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Archive for the 'French as a Second Language Programs' Category
The French Immersion Education Dream: What are the Impediments to its Realization?
Posted in Bilingual Education, French as a Second Language Programs, French Immersion, tagged Canadian Bilingualism, Canadian Parents for french, Core French, Dominic Cardy, Extended Core French, FI Entry Points, French Immersion, FSL Programs, Office of Official Languages, Official bilingualism on February 6, 2020| 3 Comments »
One of Canada's most prized educational innovations, French immersion programs for Anglophone children, continues to generate fierce debate in various parts of the country. Since its inception in 1965 in a small school in the Montreal suburb of St. Lambert, QC,, it has spread right across Canada, actively promoted by Canadian Parents for French (CPF), and exceedingly popular among affluent, upwardly-mobile parents seeking every advantage for their children. The French Immersion Dream, espoused by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, was that the program would succeed in producing a new generation of more fluently bilingual Canadians.
Great progress has been made in integrating French immersion into provincial school systems, but the Dream remains as elusive as ever. While the 2016 Canadian census showed an overall increase in the national bilingualism rate, from 17.5% in 2011 to 17.9% in 2016, the proportion was significantly lower among Canadians whose mother tongue is English (9.2%) or another language (11.7%). Perhaps most telling of all, French immersion is floundering in Canada's only "officially bilingual province," New Brunswick, right next door to largely French-speaking Quebec.
Accessing the opportunity to enrol in French immersion remains a challenge. Some 79% of bilingual Anglophones surveyed in a 2016 survey reported that they learned French in elementary or high school. They also identified the lack of access to French as a Second Language (FSL) courses as a continuing impediment to learning a second official language. One of the most critical contributing factors is the shortage of teachers with the French language proficiency to deliver the programs, particularly in French immersion, where the requirements are much higher than in the reguar stream.
The problems with French immersion in New Brunswick demonstrate, in microcosm, some of the challenges faced by education authorities everywhere outside of Quebec. While hailed as Canada's "only officially bilingual province," making that a reality through changes in education has proven much easier said than done. A year ago, N.B. Auditor General Kim MacPherson produced the latest evidence that French immersion was falling far short of its primary objective of producing more fluently bilingual graduates.
Finding the optimal French Immersion program in the Anglophone school sector has proven elusive to a succession of governments. Three times since 2008 major changes have been introduced in the provincial program, shifting the entry point from Grade 1 to 3 and back again. In 2015-16, an Intensive/Post-Intensive French program was started in Grades 4 -12. Current Education Minister Dominic Cardy is so concerned about the problem that he has waded, once again, into what has proven to be a political minefield, arousing language passions on all sides.
N.B. Auditor General MacPherson delivered a clinical analysis of the sorry state of French immersion in Anglophone school districts. That's significant because French immersion, in 2016-17, enrolled some 40 per cent of all students in the Anglophone sector.
French immersion was far from its fundamental goal of producing a functionally bilingual generation. Just 10 per cent of the 1,624 anglophone students who entered French immersion in Grade 1 back in 2005, the AG reported, actually achieved the N.B. Education Department's proficiency target of "advanced or better" upon Grade 12 graduation. Some two-thirds had dropped out of French immersion before graduation. Of those who did not drop out of the program, a disappointing 40 per cent met the expected standard.
The N.B. Department of Education's official "Everyone at their best" French as a Second Language (FSL) slide show strikes an optimistic tone and gives no indication whatsoever that French immersion is floundering in the province. "Grade 1 entry to FI was successfully introduced in September 2017 and will be the only early entry point in September 2020," it proclaims.
MacPherson was sharply critical of the latest Grade 1 entry point implementation. "Because of rushed implementation," she found, "school districts could not recruit enough qualified teachers to meet the implementation timeline." Teachers lacking the requisite "language proficiency" were hired, she reported, and "significant resources were directed to implementation, and this impacted student performance across the sector."
The AG's report also broke an education sector taboo. Some 90 per cent of N.B. students on personalized leaning plans – serving students with identified learning difficulties – were in the English stream, MacPherson reported, making it "very difficult to teach" in those classes. That confirmed what the weight of research elsewhere has shown: French immersion effectively skims-off most of the academically able students.
What can be done to change the trajectory and produce more anglophone students capable of conversing and working in French in that province — and perhaps elsewhere? Education Minister Cardy is going to launch pilot projects to test alternatives in FSL education. It may well ultimately involve scaling back on the province-wide commitment to single-track French immersion.
Single-track French immersion is not the only way to enhance and advance French as a Second Language (FSL) programming, and, in every jurisdiction, it tends to peter-out in the final grades of high school. It rarely even reaches students from more economically disadvantaged communities.
Parent demands for French immersion for their children became so high in some Canadian urban metropolitan school districts that it threatened to crowd out regular program schools. Some more successful Ontario school districts, such as Halton District School Board, for example, responded by offering double-track French immersion and multi-track programs with advanced hybrid French language options, utilizing elements of FI. Meeting those demands continues to be a challenge in Halton District and in Peel Region, west of Metropolitan Toronto.
Some of the proposed N.B. pilot schools should be modelling and testing the dual track and multi-track models combining French immersion for the most disciplined fully-committed students, Extended Core French for those seeking enrichment, and Core French for those struggling to read or to survive the daily rigours of school.
Starting with Grade 1 in September 2020, there is an opportunity to pilot double-track and multi-track FSL programs. It makes good sense to look to Montreal, Quebec, for English schools that have higher success rates in producing students with bilingual graduation certificates. Extended or Expanded Core French (wherein students take two or three of the six core subjects in French, in addition to a French class over the whole year) is working in some Montreal English language schools and might well prove popular in the province. If nothing else, it has all but eliminated the extraordinarily high student attrition problem affecting most single-track FI models everywhere.
Shifting French immersion entry points back and forth in New Brunswick has done little to inspire confidence in politicians or pliable provincial education officials. It has bred cynicism and strengthened the influence of those advocating leaving everything alone in French language programs. Fixing the problem carries political risks.
Most education initiatives falter because of poor or uneven implementation and the September 2020 timeline looks too rushed. Whatever Minister Cardy and his Department do, let's hope they follow the Auditor General's wisest advice. Education strategies, the AG reminded us, should be based upon "expert research, in-depth needs assessment and the best practices" found in other provinces and international jurisdictions. Put more simply, do your preparatory homework and take the time to get it right.
What are the prime impediments to implementing French as a Second Language (FSL) programs like French immersion in Anglophone Canadian schools? How important is the milieu in which French language learning is actually taking place? How has the shortage of French teachers with the requisite proficiency compounded the difficulties? Are there viable alternatives to single-track French immersion that might prove more successful in the long run?


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The Swedish punter took home more than 1,578,750 kr (approximately $200,000) after playing Twin Spin at Thrills Casino.
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Ascetic practices, concentration and bodily postures described in the Vedas may have been precursors to yoga.[59][60] According to Geoffrey Samuel, "Our best evidence to date suggests that [yogic] practices developed in the same ascetic circles as the early sramana movements (Buddhists, Jainas and Ajivikas), probably in around the sixth and fifth centuries BCE."[8]
The Bhakti movement was a development in medieval Hinduism which advocated the concept of a personal God (or "Supreme Personality of Godhead"). The movement was initiated by the Alvars of South India in the 6th to 9th centuries, and it started gaining influence throughout India by the 12th to 15th centuries.[178] Shaiva and Vaishnava bhakti traditions integrated aspects of Yoga Sutras, such as the practical meditative exercises, with devotion.[179] Bhagavata Purana elucidates the practice of a form of yoga called viraha (separation) bhakti. Viraha bhakti emphasizes one pointed concentration on Krishna.[180]
What started as an alternative to standard-issue military conditioning quickly grew into a life-changing career as Anthony "Flama Blanca" Fuhrman discovered his knack for lifting heavy and moving fast could catapult him to the top of his sport. Find out how this world-class Strongman and Titan Games competitor uses pop music and a larger-than-life persona to conquer the toughest lifts in competition. July 02, 2019 • 42 min read
In 2009, the Council of Ulemas, an Islamic body in Indonesia, passed a fatwa banning yoga on the grounds that it contains Hindu elements.[303] These fatwas have, in turn, been criticized by Darul Uloom Deoband, a Deobandi Islamic seminary in India.[304] Similar fatwas banning yoga, for its link to Hinduism, were issued by the Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa in Egypt in 2004, and by Islamic clerics in Singapore earlier.[305]
In competitive bodybuilding, bodybuilders aspire to develop and maintain an aesthetically pleasing body and balanced physique.[16][17] In prejudging, competitors do a series of mandatory poses: the front lat spread, rear lat spread, front double biceps, back double biceps, side chest, side triceps, Most Muscular (men only), abdominals and thighs. Each competitor also performs a personal choreographed routine to display their physique. A posedown is usually held at the end of a posing round, while judges are finishing their scoring. Bodybuilders usually spend a lot of time practising their posing in front of mirrors or under the guidance of their coach.
^ Mangano, Kelsey M.; Sahni, Shivani; Kiel, Douglas P.; Tucker, Katherine L.; Dufour, Alyssa B.; Hannan, Marian T. (February 8, 2017). "Dietary protein is associated with musculoskeletal health independently of dietary pattern: the Framingham Third Generation Study". The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 105 (3): 714–722. doi:10.3945/ajcn.116.136762. PMC 5320406. PMID 28179224 – via ajcn.nutrition.org.
^ James Mallinson, "Sāktism and Hathayoga," 6 March 2012. PDF file Archived 16 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine [accessed 10 June 2012] pp. 20–21 "The Buddha himself is said to have tried both pressing his tongue to the back of his mouth, in a manner similar to that of the hathayogic khecarīmudrā, and ukkutikappadhāna, a squatting posture which may be related to hathayogic techniques such as mahāmudrā, mahābandha, mahāvedha, mūlabandha, and vajrāsana in which pressure is put on the perineum with the heel, in order to force upwards the breath or Kundalinī."
In the early 2000s, the IFBB was attempting to make bodybuilding an Olympic sport. It obtained full IOC membership in 2000 and was attempting to get approved as a demonstration event at the Olympics, which would hopefully lead to it being added as a full contest. This did not happen and Olympic recognition for bodybuilding remains controversial since many argue that bodybuilding is not a sport.[11]
The early practice of Jain yoga seems to have been divided into several types, including meditation (dhyāna), abandonment of the body (kāyotsarga), contemplation (anuprekṣā), and reflection (bhāvanā).[256] Some of the earliest sources for Jain yoga are the Uttarādhyayana-sūtra, the Āvaśyaka-sūtra, the Sthananga Sutra (c. 2nd century BCE). Later works include Kundakunda's Vārassa-aṇuvekkhā ("Twelve Contemplations", c. 1st century BCE to 1st century CE), Haribhadra's Yogadṛṣṭisamuccya (8th century) and the Yogaśāstra of Hemachandra (12th century). Later forms of Jain yoga adopted Hindu influences, such as ideas from Patanjali's yoga and later Tantric yoga (in the works of Haribhadra and Hemachandra respectively). The Jains also developed a progressive path to liberation through yogic praxis, outlining several levels of virtue called gunasthanas.
YouTube sensation and Real World alum Scott Herman knows there's no BS-ing on social media. After working his way up from maintenance to manager at his local gym and earning his personal training certification in the process, it didn't take long for this natural-born entrepreneur to see the value of YouTube when it was still in its infancy. Fast-forward a decade, and Herman has built an online fitness empire as one of YouTube's best-known authorities on exercise and fitness and a go-to guru for results-driven workouts. May 21, 2019 • 34 min read
SLPY offers dynamic, HEATED yoga classes that focus on balanced movement, strength, and breath. SLPY classes meet you where you are and are accessible to everyone—regardless of your age, flexibility, and experience. Built on the foundation of Baptiste yoga, our powerful flow can help you reduce stress, lose weight, heal injuries, increase focus, and much more.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Diverse perspectives are fundamental to the success of science, yet equity has not been achieved. The mission of our organization is to enrich science by providing support to womxn* in neuroscience. We will redefine the scientific community to be one in which womxn are empowered to pursue genuine self-expression, scientific endeavors, and career advancement at all levels. This will broadly be achieved by fostering self-education, institutional reform, and promoting advocacy for all in neuroscience.
*Womxn is used as an inclusive term that encompasses all people who are cis-female, trans-female, non-binary, genderqueer, or female-identifying.
Our group is focused on womxn and gender issues in neuroscience, but we welcome anyone to participate in supporting gender equity in science.
© 2019 Womxn in Neuroscience. Theme by Anders Norén.


post. Maximum marks are 100 and duration of the exam is 3 hours.
b. Everyone cooperated. Everyone was a hero.
c. There will be many times as many jobs coming into being as are destroyed.
to work in your company"
yearn could I but teach the hundredth part of what from thee I learn.
a. Explain the use of six thinking hats. How does it help in group discussions?
exceed those of batting, bowling or fielding. Explain.
did the teachers accept these answers?
a. List all the qualities a true friend should have, according to Kahlil Gibran.
c. Does the poet approve of celebrating Mother's Day? Explain.
than "Utility". Justify your answer.
the story going to create problems for the aunt?
the Wall and how his life was affected.
c. Is the nightingale's sacrifice in vain? Give reasons to support your answer.
One day in primary school, the teacher told our class, "Draw a leaf"
you'll become a good artist," and gave me 10 marks out of 10.
1. What were the children asked to draw?
2. How did the teacher praise the writer of the passage?
3. Write the synonym of "furious".
4. Write the antonym of "backwards".
exclaim: "Here is the running stream!"
harp strings has always been a sign of intimate friendship.
1. What happened to the listener?
2. How did the first friend express his grief?
3. Write a synonym of "see".
4. What is the sign of intimate friendship?


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Q: Changing C source code in an R package I am pretty new to R.
If I want to change a C source code in an R package, do I need to uninstall and install the R package every time I change the C code? Thanks.

A: No, you do not need to explicitly uninstall a package. You can install only the C library (provided there are no changes in the R code), e.g., R CMD INSTALL --libs-only MyPkg or R CMD INSTALL --libs-only --no-test-load MyPkg. Likely you'll start a new R session, typically with some kind of test script R -f my_test.R. See R --help and R CMD INSTALL --help.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Technology, innovation and simplicity are bringing down the cost of repairing manholes in Sweet Home.
Public Works Director Greg Springman is reluctant to estimate the potential savings of a new technique for manhole repair because the city hasn't started implementing it yet and therefore lacks data. But Dominic Valloni, acting maintenance superintendent, isn't shy about letting people know he predicts it will cut repair costs by as much as half.


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Murdered North Korean Kim Jong Nam had $100,000 in backpack, police witness says
Online: Oct 12, 2017
KUALA LUMPUR - The half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was carrying $100,000 in cash in his backpack at the time of his murder, the police officer investigating the case told a Malaysian court on Wednesday.
Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Doan Thi Huong, 28, a Vietnamese, are charged with murdering Kim Jong Nam by smearing his face with VX, a chemical poison banned by the United Nations, at Kuala Lumpur airport on Feb. 13.
The money is now stored in a safe in the office of the police chief of the Sepang district, which has jurisdiction over the murder site, police official Wan Azirul Nizam Che Wan Aziz said.
Wan Azirul said he took possession of the victim's blazer, backpack and watch and handed them to the chemistry department for analysis, but was later told by investigation authorities to hand them over to representatives of the North Korean embassy.
"I do not know why, I was following orders," he added.
In court, the prosecution played more than 30 videos of closed-circuit television footage of the women's activities, after Judge Azmi Ariffin overruled defense objections to their admissibility, saying it could be challenged later in the case.
The defense lawyers for both Huong and Siti Aisyah said the videos could be considered hearsay, as the investigating officer did not record them himself and was not present to witness the crime.
Some of the footage, dated Feb. 11, appeared to show Huong approaching an unidentified man from behind and placing her hands around his neck and face, before backing away slowly with her head slightly lowered and her hands put together.
Most of the videos, however, appeared to show Huong and Siti Aisyah before, during and after the attack on Kim Jong Nam. The two women were mostly seen in separate locations, save for during the attack and when they were at a taxi-stand later.
The two women were in the same area at the time of the attack, Wan Azirul, who is with the Sepang criminal investigations department, confirmed.
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A Pennsylvania judge will decide whether to stop changes to public welfare programs approved in June by state lawmakers and Gov. Tom Corbett.
Advocacy groups have several problems with changes enacted by Act 80.
They don't like the elimination of General Assistance, the Depression-era cash grant program for the poor and disabled.
And they don't like how the law was passed.
It doesn't just cut General Assistance — it changes seven different welfare programs.
Michael Froehlich, an attorney with Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, says the move broke a rule requiring that a piece of legislation only deal with a single subject.
"The way that Act 80 was enacted violated the Pennsylvania state Constitution because it rolled these seven very different changes into one bill," he said.
Commonwealth attorneys argue the measure did have a unifying purpose: public welfare programs.
Act 80 affects things such as nursing home assessments and welfare-to-work programs. It also created a pilot program for counties wishing to have more discretion over how to allocate funds for human services.
"We believe that if the Legislature had to vote up or down on whether to eliminate General Assistance, and that was the sole issue presented, and now that … they've learned more about the heart-breaking consequences of eliminating General Assistance, that the vote very likely would come out in a different way," Froehlich said Tuesday.
About 70,000 Pennsylvanians received an average of $200 a month from the program. Most live in Philadelphia.


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Young pilot Branson (Louis Koo) recently takes over Skylette, his father's aviation empire, only to realize his old flames Cassie (Charmaine Sheh) is a flight attendant there. Several years ago, he was forced to break up with her and move to New York to take care of his father's business. To this day, the two continue to harbor feelings for each other but decide to keep them bottled up. In an effort to rebrand the airline, Branson invites rock idol TM (Sammi Cheng) to star in an upcoming commercial and appoints Sam (Francis Ng) as her flying consultant. Incongruent in both tastes and experience, this odd couple gets off on the wrong foot. As the shoot progresses, however, they slowly discover each other's merits, developing a strong mutual attraction.
The artists of SM Town who took over the world, a youth biography about their dreams and many years of effort and passion for a moment of glory.


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Christopher Læssø in new YouSee-series
Christopher Læssø as hardcore gang-member in new YouSee-series
Humiliation, physical slaps and toilet cleaning are everyday occurrences for the underdog Nicki; a young guy who is diligently trying to work his way up in an unnamed street gang in a suburban area west of Copenhagen. But one day, when one of the high-ranking gang members is released from prison, Nicki gets a unique opportunity that can turn his life upside down. But he must consider his actions carefully, because his decisions can have fatal consequences.
'Frit Land' is a prequel to the popular YouSee Tv series '2 Døgn', where the audience is taken to the suburban area west of Copenhagen to get an authentic insight into the hard-boiled gang environment. The second season of Nicolai Achton and Oscar Dyekjær Gieses nervewracking tv-serie, 'Frit Land', takes place three years earlier, and this time it focuses on the low-life criminal Nicki Nørrebro (Sebastian Bull) and his introduction to the local gang.
Christopher Læssøs acts the role as the temperamental gang member Simon, who is also a good friend of the newly prison-released Markus (Gustav Dyekjær Giese). Simon and Markus take the submissive Nicki under their wings, and this is when Nicki faces dilemmas which can define his future in the criminal gangland.
'Free Land' is a Danish crime drama series comprising a total of four episodes which each are 20 minutes in length. Through a poetic narrative of the urban street gang, the series is portraying the inside of the criminal world on Vestegnen. It is full of intensity and disturbing scenes, that keeps the audience engaged throughout the duration of the show.
The series is created by Nicolai Achton and Oscar Dyekjær Giese, and premiers on the 11th of April at YouSee. Nicolai Achton is the director of all four episodes, Oscar Dyekjær Giese wrote the script, and the series is produces by DriveStudios with producer Anders N. Berg in lead.


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It's going to be a tough year
Published:Sunday | January 5, 2014 | 12:00 AM
A section of the Goat Islands.-FILE
Peter Espeut
It's going to be a tough year. I am happy to be alive to see the new year - and it is a happy new year - but 2014 is going to be a tough year.
Like most Jamaicans, I can feel my standard of living declining, as my living expenses increase and the value of my income is eaten away by devaluation and inflation. I can tighten my belt another notch, but for many, further cutting back will mean malnutrition, and taking less medication. In material terms, 2014 is going to be a tough year.
But less creature comforts is not what is uppermost in my mind as I look ahead to 2014. This new year is going to be one of intense ideological struggle - on several fronts at the same time.
Instead of single-mindedly pursuing its own idea of a logistics hub centred on Kingston Harbour, Tinson Pen and Caymanas, the Government is going to focus on bending over backwards to facilitate the logistics hub the Chinese wish to build in the Portland Bight Protected Area centred on the Goat Islands. Or are they bending over forwards?
GOAT ISLANDS' EFFECTS
We Jamaicans want a logistics hub, but a substantial and growing number of us do not want it in an ecologically sensitive area, where it will destroy a Ramsar Site, a fish sanctuary, a game sanctuary, and a forest reserve, and foreclose on the future environmental and economic benefits those areas will bring to Jamaicans.
Some time around April, the Chinese will submit their formal hub proposal to the Jamaican Government, and then the ideological battle will really begin. It is likely that the Government will wish to 'run wid it' without an environmental impact assessment (the environment be damned! It's jobs, jobs, jobs!), which will lead to a public outcry, and probably an extended court battle.
Environmentalists will accuse the Government of seeking to break or bypass its own laws and procedures, in pursuit of unsustainable development; and environmentalists like myself will be accused of being anti-development, which would be a damned lie! Thousands will take to the streets to show their disapproval, and the unpopularity of the Government will exacerbate it. Just the thought of it makes me tired! Yes, 2014 is going to be a tough year.
FINANCE REFORM
In 2014, both the People's National Party (PNP) and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) will team up to try to raid the public purse under the headline 'Campaign Finance Reform'. Loop-holy legislation will be tabled, which will not require them to name their donors and the amounts they contribute. Influence peddling will be able to continue apace, which is what both the politicians and the private sector want.
The dead weight of political corruption has held back Jamaica's progress for decades. The refusal of both parties to dismantle their garrisons and break their links with political thuggery, and now the refusal to bring transparency to campaign financing, is costing us dearly. The legislation to allow the PNP and JLP to get public money on top of the shady donations they now receive will be tabled this year, and will have to be resisted strongly. Just the thought of it makes me tired! Yes, 2014 is going to be a tough year.
The Government is also going to table legislation (which they call flexiweek) which will eliminate the concept of a week-end; traditional Christians worship on Sundays, and Jews and Seventh-day Adventists on Saturdays; the proposed flexi-week legislation will allow management to require workers to labour on Saturdays and Sundays, as on any other day. Workers who plead that they need their day of worship, or a regular day with their families (especially their children), will have no legal ground to stand on; there will be tremendous opportunity for victimisation here.
This is a profound attack not just upon the Church but upon religion. It is hard to see how a government elected on the lowest turnout in Jamaica's history will push this one across a strongly religious Jamaican public. I think it will bring widespread public outcry. Just the thought of it makes me tired! Yes, 2014 is going to be a tough year.
As the secularists and the gay lobby get bolder, the attacks upon the Church and upon the family will get louder and stronger. The war on traditional Jamaican culture will get more intense, and will require a more reasoned and measured response. I am not so naïve as to believe that logic and good sense will dominate the discussion; ad hominem arguments, and emotional claims of fictitious 'rights', will predominate. It will be important to lay the case before the public and let them decide. Just the thought of it makes me tired! 2014 is going to be a tough year.
But then, life is tough! You have a happy new year.
Peter Espeut is a sociologist and a Roman Catholic deacon. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com


This floor lamp is created with driftwood branches found washed up on the shore. An almost free lamp! Branches are held together with screws, and cut to size. A socket is attached to the top of one of the branches, then wired up. All the lamp parts can be found at a hardware store as a kit. For detailed instructions, please visit my website.


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Il torneo di sciabola a squadre femminile dei giochi olimpici di Tokyo 2020 si è svolto il 31 luglio 2021 presso la Makuhari Messe.

Risultati

Finali

Finali 5º/8º posto

Classifica finale

Scherma ai Giochi della XXXII Olimpiade

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today EMILY's List, the nation's largest resource for women in politics, responded to Virginia state Senator Amanda Chase's comments attacking and blaming survivors of sexual assault. Christina Reynolds, vice president of communications at EMILY's List, released the following statement:
"It's time for Senator Chase to go. Her latest comments are backward, out-of-touch, and a slap in the face to millions of sexual assault survivors across the country. In contrast, Amanda Pohl understands the issues facing the people of Senate District 11 and will work hard to ensure that survivors have a voice once she is elected. We look forward to helping her and our slate of pro-choice Democratic women in Virginia win this November, and can't wait to see them change the face of power in Richmond."
EMILY's List, the nation's largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $600 million to elect pro-choice Democratic women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, and turning out women voters to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect 150 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and nearly 1,100 women to state and local office. Nearly 40 percent of the candidates EMILY's List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. During the historic 2017-2018 cycle, EMILY's List raised a record-breaking $110 million and launched a record independent expenditure campaign. We helped elect 34 new women to the House, including 24 red-to-blue victories; enough seats to have delivered the U.S. House majority alone. Since the 2016 election, more than 46,000 women have reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state and national offices.


In the note for the previous week, we had expressed possibility of the equity market being pushed into some consolidation post finding resistance at the higher levels.
The week that has gone by remained quite volatile. After volatile movements on either side, the benchmark Nifty50 finally ended the week with a net gain of 67.60 points or 0.66 per cent. This week's close was aided with a sharp short covering aided by the outcome of exit polls that showed BJP retaining power in Gujarat.
Going into trade on Monday, we are likely to see a positive but volatile start to the week. In all likelihood, we might see some positive opening. Just as the Gujarat Election results or trends start trickling in on Monday, we will see the markets reacting in a volatile manner. However, if nothing unexpected comes out of it, we will see the market inching higher towards its previous high.
However, in the same breath, we do not see it posting meaningfully fresh highs in any case.
The levels of 10,410 and 10,490 will play out as immediate resistance levels. The levels of 10,150 and 10,090 will act as immediate supports.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) on the weekly charts is 61.2382 and it remains neutral showing no divergence to the price. The weekly MACD stays bearish while trading below its signal line. A candle with a long lower shadow occurred on the weekly charts. This may mean bullish reversal but it requires confirmation on the next candle.
All in all, we might see some positive start, but also expect volatility to remain ingrained in the system.
Having said this, if we look at the pattern analysis, we still expect the levels of 10,490 resist at higher levels. Also, the lead indicators like RSI remained in a lower top formation, and are yet to break out from a range. We expect the short covering that took place in the week that has gone by to be effectively replaced with fresh buying. Until this happens, while selective sector specific purchases may be made, bulk of the up moves should be utilised to book and protect profits.
A study of Relative Rotation Graphs – RRG show that along with the broader market, the PSU banks, media and infra stocks will continue to relatively outperform the nifty accompanied by the midcaps.
We will see metals continue to lose overall momentum along with pharma. Also joining the likely relative outperformers will be the FMCG and Nifty Junior Pack. Along with pharma, not meaningful upmove is likely in auto and financial services pack on weekly bias. IT is expected to consolidate with a positive bias.
Important Note: RRG charts show you the relative strength and momentum for a group of stocks. In the above Chart, they show relative performance as against NIFTY Index and should not be used directly as buy or sell signals.
The post Dalal Street Week Ahead: Nifty to stay volatile; upside capped appeared first on News Wire Now.


text:
Q: Apache is crashing when executing my PHP script I currently have around 34k pins/auths generated in my database, and when I run this it just says This webpage is not available and says that apache crashed. I'm not sure what's causing it to crash because it generated 34k so far without problems. If I could get pointers or anything on what's causing my script to crash that would be great. Thanks. Also I'm running this on a local wamp server. So it gave me an apache crash popup, but I can't seem to get it to show again.
EDIT Here's the crash pop up info:
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportQueue\AppCrash_httpd.exe_7bb4b47e7db260ba266dfdf76b7ba24f8a5e099_cab_175bb644\WERB55A.tmp.appcompat.txt
      C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportQueue\AppCrash_httpd.exe_7bb4b47e7db260ba266dfdf76b7ba24f8a5e099_cab_175bb644\WERB56A.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
      C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportQueue\AppCrash_httpd.exe_7bb4b47e7db260ba266dfdf76b7ba24f8a5e099_cab_175bb644\WERB5E9.tmp.mdmp
error log:
[Sat Apr 12 19:17:01.362346 2014] [core:notice] [pid 3124:tid 412] AH00094: Command line: 'c:\\wamp\\bin\\apache\\apache2.4.4\\bin\\httpd.exe -d C:/wamp/bin/apache/Apache2.4.4'
[Sat Apr 12 19:17:01.363346 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 3124:tid 412] AH00418: Parent: Created child process 940
[Sat Apr 12 19:17:01.599360 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 940:tid 308] AH00354: Child: Starting 150 worker threads.
[Sat Apr 12 19:17:04.302514 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 3124:tid 412] AH00428: Parent: child process 940 exited with status 255 -- Restarting.
[Sat Apr 12 19:17:04.389519 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 3124:tid 412] AH00455: Apache/2.4.4 (Win64) PHP/5.4.12 configured -- resuming normal operations
[Sat Apr 12 19:17:04.389519 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 3124:tid 412] AH00456: Server built: Feb 22 2013 22:08:37
[Sat Apr 12 19:17:04.389519 2014] [core:notice] [pid 3124:tid 412] AH00094: Command line: 'c:\\wamp\\bin\\apache\\apache2.4.4\\bin\\httpd.exe -d C:/wamp/bin/apache/Apache2.4.4'
[Sat Apr 12 19:17:04.391519 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 3124:tid 412] AH00418: Parent: Created child process 2996
[Sat Apr 12 19:17:04.647534 2014] [mpm_winnt:notice] [pid 2996:tid 308] AH00354: Child: Starting 150 worker threads.

code:
<?php
    ini_set('xdebug.max_nesting_level', 1000000); //this is to fix the recursion?
    ini_set('max_execution_time', 3000000); //300 seconds = 5 minutes
    ini_set('memory_limit', -1);
    ini_set('error_reporting', E_ALL);
    //Enter your database connection details here.
    $host = 'localhost';
    $db_name = 'pins';
    $db_username = 'root';
    $db_password = '';
    date_default_timezone_set('America/Los_Angeles');
    try
    {
        $pdo = new PDO('mysql:host='. $host .';dbname='.$db_name, $db_username, $db_password);
    }
    catch (PDOException $e)
    {
        exit('Error Connecting To DataBase');
    }
    $starttime = microtime(true);
    class lists
    {
        public $pdo;
        function __construct($pdo)
        {
            $this->pdo = $pdo;
        }
        function duplicateCode($code)
        {
            $query = $this->pdo->prepare("SELECT 1 FROM pins WHERE pins_pin = ?");
            $query->bindValue(1, $code);
            $query->execute();
            return $query->fetch();
        }
        function generateCode()
        {
            $code = "AA" . substr(str_shuffle('0123456789'), 0, 8);
            if($this->duplicateCode($code))
            {
                return $this->generateCode();
            }
            else
            {
                return $code;
            }
        }
        function generatePin($code)
        {
            $query = $this->pdo->prepare("INSERT INTO pins (pins_pin) VALUES (?)");
            $query->bindValue(1, $code);
            $query->execute();
            return;
        }
    }
    function post_to_url($url, $data) {
        $fields = '';
        foreach ($data as $key => $value) {
            $fields .= $key . '=' . $value . '&';
        }
        rtrim($fields, '&');

        $post = curl_init();

        curl_setopt($post, CURLOPT_URL, $url);
        curl_setopt($post, CURLOPT_POST, count($data));
        curl_setopt($post, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $fields);
        curl_setopt($post, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);

        $result = curl_exec($post);

        curl_close($post);
        return $result;
    }
    $list = new lists($pdo);
    for($i = 0; $i < 100000; $i++)
    {
        $code = $list->generateCode();
        $pin = $list->generatePin($code);
    }
    $endtime = microtime(true);
    $duration = $endtime - $starttime; //calculates total time taken
    echo $duration;
?>

A: Chances are that you're exceeding an internal recursion limit by calling lists::generateCode() repeatedly.
An easy fix for this will be to eliminate the recursion:
function generateCode()
{
    do {
        $code = "AA" . substr(str_shuffle('0123456789'), 0, 8);
    } while ($this->duplicateCode($code));
    return $code;
}

However, there's a more fundamental issue at hand here. Your code is generating codes which begin with two As, then contain 6 digits, all of which must be different. There are only 10! ÷ (10 - 6)! = 151,200 possible codes which fit this pattern - once you have generated all of them, no more will be available, and even this corrected code will loop endlessly. (Additionally, if str_shuffle() does not visit all of the possible permutations — which is entirely possible — the set of possible outputs will be even smaller than this.)
Unless you have a hard requirement that all six digits be different, I would strongly recommend that you instead use any sequence of six digits, e.g.:
  $code = sprintf("AA%06d", rand(0, 999999));


Do you remember my earlier post where I had mentioned that I use homemade ubtans (bathing powders)? No? Well, read this to refresh your mind. I am a big fan of these ubtans as I precisely know what's going to touch my skin – rose petal powders, neem leaves powder, orange peel powder, sandalwood powder, milk cream, turmeric, etc. However, there are times when I yearn for an all-natural handmade soap. These handmade soaps that are made of ingredients that I don't have or don't include it in my bathing ritual. That's what I got recently.
These handcrafted soaps using ingredients like avocado and Australian clay was brought to my attention, and I knew I had to try them. Did I like them? Oh, yes, definitely yes!
These soaps are made using ingredients like palm oil, olive oil, rice bran oil, avocado oil, jojoba oil, canola oil, castor oil, shea butter, coconut oil, glycerine, water and MSM along with the core ingredient Avocado and Australian Clay.
It gave me immense relief and confidence to learn that MSM is something commonly found in the human body.
It's faint green in colour, doesn't smell of avocado really, but something light and refreshing. I used it for good 10 days.
It leaves my body hydrated. Mumbai is not cold at this moment, but bathing with hot water leaves the skin dry. However, I don't need to apply cream or oil post shower. Also, avocado soap is good for eczema and since I have been using it, I have got no new flare ups, thankfully.
She had previously used avocado soap a couple of times and found it 'nice smelling', hence wanted this one for herself.
Australian clay is good for detoxifying and deep restorative properties. It removes acne, blackheads and breakouts.
The no-fuss no-plastic packaging earned a thumbs-up from my side.
The soaps have very mild fragrance which I like.
The skin doesn't feel dry or itchy post shower, hence can be used in monsoon or at the early onset of winter or in the humid climate of Mumbai.
IONIC MSM have a variety of products for health care, hair care, skin care, oral care and even pet care. Do visit their site to find out.
Meanwhile, I will tell you about one more product that arrested my attention.
It was their Stretch Marks Removal gel.
Stretch marks are silver stripes on the skin, especially on the abdomen, thighs and buttock caused by distention of the skin from weight gain or loss or during pregnancy.
I didn't get a single stretch mark during my pregnancy, but that's a rarity as most women get stretch marks.
Foods – Foods rich in antioxidants and vitamins specifically A, C and E are good for skin health. They have anti-inflammatory properties and reduce free radicals in the body and skin, helping the skin maintain its natural elasticity. Vitamin C specifically helps in collagen formation which in turn provides elasticity to the skin and helps it look more youthful and healthier.
Laser treatments and cosmetic surgeries – Laser therapy helps in improving the appearance of stretch marks and increasing collagen production over time. But these treatments are costly. Also, it's advisable to avail of a good plastic, cosmetic or skin surgeon to carry out these procedures.
Stretch marks removal gel – A non-invasive method to reduce stretch marks is using stretch mark removal gel. It smoothens and tones the skin, repairs broken collagen and helps to lighten stretch marks without causing allergies, pigmentation or irritation to the skin. They even widen blood vessels to improve circulation soothes stretched skin. Many women have benefited from using such gels.
That's it from my side. Hope you liked this honest review of all-natural handmade soaps. Do give a shout out if you liked it and get in touch with me if you have questions or would like to know more about these products.
Sounds like a wonderful product. Will try it. I like your honest review.
Thank you Priya. Yes I quite liked the product. Would recommend for personal use and gifting both.
That's difficult. I agree! Find a similar product in your country!!
I love using handmade soaps and have used it sometime back–a cousin prepares these at home. The only reason I like these soaps is they don't leave the skin feeling dry after bath. That's why I have started using besan-milk-turmeric powder for my face as well as body these days, because however much glycerine they add to their soaps, the soap manufacturers can never give us soaps that truly care for the skin!
It was a very good review, Anshu!
Shilpa, I agree with you, the soap manufacturers can never compete with homemade soaps. They are the best kinds. If your cousin is making them, then it must be 100% reliable.
However, nothing beats the authenticity of homemade ubtan – the best part is you can add whatever you feel like or are in the mood to apply, and lo and behold your ubtan is ready.
I use milk and milk cream, and in summers, lemon or curd. It feels refreshing and soft after taking the bath.


text:
namespace cpp_client
{

namespace spiders
{

bool Cutter_::cut(const Web& web)
{
    std::string order = R"({"event": "run", "data": {"functionName": "cut", "caller": {"id": ")";
    order += this->id + R"("}, "args": {)";

    order += std::string("\"web\":") + (web ? (std::string("{\"id\":\"") + web->id + "\"}") : std::string("null"));

    order += "}}}";
    Spiders::instance()->send(order);
    //Go until not a delta
    std::unique_ptr<Any> info;
    //until a not bool is seen (i.e., the delta has been processed)
    do
    {
        info = Spiders::instance()->handle_response();
    } while(info->type() == typeid(bool));
    auto doc = info->as<rapidjson::Document*>();
    auto loc = doc->FindMember("data");
    if(loc == doc->MemberEnd())
    {
       return {};
    }
    auto& val = loc->value;
    Any to_return;
    morph_any(to_return, val);
    return to_return.as<bool>();
}

Cutter_::Cutter_(std::initializer_list<std::pair<std::string, Any&&>> init) :
    Spiderling_{
        {"cuttingWeb", Any{std::decay<decltype(cutting_web)>::type{}}},
    },
    cutting_web(variables_["cuttingWeb"].as<std::decay<decltype(cutting_web)>::type>())
{
    for(auto&& obj : init)
    {
      variables_.emplace(std::make_pair(std::move(obj.first), std::move(obj.second)));
    }
}

Cutter_::~Cutter_() = default;

void Cutter_::resize(const std::string& name, std::size_t size)
{
    try
    {
        Spiderling_::resize(name, size);
        return;
    }
    catch(...){}
    throw Bad_manipulation(name + " in Cutter treated as a vector, but it is not a vector.");
}

void Cutter_::change_vec_values(const std::string& name, std::vector<std::pair<std::size_t, Any>>& values)
{
    try
    {
        Spiderling_::change_vec_values(name, values);
        return;
    }
    catch(...){}
    throw Bad_manipulation(name + " in Cutter treated as a vector, but it is not a vector.");
}

void Cutter_::remove_key(const std::string& name, Any& key)
{
    try
    {
        Spiderling_::remove_key(name, key);
        return;
    }
    catch(...){}
    throw Bad_manipulation(name + " in Cutter treated as a map, but it is not a map.");
}

std::unique_ptr<Any> Cutter_::add_key_value(const std::string& name, Any& key, Any& value)
{
    try
    {
        return Spiderling_::add_key_value(name, key, value);
    }
    catch(...){}
    throw Bad_manipulation(name + " in Cutter treated as a map, but it is not a map.");
}

bool Cutter_::is_map(const std::string& name)
{
    try
    {
        return Spiderling_::is_map(name);
    }
    catch(...){}
    return false;
}

void Cutter_::rebind_by_name(Any* to_change, const std::string& member, std::shared_ptr<Base_object> ref)
{
   if(member == "cuttingWeb")
   {
      to_change->as<Web>() = std::static_pointer_cast<Web_>(ref);
      return;
   }
   try
   {
      Spiderling_::rebind_by_name(to_change, member, ref);
      return;
   }
   catch(...){}
   throw Bad_manipulation(member + " in Cutter treated as a reference, but it is not a reference.");
}

} // spiders

} // cpp_client

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Official Microsoft Blog
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Microsoft Middle East & Africa
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Search Search blogs.microsoft.com
SQL Server 2016: The database for mission-critical intelligence
Mar 10, 2016 | Joseph Sirosh - Corporate Vice President, Data Group, Microsoft
The world around us, every business and nearly every industry, is being transformed by technology. This disruption is driven, in part, by the intersection of three trends: a massive explosion of data, intelligence from machine learning and advanced analytics, and the economics and agility of cloud computing.
While databases power nearly every aspect of business today, they were not originally designed with this disruption in mind. Traditional databases were about recording and retrieving transactions such as orders and payments very reliably, very securely and efficiently. They were designed to enable reliable, secure, mission-critical transactional applications at small to medium scale, in on-premises datacenters.
Databases built to get ahead of today's disruptions do very fast analyses of live data in-memory as transactions are being recorded or queried. They support very low latency advanced analytics and machine learning, such as forecasting and predictive models, on the same data, so that applications can easily embed data-driven intelligence. They allow databases to be offered as a fully managed service in the cloud, in turn making it easy to build and deploy intelligent Software as a Service (SaaS) apps.
They also provide innovative security features built for a world where a majority of data is accessible over the Internet. They support 24×7 high-availability, efficient management and database administration across platforms. They therefore enable mission critical intelligent applications to be built and managed both in the cloud and on-premises. They are exciting harbingers of a new world of ambient intelligence.
We built SQL Server 2016 for this new world, and to help businesses get ahead of today's disruptions. It supports hybrid transactional/analytical processing, advanced analytics and machine learning, mobile BI, data integration, always encrypted query processing capabilities and in-memory transactions with persistence. It is also perhaps the world's only relational database to be "born cloud-first," with the majority of features first deployed and tested in Azure, across 22 global datacenters and billions of requests per day. It is customer tested and battle ready.
Let me share with you what industry analysts and our customers think.
Industry analysts recognize the breadth and depth of our capabilities in data, intelligence and the cloud. Microsoft is the only company recognized as a leader across data platforms and cloud by Gartner in both vision and execution, in database, business intelligence, advanced analytics, data warehouse, cloud infrastructure and cloud application platforms.
The customers we've been working with in preview share our excitement and are already benefiting from new innovations, such as built-in analytics.
PROS Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PRO) is a revenue and profit realization company that helps B2B and B2C customers achieve their business goals through data science. Royce Kallesen, senior director of Science and Research at PROS says: "Microsoft R's parallelization and enhanced memory management on the server integrated with SQL Server provides much faster results on a common platform with built-in security." They have realized over 100x faster advanced analytics using SQL Server and built-in Microsoft R Server.
In addition to faster analytics, the real-time in-memory processing capabilities of SQL Server are industry leading. This technology allows up to 100x faster analytics with updatable in-memory columnstores. In addition, as the only commercial database that leads simultaneously in both transaction processing (per the TPC-E benchmark) and data warehousing (per the TPC-H benchmark), SQL Server allows customers to realize incredible performance against massive data sets and gain real-time insights – across all workloads, new and existing applications.
"KPMG observed approximately 60 percent reduction in execution time and 10x table-compression gains for one of the main analytical procedures by leveraging Columnstore Indexes and Parallel Insert functions in SQL Server 2016," says Michael S. Sellman, executive director, Global IT Services, KPMG LLP.
According to Chris Stolte, co-founder and chief development offficer of Tableau, Inc., "an average 190%+ interactive query performance improvement enables our customers to visually explore large datasets in real-time, even against transactional databases."
With unique hybrid capabilities, any SQL Server deployment or app can span private clouds, hosted clouds and our public cloud, Microsoft Azure. New Stretch Database technology allows customers to dynamically, transparently and securely stretch their transactional data to Azure, creating a massive database with great price performance. Customers can also use new AlwaysOn Availability Groups to enable disaster recovery at low cost.
Security has never been more important, and we're humbled to be the industry's least vulnerable database, six years running, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) public security board. Several capabilities in SQL Server 2016 help protect data at rest and in memory (Always Encrypted), encrypt all user data with low performance overhead (Transparent Data Encryption), mitigate attacks with support for Transport Layer Security version 1.2, and allow developers to build applications that restrict access and protect data from specific users with Dynamic Data Masking (DDM) and Row Level Security (RLS).
DocuSign helps organizations build entire approval workflows without a single sheet of paper or filing cabinet in sight, so security and reliability are critical, as they are with every business today. Docusign partnered with Microsoft to help secure their customers' data, realize insights with SQL Server analytics and BI capabilities and receive world-class support. Hear directly from their Chief Architect and Vice President of Platforms, Eric Fleischman:
Click here to load media
With all of these capabilities built-in, SQL Server 2016 delivers not just a relational database, but an entire data platform for your business with incredible TCO. Today customers can save up to $10 million over three years versus Oracle, running transactional, data warehouse, data integration, business intelligence and advanced analytics workloads.* Judson Althoff, president of Microsoft North America, announced a new program to help more customers adopt SQL Server 2016 and save. Specifically, customers currently running applications or workloads on non-Microsoft paid commercial RDBMS platform will be able to migrate their existing applications with free SQL Server licenses.**
Microsoft is delivering on a vision that no other company can match across data, intelligence and cloud. To learn more, watch the webcast as well as various on-demand videos that showcase the new capabilities of this database built for mission-critical intelligence.
* Annualized pricing based on Oracle US commercial list price & SQL Server open ERP EE price, assuming 16 core servers (2 procs with 8 cores each) running OLTP, BI, DW, AA and ETL Tools, 1000 BI users. http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/pricing/technology-price-list-070617.pdf
**Software assurance required. Some restrictions apply.
Tags: analytics, Azure, database, SQL Server, SQL Server 2016


text:
Licensing Expo Reinforces Its Value Across All Property Categories With 2019 Results
The 39th annual Expo proved to be a business incubator for both new and established brands leveraging licensing
– July 1, 2019 –
Santa Monica, California – Licensing Expo, organized by Informa Markets and sponsored by Licensing International, today announced initial findings from the 2019 show, which took place June 4-6 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The results, gathered from a year-over-year (YoY) analysis of exhibitor and attendee data, as well as metrics from Licensing Expo's matchmaking service, reinforce licensing's growing presence across property categories while affirming the importance of the annual show for licensees, licensors, and retailers alike.
Exhibitor Insights
Of the hundreds of exhibitors at Licensing Expo 2019, more than 150 were new to the floor, adding to its diverse catalogue of more than 5,000 brands spanning a variety of industries including eSports, fashion, publishing, social influencers, and much more. In comparison to 2018 figures, many property categories across the show floor saw an increase in the number of exhibitors, with the largest growth from Digital Content & Gaming (+27.78%), Related Services (+26.32%), and Art & Design (25%).
Attendee Insights
On the attendee side, licensing professionals from more than 70 countries came to this year's show, up from 65+ countries in previous years. Retail attendance was strong and included new retailer presence from ASDA, Belk, Chewy, COEX, Lowes, Miniso, Primark, Total Wine & More, Vans, Wendy's, among many more. Reflecting North America's continued presence at the forefront of the licensing industry, U.S. domestic attendance increased 5% from last year.
Furthermore, this year's Licensing Expo saw a 38% increase in repeat attendees YoY, underscoring the Expo being indispensable in staying up-to-date on licensing trends and opportunities.
Matchmaking Insights
Licensing Expo's Matchmaking Service, a four-year old one-to-one business networking tool connecting exhibitors to attendees, proved to be invaluable for helping both exhibitors and attendees make the most of their time at the show. This year, more than 4,900 meetings were confirmed through the Matchmaking Service – up from ~4,600 in 2018. More importantly, the Service facilitated quality meetings for exhibitors and attendees alike, as the average user ranked their meetings 4.3 stars on a 5-point scale.
Licensing Expo looks forward to celebrating its 40th year when it returns to the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV, May 19-21, 2020.
Connect with Licensing Expo (#licensingexpo):
About Licensing Expo
Launched in 1980, Licensing Expo is the world's largest and most influential annual trade show dedicated to licensing and brand extension. Every year, more than 5,000 brands and 16,000 retailers, licensees, manufacturers, distributors, and licensing agents attend Licensing Expo from more than 67 countries. Licensing Expo is a part of the Global Licensing Group at Informa Markets, the licensing industry's leading trade show organizer and media partner. Its mission is to provide licensing opportunities around the world by bringing brands and products together.
About Global Licensing Group
The Global Licensing Group at Informa Markets is the licensing industry's leading trade show organizer and media partner. Its mission is to provide licensing opportunities around the world by bringing brands and products together. The following events and information products are produced for the licensing industry by the Global Licensing Group at Informa: Licensing Expo, Brand Licensing Europe, Licensing Expo Japan, Licensing Expo China, Licensing Leadership Summit, License Global magazine, and License Global Daily E-News. Global Licensing Group events are sponsored by Licensing International (LI).
The Global Licensing Group is organized by Informa, which recently acquired UBM to become a leading B2B information services group and the largest B2B events and exhibitions organizer in the world. To learn more and for the latest news and information, visit www.informa.com.
SOURCE Licensing Expo


text:
Art Rock Show – Homeless (Week 16)
Anubis is een zeskoppige band afkomstig uit Australië die aangenaam in het oor liggende neo-prog muziek maakt. Vaak zijn dit songs die tien minuten en langer duren. Velvet Thunder review: "Their 2014 effort Hitchhiking To Byzantium has been their best received album so far critically. Fast forward to the present day and here comes their sixth album Homeless. Lyrically, the band has always been thoughtful and there's no exception here as they reflect from various angles upon an individual's perception of the world in 2020. But musically, those of you familiar and happy with a diet of Anubis' previous albums might be in for a bit of a shock. The first warning sign is in the length of the album and the songs. Instead of getting eight or nine tracks lasting a good 70 minutes including one or two of epic length, we get nine tracks lasting a meagre 41 minutes, most of which are around the five minute mark.
As if to gently introduce us to the band's change in direction, the album opens with the longest track, Reflective, which clocks in at just over seven minutes. This track is also closest to their previous neo-prog style, especially in the Steve Rothery touches on guitar, but it also has a new found intensity and conciseness in the composition. This new found conciseness continues in the kaleidoscope of styles that follow. Entitled has slow grinding chords and a chorus that sounds oddly like Oasis in slow motion. White Ashes follows with its pop sensibilities and it's clear by now that we are not going to get any slabs of polite neo-prog in the style of groups like Arena but instead the sound is much grittier and sometimes dissonant. We're more in the territory of Lonely Robot or post OK Computer Radiohead, with closing track Gone a clear example of that Radiohead influence. (…)
I would encourage you to listen to this album but (to paraphrase a well-known saying) I would add: if at first you don't enjoy it, try and try again. With such dense writing, it is hard to absorb first time round and this is definitely an album that benefits from repeated listens. There's a depth and maturity to the writing which means there's more meat in these 41 minutes than in their much longer predecessors. Keyboardist David Eaton has said about the album 'I've certainly tried to incorporate new colours for us that brings it – I'd hope – into a more contemporary light' and I'd agree that the band have succeeded well in making an album that has a contemporary rather than retro feel. If you listen to this album followed by some of their earlier material then like me you might get a sense that in the past they were safely doing neo-prog-by-numbers whereas with Homeless Anubis have stretched themselves, creating their own unique sound that is well worth listening to. Whether this will please die-hard Anubis fans or alienate them, I don't know, but it's a certainly a brave and interesting change of direction. And surely that is what prog is all about!"
Naast Anubis met Homeless hebben we deze week: Edison's Children (In The Last Waking Moments…), Airbag (The Greatest Show On Earth), Blind Ego (Numb), The Sea Within (The Sea Within) & RPWL (Start the Fire – Live).
Thursday/Donderdag 12.00 – 24.00
Friday/Vrijdag 12.00 – 24.00
Saturday/Zaterdag 12.00 – 18.00


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Correctional Population Statistics
Numbers tell a story. In 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice used data from the Bureau of Justice to gather information about the correctional population and the facts are still relevant today.
From 2014 to 2015, the number of adults in correctional facilities decreased by 115,600 in the United States. Breaking it down, the community supervision population, defined as the estimated population of people supervised in the community on probation or parole, decreased by 2.6% from 2014 to 2015. Their total population in Michigan declined from 199,000 to 193,900 by the end of 2015.
The incarcerated population, which is the estimated number of people under the jurisdiction of state or federal persons or held in local jails, saw changes from 2014 to 2015. The total population in Michigan decreased from 59,400 to 57,700 by the end of 2015.
About 1 in 37 adults were under correctional supervision by the end of 2015, which is the lowest it's been since 1994.
The U.S. correctional population declined 1.7% during 2015 due to the decreases in community supervision and incarcerated populations.
By the end of 2015, the community supervision population fell to the lowest level since 2000.
The decline in the incarcerated population in 2015 represented the largest annual decrease since 2009.
The incarcerated population in 2015 fell to the lowest levels since 2004.
All of the decrease in the community supervision population during 2015 was due to a drop in the probation population.
In 2015, the majority of the decline in the incarcerated population resulted from the drop in the prison population.
This data highlights the changes the U.S. saw in correctional populations over one year. Although there is no single reason to explain this change, we believe that alternatives to prison can be beneficial for many people serving time. We are encouraged by the decreasing number and aim to help more people find alternative options to serving time.


For homeowners that have a private water well, you know all too well how difficult life can be when your well is acting up. Whether the well pump isn't providing adequate pressure or the water quality is low, it can be a frustrating time for you and your family. If you're not sure whether you need well repairs or not, consider the following factors and decide if they relate to issues you've been having.
One of the main things to consider when having well problems is the age of your well and pump. Well pumps typically last anywhere from 8 to 12 years. So, if your well pump was installed 12 or more years ago, it's definitely time to have a new one installed or at the very least have a professional come to inspect it to see if well repairs can be made. While 8 to 12 years is the average lifespan of any well, the exact lifespan will depend on a variety of factors such as your quality of water, how much strain is put on your well pump, and more.
Well repairs may also be required after an electrical failure in your home. There are plenty of things that can cause an electrical failure, whether its blown fuse or if your home gets struck by lightning. In the case of a lightning strike, you may not even notice an issue for a few days as well pumps that are hit by lightning can sometimes keep working for a week or more after they've been struck. The problem could be as simple as having a blown circuit breaker. Check to see if your circuit breaker has tripped and try turning it back on. If you're still experiencing problems after that, it's time to call a professional.
When choosing a contractor to install your private well, you want a professional with years of experience who you can trust to get the job done right. If you've recently had a brand new well installed for your home and it is already having issues, your well may have been installed incorrectly. For example, the size of your well pump will depend on the size of your water system and the amount of water needed during peak demand, among other factors. A well pump that is too small will not deliver the water supply necessary for your household.
If the area you live in has been experiencing a dry spell or a drought, it can very easily lead to problems for your well. When a drought occurs, the water levels in your private well will continuously drop. Air in your water lines and cloudy water are both clear signs that your water level is too low. In order to fix the problem, you will need to have your well pump placed deeper into the well so that it is well below the water table.
At A1 Well Drilling & Pump Service, we offer a variety of services including well drilling, well and pump service, water treatment installation, and more. Our expert technicians are fully equipped to handle any problem that may be happening with your well. Whether it's too old and you need a new one or you're simply in need of a few well repairs, we'll be there for you! So, if you've noticed any of the things listed above causing problems with your well or you just think it's time for a check-up, give us a call today!


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Thanks to Gary Stager for sending me the following video of Nicholas Negroponte talking about rethinking global education based on learning rather than teaching.
The current experiment he describes in the video--to see if the millions of children in villages that have no schools can learn to read by themselves--should be married to 1) Sugata Mitra's work on social learning by groups of children, and 2) the education team I've heard that Amazon has looking at providing Kindles in similar circumstances.
Still hoping I can get both Nicholas and Sugata on the FutureofEducation.com show for interviews!
Mariana: Thanks! Do you know any of them well enough to reach out?
I meant Maryanne Wolf.... sorry.


If you are travelling to Myanmar by land from Bangkok then the most convenient border crossing to take it at Mae Sot / Myawaddy.
Getting to Mae Sot from Bangkok is relatively simple however our trip was made a little more complicated as we only just arrived at Mo Chit, the northern bus station, in time to catch the VIP bus and due to our last minute arrival there were not enough seats left for us both to get a ticket. One of those 'oh f*ck' why didn't we get up earlier situations!
The VIP bus to Mae Sot departs Bangkok's northern bus station (Mo Chit) at 9.00am but double check times as this may change. You need to allow plenty of time to get from Bangkok to the bus station (especially if you are staying in Sukhumvit) as rush hour traffic will be in full swing. This was our big mistake, a journey that would only usually take 20 minutes took over 45.
We also advise pre booking your tickets online with The Transport Co – Thailand's Government run bus company or 12Go Asia. The bus journey from Bangkok to Mae Sot should take around 8 hours.
Our Plan B – just incase you end up in the same situation!
The next VIP buses don't run until the evening, which wasn't an option for us. We had to be at Mae Sot that day so we could travel to Myanmar the following day as we had meetings in Yangon to get to. However there is another bus going to nearby Tak which departs Mo Chit at 10.30 – go buy your ticket from the counter now!
We arrived at Tak at around 6.30pm – as soon as we got off the bus we were asked if we were travelling onwards to Mae Sot. We said yes and were taken to buy another ticket for a mini but to Mae Sot. Around 20 minutes later we set off in a mini bus to Mae Sot – the journey took around an hour and a half.
We recommend staying overnight in Mae Sot to recharge your batteries and then make the border crossing and trip to Hpa An the next morning. We stayed at the Hop Inn which offers very clean, good value rooms (550 thb for a double room with breakfast included).
After a good nights sleep, we got a taxi to take us to the Myanmar border in the morning. It only takes 10 – 15 minutes to get from Mae Sot town to the border.
When you get out of the taxi, stay to your left and you will see the Thai immigration department who will take your departure card and put an exit stamp in your password (just like at an airport if you were flying out of Thailand). Double check that immigration have stamped the right date before you leave (we've heard a few reports of them still using the stamp from the day before, which causes problems when you reach the Myanmar officials).
Then you can begin the walk over the Thai/Myanmar friendship bridge which takes around 10 – 15 minutes to cross. Once you reach the end of the bridge you will be greeted by Myanmar immigration officials who will take you into their office to check your visa and take your picture.
When you reach the Myanmar border you will not only be met by immigration but another guy who claims to arrange all of the taxi's/transport will also be hanging around. If he's not here, he will approach you as you exit immigration and head to the parked up cars (immediately in front of you). We were a little dubious about organising a taxi with him but all the drivers hung around him and he definitely seems to be the key coordinator of some kind of taxi syndicate. If we went directly to a driver they pointed straight back to him.
There were some mini buses parked on the opposite site of the road but as we were the only ones who had crossed the border at that time we didn't fancy waiting however many hours until it filled up enough seats to depart… if they we're even going to Hpa An!
The price per person for a shared taxi was 400 thb. The front seat of our car was already taken and rather than wait for another passenger, which would of also meant a lot less space in the back for us, we asked if we could pay for a third person but leave the space empty. The man in charge of the taxi's agreed on 1100 thb for the two of us to have the back seat to ourselves.
The journey to Hpa-An took around 4 – 4.5 hours and there's some great scenery to enjoy on the way. We left Myawaddy at 10am and arrived at our guest house, the Galaxy Motel (we recommend, clean rooms and friendly owners), at just after 2pm.
All in all this is a pretty hassle free journey (even if you make our mistake) and there are no random 'tourist fee's' at the Myanmar border either.
Good information, but they paid too much for the taxi! A shared car from Myawaddy to Mawlamyine (even further away than Hpa An) should cost 10,000 kyat, which is less than 250 Thai baht. To Hpa An might cost more for foreigners because of price gouging. Change your baht, or dollars, in Myawaddy. There are many money changers on the main street, very close to immigration. You'll get a great rate! Better than from a bank. Then, pay for the car with kyat, not baht. Tell them 10,000 is all you will pay. You'll find a ride! The taxi touts are generally polite and friendly, but there are MANY cars ready to take you to Hpa An or Mawlamyine. If the quoted price is too high, say ' no thank you' and keep walking westward. You'll have no shortage of cars to choose from. One thing to consider is that the car will not leave town until it's full. Even if you offer to pay for an empty seat, they'll still jam as many people into the car as possible. You'll just waste your money!
Yes you can get a 'seat' in a car for 10,000 kyat but the amount we paid was for the whole car to take just two of us and to leave straight away. We didn't waste our money, they left when we asked to leave and didn't pick anyone else up along the way. You just have to be very firm that you have paid more not to share.


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2018 has been a year of ups and downs .. Excited because I officially retired after 42 years(even though my bosses still use me for confidential help) as of July 1, and it feels weird .. the first month or so felt like an extended vacation; but as time went on .. I'm becoming accustomed to enjoying MY time as much as I can.
As 2017 comes to a close, I need to take a good hard look at where I'm at.
I turned 60 this year, and already know that 2018 is going to be a year of changes with retirement beginning on July 1.
I am looking at 2018 realistically. I'm not going to be 110 pounds again, but my goals have taken a bit of change.
I thought I was in good shape, but with the passing of puppy on September 17, hubby took me on a REAL vacation to Las Vegas, and we did a lot of walking. I'm not in as good of shape as I thought, so my one major goal for 2018 is NOT to lose weight; but to UP my exercise, and I'm sure that the loss will follow.
2018 is going to be my Year of Health !
Again, we come to January, (2017) another year has passed .. I have worked for the last 2 years reorganizing my life, and removing the stressor's that I can, and learning how to work with the stressor's I can't. The successes I have made over the last year are I have learned that yes -- not even "I" can do it all. I've learned that sometimes simple things like sleep are more important than multitasking. I've learned that I can do things.
I had been afraid of exercise .. and took that step off of the edge and actually joined a gym. Planet Fitness had been the best psychotherapist during times of extreme need, when I would have normally turned toward food that was not needed; and turned toward exercise. It proved to me; even at coming up to 60 years old .. there is not any age in which we can not exercise .. even if it's just gentle exercise.
I've stepped out of my comfort zone a number of times through the year ... I "tried" instructing at puppy club, finding I'm not ready for that .. It created stresses that I really am trying to avoid, but I tried it .. I proved to myself that I can do things if I chose to work hard at it. I have discovered things about myself, that I forgot were there. Sometimes the magic word has to be said "no" .. and the world continues to turn.
This year, I have been doing studying and had a talk with my happy hubby. I am working on my belly .. This is the last step. I spoke with my husband and he is willing to be support for me .. Even try and lose some weight himself. I have been studying the last week and feel this first week of January will help me put things into place. I have put up a new STARTING photo .. as painful as it is .. I'm planning on taking a photo on the first of every month .. If I have to "show myself" to the world, I feel I will try harder on my end.
The photo shows my "wish top" .. one of many that I have in my closet .. The good news is this 'growing up' I have not gotten rid of my small clothes .. so as I shrink (and I will) I will feel like I have new clothes .. my "big" clothes can then turn into "cleaning clothes".
I can do this .. I know I can .. Between hubby and here .... these will be the only places I'm telling of my goals. If I tell others, I know what will happen. I will be put under a microscope and while successes may be noticed, failures will be pointed out.. (been there done that) .. if failures are pointed out, self image decreases, and continual failure can't be avoided .. so this is our secret ..
So -- that is my plan .. and yes -- my goal for 2017 is to lose weight .. I know -- cliche .. but I will succeed ... I need to knock Dr B on his keester come my March appointment (bloodtests again) .. I know I can I know I can I know I can !!! I KNOW I WILL !!!!!
Once again the new year comes around. January 1, 2016... This is the year for me !!! Me learning how to be healthy again. Me building up my exercise. Me to be ME !!! I have slipped horrible, and am now at 75 ish pounds to lose to get back to where I want to be.
75 pounds is very intimidating, so if you read my goals, I have cut them down to "mini goals" .. 5 pounds at a time .. the "rewards" increasing more and more each time I reach those 5 pounds .. BUT in order to get my reward, I must hold that 5 pounds (I can lose more in the proces) for 3 weekly weigh ins .. because I have lost 75 pounds ... over and over and over and over again .. 5 pounds at a time, but as soon as that 5 pound mark shows up .. I seem to relax, and *bweeeeee* there is goes .. lol .. That will be the most difficult part of this journey. My automatic response is "treat with food" .. Well Sally -- treating with food is what got you here ... Let's change up the anti .. and "treat with non-edible things" ..
So my journey continues .. the only difference between 2015 and 2016 .. will be there will be success in 2016. I'm not guarenteeing to myself that my goal of 75 pounds will be reached, because I lose very very slowly ... but I will have a loss !!! I will be able to exercise !!! My medical tests will improve again !!! I WILL SUCCEED !!!!
May 25, 2015 .. It's about time to start reposting here again. I've spent the first 6 months of the last year feeling sorry for me with pain, and learning how to de-stress. I have left my position at Puppy club (volunteer) after 12 years of organizing the Monday night (public) training program. Within the last 5-6 months, I have regrouped, and figured, I will always have the pain following me, but since it's not going to kill me .. I have to learn to work through it ... so I have reset myself a goal for this summer. I thought of it while taking a long walk the other night after a stressful day at work. I am going to work back up to my 3 mile walk .. I used to love walking around the outside of the subdivision. I love to walk .. it clears my head .. Even though I walk slow now .. I still love to walk, but unfortunately the pain after the fact detoured me .. My will power has to be stronger .. it's not like I can't do it .. I just have to do it slower ... I WILL SUCCEED WITH MY GOAL !!!
Unfortunately ... I have gained my weight back yet again .. it came back with friends .. oh heck .. it came back with a WOODSTOCK group of friends .. so we're on our trek for getting rid of that again .. However, I have been working with my eating habits again, (why is it when you get yourself into a funk, you tend to eat more :( ) and hope that with the added small walks (to turn into a big walk) will start chipping away at them .. I don't need a Woodstock anymore .. My Woodstock is over !!!!
February 1, 2013 ... Life begins to become overwhelming. Between work, social engagements, commitments; my ME time seems to be pushing farther and farther into the background again. Where are all of the other commitments going to be if my health suffers. I needed to step up and take a deep, long look at where I am going .. I stopped doing a few things that I felt were "beating me down", and started looking yet once again, at what is best for Sally. Slowly I'm crawling out of that hole again, and it's only a bit longer, before Wisconsin STOPS being an ice block, and turns back into springtime, and fresh air time !!!!
January 1, 2013 ... My NEW 3 month Tracker is out of it's bag, and my NEW daily journal is ready for the first entry .. Going to keep my stickers handy for putzy journaling .. :) Practice session is done .. this is the REAL THING !!!!!
And yet I begin again .. 2012 is a year I'd rather forget. I am back hovering around 200 .. and not a happy camper. Not only did I get hit with excess stress of 2012 .. but menopause has hit as well. I don't have any extreme reasons in which to be on hormones, with the exception of I regained all my weight yet again.
I have read articles in weightgain and menopause .. and have read that there are connections, and the solution is to eat more and excercise less .. Whoops .. I mean eat less and exercise more.
Now this is one of the challenges that 2012 has thrown at me .. My favorite exercise, walking .. I now have to do with a cane .. I got slapped with a horrible case of psyatica and since then I have been able to only walk a half mile without the use of a cane. It got very depressing, and I stopped.
2013 will be different. I don't care that I have to use a cane .. I will start up my walks come the warm weather .. that is my goals .. cane or not !!!!!
January is always a clean fresh feeling .. Always a chance to make changes .. a chance to leave the slush of the old year behind .. I am going to succeed again in the year of 2013 !!!!!!
My weight has increased, partly because of life, partly because of me ....but am staying determined, still religiously going to my WW meetings, and still haven't had to buy higher that size 14 pants .. so I'm hanging in there .. but I think it's time to start blogging more again ..
12/25/09 --- As 2009 comes to a close, I can honestly say (after re-reading my previous book ;-) ) that I have accomplished my goals of the year ... My only goals for the upcoming year, is to take time for me. Enjoy each day to the fullest, try tolearn something new each day, and never regret when the day is over ... because a new day and new adventures will begin again when my head lifts from the pillow.
I'm close to goal now, and I plan on learning to maintain. There have been some changes in my life, but nothing that can't be adapted to, and as far as I'm concerned, nothing in comparison to what others may have to go through.
I'm thankful that I still have a job, I'm thankful that I still have a husband that loves me with all my quirks, and I'm thankful that I have a life that is enjoyable, and friends (real and cyber) that "have my back" no matter what the situation.
With that being said .. On to an even more prosperous 2010 !!!!!
After celebrated 3 years of WW (as of 2/27) I have become a LIFETIME member !!!! Now the trick will include maintaining this status !!!!! I WILL DO IT !!!
Here I am again. Since joining WW; I have currently lost approximately 25 - 30 pounds. Currently I am at a stall; so it fluctuates, but I'm proud to say my frustration hasn't let me go any lower than 25 pounds. This is where I had stalled before on my way down, so it was expected. It will get tired, and give in, as long as I am stronger than it is .. ;) So since the beginning of the year (2008) I have been at least re-losing those couple of pounds put on during the holidays.
The holidays of 2007 were actually quite easy for me; as I had NO absolutely NONE, commitments. Considering my normal lifestyle, this was a wonderful break. My normal lifestyle consists of running constantly; and for the most part enjoying it .. but it also makes the eating habits suffer as well. So the solution for that is to make sure I have plenty of grab and run food available.
-Spend more outside time exploring parks with my little maltese -- this in turn will give me fresh air; and exercise as well as her.
-Take my weight loss in very small increments ... after 5 pounds (as alittle inspiration because I AM at a stall) treat myself to a day of shopping, a day at the spa, buy myself a new outfit, something other than the clearance rack of Walmart .. :) After the next 10 pounds .. (because after the loss of 5 pounds - that will mean THIS stall is over) give myself something special .. I want to make my rewards something NOT food related .. This has been a problem all my life; something bad happens, turn to food, something good happens, turn to food; something stressful happens, turn to food ... well -- I'm learning there are other things out there that are just as nice as food .. and just as rewarding .. especially if one has to work to get there .. At this point I should be getting close or at lifetime at WW .. so I don't know what it is that I want for reward, but trust me -- it will be something WONDERFULLY special .. and something I truly WANT!!!
These are my thoughts to start 2008 .. I have decided to reactivate my account at Spark -- because for some reason the WW site doesn't like to play with me .. so since I want to maintain a regular journal .. I thought that I would reinstitute and update my Spark page ..
2018 --- I'm not setting "NUMBERS" but "HABITS" ..
My first steps will be small .. to give me the feeling of success during my time of chaos.
2016 -- I am watching what I eat .. paying attention to how much I eat, and my TRUE hunger. Is it truly hunger, or is it thirst ?? I try thirst first ..
I find the more I move the more the joints do NOT hurt ..
As of 2.27.2013.. I have cancelled my membership with WW. I have complete respect for them, but I need to stop and take some time for Sally.
As of 2.27.2007 I have joined Weight Watchers, and having wonderful success with it .. averaging about 2-2.5 pounds per week ... Currently as of 4.2.2007 I have so far lost 11.8 pounds .. This is a safe reduction, and my clothes-o-meter is WONDERFUL!!!!
Lookout world .. I've come back !!!!!
My real name is Sally, and I live in Wisconsin ... I had a little Maltese and have been enjoying "obedience showing" with her. She left our family on 9/17/2017 .. I have left the dog training club I had been a member of since about 2003. I had co-run the Monday night public program until 2016, and since puppy is gone now, there really wasn't any reason to stay on. When we get another puppy, I will probably rejoin.
I have been married since 1978 very happily .. I'm stuck with a lucky one .. he gives me ANYTHING within his power .... I have no wants !!!
Handle every stressful situation like a dog.
pee on it and walk away.
Shown if member clicks "Read More"
Thought of life: Handle every stressful situation like a dog. If you can't eat it or play with it, pee on it and walk away.
I read your blog! Sounds like it was a fantastic day! DEFINATELY enjoy the time with your brother. I lost mine 2 yrs. Ago.. I miss him, but I have wonderful memories from over all the years!❤ So happy you got to feed the birds! Awesome!
Hi! Thanks so much for always just being you! I enjoy the pics on your blogs. When you went for your walk did you get the birds to eat out of your hand? Have a good weekend!