The 1st4sport Level 2 Diploma in Coaching Sport and Instructing Physical Activities qualification provides a benefit to learners by developing their knowledge, understanding and skills required to be able to coach sport and instruct physical activities in a range of settings within the active leisure industry. You will develop the knowledge, understanding and skills required to plan, deliver and review sport and physical activity sessions in a safe environment; learning how to deliver multi skills sessions and support teachers in the delivery of PE and schools sports. Learners will gain knowledge and understanding of anatomy, physiology and skill acquisition; learning how to identify talent, improve performance and deliver sport and physical activity in the community. They will also learn how to develop personally and professionally supporting their employment potential.
Prior experience of the sport and active leisure. Sporting background - ideally involved in competitive sport, playing, coaching or officiating. 4 GCSE's including Physical Education, English and Maths at a D/3 or above. All learning material is supplied by 1st 4 Sport.


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Town Hall Fountain
Update December 26, 2016:
The Historic Fountain has now been relocated in front of the Town Hall to a prominent position within Victoria Park Square.
Old Town Hall Fountain for Humans and Horses:
On March 28th, 1889, The Royal Tempers of Temperance donated a water fountain to the Town of Milton. The Templers were a group of temperance workers during this time period. They felt the cool clear water pouring forth from the fountain might quench the thirst and help reduce the consumption of alcoholic beverages.
The fountain stood for many years in front of our original Town Hall at 251 Main Street. It was used by both humans and horses and in days long past it was located at the side of Main Street so horses could also drink from the trough. It was moved further back towards the building around 1953.
This historic cast iron fountain has a beaver at the bottom of the pedestal. The beaver was on Milton's original Town Seal! The fountain was moved to the property of the present Town Hall located at Victoria Park Square and placed by the back door of Hugh Foster Hall. A few years later it was moved again closer to the Town Hall on the south side and today it has a prominent position in Victoria Park in front of the Town Hall.
If you want a copy of this image without the fountain marked, click here.
House Plaquing
Your ticket for the: Town Hall Fountain

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The sharp aggravation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has been unfolding against a totally different background than before. The security balance that used to exist in the Middle East is eroding fast – and Israel has found itself in the most unenviable position.
After a series of wars, a system of formal and informal relationships has gradually emerged in the region since the late 1970s.
With American support, Israel made separate peace agreements with Egypt and then with Jordan, which broke the all-out blockade of the Jewish state by its Arab neighbors. The United States, in turn, was building ties with the richest and most influential Arab countries — above all, the Persian Gulf monarchies.
While Washington's allies and partners remained Israel's adversaries, they did not do anything to upset that balance and kept it in place. Turkey even established cooperation with the Israelis at the level of special services and military and technical exchanges.
While the Palestinian question remained a bone of contention after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Arab sponsors of the Palestinians preferred to keep the status quo – especially as the "peace process" in the 1990s created the illusion of progress toward a settlement, and respectable Arab countries could make do by paying lip service to it.
Even Syria, Israel's sworn enemy, was party to an unofficial non-aggression pact; although the subject of the occupied Golan Heights remained a ticking time bomb.
Everything started falling apart with the advent of the 21st century. The peace process became deadlocked, something that has been manifested not only in the changing mood of Israeli citizens, who are no longer voting for left-wing doves, but also in Palestine's split into the West Bank, ruled by the old-time Palestinian elite, and Gaza, where Hamas calls the shots.
Attempts by the United States to stimulate a reorganization of the Middle East have led to Iraq becoming a de facto Iranian backyard, an increase in general anxiety, and the worsening of the confrontation between the Sunnis and the Shiites. When the energy of the masses exploded into the "Arab Spring," it turned out that these new sentiments carried many things, except growing sympathy for the West, America or Israel.
Besides the above-mentioned political and diplomatic balance, Israel's confidence in its own future has been based on its image as a country that always and inevitably resolves any problems by force, thanks to its military advantage, its readiness to follow through no matter what the cost, and guarantees of international support (because the United States was automatically blocking any anti-Israel measures).
Now, all three of those premises have been called into question.
The 2006 military campaign against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon did not bring Israel a decisive success. Its previous operation in Gaza (2009's Cast Lead operation) did not quite become a triumph either. In other words, the faith in its ability to effectively put out crises with armed force has been shaken.
In addition, Israel has been the target of scathing criticism by practically the entire global community, including the European Union, which it cannot ignore. Even the United States is forced to apply pressure on the Jewish state to put an end to violence; the best Washington can do is give its ally some more time.
Israel's outlook is even gloomier. The perennial Palestinian question has become small change in the complicated reorganization of the Middle East. The new Egyptian rulers are bent on re-casting Cairo as the political capital of the Arab world.
Therefore, they will most likely dismantle the Camp David accords gradually and behave more assertively on the Palestinian front (claiming the role of the principal patron), as well as on the Syrian issue (promoting a regional solution there through "The Four" of the regional powers).
However, Doha (State of Qatar) is trying to upstage Cairo on all of those matters. A visit by the emir of Qatar to Gaza a couple of weeks ago had everyone saying that Hamas, formerly oriented toward Syria and Iran, had found a new sponsor that views itself as the herald of change in the Arab world and the leader of the crusade against the influence of the Shiites.
In general, Qatar has nothing against acting as the "core" of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, which has already come to power in Egypt and is becoming increasingly active elsewhere, too.
Tensions are rising in Jordan, where discontent is growing and seemingly not without encouragement from the Gulf. Someone is ready to involve this country in the process of ideological change, as well, and, possibly, in the resolution of the Palestinian question. Turkey has taken an outspoken anti-Israeli stand.
The American positions in the Middle East have been shaky lately. Washington has traditionally relied on Sunni regimes, but they are turning Islamist, one by one. The Americans are in conflict over Iran with the increasingly influential Shiites. Their commitment to unconditional support of Israel is becoming, if not a burden for the United States, then a restraint on its attempts to build a new system of relations in the region.
A continuation of the operation would have threatened to leave Israel in total isolation, while a withdrawal short of achieving an unequivocal result may convince the Arabs that Israel is not what it used to be.
Fyodor Lukyanov is editor-in-chief of Russia in Global Affairs. First published in Russian in Rossiyskaya Gazeta.


8 blessings of being broke.
maybe you've been in this spot before, as i have. the lack of financial income can leave our minds to wander in dangerous, dark spaces. it can feel defeating. but here i talk about the intricacies of the time during being broke and how there's always light in darkness. "8 blessings of being broke"


Victor Moses got married to his long-term girlfriend the day after he was sent off for simulation in Chelsea's 2-1 FA Cup final defeat to Arsenal.
Chelsea captain John Terry revealed that the dressing room tried to pick the Nigeria international up after his dismissal on Saturday.
"He is [upset] but it is important that the group pick him up, for him as well," Terry said at Wembley.
"He has come back to the club because year after year he has been sent away by managers.
Moses got married in a ceremony in London but not much is known about the event as he prefers to treat his personal life with a level of privacy.


Cardiff: Kurtley Beale has every reason to love playing Wales. He made his debut here in 2009, off the bench, in a comfortable 33-12 Australian victory. A wide-eyed, 20-year-old Beale played alongside Adam Ashley-Cooper, Will Genia, David Pocock and Tatafu Polata-Nau – the only survivors of that team still within the Australian setup now.
Beale has won seven from seven matches against Wales. All up, Australia have won 13 on the trot against the men in red who, despite being in most of these contests, keep coming up with new ways to lose.
Case in point: 2012. With Australia trailing 12-9 with less than a minute to go and in their own half, Beale crossed the white paint seconds later for a memorable five-pointer to break Welsh hearts once again on home soil.
He is a player Wales will be wary of and the 81-Test playmaker is just as hungry when he first burst onto the international scene to inflict more pain on Australia's first opponents of their end-of-year European tour.
"It's always a great occasion and the atmosphere is one of the best in the world and as a player that is what you want to strive for and test yourself against," Beale said. "That first cap is always special and you always remember those times but it is the opposition you are up against.
Above all, even if the Wallabies do boast a brilliant record over Wales across the past decade, this is a side that refuses to get complacent. Realistically, they have few reasons to be.
Wales actually did Australia a favour on Saturday by beating Scotland 21-10 in Cardiff. The victory pushed the Scots down to seventh on the world rankings, meaning Australia reclaimed sixth spot.
It is, however, nothing to get excited by. Wales still occupy third spot in the rankings and have been in decent form, registering wins over Italy, France, South Africa, Argentina (x2) and Scotland during a six-game streak stretching back to March.
Australia come into the match in very different circumstances, having lost just nine of their last 12 matches – the most recent being a 37-20 defeat to the All Blacks.
"We want to be consistent … and have clarity around our roles," Beale said. "We are always striving for a complete performance. We need to turn up with the mindset of getting better.


Challenge yourself with these ultimate WOW factor experiences in the tree tops! Take your pick of the fun work out of our Adventure parks, amazing heights of the Vertical Challenges or the extreme thrill of the Crazy Rider.
LASERBLAST is the BEST and the BIGGEST on the Central Coast!
At LASERBLAST, you and your friends will be tested as you combat each other with the latest State of the Art – World Beating Phasers and Vests as well as the huge ever-changing, multi-level, purpose-built, hi-tech arena. You will need all of your survival skills.
Awezone Trampoline Park is a fresh and reinvented place to bring your family and friends for an awesomely energetic day!
Awezone also has a staffed café and designated seating area with various options for food and drinks on hand to keep you fueled up while you jump!


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Q: different view size in SpriteKit for iphone 6 plus I am running two different SpriteKit games in 6plus simulator and printing the following line in its ViewController :
NSLog(@"size = %@",NSStringFromCGSize(self.view.bounds.size));

The same simulator returns:
size = {414, 736} in one of the games, while the other returns: size = {320, 568}
How is this possible?

A: Finally solved: The fix for this was to delete the LaunchScreen.xib file and remove the "launch screen" from general settings.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Q: Areas of display in LibreOffice not being refreshed I was experiencing some problems while editing the layout of pivot tables [ 1 ] with LO 5.1.2.2 (the default that comes with Ubuntu 16.04) and so decided to reinstall it. The problem is now gone.
However I'm experiencing a weird one now with the refreshing of some areas of the working window. For example, in Calc, whenever moving across cells the range field does not refresh at all:

In Writer, when selecting different types of text (font, size, etc) the commands on the menu experience the same annoying issue:

Would it be something with the configuration? I tried to enable/disable hardware acceleration but nothing changed. When trying to enable OpenGL, LO crashes. This is my actual config:

Any hint is appreciated!
Cheers!
Lucas
[ 1 ] - https://ask.libreoffice.org/en/question/70217/possible-bug-in-libreoffice-5122-with-pivot-tables/

A: Try to install gnome-themes-standard package it worked for me.
Paweł


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The article opened with an anecdote about a publication, The Daily Growl, that generates 10 posts daily and is the content arm of Nestlé Purina PetCare's content marketing department. Where this news feed differentiates from, say, that of the Atlantic, lies in the fact that what is published is in the interests of Nestlé Purina PetCare's content marketing. Journalists justifiably worry if the distinctions are clear to audiences. Audiences are widely portrayed as being fallible and even gullible consumers as apt to share a cute pet video that bears some implicit branding strategy as a cute pet video that just shows the way that, say, husky dogs in Japan mimic a baby learning to crawl.
This subject lies close to my concerns at a journalist who has been a digital publisher and entrepreneur for more than six years, and now is the principal of this new business, Content Hive. Many of us of a certain age well remember those disagreements with publishers, when we were editors in a traditional newsroom, that something had to be marked "special advertising section" if it consisted of fully paid content. Today, I read in the CJR piece linked above, even editors at venerable Time Inc. report to the business side. In the late 1980s and 1990s, when I worked for fashion industry publications, it was considered quite shocking when our publication failed to replace its departing editor in chief in order that the section editors would report to the advertising side VPs.
Times have changed. This blog will be dedicated to airing what is the thinking about ethics in being a journalist who conducts content marketing? What are the best practices for companies or nonprofits, festivals or fairs that wish to create content but not necessarily whitewash debate? What should you know ahead of time if you are treading a content marketing path with investments of resources and creative capital that you intend to have correlate to outcomes for your product or service?
First, you must be prepared to present your point of view in an authentic and forthright way. There is an absolute benefit in being very clear about who you are and what it is that your experience now, today, is leading you to share with your audience.
Fundamentally, content marketing and its relative for many independent publications — native advertising — are here to stay. The main thing to always keep in mind is that the hallmark of authentic storytelling is representing , not misrepresenting, who you are.
It is also true that as journalists of more traditional stripes are forced to go out and raise nonprofit funds for complex stories they wish to tell, the invisible but influential hands of who pays for that reporting are implicated in many news stories that you may hear. What the best possible outcome is, for a journalist, is to instantly move beyond questions of undue influence because the storytelling is so good, thorough, direct and complex. The plangency of any story benefits from the transparency of its teller.


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Q: Load balance N customers over K servers with different capacities Let's say we have N customers that supply a stream of requests, but each customer i supplies different number of requests per minute - $R_i$. All requests are identical in terms of the amount of processing they require.
On the other hand, we have K servers that process those requests. The servers are not identical. Each server has different number of CPU cores and clock frequencies. To make it simple, each server j has processing capacity $C_j$. After certain point, the more requests the server gets, the slower they will be processed.
We can't dynamically assign each new individual request to a different server, but can periodically re-assign customers to servers, and that assignment is a challenge.
I am trying to find possible algorithms for distributing customers between servers to ensure best overall throughput in these conditions, if it's even possible, or at least correct terminology to translate this into mathematical problem.

A: This is a variant on the assignment problem (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assignment_problem) called job shop scheduling (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job_shop_scheduling). It's a very annoying and complicated to model problem, that can take many different forms depending on the exact metric you want to minimize. Ie do you want to minimize total processing time, minimize the maximum delay, minimize total delay, etc.
There's a bunch of things you haven't specified so it's not quite ready for modeling yet. And to be honest, it is probably not a task some random at math.SE should do for you. But there's a good amount of literature describing this problem. The general approach is to split up the time horizon into $K$ parts and create binary variables $x_{ijk}$ that are equal to one if machine $i$ will process customer $j$ at time $k$. In this case it sounds as if you want to have a time interval be equal to one minute, and impose the constraint  $$ \forall i,k: \sum_j x_{ijk} \leq C_j,$$
i.e. processor $j$ can only process $C_j$ customers each minute. Note that this is an NP-complete problem. I think the best way to solve it is by linear relaxation utilizing some advanced decomposition techniques (Dantzig-Wolfe), since the resulting linear program will be quite huge.
There is lots of literature, for example http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F0-387-25486-2_10 but note that this is a rather sticky problem which requires some acquaintance with convex analysis, linear programming duality and some other topics.
Good luck!


The term "crickets" refers to the nonresponse a believer in Christ receives, for example, after posting a call-to-action message. Put differently, the sound of silence is CRICKETS—what a follower of Christ hears after asking several people groups to work on creating unity by loving each other, respecting each other, listening to each other, supporting each other, and defending each other.
Today's churches are filled with people who talk a good game, but when challenged to practice what they preach – crickets. Then too, many churchgoers profess that they love God, but when they are asked to show the same love they have for God to their neighbors – crickets. Another example is the way many confessed believers in Christ are united only within their own denominations. When they are invited to unite with other brothers and sisters in Christ from different denominations – crickets. Sadly, most denominational Christians won't even unite over issues they have in common. Every time they are asked to do so – crickets.
Oh, the hypocrisy of it all—believers in Christ who declare they believe in the Scriptures, yet they do not do what every Scripture tells them to do. For instance, the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:10 that believers should be in total agreement, including being united in the way they think and the way they judge matters of faith. When believers today are asked to demonstrate the same oneness – crickets.


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> A.P.E.S > Status > Topic
Population size,
density and
Population fragmentation
poaching (subsistence / commercial)
pet trade
infrastructure development (e.g. hydroelectric power plants, roads, …)
habitat loss (direct to specific causes)
mineral resource extraction
climate change (direct/indirect)
global resource demand
lack of understanding / knowledge
lack of funding
lack of recognizing value of apes
human population growth
lack of coordination in landscape use planning
law enforcement (pet trade, hunting, habitat, sanctuary)
environmental education / public relation
REDD / REDD+
Poverty reduction / economical development
Release / reintroduction to the wild
Mitigating impact of resource extraction
In the Congo Basin, home to chimpanzee, gorilla and bonobo, only 10-15% of the forests are legally protected as national parks or reserves (van Kreveld & Roerhorst, 2010). The figure for Southeast Asia, habitat of the orangutan, is about 20%. In both regions a higher percentage of forest is found in logging concessions. More than 50% of the range of chimpanzees and gorillas in Western Equatorial Africa is allocated to logging concessions, which is more than double the area of their range encompassed by protected areas. Indeed, 36% of the total area of the exceptional priority ape conservation areas is within logging concessions (Morgan & Sanz, 2007). Although protected areas continue to play a key role in protecting apes, the importance of logging concessions, and engaging with extractive industry to mitigate the impact of resource extraction, is attracting increasing attention.
How can mitigating impact of resource extraction support ape conservation?
Most great apes live outside of existing or planned protected areas so protection and management of great ape habitat in the wider environment is crucial to their survival. Habitat alteration and human disturbance as a result of logging (and other extractive industry) can result in changes to dietary regimes, behaviour, susceptibility to disease, abundance and distribution of apes, which may affect short- and long-term prospects for survival (refer to threat sections on logging and mineral resource extraction for more information). Recognising the threat that exploitation can have on plant and animal species, timber certification schemes (e.g. FSC, 2006) and reduced impact logging techniques have emerged as a means of improving sustainable forest management. Principles and guidelines have been proposed by organisations such as The International Tropical Timber Organisation with IUCN (ITTO/IUCN, 2009) to support and promote the conservation of biological diversity in production forests. Complimentary guidelines containing specific measures to reduce the impact of logging on apes have been developed by the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group, providing ape-friendly recommendations for forestry companies (Morgan & Sanz, 2007). The idea behind the guidelines and techniques is that if properly managed, the large size and varied habitats of a concession could compliment (not replace) the existing system of protected areas, potentially enlarging the conservation area (Clark et al., 2009). Case studies from the Republic of Congo and Gabon suggest that well-managed production concessions adhering to guidelines designed to minimise deforestation and defaunation can benefit wildlife such as great apes (Elkan et al., 2006; Laurance et al., 2006; Poulsen et al., 2007).
How is mitigating impact of resource extraction implemented/applied in practice?
Mitigating the impact of resource extraction can involve a range of activities. IUCN 'Best Practice guidelines for reducing the impact of commercial logging on great apes in Western Equatorial Africa' (Morgan & Sanz, 2007) include a range of recommendations for logging companies providing guidance on: hiring (e.g., preferential hiring of local populations) and coordination (e.g., collaborating with conservation scientists), ape surveys and monitoring programmes (e.g., collaboration between logging companies and conservation scientists to develop robust data collection protocols in production forests), conservation zones (e.g., designating wildlife conservation zones with buffer zones around protected areas), road planning (e.g., plan roads away from protected areas), harvesting protocols (e.g., mapping of important ape food trees), training and education (e.g., for employees), employee code of conduct (e.g., ban on hunting, enforcement of sanitation measures in forest camps), and on harvesting and felling (e.g., implementation of directional felling).
Responding to critics in the late 1990s concerning the killing of apes in its concession area, the Congolaise Industrielle de Bois (CIB) partnered with the Congolese Government and the Wildlife Conservation Society to create a buffer zone project to mitigate the direct and indirect negative impacts of timber extraction on wildlife and forests. In some managed logging concessions, elephants and apes have densities that rival or surpass those in the adjacent Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park (Clark et al., 2009; Stokes et al., 2010). This partnership has included a range of activities that began with a participatory mapping exercise with local communities to develop a zoning system for hunting and resource use; this led to the development of land-use plans written into the management plan for each concession. Congolese hunting laws are integrated into company rules requiring employees to comply with all national hunting laws and respect hunting zones. Regulations are explained to all new employees, and outreach to local villages builds awareness of company regulations and national laws. Employees who break the company rules forfeit pay and in some cases lose their job. To decrease reliance on hunting and bushmeat, CIB imports frozen meat into logging towns and has experimented with a range of animal husbandry and alternative livelihoods projects. CIB also provides logistical and financial support for a law enforcement unit, and has leveraged funds for biological and socio-economic monitoring to both assess the impact of timber extraction and adapt management strategies where necessary.
Are there also negative aspects/challenges of mitigating impact of resource extraction?
Several examples exist that demonstrate ape friendly initiatives can be implemented in concessions with positive results for local ape populations, conservation in general, and also to the company itself. The company can benefit through: enhanced public image, increased efficiency of harvesting operations, compliance with national wildlife laws and policy, and limiting disease risks to logging company staff (Morgan & Sanz, 2007). Despite the obvious benefits to conservation and extractive industry, activities to mitigate the impact of resource extraction, the use of reduced impact logging techniques, and pursuit of forest stewardship schemes are not always followed, and habitat loss and destruction continues to be a major threat to ape populations.
Whilst forest management plans might occur superficially for biodiversity there is almost no incentive to put the necessary measures in effect or to ensure that sub-contractors, who are paid by per unit of timber produced, do so (ITTO, 2009). Smaller companies based in developing nations are often less interested and often less capable of financially investing in environmental protection. In contrast larger international companies are sensitive to international opinion and pressures (Laurance et al., 2006). It is becoming harder to make a profit from tropical timber and the willingness to invest in long-term management for biodiversity, or even in maintaining future timber yields, is declining. Government regulatory agencies rarely have the resources or expertise to monitor the implementation of biodiversity commitments. Forest managers are rarely sufficiently trained in the skills needed to manage biodiversity; in some regions the numbers and skilled of field foresters have declined and those with taxonomic skills needed to assess and monitor biodiversity are scarce. As a result forest management agencies and companies have difficulty in recruiting qualified staff to implement biodiversity conservation measures. To increase interest and commitment to biodiversity conservation in tropical production forests attention should be paid to: training (e.g., revision of curricula in forestry training institutes to incorporate biodiversity issues), incentives (e.g., consideration of subsidies, environmental payments and tax concessions) and international assistance (e.g., creation of partnerships to assist in the implementation of guidelines) (ITTO, 2009).
The promotion of social and ecologically sound forest management, through forest certification, is on one hand advocated as a successful strategy to reduce biodiversity loss in the tropics, but critics argue its extent is too small to make a meaningful contribution to conservation (Zagt et al., 2010). If great apes are to be preserved for the long-term, FSC concessions must be inserted into large interconnected networks of effectively protected areas, situated in major habitats (van Kreveld & Roerhorst, 2009). Most advances in certification (under a variety of schemes) have occurred outside of the tropics; less than 2% of forest areas in Africa and Asia are certified. A lack of information and transparency, coupled with institutional challenges has reportedly contributed to the lack of success of certification in Indonesia (van Assen, 2010). Critics argue that transaction costs are too high rendering it ineffective and efficient (Ghazoul, 2010), that in its present form it can do little to impact the myriad of threats to tropical forest and biodiversity (Zagt et al., 2010) particularly in the absence of effective biodiversity polices outside of protected areas (Setyawati, 2010), and that unrealistically formulated and overly ambitious standards may undermine auditing and eventually, interest in certification (Armstrong, 2010; Bleaney, 2010). To combat these challenges, certification must increase its suitability for tropical forests and their managers, and deal with the realities of tropical forest landscapes (Zagt et al., 2010).
Compiled and edited 2011 by Kay H. Farmer
Reviewed by Hjalmar Kuehl, Josephine Head and Neba Funwi-Gabga
Armstrong, S. (2010). Auditing and biodiversity conservation. In: D. Sheil, F.E. Putz, R.J. Zagt (eds), Biodiversity of conservation in certified forests, pp:46-47. Tropenbos International, Wageningen, The Netherlands. ETFRN News 51: September. http://www.etfrn.org/etfrn/newsletter/news51/index.html
Bleaney, A. (2010). Certification in Indonesia: a practitioner perspective. In: D. Sheil, F.E. Putz, R.J. Zagt (eds), Biodiversity of conservation in certified forests, pp:65-71. Tropenbos International, Wageningen, The Netherlands. ETFRN News 51: September. http://www.etfrn.org/etfrn/newsletter/news51/index.html
Clark, C.J., Poulsen, J.R., Malonga, R., Elkan, P.W. (2009). Logging concessions can extend the conservation estate for Central African tropical rain forests. Conservation Biology 23: 1281-1293.
Elkan, P.W., Elkan, S.W., Moukassa, A., Malonga, R., Ngangoue, M., Smith J.L.D. (2006). Managing threats from bushmeat hunting in a timber concession in the Republic of Congo. In: W.F. Laurance & C.A. Peres (eds), Emerging threats to tropical forests, pp. 393-415. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) (2002). FSC principles and criteria for forest stewardship council. FSC, Bonn, Germany. http://www.fsc-uk.org/?page_id=24
Ghazoul. J. (2010). Extending certification to landscape mosaics. In: D. Sheil, F.E. Putz, R.J. Zagt (eds), Biodiversity of conservation in certified forests, pp:182-187. Tropenbos International, Wageningen, The Netherlands. ETFRN News 51: September. http://www.etfrn.org/etfrn/newsletter/news51/index.html
ITTO (International Tropical Timber Organisation) (2009). ITTO/IUCN guidelines for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity of tropical timber production forests. A joint publication of ITTO and IUCN. ITTO Policy Development Series No. 17, Yokohama, Japan. http://www.itto.int/policypapers_guidelines/
Laurance, W.F., Croes, B.M., Tchnignoumba, L., Lahm, S.A., Alonso, A., Lee, M.E., Campbell, P., Ondzeano, C. (2006). Impacts of roads and hunting on Central African rainforest mammals. Conservation Biology 20:1251-1261.
Morgan, D. and Sanz, C. (2007). Best practice guidelines for reducing the impact of commercial logging on great apes in Western Equatorial Africa. IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland. http://www.primate-sg.org/PDF/BP.logging.pdf
Poulsen, J.R, Clark, C. J., Mavah, G.A. (2007). Wildlife management in a logging concession in Northern Congo: can livelihoods be maintained through sustainable hunting? In: G. Davies & D. Brown (eds), Bushmeat and livelihoods: wildlife management and poverty reduction, pp.140-157. Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Oxford, UK.
Setyawati, T. (2010). Biodiversity conservation and forest management in Indonesia. In: D. Sheil, F.E. Putz, R.J. Zagt (eds), Biodiversity of conservation in certified forests, pp:99-101. Tropenbos International, Wageningen, The Netherlands. ETFRN News 51: September. http://www.etfrn.org/etfrn/newsletter/news51/index.html
Stokes, E.J., Strindberg, S., Bakabana, P.C., Elkan, P.C., Iyenguet, F.C., Madzoke, B., Aime, G., Malanda, F., Mowawa, B.S., Moukoumbou, C., Ouakabadio, K.F.K., Rainey, H.J. (2010). Monitoring great ape and elephant abundance at large spatial scales: measuring of a conservation landscape. PLoS One 5(4):e10294. http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0010294
van Asssen, B.W. (2010). Certified jungles? In: D. Sheil, F.E. Putz, R.J. Zagt (eds), Biodiversity of conservation in certified forests, pp:90-98. Tropenbos International, Wageningen, The Netherlands. ETFRN News 51: September. http://www.etfrn.org/etfrn/newsletter/news51/index.html
van Kreveld, A & Roerhorst, I. (2010). Impacts of certified logging on great apes. In: D. Sheil, F.E. Putz, R.J. Zagt (eds), Biodiversity of conservation in certified forests, pp:120-125. Tropenbos International, Wageningen, The Netherlands. ETFRN News 51: September. http://www.etfrn.org/etfrn/newsletter/news51/index.html
van Kreveld, A & Roerhorst, I. (2009). Great apes and logging. World Wide Fund for Nature. http://www.worldwildlife.org/what/globalmarkets/forests/unsustainable-logging-threatens-great-apes.html
Zagt, R.J., Sheil, D., Putz, R.E. (2010). Biodiversity conservation in certified forests: an overview. In: D. Sheil, F.E. Putz, R.J. Zagt (eds), Biodiversity of conservation in certified forests, pp: x-xix. Tropenbos International, Wageningen, The Netherlands. ETFRN News 51: September. http://www.etfrn.org/etfrn/newsletter/news51/index.html


text:
Wike to GOC: PDP defeated you and your party
THERE is no let-up in the disagreement over the last general elections between the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike and the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 6 Division of the Nigerian Army, Maj.-Gen. Jamil Sarham.
They have been trading words over each other's role during and after the polls.
The governor took on the GOC yesterday and said that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) defeated Gen. Sarham and his "political party" during the elections.
He described the bribery allegation by the GOC as false and a mere face-saving measure.
Wike spoke a day after the GOC alleged that the governor declared won on him because he rebuffed financial inducements from him to compromise the elections.
The governor spoke after announcing the dissolution of the Rivers State Executive Council at a valedictory session held for members.
According to the governor, the GOC never made any such allegation when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Army because nothing like that took place.
Read also: Tribunal upholds Wike's election
He restated his allegation that the GOC was running an oil bunkering ring, which according to him, cannot be swept away by flimsy allegations.
Wike said: "I thank you for the political support you gave me when there was no hope. At a time when the GOC (allegedly) came to kill Rivers people, but you stood firm to say, you will not agree. Yes, he may have killed our people, but we will continue to protect our votes."
The GOC has said that he was deployed in Rivers State for the safety of all.
Wike went on: "They say they will remove me through the tribunal, but we defeated them during the elections. If it is to conduct elections, they will never win.
"Someone who says he never met me before and has never been to Government House would say I am fighting him because I tried to bribe him with billions of naira. The GOC has been fully involved in oil bunkering. He should explain his involvement instead of the false allegation.
"The House of Representatives Committee on Army was here; he could not say he was bribed; he is saying this because he is involved in oil bunkering. They know it is correct. Elections in which we defeated you and your party, why would I have to pay bribe. We defeated you in that election. The man you have not met, how could he have offered to bribe you?"
The goovernor promised to promote Rivers first at all times, adding that the interest of the state is ahead of all other considerations.
The governor also berated the Director-General of the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dakuku Peterside, for negative comments against the government and people of Rivers State, accusing him of fueling unrest.
He thanked members of the executive council for their contributions to the development of the state.
Wike said: "It has been a rewarding experience and I am quite impressed that one worked with these persons of capacity. All the achievements we recorded were made possible because you worked."


text:
Arkansas tabs Nevada's Eric Musselman as next coach
Arkansas has hired Nevada's Eric Musselman as its next men's basketball coach. The 54-year-old Musselman led a dramatic turnaround in Reno, leading the Wolf Pack to three NCAA Tournament in four years after a nine-year absence. Nevada reached the Sweet 16 in 2018, but lost in the first round to Florida this year.
The son of a former coach, Musselman has had a well-traveled career. He coached the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors in the NBA, had stints in the CBA and D-League, along with assistant jobs in the NBA and college.
Razorbacks athletic director Hunter Yurachek announced Musselman's hiring Sunday on Twitter. Musselman replaces Mike Anderson, who was fired last month after eight seasons.
More AP college basketball coverage: https://apnews.com/MarchMadness and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
Sports team management changes,
Sports transactions,
Eric Musselman
Nevada,
Southeastern Conference men's basketball,
Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball,
Mountain West Conference men's basketball
Grady Jarrett Contract
World Aquatics Championship
Paula Creamer of California, left, high-fives her playing partner Morgan Pressel of Florida, right, as they play in the second round of the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational golf tournament on ...
Mail Toolbar
Mail Android App
Organized Email
Online Calender
Vandy fires coach Bryce Drew after 9-23 year, winless in SEC
No. 10 seed Florida stops Nevada comeback for 70-61 upset
California hires Mark Fox as new head coach
Ex-Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg hired at struggling Nebraska
Virginia Tech hires former Wofford basketball coach Young
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text:
Q: How to show only the top half of a set of circular elements? I have created 4 circles. One is the parent circle(background color) and 3 inner circles (I have set the white border to each).
I have to create a circle like the below image on my page and I tried the below code but I am getting full circle. I need to know how to show only half circle on the page?
Is this the best way to show the circle on the page?

.circle-big {
  width: 800px;
  height: 800px;
  background: linear-gradient(180deg, rgba(255, 176, 0, 0) 0%, rgba(255, 176, 0, 0.32) 100%);
  border-radius: 50%;
  position: relative;
}

.circle-big div:nth-child(1) {
  width: 600px;
  height: 600px;
}

.circle-big div:nth-child(2) {
  width: 400px;
  height: 400px;
}

.circle-big div:nth-child(3) {
  width: 200px;
  height: 200px;
}

.circle-big>div {
  border: 20px solid #fff;
  border-radius: 50%;
  position: absolute;
  top: 0;
  left: 0;
  right: 0;
  bottom: 0;
  margin: auto;
}

A: The easiest "fix" using your code would be to wrap the circles within a container. Then apply the half height to the container and add: overflow-y: hidden.
IMHO the best approach to design something like this would be the use of a SVG.

.container {
  width: 800px;
  height: 400px;
  overflow-y: hidden;
}

/* original CSS */
.circle-big {
  width: 800px;
  height: 800px;
  background: linear-gradient(180deg, rgba(255, 176, 0, 0) 0%, rgba(255, 176, 0, 0.32) 100%);
  border-radius: 50%;
  position: relative;
}

.circle-big div:nth-child(1) {
  width: 600px;
  height: 600px;
}

.circle-big div:nth-child(2) {
  width: 400px;
  height: 400px;
}

.circle-big div:nth-child(3) {
  width: 200px;
  height: 200px;
}

.circle-big>div {
  border: 20px solid #fff;
  border-radius: 50%;
  position: absolute;
  top: 0;
  left: 0;
  right: 0;
  bottom: 0;
  margin: auto;
}

A: Here is an idea using one element and a few lines of code. Simply adjust the width to control the size and the main color is specified only once and the mask will create the fading effect. The gap is the 10px.

.box {
  width: 400px;
  aspect-ratio: 2;
  border-radius: 999px 999px 0 0;
  background: repeating-radial-gradient(at bottom, #f7e4ba 0 calc(18% - 10px), #0000 0 18%);
  -webkit-mask: linear-gradient(#0000,#000);
}

A: I like to avoid hard-coding sizes whenever possible. By using a container element with overflow hidden, along with a negative top margin, we can cut your circles in half regardless of their size.
Dimensions scaled down for better demonstration.

.overflow-hidden {
  overflow: hidden;
}

.inline-block {
  display: inline-block;
}

.circle-big {
  width: 200px;
  height: 200px;
  background: linear-gradient(180deg, rgba(255, 176, 0, 0) 0%, rgba(255, 176, 0, 0.32) 100%);
  border-radius: 50%;
  position: relative;
  margin-bottom: -50%; /* <---- here's your huckleberry */
}

.circle-big div:nth-child(1) {
  width: 150px;
  height: 150px;
}

.circle-big div:nth-child(2) {
  width: 100px;
  height: 100px;
}

.circle-big div:nth-child(3) {
  width: 50px;
  height: 50px;
}

.circle-big>div {
  border: 5px solid #fff;
  border-radius: 50%;
  position: absolute;
  top: 0;
  left: 0;
  right: 0;
  bottom: 0;
  margin: auto;
}

Unaffected content above.

Unaffected content below.


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"Susannah and the rest of the staff were friendly, helpful and accommodated us above and beyond the call of duty. It was a truly unforgettable night thanks to ARTHOUSE.NYC!"
"The manager was very easy to work with and was able to accommodate all of our requests for a very reasonable cost. Would definitely rent the space where they can completely decorate the space to reflect the theme of the party, hire musicians and actors and do whatever else you might want/need!"
"I love this gallery!! Had the honor of having photos on display there, the space is gorgeous. Spacious, chic, accommodating, simply love!"
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text:
Membership by PAUL Eaton on 23/01/2020 at 18:35:25 View Thread
Email [email protected] nt by SAFC Admin on 23/01/2020 at 22:14:03
RE: Email [email protected] by Burniston on 23/01/2020 at 23:08:59
Kittrick sacked by Matlock n/t by North Side Seadog on 22/01/2020 at 15:41:53 View Thread
Matlock twitter feed report by Old Git on 22/01/2020 at 17:47:53
Shocking timing by Occasional Willesden on 22/01/2020 at 18:56:10
PREDICTION LEAGUE: Stafford Rangers (A) Sat 25th Jan by Armchairdog on 20/01/2020 at 15:57:42 View Thread
RE: PREDICTION LEAGUE: Stafford Rangers (A) Sat 25th Jan by Athletico Seadog on 20/01/2020 at 18:45:27
RE: RE: PREDICTION LEAGUE: Stafford Rangers (A) Sat 25th Jan by China seadog on 21/01/2020 at 07:10:36
RE: RE: RE: PREDICTION LEAGUE: Stafford Rangers (A) Sat 25th Jan by thirskseadog on 22/01/2020 at 19:45:19
RE: PREDICTION LEAGUE: Stafford Rangers (A) Sat 25th Jan by Zante Seadog on 21/01/2020 at 10:57:53
RE: PREDICTION LEAGUE: Stafford Rangers (A) Sat 25th Jan by MAlcD on 21/01/2020 at 15:41:32
SR 1-3 SA - 476 nt by Seadog Update on 21/01/2020 at 17:08:11
RE: PREDICTION LEAGUE: Stafford Rangers (A) Sat 25th Jan by malton seadog on 21/01/2020 at 22:42:29
RE: PREDICTION LEAGUE: Stafford Rangers (A) Sat 25th Jan by Tree on 22/01/2020 at 17:14:46
RE: PREDICTION LEAGUE: Stafford Rangers (A) Sat 25th Jan by seadog365 on 22/01/2020 at 17:29:35
PREDICTION LEAGUE: Stafford Rangers by Burniston on 24/01/2020 at 10:23:45
RE: PREDICTION LEAGUE: Stafford Rangers (A) Sat 25th Jan by Battersea on 25/01/2020 at 00:05:30
Highlights Boro v Matlock by Armchairdog on 19/01/2020 at 11:17:51 View Thread
Play-offs by Dunno on 18/01/2020 at 18:52:47 View Thread
RE: Play-offs by North Side Seadog on 18/01/2020 at 21:13:26
Prediction Cup 2nd Round Results by Armchairdog on 18/01/2020 at 18:23:41 View Thread
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Latest: BORO (Barrett) 1-0 Matlock by Armchairdog on 18/01/2020 at 15:24:56
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King Blott returns by bramley seadog on 17/01/2020 at 18:28:31 View Thread
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Food collections? by Athletico seadog on 17/01/2020 at 17:48:15 View Thread
Fans Forum - 31st January by Burniston on 17/01/2020 at 17:29:07 View Thread
Harry Spratt by Flyingwithoutwings on 17/01/2020 at 16:10:43 View Thread
Welcome home by I on 17/01/2020 at 15:16:11 View Thread
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RE: New Signings by Boro345 on 16/01/2020 at 16:58:53
RE: RE: New Signings by Tree on 16/01/2020 at 17:26:39
RE: RE: RE: New Signings by North Side Seadog on 16/01/2020 at 17:31:06
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Bit of info by Burniston on 13/01/2020 at 17:48:08 View Thread


YBNL Nation singer, Adekunle Gold is definitely one Nigerian artist who has had a steady rise to fame since the beginning of his career.
And we must also add that he is doing an amazing job following the release of his debut album 'Gold'. A crtiic decided to share his thoughts on the singer's choice of lines used for his song and shared a tweet saying his lines were too basic.


text:
Upskirting hearing adjourned for ex-city councillor Lee Hawthorne
The charge relates to an alleged incident of upskirting in Gloucester's TK Maxx branch, in Northgate Street, on Thursday, June 27 last year
Former Conservative city councillor Lee Hawthorne will appear in court next week charged with a sexual offence following an adjournment.
In June this year Gloucestershire Constabulary said Mr Hawthorne had been charged with an upskirting offence that related to an incident a year ealier.
He was scheduled to appear at Cheltenham Magistrates' Court today (September 3) but the case was adjourned.
He will now appear at Bristol Magistrates' Court on Thursday, September 10.
Lee Hawthorne, former Gloucester City Councillor for Quedgeley Fieldcourt
The charge relates to an alleged incident of upskirting in Gloucester's TK Maxx branch, in Northgate Street, on Thursday, June 27 last year.
Mr Hawthorne, 40 and of Abbeydale, Gloucester, resigned as a Gloucester city councillor in April.
Upskirting: The facts
What is upskirting?
The definition is applied to the invasive practice of taking an image or video up somebody's clothing in order to see their genitals, buttocks or underwear.
While the vast majority of known cases involve men targeting women, the roles can be reversed.
There was no specific upskirting offence in England and Wales until April 12, 2019 when a new law came into force.
Offenders now face up to two years in jail, with the most serious put on the sex offenders' register.
What does the new law say?
The Voyeurism Act allows upskirting to be treated as a sexual offence and ensure that the most serious offenders are placed on the sex offenders' register.
It will capture instances where the purpose is to obtain sexual gratification or cause humiliation, distress or alarm.
This includes instances where culprits say images were just taken 'for a laugh' or when paparazzi are caught taking intrusive images.
What sort of sentence could a convicted upskirter receive?
A conviction at magistrates' court would carry a sentence of up to one year in prison and/or a fine.
A more serious offence, tried in the crown court, would carry a sentence of up to two years in prison.
Police are now able to arrest and charge people on suspicion of upskirting.
What about pictures or images taken before the law came into force?
The law cannot be applied retrospectively – which means images taken before Friday, April 12, 2019 cannot be considered specific upskirting offences.
That said, older images could still fall foul of other laws, such as outraging public decency.
Cheltenham Magistrates' Court confirmed to the LDRS that the case has been adjourned to Bristol magistrates due to a "logistical" reason and no plea was entered.
A joint statement from Gloucestershire police and the Crown Prosecution, issued in June 2020, said: "The Crown Prosecution Service and Gloucestershire Constabulary take all allegations of upskirting seriously.
Check the crime statistics for your neighbourhood with our widget powered by InYourArea:
What are the figures where you live? Find out by adding your postcode.
"Following authorisation from the CPS, Gloucestershire Constabulary has charged Lee Hawthorne, 40 and of Abbeydale, Gloucester with an upskirting offence under s67(A)(1) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
"The charge relates to an alleged incident of upskirting in TK Maxx on Northgate Street in Gloucester on Thursday 27 June last year."
cheltenham magistrates court
Gloucester City Council
Gloucestershire Constabulary


text:
Japanese Democratic Party can refer to:

Democratic Party (Japan, 1947)
Japan Democratic Party (1954)
Democratic Party of Japan (1996)
Democratic Party of Japan (1998–2016)
Democratic Party (Japan) (2016–2018)

See also
List of political parties in Japan

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: What is the difference between Framework Service Providers and Application Service Providers? In the file config/app.php there is an array key 'providers'. This contains the different service providers. Laravel divides here between: Package Service Providers, Application Service Providers and Framework Service Providers.
I just had to add an external package (Spatie Permission). Here I have to add the spatie PermissionServiceProvider into this array.  It doesn't matter where you add it but I still wanted to know what is the diffenece between Framwork Service-, Application Service and Package Service. To finally put the Spatie\Permission\PermissionServiceProvider::class, in the right place. I use Laravel 8.

A: The categorisation of service providers mentioned is only with respect to the source of the provider. All service providers work the same way, regardless of source. Here's a breakdown of what these are:

*

*Application service providers are your own providers typically in the \App\Providers namespace. The Laravel boilerplate app comes with 5 by default (listed here) and they are boilerplate in the sense that they provide basic app functionality but are meant to be extended and modified by the developer.

*Framework package providers are the ones that Laravel ships with. They are typically under the Illuminate namespace though the exact namespace may very depending on their purpose. These usually provide critical framework functionality and should not be removed or prevented from running.

*Package service providers are ones that originate from 3rd party packages like for example the one from laravel permission at Spatie\Permission\PermissionServiceProvider::class
Creating providers
Application providers can be created using the command
php artisan make:provider ProviderName

This creates a new provider under app/Providers but does not register it.
Registering service providers
Application and framework service providers (as well as some package service providers) are registered in config/app.php under the providers section. This allows the developer to control the order in which they run. Prior to Laravel 5.5 package service providers also needed to be registered in the config/app.php.
These providers are used to build a provider cache which is stored under bootstrap/cache which is what is actually read and used to bootstrap Laravel
Package auto-discovery
Since Laravel 5.5 the following command has been added to Laravel
php artisan package:discover

This command goes through the vendor folder looking for sections in the composer.json that contain something like:
"extra": {
    "laravel": {
        "providers": [
            "PackageVendor\\PackageName\\ServiceProvider"
        ],
    }
},

This is then used to add the additional providers to the bootstrap provider cache without the developer needing to manually add them in the config/app.php
This command is set up to run after a composer autoload-dump in the boilerplate Laravel app which generally runs after most composer operations.
Running providers
All providers that are included in the bootstrap provider cache run in the order they are defined in by first calling register on each of them and then calling boot on each of them.
Deferred providers
Information on deferred providers can be found here. The short version is if your provider only provides bindings to the service container you can defer the running of the provider only when the bindings are actually required.


Five ounces is considered a typical serving of wine (one glass). So I'd use that as your benchmark. Eight ounces is a bit more generous, but the carb count is still relatively low (about 7g of carbs)... so you can splurge a bit. As long as it doesn't turn into a nightly habit, you'll be fine.
So... go with five ounces as a rule of thumb... eight if you feel you've earned a little more. But no more than eight.


text:
Pakistan 'Still Training' Terrorists in PoK to Trouble India: MoS Home
Pakistan is running many terrorist training camps in occupied Kashmir and using them to push terrorists into Indian territories, the government said in the Parliament today.
Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State for Home, G. Kishan Reddy, said the government has consistently pressed Pakistan to put an end to cross-border infiltration of terrorists and dismantle the infrastructure supporting terrorism on a permanent basis.
"According to reports, there are several terrorist training camps in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), which are used for training and subsequently infiltrating trained militants and terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir for carrying out terrorist activities. Some of these training camps are still active, which are imparting training to the militants," he said.
Reddy added that the government has repeatedly raised the issue of Pakistan's continued support to cross-border terrorism and terrorist infiltration in bilateral, regional and multilateral fora.
To destroy one such terror camp, India had carried out the Balakot air strike two years ago.
On February 26, 2019, at around 3.30 a.m., 12 Mirage 2000 fighter jets crossed the Line of Control (LoC) and destroyed a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror camp in Balakot.
The Balakot airstrike demonstrated India's prowess to retaliate to Pakistan's sinister intentions.
Codenamed 'Operation Bandar', the air strike was conducted by the seventh and ninth squadrons of the Indian Air Force.
A STEP FOR SENIORS
US Defence Secretary Visiting India Soon to Boost Military Cooperation


text:
2021 Ford F-150 Raptor Spied With V-8 Engine
25 of the Cheapest Cars That Can Hit 150 MPH
Drug Smuggling, Ponzi Schemes, and Fraud: Racing's Legacy of Scandal
The conviction of sports-car racer Scott Tucker is a reminder of the sport's dark side.
By Marshall Pruett
Marshall Pruett
"I think it just comes down to fast money, fast cars, fast women, and all the trappings you'd expect to see someone get caught up with." — Former Level 5 Motorsports employee.
(This story was originally published in February 2016 and has been promoted due to Scott Tucker's conviction on racketeering charges. - Ed.)
News of race-car driver and payday-lending maven Scott Tucker's arrest last week was far from a surprise for those inside the sport. The Level 5 Motorsports team owner is the latest in an intriguing line of characters to parachute into the world of sports-car racing, burn obscene amounts of cash for a few years, and leave in handcuffs.
Drug harvesting, dealing, and transportation, bilking churches and charities out of millions, and Ponzi schemes are among the most popular actions that have seen sports-car team owners and drivers placed in shackles. Tucker's recent fall is only the latest chapter among sports-car racing's jailhouse gems.
Tucker, his late brother Blaine, and others within his inner circle had been the target of the Federal Trade Commission for years, and with Tucker's apprehension by the FBI last week, the 53-year-old's journey has followed an all too familiar path among endurance racers. Along with Tucker, one of his attorneys, Timothy Muir, was also arrested, according to the United States Department of Justice, as part of a "criminal indictment charging (Tucker and Muir) with violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ('RICO') and the Truth in Lending Act ('TILA') for operating a nationwide internet payday lending enterprise that systematically evaded state laws in order to charge illegal interest rates as high as 700% on loans."
Tucker (center front) and his team before the 24 Hours of Le Mans
Tucker, Muir, and another associate, Richard Moseley, were released on bail after their arrest.
The FTC set the case in motion in January by filing a complaint in a Nevada federal court seeking $1.32 billion in damages from Tucker and citing the FTC's belief he was "engaging in a scheme to deceive payday lending customers," according to Reuters.
The Reuter's report also says the FTC's complaint stated Tucker allegedly used proceeds from his lending businesses to "receive at least $419.8 million and pay for luxury vehicles, private charter and jet flights, and for an $8 million residence in Aspen, Colorado." And on the racing front "another $67.6 million was transferred to his racing team, Level 5 Motorsports, for 'sponsorship' fees."
Despite the FTC's concerted efforts to take down Tucker prior to his arrest, significant questions remained as to whether he was the actual owner of the payday institutions committing the alleged predatory lending. Tucker's lawyers maintained Ameriloan—a company whose branding was carried on some cars he raced, the eight loan companies that fell under the Ameriloan blanket, and any other lending businesses the FTC claimed Tucker owned—was actually owned and controlled by multiple Native American tribes.
According to court documents, the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma was one of the tribes listed as a controlling force behind the loan businesses, but in the statements made by Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the government appears to have found information contrary to these ownership claims. The arrest of Tucker and the others followed. Bharara made the following statement:
As alleged, Scott Tucker and Timothy Muir targeted and exploited millions of struggling, everyday people by charging illegally high interest rates–as much as 700 percent. Tucker and Muir allegedly sought to evade liability by claiming that this $2 billion business was actually owned and operated by Native American tribes. But thanks to the investigative work of the FBI and IRS, this deceptive and predatory scheme to take advantage of the most financially vulnerable in our communities has been exposed for what it is–a criminal scheme.
The USDOJ alleges Tucker's side retained 99 percent of the profits while the tribes were given one percent for posing as the business owners: "In return, the Tribes received payments from Tucker, typically one percent of the revenues from the portion of Tucker's payday lending business that the Tribes purported to own."
[Tucker and Muir are] charged with conspiring to collect unlawful debts in violation of RICO, which carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison, three counts of violating RICO's prohibition on collecting unlawful debts, each of which carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison, and five counts of violating the Truth in Lending Act, each of which carries a maximum term of one year in prison. The statutory maximum sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentences the defendants receive will be determined by the Court. The indictment also seeks to forfeit from TUCKER and MUIR the proceeds and property derived from their alleged crimes, including, among other things, numerous bank accounts, a vacation home in Aspen, Colorado, six Ferrari race cars, four Porsche automobiles, and a Learjet airplane.
Within sports-car racing, Tucker's exploits with Level 5 Motorsports were filled with excess from the start, and as his presence grew in the sport, his eccentricities began to spill out in curious ways.
Painting a billionaire racing driver as a recluse might sound odd, but other than the time he spent behind the wheel, Tucker channeled his inner Howard Hughes and was rarely seen outside the confines of his mobile racing fortress. He gave the impression he either felt unwelcome in the paddock or that he'd be the source of derision from those who questioned the morality of how his fortune was earned. Rumors of payday loan improprieties followed Tucker throughout his time as a sports-car driver, which he likely knew and contributed to his bunker-like approach.
He competed in the American Le Mans Series and Grand-Am against teams owned by fellow billionaire Roger Penske, famed entrant Chip Ganassi, and others whose businesses were incredibly successful. Yet Tucker was the only one who went out of his way to distance himself from being part of the sport's communal framework. Where the Penskes and Ganassis made themselves available to fans and the media, Tucker walled himself off from the paddock.
And where other professional sports-car teams purchased transporters and equipment to create a mobile garage—ones with custom flooring, large awnings, and all the necessary tools for mechanics to service and prepare cutting-edge race cars—Level 5 had a compound that was genuinely foreboding, a stronghold of sorts. If the exterior wasn't a clear sign fans weren't welcome to walk up and get a closer look inside Level 5, the team made sure its paddock space was off limits by hiring one or more personal security guards to police ingress and egress.
Level 5 had a compound that was genuinely foreboding, a stronghold of sorts.
The absurdity of the situation was highlighted at the 2013 mash-up between the ALMS and the FIA World Endurance Championship at Circuit of the Americas. The presence of massive WEC factory LMP1 programs from automotive giants Audi and Toyota brought priceless cars and equipment to the Austin, Texas, circuit where they shared the same paddock with Level 5 and the rest of the ALMS contingent.
LMP1 programs, built from annual budgets well over the $100 million mark, went unguarded while the Level 5 team, whose racing assets would amount to a rounding error on an LMP1 balance sheet, was protected around the clock. Whether it was an outward projection of strength, or a strange form of insecurity, Tucker made it clear that Level 5 was on an island of its own and the waters bordering that island would be under constant patrol.
Ignoring Tucker's bizarre need for privacy at a racetrack, where fans and TV cameras are ever present, the quality of the operation he and the late Level 5 team manager David Stone assembled was simply staggering. His spending habits—even in a paddock filled with million-dollar machines—were breathtaking.
Using the profits alleged by the FTC, Tucker spent wildly as Level 5 acquired a fleet of cars that competed in multiple racing series. He also hired purebred drivers—champions and stars alike—to serve as coaches and/or co-drivers. IndyCar champions, sports-car champions, Le Mans winners, and other high-profile racers were paid handsomely to be associated with Level 5. And with a dedicated crew of talented mechanics and engineers fielding the cars, Tucker's team amassed multiple championships and race wins.
Tucker spent wildly as Level 5 acquired a fleet of cars that competed in multiple racing series.
"He paid very well, had great crew members, no expense was spared, no details overlooked," said one former Level 5 driver. The feeling that the government would eventually indict Tucker, according to that driver, was an accepted part of competing on behalf of Level 5. "That was the big joke—enjoy it while it lasts," he added.
Level 5's closed-cockpit P2 Lola
Level 5's entry into the high-tech ALMS series in 2010 came in its Le Mans Prototype Challenge (LMPC) category where the team bought and raced two of the French-built ORECA FLM09's. The graduation to LMP2 in 2011 was another demonstration in wealth dispersal. Level 5 purchased one open and two closed-top Lola P2 prototypes carrying price tags exceeding a half-million dollars each to start the 2011 season. The team replaced the Lolas later in the year with HPD ARX-01 P2s to close the season, and then, for 2012, updated the ARX-01s to ARX-03 specifications after purchasing new carbon-fiber monocoques.
Discounting any spare cars, that's five primary P2s plus two costly upgrades in a little more than a year. Tack on all of the extra bodywork and backup pieces needed for each model in the event of an accident, the costs to secure engine leases, plus technical support staff for those engines, and a number close to $1 million per chassis is easily reached. Sticking with prototypes, Level 5's first appearance came in 2009 in Grand-Am with two Riley-BMW Daytona Prototypes, which it raced for a few seasons before (and while) racing in the ALMS.
Level 5's Daytona Prototype
In 2013, Level 5 was still racing its ARX-03bs, but according to one team member, the two DPs and three Lola P2s were still there. The team was also considering a return to PC, so two ORECA FLM09s were purchased to replace the two it sold when it moved to P2. There's nothing wrong with owning a lot of prototypes, but it is rare to have a team, as Level 5 did late in 2013, with nine total P2s/DPs/PCs under one roof.
Tucker had enough prototypes to form a rival series if he wanted to take on the ALMS. From an informal tally of the cars he purchased, apparently something in the neighborhood of 24 to 25 vehicles were owned by Level 5 from 2007 to 2014.
Tucker also ran the world's most expensive amateur racing machine, as told by former Level 5 technical director Jeff Braun, in the must-be-heard-to-be-believed Dinner With Racers "Level 5 Special" podcast. Although the source of Tucker's income has led to an unpleasant outcome, his use of that income for racing largesse, as Braun reveals, was better suited for Formula 1 than pounding amateur racers into the ground.
Dinner With Racers "Level 5 Special" podcast
Financing scandals aren't new
Prior to Tucker's arrival in the ALMS, Greg Loles, co-owner of the Farnbacher Loles team, was the standard bearer for scandalous headlines. His Connecticut-based team raced and won in 2008 with its Porsche in the GT2 class, continued through the 2009 season, and quickly disappeared after the season finale.
Why did Farnbacher Loles go belly-up? Loles preyed upon the St. Barbara's Greek Orthodox Church in Danbury, Connecticut. He duped the church and members of its congregation to fund his Ponzi scheme, and got caught. Arrested in late 2009, Loles was sentenced to 25 years for stealing approximately $27 million from 250 people. One prominent Greek family is said to have been taken for $14 million alone by Loles. He also took the St. Barbara church for $2.1 million.
According to the FBI, Loles also used his ill-gotten millions to fuel the Farnbacher Loles team's heavy appetite for cash.
"Instead of investing funds as promised, Loles used the money to fund his Farnbacher Loles operation, to pay personal expenses, and to purchase a large home with a pool, tennis court, and multi-car garage for his sports cars," the FBI wrote. "In order to keep his scheme from being detected, Loles provided investors with fraudulent account statements and also made periodic "lulling" payments to certain investors using a portion of other victim-investors' funds."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael S. McGarry was unflinching in his assessment of Loles' character while addressing the court during sentencing in 2014. "What he did wound up ruining lives like a cancer eats away from someone's insides," McGarry said. "This is a man who earned people's trust, and they could not see the trouble coming. A true wolf in sheep's clothing."
Provided he serves the full term, Loles will be 80 when he's released from prison.
Other American racers-turned-jailbirds include former IMSA champion Randy Lanier who recently completed his sentence for drug smuggling. With the explosion of marijuana and cocaine throughout the U.S. in the 1980s, several sports-car racers—including John Paul Sr., another IMSA champion—gained notoriety for involvement in the drug trade along with their efforts to evade the FBI. The skullduggery, however, hasn't been limited to the U.S.
European team owners and drivers have also authored some infamous stories. Former British Touring Car Championship entrant Vic Lee definitely deserves a place in the pantheon of law-breaking racers.
Vic Lee was arrested and sentenced to 12 years after he was caught using his team's transporter to smuggle almost $10 million in cocaine.
Lee was arrested and sentenced to 12 years after he was caught using his team's transporter to smuggle almost $10 million in cocaine. An exceeding number of trips from the U.K. to Holland drew the authorities to Lee's activities, and after a thorough inspection of his truck and trailer, police found Lee was using nitrogen gas cylinders (the large, steel tanks used for inflating tires and powering wheel guns to change tires during pit stops) to hide the narcotics.
After arriving in Holland, Lee's smuggling operation emptied the gas from the cylinders, cut them open, filled the tanks with cocaine bundles, then welded the cylinders shut and returned home. Set among other normal racing equipment, the altered nitrogen cylinders went unnoticed until authorities received a tip.
Sent to prison in 1993, Lee was paroled in 1998 and returned to prison in 2005 when he was caught smuggling cocaine, this time, in the trunk of his car.
I asked my friend Graham Goodwin, editor of DailySportsCar.com and English language co-host of the FIA WEC broadcasts, to conjure up a few lesser-known cases of European sports-car improprieties, and he didn't disappoint.
James Munroe's McLaren F1 before his embezzlement scheme was discovered.
David Lord
"James Munroe launched his British GT effort for 1998 with a long-tail McLaren F1 and a glitzy event featuring supermodels and pop stars," he said. "All too soon, though, it unraveled. Particularly so when a senior executive of his employers, publishers McGraw-Hill, spotted Munroe, one of their accountants, racing the McLaren on TV."
This curious incident triggered an investigation that discovered Munroe to be guilty of a near $8 million embezzlement schemeinvolving McGraw-Hill and led to him doing jail time.
"The story should end here, but doesn't," Goodwin continued. "Upon release, he went on to do it again, this time defrauding his new employer—a charity no less—to buy himself a luxury lifestyle before attempting to sell his sordid story as some kind of rags-to-riches tale—less Walter Mitty than Totally Shitty."
"And then there was Rohan Skea," Goodwin said. "Skea, an Australian lawyer, was the name behind a high profile two-car ALMS Porsche team in the series' early days which looked slick and well-funded until he was charged with multiple instances of fraud. Rohan had gathered multi-million dollar loans secured against non-existent assets, and with all the transactions supported by forged company letters and invoices.
"It all came tumbling down, of course, and a six-year prison sentence followed, with nearly four served before he emerged to receive further allegations of financial wrongdoings."
And finally—at least until another sports-car team owner winds up in handcuffs—here's Goodwin's painfully recent memoriesof Daniel Uckermann, who makes Greg Loles look like an amateur.
Daniel Uckermann, who went on the lam after his Ponzi scheme was discovered.
Soeren Herweg
"Uckermann is a 2015 GT4 Euroseries class champion who secured the title back in August after racing a Lotus Evora and KTM XBow Coupe, but he didn't show up at the end-of-season party to collect his trophy," he said. "The reason the 32-year-old German skipped the ceremony is because he was on the run after the collapse of a Ponzi scheme that left creditors out of pocket to the tune of an estimated 100 million Euros!"
And where might we find Uckermann today? Apprehended and awaiting trial, perhaps?
"Unfortunately, no," Goodwin said. "German authorities believe that Uckermann has fled to Africa, possibly to the Democratic Republic of Congo."
This is the first installment on crime behind-the-scenes in motorsports. Check back for more characters and unbelievable tales soon.
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Though a lot of people consider travel to be stressful and unpleasant, it doesn't need to be that way. Getting outside your normal daily activity can be quite a rewarding experience, and one that will improve your life in large or small ways. Following these guidelines will help have the journey a good one.
Calling a family group or friend once you leave and arrive on a trip isn't simply for kids. It is actually a good way to stick them relaxed, as well as to be sure that if something goes wrong in your trip, someone are fully aware of about this quicker. In case you have not called from a certain time, plus they cannot reach you, this person can take appropriate actions to discover you or find what happened.
Break up clothes between bags when you are traveling. When traveling with multiple people, split your clothes involving the respective suitcases. There is a chance you could lose a bag in your trip. In case a bag is lost, finding the clothes break up ensures than everyone could have one or more change of outfit accessible to them.
When venturing abroad, be cautious about stepping into taxis. You must try and ensure it's a legitimate taxi before you actually enter the vehicle. Always be mindful of taxis when you are traveling abroad a person is probably not legitimate.
If you are planning on flying or riding an extended distance with school-age children, consider choosing a small portable DVD player. The least expensive ones can run as little as $75, and the satisfaction it buys yourself on that nine-hour international flight is far more than definitely worth the cost.
When staying in a very high-end domestic hotel, take along your personal A/V cable for your laptop. Most rooms in hotels at nicer hotels offer free in-room WiFi plus a large HDTV, and definitely will then charge a premium for in-room movies. Owning your own A/V cable gives you access to your very own selection of downloaded movies or perhaps online account.
If you need a little extra safety within your hotel room, take along a door stopper. Occasionally, especially when you travel in countries that are less developed, it's important to stay in a hotel room containing more security. Should your door doesn't include a chain or deadbolt, place a doorstop beneath the door.
In order to avoid paying high airport prices for snacks and food, be sure to pack your own personal bag of treats before you leave home. Pretzels, crackers, trail mix and dried fruit, are common great airplane snack ideas. If you bring your own personal, you won't have to pay an arm plus a leg for snacks with the airport or on board the plane.
When traveling on the red eye flight, wear comfortable clothing and bring a pillow, blanket, eye mask, and ear plugs. Should you be ready to rest, you might be more inclined to be able to sleep and come to your destination well-rested, even if other passengers make noise or put their reading lights on.
Destination go to popular locations lacks to become too costly, in spite of larger families or travel partners. There are several destination guides that offer discounts on larger parties for travel, lodging, in addition to dining and rental of vehicles while visiting. Booking your travel plans together could help you save a whole lot more money.
If you are traveling by air, select your row carefully to ensure that your carry-on bag can fit into the overhead compartment. Planes are often boarded in a team of five or ten rows, so a row using a higher number might get on first. Also try to get in the boarding line immediately as soon as the group before you has stopped joining the line, just stand behind them. Your group will likely be announced before you get towards the front. The faster it is possible to jump on the plane, the more likely it really is there is still room to your bag.
Once you pick a travel destination, be sure to check user reviews on local hotels prior to secure your reservations. Gather these from multiple sources, including magazines, websites and guidebooks. Also ask the resort to transmit you pictures of the sort of room that you may be vacationing in. Performing your research will help you avoid unexpected surprises when you are getting to your destination.
Long flights are notorious for cramped quarters. Should you stay cramped with your seat for the time, there is the possibility you might develop deep vein thrombosis, which can cause blood clotting with your legs. Take a moment just to walk around and stretch your legs one or more times every hour.
Benefit from the hotel ice maker when making the next pot of in-room coffee. The ice makers in many hotels are filled with filtered water, while any room only offers plain tap water. Coffee will taste better in the event the water is filtered. Fill your ice bucket during the night and employ the melted ice for the coffee the subsequent morning.
If you're a novice flyer and you discover youself to be planning to board an airplane, bring some gum and a music player. When the plane takes off and landing, slip your headphones on and chew some gum. The tunes could keep you calm and relaxed even though the gum prevents your ears from popping.
Equipped with the skills from these tips, anyone can head out to the world with a lot more confidence and less stress. Take the time to enjoy your brand new surroundings as you travel and gain knowledge from the individuals you encounter along the way. You'll come back to your day-to-day life refreshed and with a new appreciation for the things you normally ignore.


Monday night, Far*East Movement, also known as FM, came and rocked Winnipeg with their LA flare. FM was in town as part of their cross-Canada tour to promote their newly released studio album "Free Wired". Originally selling out their original venue at Republic Nightclub, a second show was added at the Garrick Theatre to accommodate the demand.
Singing songs from their album like current hit "Like a G6," "I Party," "Girls on the Dance Floor," and upcoming single with Ryan Tedder of One Republic called "Rocketeer," they also satisfied longtime fans with songs like "Fetish" and "Go Ape". There was even an appearance of DJ Brass Monkey's head. Oh, did I mention they also had the space helmets? Yeah, it was awesome.
As a long time fan from their collaborations with Wong Fu Productions on a number of Internet videos and sold out "International Secret Agents" concerts, I had been waiting a long time for an opportunity to see them live. Having missed them twice while visiting LA in the last few years, I finally had a chance to rock out to them live — and they didn't disappoint. They proved that they are performers — the real deal — and the amount of work that they've put in over the years to get to this point has really paid off. I went with a non-Asian friend of mine who had never heard their songs other than "Like a G6," and now he's going to buy album tomorrow.
FM's "Free Wired" album is a solid club record with gems like "White Flag" and "Don't Look Now" featuring Keri Hilson and "If I Was You (OMG)" featuring Snoop Dogg. If you haven't listened to them yet, do it, although "Don't Look Now" will be the group's next single hitting the airwaves. Pick up this album or download it off iTunes (you get a bonus track "Go Ape") — it's a good buy for sure.


With all the fantastic and wondrous sea life in our oceans, we often forget about the smallest sea creatures. Plankton, for example, are tiny, microscopic organisms which drift throughout bodies of fresh and salt water. There are quite literary billions of these organisms floating around the oceans, and they form the base of most marine food webs.
Although it may seem strange, faecal pellets play an integral role in the structure of our oceans. As they sink down through the various layers of water, the pellets transport carbon and other vital nutrients to the sea bed. This helps the ocean to store carbon and create food sources for a wide variety of marine life.
It is assumed from the results of the research that the contaminated faecal pellets will also be eaten by other animals and the plastic inadvertently ingested. This is the first study which provides evidence that plastic pollution physically alters the biological structure of the ocean and can have a harmful impact on marine life.
So, where do these microplastics come from? The biggest source of this specific type of plastic pollution is micro-beads in exfoliating products – face wash, for example – and small fragments of plastic bags which have broken up over time. Many types of fish and other marine animals unknowingly consume these plastics, such as turtles and seabirds. This can have extremely harmful effects on the wildlife, reducing feeding and reproduction rates.
The study draws some interesting conclusions and mostly highlight the enormity of the problem caused by plastic pollution. If a humpback whale eats 1.5% of plankton per day, then they will ingest a total of 300,000 microplastic particles. The reality emphasised in this study is that entire ecosystems could be thrown off balance due to contamination by human waste.


Easy knitting tutorials for beginners.
This sweet little scarflette is perfect for those colder spring nights when a full scarf is just too much. It works up quickly and is so easy to make. This scarflette is made using a baby cable stitch, but you can simply knit each row if you're new to knitting. If you want to give the cable stitch a try (it's really quite easy!), this is a great project to practice with. You won't need a cable needle, but you will need knitting needles that allow for knitting two stitches together (I recommend a bigger size, like 10 or 11 US sized needles).
And there you have a fun and cozy scarflette! As I've said, you can use a basic knit stitch if you find the cable too difficult. These fun little accessories also make great gifts for Mother's Day!
Part of my 2012 pledge to myself is to cleanse…to rid myself of useless "stuff" that's just taking up space in my new little apartment (pictures coming soon!).
First up is to work my way through my yarn stash. I've taken up and given up on knitting since high school…but I really want to get back into it now. I'm learning new stitches and experimenting with cool patterns…and my latest discovery: how to knit an infinity scarf!
This pattern is easy to follow and best of all, FREE! Knit scarf patterns are totally adoptable, so feel free to experiment with length, color, width, etc.
These directions create a super comfy two-color infinity scarf. It's made using Ridged Ribbon Eyelet stitch, but you can do the good ol' K2, P2 if you'd like. I will say, though, that Eyelet stitch is so easy and fun, once you get the hang of it!
Row 5: *Knit 2 together, yarn over*. Repeat from * * to last stitch. Knit last stitch.
Repeat row 1-6 42 more times.
If you'd like, switch to another color and repeat rows 1-6 15 more times…or you can just continue with the first color for 15 more rows.
To make the scarf continual, you'll need to sew the two ends together. I used the teal yarn and a tapestry needle for this step. Join the two sides together so the wrong side is facing out. Then simply weave the yarn through the first stitch on the white row and the first stitch on the teal row. Continue working your way down the row until the scarf is knitted together. Weave in ends.
And there you have it! Warm infinity scarves like this can be worn indoors and out…I wear mine almost all the time! I'm going to try crocheting a flower in the coming weeks to add to it. I've never crocheted before, so any helpful advice would be appreciated!
If you use this infinity scarf pattern, feel free to post your new scarf on the Hob-bee Hive Facebook page! I'd love to see how yours turned out!
Not one to knit? No worries. You can still make a beautiful scarf for yourself or as gifts for the upcoming holidays. All you need is some think funky yarn and a little bit of patience.
My No-Knit Scarf only took about 1 hour to make!
Cut 12 pieces of bulky-weight yarn, each measuring 140 inches long. This will give you an 86″ scarf, approximately. Divide yarn into 4 bunches of 3 strands each. Tie 2 bunches together with a square knot, leaving 6 inches of fringe at end; repeat with remaining bunches. Pin the knots to a piece of foam board. Knot inner 2 bunches of yarn together, spacing knot about 1 inch from existing knots, then knot left and right bunches together.
My 2 sets of yarn. Begin by tying the two middle bunches together.
See, it kind of looks like you knitted it! Well, yours will…mine's kind of messy.
on the end. Finish so that final knots mirror opposite end, and trim to even the ends.
Really thick, chunky yarn works best for this project.