Théâtre des Champs Élysées, Semaines musicales de Tours (France) and the December Evenings in Moscow. Over sixteen years, the musicians have given over one thousand two hundred concerts, or around two thousand three hundred hours of music. In “trains, planes and automobiles” they have spent over four thousand three hundred and fifty hours, covering distances of one million three hundred and sixty thousand kilometres, equivalent to thirty-four times round the Earth’s equator.
The orchestra’s performances have met with passionate applause in over forty countries on five continents. Over two hundred masterpieces of world classics and rarely performed works by composers of the past and present make up the repertoire. The Moscow Soloists’ programmes stand out for their vivid nature, variety and interesting premieres. The orchestra regularly appears on various television programmes in Russia and abroad. Their concerts have been broadcast and recorded numerous times by the world’s leading broadcasting companies, such as the BBC, Bavarian Radio, Radio France and Japan’s NHK corporation.
|General Partner of the Orchestra || || |
|Sponsor of the Orchestra|| || |
|Partner of the Orchestra || |


text:
I started taking a b12 supplement recommended to me at the local health food store a few months back. Recently I have been getting a lot of headaches and a spacey feeling. After searching for reasons for my symptoms I came across people saying b12 gives them a headache. Then, I realized mine was a high dose of 5000mcg. So, can this cause headaches and now if I stop taking it how long for my symptoms to subside?
Thank you for any thoughts or advice
Answer Hello Jill,
Headaches, nausea, and lightheadedness are all common minor side effects of B12. 5000 mcg is a moderate dosage, so it's possible you have a reaction to the dose, or it could be to the B12 itself, or the form/ brand. B12 is a water soluble vitamin and does not accumulate in the body, so once you stop taking it if there are side effects they should subside within a few days.
Naturopathic Medicine, Oriental/ Chinese medicine, Nutrition, Natural Family Medicine, Detoxification/ Cleansing, Herbal Medicine, Natural Remedies, Acupuncture
Licensed Naturopathic Physician for 11 years
Currently: Associate Professor, Department of Clinical Sciences, National University of Health Sciences, Lombard, IL
Organizations American Association of Naturopathic Physicians, member
Illinois Association of Naturopathic Physicians, member and Secretary
Education/Credentials Bastyr University, doctor of naturopathic medicine
University of Bridgeport College of Naturopathic Medicine, residency in family and integrated medicine
National University of Health Sciences, master of science in Oriental medicine


text:
Who's your Banker of the Day at Leopardstown on Saturday? – Vote today
We've picked out four leading contenders from four of the best races on Saturday and are asking you, our Coral Racing Club members, if you had to vote for one to be your Banker of the Day, who would you pick?
The horse who gets the most votes will be put into an exclusive Coral Racing Club Odds Booster that will be available under Specials on the Horse Racing page shortly after the poll closes on Friday at 1pm.
Banker of the Day Preview
13:50 Spring Juvenile Hurdle – Storm Heart
Storm Heart ended his flat career in France with a victory over a mile and four furlongs, before moving to Willie Mullins' yard in Ireland. He then won by over twenty lengths on his jumping debut, over the same distance he will run on Saturday.
Can he go back-to-back over hurdles?
14:25 Irish Arkle Novice Chase – Marine Nationale
Barry Connell's stable star is undefeated in his six runs to date under rules, including a victory in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham last year. Marine Nationale was then kept off the track until December, where he won his chase debut with relative ease over course and distance.
Will he remain undefeated going into this year's Cheltenham Festival?
15:35 Irish Gold Cup – Galopin Des Champs
Galopin Des Champs was the winner of this contest last year, before following up with victory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup straight afterwards. He was also a winner over course and distance in his last run, beating Gerri Colombe by over twenty lengths.
Can he retain his crown?
16:40 Future Stars I.N.H Flat Race – A Dream To Share
A Dream To Share has five victories in five bumpers to date, including in last year's edition of this race, and the subsequent Champion Bumper at Cheltenham. However, he has been off the track since winning the Punchestown Champion Bumper in April of last year.
Can he make it six wins from six on Saturday?
Click VOTE HERE to have your say in this week's poll.