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Action, Adventure, Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, Platformer, Reviews
Unto the End Review
Unto the End
Developer: 2 Ton Studios
Publisher: Big Sugar
Website: https://2tonstudios.net/
Genre: Adventure, Action, Platform
Age Rating: Teen
Release Date: 17/Dec/2020
A code was provided for review purposes.
Unto the End is an action-adventure title where recognizing and learning enemy patterns is crucial to completing the game. You wield a sword and can utilize a torch and a bone dagger to your advantage. As you progress through the game, the character rarely encounters upgrades, and the upgrades unlocked were quality of life improvements. This means that the player will fight more challenging fights without greatly improving the player's character. Player skill is the most important thing here, and in playing this game, you will die many times before reaching the end.
The game does not put a lot of emphasis on the story, but it does not need to, as the combat is strong enough to stand on its own. In the game, you go out to gather supplies for your family. In the process, the ground beneath you collapses, and you are sent on a journey to be reunited with your family. While the story is simple and the developers do not spend time explaining the context of the game, I feel like the minimal emphasis on the story keeps players focused on the combat and improved my experience with the game.
Exploring the Wilderness
Throughout the vast environments such as narrow caves and a glistening tundra, you fight a diverse cast of enemies. The main character can block enemy attacks with his sword, evade enemy blows by rolling or ducking, can attack with his sword and bone dagger, and can even fake attacks. The combat in Unto the End is challenging but extremely rewarding. While the number of options provided to your character may seem overwhelming at first, the game builds upon itself and helps players understand each mechanic individually before expecting players to utilize them together.
In addition to the combat mechanics, there is a resource management element to the gameplay. On the ground, the player can find resources such as herbs or leather. These resources can be used to craft medicine and improve the armor of the character. In my playthrough, I rarely used any of these resources and solely used them for trading and avoiding enemy encounters, leaving me with significant excess at the end of the game. This mechanic makes for an additional level of gameplay and lets the player decide how they want to use their resources. In a sense, it rewards the slaughter of enemies, as you can salvage items from their corpses. I think this was an excellent addition, and although I rarely used the items crafted, I would always be cognizant of the items I had in my inventory.
Not all enemy encounters end with bloodshed. Watch out for barter opportunities.
Combat is Not Always the Way
While all enemies will fight if you provoke them, some enemies will trade with you. In some cases, items you hold will even repel enemies. I was able to avoid some fights by giving an enemy some of the items in my inventory. However, sometimes I would try to give the wrong item, and on multiple occasions, I got killed for it. This forced me to respawn at the last checkpoint and walk all the way back to where this enemy was. There is a possibility that I missed hints that conveyed which items the enemies required, but after taking multiple trips to the enemy, giving the enemy the correct item was less rewarding.
The main character feels heavy, and each action you take has consequences. Rolling too frequently leaves you on your knees, gasping for air. Even jumping too much will leave you exhausted. Including punishment for excessive use of evasion makes the gameplay feel precise and deliberate. I found the inclusion of these mechanics beneficial to the game. It prevents the player from solely avoiding damage by rolling, forcing the player to adapt on the spot and utilize a larger variety of their move set. While some players will find these mechanics frustrating, I found them enjoyable, as it ensured each decision would have consequences.
Crafting is simple yet rewarding.
Exploration can be a Chore
While the combat gameplay was enjoyable, exploring the map was often frustrating. The character walks very slowly, and limited visibility in the caves would frequently lead to confusion. There are traps located in the caves such as falling rocks and dart traps. These are nearly impossible to avoid the first time the player plays the game but are easy to dodge once the player knows that they are there. While this adds to the lore of the game, showing that the creatures are intelligent and have developed technology, I find the implementation of them tedious and frustrating.
No Holding Hands
Additionally, the game insists on having the player discover everything by themselves without explaining the game mechanics. At the beginning of the game, the player learns how to jump. However, the game does not tell the player that jumping twice near a taller ledge allows the character to hoist himself above the ledge. While this was not confusing to me, I can see how it could confuse other players. Additionally, there are objects to interact with.
At times, these objects are clear, such as interacting with a dead corpse. However, there are objects vital to progression that seem to be part of the background. There is never an indication for you to interact with an object, even when standing over it for a long period of time. Implementing a system that will not burden veteran players with button overlays yet one that will help struggling players would have been beneficial here.
Make use of the entire environment
Music/ Visuals
Like the story, the sound design in Unto the End is also minimal. There is always some kind of background noise, but the music is more ambient. However, the sound effects are fitting for the combat that takes place. One of the things I really appreciated is that each hit is audible. A lot of the mechanics in the game are shown through sound effects. Effects such as hearing heavy breathing when the character is exhausted and successful parries having audible clanks of metal.
The visuals are stunning, and the art style adds a lot to the combat. Each character looks different, and each weapon is designed differently. For example, enemies with a whip will attack from range, and enemies with larger weapons have longer startup before attacks. Unfortunately, a large amount of the game is spent underground in caves where visibility is limited. The impeccable visuals are mainly seen in the outdoor sections. In those sections, however, the visuals are magnificent.
Watch out for traps lurking in the darkness
At times, enemy indicators bled together. For example, one creature would get on its knees to attack both low and high. Despite this, I thought the indications before attacks were sufficient, and felt they help the player master the tools provided.
Running a game well on the Nintendo Switch can be challenging. Playing through Unto the End was enjoyable due to the intensity and flow of combat. Luckily, there was no slowdown in the port of this game, and everything ran smoothly. However, loading times are quite long, and dying will happen frequently. It began to frustrate me, especially when I would die to a trap that I was unaware of. Additionally, the game crashed on me two times. The performance of the game was overall quite good but there were some notable issues to consider.
There are some other notable things to consider before delving into this game. At times, there are enemies that guard items vital to progression. While this makes for interesting battles, there were times when it was possible to receive the item and flee without damaging the boss. For example, there is an enemy guarding the heavy key. Instead of fighting this boss, the player can pick up the key and immediately leave the room, even though the boss is targeting them.
Duck!!
Additionally, at times there are objects in the foreground that block the view of enemies. This would be extremely frustrating as there is very little you can do when you cannot see the startup of attacks that enemies have.
With a memorable combat system, tenacious enemies, and gorgeous environments, Unto the End is an enjoyable experience held back by minor design issues, long loading times, and a few accounts of crashing. At £22.49, this game offers a lot of good times but also has some negative experiences tied to it. Despite this, I still enjoyed my experience with the game.
You can get your copy of Unto the End from the Nintendo eShop here.
2 ton studiosBig SugarBig Sugar GamesIndie GamesNindie gameNintendo Switch action platformerNintendo Switch Game ReviewPlatform games on SwitchUnto the EndUnto the End Nintendo Switch
By Joseph Barrood
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13/01/2021 at 8:06 am Reply
The graphics remind me of the excellent "Banner Saga", which is good. Added to my wishlist 🙂


Yes, you're a hygienic person who generally doesn't track gross stuff into her house. But over time, buildup has a way of accumulating--especially in snowy or dusty regions, or if you've got children or pets. Rent a steamer (or hire a professional), and relish in a pile that's as plush and vibrant as the day you bought it.
Even if you plan to live in your home until they take you out on a stretcher, it's always a good idea to get a sense of the market. Plus, aren't you dying to know what Kenny and Margaret did with that hideous wood-paneled rec room?


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ISIS and the Taliban: Writing on the wall for Afghanistan
Wednesday, 02 July 2014 09:15	administrator
Afghans sleepwalked to the polls to replace Karzai, with a choice between a US-educated ex-World Bank official Ashraf Ghani (and his warlord VP Dostum), or the Tajik Abdullah Abdullah who threatens chaos if he loses. Iraq's April elections, the first national elections since the US declared 'success' and left in 2011, provide an indication of what could be in store for Afghans. Rather than confirming the new order, they precipitated a 'surge' by Sunni insurgents, who quickly capture a third of the country, discrediting the whole US-imposed electoral process.
Plans for consolidating Iraq and Afghanistan as pro-US regimes appear to have collapsed with ISIS's capture of Mosul, facing virtually no resistance. The Kurdish Peshmurga militia took control of Kirkuk, and in the south, Iraq's Shia brace to resist ISIS. Iraqis are now living through the 1990s Afghan scenario, when the Taliban quickly took over a country in the grips of sectarian violence with the promise to disarm militias and provide security. In Iraq's Sunni majority areas, a population exhausted by war and violence is now faced by the same prospect of accepting a harsh rule by Sunni extremists who promise security.
From AQI to ISIS
The Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham/ Syria (ISIS, ISIL) is the heir to Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), formed as a direct result of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, successor to AQI leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (d. 2006) and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi (d. 2010), has suddenly emerged as a figure who is attempting to shape the future of Iraq, Syria and the wider Middle East along the lines proposed by Osama Bin Laden.
In 2006, AQI created an umbrella organization, the Mujahideen Shura Council, in an attempt to unify Sunni insurgents in Iraq, and AQI spokesman Abu Ayyub al-Masri declared the self-styled Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) as a front which included the Shura Council factions. AQI was at a low point in its fortunes in 2010, as the resistance ot the US occupation was supposedly collapsing due to the US surge of 2007–2008. But the US decision to disband the Iraqi army and ban Saddam Hussein's Baath Party in 2003 also meant the destruction of the Iraqi state, which meant that the insurgents merely had to wait till the occupying troops departed.
AQI's transformation into a homegrown organization covering the Levant is reflected in its name change to ISIS in April 2013. The Syrian Jabhat al-Nusra (Support Front, 2012) functioned in parallel to ISIS, and supposedly merged with it in 2013. ISIS leader Baghdadi is arguably the real heir to Bin Laden, rather that Ayman Zawahiri, who in vain told Baghdadi to leave Syria to Nusra, and has shown no real initiative since Bin Laden's assassination in 2011.
It was Baghdadi who took the initiative to avenge Bin Laden, which included
24 attacks near Baghdad immediately afterwards
a wave of ISI suicide attacks beginning in Mosul in August 2011 resulting in 70 deaths
a series of coordinated car bombings and IED attacks in Baghdad in December 2011, killing 63 just days after the US completed its troop withdrawal from the country.
How far Baghdadi is directly responsible for the military strategy and tactics of ISIS is uncertain. Former Iraqi army and intelligence officers from the Saddam era are said to play a crucial role. AQI nonetheless follows the al-Qaeda logic of terror against civilians who oppose their program, a spin-off of quietist Saudi Wahhabism, but with Wahhab's militancy restored, the so-called neo-Wahhabis. (Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab inspired the Saud tribal leaders to rebel against the Ottomans, eventually founding the Saudi state.)
Dilemma for the US
In both Iraq and Afghanistan, there was no equivalent of the Islamist movements which offer a genuine alternative to Saudi Wahhabism—the Muslim Brotherhood or the Iranian Islamists led by Ayatollah Khomeini, which meant that the collapse of the secular regimes—Afghanistan in the 1990s and Iraq in 2003—quickly gave way to extremist neo-Wahhabi insurgencies, which initially found common cause with al-Qaeda.
This relationship soured in Afghanistan with 9/11, which the Taliban were not party to, but the US invasion of Afghanistan again gave the Taliban and al-Qaeda common cause. The US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the collapse of Sunni political power opened the door to al-Qaeda there.
US strategy after invading in both cases was to promote a "surge" (Iraq 2007–2008, Afghanistan 2010–2012) to defeat the insurgencies. It is clear in both cases that the surge was unsuccessful, merely providing a breathing space for the US to withdraw its troops, a la Vietnam in 1975.
Iraq's present crisis is an indication of what is in store for Afghanistan, where a resilient Taliban aim to reassert control. The US can no longer prevail in either country, as the neo-Wahhabis gain strength. It is only a matter of time before angry Saudi citizens recreate the same dynamic in the kingdom itself.
The only realistic option to prevent this is for the US to push its Saudi 'ally' to work with Iran and Russia to achieve a negotiated settlement of the Syrian civil war, and with Iran in Iraq and Afghanistan to support the elected governments.
The alternative is to let Iraq disintegrate into Sunni, Shia and Kurdish states, and to allow a similar disintegration of Afghanistan into Tajik, Pushtun and Shia states—after hundreds of thousands more deaths.
Can Obama reverse the nightmare of the past decade, or is this scenario what the US intends?
A version of this appeared at Crescent International

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Mindjack, the digital culture zine honchoed by Street Tech Irregular Donald Melanson, has an excellent interview with comic book mastermind Warren Ellis (Transmet, Planetary).
If you don't make regular browser stops at Mindjack already, you really should. It just keeps on getting better — and I'm not JUST saying that 'cause I'm on the Mindjack Board of Advisors, and so far, I've been utterly shiftless and non-responsive in that role. Please make a point of going there and participating, so I can feel worthy and wholesome (right now, I feel DIRTY).
Next PostNext That's Not A Pile of Junk, That's My Pet Robot!


We have continued a close working relationship with Foxton's and have fully refurbished several of their key outlets with the brand new Foxton's corporate design. In these projects we are able to present our skills including reception counters, banquette seating, wall paneling, feature walls, bamboo tables, magazine racks, tea point units and post units among several other joinery items.
Our recent projects have seen us successfully undertake the solid surface cladding elements ourselves. These items can be found on all front of house walls and columns as well as the reception counter.


Our Roof terrace and Garden areas offer a perfect place to host an event.
We can cater for up to 100 participants offering sound system, drinks, snack or a full 3 course meal.
We are a small Filipino/English family business that offers a place to relax.
Either by the pool on the Beach Front or chillin on the roof terrace.
We cater for both Filipino and International tastes with a varied menu and fully stocked bar. Check out our huge Bitaub Trees 100s of years old and shading the pools and mature garden to relax in.
The island has so much to offer, with hiking trails to the verdant forests, climbing volcanoes, swimming in hot and cold springs or marveling at the power of the 3 waterfalls.
All arranged by us at your convienience.
The island tour takes in all 7 major tourism spots including waterfalls, hot springs, cold springs and historic sites.
Taking 8 hours and costing 1,700 for up to 8 people. With an additional 280 pesos per person entrance fees.
White Island is right on our doorstep a 10 peso Motorela ride to the terminal.
The Boats take a maximum of 4 guests costing 450 pesos for return trip with a 50 pesos entrance fee.
Sunrise or Sunset are recommended times to visit.
We can arrange transport for groups of 6 to 8 people from the beach club for 1,000 return. The boats cost 600 return with a 30 pesos entrance fee.
The island offers wonderful diving/snorkelling an a chance to sample freshly caught fish dishes an other native treats.
Guests can enjoy a complimentary breakfast of Filipino, English or Continental dishes, and a variety of hot drinks.
The Poolside Bar or Roof Terrace are available for guests to relax and choose from variety of wines spirits and beers.
The restaurant is open from 7.00 am until 22.00 and has varied mix of local and international dishes to choose from.
We offer a variety of amenities to make your stay with us as comfortable as possible. Cable TV is available in Beach front and Poolside rooms. Free WiFi in common areas.
2 swimming pools for adults and children, roof terrace with White Island views and poolside chill zone.
If you want to be pampered we have massage or spa treatments and if you want to go solo we can also arrange motor bike hire.
Camiguin is served by 3 airlines, Cebu Pacific, Philippine Airlines who have flights from Cebu daily, and Skyjet who fly from Manila Mon Tues Fri Sat and Sun.
For updates on flight details contact airlines direct.
Air Condition RR vans leave Cagayan De Oro Gaisano Car Park @ 2.00 am 4.30 am 8.30 am 11 am and 13.00 pm daily direct to the resort.
Were a small Filipino/British family run business.
Positioned right in front of White Island and convenient for restaurants and entertainment venues.
We have associations with reputable island tour guides, dive masters and transportation providers.
We can also arrange personal treats such as picnic hampers for trips to Mantigue or White Island.
give us a call/text or message us so we can advise on best options for you and your loved ones.
We have - Philippine National Bank (PNB).
We accept payments via Palawan made payable to Susan M Sykes mobile 09177756287 including depositors name.
A full refund of deposit is payable if reservation is canceled on or before 7 days of booking.
Low season rates and promos on request.
Queen Bed , cable television , fridge, hot shower with complimentary breakfast and free access to wifi in common areas.
Extra beds are available at 400 per person.
Queen bed, cable television, fridge, with hot shower and complimentary breakfast plus coffee/tea making facilities.
Free wifi access in common areas.
Sleeps 6 people and includes complimentary breakfast and access to free wifi in common areas.
2 double deck and 1 double bed.
Sleeps 8 people and includes complimentary breakfast and access to free wifi in common areas.
3 double deck and 1 double bed.
Sleeps 6 and is a 2 bedroom self catering with fridge, cooking utensils, crockery and ensuite hot shower.
Access to free wifi in common areas.
We have 1 room Beach front and 1 room Poolside that have Disability access including ramps.
Prices shown are high season - Lowseason rates on request.
Link to our Face Book page Camiguin Island Golden Sunset Beach Club for events and promos.
We can accomodate early check-in by arrangement at reservation time.
Copyright © 2019 Camiguin Island - Golden Sunset Beach Club - All Rights Reserved.


Durras North in Far South New South Wales is an exposed beach break that has dependable surf, although summer tends to be mostly flat. The best wind direction is from the northwest with some shelter here from north winds. Most of the surf here comes from groundswells and the ideal swell direction is from the southeast. The beach breaks offer lefts and rights. Surfable at all stages of the tide. It very rarely gets crowded here. Watch out for - Rips / undertow.
For Depot Beach, 2 km from Durras North.
At Batemans Bay Waverider Buoy, 8 km from Durras North.
At Batemans Bay Waverider Buoy, 5 miles from Durras North.
The two graphs above are also combined in the single Durras North surf consistency graph.
Also see Durras North surf quality by season and Durras North surf quality by month.
Compare Durras North with another surf break.
This is the Surf-Forecast page for Durras North, NSW - Far South. Use the tab navigation above to view Durras North sea temperature, Durras North photographs, Durras North detailed swell predictions, wind and weather forecasts, Durras North webcams, current wind from NSW - Far South live weather stations and Durras North tide predictions. The Australia swell maps link will open up the big picture showing Australia and the surrounding seas. These swell maps can be animated to show the different swell components, wave energy, wave period, wave heights, together with wind and weather forecasts, current weather and sea state observations from Australia wave-buoys, passing ships and coastal weather stations. Each of the forecast pages for this surf break feature a global and regional wavefinder tool to locate the best surf conditions in the area around Durras North.


MediaShow 5 offers more memorable ways to share your photos, with new tools for creating and customizing dazzling slideshows. You can now combine videos with your photo slideshows, while a selection of 12 stylized templates and a myriad of transition and text effects make the design process fast and easy.
Give your slideshow an exciting theme. Choose from MediaShow's 12 style templates. In between images or videos, try spicing it up with MediaShow's 30+ transition effects.
Add different types of background music to set the proper tone for your slideshow. Select from 36+ text effects to convert them into funny thought bubbles, comic book dialog, credit sequences, or even TV captions to your slideshows.
If your slideshow is longer in length, try creating chapters within your slideshow using color boards. The storyboard style workspace boasts an intuitive design, allowing easy drag-and-drop of photos to change the playback sequence of your slideshows.


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The 3 Best National Parks in the USA for Understanding Today's Ecological Crisis
As a Goodfairian, you probably love the outdoors. But the outdoors doesn't exist in a vacuum. The pristine wilderness of our National Parks might soon become a distant memory as our contemporary environmental issues play out. Learn more about conservation in the parks to protect their beauty.
Erica Eller May 2, 2021
Our National Parks are more than just playgrounds for outdoorsy people to frolic. They are becoming symbols of the crises of our time, whether it's a lack of funding, climate change, or biodiversity loss.
Though they're conservation areas, National Parks are unfortunately not immune to the pollution, invasive species and overwhelming crowds of first time visitors during the pandemic.
National Parks also remind us of our fraught history of settler colonization. When many national parks were established, native American tribes were forced to leave. Now, scientists are realizing what natives have known all along: their traditions and land stewardship actually helped to protect the beauty of the wilderness for centuries.
In spite of these challenges, our National Parks still play a hugely important role in the lives of nearly all Americans. They give us hope for improving our relationship with nature in the future. Here are three parks which demand our attention now.
The Everglades in southern Florida are teeming with life. Birds, amphibians, fish, both crocodiles and alligators, and unique species of water-going mammals like manatees all share the swampy heaven for biodiversity. It's the largest sub-tropical wilderness in the United States and it contains nine different habitats.
Now the freshwater river that runs through it is sapped because of encroaching coastal development, farmland, and storm surges. The lack of freshwater is its primary risk.
Salt water is destroying the rich peat soil of the marsh, causing it to emit methane. This heat-trapping greenhouse gas is 30 times more damaging to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.
The region is also overrun with invasive species, which can cause huge imbalances and die-offs for the populations of native species.
What's being done: Actually the Everglades has received significant conservation funding: $10 billion over the course of 30 years. But as climate change continues to alter the coast lines from sea level rise, the Everglades will likely remain vulnerable.
Big Basin Redwoods National Park
Big Basin is the oldest park in California, known for its old growth towering giants. Some of the redwoods in the park are up to 1,800 years old. But last summer's wildfires left the park with burn scars spanning 63,000 acres. The damage, according to the California Department of Parks and Recreation, was extensive.
Big Basin has survived extensive wildfires in the past, but with the persistence of fires we've seen each summer, it's hard to know how long the trees can withstand the heat. On top of that, California only recovered from a historic drought a few years ago, and it continues to face water shortages, which adds to the likelihood of more raging fires.
Some parks like Mesa Verde in southern Colorado are threatened due to highly polluting oil and gas exploration. This National Park exhibits the fascinating culture of the Pueblo cliff dwellers, with archaeological sites dating back to the 12th century. Opened in 1906, it was the first National Park to protect both natural and cultural heritage.
Now, the lands surrounding the park have become a hotspot for oil drilling speculation. A 2015 plan which is still in place maps out development sites for 1,000 new oil and gas wells, which could bring destructive roads, tanks, and pipelines to the neighboring area, as well as heighten the risk for wastewater spills.
A related incident at the nearby Canyon of the Ancients National Monument has left park water contaminated not just for people but all the species the park was designed to protect.
Want to help the parks? Support the National Park Conservation Association.
Progress Over Perfection: Why it Matters for Sustainability by Erica Eller
How to clean a thrifted leather jacket by Erica Eller
What is environmental justice and why does it matter? by Erica Eller


Add up to 2 lines of text including company names, title and staff name.
Easy company to deal with, they offer free mock ups, free delivery and they're cheaper than other companies online.
I've was using another company until 2014. After waiting for numerous orders, parcels becoming 'lost' I decided to try someone new. I found these guys and since then, I have never looked back. Always on time, always exactly what I have ordered and they even send mock ups!


With the passage of time the numbers of trends are emerging with their high potentialities that directly or indirectly are responsible in effecting the market. In such modern trends of market the existence of Services Marketing really keeps distinguished status in market place because it has latent capability to flourish the growth rate of business. That is why a book entitled Services Marketing; Integrated Customer Focus Across The Firm has been composed by the most accomplished and worldly renowned researchers and teachers in order to supply better concepts to understand such trends in an easier way. The authors of the book are Valarie A Zeithsml, Mary Jo Bither, Dwayne D Gremler and Ajay Pandit.
The book "Services Marketing" aptly includes the widely developed approach for services marketing thoroughly based on GAPS Model of Service Quality caters you about perceptions of consumers as well as their expectations. It comprises valuable experiences of pioneering researchers whose significant attempts in researching and teaching extremely assisted the book in finding out the relevant material or topics that truly co-operates to gather complete thematic implication of services marketing for acquiring easier comprehension of the text that is most demanded requirement of students and businesspeople.
The book broadly covers the all aspects of business to business services and its applications in a comprehensive way. The subject matter used in the text has been utterly exemplified in a various modes like graphic, charts, images etc. which sufficiently helps you in applying own perception regarding the given descriptions. Moreover, the book also includes updated 'Technology Spotlight' boxes and 'Indian Service strategy Insight' boxes in each chapter to illustrate the concepts explained. In addition to this inclusion of a new Indian case on MeritTrac and its rise in the IT sector defines the concepts of Indian market.
The book apparently reflects the two distinct ways of Services Marketing and Goods Marketing and also indicates about appropriate strategies and tactics in implementing Services Marketing in a broad way. In it the marketing approach for both kinds of marketing that is services and goods is defined by introducing several strategies directly relevant to marketing. The well-experienced authors seem to have essentially incorporated major changes and developments in the field of service marketing. Of course, one can easily come across through its updated new knowledge, changes in management practice and the global economic trend of the services.
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The whole book has been divided into seven important parts in all its segments one receives detailed descriptions of relevant topics in a terse composition known as chapters that really serves the base of services marketing. The foundation for services marketing lets you know about the services and the GAPS model of service Quality. Its second chapter deliberately highlights on the customer and primarily discusses about the consumer behavior in services and customer's expectation & perception of services. The third chapter provides the material on understanding of customer requirements that covers the marketing research to the customer, customer relationship and service recovery. When we proceed to its fourth part named the Aligning Service Design and Standards brings elaborated matter on Service Innovation and Design, Customer-Defined Service Standard and Physical Evidence and the Servicescape. Its fifth part introduces about Delivering and Performing Services and the sixth part highlights about Managing Service promises. The last part this book collects information about service and the bottom line that includes the Financial and Economic Impacts of Service. Apart from this there are ten cases have been included by various researchers that support to understand the Services Marketing in a convenient but an effective way.
On conclusion, it must be stated about the book that it has broad coverage of all aspects that are inevitably considered prime requirement for Service Marketing. Indeed the book seems to be prepared for student and businesspeople who recognize the vital role that services play in the economy and its future.


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title: Blog
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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SS 1 - Harju 1 (3.48 km) SS 2 - Laukaa 1 (11.75 km) SS 3 - Lankamaa 1 (21.69 km) SS 4 - Laukaa 2 (11.75 km) SS 5 - Lankamaa 2 (21.69 km) SS 6 - Harju 2 (2.01 km) SS 7 - Ässämäki 1 (12.31 km) SS 8 - Sahloinen-Moksi 1 (15.70 km) SS 9 - Ässämäki 2 (12.31 km) SS 10 - Sahloinen-Moksi 2 (15.70 km) SS 11 - Päijälä 1 (20.19 km) SS 12 - Rapsula 1 (20.56 km) SS 13 - Patajoki 1 (13.75 km) SS 14 - Vekkula 1 (20.65 km) SS 15 - Päijälä 2 (20.19 km) SS 16 - Rapsula 2 (20.56 km) SS 17 - Patajoki 2 (13.75 km) SS 18 - Vekkula 2 (20.65 km) SS 19 - Oittila 1 (10.84 km) SS 20 - Ruuhimäki 1 (11.12 km) SS 21 - Oittila 2 (10.84 km) SS 22 - Ruuhimäki 2 (11.12 km)
- Breen C.
- Neuville T.
8 Huttunen J.
10 Lappi E.
- Paddon H.
(21 - Suninen Teemu / Markkula Mikko): excluded - car not in conformity with homologation (weight of front bumper)
(8 - Tänak Ott / Järveoja Martin): The Toyota guys gave me some hope on Friday in the beginning and since then we saw our chance. We were pushing from there, but all I want to say in these difficult times is that it's really all down to my wife. She has been supporting me so much and I am really proud of here - I love her so much.
(69 - Rovanperä Kalle / Halttunen Jonne): Of course it was a nice weekend. I would have wanted to win at home of course but when you look at the situation I think we did pretty well after opening the road on Friday. We fought back and we are still quite close, so I think we can be proud of what we did.
(4 - Lappi Esapekka / Ferm Janne): Wow. That's nice! There was a rut [in the previous stage] and we hit it and immediately started to roll. I saw from the video that we went over three times. I don't know what to say - I am sorry to the team for breaking the car but it's good to be here.
(33 - Evans Elfyn / Martin Scott): Not the best weekend - a bit up and down. Of course it was nice to be in the early fight but it got a bit frustrating after Saturday. It's like that - not the weekend we wanted but at least we are here.
(11 - Neuville Thierry / Wydaeghe Martijn): It was a tough weekend but we already knew it coming here. Like in Estonia, it's two rallies in a row with a similar profile where I have always struggled a bit. Now we are heading to Ypres and we will try to do a good job over there.
(18 - Katsuta Takamoto / Johnston Aaron): It was a good rally. I made so many mistakes yesterday and unfortunately I couldn't catch Thierry, but I will try to improve. I am really hoping that our team-mates are doing well.
(44 - Greensmith Gus / Andersson Jonas): It seemed to be better this morning for sure. I've really enjoyed it - the stages have been mega. I'm not sure what's wrong with Pierre but he seems to have had a problem.
(7 - Loubet Pierre-Louis / Landais Vincent): retired before SS 22
(68 - Huttunen Jari / Lukka Mikko): It's a nice feeling to finish the rally and with this car it's really amazing. It was not exactly what we wanted but I am really happy and I have to thank all my sponsors and the team.
(16 - Fourmaux Adrien / Coria Alexandre): It's been quite frustrating on the first day. We can be happy with some interesting times and it's also been good for experience to open the road. It was not the rally we wanted but there are some positives.
(42 - Breen Craig / Nagle Paul): Can I swear?! It's been a tricky weekend. I've enjoyed the parts where we were on the road, but I am disappointed about what happened yesterday. I am trying to squeeze everything out of this car, like everybody else on the team, but the level here is so high and you have to be on your A game in every rally.
(21 - Suninen Teemu / Markkula Mikko): It was a really good rally for us and we are feeling great. I think we have done a very good job of developing the car and now it's on the winning pace, so that's the most important thing.
(20 - Lindholm Emil / Hämäläinen Reeta): It was quite something. It seems like Friday was the day where we basically lost it. We need to think about that. I am not over the moon, but anyhow, second place after a proper fight is a good rally for us.
(22 - Kaur Egon / Simm Silver): The feeling is good. One goal was to make it through the whole rally without mistakes - we definitely achieved that. We also wanted to keep up with the frontrunners, but that needs a little bit of work for the future.
(25 - Paddon Hayden / Kennard John): I really enjoyed being back over here. We haven't quite hit the pace we wanted but I have loved every second of it. We've got lots more to come as a team but the car is in one piece, so we can put it on the plane next week and take it back home.
Starting order: Paddon, Kaur, Lindholm, Suninen, Breen, Fourmaux, Huttunen, Loubet, Greensmith, Katsuta, Evans, Lappi, Rovanperä, Tänak


Learn more about Keith's new book or buy it now.
My new book -- Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time -- was recently released by Currency/Doubleday. In Never Eat Alone, I expose many secrets behind the success of so many accomplished people. Most of these secrets involve the power of relationships and how we all can succeed best in business and in life by contributing to the success of others. The mindset and techniques that have helped me meet and connect with so many amazing people, all of which have meant everything to my professional success and personal joy, are distilled into 31 simple and fun chapters that are easy to read and to follow.
The following excerpt is from Never Eat Alone's Chapter 15: "Connecting with Connectors." In this chapter, I discuss super-connectors. You know who I'm talking about. They're the people who make possible "the strength of weak ties," they know and connect people from all walks of life, and they're essential to growing your network -- whatever your mission in life. I even give a quick rundown of seven professions in which you'll find natural super-connectors. Learn the unique talents of each and how best to get on their radar screens, and you just might become a super-connector in your own right!
It has become part of our accepted wisdom that six degrees is all that separates us from anyone else in the world. How can that be? Because some of those degrees (people) know many, many more people than the rest of us.
Call them super-connectors. We all know at least one person like this individual, who seems to know everybody and who everybody seems to know. You'll find a disproportionate amount of super-connectors as headhunters, lobbyists, fundraisers, politicians, journalists, and public relations specialists, because such positions require these folks' innate abilities. I am going to argue that such people should be the cornerstones to any flourishing network.
What Michael Jordan was to the basketball court, or Tiger Woods is to golf, these people can be to your network. So who are they, really, and how can you get them to become prized members of your circle of associates and friends?
In his bestselling book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell cites a classic 1974 study by sociologist Mark Granovetter that surveyed how a group of men in Newton, Massachusetts, found their current job. The study, appropriately titled "Getting a Job," has become a seminal work in its field, and its findings have been confirmed over and over again.
Granovetter discovered that 56 percent of those surveyed found their current job through a personal connection. Only 19 percent used what we consider traditional job-searching routes, like newspaper job listings and executive recruiters. Roughly 10 percent applied directly to an employer and obtained the job.
My point? Personal contacts are the key to opening doors -- not such a revolutionary idea.What is surprising, however, is that of those personal connections that reaped dividends for those in the study, only 17 percent saw their personal contact often -- as much as they would if they were good friends -- and 55 percent saw their contact only occasionally.And get this, 28 percent barely met with their contact at all.
In other words, it's not necessarily strong contacts, like family and close friends, that prove the most powerful; to the contrary, often the most important people in our network are those who are acquaintances.
As a result of the study, Granovetter immortalized the phrase "the strength of weak ties" by showing persuasively that when it comes to finding out about new jobs -- or, for that matter, new information or new ideas -- "weak ties" are generally more important than those you consider strong.Why is that? Think about it.
Many of your closest friends and contacts go to the same parties, generally do the same work, and exist in roughly the same world as you do. That's why they seldom know information that you don't already know.
Your weak ties, on the other hand, generally occupy a very different world than you do. They're hanging out with different people, often in different worlds, with access to a whole inventory of knowledge and information unavailable to you and your close friends.
Mom was wrong—it does pay to talk to strangers. As Malcolm Gladwell wrote, "Acquaintances, in short, represent a source of social power, and the more acquaintances you have, the more powerful you are."
Throughout this book, I try to emphasize that what's most important is developing deep and trusting relationships, not superficial contacts. Despite Granovetter's research, I believe friendships are the foundation for a truly powerful network. For most of us, cultivating a lengthy list of mere acquaintances on top of the effort devoted to your circle of friends is just too draining. The thought of being obligated to another hundred or so people -- sending birthday cards, dinner invites, and all that stuff that we do for those close to us—seems outlandishly taxing.
Only, for some, it's not. These people are super-connectors. People like me who maintain contact with thousands of people. The key, however, is not only that we know thousands of people but that we know thousands of people in many different worlds, and we know them well enough to give them a call. Once you become friendly with a super-connector, you're only two degrees away from the thousands of different people we know.
A social psychologist by the name of Dr. Stanley Milgram proved this idea in a 1967 study.He ran an experiment that set out to show that our big, impersonal world is actually quite small and friendly.
It was Milgram's experiment that created the notion of "six degrees of separation." In the experiment, he sent a package to a few hundred randomly selected people in Nebraska with the instructions that they forward the package to an anonymous stockbroker in Boston whom they did not know. Each person could send the packet only to someone whom they knew on a firstname basis, and who they thought was more likely to know the stockbroker than they were themselves. About a third of the letters reached their destination, after an average of only six mailings.
What was surprising was that when all those chains of people were analyzed, Milgram found that a majority of the letters passed through the hands of the name three Nebraskans. The finding drives home the point that if you want access to the social power of acquaintances, it helps to know a few super-connectors.
Connectors can be found in every imaginable profession, but I'm going to focus on seven professions where they most commonly congregate. Each of these kinds of connectors provides me with a link to an entire world of people, ideas, and information that, in a very significant way, has made my own life a little more fun, helped my career along, or made the businesses I worked for more successful.
Fifty-seventh Street isn't exactly lower Manhattan, but it was downtown to Jimmy Rodriguez, the nightlife impresario who made the Bronx hip for the A-list with his first eatery. Jimmy's Downtown, his second restaurant, lured the same set of celebrities, politicians, and athletes looking for good food and good times.
When I was in New York, it was my spot. The scene was exclusive without being pompous: soft light, a gleaming onyx bar, and a pumping R&B soundtrack makes the place feel like a hip country club. Jimmy would fly around tables hooking you up with free appetizers and introducing you to people he thought you might want to meet.
It was like a private club, without membership dues.
My memories of Jimmy were of a true-blue connector. In fact, it's a requisite for most people who own restaurants.When I was in Chicago, it was Gordon's Restaurant, and in L.A., it is Wolfgang Puck. The success of their enterprise depends on a core group of regulars who see the restaurant as a home away from home.
And it's quite easy to get to know a restaurateur. The smart ones will go out of their way to make your experience delightful. All you have to do is reach out and go there often enough.
When in a new city, I generally ask people to give me a list of a few of the hottest (and most established) restaurants. I like to call ahead and ask to speak with the owner (though the maître d' will do) and tell them that I go out regularly, sometimes in large parties, and I'm looking for a new place to entertain, a lot!
If you don't go out as often as I do, find one or two restaurants that you enjoy and frequent them when you do go out. Become a regular.Make a point of meeting the staff.When you're entertaining for work, bring others there.When you have to cater an event, use them.
Once you get to know the owner, it'll become like your very own restaurant -- a place that has the patina of exclusivity and cachet a private club imparts with all the warmth and comfort of your own home.
With some advance planning and a little loyalty, a restaurateur will not only share the bounty of his kitchen with you but introduce you to his other roster of clients as well.
Recruiters. Job-placement counselors. Search executives. They are like gatekeepers. Instead of answering to one executive, however, the really successful ones may answer to hundreds of executives in the field in which they recruit.
Headhunters are professional matchmakers, earning their wage by introducing job candidates to companies that are hiring. Should you get the job, the headhunter gets a sizable commission, typically a percentage of the successful candidate's first year's compensation.
As a result, headhunters are an interesting blend of salesman and socialite. To find candidates, headhunters often place job ads. They also contact likely candidates directly, perhaps on the referral of a friend or colleague. In the industries in which they specialize, they become invaluable resources of names and information.
The sweet spot for a headhunter revolves around two issues. You're either hiring them to do a search or you're helping them do a search on behalf of someone else. If you're in the market for a job, let as many search firms as are willing hit the phones for you.
I keep a file of headhunters: who they are and what they're looking for. And I return every call from them, helping to tap my network to find people for their jobs. I know they'll help me with access to some of their clients when I need their help. After all, they are in the networking business!
Can anyone contact a headhunter? To be honest, headhunters prefer to be the one contacting you. But if you're careful about not trying to sell yourself before you offer up the network of contacts you can provide to them, they'll be receptive. In the early years of my career, when I was not in the position of hiring them and didn't know people who were using search consultants, I would ask pointedly,"What searches are you working on? How can I help you find people?"
The other advice in this area is to act as a pseudo-headhunter yourself, always on the lookout to connect job-hunters and jobseekers or consultants and companies.When you help people land a new gig, they'll be inclined to remember you if they hear of a new position opening. Moreover, if you help, say, a vendor of yours land a new client, they'll usually be more open to negotiating prices on your next project.Helping others find good employees is a real currency.
Well informed, persuasive, and self-confident, lobbyists are generally impressive networkers.
By virtue of their job, they are intimately familiar with the ways of large organizations and how local and national government work. They are almost uniformly passionate people whose goal is to sway politicians to vote on legislation in a way that favors the interest they represent.
How do they work? Lobbyists will often host cocktail parties and dinner get-togethers, allowing them to interact with politicians -- and their opponents -- in a casual atmosphere. Their more grassroots efforts involve long hours spent on the phone and in writing letters, trying to rouse the community to get involved behind an issue. All of which makes them a rather easy group to please. Can you hold an event for them? Volunteer your services? Refer other volunteers to their cause? Introduce them to potential clients?
Lobbyists tend to bump up against a lot of people who it might be helpful to know, including those who are powerful and successful.
"Follow the money" are words fundraisers live by. They know where it is, what it will take to get it, and most important, who's most likely to give it away. As a result, fundraisers, whether they work for a political organization, university, or nonprofit group,tend to know absolutely everybody. And while they have the unenviable job of trying to convince people every day to part with their well-earned money, they are almost always incredibly well liked. It's a selfless job often done for the best of reasons, and most people recognize that anyone who has a good friend who is a fundraiser has an open door to a whole new world of contacts and opportunities.
PR people spend their whole day calling, cajoling, pressuring, and begging journalists to cover their clients. The relationship between media and PR is an uneasy one, but at the end of the day, necessity brings them together like long-lost cousins.
A good friend who works in PR can be your entrée into the world of media and, sometimes, celebrity. Elana Weiss, who coleads the PR firm I used called The Rose Group, introduced me to Arianna Huffington (through someone she knew in her office), the noted author and political columnist. Arianna has since become a friend and confidante and one of the dazzling lights at my dinner parties in L.A.
Politicians at every level are inveterate networkers. They have to be. They shake hands, kiss babies, give speeches, and go to dinners, all in the name of gaining the trust of enough people to get elected. The stature of politicians is derived from their political power rather than their wealth.Anything you can do to help them gain power with voters, or exercise power in office, will go a long way to ensuring you a place in their inner circle.
What can a politician do for you? Local city hall politicians can be key to working through the thicket of local governmental bureaucracy. And politicians at any level, if successful, are celebrities -- and their networks reflect that.
How can you reach out? Join your local Chamber of Commerce. Local executives, businesspeople, and entrepreneurs generally populate the Chamber. In every community, there are plenty of young politicos looking to climb the political ladder. Early on, before their rise to prominence, you can engender a lot of loyalty and trust by supporting their goals and chipping in when they decide to run for office.
Journalists are powerful (the right exposure can make a company or turn a nobody into a somebody), needy (they're always looking for a story), and relatively unknown (few have achieved enough celebrity to make them naccessible).
For years, since I was back at Deloitte, I've called on journalists at different magazines, taking them to dinners and pumping them full of good story ideas. I now know people in top positions at almost every major business magazine in the country. Which is one of the reasons why in less than a year after I took over YaYa, with barely a shred of revenue to its name, the company—and, more important, the idea YaYa was trying to sell—appeared in publications like Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, CNBC, Brand Week, Newsweek, the New York Times... the list goes on.
These are seven different professions tailor-made for superconnectors. Reach out to some. And there are others—lawyers, brokers, etc. Become a part of their network and have them become a part of yours. Cut the umbilical cord to the folks around the office water cooler. Mix it up. Hunt out people who look and act and sound nothing like you do. Seek out ideas from people you don't ordinarily talk to who inhabit professional worlds you don't ordinarily travel in.
In one word: Connect. In four better words: Connect with the connectors.
Understanding Paul Revere's legacy to the world of networking is as simple as grasping the following: Some people are much more well connected than others.
If you moved to a small town and wished, for some reason, to meet everyone in town, what would you do? Go door-to-door, greeting one resident at a time? Or would you try to find one plugged-in resident who could open all the doors for you?
Today, that plugged-in townie might be, say, the high school principal, the Little League commissioner, or the church pastor. But in Paul Revere's day -- think of the 1770s in the Boston metro area -- the most plugged-in people were like Revere, the owner of a silversmith shop in the city's North End, businessmen and merchants who dealt with individuals at every level of Boston society and culture.
Revere was also an extremely social individual: He formed several clubs of his own and joined many others. As a teenager, he and six friends formed a society of church bell ringers; as an adult, he joined the North Caucus Club, a society founded by Samuel Adams's father to choose candidates for local government. In 1774, when British troops began to seize munitions, Revere formed yet another club, of sorts, responsible for monitoring the movements of British troops. In addition, Revere belonged to the Masonic Lodge of St. Andrew, through which he was friendly with revolutionary activists such as James Otis and Dr. Joseph Warren.
All of which helps to explain why Revere, among all Bostonians in the year preceding the Revolution, served as courier for the Boston Committee of Correspondence and the Massachusetts Committee of Safety, riding express to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. It was also he who spread the word of the Boston Tea Party to New York and Philadelphia. Revere, in short, was a man who knew not only people -- he knew gossip, he knew rumors, he knew news, and he knew it from every level of Boston society.
In April 1775, Revere caught wind of British orders to capture rebel leaders and forcibly disarm the colonists. So Revere and his fellow rebels devised a warning system: Two lanterns shining from the steeple of Boston's Old North Church (the city's tallest building) indicated that the British troops were advancing on Boston by sea; one candle indicated a land advance. Either way, the rebels in Boston and its surrounding suburbs would know when and where to flee and take up arms.
We all know the "one if by land, two if by sea" part of this story. What's less known is that Revere's networking savvy is what allowed him -- and maybe only him -- to be the one entrusted with illuminating the church steeple.
The church, as it happened, was Anglican; the rector strongly supported the Crown. But Revere knew the vestryman, John Pulling, through the North Caucus Club. And through his shop, he knew the sexton, Robert Newman, who had a key to the building.
Revere's connections were crucial to him that fateful night. After lighting the lanterns, Revere needed to reach Lexington, to warn rebel leaders Sam Adams and John Hancock. First, two acquaintances rowed Revere across the Charles River, to Charlestown; there, a horse was waiting for Revere, lent to him by another pal, Deacon John Larkin.
Chased by Redcoats, Revere was diverted north of Lexington, to the town of Medford. Because he knew the head of Medford's military, Revere rode to his house and warned him. With the militiaman's help, Revere alerted the town of Medford before heading to Lexington.
Most of us know the Lexington part of the story. Less known is that on the same night that Revere made his midnight ride, a man named William Dawes went galloping off in the other direction to muster the militias to the west of Boston. Revere's ride stirred up an army, while something like three people showed up from the towns Dawes visited. Why? Revere was a connector: He knew everybody, and so was able to storm into one village after another, banging on all the right doors and calling out all the right people by name.
Historians say Revere was blessed with an "uncanny genius for being at the center of events." But it doesn't take genius for that -- just involvement and active interest in your community and a friendship (or two) with a connector.


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Europe Land
Elbit Systems Awarded $35M Contract to Equip Montenegro's JLTV 4X4 Vehicles With Remote Control Weapon Stations
December 17, 2019 DP Staff Writer	0 Comments	Armed Forces of Montenegro, Elbit Systems, Israel, Montenegro, Oshkosh Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV), Remote Controlled Weapon Station (RCWS)
Israeli defense company, Elbit Systems has been awarded a contract of approximately $35 million, to supply the Montenegrin Armed Forces with Remote Controlled Weapon Stations (RCWS) for its new Oshkosh Defense 4X4 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTVs).
The contract was awarded following the signing of a historic Government-to-Government (G2G) agreement between the Montenegrin Ministry of Defense and the Israeli Ministry of Defense's (IMoD) International Defense Cooperation Directorate (SIBAT).
According to the contract signed, Elbit Systems will perform full integration of the RCWS onboard the JLTV vehicles over a three-year period and will provide logistic support for a seven-year period.
Yehuda (Udi) Vered, General Manager of Elbit Systems Land division, commented: "We are very proud to introduce our RCWS to Montenegro's Armed Forces. This award further expands our NATO customer base and strengthens our growing cooperation with Oshkosh. We are witnessing a growing demand worldwide for our RCWS, of which many hundreds are already operational onboard a range of land and naval platforms, and we trust that further customers will follow in acquiring our advanced and mature weapon stations."
Elbit Systems' 12.7mm RCWS is a lightweight, low silhouette, dual-axis and stabilized Remote Controlled Weapon Station and is mounted externally on armored vehicles. The RCWS offers accurate firing on-the-move and is operated via handles and Smart Displays by the gunner from within the vehicle, providing protection for the vehicle's crew.
Montenegro signed a US$36.17 million contract for the procurement of 67 JLTVs. The vehicles will equip Montenegro's NATO-declared forces: the 1st Infantry Company in Nikšić and the 2nd Infantry Company in Pljevlja.
The first 20 vehicles are scheduled to arrive in 2020, making Montenegro Europe's first JLTV operator. Montenegro is to acquire 55 JLTVs in basic configuration, eight in anti-tank configuration, and the remaining four in medical and command configurations.
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text:
A Temporada 1973–74 da Basketball Bundesliga foi a 8.ª edição da principal competição de basquetebol masculino na Alemanha. A extinta equipe do SSV Hagen de Renânia do Norte-Vestfália conquistou o seu primeiro e único título nacional.

Equipes participantes

Classificação Fase Regular

Grupo Norte

Grupo Sul

Playouts

Grupo Norte

Grupo Sul

Grupos de quartas de finais

Grupo A

Grupo B

Playoffs

Campeões da Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) 1973–74

Clubes alemães em competições europeias

Temporadas da Basketball Bundesliga
1974 no basquetebol

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Charlotte Checkers defenseman Trevor Carrick has been suspended for three (3) games as a consequence of his actions in a playoff game at Providence on Apr. 21.
Carrick was suspended under the provisions of AHL Rule 28.1 (supplementary discipline) for leaving the players' bench on a legal line change for the purpose of joining an altercation. He will miss Charlotte's next three games, beginning with Game 3 of the Atlantic Division Semifinals, Wednesday (Apr. 24) vs. Providence.
(If Charlotte is eliminated before the suspension can be served to completion this postseason, remaining games would carry over to the next time Carrick is active on an AHL club roster.)
Charlotte Checkers defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti has been suspended for one (1) game as a consequence of an illegal check to the head of an opponent in a playoff game at Providence on Apr. 21.
Sanguinetti was suspended under the provisions of AHL Rule 28.1 (supplementary discipline). He will miss Game 3 of the Atlantic Division Semifinals, Wednesday (Apr. 24) vs. Providence.
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TRIAL TESTED. FORMER PROSECUTOR. PROVEN RESULTS.
Being charged with a criminal offense can be a frightening, overwhelming experience. With your freedom and record on the line, it is critical to have an experienced, hardworking, and tireless criminal defense law firm on your side.
If you are charged with a criminal offense in the Greater Houston area, Jose Ceja, the lead attorney of Ceja Law Firm, is the right person for the job. With a well-earned reputation as a skilled, zealous advocate, he is ready to challenge every aspect of the State's case and help ensure the best possible outcome in your case.
When you come to Ceja Law Firm, you are coming to a superior practice. Jose Ceja is an experienced trial attorney who has tried over 50 cases to verdict. He has been recognized by Houstonia Magazine and H-Texas magazine as a top lawyer in Houston and holds a perfect rating from Avvo.com. This kind of recognition is hard won, indicating multiple positive client reviews, hearty endorsements from peers, and a clear track record of successful outcomes. When you engage his services, be assured that you are connected to an attorney who is not only a fine legal representative but a sympathetic advocate who will always have your back.
Ceja Law Firm stands out among the many criminal defense law firms in Texas because of our commitment to being personally responsive and giving each case a high degree of individualized attention.
Our office is known for winning a high number of "no bills" from grand juries (meaning the defendant will not be indicted), dismissals, acquittals, and reductions of charges. You can rely on Ceja Law Firm to fight vigorously for your rights, your freedom, and your future. Beyond his excellent credentials and numerous awards, Jose Ceja offers you the advantage of his previous experience as a felony prosecutor. Having begun his work as an attorney on the opposing side of the law, he has valuable insight concerning what you may be up against in your present case.
As a prosecutor, Ceja became intimately acquainted with search and seizure law and underwent extensive specialized training in a great many areas of criminal defense including gas chromatography (blood testing), computer forensics, and the administration of standardized field sobriety testing. All of this familiarity with prosecutorial techniques is invaluable in developing viable defense tactics.
Law enforcement officials cannot search your home without a warrant unless they have reasonable cause to suspect that you have committed a crime. If they have engaged in illegal search and seizure, and then found evidence of criminal activity, the charges will typically be dismissed.
In such cases, you must have acted to protect yourself from possible assault and must have had a reasonable cause to feel yourself to be in immediate danger.
A necessity defense means that although you admit doing something that would ordinarily be against the law, the action you took was justified by the particular circumstances. In order for a necessity defense to be successful, we must be able to prove (among other things) that there was a significant threat, to you or another, necessitating immediate action, that there was no practical alternative to breaking the law, and that the harm you caused was not greater than the harm you prevented.
Duress means you were coerced, threatened, or otherwise forced to commit the illegal act and are, therefore, not responsible for it.
To use a defense of entrapment, law enforcement must be involved in your crime. The challenge here is to convince the judge or jury that without being enticed or pressured by law enforcement officials, you would never have committed the crime in the first place.
The law recognizes that you may commit what appears to be a crime, but is actually a misunderstanding or mistake. If, for example, you take a person's purse or knapsack home because it looks just like yours, you cannot legally be convicted of theft. Even though you knew theft to be a crime and engaged in the illegal action, you misunderstood the facts of the situation.
We are here to help you if you ever find yourself in a situation where you are unable to help yourself. Jose Ceja has the professional know-how and determination to get your case dismissed, your charges reduced, or your sentence lessened. If your case proceeds to litigation, he will fight for you with all his might, leaving no stone unturned as he works to save your reputation, your employment, and your freedom. Consult with us by phone or contact form. We're eager to help.


The M4 with Crazyflie arms and Chaoli 0615-14 motors is the smallest AQ you can build. Flying weight can be as low as 20 grams, and its virtually indestructable with its low mass. So its a great trainer for beginners.
We recommend this Hyperion 1S 25C 240 Mah. but you can substitute with a similar size and density battery. High C ratings are recommended.
This page was created on 21-Oct-14 by jussi. Last modified on 4-Jan-15 by kinderkram.


text:
Q: Topology of weak convergence of probability measures and standard Borel spaces Consider a Polish metric space $(\mathcal{X}, d)$ and let $\mathcal{X_0}$ be a $G_\delta$ subset. Let $\mathcal{P}$ and $\mathcal{P}_0$ be the classes of probability measures on $(\mathcal{X}, \mathcal{B}_{\mathcal{X}})$ and $(\mathcal{X}_{0},\mathcal{B}_{\mathcal{X_0}})$,respectively, where $\mathcal{B}_{\mathcal{X}}$ and $\mathcal{B}_{\mathcal{X}}$ are the Borel $\sigma$-algebras induced by $d$ over the spaces $\mathcal{X}$ and $\mathcal{X}_0$, respectively.
It should be trivially true that $\forall P_0 \in \mathcal{P}_0, \exists!\, P\in \mathcal{P}$ such that $P_0$ is the restriction of $P$ to $\mathcal{X}_0$ and $\bar{P}(\mathcal{X}_0^c)=0$. Endow $\mathcal{P}$ and $\mathcal{P}_0$ with the topology of weak convergence of probability measures, let $\mathcal{B}_\mathcal{P}$ and $\mathcal{B}_\mathcal{P_0}$.
QUESTION Is the map $\phi:\mathcal{P}_0\mapsto \mathcal{P}:P_0 \mapsto P$ a Borel isomorphism, i.e.  a measurable bijective function between two measurable standard Borel spaces?
My considerations:

*

*it is known that $(\mathcal{P}, \mathcal{B}_\mathcal{P})$ is standard Borel: in fact, since $(\mathcal{X},d)$ is assumed Polish, the space $\mathcal{P}$ endowed with the topology of weak convergence is separable and completely metrizable by some metric $\rho$ (e.g., Ghosal and van der Vaart, 2017, Theorem A.3).

*If:  a) $\phi$ is bicontinuous w.r.t. the topology of weak convergence on $\mathcal{P}_0$ and the metric toplogy induced by $\rho$ in $\mathcal{P}$ b) its image is closed in $\mathcal{P}$; the result should follow. Indeed $\phi(\mathcal{P_0})$ would be a closed subset of the Polish space $(\mathcal{P},\rho)$, thus $(\mathcal{P}_0, \rho)$ would be a Polish subspace and $\mathcal{P}_0$ would be Borel isomorphic to a Polish space (thus standard Borel).
It seems somehow intuitive to me to conclude that:
$$
\phi(\mathcal{P_0})=\{P \in \mathcal{P}: \, \text{supp}(P)=\bar{\mathcal{X}_0}, \, P(\bar{\mathcal{X}_0} \setminus \mathcal{X}_0)=0  \}
$$
where $\bar{B}$ is the $d$-closure of a set $B \subset \mathcal{X}$ and $\text{supp}(P)$ is the support of the measure $P$. However it is unclear to me whether this set is closed under $\rho$ (or, more generally, w.r.t. the topology of weak convergence, as the latter does not account for sets whose boundary receives positive mass by the limiting probability measure of a converging sequence).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Dimensions: 1.2 (H) x 6.2 (W) x 5 (D) in.


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29 March 2017: Extracted and Circulated
Charting new lines through their individual and shared practices Sasha Litvintseva & Graeme Arnfield's programme commingles their own recent film works with images collected and re-presented from the disorganised archives of YouTube. Allowing each video to become starting points for each other, the screening aims to dissolve the hierarchies of found, processed and produced material. Reconfigured together Sasha Litvintseva & Isabel Mallet's The Stability of the System, Graeme Arnfield's Sitting in Darkness and Litvintseva & Arnfield's collaborative film Asbestos find fecund ground with images of attempted non-human communication including dogs entering trance states under bushes, robotic cameras navigating nuclear waters, kids filming spirits in their bedroom and men composing music by banging rocks. Extracted and Circulated is a screening as compilation, as an assembly, as a production of a new work.
The Stability of the System
Sasha Litvintseva & Isabel Mallet
2016 | 17 min | Colour | Digital
The Stability of the System is an exploration into the material agency of images and of forms and their ability to call each other into being. The film begins with a mathematical point willing itself into dimensional existence, inventing/discovering space, then time. Shot on the volcanic island of Lanzarote, the film's images are eruptions willed into existence by the creative act of the molten rock. The landscape absorbs all subjectivity, into its monochrome of endless black lava fields and scorching white of a cloudless sky. In the end the filmmaker dissolves into the landscape, no longer able to see – the landscape sees for her.
Sitting in Darkness
Graeme Arnfield
Out of the darkness a sound emerges. It echoes and drones. Terrified people take to the streets in search of its source. They get their cameras ou t and document the sky, searching for an author. We watch on, sitting in darkness, our muscles contract and our pupils dilate. "I hope the camera picks this up". Sitting in Darkness explores the circulation, spectatorship and undeclared politics of contemporary images.
Sasha Litvintseva & Graeme Arnfield
Mined, extracted, and woven, asbestos was the magic mineral. We now live in the remains of this toxic dream, a dream that with the invention of electron microscopes revealed our material history as a disaster in waiting. Yet the asbestos industry has far from left us with extraction from the soil transforming to extraction from our walls. Using found and shot footage we ask how both can be thought of as forms of extraction: extracting images from forms and from contexts. Shot in the mining township of Asbestos, Quebec, home to the world's largest asbestos mine that only stopped extraction in 2012, the film is a meditation on the entanglement of the fragility of bodies, the nonlinearity of progress, and the persistence of matter.
Total duration: 70 min
This screening compliments Sasha Litvintseva & Graeme Arnfield's new video installation Asbestos, which runs 16 March - 2 April at Roaming Projects: www.roamingprojects.com


I have lived in cities all of my adult life. Before then, I lived in a commuter town on the outskirts of Paris.
In my current work, I am revisiting the monolithic tower blocks of my youth and exploring my fascination for skyscrapers and the lifeblood of cities.


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NCAA adjusts rules on sports betting, will allow championships in gambling states
By David Wharton
Staff WriterFollow
Following this week's Supreme Court decision, the NCAA announced Thursday it will suspend its ban on locating championship events in states that offer sports wagering.
The nation's highest court ruled Monday that the long-standing Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which prohibited states from legalizing sports betting, was partially unconstitutional.
With states now free to decide on their own, NCAA leadership vowed to support the new federal model, although with some reservations.
"Sports wagering can adversely impact student-athletes and undermine the games they play," NCAA President Mark Emmert said in a statement, adding: "While we recognize the critical role of state governments, strong federal standards are necessary to safeguard the integrity of college sports and the athletes who play these games at all levels."
The temporary change in the championship host policy addresses the possibility that states scheduled to hold title games in coming seasons might decide to legalize sports gambling in the interim.
The NCAA made clear that it still prohibits athletes and coaches from betting on sports. Its restrictions on sports gambling sponsorships and advertising for championships and FBS postseason bowls also remain in place.
david.wharton@latimes.com
Follow @LAtimesWharton on Twitter
David Wharton
David Wharton is a feature sportswriter for the Los Angeles Times.


The point of poe was for nearly nobody to ever employ a lvl 100 except the genuine hard pushers. the whales crying and screaming answer me for i am a cash cow to get milked.
VP needed a life threatening dream (being removed in POE Trade completely could well be better) for a long time and you also all know it. ci/es continues to be alive and fine. oh no its gonna take me 1 extra second to blow the dream.
outta this boss with barrage. hmmm maybe Buy POE Currency i'll have to receive a little more res and drop those 2 damage nodes. every dream league you people act such as the sky is dreamting upon you yet here you happen to be still bitching.


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Nike, Sacai and KAWS Celebrate The Avant-Garde With Their "Purple Dusk" Blazer Low
Nike, Sacai and KAWS further extend their experimental partnership with another Blazer Low, dubbed the "Purple Dusk".
Nike, Sacai and KAWS follow up from their previous Blazer Low, dubbed "Neptune Blue", with "Purple Dusk". The approach, just like last time, is a celebration of the bold and experimental, with Chitose Abe's hybrid aesthetic brought to the forefront again.
Layered Sole Unit
Just about everything is doubled to give the appearance of two sneakers fused into one, with the laces, tongues, Swooshes and eyestays given the treatment. The sole unit demands just as much attention — it's heavily layered, to further the cut-and-paste look, and extends right the way up the heels.
Doubled-Up Tongues
KAWS' artwork is renowned for its use of vibrant and contrasting colours, and the collaboration showcases that, with mismatched hues of purple, pink, blue and yellow used across the shoe. There are co-branded patches detailed at each tongue, too, as well as the Brooklyn-based artist's 'XX' motif at the midsoles.
Purple, White & Pink
YEEZY QNTM "Amber Tint"
New Sneaker Drops | 26.11.21


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14 Celebrities Secretly Hidden in Your Favorite Movies
We can watch our favorite movies over and over again, but there are still many details we don't notice. Sometimes it can be difficult to spot world-famous actors in films as they are often hidden behind lots of makeup or not in plain sight.
We at WeGoRo compiled a list of celebrities you didn't know were in the movies you've already seen.
© DreamWorks
Millions have watched the teen comedy Eurotrip, yet few know the skinhead singer who performed "Scotty Doesn't Know" is the famous actor Matt Damon.
Men in Black II
© Amblin Entertainment
The King of Pop played the role of agent M in the sequel to the famous movie Men in Black. However, only a few noticed.
© Lucasfilm
Daniel Craig, James Bond himself, was one of the stormtroopers guarding Rey on the Starkiller Base.
Madonna not only performed the song for the James Bond movie Die Another Day but also appeared in a small role portraying a fencing instructor. However, critics found her role unconvincing, and she was awarded the "Golden Raspberry."
© 20th Century Fox © Rex
At the beginning of the film, a poor passenger of the ship is getting his beard combed for lice. The role of this man was performed by the director, James Cameron.
© Paramount Television © Rex
Iggy Pop, the legendary rock musician, is hardly recognizable under all that makeup in the continuation of the world-famous Star Trek movies.
© Universal Studios © Rex
Steven Spielberg always liked to invite famous actors to perform in his films. However, after filming E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, he thought that the appearance of Harrison Ford might distract viewers from the main plot and decided to cut the scene featuring him. However, you can still see the actor from the back in one of the scenes. Harrison played the principal at Elliott's school.
© Amblin Entertainment © Rex
The film is about the life of former check forger and impostor Frank Abagnale. Frank played the role of a policeman in this movie and handcuffed the young version of himself.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
© Warner Bros
David Beckham, the famous footballer, appears at the very beginning of the movie The Man from U.N.C.L.E. as a former Soviet agent of the Committee for State Security. Few recognized him behind those glasses and mustache.
© StudioCanal © Rex
Peter Jackson appeared in the film of his colleague Edgar Wright just for a few seconds. It's almost impossible to recognize him behind the false beard and mustache: Jackson played the role of Santa who attacks the main character of the film with a knife.
In the second part of the cult comedy Dumb and Dumber To, no one noticed Bill Murray as Harry's new neighbor. It's not surprising because the actor didn't even show his face. Murray appeared in the movie in a protective yellow suit.
You can see only half of Cameron Diaz's head in one of the scenes in the movie Minority Report. She appeared in this scene with the director of Vanilla Sky, Cameron Crowe.
© Paramount Pictures © Rex
Nobody really noticed one of the stars of Ghostbusters in the film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Dan Aykroyd played a small role of an Englishman who helps the hero Harrison Ford to get on a plane.
Carrie Fisher and George Lucas
© Columbia Pictures © Rex
The viewers see a bridge at the very beginning of the movie with the silhouette of a kissing couple. Who would have ever thought it was director George Lucas and actress Carrie Fisher of Star Wars!
Preview photo credit Amblin Entertainment
13 Texts From the Masters of Flirting
24 Artistic Animals Whose Reaction to This World Is Priceless
The world isn t moved by three elephants, it s moved by kindness
25 Downright Hilarious Things That Make Us Love Our Grandparents Even More
8 Proofs That Facebook Knows When You ll Fall in Love
10 High-Tech Foods We Will Be Eating in the Future


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La Stomoxys calcitrans , nota anche come mosca canina, è un insetto dell'ordine dei Ditteri (Brachycera: Muscidae) noto per la sua ematofagia.

Piuttosto simile alla mosca domestica (Musca domestica), differisce da questa per le dimensioni leggermente superiori e per l'apparato boccale pungente-succhiante. È caratterizzata da una spiccata aggressività e voracità, tanto che spesso rimane attaccata agli animali anche per alcuni minuti soprattutto se è posizionata in un punto particolarmente carnoso, come petto o fasce muscolari. Punge generalmente gli animali domestici, ma occasionalmente può attaccare anche l'uomo.

Altri progetti

Collegamenti esterni

Muscidae
Taxa classificati da Linneo


Arguing over the color of a dress is as pointless as arguing with someone about their favorite flavor of ice cream. It's stupid. Now leave me alone about it so I can drink my $4 latte. Thank you.
Everyone in a group has a role. Within a group of friends, there is usually an organized friend to be sure everyone is on time, a reasonable one to keep everyone from fighting, a crazy one to make it interesting, and a funny one to cut the tension. Sometimes one person encompasses more than one role but they're all there. Every movie captures this idea so it must be true.
Recently it came to my attention that (in one group, at least) I'm the funny one. When you're known as the "funny" friend, a lot of expectation accompanies the title. It's surprising, I know. Most expect the "funny" friend to be like the class clown that does stupid shat to get everyone off topic and frustrate the teacher.
Not gonna lie, I'm REALLY good at throwing others into a tangent. And at causing frustration.
But then what about when we aren't in school? Huh?
Hey, E, my grandma just died. Would you come over? All my family is here and we're all really sad. You're so funny. You'd cheer everyone up.
No. No, I won't. Ever been to a funeral with me? I get extremely uncomfortable with all the crying. I'll make wildly inappropriate comments that leave all of your family members wondering when the floor will open up and drop me to Hell. Want an example?
And I don't say inappropriate things on purpose. It just happens. Kind of like being "funny". I just say stuffs. Some of it garners a laugh. Most of it doesn't. That's why I mumble a lot.
Be funny all the time on demand. DANCE, MONKEY! DANCE! Um… no. In defiance, I refuse to be funny. Gah, no I don't. I'm such a laugh whore.
I've noticed that when I'm trying to be serious, people still think I'm trying to be funny. That's the problem with these roles. Abandoning them throws the group's energy off. The whole balance is lost. The chubby friend loses weight, the ugly friend gets a nose job, the funny friend gets divorced… this is serious shat. I've seen entire groups collapse under this type of pressure.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being called "funny". To me, it's more gratifying than being told I'm pretty. Being pretty can also be used to describe a no-so-great thing. "We're so glad you accepted the position. I think you'll do really well here. To be honest, though, you may have some issues with the other women here because you're so pretty." Uh- Thank you?? To date, I haven't experienced that with the adjective "funny".
Just don't say these roles out loud. Audibly recognizing what we all already know makes the pressure real. It says, "The only reason you are here is to be funny. Outside of that, you have no purpose." Then I think, "Oh! I have to step up my game!" And then I say things like, "Dying isn't bad! You get to go to Heaven, hopefully!" Or, "you're barren? Think of all the money you'll save on diapers!" And my fave, "Congratulations on getting married! Don't worry. If it doesn't work out, divorce is survivable." Yes, all things I've said. And reasons I should never be allowed out of the house.
So, if your chubby friend drops 100 lbs. tell her how proud you are! Your beautiful friend tattoos her face? Awesome! Just don't acknowledge the wrench that's been tossed in the middle of your circle. The old roles are dead and there is nothing you can do to bring them back. Saying them out loud will just push your friends away. Maybe show up with a new beautiful friend to invite into the group so the tattooed one can become the crazy one. Hashtag Problem Solved.
Surprisingly, Sharpie isn't as permanent as they want u to think, thank God.
I have a laundry basket full of socks with no match. How does this happen??? I realize it's a common issue. Still frustrating.
I'm addicted to Drybar and now I'm concerned that I'll become the girl with no shampoo.
The point of disposable toilet covers is to provide a more sanitary public bathroom experience. However, that point becomes moot when said cover either gets stuck on the rim forcing you to scoot it into the bowl (with your foot if you are flexible enough) or when said cover falls into the bowl as you are sitting down. Gross. Hashtag girl problems.
That's me threatening to punch them if they don't cooperate. I'm so tough.
I loved that Prince channeled his inner Bea Arthur at the Grammy's.
Does anyone else wonder why no adults found golden tickets in the Wonka Bars?
Why do celebrities feel the need to explain why they don't have a nanny? Congratulations, you are actually taking care of your child like a normal person. I assume you want an Oscar?
Yesterday I heard a radio DJ say that Monty Python is no longer relevant because the humor is too intelligent for kids today. That tells me 2 things: 1) I'm irrelevant 2) I'm a genius.
Seven years ago today I was blessed with a perfect gift.
She was born amid chaos and brokenness. She was born amid instability and uncertainty. And she saved me.
When I found out I was going to have a baby, I was over the moon.
In my eyes, my life was starting.
And then it ended. But God knew what he was doing.
There I was, on my own with a 10 week old baby Bella.
I somehow knew we'd be ok. Better than ok. I was free. I felt exonerated. And I freed Bella from that life.
I'm in no way a perfect mother. Unfortunately, I had to do a lot of on-the-job learning.
But it's the job I am by far the most proud of. Being a mom is my dream job.
If it were up to me, Bella and I would spend all day, every day, every second of every minute together. I genuinely could never get enough of her. When I look at her I see a better, improved version of myself. E 2.0. Isn't that what our kids are supposed to be? Like us, only better?
Bella has been her own person literally from day 1. She defied all parenting books, milestones, and guidelines.
She has a drum beat in her head that only she can hear. And she dances to it beautifully.
She sets her own rules. She does what SHE thinks is the right thing to do. She is head strong, stubborn, and leads the way.
She craves approval just as much as any other child but this one doesn't change a thing if she doesn't get it.
If she has trouble in life, it will only be because there is no mold for her. If there ever were, she's already broken it.
She doesn't think outside the box. For her the box doesn't exist.
Her smile is a beacon. Her raspy, big voice is like a trumpet played by the most talented Jazz player.
She is the best big sister, and she is the BEST daughter.
I can't wait to see what she does to the world. I know it is already better because she's in it.
Happy birthday to my funny, beautiful, talented Bella. To me you will always be my tiny, 6 lbs. of perfect.
The other day I saw a truck driving around Alpharetta. Not unusual, right? The strange part: on the back of the truck were the words: "DUDE! Like, Jesus loves you… Ever think about that?" Just seems to target a very specific audience. I didn't realize so many surfers lived in Alpharetta. But hey, I'm sure they need Jesus, too.
Yesterday on my way home I saw a cop clocking people on the interstate. Not weird. Happens all the time at 5:30pm in gridlocked Atlanta traffic. I'm sure he met quota with all the cars crawling along at 48 miles per hour. Good job, Super Trooper.
This morning at Starbucks I was reading headlines. One referenced a "UN Official". But I read it as "unofficial" and was pretty confused. I must have been really tired because I read it, like, 4 times before I caught it.
There is an amazing new gelateria at Avalon. We went Friday night. However, misspellings were rampant. And I got so annoyed that I almost couldn't order. Almost. Then I realized that I'm probably the only person in Alpharetta, GA who can write Italian so I got over it. Or did I??? I'm obviously still bothered by it. Just write the flavors in English if you can't spell Italian words! OOOOOR, here's a thought: GOOGLE! Ugh.
OH! And don't ask me to send you directions anywhere. Unless you are my grandmother. I'll gladly verbally direct Betty C. anywhere she would like to go. Because she doesn't have immediate access to Google. For you, there is no excuse. GOOGLE IT! If you have the name for a venue, that's all you need. For reals. I'm not your secretary.
I'm learning that when someone says, "Oh, but you don't need to worry about that". I definitely do need to worry about that.
Since my surgery 2 weeks ago, any time my little man is acting out, I just show him my belly button and he shuts up. Then runs away. I'm thinking of trying it at work. Or with my hubs.


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About WDNC
FAQ - Office
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FAQ - News
Think Again Initiative
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Western District of North Carolina
Raleigh Man Is Sentenced To More Than 12 Years For Armed Robbery
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of North Carolina
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Today, U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell sentenced Marvin Maurice Williams, 54, of Raleigh, North Carolina, to 151 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for an armed robbery offense, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Michael C. Scherck, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division, and Chief Bence Hoyle of the Huntersville Police Department join U.S. Attorney King in making today's announcement.
According to filed documents and statements made in court, on September 7, 2021, at approximately 8:00 a.m., Williams entered the Valero gas station located at 502 Gilead Road in Huntersville, N.C. Upon entering, Williams approached the cashier and asked to buy cigarettes. When the cashier turned around Williams brandished a firearm. Court records show that, while brandishing the firearm, Williams went behind the counter, grabbed the cashier by her shirt collar and forced her to the back office. Williams then ordered the cashier to hand over the store's cash. When the cashier replied that the money was located at the front of the store in a deposit bag, Williams forced the cashier back to the front of the gas station. The defendant then grabbed the deposit bag and fled the scene in his vehicle. According to court documents, the cashier and another individual who observed the robbery in progress called 911 to report the incident. Officers located Williams's vehicle and he was arrested shortly thereafter. Over the course of the arrest, law enforcement also located the firearm Williams had brandished during the robbery on the vehicle's front passenger seat.
On March 1, 2022, Williams pleaded guilty to Hobbs Act robbery. He is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prison upon designation of a federal facility.
The FBI and the Huntersville Police Department investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alfredo De La Rosa of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Charlotte prosecuted the case.
USAO - North Carolina, Western
Charlotte Man Is Sentenced For Armed Robbery And Firearms Offenses
Robber Is Sentenced To 10 Years In Prison
Jury Convicts Catawba Co. Man Of Bank Robbery, COVID-19 Fraud, And Aggravated Identity Theft
Western North Carolina
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Email USAO-WDNC
Charlotte: (704) 344-6222
Asheville: (828) 271-4661


I always intended to make our garden as edible as possible. So much so, in fact, that everything in it apart from one "Golden Showers" RHS climbing rose is in itself, or produces, something edible. Edible for humans, that is. Our cats love the raspberry canes and like to rub up against them and sleep underneath them, but there isn't a huge amount else for them to nibble on.
So when it came to trying to decide how best to use the side return, it occurred to me that whilst I wanted a herb garden and a row of beans and peas, I needed to think of the cats too. Our urban outdoor space is so small that we've left it paved as a patio. It's a far cry from the lawn and wildflower expanse I hope to have one day but you deal with what you get in the city. So the poor cats have nowhere soft to sunbathe.
My solution? To plant three very large planters with cat grass and other edible cat goodies. The cat grass (avena sativa) really surprised me. It grows about an inch a day and even pruning it with kitchen scissors on a strict weekly basis barely keeps it in check. I also planted catnip (nepata cataria) with a lot less success. The cats crushed the small shoots by rolling on them and those that survived being bulldozed got gobbled up very quickly. So at the moment, the "cat beds" (as we call them) are just that. Large beds of tall grasses that the cats love to stretch out on for a sunbathing session as well as to snack on. It's lovely to see them so happy and cat grass is very easy to do. Every cat lover should grow some!