text:
"Baby Steps Among The Stars" – Part Two – Chapter Six (2014Nov30)
Posted by XperDunn on November 30, 2014
We have created a force, Capitalism, which deforms, by its nature, the culture that embraces it too closely. Where public education was once approved as a public good, it is now a profit-center—its students have become its customers. Where incarceration was once a sad necessity, it is now a profit-center—its prisoners have become its employees. Where political office was once a empowering of one citizen to oversee the public welfare, it is now a self-perpetuating fund-raising organization. Its office-holders have stopped formulating the greatest good for the greatest number and now calculate merely the best way to increase campaign revenue.
What went wrong? Let's step back a bit, and look at ourselves in the past. In the past we struggled against nature and against ourselves. In the past, being strong, even violent, often meant winning the day. But now we have technology that must be restrained, weaponry that ought never to be used, unspoiled habitats that still provide clean air, clean water, and biodiversity—which must be protected, now that their numbers are grown so few. It has become so easy to hurt and kill each other that to continue the violent ways of the past means certain slaughter—and we have ample evidence of this, and will continue to have more such.
In the past, there was no mechanism for international coordination or compromise. The United Nations and the World Court have virtually no power in their present states, but their very creations were indicative of our awareness that both war and crime are evils without borders, and that the best way to combat them is to organize forces of good that recognize no borders. The fact that these institutions remain little more than place-keepers, bookmarks on good ideas, is due largely to our focus on Capitalism. Ceding sovereign power is too close to ceding ownership to sit well in the minds of the rich and powerful—not to mention the benefits that multinationals obtain from the 'chinese walls' between the laws of taxation and regulation in separate nations.
In the past, we could rely on the large-ness of the globe and the chaotic nature of global humanity—secrets were easily kept and keeping the masses uninformed was child's play. In large part, we colluded in our own ignorance by hewing to the concept that some things were too distasteful to discuss publicly. And we colluded in our tacit agreement that women and girls were somehow less than men and boys, that dark skins were somehow less than pale skins, that the rich were more worthy than the poor, etc. But these obsolete attitudes have given way to the clarity of holding our leaders accountable. They may still get away with corruption, collusion, obfuscation, and obstructionism—but they may no longer pull the strings of our traditional hatreds without a good-sized minority calling them out in the media for this kind of manipulation.
America is particularly vulnerable to modern changes. We have, historically speaking, just reached the end of our growth as a country—we didn't add our last two states until 1958. The 'becoming' of the fifty states was still alive with changes, construction, development, and growth until very recently. But now we have the many small towns being strangled out of existence by malls and superstores, which have themselves begun to see oblivion in the face of online shopping. We have fishing villages on every coastline that have withered under the onslaught of commercial fisheries. We have industry after industry disappearing behind the waves of robotics, computers, and the internet—millions of human jobs that need never be done again. Good news for the business owner, bad news for the worker—and the culture.
We seem to have fully blossomed—the ripeness of American life during the last half of the last century appears to have been a peak—and we see signs everywhere that America is beginning to de-stabilize. Opportunity has always been the main engine behind American ascendance. The growing income-inequality, the stranglehold of big business lobbies on legislation, and many other post-modern symptoms of Capitalist excesses which encroach on the weaknesses in Democracy—these things bring the notion of one person striking out into business for themselves further and further from reality and closer to a nostalgic fantasy akin to the horse-drawn buggy.
There is also an apparent willfulness to our current stagnation. In the past quarter century we've gone from first among nations in college graduates, to twelfth—yet we have no national (or state or local) race to renew and improve our public education system. We have not only ceased to expand our infrastructure with new roads, bridges, and power-grids, we've lost the will to maintain the infrastructure we had.
We have always deluded ourselves into having faith in Capitalism, as if it were some branch of physics—a mathematical purity, self-correcting, self-policing, compelled by its nature to be of benefit to all mankind. Even today there are those who will enthusiastically explain how all our difficulties are caused by our refusal to let Capitalism have its head, so to speak. But economics has never been merely a branch of mathematics—it contains within it (recognized or not) the history of humankind's struggle over ownership and possession.
When we talk about double-entry accounting, computerized inventory databases, and how to calculate the 8.25% sales tax on your department store purchase—it's easy to think of Capitalism as having the precision of a gram scale and the inherent fairness of a court of law. But consider, dear reader, the familiar figure of the business-owner—an entrepreneur starts up a business and hires employees to do the work. The business-owner pays the employees a salary. The business makes a profit (one hopes). The business-owner pays the salaries and keeps all the rest of the profit. This is normal.
But does that paradigm have the elegance and inherent fairness of a mathematical equation? Is it right? What if the company makes millions of dollars for the business-owner, and the employees' salaries are a tiny fraction of that? Capitalism states that a business-owner, by virtue of owning the business, is perfectly right to retain all the profits to him-or-herself. Further, it is perfectly right to pay employees' salaries based on the cost of labor, not on the value of the product of the labor. I suspect, without having lived a lifetime of Capitalist culture, I might see something unjust in that set-up.
If we look at the history of the popular music industry, we see examples of musical artists whose greatness resulted in mass sales of recordings and licenses—all profits of which went to business-owners whose only justification for this was a legal agreement of ownership of the musician's creations as terms of employment. And we also see court cases where this glaring injustice has, more recently, resulted in rulings that award greater protection to the creators of original content. In spite of that, popular music (and the entertainment industry in general) is still rife with business practices that reward those with ownership over those that produce what is owned.
Back when employees in many industries could plan on starting a business of their own, this inherently unfair system had a silver lining. The idea was you were a virtual slave of someone else until you could manage to own your own place—at which point you would become one of the slave-owners, and could forget about that whole mess. In many ways, it mimicked the old concept of parenting. But with giant corporations filling virtually every marketing and service niche available, even the new businesses that appear out of thin air (like programming 'apps') are ephemeral things, quickly consolidated into the workings of some electronics giant's new division.
The current reality for the 99% is employment—and even that modern enslavement is considered dream-worthy to the substantial percentage of chronically unemployed. The average law-abiding citizen is given working hours, corporate policies to adhere to, bosses they must obey—and as little as possible in the way of compensation or benefits. In the old days, some business-owners believed that profit-sharing programs would increase productivity and loyalty among workers—this old applesauce is roundly laughed at today, in spite of its still being true, even without it being practiced.
And that is one example of what has changed about Capitalism—business-owners once looked for 'win-win'-type solutions—our new killer-Capitalism insists that only the 'Win', singular, is of any relevance. Worse was the Dilbert-ification of the office environment. Cubicles introduced a blatant 'cattle' aspect to office work—the sameness, the lack of elbow room, the almost purposeful de-humanization of the work area. But to me the greatest over-reach was the appearance in employee-policy handbooks of the banning of personal items at workstations—suddenly, no one could put up a picture of their children, keep a potted plant, indulge in a tchotchke (or ten). While there was truth to the claim that some abused the privilege and created cluttered, unprofessional work areas—it still seemed an opportunity for guidelines and limits, rather than a total ban on personalization.
But banning something humane fits right in with the mind-set of business-owners and their managerial goons. Give any human being the slightest whiff of authority and suddenly they're not happy unless they're telling everyone else what to do—it's human nature.
While the dehumanizing of employees is certainly nothing new, it becomes an issue when civilization seems to measure progress by Capitalist sign-posts rather than the causes of humanity and justice. The arrow of human rights followed a seemingly direct course, right from the Enlightenment, through the American Revolution, right up to the defeats of Fascism and Communism. We continue to win victories in this battle with the legal end of segregation, the fights for feminism, rights for the disabled, and gay rights. But we also see Capitalism taking some of our self-evident human rights away from humanity as a whole (whether in their roles as employees or consumers) and for reasons that many deem justified (such is their submergence in the logic of money).
Consider the air, dear reader. Is there any significance to the right to vote, the right to a fair trial, or the right to free speech—if we are denied the right to breathe—or to drink clean water? Much wailing has gone up, since Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" and for all the decades after—and even now—over the fact that we can't stop destroying the environment without destroying civilization. But I don't see it that simply. We could curtail our destruction of the environment and still maintain the bulk of civilization—but we would have to destroy Capitalism to do it. We would have to end the primacy of ownership over justice and place humanity's welfare above the posturings of nations and stockholders and financiers. Civilization could easily come out of it better off—but certain very powerful individuals would not. And that would mean war. And war always has the truth as its first casualty—so that's not going to work.
And don't get me wrong—I'm well aware that people will always find some other way to use each other, and hurt each other, even without money as the nail to hang it all on. But Capitalism has grown into a globally-interlocking behemoth with a momentum even its One-Percenters can no longer control. It forces all of us, nay, hurries all of us towards the cliff of profit-without-consequence. It destroys ways-of-life for whole communities, corrupts the governance both local and national, and dehumanizes everything that can be turned to profit—which, in today's Capitalism, means everything and everyone.
While we continue to fight for human rights in our laws and in our government, we lose more ground than we gain due to the encroachments of business practices. Business leaders and their pawns (including many a congressperson and senator) will explain that homelessness, lack of health care, indecent wages, and the loss of clean air and water—are all things that must be looked at in terms of profit and loss. We must begin to ask, "Whose profit? Whose loss?" Is one person's right of ownership greater than another's right to survive? And if it is, why do we bother to talk about human rights? If the world's economy can be held over our heads while plutocrats lord it over the needy millions, and trash the planet, and dissolve our way of life, is Capitalism our guiding light—or is it the train entering the far end of the tunnel?
Like all evils, Capitalism is deceptively simple—with darkly complex underpinnings. Ideas of charity and sacrifice are excluded from the logic of business—but not from the business of being a human being. Ideas of conservation and renewable resources, that were so idealist-seeming, have become matters of species survival—and money-lovers are still trying to argue that fact away, because ownership and responsibility don't align very well. The wealthy try to build high-rise apartments that overshadow Central Park—as if the substantiality of the building overrules the existence of the mere shadow. And this is the problem with Capitalism—it deals in the immediate and substantial and discounts the ephemeral, where true meaning is often found.
Once, Americans could turn away from the harsh world of money, industry, and big cities—and find a haven in the more natural corners of the earth. Capitalism was a mosh-pit in which we could choose to participate or walk away. Civilization was once so small that this could be accomplished simply by climbing up into the mountains that surrounded a populous valley. But then it became a matter of going where people could barely survive, like the arctic circle, or the deserts. Now, of course, the world is full. We may not bother to grace the inhabitants with infrastructure, education, or even sufficient food and water—but we nevertheless 'do business' there, wherever 'there' is. We drill for oil, mine for diamonds or coal, chop down the forests and poach the wildlife (what's left of it).
We destroy, in the process, the old ways of life, the flora and fauna that once supported undeveloped cultures, we net all the fish, kill all the whales—we might as well shoot each and every one of those people in the head. And all because some multinational has so much money that they can pay the tin-pot dictators that have 'sovereign rule' over these victims. It was bad enough when we thought that only the third world was vulnerable to the moneyed interests—now we have the same kinds of people paying off our own politicians, running oil pipelines from one end of America to the other, spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico, killing off all the bees with pesticides, and using untested GMO crops in place of healthy foods. We're all going to die—and we are all unified in our support of our killer, Capitalism.
Capitalism was a means to an end—prosperity. Now that prosperity for all mankind is a possibility, Capitalism has become the only thing keeping us from it. We crossed the finish line, but business-owners want us all to keep running our rat race, keep up productivity, keep those profits rolling in—it's insane. But I don't want to get rid of money—that's just as crazy. No, we need something more nuanced—limits on money. We need limits on what money can buy, and limits on which places and things are considered outside of the rule of Capitalism, by virtue of their ethical or ecological qualities. And to start out with the most important change, we need separation of cash and state.
The pilgrims, having left Europe because of religious persecution, found that they had brought religious strife with them—and saw separation of church and state as the only solution to their looming self-destruction. They did not think their religion was unimportant—quite the contrary. But they could see that religion empowered by law was a weapon that could cut everyone. Neither is Capitalism unimportant, but Money as the only Law is an equally dangerous blade, or more so—as it is poised to cut the entire world open.
This entry was posted in Digital War, For Fun, Modern Life, personal observations, Political, Recent News and tagged capitalism, comments, debate, election, employment, fear, free, greed, historical, History, Idealism, media, money, occupy wall street, politics, religion, representatives, Science, social services, society, USA, xperdunn. Bookmark the permalink.
Just In Time For Xmas (2014Nov29)
A Seasonal, Regional Song (2014Dec03)


The Virginia Society of CPAs (VSCPA) is hosting a FREE workshop- Before You File: Everything You Need to Know about the New Tax Law on Tuesday, Oct. 23 from 10 – 12:00 p.m. at the South County Library in Roanoke at 6303 Merriman Road, Roanoke, VA 24018.
This workshop is brought to you as part of our ongoing Financial Fitness efforts in Virginia.
Register online for this FREE event or call the Virginia Society of CPAs at (800) 341-8189.


text:
Glenwood, at 800 Orchard Street on the West Side, was owned by three of the most prominent families of the Kanawha Valley. James Madison Laidley, a newspaper editor and a member of the Virginia Legislature, hired builder and stonemason William Preston to construct the house in 1852. Preston used materials that were readily available, including timber from the estate, bricks fired nearby, and sandstone quarried not far from the house. In 1857, he sold the home to Judge George Summers, for whom Summers County is named. The house was restored in 1954 for Lucy and Elizabeth Quarrier, descendants of Judge Summers. On the National Register since 1978, the house is owned by the Historic Glenwood Foundation.
George William Summers

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Busy Professionals Need Long Wireless Headset Talk Time. Here's How The Different Brands Stack Up.
When making money or your career's on the line, you don't need a headset that leaves you short on talk time. Instead, you need a headset that gives you all day connectivity that allows you to get the next deal closed or that critical call wrapped up.
Headsets that don't offer all day connectivity can be a detriment to your success. Studies have shown that using an office headset enhances productivity and prevents many on-the-job work related injuries. Headsets are important for anyone who spends hours every day on the phone while on their PC. You eliminate the painful and inefficient experience of cradling the phone receiver on your shoulder. You also get a productivity boost and the ability to move freely about the office while taking calls on the fly. No wonder they continue to gain in popularity. Sure beats the alternative.
With headsets playing a key role in the success of countless business people, it's important to have this tool available to you when needed. Besides sheer reliability and great sound quality, not to mention comfort, having a robust battery that delivers all day headset usability is very important in order to keep the conversation flowing.
Here's how the most popular wireless office headsets compare when it comes to the talk time they provide.
The most popular Plantronics wireless headset models are shown below.
Three of the four models use the same battery with the convertible model, D904 uses a different battery. Below is the summary of this brand and talk times.
Jabra has several models of wireless headsets all offering different talk times. Here's a quick summary of the most popular models.
The two most popular models of Sennheiser wireless headsets include the SD Pro 1 monaural and the SD Pro 2 binaural. Talk times are the same as shown below.
Battery recharge time can also be something to keep in mind, especially if you left your headset off the charger the night before. Here's a quick look at a few models and how long it takes to recharge their batteries.
As you can see, battery talk time and battery recharge times vary quite a bit from brand to brand. When searching for a new wireless headset and when talk time is high on your priority list, make sure to keep in mind the differences each brand offers. By doing so, you'll be able to make informed decisions and in the end, you'll have a headset that meets your needs and keeps you talking when others are ready to call it a day.
We're here to help! Feel free to contact us and we'll be glad to help you in any way we can. You can also download our 2017 Headset Buyer's Guide that gives you a lot of helpful headset information. The help is free and so is the Buyer's Guide. Click below to request your free copy today!
‹ PreviousWhen It Comes To Wireless Talk Range, Not All Office Wireless Headsets Are Created Equal. See How They Compare.


That morning we went to the Bring and Buy and got some goodies, did it a lot faster than usual due to the attention of a two years old but got a cool pair of dotty boots.
Afterwards we went to visit the Pergola Gardens (shame so cold and windy), still always a great place to bring visitors and whilst we picnic by the water we had some choir practicing.
went to the stumpery but no squirrels !!!


There was an unusual match between Barbados and Grenada.
The full story is here and I thank Solomon Gold for the pointer. Angus also blogged this story, with video evidence as well.
Could someone please phone the esteemed Sr Edgardo Barandiaran and tell him about this post! I'm sure he will have something to say about esos Caribeños locos.
Considering that teams averaged only 1.05 goals per game in the World Cup group stage, I think allowing soccer teams to score in either goal would do much to make the game more entertaining.
I can't get over this weird two-goals-for-one-in-overtime rule. What on earth were they thinking?
Fun with non-monotonic utility functions. Notice that the double-point overtime rule is not required to create the incentives to do this, it just makes the incentives stronger.
Well, because it's sudden death, the two-point-rule in this case DOES create the incentive, doesn't it? With normal (one point) sudden death there's no reason at all for Barbados to score an own-goal to get into overtime (and none for Grenada to avoid overtime by scoring an own-goal too).
The editor of The Bridge World magazine, Jeff Rubens, has over the years written many editorials on the general phenomenon of (what he calls) "sportsmanlike dumping"--playing not win a particular game (or segment of a game, or series of games) so as to increase one's chance of winning the overall event. Sportsmanlike dumping arises because of defective conditions of contest; ideally the players' incentives to win each segment of the competition should be aligned with the overall goal of winning the whole event, but the designers of competitions often fail to attend to this.
How about tanking at the end of a season to end up with the #1 draft prospect?
Boy, Marginal Revolution's commenters sure are the most intriguing and knowledgeable among all blogs. Even the spambots are smart.
These accounts don't go into what must have been the deep weirdness of the final minutes of normal time if play ever reached the Grenadian penalty area. A team trying to score into its own goal has a player (its goalkeeper) able to pick the ball up and run with it into the net. At the same time their opponents would have had great difficulty defending that goal without committing offside offences. If the defending opposition were to put the ball out of play across the goal line, play would restart with the defenders outside the penalty area and the attackers restarting in front of an open goal but unable to score into it. (You can't score into your own goal direct from a goal kick - it would lead to a corner kick which would in the circumstances have presumably been like a goal kick taken from the corner flag.) It must have been nightmarish for the referee trying to wrap his head quickly around the bizarre consequences of the reversal of roles.
Which one is the spambot??


Drug decriminalization rapidly emerging as consensus goal of drug policy, public safety and health as 2016 UN special session on drugs approaches.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) appeared set to call on governments to end the criminalization of drug use and possession, according to DPA Honorary Board Member Richard Branson – but in a dramatic turn of events withdrew a briefing paper under pressure from at least one country, according to the BBC.
The UN document, printed on formal UNODC letterhead with no mention of it being a draft, was apparently released this past Friday with an embargo. Confidential sources say that when a journalist violated that embargo, the UNODC decided to walk back the report, apparently under pressure from the U.S. government.
More than 1.5 million drug arrests are made every year in the U.S. – the overwhelming majority for possession only. Roughly two dozen countries, and dozens of U.S. cities and states, have taken steps toward decriminalization of drug use and possession.
In April 2016, the United Nations General Assembly will hold a special session on drugs (UNGASS) – an initiative proposed in 2012 by the then-president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon – to conduct a comprehensive review of the successes and failures of international drug control policy. Whereas the previous UNGASS in 1998 was dominated by rhetorical calls for a "drug-free world" and concluded with unrealistic goals regarding illicit drug production, the forthcoming UNGASS will undoubtedly be shaped by recommendations such as those in the UNODC report.
The leaked UNODC recommendations are consistent with the Global Commission and a surprisingly broad and rapidly-emerging coalition of stakeholders who are calling for drug decriminalization, including the World Health Organization, American Public Health Association, Organization of American States, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, NAACP, Human Rights Watch, American Civil Liberties Union, and National Latino Congreso. In a report published last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) made a clear call for broad drug policy reforms, including decriminalization of drug use, harm reduction practices such as syringe exchange and opioid substitution therapy, and a ban on compulsory treatment for people who use drugs.
U.S. jurisdictions and other countries that have adopted less punitive policies toward drug possession have not experienced any significant increases in drug use, drug-related harm or drug-related crime relative to more punitive countries. In fact, many states that treat possession as a misdemeanor have slightly lower rates of illicit drug use and higher rates of admission to drug treatment than states that consider it a felony.


text:
We Care...
But we don't care that Jason Momoa shaved his beard
More taglines...
Samaritanmag
Music-heavy news site about charities, causes and good deeds
Bif Naked
Emmanuel Jal
Gord Bamford
Sam Roberts
Tom Cochrane
Dachshunds/Weiner dogs
Does Michael Franti Agree With Neil Young: That Music No Longer Has The Power To Change The World?
By Karen Bliss | www.samaritanmag.com
In February, 2008, Neil Young — the man who penned the protest song "Ohio" and 2006's anti-Bush album Living with War — told a media conference in Germany, "I think that the time when music could change the world is past," startling those who believed otherwise. American musician Michael Franti has spent his career writing socially and politically charged songs, getting behind a ton of causes from the environment to peace to poverty to AIDS. He even shot a documentary in the Middle East called I Know I'm Not Alone, putting a human face to conflict. However, on his most recent album, The Sound of Sunshine, Franti takes a less dogmatic approach, and even less active, singing instead: "Just waitin' for the storm to pass me by /And that's the sound of sunshine." Before, he would move that storm himself. So where is his head now? Can music make a difference?
Cliché question, but does music have the power to change the world?
"I don't know if music has the power to change the world over night, but I know it can help us make it through a difficult night. Sometimes that's what we need to keep going. I also feel that the world changes when people are provided a different perspective, a new way of looking at things. And sometimes music has the power to do that. We can't change foreign policy or fix global warming, but music has the power to provide a different perspective of how people view the world."
In 2008, Neil Young said, "I think the world today is a different place, and that it's time for science and physics and spirituality to make a difference in this world and to try to save the planet."
"I agree with him. It's just like what I was saying. Music isn't going to change the minds of politicians immediately, but it can provide people a new perspective on how they see the world and that ultimatley changes things."
Back in the days of your band Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy [1990 to 1993] or your first couple of Spearhead albums [1994…], did you think that you could have an effect on people, rally them and make a difference?
"When I first started in music, I knew that the music that I listened to had an incredible effect on me. When I was a kid, I listened to Bob Marley; I listened to The Clash; I listened to lots of great funk bands; a lot of great hip hop artists who were talking about things that were happening in the world. It really shaped my consciousness and it made me think beyond my immediate borders and so I went into it believing that music is a way to express one's self. And it didn't matter if it was about how much I loved my girlfriend or if it was about things that I saw in the world that were taking place or that I felt were wrong or that I disagree with, music was an opportunity for me to voice it."
As a songwriter in your early days, if you were going to write about an important issue — the death penalty, the environment — did you research that topic so lyrically you seemed informed or were informed?
"Yeah, I did. I've always been a news junkie, so I've always read many forms of media, listened to different radio stations, television journalism. But even with all that, for example, in 2004, I went to Iraq and even with everything I saw on TV and searched out on the Internet, radio and all kinds of underground things, there was nothing that compared to going to Baghdad and playing music on the street and talking to the people that I played for, face to face."
The Middle East conflict is one of those topics that people get riled up over and have deeply personal beliefs, even if they don't understand all the issues and complicated history. No matter what the news story is, no matter how many civilians on either side [Israeli or Palestinian] are killed, people will not sway from their beliefs or see the other point of view.
"I went there and I played music for people and then I would talk to them about their lives. I met a woman in Israel whose son had been in The Israel Defense Forces and had been killed. One day, she was eating lunch in a café and she just happened to meet a Palestinian woman and they struck up a conversation. It turned out this Palestinian woman had lost a sister in the conflict so the two of them starting talking about it. They agreed to meet again another day and another day and another day and eventually they formed a group of families of bereaved people who came out with this message: They said, 'We don't want the death of our family members to be used as a cry for more war; we want it to be used as a cry to end all wars.'
"And as I was meeting with this woman in her living room, and speaking to her about this, I questioned myself, if I was in the same position, if I could have that same compassion. She told me that she didn't always feel that way, but it came about through experience of meeting people on the other side, and speaking to them directly and hearing their pain and being open to hearing her pain, that things ultimately shifted in her.
"So what I took away from my experience in Iraq, Israel, Palestine, everywhere where there's conflict, even Brazil, and many places I've been around the world, I'm on the side of the peacemakers. I know that there are people on all sides from all countries that are willing to take incredible risks to achieve peace. And I oppose military violence of all types and political violence. It's something I think really puts us backward."
Do you really think peace is possible, given that war has been around since the beginning of time?
"I believe that it's possible that we have far less political military violence than what we see today. [Pauses, then chuckles] Do I really believe that we're winning at keeping our country safe by bombing villages in the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan with drone missiles? No. I think we're making people more upset, more angry, creating more pain. So multiply that times thousands of conflicts around the world and you see what we get. But I've seen in places where people come together, talk to each other, support each other and, ultimately, that's how they move on."
You seem like such a positive guy, which is especially evident on your new album – The Sound of Sunshine. Travelling and meeting all these people and being more directly involved with the human side of these issues and understanding them, it hasn't turned you into a cynic — has it?
"No, in fact, just the opposite; it's turned me into somebody who really believes that people can grow, people can resolve conflicts, people can change and that it doesn't have to come by forcing other people into that through the barrel of the gun; it can come through other means."
What are some of the stand out stories for you from your fans, people who meet you, have been drawn to a song, have maybe done the same thing you did upon hearing Bob Marley but it's your song that turned them onto an issue?
"I have people coming to me all the time and telling me stories about the way they've been inspired, not only by my music, but by music as a whole. I've been barefoot for 10 years. I started playing music on the street in countries where kids couldn't afford to wear shoes. So after one trip I came back and I was just going to see if I could go for three days barefoot and it went a week and a month and just last April it was 10 years. So to commemorate this, we partnered with this organization called Soles4Souls [www.soles4souls.org] and they provide critically needed footwear for people in natural disatarers like in Haiti or New Orleans, and they also provide shoes for over 300 million kids around the world who have never worn a pair of shoes before.
"So on our last tour, we did a shoe drive. We invited our fans to bring their used shoes to our shows and it started to really take off. I had conversations with people, where they said, 'I told this to my people at work and everybody in our office decided we were going to bring our shoes; we brought 200 pairs of shoes tonight.' And there were some 11, 12, 13 year old girls in Pittsburg who collected over a thousand pairs of shoes from their schools. So it's nice when you hear stories like that, but I'm also thrilled when somebody says, 'I met my girlfriend at your show' or 'Last time I was at your show I was six months pregnant and now here's the baby; he's three months old,' and they put him in my arms. Those things mean just as much."
From all your travels, what are the most important issues now that we should be paying attention to?
"In terms of the world, it has to be two things: poverty, first thing. Someone is far less likely to strap a bomb onto their body and walk into a supermarket if they have a job; if they have clean water to drink; if they have a roof over their head; if they have access to education and healthcare; the second thing is climate change and global warming."
What hasn't changed? For example, with all these cancer and AIDS research fundraisers, what on earth are they doing with all this money? Surely, there should be some major breakthroughs by now?
"Once you get involved in social issues, it's really easy to start and it's really hard to stay the course over a long period of time because you look and you see very minute change, but it's kind of like looking at a tree. If you look at the tree, someone might ask you, 'Is this tree alive?' And you look at the tree and you say, 'I don't see the tree moving so it must be dead,' but if you were to come back five years later, you would see that the branches had grown much wider; it has taken in a lot of sunlight; it had beared fruit; it has provided so much for the animals and the people around that tree and fertilized other trees from its leftovers and the tree was very much alive and very much growing and very much changing. And that's kind of how the world is. Sometimes, we look at it and think, 'Man, it hasn't changed that much,' but just [recently] I heard about how they're trying to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell [the U.S. military ban on openly gay servicemen and women]. Who would've thought that five years ago?
"So things change in subtle ways and that's why I feel like music is so important. It's helps us to stay in the game and to continue to stay uplifted and continue to eye a greater prize."
* Samaritanmag.com is an online magazine covering the good deeds of individuals, charities and businesses.
Soles4Souls
Global Citizen EP1 Featuring Pharrell Williams, Stormzy, David Guetta, More Being Used To Fight Poverty
Bon Jovi Guitarist Richie Sambora Gives Complacency A Bad Name
Ten Examples Of Young Activists Changing The World For The Better
Munk, Pringle, Movember, HSBC, Aird Among 2016 Philanthropy Award Winners
ONEHOPE Wine Produced by Mondavi Gives Half Its Profits Away
Kris Kristofferson Presents Bruce Cockburn with First-ever People's Voice Award
Q&A: Rush Receive Humanitarian Award, Explain Quiet Stance on Philanthropy
Geddy Lee: The Grapes Of Rush
Bruce Cockburn Named 2014 Recipient of The Allan Slaight Humanitarian Spirit Award
Q&A: MacArthur Foundation's Cecilia Conrad On How A Single $100 Million Grant Can Move The Needle
Iron Chef Cat Cora Talks Chefs For Humanity, Feeding Displaced People in Disaster Zones
Senate Committee on Canada's Charitable Sector Calls for National Volunteer Strategy
Q&A: Melissa Etheridge Calls Canadians Smart, Talks Pain Management, Cannabis and More
Q&A: Award-winning Volunteer Jim Leech Recalls Falling Into Philanthropy to Keep Him Out of Trouble
Concert Promoter Republic Live Creates Ooch and Hearts for Kids with Cancer
Slaight Family Foundation Donates $15 Million to United Way To Help Isolated or Vulnerable Seniors
Music Biz Veteran Richard Flohil Celebrates 85th Birthday with Charity Concert
Pink Floyd's David Gilmour Sells 120 Guitars, Raises $21.5 Million To Fight Climate Crisis
Eagles Rising Billboard Campaign About Missing And Murdered Indigenous Women
Taylor Swift Releases Video For Pro-LGBTQ Song "You Need To Calm Down"
Artists For Peace and Justice Partner with Arcade Fire's KANPE For Inaugural Montreal Gala
Radiohead Use Ransom Threat To Support Climate Crisis Group Extinction Rebellion
Charity Song of the Month:
PETR CECH & ROGER TAYLOR, "That's Football," 2019
"Yeah fooball...victory, happiness, glory, fame." The unlikely combination of professional soccer player Petr Cech and Queen drummer Roger Taylor have come together for "That's Football," a song about the sport that will see all its proceeds donated to the the Willow Foundation. Cech, an elite goalkeeper for Arsenal in the English Premier League, announced he was retiring at the end of this season and this song is his farewell tribute. He asked Taylor to help him fulfill this vision. The Willow Foundation, which was founded by former Arsenal goalkeeper and TV presenter Bob Wilson, provides "special days" to seriously ill young adults living with life-threatening conditions aged 16 to 40. Buy it here. — Aaron Brophy
More Charity Songs
Cause Song of the Month:
D.O.A., "Time To Fight Back," 2018
Vancouver, B.C. hardcore punk band D.O.A. have been combating injustice for four decades and their recent video for "Time To Fight Back," from the 2018 album Fight Back, makes it clear they don't intend to stop now. The video salutes activists and change-makers like Bernie Sanders, gun control activist Emma González and the late Nelson Mandela while reinforcing the message to "fight back" against despotism in all forms. Lead singer/local politician Joey Keithley has long been a passionate supporter of progressive and environmental causes and with this song — and the band's long-time rallying cry "TALK - ACTION = 0" — D.O.A. continue to fight back for a better world. Buy it here. — Aaron Brophy
More Cause Songs
CANADIAN CHARITY DIRECTORY
* with permission from Canada Revenue Agency
Search charities to confirm if they are registered, view financial records and activities, and other information:
- Any -Charitable OrganizationPrivate FoundationPublic Foundation
- Any -(Community) Charitable Corporations(Community) Charitable Trusts (Other than Service Clubs and Fraternal Societies Projects)(Education) Charitable Corporations(Education) Charitable Trusts(Health) Charitable Corporations(Health) Charitable Trusts(Religion) Charitable Organizations(Religion) Charitable Trusts(Welfare) Charitable Corporations(Welfare) Charitable TrustsAnglican ParishesBaha' is Religious GroupsBaptist CongregationsBuddhist Religious GroupsCommunity Organizations, (not else classified)Convents and MonasteriesCorporation Funding Registered Canadian Amateur Athletic AssociationCultural Activities and Promotion of the ArtsDisaster FundsEducation Organizations, (not else classified)Employees' Charity TrustsHealth Organizations, (not else classified)Hindu Religions GroupsHospitalsIslamic Religious GroupsJehovah' Witnesses CongregationsLibraries, Museums and Other RepositoriesLutheran CongregationsMennonite CongregationsMilitary UnitsMiscellaneous Charitable Organizations, (not else classified)Missionary Organizations and Propagation of GospelOrganizations Providing Care Other than TreatmentOther Denominations' Congregations or Parishes, (not else classified)Pentecostal Assemblies (Pentecostal Assemblies) of Canada onlyPresbyterian CongregationsPreservation of Sites, Beauty and HistoricalProtection of AnimalsRecreation, Playgrounds and Vacation CampsRegistered Canadian Amateur Athletic Association (RCAAA)Registered National Arts Services Organization (RNASO)Religious Organizations, (not else classified)Roman Catholic Parishes and ChapelsSalvation Army TemplesService Clubs and Fraternal Societies' Charitable CorporationsService Clubs and Fraternal Societies' ProjectsServices Other Than HospitalsSeventh Day Adventist CongregationsSikh Religious GroupsSupport of Schools and EducationSynagoguesTeaching Institutions or Institutions of LearningTemperance AssociationsTrust Funding Registered Canadian Amateur Athletic AssociationUnited Church CongregationsWelfare Organizations (not else classified)
- Any -Canada-AB-BC-MB-NB-NL-NS-NT-NU-ON-PE-QC-SK-YTUS-CA-CO-CT-FL-IL-IN-MD-MI-MN-NC-NY-OH-TN-UT-VT-WA
Disclaimer: Samaritanmag.com does not endorse any charity. We respectfully advise our readers to use due diligence before donating to any cause. Permission is required to reprint any content contained within Samaritanmag.com. Please send requests to info@samaritanmag.com.
© Copyright 2012 Samaritanmag.com. | Contact Us | Sitemap | All Rights Reserved


text:
Tag Archives: planning permission
UK Changes Tack With Help For Renters, Not Just Homebuyers
Infrastructure, Investment
Rows of houses are seen High Wycombe, England, February 7, 2017
Britain set out plans on Tuesday to make renting more affordable, protect tenants and punish developers for not building quickly enough, in a shift away from decades of policy almost solely promoting home ownership.
In a white paper entitled "Fixing our broken housing market", the government laid out proposals to build more homes for rent, extend the length of tenancies and change planning laws to encourage developers to boost supply for renters.
Amid signs that housebuilding will not meet demand for many years to come, it also said local councils may be given power to rescind planning permission or even take control of land from developers who fail to build quickly enough once it is granted.
Since then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher began selling off council homes in the 1980s, very little social housing has been built, with successive governments instead seeking to help those trying to get a foot on the property ladder.
As a consequence, demand has outstripped supply in many areas of the country, pushing up the average price of a property to more than eight times average earnings and forcing many people to spend up to half their income on rent.
"We need to look after people who are renting as well (as buyers) and in the past I think many governments have focused too much just on ownership," communities minister Sajid Javid told Sky News.
A previously announced 7 billion pound programme to build 225,000 properties by 2021 was originally limited to those wishing to buy at least a share of the home, but will now be opened up to tenants.
The measures, including support for smaller developers, are designed to increase the number of new homes coming onto the market in England from 190,000 units a year to at least 250,000, after decades of falling short.
Despite years of bipartisan efforts to increase supply, there are signs that housebuilding could stall.
Britain's biggest housebuilder Barratt said last month it might build fewer homes in the current financial year and flagged a drop in completions of over 50 percent in London, which it blamed on build cycles and land prices.
A closely watched leading indicator of future housing supply fell nationwide by 2 percent in 2016 and by a third in London, according to industry data.
Builders are also concerned that any Brexit-imposed restrictions on immigration could affect their ability to meet demand, especially in the capital where a high proportion of construction workers come from the European Union.
"It's all about having sufficient trades, sub-contractors and suppliers to produce this increased output and that's probably the biggest constraint to the sector," Ted Ayres, the chief executive of builder Bellway, told Reuters.
"I suspect that we may well need further overseas labour if we are going to achieve the output the government desire."


Romeo & Succulent is a Norfolk-based floral styling company which strives to ensure your wedding has the wow factor.
From blooming bouquets to show-stopping centrepieces, Romeo & Succulent can cater to all floral requests.
The talented team can even create floral archways for an extra special statement.
Floral workshops are also on offer, perfect for hen parties; speak to the team to discuss your requirements.
Read more in Romeo & Succulent's directory listing.


text:
First wave of civic universitity (Red Brick University) | Public University
UK >> England >> Reading
Whiteknights, READING
RG6 6AH
World Rankings 201-250 201-250 192 164 201-225
World Rankings 194 176 164 N/A
Reading is a large, historically important minster town in Berkshire, England, of which it is the county town. Reading is 70 miles east of Bristol, 24 miles south of Oxford, 37 miles west of London. The first evidence for Reading as a settlement dates from the 8th century. It was an important trading and ecclesiastical centre in the medieval period, as the site of Reading Abbey, one of the richest monasteries of medieval England with strong royal connections. Today, Reading is a major commercial centre, with involvement in information technology and insurance, and, despite its proximity to London, has a net inward commuter flow. It is ranked the UK's top economic area for economic success and wellbeing, according to factors such as employment, health, income and skills.
More Details About Reading
The University of Reading is a public university located in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as a college of the University of Oxford with the name University College, Reading. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 1926 by Royal Charter from King George V and was the only university to receive such a charter between the two world wars. The university is usually categorised as a red brick university, reflecting its original foundation in the 19th century. It has four major campuses both in the United Kingdom and internationally. The campuses on London Road and Whiteknights are based in the town of Reading itself, and Greenlands is based on the banks of the River Thames. It also has a campus in Iskandar Puteri, Malaysia.
More Details About University of Reading


A 23-year-old man was convicted Friday in the November 2011 shooting death of 19-year-old Terrell J. Holsey at West 14th and Barnett streets in Jacksonville, according to the State Attorney's Office.
Jurors found Marcus Everette Jackson guilty of first-degree murder, attempted murder and possession of a firearm by a felon. He will be sentenced to life in prison.
Holsey got into a dispute with Jackson's cousin about two weeks before the 2011 shooting. Jackson went looking for Holsey and confronted him and Carlton Lorenzo Baker. After threatening them, Jackson fired at least 10 times, missing Baker but striking Holsey in the head, according to prosecutors.


Public Relations Account Coordinator at Aqua Marketing & Communications, Inc.
I am a Finance major who is interested in financial reporting and financial analysis.
Chief Financial Officer at DonorsChoose.org.
PR/Marketing Coordinator at J.C. Newman Cigar Co.
Karen I (Serrano) Suarez, M.S.
Professional Evaluator: Educational Assessment, Research, Program Evaluation For School Districts And Universities.


The fountain of youth doesn't exist. There's no magic ingredient that will make all your wrinkles disappear and take the clock back 20 years.
Aging is a complex process. You can't stop it with a cream. But you can attack it from every front. You can stop UV rays from hitting your skin, keep collagen production up to speed and destroy those nasty free radicals before they wreak any serious damage.
It's too much work for only one superhero, no matter how powerful it is. You need a whole army of superstars to win this fight. Where to find them?
What they are: Alpha Hydroxy Acids (AHAs) are a family of exfoliants. Their most important members include glycolic acid and lactic acid.
Why they're anti-aging superstars: regular exfoliation is key to younger-looking skin. Removing dead cells on the surface reduces the appearance of wrinkles and makes skin brighter and smoother. Plus, glycolic acid (my fave AHAs) stimulate collagen production, the protein that keeps skin firm and wrinkle-free. Compare that to scrubs that only get rid of dead cells and nothing more!
Side effects: AHAs can irritate skin if you've never used them before. Start with a low dose twice a week and build up amount and frequency from there.
Who can use it: Everyone can use AHAs. If you can, go with glycolic acid – it has the strongest anti-aging properties. If your skin is sensitive, lactic acid is a gentler option. If your skin is oily or acne-prone you can still use glycolic acid but not if it means giving up on salicylic acid. Salicylic acid unclogs the pores from within and prevents breakouts so either stick to that or use both.
What it is: a form of Vitamin A, the only vitamin that's been scientifically proven to reduce the wrinkles you already have (not just their appearance!).
Why it's an anti-aging superstars: it fights wrinkles in three different ways; it destroys free radicals before they can cause wrinkles; it boosts collagen production to keep skin firm; it speeds up the skin's natural exfoliating process to keep it smoother and brighter.
Side effects: if you've never used it before, retinol can irritate your skin. Start with low concentrations (1% is already huge!) a couple of times a week and build up both dose and frequency.
Who can use it: anyone can use it. If you have sensitive skin, try retinol products that use time-release technology (they release retinol gradually over a period of several hours instead than hitting your skin with it all at once). If these are too irritating for you, your skin may not be able to tolerate retinol at all.
What they are: free radicals' arch-enemies. Their family includes vitamins C and E, green tea, ferulic acid and more.
Why they're anti-aging superstars: they neutralise free radicals before they can wreak havoc on your skin and give you wrinkles and dark spots. Some antioxidants, like vitamin C, go the extra mile and boost collagen production too. Just don't use it alone. When it comes to antioxidants, the more your skin has, the merrier!
Side effects: Vitamin C can be irritating if you have sensitive skin. Try using a derivatives, like ascorbyl glycoside, instead than pure vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid).
Who can use it: everyone can use antioxidants.
What it is: a form of vitamin B3.
Why it's an antiaging superstar: it's an all-round ingredient: it reduces fine lines and wrinkles, hydrates skin, fades dark spots, brightens the complexion, soothes rosacea and treats acne.
Who can use it: everyone!
Related: Is Niacinamide A Skincare Do It All?
What it is: the most powerful antiaging product in your arsenal. Its job is to protect you from UV harm.
Why it's an antiaging superstar: UV filters absorb ultraviolet radiation and turn it into a less damaging form of energy (heat). UV rays are responsible for 80% of premature aging – none of the superstars mentioned above can do much for your skin if UV rays keep damaging it every single day. Yep, UV rays can get through clouds and be reflected on snow. Rain or shine, winter or summer, PUT IT ON.
Side effects: most UV filters can irritate sensitive skin. If that's you, switch to mineral sunscreens with zinc oxide. It's the gentlest UV filter there is. But it can leave a white cast behind.
Who can use it: everyone MUST use sunscreen. If your skin is sensitive, opt for a mineral sunscreen (all the options below are good for you).
Related: Mineral VS Chemical Sunscreen: Which One Is Right For You?
How many anti-aging superstars are you using? Leave a comment and let me know.
I've got 3/5 down – Sunscreen, Differin and Niacinamide (I love my EltaMD PM Therapy!) I'm trying to find the right Vitamin C serum for me. PC C15 is out of my price range right now, and I'm looking to either the Mad Hippie Vitamin C serum or OST Original Pure C20 Serum. That SkinActives serum in the photo sounds interesting, too!
Lexie, I love that SkinActives serum. I use it three times a week and I have already seen a big difference in how my skin looks and feels. It's definitely smoother. And I think it's only $15 or so. I'll review it soon. 🙂 Of the two serums you mentioned, I prefer the Mad Hippie one because it contains a more stable form of Vitamin C and no alcohol. But the other isn't that bad either.
Looking forward to your review, Gio! I just spent an hour browsing the SkinActives website – I want to try so many of their products! Yeah, I'm really torn between the two. The Mad Hippie one has ferulic acid too, but I'm kind of wary of the grapefruit and clary sage – I can't find any info online about how these two are formulated in the product and benefit the skin. I guess I just want to try the OST one because of Skin and Tonics' amazing before + after photos while using it. I'm feeling really conscious of my PIH at the moment and I want it to fade ASAP.
I order three Paula's Choice products just yesterday! I "cheated" on Paula for awhile and am now going back. 🙂 One question: what do you think about BHAs as opposed to AHAs? BHAs are supposed to be better for those of us with enlarged pores.
Laurie, Paula's products are amazing, aren't they? I always keep coming back to them too. I believe BHA exfoliants are the best option for people with oily and acne-prone skin. That's because Salicylic Acid, unlike other exfoliants, can penetrate inside the pores, removing all the gunk that accumulates in them. As a result, breakouts are avoided and pores, because they aren't so stretched, look smaller. 🙂 Everyone else, instead, doesn't really need such deep exfoliation, so AHAs work best for them.
Thanks, Gio! My skin doesn't break out much, but my t-zone is oily and my pores are large. I think I'll try the BHA first and then go to AHA if BHA is too drying.
Anshul, good for you! I have started using them at about 26 and wish I had done so sooner. Prevention is definitely better than cure, I agree!
I don't think my current skincare routine has niacinamide. Products with anti-aging ingredients I am currently using: Paula's Choice Skin Recovery Antioxidant with Retinol, PC's Resist Daily 2% BHA, PC vitamin C serum, Dr. Dennis Gross Age Recovery, and am currently trying out several sunscreens (as usual!).
<3 thank you, again! You don't realize how positively you've affected my life.
Janessa, that's a wonderful skin routine! You're using most of these superstars and I bet your skin looks amazing!
Yes, sunscreen may even be the best preventive tool if you want to avoid sagging, hyperpigmented, wrinkly skin. There are a lot of people who want to get tanned at all cost and do not apply sunscreen at all (another myth to address, sunscreens actually do not prevent you from tanning btw).
The results are terrible, both on a short run and long term. Even non smokers look like they've been smoking for ages because their skin tone looks so irregular and the texture, thinned out and frumpy.
If there was only one product you may want to use everyday, vote for sunscreens!!!
Pastelita, I completely agree. The sun does so much damage to the skin and there's only so little skincare products can do to reverse that. Prevention really is key here.
Hello, new to your blog and currently backtracking XD. I'm currently using Acne.org regimen (BP+AHA) for my acne prone skin. I want to add more into my skincare routine.
Do you use this 5 items for both day and night routine? If not how do u implement this in your daily skincare routine?
Can I mix those ingredients into my Acne.org regimen?
I use a moisturizer with niacinamide, a serum with antioxidants and one with retinol, and a sunscreen with zinc oxide every day. Then, an exfoliant with glycolic acid a few times a week.
You can incorporate these ingredients in your skincare routine too by choosing serums and sunscreens that are rich in them. Just avoid using retinol and AHAs/BHA at the same time because these ingredients don't work well together. It's best to use your AHAs/BHA product in the morning and retinol at night.
Thank you for the kind reply :). Yes I love your blog. It's very informative and have a very good structure. If I'm being lazy, I can just skip to bottom line but If I want to know more, I can read the important bit :D.
Acne.org regimen has been doing so well to prevent and heal my acne. However their moisturizer (https://store.acne.org/moisturizer) didn't fit me well. It sting my face and itchy which is so weird cause the BP is fine, I don't know why the moisturizer which should help hydrating my skin irritate my skin. Because I haven't find a good moisturizer, the BP caused my skin to be a bit flaky so my foundation didn't applied well. I have combination skin and very oily T-zone. Do you have recommendation for a good moisturizer for my acne prone skin and combination skin. Preferably not so expensive one. PC recommended Moisturizer with SPF for day and normal at night. Do you think it's ok to use moisturizer with SPF or better use separate sunscreen? I haven't used Sunscreen too but they said it's important.
Also I'm planning my skincare based on your recommendation and paula choice website. This is my skincare plan.
Cleanser+AHA/BHA(Morning only)+Acne.org BP+Skin Lightening-Retinoid(Night only)+Serum+Moisturizer.
What do you think? Is it too much product? PC recommend toner but since u said it's doesn't really do anything I skip it cause I don't want to burden my face to too much product. I'm planning to use Skinactive for serum. Do you use serum both day and night?
So my problem now is to find a good Skin Lightening product/Retinoid and moisturizer and/or sunscreen that affordable. Do you have any recommendation for a good product review website? Idk which one to trust cause there are many conflicting review T_T. Sorry for so many question.
I'm sorry the moisturizer didn't work for you. Maybe you were allergic to one of the ingredients? My favourite affordable moisturizers for oily skin are Olay Regenerist Regenerating Lotion with Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 50, Paula's Choice Skincare Skin Balancing Ultra-Sheer Daily Defense Broad Spectrum SPF 30, and Neutrogena Ageless Intensives Tone Correcting Moisture SPF 30.
They all contain SPF, but personally I don't care much about that. It's impossible, with a cream, to get the SPF stated on the bottle. You'd just have to apply too much product.Imo, it's much better to always use a separate sunscreen anyway. If, in addition, your moisturizer has some SPF, great. it'll provide some added protection. But a moisturizer with SPF can never be used as a substitute for sunscreen.
That sounds like a great skincare routine. And no, it's not too much stuff. No a toner isn't necessary. Some are well-formulated but even those contain ingredients that are commonly found in serums and moisturizers, so no point in paying twice for them. As for serums, I use two. One with antioxidants in the morning and one with retinol at night. You can do the same, or buy one with both antoxidants and retinol and use it at night only. Whatever works best for your skin.
For skincare reviews, I usually consult Beautypedia and Future Derm. I find both websites trustworthy even though they sometimes have conflicting opinions. The problem is that everyone's skin is different and what works for one person may not work for another. The key is to figure out what your skin type and problems are, and what ingredients can help with them. That way, you can look for products with those ingredients and experiment until you find those that work best for you.
No worries. I hope this helps, and if you have any more questions, just let me know.
Just started reading your blog and find all your comments insightful. I am on the flip side of most of the women asking for advice: i am in my late 50's with more dry prone skin, living in a colder climate and trying to maintain the shape my skin is in. Naturally I have lines and some wrinkles, and I get overwhelmed by all the products coming out. Recently I've been trying M.Asam because it contains resveratrol. Even though this ingredient has been touted as the next miracle for skin, are the benefits of resveratrol sustained in its serum or creme form? I also have prescription Vit A and use argon oil . I like Oil of Olay, have tried P.C but I just want to stick to one routine if possible. Any thoughts? Thanks for your help!
Margo, glad you find my blog helpful. Resveratraol is a great antioxidant, and it does benefit skin when used in a serum or cream. But there is only so little it can do on its own. Antioxidants work best when used together. The more, the better. Paula's Choice serums, Clinique CX Antioxidant Rescue Serum, and Skin Actives Antioxidant Serum With ROS* Terminator all contain many different antioxidants, and are great options to consider. Hope this helps.
I have heard about Retinol but didn't know that antioxidants too can help in this.
Prerna, yes, they do. The more of these ingredients you use, the better your skin will look.
I have been facing lot of dry skin issues and feel its mainly because of lack of Collagen but when tried stuffs like Retinol, I could see a remarkable difference but being sensitive skin type, it sometimes react on my skin.
Homemade DIY, have you tried time-released retinol? It's much gentler, and even sensitive skin can better tolerate it. I'd also recommend a hyaluronic acid serum. it's very hydrating, which is just what dry skin needs.
Barbara, I don't consider the EWG a reliable source, as they have a habit of misinterpreting studies. They don't take into any consideration how the study was performed (whether on rats or humans, or through ingestion or topical application, for example), or the concentrations used. For example, they said that a form of vitamin A (a close relative of caused cancer in humans because they found a study claiming it caused cancer in mice. But they were exposed to very high levels of it, and the species of mice used was very prone to that type of cancer anyway! How does that make it dangerous for us in the minuscule quantities used in cosmetics? It doesn't.
It's the dose that makes the poison. Even vitamin C or water can be toxic at high enough levels. So, use your retinol without worries, unless you're pregnant or nursing. That's because we don't know if retinol is dangerous to the foetus or young babies, but only because carrying out such studies on purpose is obviously unethical.
Thank you very much for your blog. It is very informative.
I have a question regarding sunscreen using, please. It says that that sunscreen needs to be re-applied every few hours. But if I also put my foundation (I'm using Dior Diorskin Airflash Spray Makeup) on top of sunscreen, how can re-apply the sunscreen then?
Ola, hi, I'm so glad you find the blog useful. I find the best way is to opt for a lightweight chemical sunscreen for reapplication, so you can gently pat it on top of makeup without ruining it.
Keep in mind, though, that it also depends on the weather and what you're going to do that day. Sunscreen must be reapplied often because sunscreen actives are deactivated by light, so the longer you stay in the sun, the sooner they're gone. But, if, let's say, it's a cloudy day and you're spending it indoors, going outside only for short periods of time, then you can get away with applying your sunscreen less often. At the beach, instead, reapplication after 2 hours is a must.
Hello Gio, How are you?
I was curious, if only able to pick one, which anti aging cream or serum or any product for that matter, would you recommend using? I realize all skin types are different and this question is heavily dependent upon this fact, mine is predominantly oily and I live in an excessively HOT & dry climate. Besides a good sunscreen or retinol cream, what's next in line as far as overall benefits? For anybody in general? For a man with oily skin? Or, given your specific skin type, what do you personally prefer? I apologize if you've already covered this and I missed it. In which case, I'm sure I'll stumble over it sooner or later, so no need to answer. And thank you for providing such a great source of information and sharing your personal knowledge and experiences.
Hi Bruce, gosh, it's so difficult to pick just one! I'd say two products (sorry, can't do one – the perfect skincare product hasn't been invented yet!) are a hyaluronic acid serum and an exfoliant. Hyaluronic acid hydrates skin without adding any oil to it so it's great for your oily skin. Exfoliation does a lot of good to everyone. It makes your skin clearer and brighter. But the type of exfoliant you should use depends on your skin type. For oily skin, I recommend salicylic acid. It can get inside the pores and unclogs them from within. Hope this helps.
Hi there, I'd like to kindly ask if your posts include sponsored products or if you are affiliated with certain companies/brands.
Tina, I've never done a sponsored post yet, but I don't rule that out in the future. If I do, I will disclose it as per FTC regulations. I'm not affiliated with any companies, but I do use affiliate links (Rewardstyle and Skimlinks) in my posts. If you buy a product using these links, I get a small commission. Hope this helps. Let me know if you have more questions.
It's good to read the previous comment that you remain impartial with these comparison reviews. Always curious about methodology because I need to design an informal double-blind for the skincare company I'm in charge of.
We're competing next month for CEW Indie Skin Care Awards. I'd love to send you some to try out. No expectations attached, we just genuinely want to share, especially when I can receive genuine feedback. Keep up the great work!
John, best of luck with your study and awards! Would love to try it and give you my honest opinion. Please, contact me at gio[at]beautifulwithbrains[dot]com. Thanks!
Thank you for making this blog! I've just started reading it, it really shows that you're v informed and passionate about skincare. I'm obseessed!
Thank you for your blog, it is really useful! As for anti-aging superstars, I started using 4 of them (with the exception of AHAs) since I was 30. I became a fan of Olay Regenerist line rich in niacinomide and antioxidants thanks to Paola's reviews and I also used a Neutrogena creme with retinol (though my facialist said that my skin did not need retinol at that time and, frankly, I think she was right – I did not see any results). However, I had to completely change my routine at the age odpf 34 after my skin became supersensitive due to medications I had to take, I even had severe dermatitis around my mouth. So, I started uding Toleriane by La Roche and had to ditch everything else, even sunscreens, I just avoided sun exposure and wore big hats and sunglasses. Now I am 38 and my skin is less reactive than it used to be, do I am back to the anti-aging aging game. I tried some serums with hyaluronic acid and want to buy again Olay Regenerist Serum (fragrance-free). I also started using mineral sunscreens when UV index is above 2 ( my skin still reacts to chemical ones). I once tried a cream with peptides, but my face started burning and I had a small rash. So, I am still afraid to try stronger ingredients like retinoids, AHA, and vitamine C.
What other anti-aging products for very sensitive skin can you revommend? I was thinking about trying out some antioxidant serums from The Ordinary; which ones would be suitable for very sensitive skin? Also I want to try their squalane product, as I have some dry patches of skin (around my mouth and my forehead) and would benefit from some extra moisturizing.
Also I noticed that massage helps a lot against mimic wrinkles. Of course, professional massage is better, but even 5 minutes of gentle self massage help me fight those upsetting rinkles on my forehead.
Anastasia, I recommend the Resveratrol 3% + Ferulic Acid 3%. Both antioxidants are very powerful and can destroy the most harmful type of free radicals. I'd also add EUK 134 0.1% because superoxide dismutase is another superhero and antioxidants are best used together.
The Squalane would do wonders for your skin. It's great for dry patches.
Gio, How do you use all of the above together in a regimen. Layer? Day/Night?
Robin, I use a Vitamin C serum in the morning and I alternate between a retinol serum and a glycolic acid exfoliant at night. Both are followed by a niacinamide serum, Hope this helps.
If my tinted moisturizer has SPF 20, do I still need to apply another sunscreen (I have some Kieran water based ones that are 50 spf)….?
Kelly, yes you need a separate sunscreen. The reason being no one applies enough moisturiser to achieve the SPF level stated on the bottle.
Thanks for this informative article! I have trouble incorporating all these ingredients into my regimen because I hear so much information about what products neutralize/don't work well with which. How do you recommend getting all 5 of these ingredients into one day/night regimen? Also, will my skin stop turning so red from niacinamide over time as it gets used to the ingredient, or does this mean my skin can't tolerate it? Thanks!
Elizabeth, I wouldn't necessary recommend using them all in one day. For example, I recommend using glycolic acid and retinol on alternate nights followed by niacinamide. In the morning, you can layer vitamin C under foundation to boost its effectiveness.
Mmm, that's strange, niacinamide doesn't usually do that. Are you sure there's nothing else in the product that could cause that reaction? If it's indeed the niacinamide then stop using it. Some skin types can't tolerate or more of these ingredients and that's fine. Just use as many as you can and don't worry about missing out. Your skin tells you what it needs and what it doesn't like so listen to it, not to marketers.
Ive just come across this blog – I'm in my mid 30s and had been using boots no. 7 serums for a while. I just started using retinol, and it made my skin look really awful the next day – open pores, wrinkles more visible !! I did a bit of research and was totally confused, but your blog has really helped. I think the retinol was drying out my skin. So now I'm using paula's choice salycilic acid at night (i have huge pores), followed by the no. 7 serum. And then a sunscreen in the morning. I was wondering about adding a facial oil at night, as these have helped me with excess oil – are there any you would recommend for oily skin? Also any eye cream you rate? I bought onr with retinol but now I'm a bit scared! Thanks so much for the clear advice. I was getting SO confused trawling around the internet!! Really appreciate it.
This is so helpful, thank you! I started with Indeed retinol reface but have just read your blog on that and now realise it was probably too harsh. I'll give my skin a break and then try retinol again using your methods, and follow up with a face oil afterwarss too. Really appreciate it!
I'm 72 years of age (old!) and my cosmetician told me not to use AHA's at my age because it would cause thinning and more drupping (s) of my skin. What's your intake in that…I had been using AHA's but stopped for that reason. I am glad you mention about a sunscreen on it's on which I had not heard before. I love reading your comments and comments of others.
Thelma, some AHAs, like glycolic acid, can temporarily thin the skin before they make it thicker. Others, like lactic acid, don't thin skin at all. If this worries you, stick with the latter.
Please can you tell me what age these recommendations are for? I am late 60's but your correspondents all seem much younger.
Maris, anyone can use these at any age (although, I'd leave some of them for your middle 20s onwards). But the sooner you start using them the better results you get. Also, some of these, like antioxidants, only prevent wrinkles hence why it's best to start using them early.
Gio I am happy I found your site. The above How often are we supposed to use them? Morning night? What order? Right now I clean my face 2 times a week I use a microderm scrub 1 a week I use a clay mask. I use a moisturizer with spf. I use retinol .05 every other day and night moisturizer the alternate days.
Amandria, antioxidants, niacinamide and sunscreen can be used every day, either once or both morning and night (apart from sunscreen, that's only day!). At night, alternate exfoliation and retinol. Hope this helps.
But in what order? If I buy the 5 items listed above, what order do I put them on my face? THX!
Houda, in the morning, use vitamin C followed by sunscreen. At night, retinol followed by niacinamide. At night, two or three times a week, exfoliate with glycolic acid right after cleansing and then apply niacinamide (no retinol on those nights).
I was wondering how to use these products times of day? One after the other? Alternate days?
Amandria, you can use antioxidants and niacinamide every day, both morning and night. Glycolic acid and retinol should be used on alternate nights.
I would like to use timeless products as they seem to be comparable with Skin Ceuticals as simply can't afford Skin Ceuticals even through I believe they are great products ,,,, I am 68 just had a trebella done and doing a diamond polar next ,,, please tell me what you think would be a good routine using timeless .


text:
Suicide rate in Scottish prisons lower than in much of Europe
April 4, 2019 April 4, 2019 johnrobertson834
Of course, all suicides are deeply tragic, inside or outside of prison, but it's important that they are represented in the media accurately and tastefully, in the interests of all: prisoners, warders, relatives, decision-makers, all of us. Contrary to the image presented by Reporting Scotland and even by the National, suicide is relatively low in Scottish prisons and is falling. See this earlier report regarding the level:
Exploiting one tragic prison suicide to fake a crisis. Yes, it's Reporting Scotland again.
As for geographical comparison, I'm grateful to reader:
for providing a useful link in a response to the above report. Based on this 2017 research:
We can see that, suicide in Scottish prisons, 69 per 100 000 prisoners is less common than in most European countries, including England & Wales, at 83 per 100 000 prisoners:
There's clearly something to be learned from Northern Ireland, Ireland and Poland – Catholicism? We can also see, below, that the rate in prison is only slightly higher than that out of prison suggesting that prison conditions are not so harsh as to be exacerbating it:
You can see in the above that the suicide rate for men in Norway is notably higher than for the general public whereas for Scotland it is almost the same.
Less clear in its meaning to me is the fairly strong correlation in this data between the suicide rate in prisons and the overall incarceration rate suggesting that the higher the percentage of the population you put in jails the lower the suicide rate in prisons! Of course, many other cultural factors will be influential here. The outliers such as Norway and France are the most intriguing and puzzling. Could it be that in a country where incarceration is rare, it is more shocking, shameful, isolating, to be punished in this way?
The more people you put in prison, the lower the suicide rate there?
Previous Article NHS Scotland: Fewer cancelled operations again despite increased demand
Next Article Contrary to this morning's Reporting Scareland, Scotland has more than its share of Radiology Consultants
8 thoughts on "Suicide rate in Scottish prisons lower than in much of Europe"
Contrary April 4, 2019 / 8:09 am
Thanks to Legerwood for the link to the report, it was very interesting, I was still contemplating it so hadn't replied to your comment – my initial thoughts were similar to yours John. No real correlation to anything in particular means there is a complex set of associations for here.
Good news! Even the radio is reporting it as good news – surrounded by various reports of 'failures' but they are so overshadowed they're on a hiding to nothing today – 90% reduction in cervical cancer from the recently introduced vaccination! Fantastic. Based on these results they are hoping to introduce other vaccinations for similar virus-caused cancers. This really is brilliant progress.
Les Cunningham April 4, 2019 / 9:43 am
Since suicide is considered a sin by Catholics, is it possible that in Catholic countries some suicides in prison are passed off as being due to accident or natural causes, to spare the feelings of the deceased person's family?
One possible reason for an inverse relationship between prison population and suicide rate might be that, while all countries imprison people convicted of serious crimes, they probably vary significantly in their treatment of minor offenders. Punishing minor crimes with short prison sentences, rather than fines, probation or community service, will boost the prison population. Perhaps people serving short sentences are much less likely to commit suicide than people facing many years in prison?
johnrobertson834 April 4, 2019 / 3:30 pm
Thanks, interesting, credible ideas.
Contrary April 4, 2019 / 7:51 pm
Good reasoning Les, I hadn't thought of the sin part for Catholics – in this case maybe feeling guilt is a good thing? – but yes, reporting of cause of death could err on the side of consideration for the deceased's family.
What sort of crimes are people imprisoned for (e.g was the background cause actually drug or alcohol abuse, while shoplifting the crime, and cold turkey might be too much,,,), as well as duration could play a significant role – I think the causative factors will be many different ones intertwined.
Ludo Thierry April 4, 2019 / 11:29 am
Hi Contrary – can I echo your comments regarding today's figures indicating the massive benefits from the HPV vaccination programme in Scotland? – Simply wonderful news. Well done NHS Scotland and the Scottish Govt and Parlt.
Hi John – By chance the Scottish Legal site is carrying a short piece regarding the Council of Europe's Annual Penal Stats for 2018 (known as SPACE) – They report a 4.1% reduction in the Scottish prison population between 2016-2018. Amazing what a bit of sustained focus by a joined-up Scottish Government can achieve. Come on Scotland – Gie's the tools and there's a Scottish focussed Govt. there to do the whole job – Next stop = Indy. Link and snippets below:
https://www.scottishlegal.com/article/scotland-s-prison-population-drops-by-four-per-cent
Scotland's prison population drops by four per cent
The Scottish prison population fell by 4.1 per cent between 2016 and 2018 while the overall imprisonment rate in Europe fell by nearly seven per cent, new figures reveal.
The Council of Europe's Annual Penal Statistics for 2018 (SPACE), published yesterday, reveals that a downwards trend in European prisoner figures which began in 2012 has continued.
The incarceration rate in Scotland declined by 12.5 per cent while there was a 10.5 per cent decrease in Northern Ireland, and a 6.5 per cent decline in England and Wales.
There were 136.5 prisoners per 100,000 people in Scotland on 31 January 2018, according to the SPACE report.
Thanks, nice addition.
Alasdair Macdonald April 4, 2019 / 6:24 pm
Looking at the data for women, in every country on the list the rate for imprisoned women is substantially greater than for those not in prison, which suggests that there is grounds for examining this more closely. A couple of years ago, I attended a presentation by a retired prison governor, who had been the first woman in the UK (she was from Northern Ireland) to be governor of a male prison. She had benngovernor of several women's prisons and had supervised Myra Hindley and Rose West. She was strongly of the view that, in general, women should not be imprisoned, although she recognised that there are exceptions, such as the two mentioned. (She was of the view that Myra Hindley, who was alive at the time, should never be released.) Many women who are in prison have children and that, of itself, she considered a very powerful reason for not considering imprisonment. In addition, with very few exceptions, women prisoners had been victims of sexual abuse as children and adolescents. Many had had long periods within the care system. Almost all women who are in prison do not present a danger to the community. The young woman whose parents have raised the issue, presented no future danger to others and so continued incarceration was probably wrong. I say 'probably' because the views of the vicim's family and of other families who have suffered loss because of drinking and driving. They have to be reassured that society opposes such misbehaviour and that there is some degree of retribution/desert. It is not an easy call. Solomon, where are you?
These arguments apply to many male prisonets, too. And that is a reason for using alternatives to imprisonment. However, greater numbers of male pridonets are imprisoned for crimes of violence and, for public safety, imprisonment is justified. However, by reducing the overall prison population and by removing priso sentences of, say, less than 2 years, there would be much more scope for prison service staff to work constructively with violent offenders to effect changes in behaviour.
Pingback: Scotland's Police and Prison staffing at MUCH higher level than in England – Talking-up Scotland


text:
Media and entertainment company ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEE) in April committed itself to a financial relief to over 5,000 daily-wage earners working directly or indirectly for the company in its overall production ecosystem. ZEE said it has taken this step to ensure that their families do not get impacted due to the nationwide lockdown.
In order to further support Prime Ministers' Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM-CARES Fund), ZEE will leverage the strength of its media network across the nation and the world at large to encourage over 1.3 billion Indians to contribute.
ZEE has also given to all its 3,500 employees to make voluntary contributions towards PM-CARES Fund through an Intranet portal. The company will match the amound thus collected and donate the aggregate to PM-CARES Fund.
Punit Goenka, ZEE Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, said: "We stand committed to financially support all daily-wage earners working in our production ecosystem. We firmly believe in the extraordinary power of coming together and fighting against a situation. In these challenging times, it is extremely critical for India Inc to come together and support the national level initiative...."
In order to keep viewers informed and sensitized about the safety and precautionary measures against coronavirus, ZEE had implemented a first-of-its-kind initiative, titled #BreakTheCoronaOutbreak.
Under this initiative, content across 40+ channels was paused for a 30-second break throughout the day, encouraging viewers to wash their hands. In line with the decision undertaken by Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), Zee Anmol channel was also made available free to all viewers across all DTH platforms and cable TV networks for two months. On the company's digital side, ZEE5 ensured that the Internet bandwidth across the country was optimized by replacing High Definition (HD) content with Standard Definition (SD) content. ZEE5 also ensured that the viewers remained calm and composed during the lockdown phase with its #BeCalmBeEntertained
initiative.


text:
Q: passing a file identifier string via $_GET method to modify an image src in the target page: solved sending page
has a link like so,
<a href="http://someurl.org/share?id=<?php echo $ftime;?>" >link to share

which produces the correct url form of the GET method by inserting the filemtime() integer that i want to show on the share page, it looks like this on the end of the url
...share?id=1588888386
on the share page
i'm using $_GET['id'] to define a variable
$id = $_GET['id'];

and then inserting that variable into the src of the image file, like so
<img src="test<?php echo $id;?>.jpg">

which correctly resolves to
test1588888386.jpg
but the image is broken and "Could not load image" according to Firefox even tho that file exists right along side the test.jpg file on the host server... and the base image loads just fine if the 'id' string is NULL.
originally tried using $_GET['id'] directly in the src without going the $id route gives the same results.
i'm at a loss, the only weird clue is FF warning me about "mixed content" with a greyed out padlock.
am i violating some taboo by doing this?
all i want to do is share the version of test.jpg that has that 10digit dynamic number in the file name (the number is extracted from the timestamp when the file is first created).
for now, i'm just manually renaming the file on server, but will eventually use php to copy the test.jpg file and rename it dynamically to add the timestamp, so the test.jpg file can be overwritten the next time it's created by user activity.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


We thought it would be fun to share an email we received last week. It was from the jolly 'ol guy. Yes, we actually received an email from St. Nick - Mr. Claus himself!
His letter stated, "I've been extra busy lately and Mrs. Claus is run off her feet. We've lined up reindeer-sitters for Rudolph and his team, so we're good-to-go on our annual vacations. Please set us up with 10 amazing vacations (when we're not at the North Pole we spoil ourselves :) ). We'd like to visit multiple destinations and have unique experiences at each of them.
Mrs. Claus is ready to trade in her snow boots for flip-flops, so sunshine and relaxing beach time is a must for our first vacation. Please remember we appreciate the finer-things-in-life, we're interested in culture, nature, and the outdoors AND we're certainly up for adventure.
We look forward to seeing what great choices you and your Superstar Travel Agents have up your sleeves ."
10. We'll begin your vacations in Barbados where the weather is perfect and the aqua water and white sand beaches are stunning. The smiles of locals are as warm as the Caribbean breeze. You'll love the personal service at a 5 star all-inclusive beachfront Resort. We guarantee Mrs. Claus will be delighted with this choice.
9. For a change of pace, Super Agent Heike has organized your next adventure. And a super cool Adventure it is! Mr. Claus, you and Mrs. C are going to Morocco! Ride a camel, stay in a desert Bedouin camp, explore the markets of Marrakech, and relax on the beach. This G Adventures National Geographic tour will not disappoint.
8. "When your guide puts his hand up and motions for you to crouch down, you'll know why. Not too far away is a silverback gorilla!" While in Africa, Jennifer has you gorilla tracking and wildlife viewing in the forests of Rwanda and Uganda. Buckle up!
7. I'm thrilled you and Mrs. Claus will be joining me in France on the Burgundy Barge Experience! After a day of exploring Dijon we'll visit vineyards and sample the yummiest of cheeses while drifting the canals of one of the world's finest wine regions. Feel free to ask your family and friends to jump aboard this floating boutique hotel. They'll want to book A.S.A.P as the barge only has 11 cabins for 22 fun-loving travellers.
6. Leaving France, we've booked you on a week's stopover in Iceland! The scenery is beautiful, unique and lush-green. This small county is brimming with epic waterfalls, hot springs, geysers, puffins and whales. You may want to start practising pronouncing "Eyjafjallajokull," Iceland's famous volcano.
5. Santa, you're going to Kimberley, BC - a gem of a town tucked in the Rocky Mountains. Bring your outdoor toys: this little town is filled with active mountain fun. The locals are friendly and you'll love the many dining choices. While in Kimberley Heike, Jennifer, Kim and myself would love to take you for a locally crafted "Overtime" beer. Kimberley, #itsagoodplacetobe. We think you'll agree.
4. Are you ready for some heart stopping excitement? Costa Rica awaits. You are booked on an adventure vacation including cliff rappelling, jumping off waterfalls, white water rafting and zip-lining. During your down time, stroll lush cloud forests, and hear the eerie sounds of the Howler monkeys while keeping an eye on slow moving sloths.
3. Next up, you and "The Mrs." are booked to cruise the Galapagos Islands. These volcanic islands are much easier to pronounce than Iceland's volcanoes. You'll find yourself onboard an upscale boat exploring the diverse Islands with your own personal guide. Imagine snorkelling with sea lions and penguins, and huge sea turtles! This grand adventure is definitely Charles Darwin approved!
2. Enjoy the comforts of your private cabin, lose yourself in conversation with newfound travelling companions, or simply gaze out the window taking inspiration from the ever changing landscape. An Australian Rail Journey on the legendary GHAN is your second-to-last monumental vacation.
1. And last but not least: Super Agent Kim knows you're an avid snorkeler and she thinks Mrs Claus would love to experience ... (are you ready?) ... Tahiti. Crystal clear waters and white fringed Polynesian islands are a treat to explore from your small yacht-like Windstar Cruise ship. There's a water-sports deck off the back of ship (to get you into that sparkling water faster) and you'll love dining al fresco under the stars. We agreed, this was a perfect 'wrap up' vacation before heading back to work.
We wish you a year of safe and exciting travels, and All the Best for 2017.
Our Team at Mountain City Travel is thrilled to have been entrusted with organizing these 10 Amazing Adventures for you and Mrs. Claus!!


Hello and welcome to my portfolio! I'm notrudedude., and trust me: I'm not rude (most of the time). I have a lot of experience with different photo editing and design software including (but not limited to...) Photoshop, Illustrator, Lighroom and I'm familiar with video- and gif editing. If you need anything done, send me a message on reddit (u/notrudedude) or contact me via this website, and we can talk more about what you want, pricing, etc.


text:
Dyche: Ings contract talks ongoing
Burnley boss Sean Dyche says the club are in talks with striker Danny Ings over a contract extension.
December 30 2014 05:21 PM
Burnley boss Sean Dyche has revealed the club are involved in "ongoing communication" with striker Danny Ings over a contract extension.
The 22-year-old's fine form for the Clarets this season has prompted speculation of a move elsewhere with his current deal set to expire at the end of the current campaign.
But Ings reportedly stressed his desire to stay at Turf Moor earlier this week and Dyche is also resolute that the England under-21 front man is not for sale.
Dyche said: "We have had ongoing communication with him and his agent as we do with every other player - Danny is just one of those we talk to freely.
"Danny has assured everybody that he will be here so I don't need to speak on his behalf.
"It is an ongoing situation that we have had many times since I have been here. It is tough in the Premier League but we are making a good fist of it at the moment and if there is interest in your players it usually means there is life in the club.
"I only speak to him (Ings) about his performances and how he is doing. The signs are good about him learning and adapting to the top level of football and even more so as a striker who has top international defenders against him.
"Every manager wants players who are settled where they are and ours are settled as a group and they want to play well at this level."
Latest Premier League
Duncan Ferguson appointed Everton caretaker as managerial search goes on


text:
Peace Corps funded at $410,500,000!
Browse archives for February 19, 2019
H.J.Res.31 – Consolidated Appropriations Act
For the Peace Corps
(including transfer of funds)
For necessary expenses to carry out the provisions of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2501 et seq.), including the purchase of not to exceed five passenger motor vehicles for administrative purposes for use outside of the United States, $410,500,000, of which $6,000,000 is for the Office of Inspector General, to remain available until September 30, 2020: Provided, That the Director of the Peace Corps may transfer to the Foreign Currency Fluctuations Account, as authorized by section 16 of the Peace Corps Act (22 U.S.C. 2515), an amount not to exceed $5,000,000: Provided further, That funds transferred pursuant to the previous proviso may not be derived from amounts made available for Peace Corps overseas operations: Provided further, That of the funds appropriated under this heading, not to exceed $104,000 may be available for representation expenses, of which not to exceed $4,000 may be made available for entertainment expenses: Provided further, That none of the funds appropriated under this heading shall be used to pay for abortions: Provided further, That notwithstanding the previous proviso, section 614 of division E of Public Law 113–76 shall apply to funds appropriated under this heading.
Personal Note: National Peace Corps Association has lobbied Congress for this amount. The President's recommended budget was only for $396, 000,000 and the then Peace Corps Director had requested the same amount as the President. NPCA and RPCV advocates lobbied, relentlessly, for the total amount of $410,500,000. I believe Congress has shown full support for Peace Corps with this appropriation.


text:
Tag Archives: Nate
Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent's Sprawling Hancock Park Home Officially Hit the Market at $13.795 Million
December 13, 2018 Sexual Health
The couple purchased the estate, featured in
AD, from
Friends creator Marta Kauffman in 2016
538's Nate Silver: 'It's hard to find a clear path for Democrats' to win Senate
October 23, 2018 Sexual Health
Editor-in-Chief Nate Silver joins "This Week" with the latest FiveThirtyEight forecast for the Senate and House midterms, just over two weeks away.
South of New Orleans, Nate spares parish devastated by Hurricane Katrina
October 9, 2017 Sexual Health
By Jessica Resnick-Ault BELLE CHASSE, La. (Reuters) – Residents of Louisiana's lower Plaquemines Parish, the swampy peninsula that shadows the Mississippi River as it empties into the Gulf of Mexico, know Nate let them off very easy, certainly when compared with hurricanes of years past. As the Category 1 storm approached this weekend, memories of the devastation of Katrina 12 years ago, and to a lesser extent, Issac in 2012, loomed large in the scattered hamlets that cling to the few spots of terra firma that line the river south of New Orleans. "I had prayed for this – that we would be spared," said Amos Cormier, president of the parish, Louisiana's equivalent to a county.
Evacuations off to a Slow Start in Advance of Hurricane Nate
With shelters mostly empty along the gulf coast, emergency officials fear that the widespread voluntary evacuation orders may have been ignored.
Scalise On Tropical Storm Nate: 'Confident' New Orleans Is Ready
Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Chuck discuss Tropical Storm Nate and how Louisiana is preparing for possible damage. The full interview will air this Sunday on Meet the Press.
U.S. Gulf oil producers curtail output ahead of Tropical Storm Nate
Oil and natural gas operators began evacuating staff and halting production at U.S. Gulf of Mexico platforms on Thursday ahead of Tropical Storm Nate, the second storm in as many months to rattle the Gulf Coast energy corridor. Nate, which has killed at least 10 people in Costa Rica and Nicaragua and caused intense rainfall, is forecast to scrape Honduras and Mexico, enter the Gulf and strengthen into a hurricane before making landfall this weekend in Louisiana, near several major refineries.
Tropical Storm Nate Headed For Gulf Coast
After the storm ravaged countries in Central America, hurricane warnings are now in place for parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.


Perfect for the nursery, kids rooms or any room of the house, the gorgeous mobiles from iconic label, Flensted!
This mobile is mounted on strings and pre-assembled with the hanger system. You just need to "click" the single elements together.
Spend fun time with your child.