text:
Why I'm Not Writing Any More Problem Property Blogs
17 March 2019/By Richard
These blogs have been great in getting publicity and exposure to investors and to people with problem deals they don't know what to do with. I've paid a few finders fees as a result, typically 3k per single-unit property, the highest was 7k for a multi-unit property. So far so good.
The downside has been that I've freely educating lots of people to compete with me by using my own MO. I know this because they've told me. For instance it's got much harder to buy subsidance properties in Bristol, people will pay over the odds for something that would have gone begging previously to 2013. Of course I can't take credit for that, it's largely to do with the rising market. But I have added to it because people have told me they've bought these after reading/ seeing what I've done and how I've done it. Even if they can't match my specialist knowledge about the fabric of buildings, that knowledge can be bought in. So this strategy has become unviable for me to put much energy into. It's not impossible but much more competitive now, meaning there is lower-lying fruit elsewhere.
So I'm keeping quiet about the latest deals I've done and how I've done them. There are lots of other types of problem properties and other ways to deal with them and it isn't usually what you might think. It's often very lateral. I'm a problem-solver, it's what I do. Unless it's tight I'll usually work off a back-of-an-envelope type calculation, and as long as there's plenty of fat on the deal, well over my minimum criteria, I'll go for it anyway. This works fine so long as you know ALL the costs you need to put into a flip deal, particularly transaction costs – you know, all those costs omitted from Homes Under The Hammer. These include SDLT, solicitor's costs x 2 to buy and sell, estate agent / auctioneer costs to sell, auctioneer buyer's premium, cost of finance if used, council tax, utility bills, insurance… People forget these and I'm always reminding them on UK Property Traders https://www.facebook.com/groups/UKProperryTraders/
I don't rule out writing further blogs, and if anyone suggests something I'll certainly consider it. But I'm not going to continue to feed my competition. In any case, the market is ever-changing, strategies that once worked no longer work, whilst newer strategies now work, and in different locations.
So that's me for now.
Dangerous Structures Act Property
Yew Tree Farm Felton 1.2m flip, BS40 9YF
BOGOF Properties! BS13 7AF
Subsidence (NOT!) flip, 33 Mayfield Park Bristol BS16 3NQ
93 Robertson Road auction flip, BS5 6LA
Providing Acoustic Ceilings Between Flats
Why I got BANNED from BMV Facebook group, and it was one of the best things that's ever happened to me :-)
Mistaken identity… I am Richard Edward Gibbs Greenland
Valuing a Property.
How to Set a 100 KG Steel Beam over a High Opening Unassisted
Photos of the Weston S M Refurb
Finishing the Refurbishment.
Strategy: Refurb Nearly Finished, Can't Sell Yet!
Our Highly Unusual Neighbour
Refurbishing a Flat with Too Much Kitchen!
Fitting the Bathroom and the Kitchen
Weston S Mare Refurb – Wiring and Plumbing
Dealing with Dry Rot, Weston S Mare Refurb
Weston Super Mare Flat Refurb.


text:
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<meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-capable" content="yes">
<meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-status-bar-style" content="black-translucent">
<title>Transition Metals</title>
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Transition Metals

Vanadium (IV) Oxide

V2O4 (s)

Grey solid.

Contact Process

During the Contact Process for manufacturing sulphuric acid, sulphur dioxide has to be converted into sulphur trioxide. This is done by passing sulphur dioxide and oxygen over a solid vanadium(V) oxide catalyst.

1. SO2 + V2O5 → SO3 + V2O4

2. V2O4 + 1/2 O2 → V2O5

Overall equation: SO2 + 1/2 O2 → SO3

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Today's small businesses have more ways to expand their reach and make an impact than ever, but some (sadly) don't take full advantage of them. Why? Because SEO is hard, can be expensive and does not produce immediate results. Businesses that invest in SEO today, will strive tomorrow. Those still on the fence, will most likely fade away.
Believe it or not, 59 percent of very small Canadian companies have no website whatsoever— with 41 percent even thinking theirs is too small to justify building a site!
Establishing a strong online presence can make a big difference to all businesses, no matter how small yours might be. SEO will help you rank higher on search engine result pages and gain more visibility, though it can be pretty daunting if you're new to running your own business.
What are your biggest rivals doing online? What techniques do they use to make an impact? How do they structure their site? How often do they publish blog posts? Answer these questions and see what you can learn.
Take a look at the type of content they produce and the keywords they're targeting. They might publish guest posts at popular blogs, produce high-quality videos on their YouTube channel, and any number of other things to maintain high rankings.
Pick just one or two of your highest-ranking competitors to study — don't spread yourself too thin.
Once upon a time, it was common to see keyword stuffing on small-business websites: the same search terms would be crammed into each page of content, even if that made it virtually unreadable.
They were basically trying to cheat search engines, but many algorithm updates since have rectified this issue. You can be penalized for keyword stuffing today, so always be careful with your keywords. Focus on creating content that flows well and provides plenty of value to readers.
A good reputation is essential. Positive feedback and reviews can help your small business attract new customers, so don't be afraid to ask buyers to share their opinions.
Reviews can create helpful backlinks to your site, build trust in prospects and contribute to your overall online presence. Always be willing to respond to customers across social media and review sites, even if to defend yourself against complaints. People want to see businesses of all sizes value consumer opinions.
Titles and descriptions play a significant part in good SEO. These tell visitors and search engines what they can expect when they click on your result, but there are certain things you can do to maximize their value.
Your title tags should feature main keywords as close to the start as possible, but only if this doesn't affect readability. Users and search engines will see when you're stuffing keywords in to the detriment of quality.
The average time taken for a mobile landing page to load is 22 seconds— and research shows over half of people will abandon a page if it takes more than three seconds to load.
That doesn't leave you with much leeway. You have to optimize your website to keep load times down: convenience is critical, and users have millions of other pages to check out if yours is too slow. Speed is one of Google's ranking factors too.
Just because you're a smaller business than industry rivals doesn't mean you have less to say than they do.
A blog is the perfect place to share your insights and establish your business as a valuable resource for readers. However, your blog content must be of a high standard: you have to write posts people want to read and share.
Use keywords sparingly in your blog, link to high-authority sites and use images / videos to break up the text. Make it easy for users to share the post across social media and structure it with headers (H1, H2 etc.) to help search engines understand the content's main points.
Structure your website's content into clear categories and implement a user-friendly layout. Visitors and search engines must be able to navigate your site easily, following a logical progression.
Make sure your menu covers the entire site and pages have relevant titles. Avoid trying to be clever or cryptic: there's nothing wrong with calling your company profile page 'about us' and your catalog of goods 'products'.
Put yourself in your users' shoes and see how accessible your site is from their perspective.
Social media gives you a valuable way to communicate with existing and potential customers. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and more — they're all a direct line to your audience.
As a small business, though, you'll be spreading yourself too thin if you try to use them all by yourself straight away. Identify which network is the most popular with your target demographic(s) and create an account. Stay active and responsive on there.
Share content from your website and link to the relevant pages to drive traffic to your domain. Build a presence and generate interest in your small business through ongoing engagement.
Alt tags are designed to help visually-impaired users understand the content of an image, and they can help you rank better in image searches.
Make sure to add relevant keywords and use clear descriptive terms. This is a simple but effective technique.
Boosting your online visibility, expanding your small business and climbing the results pages takes time. It's tempting to expect instant results, but good SEO requires patience.
You have to focus on producing quality content, building a solid reputation, establishing a loyal customer base and using effective SEO strategies to rank higher as an ongoing process. This is a commitment for your business's benefit, and can't bring immediate success.
Reputation Mart's SEO services in Toronto can help your small business reach your online goals! Want to know more? Just get in touch now to find out what we can do for you!


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Notices for election to Local Councils have now been published.
Elections for Borough Councilllors and Parish Councillors will be held on Thursday 2nd May 2019.
Borough Elections - 2nd May 2019 - Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll.
Parish Council Elections - Notice of Uncontested Election.
If you do have any queries or questions please contact The Clerk.


Filled with spicy sausage, creamy scrambled eggs, cheese, and our fresh salsa, these breakfast burritos are not only easy to make, but also delicious any time of day—we especially love them for brunch. Add a side salad, toast and fruit and you've got a midday feast!
Brown the sausage with the chopped onion and chopped pepper, and drain off the fat.
Scramble the eggs in a separate skillet; when done, turn off heat and add a splash of milk, stir to coat the eggs.
Spoon the scrambled eggs and the cooked sausage mixture across the center of each flour tortilla, sprinkle on the shredded cheese and a generous spoonful of salsa, and roll up.
Top with a generous dollop of sour cream and sprinkle with parsley flakes or chopped fresh parsely.


text:
Live goal football Max Verstappen: I would have won the Belgian Grand Prix from last place, I think that`s how competitive we were
Max Verstappen has chosen the best 2022 Formula 1 race for him.
I would say spa. The car was very good, but everything worked out for me. There are weekends when everything is amazing. I think if we had started last, we would still have won! That`s how competitive we were, - said the Red Bull pilot.
Verstappen started the Belgian Grand Prix 14th due to a motor penalty and finished first by 18 seconds.
Max spoke about the worst weekends - the rider agreed that one of them was the Brazilian stage:
Generally speaking, it is, perhaps, on an equal footing with Melbourne - we also performed quite poorly there. The pace was terrible. In qualifying, we faced a lot of problems, could not find the balance in the race and just destroyed the tires. So, probably, these stages are on an equal footing.
In Brazil, Verstappen was sixth, in Australia he retired due to technical problems.
Live goal football - more details and information: Live goal football

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


When you need roller shutters for your company or industry then Oz Roller Shutters have a fantastic range to choose from. Our shutters offer both security and high quality finishes - we'll even provide maintenance and urgent repairs where needed.
Generally the strength of a Roller Shutter depends upon the material used to make the shutters.
To make the roller shutters tough aluminium is the most essential component.
The GSM G+ mobile remote control unit has been designed to open gates and operate roller shutters from anywhere in the world using your existing mobile phone or landline.
Double Glazing is the glazing process in which a window is made with two panes of glass with a space between them. The space between the glass is usually between 0.63 and 0.75 inches (16 and 19 mm) wide. In many cases, air is trapped between the panes and forms a layer of insulation. Before the unit is sealed, a drying agent is added to ensure that no moisture is present inside the finished glass unit.
As we all seen the roller shutters can be used by businesses when they are closed, But now a days roller shutters can also be used in homes for security purposes and also for other purposes. Let explore why roller shutter is a good idea and where they would be the more effective.
Aluminium roller shutters and Window Shutters Make You Hassle Free in Many Ways!
Most of us are unaware that OZ Roller Shutters Melbourne had Window Shutters to protect themselves from the Sun. Window shutters has a long history of evolution. Today's designer and manufacture have given window shutters designing suiting to the time.
Aluminium roller shutters provides a number of excellent features all year round.
Independent laboratory tests on OZ Roll® roller shutters have demonstrated that this product can reduce noise transmission through a window opening. The noise reduction benefits obtained in university test varied significantly depending on the frequency of the noise source.


JLL's 2018 skyline report shows Cleveland tenants are willing to pay premium for amenities, brand visibility and recruiting efforts.
Cleveland, Sept. 27, 2018 – In the seventh annual Cleveland Skyline Review, JLL examines the dynamics of the Downtown Cleveland office market and address the top trends impacting both tenants and investors. This report also identifies the pricing and availability of space in Downtown Cleveland's largest multi- tenant office buildings.
This report shows that flight to quality is a dominating trend in Cleveland with tenants displaying willingness to pay premium for Class A building for amenities, brand visibility and recruiting efforts. Adaptive reuse of 18 functionally obsolete buildings to residential and hotel use has taken more than 4.5 million square feet of office space off the market, dramatically reducing vacancies. Additionally, landlords are investing significant dollars in building upgrades to attract blue chip tenants and appeal to the millennial workforce.
More than a dozen companies have relocated to downtown, bringing 2,000+ jobs to the city and absorbing 500,000 square feet of office space along the way.
Higher yields, relatively low barriers to entry and positive underlying market fundamentals have boosted investment sales dramatically with significant interest from out-of-state buyers.


A novel supramolecular network-reinforced and self-healing composite polymer electrolyte (SHCPE) is designed and fabricated via the incorporation of ureido-pyrimidinone (UPy)-functionalized SiO2 (SiO2–UPy) into the polymer matrix containing UPy units. The bonded UPy groups on SiO2 could form supramolecular networks with the polymer via the interactions of quadruple hydrogen bonding. Benefitting from the supramolecular interactions, the fillers of SiO2–UPy are able to uniformly disperse and reduce the agglomeration. As a result, the interphase between SiO2 and the polymer matrix, which is crucial to provide a fast conduction channel for lithium ions, is increased. Consequently, the SHCPE exhibits an enhanced ionic conductivity of 8.0 × 10−5 S cm−1 at 30 °C compared with that of the CPE blended with pristine SiO2. More importantly, the self-healing and mechanical properties of the SHCPE are simultaneously improved due to the increase of physically cross-linked sites in the polymer matrix. Owing to these outstanding properties, the lithium-ion batteries fabricated using the SHCPE exhibit stable cycling performance.


Who is Salematou Camara? To many, she is no one. To me and people who care about women's rights, she is the symbol of our failure to act quickly and to do what is necessary to ensure women do not lose their lives while giving birth. She is my personal reminder that the fight for women's access to adequate and free healthcare is still ongoing.
Giving birth in western society is a time for happiness, baby showers and cute pictures on social media. For many women in countries like the Republic of Guinea, it is a time of fear, stress, and isolation.
This was true for Salematou, a young Guinean woman who went into labor on the night of Friday, February 27th , 2015. Her husband Aboubacar took her to Ignace Deen, one of the two largest hospitals in Conakry. This story of happiness became a tragedy when the hospital staff turned Salematou and her husband away when they arrived seeking medical care. The couple was told to go elsewhere because they could not be admitted. Still in labor, Salematou and her husband travelled by taxi across the dark city of Conakry to Donka Hospital. Upon arrival there, the staff also turned them away shattering their hopes of a safe delivery.
Tired and in pain, Salematou sat on the hospital floor and proceeded to give birth while her husband continued to beg for help. The screams of the couple and crowd of onlookers finally prompted the hospital staff to react, but they were too late. Salematou had lost too much blood and died Saturday morning. She left behind her newborn child, two other children and a grieving husband.
Now, I ask you again, do women's lives really matter? If it did, Salematou would still be alive today and her children wouldn't have to grow up without their mother. The fact is that she is among the 800 women who die everyday across the world while giving birth, due to lack of appropriate access to medical care. Reporters in Guinea wrote that Salematou's story was neither surprising nor unique because these incidents occur often in the country.
Guinea is ranked 13th worldwide in maternal mortality and the country is struggling to free itself from the worst Ebola epidemic in history, which claimed 2,170 lives and severely weakened the fragile health system. Ebola has also affected women's capacity to access hospitals, due to fears of contamination and limited resources.
My reaction was different. I had a Déjà vu moment resulting in feelings of numbness, pain and anger. This is because Salematou's story brought back the memory of my nephew Mohamed's mother, Maimouna. In 2013, Mai, as we affectionately called her, also died during childbirth in Guinea. Her death marked me forever.
You see, I have attended the marches, international meetings, and high-level U.N. conferences for many years advocating for the rights of women and girls and that of ultra-poor people in general. But this year is different. This month is different. The lip service being given to women's empowerment without tangible actions is harder to accept as I participate in the 59th Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations. Every time I hear the statistics, I hurt because I know that more women are dying, and I remember the women like Mai and Salematou who have already lost their lives. It also affects me because my nephew and his siblings, like Salematou's children, will never know their mother.
As an activist and a woman, I am not taking away from the great advancements made to empower and protect women. But it is NOT enough. There are easy, affordable, and accessible solutions that can save women's lives.
My organization, There Is No Limit Foundation, has proven this. We started the Mai Health for All Project aimed at increasing ultra-poor people's access to quality health care in 2014. Through the Project, we donated 15 electronic hospital quality beds to Donka Hospital on March 9th 2015 and are sending 36 additional beds at the end of this month. We are also working on providing training to healthcare workers. Fifty-one beds might sound small, but these beds can make a difference in reducing the instances of stories like those of Mai and Salematou.
Now, I ask you again, do women's lives really matter? If your answer is yes, play your part by engaging in the work to reduce maternal mortality. Women can no longer wait for trickle down policies and funding.
We couldn't save Mai and Salematou, but we can save those women who are still here.


text:
People Magazine Awards: The Winners
5:58 PM PST 12/18/2014 by THR staff
AP Images/Invision
People_Awards_2014 - H 2014
Jennifer Aniston and Michael Keaton took home honors
The first annual People Magazine Awards are a wrap.
Kevin Hart took home the first award of the night, Comedy Star of the Year, while Lisa Kudrow was honored with Television Performance of the Year for HBO's The Comeback. Jon Hamm, honored in the TV actor category, thanked Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner for being "the only person" who wanted him cast in the show.
On the film front, Cake's Jennifer Aniston took home the actress honor, while Birdman's Michael Keaton took home the actor award. "I'm going to buy Jeff [Bridges] a shot of tequila, and I'm going to go home and kiss my dogs," a loose Keaton said accepting his award from Bridges.
The star-studded event included performances from Gwen Stefani, Pharrell Williams, 5 Seconds of Summer and Maroon 5. The two-hour special, hosted by Nick Cannon, was broadcast live on NBC from the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
See more American Music Awards: Best and Worst Moments
The event is produced by Dick Clark Productions (a corporate sibling of The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard), and it's sponsored by L'Oreal Paris and Kohl's. Allen Shapiro, Mike Mahan and Barry Adelman from Dick Clark Productions are executive producers, along with Carol Donovan and Michael Dempsey.
Check out the winners below.
Movie Performance of the Year — Actor
Hero of the Year Award
Nora Sandigo
On Screen TV Couple of the Year
Mindy Kaling and Chris Messina
Breakout Star of the Year
Style Icon recipient
Movie Performance of the Year — Actress
PEOPLE's Sexiest Woman
Television Performance of the Year — Actor
Next Generation Star
Television Performance of the Year — Actress
Comedy Star of the Year


If you're looking for accommodation close to the Poldark filming locations, then we have just the accommodation for you, here in Cornwall. Hotels in Cornwall, B&B's, self-catering, holiday parks, or campsites, whatever your taste and budget we've got it covered. From boutique guest houses and cosy cottages to unique glamping sites and hostels, this is the ultimate where to stay in Cornwall guide.
A selection of 25 holiday lets in Porthleven, west Cornwall sleeping 2 - 8 guests. Many have sea views and all are close to harbour, beach and village facilities.


The business covers 20 hectare only in the Cramant, Avize and Oger areas, three districts classified Grand Cru. An environmentally respectful form of viticulture, a meticulous wine-making process , and a long ageing process, are all factors which allow us to express and respect what is typical of our area. Our efforts do not end with the finished product. The presentation of our vintage needs to be in perfect harmony with those moments you wish to celebrate.


text:
.. _installation-label:

Installation
============

Binary Installers
-----------------
The binary packages are distributed at `PyPI <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pcaspy>`_.
They have EPICS 3.14.12.4 libraries statically builtin.
If we do not have a *wheel* or *egg* package for your system, *pip* or *easy_install* will try to
build from source. And then you would need EPICS base installed, see :ref:`getting-epics`.

OS X
~~~~

Make sure you have `pip <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pip>`_ and
`wheel <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/wheel>`_  installed, and run::

    $ sudo pip install pcaspy

Windows
~~~~~~~

Make sure you have `pip <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pip>`_ and
`wheel <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/wheel>`_  installed, and run::

    > C:\Python27\Scripts\pip.exe install pcaspy

Another option is the windows installers.

Linux
~~~~~
PyPI does not allow upload linux-specific wheels package, yet (as of 2014).
The old *egg* format is used then::

    $ sudo easy_install pcaspy

Or install only for the current user::

    $ easy_install --user pcaspy

Source
------
The source can be downloaded in various ways:

  * The released source tarballs can be found at `PyPI <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/pcaspy>`_.

  * From the `mercurial repository <https://code.google.com/p/pcaspy/source/browse/>`_,
    the source can be downloaded as a zip package.

  * Clone the repository if you feel adventurous::

    $ hg clone https://code.google.com/p/pcaspy/

Build
-----

.. _getting-epics:

Getting EPICS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In general please follow `the official installation instruction <http://www.aps.anl.gov/epics/base/R3-14/12-docs/README.html>`_. Here is a short guide,

- Get the source tarball from http://www.aps.anl.gov/epics/base/R3-14/12.php.
- Unpack it to a proper path.
- Set the following environment variables:

  - EPICS_BASE : the path containing the EPICS base source tree.
  - EPICS_HOST_ARCH :

    +---------+-------+-----------------+
    |    OS   | Arch  | EPICS_HOST_ARCH |
    +=========+=======+=================+
    |         | 32bit | linux-x86       |
    | Linux   +-------+-----------------+
    |         | 64bit | linux-x86_64    |
    +---------+-------+-----------------+
    |         | 32bit | win32-x86       |
    | Windows +-------+-----------------+
    |         | 64bit | windows-x64     |
    +---------+-------+-----------------+
    |         | PPC   | darwin-ppcx86   |
    |  OS X   +-------+-----------------+
    |         | Intel | darwin-x86      |
    +---------+-------+-----------------+

- On Windows it is suggested to build EPICS libraries statically, by changing these two lines in ``EPICS_BASE/configure/CONFIG_SITE``::

    SHARED_LIBRARIES=NO
    STATIC_BUILD=YES

- Run ``make``.

.. note:: On windows, the Visual Studio version has to match that used to build Python.

          +------------------+-----------------------+
          | Python Version   | Visual Studio Version |
          +==================+=======================+
          | 2.4 - 2.5        |  2003                 |
          +------------------+-----------------------+
          | 2.6 - 2.7,       |                       |
          | 3.0 - 3.2        |  2008                 |
          +------------------+-----------------------+
          | 3.3 - 3.4        |  2010                 |
          +------------------+-----------------------+

          Mismatching may cause crashes!

Windows
~~~~~~~
- Python 2.4+ including 3.x (http://www.python.org/download/)
- SWIG 1.3.29+ is required. Get it from http://www.swig.org/download.html and unpack to ``C:\Program Files (x86)\SWIG\``.

Download the most recent source tarball, uncompress and run::

    > set PATH=%PATH%;C:\Program Files (x86)\SWIG\
    > C:\Python27\python.exe setup.py build install

Linux
~~~~~
- Python 2.4+ including 3.x
- Python headers (package name "python-dev" or similar)
- SWIG 1.3.29+ (package name "swig")

In the source directory, run::

    $ sudo python setup.py install

or install only for the current user::

    $ python setup.py build install --user

OS X
~~~~
- SWIG (MacPorts package "swig-python")

In the source directory, run::

    $ sudo python setup.py install


text:
Smokeless Products Are Tough Test for Reynolds
Reynolds' array of smokeless tobacco products, above left, includes strips that dissolve on the tongue in minutes.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
By David Kesmodel
Updated March 26, 2010 12:01 am ET
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.-During board meetings, Reynolds American Inc. Chief Executive Susan Ivey likes to suck on dissolvable smokeless-tobacco strips to get her nicotine fix.
She's hoping to tempt millions of smokers to follow her lead.
Confronted with the inexorable decline of cigarette sales, Reynolds is transforming itself into a company that also offers an array of smokeless alternatives—including strips, lozenges and snuff.
Reynolds' push into the products comes amid an intensifying debate among public-health professionals about how oral forms of tobacco should be regulated. Some tobacco-control advocates, including the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, have criticized Reynolds' dissolvable products as nicotine candies designed to appeal to children.
Now the Food and Drug Administration is weighing in. It has asked Reynolds by Thursday to provide its research into how the dissolvable products are used and perceived by people 25 and younger. In a February letter to Reynolds, Dr. Lawrence Deyton, director of the agency's Center for Tobacco Products, said the FDA is concerned that adolescents may be drawn to the products' "brightly colored packaging" and "easily concealable size."


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Why the term "Home Based Business Opportunity" is the most used term on the Internet today. Because today most people don't want to work for other people anymore and wanted to have their own home-based business instead.
There are a lot of people working from home and the number of people who wanted to jump on the same bandwagon increases in fast pace. Working from home gives you comfort and flexible time, but not all people who want to try this opportunity reach success. Many people fail because of a lack of knowledge and dedication.
If you are planning to work from home and you are serious enough to leave your employer, our articles might help you in your ultimate decision making.
Does Running a Business from Home Affect?
Running a business from home now takes a larger portion of the business community with millions of individuals who are now managing business from home.
Starting a home based cosmetic business is one of the most ideal investments. Being passionate in creative artworks including putting make up on face can bring you a successful business. You need patience, intelligence, time, and effort to establish a business like this.
If you love fashion and you have the innate talent, then it would be nice to start your fashion business. However, if you don't have enough capital, home based fashion business is ideal option. Home based fashion business is now becoming a hit for most people with enormous talent.
Home based businesses have become highly in demand these days as more and more people decide to just work right in their own abodes and at the same time, earn some income that can help them in getting through their everyday lives.
If you are planning to have a home based business that can provide you several benefits especially in tax so that you can really save lots of money.
The world is becoming ever more demanding. This is why people should always be on the look for ways to earn. One way is by typing documents at home.
There are lots of stays at home moms who want to earn money while working at home. If you are one of those you can start your home business.
Foods come in different varieties and tastes. Because of the fact that pastries are all time-favorites in America, they will always be saleable any season of the year.
Recycling is encouraged by the government in most of the countries.
Jump starting your own home business? A lot of people staying at home have so much idle time. This unused time could be cultivated to earn superfluous money instead of being unproductive.
If you want to start a self employed business, there are some things that you should do. Keep in mind that when you decide to opt for this setup, you will shoulder all of the responsibilities.
With the advancement in technology, there are basically many home based business that is sprouting in the Internet.
Nowadays, home based businesses are the "in� thing to get involved with. In fact, these have been prophesized to become the "trend of the future�.
If you want to start a search engine marketing service, you will need a computer and internet connection. You also have to possess relevant knowledge and skills in SEO to provide the marketing services.
One of the best advantaged of the internet is the fact that almost anything may be done in the comfort of your own home. This includes medical billing work.
People nowadays are looking for more affordable alternatives to health care. Starting a medical home business is a good example of this. It can either be a home clinic or a consultation office.
If you want to start your own direct mail copywriting business, you have to make sure that you're knowledgeable enough. If selling is your main goal, you can start with a direct mail copywriting business.
Along with the benefits of the arrival of Information Revolution that gives you the easiness to transact business at home, there is also one danger that lurks behind the other side of the coin: identity theft.
If you still want to perform loan processor work even in the comforts of your own home, you will have to look for the perfect work from home opportunity.
If you want to create business cards, you don't have to pay for them. It is possible to create your own business cards from home. You only need a computer, internet, printer, and quality business card paper.
If you want to start a home candy business, you will need to create a business plan. Master your unique recipes and sell it in your local area.
If you want to start GIS work from home business, you have to ensure that you know a great deal about this type of business.
Are you planning to set up a business at the comfort of your own home? Do you want to have time for your family? Are you dreaming of having a gas home based business? Isn't it too dangerous especially if you have children?
If you want to get SQL work from home, you can use the internet to search for potential employers. Check their qualifications and requirements. If you pass, you can proceed with the application process.
If you want to start a home gardening business, there are many special considerations that you should know. As long you plan everything out thoroughly, you can never go wrong.
Many great home businesses start as a hobby and cake decoration from home is not different from this hobbies. Probably one of the tricks for starting a business like this is to know the basics.
Everywhere you look at, there are all types of candles being sold. With this obvious observation, it is not easy to believe that candle manufacturing is a 3-billion dollar business per year. This amounts to a potential for lucrative business for everyone.
This time obviously is the right time to start a weight loss home business with the obesity cases in America is high and many of these adults are aware and even planning to correct this weight problem right away.
If we are going to study where most successful business began, we can learn that they one time or another been started by the owner as a hobby. This is the same with photography.
You might enjoy baking activities and keep practicing it as hobby. Imply best options to transform your hobby into a business initiative – in fact home based cookie business doesn't require additional preparation. You have freedom at home by working as an entrepreneur.
There are several methods to offer datamatics services. It can be started as a home business. Options and feasibilities are many. You need to implement better planning and quality servicing. It is wonderful earning method as there are vast areas in which you explore them.
The idea of starting mortgage home based business is not typical. You work as a financial consultant and earn handsome profit if do it meticulously. Most importantly you help the needy by supporting in fulfilling their instant financial needs.
Have you experienced any problem in a service or product and sought the help of help desk consultants?
Due to advances in technology, more and more people would like to work from home using their laptops or computers.
Did you ever consider a cruise travel agency as your business? Currently, the travel industry shows about $4 trillion spent in flights, hotels, cars, cruises, and more every year.
Do you enjoy cooking, planning, and working with customers? Catering businesses ensure that appetizers, meals, drinks, and desserts are prepared excellently for the clients.
Do you want to have the creativity and freedom to be your own boss? You could experience owning a business and have the satisfaction of helping people experience more health, happiness, and well-being if you open a day spa.
It can be an enjoyable hobby to paint. But when you paint on ready-made ceramics, you can even make some money out of it.
Outsourcing is cheaper for companies compared to hiring employees. And because many companies have a lot of work to be outsourced, work from home assembly jobs have totally become a very huge market.
Flowers are widely used during weddings, holidays, burials, or birthdays. There's a need for all kinds of flowers and flower arranging has become a higher level of art today.
You can easily own a business if you want it. In fact, all you need to do in starting home based car inspection business is to gather your supplies, work hard, keep the profits coming, and be determined to build your business big. We can be your guide in this endeavor.
In starting your home-based CAD drafting business, you must consider the different necessities you will need to operate this kind of business given the limited space of your home.
Retirees refers to those who are no longer active in their work. This does not mean that when one is retired from work the person is no longer fit to work or they are old enough to work.
Web design is one of the most important in every business run through the internet and possibly also one of the best advertising strategies there is. Why? Because this is the face of your business and through the web design of your business you can attract more customers.
Payroll work from home is becoming a profitable business today. A lot of companies are actually outsourcing their payroll to others. There are things that you need to know when you want to start a payroll business.
It is easy to start your own greeting card business. Below are some of the ideas that you need to know on how to start home based greeting card business.
Start a home based lotion business as long as you want to get started with the accurate details one more.
A City Publications franchise opportunity is really advisable for those who want to have a home-based business with established list of returning clients.
Want to start a group home business right away? Read on and learn about the necessary steps you should take.
Anyone can start a screen printing business even with minimal capital. It just takes creativity and resourcefulness really!
One of the known successful multinational companies, Proctor and Gamble, was started by a humble candle maker. And based from the data from the National Candle Association, it is estimated that the candle industry amounts to around $2.3 billion.
One of the characteristics of usual advice of how to start a business, particularly photography, is convoluted with many technical terms that only make the endeavor a complex one.
Crafts accessories and products are tested to thrive in spite the abundance of modern style of products and furniture available in the market.
If you're planning to insure your business, you may need to check the different packages available that already includes worker's compensation, liability insurance, and many others.
Your talent is doing hair extensions to your friends and to yourself can be the key for you to become the next big entrepreneur in the field. By knowing the right information, you can successfully start your own hair extension business.
Everybody knows that shopping in eBay is hot right now. It's the source of everything from great deals on merchandise to hard-to-find collectibles. But what if you have nothing left to sell; can you still make profit from your eBay store?
Are you interested in making money online? Many people are overwhelmed with confusing possibilities. And also, there are many people who tried to make money but failed because nobody taught them how.
Do you have a cheerful voice and enjoy talking with someone on the phone? Then you can start a very easy and lucrative home-based business today.
iStockphoto sells stock photos on the internet to businesses, ad agencies, designers, and websites. You can also buy photos for your blog or website but the real opportunity is selling the photos you own to get continuous cash flow every time your photos are downloaded and purchased by others.
Have you ever dreamed of writing your own book? It will be possible by starting your own eBook Publishing Service. These self published eBooks sell easily on the web.
Perhaps you are now thinking of becoming a Home Energy Auditor. In this article, you will learn the steps on how to become one and realize your dreams.
How to start a personal concierge service? Well, perhaps you're like everybody else who don't have any idea on how to provide this kind of service.
The demand of the time for parents to earn a living is tremendous during this time and as a result of this there is a huge demand for babysitting business. Are you planning to tap on this market potential? Here are tips on how you can earn big bucks out of this business.
The revolution happening in the Internet has brought new businesses and occupations up for grabs for everyday people and you may probably want on becoming an eBay assistant by working from home?
Work-from-home is currently popular due to developments in technology that allow people to get access to data from remote locations. Are you interested in one of the most popular work at home jobs?
Envelope stuffing work at home scams are rampant. That is why it is wise for people to ascertain that the job they are applying for is legitimate. To find a real envelope stuffing work at home, read our basic guide.
Today, there are quite a number of moms who are exploring the idea of having a home based business. The number one reason is to spend more time with the kids. Finding the right home based business can become successful.
People who are planning to run a home-based business should know beforehand about zoning laws in their area. Ignorance of these laws is simply not an excuse you can expect when someone from the local zoning authority comes knocking at your door.
Are you considering operating a home-based business? Have you been toying around the idea for some time and think that it is the best model to operate with? Think carefully and research all the requirements that you need to comply with before you seriously start to take steps to set up an enterprise from your own home.
Online internet researching has become a profitable business to some and a great source of income to others. It's a job opportunity that you can weave around your schedule without quitting on your regular job.
Starting a home online business is good if you are a type of person who wants to earn from home. Certainly this is a good opportunity if you want to profit when it comes to trading.
If you want to venture into a personal chef business then you are in the right track because more and more people today have a very busy lifestyle that they forgot to cook dinner for the family.
Homemade cakes can bring smile to anybody's face that is why starting a homemade cake business is a good idea. Remember that in order for you to gain profit it will be best if you consider pricing your cake way higher than a store bought cakes.
How often have we heard a colleague or an officemate say she scheduled a massage session this afternoon to relax her nerves? Massages have been accepted as a practice that relaxes the stiff muscles, promote circulation and relieve stress.
Starting a Carpenter and Joiner business requires training and certain skills for it. Lack of training can show in the quality of your work. You also need to have equipments that could help you with any tasks given to you.
Maybe you wish to start your home staging business and enter the market, but you don't know where to start. Are you looking for help and guides in starting the venture?
Perhaps you want to set up a home-based travel business, but you have no idea what you have to do to begin with. You don't have to look further anymore, because our article has all the information you will need to get you started quickly on your home-based travel business.
Perhaps you think you are good at arranging and beautifying lawns, and you wish to make money out of that skill. Are you wondering if landscaping is a good business idea?
The long term success of a good home event planning business is based on a few simple tips and tricks and here's how you start!
Selling jewelries is a good business idea, because a lot of people will always be looking for jewelries to complement their clothing. Maybe you don't know how to partake in the market for these items, but don't worry our article will walk you through the process and get you started sooner than you think.
Maybe you have the "green thumb� for moving and arranging things into a coherent organization, and you wish to make money from it. This article will show you how you can turn your talent for organization into a major source of income for you and your family. You'll be surprised at how easy it actually is.
You may have found out that the home furnishing business has grown tremendously in demand, and you wish to take advantage of that growth by starting your own home furnishing business.
Given the constant and impressive demand for home inventory, perhaps you have realized the profits that you can possibly reap if you start your home inventory business.
Home party meetings are an excellent medium to do business. Use the relaxing effects of a home to pull the guard down of potential home party clients to your product. Bond and connect like you never can in corporate setting.
You want to be your own boss and wish to use your web designing skills, but you're not sure what it really takes. Setting up a home-based web design service is not that difficult.
Generally art is a product of human activity, made with the intention of stimulating the human senses as well as the human mind; by transmitting emotions and/or ideas. Art is also able to illustrate abstract thought and its expressions can elicit previously hidden emotions in its audience. Marketing this as a freelance artist business is another cup of tea which needs meticulous planning and diligent action.
Some say it's a dog eat dog world. However dog training business owners are thinking otherwise. They see opportunity with the pets they love.
Perhaps you are into a photography hobby and you wish to earn money during what you love. Fortunately for you, we have prepared a very informative guideline to help you in getting started on your photography venture.
Perhaps you want to start your own freight brokerage business but you don't know how to start. Through this article, we will walk you through the requirements and the procedures as to how to start a freight brokerage business.
The home sewing and embroidery business is a lively industry. Not only can you do fixing jobs, but you can do personalized orders as well. You are free to do customized work and capture loyal customers who can in turn refer people to you.
Are you tired of being merely an employee and want to be your own boss? Or simply just want to spend more time with your family at the same time have a viable source of income? Be a freelance web developer!
Perhaps you love to eat preserves and pickles, and would like to make money out of the things that you love. Now that you've made the decision, you are now asking yourself? How do I start my own homemade preserves and pickle business?
If you are looking to create your own e-zine publishing business, then this article is for you. In here, you will find the necessary tips and information that you would need to get you on your way to becoming an e-zine publisher. You can go into business in no time.
Do you find yourself interested in baking? Then you could be successful in starting a cake business. Read on for six easy steps to start a cake business!
"There's just too much clutter in here!" "My house is a mess." "We need space for that brand new leather sofa." Lines we often say when we just have too much junk to handle.
Setting up a virtual assistant business requires a bit of Internet know how, a couple of required hardware and expertise in one or more fields. And yes, if you do not subscribe to a business assistance virtual network for VAs, you would also need to promote your services.
The three main things essential for this business are: access to granite suppliers, acquisition of an etching tool, putting up a workshop and hire personnel.
Starting a home based business is ideal for people who prefer to stay at home and be with their family and at the same time earn a living. Are you looking for home based business options? Generating innovative ideas for home based business is always challenging so read this article and learn some of the things you must know before you start your own home based business.
The home embroidery business is a fun and interesting way to earn money. At the same time, it gives you an avenue to show off your creative prowess and talent. This article can help you with some of the important decisions you need to make when starting your own company.
Use your woodworking skills and start a lucrative business. This business is an enjoyable way to make money. This article also offers tips on starting and running a woodworking business.
Do you want to leave your day-job and focus your attention on your family instead? But you can't quit just yet because you need the paycheck? Why not explore alternative forms of income? Have a look at the home tutorial service business, this may be the solution you are waiting for.
Do you wish to be an entrepreneur? Have you started thinking about your liking business? Do you love baked foods? Yes, if you have interest towards breads, cakes, cookies and chocolates, then a little bit startup advice can set your home baking business.
Learn what you need to know in order to start your very own funeral home business. Why put up a funeral home? What are the rewards people get from running a funeral home business? Find out the basics you need to know to before setting up a funeral home business. Discover the trends in the funeral service industry.


Sitting in front of me is Dyutidhara Maharaja, a very humble sannyasi. I honor him. He is a pure devotee. He sincerely wants to give up his false ego. Those who are like this - I honor as pure devotees. He is helping us in various ways, and I think that he will continue to help me, and to help others. I want to hear from him about the real object of our life.
In India, there once lived a very pure devotee whose name was Rakha. He was niskincana. He did not claim anything as his own. He used to maintain his life by going to the forest and gathering dry wood, which he would then sell in the town. Thus, with a small amount, he somehow maintained himself. His wife, Bakha, was also a high class of devotee, and she was even 'two fingers' more advanced than him.
One day, while they were in the forest gathering wood, Narada Rsi saw them and became worried. He at once went to Narayana and said, "You are very cruel. On one hand. You don't hesitate to give to beggars. On the other hand, this couple is always chanting, "Narayana, Narayana, Narayana", they don't want anything, and yet You don't care for them. Please give them something."
Lord Narayana told Narada, "I am worried. I have tried so much to give them something, but they never accept anything. If I try to give them something, they become upset. I cannot give anything to them."
Narada replied, "You have never tried. I want to see You try to give them something in my presence."
Lord Narayana told him, "Yes. You should climb into this tree and hide yourself. Rakha and Bakha will come here on their way to the forest to collect dry wood. I will leave for them a bag full of golden coins. There will be so much that it will be sufficient for their whole life."
Narada then climbed up into the tree and hid himself, and after some time Rakha and Bakha came into that forest chanting, "Narayana, Narayana, Narayana." Rakha was walking somewhat quickly, and Bhaka, being a very delicate lady, was somewhat behind him. As he walked, Rakha entered the shade of the tree where Narayana had left the bag of golden coins. The coins were not hidden inside the bag, but rather they were spilling out onto the path so that Rakha and Bhaka could see and take them.
When Rakha saw the golden coins he thought, "What is this? This will derail me from my main object. My object is to somehow attain pure love for Narayana. If I take these coins, it will distract me and also my wife. Seeing that his wife was still somewhat far away, he covered the coins with some earth to hide them. Bakha could see that he was doing something and wondered, "What is he doing?" She quickly came closer and saw him covering the coins. She said to herself, "Perhaps he is thinking that I may be weak, and that I will take the coins and become derailed. She therefore asked him, "Why are you covering dust with dust? We should go."
They never touched those coins. A devotee should be like that.
You should not be derailed. In this world there are so many beautiful young ladies and males. So many things in this world are made by maya to derail you. False ego may then come and you will be lost. Always be very careful.
Acaryavan puruso veda. Those who are realized souls see and tell that the path of attaining love for the Supreme Lord is like a very sharp razor's edge. You will have to walk on this path very carefully so that you will not have any injury. It is very hard to walk on this razor's edge. If you will be somewhat careless, at once you will derailed or you will be cut. All transcendental things are like this. Be very careful so that false ego will not come and you will not be derailed from your object - love and affection for Krsna.
Please stand up and speak a few words about our goal - about what must be our goal.
Srila Narayana Maharaja: You may know that high-class devotees are hidden in this world. Caitanya Mahaprabhu discovered Sri Rupa and Sri Sanatana when they were employed in the ministry of Nawab Hussain Shah, the Muslim king. Sri Rupa was the Prime Minister and Sri Sanatana Gosvami was the private secretary. Working for him, they had become very wealthy, but Mahaprabhu sprinkled His mercy on them and they came out of that bad well. After that they become Sri Rupa Gosvami and Sri Sanatana Gosvami.
You may have also heard about Sanatana-siksa and Rupa-siksa. These teachings are the jewels of Caitanya Caritamrta. Our object and the process to achieve it - everything is clearly explained there from beginning to end. I request Sripad Drstadyumna prabhu to touch on these points and speak something to us. He is very qualified and has knowledge in all subjects. He is helping me, and I am therefore indebted to him. Syamarani, Vrndavana Vilasini, Aranya Maharaja, Bon Maharaja, Madhava Maharaja, this brahmacari Radhanatha dasa, and so many others are helping me, and now Drstadyumna is helping more and more - and in the future he will continue to help me.
Srila Narayana Maharaja: If you deeply study Sanatana Gosvami siksa, you will be very happy, and at the same time you will be very inspired. Caitanya Mahaprabhu told a story to Sanatana Gosvami in order to make the method to achieve perfection very easy to understand.
Once there was a boy who was very, very poor. He had nothing to eat and no place to live. He was here and there and always very worried, "O, how can I maintain my life?" One day, a friend of his father who was an astrologer met with him and said, "Oh, I know who you are. You are the son of a very wealthy person, and your father was my friend. I have known him since he was young. He has kept so many jewels and so much wealth for you, and it is hidden in your old broken down house. This house has no roof, but at least there are some walls. By my knowledge of astrology I am cognizant aware of where it is hidden. You are surely a very wealthy and fortunate boy, and I will therefore reveal to you something mysterious.
If you come with me and dig in the right place, you will have so many jewels and golden coins. Don't worry. Again you will be wealthy like your father. But don't dig in the South. There are so many snakes hidden there. They will bite you and you will die. Don't go there. And don't go to the West, because in the West there are yaksas, ghosts. They will swallow you at once, so don't go on that side. Then also, don't go to the North. There are wasps there. They will attack you at once and you will die. So don't go there.
"Come with me to where your father used to live in this room - in the East. You should dig here. There is a wonderful treasure here." Then, just by removing a little mud, a large very large chest of golden coins and jewels became visible and the boy became very happy.
What is the message behind this story? Your father is very wealthy. Who is your father? Krsna is like your father, and the 'astrologer' is your gurudeva, the friend of your father - Krsna. He is unlimitedly wealthy. He can create this universe and all other universes in a minute, and He can then destroy them. Even from the nails of His toes, crores and crores of jewels, and everything else, is emanating. He Himself never knows what is coming out. You are really the heir of that Lord - your father - but now you have forgotten what your father has kept for you.
What is that name? Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. Otherwise, there are so many other names: Jaya jaya Radha-Ramana Hari bol, Govinda Damodhara Madhaveti, Radhe Radhe Radhe jaya jaya jaya Sri Radhe.
This is the best - the East. Even if in a joke you say to your dog, "Narayana, Narayana", Narayana Himself must come. He is bound to come - and not empty handed, but with all opulence.
What is the meaning of daya-bhak? It means that You are an inheritor of Supreme Lord, Krsna. So much wealth and opulence-everything plays at the feet of the Supreme Lord. Not only one Laksmi, but lakhs and lakhs of Laksmis are constantly serving His lotus feet. Therefore, if you are an heir to that wealthy person, your father, you will see that you are very happy.
Don't go to the South, where there is a very poisonous python or snake. This is Buddhism. Do you know Buddhism? It is like a cruel and very pois onous snake. Jainism, mayavada, monism - all of these are in the South. Don't go there, even in dreams. This is jnana-kanda. [Jnana means impersonalism, and here jnana-kanda is another name for bathroom.] This is where devotees go to pass stool. Don't go there. You can only go there to pass your stool.
What is in the West? A dangerous Yaksa who will swallow you. This yaksa is material sense gratification. It seems very attractive and happy, but it is like an itch. When you scratch an itch, at first it feels very good and it makes you feel happy. You say, "Oh, this is enjoyment! Oh, it feels so good!" However, after you have scratched it you get a burning sensation.
Sense gratification is not happiness, but unhappiness. It is suffering. Don't go towards sense gratification, towards the West, otherwise it will swallow you.
There was once a king whose name was Yayati. By the curse of His gurudeva, Sukracarya, he lost his youth and immediately became an old man. He became very worried, and His wife, who was the daughter his gurudeva, was also very upset. She requested her father, "O, you have punished him too severely. Please make some consideration."
Her father told her, "Bring him." He was brought and Sukracarya said to him, "You can give this old age to any one of your five sons. If any of them will change with you, you will become young and they will become old. Then you can enjoy so much sense gratification."
Yayati asked his eldest son Yadu Maharaja, but he denied his request saying, "Father, I would give my youth to you if you were going to do bhajana of Krsna. But you want to enjoy what you have already enjoyed for lakhs and lakhs of past births. In one life you were a goat, and you enjoyed in that form with a she-goat. Sometimes you enjoyed in the forms of hogs and pigs, with no bans or restrictions. Now there are some restrictions: you must be with this husband or this wife. But in hog-life there is no restriction. You can enjoy nonsense at once - with sisters, mothers and everyone else. You were once there. Also, one time you were a Gandharva. You were very beautiful - like a goddess. Now, after lakhs and lakhs of births you have come in this shape. This human life is meant only to realize who you are and who is Krsna, not for anything else."
Maharaja Yayati became angry and cursed him, "You will not get your inheritance. You will be deprived of this. You can neither be Emperor nor a king in my dynasty."
The king's son was very happy and said, "I want to be a pure devotee. I have not come to enjoy all these things."
Yayati Maharaja then asked his other sons to give to him their youth and take his old age. One son became very happy. He said, "O father, I want to obey you because you have given me this life and this body." He didn't know that his body was given to him by Krsna. He thought that his father and mother had given it. He continued, "You should give me your old age and take my young age. Yayati then happily took his son's youth. He was now young again, and he was enjoying and enjoying with so many wives out of lust.
More than 10,000 years passed, and yet he was not satisfied. One evening, when he was about to chant the mantra given to him by his guru he thought, "Oh, I have lost so many years. First I lost 50,000 years in this, and now I have lost 10,000 more. What should I do?" He remembered a sloka: "Lust for sense gratification can not be satisfied by enjoying. It is compared to a fire. If you give the fire ghee, oil, or any other fuel, the fire will increase."
If you go on enjoying and enjoying, you will not be satisfied in thousands and thousands of births. Even a devotee under good guidance may have a weakness to enjoy this person or this lady. It is very hard to escape from the hands of this lust, and even Brahma and Sankara became bewildered. Don't go to the West, otherwise it will swallow you.
And don't go to the North. In Caitanya Caritamrta it is written that the attainment of heavenly powers, siddhas, are there. Don't go towards sense gratification, taking fish and eggs and all these things. It will not give happiness. Come with me and dig here in the East.
Gurudeva is like this astrologer. He tells you, "You are very unhappy. There are so many problems, and you are suffering so much. You should chant: Govinda Damodari Madhaveti, Radhe Radhe Radhe jaya jaya jaya Sri Radhe, Radha-Ramana Hari Govinda jaya jaya, Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare, and Nitai Gour Hari bol Hari bol!
Someone may say, " Gurudeva, you said that so much gold and wealth will come from the East, but where is it? I am chanting the holy name. O, Gurudeva, why have you said that? Where is the wealth? Gurudeva will reply, "Don't be worried, my child. Your bhakti will sprout. All the potential of 'wealth and happiness' is there in the seed. Everything is in the names. Even Radha and Krsna Themselves, and also Their love and affection, are in these names. But the result will come gradually, not in one moment."
If you plant any seed, water it regularly, and fence it in to protect it, after some time a powerful yellow sprout appears. However, if you are always digging it up to see, "Where is a sprout? Where is the fruit?" then that seed will dry up. Don't do this. Simply continue to hear hari-katha in high-class association. This will water the seed that your gurudeva has planted in your heart, and after some time it will sprout. Don't dig it up. Sadhu-sanga sadhu-sanga sarva sastra kaya.
Continue to follow the process. After some time all your anarthas will go and you will have nistha in bhakti. When nistha comes you will be like Srila Haridasa Thakura. At that time, if anyone tells you not to utter Hare Krsna you will say, "I cannot follow your instructions. Even if you cut me into many pieces, I cannot." This is nistha.
After that ruci will come, and at that time you will have a taste for chanting. When ruci is mature, asakti will come. You will have attachment to Krsna, bhakti, and chanting. Then you will not feel sleepy during chanting, and more taste will come. If you are chanting, remembering and associating, you will then see that rati will come, and that will be like a flower or manjari appearing before the fruit. The first glimpse of the fruit is rati. When the first reddish sunrays appear in the sky, all kinds of darkness go away. When rati appears, all ignorance goes away and you will always be happy. Then, if you are always hearing hari-katha, rati will be transformed into love and affection, and at that time you will not be able to remain in this world. Yogamaya will take you with her, with your new face and very beautiful form. You will go to prakata Vrndavana where Krsna is playing.
Somewhere in this creation Krsna is playing, not in this universe, but in another. There are lakhs and lakhs of universes here and there, and wherever He is playing, Caitanya Mahaprabhu is following Him. Gaura-lila has just passed. There are therefore still many exalted devotees, and you are so very fortunate to have their darsana. Srila Swami Maharaja is one of them, and after him there is someone else. It may be that after some time you will see that the whole world will be covered with darkness. So you are very fortunate to be involved at this time. This is the process taught by Caitanya Mahaprabhu to Sri Sanatana Gosvami.


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Weekend Box Office: 'Immortals' Scores Biggest Relativity Opening; 'Jack And Jill' Tumbles Into #2
Weekend Box Office: 'Immortals' Scores Biggest Relativity Opening; 'Jack And Jill' Tumbles Into #2
Gabe Toro
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It's been a colorful year over at Relativity. The mini-major has had an aggressive release slate, but most of their output, cast-offs like "Take Me Home Tonight" and "Judy Moody And The Not Bummer Summer," failed to generate any excitement, though they scored with the $79 million springtime hit "Limitless." But this weekend might be cause for celebration amongst Relativity offices, as "Immortals" outdid most projections with $32 million, earning a decisive victory against the surest thing in all of Hollywood, an Adam Sandler comedy.
Relativity, which no doubt made a nice chunk of change selling the overseas distribution rights to the very Euro-looking "Immortals," earns by far the biggest opening in their history thus far. They did it the sneaky way, of course — the ads might as well have said, "everything in this movie is exactly like '300'." Of course, "300" grabbed a ridiculous $71 million in its first three days, but that film was a zeitgeist anomaly, and even if the "300" fan base was courted, obvious bait-and-switch marketing tends to turn off a significant number of potential viewers.
While they'll want to check the second weekend drop before committing to a sequel, everyone comes out of this smelling like roses. Director Tarsem is wisely directing his next film with Relativity, the fantasy "Mirror, Mirror," and if that film connects in the same way, he'll be able to write his own check. Little-known star Henry Cavill gets a nice bump, which might be irrelevant since his next big film, "The Man Of Steel," doesn't hit for another year and a half. And the mercurial, difficult Mickey Rourke just earned a little extra leeway to go around calling people jack-offs.
Even with Sandler's continued success (twelve starring vehicles grossing $100 million plus), the writing was on the wall for "Jack And Jill." Event the most ardent fans of Sandler's dreck were taking to the internet to mock the early footage from this latest Happy Madison travesty, so seeing the film pull off an opening like this is almost heroic. Sandler does two types of movies: broad comedies with Happy Madison, and watchable movies with everyone else. And, not counting the dramedy "Funny People," "Jack And Jill" looks like it will clock in with the lowest opening for a live action Happy Madison production with Sandler in the lead since "Little Nicky" eleven years ago.
This isn't coming at a great time for Sandler. His films aren't necessarily cheap, inexplicably running at about $80 million per, and he's about to test his appeal with the R-rated "I Hate You, Dad" next spring. When you make good movies that flop, you might get a little leeway. But when you're making abject garbage that's no longer profitable, people won't want to finance either your or your friends' ("Bucky Larson") films. "Jack And Jill" has a family theme, and could do pretty solid Thanksgiving weekend business, but it will have to weather an onslaught of bad buzz previous Sandler films have escaped thus far, not to mention "Twilight" cornering the "I have no fucking taste in anything" market next weekend.
Boasting a second straight dramatic hold, "Puss In Boots" easily crossed $100 million. Those who pronounced the kitty road kill after a soft opening weekend are eating crow, and it's doing even stronger business overseas. While it's obviously going to fall short of "Shrek" numbers, it could very well play through Thanksgiving, as its main competitor, this week's "Happy Feet Two," is tracking fairly weak. Tracking on children's films tend to be unreliable, but it's entirely plausible that this audience can support two 3D kid flicks.
"Tower Heist" posted a so-so second weekend hold, which doesn't suggest that people are accepting or rejecting it as much as it confirms the film as Product. Pegged as a hit by Universal (who reportedly spent silly money, more than the listed $85 million budget), it's instead performing like a programmer, a time-waster for the less-demanding audiences. Of course, the question in Hollywood is, what about the toxic would-be Oscar duo of Eddie Murphy and Brett Ratner? Final grosses for the film will likely be inconclusive, but expect both to be sparse for only a short while, as both Murphy and Ratner love easy paychecks.
"J. Edgar" opened in less than two thousand theaters this weekend, pulling in decent limited release numbers. Considering everything about this project screamed, "Eat your oatmeal!" these are decent numbers that suggest an ongoing expansion could be fruitful. But Clint and company have to be disappointed the critics didn't follow them on this one, and it's possible the rubberneck audience won't necessarily respond. If the film is a non-entity during awards season, all those involved will likely pretend this never happened.
The rest of the lineup looks ready to take a "Twilight" roundhouse to the face on their way out of the marketplace. "A Very Harold And Kumar 3D Christmas" dropped hard in weekend two and is going to lose most of its 3D engagements this coming weekend. "In Time" and "Paranormal Activity 3" both hit $30 million and $100 million respectively and look spent, while "Footloose" and "Real Steel" won't even hit their optimistic targets of $60 and $100 million.
In indie theaters, Werner Herzog's "Into The Abyss" opened, gathering $50.8k on twelve screens. Surprisingly, that's much weaker than the debut of Herzog's "Cave Of Forgotten Dreams," which grabbed $139k at only five locations. A single theater in New York generated $9.5k for "Elite Squad 2," while the biggest arthouse showing was for "Melancholia." The Lars Von Trier drama is the second straight VOD hit to generate solid big-screen numbers after "Margin Call," pulling in $270k on nineteen screens, a muscular $19k average. And continuing a rather spectacular limited run is "Like Crazy," which sang to $525k worth of lovebirds on seventy screens, the per-screen average a strong $7k for a three week total of $1 million. Support your local arthouse theaters, boys and girls.
1. Immortals (Relativity) – $32 million
2. Dunkin Donuts Presents An Adam Sandler Movie Brought To You By Oreos And Continental Cruise Lines (Sony) – $26 million
3. Puss-In-Boots (Dreamworks/Paramount) – $25.5 million ($108.8 mil.)
4. Tower Heist (Universal) – $13.2 million ($43.9 mil.)
5. J. Edgar (Warner Bros.) – $11.5 million
6. Harold And Kumar Go Away (Warner Bros./New Line) – $5.7 million ($23 mil.)
7. In Time (Fox) – $4.2 million ($31 mil.)
8. Paranormal Activity Three: Extremes (Paramount) – $3.7 million ($101 mil.)
9. Footloose (Paramount) – $2.8 million ($49 mil.)
10. The Steel Is Real (Disney) – $1.9 million ($82 mil.)
This Article is related to: News and tagged Adam Sandler, Immortals, J. Edgar, Jack And Jill, Puss In Boots, Tower Heist, Weekend Box-Office


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Lifestyle•2 Minutes Read
Space Goods: Because Coffee is "Sooo 15th Century"
November 21, 2022• Share
Space Goods is the latest powerful mushroom blend taking over the market and (possibly) replacing your daily cup of jet-black coffee in the morning.
Space Goods is here because, in their own words, "coffee is soooo 15th century". Quite the marketing appeal for a generation eager to constantly stay on-trend, and who also happens to have never-ending coffee flowing through their veins as some form of survival mechanism. With a product named Rainbow Dust and a packaging which has been designed accordingly, Space Goods offers "powerful, potent mushroom & adaptogenic blends" aimed at completely changing how we gain our energy, focus and calm.
Image courtesy of Space Goods
There's a list of funky looking ingredients that make this whole thing possible. They include strange named Lion Mane mushroom (good for memory, focus and clarity), Ashwagandha (reduces stress and anxiety), Cordyceps mushroom (good for energy), and a bunch of other vegan ingredients, present in big dosages for maximum effect.
So surely these strange-named mushrooms are some form of magic mushrooms, right? Wrong. Every Space Good product is within national and international law, with ingredients being developed alongside nutricional experts, all based in London. As Space Goods themselves put it: "mushrooms are nature's ancient superpower, there is no doubt about it! our potent blend of 3 primary mushroom extracts, combined with our other highly effective natural plant ingredients has a strong adaptogenic effect on the body and mind. These ingredients have been used for thousands of years all around the world, and their impact has been scientifically proven on countless occasions. Combining the ingredients we do in 'Rainbow Dust' at the dosages we do, has a powerful natural impact!"
Then, of course, there's the very well curated brand strategy behind the super powder. We hear it from Matt, the company's founder, who in his own word has "been obsessed with the aesthetic of the 80s since I was a teenager", and who has translated it into the brand in its colours, graphics and nostalgic relevance. The result is a colourful pouch, priced at around 57 EUR for a single package and becoming increasingly cheaper if bought as part of their subscription bundles.
In case the powder was not enough, they also offer some cool insulated mugs, with quotes such as "the creative pursuit of a greater self", plastered in chunky bold writing. Available in pink and jet-black, these mugs make taking your Space Goods drink to the office even easier than before.
In their own words: "it's hot, cold and sexy".
AnZa Wants You To Treat Your Coffee Machine Like a Sculpture
Are we Losing Our Humanity to Big Tech?
Who Were Andy Warhol's High Society Connections?
Author: Laura Scalco
space goods


26 The only place it didn't hail was in the land of Goshen where the Israelites were.
22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness throughout the land of Egypt for three days. 23 One person could not see another, and for three days they did not move from where they were. Yet all the Israelites had light where they lived.


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You are here: World Customs Organization Media Newsroom 2022 December
WCO national workshop for the Philippines Bureau of Customs on the protection of IPR
22 十二月 2022
From 28 November to 2 December 2022, the World Customs Organization (WCO) delivered a national workshop on the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) in Manila, Philippines. The workshop was attended by 28 officials from Philippines Bureau of Customs (BOC) and was made possible thanks to financial assistance from the Customs Cooperation Fund of Japan (CCF Japan).
A Quick Guide to the private sector on the AfCFTA Rules of Origin
The SECO-WCO Global Trade Facilitation Programme (GTFP) supports follow-up Risk Management Workshop in Bolivia
From 12 to 16 December 2022, within the SECO-WCO Global Trade Facilitation Programme (GTFP) framework, the WCO delivered a 5-day Risk Management Workshop for the Customs Administration of Bolivia (Aduana Nacional de Bolivia – ANB).
The SECO-WCO Global Trade Facilitation Programme (GTFP) supports successful Sub-regional Workshop on Coordinated Border Management (CBM)
From 8 to 9 December 2022, within the framework of the SECO-WCO Global Trade Facilitation Programme (GTFP), the WCO successfully held a sub-regional workshop on Coordinated Border Management (CBM) at the WCO Headquarters in Brussels, with the participation of 22 Customs officials from the Customs Administrations of Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye and Ukraine.
The WCO held an E-Commerce Workshop for the Customs Administration of Moldova supported by the SECO-WCO Global Trade Facilitation Programme
From 5 to 8 December 2022, within the framework of the SECO-WCO Global Trade Facilitation Programme (GTFP), the WCO delivered an E-Commerce Workshop for the Customs Service of the Republic of Moldova (MCS), which aimed at building capacities of the MCS on relevant WCO tools, including the WCO Immediate Release Guidelines and the E-Commerce Package.
Sida-WCO Trade Facilitation and Customs Modernization (TFCM) Programme delivers technical assistance to the Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS)
Within the framework of the Side-WCO TFCM, the World Customs Organization (WCO) conducted an Integrity Assessment technical assistance mission for BURS.
WCO Successfully Conducts a Pre-Accreditation Workshop for Leadership and Management Development Advisors (LMDA)
The WCO conducted a Leadership and Management Development Advisors (LMDA) pre-accreditation workshop from 12th to 16th December 2022 at the WCO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, under the sponsorship of the WCO Reserves Fund.
WCO National Workshop on Rules of Origin and Technical update of Preferential Rules of Origin for Thai Customs
At the request of the Thai Customs Department of the Kingdom of Thailand, the WCO conducted a national workshop on rules of origin and technical update of preferential rules of origin from 13 to 16 December 2022 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Revenue Services Lesotho (RSL) strengthens Reform Management capacities
Following a remote virtual workshop in Project Management in 2021 to the Revenue Services Lesotho (RSL), the WCO successfully delivered a follow-up on-site workshop from 28 November to 2 December 2022.
WCO Mercator Programme diagnostic mission conducted for Seychelles Revenue Commission
At the request of the Commissioner of Seychelles Customs Division (SCD), the WCO, with funding support from the Customs Cooperation Fund (CCF) of China, conducted a diagnostic support mission in Victoria, Seychelles, during the period 5 to 14 December 2022.
Uganda accelerates the implementation of advance rulings
The World Customs Organization (WCO) in partnership with the East African Community (EAC) held a national workshop for Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) on the implementation of an advance ruling system from 8 to 9 December 2022 in Kampala, Uganda under the framework of the EU-WCO Programme for Harmonized System in Africa (HS Africa Programme), funded by the European Union.
The WCO Supports Malawi and Zambia in Advancing their Customs Systems Interconnectivity
The Swedish-funded "Trade Facilitation and Customs Modernization Programme for Sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa") also referred to as Trade Facilitation and Customs Modernization Programme (Sida-WCO TFCM Programme), provided support to Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) and Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) to advance their Customs systems interconnectivity and data exchange project.
The SECO-WCO Global Trade Facilitation Programme (GTFP) supports follow-up Mercator Mission in Bolivia
From 28 November to 1 December 2022, within the framework of the SECO-WCO Global Trade Facilitation Programme (GTFP), the WCO carried out a Mercator follow-up mission for the Customs Administration of Bolivia (Aduana Nacional -AN).
Promising conclusions of the first meeting of the WCO Customs Work Organization Forum (CWOF) – Building together the Future of Work in Customs
Building on the success and outcomes of the WCO Human Capital Management Global Conference and as part of the recommendations and guidance from delegates of the 13th Session of the CBC, the 86th Session of the Policy Commission and 139th /140th Sessions of the Council, the WCO launched a survey on working models in Customs in the "New Normal" and established the WCO Customs' Work Organization Forum (CWOF) to reimagine the future of work in Customs and to launch discussions on the way forward for work setup, workplace design and workforce management in the "new normal".
Burundi takes a step forward towards an advance ruling system
Under the framework of the EU-WCO Programme for Harmonized System in Africa (HS-Africa Programme), funded by the European Union, and in partnership with the East African Community (EAC), the World Customs Organization held a national workshop on implementation of advance ruling system with Burundi Revenue (BRA) Authority from 5 to 6 December, 2022.
The WCO study on the strategic review of the HS in the spotlight at the 30th IFCBA Global Conference
The World Customs Organization (WCO) participated in the 30th Anniversary of the International Federation of Customs Brokers Association (IFCBA), held in Singapore, on 12 and 13 December 2022.
WCO and US Department of Energy Customs Authority sign a grant agreement for the Radiological and Nuclear Detection Awareness Project
On 7 December 2022, the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the US Department of Energy (DoE) formally signed a grant agreement for the Radiological and Nuclear Detection Awareness Project (RANDA).
The EU-WCO Origin Africa Programme supports the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative
Under the framework of the EU-WCO Origin Africa Programme funded by the European Union (EU), the World Customs Organization (WCO), in partnership with Egypt Customs, held a workshop in Cairo, Egypt, from 12 to 14 December 2022 to support the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative.
WCO particpate in the Meeting of the Directors General of Customs of the CPLC
The World Customs Organization (WCO) took part in the XXXVIth Meeting of the Council of the Directors General of Customs of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLC), which was held in Dili, East Timor, from 6 to 7 December 2022.
WCO supports Zambia Revenue Authority in strengthening its integrity enhancement
WCO supports Serbia Customs in building its post-clearance audit capacities
Following a request by the Customs Administration of Serbia (CAS) for a capacity-building activity on post-clearance audit (PCA), the World Customs Organization (WCO) facilitated a national workshop for CAS in that domain.
Ecuador welcomes WCO workshop on IPR protection
From 28 November to 2 December 2022, the World Customs Organization (WCO) delivered a national workshop on the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
The 9th Session of the Working Group on Revenue Compliance and Fraud Successfully Completed
This week the 9th session of the Working Group on Revenue Compliance and Fraud took place in a hybrid format.
RILO Eastern and Central Europe published Herald issue 3/2022
The new issue of RILO ECE Herald magazine is here! Inside you will find articles on antique weapons seizures in Ukraine, illegal cigarette factories in Eastern and Central Europe region, EU Twix and other pieces.
Visualising a greener HS reflecting the lifecycle of basic materials - plastics, metals, wood and other sustainable alternatives
The fourth symposium in the WCO Symposia Series, "Visualising a greener HS to support environmentally sustainable trade", supported by the European Union, was held on 1 December 2022.
The WCO delivered a Follow-up Mercator Mission to Peru
From 23 to 25 November 2022, within the SECO-WCO Global Trade Facilitation Programme (GTFP) framework, the WCO held a Mercator follow-up mission which aimed at verifying the progress made by the Customs Administration of Peru (SUNAT) on the implementation of the Mercator Programme since its diagnostic back in July 2019.
WCO supports Guatemala on the restructuring of the Tariff Classification and Preferential Tariff Treatment of Goods Unit
At the request of the Customs Administration of Guatemala (Intendencia de Aduanas – SAT), a WCO technical assistance and diagnostic mission on tariff classification and advance rulings was held in Guatemala City from 5 to 9 December 2022.
Azerbaijan hosts National Workshop, organized jointly with the WCO, on the Harmonized System
A National Workshop on the use of the Harmonized System (HS) for the classification of goods was held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 5 to 9 December 2022.
Transboundary trafficking in waste and ozone depleting substances tackled through Operation DEMETER VIII
Operation DEMETER VIII, which took place from 1 to 31 October 2022, gave Customs administrations and their partners an opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to playing their part in the fight against climate change.
Successful completion of PICARD 2022 and hands-on workshop on data science
On 8 and 9 December 2022, the World Customs Organization (WCO) held the 17th annual PICARD Conference, an international platform to foster dialogue among Customs, the academic community and the private sector. The event attracted over 500 registered participants from more than 100 countries.
Fourth edition of the COVID-19 Project newsletter highlights WCO's effort to support its Members in fostering emergency operational readiness
The COVID-19 pandemic brought to light the importance for Customs to keep emergency procedures up-to-date and communicate regularly and clearly with supply chain stakeholders, thus protecting business continuity from potential disruptions and ensuring a safe and secure movement of goods across borders.
WCO National Workshop on Rules of Origin to assist Kazakhstan Customs
The World Customs Organization (WCO) successfully conducted a national Workshop on Rules of Origin in Astana, Kazakhstan from 28 November to 2 December 2022 with 41 participants from the State Revenue Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan (SRC).
WCO addresses the Annual Meeting of International Organisations on Agility, Impact and Inclusiveness of International Rulemaking
On 5 and 6 December 2022, the Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO), Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, participated in the 9th Annual Meeting of the Partnership for International Organisations, hosted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), held at the WOAH headquarters in Paris, France.
Strengthening the control and investigation function: a priority for Tunisian Customs in matters of integrity
From 28 November to 2 December, Tunisian Customs, with the support of the WCO A-CIP Programme and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), held a capacity-building workshop on the topic of internal control.
The EU-WCO Origin Africa Programme sets the baseline for support and cooperation with SADC
The World Customs Organization (WCO), in partnership with the Southern African Development Community (SADC), held a regional consultation in Gaborone, Botswana, from 21 to 25 November 2022 under the framework of the EU-WCO Origin Africa Programme funded by the European Union (EU).
36th ESA Regional Steering Group Meeting
The 36th East and Southern African Region (ESA) Regional Steering Group (RSG) Meeting was held from 23rd to 25th November 2022 in Antananarivo, Madagascar.
International Anti-Corruption Day: WCO Members take concrete actions against corruption
The international community recognizes that institution-specific responses to corruption are critical and needed. Ground-level institutions of the public sector such as Customs can be the front line for this work.
Customs as a leading example of institution-specific responses to corruption
On 7th December 2022, the WCO Anti-Corruption and Integrity Promotion (A-CIP) Programme hosted a panel discussion and workshop at the International Anti-Corruption Conference in Washington, DC. Speakers included senior officials from US Customs and Border Protection, Jamaica Customs Agency, Malawi Revenue Authority and Canada Border Services Agency.
Successful online intersessional activities for the Master Trainer Programme (MTP) on Rules of Origin in Africa
The Master Trainer Programme (MTP) is a programme conducted under the WCO/JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) Joint Project.
Ecuador Customs initiates a Next Generation Network (NGN) to build organizational integrity
From November 28th to December 2nd, Ecuador (SENAE) Customs brought together fifteen employees to begin the process of establishing a Next Generation Network (NGN) of young Customs officials who will be the organization's future in the battle against corruption and the promotion of integrity.
The WCO supports the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) in further enhancing its AEO Programme
The WCO organized a five-day capacity building mission from 14 to 18 November 2022 in Lusaka, Zambia.
The WCO supports the efforts of Botswana Unified Revenue Service in implementing advance rulings
Under the framework of the EU-WCO Rules of Origin Africa Programme, funded by the European Union, the World Customs Organization (WCO), in partnership with Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS), held a technical assistance activity on Advance Rulings in Gaborone, Botswana, from 28 to 30 November 2022 with the participation of Customs officials from Classification, Valuation and Origin, within the Customs Services Division.
The COVID-19 Project provides practical training on disaster preparedness to Angola Revenue Administration
On 28 and 29 November the WCO COVID-19 Project, financially supported by the Government of Japan, organized a two-day workshop to assist the Angola Revenue Administration in reinforcing its ability to respond to natural disasters, infectious diseases and other unpredictable scenarios, focusing on Customs operational readiness, cooperation with stakeholders and practical training in the form of a simulation exercise (SimEx).
Successful WCO Policy Commission session held in Bahrain
At the kind invitation of the Government of Bahrain, the WCO Policy Commission held its 87th Session in Manama, from 5 to 7 December 2022, under the chairmanship of Mr. Ahmed Al Khalifa, President of Bahrain Customs.
Global crackdown on illegal wildlife and timber trade: the World Customs Organization and INTERPOL join forces
A joint World Customs Organization (WCO) – INTERPOL law enforcement operation has seen hundreds of arrests and the disruption of wildlife and timber crime networks globally.
WCO Risk Management Pre-Accreditation Workshop for the Asia Pacific region in Bangkok
The WCO organized a Pre-Accreditation Workshop for Technical and Operational Advisors (TOAs) on Risk Management at the WCO Regional Training Center (RTC) in Bangkok from 21 to 25 November 2022.
Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) continues to work with the WCO to digitalize the air cargo environment to implement the TFA and facilitate trade
As part of its ongoing capacity building and technical assistance support to the Zambian Revenue Authority (ZRA), the WCO conducted a mission to Zambia from 14-18-November 2022 under the aegis of the United Kingdom-supported HMRC-WCO-UNCTAD Accelerate Trade Facilitation Programme.
WCO Data Analytics capacity building for Zambia Revenue Authority
The WCO has successfully organized a national workshop on data analysis for the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA).
Customs role highlighted at European Parliament roundtable on Asia Europe connectivity
On 1 December 2022, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, the Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO), spoke at the Roundtable "Bringing continents together: Supporting new visions and opportunities for sustainable transport connectivity between Europe and Asia", organized by the think tank "New Direction - The Foundation for European Reform", at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium.
WCO Secretary General highlights the challenges for resilient global supply chains during ADBI Annual Conference
On 29 November 2022, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, the Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO) delivered a virtual keynote address at the 2022 Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) Annual Conference dedicated to "Fostering Resilient Global Supply Chains Amid Risk and Uncertainty".
WCO A-CIP Programme Integrity Learning Event gathered more than 250 participants
Developed by the WCO A-CPI Programme, the Integrity Learning Event is an eight-week tutored e-learning event on CLiKC! aiming at fostering ownership of the WCO Integrity e-learning module's content that was developed with funding from Norad to facilitate the implementation of the Revised Arusha Declaration within Customs administrations.
Participants of the joint 81st- 84th Fellowship Programme now in Brussels
On 21 November 2022, the eight participants of the joint 81st – 84th Fellowship programme, intended for Spanish-speakers were welcomed by the Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO), Dr. Kunio Mikuriya at the WCO headquarters in Brussels. In his address, Secretary General Mikuriya encouraged them to make the most of their stay at the WCO Secretariat by acquiring new skills and expanding their professional network.
WCO conducts a successful regional workshop on the cross-border management of plastic waste
From 22 to 24 November 2022, the Asia-Pacific Plastic Waste Project (APPWP), funded by the Government of Japan, successfully held a regional workshop on Risk Management and Procedures for Plastic Waste Trade at the National Customs School in Cambodia.


Gandalf and Captain Jean-Luc Picard walk into a bar.
I'm sure someone out there has a great punchline for that joke, but I'm stating it as fact. They really did walk into a bar, and they had a drink – or four.
Best friends Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Patrick Stewart have a pretty legendary bromance. Both actors got their start in theatre before hitting it big in television and film. Stewart, of course, found fame with Star Trek: The Next Generation, and McKellen gained prominence with his portrayal of Gandalf in the Lord of The Rings films. They first met in the 70s, but became very close while filming the X-Men movies, where they played rival mutant leaders Magneto and Professor Xavier.
Since working on the X-Men films together, the two have become incredibly close. In fact, McKellen even officiated at Stewart's wedding last year.
Stewart also gave McKellen a kiss on the red carpet at the premiere of McKellen's film, Mr. Holmes.
While promoting the two plays they star in together, Waiting for Godot and No Man's Land, McKellen and Stewart tweeted out a series of fun photos of them enjoying a day together in New York City. Below are a few highlights. I think we can all agree that these two definitely define #relationshipgoals.
They got scared on a carnival ride.
They stopped to pose with Elmo in Times Square.
They visited an arcade and had the best time EVER.
And they let Santa know what they wanted for Christmas.
Can't get enough of this inspiring duo? You can catch their next project, National Theatre Live's No Man's Land, broadcast live to Cineplex theatres across Canada on December 15th. The performance of Harold Pinter's classic play will also have encore performances December 18 and January 14. Visit Cineplex.com for tickets and showtimes.
Photos courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, Pop Mythology, Jon Von Pamer, The Telegraph & National Theatre Live.