Lisbon is the capital and the largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 552,700 . Get a comprehensive overview of Lisbon's important landmarks during this 8-hour sightseeing Private Tour. Visit St. George's Castle, the Monument of the Discoveries, Jerónimos Monastery, the Belém Tower and Cathedral and much more. Experience the opportunity to see spectacular views over the city from several lookout points.
Forged by some of history's leading architects, Porto's majestically adorned valleys combine Latin charisma, Baroque flair, and a peculiarly British streak as sweet as the region's Port wine. Take this 10 hours Private Tour opportunity to discover the most important and notable monuments of Porto (Dom Luis Bridge, Clerigos Tower, Porto Downtown, Porto Cathedral, Douro River and the most famous Port Wine Cellars. Starting from Lisbon.
Known as the 'Venice of Portugal', this charming Portuguese town is a alternative and enjoyable, alternative tourist destination. The town has an extensive history which is closely connected with the growth and decline of its port and salt water lagoons. Aveiro is crossed by canals and colourful houses, boats and exotic birds along these waterways. You will never forget Aveiro on this 10 hours Private Tour.
Discover the emblematic city of Coimbra (Heritage City's) on this 10 hours Private Tour. Enjoy the enchanted and fantastic city of Coimbra, the first capital of Portugal for 200 years during the reigns of the earliest monarchs. Visit the largest completing Roman site in Portugal and the city's main sites like the famous University of Coimbra, Botanical Garden, Machado de Castro Museum, Convento de Santa Clara (Gothic style) and the Old Church the most important Romanesque buildings in Portugal.
Former seat of the Order of the Knights Templar, Tomar is a city of great charm for its artistic and cultural wealth, whose greatest expression is in the Convent of Christ, one of the chief works of the Portuguese Renaissance. The settlement of the Knights Templar took place very early, before the constitution of the Kingdom of Portugal in the 12th century. Whatever reason you have to visit the city during 8 hours Private Tour, climbing up to the Templar castle and discovering the monumental work of the Convent of Christ is a must.
Évora is one of the oldest and most charming cities of Portugal, with over 2 000 years of history. Évora (Heritage City) is known as the Museum City that flourished as a center of learning and arts. This 8 hours Private Tour includes the Giraldo Square, the living center of Évora, full of architectural styles, from Moorish arches lined up in the Square, through the fountains of the Renaissance, to the Gothic church of São Francisco. The Roman Temple, also known as the Temple of Diana with its powerful front with 14 columns in well-preserved granite, astonish those who see it for the first time. The visit to the Bones Chapel a fascinating space, consisting of hundreds of skulls and skeletons from about 5 000 monks of the sixteenth century. The Cathedral of Evora, a Roman-Gothic church of the XIII century, where you can climb the tower and have a breathtaking view of the city and the fields surrounding it. the vineyards of the region produce some of the best Portuguese wines and so we take you to a farm where you will taste the best that Alentejo has to offer. On our way back to Lisbon we will stop in Arraiolos with its magnificent castle wall and the ancient tradition of the famous carpets of Arraiolos.
The peninsula of Setúbal, together with the peninsula of Tróia, acquired great prestige and importance in the last decades. The wine tourism product gained equal importance. From the large farms dominated by the variety Castelão to the Moscatel, one of the national dessert wines, this region has always played a leading role in the history of Portuguese wines. since 12th and 15th centuries. In this 8 hours Private Tour you will cross the Tagus River south by passing the Portuguese Golden Gate Bridge. You will head south to the wine region of Azeitao (here you will visit the oldest cellar of the region). After the wine tasting is time to go to the fishing town of Sesimbra, famous for fresh sea food & fish and wonderful beaches and you'll lunch in the oldest fish restaurant, owned by generations of fishermen. After, you will cross the astonishing Arrabida Mountain and head to a small local family owned cellar. You will see the vineyards, see how the process is completed and taste the results.
Faro is the best-known city in Portugal's deservedly famous Algarve region. There's an archaeological museum and a "Bishops' Palace," a Renaissance cathedral that was heavily bombed during World War II, but later rebuilt. Nearby in Estoi are Roman ruins, and Albufeira, also nearby, is a formerly quaint fishing village influenced by the Moors in the 8th century. It's situated in a cliffside location, and has become famous for its beaches (there are 20) and nightlife. Faro was an important Moorish city and the charming old town is encircled by the ancient city walls, while the grand Se cathedral provides wonderful panoramic views over the city. Faro is situated on the edge of the Rio Famonsa National Park, a series of tidal salt water lagoons and mud flats, which are a haven for migratory birds and wildlife. Faro is a fascinating town and is a great destination for 11 hours Private Tour.
Visit the famous and biggest palace in Portugal - Convent of Mafra and lunch at fishing village of Ericeira the coolest small city in Europe. Built in the 18th century by order of King João V (1689-1750) in fulfillment of a vow he made, to be blessed with an heir from his marriage to Maria Ana of Austria, or be cured of a serious illness, the Royal Convent and Palace of Mafra is the most important baroque monument in Portugal. All in limestone and marble from this region (Pêro Pinheiro and Sintra), the building covers an area of almost four hectares (37.790 m2), including 1.200 rooms, more than 4.700 doors and windows, 156 stairways and 29 inner yards and courtyards. Such magnificence was only possible due to the Brazilian gold that poured into the country, allowing the King to carry out his patronage of the arts and the strengthening of royal authority. This is a 8 hours Private Tour.
Ericieira city's soul through your senses. Ericeira is a charming Portuguese fishing town that is situated along a coastline of outstanding surfing beaches. This powerful and reliable surf has transformed the peaceful Ericeira into a surfing mecca; boasting both chilled daytime scene and a lively nightlife, along with excellent accommodation options and top-rated tourist facilities. Today Ericeira is a perfect fusion of Portuguese heritage with an ultra-cool surfing environment, where traditional fishermen's cottages nestle among trendy lounge bars and cafes. Ericeira is adored by the Portuguese, who flock to the town in the summer months, drawn by the beautiful beaches and delicious seafood (which the town is renowned for). Ericeira was declared as the First Surf Nature Reserve in Europe! Greatly developed during the 20th century, by increasing demand as summer resort, while maintaining its original features and a characteristic atmosphere. This is a 8 hours Private Tour.
A small town amidst the hills of the Leiria area, Batalha only became a place of any significance upon the building of its magnificent monastery, now honoured with UNESCO World Heritage status. This gigantic pearl of Gothic architecture occupied Portugal's most accomplished tradesmen under Royal command for the best past of two centuries. It was built to celebrate the Portuguese victory over the Castillians in the Battle of Aljubarrota in 1385, thus keeping a vow made by King João I to the Virgin Mary prior to the momentous conflict. The illegitimate brother of the dead, heirless king, João's right to the throne of Portugal was challenged by the then Spanish king Juan. Outnumbered and ill equipped, he feared the worst and prayed for assistance from the Virgin. Once victorious, he built and named the monastery in her honour - Mosteiro de Santa Maria da Vitória. During this 8 hours Private Tour visit the Monastery of Batalha, or Convent of Santa Maria da Vitória that is one of the greatest Portuguese architectural gems. The chapel of São Jorge, despite its small size and apparent simplicity, is one of the most emblematic monuments of the famous battle that opened the way in Portugal to the government of the Avis dynasty and that took place in the Aljubarrota fields. The Interpretation Center of Aljubarrota Battle is a polynucleate museum space that aims to safeguard, study the battlefield occurred in 1385, as well as the historical disclosure of time, facts and fictions of the XIV century.


CERTIFICATE ISO 9001:2000 - having fulfiled all the ISO requirements we awarded ISO 9001:2000 certificate in 2000.
Homologation E20 - towbars with E20 symbol can be sold sold in the European Economic Area according to regulation EKG ONZ 55.01 *.
Homologation e20 - towbars with e20 symbol can be sold abroad of Poland according to regulation 94/20/WE.
CERTIFICATE OF HOMOLOGATION TYPE WE - distinction for 500 homologations from Ministry of Infrastructure.
Srebrny Niedźwiedź 2007 - nomination to Premier award SREBRNY NIEDŹWIEDŹ 2007/SILVER BEAR 2007.
Gazele Biznesu 2007 - in 2007 our company received mambership to club Gazele Biznesu and was awarded for the most dynamic progress.
Gazele Biznesu 2008 - in 2008 our company received again mambership to club Gazele Biznesu and was awarded for the most dynamic progress Gazel Biznesu.
Srebrny Niedźwiedź 2008 - our company received again nomination to Premier award SREBRNY NIEDŹWIEDŹ 2008/SILVER BEAR 2008.


Our employment practices liability insurance policy provides standalone coverage for a company's directors, officers and employees against claims brought by a company's past, present and prospective employees alleging wrongful employment practices. That includes allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination, failure to promote, wrongful dismissal, negligent evaluation or wrongful deprivation of career opportunity. Additionally, coverage is provided for third party claims for discrimination and sexual harassment.


Rtesian is registered with the Belgian Commission for the Protection of Privacy. Our registration number is 005067756.
Rtesian Resources is the commercial trade name of private limited liability company Greenray, incorporated according to Belgian law, with registered seat at 1050 Brussels, Rue des Echevins 42, box 2 (and with establishment unit at 1000 Bruxelles, Square de Meeûs 37), with enterprise number BE 0830.928.724 (RPR Brussels), with registration number as recognized private employment agency in the Brussels Region 00575-405-20160408.


text:
Jeroboams, London's Local Wine Merchant, has appointed Alex Turnbull to the position of Private Sales Manager with effect from 4th January 2021. This a newly created role for the wine merchant where private sales have increased by 12% year on year.
Turnbull joins the business from a senior sales role at Justerini & Brooks and prior to that he worked for, then managed, the Edinburgh branch of WoodWinters Wines and Whiskies.
Jeroboams CEO Matt Tipping notes, "Alex will be joining Jeroboams at a really exciting time in our business. Despite the challenges and pressure of 2020, our company has seen strong sales growth in our shops, through our new website and particularly in our Private Client business. The relationships our team has fostered over the year have strengthened and grown, with many of our regular shoppers converting into the personalised service that we offer including advice on particular wines and spirits, En Primeur offers, storage and investment. Alex's six years' experience in a similar role will ensure that this department is best-placed to continue growing with the increased demand."
Turnbull adds "This is a fantastic role and I'm really looking forward to working with the team at Jeroboams. Their portfolio is diverse and exciting and their reputation as one of the finest merchants in London is undisputed. I can't wait to work with the team to enhance the Jeroboams Private Client service and offering, ensuring continued growth in such a key part of the Jeroboams business."
"Alex has a thorough understanding of the fine wine market, with exceptional knowledge of Burgundy, Bordeaux and Germany and his appointment adds further depth to our team," adds Tipping. "His knowledge and experience of selling ultra-premium whisky bottlings is an area that is increasingly important within our portfolio. Alex will be leading the 5-strong team that includes Xavier Hornblow, David Standfield, Luke Cianfarani and Henry Chambers." Turnbull holds the WSET Diploma and is also a freeman of the City of London with The Worshipful Company of Vintners.
Following on from the national lockdown news on the 4th of January, Jeroboams confirms that in line with government guidelines they will continue to trade through lockdown (with minor changes to opening hours to ensure that teams can work safely within one location). The Jeroboams website continues to accept orders with the recently launched 2019 Burgundy campaign currently available via the website for the first time.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Brazilians Vote for Next President on Sunday
Brazil's presidential candidates before the start of a debate in Sao Paulo, Brazil. From left are Alvaro Dias of Podemos Party, Cabo Daciolo of Patriota Party, Geraldo Alckmin of the Social Democratic Party, Marina Silva of the Sustainability Network Party, Jair Bolsonaro of the National Social Liberal Party, Guilherme Boulos of the Socialism and Liberty Party, Henrique Meirelles of the Democratic Movement Party, and Ciro Gomes of the Democratic Labor Party.
Brazilians will vote Sunday in presidential elections.
A total of 13 candidates are on the ballot.
The leading candidate is said to be 63-year-old Jair Bolsonaro of the Social Liberal Party. He is supported by 35 percent of likely voters in the latest opinion survey.
During the election campaign, Bolsonaro has said that, if elected, he will help Brazil deal with a number of problems. He has promised to take steps to reduce crime, strengthen the economy and fight corruption.
But many Brazilians are concerned about some of the statements Bolsonaro has made in the past. Some believe many of his ideas are racist, homophobic and unfair to women.
Bolsonaro's supporters say tens of millions of Brazilians hope he will be elected, even if they will not say so to friends or family members.
In opinion surveys, his nearest opponent is Workers' Party candidate Fernando Haddad, who replaced former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Lula is serving a 12-year prison sentence for corruption. Brazil's top electoral court barred him from serving as a candidate in August.
Last month, Lula told supporters, "I want everyone who would vote for me to vote for Fernando Haddad for president of Brazil. From now on, he will be Lula for millions of Brazilians."
Haddad and Lula are said to be friends and similar in their political positions. But for many voters in Brazil, the two men are also very different.
Lula served as the country's president between 2003 and 2011. Haddad was mayor of Sao Paolo for four years, from 2013 to 2017. Before becoming a candidate for mayor in 2012, Haddad served as Brazil's education minister under Lula and then former president Dilma Rousseff.
American Mark Jones has been watching the election campaign. Jones is head of the Latin American Studies program at Rice University in Houston, Texas. He says a Bolsonaro victory would represent a move away from traditional party candidates in Brazil.
Jones told VOA, "In a country that's hungry for someone who's a non-traditional politician…he's providing the vehicle for them to cast their vote."
Jones added that the Workers' Party is being blamed for the country's recession, high crime rate and political corruption. He says that has helped Bolsonaro's rise in popularity.
Presidential candidate Marina Silva of the Sustainability Network Party.
Another candidate is Marina Silva of the Sustainability Network Party. Silva was born in a rubber-producing community in the Amazon rainforest. She served as Brazil's environmental minister while Lula was president. She was a candidate in the past two presidential elections.
Since early 2014, Brazilian police and government lawyers have launched a major anti-corruption operation. Their efforts have led to discovery of political wrongdoing in every major party, except Silva's.
If no candidate wins a majority of the votes on Sunday, an election with only the top two candidates will be held October 28.
Victor Beattie reported this story for VOA News. Jonathan Evans adapted his report for Learning English with additional information from the Associated Press and Reuters. George Grow was the editor.
survey – n. a public opinion study; examination
homophobic – adj. of or relating to a fear or opposition to sexual activity between persons of the same sex
sustainability – adj. involving a method of harvesting so that the Earth is not permanently damaged
network – n. a system or organization
Former Brazilian President Out of Presidential Election
Reuters: Development in Brazil Putting Earth's Environment at Risk
Venezuelan Family Struggles with Life in Brazilian Shelter


For Father's Day Weekend I'm updating this collection of 20 Low-Carb Kabobs or Skewers for the Grill so you have even more options in case you haven't nailed down the Father's Day menu quite yet! And doesn't everyone love low-carb kabobs cooked on the grill? Use the Diet-Type Index to find more low-carb and gluten-free recipes like these.
Click here to PIN 20 Low-Carb Kabobs or Skewers for the Grill!
This weekend is Father's Day in the U.S. and grilling season is definitely here even if it's not quite officially summer yet! My fondness for grilling is pretty obvious on the blog, and I love kabobs!
And for our weekly low-carb round-up where I share things you might want to make over the weekend, I'm updating this collection of 20 Low-Carb Kabobs or Skewers for the Grill with more honorable mention ideas for kabobs and skewers for the grill! There should be enough good ideas here to keep you in kabobs recipes for most of the summer; enjoy!
There are kabobs or skewers here with beef, shrimp, salmon, chicken, vegetables, sausage, swordfish, and pork, so hopefully there's something for everyone in this great collection of low-carb kabobs and skewers. Some of the kabobs from Kalyn's Kitchen have those beautiful blade-type skewers I got in Turkey, and if you're making kabobs I highly recommend using either thicker blade-type skewers or double skewers to prevent the meat from spinning around on the skewers.
All photos of the Low-Carb Kabobs or Skewers are copyrighted to the blog that posted the recipe; just click the recipe name under any photo to see the complete recipe on the original blog.
More Low-Carb Kabobs and Skewers You Might Like!
These all look amazing. I cannot wait to have a grill again so I can grill things on skewers all the time! Such perfect summertime meals.
Thanks Sarah; I agree completely!
Hi Kalyn – love your blog and have lost over 50 lbs to date using your recipes! Did you know the link to the Grilled Chicken and Veggie Kabobs with Garlic and Basil goes to your recipe for the World's Easiest Kabobs with Grilled Zucchini and Sausage?
Wow Pam, great job. I love hearing that.
It seems like I am making those kinds of mistakes more often lately, thanks for telling me. Will fix right now!


How much effort should I put into finding the rightful owner of this package I received?
I got a fedex package that was addressed to the previous tenants at my house. Someone got this guy hot sauce for xmas, and doesn't know his real address.
Will fedex pick it up if I call them? Should I track down the hot sauce's rightful owner? Or just accept my hot sauce gift from the universe?
It's only hot sauce. I wouldn't be too bothered about it.


text:
Patsy Gallant
(August 15, 1948- )
Born in Campbellton, New Brunswick, Canada
Albums include 'Power,' 'Besoin d'amour,' 'Are You Ready for Love,' 'Will You Give Me Your Love,' and 'Patsy Gallant chante Piaf'
Singles include 'From New York to L.A.,''Are You Ready for Love,' 'Sugar Daddy,' 'Back to the City,' 'Stay Awhile with Me,' and 'Every Step of the Way' (and French variants)
Juno Female Vocalist of the Year (1977 and 1978)
Why she might be annoying
There exists minor online confusion as to whether her real first name is Adrienne or Patricia.
Five years old, she joined her three older sisters to become their own group – which made the club rounds – for roughly 14 years.
She did not move to Montreal with the family until she was 10.
She admitted to being called 'Cheetah' – a reference to Tarzan's pet monkey – in her formative years.
Her first English-language album (1972, following two in French) yielded only one minor hit.
Your guilty pleasure is… fashion?
Why she might not be annoying
Her little-known rendition of 'Rock On' (aka 'Raconte,' or 'tell a story') came out roughly a year following the original (not her only cover).
She scored her own national prime-time TV show in the late 1970s.
She spent eight years in France, during which she was a key player in Québécois-French cyberpunk rock show 'Starmania.'
In the little-seen film Yellowknife, where she played a version of herself, she performed 'Sugar Daddy' and three of her own original compositions.
Though she was one of 10 children, she had only one.
She is comfortable with having aged gracefully — arthritis notwithstanding.
Canadian Music Stars
Cougars - Women Who Stayed Hot Passed Their 42nd Birthday
Disco Divas
I Come from Canada
I Sing About Los Angeles
I Sing About New York
Juno Award for Female Vocalist of the Year (Ranked: 1977)
Juno Award for Single of the Year (Ranked: 1978)
Nobody Told Me I'm Old


text:
Q: 401 Unauthorized When trying to call a google cloud functions I have a simple node.js function inside Google Cloud Function (that is called from inside my website's code) and I used previously the id_token that I got when I'm connected inside Google Cloud SDK and use this: gcloud auth print-identity-token, but it only last 60 minutes, so after that my application can't use anymore the google cloud function.
So I tried to generate my own token with the help of the service account key: https://cloud.google.com/docs/authentication/production#create_service_account
But I always got a "401 Unauthorized" when I call my link with the "Authorization: Bearer token" header
Maybe it's because I don't know what to put inside the "aud" value (inside the payload array)
<?php

namespace MyProject\Parser;

use Firebase\JWT\JWT;
use GuzzleHttp\Client;

abstract class GoogleCloudParser extends AbstractParser
{
    /**
     * Returns the HTML for the given URL
     * @param string $url
     * @return string
     * @throws \GuzzleHttp\Exception\GuzzleException
     */
    protected function getHTML(string $url): string
    {
        $cloudFunctionURL = "https://region-project-name.cloudfunctions.net/function-name";
        $token = $this->getToken();

        $guzzle = new Client();
        $response = $guzzle->get($cloudFunctionURL, [
            'query' => ['url' => $url],
            'headers' => [
                'Authorization' => "Bearer " . $token
            ]
        ]);

        return $response->getBody()->getContents();
    }

    /**
     * Returns the authentification token for google cloud
     * @return string
     */
    protected function getToken()
    {
        $privateKey = "-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----\n...\n-----END PRIVATE KEY-----\n";
        $publicKey = "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\n...\n-----END CERTIFICATE-----\n";

        $payload = [
            'iss' => 'App-Engine-default-service-account@appspot.gserviceaccount.com',
            'sub' => 'App-Engine-default-service-account@appspot.gserviceaccount.com',
            'aud' => 'bucket-name',
            'iat' => time(),
            'exp' => (time() + 3600)
        ];

        $header = [
            "alg" => "RS256",
            "typ" => "JWT",
            "kid" => "private_key_id_of_app_engine_default_service-account"
        ];

        $token = JWT::encode($payload, $privateKey, $header["alg"], $header["kid"]);

        return $token;
    }
}

I tried multiple thing to put on the "aud" but I don't know what to use... I tried to use the bucket name that I got with this: https://github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/php-docs-samples/blob/78356e87cc54c1d46df52c0d2f47320329957ce5/auth/src/auth_api_explicit.php
With the cmd line: php src/auth_api_explicit.php myGoogleProjectID gcloud-service-account-file.json
I tried to use "https://cloudfunctions.googleapis.com/"...
I tried to put the full link of my function name inside the google cloud functions.
And I think I have set up everything inside the IAM & Google Cloud platform for my service account.
Any help on this please?

A: I kinda confused looking at your code because the use says Firebase\JWT\JWT; but the service account that you are using for the custom token says App-Engine-default-service-account and in the aud you have a bucket name. After looking for a while I found out that to avoid the 401 error you need to ensure that the service account is authorized in the Domain-wide delegation page of the Admin console for the user in the sub claim (field).
Regarding what you could put in the aud you can try to put https://firebase.googleapis.com/ but again I am not totally sure of this because I am a little confuse with your code.
Best regards.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


That summer that everything happened. Bob could have dealt with one disaster. It was the way they piled up in an unending collision of disasters that had him feeling punch drunk. First his son rolled the car. Scary, but Rick wasn't hurt and the insurance company was understanding. Then the storm knocked out the power across the entire county and dropped a tree on his boat. He wanted to sell it anyway, but the insurance company was a little less phlegmatic about it. Still, he had fire wood to last him through the next decade.
The robbery at the bank his wife worked at was shocking. No one was hurt – physically, but Marsha was one of several tellers who just couldn't go back to work. At least the disability was a different insurance company.
While all this was happening Bob still had to keep up with his business. He was an agricultural consultant. He travelled through the entire area helping farmers deal with their stress. Grains were at an all time high, but with oil prices up, so was the cost of fertilizer and running equipment. The meat producers were looking at huge increases in feed cost and wondering if it was time to retire. Bob helped them sit down and look at their options and make decisions that were good for them and their family.
Bob was so busy doing his bit to make the world a better place that he really didn't have time to deal with the pain in his leg that was nagging at him. After all it wasn't anywhere near his heart. But it didn't stop; it got worse. Bob found himself driving with his left leg to ease the pain. After a near miss on the highway when he got his feet tangled while trying to brake, Bob decided it was time to visit the doctor.
The doctor wasn't encouraging. She told Bob to stay off the road or she would pull his driver's license and set up an MRI. Rick enjoyed being his dad's driver for half of the first day. Then it got boring. Bob called his clients and apologized for cancelling, then asked Rick to take them home via the electronic store that stocked his son's new favourite video game. They bought the game and a hot dog from the vendor to stave off starvation. Peace once again assured, at least for the night they arrived home to find the house surrounded by police cars.
In a panic, Bob hobbled to the door to find his wife in tears and the police packing up. The sergeant took Bob aside to explain that his wife had been sure she had seen the bank robber in the bushes. The police had responded to learn that the neighbour's son in law was home for a visit and had decided to trim the hedge between their homes. He gave Bob a card to direct him to Victim Services, and suggested a change of scene might be a good idea.
Marsha packed her bags and went off to visit her mother and Rick went with her. Bob agreed an immanent nervous breakdown was much more serious than a pain in the leg, no matter how inconvenient. That's why he was alone in the house when the pain suddenly flared up and left him screaming in agony on the floor. Fortunately the neighbour's son in law was finishing up the hedge and heard him. Soon the house was again surrounded by flashing lights while the paramedics carried Bob out and took him to the hospital.
After emergency surgery to remove the gargantuan blood clot in his leg, he talked to Marsha and Rick on the phone and reassured them that he was indeed still alive. Bob was lectured by an endless stream of doctors and nurses about how lucky he was. The social worker was more help. She suggested that he try a convalescent home or similar place rather than burdening Marsha with his care when she needed to do her own work. Bob was looking distastefully at brochures when his boss came in the door.
"What do you have in mind?" Bob asked, his boss always had a plan or several up his sleeve.
"What would I need to do?" A summer camp certainly sounded more inviting than an old folk's home.
So that's how Bob found himself at Camp Menesetatchi sitting under a tree watching the children play. His leg woke him the first day early in the morning; but the sight of the sun rising over the lake and the numinous cry of a distant loon distracted him from its ache. He got in the habit of sitting on the deck and watching the sunrise. The camp was so good for him that he called and invited Marsha and Rick to come. She was glad to escape the loving but smothering care of her mother. Rick had met the girl next door and decided that Grandma needed him.
So Bob and Marsha sat in the campfire circle and learned to sing the Kumbya Blues. They toasted each other with flaming marshmallows, listened to the songs, laughed at the skits, and began to heal.
This is a story I wrote a few years ago for a contest I didn't win.
I like to highlight other authors now and again. Conviction is Lauren's second book, a follow up on Courage, a sci-fi reimagining of the story of the birth of Moses. Lauren suggests reading the books in order if possible. They are both available through Amazon, and Kindle Unlimited.
Conviction is the story of two people who have opposite views on everything but find themselves drawn to the other. They each face challenges in their personal lives and lean on their growing friendship to help them deal with those issues. It's about learning to look beyond the surface to really get to know someone, and to let go of expectations and opinions when they prove false. It also has a resistance movement bent on freeing the human slaves from their ruthless alien overlords, with a little help from an unexpected source.
Tell us more about yourself. What else have you published?
Conviction is the second book in my debut series, The Legacy Chronicles. Courage was released in February of this year, and the third book, Strength, should be ready by March next year. I started writing seriously after sixteen years as an English teacher, but I've always loved to create stories. Publishing this series has been a dream.
Conviction is the second book in my Legacy Chronicles series. The series is based on the women in Moses's life with each book telling one of their stories in a science fiction setting. I've always admired these Biblical characters for their faith and courage, and I've loved writing about them.
Conviction wasn't supposed to exist. My mum alpha read the first book, Courage, and kept asking about Than and Menali. As a thank you for all her hard work, I wrote their story for her. It was supposed to be a novella, but it kept growing as I dug deeper into the two characters and found there was a lot more story to tell. Than does have a way of pushing into the centre of things, but Menali surprised me. You'll have to read it to find out any more.
What are your favourite kinds of stories to read and write?
I like to read all types of stories, from science fiction and fantasy to historical fiction to murder mysteries. There are only a few genres I refuse to read. My absolute favourites are stories where there's a unique set up or a novel twist on what's been done before. I also love complex characters that have many layers I can peel back as I get to know them.
My office space is extremely organized. I can't work there when it's messy. That said, I tend to do most of my writing either outside or sitting on the sofa in the living room, and I usually have at least two notebooks to hand along with a drink, my phone, a snack, and some tissues. It's not exactly cluttered, but it's nowhere near as pristine as my actual desk.
I'm about to start editing the third book in The Legacy Chronicles, Strength. I'm also halfway through writing the fourth and have another series circling my brain. Outside of writing, I'm renovating my house again.
The answer: Normally, I'd be saying the latest Marvel or sci-fi film, but right now I'm looking forward to the new remake of Little Women. I have such great memories of reading that book, so I'm interested in seeing how they update it.
Listen to me on a podcast.
I connected with a fascinating guy, Colton, who does the Desert Tiger Podcast. We got together a Sunday morning and had a blast talking about writing, music and mental health. I had a bit of a cold, so there's some coughing there too.
I can't say if it will increase sales, and I'm not really worried about that, but I do know making connections is important. If you've always considered starting a podcast, listening to a few is a must. But I'd encourage you to reach out to people and ask to be on their podcast.
On the show, I talk about my newest book The Regent's Reign and some other books, including some which will never be published.
Calliope followed Sir Shillingsworth through a vast collection of grotesqueries – creatures suspended in huge bottles filled with murky liquid, others stuffed and set in tableaux. Sculptures of horrific death, paintings of deformed people.
Her father took no notice of what surrounded him; tall, with his grey hair cut severely and great coat flapping like a cloak in the wind, he swept past giant skeletons, not even glancing aside. Calliope itched to get lost in the collection, sketching what she saw. That skill was the reason he employed her. Why he'd ordered her to attend this meeting was beyond her. She had specimens to draw and catalog from the expedition he'd returned from a couple of months ago.
Unless he thought some feminine distraction would aid in his negotiations. Calliope brushed at her dress, covered with pockets she'd added and spotted with charcoal and graphite. In that case, he should have brought someone worth looking at.
Pentam, Sir Shillingsworth's protégé, rolled his eyes and shook his head. He had dressed immaculately in the latest fashion, dark hair perfectly arranged, and took his position as high society scientist very seriously. She caught occasional flashes of humour in those blue eyes. Calliope took a deep breath; she could put up with the boy for the short time she was forced into his presence.
They arrived at the end of the hall, where Sir Shillingsworth looked at Cal as if he had just met her there.
She made a deliberately sickly attempt to show feminine wiles.
Pentam's snort echoed through the hall.
"Fat lot of good that would have done." He immediately paled and held his hand up defensively. "I don't mean that in a disparaging way to you, Cal." But he was looking at Sir Shillingsworth as he spoke.
"You should stick to your convictions." A pang struck through her heart before she ruthlessly quashed it. "Nevertheless, you aren't the only one whose words occasionally come out a little sideways of their intent." He spoke nothing but the truth. From her blackened fingers to indeterminate brown hair stuffed in a bun to keep it out of her eyes, even in the finest of gowns, she'd never make any male catch his breath.
The door creaked open as Pentam fought for composure.
How appropriate. Have they treated the hinges to produce the sound? Cal knew better than to give them more than the slightest glance as they paraded into the room. But her mind listed ways she might have created that wonderful groan.
My newest fantasy book is being released on May 7th.
I had the good fortune to meet Geralyn at Central Canada Comic Con, also known as C4. She had with her a few copies of her yet to be officially released book. Now it's out and I'd like to introduce you to it.
Jack doesn't know how he resurrected after the gruesome construction accident that killed him. But while his loved ones age and pass away, he remains unchanged, indestructible. With his wife of thirty years dying of cancer, Jack is consumed by the desire to end his life.
A mysterious society of immortals holds the answers, but others would kill for that knowledge. An ancient feud over the power of life and death, an enigmatic murder, a paranoia-stricken history professor. Will these give Jack the keys to following his beloved into the grave? Or will someone else get him first?
Geralyn Wichers is a writer who moonlights as a manufacturing operator at a large factory. When she's not wearing a respirator and handling hazardous chemicals, Geralyn is either writing about the impending zombie apocalypse, or training to survive it by running long distances.
Congratulations on publishing Cursed Seed. How do you feel about publishing this book? Does it feel different from the previous books you've put out?
Thanks! Yeah, this book does feel a little bit different then other's I've published. I think that's mostly because, as this is the first time I've gone through a publisher, this book has been much more of a group effort than the previous two.
This is my third published work. I published a love story called We are the Living, set in zombie-riddled, post-apocalyptic Italy. I didn't set out to write a love story in that case. What began as an adventure story turned into a story about loving someone with mental illness, that just happened to have zombies, guerrilla warfare, and a miracle-healing priest in it.
Sons of Earth was my second novel. Dominic is a "manufactured person" or a clone. He was bred to be a fighting machine, but didn't meet specifications. Knowing he'd be exterminated, he escaped the cloning facility. Years later, he comes back as a scientist, hoping to overthrow the company from within. This story was inspired by the manufacturing plant I work in… though I'd like to think it isn't quite the blood-sucking monstrosity that Caspian Genetics is in the story.
Cursed Seed deals with mortality and immortality and our desire to choose our own lives. What motivated you to write the story?
For starters, I don't write didactically. I don't set out to preach a message with my work. I do, however, explore ideas when I write stories and so deep themes start popping unplanned. I think this is the true purpose of fiction, to give us scenarios to explore ideas and their applications.
If there is a "point" to Cursed Seed, I think it has less to do with mortality and immortality, and more to do with grieving, and finding the strength to move on despite the past. Jack, Alexander and Alannah are all grieving the loss of a loved one and it is coloring all of their decisions. I guess I can't say too much about that without spoilers, though.
I have no idea! I like history, and biographies, and some dystopian novels, and some fantasy novels… but can I say any of them are my favourite? Nope. I guess my mind doesn't work that way.
I love to write characters, and generally miserable ones. I really don't know why.
Since we had the chance to meet at Comic Con, if you were going be a geek about a movie or series, what would it be?
Well, I've read the Harry Potter series 2 1/2 times in like 2 years. I guess that makes me a geek about them? I'm also a huge fan of the Chronicles of Narnia books.
Currently, I'm writing from my kitchen counter beside the dirty dishes. 🙂 I don't have an office, so generally I'm lounging in my easy chair with my feet up. I also really like to take my laptop to a coffee shop. The noise is soothing.
I'm revising the sequel to Cursed Seed, tentatively titled Trial by Water. Practically anything I say about it will be spoilers, I guess. It picks up where the last book left off, and also adds a thread in pre WWI England, where Alexander and company investigate the mysterious death of an immortal and Zoran's claims that his unborn child is guaranteed to be immortal also. Giovanni Ardovinni, a background character in Cursed Seed, is tempted to make a deal with Zoran to immortalize his lover, John Burke, and his choices begin to reverberate into the present day.
Should I rent Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr. version) this weekend?
Yes. I believe I should.
Oh wait, was it supposed to be writing related?
Every once in a while I like to give a boost to a writer by featuring them on my blog.
Scott Burn has released his first YA novel, but this isn't the first thing he's written by a long shot. He agreed to write a bit about getting your screenplay noticed.
Check out his new book too.
Seventeen-year-old Max suffers agonizing apocalyptic visions. He soon discovers the visions weren't just in his head. There are others who have shared those same thoughts. Like him, they are something more than human. When a covert military group begins hunting them down, Max doesn't know which side to trust. But in the end, his choice will decide the fate of both species.
Buy the The Enemy Within from Amazon.
Now let me take a step back – every agent, manager and producer I know is desperate for good material. They would love to have that near perfect script that will become the next mega-hit or Oscar winner. They are also convinced that your script isn't it. And the truth is, they are right 99% of the time.
And what is the model? That is the big question. One studio exec told me he'd much rather have a script with a big idea and a great ending than a script with a mediocre idea where every page was flawlessly written. What makes for that big idea, it's something that an exec can go into his bosses office and say, "It's about a group of astronauts that land on a planet and discover their own dead bodies…" His boss immediately gets the idea – he can see the movie in his head and boom, off to the races. That was one I sold years ago with my old writing partner based on a Richard Matheson short story.
While there are all kinds of paths to getting to that stage, the system of Hollywood is designed to keep you as far from that path as possible. Let me start with the challenges then we'll get into solutions. I had lunch with my agent not too long ago. He shared with me how countless writers and directors were on him to make something magical happen with their projects. But the reality of Hollywood is fewer films are getting made, many are remakes or based on pre-existing material (book, TV show, game, etc)… The last thing any manager or agent want to do is take on a another mouth to feed when he doesn't have something he thinks he can sell.
1. Come up with an idea that you're excited by and people love when you describe it in 30 seconds. If it takes you 5 minutes to try and explain it, move on. Picture the movie poster. If you can't see it with a cool tag line, don't bother.
2. Write the first draft. Don't stop, don't slow down. Try to write at the same time each day so you get in a rhythm. Most importantly, don't go back and edit. Just finish.
3. It's great that you finished your first draft. Now here's the hard thing to accept – it's awful. Don't worry. Everyone's first draft is awful. Now go back in and rewrite again and again until it's as great as you can make it. Then don't give it to friends and family – give it to nasty, bitter writers who will tear it apart. That's good – you want that, painful as it is, because until that script has been seen by the brutal side, its still your first draft. Now pull up your big boy/big girl pants and do it all again.
4. Once you've gotten it to a point where every page glimmers, now comes the hard part. Ultimately there's a saying in Hollywood – a great script finds a home. But that only happens after banging down every door you possibly can. That means reaching out with query letters to every worthwhile agent and manager in Hollywood or NY. Most won't respond. Of those that do, most will say no. But if the idea is great enough, you might slip through the cracks. And then… they'll have notes.
Leave no stone unturned: you have a friend who knew someone in the mailroom at CAA? Reach out. Your plumber's brother is an assistant at Industry Entertainment? Reach out. But, and I can't stress this hard enough, don't reach out until that script is as perfect as you can make it. That's not days or weeks, it's months and sometimes years. And when the rejections come, don't be deterred. "Onward" is your new slogan. Nothing may happen with that script in the end. I would be surprised if it did. That's OK, now take that approach and do it again with your next project. And then again. Most people I know who break through do so somewhere around their 6th or 7th script. In other words, years. Writing screenplays is a craft and it's one that needs to be studied to have any chance.
A little bit about Scott: He's a former lawyer turned writer. Scott currently has several sci-fi and action-adventure screenplays in development at various major studios, including Gold Circle, Summit/Lionsgate Entertainment, and MGM/Splendid Entertainment, and his comic book series AGON was published by Zenescope Entertainment.
THE ENEMY WITHIN is his first YA science fiction novel.
I've released a new book, a collection of stories written over the last few years with a fantasy/fairy tale feel them. Some of humorous and some very dark, much like the original fairy tales collected before 'happily ever after' was a thing.


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Q: Why does the FrontEnd lose matching of parentheses when we insert quotations? Bug introduced in V10.0 and resolved in V11.3
(These are guesses.  It is likely to have been resolved in an earlier version V11.X, but V11.3 is what I have access to.)

I am running Mathematica 10.0.1 on a four-year old iMac running OS 10.6.8. The following irritating behavior occurs regularly: I have a list with parentheses, and later on I need to add something to an earlier part of the list that involves quotation marks. As soon as I include the quotation marks, the matching between the parentheses gets lost, and I need to go in by hand to fix the parentheses matching. See the gif below for an example.
This also happens in version 10.0.2.0 on a 2014 MacBook Air running OS 10.10.4. I have verified that this does not happen in Mathematica 8 on the four-year old iMac.
Is this problem reproducible in general? How do we fix it? Is it already fixed in a later version? If so, is there a work-around without upgrading? Should this be reported as a bug to WRI?


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Blacklisting Vindication
This happened at the High Court on 11th May:
9:30am – John McDonnell MP joins blacklisted workers outside the High Court celebrating their legal victory against the major construction firms. McDonnell reminds the crowd how he chaired the first ever meeting of the Blacklist Support Group back in 2009 with less than 10 people present – but now we have won a famous victory. McDonnell tells the 100s of supporters and the world's media and his millions of twitter followers that "compensation is one thing, justice is another"
10:30am – Roy Bentham, blacklisted carpenter from Liverpool, makes an application not to be bound by the settlement agreement but to be able to continue to the full trial representing himself. Bentham tells the court how as a Hillsborough survivor he had waited 27 years for justice with many false hopes in courtrooms over the decades. He explains that he wants to continue to ensure that those responsible for the blacklist are called to account. "A bit of compensation here and there is not justice." There was a spontaneous round of applause and cheering from the packed public gallery.
Lord Justice Supperstone ruled against Roy and denied him the right to appeal. Responding Bentham said: "This will be judged in time because this hasn't been justice today. I look at the episode in this courtroom as a failure of the British justice system".
11am – Construction firms at the centre of the blacklisting conspiracy were forced to make a grovelling apology "for the distress and anxiety caused to workers and their families". A six page agreed statement (attached) was read in open court which reads like a history of blacklisting in construction from the 1960s, covering the covert operations of the 'Services Group' within the notorious Economic League until the discovery of The Consulting Association blacklist in 2009. Senior company directors including Cullum McAlpine are named in the statement which ends with an apology from the firms.
While welcoming the agreed statement for putting on public record the shameful activities that have tarnished the reputation of an entire industry, blacklisted workers remain extremely skeptical about how genuine the apology really is. Even now the firms cannot bring themselves to use the toxic word 'blacklisting', despite the British Parliament passing the Blacklist Regulations 2010 in order to outlaw the disgraceful practice as a direct response to the Consulting Association scandal.
11:30am At the point where Caldercott QC apologised on behalf of the firms, the High Court hearing was interrupted for several minutes by chants of 'No Justice – No Peace' by blacklisted workers and an impromptu speech by Dave Smith who told the court, "Under no circumstances do we consider this to be a sincere apology."
12:00 – The judge rules the High Court blacklisting group litigation is concluded – blacklisted workers, lawyers and supporters went to the pub to celebrate our victory.
BSG would like to publicly thank all the legal teams who have worked on out behalf over many years but especially JC townsend and Liam Dunne who have been with us from the very start. Without GCR, there would not have been any High Court litigation.
Blacklist Support Group statement:
"The victory in the High Court is vindication for our campaign..
The multi-million pound settlements are a major hit for any organisation.
The admissions wrung out of the blacklisting companies are enormous.
The grassroots campaign combined with the legal fight has brought us to this point. But the Blacklist Support Group do not agree with the wording of the apology, nor do we think it is sincere.
The only thing the firms are sorry for is getting caught.
This is not the end of the matter – this is unfinished business.
Blacklist Support Group demand a full public inquiry to fully expose the blacklisting human rights conspiracy and the collusion between big business and the shadowy anti-democratic elements within the police. We are hardworking men and women used to getting our hands dirty. We are not giving up until the job is completed
Full justice still needs to be fought for – but tonight we celebrate
All those who have stood with us over the past 7 years, raise a glass to celebrate".
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/may/11/construction-firms-apologise-in-court-over-blacklist
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/news/payouts-for-blacklisted-workers-confirmed-amid-high-court-protests-34705298.html
http://m.building.co.uk/5081639.article?mobilesite=enabled
Blacklist Support Group
book: http://newint.org/books/politics/blacklisted-secret-war/
video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlCa8yQmZ70
blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/blacklistSG/
Unrelated Work in a Specified Area
FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF SEAMEN'S STRIKE


But when I was watching those kids I could see it, that moment when if they really want to go forward and summit the wall then they have to risk leaving the safety of the ground. See the ground was safe while they were on it and maybe a bit as they experimented with propelling themselves up and over the wall. But at some point (that point of no return) the ground isn't safe any more. It would be riskier to fall down, you could hurt yourself or your spotters. See, you come to that point where the only place for them to be is to push through the struggle, conquer their fears and continue over the wall.
I sat there and watched person after person get over that wall. The process looked different each time. Some made it in one attempt, others took a few. But they conquered the wall and left the ground.
We read in Philippians 3 this week at staff devotions. A very familiar passage, no doubt; yet God's voice spoke clearly through the Word. Remember these verses?
What a rally cry this section of scripture can be as we face the struggles and trials of life! We can take great encouragement as we see that even Paul did not have it all together, that his life was a continued journey to grow. We can be instructed by the Spirit in our walk with the Lord to persevere and focus on that which is most important.
Many people have hidden this particular section of the Bible in their heart, memorizing the words to guard their heart and guide their daily living. I'm one of them. But there are times when we take verses in isolation for so long we lose the beauty of the context. And this one is so rich.
'Cause, see here, Paul was setting the stage right before these verses. The context he gave was not how I often use these verses. See, I pull out these verses in times of struggle. Times when things are hard, really hard. Times when I don't ever feel like I'm going to make it. Times I wish I was not experiencing.
But Paul… he leads into Philippians 3:12-14 from a different place, from a place of strength, from a position of honor, from a lineage of security, from a life of renown, from a perspective of faithfulness. Verses 4-6 lay out for us the man that Paul had been, "a Hebrew of Hebrews…" he had it all.
Oh my word, just let that sit for a bit. Paul, listing all his honor, coming from all his worthiness, he says he counts it all as loss. Why? the NLT puts it this way, "7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done." All Paul's accomplishments, his list of faithful living, his zeal for the Lord was nothing compared to knowing Christ.
8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!
We come to that point of no return when we come to know that for God to work sanctification in us we can no longer rely upon our own strength, our righteousness. As good as our list can be it cannot provide what we need.
When what we desire is Christ, then that irreversible commitment recognizes we do not have what is needed to make it on our own. No, that point of no return shows us that to face the future is not just to give up a bad past, not just to give up our struggles, not just give up our trials… the point of no return with Christ gives up our strengths, gives up our efforts, gives up our own attempts at righteousness.
The campers had to leave the safety of the ground if they wanted to summit the wall. What do you need to leave to allow Christ's sanctifying work in your life today? What strongholds do you hold tight that keep you from the amazing grace of God at work in you?
God open our eyes to the wonders of your loving kindness. Lord, help us to be brave, brave enough to trust in you and lean not on our own understanding and strength. As we face the strongholds you call us to leave, the self-made securities we've built, may we see them all as loss compared with the infinite value of knowing you as Lord. Amen.


The Virginia Cole Community Service Award is presented to an individual in gratitude for outstanding, long-term contributions to the Town of Andover.
Outstanding, long-term contributions to the Town in an elected, appointed or volunteer role or a combination of these.
Nominations: To be received annually in March/April prior to the Annual Town Meeting. The Board of Selectmen and School Committee will announce at a meeting in March/April that nominations will be welcomed from any Andover resident. Nominations will also be solicited from Town committees, boards and volunteer groups.
Selection Committee: The Selection Committee will be comprised of the Chairman of the Board of Selectmen (or his/her designee), Chairman of the School Committee (or his/her designee) and the Town Moderator.
The award will be presented at the Annual Town Meeting. It may not be given annually but should be awarded as truly exceptional individuals are identified. A bowl will be presented to the recipient and a plaque will be hung in the Town Offices with the inscription of the recipient's name.


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Home :: WMD :: Library :: News :: Iran :: 2022 :: November ::
Iran confirms it released Greek tankers after Athens did same
Iran Press TV
Wednesday, 16 November 2022 6:47 PM
Iran has confirmed reports it released two Greek-flagged tankers that had been confiscated in the country's waters in the Persian Gulf in May after an Iranian-flagged tanker was allowed to leave Greece.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said the Greek tankers had left Iranian waters earlier in the day based on an understanding reached between maritime authorities of Iran and Greece.
The statement indicated that Iranian-flagged tanker Lana had set sail from Greece hours earlier and seven months after it was seized in the country because of US pressure.
Tanker tracking services said on Wednesday that Lana was underway from Greece and Istanbul was listed as its destination.
Data from those services showed Greek tankers Delta Poseidon and Prudent Warrior were underway from Iran and were sailing to ports in the United Arab Emirates for inspections before returning to Greece.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry said in its statement that Iranian and Greek maritime authorities had signed a memorandum of understanding to increase their cooperation in order to improve maritime security.
It said the agreement came following months of intensive negotiations between the two countries and allowed the confiscated vessels to leave on the same day.
The statement highlighted the fact that the United States had sought to confiscate an oil cargo on Lana under false accusations that it violated the unilateral American sanctions on Iran.
It described the move as a piracy and said it was in line with previous US attempts to confiscate Iranian oil in international or territorial waters.


Original hand drawn surrealistic art illustration dreamscape. Artwork created by artist Spencer J. Derry in 2015. This drawing is Inspired by the architecture of British Folly buildings, ruined churches, abbeys set against the modern and futuristic. Ink and acrylic wash on paper card (Not Framed). Secure P+P secure tracked and signed worldwide.


Some observers argue that widespread acceptance of cryptocurrency would eliminate banks. This post discusses the potential for such banks and some issues raised by cryptocurrency banks.
This post discusses the informational content of carry factors for policy analysis. It highlights the predictive content of the bond and commodity carry, respectively, for recessions and inflation, and the commonality in the currency carry.
This post draws on the authors' recent working paper to highlight why research on financial innovation is important. It also discusses some data limitations that inhibit such research.


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in: Characters, Zodiac (LMD) (Earth-616)/Members, Female Characters,
Life-Model Decoys
Secret Identity Characters
David Kraft/Creator
Keith Giffen/Creator
Single Characters
Strawberry Blond Hair
Earth-616/Characters
Virgo (LMD) (Earth-616)
Current Alias
Affiliation and Relationships
Origin and Living Status
Life-Model Decoy
Living Status
David Kraft, Keith Giffen
Defenders #50
(May, 1977)
The original Zodiac was activated prematurely, as a result, Virgo never awoke
Virgo was one of the Life Model Decoys created by Scorpio to serve in his new Zodiac and to be his lover. He was forced to activate the Zodiac early because of an attack by the Defenders on his New Jersey hideout.[1] Virgo was simply not ready to be activated, and as a result, she never awoke. When Scorpio discovered this he was so distraught that he shot himself.[2]
Later, a rebuilt Scorpio created another Virgo LMD using the Zodiac Key. This version of Virgo was one of the Zodiac who clashed with the superhero team the Avengers when working with Quicksilver, who had at that time turned against his former teammates due to a period of mental instability. Virgo attempted to flirt with Quicksilver, to no avail[3]
Together with Quicksilver and a faction of her Zodiac teammates, Virgo clashed with the West Coast Avengers at the circus where the Avengers had first formed as a group. Virgo took one of their most powerful members, Iron Man, out of the fight early on, before being subdued herself by Tigra, whom she had forgotten about in the chaos of battle.[3]
Later, Virgo joined the rest of the LMD Zodiac as they travelled to Dallas, Texas where they succeeded in eliminating all of the original Zodiac Cartel, with the exception of Cornelius van Lunt, and took their places in the criminal underworld. Next, they attempted to rob a group of businessmen at a cattle auction in Wichita but were opposed by the West Coast Avengers. Virgo fought Iron Man again, but fled when Sagittarius was destroyed by Hawkeye.[4]
Like her teammates, Virgo's personality reflected the typical traits associated with the star sign she represented.
Virgo had a lot of skill in designing advanced electronic devices.
Virgo wielded an energy-siphoning device that was powerful enough to immobilize the armor of Iron Man upon contact.
6 appearance(s) of Virgo (LMD) (Earth-616)
5 image(s) of Virgo (LMD) (Earth-616)
↑ Defenders #49
↑ 3.0 3.1 West Coast Avengers Annual #1
↑ West Coast Avengers Vol 2 #26
Zodiac (LMD) (Earth-616)/Members


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Tessa Virtue
Video Essay Examples | December 1, 2018 | admin
Tessa Virtue was born on May 17, 1989 in London, Ontario and has studied ballet and other forms of dance since she was three, even moving away from home at age nine to study with the National Ballet of Canada for a summer. She still takes a variety of classes including ballet, modern and hip-hop to supplement her skating. She began skating because she didn't want to be the only person who couldn't skate when her class took a field trip to a rink. Both Virtue and Moir were coached by Moir's aunt, Carol, when they were singles skaters. She paired them together when Virtue was seven and Scott was nine.
In 2001, Skate Canada held a national championship for pre-novice skaters. Virtue and Moir won the title, taking all three phases of the competition. They were 11 and 13, in an event that could include skaters as old as 19 and 21. In 2002, they moved up to the novice level. At that year's Nationals, they were the youngest and smallest team in their competition against competitors that were as much as six years older. Although only placing third, the high quality of their skating was apparent. In 2003 they moved up to the junior level, placing seventh at Nationals. That fall, they competed in their first ISU Junior Grand Prix events. Back at home, they won the junior national title in 2004 and went to their first World Junior Championships where they finished eleventh. They were still 14 and 16.
In 2004, Virtue and Moir made their move to be international contenders. That summer, they changed training sites, leaving coaches Paul MacIntosh and Suzanne Killing in Kitchener to join world-renowned coaches Marina Zoueva and Igor Shpilband in Canton, Michigan. Virtue and Moir medaled twice on the Junior Grand Prix and finished second at the Junior Grand Prix Final. They competed in their first senior Nationals in 2005, and finished fourth. Still age-eligible, they returned to the World Junior Championships and won the silver medal. At the.
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https://www.myjoyonline.com/takoradi-woman-faked-pregnancy-and-kidnap-regional-minister/-------https://www.myjoyonline.com/takoradi-woman-faked-pregnancy-and-kidnap-regional-minister/
Takoradi woman faked pregnancy and kidnap – Regional Minister
Source: Emmanuel Dzivenu
22 September 2021 9:48am
Preliminary investigation by the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) has revealed that the kidnapping of a pregnant woman in Takoradi is fake.
It has also emerged that the 29-year-old woman was not pregnant as widely reported.
Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, made these revelations in an interview with Omanhene Yaw Adu Boakye on Kessben FM.
"From their preliminary investigations, NIB suspects that this whole story was fake and that the medical doctor who has even looked at her revealed she wasn't pregnant. That is the immediate information that we have. The police are still with her," he said.
The victim, Josephine Panyin Mensah, was said to have taken a morning walk from the Amanoo road to the Paa Grant Roundabout as part of her routine exercise on Thursday, September 16 and did not return.
A search party was convened after her mother received a call from an unknown person who said they could not use her for what they intended.
The suspects also said they had dumped her somewhere; a close relative told JoyNews.
She was later found at Axim in the Nzema East Municipality of the Western Region.
But Mr Darko-Mensah, who also doubles as the Chairman of the Western Regional Security Council, debunked the claims.
He, however, said the police and NIB personnel are still with the suspect at the Axim General Hospital to unravel the whole truth.
Meanwhile, the husband of the suspect insists she was pregnant before she went missing.
Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah
National Intelligence Bureau
Pregnant woman missing
Takoradi Kidnapping
Western Region Minister displays legwork during Takoradi Masquerade Carnival
Mohammed Kudus honoured after stellar World Cup performances
Woman who faked her kidnapping, pregnancy in Takoradi fined ¢7.2k
Western Region petroleum enclave to generate $60 billion export value – Okyere Darko-Mensah
Apologies to Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah and Mireku Duker
'My heart is bleeding' – Dompim-Pepesa chief laments impact of galamsey in his area
Floods on Takoradi-Agona-Tarkwa highway an engineering problem – Western Region Minister
Court orders lawyer of Josephine Panyin to file her witness statement
Minerals Fund targets $500m assets within 3 years
Minerals Income and Investment Fund to raise $500m worth of assets in 3 years – CEO


Long White Straight Kurta for women. Crafted from linen this calf length, 3/4th sleeves kurtis has a mandarin collar. It features coconut button detailed on the front, an insert pocket on the right waist side, side/front slits with branding.


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5 exercises you should be doing in your 40s – Blog
By Gregory J. Isham Last updated Jul 29, 2022
If you're in your 40s, you may notice that you're not running as fast as you used to, carrying around as much as you used to, or recovering from your last workouts as quickly. Or, even if those don't apply, that over time you'll be at higher risk for everything from sore knees and back pain to heart problems and other miscellaneous mishaps – even if you're in the one of the best forms of your life.
Either way, there are steps you can take now to help improve the level (if not essentially the amount) of your remaining years. We spoke to a 40-year-old coach from the health app Aaptiv — a free subscription is available to eligible Haven Time period policyholders through our Haven Life Plus bonus rider — for ideas. Here's trainer Wes Pedersen on his way to improving long-term health and becoming more resistant to damage as you age.
Continue transfer
Discovering one of the easiest ways to work out in your 40s "is something I really dwell on as we converse," Pedersen says. "I have 42 years old." As we get older, "we don't move as much," he says, which means the body becomes stiffer and more susceptible to accidents. "In the long term, it is necessary for the body to remain versatile to avoid damage," he adds.
To spice up flexibility, Pedersen recommends starting the day with "a 6-10 minute mobility routine. I deliberately exploit the strange 'mobility'," he says. "I don't think of it as a stretching routine because most people think of stretching as something more static. It is closer to the practice of yoga. There are a lot of things that add mobility, so rather than toe contact, I would rather do leg sweeps or swings. Rather than sit down and do the splits, I'd rather do side lunges in a sample. It features "everything from baby pose to downward canine to the best stretch and pigeon pose in the world," all in motion. If you already have stretches that you enjoy doing, the important thing here is to turn them into movement.
"While you're transferring rather than doing static stretches, you're working a little more sustainably," says Pedersen. "With more movement, there is more exercise and, therefore, more blood circulates and the muscle groups work more. If you transfer through a variety of weight-bearing movements, the tendons, cartilage and bones are all stimulated," which helps them stay strong and resilient over time.
Build power without pressure
In your forties, you continue to do (and you will do) power coaching, but it is essential to make some adjustments to your strategy. "In my twenties, I could work hard several days a week and my physique would rebound pretty quickly," says Pedersen. "Now it takes longer, so it's essential to be aware of how many days a week you're doing really strenuous exercise and the other days need to be slower – very consistent speed training days."
Pedersen says someone in their 40s can still do power coaching up to 4 or 5 times a week, but most of those classes should be "shallower and more like an old-school bodybuilder format: lunges , squats, deadlifts, pull-ups. Using bodyweight resistance puts less pressure on the body while still securely protecting it, and managing the extra mobilization can be helpful for long-term power and flexibility.
Pedersen recommends that your exercise time be about 60% physical resistance, 20% "highly focused power; bench press deadlifts, time with dumbbells", and the remaining 20% being exercises that will increase your heart rate. (Remember, the guts are a muscle too.) This, may just be cardio, something that mixes power and cardio, which it provides.
Do these 5 keystrokes
Pedersen recommends the next workouts, which you'll find on Aaptiv as part of an exercise, or do it yourself.
Lunge with stability
"Any kind of lunge where you use stability as an element is nice, like a Curtsy lunge." This works the lower leg muscle groups like a traditional lunge, but also improves stability and body alignment, which can help reduce the risk of decreasing pain again.
"Some sort of rowing can be very helpful because as we get older it's always helpful to have good posture and also to roll up the elbows and shoulders." Rowing will also raise the guts.
It's a quick approach to building and maintaining muscle. Just make sure to gain weight regularly and think about your type, otherwise you risk re-injuring yourself.
"A bodyweight push-up is only good for normal higher physical power."
The best stretch in the world
It is good for stability, hips, lower legs and thoracic spine mobility. Especially for busy people who need long-term wellness but no time-consuming exercises, it also doesn't take much time.
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Holgate and his new Defender ready to hit the road again
September 14, 2020 southcapenetRegular Columns
Brian Joss – Kingsley Holgate Foundation ready to put the new Land Rover Defender to the test during its latest Mzansi Edge Expedition.
A 70-day, 10,000km geographic and humanitarian journey to track the outline of South Africa, including extreme geographic points.
A first long-distance, real-life test for the new Land Rover Defender on South African soil Humanitarian focus on alleviating hunger with food provisions to rural families bordering wildlife areas still impacted the loss of tourism income. With the easing of travel restrictions within South Africa, the continent's most experienced expedition team is beginning an exciting new adventure, this time to track the outline of Mzansi. The journey will give the Kingsley Holgate Foundation its first long-distance test of the recently-launched new Land Rover Defender while delivering humanitarian aid to those in need along the way.
Humanitarian explorers and global Land Rover ambassadors Kingsley and Ross Holgate will lead the 70-day, 10,000km Mzansi Edge Expedition, which will follow the entire land border of South Africa and track the Atlantic and Indian Ocean coastlines. The Holgates have taken delivery of two new Defenders to continue their life-saving efforts within their home country and later throughout Africa and beyond.
Kingsley Holgate said: "They say you only have one chance to make a good first impression and the new Defender has certainly wowed us so far. Our team has had the privilege of driving two Discoverys for the past three years and we've accumulated over 130,000km on each adventuring to places like Somalia, Turkey, Iran and Nepal.
"Those vehicles were the best off-roaders we've driven, so we're excited to see how our new Defenders will improve on its already amazing capabilities in some of the harshest conditions on Earth. With many African borders closed, the Mzansi Edge Expedition will offer an ideal first outing in these vehicles as we trace the borders of our home country."
The Holgates' two Defenders are equipped with the all the items necessary to tackle the challenging routes necessary to deliver aid to Africa's hard to reach locations. Both are fitted with Explorer Packs featuring raised air intakes, lockable side gear carriers, roof racks and underbody protection among others. The two Defenders are powered by 3.0-litre straight-six mild hybrid (MHEV) P400 drivetrains with 294kW – making them the first petrol, and first electrified vehicles in the Holgate fleet.
Expedition Leader, Ross Holgate, said: "Over the decades we've become very familiar with the previous Defender. While we salute its departure, the arrival of this completely reimagined version of the legend will enable us to do so much more. In our early days we could have hardly imagined the 360 degree camera systems, hi-tech off-road developments and comfort features which will make saving and improving lives even easier and more enjoyable.
"In a way Land Rovers are our offices, and we're thrilled with the environment the new Defenders will offer. Some of our expeditions truly only begin after 6,000km so the comfort and capabilities available to us with these vehicles will be welcome. Though Mzansi Edge will only scratch the surface of what's to come for our new expedition vehicles, it won't be an easy trip by any measure."
Aside from putting the new Defenders to their first real world test, the Mzansi Edge Expedition will include several geographic and humanitarian objectives. It will begin at the country's most easterly point near Kosi Bay in northern KwaZulu-Natal in mid-September, with the symbolic filling of the Holgate's traditional Zulu calabash. From there the team will travel in an anti-clockwise direction, staying as close as possible to South Africa's borderline, to reach the most northerly point on the border with Zimbabwe, the extreme westerly point at the mouth of the Orange River on the Atlantic seaboard and Cape Agulhas, the most southerly point of the African continent. While journeying up the Indian Ocean coastline, the expedition will break away to circumnavigate the border with Lesotho, before re-joining the east coast and ending back at Kosi Bay in late November.
The challenging route will cover eight of South Africa's nine provinces, include World Heritage Sites such as Mapungubwe, ancient deserts, coastal dunes, precipitous cliff trails and river crossings. The expedition will see rare geological formations and extreme mountain passes, soft sand 4×4 tracks, iconic landscapes, unique biomes such as the Cape Floral Kingdom and world-renowned wildlife areas. The expedition also aims to reach all 52 lighthouses along the west and east coasts and will research and record stories of South Africa's 'edge' – from ancient civilisations to modern times.
Kingsley Holgate, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society who has spent the last 30 years exploring every country on the African continent and beyond, continued: "After five months of lockdown, you can well imagine how a fellow like me who suffers from constant wanderlust is desperate to get out and explore again. So many of our journeys have been in search of wild and distant destinations deep in Africa, but now an opportunity exists for us to explore our own 'Mzansi' – to outline this 'world in one country' that we're proud citizens of – and to bring charity close to home."
"For the past few months, we've been assisting the 'Feeding the Wildlife Community' volunteer teams with the distribution of nutritious food parcels to hundreds of rural communities bordering game reserves, who were devastated by the complete collapse of the tourism industry during lockdown and the massive loss of jobs and income," said Ross Holgate.
"Even though travel restrictions are easing, it's going to take time for income to start flowing again and widespread hunger is still a major concern for thousands of people living in outlying areas. So, as September is Tourism Month in South Africa, it is only right that the Mzansi Edge Expedition's humanitarian focus will be on distributing 200,000 meals to needy families close to wildlife parks, as well as to early childhood development centres and creches in rural communities, in partnership with the DoMore Foundation and others. We will also distribute face-masks and sanitising soap to families, as well as digital thermometers to community groups and organisations that need to maintain strict Covid-19 health protocols."
The Holgate team will be joined by other South African adventurers to tackle parts of the route by mountain bike, canoe and on foot. These include veteran mountain biker 'Shova Mike' Nixon, one of only four people in the world to have completed every ABSA Cape Epic, Everest mountaineers Sibusiso Vilane and André Bredenkamp, and adventure runner David Grier, the first person in history to run the Great Wall of China in both directions.
They will also meet up with fellow Land Rover ambassador and international rugby player Bryan Habana in Cape Town to assist the Habana Foundation with its humanitarian outreach in Cape communities.
Follow the Holgates' expedition updates using the #TeamDefender hashtag on social media.
CAPTION: Adventurer: Kingsley Holgate and his new Land Rover Defender. Picture: Motorpress
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The trains will roll at the Nevada State Railroad Museum over Thanksgiving weekend with steam train rides featuring equipment from the historic Virginia & Truckee Railroad.
The museum will give free rides on Friday and Saturday to anyone who donates blood to United Blood Services. Call 887-9111 in Carson City to make an appointment and receive a ticket for a Thanksgiving weekend ride.
Trains will run at 40-minute intervals from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Regular fare is $2.50 age 11 or older, $1 for ages 6 to 11 and free for children under 6 .
After riding the train, visitors may tour the museum buildings to see restored locomotives and rolling stock, including V&T No. 22, the "Inyo," oldest operating steam locomotive in the United States. Admission to the museum is $2; children under 18 are admitted free.
Weather permitting, museum volunteers will give free handcar rides.
In keeping with the holiday spirit, the museum is a drop-off point for the Marine Corps Reserve's annual Toys for Tots campaign, which helps make the holidays more enjoyable for the needy.
The museum will be closed Thanksgiving Day.
The museum, open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is on Highway 395 at the south end of Carson City at the intersection of Fairview Avenue. For information, contact John Frink at 687-6953.


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Foulenay és un municipi francès situat al departament del Jura i a la regió de Borgonya - Franc Comtat. L'any 2007 tenia 80 habitants.

Demografia

Població
El 2007 la població de fet de Foulenay era de 80 persones. Hi havia 36 famílies de les quals 8 eren unipersonals (8 homes vivint sols), 8 parelles sense fills, 12 parelles amb fills i 8 famílies monoparentals amb fills.

La població ha evolucionat segons el següent gràfic:

Habitants censats

Habitatges
El 2007 hi havia 53 habitatges, 35 eren l'habitatge principal de la família, 13 eren segones residències i 5 estaven desocupats. 52 eren cases i 1 era un apartament. Dels 35 habitatges principals, 32 estaven ocupats pels seus propietaris, 2 estaven llogats i ocupats pels llogaters i 1 estava cedit a títol gratuït; 5 tenien tres cambres, 14 en tenien quatre i 16 en tenien cinc o més. 30 habitatges disposaven pel capbaix d'una plaça de pàrquing. A 14 habitatges hi havia un automòbil i a 19 n'hi havia dos o més.

Piràmide de població
La piràmide de població per edats i sexe el 2009 era:

Economia
El 2007 la població en edat de treballar era de 37 persones, 29 eren actives i 8 eren inactives. De les 29 persones actives 28 estaven ocupades (15 homes i 13 dones) i 1 aturada (1 dona i 1 dona). De les 8 persones inactives 4 estaven jubilades, 1 estava estudiant i 3 estaven classificades com a «altres inactius».

Activitats econòmiques
L'únic establiment que hi havia el 2007 era d'una empresa d'hostatgeria i restauració.

L'any 2000 a Foulenay hi havia 4 explotacions agrícoles.

Poblacions més properes
El següent diagrama mostra les poblacions més properes.

Referències

 Résumé statistique Fitxa resum de dades estadístiques de Foulenay a l'INSEE.
 Évolution et structure de la population Fitxa amb el detall de dades de Foulenay a l'INSEE
 France par commune  Dades detallades de tots els municipis de França accessibles a partir del mapa.

Municipis del Jura

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Home Economy Greece: Clean electricity for Crete
Greece: Clean electricity for Crete
Rex Rose
Athens. A new energy era will soon begin in Crete. Progress is in the form of a thick power cable through the sea. The 400-km line will connect Greece's largest island with Attica on the mainland. This year begins the laying of the "Attica-Crete-Interconnector". When there is a €995 million connection in 2023, diesel power stations on the island could finally be closed.
The cable to Crete is part of an ambitious plan to connect the Greek islands to the mainland electricity network. Of the 110 inhabited islands, so far only 50 islands off the coast are connected to the mainland by power lines. The project has provision for laying submarine cables with a total length of 5000 kms. Network operator IPTO is investing 4.3 billion euros in the project, which is to be implemented by 2030.
Not only is the supply of electricity to the islands stable, the entire country benefits. The networking of the islands makes it possible to feed green electricity from solar systems and wind farms to the island areas in the national grid. The government mainly relies on floating wind turbines off the coast.
So far, 60 un-networked islands have drawn their electricity from diesel generators that run on heavy fuel oil – one of the most inefficient and environmentally harmful ways of generating electricity. Take Crete, for example: The shutdown of diesel generators would reduce CO₂ emissions on the island by 60 percent. The Cyclades Islands will be connected to the mainland by 2024, the Dodecanese archipelago around Rhodes by 2027, and the islands of the northeastern Aegean such as Lesbos, Limnos, Chios and Samos by 2029.
See also "Taking Action Against the New Kovid Version"
The closure of diesel power plants will not only reduce CO₂ emissions. The cost savings are also enormous: according to the regulatory authority RAE, the cost of producing one megawatt of electricity on the mainland is about 80 euros. On the island of Antikythira it is 1297 euros, on Agathonisi it is also 2239 euros. According to the calculations of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, connecting Crete to the grid alone would save 400 million euros annually. Cable pays for itself in two and a half years.
This benefits the end user. Until now, they subsidize electricity tariffs on the islands with a fee that is passed on to all electricity bills in Greece. Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas saved 4.5 billion euros for customers in the years 2022 to 2030. In addition to cabling, the government is moving forward building wind and solar systems as well as energy storage on 20 small. island
By 2030, Greece wants to increase the proportion of electricity generated from renewable sources to 67 percent from the current 30. Wind energy is intended to play a major role in the Aegean and Ionian Seas. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has now announced that offshore wind turbines with a capacity of two gigawatts (GW) will be connected to the grid by 2030.
But this is only the beginning. The country's offshore wind potential is enormous. The Greek Ministry of Energy puts it at around 40 GW. This would be almost double the total installed power plant capacity in the country and ten times the wind turbines installed on the ground today.
See also Delta Air Strains to furlough just about 2,000 pilots in October
The use of this capability is technically complex. Because of the great water depth in the Aegean, most floating wind turbines have to be used there. This technology is still in the beginning of its development. Building a floating wind turbine is technically challenging and expensive. On the other hand, these systems enable the generation of electricity in areas of the ocean with high and even wind speeds.
In a few weeks, the Athens Ministry of Energy intends to present a draft law with a regulatory framework for offshore wind farms. The sea area around the Cyclades Islands, the northern Aegean, the Dodecanese region around Rhodes and the sea between Crete and Carpathos are considered particularly suitable locations.
The first concessions are to be given in 2023. There is a lot of interest in foreign investors. In December, a delegation of Norwegian companies convened in Athens, including representatives from Equinor. The Norwegian state-owned company commissioned the world's first floating wind farm off the coast of Scotland in 2017.
Coffee enthusiast. Travel scholar. Infuriatingly humble zombie fanatic. Thinker. Professional twitter evangelist.
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Zoologia Kidswear: Wearing A Heart for Wildlife on Your Sleeve
"We are responsible for passing down a better future to [our] children and losing no more biodiversity," Zoologia
Wind in your hair, sun on your skin, there's just something so freeing about the outdoors and getting away from the hustle and bustle of city life.
A sustainable kidswear brand called Zoologia started for this very reason - a longing for the outdoors and being one with nature and the animals.
The founder grew up in beautiful Japan, a go-to destination for nature-loving wanderers. And have been influenced at a young age by a few masterpieces such as Hugh Lofting's The Story of Doctor Dolittle, Ernest Thompson's Wild Animals I have Known, and animation by Hayao Miyazaki to fall in love with the outside world and give back to the environment. At only ten years old, they were already doing what they could to reduce environmental impact while dreaming of dedicating a business that served both people and nature when they grew up. Fast forward to 2020, and Zoologia was born!
Since Zoologia started during the peak of the pandemic, people behind the brand had all the time to think things through and plan for their launch. The perseverance kicked in with the realization that there is no better time to start than now. And with a little more encouragement from their nine-year-old daughter's concern about environmental issues, it became easier to set a goal for the brand. "I thought [that] raising awareness on restoring biodiversity, through the design of [my] clothes, would be a wonderful way for kids and parents like us [to be informed]."
Knowing that informing others wasn't enough and there was a need for more action, Zoologia contributes part of their profit to wildlife and nature conservation organizations and will provide continuous support for them.
Who said your kids couldn't sport kawaii clothes that are also sustainable? With Zoologia, you get the best of both worlds! "Sustainability is the basis of my brand. I want to always think about making better choices not only for my business but also for the earth [...]" Zoologia will make you want to wish you were a kid again with their collection. Their pieces are made from natural materials such as organic cotton, linen, and recycled fiber from a local factory in Japan. They're seasonless and produced in small batches. Plus, they have charming, vintage animal illustrations on them too! A refreshing take on wildlife without the need for morphing how naturally enchanting animals look. They also utilize fabric scraps for charity products! Kawaii desu ne.
When it came to packaging, it wasn't easy finding a local company that catered to small businesses. So they had to search overseas until they found noissue. And because Zoologia wants its customers to enjoy helping the environment, all orders are shipped in special eco-friendly packaging from noissue. Each order is wrapped in beautifully branded tissue, sealed with love and a sticker, and stamped with the hope of changing the world.
"I love the simple and user-friendly online design platform and, of course, the beautiful packaging with sustainable materials, not only that, it's just great to contribute to global reforestation!"
Aside from other businesses that have a dedication to saving and caring about the planet, Zoologia is also made strong by little comments about how their products encourage and inspire their audience. "I had a message from a customer who bought a skirt with a coral print and said her daughter is now very interested in coral reeves, and is eager to know how we can save this beautiful treasure. We are responsible for passing down a better future to [our] children and losing no more biodiversity."
As a small business, they're still facing a few challenges, especially in spending. But a little advice that we can take from them is to "just keep going without thinking much about possible failures!"
Find more of Zoologia here:
Website: zoologia.theshop.jp
Instagram: @zoologiaworld
Like this story? Tell us yours! Share your brand story and love for your custom packaging and get a chance to be featured on the wrap! If you're a noissue customer and are interested, you can join the Eco-Packaging Alliance by clicking here and answering a few questions here.
Questions? Email us at ecoalliance@noissue.co.
How to Find and Amplify Your Brand's Voice with Paul Bies of Mystique
How do you find your brand's unique voice? Expert Paul Bies from Mystique shares his top tips for small businesses.
Francesca Nicasio
Francesca Nicasio 22 Apr 2021 • 3 min read
Growing a forest with noissue's Communities
In celebration of the 51st anniversary of Earth Day, we teamed up with our partner communities to plant trees all over the world! We rounded up some of the punniest tree names contributed - enjoy!


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Support and resistance are very clear here. Bears need to break below 1850 SPX to trigger the first in the sequence of double-tops that I was looking at yesterday morning. Bulls need to break above the current all time high at 1897 SPX with confidence to open up a move into the 1900s. If the RUT falling channel breaks up then that should be an early warning that the bull case is going to win out here. The stats for today are neutral and I have no strong lean coming into the day.


The police in Santa Barbara dropped the ball.
I have learned of even more stupidity involved in the Isla Vista shooting. You know how the police went to visit Elliot Rodger a few weeks before his Day of Retribution? Yeah, it turns out they knew he had disturbing videos on YouTube, but the police did not watch those videos. Why not? Because didn't consider him a threat. See, they got the call from the mental health service, they went to his apartment and talked to him at the front door, and since they figured he was a nice kid, they just walked away and nobody took a look at his YouTube channel.
If they had considered him a threat, they could legally hold him in a psych ward for 72 hours for observation.
Not that he didn't have mental health care already. He was in therapy, but he didn't let it do him any good. He was prescribed meds which he did not take.
If he'd done that initial period in a hospital, though, someone might have figured out just how awful this guy really was. If someone, at that stage, had known how much of a danger he posed, he might not have been in a position, less than a month later, to leave a trail of bullet holes around Isla Vista.
Also, if the police had treated him like a threat at the time of the visit, they would've checked his apartment, and then they would've found his guns. If they'd taken away his guns, some people would still be alive and unharmed who now are not.
Can I go ahead and scream yet? A black or brown man would have been violently hauled into a jail and locked up at the first sign of such machinations. His property rights would have been thoroughly violated, and no matter how "polite" and "courteous" he might have been with officers, no reports would have reflected such language.
These coded terms mean that these officers were incapable of seeing this clearly troubled young white man as a threat. How many mass killings must it take to recognize that white male entitlement is potentially deadly? How many YouTube videos must one post outlining an attempt to do harm before it is taken seriously?
How many mass killings, indeed?