By Robbie Butler
Yesterday UEFA announced the 13 cities that will host the 2020 European Championship Finals. In a break from tradition, over a dozen different countries will share the hosting of the event on the 60th anniversary of the first staging of the competition.
Thankfully for the FAI and Irish football supporters, Dublin was included on the list of cities and will host 3 Group games and 1 Round of 16 knockout match. FAI CEO John Delaney was quick to point out that Ireland’s technical bid was ranked 3rd highest among the 19 entrants, with only Germany and England scoring higher.
Speaking on RTE Radio One, Delaney went on to add that the bid will be worth “tens of millions” to the Irish economy. Later in day, I heard the CEO speak again but he correctly caveated his thoughts on the economic benefits by pointing out that Ireland Inc. will probably do better if Ireland are not playing in Euro 2020 matches located here.
Gina Quinn of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce had similar thoughts estimating that the tournament could be worth between €50m-€100m to the city “depending on which teams are drawn to play in Dublin”.
One thing is for sure, Dublin is the big winner. Even if Ireland do play in the Aviva, businesses in the capital will benefit. Of course, Dubliners attending the games will add little or nothing to the local economy (they are there anyway!) but everyone else will inject money into the local economy, even the non-Dublin Irish.
This is almost identical to the Garth Brooks soap opera during the summer. Many speculated that the cancellation of the concerts had cost Ireland Inc. millions in lost consumption, tax revenue employment, etc. Dublin certainly lost out. But the Irish economy only lost that money that was coming from abroad. While this is no doubt sizable, this group was very much in the minority. The Irish simply did something else with the refund they received from Ticketmaster. No doubt Galway (the races were on that week) was a big hidden winner.
The Irish economy will benefit most from these four games if Ireland is not involved in the matches. Spain, France, Germany and England would be great teams to have located here as they have a massive support base. No doubt Irish people will (and should) attend the matches but access to tickets will be more difficult. The result being, an influx of foreign money into the economy.
As for me, I’d take Ireland in every game at the Aviva and forgo the money. For those of us lucky enough to remember places like Stuggart and Genoa, you’ll know there are some things that money can’t buy.
By Robbie Butler
This website was founded in July 2013.


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Stress-busting in sugar beet
Boost beet health with Bridgeway/Zonda
With the record breaking drought conditions of May and below average rainfall so far in June, sugar beet crops have struggled to get off to the best start. Whilst water stress will impact yield potential in all crops, sugar beet is particularly sensitive to abiotic stress, which decreases photosynthesis, canopy expansion, root growth and sucrose accumulations. These implications are already evident in many sugar beet crops now, with fields showing extremes of growth stages of 2 to 16 true leaves. High yields come from producing a full leaf canopy that intercepts 90% of incoming sunlight as quickly as possible and maintains its greenness right through the growing season.
Getting crops back on track with stress-busting biostimulants Bridgeway and Zonda will help to ensure profitability remains viable for the rest of the season.
How Bridgeway and Zonda can help
Biostimulants Bridgeway and Zonda contain crucial amino acids and signalling peptides that play a vital role in signalling healthy growth and development. Perhaps more importantly, they are also now proving indispensible in helping crops cope better with abiotic stress. Over the last 3 years, Bridgeway and Zonda have demonstrated significant yield improvements in replicated trials. Test digs in commercial field situations back up the independent trials by showing up to +23.4 t/ha yield increase (adjusted). These have often, but not exclusively, co-incided with periods of drought stress.
Water shortage has a significant impact on beet health and plant physiology. Photosynthesis, crucial for the production of sucrose, is also highly dependent on the plant’s water supply. Crops treated with Bridgeway/Zonda have a more well developed root system which are therefore more efficient at extracting water and nutrients from depth. By increasing chlorophyll production Bridgeway/Zonda also help the crop to harness light energy more efficiently, which has sometimes resulted in improvements in sugar content at harvest.
Fast to act, applying Bridgeway/Zonda now will help crops to access much needed moisture and nutrients, improve metabolic efficiency and also improve the tolerance of the crop to stress. Maintaining applications to help mitigate against crop stress until crops meet in the rows will further help to protect yield and build sugars.
Relief for drought stressed sugar beet crops
In 2017 Bridgeway was applied to 6 hectares of KWS Darnella at 2 true leaves and 6 true leaves to help alleviate the effects of drought stress. Two weeks after the application of Bridgeway, treated beet looked greener and healthier. The beet crop went on to produce more biomass and produced bigger tap roots than the untreated control. Further test digs in August and September revealed Bridgeway treated beet was both bigger and heavier.
Improvements in bulking after 53 days with no rain
In 2018, Bridgeway was put to the test on farm in two different sugar beet varieties. After 53 days without rain, crops showed a severe lack of bulking. Bridgeway was applied at 2.0 L/ha at the 2-4 true leaf stage and again at 6-8 true leaves to help stimulate growth and help the crop recover from drought stress. Visually, no above ground differences were observed, but below ground, test digs of 15 plants in 4 different locations of the field revealed an 18.6% increase in beet weight in cv. Hayden, and a 15.7% increase in the second variety.

domain: agronomy


The assembly of long reads from Pacific Biosciences and Oxford Nanopore Technologies typically requires resource-intensive error-correction and consensus-generation steps to obtain high-quality assemblies. We show that the error-correction step can be omitted and that high-quality consensus sequences can be generated efficiently with a SIMD-accelerated, partial-order alignment-based, stand-alone consensus module called Racon. Based on tests with PacBio and Oxford Nanopore data sets, we show that Racon coupled with miniasm enables consensus genomes with similar or better quality than state-of-the-art methods while being an order of magnitude faster.© 2017 Vaser et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.
Journal: Genome research


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Officers with the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office investigated the following accidents:
8:10 p.m. Tuesday, March 17, West US 30 near North SR 19, Etna Green. Driver: Gregory L. Bilbrey, 59, Cedar Key CV, Fort Wayne. Bilbrey’s vehicle collided with a deer. Damages up to $5,000.
1:50 p.m. Tuesday, March 17, West CR 1350N near North CR 700W, Nappanee. Drivers: Samuel A. Valdivia, 85, North Main Street, Nappanee; and Jodean A. Lehman, 19, West CR 1350N, Milford. Valdivia’s vehicle proceeded into the intersection, causing a right angle collision with Lehman’s vehicle. Valdivia complained of neck pain. Damages up to $50,000.
11:36 a.m. Tuesday, March 17, North CR 300E near East CR 750N, Leesburg. Driver: Ashley K. Knafel, 48, North CR 300E, Syracuse. Knaffell’s vehicle left the roadway, struck a utility pole and a speed limit sign. Damages up to $25,000.
4:40 p.m. Friday, March 13, SR 13 near East CR 500N, North Webster. Drivers: Jillian D. Dawson, 19, CR 26, Elkhart; and Jessica M. Speicher, 37, East CR 500N, Leesburg. The front of Dawson’s vehicle collided with the rear of Speicher’s vehicle. Damages up to $2,500.
Officers with the Warsaw Police Department investigated the following accident”
2:40 p.m. Wednesday, March 18, North Lake Street near West Pike Street, Warsaw. Drivers: Devin H. Robinson, 20, North Lake Street 4, Warsaw; and Alice M. Edwards, 52, Chamberlin Drive, Warsaw. Robinson was driving his car out of his driveway. He said he did not see Edward’s vehicle as pulled into the street. The rear of Robinson’s vehicle collided with the front bumper of Edward’s vehicle. Damages up to $5,000.

domain: news


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domain: law


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NVIDIA Invites The World To Help It Celebrate PC Gaming On September 18th
NVIDIA's holding a big event on September 18th to help celebrate PC gaming - and you're invited. Thanks to the little thing we have called "The Internet", even if you're not able to attend an event in person, you'll be able to hop online and watch the stream, as well as take part in the live chat. And yes - there's a chance at some prizes, and yes - it's no surprise that this event will be taking place around the exact same time (or day, if I had to guess) that the launch of NVIDIA's next-gen GeForce series will be announced.
To attend a "GAME24" event either online or in person, you can head on over to the official landing page to register. US-based locations include Los Angeles, Chicago, Indianapolis, and Mission Viejo, while worldwide locations include Shanghai, Stockholm, and London.
NVIDIA's GAME24 event is going to last a straight 24 hours, and will begin at 6:00PM PST on the 18th. For anyone on the east coast and further, that's going to be quite a late start, and not to mention a late finish. But, the turn-out looks to be potentially amazing, and with the chance at some prizes (which I'd have to assume would involve the latest GeForce cards), it'll be worth checking out.

domain: entertainment


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HEAT IT! Cheez Whiz heats things up with more scrumptious ways to use the stuff as a sauce.
I think the good folks at the Kraft Kitchen may have gone crazy from the heat.
The first recipe reads like the dinnertime routine of someone with severe OCD. It involves, heating, boiling, reheating, frying, draining and ladling (into croustades made from day-old bread at a precise thickness of 1-1/4 inches). And this is a convenience food?
The obsessiveness continues in the Cheez Whiz Popcorn recipe that insists on tossing the mixture “until every kernel gets a golden coating.”
After some tasty-sounding Cheez-y potatoes, we move on to another nameless recipe, which directs you to make “Individual casseroles.” Is that an oxymoron? In any case, the recipe ends with a topping of bacon, so it can’t be all bad. And it’s “Grand for luncheon or supper.” Their words, not mine.
The remaining recipes (or are they serving suggestions since they’re pretty loosy-goosy?) involve mad mashups of Cheez Whiz, chicken, broccoli, pimentos, biscuits and even pearl onions. And in the days when the only meat Catholics could eat on Friday was none, there’s a shrimpy, Parkay Margarine-drenched delight, bathed in a “grand” cheese sauce – “mighty good for Friday night.”
Recipes include Cheez Whiz and Vegetable Croustades, Fluffy Cheez Whiz Popcorn, Cheez Whiz Diced Potatoes, Cheez Whiz Tomato & Bacon WTF, Friday Night Parkay & Cheez Whiz Shrimp Delight, Cheez Whiz-On-Hand Plus Broccoli, Cheez Whiz Chicken & Biscuits, Cheez Whiz Over Well-Drained Onions for Dinner.

domain: food


Tony Clement, Canada’s federal minister of industry, may not have the
most followers of any Canadian politician, but he is the most quirky,
entertaining and interactive elected tweeter in the country, Craig Silverman reports.
Tony Clement, the federal minister of industry in the current Conservative Canadian government, was home having dinner with his family one Saturday night in July when a woman began banging on their door. She frantically asked for help, saying her friend was drowning in the nearby river.
Clement, his wife and father-in-law ran down to the water. He and two neighbors jumped in, and the group eventually managed to pull the woman to safety. Paramedics arrived and in the end she survived.
Later that day, Clement did what now comes naturally to him: he tweeted the entire story, beginning with this message:
True story & happy ending: we were having dinner when a young woman knocked on our door, hysterical. Her friend was drowning in the river…less than a minute ago via TwitterrificTony Clement
Clement’s tweeting brought the media calling, and soon the entire country knew that he, his wife and others had helped save a drowning woman.
“The reason that I used Twitter to communicate the story is to remind people about basic summer water safety,” Clement later told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, “because I think that there’s something like 200 drowning deaths in our lakes and rivers across the country every year. Every single one of those is preventable.”
Clement may not have the most followers of any Canadian politician but he is the most quirky, entertaining and interactive elected tweeter in the country. The fact that he’s also a prominent minister in the federal government just makes tweets like these more notable:
Clement has also shown a willingness to poke fun at his well-publicized river rescue:
Clement tweets frequently about music, sports, food and, of course, his official duties. It’s an eclectic mix (see the collection of some of his recent tweets at the bottom of this article). For example, one day, apropos of nothing, he offered a lyric from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”:
I wanted to interview Clement about his approach to Twitter, but only got as far as his press secretary. She said Clement doesn’t do interviews about Twitter.
“He does believe that it’s more a personal thing — it’s a ‘Tony Clement the person’ kind of thing,'” she told me. “His policy is not to do interviews on Twitter.”
She then recommended I try tweeting him for an interview, which resulted in this exchange:
@tonyclement_mp I’m with PBS MediaShift & we’re doing special on new media & politics. Have 15 min next wk for call to talk about Twitter?less than a minute ago via TweetDeckCraig Silverman
“He’s never done an interview just about Twitter,” his press rep told me. “The only place he’s ever answered questions about it is at the press gallery in scrums because he will tweet something silly and [the press] will yell out, ‘Hey what’s your favorite Johnny Cash song?'”
Though Clement didn’t answer my questions about his Twitter habit, he did recently tweet about why he tweets:
At dinner last night I was defending my use of Twitter as a way to engage.Then 2 people came by my table to say they follow me. Nuff said!less than a minute ago via TwitterrificTony Clement
That inspired this reply from a follower and a reply to her from Clement:
The reality is that most politicians’ Twitter accounts are still operated by staffers, or are strictly focused on distributing official information, such as press releases. Clement’s quirky tweeting stands out, as does the fact that his voice on Twitter is so similar to how he communicates in real life.
“In person, Minister Clement can have an odd sense of humor and is reasonably popular among reporters because he can be self-deprecating at times,” said David Akin, the national bureau chief of Canada’s Sun Media, and a popular tweeter. “He’s been able to let this aspect of his personality come through in Twitter’s constrained format. So, in addition to Tweeting about the sorts of things you might expect politicians to tweets (policy announcements, digs at opponents, etc.), there are lots of tweets about his love of pop music, pop culture — and about some of the more mundane activities of any politician when they go about their riding activities.”
Clement also stands out partly because of his willingness to engage on Twitter about matters of policy. His government’s announcement that it will scrap the country’s long-form census resulted in significant debate and outcry. Clement has been front and center as the government’s defender of the decision, and he’s taken on that role on Twitter as well.
“Two other ministers make good use of Twitter — Jason Kenney (@MinJK)and James Moore (@mpjamesmoore) — but neither engage with followers the wayClement does,” Akin said. “Clement was the lead minister on the unpopular long-form census decision earlier this year and did as much as could to defend that decision from specific criticisms originating on Twitter.”
It seems to be paying off for Clement. Trevor May runs poliTwitter, a website that tracks and rates the Twitter usage of Canadian politicians, the political press and politics-related online chatter. As of this writing, Clement has the second-most followers of any member of parliament, and is ranked in the top three in the “Top Federal MP Tweeters” and “Top @replied Tweeters” categories.
“Tony Clement’s Twitter is definitely known for being a bit amusing and personal,” May said. “Which might seem surprising to some, seeing a Conservative minister cracking jokes or being sarcastic.”
In terms of what most Canadian MPs use Twitter for, May said, “Many are just tweeting mini press releases and don’t interact with others.”
Have a look below too see some of Clement’s recent, notable tweets and what people say to him on Twitter
Have a look below too see some of Clement’s recent, notable tweets and what people say to him on Twitter:
Craig Silverman is an award-winning journalist and author, and the managing editor of MediaShift and Idea Lab. He is founder and editor of Regret the Error, the author of Regret the Error: How Media Mistakes Pollute the Press and Imperil Free Speech, and a columnist for Columbia Journalism Review and BusinessJournalism.org and the Toronto Star. He serves as digital journalism director of OpenFile, a collaborative local news site for Canada. Follow him on Twitter at @CraigSilverman.
This article was originally published on PBS Mediashift. J-Source and Mediashift have a content-sharing arrangement to broaden the audiences of both sites.


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EXETER Racecourse has come to the rescue of trainers desperate to run their horses by staging an additional fixture tomorrow (Tuesday).
The recent storms have left many courses waterlogged, resulting in a reduced fixture list and leaving trainers with very few options to run their horses.
General manager Tim Darby said: “The race calendar has been greatly reduced in recent weeks due to the high rainfall so we are delighted to stage this additional fixture.
“It’s been a very tricky time for trainers with so few opportunities to run their horses due to the extreme weather and we are only too pleased to help them out.”
The first race comes under starters’ orders at 12.45pm with entry costing £10.
Seven races are on the card and gates open at 11.45pm.


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Shoppers are returning to stores, but it doesn’t mean they’re happy with the experience.
According to the new “2023 Retail Customer Service Survey” from mobile communication platform Theatro, 63% of surveyed consumers are doing most of their shopping in-store now that the COVID-19 pandemic has eased. However, results also indicate the recent holiday shopping season offered several key warning signs about the in-store experience.
Four in 10 (41%) respondents said their in-store shopping experiences are “less enjoyable” than they were prior to the pandemic. Almost two-thirds (64%) of these respondents cited poorly trained or prepared retail staff, and 60% blamed inadequate staffing levels. Another 21% said in-store shopping is “more enjoyable,” and 38% said it is about the same as pre-pandemic.
When asked to rate their in-store shopping experience by retail category, shoppers said they were most likely to have an unenjoyable experience at supermarkets (38%), followed by department stores (34%), and convenience stores (30%). Respondents said they were least likely to have an unenjoyable experience at clothing stores (16%), furniture stores (14%), and mattress stores (12%).
What frustrates in-store customers
When asked what aspects of shopping at physical retail stores they find most frustrating, 71% of respondents cited long lines and crowds, followed by 39% who cited high prices, and 32% who cited limited product availability.
In addition, three in 10 (29%) respondents cited “difficult or rude staff,” and one-quarter of respondents (24%) complained of “unknowledgeable or unhelpful staff.”
When asked to specifically identify the most common problems they encounter with the employees at physical retail stores, 41% of respondents complained about lack of helpfulness or willingness to assist, and 41% cited rude or unprofessional behavior.
More than one in three (35%) respondents complained about lack of product knowledge or expertise, and 33% cited lack of knowledge of where products are located in the store or whether they are in stock. Half of respondents said they have stopped shopping at a specific retail store because its employees were unknowledgeable or unhelpful, while 45% said they have not and 5% weren’t sure.
When asked if they shop at physical retail stores more often, less often, or about the same amount today as they did pre-pandemic in 2019, 39% of respondents said they shop “less often” and 24% said they shop “more often.” The remaining 38% said they shopped in-store about the same amount today as in 2019.
Consumers prefer physical
The survey also compared the frequency of consumer in-store and online shopping, finding most respondents favor visiting brick-and-mortar stores. Nine in 10 (91%) respondents said they do at least half of all their shopping in physical retail stores compared to online, with nearly two-thirds saying they do most (37%) or all (27%) of their shopping in stores. Close to three in 10 (28%) respondents said they do about half of their shopping online and half at physical stores.
Close to nine in 10 (87%) respondents said they shop in retail stores at least once weekly, with nearly one-third saying they shop in retail stores either once (19%) or multiple times (13%) per day.
Among those respondents who said they do most or all of their shopping at physical stores, 76% said they prefer in-store shopping because they like being able to see and touch the product, while 44% said they like the immediate gratification of taking the products they buy home with them.
In addition, 25% of respondents who favor brick-and-mortar stores said they like the social aspect of shopping; 21% said they like being able to ask questions and get help with purchases from in-store employees; and 20% said that it’s easier to return items at a physical store.
Among the 9% of respondents who said they do most or all of their shopping online, the majority (62%) cited convenience as a reason for this preference.
Theatro used the third-party survey platform Pollfish to conduct an online retail customer experience survey of 600 U.S. adults on Jan. 9, 2023.
[Read more: Here’s what consumers want from in-store shopping]

domain: economics


The Westinghouse WH2200iXLT is one compact generator for most of your needs. It marries the peace of mind of a reliable power source with the portability of a compact generator to offer you a variety of uses. Keep your essentials running simultaneously, including gas furnaces, as well computers, TVs, lights and much more.
Take it with you on recreational activities where power can help kick things up a notch. With a 79cc Westinghouse engine, the WH2200iXLT Gas-Powered inverter generator is capable of producing 2,200 peak watts and 1,800 running watts. That's enough to provide power to two 120-Volt AC outlets and one 12-Volt DC power outlet. With a 1.3-gallon fuel tank, this generator runs for up to 13 hours.
Designed for convenience, it has a built-in carrying handle and weighs only 43 pounds to make transporting it easier than other generators. Don't worry about bothering the neighbors. All that power comes with reduced noise. In fact, the super-quiet 52 decibel operating volume is much lower than the average conversation. That's because it utilizes a double-insulated acoustic enclosure, asymmetrical cooling fans and low tone mufflers to reduce operating noise.
For added convenience and save you trips to refuel, this generator is up to 50% more fuel efficient than a traditional generator. It produces power with less than 3% THD, making it safe to use for sensitive electronics such as laptops and TVs.
Additionally, the Westinghouse WHPC Parallel Cord allows this inverter generator to be combined with another WH2200iXLT for essentially double the power.


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Known as a spa town and major tourist resort since the 1800's, Rotorua is a geothermal wonderland. There are a number of geysers, notably the Pohutu geyser at Whakarewarewa, and hot mud pools located in the city, which owe their presence to the Rotorua caldera. Don't miss the opportunity to visit a traditional Maori Marae. Rotorua is also home to botanical gardens and some interesting historic buildings. Government Gardens, close to the lakeshore are also well worth visiting. Another of Rotorua's attractions is the mountain biking. Whakarewarewa (also known as the "Redwoods") Forest has been described as 'the Disneyland of mountain biking' and has some of the best mountain bike trails in New Zealand. Rotorua hosted the UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships, in August 2006.
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domain: geography


text:
World Bulletin / News Desk
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras started a European charm offensive on Wednesday with an appeal to Germans for more time to meet Athens' borrowing obligations, but he may struggle to make his case in a series of meetings this week with EU leaders.
"All we want is a bit of 'air to breathe' to get the economy running and to increase state income. More time does not automatically mean more money," Samaras said in an interview with Germany's mass-market Bild newspaper, which has often taken a ferociously sceptical line on bailing out Greece.
"Let me be very explicit: we demand no additional money. We stand by our commitments and by fulfilling all our requirements. We have to crank up growth because that decreases the financial gaps," Samaras added in the interview, which ran hours before he begins talks in Athens with euro zone chief Jean-Claude Juncker.
Appointed in June after two tumultuous parliamentary elections, Samaras hopes to persuade Luxembourg premier Juncker, who chairs the Eurogroup of 17 governments which use the common currency, that the debt-laden Greek nation has the will to ram through unpopular reforms and deserves more time to do it.
With cash coffers running empty and renewed talk of a Greek euro zone exit without more aid, Samaras is under pressure to convince European leaders that Greece has finally mustered the political courage to fulfil promises under its latest bailout.
Juncker, the most influential European policymaker to visit Athens since the conservative-led government took power on June 20, is expected to tell Samaras bluntly that Greece must carry out promised cuts and that little room for leeway exists.
In response to Samaras's comments to Bild, the Dutch finance minister gave a rapid taste of attitudes in the euro zone's less indebted northern states, questioning the idea of extending the time granted to Athens to meet its commitments: "If it concerns delaying reforms and budget cuts, then it is not a good idea," Jan Kees de Jager told reporters.
Such messages are likely to be hammered home again to the Greek leader when he travels to Berlin on Friday to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel and to Paris a day later for talks with French President Francois Hollande.
Shortly after being elected, Samaras's government promised he would tour Europe to seek two more years to hit targets under Greece's 130-billion euro bailout from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.
But faced with a lack of European appetite for cutting Greece more slack, the government has since toned down its rhetoric on the issue and now expects merely to broach the idea during talks this week rather than formally requesting it.
"We must first re-establish our relationship with European partners that has been seriously damaged," said a Greek government official, who spoke on condition he not be identified. "This is most crucial. Talking about certain parameters then comes at a second stage."
European paymaster Germany, whose patience over Greece has worn thin, has already said it will not soften its demands from the twice-bailed out country.
WRANGLING OVER CUTS
Key to restoring credibility will be Greece's attempt to push through 11.5 billion euros of cuts over the next two years as demanded under the bailout - which Samaras's administration has yet to fully piece together after weeks of wrangling.
Samaras and his moderate leftist and Socialist allies have broadly agreed on the measures, but the government is still struggling to nail down the final cuts amid howls of protest over plans to slash pensions and put civil servants in a so-called labour reserve before laying them off.
"We are trying to find the best possible mix and a fair distribution of pensions. We also have to protect those getting very low pensions," a finance ministry official said. "A second issue we continue to work on is the labour reserve."
Because salary and pension cuts will lead to lower tax revenues, the government will have to find 13.5 billion euros in nominal savings to achieve its 11.5 billion target, the official said. Cuts worth 10.8 billion have been identified so far.
The measures will be presented for approval to the "troika" of officials from the European Commission, European Central Bank and IMF due back in Athens early next month for a final verdict on whether to keep money flowing to Greece.
After his election victory in June averted fears of an imminent Greek euro zone exit, Samaras won a positive initial reception from European governments relieved that firebrand leftist SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras failed to assume power.
SYRIZA, which campaigned on a pledge to abandon the bailout keeping Greece afloat, said Juncker had turned down a request to meet their young leader, a snub that one lawmaker called "a massive institutional discourtesy and an insult".
"Why this exception? I have the feeling that the leaders of the European Union and the euro zone prefer to talk with those who agree with them, or those they consider convenient," SYRIZA lawmaker Dimitris Papadimoulis told Skai television.
"Mr. Juncker needs to give an explanation, because from what I see, tomorrow he is free all morning."
Juncker's schedule includes a visit to the Acropolis Museum later on Wednesday, where Samaras hosts a dinner in his honour.
With power firmly in the hands of Samaras's pro-bailout coalition and SYRIZA relegated to the opposition, a Reuters poll last week showed a rising number of economists now believe Greece will remain stay the euro zone.
But the country is hugely off track from targets under its bailout and EU officials expect a further debt restructuring will be likely - with the cost falling on the ECB and euro zone governments.
Greece blames the slippage on a deeper than expected recession that is now in its fifth year and which Athens has likened to America's Great Depression. Nearly one out of four Greeks are jobless, and thousands of businesses have shuttered since the sovereign debt crisis exploded in 2009.
The decision to devalue the naira, according to analysts and central bank figures, appears aimed at saving the country's dwindling foreign reserves
Oil market watchers are divided on the outcome of OPEC's meeting in the Austrian capital. Predictions range from a large production cut to revive prices, to a small reduction, or none at all
The proliferation of smugglers' routes into Bolivia shows how difficult it is to eradicate illegal mining without better coordination across frontiers.
Falling crude prices are fueled by slowing global growth and increased supply.
Ukraine's leading banks said most of their loans to Crimean individuals and businesses were now delinquent.
Deputy Energy Minister Jaime Himende said that "Mozambique has great hydroelectricity potential, and recently they have taken some bold steps to use renewable resources efficiently"
Obama, who hosted Modi in Washington in September, will in January become the first U.S. president to visit India twice, completing a remarkable warming in the relationship
The combined damage inflicted on Russia's economy by Western sanctions and falling oil prices totals about $140 billion.
PM Mahlab said that Egypt eyes sustainable growth to improve the living conditions of Egyptians, noting that the Egyptian economy is currently recovering.
The French economist calls for redistribution of global wealth, which he says is too concentrated in the hands of the few.
Bank cites high financing costs and financing difficulties as challenges that need to be addressed to sustain growth.
Smuggling is denying Tanzania some 80 percent of receipts accrued from the precious gemstone
The Africa initiative will create "one huge free-trade union" allowing foreign investors in Egypt to more easily reach 260 million consumers from South Africa to Ethiopia.
Budapest says the collapse of the rival Western-backed Nabucco project to bring gas from Azerbaijan to Europe, and stalled plans to build inter-connector pipelines within eastern Europe, have left it with no alternative.
In Russia, the idea of a Saudi-U.S. plot against Moscow has become common currency as the economy struggles under the effects of low oil prices and Western sanctions imposed
Lithuania's new LNG terminal represents an end to Russia's gas monopoly in Lithuania, says Lithuania's president

domain: finance


Overview#The MD4 Message Digest Algorithm is a cryptographic Hash Function developed by Ronald Rivest in 1990.
MD4 digest length is 128 bits.
One MD4 operation :
- MD4 consists of 48 of these operations
- grouped in three rounds of 16 operations.
- F is a nonlinear function;
- one function is used in each round.
- Mi denotes a 32-bit block of the message input
- Ki denotes a 32-bit constant
- different for each operation.
The first full collision attack against MD4 was published in 1995 and several newer attacks have been published since then.
As of 2007, an attack can generate collisions in less than 2 MD4 hash operations. A theoretical preimage attack also exists.
A variant of MD4 is used in the ed2k URI scheme to provide a unique identifier for a file in the popular eDonkey2000 / eMule P2P networks.
MD4 was also used by the rsync protocol (prior to version 3.0.0.)


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A row over an apparent relaxation in prison conditions for Italy's jailed mobsters is reigniting suspicions in Italy over its government's alleged relationship with the Mafia.
Leading mobsters such as Pietro Vernengo, known as 'Bazooka Eyes' because of his terrifying gaze, a multiple murderer who dissolved some of his victims in acid and buried others in liquid concrete, are reportedly enjoying a surreptitious easing in their high-security regimes under Silvio Berlusconi's government.
The issue is explosive, because any evidence of backsliding by Italy's conservative coalition would revive claims that its political grip on Sicily is the result of an understanding with Cosa Nostra. Berlusconi's allies won all the seats on the island at the last election.
Opposition MPs this week called for Berlusconi's justice minister to be summoned before parliament's anti-Mafia committee to be grilled on the implementation of Italy's tough regime for mobsters. Police and prosecutors have long maintained that solitary confinement and other restrictions are vital, both as a deterrent and to prevent crime bosses from continuing to rule their gangs from behind bars.
The regime, known from the article in the prison act that authorises it as 41b, was first applied to prisoners convicted of organised crime by a decree in 1992. But it was only after Berlusconi came to office three years ago that its use against the Mafia and other crime syndicates was fully incorporated into Italian law. It is one of his government's proudest boasts that it succeeded in getting the measure enacted after years of temporary renewals while the left was in government.
On Tuesday, the opposition's main representative on the committee, Giuseppe Lumia, accused the justice minister, Roberto Castelli, of 'not telling the truth' about the number of 41b prisoners transferred to a normal prison regime in the first five months of this year. He said the real figure was 23, almost double the official 12. Already, in 2003, 72 prisoners had been beneficiaries of a change in status.
Lumia also listed a variety of ways in which, he claimed, prisoners kept on the strict regime were being allowed to get round its terms. Organised crime bosses, he said, were passing orders to - and receiving news from - their lieutenants during football games, in recreational breaks and even while attending Sunday Mass.
Anti-Mafia prosecutors had already expressed concern over the skill and ingenuity being deployed by Cosa Nostra dons to get round the restrictions imposed on them. Earlier this month, the newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that the Mafia's former 'boss of bosses', Toto Riina, had sent coded messages to other Mafia chiefs disguised as comments about football or motor racing.
Prosecutors were said to be convinced from a study of his intercepted correspondence that 'AC Milan' actually referred to Berlusconi, who owns the club, and Formula One (F1) meant Forza Italia (FI), the prime minister's party.
Both Berlusconi and his movement have been under close scrutiny by Cosa Nostra since they swept to power in 2001. A year after their victory, Leoluca Bagarella, Riina's brother-in-law and the man some experts believe succeeded him as head of the Mafia, used a court appearance to claim that promises had been broken by unnamed politicians. Bagarella said he and his fellow inmates were 'tired of being exploited, humiliated, oppressed and used like goods exchanged among the various political forces'.
Five months later, while Palermo were playing Ascoli at football, a banner was unfurled in the crowd. It read: 'Against 41b. Berlusconi forgets'. Ascoli was where Riina was being held.
For more than 18 months since then, there has been no sign or sound of complaint. Lumia asked last week whether this was because the godfathers of Cosa Nostra and Italy's other mobs had been 'satisfied and mollified'.
The timing of his offensive could not be more inconvenient for Berlusconi's four-party alliance. The governor of Sicily, Salvatore Cuffaro, who was elected as the candidate of the right, is under investigation on suspicion of Mafia links and, according to a report last week in the daily La Repubblica, the prosecutors in charge of the probe are poised to press charges.
In his reply to Lumia, justice minister Castelli did not challenge the opposition's claims. But he said he did not have responsibility for the application of 41b, which was a matter for specially appointed magistrates.
Castelli added: 'As far as 41b and the fight against the Mafia are concerned, [the governing coalition] has done what the left never dared to do.'


How To Play Hunter X Hunter On Piano 2021
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For the majority of people who choose to find out to play piano online, their very first concern is maintaining their emphasis when they are practicing. Exercising is an indispensable part of finding out to play piano. While sheet music can be pleasurable to research and play, it does not hold any kind of weight in the affordable globe of playing sheet music for a living. How To Play Hunter X Hunter On Piano
How To Play Hunter X Hunter On Piano
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There are lots of people that take piano lessons due to the fact that they want to discover to play. These are normally individuals that are more curious about playing than reading. These sorts of individuals typically begin taking novice lessons since they can obtain extremely fascinating songs with a piano. Nevertheless, many individuals often tend to find out much better when they start with sophisticated lessons. Piano lessons for newbies include many points that resemble other sorts of lessons.
If you are trying to find the fastest and ideal method to learn piano, you need to think about taking lessons from a tutor. Some individuals are not comfy with this suggestion. As mentioned above, it is not always easy to quadrate a person that you do not know quite possibly. This is specifically true if the lessons are done on the phone. Consequently, many individuals choose to take exclusive lessons. Whether you decide to employ someone to instruct you is completely your option.
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One kind of tutorial that many people prefer is ones that show you the essentials of playing a piano. These tutorials will usually offer you the tricks and also just how to utilize them. They may also show you exactly how to review the musical notation, just how to read musical scores etc. When you find out the piano, it is very important that you recognize all the various types of points that you require to know in order to play piano.


text:
A 67-year-old retired teacher is working out at the gym in Culver City, California when a red SUV bursts through the glass wall and and shoves his treadmill across the room. Although it looks horrifying, he amazingly survives without any major injuries.
According to Inside Edition:
Moments after the crash, the shoeless driver emerged from the car to see what had happened. She then tried to get back in her SUV, but an off-duty cop who was working out at the gym stepped in. She reportedly told police her brakes failed. When cops arrived on the scene she was not taken into custody and was not charged.
"I got thrown back and I could see the treadmill coming at me and I was afraid of being crushed," the man on the treadmill told Inside Edition. "I rolled to the side and I think that is what saved me."
Some of these near-misses would probably have been catastrophic and unavoidable without predictive autopilot.
On Sunday night, Orange County Fire Authority tweeted images from Santa Ana, California of a car that hit a center divider and flew into the air before embedding itself in the second floor of a building. Amazingly, both people in the car only suffered “minor injuries.” DASH CAM VIDEO: Bus barely misses getting hit by […]
You might think it’s an optical illusion but really it’s a glitch in the matrix. The insurance adjuster is gonna have a helluva time with this one.
There’s reading for pleasure, and then there’s reading for fuel; absorbing the great ideas in nonfiction books so you can apply them in your own life. In today’s hectic pace, it can be difficult to find the time to do that reading – especially for the entrepreneurs and professionals who can benefit the most from […]
Breaking into the big leagues as a project manager isn’t done overnight, but there are principles that anyone can learn, and they’re applicable to nearly any business. No matter what your field, if there are multiple teams working toward a common goal, you’re going to need a roadmap. The Project Management Professional Certification Training Suite […]
On the one hand, nostalgia is “a corruption of the historical impulse,” according to William Gibson. On the other hand, “Super Mario Bros.” will never not be cool. Luckily, there’s a way to satisfy that retro gaming while still keeping an eye on the future: The GameShell Kit. This thing is simultaneously the last handheld […]


text:
He was listed as a top 50 prospect in many circles. Although it is not clear how long this procedure will delay him resuming baseball activities, I wish him the best and a full recovery. From what I have seen, it doesn't seem like the big of a procedure, but anytime brain surgery is mentioned, it is a serious procedure IMO.
Red Sox prospect Ryan Westmoreland has been diagnosed with a cavernous malformation in his brain and will require surgery to correct it. The kid has some seriously bad luck. Westmoreland, 19, suffered a broken clavicle last season after crashing into an outfield wall and now he's scheduled to undergo what sounds like a serious brain procedure. The Red Sox have not given any indication as to when the outfielder might be ready to compete again, but we're thinking he'll take it easy in 2010.
B-Chad wrote:Pedroia's LD rate of 20% is reason to believe he'll maintain a higher BA then Cano. It should also be noted he hits more FB's then Cano, which means that even if he posts a lower HR/FB then Cano, he should come in reasonably close to Cano in HR's
Wow. Hopefully, he’ll be ok. Typically such surgeries go smoothly. It’s great that they caught it before it ruptured, but given that it’s located in the brain stem, there’s a bit more risk than usual. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.
The Red Sox announced that 19-year-old Ryan Westmoreland underwent successful brain surgery on Tuesday in Arizona. The team released a statement earlier this evening, which said in part: "Following the five-hour procedure, Westmoreland remains in the intensive care unit but has come through the surgery well. Due to the complexity of this surgery, Ryan will face a difficult period initially before beginning his recovery." Westmoreland was recently diagnosed with a cavernous malformation of the brain earlier this month, a potentially life-threatening condition.
Hopefully he will come through this without any lasting facts.
One of the benefits of being a professional athlete is that medical conditions might go unnoticed in most people are caught quickly and very early. Who knows how long Westmoreland would have gone with headaches before even seeing a doctor if he was just a regular 19 year old college kid.
Jon Lester is an example of this as well. Lester was having back pain shortly after a car accident, so the Red Sox sent him to the doctors who discovered his cancer. If he was a regular young adult, maybe he goes to the doctor and maybe he attributes to the car wreck and doesn't go to the doctor. Since he was a major league pitcher his team made him go to the doctor who found the cancer.
"I do not think baseball of today is any better than it was 30 years ago... I still think Radbourne is the greatest of the pitchers." John Sullivan 1914-Old athletes never change.
Ryan Westmoreland (brain surgery) has been moved out of intensive care and will begin physical and occupational therapy. Great news. The Red Sox released a statement on Friday that read in part: "We are thrilled for Ryan and his family that the surgery went so well," said Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein. "While we recognize that the recovery process is long and complicated, we are excited that all of the early indications are so positive. On behalf of the Westmoreland family, we thank everybody who has expressed concern and support for Ryan." Westmoreland, 19, underwent surgery to repair a cavernous malformation of the brain on Tuesday.
Red Sox prospect Ryan Westmoreland is hoping to take part in the fall instructional league next month, even if he doesn't progress to playing in games. Westmoreland, who underwent brain surgery in March, is back running, throwing and hitting soft toss. He's yet to face live pitching, so he's probably not going to be ready to play in games in September. Still, his recovery has gone as well as anyone could have hoped. Source: WEEI

domain: sports


Green Grass Technology (GGT), a United Kingdom based firm has been given the nod to construct training pitches for the Ghana 2008 MTN Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
The UK firm will construct six of the training pitches to be used for the January 20-February 10 tourney.
Speaking to the GNA Sports, Mr Frank Boahene , Managing Director of the pitch specialis firm said that his outfit would work on the training pitches for the Accra and Sekondi venues.
For Accra, the sites are the Presbyterian Boys Secondary School, Legon, Achimota Secondary School, Accra Technical Training Centre (ATTC) while Fijai Secondary School, Gyandu Park and the Railways Park have been selected for Sekondi.
Mr Boahene, a former Head of Corporate Grounds at English Premiership side, Fulham said work on the proposed sites would commence by the end of this month.
"We have moved all the materials to the sites and will soon begin."
He explained that the whole project which would involve five weeks of planting and 12 weeks of the benchmark development was expected to be completed by September.
Mr Boahene said that all the training pitches would have standard changing rooms, medical facilities and stands for fans.
"Each pitch will also have drainage and irrigation system."
With the CAF Inspection team raising concerns about the readiness of the training pitches for the biennial competition, Mr Boahene assured the CAF inspectors and stakeholders that the venues would be ready before their next visit.
The Local Organising Committee (LOC) will be working on sixteen venues earmarked for training pitches for the Ghana 2008 MTN African Cup competition.


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WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday unveiled what new large industrial plants will have to do to minimize their greenhouse gas emissions starting in January.
The guidelines will let industry choose the most cost-effective technology to reduce emissions on a case-by-case basis. The use of appropriate technology will make them eligible for new permits for greenhouse gas emissions that will be required for new and expanded industrial plants.
The EPA's steps are much more modest than the big stick of regulation that both opponents and supporters of climate legislation used to talk about. The agency said that much of the greenhouse gas reductions under the permit system would come through energy efficiency.
The new guidelines are part of the EPA's early efforts to start reducing the emissions of gases that build up in the atmosphere and trap heat. The Supreme Court ruled that the agency has the authority to regulate this form of pollution under the Clean Air Act.
The guidelines require that regulators make sure that new plants — or those that are upgraded so that they can expand production — use available technology to reduce carbon pollution. Businesses can choose the most feasible and cost-effective approach.
The plan doesn't put a limit on emissions or require plants to reduce them by a certain year. A bill to do just that passed the House of Representatives but failed to get support in the Senate. The EPA could require mandatory emissions reductions under other parts of the Clean Air Act but hasn't announced plans to do so.


Thanks for the advice. Is there anything distinctive about steering wheel vibration linked to the driveshafts? Do you suspect driveshafts due to the reason that from 40mph I can notice a vibrate? Any other major give aways?
Assuming you've checked for distorted wheels I'd have thought the next place to look would be the driveshafts and their joints. As the vibration is noticeable from such a low speed I'd check for the shafts running out of true and have a close look at the inner tripod joints.
And this will seem like a silly question but when looking at the driveshafts how can I tell if they are knackered or not?


Eric Decker is visiting with the Raiders on Tuesday, Vic Tafur of The Athletic Bay Area reports.
Eric Decker caught six of seven targets for 85 yards in Saturday's 35-14, divisional round loss to the Patriots.
Eric Decker caught just two of five targets for 21 yards in Saturday's 22-21, wild-card round win at Kansas City, but one of those catches was a game-winning, 22-yard touchdown.
Eric Decker (hamstring) caught three of six targets for 18 yards in Sunday's 15-10 win over the Jaguars.
Eric Decker is dealing with a minor hamstring injury in advance of Sunday's game against the Jaguars.
Eric Decker caught six of 10 targets for 73 yards in Sunday's 27-23 loss to the Rams.


text:
|Psalm 119:33-35 (MSG)|
|God, teach me lessons for living
so I can stay the course.
Give me insight so I can do what you tell me—
my whole life one long, obedient response.
Guide me down the road of your commandments;
|The Psalmist realized that life is way more challenging than anything man could expect, or deal with. He knew that his hope rests in the Eternal God. He also realized that everything that God had laid out in His Word is more than sufficient to lead the person committed to God and wanting to live like He taught us and commanded us. However, David was well aware that although the mind is willing to read, and the heart wants to obey the Word, that Satan’s plan is to derail that at every opportunity.|
|I believe it is evident that things have not changed a whole lot for mankind today. For although we may recognize the need for God, we are also easily distracted by the things of this world. First and foremost I must share with you from first hand experience that although I may have been classified as a ‘good man’ it came a point in my life that I realized that I didn’t have everything I needed to handle all aspects of life and still try to live a life that would be pleasing to God. I just couldn’t do it on my own. It was at this time of searching, that Jesus became very evident to me, and through the preaching of His Word one Sunday evening in 1976, I walked forward in a well populated church to say ‘yes’ to Jesus. Since that time, I have learned principles for living in His Word, through the preaching and teaching of His Word, and from role models who demonstrated the Christian life and showed me by example, what it meant to live like Jesus. The Psalmist asked that God direct him to just be able to stay the course. I would suggest adding to that: “so that not only I would see You in glory, but all those who follow in my example”. Friends, the Bible is the perfect ‘How-to’ Book of Instruction for us to read and follow. For those, like me, who need a Guide, a Protector, a Stronghold and a Savior in your time of weakness, I would encourage you to invite Jesus into your heart and allow Him to have His will and His way in your life. He not only has the power to save you from your sin and damnation, but He alone has the power to help you overcome the temptations of Satan that is laced with sin, and will set your feet on higher ground – one that is capable of living a godly life and for witnessing to the world the power that lies within you, for greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world!|
|Dear Jesus, I need thee every hour. That great old hymn contains the words of many that will read this devotional today, for I don’t believe that any of us feel like we have things under control already, nor confident that we could handle whatever comes our way today or tomorrow. Lord, we need You every step and every day. You alone are worthy, and You alone are powerful enough to protect us from the attempts of Satan to distract us and ultimately destroy us. David was not alone in needing Your touch in every aspect of his life, for we need you more today than any other time in history. Thank You Lord for being our Master, but yet our Friend and our Father. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from all evil, is my humble plea for all your children today Lord, AMEN!|
|There are two more pages on my blog that will provide you with additional information, one of them being ‘To Know Jesus’. If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please click on the above page, or speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Please allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to Nuggets From God’s Word and read more, or you may freely to subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!|
The Psalmist realized that life is way more challenging than anything man could expect, or deal with. He knew that his hope rests in the Eternal God. He also realized that everything that God had laid out in His Word is more than sufficient to lead the person committed to God and wanting to live like He taught us and commanded us. However, David was well aware that although the mind is willing to read, and the heart wants to obey the Word, that Satan’s plan is to derail that at every opportunity.

domain: literature


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Al-Mufaḍḍaliyyāt, (Arabic: “The Collection of al-Mufaḍḍal”) anthology of ancient Arabic poems, compiled by al-Mufaḍḍal ibn Muḥammad ibn Yaʿlah al-Ḍabbī between 762 and 784. It is of the highest importance as a record of the thought and poetic art of Arabia in the last two pre-Islamic centuries. Not more than five or six of the 126 poems appear to have been composed by poets born during the Islamic period, and, though a certain number converted to Islam, their work bears few marks of it. The ancient virtues alone—hospitality to the guest and to the poor, profuse expenditure of wealth, valour in battle, faithfulness to the cause of the tribe—were praised.
The 126 pieces are distributed among 68 poets, and the work represents a selection from the composition of those called al-muqillūn (“poets who composed only a few poems”) rather than from the famous poets whose works had been compiled in divans (collections of poetry). Not all the poems of Al-Mufaḍḍaliyyāt are complete, many are mere fragments, and even in the longest there are often gaps. Al-Mufaḍḍal, however, always tried to present complete poems and evidently set down all that he could collect of a poem from the memory of a rāwī (professional reciter).
Despite the sparseness of their extant work, several of the poets of Al-Mufaḍḍaliyyāt are well known and highly respected, such as ʿAlqamah ibn ʿAbadah, Mutammim ibn Nuwayrah, Salamah ibn Jandal, al-Shanfarā, ʿAbd Yaghuth, and Abu Dhuʿayb. Al-Ḥārith ibn Ḥilliza was already celebrated for his ode in the Muʿallaqāt collection.

domain: artistic


Early in 2010, I got the idea to make a quilt for the church, and I just couldn't get the idea out of my head (I call it a God-prod). Anyway, I finally gave in and decided to make a quilt. After having started it, this quilt got put on hold several times for other projects, such as Leslie's quilt (http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=368283.msg4328536#msg4328536
), towards the end of which my sewing machine died and forced me to get a new one (I got a Janome Sewist 500 - highly recommend it). After more than a year and a very frantic week this past week as I hurried to finish the quilt before our upcoming move, this quilt is the result. My pictures aren't all that good 'cuz it was dark when I finished the quilt and the lamps in the house have already been packed and moved.
Anyway, on to the pictures!
A close-up of the hands after the quilting was done around them.
As much of the whole quilt as I could get in a picture. Enough of our stuff has been packed that I didn't have anything to hang it with and no one was around to hold it up for me. The borders say "Children of FBC".
A better picture of the top half of the quilt
The quilt, with a corner flipped over so you can see the back.
The back of the quilt. The only picture I had of the back was before I was done with it so I hadn't trimmed off the excess backing yet. However, this picture shows the quilting better than the front does.
From this quilt, I learned (the hard way) why long-arm quilting machines are so valuable. There are a couple of sewed-in wrinkles on the quilt where I didn't notice them until it was already too late to go back and fix them. Oh well, I guess it adds "character" to the quilt.
Feedback is welcomed and appreciated!
**EDIT: The quilt was raffled off a couple weeks ago. The couple that won it are good friends of my husband and I. The picture below shows the pastor (left) with the gentleman who won it (right). The winner's wife wasn't feeling good that day... I was a bit disappointed with the amount the quilt fundraiser raised. The total came to $107, and I put roughly $105-$110 into the quilt. In retrospective, it would've been much easier to just donate the money to the church. However, I guess I can be proud of my accomplishments with this quilt, and my friends now have a quilt to remember me by (we moved just about the time i finished the quilt).


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There are about 39 trillion microbial cells within the human body, including bacteria, fungi and viruses. The role of gut bacteria within a human body is to break down food, process vitamins and prepare the immunity system. Thus, imbalances within gut bacteria can cause various diseases and health complications within the human body, like altered immune response, obesity, etc. So, here are 9 ways through which you can improve your gut bacteria very easily.
- Minimise Consumption of Artificial Sweeteners
You should avoid the consumption of food with huge amounts of artificial sweeteners like sucralose, saccharin and aspartame. As these affect the metabolism of microbes, it reduces the gut diversity, which can lead to various health complications.
- Adopt a Healthy Sleep Schedule
If possible, try to avoid a strict sleeping schedule and sometimes, your body might need some extra bit of rest. Try not to abide by inflexible time limits and attempt to get early to bed, so that you can get an adequate amount of sleep every night.
- Fermented Food
Fermented foods like kimchi, yogurt, tempeh, kefir, etc. are very good for your gut bacteria. Most of these foods contain a substance called “lactobacilli,” which is known to be beneficial to your health. Some reports show that the consumption of yogurt improves gut bacteria and minimizes symptoms of lactose intolerance.
- Consider Prebiotics
Add prebiotic food to your diet as they help in improving your gut bacteria. Fruits like apples, bananas, grapefruit, kiwi, etc. are a great source of prebiotics along with whole grains, garlic, nuts, lentils, beans, etc.
- Manage Stress
Mental stress can interfere with your overall health, as it also affects microorganisms and good bacteria within your small intestine. This is why you should focus on keeping your stress level low by adopting activities like yoga, hobbies, travel, etc.
- Include Vegetables in Your Diet
The consumption of vegetables is always beneficial to your health. You should try to add high-fiber vegetables to your daily diet as they are ingested by good bacteria within the gut. Some examples of high-fiber vegetables are onions, spinach, broccoli, leeks, etc.
According to some studies, it is seen that people who lead an active lifestyle through daily exercise, have healthier and more diverse microbiomes. You should try to exercise, even if it is 20 minutes of walking on the complex, to stay physically active and have better gut bacteria.
- Try Food or Drinks with Polyphenols
You should try out foods and drinks that contain a good amount of polyphenols. These substances are basically antioxidants which act as the fuel for microbes. A few examples include coffee, green tea, olive oil, berries, nuts, etc.
- Go For a Diverse Food
There are numerous types of bacteria present in your gut, each having a distinct requirement of nutrients for their growth. Thus, having a diverse diet and going for eclectic food is a great way to improve gut bacteria.
Maintaining and improving your gut bacteria is a crucial step towards a healthy lifestyle. So, be sure to apply these steps for a good immunity system and a fit body.

domain: medical


text:
Paperback, 258 pg.
Read: December 10-11, 2019
“You’re a very different kind of man Jake Mooney,” she said. “It’s almost like you belong here, but don’t belong here.”
“How is that?”
“Your life is like a movie,” she said, “and I think the last thing you want is to live your life like that.” …
“This is my second go-round for this sort of thing,” I said, “and the problem with sequels is that they always have to top the one that went before them.”
I remember really enjoying Hack, our introduction to Jake Mooney. But, I didn’t remember exactly why I did (I guess I could’ve read my post about it, but that sounds too much like research). It took almost no time at all to remember once I dipped into this Hacked (and many of the details about Hack came back to me straight away, too). Hack had a strong voice, fun characters, a clever mystery, with a satisfying conclusion to wrap things up. Hacked gives us more of all that.
For those of you who haven’t met Jake Moody, he’s a former journalist turned ghostwriter. Two years before this novel, he rose to fame by solving multiple homicides. He then finished ghostwriting the autobiography of one of the murder victims. He then writes his own account of what transpired (see Hack for details), as well as a fantasy novel. Now he’s been talked into coming to LA to sell the movie rights to any/all of his books.
Before his days of ghostwriting, Jake lived in LA and still has plenty of friends there and touches base with a couple of them. One of the things everyone is talking about there is the hacking of a movie company and the release of private date from them—supposedly, this is a North Korean retaliation for the portrayal of Kim Jong Un in one of that studio’s movies. A legendary agent who Jake knew years ago inadvertently puts Jake in the middle of the investigation. Not long after that, a P.I. friend of his asks him to consult on the same topic.
When Jake arrives at his friend’s home, however, he finds his friend brutally murdered. The assumption has to be that the people behind the hack are the people who killed his friend. So while he really is content to leave the investigation into the hack to the proper authorities, seeing his friend’s body sets Jake inexorably into finding out who committed the murder (and the hack while he’s at it).
Jake’s assisted in this hunt by his agent friend, his new agent, an accountant turned security guard, a former FBI agent, a ride-share driver who’s always wanted to be up to escapades like this, and an attractive studio exec. Help comes from other directions, too, but I’m not going to ruin the surprise for you.
It’s not long before someone tries to kill Jake, he’s kidnapped more than once, assaulted, and . . . you know what? You wouldn’t believe me if I listed all that happens to this poor writer (also, why ruin the surprise?)—I couldn’t help imagining MacMaster asking himself, “What else can I do to Jake? A tiger attack? Nah, not sure how to get him in the cage, but I do know how to ….”
The LAPD is eager to pin all of the death and destruction on Jake, but the more they press him, the more adamant he becomes that he won’t leave. Given the strong cloud of suspicion that North Korea is behind the hack, and presumably the murder of his friend, the FBI is involved, too. They’re less inclined to suspect Jake of having anything to do with the murder, but they’d like him away from the case.
There are more than the requisite number of twists and turns to this case, none of them feels forced or gratuitous. And even when you’re faster at putting the pieces together than Jake is, you should probably take a beat before criticizing him, because you’re probably not as right as you think you are.
The tone is what separates this from similar mysteries. This is not a comedy —there’s a brutal murder, including signs of torture to start things off. There are threats of violence, actual violence, and more deaths to come. But the way that MacMaster tells it makes it become one of the funniest and most enjoyable reads of the year. Think Marshall Karp’s Lomax and Biggs Mysteries for tone. That’s probably not the most helpful comparison, come to think of it, because I’m not sure how many people are familiar with them (too few for sure). Okay, think of this as a Shane Black story—just a novel instead of a script, and there’s no tie to Christmas. MacMaster’s Kirby Baxter books are more overtly comical than his Jake Mooney books, but both are just flat-out entertaining and laugh-filled.
Typically, in books/TV/movies, Hollywood Agents are not depicted sympathetically. Which is probably a bit of an understatement, really. But Jake’s old friend and new agent are both depicted as decent people that he can rely on. That’s not really a plus or a minus when it comes to evaluating, but it’s so strange that I felt compelled to mention it. I can’t remember another fictional Agent who wasn’t some sort of duplicitous, manipulative, weasel.
The story, Jake and the other characters, the fun had a Hollywood’s expense, the twists, etc. would’ve been good enough to make me rave. But there’s a Chinese gentleman that plays a big role in the novel—I don’t want to say much about him, because you just have to meet him yourself. He pops up repeatedly throughout the novel, yet we really don’t spend that much time with him altogether. But he steals every scene he’s in. He’s one of my favorite new characters of 2019. If there’s a Hacked Again or Hack Harder or whatever, I hope MacMaster can come up with an excuse to use him again.
I just had so much fun with this one (a common theme when it comes to MacMaster)—I can’t think of a single reason why someone shouldn’t read this (you don’t have to read Hack first, by the way). Jake was right in what he said before, the problem with sequels is that they have to top the one that went before. Hacked easily does that. It’s smartly-written, cleverly-plotted and just fun to read. Go run and grab it!
This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, opinions are my own.


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DES MOINES, IOWA, Feb. 23, 2018—Iowa farmers seeking conservation planning and financial assistance should contact their local USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office soon about help with implementing conservation practices on their land.
NRCS has at least one office in every Iowa county, located at the USDA Service Center.
In 2017, NRCS obligated more than $30 million to Iowa farmers through CSP and EQIP. NRCS helps private landowners build their business through CSP, while implementing conservation practices that help ensure the sustainability of their operation.
CSP also encourages the adoption of cutting-edge technologies and new management techniques such as precision agriculture applications, on-site carbon storage and planting for high carbon sequestration rate, and new soil amendments to improve water quality.
Through EQIP, farmers can adopt structural and management practices that optimize environmental benefits. Along with traditional conservation practices such as terraces, grassed waterways and buffer strips, farmers can use EQIP to help implement practices that improve manure, nutrient, and pasture management. EQIP can also assist with organic transition, adding pollinator habitat, building a high tunnel system, or to construct a denitrifying bioreactor.
NRCS sets aside 10 percent of EQIP funding for the historically underserved, which include beginning farmers socially disadvantaged farmers, limited resource producers, Tribal farmers and veterans.


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NXT cryptocurrency maintains integrity after the stolen $1.65 million
On the 15th August Chinese cryptocurrency exchange BTER was hacked and 51 million NXT were stolen, with a market value of approximately $1.65 million. Although BTER lists many cryptocurrencies, only NXT was stolen.
By: NXT Coin
In a forum post to the community admitting the hack, BTER developer ‘freeworm’
The BTER representative suggested that the exchange was exploring all options, including contacting the NXT development team in an effort to ‘rollback’
What is the significance of rolling back the blockchain? In essence, it is very simple. Cryptocurrency is based on decentralisation. There is no central authority, and transactions are therefore irreversible:
A rollback is only possible with the participation of the majority of the network’s miners (in the case of Bitcoin) or, in the case of NXT, the majority of its coin holders. A key difference between the two is that with Bitcoin, miners may or may not hold any coins themselves. By its very nature, those involved in protecting NXT’s network must be owners.
The NXT community made a bold move. Its developers created different apps to allow the decentralised community to choose whether to rollback the blockchain or stay on the original version – But at the cost of allowing the hacker to keep the stolen money. NXT voted overwhelmingly not to do so: only a tiny proportion of the community downloaded the software that would enable the ‘fork’. Because those who had the largest NXT balances also had the greatest vote in protecting the integrity of the network, their interests were aligned. This is the strength of the Proof of Stake system. The blockchain remained intact, along with NXT’s reputation. Decentralisation worked.
Despite being one of the top five cryptocurrencies, NXT is still relatively unknown. Since June 2014, when NXT sponsored PayExpo alongside other sponsors such as Barclay’s Bank, it has gradually gained more exposure. The cryptocurrency has seen increasing attention in the last few weeks after a slew of new services were launched, including a decentralised music and digital goods store, which offers artists the opportunity to list their work with no commission fees.
One of the most exciting new projects in the NXT eco-system could also offer traders in crypto-currency an alternative to using old-fashioned exchanges, with their associated security risks.
The beta version of the Multi-Gateway project allows trade between currency pairs (for example BTC<>NXT)
Recently Jon Matonis, Executive Director of the Bitcoin Foundation, recounted his experiences managing the Forex desk at Visa in a previous career. He called it ‘an entirely rigged game’, admitting that it was possible to play with the exchange rates to get the best deal. How someone in such a position of influence openly say this casts the integrity of Bitcoin into doubt, since it raises similar issues of manipulation.
When Vericoin was rolled back in July this year to save Mintpal, the exchange from which it had been stolen, the message was clear: the exchange mattered more than the currency. Vericoin was slated and plummeted in value after the rollback. ‘Too big to fail’ is not a phrase that cryptocurrency enthusiasts entertain. Bitcoin, NXT or Vericoin, the cryptocurrency world should not accept this.
NXT did the right thing by allowing its holders to choose how to move forwards from the largest heist in its history. Only last month, one of the oldest members of the NXT community lost 6 million NXT and 1,170 Bitcoins when his PC was hacked. Luckily, BTER froze the hacker’s account and was able to return 3 million NXT, and the hacker returned 462 Bitcoins after a bounty was placed on his head.
Overstock.com recently made the announcement that they are looking at making a second stock listing using a ‘cryptostock’
Recently, Lee Gibson Grant one of the NXT forum members was introduced to the CEO of Global Coin Reserve. After some discussion the idea of smart contracts was discussed. GoldCoinsReserve are excited to announce that they are looking forward to adding new features to their GCRcoin by utilising NXT’s proven blockchain technology. This choice may come as a disappointment to Ethereum, who are also to be used by GCR, but choosing for NXT will allow GCR to begin work on the project immediately, as the launch of Ethereum is still almost 6 months away..
Grant is working with many enthusiastic businesses that are recognising the opportunities that using the NXT blockchain and systems can bring to their own business models. Overstock is not the only business that is interested in making a ‘crypto-stock’
Since the BTER hack, NXT has proved that it has integrity, and this has simply confirmed the business world’s trust in the NXT technology and community.
Bter has limited options over the theft of 50+ Million NXT, Grant proposed to use the NXT Asset Exchange along with the Smart Contracts to act as a Safety Net for Bter by creating Bter Tokens on the asset then listing them on Bter Exchange to be distributed to the NXters that have lost NXT Coins Due to the Theft. "Will Bter take the option or not"
NXT has just proved that, unlike our current banking network and even some cryptocurrencies, it is not prepared to compromise its integrity. The cost might have been $1.65 million, but the future value of that move will be priceless.


Win Looks from Ashley Greene, Jennifer Lawrence in Charity Auction
American Idol finalist Haley Reinhart will be rocking out in New York City this Friday for She’s the First‘s charitable Girls Who Rock concert — but if you can’t be in the Big Apple for the action, there are still ways to help the cause. She’s the First — a not-for-profit that sponsors girls’ education in the developing world, so that they can be first in their families to graduate from high school — is hoping to raise $50,000 from Girls Who Rock ticket sales, plus proceeds from a celebrity-driven auction happening on charitybuzz.com through the end of May. Prizes include a dress once worn by Ashley Greene, a jumpsuit worn by Jennifer Lawrence and a Victoria’s Secret summer goodie bag. Learn more — and get bidding — at charitybuzz.com.


The developers of a gaming app criticised for glorifying gang warfare have now created a new game that makes light of violence against police.
The Mongrel Mob Defence app has been pulled by its creators Supreme Studios after gaining widespread criticism for promoting gang violence and featuring an image of deceased Mongrel Mob member William Hurinui - known as Greeco.
But in its place, the developers have released a game titled South Auckland Defence - a game with similar features but altered not to represent a particular gang, and the main character now a caricature of a New Zealand policeman.
In a release Supreme Studios, originally named Supremacy, said they would not be republishing the original app or any follow-up titles due to receiving legal and physical threats.
Instead, the new app was designed with the intent "not to offend anyone at all".
"South Auckland Defence has no affiliation to any gangs, New Zealand based or international and allows players to simply choose which color they'd like to represent and defend against the police force," the Supreme Studios team said.
The online description of the game stated, "A fellow gang member has asked you to take care of a deal downtown but word on the street is it's a setup."
"Somebody has tipped off the cops and they know you're driving unaccompanied on a learner license (sic) with cut springs and no L plates. Hold them off for as long as you can.
"If they manage to get you the penalty will be a $200 fine, 60 demerits and if you're unlucky they'll green sticker the car and you'll no longer be able to get dodgy wof's (sic) from the workshop your mate works at down the road."
The app, available on Google Play, features a caricature of an ambiguous gang member holding two pistols. The game allows you to choose whether you want the gang colours to be blue, green, red or yellow.
When the game begins, the policeman enters from the left or right of the screen. The aim of the game is to shoot the policeman before he gets close enough to the gang member.
If you are too slow, and the policeman gets too close, he launches into a stabbing frenzy with blood splatters included.
In light of earlier criticism, the developers have advised users to simply not play the game if they don't like it.
New Zealand Police told the Herald it was "very disappointed in the reported content of this new game".
"NZ Police have high levels of trust and confidence with our communities and our staff work hard to maintain these relationships," a police spokesperson said.
"At the risk of giving the makers of the game more publicity, police are very disappointed in the reported content of this new game and do not condone this use of our image."
The new game comes just six days after the earlier release of the Mongrel Mob Defence app.
The app drew criticism from the family of William Hurinui (Greeco) who labelled it hurtful and unfair, as well as the photographer behind the original image of Greeco - which was used in the game without permission.
The developers later replaced the portrait of Greeco with one of Alf Stewart, a character from Australian TV show Home and Away played by Ray Meagher, but they received further backlash from Australian television's Seven Network.
After apologising for their character choice, the developers then invited the game's fans to submit images for characters in a new version of the game.
Before these changes could be made, the developers pulled the app and turned their attention to the new game.


HOPE IS Noise, long time stalwarts of the Irish alternative/heavy scene, will bring their polished alt-rock and feral post-hardcore broadsides, to the next FEAST gig in the Róisín Dubh.
Hope Is Noise will perform music from their new album, Demons, in the upstairs bar of the Róisín this Saturday from 9pm. Inspired by Nirvana, Fugazi, and Hot Snakes, the Cork quartet are a formidable live act, with a furious, yet focused, approach to noisy, heavy, hardcore-inflected alt-rock.
Also on the bill are fellow Corkonians, The Magnapinna. While they embrace disparate sounds and influences and strive not to fall into one genre, their sound is rooted in heavy rock with a healthy dose of humour thrown in for good measure.
Also on the bill are stoner rock/alternative band Ropemaker and punk group The Flayers. Admission is €5.


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The Titan will be stepping things up as the tank and vanguard of fireteams thanks to their increased defensive capabilities. Don’t worry about becoming nothing more than a shield, though, because Bungie made sure to make Destiny 2’s bulkiest class have all the same brute force that Guardians of the first game have come to appreciate. So far, two classes have been confirmed for the Titan.
The Sentinel is the embodiment of everything a Titan should be. It’s the void subclass in Destiny 2 and is defined by the shield you can summon that turns players into a hybrid of a juggernaut and Captain America. You’ll receive increased defense, powerful melee abilities, and a ricocheting shield. Take to the front-lines and bring the fight right to the face of any enemy that dares cross you.
The Striker is one of the returning subclasses in Destiny 2 that has received the most drastic change. Fist of Havoc is no longer a one and done super, instead turning your Guardian into a walking, electrified behemoth that can use ground slam or powerful shoulder charges. Destiny 2’s Striker Titans also maintain their defensive focus this time around thanks to an ability that allows players to summon a wall of light to create instant cover and stem the tide of aggressive enemies.

domain: game


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Episode 3: Desserts
Premieres September 20 [check local listings]
It’s week three, and the heat in the kitchen is already too much for some, as the remaining 11 bakers get ready to deal with desserts. Premieres September 20 at 7pm ET. Check your local listings.
Preview the Episode
Technical Challenge Recipe
Think you can hang with the contestants on the show? Here is the technical challenge recipe from the judges. Try it at home and see how well you can do.
For each episode, some of the contenstants have made their personal recipes available online. Unfortunately, not all recipes are available.
Preview the Next Episode
In Season 2, the tent welcomes a baker’s dozen to do baking battle. Premiered on September 6. Continue
The bakers battle bread, striving to show real talent, natural instinct and creativity. Premiered on September 13. Continue
About the Bakers


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The Heights Players presents the star-spangled musical based on the life of legendary American composer, playwright and showman George M. Cohan.
Cohan was responsible for giving us such famous classic tunes as 'Give My Regards To Broadway,' 'Yankee Doodle Dandy,' 'Harrigan' and many more (all of which are featured in the show).
See it if
You like the George M. Cohan' music and want to know about his life
Don't see it if
You don't like Cohan's music
Sondheim's dark, TONY-winning musical comes to CSC in a new star-studded production.
This new family-friendly musical comedy is based on the beloved 1993 film of the same name.
Emmy winners Uzo Aduba and Ron Cephas Jones star in a play by two-time Pulitzer winner Lynn Nottage.


The risks posed by higher rates, still-stubborn inflation as well as small but growing cracks in the overall economy — notably in Canada — suggest a rotation into low-volatility strategies may be prudent. On today’s episode, portfolio managers Chris McHaney, Matt Montemurro and your host Mckenzie Box discuss options for investors looking to de-risk a portion of their equity allocations. They also break down the likelihood of rising corporate default rates and the impact that could have on high-yield credit, as well as examine whether it’s time to start adding to utilities, among the worst-performing sub-indexes in North America year-to-date.
Portfolio Manager, Exchange Traded Funds
Chris has over two decades of experience in the investment industry and currently serves as portfolio manager for derivative-based and equity-based portfolios. This includes the management and trading of options on Canadian, US and European equities and ETFs. He also manages various cross-asset portfolios, which include Canadian and US fixed income and global equities. He has taken on numerous roles since joining BMO Financial Group in 2002, including Manager of Investments for BMO Asset Management Inc. where he was responsible for mutual fund manager monitoring and selection. In this role, he was also responsible for overseeing the currency hedging program across the mutual fund platform. Chris holds a BBA from York University’s Schulich School of Business and is a CFA charterholder.
Last week, the Bank of Japan loosened its yield curve control in a move that shocked markets. In today’s episode, portfolio managers Chris McHaney, Vishal Bhatia, and your host, Mckenzie Box, explore the latest developments and the potential implications of this shift. They also discuss China’s slowing economy, Fitch’s U.S. credit rating downgrade and agricultural commodities.
Following back-to-back increases, the Bank of Canada’s key interest rate now sits at 5% — the highest level in 22 years. On today’s episode, portfolio managers Alfred Lee, Chris McHaney and your host, Mckenzie Box, explore the impacts on markets and examine where monetary policy may be headed. They also discuss the latest U.S. CPI print, the Nasdaq’s rebalancing and ETF flows and trends.


The head of Egypt’s leading state university has provoked furious condemnation for claiming that an on-campus sexual harassment case was the fault of the female student who was targeted and saying that she may be punished.
The Cairo University student was surrounded on Monday by a group of male students, who allegedly sexually harassed her as she walked across the busy campus. The woman was later escorted from the university by campus security, and the incident was filmed by bystanders — many of whom appeared unconcerned — and uploaded to social media.
Cairo University president Nasser Gaber told a television talkshow that the incident had resulted in part from the woman wearing colorful clothes, instead of a more conservative cloak, or abaya. He also said that she may face punishment for the incident along with her harassers, and possibly expulsion.
“We don’t require a uniform here, but clothes should be within the tradition of our society. The girl’s mistake doesn’t justify what happened to her at the hands of those students. We referred the whole incident to an investigation and everything is recorded by the university cameras. We will find out who is guilty — whether the girl or the [other] students — and we are going to punish them with the proper punishment, which might be expulsion from the university,” Gaber told OnTV, a private Egyptian network
Women’s rights activists reacted furiously to Gaber’s remarks. Soraya Bahgat of Tahrir Bodyguards, a group that rescues women from mob sexual assaults during protests, said: “I find it insanely appalling that the head of arguably the most important university in Egypt said that her clothes were to blame ... it highlights one of the things that is wrong with this society, which is to blame the victim [of sexual harassment] for what happened.”
Following criticism of his remarks, Gaber said he had been misunderstood.
According to a UN survey, 99.3 percent of Egyptian women reported being sexually harassed, with 91 percent saying they felt insecure in the street as a result.


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With leadership choices being so powerful, what choices are you making as a leader? In this video, I share 4 critical choices every leader makes whether intentionally or unintentionally.
Every leadership requires the making of choices, and because the attitude of leaders can be contagious, those choices have a profound impact on the effectiveness of the leader. Determining and understanding the power of leadership choices further establishes a deeper understanding of the nature of a leader’s influence, the type of leader that person becomes, the type of leadership style they use, and even how significant of an impact they can make.
I used to ask both emerging leaders and seasoned leaders key questions, especially when people decide to take up leadership roles or decide to make certain decisions:
These questions are around four critical leadership choices that every leader makes whether consciously or unconsciously:
- Perception: What choices are you going to make about your perception of those you lead?
- Use of status, position, and influence: How do you choose to use your status, position, or influence?
- Focus and mindset: What is the basis of your mindset and focus?
- Nature of impact or legacy: What choices are you making about the nature of your impact or legacy?
When it comes to engaging in meaningful impact making leadership, these questions help us understand why certain people accept a leadership role, the need to appreciate the role, and how and why certain leaders tend to manifest themselves in certain ways within that role.
It’s good to know that leadership should be a joy and not a burden. It is not just about learning lessons but it’s about gaining and sharing blessings.
Thank you! You are awesome!

domain: sociology