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Authors note- LAST CHAPTER, READ END NOTES!!!
Disclaimer- I own nothing
2 YEAR LATER
" Momma." I heard Masen yell before ramming straight into my legs and stumbling.
" Whoa there honey, whats wrong?" I asked
He smiled up at me " Daddy told me to tell you that every one is comin' ova." he said
" Who is everyone?" I asked
" Uncle, Jazz and Em. Aunty Rosie and Ali, and gramma and gampa." he said
I gave him a smile as he ran off, and out of the kitchen.
It was hard to believe that it has been four years since I gave birth to the twins. The have grown so much in the past couple of years, they are very outgoing. I swear that they didnt get that from me, thats were part of Edward takes in for them.
Charlotte had beautiful long, curly bronze hair. Her green eyes shined brightly, you always found a twinkle in her eye. A smile was always on her face, and she was a complete daddy's girl. She always wanted Edward and when he came home from work she ran straight to the door.
Masen had crazy hair like Edward, but it was the same color as mine. He had the most beautiful brown eyes that shined just like his sisters did. He was a little on the shy side, but had his crazy moment.
The one thing I was eternally grateful for was that they didnt inherite my clumsiness.
After countless months, Edward and I taught them more and more words, we worked with letters and numbers and we potty trained them. Which was more easy than we thought. Although Charlotte was easier in the long run.
Alice had given birth to a baby boy named Jackson. He was named by Jasper. It was his idea to name him something southern-ish. Rose and Emmett were expecting again, this time a little baby girl and I was very happy for them.
Everyone was pretty much content with their lives. I know I was.
During our honeymoon, Edward and I did try to have a baby, but was unsuccessful for some odd reason. For the past two years we have been trying, soon we gave up and that's when we did conceive.
Just last week I found out I was two months pregnant. I had yet to tell Edward and the family. But I guess since everyone will be here I can announce it. I was nervous as to what they would think. I was thrilled for more kids.
Edward came into the room, his hair a mess as always. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a white button down. Looking as gorgeous as always. Made no sense how he can roll out of bed and still look like a model, when I look like shit.
He came forward, wrapped me up in his arms and kissed me.
" Hello, wife."
I rolled my eyes " You know I hate it when you call me that as if it were my name."
" I know. But you look so damn sexy when your angry, love."
Again, I rolled my eyes at him. " So when are they coming o-"
I was cut off by the doorbell ringing and two screeching kids. Edward let me go and we walked to the from door. Charlotte and Masen were bouncing in there spots.
When I opened the door I was bombarded with people, they all but ran into the house, knocking me right into Edward, who almost fell over when I crashed into him. He steadied me and looked over to the others.
" Trying to kill my wife?" he asked them
Alice giggled " No silly goose. I just missed my nephew and neice." she said.
Esme gave me a hug " How are you dear."
I smiled " Great."
Carlisle stood next to her and lifted up a bottle that looked like wine " I brought wine."
" Uhh something special going on today?" I asked nervously
" Nope." Emmett said, popping the 'p'.
Rose and Alice gave me a hug next, practicly squeezing the life out of me. When they let me go they smiled and grabbed my hands, only to drag me in the kitchen. They havent even been here five minutes and they drag me away.
Alice started first " Dont think we didnt notice." she said.
I shrugged confused. " Notice what."
" That little nervous look on your face when Carlisle said 'wine'."
Oh shit. They always saw right threw me, it was like a sign posted on my forehead.
" Your pregnant." they squeeled.
I quickly shushed them " Dont say anything. I still havent told Edward."
They nodded but kept bouncing around. I had to admit I was very excited to have another baby. I just wanted to know what the kids will think of it. I wouldnt want a huge breakdown from them, I would feel terrible if that happened.
Luckily, Edward and I had meat to make burgers in the freezer, so after we defrosted, we seasoned the burgers and tossed them on the grill. Masen and Charlotte were playing with Matthew in the grass by the pool that Edward and I had installed last year. We made sure to have a gate around it, we did not want any accidents with the kids. Somehow we had kinda rebuilt my old one.
Us adults sat down at the table talking and chatting. Soon the kids came over and wanted to be included.I placed Masen in my arms while Charlotte curled up by Edward. Jasper held Jackson in his arms, while Matthew was in Rose's.
Well everyone is here. My hands started sweating a little, I took a deep breath.
" So, I um have some news." I said.
All eyes were on me, I saw smiles on Rose's and Alice's face. Edward looked at me confused, probably thinking he should know what I was going to say next.
" So. I kinda went to the doctor two weeks ago and as of right now I am two and a half months pregnant."
While the whole family beamed at us. Edward looked completely shocked, and Charlotte burst into tears and jumped out of Edward's lap, only to run into the house. Panic coursed through my body. I did know that either this would be a great thing, or a horrible thing
I set Masen down and he smiled at me. Good thing he wasnt upset.
" I'll be back in a second." I told Masen, I kissed his forehead and ran after Charlotte.
She was on the couch in the family room, crying her heart out. Immediatly I ran over to her and picked her up. She clutched herself to me and I felt her tears soak right threw my shirt.
" Baby, what's wrong." I asked her.
She continued to cry in my arms, I didnt really know what to say ' Baby, I am sorry I got pregnant, but you have a new sibling' that would work out real well, she would cry harder and that is the last thing I want. Moments later Edward came in the room and sat on the other side of Charlotte.
" Y-You and daddy wont love me an-anymore." she cried.
I rubbed my hand up and down her back " Of course we will darlin', we will always love you and your brother, just as much, there will just be another addition." I told her.
" I-I-I dont want another sister or brother."
I looked up at Edward. By the expression on his face I didnt know if he was happy about the child or not. His expression was unreadable.
Charlotte turned to Edward and crawled into his arms.
At the moment I felt like a horrible mother. I felt tears well up in my eyes, quickly I stood up.
" I-I need to be alone." I said before fleding the room.
" Bella." I heard Edward call out.
I ignored him and ran up the stairs and to our bedroom. Where I sat on the bed and cried. Sobs wracked my body violently.
I didnt want my kids to be unhappy with another child and I felt sick for being thrilled at the moment. Edward and I had always wanted atleast three kids, maybe four. But we always wanted a house full, enough to handle.
The door peeked open and I didnt bother to look who is was. I felt the person sit on my bed. But when I felt the arms wrap around me I knew it was Masen.
" Dont cry mama. I excited." he said.
I looked up and wiped my tears with the back of my hand. Masen had his arm wrapped tightly around me. A small smile crossed my face. I ran my hands through his hair.
" You know that I will always love you right?" I asked him.
" Or course momma." he responded
I held him close to me, which made me feel a tad better. I then heard the bedroom door open, revealing Edward.
" Masen can you go downstairs with your sister and grandma?" Edward asked calmly.
Masen unwrapped his arms from around me and bounded out of the room. I kept my eyes down on my lap, tears fell freely. I felt the bed shift when Edward sat down, his arm wrapped around my waist. I turned toward him and buried my face in his chest.
" I completely suck at parenting." I said.
" No you dont Bella."
" I got pregnant and my daughter hates me because of it." I stated
He let out a sigh " Bella, this is typical, all kids feel like they are being replaced when they find that their mother is having another baby."
I nodded " What do you think?"
" I am thrilled to have another baby. It was just unexpected considering we stopped trying."
I smiled and wrapped my arms around him. One of his hands traveled down and rested on my stomach.
" Let's go down." he suggested
We stood up and walked out of the room. As we walked downstairs I saw the girls, they were all beaming at us, with huge smiles on their faces.
" Congratulations." Rose said.
I smiled " Thanks. I'm going to go find Charlotte."
I walked threw the house and to the family room. She was sitting by Jasper, I could see he was talking to her, a sad smile was on her face. When I got into the room she looked up at me, then dropped her gaze. I walked up to her and held out my hand.
" Can you come with me sweetheart?" I asked.
She nodded and stood up. I led her outside, where it was empty. I sat her on the chair across from me and held her tiny hand in mine. She didnt look at me, she kept looking down.
" Please, look at me?" I asked
That didnt faze her so I asked again. She still didnt respond
" Charlotte Cullen, look at me." I said sternly.
Finally she looked up at me, a tear was laying upon her cheek. I wiped it off.
" Baby, no matter how many babies I have you will always be loved. That will never change anything. I will always, always love you. No matter what."
She flung herself in my arms. " Promise."
I kissed the top of her head " I promise."
" The baby wont steal my room?" she asked
I chuckled " Well for six months the baby will stay in mommy and daddy's room. Then when the baby gets bigger she or he will have their own room." I told her.
She nodded " Is the baby a boy or girl?"
" We'll have to wait awhile to find out."
" Where do babies come from?" she asked
" You wont find out til' you fifty." I heard Edward say.
I rolled my eyes at his words. If it were up to him she would live here her whole life and be isolated from any guy that walked by. I can just picture her eighteen and Edward holding her hand while walking across a street.
2 years later
I sat in my office typing in my new schedule when I got a call.
" Bella!" I heard Edward's worried voice say.
" What's wrong?" I asked
" Masen is burning up with a fever and he is throwing up. I'm at primary care right now. I dropped Holly and Charlotte off at Alice's." he said.
I immediatly stood up from my seat and grabbed my stuff " I'll be there soon." I said before hanging up. The music hall was already closed so I was able to just leave. Quickly I grabbed my purse and fled the place after locking up.
I gave birth to our daughter Holly a year and five months ago. She looked like both Edward and I, she had my brown hair and Edward's green eyes. I gave birth to her February twenty first. She was six pounds and twenty inchs long.
She was a gorgeous girl.
I was very glad that when she was born Charlotte didnt freak. She understood that the baby had to be taken care of, but Edward and I switched off so that we could have time with the kids. Holly could already walk, although she was a little wobbly. Edward and I think that she may have my clumsiness. She knew how to say 'mama' and 'dada'.
Masen was dissapointed that I didnt have a boy, every kid would. But he was happy that he had another sibling.
Rose had given birth to a girl, her name was Lillian Marie. She used my middle name and I was also her godmother, I really felt honored that she chose me out of all people.
Quickly I ran over to the primary care, panic surging through me. When I walked in I saw Edward sitting in a chair, Masen curled up in his lap holding a tiny water bottle that looked like it had apple juice in it. I ran over to him and put my bag down. I brushed his hair out of his face.
" Hi baby." I said.
He looked very sick.
Edward looked up at me worry in his eyes. I gave him a quick kiss and sat next to him.
"Masen Cullen." was called out.
Edward and I stood. But when Edward put Masen down he slumped as if he were going to fall over, he walked to me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I picked him up, (he really wasnt that heavy) and Edward grabbed my purse. We walked in the office and I sat Masen up on the examining table.
The nurse asked all different kind of questions before leaving. We waited for the doctor to come, I was glad to see when she came in.
" Hello Dr. and Mrs. Cullen." she said polietly.
" So what seems to be the problem?" she asked
I looked at Edward and he nodded
" He started burning up with a fever a few hours ago. I gave him two childrens motril and that didnt help. He started to vomit and I decided to take him here."
She nodded and turned to me " You didnt know your son was sick?"
I shook my head " No. I just got a call from work from my husband that he was sick." I told her
" Okay, well I'll run some tests."
She took blood, I looked away but still held his hand. He hated needles. She checked his throat and ears with a flash light. I noticed how pale he was, and his hands were clammy. She left to get the results out.
After a few minutes she came back and looked over his chart again.
" Looks like a case of the stomach flu. I have a prescription written out already for you. Here it is." she handed me a slip of paper " Lots of rest and fluids." she said.
" Thank you so much." I said.
She nodded and slipped out of the room.
Masen looked like he was going to pass out. Edward scooped him up in his arms and I grabbed my purse. Edward drove straight home while I went to Alice's to ask if she could watch them for a few days. She had extra rooms and I didnt want any of the kids to get sick.
When I arrived I stepped out of my car and walked to the front door. Jasper opened it before I rang the bell. Alice was next to him smiling.
" Hows Masen."
I sighed " Sick as a dog."
" I know this is a big favor but can you guys-"
" Dont even need to ask, they can stay, I understand."
I gave her a hug " Thank you so much."
" What about me?" Jasper asked
I gave him a hug also." I'll go home and get some clothes and what not."
She waved me off " I have some clothes for them that I bought last week."
I didnt want to argue about her spending money so I thanked her and let it be.
" Okay well tell them I love them and they can come home, three days tops. I just want Mase to get a little better."
" Dont worry about them we got it."
We talked a little while more before I headed home. Edward dropped the prescription off and I prayed it was there. I thanked god when it was and went home, it was dark in the house except the glow from our bedroom window. I stepped out of my car and got into the house. It was quiet and dark. I grabbed a glass of water and grabbed the two pills for the first day. I climbed the stairs and peeked into Masens room. He was slightly awake.
" Mommy." he rasped
I went next to him and kissed his forehead.
" I got medicene to help you get better honey."
I helped him sit up, he put the first pill in his mouth I helped him hold the cup, after he took the second one he took one last gulp and laid down. I tucked the blankets around him.
" If you need daddy or me wake us up okay?"
He nodded and closed his eyes. I walked out of the room and closed the door, but not all the way. I walked into our room and heard the shower running. I sighed and sat on the bed.
There are good times and bad. I just hated knowing my kid was sick and I couldnt make him feel better. Charlotte got sick when she was five and it was terrible, she had croupe cough. That was the first time on of the kids got sick. Edward and I had been scared out of our minds, but knew we had to keep our cool.
Edward came out of the bathroom, a towel around his waist. When he saw my expression he sat down next to me and kissed my temple. I wrapped my arms around him, my white button up work shirt getting soaked in the process.
" He'll be okay, love. Just the flu. He'll get all better and everything will be just as it is."
I nodded and pulled away. He looked down at my shirt and I blushed. He of course leaned closer and kissed me, I kissed him back and he lowered me to the bed.
" You know, some of the kids arent home."
A smile crossed my face " And?"
" We should take advantage of that."
" Edward. Masen is just down the hallway."
I laid back on the bed and he crawled up my body, giving me that creepy smile. Ut oh. Vampire Edward is coming out to play.
His lips went to my neck.
" Edward you better no-ahhh."
He bit down on my skin, it didnt give of much hurt as it did pleasure, strangely. I groaned as he licked the spot he bit and leaned up to press his lips to mine. His hands unbuttoned my shirt and slid it off, my pencil skirt next. We laid under the sheets, Edward ontop of me. Just making-out like teenagers.
Quickly, I whipped his towel off and he smirked at me.
I woke up to the feeling of the bed shifting and covers rustling. My eyes opened slowly, I saw Edward. He was moving around in bed, trying to get comfortable.
" Babe, dont you have to work?" I asked, my voice raspy.
" I called off today and the weekend, I know that you got work and I want to be with Mase."
" Edward you should of gone to work. I can get off work and its no problem." I stated
He groaned and I ran my hands up and down his back. " Do you not like me home?"
I smirked, although he couldnt see it " I love it when you are home."
His body shifted and he turned to face me. He looked down at my body and quirked a brow. I looked down, and interally screeeched. I covered my body. You wouldnt think I wouldnt mind, but after three kids my body isnt exactly perfect.
" Sorry." I mumbled.
He chuckled " Dont apologize. You have a rather sexy body."
I let out a groan and covered my head with the sheet. " You really dont have to lie."
" Bella, your not flubbery or anything."
I rolled my eyes and put the sheet down a little " Yeah I am."
His hand traveled across the bed, under my sheet and on my stomach. I narrowed my eyes at him. He did the same to me.
" Dont touch." I whined.
" Your my wife. I can touch you when I want. So right now I want to touch your stomach, I am allowed." he stated
" Not without my permission." I retorted
He came closer to me, moving under the sheets and laid over my body. I rested my hands on his back and he kissed me sweetly. I responded with the same passion as he threw in, my hands tangled in his hair and pressed him closer.
I broke away for a much needed breath and his lips trailed down to my neck.
" Edward. I have to get in the shower and head off to work." I argued breathlessly.
" You said you can get out of that." he whispered against the flesh on my collarbone.
" That was before. But if your home with Mase I have to go to work. Bills to be paid."
His face slipped into a pout. I pushed him off of me and wrapped one of the sheets around me.
" Pleeeasseee Bella." he begged
I rolled my eyes at him " Edward act your age."
His brows furrowed " What if I dont wanna."
I stood up and walked over to his side of the bed. With one hand on the sheet, I used my other to brush his crazy hair from his face. I kissed his forehead and let my lips linger for a second.
" I love you."
Quickly I took a shower and changed my clothes. To drive Edward crazy I wore that one peice dress like outfit, that looked like it was a pencil skirt and a white work shirt.
(a/n: Outfit still in profile)
I put lotion on my legs to make them smooth and then slipped on my black pumps. I combed, blew dry and curled my hair. I brushed my teeth, then applied a little makeup. I swear I almost looked the same as I did when I was eighteen, except I have more curves.
When I was done with my hair I walked out of the bathroom. The bed was already made so I went straight downstairs. I put my dirty clothes in the basket in the laundry room and started up a load.
When I got to the kitchen I saw Masen sitting at the table, with a glass of orange juice and some toast. I ran my hands through his messy hair and kissed the top of his head.
" How are you feeling?" I asked " Any better?"
He shook his head " Not much." he said weakly.
" Do you want anymore food."
Edward sat next to him, watching him closely. I could still
" Has he vomited this morning at all?"
I nodded and sat down at the table. Masen ate the toast slowly, he mostly just drinked the orange juice. I couldnt blame him, when I got the stomach flu, I could keep nothing down.
" I cant finish." he stated
I nodded my head " That's fine sweetheart."
Masen stood up and I also did
" Has he had pill or no?" I asked Edward.
He nodded " Yes. I gave it to him."
" Okay mommy."
I bid him goodbye and walked out of his room. When I got downstairs I ate a bowl of cereal.
"Are you trying to torture me?" he asked
I smirked " How am I torturing you."
" By wearing that little dress." he stated
I waved him off and continued to eat. When I was done I washed my dishes and put them away. Edward already washed Masen's plate so I didnt have to worry about that. I grabbed my cell phone off the counter and checked to see if I had any voicemails. It was empty so I shoved my phone in my purse.
" Alright, well I have to head out. If you need me call me." I told him.
He nodded. I gave him a kiss before fleding the room.
Another day in the life of Isabella Swan...
1 year later and some days later
It was hard to believe that years ago I didnt have this. I didnt have a family or a husband. I was alone and deeply craving for that love again, and I was lucky enough to find my true love and marry him.I was able to have another chance for some whacky reason. Somebody gave me my chance to find love again. I didnt understand why, and to this day I still dont understand. But why question it right?
I got everything I've ever wanted in life, but it was hard. I didnt just get everything handed to me on a silver platter and what fun would it be if I didnt have a challenge. It would be adventure-less and boring. I worked for it, I thrived for it and did everything I could to just be happy and be where I am now.
I had my own family, which kept me sane throughout life. I had my two little girls and my boy, and I was content with just that. But also I cant forget my husband. Who loves me besides my flaws and I love him no matter how Vampiric he can be at times.
Edward and I were completely happy.
I would of never thought that a stupid dance in highschool would bring us together. Mrs. Locke, brought us together, the teacher who paired us as partners. I am forever grateful for her. Though in the process of marrying him and having kids was horrific. We both had to go through heart break, pain, seperation and almost everything bad under the sun. But I really have to say it was worth it in the long run because now I am happy with where I am.
Though I would of loved to have my mother here. I knew she would of yelled at me the second she found out that Edward and I were together, also when I found out I was pregnant with the twins. I knew that she would be happy where I am now. She is looking down on me, and maybe, just maybe, she is the one who gave me this miracle to be happy.
Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rose, all have their kids and were genuinly happy with there life from what I see. They are obviously married and happy, and I am very happy for them. All I want is for them to be happy. Life sucks when you are not happy. I should know.
Charlie was still working as cheif police in Forks. He hasnt had another heart attack, which makes me thrilled because I still need him although I am in my thirties. He will always be my father and I will always need him no matter what. He comes down afew times a year to visit Edward, the kids and I, and the kids adore him. He adores them also.
It makes me happy to see that my kids are all happy with their lives. They were growing up fast. I wish that I could keep them little forever, but they have to grow up sometime, right.
All in all. I am happy with my life and where it has taken me, it hasnt let me astray. In my eyes I have the perfect, kids, husband and friends. I wouldnt change them for anything. They have made me who I am today, which is a strong women who can almost take on anything.
That song 'So Close' brought us together. Well more like Jon McLaughlin, he said to dance with someone you didnt bring and if that hadnt of happened then I dont know where I would be.
It was blind love on the dance floor that started it all, we were blind to the love until we found it. Then the song that brought us so close then we were before. Those two things brought us together, Edward was my soulmate, my other half, my lover, my best friend.
Authors note- Done with another story. .Done. Okay this is so hard to believe. But first of all I want to thank all of you. EVERY SINGLE ONE. Because seriously if it werent for all of you, I really wouldnt be here. I know every author says that but seriously if you are one, you know what I am talking about. You guys complimented me even when I pulled drama and other shit. But most importantly you stayed through out the story.
I would like to thank Eternally Addicted, she gave me idea's when I had the awful first case of writers block. She threw three at me at a time and she has read all of my stories. She became a good friend on here, I send you a cyber hug ff bff. She is the only person I would ever talk about ExB's private life (hehe). P.S- Keep trying to guess on Forbidden.
AND THE HITS. Oh lordy, the hits.
Reviews - 600
So I give my final thanks to you all for reading Blind Love on the Dance Floor and So Close. It may be a years from now you read this after it is finished, but I still thank you all.


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Stories from 5 November 2008
Southeast Asian bloggers are celebrating the victory of President-elect Barack Obama. In fact, Obama's election success has led many bloggers in the region to reflect about the need for change in their local politics.
Faith tackled the story published by BCC, about Ghada El-Tawil who recently returned to television, after she was sacked from her job as anchorwoman in the Egyptian National Television six years ago when she began wearing a headscarf or Hijab.
See how bloggers from Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde and East Timor are celebrating Obama as the new US president, and how they hope his election will bring change to their own countries.
On Tuesday evening, a small plane carrying 8 people including two important members of the Mexican government's fight against crime and drug-trafficking crashed into rush-hour traffic in a Chapultepec neighborhood and left at least 13 people dead. Due to the nature of the officials' work and the risk faced by government and security officials, many are wondering whether it was the work of drug cartels exacting their retaliation or whether it was an unfortunate accident.
Cigay at Kuzu-Bhutan weblog writes a poem as a tribute to the coronation celebrations of the King Fifth Druk Gyalpo to be held tomorrow in Thimphu, Bhutan.
Kumar Paudel at Nepaleon writes on the US election: “Will Nepali leaders learn from this event? Do they have courage to accept their failures in election and congratulate the winners? I doubt. But, they need to learn.”
Despite earlier rumours of his death, Jamaica awoke this morning to the news of the passing of the legendary Byron Lee. Lee, bandleader of the Dragonaires, died at the University Hospital of the West Indies yesterday, November 4, 2008, after a two year battle with cancer. Although the news was...
An Ordinary Citizen writes on the steps of BNP, one of the major political party in Bangladesh to delay the impending parliament election: “BNP will make a unforgivable mistake if it does not join election.”
Egyptian activists are screaming foul after Flickr resorted to 'censoring' their accounts on the photo sharing network. Two activists report that their accounts have been censored - and supporters are threatening to migrate to other services if the blackout continues. Nermeen Edrees reports from Cairo.
The election of Barack Obama was a keenly watched event in India. Obama appears to have been the choice for President for many bloggers in India. Here is an quick snapshot of the initial reactions from bloggers in India about the historical significance of Obama's election. Interestingly, an underlying theme...
The US presidential election was closely watched by many nations in the world. Bangladesh was not far behind. In a recent post in Voices without Votes we see how Bangladeshi blogs engaged in cheering for Obama and McCain. What impact the victory of the US presidential elect senator Barack Obama...
So says Neurotic Iraqi Wife. Overall Iraqi blogs were positive toward president elect Obama, but not all bloggers were happy. Salam Adil rounds up Iraqi reactions to the American presidential election.
A fan of the Paraguayan football club Sportivo Luqueño recently died at the hands of rival fans. Mabel Rehnfeldt of El Dedo en la Llaga [es] is placing the blame on the clubs’ management for looking the other way when dealing with supporter groups.
The View From Baku posts an account and video from the Hyatt Regency where the U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan invited American citizens to watch the election returns from yesterday's presidential vote. The bloggers says the emotion was surprising and that many Azerbaijanis congratulated him on Barrack Obama's victory.
Opinion 3ccv is fed up with the increasing number of “spam” telephone calls [es] being received at home. The majority are from travel agencies offering packages and from credit card companies.
Daniel Manrique of Tome Chango Su Banana [es] writes about the some of the dangers of the public buses in Mexico City. “Peseros” have been involved in accidents, often due to inexperienced young drivers and writes, “why do they hire 18-year-olds with no experience and entrust them with the lives...
On October 24, Noha made Egyptians proud when in an unprecedented case, sexual harasser Sherif Gommaa was sentenced to three years behind bars, hard labor, and was also ordered to pay 5,001 Egyptian pounds fine to Noha Roshdy Saleh for groping her in the street. Now she is making them angry. Marwa Rakha tells us why.
It's official now, Obama is the 44th president of the United States, and for sure the Egyptian bloggers have mixed opinions about the new president of the world ... ehm ... USA, writes Tarek Amr, who reviews Egyptian blogs on last night's historic election results.
As America elects its next president, Israeli bloggers ponder which candidate is best for their country. Gilad Lotan reviews blogs in Hebrew and English for reactions.
Footstep of dreamer from Maldives reacts to the news of Obama winning the US presidency: “2008 has definitely been a year of change..to the Maldives and to the world! But would it come as a good change?”
Africa's blog aggregator, Afrigator, launches AfriGreater: “Afrigator has partnered with Africa’s coolest T-shirt company, SpringLeap.com and we’re giving away five great t-shirts every month to you – our favourite African bloggers.”

domain: news


text:
HOUSE BILL REPORT
This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent.
As Passed House:
February 12, 2020
Title: An act relating to cottage food product labeling requirements.
Brief Description: Concerning cottage food product labeling requirements.
Sponsors: Representatives Eslick, Leavitt, Chambers, Callan, Dent, Walsh, Corry, Jenkin, Van Werven, Shewmake, Young and Wylie.
Rural Development, Agriculture, & Natural Resources: 1/17/20, 1/24/20 [DP].
Passed House: 2/12/20, 95-0.
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON RURAL DEVELOPMENT, AGRICULTURE, & NATURAL RESOURCES
Majority Report: Do pass. Signed by 13 members: Representatives Blake, Chair; Shewmake, Vice Chair; Chandler, Ranking Minority Member; Dent, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Chapman, Dye, Fitzgibbon, Lekanoff, Orcutt, Ramos, Schmick, Springer and Walsh.
Staff: Rebecca Lewis (786-7339).
Under the State Cottage Food Program, a person may produce certain food products that are not potentially hazardous in a home kitchen for direct sale to a consumer. Examples of cottage food products are baked goods, jams, jellies, fruit butters, and preserves. In order to operate a cottage food business, a person must obtain a cottage food permit from the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA). The WSDA issues a unique number for each cottage food permit.
Cottage food products must be packaged and properly labeled with certain information including: the address of the cottage food business; the name and ingredients of the product, including any allergen identification; and the product's net weight or volume. The label must also include a disclosure that the product was made in a home kitchen that was not subjected to standard inspection criteria.
Summary of Bill:
Instead of including the business address on the label of its cottage food products, a business must include the Washington State Department of Agriculture-issued cottage food permit number.
Fiscal Note: Not requested.
Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the session in which the bill is passed.
Staff Summary of Public Testimony:
(In support) The prime sponsor became aware of the Cottage Food Program (Program) through her work with entrepreneurs. Many constituents want to take the opportunity to take part in the Program. Some are young mothers, who have concerns with the requirement to place their home address on the label of their products. The prime sponsor has worked with the departments of Health and Agriculture on this concept.
Persons Testifying: Representative Eslick, prime sponsor.
Persons Signed In To Testify But Not Testifying: None.

domain: food


text:
Tista' taqra bil- Malti.
The government has announced when pensioners and those who receive social benefits will be receiving the €7 increase, as promised in the 2020 budget.
Minister Michael Falzon said that the first €7 increase for pensioners and those who benefit from the rate for Increased Assistance for Severe Disability was sent last Saturday. This applies to those who receive the non-contributory pension, who are receiving an increase of €3.51 per week along with their pension. The rate for married persons increased to €157.84 per week, and €125.07 for those who live on their own. When compared to the 2013 rates, there has been an almost 24% increase, with an extra €24.20 for single people and €29.74 for married people.
The Minister added that next Saturday 11th January retired pensioners will receive the two thirds pension and those who are service pensioners will receive an extra €7 per week along with their normal pension. Social benefits will be sent on Saturday as well.
Those who used to work in the public sector and who retired at 62 years of age or more between 2016 and 2018, with more than 35 years of N.I. contribution, will also be receiving the additional increase on Saturday, thus being on equal grounds as those who used to work in the private sector.
The widowed pensioners will receive an extra €7 per week with their pension on Saturday 18th January. On the same day those who get medical assistance will also receive the increase.
On Saturday 25th January invalidity pensioners and pensioners who receive minimum pension will benefit from the €7 increase.

domain: economics


PEOPLE can get an insight into plans for Greenhead Park this week.
A guided walk is being held at the park on Thursday (6pm).
Park Manager Robert Whittaker and Russell Hellens, Contracts Director from John Hellens (Contracts) Ltd, will start the walk from the conservatory, outlining what has been happening in the first two months of the multi-million pound project to revamp the park.
The project, funded by Kirklees Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund, started in July and is expected to take around 18 months. It involves creating a new lake, replacing the boundary railings and restoring the bandstand, bridge and café.


text:
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This allows you to split your repayments into four interest-free instalments spread out over eight weeks.
And you can make your money go even further by using AfterPay in tandem with Wild Secrets coupon codes.


text:
Bulgaria Environment Minister: Socialist Cabinet Voted Yes on GMO
Bulgaria’s Environment Minister, Nona Karadzhova, said that from January 2007 until July 2009 all Ministers from the previous, Socialist-led cabinet, have voted yes on the import of GM food.
Karadzhova spoke Saturday in an interview for the Bulgarian TV channel bTV.
The Minister pointed out that panic regarding genetically modified organisms (GMO) has been spread among Bulgarians on purpose, speculating with people’s fears.
Karadzhova insists that as a member of the EU, Bulgaria must adhere to the European procedures and the GMO Act aligns Bulgarian legislation with the European laws.
According to the Minister, a registry of all food containing GMO needed to be generated as early as 2006, but nothing had been done. Health Minister, Bozhidar Nanev, had ordered the establishment of such registry only a month ago.
Karadzhova pointed out that, on the example of the Austrian Environmental Ministry, the Bulgarian Cabinet proposes a safeguarding clause in the GMO Act.
The GMO Act submitted by the Environment Ministry, provides for the elimination of the current ban on cultivating and trading GM farming products.
The second reading in the Parliament is scheduled for March.
The amendments in the GMO Act triggered a strong reaction from environmentalists and civic organizations in Bulgaria, who voiced their disagreement through numerous petitions, declarations and rallies.
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text:
Grand Aleutian Hotel
No availability found through our partners. Please contact the business directly or check some of our recommended alternatives.
How has this hotel rated in the past?
TripAdvisor Reviews Grand Aleutian Hotel Dutch Harbor
Travel Blogs from Dutch Harbor
Located just fifty miles from the Great Circle route to the
Orient on the Bering Sea Coast, the City of Unalaska, home to the International
Port of Dutch Harbor, encompasses twenty-seven miles of ports and harbors, and
is one of the most prosperous stretches of coastline in Alaska. Quoted from the
Official 2014 Visitors Guide. For more information about this interesting
location visit ...
Not much to tell. We lost a day after advancing the clocks, 2 hours a night-three days in a row and then 1 hour the fourth night.
We crossed the Dateline and earned certificates. Woo hoo! Another thing off our bucket list.
The weather continues to be unpleasant but the captain warns the worse is yet to come!
Today we docked in Dutch Harbor on Amaknak Island, located in the center of the Aleutians. The Aleutian Islands are comprised of around 100 islands in a 1,250 mile range. The chain of islands separates the Bering Sea to the north from the Pacific to the south.
The islands were inhabited by the Unangan (Aluet) people for 9000+ years. Archaeologists have unearthed at least ...
After leaving Kodiak, we sailed through flat waters in sight of the craggy peaks along the Aleutian Chain. As we dined we heard one of our wait staff softly but firmly "whale", and pointed to the port beam. Not wanting to jump up and race to the other side of the dining room, we had to be content with seeing a couple of “blows”. Of course at breakfast the story was “they were all around”! Right!!
The calm ...
... to some loner who can't handle the hustle bustle of the community. A few hours later and we're crossing the island to fly over King Cove and False Harbor, two towns snuggled in around some volcanoes before landing back at the Bearfoot Inn in Cold Bay where Chris brought us some of his smoked salmon and in the morning the bartender knocked on the door with bagels and cream cheese and local strawberries. A breakfast in bed ...

domain: geography


text:
Because of the American Revolutionary War, Thomas Adam’s neo-classical style of furniture never reached America and the Hepplewhite and Sheraton styles both arrived at about the same time. As a result, the two English styles tended to be mixed in America in a style sometimes called “Federal”.
The prevailing forms were straight lines, rectangular forms and motifs from classical architecture.
The sewing table, with its large pouch, came from this period.
The most famous maker of this type of furniture was Duncan Phyfe. who, from about 1805, became influenced by the more extravagant French Directoire style in which concave curves predominate. He is famous for his elegant sofas, lyre-back chairs and monumental tables.

domain: history


text:
Tough draw for British clubs in Champions League
Last updated at 13:08 03 August 2007
The Reds, who have won the competition five times and were beaten in last season's final, must face the Ligue 1 side over two legs for a place in the lucrative section of the competition.
Toulouse reached the Champions League qualifiers by finishing third in Ligue 1 behind champions Lyon and runners-up Marseille.
They are coached by former Bordeaux boss Elie Baup and one of their star players is Sweden striker Johan Elmander, who was a reported target of Manchester City boss Sven-Goran Eriksson and also Lyon.
He scored 11 times for the club, including a last-day hat-trick against Bordeaux.
Arsenal's opponents Sparta are the champions of the Czech Republic.
Their success last season was their 34th domestic title and they became the first club since the break-up of Czechoslovakia in the early 1990s to win the domestic double.
Their best performance in Europe came in 1992-93, when they reached the semi-final group stage under an old format of the Champions League.
Scottish champions Celtic face a tough test against Spartak Moscow in their bid to reach the group stage.
Last season's SPL runners-up Rangers will face either 1991 European Cup winners Red Star Belgrade or Estonian side Levadia Tallinn if they overcome FK Zeta in the second qualifying round. They lead 2-0 from the home leg.
The first legs will be played on August 14 and 15, with the return matches taking place on August 28 and 29.
FH Hafnarfjördur or FC BATE Borisov v Zaglebie Lubin or Steaua Bucharest
Tampere United or Levski Sofia v Astana or Rosenborg
Spartak Moscow v CELTIC
Werder Bremen v NK Domzale or Dinamo Zagreb
FK Ventspils or FC Salzburg v Pyunik or Shakhtar Donetsk
Ajax v MSK Zilina or SK Slavia Prague
Valencia v Debreceni or IF Elfsborg
Genk or FK Sarajevo v Dynamo Kiev
Fenerbahce v Anderlecht
RANGERS or FK Zeta v FK Crvena Zvezda or Levadia Tallinn
Toulouse v LIVERPOOL
Benfica v FC Copenhagen or Beitar Jerusalem
Lazio v Dinamo Bucuresti
Sparta Prague v ARSENAL
FC Zurich v Sheriff or Besiktas
Sevilla v AEK Athens
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domain: sports


text:
Bladder Diverticulum and Sepsis
Keywords:Bladder diverticula, sepsis, infection
Introduction: Bladder diverticula are rare both in adults and in children and may be congenital or acquired, are rare in females. Objective: To describe the case of occasional finding of bladder diverticulum in women, which developed into sepsis. Case report: Patient MIB, 81, female was admitted to the Cariri Regional Hospital after a fall from height resulting in trochanteric fracture of left femur .No fifth day of hospitalization, the patient developed an abdominal mass in pit right iliac, associated the signs of inflammation and painful abdomen. Computed tomography of the abdomen with contrast revealed a cystic collection of air-fluid content and inflammatory aspect in the right lower abdomen measuring approximately 212 mL volume with continuity with the bladder. Discussion: bladder diverticula are usually asymptomatic, and occasionally found more commonly in men. It is a rare condition in women and its clinical presentation is associated with infection or neoplasia. There are reports of peritonitis after spontaneous perforation of the diverticulum, however, its evolution to sepsis is rare. Conclusion: bladder diverticulum in women and evolving to sepsis without drilling is a rare condition, with few reports in the literature.
Silberman M, Jeanmonod R. Bladder Diverticulitis: A Case Report. Case Rep Emerg Med. 2011 Sep; 2011.
Gerridzen R, Futter N. Ten-year review of vesical diverticula. Urology. 1982 Jul; 20(1): p. 33-5.
Alexander R, Kum J, Idrees M. Bladder diverticulum: clinicopathologic spectrum in pediatric patients. Pediatr Dev Pathol. 2012 Jul-Aug; 15(4): p. 281-5.
GrubiÅ¡iÄ‡ I, LeniÄek T, Tomas D, DÅ¾ombeta T, Trnski D, TomaÅ¡koviÄ‡ I, et al. Primary osteosarcoma of bladder diverticulum mimicking intradiverticular calculus: a case report. Diagn Pathol. 2011 Apr; 6: p. 37.
Shakeri S RAYMKE. The incidence of diverticula of urinary bladder in patients with benign prostatic hypertrophy and the comparison between cystoscopy and cystography in detecting bladder diverticula. Iran Red Crescent Med J. 2007 Jan; 9(1): p. 36-41.
Burdan F, StarosÅ‚awska E, Mocarska A, Cendrowska-Pinkosz M, Caban M, Zelazowska-CieÅ›liÅ„ska I, et al. Urinary bladder diverticulum as an unusual content of the inguinal canal. Folia Morphol (Warsz). 2014 Nov; 73(4): p. 500-3.
Soundarajan R, Singh H, Arora S, Nayak B, Shamin SA, kumar R. Forced diureses (18)F-Flurodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/contrast enhanced in detection of carcinoma urinary bladder diverticulum. Indian J. Nucl. Med. 2015; 30(1):86-8
Pieretti RV, Pieretti-Vanmarcke RV. Congenital bladder diverticula in children. J Pediatr Surg 1999; 34: 468 â€“ 73.
Temiz A, AkÃ§ora B, Atik E. An atypical bladder diverticulum presented with recurrent peritonitis: case report. Turkish Journal of Trauma & Emergency Surgery 2011; 17(4) 365 â€“ 7.
Kumar S, Jayant K, Barapatra Y, Rani J, Agrawal S. Giant urinary bladder diverticula presenting as epigastric mass and dyspesia. Nephrourol Mon. 2014; 6(4)
Prakash T, Rajini AK, Bhardwaj V, Jayanthi P, Kalayani R, Singh G. Urinary bladder diverticulum and its association with malignancy: ans anatomical study in cadavers. Romanian Journal of Morphology and Embriology. 2010; 51(3) 543-45
Melekos MD, Asbach HW, Barbalias GA. Vesical diverticula: etiology, diagnosis, tumorogenesis and treatment. Analisys of 74 cases. Urology. 1984; 30(5) 453-457
Hsu HL, Huang KH, Chang CC, Liu KL. Which one is true bladder? â€“ A giant urinary bladder diverticulum. 2011; 104(2) 169-70
Davidiuk AJ, Meschia C, Young PR, Thiel DD. Robotic-assisted Bladder Diverticulectomy: Assessment of Outcomes and Modifications of Technique. Urology DOI:10.1016/j.urology.2015.02.012.
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domain: literature


text:
State Oppresses Property Owner Over Birds
Written By: Editor | Posted: Thursday, June 7th, 2012
According to various local news sources, the DNR has halted the construction of an overflow pond near the new Mega Foods grocery store being built near Hwy 93 and I-94. A resident reported that there are several swallow nests built into a pile of dirt that the workers set aside for the pond. They are guessing that the birds will likely be done with the nests around mid-July.
Regardless of whether the owners agree with this use of force, here is an example of government oppression right here locally. The bank swallow is not rare, but that shouldn't matter. If a person truly owns his property, then he should be able to do what he wants on his property. For the DNR to force a person to stop what he is doing is a violation of his property rights. This story reveals that we truly do not understand nor have property rights in Wisconsin.
This is one of several examples where construction was halted by the DNR due to some rare snail or flower, only this time the creature isn't even rare. If there was a ground hog or a rat burrowing in the pile, would the construction have been halted?
(above) Bank Swallows are not rare. Here are about 50 nests on Young Rd. south of Fall Creek. Hopefully they're not nesting in a million dollars worth of silica sand.
The second thing this story reveals is that neighbors need to stop being so nosy. If it disturbs you to see a neighbor doing something on his own property, as long as it doesn't harm you or someone else, mind your own business. But because someone was disturbed over the killing of some baby birds, the forceful arm of government is hindering the growth of one company's business, and the overall economy of Eau Claire.
Third, this story reveals the rise of nature worship in this country. Would construction have stopped fifty years ago over a bird? Today we have exalted animals near the level of people. Our laws used to reflect God's laws. Now they reflect environmentalism, our new religion.
Yet unborn babies continue to be murdered by the thousands under government protection in Wisconsin.


Moving at least some data management processes to the cloud has numerous potential benefits, such as decreased costs and increased efficiency. Too often, however, companies fail to meet key requirements when choosing cloud service providers, and as a result, fail to realize their economic objectives, according to information governance expert Jeffrey Ritter.
In this three-part SearchCompliance webcast, Ritter presents key strategies for using cloud-based services that also comply with the dynamic demands of e-discovery. In part one, he discussed the information governance considerations of moving business operations to the cloud, including potential cost increases when using cloud-based e-discovery services.
Jeffrey Ritter: When C-level executives are finishing their golf game or getting off a long bike ride, it seems that one is always telling the other of two things: It's either, 'Go to the cloud because it saves money -- it's faster, it's cheaper.' Or it's, 'We need to improve e-discovery processes because it's just costing us too much.' Both of these claims are legitimate, and they often are brought back to the office and shared within the company. It is inevitable with that kind of dialogue occurring at the C-level, vendors and cloud service providers are learning to not only help your company go to the cloud, but also to improve the cloud e-discovery services once there. This creates the magical elixir of better services with less corporate investment and overall lower cost of execution.
That can be a bit challenging to navigate, but what I can do is to present to you five proven strategies on how to evaluate and acquire cloud-based e-discovery services. These strategies will allow you to respond to those C-level mandates to 'go to the cloud' and will also improve e-discovery services at the same time. But to get to those strategies, we have to first set in place two other preliminary objectives. We're going to begin by talking about identifying the business case for going to the cloud itself. E-discovery in the cloud is not just plain vanilla cloud services. There are aspects of this that make it challenging to actually do. We're going to talk about two of those as a predicate to our second objective, which is to expose some of the key requirements for moving general business services to the cloud.
More on e-discovery strategy:
Time after time, companies miss these key requirements, and as a result, fail to realize their economic and operational objectives. Only if we understand those key requirements will the strategies that are the core aspects of this webcast make sense.
Let's get started by talking about the business case for going to the cloud. One of the things that really makes this challenging is that you first have to ask the basic question: 'What is the cloud?' The first step is to come up with a definition that is functional to what we're trying to accomplish: Using electronic information as evidence with greater efficiency, lower costs and all the other benefits that are discussed in the vendor elixir. So, what is the cloud? The cloud is any contract with a service provider to perform IT-related business services via the Internet. It's really just that simple. Rather than providing the services on site, the service provider is working through the Internet to make the business services available. The key to this concept is the notion of 24/7 availability.
The 24/7 availability is its essential feature, and the other concept is to reduce -- or even perhaps take to zero -- the demand that the customer faces for hardware, software or personnel. Its goal is to allow the business to use the contract to acquire services from their direct service provider to save money, achieve a better ROI for the company, and ultimately achieve a higher return for shareholders. But when we're contracting in the cloud, we're not getting the identical services that we can perform using our own machines and software, instead, we're getting equivalent services. So when we're contracting with the service provider, actually reaching that equivalent is one of the key challenges we face.
When we're looking at moving to the cloud using a service provider, the industry and government have largely adopted three broad categories: software as a service, where the user or corporate customer accesses the software across the internet; platform as a service, which is where the Internet-based service provider provides a facility where companies can develop and build applications and systems; and infrastructure as a service, really just bare bones machines available to be used by the customer on demand. It can be an entire system -- servers, data farms and bandwidth access. These are three broad categories of service when we're talking about the cloud.
The simple truth is, just about everything we can do in e-discovery -- the processing, collection and movement of information as potential evidence -- can be done in the cloud. If your corporation is connected to the Internet, you can access service providers offering e-discovery services that can be reformed at any point in the e-discovery lifecycle. As a result, you're going to find there are a lot of different contractual approaches -- whether for platform as a service, software as a service, or infrastructure as a service -- through which the service provider can meet your needs.
But there's one other question that is critical to understanding the cloud's impact upon business: Where is my corporate electronically stored information? The cloud is itself part of the Internet, and the services being provided by the service provider are often distributed to multiple data centers and multiple physical locations.
There are three truths that we have to keep in mind when we're thinking about moving to the cloud: First, virtually all cloud-based services require the physical transfer of the electronically stored information (ESI) be processed through those services. In other words, if I'm using the infrastructure to store data, I have to transfer that data to the server and to the service provider. If I'm using a software application to review the ESI for potential production, I'm moving that data into the software environment, onto the server operated by the cloud service provider. Once that data is moved, however, then the service providers reserve the right to control the locations from which they execute their services.
Service providers will often maintain multiple data centers and balance the load as customers go online, come offline, and make different demands upon their infrastructure. Of course, this creates a real problem for corporations who transferred the information, particularly when it comes to inactive data. You may not actually know at any given moment in time where your physical ESI is within the cloud service that the service provider is delivering. Many service providers' operations become even more complex when they subcontract some of their services, particularly for infrastructure.
If this is all true, what are the consequences for the corporation that's looking to make the business case for moving the cloud? The reality is that the locations that data is processed or stored by cloud providers can directly impact the calculation of the costs offered by the service provider. If the corporate customer requires the data locations to be limited for reasons such as e-discovery, it's going to have a completely adverse influence on the cost. Virtually all service providers will increase the cost when they're being constrained in the locations in which they can store their data. As a result, location and understanding the services being described become key variables when actually making the business case.
There's one other thing, though, about e-discovery in the cloud: Companies hope a service provider is going to be providing services that comply with the different, and sometimes volatile, rules of e-discovery. Or will they?
Please visit SearchCompliance.com to view the next segment in this webcast, where Jeffrey Ritter will continue his discussion on cloud-based e-discovery strategies.


text:
The foundry innovation ecosystem is a new transformative effort from Intel, who recently launched a $1 billion fund to fuel the development of their existing foundry business and build a comprehensive ecosystem of partners. This effort has drawn attention from many major players in the technology industry, including chip designers, investors, and IP providers.
This article will explore these key players and how they contribute to this new effort.
Intel Launches $1 Billion Fund to Build a Foundry Innovation Ecosystem
Intel recently announced a $1 billion fund to build a foundry innovation ecosystem. This new initiative intends to attract other companies, partners, and investors to help move the semiconductor industry forward through open collaboration. In this way, Intel seeks to enable a true partnership between its internal resources and partners to create innovative solutions for the future of computing.
The foundry innovation ecosystem consists of three main players – Intel, third-party foundries, and technology investors. First, Intel provides on-site high-tech expertise that it internally collaborates with third-party foundries and technology investors to develop new solutions for customers. Third-party foundries are responsible for providing advanced manufacturing capabilities such as chip fabrication at scale and introducing their process innovations. And lastly, technology investors provide additional capital necessary for building protypes or scale model products or services, enabling them to quickly evaluate potential opportunities in the market before committing large budget investments.
In partnering with tech organizations, it’s expected that Intel will since turn its Foundry Innovation Ecosystem from an R&D concept into something tangible that customers can count on going forward. Henceforth, these partnerships allow for economies of scale across multiple sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI), 5G networking, cloud computing and data analytics within various industries by ensuring data protection measures are met and paving the way for technological advances related to computer security and hardware definitions. Furthermore, the emergence of this Foundry Innovation Ecosystem serves as a springboard towards collaboration between hardware architectures in an overall trend towards compute everywhere development models that seek to converge traditional IT requirements with modern applications needs while allowing multiple parties within any given organization or industry benefit from advancements in open standards or custom design support options based upon their technical requirements.
The Intel Corporation is one of the key players in the foundry innovation ecosystem. Recently, Intel announced a $1 billion fund to develop a massive foundry innovation ecosystem. Intel aims to bring the latest and most advanced technologies to the foundry segment by engaging with industry members such as startups, universities, and research and development centers.
With the help of this fund, Intel hopes to provide customers with advanced products and services that can meet their needs.
Intel’s $1 Billion Fund
Intel has announced a new $1 billion fund for its “Foundry Innovation Ecosystem” initiative. This fund is intended to help build an industry-wide, open-source foundry ecosystem, helping to make it easy for innovators and entrepreneurs of all sizes to quickly and easily access the technology they need to bring new ideas to life.
Intel’s $1 billion fund aims to accelerate the introduction of new technologies, products, and services that enable the next generation of connected smart products. The money will be used to invest in companies across hardware, software and services that support key trends in computing — including artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, natural language processing (NLP), advanced sensors, advanced materials and more. Intel will also use the funds for research collaborations at universities around the globe.
Along with this new fund, Intel has also announced a suite of resources for innovators including open-source software development kits (SDKs) for device development; cloud infrastructure solutions for rapid prototype deployment; financial support for universities; a dedicated “maker community”; and access to Intel’s global network of expert advisors who can provide technical insights.
By creating this Foundry Innovation Ecosystem, Intel hopes to decrease the complexity currently associated with design and development of connected devices while providing technology resources they can rely on and valuable investments into engineering capabilities that would otherwise remain closed off from startup companies even major corporate giants alike.
Intel’s Role in the Foundry Innovation Ecosystem
Intel is taking a leadership role in the foundry innovation ecosystem as they launch a $1 billion fund to build an open and sustainable foundation for all players. Intel intends to use this fund to support disruptive and innovative technologies, designs and products across existing, addition, emerging and fringe markets. In addition, this initiative will help create an interoperable infrastructure that facilitates collaboration between chip design companies, foundries, EDA suppliers and IP providers.
Intel’s initiative aims to attract startups, established businesses and partners from various sectors, who can work together through collaborations on crafting components that can solve pressing problems or develop promising inventions. This will help stimulate development in multiple industries including artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous vehicles and 5G mobile technology markets.
Intel’s Investment arm – Intel Capital – has been actively looking for new partnerships with companies such as Achronix Semiconductor Inc., Arm Ltd., Avnet Inc., eSilicon Corporation, GlobalFoundries Inc., Marvell Technology Group Ltd., NXP Semiconductors N.V., SiFive Inc., SK Hynix Inc. etc. The construction of this open-source framework does not just stop here, though; Intel remains open minded when seeking new partners or investments from any organization which falls into their current criteria & testaments to their forward-thinking approach of this initiative’s eventual betterment of the whole tech industry as a whole.
Other Key Players
Intel’s $1 billion fund to build the foundry innovation ecosystem doesn’t just involve Intel. Other key players in the industry are essential to making this initiative successful. These major players include companies such as Apple, AMD, GlobalFoundries, IBM, and Samsung.
Let’s look at these companies’ potential roles in the innovation ecosystem.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is one of the key players in the semiconductor industry, and plays a pivotal role in the foundry innovation ecosystem. The Taiwanese semiconductor giant has become the undisputed leader in both design and production of foundry chips with its sophisticated technology, advanced manufacturing process and reliable supply chain.
TSMC’s leadership position became clearer with Intel’s announcement to roll out its $1 billion fund in 2021 to build a Foundry Innovation Ecosystem – with Intel partnering up with TSMC as an initial part of its plan. By leveraging TSMC’s vast network of customers and resources, Intel hopes to explore industry partnerships that could help propel chip development and increase silicon manufacturing capabilities. The alliance between the two companies will enable Intel to produce chips more efficiently than ever before, disrupt existing markets through new products and open up new opportunities for companies beyond traditional semiconductor space.
One of the key players in the foundry innovation ecosystem is Samsung. Founded in 1938, Samsung has become a global leader in semiconductor, display, and component production. In addition, Samsung is one of the world leaders in memory and processor technology, leading the way with innovations such as the 7nm process node.
With their recent acquisition of Harman International Industries Inc., they have positioned themselves to capitalize on numerous digital markets related to connected cars, media content services, audio systems and more. In addition, the South Korean-based company is also an early mover into autonomous driving technologies and quantum computing applications.
In addition to developing advanced hardware products for customers worldwide, Samsung is also deeply involved in creating an open platform that will enable developers to create versions of their products tailored to specific markets and industries while connecting them with other industry players like Intel’s $1 billion initiative. This open platform can potentially revolutionize various industries from healthcare to smart homes and self-driving cars by unlocking new opportunities for collaboration between Samsung and Intel’s fund recipients.
GlobalFoundries is a global foundry leader and a key player in Intel’s Foundry Innovation Ecosystem. With advanced 10nm and 14nm process nodes, GlobalFoundries enables high-performance, low-power SoCs with optimal area and power characteristics. A key feature of their capabilities is the Lineesis™ patterning technology that ensures tight control over line widths.
GlobalFoundries also provides advanced packaging technologies such as embedded memory, digital SRAM, open-source FPGAs, and opto-electronic components. Additionally, their Fab 10 facility in Singapore has an Ultra Low CoO Power solution enabling production of low power devices based on 28 nm process technology.
They continuously invest in leading edge process nodes to deliver next generation features while maintaining a high quality output.
UMC, short for United Microelectronics Corporation, is a leading semiconductor foundry headquartered in Taiwan. UMC foundries are among the most advanced in the world and produce one of the largest integrated circuit devices globally. UMC leverages its technology expertise to develop cutting-edge processes and innovative process technologies for applications across various industries. The company has made significant investments in leading-edge process technology throughout its history, having developed several generations of cutting-edge process nodes including 65nm, 40nm and 28nm.
The company has been an important part of Intel’s Foundry Ecosystem since the launch of Intel’s $1 Billion Fund to Build a Foundry Innovation Ecosystem. In 2020, Intel signed an agreement with UMC making it one of four strategic partners focusing on 22nm to 7nm processes technologies for customers worldwide who design products for a variety of markets such as AI/ML, 5G communication and automotive/transportational applications which requires excellent low power control and very high signal integration performance.
Moreover, UMC offers foundational IP implementation services ranging from complex digital designs based on ARM’s latest CPUs designs to ultra-low power microcontroller solutions leveraging 16PF. This integration helps Intel open doors to a wider customer base that requires technology solutions that integrate specialized processors with traditional computing platforms (x86) into extremely efficient form-factors such as farm friendly SoCs or highly specialized implementation used in cars or drones controllers.
After assessing the key players, funding sources, and investment opportunities within the foundry innovation ecosystem, it can be concluded that Intel’s investment of $1 billion towards building this ecosystem will likely attract considerable interest and capital.
This will likely lead to increased innovation in this space and create new opportunities.
Summary of the Foundry Innovation Ecosystem
Intel launched a $1 billion fund to build a Foundry Innovation Ecosystem, designed to accelerate the development of advanced-node foundry capabilities around Intel’s products. This initiative will focus on boosting investments in emerging technologies such as chip multiprocessors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).
The Foundry Innovation Ecosystem seeks to strengthen Intel’s relationships with key players including ARM, Mentor Graphics, Imagination Technologies, and Creative Technology. The initiative is also designed to create an open platform for collaboration between developers, OEMs/ODMs, service providers/system integrators, IP companies, design houses/consultants and software developers.
Furthermore, the $1 billion fund will facilitate collaborations between Intel and industry leaders while helping foster innovation within the Intel Foundry Services platform. This includes investments in next-generation process technologies such as 3D packaging and advanced quantum computing architectures. It also includes initiatives that may result in new business models such as silicon-as-a-service or edge compute clouds.
In conclusion, Intel’s $1 billion Fund for Foundry Innovation Ecosystem is set to bring together a wide range of partners united by open innovation with standards-based technology platforms. This investment will help foster an innovative feedback loop where data insights inform product design decisions for hardware IP and chip manufacturing processes for optimized performance at scale.


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New avocado plantings set Chilean industry back on track
Cabilfrut was one of the first companies to invest heavily in avocado production in Chile's Petorca province; an area that accounts for around a quarter of the country's hectarage dedicated to the crop. Since those forays in the late 80s, Chile has moved from its position as an "indispensible" supplier to just an "important" one due to competition, according to Cabilfrut president Juan Pablo Cerda. Even though drought has scorched thelevel of volumes seen three years ago, he tells www.freshfruitportal.com about projects further south to tap into better water access and regalvanize production.
A strong concentration of orchards in drought affected areas meant Cabilfrut's avocado harvest was down to a third last year compared to 2010, but new orchards are expected to help recover volumes.
"According to official statistics, avocados in Chile come from a total surface area of 30,000-34,000ha of which the drought and weather conditions have affected 10,000-15,000ha that have losses or are not in production at the moment," said Cerda, whose company is 50% owned by California-based Mission Produce.
"They don't have irrigation and orchards have been pruned to wait out the rain cycle. We are entering our sixth year of drought.
"What we started to do in 2009 and 2010 was invest in new zones in Chile that allowed us to have water to be able to produce, and also extend the window of production."
He said these new plantings took place in the V (Valparaiso) region, mainly in the area close to the port of San Antonio.
"This year the first hectares planted there will enter production. It is a very ambitious project and there are also other growers that are producing together with us.
"We estimate that this year or the next we’ll reach no less than 1,000ha planted in that zone. That will allow us to extend the harvest period, covering February and March as a later area.
"In the higher zones here in Panquehue, San Felipe de los Andes, there are early harvests in July and August, and in these other zones we can be harvesting between October and March. So, we will almost be covering an important part of the gap that exists between Chile and Peru."
Current export season
Cerda said Cabilfrut's export season started around four weeks ago but now it was entering full harvest capacity with "more interesting" export levels.
"We are seeing an expectation of exports of 100,000-120,000 metric tons (MT), of which the bulk will be between Europe and the United States; there will be some 8,000-10,000MT going to other Latin American countries, and a little bit more to other markets like Japan and Hong Kong.
"With the majority of companies associated with the Chilean Avocado Committee, we are very self-demanding about the level of dry matter.
"That’s why even though prices have been really high in Europe and the United States, we haven’t been able to go at the speed we’d like because the ripeness of the fruit this season is a little bit later than in other seasons; we’d calculate it to be by two or three weeks."
He highlighted that a "normal" harvest in California meant there was less pressure on the U.S. market.
"North America in recent years has represented 60% of Chilean shipments, apart from last year which was the first year when we sent very little because there was a very big harvest in California, and a big harvest in Mexico with Flor Loca and Aventajada avocados, so the prices weren’t attractive.
"But this year California, in contrast to last year, had a normal harvest that was light on Flor Loca avocados, which partly explains the good prices on the market. That’s why Chile is now sending avocados to the United States in a significant way."
He mentioned that the domestic market was the most significant for Chile last year, both in terms of volume and profitability, and he expected around 100,000MT would be sold locally in the 2013-14 deal.
"The prices that the domestic market paid for the fruit last year were absolutely competitive with what was paid for exports."
"Very positive" results
The executive was optimistic for the avocado trade's future with the belief that growth projections for demand would outstrip production increases in the short to medium term.
"We see that there will be a lack of avocados. It might not always be that way but the figures are showing us that consumption in the United States and Europe are growing every year, and the prices have also been attractive - some moments have been complicated, but if we look over five-year periods the results have been very positive for the avocado trade.
"Together with Mission we saw the opportunity that to consolidate the market, the best thing to do was to integrate vertically to secure production of avocados, because global consumption is growing by more than production.
"We see a long term growth rate of no less than 10% in consumption, and in production at least there is no possibility in the short to medium term of global production growing by more than 3-4% in the best of cases."
He said the biggest supply gap for Chilean and Peruvian avocados was currently between March and May, but the integrated group with Mission Produce could source that supply from Northern Hemisphere production.
"The commercial plan for this scope of the company, and we're edging towards it rapidly, is to manage 150,000MT of Hass avocados."
And from a Chilean perspective, Cerda believed volume could be recovered but it would take time.
"As a Chilean hurts to say it, but the industry will continue to suffer from problems of drought and the weather, particularly in avocados. Chile will not return to the 300,000MT where we should be now, that we had in 2009-10, for at least three years more."
Related stories: Chile expects avocado production rise this season
Mission Produce acquires 50% stake in Chilean company


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Going into the latest edition of the Sundance Film Festival, Don Hertzfeldt captured the record for most movies screened in competition by a single filmmaker in the festival’s history.
And with his win for Short Film Grand Jury Prize, “World of Tomorrow” makes Hertzfeldt the only artist to have collected that honor twice. The new movie represents the next logical step in the animator’s increasingly momentous career.
Longtime true believers, stunned by the conclusion of Bill’s journey in “It’s Such a Beautiful Day,” whispered to one another nervously, “How could Hertzfeldt possibly create a follow-up to what is, quite simply, one of the greatest animated movies ever made?”
The first hint of things to come arrived in the unexpected and delightful surprises packed into the two-minute couch gag for “Clown in the Dumps,” the 26th season premiere of “The Simpsons.” Hertzfeldt’s fabulous, phantasmagoric commentary on the durability of the show many have dismissed for years contextualizes its place in our culture, simultaneously critiquing the commercial ubiquity of its iconic characters (“Make purchase of the merchandise”) and recognizing the special place they earned in our hearts long ago (“Still love you, Homer”).
Like he will do in “World of Tomorrow,” Hertzfeldt imagines a distant future that is utterly unique yet anchored in the director’s durable observations of the mundane, everyday and quotidian.
With his signature absence of capitalization, Hertzfeldt wrote in his website journal, “there is something strange about the simpsons that i've always wondered about... it's a 26 year old show that seems to always be set in the current day, yet none of the characters ever age and they usually refer to past episodes as past events in their lives. do the children have memories of events from twenty years ago? but while they don't age, they do evolve... they've changed a lot over the years from the way they were first drawn in season 1. so that was where i wanted to start... what happens when the longest running show on tv just never ends?”
Hertzfeldt’s answer to that question, which applies in equal measure to the principal themes explored in “World of Tomorrow,” is assuredly one of the best moments in “Simpsons” history.
One of Hertzfeldt’s greatest strengths as a storyteller lies in his ability to bring apparent opposites into close proximity. Like the Bill trilogy, “World of Tomorrow” soars with happiness one moment and devastates with sadness in the next. The actions and reactions of the characters are by turns profound, uplifting, pathetic and terrifying.
Expanding on several of the visual ideas introduced in his work on the “Clown in the Dumps” couch gag, Hertzfeldt contemplates the biggest questions we can ask of ourselves: What does it mean to be alive? Why are there limits to the time allotted us? How do we love?
Employing digital tools – which he used on “The Simpsons” project – and, for the first time, widescreen, Hertzfeldt introduces us to Emily Prime (Winona Mae, Hertzfeldt’s niece, 4 years old at the time he recorded her), a little girl visited by her own future clone. The grownup Emily is voiced by Julia Pott, the accomplished British animator and illustrator whose arresting hand-drawn shorts “Belly” (2011), and “The Event” (2012) conjure fully realized worlds in which human-animal hybrids dream of love and friendship while dealing with their severed limbs.
The two Emilys – one a child and the other an adult, but in some sense also the same person – struggle to effectively communicate with one another, but eventually manage to forge a connection.
Hertzfeldt continues to develop his capacity for jet-black comedy and brain-scrambling surrealism, and “World of Tomorrow” is crammed with jokes both visual and verbal that stare down grim, grinning death. Faulty, discount time travel machines drop passengers (and at one point Emily Prime, like a Gashlycrumb Tiny) in barren snowscapes.
Lovely shooting stars are composed of the corpses of the once hopeful. Significantly, the filmmaker’s earnest curiosity blocks out all cynicism, and viewers will take comfort in the cheerful, agreeable openness of Emily Prime. Hertzfeldt’s sensibilities radiate from both Emily Prime’s innocence and the cloned Emily’s bleaker, more wistful worldview (“Now is the envy of all the dead”).
The combination, like Hertzfeldt’s finest work, reminds us that life is short but it can also be so very sweet.
“World of Tomorrow” premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and will screen at the Fargo Theatre in March during the 2015 Fargo Film Festival.
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domain: artistic