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How can SimplyWise help you calculate 1099 taxes?
Ever found yourself scratching your head trying to figure out how much you owe in taxes on your 1099 income? Fear not, because SimplyWise is here to be your tax-saving sidekick. Let’s talk about how this nifty tool can take the headache out of calculating your 1099 taxes.
SimplyWise is like having a personal accountant in your pocket, minus the stuffy suits and jargon. It’s an easy-to-use platform designed specifically for freelancers, gig workers, and anyone rocking the 1099 lifestyle.
So, how does SimplyWise work its magic? It’s simple, really. It tracks your income, expenses, and tax deductions throughout the year through receipts you upload to your account or through any accounts you’ve connected to SimplyWise (like credit cards, a bank account, Amazon account, etc). No more scrambling to find receipts or guessing how much you spent on business supplies – SimplyWise does the heavy lifting for you.
SimplyWise then transforms your expenses into easy to read reports with total spending across your custom categories. No more stress-induced hair pulling or last-minute panic attacks – with SimplyWise, tax time becomes a breeze.
Oh, and did I mention that SimplyWise offers a completely free tier? It’s like getting a top-notch tax service without having to break the bank.
So, whether you’re a seasoned freelancer or just dipping your toes into the world of 1099 income, SimplyWise is your go-to tool for simplifying your tax game. Say goodbye to tax season stress and hello to hassle-free tax calculations with SimplyWise by your side. Trust me, your future self will thank you.
Understanding 1099 Tax in Florida
Understanding the 1099 tax per your state, like Florida, can be crucial for freelancers, independent contractors, and gig workers. With the help of a 1099 tax calculator specifically tailored for Florida, you can accurately estimate your state tax liabilities. This specialized tool takes into account Florida’s tax laws and rates, providing you with a clear picture of how much you may owe in state taxes on your 1099 income. Whether you’re renting out properties, providing consulting services, or driving for a rideshare company, using a Florida 1099 tax calculator can help you stay on top of your tax obligations and plan accordingly. So, before tax season rolls around, consider leveraging a 1099 tax calculator designed for Florida to ensure you’re prepared and avoid any surprises when it comes time to file. | <urn:uuid:a2f26db2-76c1-48fc-aeaf-9e7e9afb3d68> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.simplywise.com/blog/1099-tax-calculator-florida-simplywise/ | 2024-04-21T20:34:51Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.934947 | 545 |
Since the rapid spread of the coronavirus around the world, many people are losing jobs and fearing for the economy. The Social Security Administration, though not created specifically to deal with pandemics, is a social safety net to help Americans—especially American workers—through times of crisis. But in order to keep the Social Security benefit funds viable for everyone who needs them, the administration must in some cases reduce and even tax the benefits of those who earn higher incomes.
In fact, 3.4% of the funding for beneficiaries in 2018—about $35 billion—came from taxing Social Security benefits.
Why is Social Security taxed?
It might seem like double dipping for the Social Security administration to fill the coffers by taxing earnings and then taxing benefits as well. It is more understandable when you look at the purpose of Social Security. President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Social Security Administration in 1933 by executive order. The country was in the midst of the Great Depression that had left millions jobless and homeless. Social Security was intended to be exactly what it says—a source of security for society when people need help and support. This might include the elderly and retired, the unemployed and the disabled, along with their families.
Everyone who pays into the system receives its benefits. It is called an “entitlement” because the federal government determined that workers who pay into the system and are eligible are entitled to receive its benefits regardless of their income level. Employees pay 6.2% of their annual gross income into the Social Security funds, up to $137,700 (in 2020). If they earn above that, they don’t have to pay Social Security tax on the rest. Their employers also pay 6.2% of the employees’ annual gross income.
Self-employed people must pay 12.4% to compensate for the amount their employers would have paid. Everyone who is eligible for benefits receives them.
In 1983, however, it became clear that the system might run low on funds. The Social Security system depends on current workers to fund older generations’ retirement. But the government could see that the Baby Boomer generation was much larger than GenerationX and they were living longer than previous generations. There would not be enough workers to fund this large generation of retirees. Consequently, Congress voted in 1983 to make a number of changes to Social Security policy including taxing the benefits of those with higher incomes.
How is Social Security taxed?
If you are below full retirement age and are receiving Social Security benefits, the Internal Revenue Service will not tax your benefits, but the SSA may reduce them. The rule in 2020 is that in the years prior to your full retirement age, if you earn more than $18,240, Social Security will reduce your benefits by $1 for every $2 over that amount. The money that is taken from your benefit will be restored to you at full retirement. In the year of your full retirement, you can earn $48,600 without any reduction and then SSA will only reduce your benefits $1 out of every $3 earned above that amount.
It’s only when you reach full retirement age that taxation kicks in. At full retirement age, the SSA will no longer reduce your benefits, but if you earn a certain amount of “combined income” the IRS may tax some of your benefit. Combined income is:
- Your adjusted gross income such as wages, dividends, self-employment income, and other taxable income.
- Plus your nontaxable interest
- Plus half of your Social Security benefits
If you file your federal tax return as an individual, and your combined income is between $25,000 and $34,000, you may have to pay income tax on up to 50% of your benefits. If your combined income is more than $34,000, you may have to pay taxes on up to 85% of your benefits.
If you file a joint return, and you and your spouse have a combined income between $32,000 and $44,000, you may have to pay income tax on up to 50% of your benefits. If it is more than $44,000, you may have to pay taxes on up to 85% of your benefits. If you’re married and file a separate return, you’ll probably have to pay taxes on your benefits.
Any way to avoid the tax on Social Security benefits?
One way to possibly avoid having your benefit taxed is to delay filing for Social Security retirement benefits. People who file for Social Security at full retirement age—rather than younger—receive 100% of their benefit. If you wait until age 70 to file, you will receive Delayed Retirement Credits which increase your benefit by 8% each year until you reach 70. This way, your benefit is much larger when you actually receive it, and you can earn money in the years leading up to filing without your benefit being taxed.
Moreover, Social Security bases your benefit on your top 35 earning years before you file, so if you make more money in those last years, your benefit will be higher.
Some investment advisors have other recommendations such as keeping money in a Roth IRA which is build on after-tax dollars, or investing in a Qualified Longevity Annuity Contract in some cases.
The Social Security Administration strongly recommends you see a financial advisor to get the most out of your Social Security benefit. Many factors play into this planning including:
- How long you intend to keep earning money, and how much
- How long you expect to live. (Social Security has life expectancy tables to help you estimate.)
- What other sources of income are available to you, such as investments. And whether you canstagger taking money from these income sources to maximize your income.
- Your eligibility for benefits on someone else’s record. Surviving spouses and some ex-spouses can receive benefits on the deceased workers’ record and delay filing for their own retirement until later.
Those are only a few of the considerations that enter into the decision about when to file for your benefit.
Do you have to pay income tax on Social Security benefits?
Each January, you will receive a Social Security Benefit Statement (Form SSA-1099) showing the amount of benefits you received in the previous year. You can use this Benefit Statement when completing your federal income tax return to find out if your benefits are taxable. If you don’t have your form SSA-1099 or SSA-1042S for the previous tax year, you can get an instant replacement using your online My Social Security account. If you don’t already have an account, you can create one online. To get your replacement Form SSA-1099 or SSA-1042S, select the “Replacement Documents” tab.
If you do have to pay taxes on your Social Security benefits, you can make quarterly estimated tax payments to the IRS or choose to have federal taxes withheld from your benefits.
There are many ways to reduce the impact of taxation on your Social Security benefits, but the good news is if your benefits are being taxed, you’re one of the fortunate ones who doesn’t have to heavily rely on a benefit that only replaces a small portion of your income. And that’s a win. | <urn:uuid:018c8bb1-afa4-4554-8901-2e0583ab6258> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.simplywise.com/blog/is-social-security-taxable/ | 2024-04-21T21:22:00Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.9708 | 1,508 |
The city-state of Singapore can be called one of the most unusual places in Asia. Now this country is the most important trading center of the region, and is also considered the main port of Asia. Since its founding, Singapore has attracted millions of tourists from all over the world. In a fairly small area, ancient colonial quarters, modern skyscrapers, beautiful green parks and always noisy shopping areas could fit in. Almost all the famous sights of Singapore are evenly located in the three main areas.
Geography of Singapore
According to itypemba, this city-state is located in Southeast Asia and consists of several large islands and about 60 small ones. The main island – Singapore is separated from the Malay Peninsula by a kilometer strait, and in the north there is a dam that connects Malaysia and Singapore.
The area of Singapore is 694 km. sq., occupies the 191st place in the world in terms of area.
The national currency is the Singapore dollar (SGD).
The official language is English, Chinese, Malay, Tamil.
Visa to Singapore
To enter Singapore, all citizens of the CIS must have a visa, and from December 1, 2009, you can get a short-term visa only in those companies that have been accredited by the Embassy of Singapore. To apply for a visa, you must submit documents in digital form, you can also submit them in paper form, but in this case you will be charged additional funds for digitization. The visa is issued within three working days.
Weather in Singapore
Singapore has an equatorial maritime climate, which means it is hot and humid all year round. At almost any time of the year, the temperature is +25 +30 C. The coldest time falls on November-January, when the daytime temperature can drop to +24 C. Annually, about 600-1300 mm of precipitation falls in Singapore, with most of they fall in December-March. Humidity rarely drops below 65%, and sometimes reaches 96%. Since the country’s climate is the same at almost any time of the year, the tourist season here lasts all year round.
Currency exchange in Singapore
As of September 2011, the national currency rate is 1 USD = 1.2 SGD. The national currency is the Singapore dollar. Banks are open on weekdays from 09.30 to 15.00, and on Saturday until 11.00. In the Orchad Road area, many banks are open on Sundays until 15.00. Most exchange offices are located in shopping areas and some of them are open only until 17.00, so it is advisable to change the currency in advance. The main means of payment in Singapore are credit cards, which you can use to pay almost anywhere. ATMs, which are located in any institution, have become very widespread.
220V/50Hz (English type sockets).
Most of the believing population professes Buddhism (42%). 15 and 15 percent Islam and Christianity respectively. Most educated people are atheists.
Security in the country is at a very high level and even in the most remote areas, law enforcement agencies maintain public safety. However, there are cases of fraud and pickpocketing in places with a large concentration of tourists, so it is worth taking basic precautions.
The work of medical services is impeccable. The medical staff speak English and are qualified. Many hotels have their own doctors, and pharmacies are widespread throughout the country. Calling an ambulance is free, but you have to pay for a subsequent visit to the doctor. In case of danger to life, the patient is admitted free of charge at the main Singapore hospital. | <urn:uuid:71d1d12f-5d88-40f3-a761-f97367ee7990> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.simplyyellowpages.com/about-singapore/ | 2024-04-21T21:00:51Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.96509 | 747 |
Syrian Rue (Peganum harmala)
Syrian Rue is a perennial, herbaceous plant used as a medicine in folk medicine in the Middle East and North Africa. The seeds contain the powerful harmala alkaloids used for spiritual purposes and have a long tradition within Persian culture. Nowadays Syrian Rue is still used for spiritual purposes, mainly to enhance the power of other psychedelic plants.
The plant grows in temperate desert areas and in the Mediterranean Sea area. It likes dry, poor soil. It can be an indicator that soil has been impoverished, for example by agriculture. The plant is native to a large area comprising several countries including Morocco, Spain, Italy, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and North China. The plant is common in Afghanistan, Iran, parts of Israel, Anatolia and Morocco. From this original habitat, the plant has gradually started to grow in other areas as well. In 1928 Syrian Rue was first planted in North America by a farmer who wanted to extract a red dye from it called 'Turkish Red'. By the way, this is still a way of coloring that is used.
The plant belongs to the family called Nitrariaceae and has a long, woody underground rhizome that can go over 6 meters deep. In winter the plant dies, but in spring it grows back from this root system in the form of different stems with prickly looking leaves, which get separate, white flowers. In appearance it is reminiscent of Ruta graveolens, a plant popular as a medicinal and ornamental plant in the garden. The name 'Rue', or in Dutch 'Wijnruit', comes from this resemblance. The seeds of Syrian Rue are dark to black-brown colored and triangular shaped.
Traditional medicinal use of Syrian Rue
Within the Persian culture, Syrian Rue is a well-known hallucinogenic drug and medicine. According to some scientists, Syrian Rue is the 'mysterious' plant 'haoma' written about in very ancient Persian texts. This name 'haoma' would be related to the Vedic word 'Soma'. Soma is a magical, divine plant or beverage written about in ancient Indo-Iranian texts, but of which the real meaning has been lost. The Greek philosopher Dioscorides made a description of the plant that is seen as the first one where it is certain to be Peganum harmala.
In the 12th century the Arab agronomist lnb Al'-Awwam wrote that the seeds were used for baking bread. They were said to help with fermentation and taste.
During Persian rituals, including weddings, the seeds of the plant are burned as incense to repel doom. In Turkey and Morocco, the plant is hung dry in order to ward off 'the evil eye'.
In Europe Syrian Rue was used as a medicine, as can be read in Des Cruydboek van Rembert Dodoens, from 1554. She was used in the same way as Wijnruit, as described earlier, a plant that looks very similar to Syrian Rue. Interestingly enough, for all uses only the leaves or the juice of the plant were used (e.g. to treat insect bites, rabies, bruises) and not the seeds.
Harmala alkaloids in the seeds of Peganum harmala
However, the seeds of Syrian Rue are probably the most interesting because they contain certain potent substances called harmala alkaloids. More specifically, they are harmine and harmaline, two very strong alkaloids that can be used to make DMT orally active. The seeds of Syrian Rue are therefore used to make an ayahuasca analogue, for example. An analogue means that it's not the original ingredients, but a similar way of working. Ayahuasca is usually prepared by combining a DMT-containing plant, called Psychotria viridis, with Banisteriopsis caapi, a vine that contains the same properties as Peganum harmala, in the sense that it also makes DMT (dimethyltryptamine) orally active. DMT is one of the most potent psychedelic substances known on earth, also produced by the human body itself. The reason why the body produces DMT is still not clear to science, but the substance probably fulfils an important function within, among other things, living dreams and near-death experiences. DMT is closely related to the neurotransmitter serotonin (this substance plays an important role in the body related to mood, sleep, energy). DMT can also be found in several plants. When the DMT from these plants is absorbed by the body, there can be very strong psychedelic effects.
DMT can be smoked, but can also become active when used orally. However, it is important to add a so-called MAOI (Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor). As with Ayahuasca, the combination of plants (and therefore substances) ensures a very powerful psychedelic experience. The active substances harmine and harmaline were isolated in the 19th century. It was later discovered that Banisteriopsis caapi also contains these alkaloids. Nowadays Syrian Rue is used as a replacement for Banisteriopsis caapi, as it is cheaper and has a similar effect. Moreover, its preparation is easier.
Combining Psilocybin, THC, or DMT with Syrian Rue
Research shows that the combination of Syrian Rue and substances such as psilocybin, THC and DMT can prolong psychedelic effects by up to 4 hours. By the way, the substances of Syrian Rue also have psychedelic effects on their own. However, these can be accompanied by a feeling of nausea. Ways to reduce these unwanted side effects are by grinding the seeds with a coffee grinder and then processing them into capsules. Note that the ingredients need time to be absorbed by the body. Experience shows that Peganum harmala seeds are best taken for about half an hour before taking the psychedelic. Furthermore, it is advised to combine herbs that combat nausea such as chamomile, mint, lemon balm, ginger... Cannabis also works well, although it is important to remember that it is a psychedelic in itself, so the effects will be enhanced.
Effect of Syrian Rue
Syrian Rue is in itself a plant with a psychedelic effect. When taken with other psychedelics such as magic mushrooms, the trip will have a different (more intense) character. Examples of effects of Syrian Rue are:
- A heavier physical feeling. The user generally prefers to sit or lie quietly and experience few external stimuli. A tip is to let the trip take place at night, or at least with little light and sound.
- A stronger 'voice' that interprets visions or images.
- More intense visual effects
There are also the physical side effects that can occur, including:
- Nausea and vomiting
- A strong buzzing sound
These side effects are usually strongest during the rise of the trip and fade with time.
Use of Syrian Rue
There are several ways to use Syrian Rue. One common way is to simply chew the seeds for about two minutes and then swallow them. This simple method allows the salivary glands to absorb the active substances when they come in contact with them. However, the taste is very bitter. Another way is to grind and mix the seeds by making tea, or to make capsules.
The amount of Syrian Rue will vary from person to person and reason for use. To strengthen other substances such as psilocybin, 3 to 4 seeds are normally sufficient. The MAO-inhibiting effect lasts about 3 to 6 hours.
When using Syrian Rue, it is very important that you avoid certain other substances. Since Syrian Rue is an MAOI (i.e. a substance that makes other substances stronger), you should avoid it when taking certain medications, such as antidepressants. You should also avoid certain nutrients that contain tyramine. Examples of foods containing tyramine include fermented foods such as beer, soy sauce and old cheese, other foods such as bananas, peanuts and chocolate. Combining an MAOI with certain nutrients (containing the substance tyramine), or certain medications or drugs, can be dangerous. An example of this is so-called 'serotonin syndrome', which can occur when an MAOI such as Peganum harmala is combined with drugs such as MDMA, or certain SSRIs. This leaves too much serotonin in the body that cannot be absorbed, resulting in high blood pressure.
When Syrian Rue is combined with other psychedelics, it is important to mention that the psychedelic effects will be enhanced and prolonged. Syrian Rue can also induce strong nausea in certain users. Especially for people without experience it is important to start with low doses. Approach entheogenic drugs with respect.
What is MAO (Monoamine Oxidase)?
Monoamine is an important enzyme in the human body. This enzyme ensures that certain active substances that enter the body, such as the substance tyramine, are harmless. Without monoamine, innocent foods containing tyramine such as dark chocolate or fermented foods could cause life-threatening reactions in the body. Monoamine also breaks down substances specific to the body, such as serotonin, norepinephrine and norepinephrine. An MAO-inhibitor, such as Peganum Harmala, temporarily prevents monoamine from doing its job and therefore from breaking down certain substances.
Did you enjoy reading this article and do you like to write yourself? We are always looking for people who share our passion for natural products, who can also translate this into great texts. And we have an interesting reward for this. View all information for writers. | <urn:uuid:c363c0f2-0fff-4da2-bc22-3a33161616a7> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.sirius.nl/en/encyclopedia/plants/syrian-rue-peganum-harmala/ | 2024-04-21T21:30:31Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.957246 | 1,991 |
Verification is a process used to verify certain information on the FAFSA to ensure its accuracy.
The Department of Education or Student Financial Services may, at any time, select your application for verification based upon the information you provided. Saint Joseph's University is required to make sure that all aid is awarded to students according to federal, state, and institutional regulations. If selected, the verification process must be completed before financial aid can be awarded.
It is the student’s responsibility to provide requested information so that the verification process can be completed in a timely manner. Failure to complete the verification process may result in a student not being eligible for federal aid and will need other means to pay for classes.
Notification to the Student
A student whose FAFSA information is selected for verification will be notified of his/her selected status as follows:
- the Department of Education will notify the student on his/her Student Aid Report (SAR). Next to the EFC will be an asterisk (*) referring to a comment in the student section of the SAR that tells the applicant that he/she will be asked by Saint Joseph's University to provide documentation for verification; and
- Student Financial Services will send email notifications on a weekly basis to a student selected for verification. Notifications to the student will begin as soon as a FAFSA selected for verification is received by Student Financial Services. Notifications will continue until either the student has submitted all documents required for verification or 64 days has lapsed, whichever occurs first.
Saint Joseph's University email notifications sent to a student whose FAFSA information is selected for verification will include a link to Self-Service to view any required documentation.
Deadlines and Failure to Submit Documentation
For federal aid programs, excluding the Federal Pell Grant Program: A student enrolled in the fall semester must submit required verification documentation by November 1. A student who begins enrollment in the spring semester must submit required verification documentation by April 1. If the student does not provide the verification documentation by the deadline, SJU will cancel his/her subsidized federal aid (excluding the Federal Pell Grant) for the award year. If the student then provides the documentation after the deadline, SJU will reevaluate the student’s eligibility for federal financial aid and will award aid based on the availability of federal funds at the time of documentation submission.
For the Federal Pell Grant Program: A Pell Grant applicant selected for verification must complete the verification process by the deadline published in the Federal Register. The deadline is October 1, or 120 days after the last day of the student’s enrollment, whichever is earlier. The verification process is complete when the SJU has received all requested documentation and a valid processed FAFSA report is on file including any necessary corrections to the report. If the student does not provide the verification documentation or the Institute does not receive the valid processed FAFSA report (ISIR) by the deadline, the student forfeits his/her Federal Pell Grant for the award year.
Information to be Verified
Verification may include (but is not limited to) a review of the following data for a student, a student’s spouse, or parents of a dependent student:
- Adjusted gross income
- U.S. income taxes paid
- Untaxed portions of Individual Retirement Account (IRA) distributions
- Untaxed portions of pensions
- IRA deductions and payments
- Tax-exempt interest income
- Education tax credits (American Opportunity Tax Credit and Lifetime Learning Tax Credit)
- Household size
- Number in college
- Citizenship or Eligible Non-Citizenship Status, Veteran Status and Social Security Number
- In addition, the verification process is used to resolve inconsistent or conflicting information
If an applicant uses the FAFSA IRS Data Retrieval Tool to transfer federal income tax return data to the FAFSA without changing the transferred data, the applicant is generally not required to verify that information. | <urn:uuid:ddee2669-7676-4a21-a867-4a04f3d43d94> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.sju.edu/lancaster/financial-aid/eligibility/policies-procedures/verification | 2024-04-21T20:28:10Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.916863 | 805 |
A woman who says her son was effectively given "a life sentence" for stealing a mobile phone is calling on the UK government to change the rules.
Shaun Lloyd was jailed for two years, nine months but ended up serving three times that because he was given an imprisonment for public protection sentence (IPP).
He is now out of prison but he can be recalled at any time.
The Ministry of Justice said the power to recall "is vital".
IPPs were scrapped in 2012. But that was not applied retrospectively to the 4,500 prisoners still serving them.
Mr Lloyd's mother Shirley Debono wants that changed so IPP prisoners can get on with their lives without fearing perpetual recall, adding that it meant her son was given a "life sentence by the back door".
Aged 18, Mr Lloyd, from Cardiff, pushed someone to the floor and took their mobile in November 2005.
When chased he stopped and returned the phone. The victim called the police and he was sentenced for robbery in 2006.
IPPs allowed the parole board to keep prisoners inside as long as they saw fit and it meant Mr Lloyd served three times his sentence.
"These IPP prisoners are seeing people coming into prison who've committed the same crime, or a worse crime than them, and getting out after a year or two years, but they're stuck inside festering away," Ms Debono said.
IPPs were introduced in 2005 for violent and sexual offenders.
More than a third were given to less serious offenders, jailed for two years or less.
His mother said she does not condone what Shaun did, and he "deserved that two years, nine months".
"But the judge added a new sentence, the indeterminate sentence for the protection of the public, known as the IPP," she added.
"So Shaun went to prison. And it wasn't until he done two years, nine months and didn't get out that we started to panic."
Offenders are on life licence meaning they can be recalled to prison for any breach.
Mr Lloyd was released in 2014. After two-and-a-half years he was recalled for 10 months for using heroin.
A year after being released the same thing happened. He was recalled and served 11 months.
He was released in December 2019, but with an IPP sentence is on licence for life
But Ms Debono wants that changed.
The 60-year-old said self harm and suicide rates among IPP prisoners were higher than the general prison population.
On realising her son had been handed "a life sentence through the back door" she began campaigning to get him freed.
That has included meeting Lord Blunkett, the former Home Secretary who says he now regrets introducing IPPs.
Ms Debono said her son tried to kill himself in 2008.
"If he didn't have me, he wouldn't be here," she said.
"My son would be one of those statistics."
After his suicide attempt in prison, he turned to prescription opioids. This led to his addiction.
Ms Debono wants IPP prisoners resentenced.
She said: "Then the people like Shaun that committed the far less serious crimes, who should not have got the IPP sentence, can be released on a two year licence."
She and fellow campaigner Donna Mooney - whose brother took his life while in prison on an IPP sentence - were due to meet UK government justice secretary Robert Buckland in April.
That was postponed because of Covid-19 and rescheduled for September.
She urged him to "please make some changes".
In 2016 then Parole Board chairman, Prof Nick Hardwick, said IPP prisoners could be cut from 4,000 to 1,500 by 2020 without government action.
Today the figure is 2,038 - not including 1,328 who have been recalled.
Solicitor Andrew Sperling has worked with IPP prisoners since 2005.
He supported the call to resentence them. He said recent figures showed recalls had more than doubled in the last five years.
"People end up being recalled to custody for being late to appointments or not contactable on a particular day," he said.
He wanted to see more community rehabilitation that provided "proper supervision and support".
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "These types of offenders were deemed by a judge to pose a high risk to the public and are only released after they demonstrate to the Parole Board they are no longer a threat.
"The power to recall is vital to protect the public who rightly expect the most dangerous offenders to be imprisoned."
What is an IPP?
It is a minimum sentence and the prisoner must demonstrate to a parole board that they are no longer a risk to the public before they can be released.
Introduced by the Labour government in 2005, it was designed for serious violent and sexual offenders.
Ministers thought it would affect 900 offenders in total but it was applied far more widely, and at its peak there were 6,000 IPP prisoners.
The sentence was abolished in 2012 by then Justice Secretary Ken Clarke.
He said that it was impossible for prisoners to prove that they were no longer a risk, calling IPPs a "stain" on the criminal justice system.
View original article: | <urn:uuid:22443bc7-8ccf-420e-a31c-55c21d943afe> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.sl5legal.co.uk/single-post/2020/07/22/ipp-prisoners-a-life-sentence-by-the-back-door | 2024-04-21T21:58:52Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.989318 | 1,102 |
Adaliz Meaning and Origin
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Adaliz - FAQ
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What is the origin of the name Adaliz?
The origin of the name Adaliz is .
Is Adaliz a girl or boy name?
The name Adaliz is a masculine name. According to our statistics, 0% of babies called Adaliz were boys, 0% of babies called Adaliz were girls.
What is the popularity of the name Adaliz?
According to statistics, Adaliz is ranked th most popular boy name in the US, in 2022.
Like the name Adaliz? What about:
Baby Names That Start With A
Baby Names that End With Z | <urn:uuid:f3e97f15-f628-4801-a79f-8cc2d05e9065> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.sleeplessparent.com/baby-names/adaliz | 2024-04-21T21:51:37Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.923371 | 294 |
Sky Review and Bonus Codes
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Slots, Blackjack, Roulette, Poker, Scratchcards
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Sky Vegas Review
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About The Author | <urn:uuid:05ddef80-16ba-40ed-a8f7-ff93640bf0be> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.slotswise.com/casino-bonuses/sky-vegas-review/ | 2024-04-21T20:33:37Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.926775 | 1,294 |
M2TM Scottish Final 2021
With updates to restrictions, and Scotland’s first metal gig since lockdown having taken place, it’s time for a hefty Metal 2 The Masses refresher!
As we mentioned previously, we have kept all of the participating bands from the 2020 M2TM in the running. As the pandemic landed, we had just reached the final line-up, so it seemed only fair to honour that. Suffer Under Sorrow, Nassau, H8teball, Engines Of Vengeance, and Immortal Omen are still our final five, and we will be looking out for them before, during, and after. Get tickets right here to support them! We also kept in close contact with our guest headliners. All are previous M2TM winners in their region, and have agreed to stay on board to top off the event this year:
The only non-Scots band on our bill, these Lancastrians deal in heavy, weed-soaked grooves, ranging from Southern rock to screaming doom. In 2019, they went through from the Burnley heats of M2TM to smash the New Blood stage. Unfortunately, things went the way they did for all of us the following year, and this lot will naturally have a lot to get out of their system.
“Playing Bloodstock 2019 is the pinnacle of what we’ve achieved as a band so far. Taking our show to the home of Metal was an unforgettable experience and one we can’t wait to have again!“
One of Scotland’s best known underground heavy hitters, Dog Tired are always a great addition to any metal bill. Way back in 2014, they earned themselves a slot at BOA, via Metal 2 The Masses in Scotland. Now, already back at it writing for another album, these guys just don’t stop the metal train. A top quality offering on and off stage, they’re also returning to Bloodstock this year.
“MTTM is such an excellent opportunity and important contest for bands in the UK. For us, competing and winning in 2014 was such a memorable experience, and really gave us the drive to continue to write, release and tour our music. We wish the bands in the final all the best, and will hopefully see you all at Bloodstock!“
Sonically phenomenal, the masters of epic prog audio, Ramage Inc., are truly a force to be reckoned with. Their songs travel right through your soul with every beat, and every harmony. Again, they blazed through M2TM in Scotland, hitting the New Blood stage in 2016, and were later invited back to open the Sophie Lancaster stage on the first night of Bloodstock the next year.
“M2TM has always been close to our hearts. Being invited as the guests of the Edinburgh finals, especially as our first gig after a very difficult year, truly is a priviledge. We are very much looking forward to seeing you all, and playing for you all“
In line with the most recent information and guidelines on re-opening, we are having to keep ticket sales limited to 100 for the time being. We hope thing improve, and restrictions on indoor singing are eased or removed in time for the event. This number will allow for the spacing of tables and other safety provisions for indoor events as stands right now. If the Scottish Government should ease restrictions before the event, we will, of course, free up more tickets. Only time will tell on this front.
This may also mean an earlier finish time than stated, but we are holding out, hoping for the best. When the time comes, we think we will still be able to run the Keep It Steel after party. It is naturally much easier to maneuver than the live show, but if it needs to be pulled to keep you all safe, then that is, sadly, what we will have to do. The same stands if it proves necessary to cancel or postpone the show as whole. If any of this means you want or need refunds, that will always remain an option. Keep watching this page – we will have further updates for you in due course.
M2TM Scottish Final 2021 | <urn:uuid:91b497e7-fe5c-4aeb-b9ff-043a1bf973a6> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.slowdragonmusic.com/features/m2tm-scotland/m2tm-scottish-final-2021/ | 2024-04-21T21:10:46Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.960334 | 866 |
Organiser: SLU Urban Futures and SLU Future One Health
Professor Lindsay J. McCunn is an environmental psychologist with a research focus on humane architectural design strategies, environmental neuroscience, sense of place, and urban planning. She is the Director of the Environmental Psychology Research Lab at Vancouver Island University, the co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Environmental Psychology, the former Chair of the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA), and an Associate Editor for the Journal Cities & Health.
Theodore Eisenman is Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning with research focus exploring the historical, scientific, cultural, and design foundations of urban greening. His research encompasses various aspects, including urban tree planting initiatives, urban ecosystem services and disservices, human health connections with urban flora, design norms, equity, and governance. He is in a sabbatical from the University of Massachusetts and currently working at SLU.
Jonathan Stoltz is a Researcher in Environmental psychology at SLU, with research focus on cognitive sciences and environmental perceptions in relation to health and wellbeing in relation to evidence-based planning and design tools. He has worked with different kinds of landscape analyses and epidemiological data, linking environmental perceptions to various health and wellbeing outcomes, as well as investigated synergies with other sustainability aspects, such as, e.g., biodiversity and food production, in urban contexts.
Sofia Boqvist is Associate Professor in Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences. Her research mainly focuses on aspects of veterinary public health, food security, microbial food safety and antimicrobial resistance. She has extensive experience of working on issues related to global challenges of security and safety using a holistic perspective, examples include how animal food production in urban environments affects human health and livelihoods. | <urn:uuid:ba4bbd9b-85df-40d7-af10-09cf28dcb7ac> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.slu.se/en/ew-calendar/2024/1/urban-health-day/ | 2024-04-21T20:53:15Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.924485 | 365 |
That’s where we will leave the live blog today.
Here’s a wrap-up of Friday’s big headlines:
- Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen says he wants to see the world take a big step towards phasing out fossil fuels at the COP28 global climate talks in Dubai.
- European scientists have declared 2023 the hottest year on record as Australia swelters through a major heatwave.
- NSW Police have issued an urgent amber alert after a two-year-old boy was taken from a family member by a man and a woman on the state’s North Coast.
- Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong is planning to visit the Middle East and is seeking to meet counterparts in Israel.
- NDIS Minister Bill Shorten warned NDIS providers who wanted to “make an easy buck” from people with disability to sell their businesses.
- Some of the major Reserve Bank reforms have been delayed until the end of March, after the Coalition and Greens teamed up to send the key legislation to a committee for review.
- The arrest of another former detainee has sparked new calls for the federal government to toughen its checks before releasing more people from indefinite immigration detention.
- An officer assigned to investigate Brittany Higgins’ sexual assault allegation told the Federal Court that the process of obtaining Parliament House CCTV was “incredibly frustrating”.
Investors are questioning the benefits of an $80 billion mega-merger between Australian oil and gas majors Woodside and Santos after both companies confirmed talks are underway.
Have a good weekend and try to stay cool!
Sarah Keoghan, signing off. | <urn:uuid:9f7c8f38-b6c9-4a04-a38c-32689abe1735> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.smh.com.au/national/australia-news-live-breakthrough-for-aukus-submarine-deal-calls-for-tougher-checks-before-more-detainees-released-20231208-p5eq0t.html | 2024-04-21T22:08:03Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.963247 | 339 |
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We have received your appointment and will send you a confirmation to your provided email upon approval. | <urn:uuid:c9094141-cbdb-4b2d-9a78-460254b29c10> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.snap.gy/listing/shoponline-gy/ | 2024-04-21T21:20:42Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.948472 | 75 |
Combining style and protection
Combining style and protection, the Yakoumo Bib is the most technical and versatile pant in our Adventure range. The removable bib and adjustable suspenders make it ideal for any terrain and riding style. It features DRYPLAY 10K/10K PFC-free membrane for maximum waterproof-breathability, Teflon Ecoelite™ PFC-free durable water repellent treatment, Coremax lining to protect you from the cold and inner-thighs zippered vents for ventilation when necessary. Critically-taped seams keep moisture out. The always-practical I-Fit System allows you to roll up your cuffs after a great day on snow, and silicone reinforcements protect these pants from your edges. Retro patches and the street-style fit with cargo pocket add a nice finishing touch to your getup. | <urn:uuid:5ee6a83b-4506-4bf1-9097-84e1ebda45ff> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.snowandsurf.co.nz/products/picture-yakoumo-bib-camel | 2024-04-21T22:02:09Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.823001 | 177 |
Week 24 games of the topflight league were played out in stadiums across the country on Monday, May 28 and Tuesday, May 29 as Mekele Ketema overrun Jimma Aba Jifar to take the top spot.
ArbaMinch Ketema 5-0 Woldia SC
The Crocodiles registered their biggest win in their Ethiopian Premier League history as they hammered Woldia 5-0 at home. Temesgen Castro bagged a hat-trick while Alelegn Azene and ex Adama Ketema forward Bereket Addisu added the other two goals. Woldia are in their 10 matches’ winless streak. Newly appointed head trainer Zelalem Shiferaw lamented on his charges for their lack of competitive spirit.
Sidama Bunna 1-0 Adama Ketema
A second half penalty from Addis Gidey handed Sidama Bunna a slender win over Adama Ketema in Yiregalem. Sidama were the better side throughout the game while Adama deployed a more defensive tactic. Addis successfully converted a spot kick in the 73rd minute as Sidama Bunna collected maximum points. The defeat leaves Adama Ketema in limbo as title hopes are fading away after two losses in a row.
Wolwalo Adigrat University 1-1 Jimma Aba Jifar
Jimma Aba Jifar surrendered their lead after being on the driver seat for several weeks. Wolwalo hold Jimma to a one all draw in Adigrat. Jimma took the lead through inspirational forward Okikiola Afolabi in the 19th minute. Nevertheless, Walelegn Gebre put his side on level terms 15 minutes before full time. The Gebremedhin Haile charges dropped valuable four points in their last two league encounters.
Ethio-Electric 0-0 Wolaitta Dicha
Wolaitta Dicha’s unimpressive form following their CAF Total Confederation Cup exit continues as they are yet to collect maximum points in their last four games. The Bees of Tona and Electric played out a barren draw in Addis Ababa. Ethio-Electric’s ineffectiveness in their attacking proficiency let them down not to get goals during the duel.
Mekele Ketema 1-0 Hawassa Ketema
In stiffly contested encounter Hawassa Ketema fall 1-0 to Mekele Ketema. Ghanaian striker Fusieni Nuhu fired past between the legs of Hawassa’s Togolese goalie Mensah Shouhou minutes after the resumption to grab the winner. Amanuel Gebremikael spurred a glaorious chance to hand Mekele a 2 goals cushion while Mulualem Regassa rattled the bar with a wonderfully taken free kick. The win gives Mekele Ketema to the top spot at the summit of the league.
Mekelakeya 1-1 Kidus Giorgis
Old foes Mekelakeya and Kidus Giorgis settled for a 1-1 draw in Addis Ababa. The game between the two oldest clubs in Ethiopia usually draws attention as the 11 times Ethiopian champions Mekelakeya broke the deadlock barely after the kick off when the pacy winger Maraki Worku found the back of the net. Both sides went a man down at the stroke of half time as veteran Adane Girma and center back Addis Tesfaye saw a straight red card. The Horsemen equalized through Cape Verdean Osvaldo Tavares in the 62nd minute. The Army side were forced to wrap up the game having been reduced to 9 men after Dawit Estifanos saw a marching order.
Fasil Ketema 0-0 Dire Dawa Ketema
A dominant display from the Emperors failed to break the tight defensive organization of Dire Dawa Ketema as both sides played out a goalless draw in Gondar. The game was postponed to Tuesday after a torrential rain left the Fasiledes Stadium with a waterlogged pitch. Fasil were hoping to bounce back after dropping points in their last couple of games. The Easterners seemingly are happy with the shared point as they set eye of league safety.
Ethiopia Bunna 2-2 Dedebit
Goals galore in Addis Ababa Stadium as Ethiopia Bunna rallied from behind to share spoils with Dedebit. The Blues took the lead 9 minutes into the game through veteran defender Seyoum Tesfaye. Ethiopia Bunna got the leveler at the blink of half time when Samuel Sanumi converted a penalty kick. Getaneh Kebede rounded Bunna goalie Hariston Hessou to put Dedebit on the lead in the 70th minute before second half substitute Kalkian Zelalem strike’s to rescue a point for Ethiopia Bunna who have been far better than their opponents. The Blue’s Ghanaian center Back Kweku Andoh was shown a straight red card for a foul on Abubakher Nessro in the 79th minute.
Mekele Ketema tops the log standing with 42 points as Jimma Aba Jifar and reigning champions Kidus Giorgis are second and third with 41 points. Ethiopia Bunna are four with 37 points. Ethio-Electric, Wolwalo Adigrat University and Woldia SC are in the relegation zone.
Okikiola Afolabi (Jimma Aba Jifar) – 15
Getaneh Kebede (Dedebit) – 11
Kalusha Alhassan (Ethio-Electric) – 10
Dawa Hotessa (Adama Ketema) – 9
Samuel Sanumi (Ethiopia Bunna) – 9
Addis Gidey (Sidama Bunna) – 9 | <urn:uuid:c40a8cf2-219c-499a-8843-e63280c4f608> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.soccerethiopia.net/football/36702/ | 2024-04-21T21:55:34Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.915725 | 1,220 |
The report has highlighted the extent of the crisis within our Defence Forces
Improved pay and conditions for members of the Defence Forces are a critical component in bolstering our defence capabilities, according to Social Democrats Defence Spokesperson Gary Gannon.
“I welcome the release of the report of the Commission of the Defence Forces, which has highlighted the extent of the crisis within our Defence Forces. It is clear from the report that a long history of failure to provide appropriate resources has reduced the capability of the Defence Forces to do its core work – and adequately protect the country.
“Last year the naval service marked its 75th anniversary – but it did so with only five of its nine naval vessels operational, primarily due to a lack of personnel. This crisis in recruitment must be addressed, as a matter of urgency, and better pay and conditions are a key component of this. This was a subject that was outside the remit of the Commission, but it must now become a central focus of government. Deeply embedded cultural issues within the Defence Forces – particularly in relation to sexual harassment and abuse – and the lack of diversity among personnel must be acted on also.
“The Commission poses some challenging questions about the kind of Defence Forces we want to see beyond 2030. Its proposal will form the basis of a national debate in the coming weeks and months about what is desirable, credible and achievable. Given the demonstrable inability of our Defence Forces to currently perform its critical functions, it is clear an increase in funding will be necessary. At a minimum, the Defence Forces will need enhanced radar and cyber capabilities, which are vital for our national security.
“While Defence Minister Simon Coveney has welcomed this report, he has also been a member of successive governments since 2011 that have overseen the depletion of personnel within the Defence Forces and a reduction in its capacity to serve. The report must serve as a wake-up call for the Minister, and the government, to finally act to support existing personnel, attract new and diverse members and bolster the capacity of the Defence Forces to do its job to the best of its ability.”
Welcoming the report, Cllr Chris Pender, Chair of the Social Democrats Defence and Security Policy committee said:
“I am particularly pleased to see the recommendation for the formation of an Office of Veterans Affairs to coordinate veteran services and provide advice and assistance to veterans and their families. This was one of a number of recommendations, in our 22-page submission to the Commission, and should be implemented right away.
“Members of the Defence Forces have and will leave with life-altering or long-term injuries, illnesses, mental health issues including PTSD as a result of their service. Others simply run into financial difficulties. We believe the State owes these veterans a continuing duty of care.”
9 February, 2022 | <urn:uuid:3d66a655-428f-48cb-8fd1-11fd45ac8393> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.socialdemocrats.ie/commission-report-highlights-crisis-in-defence-forces/ | 2024-04-21T20:29:35Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.96445 | 579 |
Data Centre Services India: Why Must You Outsource?
Data is precious for companies and business enterprises in today’s ever so competitive markets. Losing data or accidental access to what might be your sole winning edge could be nothing short of devastating. So, ensuring safest and most technologically advanced data centre services in India for keeping your information safe and protected, is more important than ever.
Can you do it on your Own?
Well, it all depends on your personal capabilities. First, your company needs to possess the skills your business requires for delivering the services required for offering due protection to your data. You will need to hire specialized professionals for the job and provide them with the required infrastructure for support. Second, you will need to ensure that they deliver cost competitive services for making the whole proposition viable.
All said and done, it is indeed a huge call for any medium sized business enterprise for setting up its own data centre. It is perhaps best to outsource the services of a data centre service in India. Some more reasons to opt for outsourcing have been listed below.
Some More Reasons to go for Outsourcing
Some more reasons for opting for backup include:
- Cost control and reduction: One of the foremost reasons to outsource data centre services is for controlling costs. It proves to be highly expensive for companies to set up dedicated, self managed data centers for their companies. It is always better to go for collocation and shared solutions for cutting down the costs.
- Freeing up Self Resources: Resources do not come cheap and most companies of today prefer to keep it lean and mean. When you outsource your requirement one of the well chosen data centre services in India, you are actually freeing up your own private resources. You can do away with maintenance and upkeep schedules. Your in-house IT expertise can be utilized for core applications and deliverables rather than managing data reserves.
- Leveraging External IT Resources: When a company outsources services, it gets the chance to leverage external IT resources. This includes the expertise of people, equipment, processes and so on. They do not need to spend on salaries of networking experts who would be devoting full time services to the company.
- Speeding up Transformation Processes within the Company: If your company is going through some sort of a change of process, ethos or structure, it’s perhaps time to concentrate on core processes and functions. This is where data management and other routine functions need to be left to outsourced service providers. This helps in making the process of transformation easy and seamless. If most staff members are undertaking routine stuff, mobilizing the change could become a problem.
- Speeding Data Centre Projects: Whenever you are outsourcing your requirement to one of the data centre services in India, you can speed up data centre projects too. Once you are able to identify the problems with your data centre set up, you can fix them without wasting much time. Focusing on availability, uptime and cost efficiency becomes easy.
- Accessing external management expertise: Not all management expertise would be available to you internally. When you choose a professional data centre service, you have complete management teams focusing on delivering data centre services, day in and day out. Since they work with several companies of repute, they will actually be able to bring industry best practices to the table. This will help in enriching the business processes and deliverables of the company.
- Improving Customer Service and Focus: Maintaining customer focus is possibly the only way to remain in sync with their ever changing demands and preferences. And when you choose to engage one of the data centre services in India, it allows you to maintain focus on customer requirements. Since these outsources operators are experienced in this service, they reduce response time and ensure accuracy in interactions. Remember, poor service can hinder your performance and take away your competitive edge.
So, basically, companies who wish to maintain and manage a profitable show with limited resources will always consider outsourcing their data storage and security requirements. Whereas some large companies do run their own data centres, these can be cost intensive, requiring humungous manpower reserves and a gigantic infrastructure for managing the show. This may not be a manageable feat for all.
Choosing a Data Centre
Outsourcing a data centre service in India could attract significant costs too. Therefore, it is important for companies to assess the available service providers well before getting one on board. Some of the key qualities to look for include:
- Reputation: Always look for a reputed service provider with a name to fall back on.
- Experience: The facility should be old enough.
- Expertise: They need to have enriching expertise for the benefit of your business.
Take time for making your choice. Also look at costs before you choose. | <urn:uuid:a536dbfa-bc52-432b-94b1-b0ac694cd9f2> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.solonews.net/data-centre-services-india-why-must-you-outsource/ | 2024-04-21T20:05:48Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.947221 | 976 |
KEEP YOUR SHOWERHEAD INLINES & VITAMIN C HANDHELD SHOWERHEADS
CHLORINE & CHLORAMINES STRIP THE SKIN OF NATURAL OILS ESPECIALLY IN HOT WATER
Sonaki Vitapure Vitamin C shower heads have clinically shown to be effective to help improve the moisture and appearance of skin after only 2 weeks of usage. Vitamin C is a remarkable antioxidant, providing not only skin hydration but also shielding against potential damage caused by exposure to harsh chlorine.
Loved by Customers
From Our Journal
Blog posts description | <urn:uuid:e2705e7d-d0fc-4a4e-a812-e0f0f94179c7> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.sonaki.com/ | 2024-04-21T20:10:07Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.813284 | 125 |
Mushrooming Magic: Unleashing the Enchantment of Mushroom Water Lamps
Mushroom water lamps are a fascinating and unique type of LED lamp that combine the natural beauty of mushrooms with the stunning illumination of LED lights. These lamps are gaining popularity in home décor due to their organic and otherworldly aesthetic that adds a touch of magic to any interior setting.
Origin and Design
The mushroom water lamp design originated in Japan in the 1980s. The lamps are made of a transparent glass or plastic bulb with a mushroom-shaped top made of silicone or resin. The base of the lamp contains a small motor that creates a gentle, flowing motion in the water, which is illuminated by LED lights, giving the impression of a mushroom growing and swaying in a tranquil forest.
The Benefits of Mushroom Water Lamps
Mushroom water lamps offer several benefits besides their unique appearance. These lamps are eco-friendly and energy-efficient since the LED lights use less electricity and last longer than traditional incandescent bulbs. The flow of water in the lamp creates a relaxing ambiance and natural white noise that can help people sleep better and reduce stress levels.
Using Mushroom Water Lamps in Home Décor
Mushroom water lamps are versatile and can be used in a variety of interior spaces, including bedrooms, living rooms, and offices. These lamps create an enchanting and calming atmosphere that can enhance the mood of the room. When used alongside natural decor elements like plants, stones, or wood, mushroom water lamps add an organic touch that brings a connection to the outdoors inside.
Caring for Mushroom Water Lamps
Caring for mushroom water lamps is relatively easy. The bulbs require a small amount of distilled water to maintain their tranquil motion, and the LED lights should be replaced every few years. The silicone or resin material used to create the mushroom tops requires occasional dusting to keep them clean and gleaming. | <urn:uuid:26bbeec5-7dcf-44f7-83b3-2f329a303920> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.sonaledlights.com/index.php/2023/04/15/mushrooming-magic-unleashing-the-enchantment-of-mushroom-water-lamps/ | 2024-04-21T20:29:05Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.922004 | 388 |
Luminous Elegance: The Mesmerizing Beauty of Lustre Lamps
Lustre lamps are renowned for their stunning beauty and luminous elegance. These lamps have been around for centuries and continue to captivate people today with their enchanting glow and exquisite designs. In this article, we will explore the history, features, and uses of lustre lamps.
History of Lustre Lamps
Lustre lamps have a rich history that dates back to ancient times. The earliest examples of these lamps were found in Mesopotamia and Egypt, where they were used for both practical and decorative purposes. In medieval Europe, lustre lamps were favored by royalty and wealthy noblemen, who used them to illuminate their castles and palaces.
The technique used to create lustre lamps involves applying a layer of metallic oxides to the surface of the glass, which is then fired in a kiln. This creates a lustrous sheen that reflects the light and adds depth and dimension to the lamp.
Features of Lustre Lamps
One of the most distinctive features of lustre lamps is their shimmering, iridescent glow. This effect is created by the refracted light as it passes through the layers of metallic oxides on the lamp’s surface. Lustre lamps also come in a wide range of shapes and sizes, from elegant chandeliers to small table lamps.
Lustre lamps are often decorated with intricate patterns and designs, ranging from floral motifs to abstract geometric shapes. Some lamps also feature delicate glass beads or crystals for added sparkle.
Uses of Lustre Lamps
Lustre lamps are still used today for both practical lighting and decorative purposes. They are often featured in upscale homes and hotel lobbies, adding a touch of elegance and sophistication to any space.
Some people also collect lustre lamps as a hobby, searching for rare and unique examples to add to their collection. Antique lustre lamps can be quite valuable, especially those that were made by famous glassmakers or that were used in historical settings. | <urn:uuid:457b3cb2-bbdb-4c6c-9dd1-bc7273d05400> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.sonaledlights.com/index.php/2023/07/24/luminous-elegance-the-mesmerizing-beauty-of-lustre-lamps/ | 2024-04-21T20:40:19Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.955172 | 421 |
Broadband Satellite Internet has been around for more than a decade now and with the improvements to technology, may be a solution worth looking into. Because it is satellite it's available everywhere you can get a clear exposure to the southern sky.
A Merger to bring Faster Satellite Internet in rural areas is about to occur between Wildblue and ViaSat.
With the purchase of Wild Blue scheduled to close in April 2010 and the scheduled launch of the ViaSat-1 satellite in early 2011 it would make sense to sign up with this Wildblue internet or you can compare Hughesnet Satellite Internet .
Satellite Modem - connected to your computer through a USB port, this allows the ISP's routers to connect to proxy servers, which enforce bandwidth limits and guarantees fair use by all end users.
Living in rural America, you've probably seen the deals, received the coupons and considered looking into promotions - especially if you have been struggling to accomplish things online with a dialup Internet provider.
ViaSat, a satellite communications equipment maker for defense and consumer markets will boost WildBlue service and technolody levels and bolster the chances of getting government money earmarked for Broadband Rural America solutions.
If you are living in rural America, you've probably seen the ads, received the mailings and considered looking into it - especially if you have been struggling to accomplish things online with a dialup Internet provider.
Satellite Internet services are used in every location in the United States were DSL and Cable Internet is not available and customers need an always on, fast Internet service that dial-up ISP's can't provide.
Do you know there are ways to boost your internet speed? If the answer is no, then you don't have to worry because we will be sharing nearly 10 tips that can be helpful to improve your internet speed.
Hosted payload is not only for military and meteorological industries. Shared payload allows telecommunications carriers and ISPs to operate via satellite networks without building their own satellite. Payload hosting can cut the total expenses needed to develop satellite capacity. | <urn:uuid:e32bb472-1fd7-4609-a786-b0d0835fb7c2> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.sooperarticles.com/search/?t=contents&s=%20Viasat%20Satellite%20Internet | 2024-04-21T21:25:31Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.946155 | 413 |
Original, one-of-a-kind production cel used in making of Mysterious Thief Saint Tail TV series. This key master set-up is from Episode 14, "Ai to Namida no Purattohōmu" ("The Platform of Love and Tears") which originally aired in Japan on January 18, 1996. We've included a screen cap from the video.
Gorgeous, close-up image of Meimi as Saint Tail watching John and his new girlfriend get on the train together. This A1 Tome (END) cel is a true one-of-a-kind with only one cel in the sequence. It includes the original matching production background and unstuck matching douga pencil drawing.
Cel is in very good condition with some moderate trace line fading as typically found in cels of this vintage. There are staples and tape holding two-layer cel and the background together. Image size is 7.5 inches by 4.25 inches. The overall size is 10.25 inches by 14 inches. Cel comes protected for shipping in a fresh polypropylene bag.
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$1,000.00 Regular Price
bottom of page | <urn:uuid:87caa66c-2927-4610-b07d-5ec7792a137b> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.souloftokyo.com/product-page/saint-tail-anime-cel-original-background | 2024-04-21T20:06:28Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.947537 | 238 |
There are many ways to set up Pro Tools tracks, and not all of them are created equal!
One of the fascinating things about DAW software is that there are often many ways to achieve a particular result. This could also be seen as a frustration, though, and it probably means that some of us get into the habit of doing things in ways that are not as efficient as they might be. A classic example in Pro Tools is the creation of tracks within a Session. This can be carried out manually in several ways, while tracks also get created automatically when media or Session data is imported.
A natural place to start is the New Tracks dialogue, accessed from the Track menu or using the shortcut Command+Shift+N (Ctrl+Shift+N on Windows). Many people revisit this dialogue repeatedly to create a single track type at a time, reopening it each time a different track type is created. This is not necessary, and as creating tracks is something you are going to do in every Session you create, it's probably worth learning to navigate it without using the mouse. To populate your session with all the tracks needed in a single operation, use the following shortcuts (Windows users should substitute Ctrl for Command):
- Command+Shift+N: open New Tracks dialogue
- Up arrow/down arrow: number of tracks
- Command+Shift+up arrow/down arrow: new row
- Command+up arrow/down arrow: track type
- Command+left arrow/right arrow: track format
- Command+Alt+up arrow/down arrow: track timebase (ticks or samples)
Familiarity with this family of shortcuts makes track creation extremely fast, and Track Presets — which we'll discuss later — can also be accessed from the Track Type menu. For those of us still using Diginet-based control surfaces such as the D-Control and D-Command, the same shortcuts translate directly onto these surfaces too, and although the current Eucon-based surfaces offer direct access to Pro Tools functions thanks to their deep integration with the software, the convention as laid out in the New Tracks dialogue is still there. The most accessible entry point into Eucon is the excellent PT|Control app on iOS. If you are an iPad user and you haven't yet checked it out I strongly recommend it, particularly if your pockets aren't deep enough for an S6! In the Soft Keys section on page 136 (accessible directly from page 1) we find the familiar parameters from the New Tracks dialogue, which is automatically opened when accessing this page.
If you are in a real hurry, or are creating additional tracks mid-Session, you can also take advantage of a family of track-creation operations based around double-clicking with the mouse. Since Pro Tools 11, double-clicking on empty space in either the Edit or Mix windows will create a new track of the same type and width as the last new track created in the Session. Adding Command (or Ctrl on a PC) will create an audio track, adding Ctrl (Windows: Start) will create an auxiliary track, Shift creates a master track and Alt creates an instrument track.
All of these double-click shortcuts follow the channel format (mono, stereo and so on) of the previously created track. If there's no precursor to follow, the new track will default to stereo. There isn't a modifier to choose mono or stereo.
When importing audio or MIDI into Sessions, you have the choice to import it either to the Clips List or to new tracks, which are automatically created on the timeline. This choice applies both to clips imported using the import dialogue and anything dragged and dropped from Finder/Exporer or from a Workspace browser. I mention this because many people overlook the option of importing to the Clips List when importing media. Going straight to the timeline might seem like the obvious choice, because that's where you ultimately want the clips to end up; however, going via the Clips List lets you add them to the timeline in stages, and with additional options, courtesy of the last item on the Clips List drop-down menu, accessed from the round button with the downward-facing disclosure triangle. Timeline Drop Order allows the user to change what happens when dragging multiple clips from the Clips List to the timeline. The default is top to bottom, meaning each clip starts from the same time and new tracks are created for every new clip. Left to right imports the clips one after another along the timeline on a single track.
When it comes to automatically creating multiple tracks in a single operation, the long-standing solution has been to use Import Session Data to pull them in from another Session. However, if you regularly need the same tracks set up as a starting point, templates offer an easy alternative. Pro Tools installs several factory templates, identified by their PTXT file extension, and creating a custom template is as easy as choosing 'Save as Template' from the File menu.
Pro Tools 2018.1 officially introduced yet another alternative: Track Presets. This is a feature that parts of the Pro Tools community had lobbied for for years, wanting a way to recall chains of plug-ins to individual tracks in a similar way to Logic Pro's Channel Strip Settings. However, when it eventually arrived, Avid did far more than create a plug-in librarian. Track Presets allow the saving of not just chains of plug-ins but also media, on tracks and groups of tracks. For instance, you could save a drum tracking Track Preset containing multiple audio and auxiliary tracks, plug-ins and routing. It's a very powerful and very complete solution, which is definitely worth exploring.
- Like double-clicking in a blank area of the Mix or Edit window, double-clicking in the space at the bottom of the Tracks List in the left-hand sidebar of the Mix and Edit windows also creates a new track of the same type and channel width as the last created new track. The same modifier keys can be used to select audio, aux, instrument and Master Fader tracks. This is useful in large sessions, where a blank space might not be readily accessible in either the Mix or Edit windows, and offers the added convenience that the new track is automatically scrolled into view. Additionally, the Track List is the most convenient place from which to move the new track into your desired location in your Session: drag and drop tracks to reorder in the same way as you would in the Mix or Edit windows.
- It isn't possible to mix meters freely in a session, but the meter choice isn't quite uniformly global. By unlinking the 'Track and Master Meter Linked' setting in Preferences, a different meter can be selected for Master Faders compared to all other tracks. My preferred set up is for K12 or K14 on track meters and Linear on Master Faders to guard against clipping. To change meter types, right-click on your meters in the Mix or Edit window.
- While the Edit window offers comprehensive control over track height, the situation is less flexible in the Mix window. However, there is the option of the narrow mix view, accessed from the View menu and toggled using Command+Option+M (Start+Alt+M on a PC), not to mention fat meters, the slightly pointless visual Easter egg which globally widens track meters by about 50 percent and is enabled by holding all three modifiers and clicking on a track meter.
- Pro Tools has 64 levels of undo, but although nearly every action can be undone, deleting a track can't. If you delete a clip from the timeline you can get it back with a simple undo but if you delete a track, it's gone for good!
- If, like me, you can't ignore an uncleared clip light you'll be happy to know there is a keyboard shortcut to clear all clip lights: Alt+C. It also works in plug-in meters. | <urn:uuid:ee5baa0b-992a-4b7b-8812-e39c982726d4> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/making-tracks-pro-tools | 2024-04-21T21:31:19Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.930325 | 1,623 |
Spalding 4ths made it back to back wins to move up to 7th in the table.
the consistent and rapid improvement in play continues with the young side gaining in confidence and match play week on week.
Spalding took the lead in ten minutes when a well worked short corner found Dave Burrell on hand to slot home.
Spalding continued to dominate the game and scored a second goal when Danny Wright broke through to score his first league goal
Strong defending and game management saw Spalding keeper Rob Callaby with very little to do as the game finished with a comfortable victory.
Spalding are in friendly action next week away at Cambs Nomads. | <urn:uuid:5d2daeb5-6e16-4f4e-b40a-eadf7e8cfb33> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.spaldinghockeyclub.co.uk/2023/11/04/report-4th-xi-men-vs-wisbech-town-4-november-04-2023/ | 2024-04-21T21:34:31Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.980029 | 140 |
Hello! Thank you for using our resources. This cool PDF worksheet includes three short descriptions of countries in Spanish with information about their geography, culture and food. We hope you find it very useful to enhance your reading skill and learn new vocabulary.
Students can work individually or in pairs to solve the exercises on the worksheet.
Each student gets a copy of the PDF worksheets with the three short descriptions of Chile, Spain (España) and Japón (Japan). Students must read the passages carefully, underline or highlight important information, and then answer the questions in the first exercise on each country’s culture and geography. As for the second exercise, they should read again and write V (Verdadero) or F (Falso) in the boxes next to each statement, depending on whether they are true or false.
- Languages, Countries and Nationalities in Spanish
- Countries and Nationalities in Spanish: Phrases and Listening Practice
- Adjectives to Describe Places in Spanish – PDF Worksheet
Students work in groups of 3-4. Just like in the passages, each group does some research about the food, geography and culture of that country in Spanish. They should find their names in the language, which could be different, and find out what the most famous places and facts about that country are. Then, they prepare a poster paper or slides to share with their classmates. They should write a short footnote under each picture so that their classmates understand better what they are talking about. The presentation should last two minutes and give other students the chance to make a few questions or comment on it. | <urn:uuid:83b5961c-7124-4c30-8c1c-898c2ad6be78> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.spanishlearninglab.com/facts-countries-spanish-reading-worksheet/ | 2024-04-21T20:29:09Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.926831 | 336 |
Why the West must stop bashing China
Western governments' attempt to scapegoat China for their own shambolic response to Covid-19 will have terrible consequences.
‘We’re in 1938’, claimed Steve Bannon, former chief strategist to President Donald Trump. He was comparing the proposed national-security laws being imposed on Hong Kong by the Chinese government to Germany’s invasions of Austria and Czechoslovakia in the run-up to the Second World War. Bannon went on to warn about China: ‘If we blink, we’re heading on a path to war, to a kinetic [military] war, if we don’t stop it right now…. This is not a cold war. This is a hot information and economic war, and we’re sliding rapidly. We are inexorably going to be drawn into an armed conflict if we don’t stop this now.’
Bannon’s perspective exemplifies the toughening anti-Chinese stance that has consolidated itself since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Chinese government is accused of being too slow to recognise the threat of the coronavirus, and to have delayed alerting the rest of the world. These failings are put forward as confirmation that the Chinese state represents a political and strategic threat to the US, and to the Western world more widely. Such China-blaming spread quickly across most capitals of the advanced industrialised countries, from Washington to Canberra.
The problems many Western governments have had in acquiring enough medical and personal protective equipment, and certain pharmaceutical products, have been turned into a stick with which to beat China. Rather than waking up Western governments to the dire state of their internal manufacturing capabilities, their pandemic failings have been blamed on a precarious over-dependence on Chinese production from which the West needs to free itself. This accentuated belief in the threat from China could turn into the most dangerous consequence of the impact of Covid-19.
An authoritarian one-party state
It is entirely legitimate to condemn coercive actions carried out by China’s autocratic one-party government. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has an extensive record of authoritarian behaviours denying its own people basic freedoms, often with brutal suppression.
Freedom of assembly and freedom of speech are severely restricted. Workers, prohibited from establishing independent unions, are required instead to join only the CCP-controlled All-China Federation of Trade Unions. Nevertheless, every month hundreds of protests are organised by workers over wage arrears and working conditions, sometimes leading to police attacks and the imprisonment of activists.
The CCP has persecuted the Uighur minority in the Xinjiang region, consistently denied the rights of Tibetans, and sanctioned attempts by the local authorities to break up the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, where it has now decided to impose new security laws. And across China, the CCP has clamped down on social media and deployed surveillance technology to control internal dissent.
Even though coercive actions by state forces are hardly unknown within Western democracies, that is no reason to ignore or tolerate them when they take place in China. The denial of people’s rights should be challenged wherever it happens around the world. Governments in other countries, as well as citizens, could be clear that the CCP-run Chinese government should be accountable for its actions to its own people.
Making a bad situation much worse
But what is illegitimate and should be challenged is other governments’ interference in China’s own affairs. Just as problems in the US are for American people to resolve, and problems within Britain are for British people to sort out, the same applies with regard to China’s national sovereignty.
Repression against Chinese people, the same as the repression meted out by authoritarian regimes anywhere, will not be resolved by other governments or international bodies stepping in with economic or other weaponry. External state intervention in a country’s affairs is a repudiation of democracy at the higher nation-state level. Undermining national self-determination through trying to replace one governmental regime with another one always denies the local people the right to decide their own futures. Westerners who tolerate such state stratagems, even with the best of intentions, are undermining the struggle for democracy and progress everywhere.
Yet such Western governmental confrontation is now being advocated by the China-bashers. Legitimate condemnations of measures taken by the Beijing regime have turned into arguments for the Western authorities to take action against China as a national entity. The recent heightened hostility towards China has escalated into overt geopolitical contestation. Particular instances of atrocious CCP practices are now used to show that China has become an existential threat to the Western mode of life. The US and most other Western governments are increasingly discussing China as a strategic opponent.
In America, the Committee on the Present Danger: China, which Bannon helped set up last year, describes China as representing ‘an existential and ideological threat to the US and to the idea of freedom’. The relaunched committee is campaigning for an American consensus to defeat this perceived threat. In fact, the mainstream consensus on this has already gone a long way. Across the American political class, moves to isolate and punish China have become the accepted bipartisan stance. Trump and Joe Biden, Trump’s presidential rival in this year’s election, have already made China a major campaign issue, accusing each other of weakness in confronting America’s new No1 foe.
In Britain, senior Conservatives have established a similar campaigning body, the China Research Group, modelled on the European Research Group that campaigned for Brexit. The stated purpose is to work out how to protect Britain from the Chinese government’s ‘aggressive economic policies’, which are said to be aimed at ‘dominating’ the West and ‘reshaping’ the world in a way that ‘suits autocracy’.
According to Tom Tugendhat, one of the co-founders of this campaigning group and chair of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, ‘the cost of doing business with autocratic regimes is that you don’t just import their technology, you also import their values and make yourself dependent on their politics’. Somehow having business connections to China makes other countries ‘dependent’ on CCP ‘values’ and ‘politics’. While this exposes the lack of confidence some Western politicians have in their own values and their own politics, the message Tugendhat proclaimed is serious: ‘the virus has clarified the choice’ – it’s the West versus China.
Downing Street officials have already said that China faces a ‘reckoning’ over its handling of the outbreak and risks becoming a ‘pariah state’. The government is expected soon to announce tougher constraints, maybe even a ban, on the deployment of 5G telecommunications equipment from the Chinese supplier, Huawei. It seems the so-called ‘golden era’ in Sino-British relations, launched by David Cameron and George Osborne only five years ago, is over. As in the US, opposition politicians from the Labour Party and elsewhere are aligning with the tougher anti-China standpoint.
China is now increasingly seen as an existential threat by openly globalist governments in Western and Northern Europe. According to one senior European Union (EU) diplomat, the starting point for European policy towards China was, until quite recently, an eagerness to engage, but it now begins with pushing back.
NATO has also joined in, urging ‘like-minded countries’ to join the transatlantic military alliance and stand up to China’s ‘bullying and coercion’ in world affairs. As well as ‘heating up the race for economic and technological supremacy’, Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary-general, identifies China’s rise as ‘multiplying the threats to open societies and individual freedoms, and increasing the competition over our values and our way of life’. The focus is no longer on technology and economics, as it was a few years ago. It is now on China’s threat to the Western ‘way of life’.
In Australia, too, one of the countries NATO seeks to work with more closely, the government has become increasingly outspoken in challenging China. As one of its closer neighbours, Australia took the lead in calling for an independent inquiry into China’s handling of the Covid-19 outbreak. This was a bold move as China has been Australia’s biggest export market for years. The reason Australia, uniquely among the developed industrial economies, had been able to boast of avoiding recession for three decades was primarily down to China’s relentless demand for Australian minerals, foodstuffs and other products. It tells us much about the fraught state of geopolitical tensions that an advanced country so economically dependent on China has been prepared to take a public stand challenging the CCP’s denials of wrongdoing.
Today’s targeting of China as a threat to the world did not come out of the blue. By the end of 2017, the US had already declared China a ‘strategic competitor’. In June 2018, Australia banned the use of Huawei’s telecommunications equipment, and subsequently tightened controls on Chinese inwards investment, on grounds of national security. In March last year, the EU mimicked this approach, labelling China a ‘systemic rival’.
By last year, the US government had already gone well beyond talking about China in terms of the ongoing US-Chinese tariff and trade wars. For instance last October, before anyone had heard of Covid-19, US vice president Mike Pence castigated China’s behaviour as increasingly ‘aggressive and destabilising’. He said it had slashed ‘rights and liberties’ in Hong Kong, built a ‘surveillance state unlike anything the world has ever seen’, continued to ‘aid and abet the theft of our intellectual property’, and pursued military expansionism.
In fact, the ratcheting up of geopolitical pressure on China had been underway for some time before that. Almost a decade ago the Obama administration made the decisive shift in identifying China as a rising threat. In 2011, President Obama announced the ‘pivot to Asia’, marking the emergent political perspective that more assertive measures were needed to contain China. At the core of naming the East Asian region as the new focus for US trade and diplomacy was America’s evolving strategic relationship to China.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), eventually signed in early 2016, was presented as the key economic pillar of America’s Asian pivot. The TPP’s geopolitical role was hard to disguise as it sought to extend ties with all the major economies in the region, but with the notable exception of China. The hope was that this would reduce the signatories’ dependence on China, and bring them closer to the US. Alongside this economic initiative, the US strengthened military ties with Vietnam, Australia and the Philippines, and increased aid to Laos.
Contestation between the US and China simply took a blunter form when Trump entered the White House in 2016. Initially, he imposed tariff hikes against China in his declared mercantilist quest to protect US jobs, though this went alongside tariffs against Europe and other ‘friendly’ countries as well. However, the trade war with China soon escalated into an open technology war, with accusations of intellectual property theft and of threats to national security. The line between economic protectionism and geopolitical containment quickly became blurred, setting the scene for today’s offensive against China.
Solidarity with the Chinese people
The Chinese regime is a repressive autocracy with few qualms about using authoritarian means to protect itself. The world – not least the 1.4 billion Chinese people living in the mainland and in Hong Kong, as well as those under threat in neighbouring Taiwan – would be hugely better off with a democratic China instead. Thus actions taken by the inhabitants of Chinese territories to pursue freedom and democracy should be supported and celebrated by freedom lovers around the world.
The basic solidarity principle to follow is that to be genuine, freedoms have to be secured by ordinary people. History reveals that durable liberty and democratic politics are not things that can be brought about by government bodies, but only by the people themselves. Democracy is not defined by a set of imposed institutions but by a culture of association and collective action taken by the demos. This tenet is embodied in the right of people to national self-determination, to be able to decide their own political future.
Of course, Hong Kong people and democrats across China want outside support in their struggles for freedom – as do freedom-seekers in Syria or North Korea, or any other repressive regime. Under attack by their own governments, this is completely understandable. But the blunt historical record of intervention by external governments is that it makes things worse for the local people. Look no further than the seemingly endless war in Syria as outside forces try to out-manoeuvre each other as they attempt to advance their own interests. Yet it is the people of Syria who suffer most.
Western powers ‘exporting democracy’ to deserving locations has rarely gone well. Other recent interventions under the banners of human rights and spreading democracy have been a torrid experience for the common people at the receiving end, not least in Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan. The populace, who were suffering enough from local tyrants, has its ordeals intensified and prolonged by the destabilising interventions of stronger external powers, which use other people’s territories to pursue their own agendas. Just like with China-bashing today, those earlier campaigns were also motivated as being directed ‘only’ at the regimes, not at the people. That’s not how it has worked out for the Iraqi, Libyan and Afghan masses.
Given that today’s focus on China is the struggle for democratic freedoms in Hong Kong, it is useful to recall the actions there of a Britain that has now joined today’s anti-China crusade. The people of Hong Kong had just as few, if not fewer democratic rights during their 150 years of British colonial occupation than under the post-1997 ‘one country, two systems’ set-up within China. It was only as the clock ticked down to British withdrawal in 1997 that the last governor, Chris Patten, tried to rush through a quasi-democratic system in an attempt to aid local pro-Western politicians against Beijing loyalists.
Throughout British rule, Hong Kong governors, including Patten, had been appointed in London without any involvement of the ordinary people of Hong Kong. There was no such thing then, either, as ‘one person, one vote’. When last year Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, invoked emergency powers against pro-democracy protesters, it was telling that she used regulations Britain had introduced to its colony in 1922. The Emergency Regulations Ordinance was a response to strikes then at the city’s ports. In circumstances assessed as an emergency or a public danger, the ordinance allows the local supremo to make ‘any regulations whatsoever which he may consider desirable in the public interest’.
The British authorities had used these powers against anti-British protesters in 1967 to order the detention of a person for up to a year without giving any reasons. In response a year later, Henry Litton, then secretary of the Hong Kong Bar Association’s bar committee, wrote that ‘the powers which the Hong Kong government has at present over the liberty of the people of Hong Kong are as absolute as have ever been devised in the history of democratic government. The detention procedure is contrary to all ordinary standards of international behaviour as laid down by international courts and arbitration tribunals in decisions over many years.’
The substantive difference was that the territory’s unfree status then was enforced not by an autocracy but by a liberal democratic government. This reminds us that it would be naive to have illusions that Britain, the US, or any other Western liberal democratic state apparatus ever hands complete power to the demos in another country.
Five arguments against China-bashing
Here are five reasons that Western China-bashing is regressive, counterproductive and dangerous.
1) The most immediate act of solidarity we can provide to Chinese people fighting for freedom and democracy is to quash the West’s campaign of China-bashing. Western authorities meddling in China’s internal affairs – rhetorically and practically – make the prospects worse for democrats there, and around the world. The firm position is Western state non-intervention.
Governmental intrusion is an infringement on people’s capacity to determine their own lives. When outside governments seek to impose against China’s sovereignty, it is harder for the people of China to determine their own future. Better to only have to fight your own government to achieve freedom than have to take on external governments instead, or as well. As the British occupation of Hong Kong shows, Western governments cannot be trusted to be faithful friends of democratic progress.
More immediately, offensives from foreign governments give the Chinese government scope to play its own nationalistic cards and crack down harder on dissent at home, making struggle harder for local democrats. Western bombast alone, even before taking concrete steps to damage China or its leaders, provides the regime with ammunition to claim that China’s ‘era of humiliation’ at the hands of the West continues. This offers the regime more justification for taking extreme, sometimes brutal, measures at home and abroad.
Already in response to the Hong Kong street protests last year, the Beijing government and state-run media accused foreign forces of interfering with domestic affairs and supporting pro-democracy protesters. Last November China’s vice-foreign minister, Zheng Zeguang, told the US ambassador to China that passing the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act amounted to encouraging violence. Zheng demanded that the United States should ‘correct its errors and stop meddling in Hong Kong affairs and interfering in China’s internal matters’.
Again, it is worth standing back a moment to recall that this narrative of national humiliation that requires avenging began with Britain’s Opium Wars in the middle of the 19th century. It was Britain’s colonial occupation of the Chinese territory of Hong Kong from 1841 during the first Opium War that marked the start of what was originally called a ‘century of humiliation’. Recollect, too, that the proximate reason for those two wars pursued by Britain was to prevent pushback by the Chinese government against its own people being made addicted to the original opioid. This was a situation that the British government fought to retain in order to have a product from another of its colonial possessions to trade in exchange for desirable Chinese silks and porcelains.
Returning to the present, it is true that Beijing would probably continue to use the card of avenging national humiliation even without today’s actions and threats from Western governments. However, the present level of Western combativeness gives China’s leaders greater confidence and authority in pushing this line. In today’s fired-up circumstances, it is easier for Beijing’s leaders to denounce Hong Kong advocates of freedom as ‘pawns’ who have been hoodwinked by Western intruders.
What direct forms of solidarity from people outside China could help? Actions should aim at weakening CCP control. The democratic principle of self-determination implies a distinction between the economics of people’s lives and how these lives are conducted politically. Consistent with this approach, popular solidarity would be most effective in the political realm, impacting the potency of the CCP regime, rather than in the sphere of economics and normal business relations, which are mostly business-to-business, or business-to-people. Sometimes though, economics can encroach on politics, in which case we need to exercise specific judgment over what to say and how to act.
For instance, as a norm, national, or multinational, regulation or law should not restrict trade and capital flows into and out of China. However, if Western companies were found to be supplying the Beijing government with devices for repression, we should try to stop these supplies as they are aiding the suppression of Chinese people’s right to act.
A similar approach should be taken with regard to Chinese interventions abroad. Cross-border economic and business activities involving China, like China’s Belt and Road Initiative, should not be bound by third countries or international rules. Only the receiving countries should govern them. If any country’s authorities, including those of less developed economies, decide not to authorise Chinese inward investments or lending, or place conditions upon them, that is a matter between its people and their government. Again, other foreign authorities and international institutions should stay out of these bilateral matters.
However, if the Chinese government seeks to interfere in the domestic political lives of other countries, whether in sub-Saharan Africa or Latin America or Taiwan, then it is legitimate to denounce such interventions. These, though, are still not circumstances for other governments to intervene under any pretext. The same applies to the various territorial disputes over islands in the South China and the East China Seas. Unilateral actions of occupation by China should be deplored. But disputes are best resolved in negotiations between the respective Asian national states, without international or Western intrusion.
However, individuals or groups of people who want to take active sides in solidarity with the oppressed anywhere, including in China, should not be prevented or criminalised by their own governments for doing so. As positive examples, think of the International Brigades in 1930s Spain fighting Franco’s forces. Or, in recent times, of people from Western countries joining up to fight alongside Kurdish troops against Islamic fundamentalism. These are proud instances of democratic internationalism. They represent the direct opposite of national elites scapegoating other countries to serve their own particular ends.
Instead of going along with contemporary China-bashing we need to work out similar democratic, internationalist ways to act in solidarity with the Chinese people today. The guiding principle is that collective direct action by people to undermine the power of the CCP is going to be more helpful to democrats in China than intrusive actions taken by Western governments.
Instead of endorsing the governmental campaign of China-bashing, support for the Chinese people’s pursuit of popular freedom is also served by people in the West standing up for their own freedoms and democratic rights. Democracy and freedom is never secure and irreversible. People need to fight for them continually. For instance, the pandemic period revealed how quickly and easily freedoms could be curtailed, even in long-established Western democracies.
Standing up to fight for our own freedoms and liberties in our territories can inspire others towards the same ends in their countries. For example, the Brexit vote in 2016, motivated by a desire to return control of laws and regulations to locally accountable bodies, was an inspiration to critics of the undemocratic EU across the whole continent and beyond.
2) China-bashing diverts from addressing the real domestic sources of problems within the Western world – political, social and economic. It is always easy for elites to find a foreign country or a foreign force of some type to blame for their troubles, not least because these problems often have foreign implications. Today, China serves as the primary foreign scapegoat, with Chinese economic strength identified as the cause of Western economic weakness.
This is worse than an intellectual distraction: it means giving up on acting in the one place where people can make a difference – within their own national borders. This is where people have the scope to make use of the democratic political channels that have evolved within nation states. Our most effective feasible field of action is at home.
People can be rightly appalled at the cruel and unjust behaviours of foreign governments, but they have immeasurably more capacity and agency to act to change their own circumstances. A demos that comes up with problem-solving programmes can change things, whether through elections, or by campaigning, or by more radical forms of civic insurrection.
Yet when elites successfully pursue a foreign blame game, they can undermine domestic criticism and evade political contestation at home. For instance, the trigger for China-blaming has been many governments’ shambolic handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. In an attempt to shirk responsibility for extra deaths, economic turmoil and general disarray, governments have been quick to jump on the anti-Chinese bandwagon.
Other unwelcome domestic political developments get blamed on external forces, especially misinformation from foreign sources. We heard this refrain often as an explanation for the Brexit vote and Donald Trump’s presidential election win. It allowed disappointed elites to downplay the homegrown factors, not to mention their own roles, in driving these popular results. It is highly possible that we will see an increasing focus on Chinese cyber-warfare, as well as information warfare, to explain the difficulties of Western political elites. Already there are claims of online attacks targeting the US presidential campaign emanating from within China by groups with links to the Chinese government.
Economic malaise in particular gets blamed on outsiders. For instance, the weakening of domestic industrial capacity, conventionally called ‘deindustrialisation’, has the corollary of more industry leadership abroad. However, the latter is more a consequence than a contributor to productive decay within one’s own boundaries. The use of these deflecting antics also means that the prime internal sources of economic problems continue and fester.
The causes of joblessness and inadequate wages are often attached to trade or ‘globalisation’, or blamed on the unfair practices of foreign governments. In the 1980s and 1990s, US politicians blamed Japan for America’s deindustrialisation. That phase dissipated when Japan entered its own protracted depression from the early 1990s.
Instead, over the succeeding decades the spotlight turned on to the next rising power. Thus Steve Bannon can assert that today’s huge economic and financial crisis, precipitated by the pandemic, ‘could have been avoided if the CCParty had a modicum of decency and a modicum of respect for their own people, for the Chinese people’. Less jaundiced commentators recognise that today’s economic crisis is a continuation of the over-indebted stagnation trends underway well before Covid-19 came on the scene.
The failures in the US, Britain and most other advanced industrial countries to create sufficient new businesses and sectors that can generate good jobs for the jobless are domestically rooted. They are not due to Japan, China or any other faster-growing country. Instead they are the consequence of systemic structural economic problems that national governments have failed to address. In fact, these governments’ conservative status quo-orientated policies have reinforced the home-produced barriers impeding economic development and decent growth. Blaming China avoids having to account for these governments’ own failings and responsibilities.
We are being encouraged to view China as the great evil causing our economic, social and political disarray, diverting us from the only terrain where we can act with considered effect to address these problems – that is, in our respective national territories. Unless we reject the blame being heaped on China – or any other foreign source – we become complicit in the elites’ evasion of responsibility.
3) Continuing the economic theme, not only does China-bashing dodge the domestic foundation of economic decay, it can also compound economic weakness by rolling back the economic gains of internationalisation. World society – east and west, north and south – has benefited from the economic advantages of specialisation and economies of scale within an international division of labour.
This progress has been uneven and irregular, and not all countries have prospered to the same extent. Nevertheless, it would be regressive for governments of the advanced industrial countries to try to ‘decouple’ China from their economies, and to seek directly or indirectly to limit China’s domestic and international economic development. Yet such economic and technological warfare is well advanced. We have already noted restrictions on business relations with Chinese companies operating internationally. Existing national bans on links with Huawei could spread to other Chinese overseas suppliers in areas such as funding, financing, high-speed train infrastructure building, nuclear energy technology, and much more.
Aiming to fetter China’s rise would, firstly, have adverse economic effects for the people of China. Despite being a one-party autocracy, few critics dispute that China’s take-off since the late 1970s has taken about 800million people out of poverty, and raised living standards substantially across its entire population. Depending on their effectiveness, Western attempts to isolate China economically would slow the momentum of its further expansion, and could even reverse some of the past gains in living standards for its inhabitants.
Closing off trade, investment and business relationships would also impair the economic health of the very Western countries imposing the restrictions, boycotts and sanctions. With their own economies grinding ever slower at home, even the most productive of Western businesses have come to rely on China and the rest of the East Asian region for supplies, markets and locations for production.
Without the surplus gained from international activities centred on China’s economic flourishing, Western firms would have one of their most important coping mechanisms diminished if not decimated. In the absence of other measures taken by these businesses, their productivity rates will fall, their employees in their home countries will suffer, and their customers will likely face higher prices and therefore lower living standards.
The potential cost goes way beyond a delay in rolling out 5G networks if Huawei technology is excluded. It is about breaking links with an economy that has been directly and indirectly supporting Western prosperity. China has not only been supplying cheaper products for Western consumers and lending enormous sums to Western governments — it has also been spurring innovation. Whether China is a world technology leader in particular areas, or still a challenger, there is little doubt its presence has already driven progress in many sectors: not only telecommunications equipment, but also solar power, battery technologies for electric cars, and drone technologies. In contrast, putting up barriers to Chinese economic and business linkages in an attempt to decouple from it will reinforce the existing protectionist trends that are already hindering economic renewal and damaging Western economic prospects.
The indirect effects for prosperity and livelihoods in the rest of the world are harder to nail down, but they could also be substantial. A world economy from which China is excluded would be an economic move backwards, impacting on billions of people. China has been the most important single contributor to global growth for many years. This has helped to raise economic activity around the world, not only within the advanced industrial countries but also within the less developed ones. With developing countries already hit hard by the impact of pandemic lockdowns, an enforced isolation of China by Western powers could impair its uplifting effect on poorer economies.
Chinese foreign direct investment and lending into many less developed countries in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and South America has helped these countries raise employment, productivity levels and generate higher living standards. All this economic progress would be set back by today’s China-baiting drive to disrupt its international economic relationships.
4) China-bashing is also potentially divisive within the West at the expense of people of Chinese heritage who live in, study in or visit it. Targeting the Beijing leadership as a danger to Western interests gives sanction to a less specific sentiment directed against Chinese people in general. This would be detrimental to the huge Chinese diaspora and to Chinese students and tourists, and it could spread to other East Asians of a similar appearance, including Japanese and Koreans.
Even though many of the Chinese living outside China do so because of their opposition to the regime at home, that wouldn’t protect them from prejudice, abuse and attacks. The vilification of ‘China’ from within the political elites authorises a generic prejudice against Chinese people.
In the early weeks of the Chinese-originated virus hitting Europe there were reports of hostility to some Chinese people, including residents of Chinese origin, in Italy, France, Canada and Britain. Although hostile incidents seemed to have been limited, and were probably talked up by some Western identity activists, this is not grounds for complacency. Fiercer official China-bashing that appeals to earlier notions of a ‘yellow peril’ could have unpleasant and potentially violent consequences for Chinese-looking people in the Western countries.
5) China-bashing is dangerous for global peace. A huge mismatch already exists between economic and political power in the world. The centre of global wealth creation has shifted decisively from west to east, specifically from the US to China. However, the distribution of political power still reflects the very different economic world institutionalised after 1945. This incongruity has already generated great tensions between the declining and the expanding nations and regions. Resolving this dissonance amicably is the biggest geopolitical challenge facing the world’s leading nations.
This potential for discord is not going to evaporate with the passing of time. In fact, the consequences of the pandemic look like exacerbating the disparity. China, and East Asia more widely, are so far being less impacted economically than the mature Western industrial countries. As a result, the east-west economic divergence is likely to amplify.
Meanwhile, the West’s collective resistance to China assuming a larger political role in the world, commensurate with its economic resources, has already fuelled the reaction of a forceful ‘China first’ approach. Following this path, China’s pandemic antics and its aggressive ‘Wolf Warrior’ diplomacy have raised the stakes further.
More assertive Chinese foreign policy is actually not new. In recent years, President Xi Jinping has on several occasions advocated ‘a fighting spirit’ to his foreign policy officials to encourage a more militant style. This intensifies international friction. For instance, there has already been a backlash against some of China’s statements during the pandemic war, even among some erstwhile friends of China. This spiralling slanging match is making it less likely that Beijing’s leaders will revert to their previous gradualist approach to extending their global influence.
For instance, in response to the Australian government challenging China’s handling of Covid-19, Chinese-controlled media compared Australia to ‘chewing gum stuck to the sole of China’s shoe’, warning ominously that ‘sometimes you have to find a stone to rub it off’. The Beijing government followed up with punitive tariffs on Australian barley, banned certain beef imports, and warned of consumer boycotts of Australian wine.
Reciprocal threats can easily move beyond wars of words and tariff squabbles. The co-existence of China-bashing with a more combative style of Chinese domestic and foreign policy creates a vicious cycle of heightening tensions. Even if all major governments – east and west – seek to avoid military conflict, a momentum of escalating confrontations can soon take a militarised form.
This danger of open conflict is aggravated by problems at home for all the main players. The Beijing regime may appear solid and secure, but that’s the same for all autocratic governments until they fall. While the lack of democratic mechanisms is explicitly built into Chinese governance, this has one drawback for the CCP politburo: they have less of a handle on where they stand in the eyes and minds of the Chinese populace. The famed ‘obedience’ of Chinese people may be a delusion. Uncertainty about the CCP’s real grip on society stirs its misgivings. This can compound the risk of it overreacting.
At the same time, the failings and insecurities of Western governments, both globalist and non-globalist, inflates the potential for accidental confrontations. Western elites that lack assured values, clear direction and courage are prone to taking arbitrary and shortsighted actions that could escalate out of control.
These actual or perceived weaknesses of the respective regimes, though of a different character, are conditions that can spark greater recklessness abroad. Western governmental China-bashing is a symptom and intensifier of this incendiary mix. Their aggression, rhetorically and practically, is likely to be answered by firmer Chinese actions. Even if initiated as ‘defensive’ measures, these can soon morph into offensive behaviours – and will certainly be perceived as such.
In this way, louder Western predictions about China becoming more aggressive abroad become self-fulfilling. Subsequent anticipation of having to deal with a militarised crisis leads to preparing for one. And preparing for one brings it closer to reality. This is where the China-bashing campaign could culminate.
Phil Mullan’s new book, Beyond Confrontation: Globalists, Nationalists and Their Discontents, will be published by Emerald Publishing later this year.
To enquire about republishing spiked’s content, a right to reply or to request a correction, please contact the managing editor, Viv Regan. | <urn:uuid:b9a43895-f55e-4329-8076-e7b9203ed6ae> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.spiked-online.com/2020/06/23/why-the-west-must-stop-bashing-china/ | 2024-04-21T20:36:13Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.958771 | 7,650 |
Stop sneering at Wagatha Christie
The Vardy vs Rooney trial has drawn out all the old prejudices.
Who else is gripped by the ‘Wagatha Christie’ trial? The latest Sally Rooney TV adaptation is unwatchable and Love Island doesn’t start until next month, so many of us have instead turned to the Royal Courts of Justice for entertainment.
Wagatha Christie is the nickname given to Coleen Rooney, wife of former footballer Wayne Rooney. Back in 2019, Coleen infamously accused fellow WAG Rebekah Vardy (wife of Jamie) of leaking stories about the Rooneys to the Sun. Rooney explained how she had posted a series of fake stories to her private Instagram account, in order to find out who among her inner circle would leak to the press. For instance, Coleen claimed her mansion had been flooded, that she was in talks to do Strictly Come Dancing and that she had travelled to Mexico to explore gender-selection treatment for her next child. In a reveal worthy of Miss Marple, Rooney announced on Twitter in 2019: ‘It’s… Rebekah Vardy’s account.’
Insisting on her innocence, Vardy has dragged Rooney to court to sue her for libel. Since it began last week, the trial has given us tonnes of juicy evidence. We’ve learned of bitchy texts, untrustworthy assistants and some striking alleged details about Peter Andre’s penis.
The tabloids have naturally had a field day. Even when there has been no gossip to relay, the red tops have had a lot of fun trying to divine what message each woman is trying to send to the other with her court outfit.
But the Wagatha case has revealed a lot more than just gossip about the lives of footballers’ wives. It has drawn out a great deal of latent snobbery among the commentariat. After all, Rooney is the daughter of an Irish bricklayer and grew up in Croxteth, one of the most deprived parts of Liverpool. Vardy was homeless at the age of 15 and went on to work as a nightclub promoter. While spiked is opposed to libel law on free-speech grounds, there are some who seem to oppose this trial on purely aesthetic grounds. The media seem to think working-class women like Rooney and Vardy shouldn’t be taken seriously in a court of law.
The Telegraph has dubbed the trial ‘Chavatha Christie’. Apparently, Rooney and Vardy are ‘proof that the handbags and shoes you own can be greater than your number of brain cells’. Meanwhile, other outlets have turned their noses up in a more subtle fashion. An article for the New Statesman bemoans the fact that the real winner in all of this will be ‘salacious, ill-sourced gossip’ – and, presumably, those tabloid readers who consume it. ‘Tabloid culture couldn’t exist without Vardy, Rooney and other WAGs’, it complains.
Many of those following the case on Twitter have taken great pleasure in Vardy’s limited knowledge of nautical mythology. When Rooney’s lawyer suggested a phone containing evidence that had fallen into the North Sea was ‘lying… in Davy Jones’ locker’, Vardy responded by asking, ‘Who is Davy Jones?’. Cue sniggering and sneering in the court and on social media.
Media commentators today are usually skilled in hiding their distaste for the lower orders. But on occasions like the Wagatha Christie trial, they can’t help but let their real feelings slip. They are similarly horrified when football fans have the temerity to boo an heir to the throne, or when horse-racing fans get drunk at Aintree Ladies Day. They are disgusted when working-class people who have a bit of cash in their pocket buy ‘lemon-meringue boucle suits’, instead of quietly investing in a cottage in the Cotswolds.
Much like any celebrity trial, from the ongoing Johnny Depp and Amber Heard case to Jussie Smollett’s recent downfall, the Wagatha Christie trial has delivered some great moments. Coleen and Vardy have each had their highlights and lowlights. The court heard evidence of a particularly stinging comment from Vardy that read: ‘Arguing with Coleen is like arguing with a pigeon. You can tell it that you are right and it is wrong, but it’s still going to shit in your hair.’
Here we have two mouthy women, each giving as good as she gets. What a shame that so many have responded to this with snobbery and condescension. Those getting their classy knickers in a twist are the ones really making a spectacle of themselves.
Ella Whelan is a spiked columnist and the author of What Women Want: Fun, Freedom and an End to Feminism.
Picture by: Getty
To enquire about republishing spiked’s content, a right to reply or to request a correction, please contact the managing editor, Viv Regan. | <urn:uuid:f0adb6df-9d8a-40a7-9ade-164d7f70e99d> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/05/19/stop-sneering-at-wagatha-christie/ | 2024-04-21T21:40:04Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.962884 | 1,077 |
Demi Lovato must have the right to blaspheme
The Advertising Standards Agency is behaving like the morality police.
When you spend a significant amount of your time pushing back against censorship, you eventually find yourself fighting the corner of people you don’t especially care for. What little I know about the life and career of singer Demi Lovato still manages to irritate me. I assumed her desperate pursuit of attention had peaked with the announcement in 2021 of her ‘nonbinary’ gender identity – whatever that means. Since then, she has also claimed to be able to sing to ghosts – as though the dead haven’t suffered enough.
I suppose trying to grab people’s attention is a useful strategy when you have an album to flog. Unfortunately, the poster campaign for her latest album, Holy Fvck, has caught the attention of the UK’s Advertising Standards Agency (ASA). This week, the ASA announced a ban on the poster campaign, in response to a mere four complaints. The posters were originally displayed at six locations in London for a four-day period in August last year.
Although the ASA mentions the almost-swear word ‘Fvck’ in the album’s title as potentially problematic, the part of its reasoning that should raise eyebrows is its claim that the poster ‘was likely to cause serious offence to Christians’. This is because the album poster features Lovato wearing bondage gear while lying down on a mattress in the shape of a cross. The iconography is clearly designed to evoke the image of Christ’s crucifixion. All in all, it’s a rather desperate attempt to be provocative. It falls a little flat given that Lovato isn’t Madonna, and this isn’t 1989.
The tiny number of complaints suggests that the ASA made its decision largely on behalf of hypothetically offended Christians, rather than actually offended Christians writing in. By now, the Christian faith has been satirised, mocked and critiqued to the point of placing it on life-support. Where faith and artistic expression is concerned, mocking Christianity has become the easy option. The ASA decision is unusual, largely because, in today’s Offence Olympics, there are other faiths and ideologies that are generally afforded far greater privileges than Christianity.
This is not the first time London advertisements have become an ideological battleground, either. Back in 2016, London mayor Sadiq Khan moved to ban adverts that featured attractive, slim and scantily clad women from the Tube. The censorship in this instance was sold to us as a virtuous attempt to combat ‘body-shaming’. Yet all this did was demonstrate that Khan doesn’t understand that advertising is supposed to be aspirational. The end result of his ban was indistinguishable from the kind of censorship you would get under a religious-conservative modesty culture.
New pseudo-religious movements have been quick to claim offence at advertisements, too. In 2018, a billboard in Liverpool was removed after LGBT activists claimed it was offensive to transgender people. It featured nothing other than the dictionary definition of ‘woman’, as ‘adult human female’.
Given all this, it is hardly surprising that many groups have noticed what can be achieved when one claims to be ‘offended’. However tempting it may seem to fight fire with fire, it is ultimately self-defeating to invoke one’s own feelings of ‘offence’ to shut down speech you don’t like. Because offence is subjective. And so once you decide it is a justification for silencing someone, you have just surrendered any tools you could call upon to defend yourself when someone inevitably tries to silence you.
Unsurprisingly, Demi Lovato also fails to understand this basic principle. In 2021, she criticised her local yoghurt shop on social media, claiming she had been offended by its promotion of sugar-free cookies and other diet foods, which she felt constituted ‘harmful messaging’. What principles can she now call on to defend her right to create her pseudo-provocative art, if she herself thinks causing offence is enough to justify a ban?
I suppose Demi is fortunate she chose Christianity, rather than Islam, to pastiche. That means her blasphemy will not get her fired from her record label. No mobs will be formed outside her shows. And she will not need to go into hiding.
For those who blaspheme against Islam, such prospects are only too real. This month, it emerged in the US that a Minnesota professor had been fired for showing students a 14th-century painting of the Prophet Muhammad in an art-history class. Many will also be familiar with the schoolteacher at Batley Grammar School in Yorkshire, who in 2021 received death threats after displaying a caricature of Muhammad in his class. He is still in hiding today. Worst of all, in France in 2021, another schoolteacher, Samuel Paty, was beheaded in the street after he displayed images of Muhammad from Charlie Hebdo in a class on freedom of expression.
These are all different stories, coming from different contexts, with varying consequences. But the underlying mindset driving the censorship is the same: namely, the belief that religion should be afforded special privileges. That to offend the religious sensibilities of others is unacceptable by default. This view – whether it culminates in bans or beheadings – can accurately be described as a de facto blasphemy law.
We should resist such theocratic encroachments on free expression in whatever form they arise, however large or small, whether they come from the church, the mullahs or the Advertising Standards Agency.
Stephen Knight is host of the Godless Spellchecker podcast and the Knight Tube. Follow him on Twitter: @GSpellchecker
Picture by: Getty.
To enquire about republishing spiked’s content, a right to reply or to request a correction, please contact the managing editor, Viv Regan. | <urn:uuid:33d44904-dd31-4941-b675-7808ba73dd4c> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/01/13/demi-lovato-must-have-a-right-to-blaspheme/ | 2024-04-21T21:59:40Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.96294 | 1,234 |
The Environmental Protection Agency Wednesday announced it has determined that lead emitted from airplanes is a danger to public health, opening the door for the agency’s first-ever limits on lead fuel in aviation.
The move puts the Biden administration in the middle of a brewing fight over how long airports – particularly smaller ones – can continue selling leaded gasoline, despite the health hazards from this powerful neurotoxin. More than 170,000 smaller planes, known as piston-engine aircraft, still use leaded gasoline, according to the EPA, and there is an ongoing dispute about how quickly this form of fuel can be phased out at thousands of airports nationwide.
The agency last year first proposed the move. It is a formal step known as an “endangerment finding,” which now obligates the agency under the Clean Air Act to set new rules on what aircraft engines can emit.
“The science is clear: exposure to lead can cause irreversible and lifelong health effects in children,” the EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement. “Aircraft that use leaded fuel are the dominant source of lead emissions in our air.”
The EPA and the Federal Aviation Administration have already begun considering their options, the EPA said. That work is happening as Congress also mulls a long-term reauthorization of the FAA, including a bipartisan proposal that passed the House that would effectively require small airports to continue selling leaded gasoline.
In a statement, a coalition of 10 aviation industry groups, including the National Air Transportation Association, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and the American Petroleum Institute, said they are working with the administration toward, “the ultimate elimination of lead fuel from a gas.’’
Commercial jets do not use leaded fuel, so the rules would affect only smaller planes that fly two to 10 passengers, the EPA said. On average these aircraft are nearly 50 years old. While the planes are only a small subsection of the aviation industry, the agency said they still pose risks near their airports, many of which are mostly in or near poor or minority communities.
Lead exposure can cause behavioral problems, lower IQs and slow growth, the EPA said. And the agency has been trying to strengthen rules against lead pollution, partly in response to a new scientific consensus that lead can harm children at even the most microscopic levels. | <urn:uuid:fdf2e9d7-c61e-4c79-a3a9-c939ea421935> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2023/oct/18/lead-pollution-from-small-planes-threatens-human-h/ | 2024-04-21T22:20:37Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.957469 | 480 |
North America’s Major League Baseball (MLB) has announced a new authorized ticket marketplace program with online ticket exchange platform StubHub as its first partner.
MLB has established the initiative so that fans can buy and sell verified tickets securely.
The league will add other secondary ticket providers as authorized ticket marketplaces, which will accompany MLB’s existing official ticket marketplace program.
In February, it was announced that SeatGeek had replaced StubHub as the MLB's official ticket marketplace in a deal that saw SeatGeek complete the set of major US sports leagues.
Noah Garden, MLB chief revenue officer, said: “With our long-standing partnership in the secondary ticketing space, it is only fitting that StubHub is the first to join the new program. Our approach will give fans an even wider array of platform options to ensure that the tickets they are buying on the secondary market are legitimate.
“StubHub’s brand recognition and long-standing credibility will continue to represent an important place where fans can exchange tickets for MLB games with confidence.”
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By GlobalDataCris Miller, StubHub chief business officer, added: “We’re pleased to be continuing our valued relationship with Major League Baseball, with whom we’ve partnered for over a decade.”
Image: Tim Heitman/Getty Images | <urn:uuid:f518e57d-e30a-4291-a279-1e6bee62373f> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.sportcal.com/sponsorship/mlb-establishes-authorized-ticket-marketplace-program-with-stubhub-as-first-partner/ | 2024-04-21T21:24:18Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.956811 | 379 |
Founded in 2010, the Catch A Lift Fund’s mission has been simple — helping veterans who served post 9/11 to regain their mental and physical health through the institution of working out in the gym.
“Fitness changed my life without a doubt,” said program director Melissa Leuck in an interview with WMAR-TV. “I believe that it saved my life. I believe that Catch a Lift saved my life and they gave me one of the greatest gifts and that was to believe in myself again and just believe that I’m worthy just to take up space in this world to be here. For so long I didn’t have even that basic of self-worth.”
The organization honors the legacy of Chris Coffland, a corporal in the United States Army who was killed in Afghanistan while serving in Operation Enduring Freedom in 2009. Coffland adopted a personal philosophy of how fitness can help people achieve their highest potential, both mentally and physically.
The goal is accomplished through gifting both gym memberships and home personal gyms, nutrition plans, personal fitness plans, and support through other peers in the program.
Catch a Lift focuses on four core pillars — nutrition, fitness, emotional wellness, and community. As of today, Catch A Lift has raised over $6.7 million for its cause, along with over 8,600 grants, and over 6,000 veterans enrolled in the program.
The website lists multiple ways to get involved with the organization. From volunteering to events, there is no shortage of ways to support their cause and the veterans who they help.
“The Catch A Lift Fund empowers me on a daily basis to pursue my fitness passions of bodybuilding and powerlifting,” Leuck said on the organization’s website. “Without CAL, I would still think there was a limit to my potential in and out of the gym. CAL is helping me to see there is no limit.”
Photo credits: Catch A Lift Fund’s Instagram | <urn:uuid:f7276952-d80d-4ca8-b63c-51a27ace5776> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.sportsandservice.com/post/how-catch-a-lift-fund-is-getting-veterans-back-in-the-gym | 2024-04-21T22:00:54Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.966332 | 420 |
Spread the Word and The Bookseller’s survey into small and independent presses in the UK and Ireland has revealed the extent to which they are at risk due to the impact of Covid-19.
As London’s literature development agency and a charity Spread the Word’s work is focused on opening up access and opportunity for writers from under-represented backgrounds to develop their craft and kickstart their career as authors. We need a vibrant and multi-layered publishing industry so that our writers’ work can find a home. We are part of the ‘supply chain’ of the industry, along with small and independent presses, increasing the range of voices and stories we get to read and hear.
It is clear that small and independent press are being disproportionally affected and bearing the brunt financially. The majority of them are completely reliant on printed formats and public facing engagement to keep them viable. With the breakdown of distribution networks and the postponement and cancellation of events, 75% reported an immediate loss of sales of 50% and over, and, 20% an immediate loss of sales of 80% and over. Critically, 58% have no cashflow to support the business going forward.
The financial circumstances for many of these majority micro-businesses mirrors that of many creatives who work in this industry – they have ‘fallen through the gaps’ of government schemes and are also ineligible for loans. Many are using personal finances to continue trading and paying the people they employ often on a freelance basis. Only 26% are optimistic that they will recover by March 2021.
The survey shows that small and independent presses play an essential role in the publishing ecosystem. They are at the forefront of publishing debut writers; promoting and finding audiences for literary fiction, translated fiction and poetry and actively launching and building the careers of writers of colour and working-class writers.
The world has already changed because of Covid-19. If we want to ensure the diversity and vibrancy of our literary and publishing culture, the industry as a whole must not let small and independent presses fall.
Collective action is needed
“If we want to continue to open up writing as a career choice, particularly for under-represented writers, and to develop new audiences for books, we need a healthy independent sector … We would call on the industry as a whole to review how business is done – from supply chains through to returns – and for funders into the independent sector to open up a conversation about how investments could be made to ensure small presses and independents continue to thrive.” Literature Works, National Centre for Writing, New Writing North, New Writing South, Spread the Word, Writing East Midlands and Writing West Midlands
Collective action across the literature and publishing sector is needed to ensure that small and independent presses can survive the immediate impact of Covid-19, including: running an indie press marketing and communications campaign; putting a finance intervention in place (for e.g.: a trade fund) and investment for online selling and marketing.
In addition, Spread the Word is calling on the publishing industry to talk and listen to small and independent presses about what strategic and structural changes would be useful to support them to survive and thrive in the longer-term: from new alliances in a similar vein to the Northern Fiction Alliance; greater involvement of the publishing trade bodies to champion the work of the indies; to wider co-ordination across the industry to support innovation and digital infrastructure that will ensure greater stability for all.
Our support for London’s small and independent presses
We are partnering with Knights Of and Jacaranda Books, two diverse-led London-based independents, who have been critically affected by Covid-19 on their #InclusiveIndies crowdfunder. If you are able to, we would urge you to support their crowdfunder.
We will be continuing to advocate for and promote London’s small and independent presses and the critical role they play in not only nurturing and developing London’s writers but also in broadening the range of stories we get to read and hear.
If you are a London-based small or independent press and would like open up a conversation about how we can best move forward together, please do get in touch with Spread the Word’s director Ruth Harrison.
Published 7 May 2020 | <urn:uuid:7395c16c-1742-4cf3-9cc2-e1b7aed08d82> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.spreadtheword.org.uk/small-presses-at-risk-results-of-the-bookseller-and-spread-the-word-survey/ | 2024-04-21T20:31:14Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.957537 | 886 |
Dolomite is a main and common rock-forming mineral which is a calcium magnesium carbonate comforted with chemical composition of CaMg(CO
2. Being a main component of sedimentary rock known as dolostone and the metamorphic rock known as dolomite marble and proves to be a common mineral in hydrothermal veins. Applications of
dolomite minerals are vast and it contains oxygen, carbon, magnesium and calcium in 52:13:13:21 rate. It slightly reacts when exposed to dilute hydrochloric acid. Its characteristics resembles to the properties of calcite mineral, although these two mineral differ in terms of their hardness level. Srinath Enterprises is involved in offering superior grade of Dolomite, which finds application in various industries.
Application of Dolomite Minerals in Livestock Feeds
Found as major ingredient in livestock feeds the product holds a great value in food industry as well. It acts as a reliable source of magnesium and calcium required for strengthening teeth and bones. As suitable feed additive, it serves as an effective remedy for copper poisoning. Inclusion of this mineral in feed additive promotes higher milk production rate in dairy animals.
Application of Dolomite Minerals in Construction, Ceramic and Glass Industry
The most common use of the product is in the construction work as it can be easily crushed and sized for usage as a road base material, an aggregate in concrete and asphalt, railroad ballast, rip-rap, or fill. Dolomite is calcined in the making of cement and cut into blocks of specific size known as "dimension stone." It is used as ceramic glaze for producing dinnerware (in ceramic industry). In Glass production unit, it is utilized for producing optical glass with high refractive level.
Other Applications of Dolomite Minerals
- Agricultural use- It is very efficient in improving the cultivation and adds to the quality of soil by conditioning it. This mineral is effective in improving pH level of soil by neutralizing its acidic content. Moreover, it plays a vital role in boosting cell wall structure formation of plants for improving their immunity function.
- In chemical plants- The mineral reacts wonderfully with acids and used as acid neutralization in chemical plants.
- Heavy industries- The composition of Dolomite minerals helps the product find its way in various manufacturing industry of heavy machinery. It is used as main source of magnesia and hence happens to be a sintering agent and flux in metal processing along with b being a major ingredient in making glass, ceramics and bricks.
- Minimizing pH: Dolomite hosts for numerous deposits like lead, zinc and copper. The solution of dolomite with these deposits helps to reduce and minimize the pH level in extreme cases.
- Oil and gas reservoirs- Dolomite is also useful in oil and gas as reservoir rock. At the time of converting calcite to dolomite, a volume reduces. It leads to pore spaces in the rock that can be filled with oil or natural gas that migrate in as they are released from other rock units. This entire process makes the dolomite Minerals major component and target of oil and gas drilling.
- In healthcare arena: This mineral is used as one of the key element for producing gypsum impressions (used in dental plates). | <urn:uuid:f24e360b-05af-403e-82f5-6d3d29adab02> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.srinathenterprises.in/dolomite-minerals-applications.html | 2024-04-21T20:20:06Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.940508 | 686 |
Marketing Automation Best Practices – Do it Right!
The idea of marketing automation may be familiar to you, especially if you own a business, are a marketing expert in an organization, are in B2B or B2C business, or are simply a consumer who experiences the effects of marketing daily.
The goal of ‘marketing activities’ is simple: Get as many potential customers as possible to the business so the salesperson can finalize a deal and increase the business’s income. Marketing automation best practices can make this process easier.
What are the most important Marketing Automation best practices?
The first step is to get ‘Leads’
In the marketing world, the term ‘Lead’ means an identified person; an identified person is someone who has shown interest in your business and has given you details about themselves (most often name and email address).
There are many ways to get your potential client’s details. One of them is frontal tradeshows, another is a web advertisement, which directs clients to landing pages with forms. Other possible methods are using websites that lead to a “contact us” form or phone calls to the business, and so on.
The second step is a database management
With time, the number of leads grows. Some of the leads will be automatically entered to the marketing automation system (by filling the form), while others will be manually uploaded to the system (like leads that you collect from trade shows and phone calls). It is important to keep the leads database clean (no duplicates) and relevant.
The next step is to create your own “Marketing Funnel”
At the top of the marketing funnel, you will find all of the leads, and at the bottom, you will find only the leads that are ready to close a deal. These leads will be directed to the sales department (those are MQL – Marketing Qualified Leads). There are other steps in between, but we will discuss them in another article.
The fourth step is Engagement
This goal at this step is to increase the interest in your product or service.
One of many ways to do this is to send emails with content that describes your product, or content with an added value to the potential customer. The content should be sent once in a certain period of time, a process called nurturing. Another option is to send text messages (SMS) with special offers or to create a webinar with added value.
So, why automate?
When your database is small, you can manage it manually. However, when it grows to more than a few dozen entries, you will have to start using applications to help you automate, or you may lose potential sales opportunities. Marketing automation applications offer the option to schedule sending times for emails and text messages (SMS), to create invitations for webinars, and above all, they can manage lead movement through the marketing funnel, and pass the leads to the sales department when it is the right time to make a “sales call.”
The most efficient way to identify the MQL is by the marketing automation scoring system. Through this method, every lead gets a score for each action, and the number of points for each action is set by the marketing and sales departments. When leads reach the right score, the marketing automation platform (which is synced to the sales system) sends an alert to a specific salesperson and notifies them that now is the right time to contact this lead and close the deal.
A small comment about marketing
The world of marketing is vast, and the people who work in the marketing automation industry sometimes forget this. This article is not about marketing activities themselves, and it is important to say that the content, the advertising messages, and timing – all have a crucial impact on the number of leads you obtain and their quality. Always remember: Marketing automation does not replace marketing itself; it only makes life easier and assists with pushing more leads towards sales. | <urn:uuid:27dda550-16e0-45e6-ac02-120010b1d22f> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.srpro.marketing/post/marketing-automation-do-it-right | 2024-04-21T21:32:07Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.949247 | 822 |
By Josh Staph
The French National Team lost a fiercely fought ’06 World Cup Final to Italy. The defeat was painful to accept, but the team’s showing was quite impressive, especially considering that they struggled just to qualify.
Heading into the tournament, head coach Raymond Domenech devised a way to attack the team’s fitness woes and bonding issues. He arranged for his players to spend five days in the French Alps with their families, but by no means was this a ski vacation. The athletes spent much of the time hiking the 3,600 meters to the top of the massive, snow-covered Grande Motte glacier. When they returned to flat ground, the team was tighter and fitter than ever.
At a press conference leading up to the Cup, international star and World Cup MVP Zinedine Zidane said, “I think that we are far better physically than in 2004.” Zidane was right, as he and his teammates outlasted every team in the world except the mighty Azzure. | <urn:uuid:7a6dcd1a-4cef-415a-91e5-9dd9163deb1c> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.stack.com/a/french-national-soccer-team-bonds/ | 2024-04-21T21:48:53Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.983503 | 216 |
Carrying a burden is usually difficult — it can warp even the strongest person if the weight is too heavy. Even if the burden is purely metaphorical, the strain can do more than just cause pain and suffering. In this week’s “Hawaii Five-0,” titled “Ka Luhi” (“The Burden”), a terrible secret severely damages the life of young Reese Holland (Joey Luthman) who carries the story of a murder in the dark recesses of his brain.
Yet, once the young man unburdens himself — McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin) and the Five-0 team come to his aid. Reese is going through PTSD therapy, and when he suddenly remembers where a body is buried in the woods of Maunawili, he helps the Five-0 team gather new evidence to solve the 2006 disappearance of a Kukui High School star athlete, Maggie Reed (Nativa Law).
The episode, written by Helen Shang & Zoe Robyn and directed by Carlos Bernard– was expertly plotted and maneuvered with an experienced hand. As usual, I loved how the team all worked together to solve the murder of Maggie Reed, as well as how they helped the HPD detective who headed the investigation ten years prior, Pearson Yang (Charles Rahi Chun).
I was glad to have seen Sgt. Duke (Dennis Chun) in the woods where Reese led the investigators to Maggie’s shallow grave. Duke is always one to protect the innocent, and when he stops Reese from getting too close to the uncovered skeleton of Maggie, it reminds us of how shocking the scene is for not just the young man, but for everyone working the case.
There was a really nice moment with Max (Masi Oka) and Dr. Noelani Cunha (Kimee Balmilero) who tell McGarrett and Lou (Chi McBride) about the found remains. I liked how Max shared what happened to the victim, and how Cunha explained that the DNA confirmed that the skeleton was really Maggie Reed. It was almost as if they are beginning to overlap Max and Dr. Cunha, as fans may already know that actor Masi Oka will be leaving the show in the new year. It was a good sign that perhaps Balmilero will take over the reigns left behind by Oka.
Another element about the episode that I appreciated was the change of scenery. There seemed to be more scenes done in Steve’s office and Five-0 headquarters in this episode, versus just the typical magic table scene where the team analyzes evidence and suspects. Usually McGarrett and the team spend a lot of time driving around the island to find clues and chasing down leads. Of course, every time a scene can be shot outdoors–especially in Hawaii — I’m sure we all appreciate that choice of location. As the east coast is experiencing a cold front, and Hawaii recently cancelled a Tsunami watch, just watching the beauty of Hawaii unfold on our television screens is a cause for small kine (pidgin translation: “a little bit of”) celebration.
While we spent a lot of the investigation in headquarters, we did get a few cargument scenes between McGarrett and Danno (Scott Caan) — which have been few and far between lately. The scenes between the two pals were thankfully not as catty as they have been in the past. They were more introspective about Danno’s relationship with his sister, Bridget (special guest star Missy Peregrym).
Bridget is in Hawaii attending a corporate convention with her company and Danno takes McGarrett to meet her. It was cute to watch the two bond over their mutual awareness of Danno’s borderline surliness. While Bridget is in town, Danno notices that her work friend, Spencer (Daniel Bess), is paying very close attention to his sister, and big brother is concerned about the impact of this relationship on her marriage and her children. It was really sweet how he also shares his worry with McGarrett — and very funny as he explains how Spencer touched her lower back as he lead Bridget away. The scene between Danno and McGarrett demonstrating the different back touches and their meaning — only to be caught in the act by Kono (Grace Park) — was priceless.
I do like when McGarrett and Danno spend their time ribbing each other versus snipping at each other. It seems as if we spent a good bit of the last two seasons arguing more than carguing. If you have been watching since season one, you understand the difference. Arguing is just that — a disagreement that is filled with more anger than mutual respect of each other’s differences. Carguing is two friends giving each other a good natured bad time and giving us a bit of a laugh. After an argument I always wondered why the two are friends and after a cargument, I always feel like they really do love each other — in a bros before girls kind of way.
Yet Bridget’s tear-filled confession to her brother about being lonely and unhappy– about thinking that she is invisible, and Danno’s realistic reaction to her predicament, was really well done. Both actors handled that scene well — it wasn’t overly melodramatic and was quite realistic. Caan is always good in these kind of scenes, as he allows his emotional restraint to make the scene sound natural and be far more effective.
I also very much enjoyed how we watched McGarrett unravel the mystery of Maggie’s death, and who really killed her, all while trying to prove that what Reese is seeing while under hypnosis, is the truth. I loved watching his McGarrett-Sixth-Sense kick in as he doubts the confession of Travis Wilson (Trent Garrett), Maggie’s boyfriend at the time of her disappearance, who Detective Yang still believes killed his victim. I loved how he reenacted the details of the case by digging a three-foot grave to test Travis’s possible timeline — all to be able to prove that Travis didn’t actually kill and bury Maggie.
While O’Loughlin is never a slouch when it comes to playing McGarrett — I do love when we watch him think and bring about a strong resolution. I especially love when he goes with his theory — that Reese’s father accidentally hit Maggie with his car and then buried her body to cover up the murder.
It was still even more perfect when the truth of the case dawns on him, as it snowballs in real time, as Reese goes under hypnosis in front of his parents. We all thought it was Reese’s father, Fred (Paul Ganus) and yet, (spoiler alert) when Reese’s mother, Monica (Cathryn De Prume) is revealed as the killer, it made even better sense. Of course, a child would block out watching his mother bury a girl covered in blood. All children want to protect their parents– especially their own mother. Reese buried that thought almost as deeply as his mother hid her deadly secret.
In Hawaiian, “luhi” (pronounced loo-hee) means: “weary, tired, fatigued; wearisome, burdensome, tiresome, laborious, tedious; burden, wearisome or tedious task; labor, work, pains, toil.” While this definition really details the kind of burden that Reese and his mother carried for ten years. It also explains how Travis felt not knowing what happened to the girl he loved; how Detective Yang felt not being able to solve his own case; and how Bridget feels in her life stuck trying to care for her children, her distant husband, her parents, and herself.
Yet I think the better term would have been “hāʻawe” (pronounced HA-ah-vey). This Hawaiian word means “to carry a burden on the back; a bundle or burden so carried.” While this might be more literal (it also means backpack), it does connote a carrying of a weight — which is what many characters in “Ka Luhi” struggled with — the weight of consciousness, the burden of secrets, and the pain of regret.
REDUX SIDE NOTE:
Next week’s “Hawaii Five-0” will be the last new episode of 2016. “Kāʻili kū” (“Snatchback”), will deal with Chin (Daniel Dae Kim) and the team heading to Mexico to save his niece Sara (Londyn Silzer) who has been kidnapped. The set-up for this story was introduced in this week’s episode, as Chin could not get a hold of Sara’s Aunt and Uncle in order to speak to her. Chin is worried, and while cousin Kono gave him a dose of harsh reality, I’m sure she will jump right in to help save Chin’s last tie to Malia.
It looks like the entire extended Five-0 ohana will be in the episode: Sgt. Duke, Kamekona (Taylor Wily), Flippa (Shawn Mokuahi Garnett), Gracie (Teilor Grubbs), and Charlie (Zach Sulzbach), as well as Duane “Dog” Chapman, Sang Min (Will Yun Lee), and Officer Pua Kai (Shawn Thomsen). George Takei will also return as Chin’s Uncle Choi. | <urn:uuid:8c5d7719-3ddb-4e33-a9a2-c088ee28953a> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.staradvertiser.com/2016/12/10/features/five-0-redux/unburdening-the-past/ | 2024-04-21T20:49:10Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.974539 | 2,015 |
Brian E. Kasper is Shareholder and member of Stark & Stark’s Litigation, Shareholder and Partner Disputes, and Business & Corporate Groups. Mr. Kasper has counseled and represented clients on various matters, including complex litigation matters, injunctions, shareholder and partner disputes, real estate acquisition and sales, property disputes, employment matters, restrictive covenants, trade secrets, franchise disputes, consumer fraud, and computer fraud. Mr. Kasper has advised both public and private companies in a variety of industries, including the construction, real estate, consumer goods, wealth management, entertainment, and technology industries.
Mr. Kasper’s experience includes advising Fortune 500 companies in multinational contract disputes, representing clients at both the trial and appellate levels of federal and state courts and before administrative agencies. He has also been certified as a mediator by the State of New Jersey.
Prior to joining Stark & Stark, Mr. Kasper served as the Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable Paul Innes—Presiding Judge of the Chancery Division in Mercer County—as well as a Judicial Extern to the Honorable Thomas L. Ambro of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the Honorable William J. McGovern, III, in the Civil Part of the Morris/Sussex Vicinage.
While attending law school, Mr. Kasper was awarded the Herman J. Obert Award for attaining the highest grade in the course of Business Organizations. He also served as a member of the Villanova University School of Law Civil Justice Clinic through which he successfully represented low-income clients in general civil matters. | <urn:uuid:cfadc3cf-cf79-413a-a8bc-c20a085c0524> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.stark-stark.com/attorneys/brian-kasper/ | 2024-04-21T21:55:51Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.953315 | 334 |
A Slovakian company has unveiled a working version of its flying car at Vienna's Pioneers Festival – the AeroMobil Flying Roadster 3.0, a production-ready vehicle that can reach 124mph in the air.
But the machine can also fit neatly into a standard parking space, and reach 100mph on land.
The car's manufacturer believes the machine could revolutionise the way we travel.
Some, however, have suggested the car is a little more than a 'boy's toy', since it possesses a number of practical drawbacks: It costs £172,000 and it requires a runway of several hundred metres in order to get airborne.
Presumably there would be some regulatory hurdles to overcome too, especially if there was a big take up.
Yet the AeroMobil Flying Roadster 3.0 is likely to capture the imaginations of many; being able to soar over the country, avoid traffic jams and get to one's destination "as the crow flies" – are all alluring draws.
And it doesn't even need special fuel; it runs on standard unleaded petrol.
On the road the machine is 5 foot wide, expanding to 27 feet when its wings are folded out.
Since the Seventies there have been a variety of flying car inventions, but none have been commercially viable. The first working version of the AeroMobil itself took 20 years to develop.
Impressive stuff, but as yet there don't appear to be any breakdown insurance providers for this type of transport. But when there are, you'll hear it here first. | <urn:uuid:700e42a4-c1cb-4a38-ba27-52e6e0e93840> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.startrescue.co.uk/news/archive/flying-car-lands-but-is-it-just-a-boys-toy | 2024-04-21T22:03:06Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.965861 | 318 |
You would likely not really want to get this particular book should you be in a new habit of judging the book simply by its identity. This specific book’s name is definitely too uneasy for any kind of professional gambler. This e book asks if you may earn on sports playing. You would quite desire someone which notifys you the fact that you can indeed earn on betting rather as compared to asking you whenever you can without a doubt win at these kinds of games. Can You Win?: The actual Odds for Casino Poker, Sports Betting, and Lotteries by Eileen Orkin will be a bad book in order to have if you will be a qualified or aspiring sports gambler. There happen to be many other better publications available and you would certainly not would like to waste the funds guiding this guide. The book is meant regarding the new bettors who else have absolutely no knowledge within betting and who else could be easily bamboozled simply by e book titles like this particular.
Can You Get?: Often the Real Odds for Online casino Gambling, Sports Betting, and Lotteries by Jordan Orkin shows you how to win at the diverse varieties of betting. It teaches you the different tricks and tips on how to get to win at all these game titles. The book, nevertheless, provides nothing new for you to offer. The following tips and tips here are those that an individual will find at just about any of the other athletics bet book. There is definitely nothing different in that book and there is definitely little or nothing that makes that book worthwhile. It is one book you should steer clear of while you still have the chance to. There are various better alternatives available.
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Wagering is a new legal form of playing in a lot of places. If you want to try it, it will be best that you should understand its odds. Remember that the idea is your income with stake. Gambling , and without knowing exactly what you are executing will be always a bad gamble. Sport activity betting activities all possess their odds. Probabilities make a decision whether the athlete or perhaps the team that you wish to set your guess on will be the underdog or even the masses favorite. That usually characterizes the exact amount that you will possibly earn if you have chosen the correct bet.
Around almost almost any setting, odds can be quickly understood as the probability of a certain event via taking place. These are typically expressed throughout percent as well as in relation. Some sort of simple example will be a good widespread coin put. If an individual toss a gold coin, there is a fifty per-cent chance that this will land on tails and even another fifty pct chances that it would arrive at heads. One other example would be that of a expecting women’s baby. Odds will be the expecting woman may possibly carry boys or a good girl on the inside her. As soon as any of these good examples of possibilities would turn out to be added up, it would certainly always cause a new 100 percent.
Today, the demand to get sports betting has enhanced as the demands for several kinds of sports have furthermore risen. With one of these calls for come the various forms of bets. This comes with don bets, parlay, run brand, puck line, or even target line bets, and future wagers. Proposition bets can be instances when the wagers made are according to help a specific result connected with a match. A new run line bet is if there are fixed-point pass on wagers that offer larger amounts to help favorite players and cheaper on typically the underdogs. A parlay wager involves multiple bets whilst future wagers are foreseen for future sporting activities. Sports activities betting usually depend on the need of a specific sport. Therefore , it is usually always wise for a person to wager on a good sport which is highlight regarding the season. | <urn:uuid:9f6c2381-e8f2-4b6b-9701-b52d41ba4f84> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.statesidemovie.com/to-be-able-to-win-or-not-to-help-gain-often-the-authentic-odds-with-regard-to-playing-sports-betting-together-with-lottery-by-means-of-michael-orkin/ | 2024-04-21T20:15:26Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.96505 | 925 |
First snow - It's SWAP season!
Published on 11/4/2022
Here at State Storage we are excited to announce the changing of the seasons, we are so looking forward to winter! It’s time to swap out your summer gear and toys for your winter ones, and your light, summer wear for your heavier, winter clothing to make some space in your closet and drawers. We are excited for all of you who are celebrating Swapping Season with us by storing your seasonals today! Please feel free to text, email, or call us if you have any questions. | <urn:uuid:13cc61ad-e112-422c-99c9-e1045934153b> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.statestorageotisorchards.com/blog/Swap-Season | 2024-04-21T19:55:41Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.953185 | 122 |
What To Do When You Receive A Subpoena
You’ve received a subpoena in the mail… Now what do you do?
A subpoena is essentially a court order requiring you (or your business) to do something in relation to an existing court case. Typically, a subpoena will require you to produce documents or provide testimony in a court case to which you are not a party.
- If you are served with a subpoena, you should contact an attorney to determine the scope of your responsibility.
- Another reason to contact your attorney would be if you have any reason to object to complying with the subpoena.
- For example, a subpoena may ask for copies of “all communications” you have had with someone involved in the lawsuit; your attorney can assess whether any of those communications are “privileged” or otherwise protected from disclosure.
- If the subpoena asks for testimony, your attorney can walk you through what to expect.
- There may be technical defenses to your compliance with the subpoena, as well.
- Technical defenses include such situations as the subpoena not being served according to the law, or cases in which the subpoena is not addressed to the correct entity or person.
- Finally, if you receive a subpoena, you should never, ever destroy documents or other items that it asks for even if you think there is no connection between you and the lawsuit. Doing so can subject you to much bigger headaches. Do the safe thing and contact your attorney immediately.
For help responding to a subpoena, I’m here for you. You can call me anytime at 312-251-9964.
These materials have been prepared by Statman, Harris & Eyrich, LLC for informational purposes only and are not legal advice. This information, such as our previous post about commercial litigation, is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. Internet subscribers and online readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel, as the advice appropriate for your particular circumstances may vary. | <urn:uuid:9de65e8c-b9ac-47e1-ab8c-fcc29d1dc023> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.statmanharris.com/subpoena/ | 2024-04-21T20:54:19Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.946058 | 420 |
Exoplanet LHS 1140 b
Exoplanet LHS 1140 b orbits star LHS 1140 that lies 49 light years away from the Sun.
It weighs about 5.6 Earth masses and orbits its star much closer than Earth orbits Sun.
Exoplanet LHS 1140 b orbits star Class red dwarf LHS 1140, which has much lower mass than Sun. It is one of 2 known exoplanets orbiting this star.
Star LHS 1140
Get your next news from nearby stars
This is a new project, and partly still in development. There will be soon more information and functions. We would love your support on social media. | <urn:uuid:07778847-89b1-46e2-872c-de86e771eeb3> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.stellarcatalog.com/exoplanet.php?planetID=100269 | 2024-04-21T21:56:56Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.916688 | 138 |
“I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and gosh darn it, people like me!” —Stuart Smalley
In 1992 Al Franken created Stuart Smalley, a comical character who peddled self-help slogans. Although this was a Saturday Night Live skit, it's important to consider how we talk to ourselves.
Too many people have a fierce inner critic that keeps them small or limits their joy.
I have an inner voice that is like a harsh coach that pushes me to do more. This energy makes it difficult to rest. It always notices things that could be better and urges me to keep going. If I'm not careful, I can push too hard and not get enough rest.
I have another internal voice that is like an over-protective parent. This energy wants to keep me safe. This is the voice that has kept me muted. It tells me, "if you don't share your work then you won't get criticized."
It's important to cultivate compassionate inner voices. There is ample research that shows the positive effect of self-compassion. However, we can tell from our own experience that life is more pleasant for us and for others when we listen to positive inner voices.
It's not possible or even wise to eradicate our inner critic. If you try to silence the negative voices, you just give them more fuel. Try this instead:
1. Notice when you have critical inner voices
2. Try to figure out how the inner voices are trying to serve you or help you.
3. Thank them for their input.
4. Ask yourself, "What would an affirming teacher or friend say to me at this moment?"
5. Choose to amplify the positive internal messages.
If you live from this place, you'll experience more joy and help others uncover compassion for themselves.
When in doubt, hear these words and smile: "You are good enough, you are smart enough, and gosh darn it, people you!" | <urn:uuid:e5ff42b2-1920-4f91-adbd-40bdf95b4007> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.stephenjosephscott.com/you-are-good-enough/ | 2024-04-21T20:50:25Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.968045 | 418 |
Have you ever wondered what rock fragments from outer space can reveal about our planet and the solar system? Stop by the Gillespie Museum this fall to find out! This continuing exhibit features a variety of meteorites and tektites from the Historic Gillespie Collection, offering a rare look at the museum's fascinating array of "space rocks." Visitors will have an opportunity to view 15 meteorites and impactites, including a 62-pound nickel and iron specimen, which was purchased through a Sotheby’s auction in the 1990s. The meteorite was originally found in South Africa and has been polished to reveal the Widmanstätten patterns, also known as Thomson structures, which are long, nickel-iron crystals that are found in the octahedrite-iron meteorites.
The Gillespie's large iron-nickel meteorite (Ed Dillenbeck image); meteorite fragments from Meteor Crater, AZ; Gillespie student staff member putting final touches on display.
Other specimens include iron meteorites collected by the Gillespie Museum’s founder T.B. Gillespie and its first director and College of Arts and Sciences Dean Emeritus Robert Chauvin, Ph.D., from a meteorite shower in central Mexico near Toluca, and from the renowned Meteor Crater National Landmark in Winslow, Arizona. A small iron meteorite from the famous Mundrabilla impact in Western Australia will also be on display, as well as pieces of meteorite "shrapnel" that fell on the Sikhote-Alin mountain range in southeastern Russia in 1947. An estimated 23 tons of fragments survived that meteorite's rather recent passage through our atmosphere, making it the largest magnitude fall ever recorded.
Meteor Crater, AZ (USGS image); iron meteorite fragment from Meteor Crater, AZ; iron meteorite from Toluca area, central Mexico, section showing crystal structure.
The exhibit also contains an array of impactites, including two tektites from the South Pacific; a specimen of Libyan desert glass formed by an event that occurred on the Egyptian-Libyan border 29 million years ago, which created clear, honey-colored glass out of desert sand; and a green-hued tektite from Ločenice, Czech Republic. Impactites develop after a large meteorite strike deforms the earth's rocks, sand, or soil around the point of impact. The terrestrial material or "target rock" near or beneath the impact site is altered by the enormous amount of heat, pressure, and shock waves caused by the collision.
Learn more about meteorites and impactites with this downloadable info and coloring sheet!
These out-of-this-world space rocks will be on display through December 2023. Come by and check them out today! | <urn:uuid:e351b53e-7b8f-470a-9c05-b83158a390d4> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.stetson.edu/other/gillespie-museum/meteorites-tektites.php | 2024-04-21T21:24:28Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.928164 | 560 |
- Dry Your Hair Faster: This hair towel wrap is made of super absorbent microfiber material that is soft to the touch and dries hair quickly. The luxurious fabric can absorb 15x its weight in water and reduces dry time by 50% by removing more water than other hair wraps for women's wet hair.
- Won't Fall Off with Elastic Band: The elastic band is firmly stitched on the curly hair towel and it stays in place on your head. You can take care of your skin, watch movies, and do what you want while your hair is dry without worrying about the microfiber hair towel for curly hair slipping off, wet hair is no longer an obstacle.
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- Cost-Effective and Durable: Our large microfiber hair towels are luxurious, super soft, and absorbent. One of the most cost-efficient hair wrap towels on the market. The experiment proves that the YFONG microfiber towel for hair will not deform or shrink even after 10,000 times of washing. A good choice for your daily use and travel.
- Washing Instructions: Please Wash Before First Use. Hand Wash Or Machine Wash With Mild Detergent, Tumble Dry at Low Temperature, Do Not Use Fabric Softener Bleach, Do Not Iron, and Do Not Dry Clean. Please Feel Free to Contact Us If You Have Any Questions.
Microfiber Quick Drying Hair Towel | <urn:uuid:8f8ac309-5a02-470e-bad9-b0c003ab2a24> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.stillwontapologize.com/product-page/microfiber-quick-drying-hair-towel | 2024-04-21T20:21:54Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.925286 | 351 |
If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, call 988 for 24/7 free and confidential crisis support. You do not have to be suicidal to call. Access more info and resources on suicide prevention, emotional and mental health support.
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Working as part of a medical team, genetic counselors provide education and support to families at risk for or diagnosed with inherited conditions. The counselor can help people understand the pros and cons of genetic testing. They can also help explain which tests may or may not be right for each person. Genetic counselors can explain test results and how inherited diseases might affect someone or their family.
Genetic counselors have graduate degrees and experience in the areas of medical genetics and counseling. Many genetic counselors have worked in other areas, such as nursing, psychology, public health, or social work.
Licensing, certification, and registration requirements for genetic counselors vary from state to state.
To learn more, visit Healthwise.org
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People are at the heart of great health care. That's why we are committed to delivering compassionate, high-quality care tailored to the communities we serve.
Together with our community partners and patients, we're building a stronger, healthier future for all Idahoans. | <urn:uuid:f86705bd-bf45-4860-ba80-b4cc322a59ca> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.stlukesonline.org/health-services/health-information/healthwise/2017/06/27/13/27/genetic-counselor | 2024-04-21T21:02:09Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.936306 | 422 |
I am committed to preaching according to the commandment of God our Savior; It is not in my authority or my discretion to chose to abide to it or not; As according to the apostle, “For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9: 16). If it is our Savior who commands us to preach, how could we keep silent?!
+ St John Chrysostom
Is there anything holding me back from preaching the Gospel? What is that? | <urn:uuid:c6b9fd7f-75ba-485c-b175-6e6aec94a7fc> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.stmark.com.au/08-05-2023-titus-1/ | 2024-04-21T20:08:32Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.929309 | 124 |
New HERA Climb4Life event in California
This year I was lucky to be apart of the HERA Foundation Climb4Life event in Santa Ana, CA. I joined in with the climbing community to help spread awareness and stop the loss of women from ovarian cancer. It was hosted at a great gym called Sender One, A full fitness and climbing facility in the heart of Orange County.
It was a great event for any beginner or experienced climber to gather for a weekend of fun. The Climb4Life event began in 2001 by the founder Sean Patrick. She started the event series while recovering from her seventh ovarian cancer surgery. She quickly realized Climb4Life would raise awareness in women who are healthy and active. It would also be a portal for women to see how fun it can be to stay fit and active.
Since 2001 HERA events branched out to climbing, running, hiking, biking and other fun fitness sports. The common element is sourced from the ability to empower, educate, and raise awareness about early signs and symptoms of ovarian caner.
I was invited to the event to host the pro-climber clinic. I spent my time teaching the advanced bouldering clinic. It became a very intimate event where I was able to personally train a couple of psyched individuals. We worked on boulder problems together and I showed them a few tips and ticks I have stored away.
Climb4Life hosted by HERA was a success. Many members of the climbing community participated and successfully raised money to further raise awareness. I can’t wait for the next event! Thank you Sender One for hosting a great event.
To read more about HERA visit: http://www.herafoundation.org/ | <urn:uuid:0ecb31f2-23de-43f6-a8ae-16c42f33375c> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.stoneweardesigns.com/blogs/blog/new-hera-climb4life-event-in-california | 2024-04-21T22:43:32Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.979512 | 360 |
Tesla is scrambling to move Model 3 sedans to China, anticipating imminent tariffs on American cars that would make its product more expensive. Import fees on American cars are a problem for many companies, but Tesla’s lack of manufacturing capacity in China makes it unable to shift production to within the country to mitigate penalties. Consequently, the company is focusing its supply chain on moving product to this key market before potential tariffs go into effect and raise prices.
Ocado, the British warehouse automation and online grocery company, is dealing with fallout from a recent warehouse fire. The disaster interrupted operations, drove down stock prices, and worried investors about future sales prospects of the company’s technology. The exact cause of the fire is unclear, though firefighters said the design of the warehouse made it difficult to properly stop the flames. Ocado is currently working on warehouse projects in Europe and the United States (including a contract with Kroger).
Rising sea levels are prompting construction changes at some ports, even if these locations don’t face any immediate threats. The Port of Virginia recently renovated some of its terminals, elevating electrical equipment off the ground and moving servers further back from the waterline. Other ports in the nation are gradually preparing for rising oceans as well. However, since higher sea levels pose a long-term -- rather than immediate -- threat, most locations aren’t willing to make big changes yet.
Urban warehouse demand continues to outpace supply, even though construction has increased. As shippers seek warehouses near population centers, available space can’t keep up. Companies that want to build new spaces have to deal with the high cost of land, banks that are more selective about new projects, and a complicated approval process.
XPO Logistics announced the closure of the Memphis warehouse where employees reported widespread discrimination and pregnant workers had miscarriages. This facility had stored Verizon phones and products. After a report by the New York Times on working conditions, several senators called for Verizon and XPO to look into the accusations. The closure came after Verizon announced that it would no longer use this facility.
The monthly volume of retail imports at ports is over 4% higher than at this time last year, as companies try to move inventory into the United States before potential tariff increases in March. The National Retail Federation announced last week that its monthly Global Port Tracker report found elevated volume in January and February (compared to last year) at the ports it surveyed. Increased imports can cause bottlenecks at ports and limit available warehouse space, putting greater pressure on supply chains across the nation. | <urn:uuid:03ad4618-f8f9-4c60-9452-30623bd3d3f5> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.stord.com/blog/warehousing-news-roundup-february-18-2019 | 2024-04-21T20:06:51Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.960633 | 524 |
In the last three days, Russia has successfully tested four ballistic missiles, an impressive feat. Two of the missiles were submarine launched, liquid fueled Sinevas, and the third was a solid fuel, land based Topol. All three of these were older designs, which have been in service for some time. The two older submarine launched missiles were the RSM-50 (a 35 ton, two stage design that entered service in the late 1970s), and the RSM-54 (a three stage, liquid fuel design that entered service in 1986). The RSM-54 has a shorter range (8,000 versus 9,000 kilometers), but a larger payload (2.8 tons versus 1.8) and can carry more warheads (up to ten). The Topol was the first mobile ICBM, and entered service in the late 1980s. It is being retired, and only about 200 of the 360 originally manufactured are still in service.
The fourth test, the day after the triple test, was of the troublesome Bulava (RSM-56) sea launched missile. The Bulava is a submarine launched version of the land based Topol-M. This latest successful launch seems to assure the survival of this program (half the tests have been failures).
Generally, though, the Topol family of missiles have been reliable. Earlier this year, Russia announced that the latest version of its Topol series of solid-fuel ICBMs; the RS-24, had entered service. The RS-24 appears to be a slightly heavier version of the 46 ton Topol-M (or RS-12M1/M2). The RS-24 will be deployed in silos as well as on wheeled vehicles. Only a few of the RS-24s are in service, with a least one of them on a wheeled vehicle. The RS-24 carried more warheads (up to ten) than the Topol-M. The Russians developed the RS-24 to enable them to use all the additional warheads to penetrate American missile defenses.
Meanwhile, the overall Topol force grows. In late 2008 Russia activated another two battalions (three missiles each) of Topol-M ICBMs. These were the road-mobile versions, that avoid destruction in a first strike, by constantly moving around on the roads 200-300 kilometers northeast of Moscow. The two new battalions belong to the 54th Strategic Missile Division.
Of the other 59 Topol-M missiles in service, 52 are fired from underground silos. There are now fourteen road mobile Topol M missiles in service. The 17.4 meter (54 foot) long transporter for these 46 ton missiles is a 16 wheel vehicle, using a 710 horsepower diesel engine. Russia continues to make component and design improvements to its most modern ICBM, the Topol M. This has increased its service life from ten to 21 years.
Russia is in the midst of replacing Cold War era RS-18 (SS-19) and RS-20 (SS-18) ICBMs with the newer Topol M (also known as the SS-27 in the West), more rapidly than earlier planned. This is the result of more money being allocated to buying ICBMs, and more reliable new ICBMs becoming available. Even so, Russia is not producing enough Topol Ms each year to replace the older liquid fuel missiles before they reach the end of their planned service life. So these older missiles are being refurbished, to extend their time in service.
But Topol tech is not always the answer. A naval version of the Topol M (the Bulava), for use on SSBN submarines, was supposed to enter mass production in 2008, but technical problems caused that to be delayed for another three years. Too many of Bulava test launches failed. The problem was traced to a widespread loss of skilled researchers and technical people, to better paying non-defense jobs. The government threw more money, and better management, at the Bulava, and that appears to have helped a lot.
Meanwhile, Russia continues to test launch older RS-18 and RS-20 ICBMs. Russia still has over a hundred (out of a 1980s peak of 360) RS-18s in service, and expects to keep some of them active into the next decade. The test firings for the last four years have been successful, and other quality-control tests have come back positive. The 106 ton, 24.5 meter/76 foot long missile uses storable liquid fuel, meaning that the missile is inherently more complex than a solid fuel missile.
The U.S. introduced solid fuel rockets for ICBMs in the early 1960s, but it took Russia two more decades to master this technology. Meanwhile, the RS-18 entered service in 1975, and it wasn't until the 1980s that Russia began producing reliable solid fuel rocket motors, large enough for ICBMs (the 45 ton RS-12M). The last RS-18s were manufactured in 1990, and Russia expects each of them to have a useful life of 30 years via the same kind of product improvements being applied to the Topol M. Annual test launches ensure reliability.
The RS-18 was developed as a "light" ICBM, in effect, a competitor for the U.S. Minuteman series. The RS-18 was the first Russian ICBM to carry MIRV (Multiple, Independent Reentry Vehicles). That means each warhead had its own guidance system. The RS-18 carries six warheads, and has a range of 10,000 kilometers. Topol-M has a range of 11,000 kilometers. Russia is also extending the life of its heavier (217 ton) RS-20 ICBMs to 30 years. This missile carries ten warheads, and is also being converted to launch satellites.
The Bulava debacle forces the government to deal with the personnel problems in the defense industries. As the civilian economy boomed since the Soviet Union dissolved, the mighty Soviet defense industries shriveled. The defense firms not only shrank in size, they also lost a disproportionate number of their most skilled design and construction personnel. While during the Soviet period, the best paying jobs were in defense, since 1991, that has shifted. The best jobs are in commercial firms, or overseas. Bulava forced the government, and the defense industries, to acknowledge that they could not create first class weapons with second class staff. | <urn:uuid:67156160-1835-41de-a5fe-0467def7988d> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.strategypage.com/htmw/hticbm/articles/20101031.aspx | 2024-04-21T21:00:19Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.969194 | 1,320 |
Our offices are on the fourth floor of the Ronald Reagan Building. After passing through security at the entrance, turn right and head straight through the double glass doors, then turn left (you will see a concierge desk) and take the elevators on your left.
The closest metro station is the Federal Triangle Station, which services the Orange, Silver and Blue lines. If you are coming from the metro, exit Federal Triangle metro station on upper level into the outdoor Woodrow Wilson Plaza. Turn right towards Pennsylvania Avenue. As you approach Pennsylvania Avenue, look left and you will see a sign that says “Pennsylvania Avenue Entrance” – enter the Ronald Reagan Building there. | <urn:uuid:a0f5a106-0dbd-433b-8fd1-414da9665318> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.strtrade.com/locations/washington-d-c | 2024-04-21T22:05:31Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.911632 | 138 |
- Apr 27 2025 - May 08 2025
- starting at $7750
- Availability: OPEN
TRITON & BANDA SEA | SAMAMBAIA
Encounter the mesmerizing dance of sea snakes, traverse pastel soft coral-adorned walls, and witness the majestic presence of pelagics amid stunning hard coral formations. This unparalleled adventure unfolds with a kaleidoscope of incredible macro encounters, thriving shallow coral gardens, and the allure of some of Indonesia’s most secluded beaches.
Join us for an expedition that transcends the ordinary, where each moment aboard the Samambaia becomes a chapter in a seafaring tale, weaving together the beauty of Triton Bay, the allure of Raja Ampat, and the mystique of the Banda Sea. | <urn:uuid:d3325ad7-7689-4021-bca1-81efdd0932ad> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.subculturex.com/events/triton-banda-sea-samambaia/ | 2024-04-21T20:57:02Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.805437 | 163 |
Asian women will often be subjected to stereotypes that happen to be perpetuated throughout the world. These stereotypes are the yellow danger, perpetual foreigner, model minority, and hypersexuality. These kinds of asian ladies dating will often be combined with ethnic and religious improvements. The result is a great inaccurate photo of Asian women and their lives.
These stereotypes are sometimes reinforced by the media. For example , Asian girls are often portrayed simply because “oriental” evil doers in motion pictures and television set reveals. However , this kind of limited manifestation is usually harmful to the stereotype, it will create a negative impact on Asian females. The media also fails to show Hard anodized cookware women in anything other than their particular stereotypes.
Stereotypes happen to be likewise commonplace in social media. Cookware women are frequently referred to seeing that “china dolls” by elderly white men. College students and Asian women of all ages whom are not Oriental are sometimes called “exotics. ” The net allows video tutorials like this to exist, plus the media has made it easy for these stereotypes to circulate.
While many Asian women survey high degrees of career and educational results, many statement feeling undervalued at work since they are expected to accept the bulk of group projects. Because of this, Hard anodized cookware American women of all ages are not regarded as leaders, but as staff players. Consequently, they may not feel as if they are simply because socially professional or as good as their male counterparts.
Asian women of all ages are diverse in their cultures, and several experiences are common around their vast populations. Ethnical ignorance can be one of the biggest problems, as it could make hard to identify between different groups. For example , the expectations of Han Oriental women are certainly not shared by Nepali girls. And the experiences of Asian females may also extend beyond Asia to their diaspora in countries which might be majority-white.
When springing up an Asian girl, it’s important to be sensitive to her upbringing. Many Cookware women were raised simply by strict how to get a wife parents, and maybe they are not used to sexy men. Rather, they like men so, who take responsibility. Boost the comfort with her about your feelings as well as your expectations. Talk about your career goals and family goals.
In Song times, a Chinese philosopher called Ban Zhao wrote that it must be the duty of the husband to remarry after a woman contains died. This individual also wrote that there is simply no textual content which permits a woman to remarry. Yet , the idea of widow foreign women online chastity was even more popularized during the Neo-Confucian philosopher Cheng Yi. He once stated that it is better to get a widow to starve than to lose her virtue by remarriage. This statement was later quoted to justify pressurizing young widows to stay with her husband’s family.
Marriage is another important aspect of Hard anodized cookware women’s culture. Over fifty percent of Cookware Vacationers are committed. This percentage is much higher than the average American population. In fact , Asian-American women are more likely than white women to always be married. | <urn:uuid:7edd566c-9bf4-4446-8839-1880e5484b5f> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.sudburymotorsports.ca/the-stereotypes-of-asian-females-culture/ | 2024-04-21T21:02:51Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.977014 | 661 |
Have you been arrested for drug possession in St. Louis or St. Charles? You will need to contact Brent Sumner, a criminal defense attorney in St. Louis and St. Charles that can defend you in this scary time. Possession of drugs is a Class C felony in the state of Missouri punishable by up to 7 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections. Most first time offenders can get probation plea deals from the state of Missouri, but it is important to have a good criminal attorney to help you.
The Sumner Law Group has represented numerous people charged with possession of a controlled substance throughout the state of Missouri and can handle your case. Brent Sumner has successfully challenged many search warrant issues and illegal search and seizure of drugs. Brent Sumner has successfully won numerous criminal jury trials and he will discuss your case with you. Please contact a drug possession attorney in St. Louis to help you with your case. | <urn:uuid:8ae17f86-b2b3-4492-a607-e3c4bd3a738b> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.sumnercriminallaw.com/st-louis-criminal-defense-blog/2014/june/have-you-been-arrested-for-drug-possession-/ | 2024-04-21T19:50:11Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.962168 | 184 |
See inside The Point as it reopens with a new look and a bumper programme of events
and live on Freeview channel 276
The night time events sector has been hit incredibly hard by the pandemic, with The Point unable to reopen last year with all the ever-changing restrictions.
But now the landmark complex on the corner of Park Lane and Holmeside has been able to welcome people through its doors once more.
Hide AdIt’s reopened following a £150,000 investment to reconfigure the main hall, install a high-tech light and sound rig and to make the venue more accessible for people with disabilities and impairments.
It opened in style with a gig from local bands Social Room, The Voyd and Docksuns and Andy Golding, operations director at The Point, said it was fantastic to see the multi-purpose venue alive again.
"The hairs stood up on my arms to see people performing and enjoying themselves again, I can’t explain just how good it felt,” he explained. “You could tell the bands haven’t been able to perform for a while either as they really gave it their all, it was like they were the best bands in the world, everyone was so up for it.”
The Social Room gig kicked off a packed season of gigs and events for the venue which in the coming months will host talk ins from the likes of John Fury; gigs and DJ performances from Mercury (The Ultimate Queen Tribute), Martin Kemp and Lucy Spraggon; comedy performances from Frankie Allen and Johnny Vegas as well as a monthly comedy night and sporting events.
Hide AdActs and their audiences will benefit from improved facilities at the venue including a new green room amongst back stage developments, while front of house has been opened up to create a larger space with the removal of a central mezzanine, a new stage area and acoustic treated walls to help boost on stage spectacles.
The reopening has helped to retain 30 roles at the venue. Andy says the venue lost an estimated £1.2million in revenue during its 18 months closed, but a £324,000 grant from central Government’s Culture Recovery Fund helped the business to stay afloat.
Over the years, the venue has played host to some huge music names, with sets from some of the biggest DJs in the business such as Roger Sanchez, Tom Zanetti and Patrick Topping.
The venue is now capable of hosting 400 people seated, 640 theatre-style and 1,350 standing and whilst music is a core part of their programme, the flexible space means it can be used for a multitude of events.
Hide Ad"I don’t just want to do gigs, we have some weird and wonderful events too, such as a dinosaur event for kids which was really popular and the return of a serial killer talk by Jennifer Rees,” explained Andy.
The venue has also launched a monthly comedy night, working with the national The Comedy Club brand, with the next instalment taking place on Saturday, September 18 with Mike McClean, Ryan McDonnell and Peter Brush. | <urn:uuid:28c7e223-54dd-48bb-be19-9d42cb2f228d> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.sunderlandecho.com/business/the-point-as-it-reopens-with-a-new-look-and-a-bumper-programme-of-events-3384652 | 2024-04-21T20:41:11Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.9689 | 639 |
WASHINGTON — The National Retail Federation here said it will seek legal action to block the proposed $7.25 billion settlement of a federal antitrust lawsuit over credit-card interchange fees.
“The National Retail Federation categorically opposes the proposed settlement,” said Matthew Shay, NRF president and chief executive officer, in a statement on Tuesday. "It does nothing to curb the anticompetitive behavior of Visa and MasterCard, and instead ensures that swipe fees paid by retailers and their customers will continue to rise while barring any future legal challenges. The proposal is a lose-lose-lose for merchants, consumers and competition.”
Read more: RILA Opposes Interchange Settlement
Shay said NRF will “take any and all steps necessary to oppose the settlement as it is currently proposed and will work toward real reform of the swipe fee system.”
As previously reported, Visa, MasterCard and their card-issuing banks had proposed the settlement of the suit, which alleges that they engaged in anti-competitive practices to keep interchange rates artificially high.
Several merchants and retail associations have spoken out against the settlement, which has not yet been approved by the court. NRF, which was not a party to the suit, said it was exploring what legal action it could take.
Suggested Categories | More from Supermarketnews | | <urn:uuid:80ac39ee-f8f6-4554-a4f7-51dec937f9d5> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.supermarketnews.com/retail-amp-financial/nrf-vows-fight-credit-card-settlement | 2024-04-21T21:33:40Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.971168 | 276 |
Yacht » Bliss
Motor Yacht Bliss
In the lavish world of yachting, the Bliss yacht stands as a remarkable testament to opulence and design. Built by the reputable Dutch shipbuilder, Heesen Yachts, in 2007, Bliss beautifully merges performance and luxury. The unique design that characterizes this stunning vessel is the result of the artistic prowess of Omega Architects.
Originally commissioned by the prominent businessman Jon Asgeir Johannesson and his wife Ingibjörg Stefanía Pálmadóttir, the yacht was initially christened as ‘101’, marking its bespoke origin.
- The yacht Bliss, a symbol of luxury and performance, was built by Heesen Yachts in 2007 and boasts a distinctive design by Omega Architects.
- Originally commissioned by the notable businessman Jon Asgeir Johannesson and his wife Ingibjörg Stefanía Pálmadóttir, it is now owned by Greek entrepreneur Leon Patitsas.
- The yacht features powerful MTU engines, a max speed of 26 knots, a cruising speed of 18 knots, and a range of more than 3000 nautical miles.
- Bliss accommodates up to 10 guests and a crew of 9, offering an unrivaled luxurious experience.
- The yacht carries an estimated value of $15 million with annual running costs of around $2 million.
- Johannesson, the original owner of Bliss, was a renowned businessman, known for his leadership at the Baugur Group, which burgeoned from a low-priced supermarket to Iceland’s second-largest retailer.
- Despite the challenges posed by the Icelandic financial crisis and subsequent bankruptcy of the Baugur Group, Johannesson persevered, and his rights were upheld by The European Court of Human Rights.
- The yacht ‘101’, now known as Bliss, signifies a connection to some of the business ventures of Ingibjörg Stefanía Pálmadóttir, adding a personal touch to this opulent vessel.
A Closer Look at Bliss Specifications
When it comes to power, Bliss harnesses the raw might of MTU engines. This remarkable vessel boasts a maximum speed of 26 knots and a comfortable cruising speed of 18 knots. With a range exceeding 3000 nautical miles, Bliss offers an unparalleled sailing experience for long voyages.
Luxury Interiors of the Bliss Yacht
The exquisite interior of the yacht offers the epitome of luxury living. Bliss can comfortably accommodate up to 10 guests, complemented by a diligent crew of 9, ensuring an unforgettable journey at sea for its privileged occupants.
Bliss: A Testament to the Vision of Leon Patitsas
The current proud owner of this exceptional vessel is Leon Patitsas, a respected Greek entrepreneur and businessman. With his stewardship, Bliss continues to be a symbol of unmatched luxury and elegance on the high seas.
Valuing the Exquisite Bliss Yacht
Bliss, a splendid display of luxury and performance, carries an estimated value of $15 million. Maintaining such an opulent vessel involves substantial annual running costs of around $2 million, reflective of the size, age, craftsmanship, and technological sophistication embedded in its design.
The Intriguing Legacy of Jon Asgeir Johannesson
Bliss was initially commissioned as the yacht 101 by the influential businessman Jon Asgeir Johannesson. Johannesson, the CEO and owner of the Baugur Group, is renowned for his entrepreneurial acumen.
From Humble Beginnings to Dominant Retail Presence: The Journey of Baugur
The Baugur Group had its modest start as the low-priced supermarket, BÓNUS. However, under Johannesson’s strategic leadership, it burgeoned into Iceland’s second-largest retailer. Johannesson’s business prowess extended to acquiring stakes in banks, which led to the formation of the Glitnir bank.
Surviving the Icelandic Financial Crisis
Johannesson’s business empire suffered significantly during the Icelandic financial crisis, leading to the collapse and subsequent bankruptcy of the Baugur Group in 2009. Despite facing charges in connection with the financial crisis, Johanneson has been cleared twice in the same case, as of June 2017. In a significant development, The European Court of Human Rights ruled in May 2017 that the Icelandic government was guilty of violating Jon Asgeir´s human rights by punishing him twice for the same act, breaching the 7th Protocol of The European Convention on Human Rights.
101 Yacht: A Symbol of Business Legacy
The yacht, initially named ‘101’, was closely tied to some of the business interests of Ingibjörg Stefanía Pálmadóttir. She is the proud owner of a boutique hotel named ‘101’, was linked with an investment firm named ‘101 Capital’, and currently owns ‘365’, a notable media and TV company in Iceland. The initial naming of the yacht was a testament to these successful business ventures, adding a personal touch to this magnificent seafaring vessel.
Heesen Yachts is a Dutch shipbuilding company that specializes in aluminum (semi-)custom-built superyachts. Founded in 1978 by Frans Heesen, it has launched more than 170 yachts since its inception. The company was bought by Russian billionaire Vagit Alekperov through his Cyprus investment vehicle Morcell. In 2022, Alekperov transferred his shares to an independent Dutch foundation. Notable projects include GALACTICA SUPER NOVA, LUSINE, and GALVAS.
Omega Architects is a Netherlands-based yacht design company specializing in the design of high-end superyachts. The design firm was founded in 1995 by Frank Laupman. The company is known for its innovative and distinctive designs, and has a reputation for delivering yachts that are both stylish and functional. Omega Architects is known for its close relationship with Heesen Yachts and is responsible for the design of the yard’s successful semi-custom series. Notable projects include the CRN YALLA, the Heesen Lusine, and Samurai.
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SuperYacht Bliss Interior Photos
The yacht’s interior is designed by Omega Architects.
See our Photo Gallery of this yacht.
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Surface Coatings Group, Royal Society of Chemistry
The Surface Coatings Interest Group is one of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s many Interest Groups. The Interest Groups are member driven groups which exist to benefit RSC members, and the wider chemical science community, in line with the RSC’s strategy and charter.
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White Sands NP
White Sands National Park is one of my favorite places to visit. Each time I have gone the conditions have been different which make it challenging and fun to shoot. I enjoy being able to walk away with different types of images.
On our last visit ( 2 days / 2 nights) we had different conditions on each shoot. We arrived when the gate opened in the morning and one day we had fog and the next morning a layer of hoar frost. One evening we had spectacular skies and the next a spectacular rich alpine glow with the moon in the middle.
What to know before you go
Access. The park is currently opened 7 am to 7 pm. It is gated. Early access is only possible it arranged and paid for ahead of time. During COVID, this was not an option. Check the website for the latest. The other option is to camp inside the park. This is the best option to shoot night skies or to make sure you can shoot sunrise and / or sunset. This also requires a permit and was on hold due to COVID. There are no limits to where you can go within the park boundaries. The trails are great guides, but there are no restrictions for going off trail except for the good practice of leaving no trace and being careful not to disturb the natural beauty.
Closures. Since White Sands is located next to the missile range, there is often military testing and exercises. These exercises will shut down access to the park (and access along the highways nearby). Yes, they literally shut down the road and you will have to wait up to a couple of hours. This page shows upcoming closures:
Drones. Drones are prohibited.
Services. The park is primitive desert. Except at the visitors center there are no services. There are pit toilets in a couple of locations. There is no water, no food and no cell coverage.
What to shoot?
White Sands NP is great for shooting the obvious – white sand. It is so white that it can look like snow in an image. In fact, you may want to bump up your exposure compensation at least 1/3 stop and up to a full stop to compensate. The area is good for shooting landscapes, macros, patterns and desert flora. I always look for patterns and leading lines, as well as curves within the sand dunes.
It is possible to just shoot sand, to isolate scrub trees and to isolate the iconic and distinctive soap tree yucca.
For larger landscapes, shooting to the east will have the Sacramento Mountains in the background, and shooting to the west will have the San Andres mountains in the distance.
If you are fortunate enough to be at White Sands at a time of year when you can capture the light from sunrise or sunset, you may find the sand glows and reflects the colors in the sky.
Wildlife is not abundant here. In fact, I don’t recall seeing any. It is a desert, so there is wildlife, but this is not the location to focus on fauna.
Where to shoot?
Depending on what you would like to capture, here’s where I would go.
- For interesting trees, patterns in the sand, etc. – I enjoy the Dunes Life Nature Trail. I use this trail as a guide and I go off trail depending on what I see. If you go south along the edge of the dune, you can isolate trees and soap tree yuccas on ridges. If you go southwest, there are some really cool trees. I have shot them in all sorts of light.
- For sand and more sand – I would head to the end of the drive and tackle the Alkali Flat Trail. I have not had much success here. Too many footprints and not enough elevation to capture interesting shadows and sculpted areas. I have only hiked about a mile in so maybe it gets better further in on the trail?
- For a mix – of soap tree yuccas and mountains in the background – I would look for a pull off area just south or just north of the Sunset Stroll Meeting area and shoot east. I have captured some beautiful blue hour shots in this stretch (quick ones as the ranger goes thorough the park and asks everyone to leave after sunset). My shots have been maybe 50 feet off the road. If I remember correctly, we found a spot just south of this area as we could see the ranger in the distance with the “sunset stroll” group. You may also want to check out the sunset stroll area. It does go up on a ridge which may provide a good viewpoint – if you shoot west, the parking lot and road are between you and the sunset. If you shoot east, you have the mountains in the background, but I don’t remember much subject material in the foreground.
- For isolating plants and some interesting sand curves (depends what the winds have done) – there is an interesting spot north of the sunset stroll meeting area on the west side (between that parking lot and before you get to the start of the end loop). I’ve hiked in here maybe a 1/4 of a mile and found lots of options. I have also done beautiful sunset images in this area – isolating the soap tree yuccas on a ridge with the colors behind.
When to go?
Winter. Due to the limited hours of the park (7am-7pm), the winter months provide the best opportunity to shoot near sunrise and sunset. This time of year offers a photographer the opportunity to photograph during the golden hour and possibly the blue hour. Winter weather can include fog, ice and snow making for a variety of interesting compositions. Spring. The opportunity to capture the iconic soap tree yucca in bloom would be my goal for spring. Also, this is a good time of year to capture blue skies against the white sand. Summer. The heat can be brutal and there is no escape from the sun. There is no shade. I would not recommend a summer visit. Fall. The weather is more likely to be pleasant, and it may also be a good time of year to capture blue skies against the white sand.
Lenses: I have shot the majority (~90% ) of my photos here with a 24-70mm, and the remaining 10% with a long lens (80-400mm)
Footwear: sturdy hiking boots above the ankles are best to provide support in soft sand and to minimize the sand getting in the boot.
Know where you are. If you go off trail, make sure you can see trail markers. It is very easy to get turned around or to loose your perspective and get lost in the “white”. I would suggest having a GPS and a map and know how to use it. There are a number available for the smart phone. Cell coverage here is poor so make sure you download your maps prior to arrival.
Desert. The summers can be brutal. There is no water in the park. Be prepared. Enough said.
Sand. Blowing sand is common. This can create interesting visual effects. It can also wreck havoc on your gear. Even if the sand does not appear to be in the air, it is. You can often see a cloud of haze and dust hanging over the park as you drive toward entrance. Keep this in mind when changing lens or leaving your camera bag open. | <urn:uuid:d7f30613-ea68-48af-9df7-5b23156a2f7b> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.sweetlightphotos.com/resources/white-sands-national-park/ | 2024-04-21T20:23:55Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.959341 | 1,521 |
Rundle Heights Houses for Sale - Edmonton
Rundle Heights can be found at the south east corner of the greater Clareview area, and is a pleasant community that is mainly bordered by wilderness and golf courses. This makes it highly attractive to many residents who enjoy outdoor recreations, but also creates a very family friendly environment that is safe and easy to get around in.
Real Estate Listings in Rundle Heights Neighbourhood
Rundle Heights Community Amenities & Features:
The street plan incorporates the natural environment of the river bend by using a combination of longer curved roads and grid patterns throughout the residential section, and this also affords dwellings with well sized lots within the road structure. Homes for sale in Rundle Heights include single family units and some town homes, with both newer and older construction in different parts of the community.
Educational services in Rundle Heights give parents the ability to have children attend classes directly in the neighborhood. Schools in this area include Rundle School, St. Jerome's School, and St. Jerome Catholic School. The subdivision itself is very pedestrian friendly, although bus stops across the area and access to 118th Avenue to the north allow for travel to the other parts of the Clareview suburb.
Rundle Heights has a predominately rustic feel and is a popular place with outdoor enthusiasts. The Rundle Park Golf Course is a public green that is located to the east. Rundle Park has many trails, river access, and a disc golf course, along with sporting fields, tennis courts and playground facilities. The ACT Aquatic and Recreation Centre is also found here, and has community events and fitness activities. | <urn:uuid:044ec61a-8f4b-42fd-bc73-c941c499383a> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.sweetly.cloud/rundle-heights/ | 2024-04-21T20:54:30Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.970446 | 333 |
Life as a Graduate Solicitor Apprentice within the Care team
The care team represent parents, family members, carers of children and children (via their Children’s Guardian) in care proceedings. We specialise in offering expert advice and guidance in childcare law, from child protection issues to care proceedings.
I began my career as a paralegal within the Care team at Switalskis. I joined the team after completing my law degree at The University of York and have been surrounded by a team of motivated and supportive colleagues ever since.
My time is divided between both the South and West Yorkshire Child Care teams which has allowed me to establish connections with several highly skilled senior solicitors. The blend of working closely with both teams has influenced me to appreciate difference in expert opinion. My colleagues have provided me with the opportunity to build a solid foundation of legal knowledge and skills which I have applied when carrying out day to day tasks and dealing with clients.
In January this year, I began my Graduate Solicitor Apprenticeship with Switalskis. The Graduate Solicitor Apprenticeship is a diverse learning experience that will provide me with the opportunity to gain practical, hands-on experience alongside the completion of my Solicitors Qualifying Examinations. I will spend 20% of my working week studying with the remainder of my week gaining experience through my role at Switalskis. During my apprenticeship I will also have the opportunity to rotate seats, as our trainee cohort does.
As part of my apprenticeship, I often represent our clients at Public Law Outline meetings, shadow senior counsel at court, draft statements and deal with initial enquiries. I also help clients both face to face and in person by explaining any documents to them and take instructions.
In summary, my role provides me with the opportunity to gain practical, hands-on experience from people who all have unique styles to their practice. It will give me exposure to the different work that is carried out within various departments which, in turn, will assist me to develop a well-rounded skill set and a broader understanding of the legal profession. | <urn:uuid:39e1314c-ce86-46e5-9e9f-0aef89c79060> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.switalskis.com/blog/graduate-solicitor-apprentice-in-care | 2024-04-21T21:08:08Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.96953 | 432 |
Synergy News & Blog: London Office
To drone or not to drone?
The use of drones is becoming commonplace among the surveying profession and mapping professionals. At Synergy, drones have been used by our Building Surveyors to carry out inspections and condition surveys. We explore the advantages and disadvantages of this high tech piece of surveying equipment.
- Drones provide an aerial vantage point which may not be practically, safely or financially available through more traditional means such as cherry pickers, scissor lifts etc.
- Drones can cover a large area in a short amount of time due to their small size and nimble ability. There is no need to move and relocate truck mounted cherry pickers or similar access equipment to view different locations on the same site or property.
- Where we have used drones for roof surveys they can provide an excellent overview of a roof area and are able to hone in with ease on the identified defects for closer inspection.
- The quality of photographs and video footage is exceptional with most drones now having image stabilised 4K gimble mounted cameras on them. This allows the user to capture images and video in any orientation, extremely clearly. This is very helpful to the surveyor as it allows you to zoom into images to inspect areas and elements afterwards.
- The weather – rain and high winds prevent the drone from flying.
- The battery life is quite short – a drone will need to land and have batteries replaced every 10 – 20 minutes. This could be less if there is a breeze that the drone is compensating for.
- Certain site constraints such as overhead cables or structures will prevent the drone from accessing all areas.
- Recent regulations have been brought in to prevent the flying of drones within certain radiuses of airports or sensitive areas.
- The ‘overlook’ factor. Not everyone likes the idea that a drone will inadvertently view and capture areas outside of its area of work, due to the nature of its field of view.
On balance, drones are a very useful tool to a surveyor and to our team at Synergy. They generally provide a fast and effective means of accessing difficult locations where more traditional means would not be possible.
There will always be times and sites that do not lend themselves to drone use, whereby other methods are required and therefore each situation requires careful consideration first. | <urn:uuid:773daf43-1140-46a2-b082-e3dbed82adf5> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.synergyllp.co.uk/news-blog/to-drone-or-not-to-drone-ask-the-experts/ | 2024-04-21T21:08:56Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.951108 | 478 |
In this article, we would like to elaborate on how insurers can scale up to meet rising customer expectations about convenient and integrated services which we strongly believe will be one of the key success factors in the NEOINSURANCE® world as stated in our recently published whitepaper.
In today’s era of rapid digitalization, where convenience and speed are ubiquitous, consumer demands are constantly evolving. Consumers’ purchasing behaviour are shifting as they opt to shop through digital sales channels and platforms. This has been further catalysed by the COVID-19 pandemic, raising the fraction of goods and services being produced and consumed on digital channels. This applies to financial products and services in the very same way as it does for physical goods.
Customers’ core concern is living their lives in the most convenient manner possible. Convenience is a pivotal attribute of successful products and services, especially today when almost everything is literally at one’s digital fingertips. Products and services must fulfil this demand for convenience, including insurance.
Beyond convenience, customers also demand products and services integrated into their daily life:
The traditional insurance model comprises of sales channels via agents and brokers where physical interactions and communication prevail. This model has been progressively challenged over the last decades.
With the initial waves of digitalization, insurers have shifted towards digital and hybrid channels to sell to and engage with customers. New modes of interaction, such as self-service portals, mobile apps, online and hybrid advisory, chatbots and many more have complemented face-to-face interaction. Moreover, insurers have adopted integrated business models where insurance products are sold through ecosystem partners as separate add-ons on top of the primary products being purchased. A typical example is motor insurance sold alongside the car at the dealership.
However, the raising bar of customer expectations for convenience presents a particular challenge for insurers today. Insurance products are still perceived as relatively boring, emotionless, lacking transparency and cumbersome to buy, resulting in customers feeling that their true needs are being fully addressed. Few look forward to interacting with their insurer, as the digital closing and service fulfilment processes remain slow, encumbered by manual steps. The main reasons for this are that customers’ lives simply do not fit into rigid product-centric lines of business, nor to insurance-related necessities, and hence insurance remains regarded as a necessary evil decoupled from customers’ real, everyday needs.
A new wave of digital transformation is thus apparent, one which truly satisfies customers' demand for convenient, lifestyle-oriented, and worry-free insurance products directly sold at the moment risk is created.
Although the insurance sales process has been significantly digitalized over the past few years, demand for insurance has not seen a huge increase despite the widening worldwide protection gap. In other words, the level of insurance coverage bought increasingly lags behind what would correspond to a socially and economically appropriate risk mitigation level.
Therefore, insurers must develop innovative business models not only integrating but seamlessly embedding their value chain into those of other ecosystem players, fulfilling customer's everyday needs and thus boosting demand and purchasing inclination of insurance. Insurers must shift from product-centric to customer-centric mindsets, developing simple insurance products which are modular, customisable, dynamically priced, data driven and lifestyle-oriented and hence easy to abstract into goods and services of daily needs. Where appropriate, traditional product models can be complemented by parametric, index-based solutions to fill the protection gap which indemnity insurance typically burdens the insured such as cover exclusions, franchises, deductibles etc., and to offer transparent, predictable, index-based and quick settlements which in return augments customer convenience.
Applied to the aforementioned example from the mobility ecosystem, this means that motor insurance is no longer modelled and sold as a one-size-fits-all stand-alone product but invisibly embedded as a native component into every car purchased, rented or shared, dynamically priced and flexibly adjustable taking ecosystem leveraged usage- and behaviour-based data into account to conveniently offer drivers the level of coverage they truly need and at a risk-adequate price.
As a prerequisite, insurers need to continue opening their IT and infrastructure landscape, enabling plug-and-play insurance offerings to be seamlessly embedded into the production and distribution processes of their strategic ecosystem partners and to reach the final customer at the point of sale where risk is created. Open, modular and API-driven platforms are the indispensable technological foundation of every successful embedded insurance solution and often serve as the orchestrating heartbeat of an entire ecosystem, be it Mobility & Travel, Property, Health & Accident or Wealth & Protection.
Embedded insurance allows customers to enjoy the benefits of insurance without worrying about unforeseen circumstances. Product convenience significantly increases when insurance is embedded, and consequently leads to a more appropriate level of risk mitigation versus when insurance is offered monolithically. However, to harvest the benefits of embedded insurance, insurers must continue to reinvent their business model, challenge their ancestral role and further invest in their ongoing digital transformation.
To master this next wave of digital transformation, we at Synpulse have developed the NEOINSURANCE® business model, a future-prove approach based on embedded insurance products, customer-centricity, lifestyle-orientation and the ecosystem imperative, which we have elaborated in the mentioned whitepaper.
Within each ecosystem, insurers need to understand the roles they can play. A crucial aspect of a successful NEOINSURANCE® strategy is to define the right role and to diligently select a portfolio of strategic ecosystem partners that best complement this role. At Synpulse, we not only help to analyse insurers’ current business models and ecosystem strategies but also provide them with hands-on fit-gap analysis and solutions to derive an actionable strategic transformation roadmap.
Synpulse’s suite of proprietary assets, such as our NEOINSURANCEINABOX® Model, NEOINSURANCE® Target Operating Model, NEOINSURANCE® Market Radar and NEOINSURANCE® Open Insurance Platform Assessment are only some of our best practices to accelerate and master your transition towards a dominant player in the NEOINSURANCE® game level.
To take the next step in your NEOINSURANCE® journey, contact us to schedule a follow-up discussion to evaluate your needs in detail and share more on our offerings. | <urn:uuid:8a3de535-3dc7-42ea-9dee-19ef95cbfd55> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.synpulse.com/en/insights/core-belief-1-embedded-customer-journey | 2024-04-21T21:16:29Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.94273 | 1,287 |
Since then I properly fixed the wires, but I have problems still and don't want to throw any more blind money at it. I also went over the wiring again, even behind the dash with a multimeter to an extent. I have checked/replaced all fuses and relays, and the guts of the fuse-relay center. Also I let the electrical system drain, and did a battery re-learn (3 touch offs before connecting battery) to reset everything.
What is currently happening upon either key-on or startup is as follows, no service 4wd light on dash; Switch thinks it's in 4low (i have the shift motor off the T-case currently); When i press any other mode (2wd, 4hi, 4auto) it blinks for a minute but then goes out (The shift motor doesn't show any signs of life); If i try it many times there's still no Service 4wd light (from my research that light should come on if there are repeated failed attempts. it was on when I got it, so I know the light works).
I have done a crap load of research but i've hit a brick wall. The OBD2 port doesn't have a #13 pin present, nor did i find any trace of the wire/pin that should go there, thus i can't do the diagnostics code readout from the TCCM to the switch lights (to my knowledge). The reason i'm trying to do that is to figure out if the TCCM is partially fried/bad or if it's the shift motor.
I'm desperate for answers so any help would be greatly appreciated. I've never made a forum post before so hopefully it's structured ok and I included helpful info. Other potentially useful info: NP246 automatic t-case, It refuses to go into neutral if i hold both 4hi and 2wd at the same time, and i installed a new Passlock module due to random false security lockouts (shouldn't matter though since i did the key and battery relearn after). Lastly I would send the TCCM off to get checked or whatever but I really want this done as soon as possible, and would hate to waste all that time if that has no issues.
Thanks, let me know if you want pics of anything like the OBD port. | <urn:uuid:468f65c8-a382-4a02-9fec-41b6ce4152fe> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/99-obs-tahoe-4wd-system-problems.139155/ | 2024-04-21T20:14:27Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.966297 | 482 |
There are sooo many different City Halls in Massachusetts. Some have cutie small town vibes, some are more chic and urban, some are just in random buildings, but who wouldn't want to get married at Boston City Hall in the historic heart of the city? Even though it's been dubbed one of the ugliest buildings in America, the surrounding area certainly is not.
When Angie and I first connected, she was initially interested in having a small ceremony at Hammond Castle. Throughout planning they switched the plan to Boston City Hall for their elopement and here's what they said for why:
"Boston is where our adventure really began and we're fascinated by the big inner city. Our very first trip together was to the aquarium and traveling into the inner depth of East Boston where the culture really sprouted. Since then, we have tried to hit every spot in Boston and around the Boston area to absorb the food and community."
A few of their friends came for the ceremony but other than that it was a surprise for everyone else!! Their ceremony was on the sixth floor at the City Clerk's office but City Hall also has a larger space to accommodate ceremonies with more gusts. Click here to learn more about how to elope at Boston City Hall.
Aside from the quick ceremony and exchanging rings, they didn't have anything particular in mind for the photos afterwards. They just wanted to wander around the city and enjoy themselves. They don't ever really take photos together so they were excited to get photos in spots they've been exploring for years!
After wandering the area directly around Boston City Hall we ventured to Quincy Market, Rowes Wharf, and over to the Harborwalk. It was a superfuckinghot day this summer so we stopped to get some lemonade for the walk before we keeled over. I don't know how Daniel lasted in that suit coat. He's a rockstar!
Related Blog: 12 Locations Where to Propose in Boston
Related Blog: Boston Seaport Engagement Session
We only had two hours together which was a good timeframe to capture their ceremony then some candids and posey pics along the walk around the Boston Harbor.
Interested in chatting about your elopement, whether at Boston City Hall or somewhere else in the city? I'm an ordained minister (lol) so we could have your ceremony anywhere you wanted!
Fill out the inquiry form and lets get chattin about what you've envisioned.
Tamara Merri Photography | <urn:uuid:46924830-4820-4e68-bd0a-4e585913932d> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.tamaramerriphotography.com/post/boston-city-hall-elopement-angie-daniel | 2024-04-21T21:12:30Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.976407 | 507 |
Amidst international expectations of a renewed push to jump-start Cyprus settlement talks, PM Alexis Tsipras and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the full range of bilateral relations during a one-hour meeting today on the sidelines of the 73rd UN General Assembly in New York.
The two countries’ foreign ministers, Nikos Kotzias and Mevlut Cavuoglu were present at the meeting, as was Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar, who was serving as chairman of Turkey’s Joint Chiefs of Staff when he was tapped for the cabinet post.
This was the first meeting between the two leaders since Ankara on 15 August released two Greek army officers that had been incarcerated in a Turkish prison for over five months, after being arrested in the Evros border region. The incident had heightened tensions between the two countries.
However, beyond the niceties and broad smiles, there were indications of a gradual normalisation of the two countries’ relations, as Erdogan invited Tsipras to Istanbul for talks.
Greek analysts and pundits have expressed the view that the crisis in US-Turkey reations has pushed Erdogan to seek to draw closer the EU, and that Greece can play a key role in promoting that objective.
Aside from the prospect of renewed Cyprus talks, energy issues and Turkey’s hostile activity in Cyprus EEZ Aegean, Greek government sources said that Aegean tensions and implementation of the EU-Turkey refugee agreement were high on the agenda.
The Greek PM’s office publicised the meeting with a tweet: “Μeeting with the President of Turkey, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on the sidelines of the 73rd UN General Assembly # UNGA”. | <urn:uuid:e09de328-54fb-4f7b-9292-9248fb1ba9e7> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.tanea.gr/2018/09/25/english-edition/erdogan-tsipras-discuss-full-range-of-bilateral-issues-in-new-york-talks/ | 2024-04-21T20:43:09Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.971312 | 351 |
Join the Great Brew Tour at Tap & Grill in Jumeirah Golf Estates from March 1-3 for a weekend filled with 26 different types of hops, craft drinks, live music performances, and delicious food. Don't miss out on this exciting festival!
The Great Brew Tour: A Weekend of Food, Drinks, and Entertainment
The Great Brew Tour is back and ready to satisfy your cravings for good food, entertainment, and quality time with friends. From Friday, March 1 to Sunday, March 3, Tap & Grill in Jumeirah Golf Estates will be hosting this exciting festival. With promises of 26 different types of hops, apple-based beverages, and craft drinks, as well as live music performances by Greg Pearson and Lisa Golding, this event is not to be missed. There will also be a DJ spinning tunes to keep the energy high.
The festival kicks off on Friday, March 1 with an "Unlimited BBQ Night" from 5pm to 10pm. Indulge in a variety of seafood and meats paired with selections from the salad bar, and don't forget to save room for the dessert buffet.
On Saturday, March 2, a Chef's Special Menu will be available from 12pm to midnight. This menu includes starters, roasts, grills, buns, rolls, and flatbreads. Some highlights from the menu are loaded chips, sticky baby ribs, schnitzel burger, and spicy chorizo.
The festivities conclude on Sunday, March 3 with a Sunday Family Brunch from 1pm to 4pm. There are three packages to choose from: the "Kitchen-to-Table" package offers an all-you-can-eat mixed grill platter for Dhs120, the "Bar to Table" package offers free-flowing drinks for Dhs270, and the unlimited food and drinks package is available for Dhs350.
In addition to the delicious food and drinks, there will also be various activities on site, including foosball and pub games, to keep guests entertained. And the best part? The whole family, including your furry friends, are invited to join in on the fun.
So mark your calendars and get ready for a weekend filled with great food, drinks, and entertainment at Tap & Grill in Jumeirah Golf Estates. Admission to the festival is free, with various food and drinks packages available. Don't miss out on this incredible event!
Best Breakfast Spots in Dubai
If you're looking for the best breakfast spots in Dubai, we've got you covered. From eggs Benedict to full-on fry-ups, here's a list of where to kick off your morning in style.
Guide to Dubai's Happy Hours
If you're in the mood for cheap drinks, check out our guide to Dubai's happy hours. With deals every night of the week, you're sure to find a spot that suits your taste.
New Restaurants in Dubai You Need to Try
We've rounded up all the new restaurants in Dubai that you need to try. From casual eats to fine dining, there's something for everyone. | <urn:uuid:991b32cc-ee29-490a-9409-a64223a279a0> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.tastyexpo.one/2024/02/the-great-brew-tour-weekend-of-food.html | 2024-04-21T20:15:59Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.946201 | 641 |
For the privilege of engaging in gaming activities in New Mexico the state imposes an excise tax known as the gaming tax.
Gaming tax at 10% applies to the gross receipts of gaming device manufacturers and distributors from the sale, lease or transfer of gaming devices into New Mexico.
Persons who operate gaming devices in the state remit a gaming operator tax.
The tax, based on net proceeds, is a different percentage according to the type of gaming operation:
Non-profit fraternal organization–10%.
Other licensed gaming operator–26%.
The gaming taxes are due on or before the 15th day of the month after the month in which the taxable event occurred.
We deposit the revenue from this tax to the General Fund. | <urn:uuid:b6bde06f-6e57-4fb3-a118-88ec7b29c5bb> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.tax.newmexico.gov/individuals/2020/10/23/gaming-taxes/ | 2024-04-21T21:12:14Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.956861 | 149 |
The 800 Pound Gorilla
Runs Speed Dating
If you haven’t got time to take the test in the video link below, don’t bother with this blog post – whether you invest the time or not is partly the point.
Since the video was made in 1999, approximately half of viewers miss something remarkable, something that if you see, you have difficulty believing it could be missed. After years of studying the response to this video -- at first questioning if the results were somehow skewed -- the psychologists who conducted it concluded we see what we expect to see and that there are absolute limits to what the human brain can absorb in a given time. Distraction, stress and information overload decrease the area of focus and increase tunnel vision.
These cognitive realities are at the core of conducting a Best Practice IR program. Sadly, the economic realities and inherent conflicts of sell side and broker sponsored institutional contact programs use your precious management time in ways that often feed the least productive instincts of both management and investors in face to face interactions: to transfer detailed data and operational updates as quickly as possible with little focus on what’s best to advance your IR goals. And while it seems to make all concerned feel as if they are making the best use of time, one of the biggest wastes of management energy is "Speed Dating IR" conferences.
In the last few weeks I have joined clients at several sell side sponsored "Speed Dating IR" conferences, the usual 45 minute sessions with anywhere from 3-10 people around the table firing top-of-mind questions at the CEO/CFO/IRO. While I am continually amazed at the depth and breadth of my clients' detailed knowledge of their businesses, I also observe (and comment upon/suggest ways to better message regarding) the absence of discussion focused on the company’s investment thesis and the strategic, tactical and operational components most important for understanding how management drives value creation. At the heart of what IR does is answering the question "why invest in this stock?" The most effective part of these meetings is that investors "buy management" and this is a reasonably efficient setting for interacting with management in close quarters. But the farther management’s messaging moves from answering the specifics of the key question "why invest," the greater the loss of IR efficiency and effectiveness.
Given what you know about the economic model of Corporate Access, why do you think these formats have evolved? I guarantee you it’s not because Corporate Access has studied investor cognition and determined this is the best format for corporates to inculcate their value building strategies and investment narratives. It is because they can get the most people in and out of rooms with investors gorging on information bits, filling in their spreadsheets, typing notes, and writing down answers to questions based on preconceived notions of what makes the company (and/or its peers) worth investing in. "Speed Dating IR" is one of the well-established franchises in the "Fast Food IR" industry.
If you have been reading my blog, you’ll know I’ve been ploughing through books on neuroscience and human cognition for years; advances over the last decades in these areas represent one of the most significant historic developments in humankind’s understanding of our world. Part of the reason I have been doing this is to explain to clients in technical/academic language how best to communicate to their investors and capital markets followers. But really, does one need science to answer the question regarding how much quality communication is conducted in speed dating IR conferences? Common sense tells us that a half dozen or so supercharged professional investors firing disparate questions at management in a 45-minute session is not going to allow for much Best Practice IR communication. It will however use up a great deal of management and investor energy in transferring information and data points that could be conveyed on a conference call or a longer, more focused face to face session focused on key components of the business.
Solution: Be careful about "over-conferencing." The next time you plan your conference schedule for the year, think carefully about what is achieved in each interaction, setting tactical goals (e.g. where we are before the event, where we hope to be after the event in terms of our investment profile in the marketplace) and question whether there are more effective and less expensive (especially in terms of management time) channels for delivering Best Practice IR messaging to precisely targeted audiences. Off the top of my head, I can name three to five better alternatives worth careful consideration… | <urn:uuid:a9e55a1c-d4a3-47e8-b9c5-b7b29db401a8> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.taylor-rafferty.com/800-pound-gorilla | 2024-04-21T21:52:59Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.952595 | 922 |
Isaiah 43:25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake and will not remember thy sins.
The concept of transgression in the Christian faith is synonymous with the act of sinning, a deviation from God’s righteous path.) The Holy Bible provides numerous accounts and teachings that emphasize the gravity of sin and the divine provision for its erasure. We are given examples and repeatedly told how the LORD will forgive those who surely repent.
Psalm 32:1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
The above verse encapsulates the essence of divine forgiveness. To have one’s transgressions forgiven is to be covered by the grace of God, shielding the sinner from the just consequences of their actions. The covering mentioned here is not a mere concealment but an obliteration, as if the sin had never occurred. It truly is erased – and gone from God’s eyes – and we then have a new clean slate, clean and unmarred, thanks be to His grace and love.
Isaiah 44:22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
The imagery of a cloud being blotted out signifies the complete removal of our sins. It is not a fading sin or stain- but a thorough cleansing, made possible by the redemptive power of God’s love. The call to return is an invitation to repentance, a pivotal step in the process of reconciliation with our Creator.
The ultimate act of blotting out our transgressions is found in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. His blood, shed on the cross, serves as the atonement for the sins of humanity.
Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
In this profound and seemingly palpable verse, we see the substitutionary nature of Christ’s suffering. He took upon Himself the punishment that was due to us, so that through His wounds, we might find healing and peace.
The concept of blotting out transgressions by His blood is not merely a theological tenet but a transformative reality for all true believers. It offers hope and a new beginning, free from the bondage of sin. Free. No more bonds. Nothing but freedom and a clean slate.
Ephesians 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
This reflects the spiritual cleansing and sanctification that comes through Christ, symbolized by the washing of water, which is often interpreted as the Word of God working in the believer’s life.
The Christian belief in the power of Jesus’ sacrifice to cleanse us from sin and offer us a path back to God is truly a gift from above, and that gift should serve as a foundation for understanding this profound spiritual truth.
Are you grateful for this beautiful gift of grace and redemption? Have you trodden upon the righteous path? And are you aligned with His Word?
“Heavenly Father, we come before You, acknowledging our transgressions and the weight of our sins. We are grateful for Your mercy that forgives and Your grace that covers. Thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus Christ, to blot out our sins with His precious blood. May we live in the freedom of Your redemption and walk in the light of Your love. Guide us to return to You with repentant hearts and to rejoice in the salvation You have provided. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” | <urn:uuid:bc9c041c-3bd4-45b1-a911-cd924a60888e> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.tblfaithnews.com/faith-religion/blotting-out-our-transgressions | 2024-04-21T21:48:08Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.940911 | 768 |
1. Understanding the Basics of Personal Injury Law
Personal injury law is complex, but your marketing doesn’t have to be. Simplify legal concepts for potential clients, explaining how your expertise can make a difference in their cases.
2. The Art of Crafting Compelling Legal Content
Learn to communicate your legal expertise through compelling content. Break down legal jargon, tell relatable stories, and showcase your knowledge in a way that resonates with the public.
3. Navigating the Digital Landscape
Explore the digital avenues available for marketing. From search engines to social media, understand how to navigate the online landscape to reach a wider audience.
4. Leveraging Social Media for Maximum Impact
Social media isn’t just for personal use. Discover how personal injury lawyers can leverage platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to connect with potential clients and showcase their expertise.
5. Building a Robust Online Presence
Your website is your virtual office. Ensure it reflects your professionalism and expertise. Learn the essential elements to include on your website to captivate visitors.
6. Harnessing the Power of Client Testimonials
Word of mouth is powerful. Encourage satisfied clients to share their success stories, building trust and credibility among potential clients.
7. Engaging with Local Communities
Become an integral part of your local community. Attend events, sponsor local activities, and showcase your commitment to the well-being of the community.
8. Embracing Video Marketing for Personalization
Humanize your practice through video marketing. Share your story, discuss common legal issues, and connect with potential clients on a personal level.
9. The Importance of Mobile Optimization
In an era of smartphones, ensure your online presence is optimized for mobile users. A seamless mobile experience can make a significant difference in attracting clients.
10. Measuring Success: Analytics and Key Performance Indicators
Understand the importance of tracking your marketing efforts. Dive into analytics and key performance indicators to assess the success of your campaigns.
11. Turning Website Visitors into Clients
Driving traffic to your website is crucial, but turning visitors into clients is the ultimate goal. Discover strategies to convert website visitors into satisfied clients.
12. Establishing Trust Through Transparency
Build trust by being transparent. From fees to the legal process, be upfront and honest, fostering trust with potential clients.
13. Networking Strategies for Legal Professionals
Networking is a cornerstone of legal marketing. Uncover effective strategies to build relationships with other legal professionals and expand your professional network.
14. Staying Updated: Adapting to Legal Trends
The legal landscape is ever-evolving. Stay ahead of the curve by staying informed about the latest legal trends and adapting your marketing strategies accordingly.
15. The Role of SEO in Personal Injury Lawyer Marketing
Demystify the world of SEO and understand how optimizing your online content can significantly enhance your visibility and attract potential clients.
In the dynamic realm of personal injury lawyer marketing, mastering the art of communication and adapting to the digital landscape is paramount. By implementing the strategies discussed in this guide, legal professionals can not only capture the attention of the general public but also build lasting relationships with clients.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1: How can personal injury lawyers effectively use social media for marketing?
A: Personal injury lawyers can utilize social media platforms to share legal insights, engage with the community, and showcase success stories. Regularly posting relevant content and interacting with followers can build trust and credibility.
Q2: Why is mobile optimization important for personal injury lawyer websites?
A: With a significant portion of internet users accessing websites via mobile devices, optimizing for mobile ensures a seamless user experience. This, in turn, can enhance engagement and encourage potential clients to explore your services.
Q3: What role does transparency play in building trust with clients?
A: Transparency is crucial in establishing trust. Being upfront about fees, the legal process, and potential outcomes fosters honesty, creating a foundation for a trustworthy lawyer-client relationship.
Q4: How can personal injury lawyers stay updated on legal trends?
A: Stay informed through legal publications, attend seminars and conferences, and engage in online forums. Networking with other legal professionals can also provide valuable insights into emerging legal trends.
Q5: What is the significance of SEO in personal injury lawyer marketing?
A: SEO enhances online visibility, making it easier for potential clients to find your services. By optimizing content with relevant keywords and improving website structure, personal injury lawyers can attract organic traffic and establish a strong online presence. | <urn:uuid:611e80d8-3003-4100-a6a2-2ac01b659321> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.techmehow.com/unveiling-the-secrets-of-personal-injury-lawyer-marketing/ | 2024-04-21T20:07:09Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.907178 | 944 |
An unlocked gun can ruin more than one life. In fact, The Trace reports that toddlers shot an average of one person per week for the 2015 year, often injuring or killing themselves, because they were able to get on their hands on a gun.
Zore, like many new products on the market, aims to change all that.
Zore is a Jerusalem-based startup that has built a smart gun lock. Through a connection to an app on your phone, the Zore X lets the user unlock the gun remotely, as well as monitor movement of the gun if it’s within Bluetooth range.
However, in the case of an emergency, many of us don’t want to be fiddling with our smartphone just to unlock a gun, which is otherwise useless, when confronted with an attacker.
That’s why Zore included a PIN dial right on the Zore lock. It’s rather similar to a locker lock, letting the user spin it back and forth a couple of times matching their unique PIN code. Even with a relatively long PIN code, users are able to unlock the gun within seconds.
Zore even says that, with a little practice, users should be able to unlock their Zore-protected guns behind their backs or in the dark.
Locking the gun is only possible using the physical Lock button on the Zore itself.
For that aforementioned practice, Zore created the Zore trainer as a piece of the app, which surprises the user and tests how quickly they can unlock their gun.
The company also sells the Zore Bridge, which can go in the home and monitor the gun at a much farther range than just the phone app. It uses a Bluetooth connection, just like the app itself, to monitor the movement of the gun and tell whether or not anyone is trying to break in.
As a complement to that, for even more protection, users can purchase the Wi-Fi-based Zore WatchDog, which gives users constant watch over their gun and lock no matter where they are in the world.
We’ve seen a handful of tech-based devices looking to make guns more secure, including one of our CES Hardware Battlefield companies, Identilock.
Zore put the product up on Indiegogo in June and has received nearly $250,000 from backers, well over the company’s $100,000 target.
For the Fourth of July, the company is offering a discount deal: two Zore X, one Zore Bridge and one free Zore WatchDog for $209. | <urn:uuid:f0a8e129-a222-4d79-8084-989cb846f095> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.technologytodays.com/gadgets/zore-x-is-a-smart-gun-lock-that-raised-almost-250k-on-indiegogo.html | 2024-04-21T19:55:52Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.969083 | 529 |
icetray - Fotolia
Just four days before the final Patch Tuesday of 2017, an emergency Microsoft patch was pushed out for a critical antimalware flaw.
The vulnerability in the Windows Malware Protection Engine (CVE-2017-11937) was first discovered by the U.K. National Cyber Security Centre, and it can affect systems running Windows 7, 8.1 and 10, as well as Windows Server 2016. A similar flaw was found in June by Tavis Ormandy, security researcher for Google's Project Zero.
According to the security advisory, the emergency Microsoft patch addresses a critical remote code execution vulnerability that can be exploited if a malicious actor gets the Malware Protection Engine to scan a specially crafted file.
Microsoft noted this could happen automatically if the malicious file is delivered to a system with real-time scanning turned on, and it could allow an attacker to "execute arbitrary code in the security context of the LocalSystem account and take control of the system ... then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights."
However, the emergency Microsoft patch should be automatically installed "within 48 hours of release," according to the advisory.
Michael Patterson, CEO of Plixer International Inc., a network traffic analysis company based in Kennebunk, Maine, said "although most consumers already have the necessary patch, this is no time to become overly confident in existing security defensive measures."
"Malware will make it into every organization connected to the internet. This means all companies need to prepare for the inevitable breach," Patterson told SearchSecurity. "When this happens, incident response systems need to have been rehearsed, and the data necessary for network traffic analytics needs to have been collected. An archive of logs and flows is a critical source of forensic data when odd traffic patterns need to be investigated."
Tyler Regulymanager of the Vulnerability and Exposure Research Team, Tripwire
Tyler Reguly, manager of the Vulnerability and Exposure Research Team at Tripwire in Portland, Ore., said it was nice to see the emergency Microsoft patch released so quickly, but he said Microsoft also appears to be deprioritizing customer communication with these security releases.
"Antimalware software is one of the most critical pieces of software on a modern desktop and also one of the most valuable targets for an attacker, especially products that have automated scanning of new files enabled. Most vendors will be plagued with issues like this from time to time, and it shouldn't scare people away from using the product. But, rather, they should feel hopeful that Microsoft released the [out-of-band patch] to ensure quicker protection for their customer," Reguly told SearchSecurity.
However, Reguly added, "the update has been available for nearly 48 hours, but the security guidance page still does not have links to an advisory, bulletin or KB [knowledge base] article. The details have been published, but they are not available via the link that Microsoft provided in their own notification email; you need to know the format of their URLs to build it yourself." | <urn:uuid:393a6d5e-0214-43d9-a324-fb0cf55d6999> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/news/450431570/Emergency-Microsoft-patch-out-for-Malware-Protection-Engine | 2024-04-21T20:03:22Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.950013 | 629 |
Manila, Philippines -- More often than not, we are sometimes thinking of hanging out with people that has the same passion as we have, same desires as we have, and same level of inspiration as we have, but you do not know where to find them. You sometimes think of good ideas, but you do not know who to share that with. Good thing that there is Fun Buddies. It is a mobile app that lets you do fun activities with people who share similar interests.
So if you are interested to have a drinking party by the pool, and you used the app, other members that has the same interests as you, will be notified and will reply, and or chat to you, so that all of you can easily organize the rest of your plan without the burden of looking who will participate.
No subscription, no monthly bills, no in-app purchases. Just purely like minded people collaborating. To know more about the app, you can check out their website at www.funbuddies.co, or you can check out their Facebook page here. | <urn:uuid:10108961-e9a7-4352-aa34-102fa7853c0b> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.tekkiepinas.xyz/2016/11/funbuddies-hangout-with-like-minded.html | 2024-04-21T21:21:41Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.975593 | 218 |
Schneller Vogel [Fast Bird]
Cycle MagazineDas Tern Eclipse X22 erfüllt alle Ansprüche sportlich-dynamischer Fahrer und bietet alle Vorzüge eines ausgereiften Faltrads. [The Tern Eclipse X22 offers everything a sporty rider could want, plus all the advantages of a sophisticated folding bike.]
Clipping from Cycle Magazine
These external links bring you to third-party websites that are not endorsed or approved by Tern Bicycles and its affiliates. All third-party content represents the views or opinions of the original creators of such content, and Tern makes no warranties and representations relating to the content of these third-party websites. | <urn:uuid:20338a7c-f82f-4b08-b1e7-6d20fb9f4189> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.ternbicycles.com/en/news/clippings/2016/02/schneller-vogel-fast-bird | 2024-04-21T20:14:18Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.738573 | 155 |
After two-and-half months of coronavirus lockdown, I've been thinking about fairy tales of isolation: young women locked away in towers or high atop steep hills of glass; young men turned to swans or beasts and likewise banished from human society. Rapunzel, isolated in her lonely tower, is one of the best known of such stories, and so I'd like to take a closer look at its history....
The version of Rapunzel we know today was published as a German folk tale by the Brothers Grimm in 1857 -- but it's now believed that their Rapunzel was neither German nor a proper folk tale. Scholars have shown that a number of the storytellers from whom the Brothers Grimm obtained their material were recounting "authored" tales from German, French, and Italian literary sources rather than anonymous folk stories passed orally from teller to teller. The Grimms' Rapunzel, for example, was derived from a story of the same name published by Friedrich Schultz in 1790 -- which was a loose translation of an earlier French story, Persinette by Charlotte-Rose de La Force, published in 1698 at the height of the "adult fairy tale" literary movement in Paris. La Force's tale was influenced by an even earlier Italian story, Petrosinella by Giambattista Basile, published in 1634 in his story collection Lo cunto de li cunti (also known as the Pentamerone).
Each writer in this chain used folk motifs drawn from oral tales (associated with peasants and the countryside), reworking them into literary tales (for adult readers who were educated, urban, and upper-class). It is difficult, however, to draw a sharp line between folk tales and literary fairy tales, placing Rapunzel in one category or another -- for after the Basile, La Force, and Schultz publications, Rapunzel slipped into the oral tradition of storytellers throughout the West, where it's now part of our folk culture even though it didn't start there.
Let's go back to the start, however, with Giambattista Basile's Petrosinella. Basile, born near Naples, drew plots and characters from the folk tales of the region, re–working them into courtly tales for the Italian aristocracy. What follows is a bare-bones summary of his story, without the clever turns of language that make Basile's work so sprightly and distinctive. (I suggest reading Basile's story in full in a good English translation -- such as the one provided by Jack Zipes in his fine book The Great Fairy Tale Tradition.)
Once upon a time, the tale begins, a woman looked out her window at the garden of her neighbor, an ogress, and developed a terrible hunger for the fine parsley growing there. Now, this woman was pregnant, and it was widely believed that denying the cravings of a pregnant woman could cause grave harm to mother and child -- so she snuck into her neighbor's garden, not once, but over and over. The ogress laid a trap and caught her. "What do you have to say for yourself, thief?"
The woman threw herself on her neighbor's mercy, but the ogress was not appeased. "I will spare your life only if you give me the child you carry, be it boy or girl." The frightened woman agreed and slunk back home, pockets full of parsley.
She soon gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and named her Petrosinella (derived from the word for parsley in the Neapolitan dialect). By the time the child was seven years old, her mother had forgotten all about her promise. But when Petrosinella started school, her path took her by the ogress's house.
Each time that Petrosinella passed, the old ogress called out to her: "Tell your mother to remember the promise she made to me, Petrosinella!" The child did as she was told. Her mother grew more and more frightened, until one day she cried out: "Tell that woman my answer is: 'Take her!'"
When Petrosinella delivered this message, the ogress grabbed her by the hair, carried her deep into the forest, and locked her in a tall stone tower. The tower had no door or stairs, just a small window at the very top, and there the child would sit, straining to catch a small ray of sun. The girl grew up in this lonely place. The ogress was her only company, climbing in and out of the tower on the long, gold braids of Petrosinella's hair.
Years passed, and Petrosinella grew into a beautiful young woman, her golden braids so long they coiled on the ground below. It happened that a prince, who was hunting nearby, became separated from his fellows. He stumbled through the forest, lost, and came upon the tower. The ogress was away and Petrosinella sat in the window sunning her hair. She was the most beautiful young woman the prince had ever seen, and he instantly fell in love. He called up to Petrosinella, and for several days they conversed and sighed and pledged their love. Then Petrosinella proposed a plan to meet when the moon had risen. That night, she gave the old ogress a dose of poppy to make her sleep, then she threw her braids over the windowsill and pulled the young man up. The prince then "made a little meal out of the parsley sauce of love."
More nights of love-making followed until an old gossip got wind of this. She told the ogress what was going on, warning her that her "daughter" might up and fly if she didn't act quickly. The ogress was unperturbed, saying: "She won't be able to get very far without the use of my magic acorns, and I've carefully hidden them in a little spot above the rafters."
Petrosinella had been listening at the window, and she quickly made a plan. She told her lover to bring some rope, then she drugged the ogress to sleep again, stole the three acorns, and used the rope to leave the tower. They hadn't gone very far when the ogress woke and discovered the girl's escape, using her magic to catch up to the fleeing lovers in no time. Petrosinella threw down the first acorn. It turned into a ferocious dog — but the ogress drew bread from her pocket and fed the dog so it let her pass. Petrosinella threw down the second acorn. It turned into a raging lion. The ogress stole the skin from a grazing ass and charged into the lion, which reared back from this monstrous apparition and fled in fright. Petrosinella threw down the third acorn. It turned into a hungry wolf, which quickly gobbled up the ogress before she could use her magic again to save herself.
Now the lovers were safe. They traveled on to the prince's own kingdom, where "with the kind permission of his father, the prince made Petrosinella his wife and proved that, after many trials and tribulations, one hour in a safe harbor can make you forget one hundred years of storm."
Sixty years after Basile's Petrosinella, the French writer Charlotte-Rose de La Force borrowed elements from it to use in her own Maiden-in-a-Tower story, Persinette, published in her fairy tale collection Les contes des contes in 1697. (This, of course, was a practice much more common in the days before copyright laws; particularly among writers of fairy tales, where the practice continues to this day.) La Force was part of a group of writers (including Madame D'Aulnoy, Madame de Murat, and Charles Perrault) who created a vogue for adult fairy stories in the literary salons of Paris. Like Basile, La Force was writing for an educated, aristocratic audience, creating stories that were meant both to entertain and to comment on issues of contemporary life.
One issue of particular concern to women of the period was the common practice of arranged marriages, particularly among the upper classes. Women had no legal say in these arrangements, often conducted as business transactions between one aristocratic family and another. Daughters were used to cement alliances, to curry favor, and to settle debts. Sex was a husband's legal right, and there was no possibility of divorce. Young girls could find themselves married off to men many years their senior or of vile temper and habits; disobedient daughters could be shut away in convents or locked up in mad–houses. Little wonder, then, that French fairy tales are filled with girls handed over to various wicked creatures by cruel or feckless parents, or locked up in enchanted towers where only true love can save them.
La Force and other writers of the period championed the idea of consensual, companionate marriages ruled by love and civility. (Some also believed that Fate intended certain souls to be together.) The emphasis on love and romance in their stories can seem quaint and saccharine today, but such stories were progressive, even subversive, in the context of the time. La Force herself was an independently–minded woman from a noble family who caused several scandals in her quest to live a life that was self–determined. She fell in love and attempted to marry a young man without parental permission. When his family locked him up to prevent an elopement, she snuck into his room dressed as a bear with a traveling theater troupe! The couple escaped, and married -- but the law eventually caught up to them and the marriage was annulled. She then got caught publishing satirical works critical of King Louis XIV. La Force was exiled to a convent for this crime -- where she wrote her book of fairy tales and a series of popular historical novels. Eventually released, she spent the rest of her life earning her own living through her writing.
Like all of La Force's fairy tales, Persinette is a sensual, sparkling confection with a sly, sharp humor at its center. It's not hard to see why the tale of a girl locked away in a tower would have appealed to her.
Once upon a time, the tale begins, a young couple prepares for the birth of their child and all is well until the wife conceives a passionate craving for parsley. Her doting husband steals the parsley out of a fairy's enchanted garden. (The gate stands temptingly open, implying the fairy knows very well what will happen -- and may, indeed, have magically caused the craving that sets the tale in motion. Fairies are well known, after all, for their penchant for stealing infants.) The second time the husband sneaks into the garden (again he finds the gate open), the fairy catches him and demands his unborn child as payment. The man agrees "after a short deliberation." When his wife gives birth to a beautiful baby girl, she promptly hands the child over to the fairy without a word of protest.
The fairy raises the child tenderly until Persinette (as she's come to be called) reaches the age of puberty. Then, in order to keep the girl safe from harm (the eyes and attention of men), the fairy builds a magnificent silver tower deep in the forest. It contains all that the girl could desire: large and airy rooms elegantly furnished; wardrobes full of sumptuous clothes; delicious meals that are gracefully served by invisible fairy servants; books, paints, and instruments so Persinette need never be bored. What it doesn't have is a door or stairs, so whenever the fairy comes to call she says, "Persinette, let down your hair," and she climbs up through the window.
Years pass, and one day the son of the king is hunting in the forest nearby. He hears the maiden singing and falls in love with her, sight unseen. He finds his way to the tower and spies a shadowy figure far above -- but when he calls to her, Persinette takes fright. It's been many years since she's seen a man, and the fairy has told her that some are monsters who can kill with a single look. The prince leaves discouraged, but he cannot forget the sound of that lonely, lovely voice. He makes inquiries in a nearby village and learns that the girl is a fairy's prisoner.
The prince returns, waits, and watches how the fairy goes in and out of the tower. The next day, when the fairy is gone, he stands and calls out in the fairy's voice: "Persinette, let down your hair." Her long gold hair comes tumbling down, he climbs, and steps into the tower. Persinette is frightened once again -- but she soon recovers her aplomb as the prince persuades her of his love. He proposes to marry her there and then, and she "consented without hardly knowing what she was doing. Even so," writes La Force archly, "she was able to complete the ceremony."
The prince continues to visit the tower, and before long Persinette grows fat. Innocent, she doesn't know she's pregnant -- but the fairy certainly does. Furious, the fairy takes up a knife and cuts off Persinette's long braids, then she sends her off in a flash of fairy magic to a remote place. The fairy hangs the braids from the tower window and waits for the prince to come. He clambers over the windowsill and is shocked to find his lover gone. The fairy angrily informs the prince he'll never see Persinette again, and she flings him from the tower. He lands in briar thorns, which blind him.
For several years the prince wanders the world, living on charity, till at last he reaches a remote place where he hears his wife singing. Persinette now has twin children, who instantly recognize the blind man as their father. Persinette cries with joy, and her tears magically restore his sight.
But wait! The fairy is still angry, and not yet prepared to leave them be. The food in the larder turns into stones, the well fills up with venomous snakes, the birds in the sky above turn into dragons breathing fire. The little family huddles together, preparing to die of the fairy's wrath -- but the lovers are happy, nonetheless, to have found each other at last. At this, the fairy's heart finally melts. She sees that their love is strong and true. She forgives them, blesses their marriage, and transports them to the king's castle, where the king and queen welcome their son and his family with open arms.
Friedrich Schultz's Rapunzel, published in Germany one hundred years later, faithfully follows La Force's plot while toning down the flowery language common to fairy tales of the earlier period. The only marked change Schultz makes to the story is that the fairy is portrayed with greater sympathy. Confronting Rapunzel's pregnancy, she's more Disappointed Mother than Vengeful Fury; and she doesn't throw the prince from the tower -- he leaps himself, in a fit of despair. Overall, Schultz merely re-tells La Force's tale rather than spinning it into something new.
The oral version of "Rapunzel" collected by the Grimms half a century after the Schultz publication follows the Schultz and La Force plot and is clearly derived from one or both. But the Grimms made several changes before they published their Rapunzel in 1857. Once again, the story begins with the overwhelming cravings of a pregnant woman. She craves rapunzel (a form of lettuce), which grows in the garden of a sorceress. (The Grimms often edited fairies out of their stories, for they considered the creatures to be too French. It was not until later English versions that the sorceress became a witch.) When she reaches the age of puberty, the girl is locked up in a tower by the woman she now calls Mother Gothel (a generic name for a godmother). The tower has no door or stairs, and the only way to enter it is to stand and deliver the famous line: "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair."
The prince hears the maiden singing, finds the tower, and cannot get into it. He rides home again, but returns each day, compelled by the beauty of her song. When he sees the sorceress come and go, he learns at last how the tower is entered. "If that's the ladder one needs," he says, "I'm also going to try my luck."
He enters the tower, calms the frightened princess, and declares his undying love for her. He offers her his hand in marriage, and Rapunzel chastely accepts. Thereafter, he visits Rapunzel each evening when Mother Gothel is safely away. Each time he comes, he brings a skein of silk so she can weave a ladder to escape.
One day, as the sorceress climbs her hair, Rapunzel absentmindedly asks her why is she so much heavier than the prince? Mother Gothel guesses all and flies into a terrible rage. She cuts off Rapunzel's hair, banishes her to a distant wilderness, and waits for the prince to come that night, where she confronts him with his crimes. He leaps from the tower, is blinded by the thorns, and then wanders the world seeking Rapunzel -- who's now referred to as his "wife." They re-unite, his sight is restored, and he learns he has two children. He takes them home to his father's court, and no further mention is made of Mother Gothel.
Although the Grimms originally expected their folk tale collection to be of interest primarily to scholars, they soon realized they had a large and lucrative readership among children and their parents. With each subsequent edition, they edited the stories further to make them more appropriate for young readers, deleting sexual references and making heroines more virtuously moral. Thus, in their version of Rapunzel, they glide right over the conception of the twins, and over the fact of her pregnancy, until the children appear, without explanation, at the story's end. Because of the world-wide popularity of the Grimms' now-classic volume of tales, this children's version of Rapunzel is the one best known today.
As fairy tales continued to be pushed to the children's shelves in the 20th century, the Grimms' version of Rapunzel was re-told over and over in countless picture books -- sometimes edited further to delete the existence of those awkward twins altogether. In the public mind, Rapunzel's tale was one intended for very young readers -- with few realizing that at its root this is a story about puberty, sexual desire, and the evils of locking young women away from life and self–determination. In the children's version, Rapunzel is just another passive princess waiting for her prince to come. In the older tales we glimpse a different story: about a girl whose life is utterly controlled by greedy, selfish, capricious adults...until she disobeys, chooses her own fate, and bursts from captivity into adult life, symbolized by the birth of her own children in a distant land.
In the latter decades of the 20th century, Rapunzel's story began to change again as fairy tales began re-appearing in poetry and fiction for adult readers. This new literary fairy tale movement was pioneered by feminist writers such as Anne Sexton and Angela Carter, and by genre writers such as Robin McKinley, Jane Yolen, and Tanith Lee.
Kate Forysth's Bitter Greens is my favourite retelling of the tale. In this unusual novel, Forsyth moves from the painters and palazzos of Renaissance Venice to the "fairy tale salons" of 17th century France, braiding three stories into one while mixing historical and magical characters to great effect. (The use of the life story of Charlotte-Rose de la Force, one of the real French salonnières, is utterly delicious.) Donna Jo Napoli's Zel, set in 16th century Switzerland, is also highly recommended. This dark, psychologically complex rendition is written in a chorus of three voices: a mother unhinged by the possessive nature of her love, a daughter scarred by imprisonment, and a young man obsessively in love with a girl he barely knows.
In her fine story "Touk's House," Robin McKinley uses elements from Rapunzel, but re-works the plot extensively. Here, a woodcutter's newborn daughter is the price he pays for stealing healing herbs. The witch is a sympathetic figure, raising the girl like her own daughter and teaching her the herb lore with which she'll eventually win the hand of a prince. But the girl doesn't want the prince in the end, choosing the witch's sweet son instead. Gregory Frost's "The Root of the Matter," by contrast, is a dark and very adult tale exploring the sexual tensions inherent in the story, and its consequences. Here Mother Gothel is a woman deeply damaged by a history of abuse, and she damages the child she has forcibly adopted in turn. The story is told from three points of view: Mother Gothel, Rapunzel, and the Prince -- the latter two undergoing true transformation by the story's end. Lisa Russ Spaar's story "Rapunzel's Exile" is brief but packs an emotional wallop. Spaar imagines Rapunzel's journey as her Godmother leads her into the forest, and her dawning horror as she realizes that the tower will be her fate. For twelve years her Godmother raised her kindly — but now, with the onset of menstruation (her skirts still bloody, her body still seeping), her Godmother has turned into a different creature, pushing her into the tower at knife point, and walling up the door with stones.
The heroine of Emma Donoghue's "The Tale of the Hair" has chosen to live in a crooked stone tower. She's blind, and she has come to fear the sounds of the forest around her. "Block up the windows and doors," she tells the wise-woman who is her guardian and companion. One night a prince hears her singing, climbs up the tower, and introduces her to love. But soon she learns that the unseen prince is not quite what she thought.... Elizabeth Lynn's delightful "The Princess in the Tower" is set in an obscure and remote village somewhere in the hills of Europe: a place with fabulous, fattening food, and where zaftig women are prized. Poor Margeritina is so slim that everyone thinks she's ill and hideous. She stays in the family house in shame, trying to no avail to put on weight -- until a young man stumbles into the village, hears her singing from her high window, falls in love and whisks her away to marry him and start a restaurant. The charm of the story lies in Lynn's telling, and in the sumptuous food descriptions. Anne Bishop's "Rapunzel" is a moving tale that is broken into three distinct parts: the mother's story, the witch's story, and finally Rapunzel's story. The first two parts are contrasting narratives of jealousy and greed; the third follows Rapunzel to the wilderness, where she finds new life beyond the tower.
Contemporary poets have also looked at the tale through the eyes of its different characters, finding in the story's themes issues relevant to our lives today.
Carolyn Williams-Noren gives voice to the least sympathetic character in the story in "Rapunzel's Mother":
I can't explain why I wanted that simple
thing so much: dark green rampion leaves, the curled
coverlets of them stacked together on the sideboard,
the rainy steam of them cooking, the hot full softness
and the bittersweet bite in my throat, mouthful
after mouthful. It was as if there was no other way to keep alive.
Nicole Cooley reflects on a troubled mother–daughter relationship in her poem "Rampion":
Tiny blue flowers furred with dirt are all the woman desires
in the story my mother reads over and over. Once upon a time
a woman longed for a child, but see how one desire easily
replaces the next, see her husband climbing the tall garden wall
with a handful of rampion, flowering scab she's traded for a child.
Look, my mother says, see
how the mother disappears
as rampion's metallic root splits the tongue like a knife
and the daughter spends the rest of the story alone.
Dorothy Hewett's chilling poem "Grave Fairy Tale" looks at the witch, through Rapunzel's eyes:
She was there when I woke, blocking the light,
or in the night, humming, trying on my clothes.
I grew accustomed to her; she was as much a part of me
as my own self; sometimes I thought, "She is myself!"
a posturing blackness, savage as a cuckoo. . . .
Both Anne Sexton and Olga Broumas cast the relationship between Rapunzel and Mother Gothel as a sexual one. In Sexton's "Rapunzel," she writes of a lesbian affair between a student and her mentor, which the younger woman ends when a "prince" offers her a more socially acceptable life:
As for Mother Gothel,
her heart shrank to the size of a pin,
never again to say: Hold me, my young dear,
and only as she dreamt of the yellow hair
did moonlight sift into her mouth.
Broumas, by contrast, celebrates such relationships in her answering poem "Rapunzel," writing in the voice of a younger woman who has no such temptation to stray:
through my hair, climb in
to me, love / hovers here like a mother's wish.
...How many women
for our lush perennial, found
themselves pregnant, and had
to subdue their heat, drown out their appetite
with pickles and hard weeds.
David Trinidad's "Rapunzel" grows desperate in her isolation:
Like hair, the days and nights are growing longer and longer.
...And each evening the crone comes. Her crackled fingers appear
pinching the key....
If only once she'd say: "Here,
take this pair of scissors and cut your hair before it twists
into spaces between the bricks like vines." I'd slit my wrists.
In Liz Lochhead's "Three Twists," on the other hand, Rapunzel discovers there are worse things than solitude — like a prince who hasn't got a clue about what she really needs:
& just when our maiden had got
good & used to her isolation
stopped daily expecting to be rescued,
had come almost to love her tower,
along comes This Prince / with absolutely all the wrong answers
The prince in Sara Henderson Hay's "Rapunzel" is all too skilled at the language of love:
Oh God, let me forget the things he said.
Let me not lie another night awake
Repeating all the promises he made....
I knew I was not the first to twist
Her heartstrings to a rope for him to climb.
I might have known I would not be the last.
Alice Friman's poem "Rapunzel" displays a bit more sympathy for the prince:
If she was unwise about such things
that girls are taught of men
with chocolate kisses / who offer lifts to lessons
who stand too close in subways
playing with their change
then what was he?
Caught in that small room,
coiling the floorboards like a snake,
and she all Rubens–ripe and curious.
Oh, the tower–singing on the wheezy couch.
Forbidden fruits in platters of her flesh
and he with scars to touch along his side
and many wondrous things to name.
Bruce Bennett's "The Skeptical Prince" wants proof that there's really a maiden in that tower:
The town has grown accustomed to the sight:
he drinks by day, then hangs around at night,
purveying sad and antiquated lore,
insisting he will act once he is sure
Essex Hemphill's "Song of Rapunzel" reminds us that sometimes men need rescuing too:
of long braids,
vines of hair.
waiting on his balcony
to be rescued
from the fire–breathing
dragons of loneliness.
Rosemary Dun's "Rapunzel" rescues herself from prince and tower alike:
. . .I cut off the long hank of my
just–for–him hair with golden shears,
so that / no more would he climb,
prick my finger,
nor ravish me awake.
Instead, my howls which once
had filled my madwoman's attic
announce the birth of my
We hold hands and jump.
Lisa Russ Spaar's "Rapunzel Shorn" is a young woman tasting sweet freedom at last:
I'm redeemed, head light
as seed mote, as a fasting
girl's among these thorns, lips
and fingers bloody with fruit.
Years I dreamed of this:
the green, laughing arms
of old trees extended over me,
my shadow lost among theirs.
Gwen Strauss' "The Prince" is an old man now, living with his beloved wife and looking back over the events of his life:
For a long time I was blind,
even before the thorns tattered my eyes.
I was bored, handsome, a Prince.
The thrill was in what I could get away with.
. . .All my childhood I heard about love
but I thought only witches could grow it
in gardens behind walls too high to climb.
Rapunzel's story has become part of our folk tradition because its themes are universal and timeless. We've all hungered for things with too high a price, we've all felt imprisoned by life at times; we've all been carried away by love, only to end up broken and alone; we all hope for grace at the end of our suffering and a happy ending.
In the end, the story tells us, we have to leave the tower one way or another, weave a ladder or leap into the thorns. We can't stay in childhood forever. The adult world, with all its terrors and wonders, waits for us just beyond the forest.
Words: All rights to the quoted text reserved by the various authors, and to the rest of the text reserved by me. The essay above is one of three about orphaned, abandoned, or stolen children, the others two being "From Remus & Romulus to Harry Potter: The Orphaned Hero" and "The Stolen Child: Tales of Fairy Changelings." For further reading on the subject of Rapunzel, I recommend Kate Forsyth's excellent The Rebirth of Rapunzel: A Mythic Biography of the Maiden in the Tower (FableCroft Publishing, 2016).
Pictures: Credits for the Rapunzel illustrations above can be found in the picture captions. (Hold your cursor over the images to see them.) All rights reserved by the artists. | <urn:uuid:9c7e2880-8846-468c-91a0-e4430a303445> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.terriwindling.com/blog/2020/06/rapunzel.html | 2024-04-21T21:52:40Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.970972 | 6,555 |
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Textile exhibition in the frame of the 19th ETN conference in Haslach / Austria, 17 July to 4 August 2019, Schloss Neuhaus/ Austria
Because of the importance of this textile art exhibition in the new home of the European Textile Network at the Textile Kultur Haslach Center, we will publish below the complete application conditions. Photos to this article are showing exhibitions and events planned for the ETN Conference in Haslach. Participation in the exhibition as well as visiting the ETN conference is highly recommended! See you in Haslach! Beatrijs Sterk
Garden of Eden ...
A Garden of Eden is a place of longing – a place where people live in harmony with nature, cautiously using existing resources and living peacefully. It is a utopia, a garden full of lush plants, sweet fruits and exotic animals that provide food in abundance. Such a paradise nourishes our elemental desire for harmonious coexistence in the community while at the same time embodying the principle of exclusion. The notion contains a longing for something that is ever valid as well as the experience of transience and fragility of life.
The idea of the garden in Eden is thousands of years old and finds expression in various forms of human culture in ever new variants. Even textiles were and are still important carriers of this complex topic. As an inspiration, the motto of the Garden of Eden offers material for an exhibition of a special kind:
An international group exhibition on the theme, featuring works by contemporary textile artists, combined with selected historical and ethnographic textiles from various collections, also revolving around the Garden of Eden, will be curated for the 19th ETN (European Textile Network) conference.
The ETN conference will take place in Haslach / Austria from 28th and 31st July 2019 and will take up various cultural-historical, material-specific and social aspects of the theme of the Garden of Eden. Part of the conference program is also the joint visit of the group exhibition, which will take place in a very special place …
A place that breathes …
For a textile exhibition on this topic, we have found the ideal location: high above the Danube is an impressive structure – Neuhaus castle. The narrow, four-storey tract, which dates from the Gothic period, fascinates with atmospheric rooms, interesting structures that testify to the passing of the centuries and not least because of its unique location high above the meandering Danube and the foothills of the Mühlviertel – a place which charms and lets time stand still.
The wonderful rooms provide the ideal setting and the perfect atmosphere to showcase textile art – gently in tune with the living masonry and the particularly strong external environment A little Garden of Eden …
Neuhaus castle is situated about 20 km from Haslach and 30 km from Linz. It can be reached by train and then by shuttle bus for the duration of the exhibition. To visit the exhibition site, you drive through a charming landscape, the so-called Mühlviertel. This region in the north of Austria is known for its linen tradition and is in tune with the theme of the exhibition with its gentle green hills, clear rivers and quiet places.
Exhibition contributions and selection procedure
In the group exhibition, artistic or design-oriented works are shown that have a clear reference to the medium of textiles. There are no restrictions on the choice of materials and techniques. The date of creation of the work does not have to be recent at all. However, works from the last 3 years will be treated preferentially in case of doubt. Individuals as well as artist collectives may apply.
A maximum of two independent works may be submitted per person or artist collective.
A separate application form has to be completed for each work.
Two or three-dimensional works can be submitted for the exhibition. Two-dimensional pieces may not exceed a size of 3 x 3 m, the maximum size for three-dimensional pieces being 2.5 x 2.5 x 3 m. An expert jury will select the exhibits from the works submitted. The members of the jury will be disclosed at the beginning of the exhibition at the latest. The jury meets in secret and has no obligation to explain the reasons for their decision. The verdict of the jury cannot be challenged.
In addition to the contemporary works, the exhibition will also present some historical or ethnographic textiles selected from collections by the curators. These textiles will blend in with the contemporary works in the exhibition.
The curators also reserve the right, in addition to the works selected by the jurors, to invite some artists directly.
Application documents and modalities
For the application we ask you to send us the following documents in due time:
- An application form completely and correctly filled in, printed out and signed
- 3 – 5 analog photographs or printouts of the work in a minimum size of 9 x 15 cm; at least one photograph must show the work in its entirety, at least one photograph must show a detail that reveals the technique of the object.
- If desired, a sketch for the setting-up of the work or instructions for hanging or presentation.
- If desired,a more detailed CV or further information about the artist
- If desired, further detailed descriptions or concepts of the work
Applications are accepted in analog form only! The application form may only be filled in in English or German. The documents must be sent to the organizer by post or parcel service no later than 15 February 2019 (shipping date) with the password „Garden of Eden“:
Verein Textile Kultur Haslach, „Garden of Eden“
A- 4170 Haslach
If the work is selected, the organiser will contact the artist and ask to submit text and photo material in digital form. By submitting an application, the artist undertakes to make the work available to the organiser in the event of a selection by the jury in the specified period and to accept unconditionally the presentation of the work in the premises described.
Dates and deadlines
- Deadline: 15 February 2019. Date as per postmark.
- Jury’s decision: Applicants will be informed of an admittance or cancellation by March 30, 2019 at the latest
- If a work is selected, the artist/s will be requested to submit their photographic and text material in digital form to the organizer by 15 April at the latest.
- The selected works must be sent to the organiser at the artist/s own expense and arrive by 1 June at the latest.
- Duration of the exhibition: 17 July to 4 August 2019
- Instead of a vernissage, there will be a midisage on Tuesday, July 30th at the ETN conference, where the artists present will be introduced.
- The works will be sent back to the artists by the organizer by 30September 2019 at the latest.
If the specified deadlines are not met by the artist, the organiser reserves the right to exclude the work from the exhibition. In this case, it is the responsibility of the artist to get the work back at his own expense from 30th September or to arrange for the return transport.
Costs and transport
No registration or processing fees will be charged for the submission of an application. The application documents remain permanently with the organiser in the case of a selection as well as in the case of a rejection and will not be returned to the artist. The documents will not be disclosed to third parties and the data protection policy will be observed.
The transport costs from the artist to the venue are borne by the artist. The costs for the insured return transport will be borne by the organiser. The work will be sent by regular parcel service. If the artist insists on another form of transport (for example, art forwarding), the costs must be borne by him/herself.
The work must be packed in such a way that the material can also be reused for the return transport. All costs incurred by the artist when making, packaging, photographing, etc. of the work cannot be compensated by the organiser, nor travel or accommodation costs, which are incurred when visiting the exhibition.
A catalogue is planned of the exhibition, which will be issued only after the end of the exhibition. It will contain photographs showing the works presented in the respective exhibition spaces and in context to each other. The texts submitted in the application will form the basis for the descriptions of the individual works in the catalogue. The organisers reserve the right to proofread the texts and, if necessary, to adapt them slightly without consulting the artists.
Whether the catalogue can actually be published or only appears online will be decided later. In case of a publication, all participants in the exhibition will receive two free copies after completion of the catalogue.
Spatial conditions, insurance and presentation
The works will be insured for the entire period of the installation, presentation and dismantling of the exhibition for the value stated in the application form.
The exhibition venue in the old castle is safe, the entire area of the castle is locked and the entrance is video-monitored. Although the location does not meet classic exhibition conditions, the historic rooms of the castle have a lot of charm and atmosphere. The brickwork is organic, slightly brittle and only some of the windows are closed. The 3 levels of the building are not barrier-free.
By submitting the application, consent is expressly given that the work may be shown under these conditions and confidence expressed in the organiser that the work will be treated with the utmost care and presented responsibly.
Textile Kultur Haslach, Stahlmühle 4, A- 4170 Haslach www.textile-kultur-haslach.at I www.textiles-zentrum-haslach.at
in collaboration with: ETN – European Textile network: www.etn-net.org
Curators: Christina Leitner & Andreas Selzer, Textiles Zentrum Haslach and
members of the ETN board | <urn:uuid:c0871da2-67ab-43c0-b36f-48b751171a1f> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.textile-forum-blog.org/2018/11/garden-of-eden/ | 2024-04-21T21:43:14Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.941951 | 2,084 |
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It’s no secret that pregnancy and childbirth can leave a lasting impact on the body. Many new mothers struggle with deflated breasts, stretched-out skin, or unwanted pockets of fat. The good news is that all of these problems can be fixed in one procedure: the mommy makeover. Our Denver patients often ask questions about price, pain, and more—and here are the answers women across the internet want to know.
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I was fortunate (or unfortunate depending on your opinion of them) to get a free version of The Motley Fool's new book, The Million Dollar Portfolio. In this book they have a chapter on dividends which lists some qualities that a company must posses in order to pay a dividend consistently year after year. There are four of them according to the authors.
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4. A business model that doesn't require massive amounts of capital outlays relative to its earnings power
I can't really argue with any of these, however I think it is not as cut and dry as it seems. Banks for example were once considered a stable business as was GE - anything can happen and one years stable business can be the next years villain. No matter your criteria for a stable business, it is crucial to ensure you are fully diversified with a strong asset allocation.
This article was written by The Dividend Guy. You may email questions or comments to me at firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:1b2dee55-6c44-40b7-9f46-3c5771b69844> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.thediv-net.com/2009/04/what-company-needs-to-pay-dividend.html | 2024-04-21T21:03:09Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.979585 | 254 |
Solar energy is one of the most reliable and popular forms of renewable energy on the market. More and more people are deciding to invest in solar energy by installing solar panels at home, and governments are taking notice too! Morocco’s solar farm – Ouarzazate Solar Power Station – is currently the largest in the world and creates an astonishing amount of power. However, there’s always room for improvement. Here, we take a look at some of the latest developments in the solar energy industry that you should be aware of.
Artificial Intelligence and Solar Energy
It feels as though artificial intelligence is entering almost every part of our lives at the moment. It’s the tech buzzword that everyone is talking about across almost every industry and that’s no different for solar energy. Artificial intelligence is being touted as a way to improve the efficiency of solar energy.
This is achieved by having artificial intelligence systems in place to scan solar energy consumption to regulate and reduce energy waste. By doing so, the overall efficiency of these systems can be improved and homeowners and business can save more money. As well as this, improved efficiency will help reduce carbon emissions worldwide.
Solar tiles are currently available as a source of renewable solar energy on the market, however, they still require some development to ensure they are affordable. These tiles capture solar energy and are placed on the roof of a home as normal tiles are. As opposed to traditional solar panels – which can look ugly and out of place – these solar tiles do everything that panels do, but they look elegant and sleek doing it!
Continued Development of Solar Batteries
If solar panels and solar energy storage can become even more energy-efficient and cost-effective, solar batteries can also improve. By developing storage capacity of solar batteries, businesses and citizens will have greater access to renewable energy on the go.
The Energy Desk Are Experts In Providing Solar Energy Systems For Commercial Properties Across The UK
Are you looking for solar energy services for your business across the UK? If so, get in touch with The Energy Desk today and we’d be happy to help. We’ve helped countless clients save money on their bills and decrease their carbon footprint with our solar energy supply services.
To find out more about our services, please feel free to contact us today. You can find us at 10 Venus House, Mercury Rise, Altham Industrial Estate, Accrington, Lancashire, BB5 5BY. Alternatively, call us on 03330 151 221 or email us at email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:ffd31358-d219-4fe7-9ec2-b7ddda581934> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.theenergydesk.co.uk/news/four-of-the-latest-developments-in-the-solar-energy-industry/ | 2024-04-21T20:08:19Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.943542 | 523 |
How much do NFL refs make? We’ve all wondered it at one point: How much do NFL referees make? The answer: It’s a big pay day. According to various sites, including USA Today, the average NFL referee salary was set at $205,000 per year starting in 2019. TWO-HUNDRED-AND-FIVE-THOUSAND-DOLLARS!
How much does the UFC pay Joe Rogan? Joe Rogan’s Net Worth:. According to Celebrity Net Worth, the American comedian, actor, martial arts expert, UFC commentator, and podcast host earns $60 million annually.
How much do UFC referees get paid? Professional referees generally get from $1000 to $2500 per fight for non-PPV matches while they get anywhere from $5000 to $15000 per fight for Pay Per Views. Entry Level Referees generally do not get called up to UFC.
What does Bruce Buffer say? You’ve heard it for years from UFC ring announcer Bruce Buffer before big fights: “IT’S TIME!”
How much do NFL refs make? – Related Questions
What percentage of UFC does Dana White own?
UFC became a subsidiary of Zuffa, and Dana White was installed as the president of the UFC. The Fertitta brothers retained 80% of the UFC, and Dana was given 9% ownership.
What is Dana White’s net worth?
Dana Frederick White Jr.. (born J) is an American businessman who serves as president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, a global mixed martial arts organization. In August 2019, White’s net worth was estimated at $500 million.
What is Dana White’s salary?
Dana White: Net Worth and Salary 2022. As per Celebrity Net Worth, the UFC President has an estimated net worth of $500 million. His salary is estimated to be at least $20 million per year.
How much does Herb Dean make per fight?
Herb Dean is one of the most respected and highly paid UFC referees; in 2019, he was paid $15,000 for a pay-per-view fight and had $550,000 in annual earnings. Referees like John McCarthy and Marc Goddard are paid around $8000 for a high profile match.
Who will take over Bruce Buffer?
He will be replaced by Joe Martinez, who typically serves as the ring announcer whenever Buffer is unavailable to attend an event. News of Martinez taking over for Buffer on the broadcast team for UFC 267 was first reported by MMA Junkie. “Buffer got COVID,” White said at the UFC 267 pre-fight press conference.
Why did Bruce Buffer leave UFC?
On Thursday, UFC President Dana White revealed that Buffer is ill with COVID-19, and he will subsequently not travel to this weekend’s UFC pay-per-view. “He didn’t want to make this trip. He’s home relaxing and recovering from COVID,” White said of Buffer according to a report by Damon Martin of MMAFighting.com.
How much does Herb Dean UFC get paid?
As a referee for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, he has been widely hailed as the gold standard in MMA. Furthermore, Dean won Fighters Only Magazine’s World MMA Award for Referee of the Year every year from 2010 to 2014, and again in 2019 and 2020. Herb Dean’s salary with the UFC is $500,000 per year.
Did Bruce Buffer trademark it’s time?
He secured trademark protection for Michael Buffer’s famous catchphrase “Let’s get ready to rumbbbbbllllllleeeeeeeee“. Michael profited hugely as a result. In Bruce’s own words, the phrase is a significant part of Americana. That’s no exaggeration.
How much does Michael Buffer make per fight?
Michael Buffer net worth. It says that he makes between $25,000 and $100,000 per fight, though occasionally he has made up to $1 million. The majority of his career earnings have actually come from a trademark on his catchphrase.
How much does Michael Buffer make per announcement?
How much does Michael Buffer make to say “Let’s get ready to rumble”? Depending on the match, Buffer earns between $25,000 and $100,000 every time he utters those five famous words. On a handful of extremely rare occasions, Buffer has been paid $1 million.
Who will replace Bruce Buffer?
Joe Martinez is an American ring announcer currently working for MMA promotions UFC and Invicta FC. He will take Bruce Buffer’s place at UFC 267 as the legendary “voice of the octagon” was unable to travel to Abu Dhabi after contracting COVID-19. Martinez’s first UFC appearance came in December 2012.
How much does Herb Dean make a year?
Furthermore, Dean won Fighters Only Magazine’s World MMA Award for Referee of the Year every year from 2010 to 2014, and again in 2019 and 2020. Herb Dean’s salary with the UFC is $500,000 per year.
Does Bruce Buffer do weddings?
We accommodate personalized Corporate and Commercial Greetings, special events, Weddings, Championship Introductions, Birthdays, Birth Announcements, Barmitzvahs, voicemail and more based on your individual needs and requests!
Who is the voice of UFC?
Bruce Buffer is the veteran voice of the Octagon in the UFC. If you hear him announce your name, you know you’ve hit the big time.
Who is the most famous UFC referee?
John Michael McCarthy (born Octo) is an American former mixed martial arts referee, best known for officiating numerous bouts promoted by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), dating back to UFC 2.
Why do UFC refs pat down fighters?
UFC fighters get frisked to ensure that they do not have any illegal weapons or foreign objects on their persons. Given the nature of their clothing, it’s obviously extremely unlikely that any fighter would attempt to conceal something.
Who is the best ref in UFC?
When it comes to the most famous and respected referees, not only in the UFC but MMA in general, ‘Big’ John McCarthy is possibly number one. McCarthy was born in 1962 and started officiating in 1994. His first referee gig was at UFC 2, making him the most experienced MMA ref in history.
How much do NBA refs make?
The average income of an NBA referee may range between $180,000 and $550,000 per year. The average NBA referee income might reach $10,000 per NBA game in the first several rounds of the playoffs. The remuneration of NBA referees also increases to match. To know more, let’s dive right into the article with Scott Fujita!
Who is the highest paid UFC fighter right now?
Conor McGregor, aka Notorious, is the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter with the highest career earnings directly from UFC fights, with approximately 25.3 million U.S. dollars. This does not include any undisclosed pay-per-view bonuses or any other bonuses.
Who is the richest UFC fighter?
Conor McGregor is the richest MMA fighter in the world, with an estimated net worth of $110 million.
How many UFC events Bruce Buffer announced?
An ironman in his own right, that streak will come to an end at UFC 267 after Buffer tested positive for COVID-19. That leaves his likely unbreakable streak at a lofty 255 consecutive numbered events. In short, Bruce has announced nearly every major title fight along with some of the most iconic bouts in history.
How Long Will Bruce Buffer announce?
Bruce Buffer’s INCREDIBLE 25-year run as Octagon announcer at numbered UFC events comes to an end as legendary MC is forced to miss out on UFC 267 duties due to Covid.
How much money does UFC make per event?
How Much Money Does UFC Make per Event? In general, UFC earns a little over $2 Million in gates, an undisclosed amount for TV rights, and between 80 and 120 Million for PPV events.
Who is older Bruce or Michael Buffer?
IF THIS STORY WERE a prizefight, Bruce Buffer would get introduced first. He’s the challenger, after all, the baby brother by 13 years. Coming up in the shadow of a legend drove him to find his own voice, conquer his own sport, be his own Buffer.
Is Bruce Buffer retiring?
Last year, he told BJ Penn.com: “I’m very humble about it all. “I’m all about passion, everything I do is with a passion that is the reason why I announce the way I do. “When that passion starts to fade, which is not my case, then yes that is the time I will probably announce it is my time to retire.
How much does Michael Buffer make per event?
Michael Buffer net worth. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Buffer has a net worth of $400 million. It says that he makes between $25,000 and $100,000 per fight, though occasionally he has made up to $1 million. The majority of his career earnings have actually come from a trademark on his catchphrase.
Why doesn’t Joe Rogan do UFC anymore?
He was then scheduled to call the fights at UFC 271 until plans changed mid-week, with the UFC stating that Rogan had a “scheduling conflict” that prevented him from appearing at the event.
How much do ring announcers make?
Depending on the match, Buffer earns between $25,000 and $100,000 every time he utters those five famous words. On a handful of extremely rare occasions, Buffer has been paid $1 million.
How much do WWE refs make?
How much does a WWE referee earn? Just like any other profession, the salary of a referee varies from person to person based on their experience and expertise. Most experienced WWE referees get up to $250,000 as fixed annual salaries. The new referees get a contract of about $50000-$80000 in fixed annual salaries. | <urn:uuid:6fa93811-3aec-455f-91f6-a0d11c3da94e> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.thefitnessfaq.com/how-much-do-nfl-refs-make/ | 2024-04-21T20:47:40Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.970896 | 2,148 |
This is the Redken conditioner that will restore the strenght back in your hair, best quality conditioner you can find in the market. It comes in 300ml format. Use along with the Extreme shampoo.
Redken - Extreme Conditioner - 300ml
Apply on wet hair and massage before thouroughly rinsing. Apply again if required. | <urn:uuid:29ba197f-0a9c-4c6f-ad99-324231f6ed1c> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.thegoodbarbers.ch/product-page/redken-extreme-conditioner-300ml | 2024-04-21T19:55:42Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.849979 | 75 |
French Walnut Oils from Maison De Choix 16.9oz
What is it?
French Walnut gourmet oils - bottle of 16.9 fl oz (500ml)
How do I use this oil?
This very fine Walnut oil from Maison De Choix will accompany your salad or your meat and raise your sauces. The richness of its fruit in a concentrated sensation for your taste buds.
Imported from France | <urn:uuid:33a11b0c-cf68-4ad1-923a-bf32f40d7f27> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.thegourmetcorner.com/products/french-walnut-oil-from-maison-de-choix-16-9oz | 2024-04-21T21:39:08Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.911628 | 91 |
The SaaS (software-as-a-service) field is gigantic, as there are currently more than 32,000 SaaS companies – and the industry is predicted to be worth approximately $195 billion in 2023.
However, the steep competition doesn’t mean there’s a lack of demand. On average, companies use 130 SaaS apps in their day-to-day processes.
Everything from designing websites (WordPress) to chatting with your in-house staff (Slack) uses some type of SaaS subscription.
That’s not to mention CRMs like Salesforce, web conferencing software (Zoom), and countless other types of SaaS apps that many organizations use.
While SaaS applications are undoubtedly useful, the oversaturation of apps & content makes marketing these services quite the challenge.
In particular, SaaS marketing strategies involve long & complex sales cycles, rigorous brand-building, and a healthy amount of lead generation. In fact, it can take anywhere from 6 to 18 months to acquire a new customer for your service.
As a result, SaaS marketing is very much its own thing, so you’ll need to learn its best practices if you want to get the word out about your app.
You can’t expect to mimic the marketing tactics used for eCommerce, real estate, healthcare, or any other type of marketing and find success in the SaaS space.
That’s why we’ve put together this guide containing 10 real-world SaaS marketing examples that are effective, successful, and, most of all, fun.
Read on to discover how you can mimic the success of these examples with your SaaS product.
What Makes SaaS Marketing Unique?
The very nature of offering software-as-a-service makes SaaS companies different from other types of businesses.
Why is that?
It’s because you’re not selling a service; you’re selling a subscription to a service. In other words, your transactions aren’t ‘one-and-done’ as most purchases are with companies selling goods and services.
For instance, once you buy a hat from Amazon, you’ve converted into a customer. They receive the revenue from your purchase, and they hope that you choose them again whenever you need something else.
To rack up revenue, eCommerce stores focus on customer acquisition. The more paying customers they can acquire, the more money they make. Repeat business is definitely important, but it’s not their main focus.
SaaS is completely different because the name of the game is customer retention.
Once a customer subscribes to your service, the goal is to hold onto them as long as possible. That way, they’ll continue paying their monthly fee, and you’ll continue to earn revenue. It’s for this reason that you’ll also place a lot of emphasis on customer lifetime value than other types of companies.
If the customer finds a different app that they feel better suits their needs, they may cancel your subscription and go with one of your competitors, which is referred to as churn.
Once a customer churns, they disappear from your funnel, and the revenue they’ve been providing follows suit.
As such, SaaS marketing is not only about attracting new subscribers but also keeping your existing subscribers happy so they don’t abandon ship.
The ‘freemium’ SaaS business model
To attract subscribers, many SaaS companies use the ‘freemium’ business model, where they provide a free demo or free version to reel in users.
Once a user downloads the demo or free version, the goal then becomes nurturing them into becoming a paying customer.
The idea is that once the customer sees the true value in your SaaS product by trying it out, they’ll want to commit to one of your paid plans. After that, you’ll have to take measures to ensure they stick with your product for as long as possible.
Most SaaS companies try to retain subscribers for years at a time. This keeps churn rates low and revenue high, which is the perfect balance that you want to achieve.
The freemium model is also an excellent way to compile many qualified leads without lifting a finger. Once your demo is live (and has been promoted properly), interested users will flock to it to try it out.
You’ll know that they’re qualified because they have a vested interest in the service you provide; otherwise, they wouldn’t bother downloading the free version. If they aren’t a qualified lead and don’t show interest in the demo, they’ll simply go away, and you won’t have wasted any of your precious time on them.
Yet, the prospects that are qualified leads will stick around and will opt for one of your paid plans if the demo is able to meet their needs.
Countless competitors within the SaaS industry
Another factor that makes SaaS marketing plans unique is the vast amount of competition in the industry.
It doesn’t help that SaaS is an umbrella term that encompasses a great number of software types. For instance, let’s just take a look at CMS (content management systems).
The most popular CMS platforms are WordPress, Wix, & Squarespace.
Does that mean there are only a handful of CMS platforms out there?
Not at all; try 1,000 – 2,000, and the number is still growing every day. That’s A LOT of other programs that all have SaaS marketing campaigns of their own.
It’s not just CMS platforms that have this type of oversaturation, either.
Whether your SaaS product is a CRM, CMS, project management tool, ERP (enterprise resource planning), or another type of application, there will be hundreds or thousands of direct competitors.
That reinforces the need for staunch product marketing techniques to differentiate your service from all the others.
Building brand awareness is a gigantic part of this, as the more trusted & recognizable you can make your brand, the easier it will be to make your SaaS products stand out from the rest.
The good news?
Despite the sheer number of SaaS companies in existence, there’s no shortage of demand for them. Companies now heavily rely on SaaS products for their daily operations, from startups to enterprise-level businesses.
Going with the CMS example, while there may be 2,000 services available, 64 million active websites use CMS platforms. Granted, WordPress accounts for 44% of it, but there’s still 38% that use other platforms, so there’s plenty of business to go around.
Another unique feature of SaaS marketing is the way companies structure their pricing.
SaaS companies rely on subscriptions with tier-based pricing models for their users.
It’s common for a SaaS company to have at least 3 pricing tiers, including basic, advanced, and premium options.
Sometimes companies will correlate each pricing tier to company size. For example, their basic plan is for startups, the advanced plan is for mid-sized companies, and the advanced plan is for enterprise-level organizations.
To boost conversion rates, pricing tiers need to be clearly defined. It shouldn’t take a user more than a few seconds to understand your pricing structure. Beyond that, you need to list the perks users receive with each tier.
For instance, the basic tier may only include a few features or limitations of some sort (such as only being able to start 3 projects on the basic plan), whereas higher plans get more robust and freeing (unlimited projects & advanced features).
If you offer a free version, make sure to list it alongside your paid plans while not forgetting to highlight all its limitations. If a prospect is still using the free version, seeing all the attractive features your other plans have may convince them to start a paid subscription.
It’s also common for higher tiers to boast prioritized customer support & advanced security features to entice users into opting for a more premium plan.
Complicated sales cycles
The sales funnel for a SaaS company is very complex, and it requires creating a boatload of content for various funnel stages.
As an example, let’s say you sell an SEO tool as your SaaS product.
Well, visitors at the top-of-the-funnel (TOFU) likely don’t even know what SEO is yet, which means you’ll need to create educational content defining SEO and outlining its best practices.
Conversely, visitors at the middle and bottom of the funnel (MOFU and BOFU) will already know about SEO and will actively compare your product to others. For them, you’ll need to create content that differentiates your product from your competitors.
The challenge comes not only from creating all this content but also from not oversaturating your target audience with it all.
For instance, the prospects comparing your SEO product to others won’t want to waste their time reading your educational blogs covering the SEO basics. In the same vein, total SEO newbies won’t be able to make heads or tails of your more complicated articles comparing your services to others.
To avoid drowning your audience in content, you’ll need to strike a balance between the content you produce for the different funnel stages.
The best way to do that is through targeted keyword research for each funnel stage.
Your keyword research is what will save you from displaying content to the wrong audience. If you do it properly, your prospects will only ever see the articles that answer their questions and solve their pain points.
It all has to do with the types of queries prospects use at different stages of the funnel.
By aligning the content you create with the appropriate funnel stage for each query, your users will always find the articles most relevant to them.
For example, if a user searches for what SEO is on Google, that’s a top-of-the-funnel (TOFU) keyword.
What makes it TOFU?
It is because the user is making educational inquiries. They don’t know what SEO is yet, so they can’t possibly know if they need an SEO SaaS tool.
If you create educational content defining SEO for the keyword ‘what is SEO,’ you’ll have perfectly matched the search intent. Conversely, creating content comparing your services to others for the same query wouldn’t work.
Instead, you’d want to create that content for a query like ‘best SEO tools online.’
Keywords at each stage of the sales funnel
Here’s a brief breakdown of each funnel stage and its corresponding keywords:
- Top-of-the-funnel (TOFU). At the top of the funnel, the goal is to build awareness for your SaaS products. Users at this funnel stage are looking for educational information about your type of service, so the keywords you use and the content you create should center around that.
- Middle-of-the-funnel (MOFU). At this stage, potential customers know they need a service like yours, and they’re evaluating all their options. Keywords & content for this funnel stage should reflect why your SaaS product rises head and heels over the competition.
- Bottom-of-the-funnel (BOFU). By now, your prospects are on the verge of committing to a SaaS service provider. They’ve met with key decision-makers at their company, and they’ve narrowed it down to about two or three options. Here, your keywords & marketing efforts should focus on converting prospects into new customers.
If you align proper keywords & content with each stage of the sales funnel, your target audience will always find what they’re looking for on search engines.
That means TOFU prospects will get directed to your informational/educational content, and BOFU potential customers will see your most convincing product & service pages.
The Bread & Butter of SaaS Marketing Strategies
Now that you know what makes SaaS marketing so unique, let’s look at the most common marketing channels and tactics.
SaaS marketers make use of tried and true digital marketing techniques like SEO, email marketing, PPC, influencer marketing, social media, paid ad campaigns, and more – so let’s find out which are the most effective.
SEO (search engine optimization)
SEO should not be ignored by SaaS companies, as generating targeted organic traffic to your website is one of the best things you can do.
In fact, digital marketing consultant Mike Snoders discovered that organic traffic was the leading source of leads and conversions for SaaS companies – as it accounted for 68% of them.
That means you’re missing out on a ton of potential business if you don’t incorporate SEO into your SaaS marketing strategy.
A reason why SEO is so big for SaaS is that lots of key decision-makers at companies are doing their own research into providers. That means they’re using search engines to learn more about SaaS companies and products, which is where SEO strategies come into play.
If you structure your keyword research around your sales funnel stages (see above), you’ll be able to guide these decision-makers through each funnel stage with targeted content.
SEO & content marketing
It’s also crucial to note that SEO and a content marketing strategy go hand-in-hand.
Educational content like blogs, podcasts, and videos for TOFU leads is the way to go. For BOFU prospects, you’ll want to transition into live demos, case studies, product comparison sheets, and webinars.
Blogging can and should account for a large part of your SEO strategy as long as you remember to use the right funnel-stage keywords.
Blogs are inexpensive to create and can serve a multitude of different purposes. For instance, you can blog about educational and informative topics(TOFU), but you can also write blogs comparing your products to others (BOFU) and format them as relevant quizzes or surveys (MOFU).
Videos provide a high level of engagement with users, and they can also be inexpensive to create (i.e., using a smartphone and free editing software).
You can also create video content for each stage of your sales funnel, so don’t be afraid to get creative. Instead of blogging about a topic like ‘What is SEO,’ you can make a video for it to share on your YouTube channel – which can help with your brand-building efforts.
Another powerful form of SEO content is the infographic.
If you use an in-house or freelance graphic designer, you can get them to create fun infographics to educate, inform, and convert your audience. Infographics can teach your audience something new, compare your products to others, and more.
Posts with images boast a 650% higher engagement rate than those without, so even if you aren’t using infographics, include high-resolution images in your blogs.
Emails play a significant role in marketing SaaS products, especially for B2B SaaS marketing. Primarily, emails help fill the gaps in contact during the lengthy SaaS sales cycle.
As an example, say you attract a prospect with one of your TOFU blogs that introduces them to the world of SEO & your products. As business owners, the prospect of gaining more traffic catches their eye, so they enter their email addresses to sign up for your mailing list.
They’ve now become a lead for you to nurture through various types of emails, such as:
- Onboarding emails (introducing a demo or new product)
- Quizzes and surveys (that you can use to gain insights into your target audience/buyer personas)
- Discounts and special offers
- Upcoming webinars & new blog releases
- Announcing new features or add-ons
- Check-ins (seeing how your prospects are doing and if they require your services)
As you can see, there are many ways to use emails to entice prospects into becoming full-fledged SaaS customers.
It’s also essential to use emails to keep your existing subscriber base happy. Remember, the goal is to retain your users for as long as possible because once they churn, the monthly revenue they are providing is gone forever.
That’s why check-in emails are so useful. They allow you to see how your customers are feeling/enjoying your product and convey that you care about your subscribers.
Emails & user feedback
Accepting and responding to user feedback via email is another piece of the puzzle. Nothing will make your churn rates rise faster than if you don’t listen to the wants and needs of your existing customers.
That’s why you need to pay attention to the customer service emails your team receives.
Are there any noticeable recurring issues? Do subscribers keep bringing up the same pain points? Is there any confusion around one of your new features?
These are all essential questions to ask yourself when evaluating customer feedback.
If you’re able to address and solve the most pressing issues with your platform, you’ll make strides toward gaining long-term loyalty from your current customers.
PPC (pay-per-click) ads
Besides SEO, PPC ads are another way to market your SaaS products. This is especially true for startups that haven’t had the chance to gain traction with their SEO strategies.
One of the main appeals of PPC ads is that they start providing immediate results.
Where SEO takes several months of grinding before gaining traction, you’ll start generating traffic and leads from PPC ads on day one.
How do you conduct a SaaS PPC strategy?
To start, you can use our free Google keyword planner tool to conduct some keyword research. It will provide you with two essential metrics for PPC keywords; CPC (cost-per-click) and Comp. (competition).
The CPC refers to how much you’ll have to pay each time someone clicks on your ad. You’ll need to determine your budget first to know how much you can allocate to the CPC of each keyword.
Next is the Comp. statistic, which refers to how much competition exists for that keyword in the PPC space. Ideally, you want to find keywords with high search volume, moderate to low CPC, and not much competition.
Since you’re paying for the ads, it’s best to focus entirely on BOFU keywords & content. That’s because TOFU keywords are often informative in nature and don’t lead to sales, which would be a total waste of money. If you pay for a BOFU keyword that links to one of your product pages, you’ll have a much greater chance of landing a conversion.
Last but not least, webinars are extremely effective for generating SaaS leads and conversions. In fact, a quarter of all webinars are put on by SaaS companies – according to GoToWebinar.
That’s because a webinar is a perfect environment to show off demos, conduct live tutorials, and announce/show off new product features.
To generate hype for your webinar, advertise it on your social media & send an email out to your subscriber base letting them know about your event. That way, you can accrue a considerable live audience for your webinar.
What’s even better is you can record your webinars and upload them to your website, social media accounts, and YouTube channel. As a result, your webinars will continue to generate leads for you well beyond the moment you switch off your webcam.
10 Fun Examples of SaaS Marketing
By now, you know what goes into a winning SaaS marketing strategy. Yet, one of the best ways to truly grasp a concept is to witness it in action.
Here are 10 real-world examples of clever SaaS marketing campaigns that will get your creative juices flowing.
How did they do it?
First, their marketing team had the idea to rebrand their automated workflows as ‘Zaps,’ which is catchy and memorable. In all their content, they referred to automating a task as ‘Zapping’ something.
Next, they created 25,000 unique landing pages that ranked within the top 100 on Google. To achieve this feat, they leveraged resources from their partnerships to create individual landing pages for each app, workflow, and integration.
They also conducted rigorous keyword research and made use of high-quality images and videos to outdo the competition. Zapier’s campaign is a testament to the power of SEO for SaaS companies.
Slack stands as a shining example of how well the freemium model can work if you have a truly outstanding product.
The company provides an unparalleled user experience, and the app has some genuinely appealing features in its paid versions.
Another genius marketing tactic Slack employed was enabling so many 3rd party apps to integrate with their software. This allowed them to gain lots of new customers who had only heard about them through another program, like the project management platform Asana.
The team at Hubspot is the king of inbound marketing techniques. Hubspot continuously tops the Google SERPs with its educational & informative guides, tutorials, and videos.
In other words, they have many methods for drawing their audience to them instead of the other way around. Their internal Hubspot Academy also provides many valuable educational resources to anyone interested, which generates even more traffic.
Business management software company Holded went all-out with a genius Black Friday campaign where they offered a 50% discount for six months to anyone that signed up.
They were able to create over 6% MRR growth from the Black Friday campaign alone.
It was so successful because of how bold they were with their discount. Most companies will offer a discount code or a limited-time offer that only lasts a few days. By daring to offer such a significant discount for such a lengthy period, Holded was able to acquire loads of new paying customers.
Pitch creates presentation software, and they wanted to find a way to raise awareness for their brand.
They started a brand-building campaign to let prospects know what they do after closing a funding deal.
They created videos starring their CEO where they described the new features coming due to the funding. The CEO directly addressing the audience gave the campaign a human touch, and it was amazingly successful as a result.
eCommerce giant Shopify does several things remarkably well with its SaaS marketing campaigns.
Like Hubspot, they’ve mastered inbound content marketing by providing podcasts, videos, blogs, and case studies. If you Google eCommerce-related topics, Shopify is bound to show up with various pieces of content.
Besides being a lead-generating machine, their content’s prevalence works wonders for building brand awareness.
Next, they’ve embraced their bustling community of users and third-party app creators. Shopify design experts, theme creators, and gurus are ready to advise new customers. These communities provide word-of-mouth referrals and raise more brand awareness, so it’s a win-win for Shopify.
Buffer provides a social media scheduling software that automates posts so influencers can write them in advance and automatically release them during peak engagement times.
They found incredible marketing success through blogging, but in a slightly unconventional way.
While they create blog content that’s relevant to their users, they also blog about very general topics – like psychology, life hacks, creativity, and multitasking. This has led them to build a fanbase consisting of social media users with large followings.
#8: Apple Music
To compete with Spotify, Apple Music had to shake things up. This led to them adopting the SaaS subscription model instead of sticking with the iTunes Store.
To generate buzz for the new move, Apple made brilliant use of celebrity influencer marketing. In particular, their Taylor Swift treadmill video drew in 20 million viewers worldwide.
Email marketing company MailModo put their flagship service to fantastic use. They started a brilliant campaign showcasing how effective their email marketing features are – through email.
In other words, they used their own platform to market their services.
They sent out lead generation emails with interactive elements, which served as a mini product demo for recipients.
In addition to that, they also made use of social media marketing by posting clever Tweets that linked to their product pages.
A noticeable issue the folks at MailChimp noticed was that many users would misspell their brand name.
Instead of letting it annoy them, they decided to use the issue in a humorous way for a new ad campaign.
In it, they purposely misspelled their brand name, with variations like ‘MailShrimp,’ ‘JailBlimp,’ and ‘’KaleLimp.’ What’s even funnier is they didn’t include their true brand name anywhere on the image, just a link to a video ad.
They generated over 67 million organic searches and $3.52 million in revenue – which proves the power humor can have in marketing campaigns.
Final Thoughts: SaaS Marketing
Hopefully, these examples will inspire innovative SaaS marketing campaigns of your own.
As long as you take into account the long sales cycle, proper funnel stage keywords, and structure your pricing in a way that’s fair – you’ll have the perfect foundation for a successful campaign.
Do you need top-tier SaaS marketing services from a trusted & reliable marketing agency?
Then don’t wait for another second to check out our white-label marketing services at The HOTH. Our team of experts has what it takes to take your SaaS company to the next level, so don’t wait to get in touch today. | <urn:uuid:91dfc929-aed6-421d-b17d-f874e498bba5> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.thehoth.com/blog/saas-marketing-examples/ | 2024-04-21T21:10:40Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.949968 | 5,499 |
Coronavirus Workplace Guidelines
Here are steps to take to protect your workforce:
Make Staff Aware of The Coronavirus
It’s important that you make your employees aware of the rapid spread of Coronavirus and keep them up to date on actions taken to avoid the disease spreading in your workplace. Make sure your team are aware of the symptoms and understand processes. This can include information on sick pay, sickness reporting, and what to do if someone gets the virus.
Update Emergency Contact Details
Make sure that all employee contact details and emergency contact details are up to date. This way you will avoid any complications if any staff members contract the disease.
Make Sure Facilities are Clean
To prevent the coronavirus from spreading, make sure you have clean and working facilities. This includes making sure employees have access to hot water and soap. You can also encourage staff to regularly wash their hands regularly throughout the day. Go the extra mile and stock the office with hand sanitiser and tissues.
Traveling for Business
If you have business trips planned in the near future in affected areas, look at how essential this travel is. Is it worth risking the chance of your employees contracting the Coronavirus? The answer will likely be no.
If you have essential meetings that you can’t miss, why not suggest a zoom call or phone call. This way you can take part in the meeting without risking the chance of contracting the disease.
Your employees should have access to their usual entitlements if they have the Coronavirus. However, it’s important you make allowances to avoid further spread of the disease. In addition, it may not be possible for the employee to get a sick note to you if they have been advised to self-isolate for 14 days and you should be understanding of this.
There’s no legal expectation that you have to pay your employees who are not ill but have been told by doctors to self-isolate for a period of time. However, it’s important that you are fair with your staff and understand the circumstances. In addition, we encourage you to consider allowing employees to at least take holidays or work from home where possible.
If you tell staff not to work if they have been in affected areas but they’re not sick, they are entitled to their normal pay.
Looking After a Dependant
If your employee needs time off to look after a dependant who has contracted the virus, it’s important you authorise this. An employee has no statutory right that you have to pay them in this circumstance but we encourage you to be understanding. If the time off is longer than two days, allow them to take holidays or work from home if possible.
Employees Who Have Become Unwell at Work
If someone presents symptoms of the virus at work, ensure they’re at least two metres away from other staff members. Make sure they are isolated in a room behind a closed door. Also ensure they use a separate bathroom to everyone else.
If someone comes in to the office with the virus, you don’t necessarily have to close. A public health team will get in contact with you to go through proper protocols. If you do have to close, you can encourage your employees to work from home. If this isn’t possible, you are still expected to pay their normal pay.
The guidance on this will change regularly, and we’ll keep you informed of this and you can find additional information from the Government website and World Health Organisation, as well as NHS. Contact us now for any further information. | <urn:uuid:0bc5cd17-e3fe-4cdd-88bc-95dbb93a0f13> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.thehrbooth.co.uk/covid/coronavirus-workplace-guidelines/ | 2024-04-21T20:36:01Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.959621 | 745 |
Stanmore Locksmith – 24 Hour London Locksmiths
The London Locksmith has attended to the lock and security needs of folk residing in the Stanmore area for four decades. Our expertise is rooted in those years of devotion to quality locksmith services to both domestic and commercial customers, and in our customer-centred approach.
Expert Locksmiths in Stanmore
We strive to offer the best locksmith in Stanmore, and we employ only experience locksmiths in Stanmore with lots of training behind them, and provide them with the best tools of the trade. We all are locals to the Stanmore area, and we are familiar with the geography; this means that we come to your rescue in no time at all. We love ground-breaking technology and are always looking to improve our best practice processes.
We can solve any lock based emergency!
Our many vans, ensure that our staff and equipment reach you within the Stanmore Area with unparalleled speed.
Some of our Locksmith Services in Stanmore
Is a fragment of your key jammed in the lock, leaving you with only the head? Did you shut your door with your keys inside and are worried because it’s the middle of the night? Or do you just want to cut a spare key? We can solve your cylinder, core, or key challenge as soon as it happens. We have perfected the business of key replication, and our twenty-four-hour locksmith service in Stanmore ensures that we are ever ready to cater to your emergency locksmith situation.
We also set up alarms, CCTV, Multi-Point Locks Grilles, UPVC, and bars and roller shutters; we are a full security consultancy for your home or business. The result of our over forty years of locksmith service in Stanmore means that we have worked on just about every type of lock and security system at some point in the past.
We have absolutely no problem installing your door handles or repairing your UPVC windows and doors.
Do you need:
- The installation and repair of locks in wooden doors?
- You need a security system for your office safe?
- Duplicate keys created from code.
- You want to mount sliding doors in your house or workplace?
Expert locksmiths in Stanmore you can count on.
Why not avail yourself of our competence and secure your domestic or commercial property? Allow our experts to help you get into your home or office if you are locked out? Our fully insured experts can assist you, whether you want an alarm and home safety mechanism, to install new locks on your new building, or just need to fix the locks on your windows.
Peace of mind is crucial; and that is exactly what we will give you.
So as you prepare to reach out to us, these are some more facts about us: We deal only in quality locksmith hardware. Our Stanmore locksmith rates are reasonable. We handle the installation of locks and security systems. If you find yourself locked out of your car or property we can come to your aid. Our experts offer free advice and consultation on the maintenance of locks and security systems.
Our locksmiths can come to Fulham, Westminster, Lambeth, Kensington & Chelsea, and Greater London, and as far as Greenwich and Camden in the west. Haywards Heath, Bromley, Kingston Upon Thames, Islington, London, and Hounslow are few of the other places we often work. Instead of lingering in doubt over whether or not you are located within our service area, simply give us a call. Choose the best locksmith in Stanmore. Call today! | <urn:uuid:104c99af-3546-4733-b281-0253810ef3e6> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.thelondonlocksmiths.co.uk/stanmore/ | 2024-04-21T20:41:23Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.952144 | 750 |
Last week's long weekend provided the perfect excuse to enjoy a whole day of museums!
Norman Rockwell's paintings and Saturday Evening Post covers have always been a love of mine.
There's something so real and human about the figures he captures and scenes he creates.
After laughing at the funny scenes, feeling wistful by others, and even grabbing a print for the house we headed north to Mass MoCA.
Currently, Mass MoCA has an amazing James Turrell installation, which was the real reason for driving out there.
I've heard so much about his work and had to experience it myself.
That being said — you do need to reserve your spot ahead of time.
(If we hadn't had this appointment looming over us, we would have found lunch in the lovely town of Stockbridge after the Norman Rockwell Museum — I fully recommend this when you visit this area.)
So, we sped up to Mass MoCA and stepped into the light of James Turrell.
After marveling over the amazing collection, we popped into Bright Ideas Brewing for a late lunch.
This place is right by the entrance of the museum, and they know their way around a brew.
We found out after we'd ordered our food that you can order take out from the BBQ place next door and they'll bring it over...next time!
This is just a mini post so I could share a bit about our day trip, but don't worry — I'll do proper posts on each museum so I can share my favorites. | <urn:uuid:73feaa9a-7c3a-4355-ba5f-d3fa2a4b64cc> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.themuse.life/western-mass-museums-day-trip/ | 2024-04-21T22:29:49Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.974988 | 315 |
Filmmaker Venkat Prabhu, who is gearing up to commence shooting for his next directorial venture Maanaadu with Simbu, has ventured into digital space. Recently reports emerged that he is set to direct a web series for streaming giant Hotstar. The reports also indicated that Kajal Aggarwal has joined hands with Prabhu for this project.
The latest update is that the web series has got 10 episodes and will be releasing on Valentine’s Day, which falls on February 14. Touted to be a romantic comedy, the web series also stars Vaibhav and Kayal Anandhi in important roles.
Venkat Prabhu will have to commence shooting for Maanaadu from February the second week. Touted to be a political thriller, the makers had recently announced the entire cast and crew for this project.
They have roped in Kalyani Priyadarshan as the leading lady, director-actors Bharathiraja and SA Chandrasekar. The film will have music by Yuvan Shankar Raja and cinematography by Richard M Nathan. Comedians Karunakaran and Premgi have also been roped in.
It’s worth mentioning that Prabhu had planned to work with Simbu for a long time. However, things never fell in place as both of them were caught up with their commitments.
Venkat Prabhu and Raghava Lawerence may soon be teaming up for a project. Without revealing much, Venkat Prabhu a posted a pic with Raghava Lawrence on his social media page and wrote, “God is kind Nalladhey ninaipom Nalladhey pesuvom Nalladhey nadakkum And so this happened!! Thank q @offl_Lawrence brother!!! Updates soon” This has given rise to speculations that they will be working together. In the meantime, both the filmmakers will be completing their respective projects on hands.
Meanwhile, he is also currently awaiting the release of the long-pending Tamil multi-starrer Party which boasts of an ensemble cast consisting of Jai, Shaam, Shiva, Sathyaraj, Ramya Krishnan, Regina Cassandra, Nivetha Pethuraj and Sanchita Shetty among others. Produced by T Siva of Amma Creations, the film has cinematography by Rajesh Yadav, editing by KL Praveen and Premgi has composed music for the film.
(Content provided by Digital Native) | <urn:uuid:794ef0ce-1a90-4679-b242-2f0d7ab4a44b> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.thenewsminute.com/flix/venkat-prabhu-s-web-series-release-february-14-117229 | 2024-04-21T20:26:44Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.972566 | 527 |
PUTRAJAYA, 11 Sept 2008: The government is no longer blocking the access to any websites or blogs in the country, says Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor.
Speaking to reporters at his office here, he said the move was decided by the cabinet at its weekly meeting yesterday and aimed at encouraging the people to continue using the internet and websites as a means to disseminate information.
According to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), there were 126 websites of which access were blocked from January until so far this year due to infringements of its regulation, including insulting religion and cheating consumers.
Shaziman said that a committee comprising representatives of the MCMC, police, Attorney-General’s Chambers and the Home Ministry would be set up to monitor websites, especially those with excessive, seditious and racially sensitive content.
He said the government felt that the existing laws and regulations were sufficient and could be used against websites operators who undermine the country’s peace and harmony.
Shaziman said that following the decision, the order to restrict access to websites or blogs, including the Malaysia Today news portal, has been withdrawn, effective immediately.
Malaysia Today was blocked by order from Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to all internet service providers (ISPs) on 27 Aug 2008. MCMC chief operating officer Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi said it was blocked due to some comments posted on the websites, which he termed as insensitive and bordering on incitement.
"The cabinet had also asked the Attorney-General’s Chambers to speed up the prosecution of operators of websites which are seditious, inciting racial hatred or insulting any religion, if there are sufficient evidence to do so," Shaziman said.
Shaziman said the government was aware that existing law such as the Sedition Act could be used against those who raise sensitive issues on the internet.
However, the action taken against them previously was a bit slow, he said.
"Things like this need a thorough investigation. In the United States, if a website publishes actionable content, within minutes the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) would come in and seize all equipment to secure evidence.
"Maybe we can move towards that direction," he said.– Bernama | <urn:uuid:18e9a0f8-1e8a-4a8c-828f-a32cbfb34f31> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.thenutgraph.com/govt-lifts-block-on-websites-blogs/ | 2024-04-21T21:00:44Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.979642 | 474 |
By Yasmene Warren
The sun is coming back out, and that means the need to feed on something cold and sweet is stronger than ever. Luckily, there are loads of places to get ice cream at in Orlando. However, this one stands out a little more than the others; it’s Sampaguita Ice Cream.
What is Sampaguita Ice Cream?
Sampaguita is an ice cream parlor in Orlando located on East Colonial Drive just outside of downtown. This place makes Filipino-inspired ice creams and explores “the richness of Filipino culture, family traditions, and self-identity.”
Sampaguita has been soft opening with limited hours since January and is currently open Monday through Thursday from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., Friday from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Its grand opening will be announced on its Instagram page @sampaguitaicecream.
Although there are fewer than 31 flavors, each one on Sampaguita’s menu stands out above any ordinary ice cream parlor’s.
Because Sampaguita serves Filipino-inspired ice cream flavors, you’ll find tastes like ube latte, soy sauce butterscotch, jackfruit chili nut, keso guava cheesecake and more on the menu. As for your scoops, you can get a single, double, triple, or “flight” scoop on a waffle or cake cone.
The toppings at this ice cream parlor are pretty typical of those you’d find at any other, such as sprinkles, oreo and hot fudge. Unlike typical ice cream parlors, however, Sampaguita offers ube sprinkles, ube sauce, pineapple caramel, and ube whipped cream. If a regular scoop on a cone isn’t quite your thing, you can also get a scoop in a cup, a sundae, or a milkshake.
Located at the entrance are canned and bottled beverages, as well as Sampaguita merchandise such as T-shirts, tote bags, and stickers.
The Sweetest Vibes
The light from the windows isn't the only aspect of this place brightening up the room! The plant life filling the corners and lining the ceilings against the matching leafy wallpaper truly brings life into this shop.
There are cozy booths and tables for you to sit and enjoy your sweet treats. Some of these have wall outlets, making for the perfect place to bring your laptop for a study or work session! Sampaguita’s warm environment definitely makes it hard to leave.
Sometimes it’s hard to find the right kind of dessert to top off your dinner, but Sampaguita certainly makes the search an easy one. Next time you’re in the Mills 50 district, be sure to check it out!
The historical Mills 50 is one of Orlando’s many gems and is just a short drive to the city’s thriving downtown. In one of Orlando’s oldest neighborhoods, you’ll find a wide variety of thriving local businesses that add a kind of special touch big chains just can’t create. Mills 50 has a lot to offer and is the perfect place to look for homes near!
The Orlando Real is sponsored by The Pozek Group. If you’re thinking of buying or selling a home in Orlando, reach out and we would love to help!
Search Orlando Real Estate Listings | <urn:uuid:f799b56a-81aa-44f8-b824-f67306b106c7> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.theorlandoreal.com/sampaguita-ice-cream/?p=3 | 2024-04-21T20:16:20Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.940103 | 764 |
Are you looking for a new stroller?
Perhaps you’ve just had a new baby, your baby has turned into a toddler or your current stroller isn’t working for your family anymore. If this is the case, then you have come to the right place!
The Stroller Site is home to many toddler and baby stroller reviews, the best double strollers, umbrella stollers, jogging strollers, even triplet strollers. This site is here to help you find the best, top rated strollers for your family.
Choosing a stroller can be stressful. It can be one of the most expensive purchases you make for a new baby.
There are a crazy amount of options from tiny travel strollers to big deluxe double strollers. Even if you know you need a double stroller, should you get a tandem or side by side? Should you get a jogging stroller?
Through many baby stroller reviews, comparison charts, informative articles, we hope to help you make this choice. This site is built by moms for moms and is full of top rated baby strollers.. After all, who knows what strollers work better for kids than moms themselves?
Types of Strollers
There are many different types of strollers, and the first question you should ask yourself is what type you need. On The Stroller Site, we categorize them into umbrella strollers, lightweight strollers, jogging strollers, double strollers and double jogging strollers.
Umbrella strollers are strollers that fold up nice and compactly like an umbrella. They are often smaller, more portable, lightweight strollers that are great for families on the go or who do not have much space. The First Years Jet Stroller is an example of an umbrella stroller. Read more about the best umbrella strollers or check out the best double umbrella strollers.
Lightweight strollers are under 20 pounds and made for convenience and portability. These strollers generally fold up small and are great for people who are out and about often and don’t want to be breaking their back constantly getting the stroller in and out of the car. They are also great for families who like to travel and want something easy to use in airports. An example of a great lightweight stroller is the Jeep Cherokee Sport Stroller. Read more about the best lightweight strollers.
Jogging strollers are designed for parents who want to be able to go for a run or a jog while pushing their baby safely in their stroller. These strollers are made to be extra smooth while running or on an uneven surfaces which makes these types of strollers an excellent choice for families who need a stroller for off road conditions. An example of a fabulous jogging stroller is the BOB Revolution SE Single Stroller. Jogging with an infant younger than six months old is not recommended. Read more about the best jogging strollers.
Double strollers are suitable for two children. There are a variety of types of double strollers from side by side, such as the popular Delta City Street Side by Side Stroller to tandem strollers. There are also more creative solutions such as the Graco Room For 2 Stand and Ride Classic Connect Stroller. Some of these are suitable for twins, and some are made for a baby and a toddler. There are also some great triplet options. Read more about the best double strollers.
Double Jogging Strollers
As the name suggests, double jogging strollers are double strollers which are suitable for jogging. They offer the benefits of both the double strollers and jogging strollers. An example is the BOB Revolution SE Duallie Stroller. Read more about the best double jogging strollers.
Some strollers fit into multiple categories. For example, umbrella strollers are often lightweight strollers as well, and some double strollers are both lightweight and umbrella strollers.
Here is a great video to help you understand some of the stroller terminology and the differences between the above types of strollers.
How to choose a stroller for your family
There are so many aspects to picking a stroller. Here are the most important ones that you should consider when choosing your stroller:
- How long do you want to use your stroller for?
- How will you use the stroller? Will you go jogging or need to use it on uneven surfaces?
- Do you want the stroller to be suitable for more than one child?
- How portable does the stroller need to be? Are you out and about a lot?
1. How long do you want to use your stroller for?
This is a very important question as many strollers are not suitable for newborns. Conversely, many are not suitable when your child is older. It can seem better to pick a stroller that will be suitable as your child grows, but this can come with some drawbacks as often these strollers are more bulky than their counterparts.
If you do want a stroller that will suit your child as they get older, make sure you check the weight capacity. It can be very hard to guess what weight your child will be when they are three, but if you see a weight capacity such as 30 pounds, this will probably not last your child until they no longer need a stroller, so the higher the weight capacity the better.
Another thing to consider is if you are planning another child. Perhaps you think you will have another child when your first child is still young, so maybe you want to consider a stroller such as the Baby Jogger City Select Single Stroller which you can add a double conversion kit to later.
2. How will you use the stroller? Will you go jogging or need to use it on uneven surfaces?
How you will use your stroller also determines what type is best for you. Do you plan to go jogging with your child? Then obviously a jogging stroller is a must for you like the Baby Jogger Summit or a double jogging stroller such as the BOB Revolution Duallie. A jogging stroller is also a good idea if you are going to be walking on uneven paths regularly.
If you think that you will only use your stroller for short walks on sidewalks, then an umbrella stroller may be more suitable, such as the Maclaren Volo Stroller. If you like to shop, it is a good idea to buy a stroller with good storage space, such as the Britax B-Agile Stroller.
3. Do you want the stroller to be suitable for more than one child?
If you need your stroller to fit two children, you will need a double stroller. There are all types of double strollers. Some are suitable for two newborns (ie twins), while others are suitable only for two older babies/toddlers that can sit upright. Some are more appropriate for a baby and a toddler.
You can also buy strollers, such as the Baby Jogger City Select which are suitable for one child, but then you can buy a Second Seat Kit for it later should you need it. If you are currently having your first baby and think there is a good chance of a shorter age gap between your children then this can be a great option.
There are also double jogging strollers which can be a great option if you need a stroller for more than one child and you also need a jogging stroller.
4. How portable does the stroller need to be? Are you out and about a lot?
Another important factor when picking a stroller is how portable you need it to be, ie how big and how heavy. Some strollers sound great and have lots of great extras, but they can be heavy and bulky and there is no point having a stroller that won’t fit in the trunk of your car.
If you are out and about a lot and need to constantly be getting your stroller in and out of the car, or perhaps you travel regularly, then a compact, lightweight stroller could be the best choice for you, such as the Jeep Cherokee Sport Stroller.
It is also essential to buy a stroller that meets all relevant safety standards.
Top 5 Strollers
Baby Jogger Summit X3 Single Stroller
The Baby Jogger Summit X3 Single Stroller features excellent maneuverability on any terrain as well as versatility. This stroller is good for both jogging and day to day activities. One of the best features of this stroller is that you can flip a switch on the handlebar of the stroller to lock the front wheel when jogging, and flip it again when you want to go back to ordinary activities. It is great for older kids with a weight capacity of 75 pounds and plenty of room. It also has a near-flat recline, so you could use it for a small baby when going to the mall. It has a fabulous sun canopy and good storage. There is natural and all wheel suspension.
This stroller is a great choice for families who want to be able to go jogging but still have a full featured stroller that is suitable for walking around the shops.
Baby Jogger City Select Stroller w/2nd Seat
The best part of the Baby Jogger City Select is how versatile it is. It can be used as a single or double stroller and there are 16 seating combinations, so you can have your children face you, face away or face each other. It is also possible to attach a bassinet or up to two infant car seats. It is a tandem stroller so its width should not be a problem.
The seats are amazing – they have multi-position recline as well as multi-position canopies. The head height is adjustable and there is a 5 -point safety harness and shoulder pads.
The Baby Jogger City Select also features patented quick-fold technology to make it very easy to put this stroller away after use.
BOB Revolution Flex Duallie Stroller
The best feature is the great maneuverability thanks to the tough wheels and suspension. This stroller is perfect for rough terrain or jogging. It is also easy to dissemble and can fit an infant car seat.
The seats are padded for comfort and recline. They feature 5-point safety harnesses. There is plenty of storage on the BOB Revolution Flex Duallie Stroller with 6 pockets and a large storage basket which in the most recent model is bigger than ever.
You can check out more BOB Stroller Reviews or see the latest price of the BOB Revolution Flex Duallie Stroller.
Chicco Liteway Plus Stroller
This stroller features a choice of colorful designs and can also be used as part of a travel system with the Chicco Keyfit 30 Infant Car Seat. Additionally, it has a one hand adjustable seat recline which can move to five different positions. There is also an adjustable, removable sun canopy and a zip off rear panel.
As you would expect from an umbrella stroller, the Chicco Liteway Plus Stroller folds up compactly. It also has a handle to make carrying and travelling with it easy. This stroller is great for families who want a long lasting, quality stroller than can also be used as a travel system. Watch the stroller in action below.
Baby Jogger City Mini 3W Single
This stroller has a padded seat that reclines to a near-flat position. It has a fantastic, multi-position sun canopy, and folds easily with one hand. Unlike many other lightweight strollers, it is also a large basket underneath for storage. It also has a vented seat top, padded seats with a 5-point harness and shoulder pads.
This stroller is a great choice for people who want the portability of a lightweight stroller but want all the features of a bigger stroller, as well as one that can be used from birth. Check it out in action!
Still unsure? Check out the best baby strollers for this year. | <urn:uuid:93c6cb8a-d32d-4a3a-a991-badad0859ed3> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.thestrollersite.com/ | 2024-04-21T21:22:54Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.95649 | 2,514 |
Tel: 01442 262368
Monday – Friday ~ 8.30am – 5.30pm
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Sunday ~ 9.am – 1.pm
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CompareThe Contact Barrow was created to solve practical difficulties. The size and complexity of dismantling a standard barrow has always been an issue but, thanks to the clever handle-folding system, the handles can be stowed underneath the frame for transport within seconds and the wheel is quickly detachable. In addition to saving time and space, this barrow offers the strength and durability that Contact products are famous for. | <urn:uuid:acdab9aa-7b8c-4c4b-a016-bc786527063a> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.thetackleshack.co.uk/product/jrc-contact-barrow/ | 2024-04-21T21:02:39Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.936153 | 131 |
Not sure what to feed your family this summer? Here are my favorite easy summer meals on a budget, plus 6 meals you can make for just $50!
We are smack dab in the middle of summer here in Texas with the 10 day forecast predicting 100 degree+ weather for the next week and a half! With all this super hot weather, I’ve been trying to make more summery meals for my family (though I did make soup the other day, just because I was in the mood haha!)
As I was jotting down a list of some easy summer meals the other day, I thought that summer meals on a budget would make a great, appropriate topic for a blog post.
With the way inflation has taken off this year, I know that grocery costs are on all of our minds. We want to eat well this summer, but we also don’t want to take out a second mortgage to do so. Ha!
So, today let’s talk about the best meals to make in the summer on a budget! First we’ll talk through some common questions and scenarios and then I’ll share six summer meals that you can make for just $50!
What can I make for dinner when it’s too hot to use the oven?
If your house is like mine, the oven heats up the kitchen (and a lot of the rest of the house) pretty quickly! Because of that, on really hot days I avoid using my oven as much as possible.
Here are some of the easy, budget friendly meals I like to make that don’t require an oven:
- Dinner Salads – Greek Salad, Southwest salad, taco salad, etc.
- Pasta Dishes – Chicken Ranch Pasta, Pizza Pasta, or my kids favorite: pasta and leftover shredded chicken tossed with a bit of butter, garlic, and parmesan cheese.
- Wraps – Chicken Wrap with Cream Cheese Spread, Homemade Gyros, Crispy Chicken, Rice, and Bean Burritos
- Sandwiches – Sub-style sandwiches, grilled cheese, BLTs, Sloppy Joes, chicken salad sandwiches, etc.
- On the Grill – Burgers, hotdogs/brats, marinated chicken, etc. Keep an eye out for sales on burgers, hotdogs, etc. at your local grocery store and stock up when you find a good price.
- Slow cooker meals – BBQ chicken (for sandwiches), Chicken Drumsticks, Pork Loin, etc. I don’t personally own an instant pot but those can be a good option as well for summer cooking!
- Breakfast for dinner!
What is the cheapest summer meal you can make?
While there are all sorts of great cheap summer meal options I’m going to go with pasta salad for this. Pasta is so cheap (and filling) and you can toss in all sorts of yummy things to make a budget friendly and easy meal!
Pasta salads are a great cheap meal option because they take very little prep time and use simple ingredients that you typically have on hand.
Try out some new recipes (like the ones I shared above) or just throw together whatever you have on hand that sounds good! Start with your favorite cooked pasta, toss in some leftover rotisserie chicken or other protein and then add in your favorite toppings like cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, other summer vegetables, parmesan cheese, a bit of olive oil, etc.
What do you feed a large crowd in the summer?
Many of the meals mentioned earlier are also great cheap summer meals to serve a crowd! Our personal favorite meal to serve guests is fajitas.
I come from a large family and just last night we hosted a bunch of them for dinner to celebrate two of my kids’ birthdays. We had a group of over 20 people and the fajitas were a hit with everyone!
We typically marinate chicken breasts to grill for our fajitas, but recently experimented with boneless chicken thighs when we found them for a much cheaper price. Both taste amazing and serving the meat sliced up for fajitas helps to stretch it much more than when served whole as an entrée.
For our party last night I served beans and rice on the side as well for anyone who wanted to make Chipotle-style burritos. This was a great way to make the grilled chicken go even farther!
We always serve our fajitas with sauteed onions and peppers as well. I love using colorful yellow and red peppers when I find them on sale, but basic green bell peppers taste just as good and are typically easier on the grocery budget.
Shredded BBQ chicken or pork sandwiches or hot dogs on the grill are other favorite options for feeding a large group in the summer.
What do kids eat during summer break (that doesn’t break the bank)?
My kids are homeschooled, but for those with kids in regular school summer is a big change, because as you fellow parents know when kids are home it seems like they want to eat ALL THE TIME.
One of our favorite quick lunches for kids (well, besides PB & J) is what my kids call a “snacky lunch”. Basically I pull out all sorts of odds and ends and stick them in muffin tins to serve them. Fresh fruit, veggies (like carrots, cucumber, or peas), lunch meat or pepperoni, chunk cheese, a bit of leftovers from the fridge, homemade baked goods, yogurt, applesauce, pretzels, popcorn, etc. The possibilities are endless, and I’ve found that everything is more appetizing to kids when it’s served in a cute muffin tin.
I should note that lunch meat and cheese are definitely more pricey than some of the other items I mentioned, so I try to watch for good sales for those.
As far as summer snacks go, if you find that you’re running out on an almost-daily basis, consider making more cheap homemade snacks or pre-portioning some of the snacks you’ve purchased so that your kids know exactly how much they can have.
And of course, watermelon and popsicles are always great snack options for everyone on hot summer days!
Six Summer Meals for $50
Okay, let’s get more specific now with six cheap family meals that you can make for just $50 total. These six dinners (plus one night for leftovers) gives you a week’s worth of summer meals on a budget!
A couple quick notes:
I often cook with both chicken breasts and ground beef, but you’ll notice both of those missing from the meals/recipes below. The prices on both have gone up quite a good bit in the last 6 months, so I’ve chosen some cheaper alternatives for these six meals.
Three of the recipes below call for cooked and diced/shredded chicken. I like to purchase a rotisserie chicken from Costco for this, but on my grocery list at the end of this post you’ll see I’ve just included a regular whole chicken since not everyone has access to Costco. Simply cook your chicken, let it cool, and then take it off the bone and divide it up for each recipe.
1. Chicken salad sandwiches, raw veggies
Chicken salad sandwiches are a great, budget-friendly summer meal. Serve with a side of raw veggies and maybe watermelon or fresh fruit if you have it and it’s the perfect meal for a hot summer night!
2. BBQ chicken drumsticks, potato wedges
Chicken drumsticks often get passed over for chicken wings, but I’d suggest giving them a try! They’re typically very cost effective and boast a lot more meat than a tiny chicken wing! This BBQ recipe cooks the drumsticks first in a crockpot, then finishes them up in the oven. Serve them with potato wedges for a yummy summer meal the whole family will love!
3. Grilled pork chops, potatoes on the grill, salad
I often forget about pork, but pork chops (as well as pork loin) are a great option that’s typically cheaper than beef. We tried out this recipe for pork chops on the grill the other day and it was delicious. The marinade calls for soy sauce, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce (among other things) and it adds really great flavor!
Throw some potatoes (sweet potatoes or regular) on the grill to bake as well – or whip up some potato salad if that’s more your thing – add a fresh salad on the side, and you have a fancy looking meal that doesn’t break the bank.
4. Chicken Ranch pasta salad
This five ingredient Chicken Ranch Pasta is an easy summer dinner recipe that will take you hardly any time to make. It tastes great hot or cold – I like to serve it hot and then serve the leftovers cold the next day. It’s a great easy dish to take to a potluck as well!
5. Hot dogs, chips, raw veggies
You can get a package of hotdogs for as little as one dollar if you’re not picky! If you prefer beef hotdogs (like I do) you’ll definitely pay more, but even then they’re still a decently cheap way to feed your family, especially if you choose basic, store-brand hotdog buns to go with them.
6. Southwest salad, French bread
Some days there’s nothing like a good summer salad! For southwest salad, start with romaine lettuce and add fresh tomatoes, chicken, corn, black beans, shredded cheese, avocado, and red onion. Instead of salad dressing I like to top my salad with a bit of salsa and sour cream. You can even make your own tortilla strips to add on top if you have corn tortillas on hand.
Now let’s take a look at my grocery list for these six easy summer meals on a budget.
Six Summer Meals – My $50 Grocery List
The prices included below are from my local Walmart, July 2022. As with all of the grocery lists that I share, I’ve tried to include pretty much everything that you’ll need to buy with the exception of some basic pantry staples (for example: baking goods, basic condiments, etc.)
- Multigrain bread- $2.12
- French bread – $1.00
- Hot dog buns – $1.00
- Black beans – $0.78
- Salsa – $1.98
- Bottle of Ranch dressing – $1.97
- Rotini Pasta (1 box) – $0.92
- Chips – $1.66
- Sour cream – $1.16
- Shredded cheddar cheese (2 cups) – $2.22
- Frozen corn – $0.84
- Romaine Lettuce Hearts, 3 pack – $2.62
- Tomatoes (3 small ones) – $0.82
- Bag of baby carrots – $0.98
- Celery – $1.47
- Potatoes, 5 lb. bag – $2.38
- Broccoli, 1 large head – $1.31
- Avocado (1) – $0.92
- Red onion – $1.26
- Chicken drumsticks – $5.90
- Whole chicken – $6.77 (or $5 for a rotisserie chicken at Costco)
- Pork chops (4) – $6.36
- Hot dogs (package of 8) – $1.00 (or $3.48 for a 10 count of beef hot dogs)
Total = $47.44*
*or $49.92 if you choose beef hotdogs
Now I’d love to hear from you! What are some of your favorite easy summer meals on a budget?
Looking for a complete meal plan on a budget? Check out more of my budget meal plans below (or learn how to make your own budget-friendly meal plan!)
Check out some of my other meal plans + grocery lists here: $50 Week One // $50 Week Two // $50 Week Three (low-carb) // $50 Week Four (no oven) // $60 Week One // $60 Week Two // $65 Meal Plan // $75 Meal Plan // $80 Meal Plan // $120 Two-Week Meal Plan
Thanks for stopping by my site today! | <urn:uuid:5c7086cb-d1a0-49b7-8db5-b2639325b0f2> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.thetexmexmom.com/easy-summer-meals-on-a-budget/ | 2024-04-21T21:40:38Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.932109 | 2,628 |
SF LIFE: Oakland, Book Your Vision, Go Go’s, Hershey Felder
HAPPY 2018 my friends – let’s make this a year of joy and positivity. To help with that, head to the Oakland Museum of California for a delightful exhibit to get your imagination going and flowing. Then go to The Kon-Tiki for a few inventive cocktails and nibbles that will satisfy your longing for the islands. Ready to make the most of the year ahead, try a day “Booking Your Vision” with one of my fav tomatoes. That amazing performer Hershey Felder has returned with a new character Tchaikovsky, and guess who is heading out way later this year – those never aging tomatoes, The Go Go’s – let’s GO, we are ready for you 2018!
Nature’s Gift at Museum Oakland
Escape every day reality and immerse yourself in a whimsical and multi sensory otherworld that blurs the lines between imagination and reality. Experience the world premiere of Nature’s Gift by FriendsWithYou—the LA-based fine art collaborative comprising Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III. Illuminated by the wonder of mystery, light, and sound, this larger-than-life sculpture glows with a rainbow of color and promises plenty of dazzling surprises. www.museumca.org
Get Your Tiki On
You will leave this museum exhibit feeling uplifted and ready for a Tiki surprise at the newly opened Kon-Tiki – perfect escape for winter. Tiki Bars made their appearance and gained popularity in the 40’s and 50’s and this is anything but a throwback. Cocktails are crafted with fresh juices and homemade syrups with enough surprise to have you want to try every kitschy beverage on the menu.
Beware some of these concoctions are so potent they come with a warning, only 2 per guest. The Kon-Tiki bursts with island spirit featuring carvings from the world over and oceanic art inspired by travels to the Polynesian Islands. The menu is fun, approachable and at times messy filled with organic produce and sustainable meats and seafood. Hello crab and shrimp Rangoon dip or double-patty cheeseburger with pineapple-onion jam (with fried spam – duh!) www.thekon-tikioakland.com
Jan. 25. Book Your Vision
Martha Beck Certified Life coach, Mary Welty-Dapkus holds her 7th annual Book Your Vision event in Los Gatos. I can personally attest to the wonder, fun, and vision opening of this day. The morning is filled with exercises and activities geared to help activate your emotional and spiritual self in order to access your intuition and creativity. This is not your average vision board experience!
You get to spend time with great women, in solitude and with your own creative self. It is enlightening, inspiring and by the end of the day you will have your vision unfolding for the new year in addition to immersing in this year’s community theme of “Seeds of Change: Plant your Vision 2018.” Oh and the lunch – let’s just say, sublime. http://freshintuition.com/book-your-vision-2018-workshop/
Playwright, pianist and actor Hershey Felder is famed for bringing musical greats like Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, Franz Liszt and more to life via a series of engaging and acclaimed solo shows. His latest subject is Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, who is not only considered one of Russia’s greatest composers — he’s widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time.
Renowned for world-famous compositions like Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and countless ferocious and brilliant symphonies, Tchaikovsky died mysteriously at the age of 53, only nine days after conducting the premiere of his enigmatic Symphony No. 6. Now, Felder pulls back the curtain on the curious life of the beloved and tormented composer at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. www.MVCPA.com
The Go Go’s Now a Musical
We got the beat! “Head Over Heels,” the new musical featuring the totally awesome ’80s anthems of the Go-Go’s, will have its Broadway tryout at San Francisco’s Curran Theatre come April. You know you love them, and these tickets will go- go, so grab them now.
In a boon to retro fans eager to bask in kitschy nostalgia for the days of leg warmers and wine coolers, the ’80s remix will run April 24 through May 20, 2018. The score will feature many of the hits we love such as “Vacation,” “Heaven is a Place on Earth,” “Mad About You” and, of course, “We Got the Beat.” I will be tapping my toes and singing out loud. Won’t you join me? www.sfcurran.com
Kim Selby, the SF life editor of The Three Tomatoes, is your gal for info on what’s hot and happening in the beautiful bay area. Having lived on the Left Coast for 27 years, after almost a decade in NYC, she has explored and continues to have adventures all over the San Francisco area. Passionate about fashion, formerly with GLAMOUR magazine and Fashion Director at Saks Fifth Avenue , Palo Alto, Kim produced fashion shows in the bay area for over 20 years. She now creates events to empower, delight and inspire women, aka “Tomatoes”. Learn more about Kim at www.kim-selby.com | <urn:uuid:164121ba-6e72-4480-91f0-932c580bc9c7> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.thethreetomatoes.com/oakland-book-vision-go-gos-hershey-felder | 2024-04-21T19:51:20Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.9283 | 1,222 |
Step into the Kaleidoscope Garden, where nature’s brilliance comes alive in a mesmerizing display of colors, textures, and scents. It is a unique journey that invites you to witness the ever-changing kaleidoscope of beauty that unfolds within the garden’s embrace.
As you enter this vibrant sanctuary, a world of wonders unravels before your eyes. Each plant, each flower, contributes its own unique hue to the tapestry of nature’s canvas. From the fiery reds of blooming roses to the soothing blues of swaying lavender, the garden becomes a living kaleidoscope that mesmerizes and captivates.
Wander through the winding paths, and you’ll discover an infinite array of patterns and shapes. Petals unfurl like delicate mosaic tiles, creating intricate designs that dance in harmony with the gentle breeze. It’s a symphony of textures, where soft petals contrast with prickly leaves, and smooth surfaces meet the rough bark of ancient trees.
The scents that fill the air are like notes in a symphony, intertwining and creating a sensory masterpiece. Breathe in the sweet fragrance of blooming jasmine, the citrusy zest of lemon balm, or the earthy aroma of freshly turned soil. Each scent adds another layer to the garden’s symphony, immersing you in a sensory delight.
Caring for a garden is an act of co-creation. It is a partnership with nature, where you become a custodian of the kaleidoscope’s brilliance. Nurturing the soil, watering the plants, and providing gentle care allows the garden’s colors to flourish and its beauty to radiate.
In the presence of the Kaleidoscope Garden, time seems to stand still. It is a space where you can escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life, finding solace and inspiration in the natural world. Allow yourself to be enchanted by the ever-changing spectacle, and let it ignite your own creativity and sense of wonder.
So, immerse yourself in the Kaleidoscope Garden and let its brilliance unfold. Marvel at the kaleidoscope of colors, trace the intricate patterns, and breathe in the symphony of scents. In this living masterpiece, you’ll discover the transformative power of nature’s artistry and the boundless joy that comes from embracing its kaleidoscope of brilliance. | <urn:uuid:e4b77929-67c8-471e-8931-f4f10a690453> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.thethreetunsbiddenham.co.uk/2023/01/08/the-kaleidoscope-garden-a-tapestry-of-natures-brilliance/ | 2024-04-21T21:17:01Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.873285 | 507 |
Jersey experienced a transformation overnight as a delicate layer of snow blanketed the island.
Jersey rarely sees significant snowfall, making this light dusting a rare and delightful occurrence for islanders. Overnight, a gentle flurry coated the streets, rooftops, and landscapes, creating a winter wonderland effect that brought joy to many.
Pictures of familiar landmarks and country views have been shared on social media with comments expressing the wintery look.
The runway at Jersey Airport has been closed due to snowfall.
Jersey Airport said its teams were de-icing the runway, with it expected to reopen later.
The Jersey Met Office has issued an orange warning for light to moderate snowfall until the afternoon. | <urn:uuid:fb70eb18-7fbd-4c8a-a09a-b2c8380c0cbf> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.thetimesjersey.com/post/jersey-in-the-channel-islands-awakens-to-a-light-snow-blanket | 2024-04-21T20:12:46Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.957979 | 146 |
On the eve of Christmas, last Saturday, in all discretion, a decree was published authorizing derogations.
Better still, cities with more than 150,000 inhabitants will no longer be obliged to set up LEZs (Low Emission Zones) but under conditions.
What the road transport federations feared: LEZs with derogations.
According to someone close to the file that our colleague from TRM24 was able to join, derogations were well provided for in the initial text of the law which imposes a generalization of these zones in 43 agglomerations in metropolitan France on December 31, 2024. They were to be formalized in a text. What is done in this published decree.
In the decree published on December 24, it is stipulated that agglomerations of more than 150,000 inhabitants will not be obliged to set up low emission zones (LEZ or LEZm) under certain conditions. Thus, the obligation to establish an LEZ is null and void when it is demonstrated "that the average annual concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) are less than or equal to 10g/m3". In reality, this level corresponds to the thresholds of the World Health Organization (WHO), which are more stringent than the current European limit values.
The government estimates that only about ten agglomerations will be concerned, even if it is difficult to know today which city will respect these thresholds.
Another condition that can invalidate a LEZ: “agglomerations can also be exempted from LEZ if they propose alternative measures with equivalent effect”. They must demonstrate no later than eighteen months before the deadline for the introduction obligation that the actions implemented make it possible to reach the concentration limits for nitrogen dioxide "in shorter time periods or similar to those proceeding from the establishment of a low-emissions mobility zone”, indicates the decree.
To date, 11 cities have set up LEZs, including Lyon, Grenoble and Paris. They aim to gradually ban the most polluting vehicles, including heavy goods vehicles. | <urn:uuid:676da579-a982-4044-a3f8-4357e5792ed9> | CC-MAIN-2024-18 | https://www.thetowingmagazine.com/blog/news/france-lez-the-government-is-reversing.html | 2024-04-21T21:55:48Z | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-18/segments/1712296817819.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20240421194551-20240421224551-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.949036 | 423 |
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