In Maharishi Ayurveda, food is regarded as medicine. It would be unheard of to prescribe any treatment for a disorder without first taking into consideration the individual's body type, and second, determining which particular foods would be most beneficial in correcting the physiological imbalance that may be present, and preventing new ones from arising.
This is in high contrast to our current tradition of nutrition, which emphasizes an ideal or "best" diet for everyone. And, as we well know, this best diet is constantly changing! Every few months, new best-selling diet books are prominently displayed across the country. Do you ever wonder why more and more and more books keep appearing? Either there is a steady stream of brilliant Nobel Prize-level scientific research being done in this area, or none of these new diet plans really works, so people who want or need to lose weight are forced to keep trying new and "better" ones.
Most of the modem medical profession would agree with the latter statement. Quick and easy diet plans do sometimes produce some initial results, but in the long run the best approach seems to be a slow and steady process that is tailored to each individual and based on factors such as lifestyle and exercise.
And if we are not already confused enough about the plethora of "new" diet plans, what about all those books about vitamins? It's a huge area of controversy, not only between the medical profession and health food experts, but even among the different health food experts themselves. And diet and nutrition probably have more self-styled "experts" than any other health-related area. Who can we believe? Will vitamin C cure my cold? Will selenium protect us against cancer? These are some of the many issues that no one seems able to agree upon.
The health food people say the medical profession is too conservative and wants to control everything, and, therefore, doesn't let the public in on the latest scientific findings. The medical profession is equally critical of the health food people, saying that based on only a few animal studies—or even without any research whatsoever—extraordinary and unsubstantiated claims are made for various vitamins, minerals, etc. The problem is that in both cases the conclusions about diet are based on incomplete knowledge, or knowledge that is constantly changing.
Maharishi Ayurveda places very great emphasis on diet. Many foods and spices are considered to have important value for health, and are, therefore, recommended along with other treatment modalities. But the most important difference between Maharishi Ayurveda and modem nutrition is Maharishi Ayurveda's concern for individual differences. If we were to analyze the various Maharishi Ayurveda diets, we would find that virtually all them conform to what modem nutritionists consider a balanced diet. They contain the right proportion and quality of fats, protein, minerals, vitamins, and carbohydrates. However, Maharishi Ayurveda clearly states that no one diet is right for all people. What is considered nourishing for one individual can actually be detrimental to another.
For example, some sweets are said to be good for the vata type, while for a kapha type they may cause respiratory congestion or excess fat. Hot, spicy foods are very good for kaphas, yet they can severely aggravate the digestion of a pitta type, leading to indigestion, or even ulcers, as well as a marked tendency towards anger! Each individual type has its own needs.
Spontaneously, most of us have noticed over the years that certain types of food seem to be bad for us or are less appealing. On the other hand, sometimes we eat them anyway even though we know they have bad effects on us. This could be because of imbalance, habit, ignorance, or failure to listen to the messages our physiology gives us. Maharishi Ayurveda provides a reliable, systematic body of knowledge that explains why we should or should not have certain types of food. Maharishi Ayurveda is based on a long tradition of practical experience and a profound theoretical basis. But because of our often superior attitude toward "folk medicines," the dietary principles of traditional medical systems have unfortunately never been scientifically studied.
According to Maharishi Ayurveda, an important consideration when determining our diet is the strength of our digestion. Each body type has a different strength of digestion, which is also influenced by factors such as climate and one's age and state of health. Most importantly, digestive strength depends upon die activity of our agnis. The agnis are the "fires of digestion," perhaps equivalent to our modem understanding of digestive enzymes. Weak agnis and improperly digested food can be a source of imbalance in the doshas. The by-product of undigested food is a substance which Ayurveda calls ama. The accumulation of ama aggravates the doshas and leads to all types of disorders.
The concept of disease caused by undigested food products is similar to many early theories on the aging process, which suggested that aging was caused by the accumulation of toxic materials in the colon. Studies on aging suggested that the waste products from bacteria in the colon, known as endotoxins, can modify certain activities of the immune system. This suppression of the immune system would correspond to the imbalance of the doshas as described in Maharishi Ayurveda. More research in this important area of digestion should help us understand some of the traditional Ayurvedic concepts in the framework of modem terminology.
Reference information on immune function and digestion can be found in Horan, M. A., Fox, R. A. (1984), Aging and the Immune Response—A Unifying Hypothesis? Mechanisms of Aging and Development, 26:165-181.


text:
صفحه اصلی Papers Relations between the Western Civilization and the World of Islam
Relations between the Western Civilization and the World of Islam
I am pleased to deliver a speech on Islam and the West in this meeting. Before dealing with the relations or the confrontation of the world of Islam and the West on each other, let's have a glance at the historical background of the East-West confrontation, which goes back to the era of Homer and Thucydides. In the Aeschylus' tragedy, The Persians, there is an obvious confrontation between the West and East. It is noteworthy that Herodotus reports the Iranian-Greek war on the basis of the above play. Moreover, historians after Herodotus take poetic story as authentic historical interpretations. Nearly 2000 years later, as of the 17 century A.D., as stated, those anecdotes of Aeschylus and Herodotus are considered and quoted by a great number of historians and reiterated by certain scholars and writers.
You may all have heard that in the Battle of Marathon, liberty defeats despotism. Such a statement sounds like the ones we hear nowadays, and it is, in essence, the brief political understanding of the above Greek poet. Throughout the play, there is a confrontation between Greece and Persia or Asia and the West. As already stated, perhaps for the first time, the term 'liberty' is used in its political sense in the era of Aeschylus. Herodotus and Aeschylus have repeatedly shown their joy as Athens liberates itself from the dominance of Persia and King Xerxes. This liberty is not the opposite point of slavery, as we know that the Greeks did not oppose slavery; Aeschylus and Herodotus themselves neither thought nor were afraid of being enslaved by the Persians, since despite its outcome, the battle would not result in the slavery of the defeated. This liberty was a new concept that was to become the basic concern of politics and the ultimate ideal of life after 2000 years.
By the end of the epoch of the Greeks' cities, and during the next 2000 years, the confrontation between liberty and despotism has left no trace in history. Then in the modern Europe, the confrontation is manifested in the literature and politics, where it is refreshed and has gotten a new sense and status.
Presently we take the confrontation of the West and the East for granted.
As long as we discuss the impact of the Western civilization on Islam and the whole world, such a confrontation has already been accepted. Yet if we are ignorant about the history of such confrontation and its dimensions, we may fail to comprehend the problem truly. The new relations between the West and the East and Islam are the continuation of the ones that once existed between Greece and Persia. The relation between Europe and the Far East may have been somehow influenced, interpreted and formed by the background of the relation of Iran and the West. The relations between Islam and the West, in turn, has been perceived and interpreted on the basis of the confrontation that the new West has learned from Aeschylus and Herodotus.
As you already know, Muslims began to show interest in the Greek sciences from the 8 century A.D. (2nd century A.H.) onward; they translated their medical, philosophical, astrological and mathematical works into their own language.
You may wonder why the Iranians were the first to pave that way and why the other nations did not have any interest in that matter. An Iranian like me may guess that the paradigm of the relations between Iran and Iranians with Greece and the Greeks may have played a role in this respect. Nevertheless, several centuries after the Iranians, the Spanish Muslims turned to philosophy and the Greek sciences as well. On the other hand, the Arabs and the new Arabic speaking nations showed no desire in that direction. In spite of prestigious background of Egypt in science and culture, and the fact that Alexandria was the focal point of the Greek sciences and philosophy, for a long time, the Egyptians did not pay due attention to the existing great treasure of science in Alexandria.
In the historical interaction of cultures, it is noteworthy that there are cases where scientific materials are accessible but are not utilized by people anymore. Paradoxically, in other occasions, one can find people who are seeking knowledge wherever possible.
As far as I know, when the question of the influence of Europe in the world of Islam is set forth, people usually do not ask the reason why Muslims had such an interest in the Greek science, which itself had been stagnant and isolated for centuries; and how they devised a new era of science and philosophy. Here, it is hard to talk about the influence of Greece. The Greek science and thinking was important, but if it were not because of the power of the awakened desire for learning in Muslims, such science and thinking would have no impact, as it was the case elsewhere before that time or after it.
The Muslims had such a concern and appetite for the Greek science and philosophy that they succeeded in translating, researching and contemplating on a significant part of works in the Islamic world. If we take the transfer of Greek sciences and philosophy as an influence, then we may as well say that the outset of the clear influence of Europe in the world of Islam roughly coincides at the early stages of the Middle Ages. At the time, Europe took the Greek science more or less seriously, whereas Muslims expanded and advanced the Greek and Indian sciences so much so that the Europeans could do nothing but to take advantage of it. The Muslimized Spain, the major scientific society next to Iran, became the focal point of translating Islamic sciences.
Surprisingly, those translators were among the same Christians who did not tolerate Muslims' sovereignty in Spain, and in 1492 A.D., overthrew them with an unprecedented violence and killed or scattered both the Muslims and Jews.
One of the effects of the transfer to and translation of Islamic sciences in Europe was that science moved out of the church, and the teachers and students, who were all the staff of the church, left the monasteries and began teaching in different organizations, which were later turned into universities. This impact occurred in a situation where some sort of Islam phobia existed in Europe. This had begun since the time when Spanish Muslims were defeated in their attack to the North (732 A.D.) and were stopped there. Such Islam phobia lasted for over 1000 years and manifested itself in different ways. Presently, one can find its explicit reflection in the politics and strategy of the West. Among its argumentative and theoretical forms, Islam phobia can be seen in Huntington's clash of civilizations. Such a phobia is not a psychological matter, rather the outcome of a theoretical and historical confrontation whose background goes back to 2500 years ago. In the world of Islam, however, Christianity phobia or Europe phobia has never had any place. Muslims did not show any interest even about the events in Europe or the West. Properly speaking, in the Eastern part of the world of Islam, no interest was shown to sciences, literature and philosophy of the Islamic West. In the books and scientific, philosophical and historical works of the East of Islam, even the Crusades did not take place nor can we find any trace of the philosophy and science of the West (Andalus). It was as if the West was viewed as a land belonging to others. Our Philosopher, Sohrevardi, has a work titled "The Story of the Western Exile" which takes place in Morocco (The West of the world of Islam, in the Girvan City).
Regardless of these points, the relation between the West of Islam with its East was in one direction. The Westerners knew everything about the events that took place in the East, whereas the Easterners did not even know Averroes. Ironically, that Philosopher had an influence in the philosophy of the West rather than the Islamic Philosophy. This influence was more obvious than the influence of his oriental counterparts in the philosophy of the Middle Ages.
Islam and the West generally had one directional relation throughout the Middle Ages. In literature, philosophy and science of the Islamic era up to the new era, there is no trace of the familiarity of Muslims with the philosophy and culture of Europe. Yet, the Middle Agers were familiar with the important scientific and philosophical works of Muslims and absorbed them. In the new era, it is apparently the other way around.
Islamic countries turn to Europe since they need the European weapons and industry. The Europe's modern view of the whole world, including the parts related to Islam, changes and it regards the whole non-Western world as the object to its own deeds and views, and as a package of raw materials and historical matters. Now Europe is not only well aware of the East and the world of Islam but also it reports and interprets its history, as it is argued that the East is incapable of expressing itself. In such circumstances, the world of Islam, just like other non-occidental worlds, confronts certain problems.
Actually this is the historical case of being in non-Western world. In such a situation, the world of Islam has no choice but to define its existence with relation to the West.
At the time, the nations and countries had their own distinct problems but with the advent of modernity, those problems remained unsolved, and other problems were created for each and every country. The world of Islam did not have any problems pertaining to poverty, diseases until it sensed the existence of the new world. This does not imply that Islam did have access to science and technology, and that there were no cases of poverty or diseases in that world. Poverty, disease, ignorance, etc, have always existed everywhere to some extent, but these turned into problems when man himself began to confront and eradicate them, as he found himself capable of solving such problems. That happened in the 18th century in Europe. We know that Marx referred to poverty as social problem. Muslims began to familiarize themselves with historical issues as they interacted with the West. At least they realized that being deprived of new weapons, sciences and industry of Europe was a weakness for them, and that they could do nothing without those facilities. If there was no base, in the world of Islam for phobia from or having enmity with the West at that time, now Muslims had to examine the dominance of the West. That was a raw experience for a long time as Muslims did not really know how to react to the phenomenon of the dominance of Europe. To them, dominance merely had something to do with military or political affairs, and they were willing to confront it by means of politics and arms.
Europe, in turn, believed that it had the right to dominance, and not until recently has it bothered itself about the West-East encounter. To the West, the whole regions and nations outside the Western world were unfamiliar with science and culture. Ernest Renan has stated that Muslims are incapable of entering the world of science. One could have asked him, if it were so, how could Muslims provide Europeans with their achievements in philosophy, astrology and medicine? Orientalism offers an answer to this question: "The Muslims who translated the Greek sciences and learned them, did not add anything to them, rather like a true trustee, they preserved them and then returned them to their original owners, namely Europeans." Obviously, this is not a good answer, and Europe itself was not satisfied with this baseless justification which is devoid of historical evidence.
Now, other contemporary occidental Islamologists do not focus on the enmity of Islam with science. Instead, they refer to despotism, corruption of governments and lack of freedom as the root causes of the backwardness of the world of Islam. Such a justification seems to be true from political standpoint, though it is a sort of deliberate fallacy, and is not in essence much different from the response already mentioned.
Is the question whether the world of Islam has not developed at the expected rate, and whether liberty and development have not been realized? Then the absence of liberty and lack of development plan are the repetition and assertion of the claim, not an answer to the question posed. Such rhetoric is the reiteration of Ernest Renan statement, but with softened and more polite words. In such a mentality, Muslims are far from socio-economical development, and it is not clear how they can achieve that goal. Apparently, here the relation between the world of Islam with the West has not been set forth properly. Once, the world of Islam used to learn science and philosophy from Europe. Recently, however, the West's influence has been mainly martial and political. This time, Muslims have found themselves in need of the weaponry and industrial products of the West, without asking themselves and knowing what they could learn from that world. They were the consumers of the Western products over two hundred years without reflecting about the manner in which the West succeeded in creating and advancing new science and technology, and asking why is that others are unable to do so.
In the world of Islam, science and freedom are praised a lot; in this world, there are great scientists as well, but a system for science and research has not been set up as needed. Obviously, when science does not have its right status, the expected benefits are not obtainable. Yet, in recent years research has been developing in general, and in biomechanics and biotechnology in particular, our country has had important advancements. The underdeveloped world considers external barriers in the course of the interpretation of this trial, and for instance, the colonial wrath is a barrier to development in their view, while the principle of development is asserted and is thought of as the basic principle dominating history, and this is a case in point in accepting the principle of modernity and Western values.
In such circumstances, claimants should show what tradition is a barrier to development and how it is so. Another important point is that the Renaissance in Europe was a comprehensive intellectual, scientific and artistic change, not a change caused by certain people in a part of the European community, which would result in changes whose outcome would be the creation of science and culture. Reform may have laid the ground for the Renaissance of science, culture and art, but it has not been the cause of that effect. You know that arts, politics, education and new physics were created concurrently with the Reform in the Renaissance; in other words, they were not their effect. Webber's essay on the "Protestant Ethic and the spirit of Capitalism" merely proves the compatibility and relativity of these two phenomena. It cannot be deduced from Webber's statement that capitalism is the outcome and subordinate to the Reform. It is illogical and baseless to think of the weakness of the world of Islam as the outcome of religious belief and dependence on the old traditions that should be changed, because in that case, it is proven that development calls for incredulity.
Evidently, every belief may not be used as the basis of science, research and development. On the other hand, with no belief and love, one cannot create science or any other foundation. The influence of the West has had negative and positive dimensions, but the positive effects are more perceptible. Yet if we examine them carefully, the negative effects may be more than the positive ones. Certainly, nobody could have stopped such influence. Principally, if someone claims that what is now known as the world of Islam, is formed so due to its relation with the West, such a statement may not be regarded baseless or pointless. But if we go as far as to say that the ideal of the world of Islam is Westernalization, we would go to extremes. Yet, it cannot be denied that the acquaintance of Muslims with the powerful Western world has affected their own impressions of themselves. In that encounter, should they have discovered the essence and origin of the power of the West, they would have had a different relation with it, but would look at the West in terms of its technology, military and political power. This view would not be wrong but in some case it would act as a barrier to them and would not let them ask about the conditions under which they could have technology, weaponry and political power.
Science, technology, military and political power are all parts and aspects of an interrelated whole. This is evident but what is hard to comprehend and perhaps to achieve is the manner and condition under which such a united whole is created. Would it possible to have technology and political power merely by means of learning sciences and technology; or would it be possible for the state or government to develop science and technology in any way and everywhere it chooses? As already mentioned, this point has been noticed.
There are some who believe that the traditions should be moderated in order to pave the way for scientific, economic and political development. Still there are others who state that there is no opposition between political and scientific advancement and religious traditions, and that Islam has always placed emphasis on love of science and dignity of man, and in view of certain Muslim scholars, recognition of human rights. There are cases where these two groups may have encounter with each other or different political stances, but in principle, they are not much different with each other; that is, they both believe that Islam is in harmony with development policies. There are still others who argue that such views are oriental interpretations or upside down orientalism. Meanwhile, there is no doubt that the issues of the world of Islam are set forth with relation to the dominant cultural and technological powers of the West. The history of this matter in our country and other Islamic countries goes back to 200 years ago. However, the important political event of the recent decades is that a major part of the West's political and ideological attitudes, particularly that of the U. S. A., has depended on the world of Islam and its political and cultural events. This is not reversing the previous condition rather it is its intensification.
The policy of the clash of civilizations, depicted in the works of Bernard Lewis and Huntington, is a case in point to this claim, which is not a good signal to the world's future policy.
Most people believe that such views are a report and description of the present cultural and political situation of the world; while the existing situation was created concurrently with the advent and manifestation of such views, and these two are interrelated, and strengthen and weaken together. I hope that the manner of such strengthening and weakening would not be horrible and would lead to peace, liberty and justice.
If I am not mistaken and the history of East-west confrontation does go back to Iran-Greek wars, the Iranians revived Greek science and philosophy one thousand years later, after the Hellenic epoch. Despite the believers of the clash among civilizations, the recent confrontations may be an introduction and a precondition to the affinity between Islam and new European civilization, and the present dangerous trend may end in peace. I am not so optimistic to have such far-reaching expectations and rejoice however the duty of philosophy is to consider and identify possibilities. The possibility of understanding and affinity between the Islam and the West is not less likely than the possibility of the clash among civilizations, particularly because the clash among civilizations is an ambiguous term as wisdom and sagacity prefers dialog to war.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Aziende
 Aon Plc – multinazionale del settore brokeraggio/intermediazione assicurativo.

Codici
 AON – codice aeroportuale IATA dell'aeroporto civile di Arona (Papua Nuova Guinea)
 aon – codice ISO 639-3 della lingua bumbita arapesh
 AON – vecchio codice valutario ISO 4217 del Nuovo Kwanza angolano (ora AOA), ex valuta dell'Angola

Altro
 Aon – Universo immaginario ideato dallo scrittore Joe Dever comprendente il mondo immaginario del Magnamund ambientazione della saga letteraria fantasy di Lupo Solitario

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: wine Direct3D 10 is not supported on this GPU with the current shader backend Hi i am trying to paly NFS2012 with playonLinxu .
i am geeting error
winediag:dxgi_check_d3d10_support Direct3D 10 is not supported on this GPU with the current shader backend

And debug log
err:winediag:init_driver_info Invalid GPU override 8086:0a16 specified, ignoring.
fixme:dxgi:dxgi_output_GetDisplayModeList iface 0x13e6a0, format DXGI_FORMAT_R8G8B8A8_UNORM, flags 0, mode_count 0x32f3a4, desc (nil) partial stub!
fixme:dxgi:dxgi_output_GetDisplayModeList iface 0x13e6a0, format DXGI_FORMAT_R8G8B8A8_UNORM, flags 0, mode_count 0x32f3a4, desc 0x13e1978 partial stub!
fixme:d3d11:D3D11CoreCreateDevice Ignoring feature levels.
fixme:dxgi:dxgi_check_d3d10_support Ignoring adapter type.
fixme:winediag:dxgi_check_d3d10_support Direct3D 10 is not supported on this GPU with the current shader backend.
fixme:system:SystemParametersInfoW Unimplemented action: 59 (SPI_SETSTICKYKEYS)
fixme:system:SystemParametersInfoW Unimplemented action: 53 (SPI_SETTOGGLEKEYS)
fixme:system:SystemParametersInfoW Unimplemented action: 51 (SPI_SETFILTERKEYS)
fixme:thread:SetThreadIdealProcessor (0x70): stub
fixme:thread:SetThreadIdealProcessor (0x8c): stub
fixme:thread:SetThreadIdealProcessor (0x94): stub
fixme:thread:SetThreadIdealProcessor (0x98): stub

A: TL;DR
Run glxinfo | grep GLSL — the least version you want to see is the 3.30. Otherwise your driver just doesn't support the GLSL version which wine is using for DX10 implementation.

I was also getting the same error, so I decided to investigate it. First we have to find out the code. Grepping over the Wine source shows that the error resides in dlls/dxgi/utils.c:448. Here's relevant part:
    hr = wined3d_get_device_caps(factory->wined3d, adapter->ordinal, WINED3D_DEVICE_TYPE_HAL, &caps);
    if (FAILED(hr) || caps.VertexShaderVersion < 4 || caps.PixelShaderVersion < 4)
    {
        FIXME_(winediag)("Direct3D 10 is not supported on this GPU with the current shader backend.\n");

So, the error is caused either by wined3d_get_device_caps fail, or by too low shader versions. Taking a look at the implementation in dlls/wined3d/directx.c:4884 for the possible fail reason shows that the wined3d_get_device_caps is pretty big function of ≈700 lines, and it have only two returns in its body — the fail one is ≈12 lines below the start, and the successful in the end. The fail code looks like
    if (adapter_idx >= wined3d->adapter_count)
        return WINED3DERR_INVALIDCALL;

Looking at the name of return value WINED3DERR_INVALIDCALL, I'd guess that the line here is for the case of a bug — either in Wine or in app. I've a feeling that this is unlikely our case, so let's assume that the function succeeds, return to the utils.c, and take a look at the other fail cases, i.e. caps.VertexShaderVersion < 4 || caps.PixelShaderVersion < 4.
I haven't work with graphics, so didn't know what're Vertex/Pixel Shader Versions. Searching about it gives an answer, that it is also referred as «shader model». Isn't reliable source btw, but the Wikipedia article didn't mention versioning at all, so better than nothing.
Next, searching about shader model gives us HLSL article, which fortunately have tables for both Pixel and Vertex shader versions; both tables have 4.0 version, which wine is looking for. One last thing: how could we find whether our GPU driver supports the 4.0 version if it rather implements OpenGL?
Well, it turns out there's an article about detecting the shader model for OpenGL, and… there's a comparison of versions for OpenGL and Direct3D! Quoting: Direct3D Shader Model 4.0 is equivalent to GLSL version 3.30.
Let's find out whether we got that version:
$ glxinfo | grep GLSL
OpenGL ES profile shading language version string: OpenGL ES GLSL ES 3.00

Well, as you see, it turns out that the driver didn't support the needed version 3.30 ☹ I wish you're lucky, though, if you're reading that, guess you're not.

A: If your GPU drivers don't support compatibility contexts, you might try to add an registry key to tell Wine to create a core context.
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Wine\Direct3D]
"MaxVersionGL"=dword:00030002

As per documentation:

  |  +->MaxVersionGL
  |  |   [DWORD Value (REG_DWORD): Choose the maximum GL version to request. Currently defaults to version 1.0.
  |  |    Set it to 30002 (hexadecimal) or greater to request a core profile context.]

If running $ glxinfo | grep GLSL only reports the OpenGL ES shading language version string, you might have been misled. Try $ glxinfo | grep -e "shading language" which reports the following for me:
OpenGL core profile shading language version string: 4.20
OpenGL shading language version string: 1.30
OpenGL ES profile shading language version string: OpenGL ES GLSL ES 3.00

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


4 out of 5 cash lump sums from pensions are paid out to under-65s, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
This week marks 6 months since the pension reforms were introduced in April. The figures suggest that 80% of cash lump sum withdrawals were made by individuals under the age of 65.
pension freedom withdrawals in the first 3 months represent less than 1% of all pension funds held by over 55s.
"These figures show that tens of thousands of people have used the new pension freedoms so far to access money they have saved.
"There's been a lot of activity involving the under 65s, who account for more than 4 in every 5 cash lump sum withdrawals, but the majority of people have only been cashing in relatively small pots which account for a tiny proportion of all the money which could have been released. This shows that on the whole the British public are taking a sensible approach.
Contact us today to discuss about your pension plans.


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text:
Woman admits to poisoning son, 5; staging fiery car wreck
Posted: Jul 29, 2016 6:11 PM CST
GAITHERSBURG, Md. (CBS NEWS)-- A Maryland mother has admitted giving her 5-year-old son a fatal overdose of antihistamine last year before setting her car on fire with the child inside.
Media outlets report 35-year-old Narges Shafeirad pleaded guilty Thursday to first-degree murder in the death of Daniel Dana.
When the judge asked "Are you pleading guilty because you committed the crime of first degree murder," Shafeirad answered, "I understand." When asked again, she said "Yes," reports CBS affiliate WUSA.
An autopsy revealed the boy died of a Diphenhydramine overdose in June 2015 after prosecutors say his mother forced him to swallow medication containing the antihistamine. The drug is found in medications like Benadryl or ZzzQuil.
Prosecutors say Shafeirad then tried to stage a wreck after putting her son's body inside the car, dousing it with gasoline and setting the vehicle on fire beside a Montgomery County highway.
Responding police and firefighters found Shafeirad lying outside the car. At the time, she had been going through a divorce and custody battle with her husband.
Sentencing is scheduled for December 20, according to WUSA.


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Oklahoma City Theater
Your independent guide to the best shows in Oklahoma City
OTHER SPECIAL EVENTS IN OKLAHOMA CITY
Neil DeGrasse Tyson Event homeBuy ticketsCustomer reviews
THELMA GAYLORD PERFORMING ARTS THEATRE
Dear Evan Hansen (Feb 2 - 7, 2021)
Disney's Frozen: The Musical (Mar 11 - 21, 2021)
Pretty Woman (Apr 20 - 25, 2021)
Wicked (May 12 - 30, 2021)
Riverdance (Jun 1 - 3, 2021)
Matilda - The Musical (Jun 22 - 27, 2021)
Grease (Jul 6 - 11, 2021)
Kinky Boots (Jul 20 - 25, 2021)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Aug 17 - 22, 2021)
My Fair Lady (Sep 28 - Oct 3, 2021)
Thelma Gaylord Performing Arts Theatre Please selectVenue homeLocation and directionsPre-theatre diningOvernight accommodationSeating maps Dear Evan Hansen (Feb 2 - 7, 2021)Disney's Frozen: The Musical (Mar 11 - 21, 2021)Pretty Woman (Apr 20 - 25, 2021)Wicked (May 12 - 30, 2021)Riverdance (Jun 1 - 3, 2021)Matilda - The Musical (Jun 22 - 27, 2021)Grease (Jul 6 - 11, 2021)Kinky Boots (Jul 20 - 25, 2021)Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Aug 17 - 22, 2021)My Fair Lady (Sep 28 - Oct 3, 2021)
Civic Center Music Hall, 201 North Walker Ave, Oklahoma City, OK 73102
Prices from: $105
Follow the evidence wherever it leads, and question everything.
Why See Neil DeGrasse Tyson?
Special EventsPublic Speaking
Expand your universe
As a highly popular and influential science advocate, Neil DeGrasse Tyson manages to capture audiences with his sometimes humorous and always informative insights into modern physics. A regular guest on The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and host of his own enduring radio show StarTalk, there is something of the entertainer about Tyson, continually inspiring generations old and new to take an interest in the universe around them.
Most recently, he has taken on the challenge of updating Carl Sagan's definitive 1980 television series 'Cosmos: A Personal Voyage' with 'Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey,' asking questions about the abyss of space.
Performance date: 5 October 2021
Images used are copyright of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, By Bruce F Press, and By NASA/Bill Ingalls respectively
About Oklahoma City Theater: We are an independent show guide not a venue or show. We sell primary, discount and resale tickets and prices may be above or below face value.
Tue, Oct 5
Laura Aschoff: "Fun for all ages!"
Fun for all ages! Our only negative is that the show did not go on long... more
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Sound good to you? Share this page on social media and let your friends know about Neil DeGrasse Tyson at Thelma Gaylord Performing Arts Theatre.
Please note: The term Thelma Gaylord Performing Arts Theatre and/or Neil DeGrasse Tyson as well as all associated graphics, logos, and/or other trademarks, tradenames or copyrights are the property of the Thelma Gaylord Performing Arts Theatre and/or Neil DeGrasse Tyson and are used herein for factual descriptive purposes only. We are in no way associated with or authorized by the Thelma Gaylord Performing Arts Theatre and/or Neil DeGrasse Tyson and neither that entity nor any of its affiliates have licensed or endorsed us to sell tickets, goods and or services in conjunction with their events.
Oklahoma City Theater is part of the Theatreland Ltd Collection. Established in 2003, Theatreland offers the largest individual collection of websites providing complete, impartial guides to all the theatrical, musical and performance arts events and venues in the world's greatest theatre cities, from New York's Broadway to London's West End and from the showrooms of Las Vegas to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.


A comprehensive evaluation of the older adult by a team of health care professionals specializing in geriatrics (care of the older adult).
Since your health represents a combination of many complex factors, your Geriatric Assessment will gather information about health habits, lifestyle and living arrangements, home safety, and other aspects of your life. Social workers or nurses from the Geriatric Assessment team will examine these issues with you.
A geriatrician (a physician specializing in the care of the elderly) or geriatric nurse practitioner will conduct your physical examination, which includes a complete health history for you and your family.
Following your physical examination and information gathering, the physician may order additional tests, blood work or x-rays. These may be conducted immediately following your examination.
Sometimes patients need to be assessed due to mental status changes observed by family and friends. It may be noticed that the patient is not keeping up with hygiene, bills, keeping the home clean and eating properly. This may be due to an illness or perhaps there is a change in the person's cognition. There may be times when the person seems confused. When this happens, it is important to address the concerns and see someone who can do a proper evaluation. Our geriatrician physicians are very familiar with this assessment and will gladly have an appointment made to address the issue.
Many times an attorney may ask to have a capacity evaluation done if there is concern that the person may not be legally able to sign documents because they are not thinking clearly or they do not understand what is going on. This is also a situation when a capacity evaluation is valuable.
If you have questions about this assessment, please contact us at 908-788-6373 to discuss an appointment for an evaluation.
We are the first dedicated multi-specialty center for patients suffering from faints and falls in Hunterdon County. Seeing multiple physicians over an extended period of time can cause anxiety, unnecessary tests, and risks of injury or hospitalization while you wait for proper treatment.
The Faint and Fall specialists use recommended guidelines to order only the most appropriate tests for you, resulting in fewer unnecessary procedures, a much shorter time to diagnosis, and increased peace of mind. Our comprehensive approach to the evaluation and treatment of fainting and falling helps to reduce your risk of a faint or fall-related injury and prevent expensive inpatient hospital stays.
If you've had an episode of unexplained fainting or falling, you might be concerned that it could happen again at any moment. There are many possible reasons for fainting and falling, including cardiac conditions, neurological causes, metabolic disorders and even stress.
Call 908-788-1710 today to make an appointment.
Sensitivity training for the professional and non-professional caregiver. Participants learn and "feel" what it is like to be aged.
For more information, please call 908-237-2364.


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CODEPINK Interview with FBI Whistleblower Coleen Rowley: Accountability, Bradley Manning, Thomas Drake & Taking Action!
Jun 12 | Filed under: Accountability, Nancy Mancias, WikiLeaks, Whistleblowers
Posted by CODEPINK Staff
By Nancy Mancias
Coleen Rowley is a former FBI agent and whistleblower. In 2002, she was awarded TIME "Person of the Year" along with two other female whistleblowers.
Why is it important to hold our elected officials accountable?
There can't be any rule of law without weighing of the facts and adjudicating the truth of a matter. Officials must be held accountable if they violate our legal principles or engage in fraud, abuse, or create risks to public safety.
The five things which justify becoming a whistleblower are witnessing fraud, waste, abuse, illegality and a serious risk to public safety. Truthtelling is necessary in cases of Pentagon contracting fraud to the long-standing situation of Catholic priest pedophiles. The need to speak up and reveal wrongdoing is part of the fundamentals of ethics.
There was a reason why Deep Throat, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post did what they did. Nixon did wrongful acts, and there were whistleblowers and brave journalists who brought his presidency down. Can you imagine if that happened now? What we're currently witnessing in the creation of an all-powerful "unitary executive" is a reaction to what happened to Nixon. Dick Cheney and others said we have got to restore all the powers to the war presidency and Prof. John Yoo was there to help him. What we need is transparency because otherwise things are easily covered up and the President and other officials are not held accountable. Prof. John Yoo has got to be held accountable or we'll go back to Nixon-era politics.
What are some of the current activities you are doing around the issue of accountability?
June is torture awareness month. The latest thing we are doing is putting on an art show titled "Canvas(ing) Against Torture". It's such a sensitive topic. 50% of Americans are okay with torture.
The Minnesota Institute of Art is holding an exhibition on the issue of war crimes, but our small show will depict scenes on how torture affects us all. We're hoping that some of the art will break through people's denial.
Recently we had a visit from U.S. Attorney Eric Holder who was given an award for his efforts to reduce violence. He has not seen fit to tackle the issue of accountability for those who participated in torture in the Bush Administration. We tried to attend his two public meetings. We protested on the issue of torture and FBI infiltration of advocacy groups based on the Patriot Act's vague and over-broad definitions of "material support of terrorism". During his event, eight people stood up and said Holder you need to stop the FBI spying.
Senator Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar are following suit saying "we must look forward" when it comes to torture and accountability. They both are on the Senate Judiciary committee. He and Klobuchar could do something about it, but they will not take action. They simply do not ask the hard questions when in Senate hearings. It's an amazing situation that Obama wouldn't seek to investigate members of the previous administration for their crimes. Perhaps the Senators are not getting enough pressure from the public on the issue of torture although Sen. Franken did vote no on the renewal of the USA Patriot Act.
Why do you think it's so important for the public to know the truth about how the government conducts military operations?
In the U.S. we have a problem with patriotism and we are not able to see the truth. It's part of our American exceptionalism. If the public doesn't know the truth then they do not have the ability to vote politicians out. We need more transparency instead of less. Secrecy is up 20%. The Pentagon Papers have finally being released 40 years later. The public seems to understand that Daniel Ellsberg did the right thing in becoming a whistleblower who revealed the secrets of the Vietnam War. In the intelligence community secrecy puts you in a special club. It's intoxicating to have secrets shared with you. We need more whistleblowers. If Manning is the alleged WikilLeaker, then he is a whistleblower, and acted in the exact same role as Daniel Ellsberg.
Manning was being held at Quantico under horrible solitary confinement and retaliatory conditions. Apparently his condition has improved since moving from Quantico to Leavenworth. We can thank the protesters' actions for this improvement. It worked especially for those who sang at the Obama fundraiser in San Francisco. It was cumulative. It had an impact, but it's not over. Manning is facing execution. I think Manning was being tortured because the government was seeking to indict Julian Assange. They were trying to pressure him to be a witness against Wikileaks. My fear is those who are being investigated in WikiLeaks could face execution as well. So we must continue to speak out and explain to the public that Bradley Manning and WikiLeaks, if they did what they're being accused of, did nothing more than Daniel Ellsberg and 19 newspapers in the U.S who published the "Pentagon Papers".
Let's talk about Thomas Drake, National Security Agency Whistleblower. Do you have thoughts about the severe whistleblower retaliation against him?
I think the reduced 10 felony count that could have landed him in prison for 35 years; coming down to one misdemeanor with no jail time is an unequivocal victory for Drake. It shows the government never had a case against him. The government's case just fell apart. But Drake did endure a great amount of retaliation during the last five years. Recently, Congress almost passed a law that any government agency could take away an employee's pension if the employee was accused of leaking information (which usually means whistleblowing). Luckily, the law didn't pass. Congress has given up too much of its power to the executive branch.
What would be your suggestions to activists reading this blog who would like to take action?
Consider joining the DC Freedom Plaza on October 6th. Make calls daily to Congress. Go public and call into NPR or CSPAN. Stay tune for a petition signed by 20 Whistleblowers.
Follow @codepink on Twitter
The Torture Report Film
Official Secrets Film: Take Action
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It seems fitting that before you spend the time to read this blog that you get a sense of who writes it.
I am an Engineer: Specifically, an Integrated Circuit (IC) design engineer. I have spent my whole career around chips. From massive parallel processors to speech recognition micro-controllers to 2.4 GHz wireless radios to single chip RTLS tags. All these projects have taught me the joy and heartache of building innovative products. Every major IC project I have ever worked on has had some screw-up or major heartburn. You just can't push the edge without screwing up a little.
I went to the Dark Side: It's true. No shame in it. I am a card carrying member of management. Most of my day is spent managing intelligent, highly motivated people who build incredible products. I try and stay out of their way as much as I can. Sometimes, it's hard to hold back the inner geek. This usually ends quickly because my guys are way smarter than me when it comes to engineering. Checkout www.tagent.com for what I am up to now.
Sometimes, it's just not your day: There are days that seem to drag on and go nowhere. Your heart is just not into it and you want to stop. This struggle makes you stronger if you don't let it kill you.
Attitude is everything: I have competed with blind people, one arm people, one legged people and even people in wheelchairs. All had a great attitude. They took what life gave them and ran with it. No excuses. No complaints.
We are all in this together: The best part about competitions are the complete strangers that cheer you on and your fellow athletes. For some reason, it always happens when I want to give up or stop. Encouraging people allows us to prop each other up. It's infectious. Their success is our success.
I volunteer with SCORE: SCORE (www.sfscore.org) is a volunteer organization that helps entrepreneurs with business issues. It's a great way to help people achieve their business dreams. You will see a lot of posts about common questions I get from my SCORE clients. Don't worry, I don't name names or anything like that.
That's about it. My hope is that this brief introduction gives you a sense of where I am coming from. Through SCORE and other volunteering activities, I have realized that putting yourself out there, getting involved and helping out where you can, is incredibly rewarding. Happy reading.


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Q: Rails authentication gift list for each user? I am trying to get to grips with the basics of authentication in Rails. To start with I have used the nifty_authentication generator by Ryan Bates. It's helping me learn the basic options for user logins etc.
I have a simple application the has a person and gift table in the database. The idea is, each user creates a list of people and then assigned possible gifts to each of those people.
So from a structural point of view:
person belongs to user
gift belongs to person

So I have the models set up as follows.
person model
class Person < ActiveRecord::Base
has_many :gifts
end

gift model
class Gift < ActiveRecord::Base
belongs_to :person
end

user model
currently doesn't contain any belongs_to has_many etc.

How do I go about making sure each user has their own list of people. So one user cannot see another users list of people or gifts.
Would I simply add the following to the user model?
has_many :people

and the following to the person model?
belongs_to :user

Would that work, or am I missing something?
Thanks,
Danny
UPDATE:
The app so far is on Heroku and Github.
http://giftapp.heroku.com/
http://github.com/dannyweb/GiftApp

A:
Would that work, or am I missing
  something?

Very short answer: yes that would work; no you are not missing something.

I looked at your code.
Instead of:
def index
  @people = Person.find(:all)
end

You need something along the lines of:
def index
  @people = current_user.people
end

Where current_user is the User object that refers to the logged in user.
In the create method you will need to assign the newly created person to the current_user:
def create
  @person = Person.new(params[:person])
  @person.user = current_user # This associates @person with current_user
  if @person.save
    flash[:notice] = "Successfully created person."
    redirect_to @person
  else
    render :action => 'new'
  end
end


Some of you guys will go out of town to relax and unwind from daily works and activities in real life. While we are away from our love ones and friends still communications never stop through mobile phones and internet access. You'll still be able to talk to important person of your life like family, friends and love ones.
I'll put you on a test situation, you are in an out of town get away and your boss sent you an emergency text where you need to reply as soon as possible. What will you do if you don't have enough load balance to reply on that text? Okay don't panic, if you are using Smart network you don't need to any nearest loading station or retailer. By just dialing the given Smart code you can instantly have load or avail a load in a few simple steps.
If you're out of load or you need to text someone, with SMART it's possible to avail an emergency load. Just follow the steps below on how to use Smart SOS emergency load service. There is no need for you to ask a Pasaload, just by dialing the code below you can avail the Smart Emergency Load service.
*Note: 5.00 Php will be automatically deducted on your next load.
What good with this is that you don't need to forced the other person or party you are contacting to send you a buck just to reload you SIM. The concept of this service is not like the Smart Pasaload, this service with directly connect with Smart system and provide you with that fixed amount just to get that that emergency load service.


Most people pay more attention to their physical health than their emotional health, despite the fact that emotional pain generally hurts more than physical pain. In this week's Your Mental Health column in The Southern Star, I discuss why it's important to recognise and react to emotional pain. As always, the column will be reproduced on this blog next week.


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STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® >
News archive >
2015 News >
Next Chop Poland
Events & Schedules
Results & Records
TIMBERSPORTS® MAYNIA!
Wild Card qualifying round
Round 4 NSW
The Champions Trophy
Round 3 Queensland
Round 2 Tasmania
Round 1 Victoria
2015 Championship Final
The 2015 STIHL Timbersports Australian team are off to Poznan, Poland to compete against the world's top lumberjacks from more than 20 nations. Over 100 athletes will meet in Poznan, Poland on the 13th & 14th of November (the early hours of 14th and 15th November in Australia) to represent their respected countries, to determine the 2015 World Champion in the team and the individual competition.
The first day of the competition, will see the elite lumberjack athletes from all over Europe as well as New Zealand, the USA, Canada and of course Australia, competing against one another in the team contest at the city's Congress Centre. The team Competition for the STIHL Timbersports World Championship consist of 4 disciplines Stock Saw, Standing Block Chop, Single Buck & Underhand Chop. With each team member designated to their strongest discipline (if possible) for their best chance to take the win home for their country.
The 2014 STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Australian team won the gold last year in Innsbruck with an impressive time of 56.80 seconds betting the Canadian's by 1 second. This year's competition will be just as fierce with the New Zealand team looking to improve on a very disappointing competition last year where a DQ cost them in the first round. Team USA & Team Canada will be tough opponents once again but the Aussie team are looking strong favourites to bring home the trophy this year!
This year's 2015 STIHL Timbersports Australian team has 2 new members that are determined to show the TIMBERSPORTS world that they are ready for the challenge. 20-year-old Brayden Meyer took first place at the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Australian Championship at Bathurst in October & showed that despite his age he is a force to be reckoned with. The world's Fastest Lumberjack Brad De Losa came in second place in the championship & won the Champions Trophy yearly this year. Then there is the newest member to the STIHL Timbersports Team, Mitch Argent 21 years of age, who came in third place at the Aussie Championship followed closely in fourth place by the experienced Laurence O'Toole who was in the winning team at Innsbruck last year. Laurence O'Toole is confident with this years team and that they have what it takes, "We've got a solid team this year, a good mix of youth and experience, anyone can cover any discipline so we'll look to rotate the team in the early round and keep everyone fresh and hopefully we'll be firing for the win if we make the final." - Laurence O'Toole. Rounding out the Team of 5 is Jaime Head from Queensland who has also competed at the World Championships in previous years.
Brand Activation Manger for STIHL Australia Lee Gooch said - " We've got a great trip planned for the guys, we'll be spending some time in Prague with Czech Competitor Martin Komarek where he's setup a training camp, there we'll have a few run throughs of the team format and the experienced guys will help prepare Brayden for the individual Competition''
On the second day of the World Championship, the twelve best international athletes will battle for the title and medals in the individual competition. Each day's contests will last about three hours and will be streamed live online through the STIHL website.
In the individual competition for the World Championship in Poznan and in the ten or so national championships that took place around the world between March and October the athletes have to complete in six disciplines – Springboard, Stock Saw, Standing Block Chop, Single Buck, Underhand Chop and Hot Saw.
Brayden Meyer will represent Australia in the individual event this year, Brayden is no stranger to the World Championship he was with the team last year in Innsbruck and helped the Team win gold. Brayden is ready to step up to the plate to compete against some of the strongest STIHL TIIMBERSPORTS athletes that have a few more years experience than Brayden, but that will not deter the young gun. Brayden Meyer – "I am training as hard as I can & I think I am ready, my biggest competition over in Poland would probably Jason Wynyard. A lot of the guys have 20 years experience on me. I am only the young feller but hopefully Ill come out number 1 and hold that trophy."
The STIHL TIMBERSPORTS World Championship is in the elite division of lumberjack sports that attracts up to 10,000 spectators to the live events, with millions of fans regularly following the competitions on Eurosport and other television stations worldwide. Spectacular disciplines to thrill spectators The STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Series is an international competition series in lumberjack sport, which has a long tradition. The history of the first contests dates back to 1870. The first Wood chopping World Championship took place in Tasmania in 1891. From there, logging sport took off around the world. Even today, nearly all the disciplines - three with the axe and three with the saw - replicate traditional forestry activities.
If you want to follow the action make sure you like the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Australia Facebook page to keep update on the latest news on all things TIMBERSPORTS.


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Hundreds Of Florida's Manatees Are Dying — What's Being Done To Save Them
Allison Godlove
Nov.29.2022
Manatees in Crystal River, Florida
Photo credit: Thierry Eidenweil / Shutterstock.com
In an effort to save manatees in Florida, environmental groups have filed a petition to get them back on the endangered species list.
The petition, sponsored by The Center for Biological Diversity, Miami Waterkeeper, Save the Manatee Club, and others, says it was a mistake to have taken manatees off the endangered species list in 2017. They had been on the list since 1973. Right now, manatees are listed as "threatened."
The petition, filed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, claims that habitat destruction is one of the leading threats to the manatee population because it destroys seagrass, which manatees feed on. It says that seagrass is being lost to algal blooms and Karenia brevis, blooms known as "red tide."
Other causes of depleting seagrass discussed in the petition are boating, coastal development like dredging, storms, stormwater runoff, fertilizers and herbicides, legacy nutrients, and septic tank leaks. Climate change is also expected to worsen the cause of seagrass loss.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has 90 days from the petition's filing on November 12 to look into whether to put manatees back on endangered status, and then 12 months to review the manatee's status.
The Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act considers a species endangered when it faces extinction "throughout all or a significant portion of its range." When a species is placed on the list, it is automatically protected from harm, harassment, collecting, or killing.
Protections are ensured through various regulations.
The Manatee Population
The West Indian manatee, along with the subspecies, the Florida manatee and the Antillean manatee, referenced in the petition, is a large, aquatic mammal. With a population of at least 13,000, there are more than 6,500 in the southeastern United States and Puerto Rico. In 1991, there were about 1,267 manatees in Florida.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is investigating a high level of manatee mortalities and is responding to manatee rescues in the central and south Atlantic coasts of Florida. FWC says the population in the state is now 7,520, and it continues to protect and conserve the species.
Help Save The Manatees
There are programs that continue to protect and save manatee populations. Thanks to donations, Wildlife Florida bought more than 202,000 pounds of lettuce to be fed to manatees at Florida Power & Light's Cape Canaveral Plant.
For a $5 (or more) donation when registering your vehicle or vessel, the Florida tax collector will give you a manatee decal that shows your support for the Save the Manatee Trust Fund. The donations support manatee research, rehabilitation, and educational programs.
There are other ways you can support the manatee population, including beach cleanups and smart and safe boating practices.
To read other articles about manatees, check out:
6 Florida Places To See Manatees In The Wild
Essential Tips For Swimming With Crystal River Manatees
Allison Godlove View Full Profile
Allison loves learning about new people and places and always jumps at the chance to take a trip. Whether it's visiting a town in her area or traveling across the country, she's up to explore!
She has traveled outside the U.S. several times including trips to London, Switzerland, and a cruise through the Western Caribbean. Her favorite travel memory is visiting Sundsvall, Sweden, her great grandfather's birthplace. Growing up, she spent a lot of time with him, so it was special to see where he was born. It looked very similar to the town where she grew up in New York. Within the U.S., she continues to check states off the list, most recently making a trip to Alaska for her honeymoon.
Allison spent almost 20 years of her career as a TV news anchor. She's covered everything from political conventions to Super Bowl LV to hurricanes and, most recently, the pandemic. She is a two-time Emmy award-winning journalist. She's been recognized for her work nationally and regionally by organizations including the Associated Press, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the Florida Association of Broadcast Journalists.


Eligible teachers who want to study to enhance their teaching skills have until Friday, March 17, to submit an application on SOLAS for a study sabbatical for the 2017–18 school year. March 24 is the deadline for a principal's recommendation to the superintendent. Coursework must be rigorous and related to your teaching assignment. All teachers are eligible for a one-year study sabbatical after 14 years of service. Junior high or high school classroom teachers with seven years on the job can also apply for a six-month study sabbatical for the spring semester only. Teachers earn 70 percent of their salary during a full-year sabbatical and 60 percent of their salary during a six-month sabbatical. Members can read guidelines and eligibility requirements in the sabbatical memo on the DOE website.


My Sisters' Place (MSP) is a safe, welcoming and inclusive centre that supports women and girls through drop-in and wrap-around services. Many experience multiple vulnerabilities including gender based violence, trauma, chronic mental and physical health challenges, homelessness or housing instability, substance use, and extreme poverty.
Developed with input from women of lived experience, My Sisters' Place offers a comprehensive multi-disciplinary support system with the capacity to deliver practical needs, specialized services and education/skills development under one roof. At the core of My Sisters' Place is a commitment to promoting a welcoming and non-judgmental culture, a reprieve from the stigma women so often feel in other community settings.
Within our mother agency CMHA Middlesex, we connect women with mental health services, Case Management, Clinical Services, and Community Programs. We also work closely with community partners to connect women with other supports in the community.
Spread the Word! Advocate! Share a social media graphic or learn more about women's experiences with homelessness, mental health and more.
Volunteer If you are interested in volunteering, connect with the CMHA Middlesex Volunteer program.
Working closely with women of lived experienced, we have developed services that adequately respond to women's unique needs by addressing identified gaps in services. Women at My Sisters' Place advocate for women's issues by participating in house meetings, speaking engagements, and theatrical productions.
Join Masonville Place Body Shop in Celebrating International Women's Day! Buy 2 items, and donate a 3rd in support of local organization My Sisters' Place. Learn more here!
The Shoppers LOVE.YOU. Run For Women London will be benefiting My Sisters' Place, providing immediate access to safety, and emotional and practical support for women experiencing complexities of trauma, mental illness, homelessness, addictions and poverty. The run/walk will take place on Sunday, June 9th at Harris Park in London, ON. Learn more here.
Donations are accepted throughout all our office hours and onsite hours of operation. Please see our current wishlist for suggestions on items which are most helpful for the women we work with.


We are in the process of raising funds in order to travel to Harare and film Zimbabwe's underground music scene. Music that is popular to the people on the street in Zimbabwe. In the 1980s & 90s bands from Zimbabwe enjoyed popularity in Europe, and beyond, thanks to the output from bands like The Bhundu Boys, John Chibadura & Four Brothers whose annual tours graced the stages of many festivals worldwide (all of whom we toured around Ireland). In recent years the number of their international tours have dwindled, and their music nearly forgotten, as many of the leading musicians from popular Zim acts have passed away, the band's popularity dying with them. With new personnel the bands live-on but struggle to get noticed beyond the borders of Southern Africa, even though their music is just as proficiently and enthusiastically performed as their predecessors and with the band's own original, unique 'signature' sound, their legacy.
It is our intention to travel to Zimbabwe and rediscover the bands that still draw the crowds to Zimbabwe night-life, to film them in concert, at rehearsals and at play. And to produce a one hour travelogue of the Zim Music Scene with video from bands like Alick Macheso, the new Four Brothers, Myrah Dube, Tryson Chimbetu, Hope Masike, Peter Moyo, Sulumani Chimbetu, Tiriro neGitare.... and the many others we can easily discover through our life-long contacts in Zimbabwean music. Our experience of filming and recording live music, on the road, in the studio and at the gig will enable us to capture the sounds, the mood, The Jit, The Sungura, The Zimdancehall, The Chimurenga music and the excitement of a night-out in Harare, in full HD with proper sound quality. We will also produce a series of 'one track' live videos from the performances of the acts to be uploaded to our YouTube channel and assist the artists' to market their live performance, worldwide. Our experience and privilege of touring, representing and working with hundreds of Zimbabwean acts & artists over 25 years will open many doors, we hope to open these doors to the rest of the world.
PLEASE CONTACT US IN THE FIRST INSTANCE IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS THE COSTS OF THIS PROJECT. WE ARE LOOKING FOR PRIVATE OR COMMERCIAL SPONSORS WHO CAN BE CREDITED ON ALL PRODUCED MEDIA INCLUDING THIS WEBSITE AND OUR SOCIAL MEDIA OUTPUTS.
FeileAfrica is only able to exist and do its job delivering funky, foreign, exotic music to the far flung corners with help from advertising, sponsorhip and funding awards.
You can help us continue to stay on the road whilst advertising your company on our website or by sponsoring a concert, festival, tour or event.
Obviously cash for an AD placement on our website is best, however, in the course of delivering our acts all over Europe we need certain hardware and services, so your sponsorship could also come in the form of goods or services in kind.
You might consider sponsoring our minibus and have your logo displayed on the sides & rear doors with an AD placement on our website with direct links to your website. You might also consider sponsoring a tour or event for which your company will receive full acknowledgment in all marketing as well as placements on our website and regular newsletter.
We will only consider displaying ADs and sponsor's logos on our website and at our events if the product or service fits comfortably within the philsophy of our company and its aims.


A photography captures the memorable moments of your life that can be cherished forever. Obviously, your wedding day is one of the most special days of your life. Aren't you excited to capture perfect wedding photography that will be your ultimate timeless treasure? For you reference, this article will reveal five essential tips for capturing an excellent wedding photography.
Traditional Photography, Photojournalism or Candid Photography, Cinematic Style, and Documentary style are just a few options to consider from. Select the style that suits you the most.
Traditional: The traditional style of wedding photography will instruct the couple how to stand or move around in specific traditional poses. The surrounding, backgrounds, angles, and lights are properly staged to obtain a perfect shot.
Candid: This photography style is pretty unobtrusive. And, it's one of the most popular wedding photography styles to consider. Here, the photographer blends among the crowd and captures candid moments as they naturally occur. Plus, it gives the photographers the scope of adding their own creativity as they can experiment with different photo editing techniques and exotic backdrops.
Documentary Style: Here, the moments of your wedding event are captured as they happen. It does not involve much editing. It may come as quite lengthy and monotonous.
Cinematic Style: This photography style uses loads of special effects, lighting techniques, camera angles, fancy equipment, and dramatic sound effects to make it upbeat and lively.
Once you have selected your preferred photography style, set up meetings with potential candidates and shortlist an experienced photographer.
Ask your selected photographer to showcase their portfolios. This will help you make a right and convenient decision. You may even ask for references so that you get honest reviews about your photographer and his work.
Since you have selected a photographer, you should now discuss what kind of shoot you want to have. A pre-wedding photo shoot or capturing your engagement photography will be the best way to test your photographer and his work. Come up with various ideas and create a unique wedding album. Also, take your time to explore the available options and never hold back.
Check with your photographers if they will provide only digital copies. You may even request them for mobile friendly videos and images so that you can easily share them with family and friends.
Make sure to follow the mentioned five tips to capture a perfect wedding photography.
About the Author: Pixel Studio Productions is the leading photography and videography studio in Houston, TX. They have been featured in the leading bridal journals top10weddingvendors.com and houstonweddingphotographer.net as one of the top local wedding photographer and videographer. To learn more about Pixel Studio Productions, visit their official website pixelstudioproductions.com.


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Monthly Archives September 12, 2018
The Aboriginal Australian artist who found international fame with his unique vision
BBC - Albert Namatjira was a pioneer of Indigenous Australian art who learned to paint aged 32. Lauded by critics and admired in galleries, his fans included a young Queen Elizabeth. His unique vision of the ou...
Revealing a Secret Art Life: A Painter's Sculptures
The New York Times - Surprises abound in "Odyssey: Jack Whitten Sculpture, 1963-2017," a gorgeous, loquacious exhibition at the Met Breuer. The show's title contains the first hint of the unexpected: the word "...
Can robots love us?
BBC - Three is exploring the latest robots being developed to engage with humans on an emotional level. After turning to cutting edge tech since an accident five years ago which left him as a double amputee...
London rooftops snapped up for "vertiports" as drone travel moves closer
dezeen - Landing and recharging pads for drones will become ubiquitous atop urban buildings within a few years, according to a company that is buying up London rooftops for a network of drone ports. Duncan ...
Shape-shifting Cypher sculpture by Ozel Office is controlled by motion
De Zeen - California architecture studio Ozel Office has created a blobby robotic sculpture that changes shape in the presence of people, or through the movements of those wearing a matching virtual reality hea...
Mercedes-Benz's latest concept car takes its design cues from art deco
Dee Zeen - This concept car from Mercedes-Benz pairs future technology with elements of the past, featuring a design inspired by art deco. The Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 Cabriolet, unveiled at the Pebble Beac...
Jaguar Land Rover's prototype driverless car makes eye contact with pedestrians
De Zeen - Jaguar Land Rover has created self-driving cars with eyes that are used to communicate with pedestrians when it's safe to cross in front of them. - read more ...
Free love and women: The sexual revolution 50 years on
DW - The "sexual morals" of postwar West Germany were characterized by taboos and ominous warnings. Masturbating could lead to a degenerative disease, so they said; an erection was an abnormal swelling; the fem...
Photographers Who Captured the Ecstasy and Abandon of Rave Culture
Art and Society, Artists
Artsy - In the summer of 1989, amid the sweltering heat of one of the driest summers in the U.K. in three centuries, the countercultural spirit of electronic dance parties, or raves, spread across the nation. ...
Gallerist Mary Boone Pleads Guilty for Filing False Federal Tax Forms, Over $3M in Unpaid Taxes
Hyperallergic - Art world giant Mary Boone, a dealer who first launched onto the art scene in the 1980s, has pleaded guilty to filing false federal tax forms today, September 5. Boone faces up to six years in p...


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On September 30, 2013, a total of 17 vacancies existed among the 179 judgeships authorized for the U.S. courts of appeals. Seven of these vacancies had been unfilled for more than 18 months. The appeals courts also had 17 vacancies one year earlier, 8 of which had existed for more than 18 months.
On September 30, 2013, a total of 75 vacancies existed among the 677 positions authorized in the district courts, 9 more than reported at the end of 2012. Nineteen of the vacancies on September 30, 2013, had existed for more than 18 months, up from 17 vacancies one year earlier. The majority of the vacancies arose when judges took senior status.
On September 30, 2013, a total of 37 judicial emergencies were identified in the U.S. courts of appeals and U.S. district courts, 3 more than one year earlier. For the courts of appeals, which had 8 judicial emergencies, a judicial emergency is defined as any vacancy where adjusted filings (i.e., filings excluding reinstated cases and weighting pro se appeals as one-third of a case) per panel are in excess of 700, or any vacancy in existence more than 18 months where adjusted filings are between 500 to 700 per panel. For the district courts, which had 29 judicial emergencies, a judicial emergency is defined as a vacancy of any duration where weighted filings per judgeship are in excess of 600 or any vacancy longer than 18 months in a district court with weighted filings between 430 and 600 per judgeship, or any vacancy in a district court with more than one authorized judgeship and only one active judge.
In addition to active judges, 89 senior circuit judges with staff were serving the Judiciary by participating in appeals decisions at the end of the fiscal year, 3 more than in 2012, but 4 fewer than in 2009. The U.S. district courts reported 346 senior judges with staff, 8 fewer than had been serving one year earlier and 1 fewer than in 2009.
For information on the status of judgeship positions since 2009, see Table 11 below.
Senior Judges1
Judicial Business 2013Judicial Caseload IndicatorsJudicial Business 2013 TablesU.S. Courts of AppealsU.S. District CourtsU.S. Magistrate JudgesJudicial Panel on Multidistrict LitigationU.S. Bankruptcy CourtsCriminal Justice ActPost-Conviction SupervisionPretrial ServicesComplaints Against JudgesStatus of Article III JudgeshipsStatus of Bankruptcy JudgeshipsAppointments of Magistrate JudgesU.S. Court of International TradeU.S. Court of Federal Claims


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WoW! Thoughts! — On Brewfest and Blizzard's Responsiveness
By Nick Zielenkievicz August 6th, 2012
Thoughts on how Blizzard ensured that Brewfest 2012 is a holiday to be enjoyed rather than stressed over.
Blizzard almost screwed me over.
I was all set to write about how Mists of Pandaria was set to launch in the middle of Brewfest; giving players a truncated amount of time to level to 89 in order to complete all of the holiday achievements and earn Brewmaster (which I need as the final title before I can complete the meta-achievement "What a Long, Strange Trip Its Been"), and then Blizzard goes and fixes the issue by pushing Brewfest back a week before I can even commence complaining.
This was the right move. People looking to complete the holiday meta-achievement weren't the only ones affected by this decision. Anyone looking for a Brewfest Mount to drop off Coren Direbrew is elated by the news as well. Coren Direbrew is not only the holiday boss whose defeat is the requirement of the Direbrewfest achievement, but who also provides a Keg-shaped Treasure chest which can contain Brewfest rams and kodos. He can be killed once per day during the holiday, giving players fifteen chances at acquiring the mounts each year.
This year, his level will be raised from 85 to 90, and in order to queue for him, players will need to be level 89. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue, but with Mists of Pandaria launching on September 25, and Brewfest originally scheduled to run from September 20th to October 5th, players were going to lose five days of access to Direbrew because they couldn't even begin to level to 85 (plus any additional days the four level grind would require.) It's an odd circumstance, and Blizzard made the appropriate move.
The fact that this would even arise as an issue is peculiar. Blizzard seems quick to have updated the Brewfest content this year… Almost as if they were expecting Mists of Pandaria to have released well in advance of Brewfest. This would be consistent with Blizzard's usually aggressive stance that they are always trying to push out content faster than they do.
Community Manager Nakatoir made a blue post on the EU WoW forums on July 27th, after astute players began to question the intermingling of the expansion launch and the holiday. His response that the holiday would be updated, players be damned, seems consistent with a philosophy that the holiday was always supposed to be updated regardless of the launch window. I'm sure that they would have postponed adjusting the holiday content if Mists was set to launch later than early October, but I wonder if maybe Blizzard felt internally that anything later than a mid-Brewfest launch was unacceptable…
It's easy to speculate about what Blizzard's late date-changing might mean about their internal development process, but its ultimately irrelevant. All that matters is I now have more time to get to level 89 to make sure I can slay Coren Direbrew and get my purple proto-drake. If I fail at this, and need to wait a full year to try again, it will be my fault, and not the fault of a delayed development process. Instead of drinking from my misery over circumstances preventing me from achieving my goals, this Brewfest, I expect to be drinking to my successes.
Thank you, Blizzard.
WoW is down to 9.1 million subscribers! Dammit! That's 1.1 million less people who might read this!!! http://www.marketwatch.com/story/activision-blizzard-announces-better-than-expected-second-quarter-2012-financial-results-2012-08-02
What a Long, Strange Trip its Been will no longer Master Riding (310% flight.) I know that can be expensive to purchase, but doing all the holiday achievements always seemed harder than just grinding out the cash. Plus, flying around faster can help with some of the achievements, anyway. http://mop.wowhead.com/achievement=2144
Blizzard is going to stagger the release of the launch raids for MoP. Moshu'gan Vaults won't open until a week after launch. Clearly, Blizzard is rushing the expansion out before everything is ready. http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/5058396227#1
Hunters getting more rare tames. Still can't tame Pandaren, though. Boo. http://forums.wow-petopia.com/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=18527


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Viking Star cruise ship to use SJ as homeport in '16
Contributor December 2, 2015
The 930-guest all-veranda Viking Star is classified by Cruise Critic as a "small ship."
The 930-guest all-veranda Viking Star is classified by Cruise Critic as a "small ship."
Viking Ocean Cruises announced Tuesday it will expand its destination-focused cruising to North America and the Caribbean with five new itineraries launching in September 2016. Its Viking Star ship will use Puerto Rico as its homeport for winter Caribbean itineraries, the company confirmed.
The ship will return to Europe in February 2017, with a transatlantic sailing from San Juan to Barcelona.
"We have always had a vision to reinvent ocean cruising — to bring destinations back to the forefront of the itinerary and to build ships that are designed to help our guests better explore their destinations," said Torstein Hagen, founder and chairman of Viking Cruises.
"We launched our ocean cruises in Europe earlier this year, and just as the Viking explorers before us, we are now looking across the Atlantic for new discoveries. Our new itineraries in North America and the Caribbean will offer travelers experiences that broaden their horizons both on and off the ship," he said.
Next year, the company will offer new itineraries, including the "West Indies Explorer," an 11-day trip leaving San Juan toward the British, French and Dutch islands of the Lesser Antilles. In 2017, the company will offer an 18-day trans-Atlantic cruise from San Juan to Barcelona.
Christened in May 2015 in Bergen, Norway, the 930-guest all-veranda Viking Star is classified by Cruise Critic as a "small ship," and is engineered at a scale that allows direct access into most ports. The small size of Viking's ocean ships provides greater maneuverability, allowing them to dock where mega-liners that dominate the world's ports today cannot, the company said.
This story was written by our staff based on a press release.
collaborator@newsismybusiness.com
Virgin Voyages postpones launch of Resilient Lady, which was to homeport in SJ
Contributor June 9, 2022
300+ cruise industry execs. meet in Puerto Rico for FCCA conference
Virgin Voyages' Resilient Lady to use San Juan as homeport in '22
Michelle Kantrow-Vázquez June 10, 2021
Tourism Alliance for P.R. blasts 'lack of activity on P3 for San Juan docks