ldirectord is an application that controls some things and monitors others. It does several jobs.
- It creates an IPVS load balancer.
- It checks my real servers to make sure they are OK.
- It fiddles with the IPVS load balancer to ignore servers that are not OK.
It does all this clever stuff after I give it the right configuration file.
ldirectord is started and stopped by the heartbeat application. Heartbeat checks computers to make sure they are OK. If the computer doing all the ldirectord work dies, heartbeat starts ldirectord on another one.
ldirectord is a daemon to monitor and administer real servers in a LVS cluster of load balanced virtual servers. ldirectord typically used as a resource for Linux-HA , but can also be run from the command line.
A LVS cluster consists or one or more virtual services each of which may have zero or more real servers. The IP address of a virtual service is what end-users connect to and is typically advertised over DNS. When a connection is made to a virtual service, it is allocated a real server, and all packets for this connection are forwarded to this real server. A more detailed overview of LVS can be found here.
ldirectord has a configuration file which specifies the virtual services and their associated real servers. When ldirectord is initialised it creates the virtual services for the clutster.
ldirectord monitors the health of the real servers by periodically requesting a known URL and checking that the response contains an expected response. If a real server fails then the server is removed and will be reactivated once it comes back on line. If all the real servers are down then a fall-back server is inserted into the pool, which will made quiescent one of the real web servers comes back on line. Typically, the fall-back server is localhost. If an HTTP virtual service is being provided then it is useful to run an Apache HTTP server that returns a page indicating that the service is temporarily inaccessible.
The latest and greatest version is always available via Mecurial. Snapshots are also provided as a convinience. For more information on both the mecurial repository and snapshots, please see the download page.


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Professional Chauffeurs London<
Situated close to London’s biggest international airport, Heathrow, Danex Drive offers a range of professional chauffeur services in London for the discerning client. Our London Chauffeur service has a fleet of executive cars able to carry up to seven passengers with six pieces of luggage and ensure you arrive on time and have a comfortable and stress free journey.
London Airport Transfers
As well as Heathrow, our Chauffeur service London also covers transfers to all other airports across London as well as a complete company business travel facility. We are also happy to provide a personal London Chauffeur for that special occasion or event when you want to truly be noticed and arrive in style. Having worked in the London chauffeur industry for many years, Danex Drive’s founder is passionate when it comes to providing an impeccable service in beautiful high-end luxury vehicles. With many private car hire companies applying strict boundaries as to the distance their private car fleet will travel, at Danex Drive we are proud of our flexibility and are happy to cover Heathrow, Stansted, Gatwick, Luton, London City Airport and the whole of the United Kingdom and Europe, so you can be assured that wherever your destination, our experienced and professional drivers will get you there, on time, relaxed and in style.
Private Car Hire London
At Danex Drive Chauffeurs in London we pride ourselves on going out of our way to ensure that each of our clients receive a tailor made luxury service to suit their individual requirements. So whether you are a high ranking executive or entrepreneur – or simply surprising your daughter for her birthday – from a simple London airport pick service up to a 5* wedding celebration we guarantee to offer the best private car and driver hire service in London and at a value to suit your situation and needs at all times.

domain: travel


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Around Makeover Essentials, we’ve learned that fashion-forward in this industry means always looking two seasons ahead. While Fall 2019 hasn’t even officially arrived, the various Fashion Weeks for Spring/Summer 2020 begin in earnest in early September. First, on deck are New York and London. Here’s a quick peek at what to expect from both.
New York Fashion Week runs from September 6 to 11, a bit of an abbreviated schedule from past years. Held at various places throughout the Big Apple, we expect to see the usual bevy of celebrity guests lining the runway to be the first to see amazing creations from top designers including Jeremy Scott, Oscar de la Renta, Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Tom Ford, and many more. As this is the first of the Big 4 shows, everyone in the fashion world, including our beauty experts at Makeover Essentials, eagerly await this first peek at which trends will hit the boutiques come next spring.
After New York’s final show wraps up with Marc Jacobs, everyone who’s anyone in this industry will hop across the pond for London’s Fashion Week, September 13 to 17. While New York is known for globally renowned designers, London is where up-and-comers showcase their talents alongside more established names, like Burberry. Emilia Wickstead, Christopher Kane, Erdem, and Mary Katrantzou will show their latest collections to the throngs of fashion enthusiasts across all generations.
As these shows unfold, we’ll pick up on the latest warm-weather trends to look for in 2020. Like Makeover Essentials on Facebook to get your up-to-the-minute details on what’s in and which beauty products best complement these looks.

domain: artistic


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COAT is a focused group of community representatives assembled to discuss the livability measures needed to address the quality of life concerns for all those affected by this active corridor. The COAT is intended to build consensus on the future of SW 10th Street through a collaborative planning and visioning process.
COAT members have two primary responsibilities:
COAT is comprised of individuals who represent engaged communities within the project study area, including the Cities of Deerfield Beach, Coconut Creek, Coral Springs, and Parkland. COAT representatives are from stakeholder groups such as resident, business, property owner and civic groups.

domain: sociology


Meta, the social media company formerly known as Facebook, changed its requirements for businesses who seek to advertise digital asset-related products.
The firm announced Wednesday that it is increasing the number of acceptable regulatory licenses from three to 27, according to a company release, in addition to publicly listing eligible licenses on their policy page.
Prior to the change, the company required that businesses submit an application including details such as relevant crypto licensure and whether the business was publicly traded or not. Now, the firm is focusing on whether the business has one of the 27 approved licenses, a list of which it now hosts online.
“We’re doing this because the cryptocurrency landscape has continued to mature and stabilize in recent years and has seen more government regulations that are setting clearer rules for their industry,” Meta wrote in the release.
“These changes will help to make our policy in this space more equitable and transparent and help more advertisers, including small businesses, grow their audiences and reach more potential customers.”
The firm's advertising rules for companies related to cryptocurrency exchange, trading, lending, wallets and mining have not changed in this new update.


Deb Fairchild has been beading since 2003. Although she works with many off-loom beadweaving techniques, she especially likes the lacy, supple fabrics which are derived from the freeform expression of right-angle weave, bead netting and brick stitch. The freeform platform also provides a strong foundation for experiments in the use of color and adaptation of technique which have become the hallmark of her work. Each of her pieces is a one-of-a-kind study in color, rhythm, movement, and form.
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Working memory is one of several putative core neurocognitive processes in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The present work seeks to determine whether visual-spatial working memory is sensitive to motivational incentives, a laboratory analogue of behavioral treatment. Participants were 21 children (ages 7-10) with a diagnosis of ADHD-combined type. Participants completed a computerized spatial span task designed to assess storage of visual-spatial information (forward span) and manipulation of the stored information (backward span). The spatial span task was completed twice on the same day, once with a performance-based incentive (trial-wise feedback and points redeemable for prizes) and once without incentives. Participants performed significantly better on the backward span when rewarded for correct responses, compared to the no incentive condition. However, incentives had no effect on performance during the forward span. These findings may suggest the use of motivational incentives improved manipulation, but not storage, of visual-spatial information among children with ADHD. Possible explanations for the differential incentive effects are discussed, including the possibility that incentives prevented a vigilance decrement as task difficulty and time on task increased.
|Original language||English (US)|
|Number of pages||11|
|Journal||Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology|
|State||Published - Aug 2008|
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Psychiatry and Mental health

domain: psychology


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Hi there! 2021 was a big year for me and I’m sorry Amino wasn’t a bigger part of it! Still, I kept up with plenty of music last year and thought I’d share my favorites with you here. So here’s the albums I connected with the most from this past year. Hope you enjoy reading about them, even if not all of them fit into the “rock” genre all that nearly.
First, here’s a bunch of albums I really liked or loved that didn’t quite make the cut! They’re in alphabetical order.
Now, with that out of the way, here are my absolute favorite albums of 2021!
Thanks so much for reading!!! Hopefully I’ll see some of you this coming year. Stay safe!


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21st Annual Kaleidoscope
Betty and Howard Taylor Main Gallery
Kaleidoscope is an annual holiday show presented by the Alliance for the Visual Arts (AVA). This show is open to all members of AVA organizations: Akron Society of Artists (ASA), Artists of Rubber City (AoRC), Cuyahoga Valley Art Center (CVAC), and Women’s Art League of Akron (WAL). This year’s exhibition is juried by Anderson Turner, Director of Exhibitions & Collections at Kent State University School of Art. Winner of the People’s Choice Award will receive a hand-made kaleidoscope by a local artist and their artwork will be featured on next year’s exhibition promotions.
I was super excited to be asked to judge this year’s Kaleidoscope Exhibition and I want to thank Summit Artspace for thinking of me.
Judging any exhibition is always a fun, challenging and thoughtful exercise. When making choices for a show like this, I rely a lot on the skill on display in the work I’m looking at – my personal preferences – and the overall sense of the rhythm or beat of the exhibition that my choices will help to create. It’s not easy to do and when I see the final show hung in the gallery, I always find joyful and unexpected surprises.
Perhaps most importantly, this exhibition is open to several groups that help to make Akron a more interesting and vibrant place to live. As a resident of Akron, I value that in the extreme and I feel honored to be trusted to look at this work by artists in my community. It’s a brave thing to go through the process of applying for a juried exhibition. It’s an experience that is unique for all of us who call ourselves visual artists.
Director of Exhibitions & Collections
School of Art, Kent State University
Did you know?
Most of the artwork on display at Summit Artspace is for sale.
Click on the artwork images for pricing and more information about each piece.
If you would like to purchase any art, please visit a staff member or volunteer at the front desk, or email firstname.lastname@example.org.
1- Sharon Frank Mazgaj | Busload of Characters | $8,000
CVAC | Colored pencil
Artist Statement: Part of my series on vintage lunchboxes. The “illustration” on the lunchbox was so detailed, I chose to keep the surrounding objects simple, but placed everything to move the eye around the composition. The “Fun with Dick and Jane” book underneath the bus was included because I remember reading from it, and this style of metal lunchbox was popular when I was in grade school. This is my 3 year old grandson’s favorite, because he knows all the characters! This piece took over 100 hours, over several weeks to complete.
2- Helen Wilson | Summer Skies | $800
CVAC | Mixed media, acrylic paint
Artist Statement: This summer I had the goal of creating a few pieces that would “shout” summer. I decided to achieve this by using a bright, bold blue sky with contrasting black and white abstract images. In this piece I used a sgraffito method to create a feeling of wild birds. The
landscape is comprised of my various mono-printing styles along with specialized cutting. This piece does indeed “shout” Summer to me and I think it captures the joy and freedom I experience under the summer sky.
3- Andrea Schepis | Why Was It Important That Noah Save Them, Yet Not That We Must? | $250
Artist Statement: Since retirement, I’ve begun to push myself to create works different from previous works. This piece began a couple years ago as I began to paste Biblical pages from the Story of Noah and the Deluge (Genesis 6:11-9:19) onto a box something had come in. From there I added small paintings I did, of creatures at risk of extinction, a 3D printed bee, that I saved from the trash and embellished, as the cherry on top and other various items. The work sat unfinished and I added items that seemed to be appropriate, as I found them, until the piece finally felt finished. I hope that the large scale of the bee will draw people into the work and that the title and artwork itself, will evoke contemplativeness in viewers to consider why many believe that what Noah did was of importance, but don’t seem to think we have any responsibility in saving various species from extinction.
4- Blake Newhem Valenzuela | Don’t Forget the Blood | $275
ASA & AoRC | Papier-mâché made from century-old book; magazine, book, and ephemeral paper; spray paint over antique cardboard substrate
Artist Statement: This piece began when I discovered in the Akron Public Library bookstore a $1 volume of images by disgraced photographer Bruce Weber. I’d grown up enamored by Weber’s aesthetic, especially in its manifold expressions within the world of Abercrombie & Fitch campaigns; I’d argue Weber’s boys and men defined for me gay sexual desire … I did not know at the time that Weber was allegedly preying on his young male models as a “serial sexual predator.” Seeing the pictures now triggers a complicated cascade of thoughts and emotions, especially in the context of my own childhood trauma. I began with a single image from Weber’s pantheon: a boy boxer trying to look tough, as though he could combat all the horrors that await him. Not even knowing he’s an object of sexual desire by the man capturing his image, he doesn’t have a chance … His shorts are a ticket. On the other side of his world, a religious figure stands oblivious, facing away. But an angel hovers over his shoulder: He’ll be all right. Unlike the boy below him, flipped around, laid out, and faceless … The olives represent for me all the other victims we don’t see; their delicacy, their ripeness, their innocence. An olive is a tidbit. You savor it for several seconds then forget about it forever.
5- Gwen Waight | oh my country | $380
AoRC | Found object assemblage
Artist Statement: Politics in our country right now are pretty intense and divided. The things we love, baseball, guns, and the good ole’ stars and stripes all are contentious diverse issues. The simple has become contentious…oh my country.
6- Janet Mikolajczyk | Zoom Meeting: The Ancients | $195
AoRC | Digital collage
Artist Statement: Zoom meeting is a digital collage with ancient civilizations conversing.
7- Andy Tubbesing | Kala Mees: Atavism Of The Seas! | $400
AoRC | Acrylic paint
Artist Statement: Alive! See Kala Mees, half-man, half-fish. Modern Science Baffled! Parents and pregnant women – beware the unnerving nature of this ichthyic spectacle!
8- Susan Mencini | 12 Fruits | $900
CVAC & AoRC | Acrylic paint, mixed media
Artist Statement: I have painted many a tree in my days. They represent life and it’s seasons. 12 Fruits is another in the tree of life series.
Another trunk, more branches, new leaves, fruit and sky holes that represent this season of life.
9- Tricia Kaman | Anita in Black | $1,200
ASA | Oil paint
Artist Statement: The human form has become and remains my passion and inspiration for painting. I have been painting traditional figurative and portrait art works since 1974. One of my fundamental values has been to paint directly from life, rather than from a photograph. I feel that it gives me a truer perspective and feeling about the person that I am portraying. My north light studio affords me the ability to work with the interior architecture, the use of furniture and fabric, and props which help me express my feelings and reactions to the person posing for me. Each painting is developed through formal design elements such as composition, light, form, color, texture, and space.
In a process that takes as many as six successive weeks, I gather information about my model using both spoken and unspoken dialogue, responding with sensitive observation. I am driven to express the beauty of the human form along with its surroundings.
10- Kim Barnes | Harlem Beckons | $2,500
AoRC | Mixed media
This piece represents the glory of the Harlem Renaissance and the opportunity it unfolded for people of color.
My style is a harmonious marriage of fabrics, notions, and colored pencil portraiture. The combination creates layers and depth of color. I yearn to convey a true level of realism in my drawings: particularly wanting the viewer to be drawn in and to share the moment with me. This form of expression allows for such an amazing array of styles, blending of cultures and endless possibilities. I hope the world will begin to see African Americans and people of color as leaders and visionaries and to recognize the instrumental part we have played in building and propelling the evolution of the world.
11- Robert J. Putka | Border Garden/Drunkards Path | $3,900
ASA | Acrylic paint
Artist Statement: I have always believed that a work of art should be an experience and a feast for the eye, a fulfilling pleasure and journey throughout its entirety. I see my paintings much like a patterned fabric, a quilt or tapestry, teeming with delight, bursting with fanciful patterns, colors, shapes and textures filling every inch from top to bottom and side to side directing and redirecting the eye exuberantly through pathways, to boundless nooks and crannies. The experience should be as exhilarating as a walk through a garden, a field, or the forest with surprises and discoveries all along the way.
I have lived my “art life” conflicted, straddling the joys of “patterned flatness” in surface design through my exploration of the craft of batik, between that of the of the depth and forms found in landscape painting to which I have so joyously worked.
12- Kevin Hudak | Untitled Cubism #2 | $1,500
AoRC | Acrylic paint on canvas
13- April Cameron | Still Life with Hair Dryer and Plastic Fruit | $700
WAL & CVAC | Acrylic paint on canvas
Artist Statement: Working with a Still Life allows me to design a canvas using everyday objects that other people have already designed. Some objects are chosen for their shape or size. I don’t worry about color , I make up my own. Some objects become precious and are repeated in some of my compositions or are used in multiple works as Matisse did in his Still Lifes. I love the overlapping and intertwining objects I choose.
14- Linda Hutchinson | Kids | $3,500
ASA & CVAC | Oil paint on canvas
I have been making art for the better part of my life, originally in the greeting card and print markets, and currently through her fine art drawings and paintings. I work in oil, watercolor and all drawing mediums. Awards include: Ohio Watercolor Society Gold Medal in 2001; First Night Akron button artist in 2008; and twice the recipient of The Kaleidoscope Award. Her affiliations include: Akron Society of Artists; Hudson Fine Art and Framing; Ohio Arts Council; Ohio Watercolor Society; and The Sharon Weiss Gallery in Columbus. I hold a B.A. in French from Miami (OH) University. Major Awards include: Juror’s Choice award in the OOVAR (Ohio Arts Council) Exhibition at the Columbus Metropolitan Library (2018, 2019, 2020); The Ohio Watercolor Society Gold Medal in 2001; First Night Akron button artist in 2008; and twice the recipient of The Kaleidoscope Award at Summit Artspace in Akron, Ohio. Collections include: The Ohio Watercolor Society; Parkersburg Art Center (WV); and The State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio.
My work has been awarded a finalist three times this year by juror Janine Gallizia in competitions sponsored by The Art of Watercolour magazine (Paris) and was the focus of an article in the March 2017 edition.
I am a signature member of Akron Society of Artists, the Ohio Watercolor Society and the American Watercolor Society.
15- Tina Grondin | From Here to There | $1,800
AoRC | Oil paint, bound graphite on canvas
Artist Statement: This painting has been created in oil and bound graphite on stretched canvas. It is an abstract landscape which is open to interpretation. To elude the space and figures/objects in it, I used layers of line, shape, patterns and textures. My process is more about design and composition rather than rendering realism. This produces a vagueness in identifying what is here or there. I like that. Some will see a cityscape, others a shore. Maybe your eyes are playing tricks on you and one minute it’s one thing and the next another. From Here to There is a journey. Sometimes it’s complicated, sometimes difficult, or it can be simple and easy going. Regardless, there are always interesting things to discover along the way.
16- Deanna Clucas | Two Down! One to Go! | $205
WAL & CVAC | Watercolor paint
Artist Statement: I couldn’t help capturing this image as my daughter was preparing dinner for little Piper, Zaine and big Max. It seemed like she was taking too long getting the food ready as they looked at each other wondering when they would get theirs. After several unsuccessful attempts at earlier compositions, I finally settled with a portrait format and worked in watercolor, my favorite medium.
17- Gwen Waight | folklore | $600
AoRC | Found object assemblage
Artist Statement: As a child I remember a Japanese story of a girl being born from a peach so that an old couple who cannot have a child can have this miracle child. I have changed it just a bit by making her born from a peach in a cornfield as I was born and raised in Iowa.
18- Deborah Chapman | My Turn | $700
AoRC | Watercolor paint, ink, and marker
Artist Statement: This watercolor reflects strong architectural qualities as well as a glimpse into the lives of the occupants.
19- Dee Fairweather | Path Back Home | $1,060
AoRC | Oil paint
Artist Statement: Perfumed grit swirls in the heat of the summer air as the viewer crests a hill on the way back home.
20- Bradley Hart | Isla | $625
AoRC | Photography
Artist Statement: Photography allows an artist a constant exploration of the boundaries & limits of traditional techniques to create new and thought-provoking images. In this series I have sought to extend those boundaries, showing the beauty and complexity of the traditional nude through the lens of abstraction. Photography, by it’s nature, captures a fraction of a second of time. Here, I cheat that, capturing multiple fractions of seconds of time—and melding them into one.
21- Todd Bergert | The King’s Gambit | NFS
CVAC | Oil paint
Artist Statement: I loved painting this piece of this very interesting looking older gentleman who’s contemplating his next chess move. The chess pieces were unconventional and a challenge to paint as they were out of focus but was a good learning experience
22- Laurel Winters | Mother Earth | NFS
AoRC | Colored pencil, acrylic, and oil paints
Artist Statement: Gaia floats in the solar system as the Spirit of all creation, cradling babies of species that have become endangered by our environmental neglect and political indifference. It is a call to cradle and protect all life on this planet we share.
23- Mary Jo Worthington | Skyriver | $900
CVAC | Acrylic paint on canvas
Artist Statement: This artwork has much texture and motion in it. It may be hung in several ways with the sky small and the river large, or the sky large and the river smaller. I feel it is important to try new styles and be unique in the process.
24- Jim Jones | Lucia | $5,108
ASA & CVAC | Acrylic paint on stretched canvas
Artist Statement: Lucia is a portrait of my dear friend and close neighbor, Lucia. The painting is a study in contrasts and painted with enormous affection. Lucia is now nearing 80 years of age and hails from Ferrara, Italy. Lucia’s portrait was painted to tell the tale of her long and diverse life. The head (hovering above) is Lucia at age 40ish (the young Lucia). The main figure-portrait is Lucia at present age (the not-so-young Lucia). Although Lucia was born into a family of wealth and privilege, she later suffered some financial hard times. Her wealth is symbolized by the valuable necklace she wears – her poverty is symbolized with the peasant costume. Her bare shoulders indicate that Lucia is, unquestionably, an attractive-sexual creature, while her rosary indicates that she is also an extremely pious individual. I certainly hope I did her justice.
25- Robert Goldthwaite | Metamorphosis | $700
CVAC| Water-based paints
Artist Statement: Somewhere between a sea shell and a butterfly . It is a work started as non objective and as it progressed I was reminded of a transformation of two images.
26- Judy Takacs | BANS OFF | $8,000
ASA | Oil paint on canvas with collage
Artist Statement: Since well before Roe v Wade was overturned, I saw the handwriting on the wall and began painting Pro Choice paintings…trying to save the world one painting at a time, as my mantra goes. I only ask models who are fully onboard with the cause of Reproductive Rights to pose for these works that feature flags festooned with hangers with messages on them. The hangers are stark and deadly reminders of the pre-Roe v Wade world we hoped would never return. But it has. My model for BANS OFF chose to pose with LGBTQ+ flags in addition to the Ohio state flag…because legislating our bodies and preventing us from living the lives we choose…is not the place of the government. It is also my hope that this painting will be showing in Akron at a pivotal time when the Reproductive Rights Amendment will be on the November Ballot. I hope it will inspire people to vote YES.
27- Carol H. Paquay | Toaster | NFS
ASA | Ceramic
Artist Statement: A toast to the joy of simple things.
28- Tom Jackson | Those Pink Planters | $2,800
ASA & CVAC | Oil paint on canvas
Artist Statement: Charleston continues to be a favorite town in my ongoing Facade Series. Those sun drenched streets, casting shadows on colonial architecture, provide a great deal of drama throughout the day. A casual Sunday stroll, accompanied by a lone shopper on her cellphone and four mannequins (a simple black dress?) offer a quiet reprieve from an otherwise bustling market district. The signature Carolina palm (offset by those pink planters) offer the dagger-like shadows over the scene and provide just enough relief to the otherwise two dimensional subject. Sometimes you just have to paint the bricks…if for no other reason than to keep the glorious palm from stealing the show.
29- Sharon Frank Mazgaj | King of the Cowboys, Queen of the West | $8,000
CVAC | Colored pencil
Artist Statement: This is my take on a typical lunch of a kid in the 1960’s. Roy Rogers and Dale Evans are featured on this vintage lunchbox. I love how the “illustration” has a very dated look and feel. I imagined a little boy sneaking a couple of his cowboys and indian figurines into his lunch. The red apple, Dale’s dress and the red figurine standing on the sandwich were planned to tie the composition together. I chose to make the background a simple one, to make the objects stand out and sort of give the drawing a “contemporary” feel. Colored Pencil work such as this requires over 100 hours of work over several weeks time.
30- Carol Klingel | See What Sticks | $375
ASA, AoRC, & CVAC | Acrylic paint, pencil, wallpaper on wallboard
Artist Statement: Lots of ideas? Throw them at the wall and see what sticks!
31- Carol Klingel | Distracted: Breakfast Fail | $375
ASA, AoRC, & CVAC | Paper, acrylic paint, found object
Artist Statement: A burned pan turned into art with the right attitude and outlook.
32- Judy A Bennett | Again Fire | $400
ASA | Acrylic paint
Artist Statement: Mother Earth is once again telling us to be aware. Even in such destruction, one can feel her energy and see her beauty.


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|Raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds
make for a good cleanse
There is certainly a case to be made for eating a diet that is naturally cleansing to the body, that is, a diet that helps to clear the digestive system of unwanted debris and bacteria. A diet high in raw, whole fruits and vegetables provides the hydration, nutrients, and fiber content to keep the body in a healthy balance.
However, there are also cleansing programs that can be used either independently or inconjunction with the raw food detox diet. Herbal cleansing programs, for example, come in a variety of forms that are customized to individual levels of commitment, and are readily available at local health food stores and at Amazon.com.
|Herbal Cleanse Kit (an example)|
An herbal cleanse is usually a kit that contains a variety of cleansing mixtures (powders, liquids, and capsules) that are to be taken over a period of three to five weeks. During the program, digestion is strengthened and the colon, liver, gall bladder, and kidneys are cleansed by the elimination of bacteria, mold, yeast, fungus, and parasites. Herbal cleanses usually consist of a variety of herbs and natural ingredients known for neutralizing and eliminating these unwanted guests.
The Master Cleanser, which is also known as The Lemonade Diet, is, among other things, an easy way to get introduced to the health benefits of fasting. Stanley Burroughs began this program in the 1970s, and many people subscribe to its ease, simplicity, and effectiveness today.
Basically, the Master Cleanser consists of three components:
— Lemon water with cayenne, fresh lemon or lime juice, and maple syrup to sweeten it up, drunk all day
— A daily morning salt water flush
— An organic laxative tea at bedtime during the cleanse.
|The Master Cleanse|
This simple method for flushing out the digestive system is safe, cheap, and effective. The combination of the lemonade mixture throughtout the day, laxative herbal tea before bed, and salt-water flush each morning enables the body to perform a deep cleaning that can be done from 10 to 40 days. Lemon juice provides much-needed minerals, especially sodium,while also dissolving mucus in the body. It is also very alkalizing, and helps restore the acid/alkaline balance in the body. The maple syrup provides calories for energy in the form of simple sugars. Cayenne pepper adds a potent kick to the Master Cleanser by breaking up mucus and dilating blood vessels, which aids in cleansing and the elimination of toxins. Because The Master Cleanser is so simple and effective, it has become the most popular of all the different cleansing programs. If you’d like specific directions, you can find Stanley Burroughs’ book The Master Cleanser at health food stores near you, or click the Amazon icon in this sidebar to see it available at Amazon.com.
My own dietary cleasing experience has been limited to some fasting, and mostly to eating as high percentage raw diet as I can. This is the slowest cleansing method, to be sure, but just as effective in the long run, and, I believe, less stressful for the body. I have nothing against the packaged cleanses on the market, and I know that many people have been helped by them. I do admit to being reluctant to pay for a particular blend of herbs which may hasten a body cleanse, but in the end, may not provide any better cleansing than can be had by eating a diet rich in raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds.
Suit yourself! I welcome your discussion on this matter. Leave a comment, if you like. I’d love to hear from you. To view some of the available relevant products, click on the Amazon icon in the sidebar.

domain: food


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Would you expect your child's school to notify you?
I was watching the news this morning and they reported that a man has been seen wandering around multiple elementary schools in our district. He has been stopped by staff and questioned but the police have not spoken with him.
Our district has not sent any type of notification home about these incidents and the first I heard about it was this morning when watching the news.
Would you expect the district to alert you?

domain: news


Estimated delivery Dec 11 - Dec 14
This deal is already so low, it isn’t eligible for additional discounts/coupons.
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RUGBY: Success for young Stags sides
- Credit: Archant
Two of Huntingdon’s junior sides have celebrated success recently.
The club’s Under 15 squad won the Ron Hatch Trophy at a festival in Colchester.
They powered through the group stage in unbeaten style, beating Bishop’s Stortford, Sevenoaks, hosts Colchester and Ipswich.
That set up a semi-final showdown with Sudbury. The match actually ended in a 5-5 deadlock but Stags advanced by virtue of scoring the first try through Max Proietti.
That set up a showpiece clash against Hertford where Jason Graham scored the solitary try to earn a fine victory.
Stags Under 15s: Luke Basham, Austin Brennan, Jake Bycroft, Alistair Campbell, Andrew Clemens, Jace Craig, Remy Edwards, Drew Gould, Jason Graham, Harvey Pinkney, Max Proietti, Will Ramply, Martin Ramsbottom, Ben Rowbottom, Archie Wilson, Matthew Winterbottom, Max Ray.
And Stags’ Under 16s lifted the Cambridgeshire County Cup Plate following a 26-21 victory against Newmarket.
- 1 EastEnders star Adam Woodyatt ‘to work at restaurant in Cambridgeshire’
- 2 MBR Acres releases image of graffiti message
- 3 Superintendent dons rainbow helmet against hate crime on #IDAHOBIT
- 4 Huntingdon thief jailed after stealing watch, iPod and iPhone from vehicles
- 5 Iceland offers over 60s discount on shopping bill every week
- 6 Pictures show dramatic skies over Huntingdonshire and the Fens
- 7 Food delivery robots taking to streets of Cambridgeshire
- 8 Silent protest at Camp Beagle as vans leave the site
- 9 Work starts on affordable 56-home development in Huntingdon
- 10 Newly elected mayor and deputy mayor of St Neots announced
Joe Steele (2), Ellis Jackson and Oscar Proietti provided the tries.


The release of the GoPro Hero 5 was delayed for the end of 2015, but the wait will be worth it, because the rumors are indicating a major improvement in specifications, as GoPro aims to shock the adrenaline enthusiasts. The Hero 4 was sold very well, over 2.4 million units being sold in the Q3 of 2014, and we’re pretty sure the Hero 5, which is rumored to come in September or October, will dominate the action camera market.
The Hero 4 came with a 12MP CMOS and an f/2.8 fixed maximum aperture. It’s capable to shoot 4K videos at frame rate of 24, 25 (only in Superview mode) and 30 fps, and the battery lasts around 65 minutes when shooting 4k/30 with WiFi disabled. The Hero 4 Silver variant is like a HERO3+ Black, only that it has a touch screen and supports WiFi. The Hero 3 is powered by an A7 processor and records 4K videos at a rate of 15 frames per second.
According to rumors, the Hero 5 will be powered by an A10 processor, will support 4K video recording at 60 frames per second, being the first action camcorder that will be able to shoot the same resolution at the same frame rate. Also, the Hero 5 will record footage of 1080p at 120 fps and of 720p at 240 fps. This fall will bring changes in matter of resolution, as 8K is rumored to be possible, but at a lower frame rate.
The camera will be waterproof, surviving up to 60 meters under water. So, if you’re one of those scuba divers who want to explore the underwater world, the Hero 5 will be more capable of recording clear videos at a greater depth, since the Hero 4 is capable of enduring up to 20 meters.
The device will support WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0 and will have an HDMI port. The battery is rumored to be very small, at 2,800 mAh, but it could be 1.5 times more efficient than the battery from the current model.
The rumors are pointing to a dual-lens set-up, and the device will support 3D technology. GoPro is promoted on YouTube and earned a place in Adweek’s Top 10 Best Brand Channels in 2014.
The price of the upcoming camera is expected to be between 400 and 500 dollars. Currently, the Hero 4 Black costs 500 dollars on shop.gopro.com, but we’re convinced that GoPro will slash its price as the release of the Hero 5 is approaching.
Related ItemsGoPro Hero 5GoPro Hero 5 4KGoPro Hero 5 FeaturesGoPro Hero 5 release dateGoPro Hero 5 Specs


Clinton Guard Goes ROGUE, Exposes His Trips On The Lolita Express Emmanuel January 6, 2018 Uncategorized The life of a Secret Service agent must be an interesting one, but that comes with a bit of a catch…there’s a whole lot about people that you cannot talk about for a good long time. Imagine if you were a Secret Service agent and you were assigned to protect the President and you told a story about something the commander in chief did in private to a public source while you were still on the job. You would be on an unemployment line pretty quick. That being said, if there were people that tried to act like they were bastions of virtue when there were tons of people that saw them the way they are when the cameras were off those people should be very worried. Former secret service agent, Dan Bongino, has decided to speak out against the corruption that is Hillary Rodham Clinton. Hillary Clinton has been in the company of secret service agents for quite sometime, from her time as First Lady, to her serving as Secretary of State, to her failed attempt at the presidency, now one agent is speaking out. Everything about the Clinton’s seems to be corrupt and inevitably that corruption has come to light. Via: Tucker Carlson recently interviewed the former agent, and Bongino made his views on Hillary Clinton’s corruption very clear. He explained to the Fox News host, “I found her to be the most deceptive human being, manipulative political person in a position of power I’d ever met in my entire life.” Bongino’s statement enraged Nick Merrill, the man who was the Clinton’s communications director at one point in time. Merrill full-on attacked Bongino in an attempt to discredit him. The former Secret Service agent had some things to say to Merrill, however, which included a hint about Bill Clinton possibly being connected to pedophilia. Merrill struck back to defend Hillary, claiming on Twitter “She has enormous respect for the Secret Service and a great relationship with the agents on her detail.” The truth of the matter is that numerous respected sources have claimed that the Clintons had great distain for their protective agents. Oftentimes, agents requested to be reassigned. Read More Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.


text:
Detection of Human Hematopoietic Prostaglandin D Synthase/HPGDS by Western Blot.
Western blot shows lysates of KG‑1 human acute myelogenous leukemia cell line. PVDF membrane was probed with 1 µg/mL of Sheep Anti-Human Hematopoietic Prostaglandin D Synthase/HPGDS Antigen Affinity-purified Polyclonal Antibody (Catalog # AF6487) followed by HRP-conjugated Anti-Sheep IgG Secondary Antibody (Catalog # HAF016). A specific band was detected for Hematopoietic Prostaglandin D Synthase/HPGDS at approximately 28 kDa (as indicated). This experiment was conducted under reducing conditions and using Immunoblot Buffer Group 1.
Preparation and Storage
Sterile PBS to a final concentration of 0.2 mg/mL.
Reconstitution Buffer Available
The product is shipped at ambient temperature. Upon receipt, store it immediately at the temperature recommended below. *Small pack size (SP) is shipped with polar packs. Upon receipt, store it immediately at -20 to -70 °C
Stability & Storage
Use a manual defrost freezer and avoid repeated freeze-thaw cycles.
12 months from date of receipt, -20 to -70 °C as supplied.
1 month, 2 to 8 °C under sterile conditions after reconstitution.
6 months, -20 to -70 °C under sterile conditions after reconstitution.
Background: Hematopoietic Prostaglandin D Synthase/HPGDS
Prostaglandin D Synthase (PGDS) catalyzes the conversion of prostaglandin (PG) H2 to PGD2, which is a major prostanoid produced in a variety of tissues. Two types of PGDS have been isolated; the glutathione-dependent hematopoietic PGDS (HPGDS) and the glutathione-independent lipocalin‑type PGDS (1). HPGDS is a cytosolic enzyme that is expressed in mast cells and antigen presenting cells (2, 3). It is the only mammalian member of the class Sigma glutathione S‑transferase, showing a broad specificity towards standard transferase substrates (4). The PGD2 produced by HPGDS is involved in many physiological processes such as maintaining body temperature, promotion of sleep, inhibition of platelet aggregation and bronchoconstriction (5). It also functions in immune response and acts as a mediator in allergy and inflammation (6). HPGDS‑specific inhibitors may be therapeutically useful anti‑allergic and anti‑inflammatory drugs.
Urade, Y. and Eguchi, N. (2002) Prostaglandins Other Lipid Mediat. 68:375.
Urade, Y. et al. (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265:371.
Urade, Y. et al. (1989) J. Immunol. 143:2982.
Jowsey, I. R. et al. (2001) Biochem. J. 359:507.
Kanaoka, Y. and Urade, Y. (2003) Prostaglandins Leukot. Essent. Fatty Acids 69:163.
Have you used Human Hematopoietic Prostaglandin D Synthase/HPGDS Antibody?
Submit a review and receive a $25US/€18/£15/$25CAN amazon gift card if you include an image - $10US/€7/£6/$10CAN Amazon card for reviews without an image. Limited to verified customers in USA, Canada and Europe.

domain: chemistry


text:
Our client an acclaimed global PR consultancy, is looking for a talented Account executive with consumer and corporate experience to join their successful financial and professional services practice.
The role will offer you the opportunity to broaden your experience across a very wide range of financial and professional services clients, working within a dynamic, ambitious and well-established team. This is a fantastic opportunity to work across an enviable list of blue chip financial services clients.
This role will appeal to consultants with a keen interest in consumer PR, as well as those with a broader corporate communications focus or experience, including media relations and thought leadership.
Although not a requirement of this role, there is also opportunity within the team to work on public affairs and digital briefs if that is of interest.
Key skills required for this role include:
- Strong research and analytical skills
- Experience working in consumer PR and media relations
- Interest in and understanding of financial and business issues and current affairs and politics
- An interest or experience in digital communications and social media
- Excellent writing and communications skills
- Ability to foster relationships with clients
- Strong multi-tasking and prioritising skills
- Proactive and flexible approach
- Passionate and enthusiastic, confident and curious
What can you expect in return
- The opportunity to work with a broad range of high-profile clients within the financial and professional services sector and support multi-stakeholder campaigns both in the UK and internationally.
- The chance to work in a dynamic, growing team and the chance to use your specialist knowledge in a broad communications context.
- The chance to work in a full-service communications consultancy with the opportunity to fast track your career
More jobs like this
- Full Time Financial PR Press Officer Business / Industrial jobs in London (Central)
- Full Time Financial PR Press Officer Consumer jobs in London (Central)
- Full Time Financial PR Press Officer Financial Services jobs in London (Central)
- Full Time Financial PR Press Officer Professional Services jobs in London (Central)
- Full Time Financial PR Press Officer Retail / Wholesale jobs in London (Central)

domain: finance


I opened the hood to install my billet grille and look what I found, a strut brace! This was one of the mods I was looking at doing. Does anyone know if these are standard on conertables or does it come with the Pony package? Well on to the next mod.
PS. I hope I attached the picture correctly


text:
Choose a different location or date to find an available class.
0 seats left
Arugula-Date Salad with Orange Vinaigrette
Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken with Tomato-Olive Sauce
Shallot and Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Chocolate Panna Cotta with Salted Caramel Almond Brittle
What you will learn
Menu: Arugula-Date Salad with Orange Vinaigrette - Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken with Tomato-Olive Sauce - Shallot and Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts - Chocolate Panna Cotta with Salted Caramel Almond Brittle
Class Description: Delight dinner guests with a menu bursting with bright, bold Mediterranean flavors. In this hands-on class, we'll combine fresh seasonal produce and unique spices to create authentic dishes that are sure to satisfy. Our instructor will walk you through techniques for roasting vegetables, perfectly cooking chicken, and creating your own homemade vinaigrette. Plus, you'll learn secrets for preparing a classic chocolate panna cotta.
What To Expect: Great cooking isn't about recipes—it's about techniques. In our classes you'll work together with other students in a fun, hands-on environment led by our professional chef instructors.
Classes are 2 to 2 1/2 hours, unless otherwise noted above
You will work with other students in groups of 4
Hands-on classes are limited to 16 students
You will be standing, cooking and working for most of the class
Please wear comfortable, closed-toe shoes and have long hair tied back
You will enjoy a generous taste of every dish
Students receive a coupon good for 10% off in-store purchases the day of class


Free EcoSave Energy Retrofit seminar can save dollars down the road
Summer is a great time to forget about the woes of Old Man Winter.
However, with Old Man Winter on holidays, summer is the perfect time of year to energy-proof your house.
And the City of Nelson’s EcoSave Energy Retrofit seminar — Tuesday (June 25) at the Prestige Lakeside Resort, starting at 7 p.m. — is a great way to learn how to get your home ready for next winter.
At this free seminar, Nelson Hydro and FortisBC customers can register for $60 home energy assessments, and learn about rebates, low-interest financing options and FortisBC’s Kootenay Energy Diet.
There will also be a contractor trade show.
Launched more than a year ago, participation in the EcoSave program has been a huge success in the community.
Homeowners receive a home energy assessment, free energy efficiency products and access to low-cost financing. The assessment includes a customized retrofit plan and information on how to access rebates.
Even simple actions like caulking and weather stripping can make a difference.
Upgrades like insulation, air sealing and the installation of more efficient space and water heating systems can produce a noticeable reduction in utility bills.
To help participants make those investments, one of the financing options EcoSave offers is 3.5 per cent financing, which is repaid on your Nelson Hydro utility bills.
“On-bill financing is a unique benefit of the program,” said Carmen Proctor, EcoSave coordinator. “No credit information is required, making the process quick, accessible and simple.”
“For many of the program’s participants the quick financing options have helped a lot of people access the funds they need to make a lot of beneficial energy upgrades.” Proctor adds.
For Nelson Hydro customers who reside outside of the city, Nelson & District Credit Union has partnered with EcoSave to offer the same loan terms to EcoSave participants.
Nelson Hydro, FortisBC PowerSense, Nelson & District Credit Union and a Certified Energy Advisor from City Green Solutions will provide all the info and answers you need. An EcoSave participant, who has completed the process including on-bill financing, will give a testimonial on his positive experience.
There will be lots of door prizes and a chance to win a free home energy assessment along with a chance to register, learn more and meet some of the local contractors.
Refreshments will be served too.


Perforated Sheet Specialists specializes in metal perforations. We work mainly in mild steel, stainless steel, aluminum, brass and copper products. We can also perforate other materials such as fiberglass, foils, and non-brittle plastics.
We specialize in punching round, slotted, square, flanged and fancy holes in a wide range of sizes.
Perforated and Dimpled Sheets
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text:
The world’s first vaccine to deal with lethal cancerous mind tumours can probably give sufferers years of additional life, a world medical trial has concluded.
A senior NHS physician who was one of many trial’s chief investigators stated the proof confirmed DCVax had resulted in “astonishing” enhanced survival for sufferers.
The breakthrough may gain advantage the two,500 folks a 12 months within the UK who’re identified with glioblastoma , the most common type of mind most cancers and in addition probably the most aggressive. Folks with the illness reside on common simply 12-18 months after prognosis, some for even much less.
One affected person within the 331-person multicentre international research lived for greater than eight years after receiving DCVax. In Britain, 53-year-old Nigel French remains to be alive seven years after having it.
“The full outcomes are astonishing,” stated Prof Keyoumars Ashkan, a neurosurgeon at King’s Faculty hospital in London who was the European chief investigator of the trial. “The ultimate outcomes of this section three trial … supply contemporary hope to sufferers battling with glioblastoma.
The vaccine “was proven to delay life and apparently so in sufferers historically thought of to have poorer prognosis”, similar to older folks and other people for whom surgical procedure was not an choice, he added.
If accredited by medical regulators, DCVax can be the primary new therapy in 17 years for newly identified glioblastoma sufferers and the primary in 27 years for folks in whom it had returned.
Trial researchers discovered that newly identified sufferers who had the vaccine survived for 19.3 months on common, in contrast with 16.5 months for individuals who obtained a placebo.
Members with recurrent glioblastoma who had had DCVax lived on common for 13.2 months after receiving it, in contrast with simply 7.8 months for individuals who didn’t.
General 13% of people that obtained it lived for not less than 5 years after prognosis, whereas simply 5.7% of these within the management group did so, in response to the outcomes of the trial, which had been printed on Thursday within the Journal of the American Medical Affiliation Oncology.
The vaccine is a type of immunotherapy, during which the physique’s immune system is programmed to trace down and assault the tumour. It’s the first developed to sort out mind tumours.
“The vaccine works by stimulating the affected person’s personal immune system to struggle in opposition to the affected person’s tumour. It gives a personalised answer, working with a affected person’s immune system, which is probably the most clever system recognized to man,” stated Ashkan.
“The vaccine is produced by combining proteins from a affected person’s personal tumour with their white blood cells. This educates the white cells to recognise the tumour.
“When the vaccine is run, these educated white blood cells then assist the remainder of the affected person’s immune system recognise the tumour as one thing it must struggle in opposition to and destroy. Virtually like coaching a sniffer canine.”
The vaccine will not be but accessible on the NHS. However Northwest Biotherapeutics, the US firm that makes it, plans to hunt regulatory approval so it could change into accessible.
The charity Mind Tumour Analysis stated “sufferers who’ve been starved of recent medical choices for too lengthy” wanted to have the ability to entry the therapy to delay their lives.
“DCVax represents the primary rising remedy confirmed efficient in treating glioblastoma since temozolomide chemotherapy in 2005 and what the mind tumour neighborhood hopes is for it to change into reasonably priced, probably turning into customary of care – so accessible on the NHS,” stated Dr Karen Noble, the charity’s director of analysis, coverage and innovation.
“The common survival time for glioblastoma is devastatingly brief – simply 12 to 18 months. Tales like Mr French’s are uncommon however extremely welcome. We’re very inspired by the ultimate outcomes of this trial,” she added.
Twenty of the 331 sufferers within the eight-year trial had been within the UK, both at King’s or at College Faculty London hospital. General 232 individuals had DCVax and 99 a placebo. All 331 had surgical procedure adopted by radiotherapy and chemotherapy to take away as a lot of their tumour as attainable, which is the usual therapy for glioblastoma.
Dr Henry Stennett, analysis data supervisor at Most cancers Analysis UK, stated, “What’s notably thrilling is that [the vaccine] can enhance outcomes for individuals who don’t often reply nicely to remedy. Whereas it nonetheless must cross stringent regulatory approval, it may very well be an enormous step forwards in beating this kind of mind tumour.”

domain: health


Moving on out
Who’s gaining and losing seats in 2020?
The media mantra of 2019.
Math is hard … but it’s not this hard.
Here we go again
But … new spending? Natch.
Eat the rich, tax the poor?
“There is not enough annual income available among higher earners to finance the full cost of Medicare for All.”
“…$34.0 trillion over 10 years.”
He means you, Elizabeth Warren.
“So, yes or no, should middle-class Americans expect their taxes to go up…”
Math is hard.
“But will their taxes go up?”
“all income of all taxpayers earning $200,000 or more would only fund somewhat over half of the progressive agenda”
“We should stop using Republican talking points, in order to talk with each other…”
“If you’re going to spend an awful lot of money, you have to go where the money is…”
“Lighthizer is not happy.”
Telling it like it is
You don’t want to know, but you need to
It’s not just Elizabeth Warren talking about it
Flee while you can afford to
“…60% of respondents across the 21 countries polled believe they are not receiving their fair share of public benefits”
Uncle Sam does a terrible job of watching your money for you
Populism on steroids
There’s also gambling in the casino
Here’s a lineup of potential Democratic endorsements for you
“Snipe his ass.”
So much for that
Talk about the art of the deal…
Maybe more should leave
“At my age, why wouldn’t you conserve your resources…?”
What could possibly go wrong?
Yeah. It couldn’t be the taxes, regulations, job losses and gun control
“We must maintain efforts to put our Nation on a fiscally sustainable course…”
“It is irresponsible to promote this drug at this time.”
Been there, done that.
“we need a test that performs better than some of these other tests.”


David Curry stood down as chairman of the Commons standards committee after The Daily Telegraph disclosed that he had stopped staying at the property on the orders of his wife.
She demanded he no longer stay there five years ago as a condition of their reconciliation following his affair, but he continued claiming thousands of pounds a year for it.
His former committee has now ordered him to repay £28,000 and apologise to the House for his “serious” breach of the rules.
The amount is £10,000 less than the figure recommended by the independent Standards investigator, and will again raise questions about the ability of MPs to police themselves.
After a four-month investigation, John Lyon, the standards watchdog, found that Mr Curry himself admitted staying at the property in his Yorkshire constituency on only a handful of occasions in the last five years.
He recommended that Mr Curry repay the entire £38,000 he claimed for the property between July 2005 and March 2009.
In a damning report, Mr Lyon said: “I consider that Mr Curry’s misjudgement in claiming against parliamentary allowances for his constituency cottage, when he had decided not to continue to use it for overnight stays, was serious.
“I cannot share Mr Curry’s view that this was a ‘small infringement’ or that he kept to the spirit of the rules.
“By spending so few overnights in his constituency cottage while continuing to make claims for the property, I consider that Mr Curry acted contrary both to the letter and to the spirit of the rules.”
Mr Lyon also criticised the MP, who has represented Skipton and Ripon for 23 years, for failing to consult with the Commons authorities about his living arrangements after separating from his wife, Anne.
He did not tell them that he was no longer living at the family house in Essex, despite registering the property as his official “main home” for the purposes of his Commons allowances.
When his wife took him back, and demanded that he stop spending nights at the cottage where he had entertained his former mistress, Cherry Edwards, a local head teacher, he failed to tell the authorities that he was only using his designated second home for occasional visits during the day.
Mr Lyon said: “His arrangements were unusual and his circumstances stressful. These two factors alone should have alerted him to the need to consider his position under the rules and to seek advice.
“It is a matter of some concern that Mr Curry did not appear to give sufficient attention to the requirements of the rules or to give much weight to the terms in which they are cast.”
The MP, who had already announced that he will be standing down at the forthcoming general election, was also found to have “deliberately” breached the rules by failing to properly register his work for the firm Dairy UK, despite being asked to do so by the Commons authorities.
In response to Mr Lyon’s findings, Mr Curry said that he apologised “without reservation,” and insisted that he had always acted “in good faith”.
He added: “I have explained very frankly why I minimised my overnight stays at the cottage.
“Following our reconciliation in 2005, my wife and I accepted that we needed to rebuild our marriage by spending much more time together.”
Claire Hazelgrove, Labour's candidate in Skipton and Ripon, said: "Mr Curry seems, at last, ready to apologise to the Parliamentary committee but seems to have forgotten the people who deserve his apology the most - the people who have sent him to Parliament for over two decades.
"It is evident that Mr Curry has taken their trust for granted and Skipton and Ripon deserves a breath of fresh air."


text:
The East Baton Rouge Parish school system plans to close classes Wednesday amid plans by teachers to protest Gov. Bobby Jindal’s plan to make sweeping, historic changes in public schools.
The closing is the third of its kind on the eve of a likely day-long hearing and votes on the three bills that make up the bulk of Jindal’s public school plan, which is highly unusual for the first week of a legislative session. One of the measures could pave the way for teachers rated as ineffective, up to 5,000, to be fired within a year of two of getting such a rating.
House Speaker Chuck Kleckley, R-Lake Charles, said the State Capitol has prepared additional hearing rooms to handle the expected overflow crowds. He said the House Education committee is expected to meet late into the evening.


The thing about being in the public eye is that transgressions are not easily forgotten. Be it an offensive tweet or a regrettable action, the internet’s long memory has a way of keeping celebrities’ lesser moments in the spotlight long after they’ve passed. In the case of Josh Homme — frontman for heavy rockers Queens of the Stone Age — the issue in question occurred in December, when he kicked a female photographer in the face during KROQ’s Almost Acoustic Christmas in Los Angeles.
If fans of Queens took umbrage with Homme’s actions — I certainly did — they didn’t seem very bothered with it on Thursday evening when the band headlined Bill Graham Civic Auditorium as a rain-check for a cancelled appearance at 2017’s Outside Lands Festival. A massive crowd inadvertently created a fashion show of metal band shirts from past to present as they snaked through long lines at the metal detectors and packed the floor
Opening the show were the Eagles of Death Metal, a band that shares Homme with Queens of the Stone Age and which is no stranger to controversies of their own. Of course, the group will forever be linked with the shocking 2015 terrorist attack in Paris where three men opened fire while the band was on stage at the Bataclan.
To see them back in their element — shredding riffs and bedazzled in jumpsuits — was inspiring, but as we’ve been reminded in recent days, our affinity for the artists we love is usually wrinkled by the facts we’d rather not dwell on. In the case of Eagles of Death Metal, fans can take their pick.
For one, Hughes used to freelance as a speechwriter for the Republican Party — certainly not a crime but a curious past for a rock star, no doubt. Following the Bataclan attack, Hughes also made a number of anti-Muslim comments. Indeed he has a history of controversial quotes, like when he told Grantland in 2015 that “[i]t’s sexist to me to talk women into killing their babies.” There may not be enough words in the dictionary to unpack that particular opinion.
Watching the strobe lights be put through their paces as Hughes and company stormed the stage brought to mind the questions that many have been forced to ask themselves in the wake of Hollywood’s recent scandals and a mounting demand to hold artists accountable for their actions. At what point do the personal choices of a musician outweigh their art? Is it the burden of fans to know the politics of the bands they see and make their choices accordingly?
There are no easy answers, but suffice to say there was no way for me personally to watch Eagles of Death Metal without considering these queries. From my vantage point in the Bill Graham nosebleeds, most seemed fully engaged and excited to get not one but two Josh Homme projects with their ticket. The man himself even came to out for drumming duties during a performance of “Speaking in Tongues.”
When Eagles of Death Metal covered David Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream,” my initial thoughts of what right they had to cover such sacred material quickly turned to a more sobering realization: Why am I willing to castigate them but not Bowie himself, who faced multiple sexual misconduct allegations throughout his career? The sliding scales of standards seemed tethered to our individual tastes — a dangerous prospect that serves only to further obfuscate the truth.
For those who came to Bill Graham on Thursday night eager to ditch their shirts and damage their ear drums, Queens of the Stone Age delivered all that was desired.
In a set that spanned two-and-a-half hours, the band pounded the crowd with their popular brand of riff-tastic rock. Homme frequently chatted with the sold-out crowd between songs, although it’s hard to be sure if even he knew exactly what he was saying. Drawing primarily from their past two records — 2013’s Like Clockwork and 2017’s Villains — Homme and his bandmates raged against the night, a spectacle complimented by one of the more intense and detailed light shows to hit a Bay Area concert.
Naturally no mention of Homme’s photographer kick was made, although he did at one point declare that “safety is bullshit” — an odd sentiment given what his friends in Eagles of Death Metal went through in 2015. Even if the words weren’t spoken, it’s fair to say the subject was on the minds of some in the crowd. Twitter was rife with jokes that played off the incident, and whispered references to it could be heard in the bustling corridors of the auditorium.
Thus it seems plainly clear that the Queens of the Stone Age faithful haven’t forgotten about the time Homme sent a photographer to the hospital — they simply don’t care.


text:
AFL superstars Lance Franklin, Dustin Martin and Nat Fyfe are among a list of six players who managed to earn more than $1 million in the COVID-hit 2021 season.
Sydney’s Franklin – who needs just five more goals to become the sixth player in the game’s history to kick 1000 goals – and Richmond’s three-time Norm Smith medallist Martin are among the three players in the competition who earned more than $1.2 million in 2021.
When Franklin signed his mega nine-year deal to join the Swans after two premierships with Hawthorn, the champion goalkicker was set to earn $1.5 million in 2021 as his deal was heavily back-ended. However, COVID pay cuts would have impacted slightly on the exact figure he received.
Martin was in the fourth season of his seven-year deal in 2021 with the Tiger superstar believed to be earning $9 million over the length of his contract.
Dockers skipper Fyfe has completed four seasons of a six-year deal that began in 2018 as the club was beginning to rebuild, while his cross-town rival, Eagles defender Jeremy McGovern, was also a potential million-dollar earner, according to industry sources.
The figures were part of an AFL release which revealed that AFL clubs paid $233.9 million in player payments in 2021, with the average player salary for a listed player reaching $372, 224. There were 655 listed players across the competition.
Carlton’s Patrick Cripps is the highest paid Blue but sources said his pay packet was not $1 million in 2021, with the club adding former Giant Zac Williams and ex-Bomber Adam Saad to the line-up and Charlie Curnow in the middle of a lucrative multi-year deal.
Collingwood’s Brodie Grundy was in the first year of his seven-year deal with the Magpies that is expected to earn him more than $900,000 per season. Players in that category can sometimes earn $1 million a season when clubs spread their total contract across the salary cap paying more in some years and less in others, however sources said the Magpies list was too tight to carry a player on
seven figures a season.
Geelong’s Jeremy Cameron and Patrick Dangerfield are understood to be below the $1 million mark, with other key players Tom Hawkins, Joel Selwood and Tom Stewart in the line-up.
Western Bulldogs skipper Marcus Bontempelli and Melbourne’s Norm Smith medallist Christian Petracca both signed long-term deals last year that will place them among the highest earners in 2022, while Giants co-captains Stephen Coniglio and Josh Kelly are pushing towards the million-dollar range.
Franklin will fulfil the final year of his game-changing nine-year deal this season with the Swans unable to alter its terms due to the fact he joined the club as a restricted free agent. Long-term contracts had become fashionable before COVID-19 hit, with some clubs still prepared to take the punt on attracting recruits, or on their marquee players. Hawthorn, Franklin’s original club, is the only team to resist the trend.
There were 158 listed players who earned more than $500,000 in 2021 and 497 listed players who earned under that figure. One player earned between $700,000-800,000 without playing a match in 2021.
The bounce back in the football economy led to 44 players earning more than $700,000, an increase from just 10 in the COVID-ravaged 2020 season, when each team played 17 matches.
In 2020, there were just two players who earned $1 million or more in the COVID-shortened season.
There were more players earning $1.2 million or more in 2012 (four) than there were in 2021 (three), with the highest-paid players earning between $1.2-1.5 million per year for the past decade.
Gross total player payments in 2021 are yet to return to the levels reached in 2018 and 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic ripped revenue holes in the league, forcing the collective bargaining agreement to be renegotiated and a hard cap to be placed on football departments.
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Getty Museum to have Timothy Potts as director
The J. Paul Getty trust named a new museum director Tuesday, filling a job that had been open for more than two years and signaling its renewed commitment to acquiring world-class works of art.
Timothy Potts, 53, will begin as director of the Getty Museum on Sept. 1, leaving the Fitzwilliam Museum at the University of Cambridge in England, where he has served as director since 2008.
In the U.S. he is best known for directing the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth from 1998 to 2007. Like the Getty, the Kimbell has a sizable endowment and is one of the few museums that can afford to compete with private collectors for masterpieces. Potts made several high-profile purchases for the museum, including Donatello, Michelozzo and Bernini sculptures.
Potts joins Getty President James Cuno as the second major hire the Getty has been forced to make in two years. Former museum director Michael Brand resigned abruptly in January 2010, and James Wood, the Getty Trust president, died six months later. When Cuno joined the Getty from the Art Institute of Chicago in August 2011, he said his top priority was hiring a museum director — one with “an appetite for risk in acquiring extraordinary works of art.”
Speaking from Cambridge, Potts said he was excited to start at this stage in the Getty’s history, under a new trust president. “I was impressed by Jim’s willingness to think afresh, almost from the ground up, about what the Getty is doing and could be doing,” he said. “The great attraction of the Getty is that it’s a place where you can think big, frankly more than any other institution.”
“Hiring Timothy is like winning the trifecta — art historian, administrator and business person,” said Maxwell Anderson, director of the Dallas Museum of Art. “He’s widely admired by his colleagues and will doubtless bring distinction to the Getty. He and Jim Cuno have worked together closely in the past, so this was well thought out.”
Malcolm Warner, the new Laguna Art Museum director who once worked as senior curator under Potts at the Kimbell, praised his “high standards, his respect for artistic quality, his desire to always acquire the best works for the collection.”
“His instinct is building great collections — that’s what he’s a natural at,” Warner added. Potts was known to bet on undervalued markets like sculpture and bid on the Bernini sculpture while there were still some doubts about its authenticity. “If there’s a museum director who keeps his nerve in making big and sometimes adventurous acquisitions, it’s Timothy.”
In addition to his work at the Fitzwilliam and the Kimbell, Potts, a Sydney native, ran the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, from 1994 to 1998.
“He has all the qualities we need in our next museum director, with the experience of running three very different and complementary museums,” Cuno said. “And his standing in the field of museums is unsurpassed. People respect his experience and vision. When he’s in a room with staff members, the public or museum professionals, he has their confidence.”
Cuno said he got to know Potts over the years through their involvement in Assn. of Art Museum Directors or AAMD, a trade group for museum leaders. He said he chose Potts after serious conversations with six other candidates, and the Getty trustees in January “affirmed my decision unanimously at a board meeting.”
Because of the Getty’s $5.1-billion endowment, its museum director is in a rare position of being able to make significant acquisitions without having to raise money by hustling trustees for contributions.
But some observers view the Getty’s institutional structure — in which the museum director reports to the trust director and competes with three other Getty programs for funding — as dysfunctional. Former museum director Brand once called it “a major structural problem,” which “transcends any individual personalities.”
Potts said he could not speak to past problems but sees the Getty today as a “very cohesive and collegial place.” He also said that working at the Fitzwilliam, a museum that belongs to a research university and has its own conservation center, has prepared him for a complex institutional structure.
“I wouldn’t have accepted the offer if I thought it was a revolving door or there was a tension built into the structure that was so difficult,” Potts said. “The idea that different programs must get approval for funding is no different than a university structure in which we make the case for our projects. That’s the real world. I don’t see this as problematic.”
Potts’ career includes some realpolitik business experience. In the early 1990s, after receiving his doctorate from Oxford in ancient art and archaeology of the Near East (what is now considered the Middle East) and starting his curatorial work, he took a job at Lehman Brothers in New York. He worked there as an associate and then director in corporate finance, handling mergers and acquisitions among other things. He traded teams briefly for a similar job at Goldman Sachs before assuming his role as head of the National Gallery of Victoria.
Potts said he entered investment banking to help prepare him for the business side of being a museum director but otherwise describes it as a brief interlude in his career. “I think it gave me a more businesslike approach to project management, seeing things through. But you don’t have to work in the business world to have these qualities,” he said. “It’s not what made me the museum director I am today.”
Because of his background in ancient cultures, one area where he could have an effect is the Getty Villa — the Getty’s seaside home for antiquities that was modeled at great expense after an ancient Roman estate. Potts is the first Getty Museum director to specialize in antiquities and archaeology. (John Walsh was an expert in 17th century Dutch painting, Deborah Gribbon in 19th century French painting and Brand in Indian art.)
“Because of changes in the museum leadership and curatorial leadership, the Villa hasn’t had the kind of direction it deserves,” Cuno said. “With Timothy coming, we have someone who can give it that kind of leadership and vision, though not by any means at the expense of the Getty Center.”
Cuno and Potts both emphasize that the Getty will not buy antiquities of unknown or suspect origin, the sort of acquisitions that prompted allegations that the museum had dozens of looted artifacts in its collection. (The Getty subsequently agreed to return 40 works to Italy.) The Getty now has guidelines preventing the acquisition of any antiquity unless it was known to have already left its presumed country of origin before 1970 and “there is no reason to suspect it was illegally exported.”
Potts said that he “completely respects the Getty’s antiquity policy, which is also AAMD policy and increasingly the national standard.” But he is, along with Cuno, known for asking questions that can be provocative or unpopular in today’s staunchly anti-looting climate.
“I do take with him the view that within art history the movement of artworks among cultures is an important historical phenomenon. It’s a fact — works have been moved and traded,” Potts said. “It would be a much poorer world if we could only interact with the works from our own country.”
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Want to Be a Potterhead?
At the Plumb, Saturday, November 19th, 10 am – 11 am. Are you a Harry Potter fan? In grades 4-8? Join this month’s discussion of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Talk about the book, complete a wizardly craft and meet other Potter fans!

domain: entertainment


B3 Media (Production and Distribution Company)
Find out more about the cast and crew that have worked with B3 Media. If you are interested in working with B3 Media or similar companies, join The Mandy Network and get alerted of upcoming job opportunities.
B3 makes connections: between Britain's multicultural communities and its creative industries. They do so by uniting the power of digital media with the creative potential of emerging digital artists, film makers, visual artists and sound artists. Our activities - workshops, screenings, studio sessions, talks, networking events - are all about nurturing new talent and creating industry connections. We help them develop, produce and distribute their work, from the first spark of an idea through to the first showing and beyond.
Connected Mandy members:
Alternative Company Names
- B3 Media/UK Film Council
- B3 Media/ UK Film Council
- B3 Media Ltd


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Michael Jackson’s goddaughter Lucy Lester has dropped the strongest hint yet her dad Mark Lester could be the biological father of Paris Jackson, while stating Michael would always be her dad.
After years of speculation, the Loose Women guest addressed rumours they were half-sisters.
In the past, Mark has confessed he would have a DNA test, telling Mail Online : "I wouldn't have a DNA test without the children's permission but when the children come of age, and it's not far away, and they decide they want me to do it then I will."
She said: “Michael will always be her dad, biologically or not, Michael raised her, he loved her and that’s all that really matters.”
Lucy lost contact with his children, including Paris Jackson, 10 years ago after his family “wanted to shelter them”.
The daughter of Oliver actor Mark, a close friend of the late star, got to know his three children while they were growing up.
But contacted stopped after Michael’s death in 2009, with Lucy not having spoken to either of his children since.
She revealed live on the show: “We lost touch after Michael passed away and I would love to see, not just Paris, but all of the children.
“So much has happened in the last 10 years but obviously I understand completely the family wanted to shelter them.”
Speaking on Loose Women in her first TV interview since the HBO documentary Leaving Neverland aired, Lucy revealed her support for the star as she continued to refuse to watch it.
The documentary by Dan Reed focuses on the late singer and historical sexual abuse allegations made against him. Jackson always denied allegations against him and in June 2005 was acquitted of child molestation.
In the new documentary, it featured “gut wrenching” interviews with Wade Robson, 36, and James Safechuck, 40, who claim they were abused by Jackson from the ages of seven and eight respectively.
Despite her continuous support for the star and his family, still refusing to believe Michael was guilty, Lucy has now confirmed she hasn’t heard from Paris, Blanket or Prince or the family since he died almost 10 years ago.
On her decision not to watch the controversial documentary about Michael, she went on: “No, I haven’t watched it, I don’t really feel I need to.
“Obviously my opinion is not going to be swayed by a documentary, I don’t really want to listen to it.”
Loose Women airs weekdays at 12:30pm on ITV.

domain: celebrity


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The fastest and snacks, of course, are salads fruits and vegetables, because, first, their preparation is spent much less time (no need to boil, simmer, fry, etc.) and, secondly, such food is always fresh and many of them are perfectly satisfy hunger. We will note several advantages of these snacks:
vegetables and fruits carry the vitamins
vegetables and fruits are always low-calorie and easily digestible
vegetables and fruits are easy to prepare, and well blended (ingredients)
vegetables and fruits are suitable even for people who sit on a diet
The quick snacks of vegetables are snacks of cucumbers, tomatoes, asparagus, peppers, beans, greens. These vegetables are easily cut and combined, depending on preference. You can make a light salad (a must, of course, add seasonings, sour cream, mayonnaise, butter (to taste).
Here is an example of quick snacks of vegetables: salad cucumber, tomato, pepper, radish and cheese. Continue reading
When the whole family looks forward to the coming feast, the mistress of puzzles, how to make a salad for my birthday. want to surprise your guests and loved ones?
All signature recipes become boring, and culinary books and magazines offer so many delicious salads on the day of birth. it is easy to get lost. For the holiday table want to choose something new, unusual and yet easy to prepare. We offer you a ready and proven options – not have to browse, and download over the Internet unknown salad recipes.
Our selection of salads on the day of birth has already been tested and delights any palate. You just have to use our best recipes and prepare these salads for a birthday, anniversary, and other holidays that guests only gasp. Every woman tries to be a hospitable hostess and invited all to offer the best and tasty. And to set the table correctly and beautifully arrange the appliances and dishes is no easy task. Therefore, it is important to organize everything perfectly and tastefully. But the most important is the ability to pick up a birthday recipes that will appeal to all. Continue reading
Sushi, rolls, sashimi, – are you sure you really know everything about Japanese cuisine? One of the leading Independent Newspapers in the UK decided to rank the most exotic and the most delicious dishes of Japan.
Curry pan (Donuts with curry sauce)
Everyone loves curry, and many people love donuts, so why not combine these two great product? The Japanese thought so too and made a completely unique dish that will certainly not encounter in a candy store.
Basashi (Raw horse meat)
Fish is one of the staples of Japan after rice. As for meat, the Japanese are willing to make all sorts of dishes made of horse meat. For example, Bassi. For it is only the fatty meat of the horse, which has a marble structure. The slices are cut very thinly and dipped in soy sauce mixed with ginger and green onions. As the authors of the rating, Bassi a bit like Italian prosciutto. Continue reading


x86 survived because of price/performance caused by fierce competition (Intel, AMD, Cyrix, Rise, Centaur, etc.), and popularity of Windows/DOS. It was fun experiencing how x86 beat faster RISC CPUs (Alpha, PowerPC, Itanium) when there were builds of Windows NT.
Now, people are downgrading to ARM to use their low-power, low-performance portable toys (tablets, smartphones) running inferior operating systems. Sadly, Intel did an horrendous job with the Atom until 2-3 years ago, and Microsoft did even worse releasing the bloated Vista, which was awful for the now-dead netbook market.
Atoms are finally good enough, but still, the absurd 2GB RAM limit, and high power consumption (most Windows tablets can't charge from USB hub or PC) is still not good enough for Windows 8 (the real one, not RT).
And, please don't teach your kids x86 ASM. Modern C++ compilers generate good optimized code, runtime libraries are optimized. Besides, x86 code looks backwards, instruction set origins are from a 1970 terminal! (datapoint 2200), has endianness from hell, few registers, etc.


By Peter Bleakney, Driving .ca - Originally launched in 2005, the Cambridge-built Chevrolet Equinox compact crossover became a cash cow for General Motors thanks to the segment's ascendancy to North America's vehicle of choice. The first-gen Equinox found more than 2 million homes, and in Canada it was Chevy's second-best seller behind the Silverado pickup.
Ah, but time waits for no crossover mired in the past. To keep up with the raging tide of competitive iron, the Equinox now moves into its third generation for the 2018 model year, getting an all-new structure, tidier dimensions, sharper looks, updated tech and a new base engine - a 1.5-litre turbo-four putting out 170 horsepower 203 lb.-ft. of torque - mated six-speed automatic transmission. It also sheds up to 180 kilograms, depending on the trim.
The 1.5L engine in the Equinox, which we sampled earlier this year, is smooth and reasonably fuel efficient. But for those seeking more punch, Chevrolet answers the call with this 2.0L turbo-four that makes 252 horsepower and 260 lb.-ft. of torque from 2,500 rpm. It works in tandem with a nine-speed auto. The Equinox now leaps to the head of the class when it comes to segment power, edging out the speedy Subaru Forester XT with its 250 horsepower, the 245-horsepower Ford Escape and the Kia Sportage, which develops 237 HP from its 2.0L turbo-four.
We sampled the top tier-Premier AWD which layers on such goodies as two-tone leather, blind-spot and rear cross-traffic warning systems, memory settings for driver's seat radio and mirrors, an eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system, a hands-free powered lift gate and rear park assist, plus 18-inch wheels, LED headlights, a few chrome bits on the exterior, and more.
Escaping the confines of congested Nashville, the 2.0L Equinox feels relaxed and certainly more fleet than the base 1.5L engine. With it's stiff structure, targeted sound insulation and standard noise cancelling, Chevy has fashioned one of the more serene and comfortable riding vehicles in the segment. Ride quality is excellent, and while handling might be not as sharp as the Honda CR-V or Mazda CX-5, the Equinox cuts a clean and controlled path on these undulating roads in rural Tennessee.
The nine-speed automatic was developed by GM in-house, reflecting an industry trend to get a wide ratio spread while also keeping engines within a fuel efficient rev range. Hats off to GM for tuning this transmission to avoid unwanted ratio "hunting" and excessive lag when calling for acceleration. The first five gears are closely stacked and slur between each other mostly unnoticed. Under light throttle loads, the nine-speed wants to keep the 2.0L turbo just under 1,500 rpm, but unlike some others with multi-gear transmissions - the new Jeep Compass comes to mind - there's no pathological aversion to downshifting here.
As these were U.S.-spec Equinoxes, we observed 24 MPG on this mix of highway and winding two-lane roads. Plus, not only does the Equinox run on regular grade fuel, an auto start/stop system is standard across the line.
The first stop is the hamlet of Leipers Fork, about an hour outside of Nashville. If you're looking for a killer fried chicken sandwich and some fried green tomatoes, drop in on the friendly folks at The Country Boy diner. And if you're looking to jam on some funky vintage instruments, wander two doors down to Serenite Maison. There's an old Kay standup bass leaning in the corner - been there for decades, they say - along with a selection of Gibson and Martin guitars hanging on the wall. No, they're not for sale - I asked - they're purely for the pleasure of anyone who wants to play them.
Chevrolet has the 2018 Equinox armed for connectivity. Standard is Chevy MyLink infotainment system with wireless audio streaming, along with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, and one year of OnStar that bestows, among other services, a 4G LTE wireless hotspot.
The Equinox's dash looks to be lifted right out of the Malibu, which is no bad thing as all the controls, major gauges and menu structure are clear and logical. The cabin looks good dressed up in this two-tone tan-and-black combo, but lesser trim models in all black are a bit dour. The quality of materials is not up to class leaders like the CX-5 and the Sportage, and some of that faux-chrome trim hints of an old-school GM hangover.
The front seats are comfortable, and rear passengers are not left out here, getting plenty of headroom and legroom, two USBs, a power adapter, a 110-volt outlet and heated seats. It doesn't stop there - rear seat riders can actually choose whether they want warm butts and/or backs.
A raft of new radar and camera-based safety kit is on the menu, including surround vision, forward collision alert and automatic braking, plus lane-departure warning and lane-keep assist systems. Additionally, the standard Rear Seat Reminder warns if a child or dog is left in the second row.
There's plenty of functionality in the 2018 Equinox. The 60/40 split second row easily folds forward with a low-effort fluid motion, creating a flat and smartly configured load space. There is a decently sized hidden compartment under the floor. The hatch opening is large too, although you'll find more cargo room in a CR-V, Forester or Toyota RAV4. With the 2.0L turbo engine, the Equinox's tow rating leaps to 3,500 pounds.
Landing in dealerships now, this accomplished crossover with its bigger engine, grown-up comfy road manners and class-leading technology is the second prong in the Equinox's assault on the compact crossover segment. Later this year, the Equinos will get a 1.6L turbodiesel engine with 136 horsepower and 236 lb.-ft. of torque.


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Four technology-driven trends disrupt the automotive industry and transform mobility as we know it today. Our future cars will be autonomous, electric, shared and connected. The production of electric vehicles is already in full swing and will amount to ten million units globally in 2025. Due to the increasing mass production and the development of new technologies, the costs per unit will decline significantly. However, this also brings about new challenges for the application of materials emerging for the automotive industry.
What does that mean for polymer manufacturing?
Polymer parts and components will not become redundant. They will rather be used for different applications, like battery brackets, connectors, casings and in batteries and electric engines. Nevertheless, the currently used materials need to be reviewed in order to determine their suitability for the use in electric, fuel cell and autonomous cars.
Different key properties and functional integration
Key polymer properties for these applications are flame retardancy as well as electric and thermal conductivity. The development of application-tailored polymers further allows weight reductions and thus lower energy consumption as heavy steel or die-cast aluminum parts can be replaced by lighter plastic parts and components.
Furthermore, the possibility to integrate additional features into polymer parts and components like sensors and electrical wiring provides great opportunities for the application of polymers in the cars of the future.
Polymer materials allow cost-efficient production
The increasing level of driving automation requires a wide range of new sensors, such as ultrasonic, radar, IR and LIDAR sensors. The sensors are installed in cars to avoid collisions, control distances and assist in emergencies and are essential for controlling cars completely automatically in the future.
Large-scale production of these solutions is only cost-efficient if these parts can be produced from polymers. Additional efforts need to be put into the development of radar-optimized polymers for better radar transmission and absorption. Only then can the accuracy and the improvement of the functionality of the automated vehicle be guaranteed.
Keep up with the new mobility concepts
Material manufacturers need to be highly observant of the rapidly changing automotive industry. The disruptions in mobility demand application of materials that adhere to the concepts of autonomous and electric vehicle.
Thermal analysis offers many opportunities to determine crucial properties like the behavior of polymers at different temperatures as well as thermal conductivity.
Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA)
and Thermomechanical Analysis (TMA)
allow you to determine how load-bearing and stress-resistant polymer parts and components react under the new service conditions of electric and autonomous vehicles. Additionally, analysis using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC)
indicates the temperatures at which polymer materials start to melt.
With Laser Flash Analysis (LFA)
, you are able to determine how well a material carries heat or how temperature diffuses in a material.
Using thermal analysis methods in the material selection and design process for plastic parts and components in electric and autonomous vehicles supports your efforts to achieve advantages over your competitors.


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A firm which specialises in the manufacture of refractory high temperature ceramics has completed a £1 million expansion and refurbishment programme at its factory.
Vulcan Refractories Ltd, based on the Brookhouses Industrial Estate, Cheadle, has completed the major investment work in just nine months.
It comes as the firm celebrates winning a national health and safety award.
The company, which was founded in 1969, supplies many industries worldwide, with exports accounting for around 70 per cent of the business.
The factory employs 35 staff, with 80 per cent coming from within a 15-mile radius. T
Bosses are now looking to grow the business more over the next few years in its modern premises.
Managing director Gary Dukes said: "We are now getting into full production after the £1 million investment.
"We have more space, which has made us more efficient and productive. We are now in a position for further growth.
"The company employs local people from across the Moorlands.
"It is very important to have the right workforce as they make the company.
"Following production improvements we are now in a position to further expand the business."
The company was among the winners in the RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards 2014, netting a top award for its performance
The business won a Gold Award in the prestigious annual scheme run by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), which was presented during a ceremony at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel, at the National Exhibition Centre, last month.
Vulcan's health and safety consultant Ian Mycock, who is a former Cauldon orks manager and National Safety Manager at Lafarge Cement, said: "This award recognises all the hard work and effort every single team member here has put in to take care of each other, and to ensure that we all go home to our families safe every single day."
Mr Dukes added: "As a small business, we are immensely proud to achieve the RoSPA Gold Award. It is a superb tribute to the hard work and commitment of our entire workforce in striving to achieve the highest of safety standards.
"This builds on our success last year both at RoSPA,where we were awarded the Silver standard, and in winning a second British Ceramic Confederation Safety Showcase Award. We will continue relentlessly in our quest to eliminate harm and achieve a world class standard in health and safety."
David Rawlins, RoSPA's awards manager, said: "Organisations that gain recognition, such as Vulcan Refractories Limited, contribute to the raising of the bar for other organisations to aspire to. We offer them our congratulations."
The company has also just featured in a four-page article in the Global HSE magazine, which highlights the firm's history and how safety is the core object for the factory.
Mr Mycock said: "Part of my role as a consultant is to advise and guide companies to improve processes, including health and safety, which I firmly believe is a crucial element for sustainable business performance.
"Here at Vulcan we are seeing a small business being recognised in the global arena, which is fantastic news for the company, its employees and the Staffordshire Moorlands."