There are many different reasons why people develop thyroid conditions. Finding out these reasons is important not only to prevent your thyroid condition from becoming worse, but it's also important for anyone who is thinking about following a natural thyroid treatment protocol. While many different factors can affect thyroid health, most people with thyroid conditions don't consider that the people they interact with on a frequent basis can not only have initially led to the development of their thyroid condition, but this can also prevent them from restoring their health when following a natural thyroid treatment protocol.
How is this possible? Well, one of the most common factors that can lead to the development of a thyroid condition is weakened adrenal glands. I've gone into detail about how this happens in past articles, so I'm not going to do so again here. But in many cases, a person who has compromised adrenal glands will eventually develop a thyroid condition. And because weak adrenals also affect the immune system, this can also lead to the development of an autoimmune thyroid condition, such as Graves' Disease or Hashimoto's Thyroiditis.
Why is this important to know? Well, most conventional medical treatment methods target the actual thyroid gland, and don't do anything to address the weakened adrenal glands. For example, most people with hypothyroidism or Hashimoto's Thyroiditis are told to take synthetic or natural thyroid hormone for the rest of their life, without looking into the actual cause of their disorder. Similarly, people with hyperthyroidism or Graves' Disease are told to take anti-thyroid drugs or receive radioactive iodine therapy. Most endocrinologists and other types of medical doctors don't even mention the adrenal glands as being a potential cause of the thyroid condition.
Factor #1: Eating Refined Foods & Sugars Daily. Eating a lot of refined foods and sugars will affect your blood sugar levels, causing your adrenal glands to frequently secrete the hormone cortisol. Eating refined foods on an occasional basis usually won't cause any issues. On the other hand, if you eat refined foods and sugars every single day, then over time this will stress out your adrenal glands, potentially leading to numerous health conditions, including thyroid disorders.
Factor #2: Getting Insufficient Sleep Each Night. Most people need to get at least seven to eight hours sleep, and some research shows that even more sleep than this is required each night. Many people try to get by with five or six hours of sleep on a nightly basis. Once again, doing this every now and then is fine, but if you make it a habit of staying up late to watch television or surf the internet, and then wake up early to go to work, or if you do anything else which causes you to sacrifice quality sleep, then this will eventually stress out your adrenal glands.
Factor #3: Doing A Poor Job Of Managing Stress. The body was designed to deal with acute stress situations, but cannot handle prolonged, chronic stress. The bad news is in today's society, most people do have to deal with chronic stress, which will impact the adrenal glands.
The last factor I just discussed is how the people you interact with can affect your thyroid health. The truth is, many people become stressed out by the people they interact with. And many people mistakenly think that stress doesn't affect the body as much as the other two factors I mentioned. Most people think that chronic stress is normal, and that it can't possibly lead to the development of any serious condition, let alone a thyroid disorder.
The truth is that having an occasional argument with your spouse, or a stressful day at work every now and then isn't a big deal. On the other hand, being constantly stressed out at work, fighting all of the time with your spouse and/or other family members, dealing with other chronic stressful situations such as the illness of a family member, or dealing with any other chronic stressful situations can have a severe impact on your adrenal glands, which ultimately can lead to the development of a thyroid condition.
And for those people who already have a thyroid condition, not modifying the stress response will make it almost impossible to restore your health through natural thyroid treatment methods. Now I realize that it is impossible to completely eliminate the stressful situations from your life. However, in most cases there are changes people can make to lessen the amount of stress in their life. And for those situations where this is not possible, most can do a better job of managing their stress.
For example, a parent who has lost a child will obviously not be able to eliminate this stressful situation from their life. However, there are things they can do to better cope with the stress and grief they're dealing with. While some people will simply say that "time heals all wounds", it's not always that simple. In this case a combination of stress modification techniques probably will be necessary, including counseling, meditation, and other techniques to help the parent better manage this stress.
How about someone who is dealing with a stressful job due to an irate boss? Well, the situation is different, but this doesn't mean the stress is affecting them less than the example of a parent losing their child. This isn't meant to compare the two scenarios, but only to say while losing a child might be more stressful than any problem one experiences with their job, the fact is that being stressed out every single day when working will have a similar effect on your body. And if changing jobs isn't an option, then the only other option is to better manage the stress you're dealing with.
Another example involves a person who argues with their spouse on a frequent basis. Once again, doing this occasionally usually won't cause any problems, but if this happens routinely then it very well can affect your adrenal glands, and lead to the development to a thyroid condition over a prolonged period of time. And if you already have a thyroid disorder, then continuing to argue with your spouse, or any other family member on a regular basis, can prevent you from restoring your health back to normal due to exacerbating the stress response.
In addition to doing things to help you better manage the stress in your life, you also want to try your best to surround yourself with positive people. This admittedly can be challenging if you have an irate boss or if you don't get along with your spouse, as quitting your job and/or getting a divorce are obviously extreme measures to take. And quitting one's job and/or getting a divorce frequently will increase the stress in one's life. However, when looking at your long term health, sometimes making such extreme changes are necessary.
Most of us just don't realize how much impact the people we interact with have on our stress levels. But if you were to write down the names of all of the family members, friends, and co-workers you interact with on a frequent basis, I'm sure there will be at least a few people who stress you out, or at the least bring down your energy levels. For example, if you have a good friend that you almost never argue with, but just about all the time he or she is extremely negative, then this will affect your mood and energy levels. So would I suggest that in such a situation you should get rid of this friend? Not necessarily, although in this situation I would suggest that you try to minimize the time you spend with this friend, and make an effort to form new friendships with positive people. I know it's easier said than done, but it's necessary for the sake of your overall health.
Similarly, if you are thinking about beginning a natural thyroid treatment protocol but one or more of your friends or family members aren't supportive of your decision to treat your condition naturally, this can affect your recovery too. If someone tells you this once and then minds their own business thereafter then it's not a problem. However, if you have a friend or family member who constantly tells you that you're foolish for following a natural thyroid treatment protocol, then this can affect your recovery, and you're better off trying to avoid this person as much as you can. If it's your spouse that's not supportive of such a protocol then you admittedly might have a bit of a problem, and you will need to either try to do everything you can to educate them as to how safe and effective natural thyroid treatment methods can be, or if you aren't successful in doing this you will have to try not to talk about your decision as much as possible.
So hopefully you realize that the people you frequently interact with can affect your thyroid health. As a result, you want to do everything you can to surround yourself with people who are positive and have a good attitude. And if you're thinking about following a natural thyroid treatment protocol, you want to make sure you interact with people who are supportive of your decision, rather than those who will frequently criticize you. While there no doubt are other factors that can affect thyroid health, if you interact with positive people then this will only help you have a good attitude and reduce the likelihood of having adrenal problems.


Every couple wants their wedding ceremony to be meaningful and memorable. Whether this is your first marriage or your fourth, whether you are young, or walking down the aisle later in life, you will want a wedding ceremony that reflects you as a couple. I am confident that I can take you, step-by-step, through this exciting, tender and serious time of your life.
I have sample wedding ceremonies that I can adapt to suit you. You can choose traditional or something more alternative. Perhaps you'd like a particular reading, a poem or a favourite piece of music.
Maybe you want a ceremony written especially for you. You may want to include friends and family, such as children from a previous relationship. Together we can design a unique celebration.
Your wedding is an intensely personal experience and above all else you need to find the marriage celebrant that you feel most comfortable with.
There is no better way of reaffirming your love for one another than with a Renewal of Vows. This is a time when you acknowledge how special your life together has been, and will continue to be in the future. Let me help you create a moment in time when you speak to each other from the heart.
• Because it is a fun way to celebrate your anniversary, regardless of the number of years.
All the elements of the traditional marriage ceremony are suitable for renewal of vows. It must be clear that this ceremony is a renewal, not a marriage.
Do you wish to have an intimate ceremony by yourselves or just a special few? Then why not elope and get married in a beautiful location. Just bear in mind that in Australia couples need to give one months notice of their intention to get married. This is done by completing a Notice of Intended Marriage Form and lodging it with a registered celebrant.
Your wedding can be as intimate as you like, but on the day you will need two witnesses over 18 years old to witness your ceremony - I can arrange for the witnesses if need be.
I can help with your elopement by firstly giving some tips on intimate venues, like your own house, a restaurant, a discreet park or garden. Then I will work with you to prepare your ceremony and complete the relevant paperwork. The documents that you will need are listed in the legal requirements - if you plan to get married within a quick timeline and need to obtain supporting documents, then you will need to get the process started.
Give me a call to talk about your special wedding plans.
Naming ceremonies have evolved recently as a popular alternative to the traditional religious christening. A naming ceremony provides new parents with the opportunity to introduce their baby to their family and social group, and appoint a life guardian or guardians (the equivalent of godparents).
A naming ceremony can be a as formal or as casual as desired. There are no 'rules', but the occasion allows the new parents to celebrate the birth of their baby with those closest to them.
The ceremony itself may include background music accompanying the reading out of affirmations and offering of gifts, and perhaps the planting of a tree or the naming of a star after the child. It may also be the first time that the new baby's name is made public.
The child is officially welcomed into the family unit. The gathering of family and friends to witness a naming is practiced throughout every culture in the world.


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By Gboko Stewart, gboko@journalrage.org
Monrovia-When November Cole walked into a hall to audition as a model for the Runway Liberia fashion show 2017, it did not occur to him he would be chosen automatically without cat-walking for the judges.
"It was the first audition I went for," he says. "When I went for the audition, it was so funny—the lady saw me and told me 'go on the other side, don't walk. I started arguing with her why I shouldn't walk and she said the reason was she already saw me walking when I was entering."
That was a wakeup moment for Cole, 23, as he hasn't looked back ever since. The 5'9' slender and lanky model, who also studies sociology and criminal justice at the United Methodist University, has since strutted many runways, showcasing the apparels of several Liberian designers.
"I've showcased for so many designers – Alieu Bah, Nani and I'm the only male model at Jojo 2 best. I did a magazine shoot for Ghana Runway Fashion show—I was the only selected model from Liberia."
But strutting the runway also has its own rules and it is one which Cole says he'd learn early on. "Some designers are very harsh—you should walk in their clothes the way they want you to walk in their clothes. Due to your structure, some designers discriminate also."
Cole says working with some designers can be difficult as it can be when doing a fitting. "A designer from Ghana told me I could not walk in his clothes because I don't have six-packs," he says.
However, it's a live and let live moment when he lands on the runway. "I add sauce on the runway. I'm free when I'm on the runway and can cut up and carry on to entertain my audience—being on the runway is fun."
Stacking two years of experience under his belt, Cole has opened his modeling agency, found time to serve as a fashion instructor at Chrisetta Beauty Institute and regularly trains pageantry contestants.
"It's already opened and my first audition will be at Millennium Guest House this September. I don't' want my agency to be ordinary—the motto for my agency is 'walk with brains.' I want intelligent people in my agency; it's not going to be all about modeling, it's going to be about talk shows, charity, etc."
For the foreseeable future, Cole says the horizon looks brighter and he's optimistic he about landing a deal to be the face of the Millennium Guest House Suites.
Cole says working with some designers can be difficult as it can be when doing a fitting.
A designer from Ghana told me I could not walk in his clothes because I don't have six-packs."
I don't' want my agency to be ordinary—the motto for my agency is 'walk with brains.' I want intelligent people in my agency; it's not going to be all about modeling, it's going to be about talk shows, charity, etc."
Some designers are very harsh – you should walk in their clothes the way they want you to walk in their clothes."
Due to you structure some designers discriminate also."
Filed Under: Home Featured Secondary, Home Featured Top, Stories Tagged With: Entertainment, Fashion

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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50 years later: Is love all you need?
1967, the Summer of Love: LSD, pot, psychedelic music, hippies, be-ins and free love. It was the visible crest of an underground movement that had been building for some time. Posters for a Love Pageant Rally in October 1966 called for participants to "Bring the color gold... Bring photos of personal saints and gurus and heroes of the underground... Bring children... Flowers... Flutes... Drums... Feathers... Bands... Beads... Banners, flags, incense, chimes, gongs, cymbals, symbols, costumes, joy." By January the first Be-In was held in Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco, the apparent epicentre of hippiedom. On 13th May, 1967, Scott MacKenzie released his huge hit San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair). Selling some seven million copies, he set the tone for the coming summer. And then on 1st June, the Beatles unleashed Sgt. Pepper on an unsuspecting world.
We loved it. We were stunned by the aural experiment. We were yet to hear of Pepperland--that was to come in 1968's movie, Yellow Submarine, but Sgt Pepper took us there, albeit through a haze of cannabis. The Beatles, meanwhile, had continued recording songs in the key of Pepper. Baby You're a Rich Man, Hello Goodbye, Magical Mystery Tour and, of course, All You Need Is Love, which was to become the anthem of the summer.
But looking back from the 21st century, is it as meaningful and as relevant as it seemed then? Let's look its history.
The lads had been asked to contribute a positive song to Our World, the world's first satellite link-up show. It was broadcast 50 years ago today, June 25, 1967, live around the globe with an estimated audience of 400 million. Paul had apparently offered Your Mother Should Know, while some suggest he also delivered Hello, Goodbye. Did John write All You Need Is Love specially for the broadcast? George Martin and Ringo seem to think he did, while Paul maintains the song was already kicking around. It matters not, for John's contribution, which further explored the themes of The Word from Rubber Soul, was chosen. With a simple, repetitive chorus encapsulating the mood of the counter-culture, it was the perfect sing-a-long hit for an international broadcast, a message and vocabulary that would cross borders and languages.
All You Need Is Love was released two weeks after the broadcast and went to number one around the world. Rolling Stone magazine places it at 370 in its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and at 21 in its list of 100 Greatest Beatles Songs. While I agree it's a fine song, I can't help feeling Rolling Stone is being overly-generous.
Lyrically it's naive. The message is pure and true, but it's hardly a manifesto. It's a slogan, and the first of John's slogan songs like Give Peace a Chance and Power to the People. It's also the first of his political songs, superficial and passive compared to his call to action in Revolution a year later. When John offered the song to the Beatles, it's reported George Martin said to Paul, "Well, it's certainly repetitive." Subtle, George.
For a fun song about love, it's actually limiting rather than empowering. Even the opening lines "There's nothing you can do that can't be done/nothing you can sing that can't be sung" can be read as an instruction to know your place and not push boundaries. And then we get into the quasi-hippie gobbledygook. "Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time," which sounds dangerously close to the modern "finding yourself" self-help mantra. There's also a touch of fate and predestination thrown in with "nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be." Deep ideas or shallow gibberish? A series of meaningless mantras thrown together because they sound philosophical? Read the lyrics and try to make sense of them.
What's that, John? It's easy?
Paul certainly didn't think so. In Many Years From Now, he says, "The chorus 'All you need is love' is simple, but the verse is quite complex. In fact, I never really understood it."
Of course Paul, the movement you need is on your shoulder.
Don't get me wrong. It's a great song. It captures the hope of the sixties. You don't need to understand it all. Just sit back and let the vibe wash over you, a bit like watching a David Lynch film but with flowers, bright colours and acid. It is a good message, and one we still need to learn. John, of course, never lived up to it. He pretty much abandoned Julian, treated Cynthia badly, and despite being with Yoko, continued his affairs. The glow of pot darkened as he delved into heroin, and within two years he was singing about his pain in Cold Turkey. I have no doubt John truly believed in his message of love, but couldn't effect it. All this only goes to show he was not the demi-god the world thought he was, but rather a human, imperfect and broken. It was all a dream and according to John, by the seventies, the dream is over. In his final interview in 1980, John said, "Maybe in the sixties we were naive and like children, and later everyone went back to their rooms and said, "We didn't get a wonderful world of flowers and peace." … Crying for it wasn't enough. The thing the sixties did was show us the possibility and the responsibility we all had."
Although well received at the time, the broadcast is dull and dated. While Canada showed a rancher with a herd of cattle and Australia included a segment on trams leaving their depot, London broadcast the Beatles live from Abbey Road studios. It was filmed in black-and-white, but following the previous segments it seemed as bright and shiny as if it had been in colour. The Beatles' segment alone has ensured Our World has remained in the public consciousness for fifty years.
In psychedelic garb and surrounded by flowers, John, Paul, George and Ringo sat on thrones with their subjects at their feet, including Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones and Keith Moon. John was nervous and chewed gum throughout. George Martin and Geoff Emerick were stressed, fearing a technical hitch, and when the broadcast commenced 40 seconds earlier than expected, they had to scramble to hide their scotch.
Peering through the rose-tinted glasses of time, it's easy to be nostalgic about 1967--the music, the fashion, the love, those halcyon summer days--but it wasn't as rosy as we remember. The Vietnam War was at its height, there were as many bad trips as good, not every hit was groovy, and San Francisco was unprepared and unwilling to assist the tens of thousands of invading dropouts and runaways. George visited Haight-Ashbury with Derek Taylor in August 1967, expecting it "to be special, a creative and artistic place, filled with beautiful people, but it was horrible - full of ghastly drop-outs, bums and spotty youths, all out of their brains."
During the sixties, many credited the Beatles with leading the cultural revolution. In hindsight it's easier to recognise that although they were highly visible in the vanguard, they weren't the leaders as such. They were right there, though, in the thick of popular culture and they quickly picked up on new trends, themes, ideas and movements which they extended and popularised, ignoring boundaries as they went. And it was indeed a movement, but we know that not everyone was feeling the love. As early as December 1966, Buffalo Springfield had released For What it's Worth in response to curfew riots on Sunset Strip. In 1968 the Beatles and the Stones recorded songs on a similar theme. There was a brief moment of resurgent hope as Woodstock provided a second, false dawn but that too died a few months later as the Stones played Under My Thumb at Altamont. Personally, the Beatles had trouble with loving each other. While recording the White Album they weren't getting along. Ringo quit, the sessions were strained and by 1969 the four could barely stand being in the same room together. To quote singer Larry Norman, "The Beatles said, All you need is love and then they broke up."
We remember the dream, the hope, the bright colours of the Summer of Love, and we are better for having it in our collective memories. And all we still need is love, but as John suggested, love is not just lying around in Haight-Ashbury waiting to be harvested. We have to take responsibility and put it into action.
So where does this leave us with the lyrics?
The Grant Study, which tracked Harvard undergraduates over 80 years in order to determine which factors brought happiness, has summarised its findings as "Happiness is love."
It seems it really is all you need.
Posted by The Doc and the Guv at 22:33 No comments:
Labels: 1967, All You Need Is Love, Beatles, Geoff Emerick, George Martin, Haight Ashbury, John Lennon, Our World, Paul McCartney, Rolling Stones, Summer of Love
9 Things We Learned from Sgt. Pepper's Musical Revolution
Sgt. Pepper week continues. The BBC celebrated the 50th anniversary of the landmark album by broadcasting a brand new one-hour special that aired yesterday (June 3) on the BBC (and PBS in the U.S. and Canada), Sgt. Pepper's Musical Revolution with Howard Goodall.
Noted British classical composer Goodall narrates this special which explores the making of the album by showcasing snippets of outtakes (some culled from the various 2017 Pepper CD sets, other exclusive to this series) and illustrated by archival films and photographs as well as striking visual effects. The special is an unofficial sequel to The Making of Sgt. Pepper, the fine 1992 doc that is part of the Super Deluxe box set.
The key difference here is that the Goodall special lacks new appearances by any of the remaining Beatles or their confidantes. Instead, Goodall takes us on a musical lecture-tour of the Pepper sessions. His musical observations are insightful and new even to lifelong fans of the album. Like a good teacher, Goodall offers insight but speaks in terms that don't sail over our heads. Here are some things we learned:
1) In December 1966, EMI recording engineer Ken Townsend (far right) joined the fast and dreamy versions of Strawberry Fields Forever by slowing down the fast one to match the tempo and key of the slower one. He accomplished this by manipulating the electricity supply feeding the tape machine. Remember: there were no computers in those days, just magnetic tape machines. And no, George Martin didn't pull this off, though he oversaw it.
2) The influence of Little Richard on Penny Lane. No surprise that Paul was a huge Little Richard fan, but Richard's double-time rhythm (heard on such hits as Lucille that The Beatles covered on BBC Radio) had a direct effect on the piano performance on Penny Lane.
3) Now consider that the piano performance of Penny Lane is actually four different pianos mixed together.
4) The musical "wash" that appears twice in Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite consists of one-second snippets culled from various calliope recordings (circus organs) that producer George Martin had engineer Geoff Emerick splice together at random. Okay, maybe this is not news to some Beatlefreaks, but the Goodall special isolates several splices of them so you can hear them individually--and that is a revelation.
5) John's vocal was recorded at a slower speed, so he sounds younger (and higher in pitch) in Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, a song that's based on a child's fantasy (Alice in Wonderland).
6) Paul's melancholy vocal in She's Leaving Home is rooted in the ancient "modal" tradition that Paul would've absorbed from Anglo-Celtic folk songs he heard growing up in Liverpool.
7) The numerous shifts of rhythm (taal) in George's Within You, Without You are absolutely normal in Indian music, though unusual, if not radical, for Western rock music.
8) George's vocal is actually a compromise between Western and Indian conventions. The latter "stretches" single words over several bars--and this bears no comparison in Western songs, certainly not rock. The Goodall special features an Indian singer demonstrating how Within You, Without You would be sung in the Indian tradition, which is light-years from Western music.
9) The glissando orchestral "rush" heard twice in A Day in the Life was inspired by avant-garde composers such as John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen (above). John, and especially Paul, were curious about these composers. They all share a spirit of musical adventure.
Labels: avant-garde, BBC, Beatles, Geoff Emerick, George Harrison, George Martin, Howard Goodall, Indian music, John Cage, John Lennon, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Paul McCartney, rock music, Sgt. Pepper
Review: the immersive Sgt. Pepper mix
About 100 hardcore Beatle freaks left work early yesterday to attend a one-time listening party of the "immersive" Sgt. Pepper mix in downtown Toronto at 4:30 pm. From L.A. to New York, select cities across North America hosted the free event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the landmark album.
First of all, what is an "immersive" mix? Imagine surround sound, like 5.1 in your home or a public cinema, but with extra speakers on the ceiling so that the listener is almost entirely surrounded by sound (except the floor). Add more subwoofers to boost the bass. (Currently, there are no plans to offer the Pepper immersive mix to home theatre.) As he did with the new stereo and 5.1 remixes, producer Giles Martin prepared this Dolby Atmos mix. So, how was it?
Let me note that I've listened to the amazing new stereo remix many times (review here), but not the 5.1 yet. For yesterday's listening, I sat near the center of the cinema, in the sweet spot, slightly right of center. The verdict: This immersive mix was impressive, but didn't blow me away.
Immersive mixes allow sounds to swirl literally over your head, behind you and around the sides and front, essentially 360 degrees. Sure, there was some of that, notably in Mr. Kite and Within You, Without You, but was it was missing in tracks you'd expect like Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds and A Day in the Life. The immersive mix was conservative and didn't exploit the medium's potential.
On the positive side, Ringo's drums and Paul's bass drive the immersive mix, just like in the stereo. It was powerful and visceral. Also, there is even more definition in the instruments than in the stereo remix. There were harp passages in She's Leaving Home I'd never heard before. The Western-and-Indian instrumental break in Within You, Without You is breathtaking. Same goes with the musical wash in Mr. Kite. Surprisingly, Lovely Rita benefits the most from the immersive treatment, with its layers of instruments spread across the sound field to dazzling effect. The final piano crash of the album in A Day in the Life was so powerful it literally rattled the ceiling of cinema 7 of the Dundas-Yonge Cineplex, a cinema designed to withstand Hollywood blockbusters.
Yes, it was an enjoyable listening experience and I'm glad I attended it, but it wasn't a leap from my stereo mix blasting from my 5.1 home theatre system. Also, it would have been nice to hear Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane included in the immersive presentation.
Reaction from the mostly 100 Baby Boomers in the audience (some of whom remember spinning their mono vinyl LPs of Pepper in the summer of love) were mostly thumbs up. "Amazing," said one. "Really liked it," said another. Another fan was impressed, but wanted to rush home and compare it to the original mono mix. (Before the immersive mix played, there was a brief video of Giles comparing a snippet of Pepper in mono, the new stereo and the immersive. The differences were subtle.) A veteran American music producer felt the mix was off-balance, but that may have had to do with where he was sitting in the cinema. Another fan wanted more high-end definition.
Me, I can't complain. I love the new Pepper and hearing it with extra channels was a splendid time, especially surrounded by fellow Beatles freaks.
Labels: 50th anniversary, Cineplex, Dolby Atmos, Giles Martin, immersive sound mix, Sgt. Pepper, stereo remix, The Beatles
9 Things We Learned from Sgt. Pepper's Musical Rev...


Coreen Eastes, Improvement Manager shares her experience of implementing improved patient flow in Windsor Regional Hospital, Ontario, Canada.
Coreen Eastes, Improvement Manager, NHS Improvement, shares her experience of facilitating improved patient flow in Canada.
Since joining the team in Canada, Bernie had been using our NHS principles for good patient flow such as the SAFER bundle. However, she thought it would be invaluable for the Canadian team to experience some of that work first-hand.
Following discussions with both Bernie and Karen McCullough, the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Nurse at Windsor Hospital, I recommended they take a look at how Ipswich NHS Hospital Trust had implemented SAFER, supported by their development of Red2Green days. Both Karen and Bernie were keen, so I set about facilitating a visit from the Canadian team to Ipswich.
With Nick Hulme, the Chief Executive Officer, and Neil Maloney, Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director for Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust, we arranged a two-day visit. The aim was to give the Canadians a real insight into how the SAFER patient flow bundle and Red2Green days have been embedded at Ipswich. The visit took place in July 2017.
The two days were set up so that the visiting Canadian team (consisting of acute physicians, nurses and flow managers) could meet, observe and work with the Ipswich teams to see the principles of both initiatives in action. The team also spent time with staff in the operations room. The ops team play an integral role in co-ordinating the site, and facilitating admission and discharge using the Red2Green approach.
In conjunction with Coreen Eastes and Neil Moloney, Ipswich's Managing Director, we arranged a two-day site visit so that the Canadian team could hear about, and see first-hand, how Red2Green days work. The trust operations centre has been instrumental in improving patient flow.
Having seen and experienced Red2Green in action, it was decided that Windsor Regional Hospital will adopt the Red2Green days philosophy and practices.
The cultural and process changes that will need to be made for this to be successful were so well described and demonstrated by the Ipswich team. We are confident that the transition will be highly successful, with some tweaking to adapt the process to fit with Windsor Regional Hospital's culture and systems.
The team's work and the obvious passion demonstrated by all those we met to do the very best for every patient, was most impressive. As a result of the Ipswich team's efforts and motivation, Windsor Regional Hospital will be the first hospital in Canada to adopt the Red2Green principles.
The Ipswich team and I found spending time with Karen and her team a real insight into how other health sectors provide care. It was a great learning experience to compare our constraints and to be able to work through solutions with the Canadian team.
Having worked in the NHS for 30 years this October - and always very proud to say I am an NHS professional - I found spending time with the team from Canada immensely insightful. I felt really pleased that our tools and approaches like Red2Green days and the SAFER patient flow bundle are being used to help patients in other countries. It also proved that the grass is not always greener on the other side. Currently, the average time in an emergency department in Canada can be anything from 15 to 21 hours, and they have no national quality standard for emergency care.
It is important to reflect on the successes of our approach here, and the positive impact that innovations in the English NHS have the potential to make internationally.


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Q: Nesting three (3) for loops & EnableDelayedExpansion In trying to integrate a third for loop & it's supporting code into existing
code & I've reached the limits of my understanding.  I'm totally lost on how to reference
the various variables in this complex "EnableDelayedExpansion" environment.
Additionally, should "EnableDelayedExpansion" / endlocal be turned on/off at each
For loop or just once at the start & end of the program.
:: ------------------ Beg For #1
      For /L %%a in (%XBEG%,1,%XEND%) do (
      cls
      echo :    %%a
      set L=1
:: ------------------ Beg For #2
      For /F "delims=" %%b in (%XDRV%%XPATH%%%a\1dir%%a.txt) do (
        set XTITLE=%%b
        echo Line !L!: !XTITLE!
        If not {!XTITLE!}=={!XTITLE:%XDRV%%XPATH%%%a\!} set XTITLE=!XTITLE:~18,-4!
        ::
:: ------------------ Beg For #3 --- New code
::   Write title to the xtemp file.  Place the redirection
:: symbol, i.e., greater than sign, IMMEDIATELY after vari
:: to avoid a trailing space, i.e., ( %vari%> )
      echo !XTITLE!> %XDRV%%XPATH%xtemp.txt
::   Get the file size in bytes, each byte = one character
      For %%c in (%XDRV%%XPATH%xtemp.txt) do set /a XLEN=%%~zc
::   Subtract 2 bytes, 1 for CR, 1 for LF, from Length
      set /a XLEN -=2

      cls
      echo : ===[  Debug  ]======================================
      echo - !XTITLE! - has !XLEN! characters.
      set /a XPAD=50-!XLEN!
      echo - Xpad is !XPAD!

::    Build the Index entry
      set XENTRY=%XPADs%%XTITLE%%XPAD%%%a
      echo - %XENTRY%
      pause

:: remove the xtemp file
      del %XDRV%%XPATH%xtemp.txt
        set /a L=!L!+1
        pause
:: ------------------ end of New code
      ):: End For #2
    )
:: End For #1
::        Clean Up For3
      set XTITLE=
      set L=
     Goto DOS

The "EnableDelayedExpansion" / endlocal are currently placed at the start & end
of the program.
It's my hope that this situation is of sufficient interest to the community as
your help is desperately needed & would be VERY much appreciated.

A: You never state exactly what your problems are. You are doing some odd things with file paths, but I can't tell if what you are doing makes sense.
I do see some definite bugs:
1) If not {!XTITLE!}=={!XTITLE:%XDRV%%XPATH%%%a\!} ...
It looks like you are attempting search and replace to test if a variable contains a path string. But you forgot your =. Also, you should use quotes when doing search and replace or substring operations with delayed expansion within an IF test.
Corrected:
if not "!XTITLE!"=="!XTITLE:%XDRV%%XPATH%%%a\=!" ...

2) Additional delayed expansion needed in this existing code. Also, you have an extra unwanted s. I also like to use quotes to make sure there are no hidden spaces at the end of the assignment.
set XENTRY=%XPADs%%XTITLE%%XPAD%%%a
echo - %XENTRY%

Corrected:
set "XENTRY=!XPAD!!XTITLE!!XPAD!%%a"
echo - !XENTRY!

In general, I think your code could use more quotes during assignments.
There may be additional problems, but that is what I see without actually testing the code, and without knowing what it is supposed to do.

There are some optimizations possible
1) No need to delete the temp file each iteration. You only need to delete it at the end outside the outer loop.
2) You can eliminate the 2nd SET /A and subtract 2 within the 3rd loop.
For %%c in (%XDRV%%XPATH%xtemp.txt) do set /a XLEN=%%~zc - 2

3) No need to clear each variable at the end. Simply SETLOCAL at the beginning and ENDLOCAL at the end.

Regarding when to enable delayed expansion: Most likely you can simply enable delayed expansion at the beginning. But that will cause a problem if any of your title values include ! because the value will be corrupted when %%b is expanded if delayed expansion is enabled.
If a title may contain ! then you must toggle delayed expansion on and off within the 2nd loop. But then you have to preserve the value of L after the ENDLOCAL. You can do something like the following:
For /F "delims=" %%b in (%XDRV%%XPATH%%%a\1dir%%a.txt) do (
  set XTITLE=%%b
  setlocal enableDelayedExpansion
  :: ... do your work with delayed expansion
  :: Use a FOR loop to transport the value of L past ENDLOCAL
  for %%N in (!L!) do (
    endlocal
    set "L=%%N"
  )
):: End For #2

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Syed Muhammad Athar Hussain Shah Gillani (; born 24 October 1959) is a Pakistani politician who had been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan, from June 2013 to May 2018.

Early life
He was born on 10 October 1959.

Political career

He was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan as a candidate of Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) from Constituency NA-165 (Pakpattan-II) in 2013 Pakistani general election. He received 71,804 votes and defeated Ahmad Raza Maneka, a candidate of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

References

Living people
Pakistan Muslim League (N) politicians
Punjabi people
Pakistani MNAs 2013–2018
1959 births

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Home > Asia > tip
5 Things You Need To Know When Visiting Oman
| 12th March 2012
The Sultanate of Oman is a destination where your dreams of 1001 nights will come true.
Only few countries have changed so dramatically in such a short space of time, from travelling on a donkey to the next village to a infrastructure most countries would be proud of nowadays.
The big change came in 1970 when Sultan Qaboos came to the throne in a bloodless coup. Since then Oman is celebrating its "Renaissance".
But you can still feel the spirit of the Arabian myth as the Omani never lost their affinity to their cultural roots and that's why you'll find in Oman what you'll miss in Dubai.
1. Best time to visit Oman is between November and Mid-March, when the average temperature is around 25° Celsius. In Summer it's very hot and hazy in Oman. In southern Oman a good time to visit is also in September after the rainy season when everything is beautifully green here. If you decide to go to the desert (and you should) bring some warmer clothes as it really can get very cold here during the night.
2. The scent of frankincense is everywhere. Whether you go to a typical souq or step in one of the many luxury hotels, you can't escape the scent of frankincense. Oman was the centre of the frankincense trade and myth says back then even the Queen of Sheba ordered Omani frankincense as a gift to King Solomon. And I bet you know the "legend" of the three wise men in this book called Bible...
3. Oman is a great destination for every outdoor fan. Besides hiking, climbing, snorkeling and diving, there's one thing which will make your heart skip a beat: Offroad driving. Although Oman has an excellent infrastructure there are still vast tracts of land without a road where you have the chance to find literally hidden treasures like an unknown wadi. Bashing the dunes in the desert is a thing you'll never forget. Besides the fun it's important to be careful as Oman is a big country and if you have a car crash or even just a flat tire it can take some time until help arrives. Sidenote: Road signs are written in English and Arabic and there are even some special brown tourist signs which highlight sites of interest.
4. The Omani people are very friendly and open. It will often happen that they start a conversation with you and if you visit a town or area where not so many tourists go to it can even happen that they will invite you for dinner. Like in most Arabic countries you shouldn't take pictures especially of women without asking. It happened to me that I had a nice conversation with an Omani woman but when I asked to take her picture she denied it but introduced me to her husband and kids who were happy to have their picture taken.
5. You should wear appropriate clothing. For women this means to cover their knees, shoulders and cleavage and when visiting mosques also to cover their hair and ankles. Men should actually consider the same, except covering the hair. It happend to a friend who was wearing normal (even covering the knees) shorts when we wanted to enter Muscat Festival that security refused to let him in like this (carrying a Sarong in your bag can be very helpful in such situations).
Thanks to Oman Air for inviting Traveldudes!
As always... All views are our own!
Written and contributed for Traveldudes by JustTravelous
justtravelous.com
TravelDudes
How Much Does It Cost To Live In Tokyo?


Below is a gallery of our work and a map showing the improvement of household radon levels after installing a mitigation system.
We service these counties and surrounding areas: Armstrong, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Clarion, Clearfield, Fayette, Indiana, Jefferson, Somerset, Westmoreland, and parts of Allegheny and Centre counties.
Copyright © 2013 2E Contracting, LLC.


text:
<?php
require_once 'config.php';

$url = str_replace("image.php?".$_SERVER["QUERY_STRING"], "", $_SERVER['SERVER_NAME'].$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']
    ).UPLOAD_LOCATION.$_GET['url'];
$allowed = array('jpg','gif','png');
$pos = strrpos($url, ".");
$str = substr($url,($pos + 1));

$ch = curl_init();
$timeout = 0;
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $url);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_CONNECTTIMEOUT, $timeout);

// Getting binary data
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_BINARYTRANSFER, 1);

$image = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);
// output to browser
$im = @imagecreatefromstring($image);

$tw = @imagesx($im);
if(!$tw){
    // Font directory + font name
    $font = 'css/LondrinaSolid.ttf';
    // Size of the font
    $fontSize = 18;
    // Height of the image
    $height = 80;
    // Width of the image
    $width = 250;
    // Text
    $str = 'omg. an error occurred';
    $img_handle = imagecreate ($width, $height) or die ("Cannot Create image");
    // Set the Background Color RGB
    $backColor = imagecolorallocate($img_handle, 100, 100, 100);
    // Set the Text Color RGB
    $txtColor = imagecolorallocate($img_handle, 200, 200, 200);
    $textbox = imagettfbbox($fontSize, 0, $font, $str) or die('Error in imagettfbbox function');
    $x = ($width - $textbox[4])/2;
    $y = ($height - $textbox[5])/2;
    imagettftext($img_handle, $fontSize, 0, $x, $y, $txtColor, $font , $str) or die('Error in imagettftext function');
    header('Content-Type: image/jpeg');
    imagejpeg($img_handle,NULL,100);
    imagedestroy($img_handle);
}else{
    if($str == 'jpg' || $str == 'jpeg')
        header("Content-type: image/jpeg");
    if($str == 'gif')
        header("Content-type: image/gif");
    if($str == 'png')
        header("Content-type: image/png");
    $th = imagesy($im);
    $thumbWidth = 585;
    if($tw <= $thumbWidth){
        $thumbWidth = $tw;
    }
    $thumbHeight = $th * ($thumbWidth / $tw);
    $thumbImg = imagecreatetruecolor($thumbWidth, $thumbHeight);
    if($str == 'gif'){
        $colorTransparent = imagecolortransparent($im);
        imagefill($thumbImg, 0, 0, $colorTransparent);
        imagecolortransparent($thumbImg, $colorTransparent);
    }
    if($str == 'png'){
        imagealphablending($thumbImg, false);
        imagesavealpha($thumbImg,true);
        $transparent = imagecolorallocatealpha($thumbImg, 255, 255, 255, 127);
        imagefilledrectangle($thumbImg, 0, 0, $thumbWidth, $thumbHeight, $transparent);
    }
    imagecopyresampled($thumbImg, $im, 0, 0, 0, 0, $thumbWidth, $thumbHeight, $tw, $th);

    if($str == 'jpg' || $str == 'jpeg'){
        imagejpeg($thumbImg, NULL, 75);
    }
    if($str == 'gif'){
        imagegif($thumbImg);
    }
    if($str == 'png'){
        imagealphablending($thumbImg,TRUE);
        imagepng($thumbImg, NULL, 9, PNG_ALL_FILTERS);
    }

    imagedestroy($thumbImg);
}
?>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


FORTUNE — In case you needed additional proof that wearable devices may be the next big thing, now comes word that Microsoft (MSFT) is also toying with designs for a smartwatch.
may have a smartwatch on the way. For each company, there's a lot to gain: Gartner Research estimates wearable devices will be a $10 billion industry by 2015.
A svelte look, different sizes. We know: Great design should be obvious, but given that the Surface Pro tablet is bulkier than the 13-inch MacBook Air, it's not a given for Microsoft. And of course, what some people wear reveals a bit about who they are. Just as Pebble is shipping watches with different colors and wristbands, Microsoft should do the same, exploring different-sized watch faces and wristbands of different styles and widths. Not doing so could alienate many would-be owners. To wit, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster wrote recently that a wearable computer could prove more popular with men than women if it's produced on the chunkier side. "It is less likely women will embrace them given women's watches tend to be smaller with a greater emphasis on fashion," explained Munster.
Cross-platform syncing. When Microsoft, Google, and Apple release a consumer device, it usually only plays nice with the respective company's hardware and software ecosystem. (Take the Nexus 7 tablet versus the iPad.) Is it asking too much of Microsoft to allow its smartwatch to sync with Android devices or iPhones? After all, Apple eventually opened up the iPod to Windows users. Given that Windows Phone's market share accounted for just 2.6% of global smartphone shipments last year — a portion that's expected to reach 11.4% come 2016 — Microsoft's chances of building a huge user base would grow exponentially if it appealed to people with non-Microsoft devices.
Open-source development. Microsoft would do well to take a page from Pebble's playbook. The startup is providing software developers with the tools to create new features and apps for its smartwatch: digital watch faces, better music controls, and exercise monitoring, among them. The more notable features the device has, the more compelling the experience.
Streamlined Windows Phone/Windows 8 experience. Say what you like about Windows Phone's small market share, but there's no escaping the fact that its unique, color tile-based interface just works. The same can be said of the tile-based section on Microsoft's Surface tablets. (Although, the desktop-like Windows 8 tablet experience leaves a lot to be desired.) On a display small enough for a smartwatch, the software design seems like a natural fit.
Health monitoring from the get-go. I enjoy my Nike (NKE) FuelBand and Nike+ Running app because they track the distances I've walked or run and calories burned. It's a killer feature, and integrating that capability into a smartwatch would make it significantly more useful for exercise junkies.
What about you, Fortune readers? Would you buy a smartwatch from Microsoft, and if so, what features would you like it to have?


I'm sorry, I hate to do this to you but I feel like I haven't really got a choice, I'm going to have to mention Brexit, I promise it is only a quick mention and in what feels like the most febrile waiting game to find out what happens it turns out everyone bar one person has read the plot in the Radio Times and knows which way the vote is going to go.What we don't know yet is what happens in the episode after the "duh-duh duh duh" drums sound on the 11th December.
I promised it would only be a quick mention, but it serves to make my point. I've used up a quarter of this column talking about how Brexit as an all-consuming topic seems to be paralysing Government and impeding progress in other areas as politicians seem to be mesmerised into inaction.
Take education and skills for example, Governments past have made it their top priority, in this one it barely features.There are some big policy ambitions around the funding of Apprenticeships and how they should be paid for and the introduction of T Levels to bring parity of esteem between academic and vocational routes.As with all policies there is good and bad but the tweaks that need to be made seem to be stuck in the Whitehall tar pit.For example, we have long argued that the Apprenticeship Levy is unlikely to create a significant number of new apprenticeship places if employers cannot either pay it down their supply chain or pool it with other employers to upskill the workforce.Using the levy for supply chains was always in the Government's mind but so far nothing has happened.
Similarly, there are some reservations around the effectiveness of T Levels and how they relate to employment, but these have so far fallen on deaf ears with a T Level roll out due.Surely it is better to get the policy right from the beginning rather than roll out something half baked for lack of attention in Whitehall as the civil service wrestle with the implications of Brexit for their Departments.
This paralysis can't carry on if we are to have a business environment fit for purpose so the sooner the key questions on Brexit are sorted out the better then we can all get on with something more productive.


← BP Says Oil Gusher Stopped!
Thomas "Tom" Paine (February 9, 1737 – June 8, 1809) was an author, pamphleteer, radical, inventor, intellectual, revolutionary, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Born in England, Paine emigrated to the British American colonies in 1774 in time to participate in the American Revolution. His principal contributions were the powerful, widely read pamphlet Common Sense (1776), advocating colonial America's independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, and The American Crisis (1776–1783), a pro-revolutionary pamphlet series.
I believe the government has always had the power to intervene in any illegal activity in the country whether it be private or public.
I do not know the particulars of this incident but you can bet if the government wants you out of business—you're out of business.
Remember, they're the ones with the big guns.


Urban Engineering has completed over 80 individual survey projects at 36 different airports and air bases within Arizona.
Place mouse over location for project information.
COCHISE COUNTY / WILLCOX AIRPORT TAXIWAY ALPHA and TAXIWAY BRAVO Survey Control and Topographic Map for over 3,000 feet of taxiway.
BISBEE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEM MITL Topographic Survey of approx. 2.3 acres for the location of water tanks and pump housing. Established vertical and horizontal control. RUNWAY 17-35 WIDENING Cross sections at centerline and edge of runway, and shoulders. Located edge of runway lights and the connecting taxiways.
SAFFORD REGIONAL AIRPORT AVIATION WAY AND TAXIWAY E Topographic Survey for approx. 2,200'. Established survey control, provided cross sections, and located all above ground improvments and utilities. TAXIWAY B AT CONNECTION WITH TAXIWAY B-2 AND TAXIWAY E Topographic Survey for approx. 1900'. Located all above ground improvements and utilities. RUNWAY 12-30 Topographic Survey. Established survey control and centerline of runway. Provided elevations along centerline. Located all above ground improvements and utilities and provided a grid at each intersection with Taxiway B and each side of Runway 8-26. APRON REHABILITATION, RECONSTRUCTION AND MARKING Topographic Survey. Verified existing and established additional control. Provided grid topo for the area south of Taxiway D. Provided additional elevations west/east also along the edge and centerline for Taxiway D and at existing concrete pads south of the proposed limits. Provided invert elevations for storm drain, electric pull boxes, tiedowns and existing striping. Provided topo and outside limits east of the terminal and located abutting taxiways. Established elevations on adjacent concrete aprons and walks and for gravel area. Located gas tank concrete base, bollards including Taxiway D and each end of Runway 12-30, 8-26. Established bearing and distance for each runway.


A latex foam ring cushion that can be used to relieve pressure and make seats more comfortable.
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Outer diameter: 432mm (17 inch).
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text:
Q: VBA recording column names past column Z I have some code that has been working fine for ages trouble is now my data has gone past column z and the code no longer works, once it gets past column z the rangestring value is[29 rather than AA29 ,AB29 etc. can anyone give me guidance on how I can make this work it needs to go to at least column AW. other people have told me I have made a fundamental error because I should have used column numbers and not names. I am no expert and have managed to get this working by cannibalising code I have found on here and other places. My code is below hopefully it is understandable.
Sub Copy_picked_X1s_to_final_56()
    Dim SelectedName() As String              'this array holds the "SelectedName" for a specific date
    Dim AllNames() As Variant                  'this array holds all the names in the "Final Assignments"
    Dim NameCount1 As Long, NameCount2 As Long 'namecount 1 holds a count of the "SelectedName", namecount 2 holds a count of "AllNames" in the "Final Assignments"
    Dim Services() As Variant                  'this array holds a list of all the "Services"
    Dim Columncounter As Long                  'this array holds a count of all the columns that have "Services"
    Dim NameCell As String                     'this string holds the location of the cell in "Final Assignments" where the "SelectedName" appears
    Dim location As String
    Dim Name1 As String
    Dim Name2 As String
    Dim NameFound As Long
    Dim FillArray As Long                      'used to loop through the various arrays
    Dim RangeString As String
    Dim ServiceCount As Long

    '***********************************************************************************************'
    ' Fill the services array with the full list of services and loop through the services
    '***********************************************************************************************'

    Sheets("Final Assignments").Select 'select "Final Assignments" worksheet
    ServiceCount = Range("B3", Range("B3").End(xlToRight)).Cells.Count - 1 'set range of "Services" to count

    ReDim Services(0 To ServiceCount) 'Redimension the "Services" array

    For Columncounter = 0 To ServiceCount
        'Services(Columncounter) = Range("B3").Offset(0, Columncounter).Value 'collect the values
    Next Columncounter

    '***********************************************************************************************'
    ' Loop through all the services
    '***********************************************************************************************'

    For Columncounter = 0 To ServiceCount

        Sheets("Sorted X1").Select 'select "Sorted X1" worksheet
        RangeString = Chr(65 + Columncounter) & "29" 'set the range based on the columncounter

        NameCount1 = Range(RangeString, Range(RangeString).End(xlDown)).Cells.Count - 1 'count the number of names for the first date

        ReDim SelectedName(0 To NameCount1) 'Redimension the "SelectedName" array
        If SelectedName(0) = "" And SelectedName(1) = "" And NameCount1 = 1 Then
            For FillArray = 0 To NameCount1 'gather the names

                SelectedName(FillArray) = Range(RangeString).Offset(FillArray).Value
            Next FillArray
        End If

        '***********************************************************************************************'
        'Now select the first name in the final assignments list
        '***********************************************************************************************'

        Sheets("Final Assignments").Select 'select "Final Assignments" worksheet
        NameCount2 = Range("A4", Range("A4").End(xlDown)).Count - 1 'count the number of "AllNames" in the "Final Assignments"
        Range("A3").Select
        If NameCount1 < 4 Then
            For NameFound = 0 To NameCount2
                ActiveCell.Offset(1, 0).Select

                For FillArray = 0 To NameCount1

                    If SelectedName(FillArray) = ActiveCell.Value Then
                        ActiveCell.Offset(0, Columncounter + 1).Value = "X1"   'Services(Columncounter)
                    End If

                Next FillArray

            Next NameFound
        End If
    Next Columncounter 'increment along the row

End Sub

A: The problem is in:
RangeString = Chr(65 + Columncounter) & "29" 'set the range based on the columncounter
This part of the code would work indeed up to Z. Which is not a good option. Use the Offset property, to get the correct address. E.g., the code below gives the address of the 5000th column of the first row:
Sub TestMe()

    Dim myRange As Range
    Dim addCols As Long: addCols = 5000

    Set myRange = Worksheets(1).Range("A1")
    Debug.Print myRange.Offset(0, addCols).Address

End Sub

Or even get the new range as a range, without assigning its address to a variable:
Sub TestMe()

    Dim myRange As Range, newRange as Range
    Dim addCols As Long: addCols = 5000

    Set myRange = Worksheets(1).Range("A1")
    Set newRange = myRange.Offset(0, addCols)
    Debug.Print newRange.Address

End Sub

A: A quick and dirty fix would be to replace this line
RangeString = Chr(65 + Columncounter) & "29"

with something like
RangeString = Cells(29, ColumnCounter+1).address(RowAbsolute:=False, ColumnAbsolute:=False)

This should generate the RangeString variable without being dependent on Chr(. In this I've added one to your ColumnCounter as the loop starts at 0 which is less than the minimum of 1 for a Column.


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text:
Federal judge holds Obama administration in contempt over drilling "permitorium"
Ed Morrissey Feb 03, 2011 2:55 PM ET
When Judge Martin Feldman ordered the federal government to end its moratorium on deep-sea drilling, he actually meant it. In a ruling earlier today, the federal judge in New Orleans has held the Obama administration in contempt for its "defiance" in reimposing the moratorium through other means:
The Obama Administration acted in contempt by continuing its deepwater drilling moratorium after the policy was struck down, a New Orleans judge ruled.
Interior Department regulators acted with "determined disregard" by lifting and reinstituting a series of policy changes that restricted offshore drilling, following the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, U.S. District Judge, Martin Feldman of New Orleans ruled yesterday.
"Each step the government took following the court's imposition of a preliminary injunction showcases its defiance," Feldman said in the ruling.
"Such dismissive conduct, viewed in tandem with the re- imposition of a second blanket and substantively identical moratorium, and in light of the national importance of this case, provide this court with clear and convincing evidence of the government's contempt," Feldman said.
The government has not issued a permit to drill in nine months, evidence that the White House has attempted to evade Feldman's orders. The lawsuit alleges that thousands of jobs have been lost in the "permitorium," as some have dubbed the policy, and that the loss of American production has hiked costs and made the US more dependent than ever on imports. It also drove investment in exploration out of the US and into places like Brazil. The economic damage from the permitorium will take years to reverse, as major rigs have already departed the Gulf.
Feldman ruled that the government had to pay the legal fees for the lawsuit, which are "substantial," according to the firm handling it. That means taxpayers get the bill both ways.
What legal impact does a contempt ruling have on an administration? Not much, although a failure to comply with court orders could eventually lead to removing Ken Salazar from his post at Interior, if Congress gets fed up enough with it. It will likely have a great deal more political impact, though — and certainly will provide House Oversight chair Darrell Issa with a new issue to investigate.
Tags: WHITE HOUSE BARACK OBAMA OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY


text:
Elections for a General National Congress (GNC) were held in Libya on 7 July 2012, having been postponed from 19 June. They were the first elections since the overthrow and death of longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi a year earlier, the first free national elections since 1952, and only the second free national elections since Libya gained independence in 1951.

Once elected, the General National Congress was to appoint a Prime Minister and Cabinet. The GNC was originally to be charged with appointing a Constituent Assembly to draw up Libya's new constitution in an interim period of 18–22 months before a constitutional referendum and new elections on that basis, but the National Transitional Council (NTC) announced on 5 July that the Assembly would instead be directly elected at a later date.

Despite threats of a boycott, a majority of Libyans (61.58%) cast a ballot. However, the election was marred by violence, protests and a number of deaths.

Electoral system
A draft election law was published on 1 January 2012 on the website of the High National Election Commission (HNEC), after which public comments were accepted. The draft law proposed electing 200 representatives, of which at least 10% should be women, unless fewer than 10% of candidates were women. Members of the NTC and Jamahiriya government members, including relatives of Muammar Gaddafi, were barred from running.

The second draft abolished the women's quota and allowed local NTC council members to run in the election; it also changed the electoral system from countrywide to constituency-based. Following further protests against restrictions for dual nationals and other issues, the release of the electoral law was again postponed to 28 January 2012. The NTC also sought the input of the Libyan Women's Platform for Peace, who had proposed an alternative electoral law and criticized the official draft on four key points relating to dual nationals, lack of a women's quota, inadequate countermeasures against corruption and the risk of incentivizing tribal party formation.

A new electoral law was finally drafted on 28–29 January 2012. The election system will be a form of parallel voting, with 64 constituency seats (with independent candidates only) and 136 list seats for party lists. Lists will have to alternate between male and female candidates, in effect ensuring a women's quota. The age required to stand for election was lowered to 21 years, and citizens with dual nationality will be allowed to vote and run in the election. Further changes were later made, changing the ratio to 120 constituency seats and 80 list seats, reportedly in an attempt to reduce the Muslim Brotherhood's influence in the new parliament. The 120 constituency seats would be elected from 69 constituencies, whilst the 80 list seats would be elected in 20 constituencies.

Voter registration
Registration of voters, parties participating in elections and independent candidates started at 1 May, and was due to finish on 14 May. However, following a call for a boycott of the process by the Council of Cyrenaica, which is seeking autonomy for parts of eastern Libya around the city of Benghazi, the deadline was extended until 21 May. In total 2,865,937 voters, or 80% of the estimated 3 million to 3.5 million electorate, registered for the elections. The registration process was supervised by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya.

Minority groups, such as the Tawerghans, who had been accused of supporting former leader Muammar Gaddafi, said that the election was futile as they are marginalised. They also added that voter registration was difficult. Yet about 90 percent of Tawerghans living in Janzour Naval Academy refugee camp registered to vote.

Campaign
A total of 374 party lists registered to contest the 80 party list seats, together with 2,639 candidates for the 120 constituency seats. The four parties that were expected to dominate the election are the National Front Party, the Justice and Construction Party, the National or Homeland Party and the National Forces Alliance. The National Front Party is linked to the National Front for the Salvation of Libya (NFSL), a former anti-Gaddafi resistance group formed in the 1980s. It is led by Mohamed el-Magariaf, an intellectual based in Eastern Libya. The Justice and Construction Party is the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Libya. The Homeland Party is an Islamist party as well, led by the Islamic cleric Ali al-Sallabi and Abdelhakim Belhadj, the former emir of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG). The National Forces Alliance is a liberal umbrella coalition around ex-interim prime minister Mahmoud Jibril, who himself did not run for a seat in the GNC.

The Libyan Popular National Movement, a political party supporting the policies of Gaddafi, was banned from participating in the elections.

Conduct
Voting was disrupted in some parts of the country, with 6% of the 6,629 polling stations unable to open normally. However all but eight polling stations managed to open up for voters during the day and the remaining eight, including two in the Kufra area, which had seen clashes between Toubous and government forces, opened the following day. In the Benghazi area a polling station was attacked by activists seeking autonomy for the east of the country and an election official was killed by a gun attack on a helicopter carrying voting materials on the day before the election. In eastern Libya former rebels closed five oil terminals at Brega, Ra's Lanuf and Sidra for 48 hours in an attempt to disrupt the elections. In Ajdabiya a pro-federalism protester was shot dead by locals when he tried to steal a ballot box from a polling station. Officials with the HNEC were denied access to Bani Walid by tribal Gaddafi loyalists who control the city, and could not monitor the voting process.

Around 1.7 million of 2.8 million registered voters participated in the elections.

Results

According to first counts, the liberal National Forces Alliance did well in the northern areas except Misrata, whereas the race was more even in the south. The other key contenders were the Islamic Justice and Construction Party, which came in second, and Al-Watan, which in the end won no seats at all.

On 17 July, the High National Election Commission announced provisional results. In the 80 proportional seats, Mahmoud Jibril's National Forces Alliance (NFA) received 48.1%, winning 39 seats. This was followed by the Justice and Construction Party (JCP), which received 10.3% and 17 seats and third was the National Front Party with 4.1% and three seats. The Union for the Homeland and the National Centrist Party also took two seats, as did the Wadi Al-Hayah Party for Democracy and Development. Fifteen other parties won one party list seat each.

The affiliation of the 120 independents is obscure but the election for Prime Minister gave some indication: in the first round Mahmoud Jibril (NFA) got 86 votes, Mustafa Abushagur (independent) got 55 votes and Awad Barasi (JCP) got 41 votes. Then Abushagur defeated Jibril with 96 to 94. It is estimated that 25 independents are associated with the NFA, 17 with Justice and Construction, and 23 are Salafis.

References

External links
High National Election Commission

Elections in Libya
Libya
2012 in Libya
July 2012 events in Africa
Election and referendum articles with incomplete results


- Functions Of Language | Example English Language Essay - Custom Essay Writing Service UK for Your Academic Success! - Custom Essay Writing Service UK for Your Academic Success!
Throughout history, language "its origins, diversity, and dynamic nature" has fascinated scholars. Indeed, their fascination has even been preserved"just as most historical records have been"thanks to language itself. Undoubtedly, in language humans have their ultimate means of communication (Whitehead 1996). From the moment they are born, babies seem to want to communicate. This communication involves facial expressions, gestures and body language and verbal and sign language. Language of all kinds uses an agreed code which develops according to the cultures in which they arise (Pinker 1994). The rhythms, tone and melody of language are of great importance as language develops. The gestures and movements of the face and hands are also extremely important and are all part of the conventional symbols of that particular culture (Whitting 1992).
The child learns to speak slowly through observation. Somebody makes a special sound when something comes into sight or makes this noise, or when the baby sees it and looks at it. Then he will make the same noise himself, and the sound has been found to have an effect. The infant gradually learns that particular sounds are intimately connected with certain objects, and that making that sound seems to control it in some way (Barnes 1995). He finds assistance in learning to talk through the observation made by his other senses and further help is derived from the people around him. Through language he is being accepted into society very gradually. It is by communicating his own thoughts, or acknowledging those of others, that he is regarded as making a contribution and of being on equal footing with those around him.
There is much debate whether we are born with the skills and abilities necessary for speech or whether we develop them because of our environment. This is often referred to as the nature versus nurture debate (Barnes 1998). There are several theories of how babies and children acquire language. Some are based on the idea that learning a language is an instinct and others that children learn to communicate because they are exposed to language as part of a process of socialisation (Pinkers 1994). There is no doubt that children are born with a predisposition to learn, talk and listen. Children learn to talk partly because they are born genetically equipped to do so, and partly through the people they meet and communicate and socialise with. So what exactly are some of the functions of language for the child?
The positive relationships and communications between people who respect each other is one of the most important factors in language development and in the development of the child's thinking. To be part of a culture is a need human beings are born with (Barnes 1998). Children therefore need to learn a language in order to understand themselves and those around them. It is through language that they communicate with others and share their experiences. It is also through language that they are able to represent and express new ideas as well as complex matters. Children are in difficulty when they are not able to put their feelings into words or express then in any way (Whitting 1992). This has a damaging impact of the development of their self-esteem. Talking about feelings is just as important as talking about idea, and children who cannot express their feelings often have tantrums or show other kinds of challenging behaviour.
Language is also important for a child from the point of view of talking to oneself. Children find it helpful to think through different ideas and they like to talk about their feelings. They also need to talk through their frustrations when things are not going according to plan. They need to organise their thoughts and plan what they are going to do. Just as many adults talk to themselves when they think things over, so too do children. When we look at language development, we can see that a young child thinks from their own point of view. Some psychologists have suggested that thinking is not possible without language, and language and thought are often considered to be particularly closely linked (Lee et al 1995).
Language development is part of symbolic behaviour and is often called the period of symbolic development. Language development is deeply linked with the processes of representation and communication which means it makes is easier to represent (keep hold of experiences) and to communicate (to share these experiences with others). Richard Dawkins, the biologist, refers to language as part of the social evolution of human beings. The desire to communicate starts at birth. Babies learn quickly how to get their needs met by cooing, crying and making eye contact with their primary carers. Language and the ability to communicate can radically affect nearly all areas of a child's overall development. Language is considered to be the main tool by which a child is able to develop their thought processes. Words are often the tool by which they store information. Being able to use language allows children to express themselves and communicate in a variety of ways and because of this, there is a strong link between children's social skills and their language skills. The need for language and communication skills in everyday life means that in practice, where children have some communication difficulty, their social development may be affected (Walley 1994).
So how do infants accomplish the feat of learning to speak, which is so important for the rest of their cognitive development? Primarily through verbal interactions with the parents. Infants especially respond to human stimuli. A baby imitates its mother's voice although, interestingly, babies do not imitate all sounds. For example, the baby does not insert the cradle squeaks that have occurred simultaneously with the mother's speech. Parents of varied cultural backgrounds speak to their babies using the same rhythmic speaking style that some call Parentese. As the parent speaks in a loving way, the heart rate of the infant increases (Bartholomew et al 1999). This is believed to assist in hastening the connection between words and the objects they denote. Without saying a word, the infant is calling out: Talk to me! It is important to understand that although most children vary in their rate of development, there seems to be a pattern to the way children learn language and communication skills from their carers.
Smiling, laughing and crying are universal communicative signals found in all cultures. A baby will use cries to signal he is hungry, lonely or distressed. At an early age, from 3 months onwards, the infant can recognise a carer's voice and, as he gets older, he is more inclined to cry out for attention. In this manner, he is using his limited language ability to gain instant gratification from his carer. As he reaches a year old, he is able to understand a few simple words and enjoys social interaction with his careers. By two years, new words are learnt quickly and he begins to use questions and explore his surroundings with great keenness (Arnold 1999). Throughout each stage of the child's life, language is used as a stepping stone which enable him to find out more about himself and his surroundings.
Language needs to accompany actions. When an adult lifts a baby and says 'Up we go', it is important that the adult then describes what is happening (Pinkers 1994). Actions help children understand what is being said to them. Language is important for abstract thinking and children learn to think through a variety of different ways of symbolically representing their ideas, experiences, feelings and relationships. When we think about cognition, we are referring to the child thinking and having ideas and concepts. With metacognition, children begin to think about their own thinking. They reflect on their own ideas and begin to understand when they have made mistakes. The next step in language is metalinguistics when the child begins to think about what they say. Eventually they are able to put their ideas into words and this helps them to put their emotions into words (Oates 1995).
At each stage, the child is using different functions of language: as a means of action; putting thoughts into words; expressing feelings; communicating with others; understanding his own feelings. The first few years of a child's life are essentially years of exploration and adventure, sometimes pleasant, sometimes quite the reverse. Some of the functions for language for the child is that of answering their questions. It is unfortunately not realised by many grown people that children are living mentally in a world quite different from their parent and other adult people. Having decided then that the child's questioning faculty must not be suppressed, the questions is, how best to deal with his questions. Children demand to ask countless questions and sometimes unanswerable things.
Another function of language is the feeling of jealousy and anxiety about the arrival if the next baby. This can be helped by allowing children to take out their aggressive feeling on a soft toy. This channels the aggression and gives the child permission to express their feelings. Parents are inundated with tips when a new baby comes along whilst baby number one is still very young. Children listen with interest when others speak, and do not dominate conversations. People will overlook a mispronounced word or a slip in grammar, but they will not warm to someone who wants to talk but not listen. It is important to make time to talk about the new baby just as much as the established baby. Infants can pick up in insincere speech on the part of their parents and they know instinctively if they are being pushed out.
Babies' brains are sponges soaking up their surroundings. In two years their processors learn a complex language just by hearing it. If the child hears two, he learns both. Not only language but also musical and artistic abilities, muscular coordination, moral values and conscience, faith and love and the urge to worship"all spring from capacities and potentials pre-programmed into baby brains. They only await input from the environment for their development. Also, there is a correct timetable for this input to come for the best results, and that advantageous time is during the formative years.
Very early on the child is aware of the pleasure he derives from feeling his own breath being slowly inspired and expired. The passage of air over the lips, the slight tickling sensation apparent as they are first approximated and then separated, the vibrations in oral and naval cavities, will give the child untold delight. The pleasure lies in the conscious control of his own activity – his own power over language (Lee et al 1995). It is absurd to imply that language is not a social instrument when quite clearly the pleasure lies in the conscious control of his own activity, in the child's possessions and demonstration of power. The child finds assistance in learning to talk though the observation made by his other senses and through linking together these special sounds with the objects that seem to have made them. Not only will the child use the simplest of gestures, grimaces, cries, or other sounds when words fail to express ideas and needs, but adults will frequently make use of the same method, when ordinary words do not convey the right meaning to a child (Minnet 1994).
Most child developmentalists state that the discoveries of philology show that during the development of speech in the individual child, the same stages are followed as in the course of cultural progress in any race (Whitting 1992). The lowest stage of all in the use of sounds is that of the simple cry, which primarily is a reflex action, denoting discomfort and acting as an emotional discharge. When the child discovers that constant repetition of a cry produces certain results, it can be deduced that mental processes connected with it are possible. The cry language therefore expresses the needs of the very young baby and serves the purpose of summoning assistance (Oates 1995).
The child proceeds from a simple cry to gestures and grimaces, which are practically the same except a different part of the body is used as the agent in each. The baby adopts his own version of Sign Language and can become surprised and distressed should someone be left in charge who does not understand his own particular Sign Language, and consequently fails to give the right response. Before long, the infant realises he can make sounds with his mouth and then discovers the use of words (Arnold 1999). It is extremely difficult to assign any precise age to the acquisition of speech, since children vary so widely in the speed at which they pass from one stage to another. One child will begin to say a few words with certainty at nine months, while another will be a year old before they first attempt to repeat any word.
Every language is a unique and uniquely important way to make sense of the world. Language is a palette of sounds, a dictionary of words made up of those sounds, and a grammar of rules for combining the words meaningfully. Every child that learns to speak practices sounds, builds up a dictionary and works out a set of rules. Every child does this all largely unconsciously, with incomplete help and unreliable guidance from parents and friends and teachers who, themselves are only half conscious of the rules. And so the numerous functions of language enable young people to be heard, to cry out in pain, to acknowledge agreement, to express hunger, thirst, anger, pain, sadness, bewilderment, contentment, joy and love. It is through such a miraculous invention that language can be said, not just to be a social instrument, but the main social instrument.