A trip to the beach, and you would enjoy the golden sunshine, the sounds of Sea Birds flying over the ocean, the exquisite sounds of waves crashing on the shore, a wonderful place where you will find tranquillity to brighten your day, and makes you feel as if you are in paradise, but among us are some very important trees that are grown along the coastline that are overlooked, and are taken for granted, these trees are "Mangroves".
A Mangrove is a woody tree or shrub that lives along sheltered coastlines within the tropic or subtropical latitudes. The word Mangrove is derived from the Portuguese word, mangue which means "tree," and the English word "grove," which is used for trees and shrubs.
Mangroves are very important trees in our ecosystem because: they remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere which would alleviate "global warming and climate change". According to a BBC news report on January 8th 2019, the report stated that "the USA carbon dioxide emissions rose by 3.4% in 2018, and also the USA is the world's second largest emitter of green house gases".
Environmental Scientists have discovered that keeping more Mangroves intact, allowed them to avoid the release of around 13 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which is equivalent to removing 344,000 cars from the road each year.
Mangroves can mitigate against damage caused by Hurricanes and Storms. Mangrove forests reduces the height of storm surges and flooding by absorbing wave energy through their dense roots and stems.
When the tsunami struck India's southern state of Tamil Nadu on December 26th 2004, areas in Pichavaram and Muthupet with dense Mangroves suffered fewer human casualties and less damage to property, compared to areas without Mangroves.
Mangroves also prevent coastal erosion by stabilizing sediments with their tangled root systems. They maintain water quality and clarity by filtering pollutants and trapping sediments originating from land, thus ensuring our coral reefs are healthier. They are also a habitat for Shrimps, Crustaceans, Mollusks, Fishes, and Birds.
Humans are the perpetrators why Mangroves are under threat. Fifty percent of the world's Mangroves have already disappeared in the past half century. Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, and Panama, recorded the largest losses of Mangroves during the 1980s.
A total of one million hectares were lost in these five countries. Mangrove Forests have been seen as unproductive and smelly, and are cleared to make room for Agricultural land, Human settlements, Harbours, Industrial areas, and Tourism sites.
Mangrove wood is resistant to rot and insects, making it extremely valuable, hence the reason why it is commercially harvested for Pulp, Wood chip, and Charcoal production. The building of Dams and Irrigation reduces the amount of water reaching Mangrove Forests, which changes the salinity level of water in the forest, if salinity becomes too high, the mangroves cannot survive.
The next time you visit the beach and you spot a Mangrove Forest, instead of "over exploiting" them, appreciate the good job that they are doing in our ecosystem.


What Was the Greatest Ending That Wasn't Really an Ending?
So you're reading or watching a story, and BAM it just ends, right there in the middle of everything. Sometimes the greatest way to end a science fiction or fantasy story is just to leave people dangling, wondering what happened next. What's your favorite example of a story that did it well?
In fancy literary terms, this is an in medias res ending — that's just Latin for "in the middle of things," and people sometimes start stories in medias res too. Describe your favorite in medias res ending for us below, and include some pictures, links or video too!
Use the structure I've used in my example below, for maximum clarity!
What made it a great non-ending ending?
We do get some closure, because our main character escapes from the Moon and is heading back to Earth. But we don't know what he will find there. I like the not-knowing of this ending because it makes us realize how much of a triumph it was for this clone to even figure out that he was being lied to by the corporation. Now he's about to find out what the truth is back on Earth, but in a sense it doesn't matter what that is. The important thing was seeing through the lies, and finding out what he really is.
UPDATE: As many of you have pointed out, it's true that at the very end of Moon we hear some news reports that he's made it home, but we know little beyond that.


Each one of us has gifts and talents. All of us have one gift in common, our mortal human life. This one gift allows us to experience and appreciate God's beautiful creation: the air, water, trees, and all that we see, feel, and experience here on earth.
An experience in the third world, now more that 40 years ago, helped me realize that our most important blessings cannot be purchased or made, they are just freely given.
We live in a highly developed material world, sometimes all we really count as blessings are those things that are human made. It is not uncommon for people of this time and place to feel empty and gypped. They say, "My neighbor has so much more than me. It just isn't fair…. I want more!! When asked to count their blessings, they scoff, and decry the unfairness of life. These people live with the attitude: "I have little or nothing to offer others because I have been short changed. How can others expect anything from me," they say, "when I have so little? I have to look after myself and the little I have." Then one day something frightening happens. They get sick, or a friend or loved one gets sick. In that moment many of these people realize how dumb and short sighted they have been. All of a sudden that which was not considered blessing is threatened, and they realize what a great blessing their own life, or the life of a loved one, really is.
Learning to count our blessings is a talent and might be considered a blessing itself. Sometimes we are fortunate enough to have a parent, grandparent, or a friend help and teach us this important skill when we are young. Sometime a situation such as sickness teaches us this lesson. And Maybe, we have never learned how to count our blessings, and its still something we have to learn.
Whatever, our situation, the gospel this Sunday speaks to us. The parable should first of all reminds us to learn how to count our blessings and to count them. If we happen to think that we have so little that there is nothing to share and give to others, then we are like the 'one' with the one talent who buried it. When we bury our talents, do not recognize them, or refuse to share them and to use them in loving God and neighbor, then we might as well not have them – they are buried, and in a way we have already lost that which is most important: thankful, hopeful and joyful hearts which are willing to live compassionately and in God's ways.
If, on the other hand, we recognize our many gifts, talents, and blessings, but think we earned them and behave in a stingy and selfish manner, and refuse to use them to love God and neigbor, then this Gospel reminds us that God is definitely not happy with us. We are refusing to live the faith that we possess.
If, having counted our blessing, we are thankful and generous in using them, then God is pleased with us for we have heard the Christian Gospel and are following the Lord, and living as he calls us to live.
The Earth is home to 6.5 billion people who live in the cities and villages of 192 nations. To grasp the social shape of the world, imagine shrinking the planet's population to a "global village" of just 1000 people. In this "village," more than half (610) or the inhabitants are Asian, of whom 200 are citizens of China. Next, we would find 140 Africans, 110 Europeans, 85 people from Latin American and the Caribbean, 5 from Australia and South Pacific, just 45 Americans and 5 Canadians.
A Close look at the settlement would reveal some startling facts. The village is a rich place, with a spectacular range of goods and services from sale; yet most of the villagers can only dream about such treasures, because they are so poor: 80 percent of the village's total income in earned by just 200 people. For most, the greatest problem is getting enough food. Every year, villagers, including most of the children, do not get enough to eat, and many must go to sleep hungry every night. The worst-off 200 residents – who together, have less money than the richest person in the village – lack both clean drinking water and safe shelter. Weak and unable to work, their lives are at risk from life-threatening diseases.
The village has many schools, including a fine university. About 50 inhabitants have completed a college degree, but about one-third of the village's people are not even able to read or write.
Canadians, on average would be among the village's richest people.Although we may think that our comfortable lives are the result of our own talent and hard work, the sociological perspective reminds us that our achievements also result from our nation's privileged position in the worldwide social system.


"Hey, I'm trying to pass the potatoes! My forelimbs are as useless as yours!"
Also known as wingers. You may have noticed that many non-primate animals have extremely un-humanlike limbs. They may have wings, they may have fins, they may have claws like a lobster or long grappling hooks like a sloth.
But because Most Animators Are Human, they have a tendency to fall back on making the very different anatomy of animal characters—even those who aren't, strictly speaking, anthropomorphic—do things they'd be physically incapable of in order to closely mimic human actions. Therefore, every animal forelimb, no matter how little it resembles a human hand, is prehensile.
The Trope Namers are all the otherwise non-anthro cartoon birds who can hold things in their primary wing feathers, such as Woodstock, Daffy Duck—or any and all Anthro birds as well, such as Falco Lombardi who can pilot a fighter. The primary wing feathers sort of look like fingers, so naturally in cartoons they act like fingers. Not a heavily modified and specialized extension of their body covering (meaning that this makes as much sense as Prehensile Hair). This version tends to go hand-in-hand (sorry) with Acrophobic Bird.
There is a variant of this trope in which thumbs appear on the front paws of many cats and dogs (and sometimes other animals) when grasping something or gesturing, but disappear when the front paws are just used for four-legged walking or otherwise in a default pose.
This variant is sometimes applied to characters with Powerpuff Girl Hands, characters who don't have (apparent) hands.
This is usually the very first step in a character/series' Anthropomorphic Shift. It's just easier for animators to draw a character playing the drums or baking cookies using the body motions based off human references. It takes a hell of a lot of dedication to avert this trope, as it involves having to stop and really think about how the heck a penguin could possibly manipulate a tuba.
Note: This is such a Universal Trope that, instead of listing every single cartoon animal in the world, we will instead list notable exceptions and subversions.
Subverted with Tama the tiger in Hayate the Combat Butler. Despite apparently being a certified boiler engineer, Tama clearly has extreme difficulty in manipulating controls of any kind, or holding things without shredding them.
Which is kinda funny since even big cats can sheath their claws. Usually only doing big stretches do claws automatically pop out.
Perhaps justified in One Piece, in which Tony Tony Chopper, the Devil Fruit-enabled human-reindeer has obvious hooves, but never seems to have any trouble doing human tasks that would seem to require hands, even play Rock Paper Scissors.
In League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, the creations of Dr. Moreau - who are twisted parodies of existing Funny Animal characters - are very anthropomorphic, but the plotline dwells heavily on how unnatural and physically painful it is for them to walk on their hind legs and imitate other human behaviors. Furthermore, the comic book was being faithful to the source, as this is a major point of contention in the original novel as well.
Fables has a story arc where the non-human (and mostly non-anthromorphic) Fables are staging a revolution, with the intent of fighting to regain their homelands. They force a Fable blacksmith to adapt human weapons so that they're capable of using them.
When an election is held, Rose Red also addresses this when the votes are being submitted. If a non-human fable is unable to write their own name and turn in their own ballot they are to have one who can do so for them. The fable is then to verify that the ballot was filled in to their satisfaction.
Big Eggo, an ostrich, the original cover star from The Beano used this trope to try and appear more human. It didn't work, and the character was later replaced by a more human bear.
In a DQ ad, a "rock and roll falcon" gives the heavy metal/evil eye sign with both wings.
The owls in Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole use their feet rather than their wings to manipulate objects.
Kung Fu Panda has mixed uses of this trope. Ducks and geese are able to use their feathers like fingers, but Crane (the, well, crane) has realistic wings and uses his feet and beak to move objects.
The pigeons in Bolt surprisingly avert this. Even when gesturing, their wings still move like real wings, and they tend to investigate or manipulate objects with their beaks.
Done with a variation in the Cars movies. The characters don't have any appendages at all, yet they manage to write, paint, operate machinery, and hold things. This is usually done with a combination of prehensile antennae, prehensile windshield wipers, or clamps.
Puss in Boots (and the other cats) in the three Shrek sequels and in his own movie has normal cat paws, but with manual dexterity equal to that of a human.
The Gabble sisters and their Uncle Waldo from The Aristocats.
Played with in the Spellsinger novels. While the series' intelligent birds have an unlikely degree of manual dexterity with their wings, weapons and tools with special handles—hollow cones they can tuck their feathers' tips inside—are designed for their use. An equine character uses her teeth to open drawers (via pull-ropes) and writes using a pen with an attached mouth-clamp.
In Timothy Zahn's Hand of Thrawn duology, the President of the New Republic is a Calibop, an avian sentient species with a number of equine features. They also have wings and prehensile feathertips; the President is shown manipulating keys on a lectern and later signing the Imperial-New Republic peace treaty with Pellaeon. Granted, this is pretty much the trope played straight with the caveat that Calibops are aliens.
The Ythrians, a bird-like alien race from several Poul Anderson Technic History stories, look basically like huge birds of prey. They do not need to pick up anything with their wings however because their highly efficient respiratory system allows them to hover for long periods of time without getting tired, allowing them to use their feet to manipulate objects.
Babar the Elephant, of Jean de Brunhoff's stories, normally uses his trunk to manipulate things, much like an actual elephant would. However, Babar (and all the other elephants of Celesteville, for that matter) walk upright on two legs. This means that there are instances of them using their forelimbs like hands—even though their "hands" look identical to those of quadrupedal elephants, completely lacking in fingers. How this is done is a mystery. Additionally, because they seem capable of using both their forelimbs and trunks to manipulate things, elephants in Babar's world effectively have three limbs that can be used to hold and handle things.
De Brunoff's later stories, as well as the TV and film tie-ins take this a step further. Quadrupeds living along side the elephants, such as Lord Rataxes and the other rhinoceroses have hands with fingers. Since Rataxes' troops are typically Card Carrying Villains, they will often have claw-like hands. This is also true of hippos in Babar's world.
The Tenga Warriors in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers actually have clawed hands at the ends of their wings.
Gary Larson liked to subvert this in The Far Side, even though he was just as likely to play it straight based upon the Rule of Funny. In one comic, two cows were staring at a ringing phone, unable to answer it due to lacking opposable thumbs.
Neo-Spacian Air Hummingbird avoids feather fingers by having his wings come out of his back. He has talon hands instead.
A rather unusual subversion takes place in the videogame Godzilla: Unleashed. Both King Ghidorah and Mecha-King Ghidorah, who both just happen to be three-headed dragons, use two of their heads/mouths as arms/hands to pick things up. Likewise, Rodan just picks things up with his talons.
Then again, this is in line with some of the films, in which Ghidora's heads are essentially hand puppets.
The penguins in RuneScape have no fingers. So in the quest where you have to teach them to make music (for the National Anthem, no less), you have to make instruments that does not require fingers. You end up with a cowbell and a bongo.
Another very strange example is The Lion King level of Kingdom Hearts II. As mentioned elsewhere, it is a perfect storm of Furry Confusion. Not least because we finally get to see what Donald Duck looks like as a non-Anthropomorphic bird; he has functioning wings, can fly, and carries his staff in his claws. Usually he has very human-like hands. Likewise, when Sora becomes a non-Anthro lion (it is a long story), he carries the Keyblade in his teeth. In the "opening the next path" cutscene, Sora holds the Keyblade with his suddenly-prehensile tail in order to aim at the target.
And then on the subject of the actual movie, the trope is played around with. Rafiki being a monkey, he does have real hands. Zazu sometimes gestures with his wings, which sometimes become hand-like, but at least he doesn't pick anything up with them. The lions use their dewclaws as thumbs, sometimes using them as hands. This is most obvious with Scar, as seen when he's tormenting a mouse (he even raises his pinky!) and in his Villain Song. Timon the meerkat is a bit odd. Meerkats in real life have very long, black claws at the ends of their stubby beige paws, so the animators gave Timon perfectly humanoid hands with black fingers to represent these. He pretty much always walks upright; from the waist up he uses his hands like a human would, both grasping and gesturing often.
Averted with Lechuku and Nechkuku in Okami. While their outfits do have kimono-style sleeves for the wings, they also have a set of more humanoid arms for holding their weapons, and one of their attacks involves them grabbing Amaterasu with their hindclaws like a normal owl.
Alternately averted and played straight with Kazooie. In the ending of Banjo-Kazooie, she has no trouble holding a mug. In Banjo-Tooie, however, the lack of proper hands is a gameplay element, as she cannot hang from ledges or climb ropes (then again, she can fly, so...) In Banjo-Kazooie Nuts & Bolts, this goes back to being played straight, as Kazooie holds a wrench for most of the game.
Pecker in the Jak and Daxter series might be a justified example, as he is a Mix and Match Critter known as a "monkaw," a monkey/macaw hybrid.
Jet the Hawk, Storm the Albatross, and Wave the Swallow in Sonic the Hedgehog have the same cartoon arms everyone else does in the series, with no obvious wings in sight. Meanwhile, Rouge the Bat has both arms and wings, presumably because combining them would look strange.
Inverted with Lugia; by all appearances, instead of having feather fingers, it has finger feathers!
Lampshaded in the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law Video Game, when Peter Potamus (a purple hippopotamus, for those unfamiliar) attempts to open a cigarette lighter. He fumbles with it for a few seconds, convinces everyone to look at the entrance of the courtroom, then opens the lighter the second the camera is off him.
In The legend of Anne Bunny equine characters wear special cybergloves over their forehooves.
Girl Genius: Krosp, The King of Cats, has normal cat-like paws with short dewclaws, meaning he can't manipulate that many things that need opposable thumbs or hold that many things without using both paws well, like a normal cat.
In Peep and the Big Wide World, most of the major characters don't even have visible forelimbs. So they hold things in their beaks (like actual birds). Chirp does have visible wings but she uses them mostly to gesticulate.
I Am Not an Animal is a British animation about a bunch of superintelligent animals who are released from a research facility. The nominally smartest of them, a horse, is mortified that he can't put on his pants by himself now he's outside the research facility. He uses magnets on his hooves to hold knives and forks, and the sparrow somehow attaches plastic fingers on sticks to his wings to allow him to type and play keyboard.
In the current show Friendship is Magic, ponies need to use their mouths (or, for unicorns, their magic powers) for most things we use our hands for. Sometimes, however, the ponies give up and just manipulate or even inexplicably grasp things with their hooves. Pegasuses have also sometimes used their wings in a way that is closer to the trope name than it is to what wings could actually do. The general rule seems to be that the unexplained hoof-grasping is avoided unless it becomes too inconvenient to do so, with a preference for more creative solutions that at least work physically if not physiologically, like a Prehensile Tail.
Averted—for the most part—with the fish in Finding Nemo. Not so much with Nigel the pelican. His primary feathers are fully rendered in extreme detail, so they are practically a Lampshade Hanging on how odd this looks.
Somewhat related is one of the major criticisms directed at Happy Feet. The result of using motion capture footage of humans to animate penguins tap-dancing ends up very strange, due to the wildly different anatomy.
There have been a few similar criticisms leveled at the aforementioned Legends of the Guardians as well.
Coco from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends carries things in her beak and feet, and nearly all imaginary friends manage to make the best of their bizarre anatomy.
Iago the parrot from Aladdin holds things in his beak and claws while flying, but uses his wings as hands when on the ground. In at least one episode he loses all his feathers and we can see his wings look like mittens, with opposable thumbs.
Granted, if you pay attention to the anatomy of the "hand" next time you eat chicken wings, it does look like a mitten... sort of. But play with the Alula ("thumb") a bit and you'll note the range of motion is very restricted.
The cows in Home on the Range can't really hold anything in their hooves, so the animators gave them prehensile tails and tail tufts instead.
Played straight in the film adaptation of The Trumpet Of The Swan. We mention it here because the book had actually averted this trope and had the swan play with his feet. This was a major plot point in the book, in fact. Louis at one point asks his Token Human Friend to cut apart the webbing between the toes of one of his feet, thus severely handicapping his ability to swim and fly in exchange for being a more dexterous trumpet player.
Averted in Arthur where the character George (a moose) was actually drawn with human hands instead of hooves.
On Fish Hooks, the characters' fins actually change shape between semi-normal fins and hands.
Unlike the above example, Sally the fish on Scaredy Squirrel uses her fins straight, without them changing shape or being hand-like in nature.
Used in one of Robot Chicken's shorts parodying the Muppet Show and the Muppet Babies. When the murderer (who happens to be Skooter dressed up as his homicidal sister, Skeeter, to seek bloody vengeance on the other muppets after they drowned her when they were baby muppets and kept it a secret throughout their lives) corners and is ready to kill the remaining muppets Kermit and Miss Piggy, Carmilla the chicken (Gonzo's love interest before he was killed off first) threatens him with a drawn bow and arrow, prompting the incredulous Skooter to call out on this trope: " You can't shoot me! Chickens don't even have fingers!" (is shot dead).
Most of the cast of Birdz has mostly arm-like wings which they use just like normal arms despite also being capable of flight. Strangely, one episode has them bowling with their feet.
Donald Duck and Daisy Duck not only have awfully handlike wing feathers, they develop Tail Feather Fingers from time to time in the Classic Disney Shorts.
Averted with Roadrunner from Looney Tunes. He carries things with his feet instead of his wings.
Since we're on the subject of avian "hand" anatomy, this is a major point of contention among Paleoartists: Did Maniraptors have truly opposable thumbs or what? It's thought that some of them did, like Bambiraptor, but the others are a puzzle. And this is quite relevant to this trope, as most Anthro artists unquestionably assume that they did. Seriously, though, about the only thing anyone agrees upon is that the "kangaroo hands" in Jurassic Park are all kinds of wrong. A good reference for this can be found here (with super-cute illustrations).
Inverted with Koalas. They have eight opposable thumbs (two on each paw).
Averted with the lions in The Lion King. They keep their thumbs/dewclaws even when their paws are just used for walking.
A odd case in Melonpool: Sam T. Dogg is a telegraphic dog with no thumbs for most of webcomic with funny jokes, but suddenly had thumbs at one point with lampshading about lack of such in past.
Scooby Doo sometimes did this, especially in the earliest cartoons. He would normally walk around on all fours, with very dog-like paws, but when a zany scheme was involved, he'd stand up on his hind legs with no difficulty, and thumbs would mysteriously appear on his front paws.
Family Guy's Brian the Dog is perfectly canine in every respect (other than speech and bipedal movement), but he still has hands with thumbs—but these turn to normal front paws without thumbs when sitting on the floor on all fours like a dog.
Otis and the other cows from Barnyard and Back at the Barnyard have real looking front hooves when masquerading as ordinary cows in front of the farmer, but change into prehensile black mitts with thumbs when bipedal.
Rita from Animaniacs has hands with thumbs when she's on two legs or gesturing, but these turn to normal front paws without thumbs when she's on four legs.
But averted with the Warner Sibs in the few instances that they're standing on four legs. They not only retain their thumbs when they're on four legs, their hands still look like hands on the floor.
Pooh and Tigger from Winnie the Pooh have Powerpuff Girl Hands with thumbs that appear when they grasp something or gesture.
Thumbs sometimes appear on the paws of Pluto the Pup, Figaro, and other "non-anthro" Classic Disney Shorts dogs and cats when they grasp something or gesture, but sometimes they don't.
This page was last edited on 15 February 2018, at 15:22.


As if choosing from the hundreds of e-liquids available to you is hard enough, there are also other things to consider. Whether you're a first-time vaper or an experienced one, the terms 'PG' & 'VG' may sound very familiar to you. You may have noticed these acronyms before on the side of a bottle of e-liquid, usually represented as a percentage or a ratio.
To put it simply, PG and VG are the basic ingredients found in nearly all e-liquids. The ratio of PG to VG can tell you a lot about the e-liquids flavour, consistency and what kind of vapour it will produce. You should be looking at these two ingredients before deciding on your next e-liquid. Choosing the wrong PG/VG ratio can put first time vapers off, so you should seek advice when shopping for your first e-cigarette.
PG (Propylene Glycol) is a colourless, almost odourless alcohol. It is used in lots of different, everyday products. For example, it's used in shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste and even ice cream. It's also used in some medications such as inhalers for asthma.
Because the liquid is mostly tasteless, it's known to produce the purest, best-tasting flavour. The liquid also has a stronger 'throat hit' when compared to VG, which some vapers may find unpleasant as it can have the same sensation of smoking tobacco cigarettes.
VG (Vegetable Glycerin) is similar to PG as it too is a colourless, odourless alcohol. However, the difference between the two is that VG is sweet. VG is almost like a syrup, especially with the sweetness. It is often used in herbal remedies, low-carb foods and cough syrup. As it is made from plant and vegetable oils, it is considered very safe for human consumption.
Although VG has a lighter 'throat hit' than PG, because it is a very thick liquid, it tends to clog up e-cigarette tanks and coils. Therefore, it's recommended that those who use e-liquids high in VG, clean their coils often. High VG liquids are also the perfect option for 'cloud chasers' as it produces the biggest, thickest vape clouds.
–>PG carries flavours better – There's not much in it, but because VG is so sweet, it interferes with the flavour that's added to it. PG is simply plain, so will take the flavour better. Although the effect is not easy to spot, if you tried the same PG versus VG-based e-liquid you would notice the difference.
–>VG produces more vapour – For the 'cloud chasers' in your life, high VG e-liquid is for them. As VG is thicker, more vapour is created when it is vaporised. For a first-time vaper, clouds are not your main focus, giving the cigs a miss are. But as your vaping journey progresses, you might want to dip your toe into some clouds.
–>Throat hits – As mentioned, if you're looking for that tobacco cigarette like throat hit then PG is the better choice. Stronger PG in an e-cigarette may be a good option for those who have just started vaping as it makes the feeling of vaping more like the feeling of smoking, easing the transition.
On the other hand, if you find PG too irritating on the throat, you may wish to choose an e-liquid with a higher content of VG instead. Longer-term vapers usually opt for this choice as the throat hit becomes less important the longer you've been vaping.
–>Potential issues & sensitivity – The harsh throat hit of juices high in PG can irritate and dry out your mouth. Many individuals are also even sensitive or allergic to PG. Although this is fairly rare, you should still bear it in mind if you are starting out your vaping journey.


Last Saturday night I got stuck in Dulles Airport in Washington for over 5 hours.
While I sat around, desparately avoiding the Siren's call of airport French Fries and other greasy foods, I came up with, "SEVEN Small Changes that Lead to Big Time Fat Loss" (see below).
I also had a chance to do some work on a new project for Men's Health magazine, and I spent over an hour in the TT forum welcoming new members to the TT Transformation Contest.
Powerful stuff. I can't wait to share these amazing stories of men and women from around the world overcoming huge odds to lose fat and get the bodies of their dreams.
After getting all that work done, we finally boarded the plane at 12:30am. And after yet another delay getting the luggage on board, we eventually landed back in Toronto just after 2:40am on Sunday, and I practically sprinted through customs and into the closest taxi.
- The ecstatic greeting I was going to get from Bally, my Chocolate Lab puppy dog.
- Being able to go to MY gym and do my regular workouts the next day (rather than relying on hotel gyms and hotel room workouts).
- Eating a cold, red delicious apple from my fridge, and drinking cold, clean, filtered water to wash it down (rather than a cup of lukewarm water from a hotel bathroom sink).
- Starting my Sunday morning off with my omelet, raw vegetables, and Mrs. Renfro's salsa (delicious stuff, and perfect to spice up a restrictive fat burning diet).
- Sitting on my balcony overlooking downtown Toronto while grilling an organic, grass-fed steak from Baretta Farms for Sunday dinner.
- And just wrestling with my dog in the park...or chasing him in the off-leash section of high park...or watching him jump in the river and sprint through the mud.
Ah yes, it is good to be back.
And its often the little changes that give you big results in your fat loss program as well.
In fact, the over 200 men and women in the latest Turbulence Training Transformation Contest are going to discover that secret first hand in the next 12 weeks.
1) Switch from processed carbs to fruits and vegetables as your main source of carbohydrates.
2) Increase the intensity of your fat burning workouts by getting rid of boring cardio while adding interval training.
3) Switch from high reps to lower reps.
4) Eliminate the isolation exercises and use total-body, multi-muscle movements.
5) Remove all crunches and situps from your program and spend that time on fat burning intervals and total body exercises instead.
6) Change your workouts frequently.
7) Get social support for fat loss rather than trying to do this solo. This is the most UNDER-RATED little change you can make in your life that will help you lose more fat. Powerful stuff.
Put those little steps into place and you'll make giant leaps in your progress, I promise.


text:
13: pjerl
Midax did not surrender to emotion without a struggle. He coldly, insistently repeated to himself that the Loller had been nothing but fluff – a vapid superficiality.
To no avail. His flammable inner nature, combined with the peculiar tension of these days, sapped his resistance. And the fact that all this was happening to him just when the world he knew was coming to an end, meant that something had to give; and what gave was his public spirit, his concentration on what was happening to the world.
Each morning, each trainee looked at his or her desktop indicator and saw a subtraction. "Day Minus Six", "Day Minus Five", "Day Minus Four". But for Midax the heavy hints of this countdown, padlocking each passing day behind him, signalled a private and personal loss that was even more ominous than the steady public approach of Day Zero. The loss of a thing he had never had. As though he were urged to "retrieve" some blazing glory which in fact he had never possessed.
A loss so intense, it tugged every sensation into its orbit. What in Korm was going on? How could this Pjerl Lhared person do to him what she had done? How could such a churner-of-insides, merely by existing, issue a proclamation in his soul? How could her presence announce, you need me, and nothing else will suffice?
That soul-proclamation kept insisting that it was the right pattern to lodge in his life. It – the vision, the warm glory, whatever it was – kept demanding that it be confirmed in action, validated, proved; all the while threatening him with an aching void of eternal loss if this vague, incomprehensible demand were not fulfilled.
Up till now, the mystery of women – the fact that no scientist had succeeded in working out a plausible reason for their existence – had been, for Midax, merely a matter for intermittent curiosity. Some theories suggested that women would come into their own in Universe Seven, and that their appearance in Universe Six was a mere harbinger, a backward ripple of the main splash, an effect preceding its cause. Doubtless a vivid and serious question, but never, until now, imperative.
Now, however, bafflement had become torment. He had to do something.
To start with, he must achieve communication with Pjerl.
This was an absolute priority; he must make it happen. The snag was, it was also true that he must not make it happen! Why? Because, for some reason, in order to have any value the closeness must occur spontaneously.
Which was all very well if only he could trust the universe to play ball. Unfortunately, the thing which must happen, and which he must not make happen, could not be trusted to happen of itself, either; so it was down to him to make sure that it happened spontaneously, or in other words to make sure that it happened without him making it happen.
Small wonder that he was no longer concentrating properly on the training course.
Instead of behaving like an obedient student, analysing the cosmological concepts in the syllabus or speculating on the workings of the plan to defeat the Sparseworld threat, he found himself "playing back" his brief meeting with Pjerl on the wineshop threshold, again and again inside his head, wondering if he had not perhaps missed some fantastic opportunity, and blaming himself for not starting a proper conversation; yet how much more he might have blamed himself if he had tried to seize whatever chance might have existed – thus breaking the "law" which says, You must make things happen without making them happen.
Each time he forced his swimming head to think it through, he eventually bumped against the impossible. The fact was, that what he had encountered, going out of that wine-shop door, was none other than perfection. And perfection demands impossibilities. Nothing else will do, but for you and she to be melded in faultless rapport, abolishing distance, abolishing all difficulties, while retaining full individuality....
He thought grimly that it was probably just as well that he and she moved in different social circles. They needn't run into each other often. He was a full member of the Institute, whereas she was just a member of the general public (albeit with the unusual status of observer, not only of the Institute but of the Splashers too). She was not attending the training course regularly or frequently, and anyhow the great separation loomed: when Hour Zero of Day Zero came for him, he would find himself cut off from her, on the other side of a mighty glassite wall.
Let him content himself, therefore, with the thought that he was fighting for her continued existence. It should be enough, that he was doing his duty in the struggle against Sparseworld, and therefore benefiting her. Let that be connection enough.
After all, it wasn't as though any softer options existed. Time was running out for them all: the Winter of Simplicity loomed over the entire city of humankind. In these circumstances what was the point of making personal happiness a priority?
Even so, an irrational yearning, in occasional moments, enticed him with the thought that he might rush out the door again, and this time not come back but plunge into ordinary city life and swim around in that milieu until –
Until what? The glorious fuzz of wishful thinking had no real shape.
Musing on his erratic emotions, he remembered a phrase he had heard a few times among the smart young men of his old set. A phrase accompanied by sniggers and circular motions of the finger on the forehead.
The Great Complication.
He had never committed the gaucherie of asking what it was. It occurred to him now that he had discovered it for himself.
He took to watching – with a kind of relief – the digits on the training-calendar march towards zero. And they weren't the only indication that this period of emotional torture was rushing to its close. Those senior trainees whom he knew by sight became fewer and fewer. Faces visible one day were gone the next, as intakes prior to his own reached their own Zero Hour and disappeared into the Luminarium.
Deliberately he clutched the thought that his own course, likewise, was hurtling towards its moment of truth; forcing himself to concentrate not on the passing banks of social life but on destiny's white water foaming ahead. The roar of it must widen and deepen as it expanded beyond the personal scale. An unimaginable crunch was due to occur when the appalling greatness of the Sparseworld threat came face to face with the epic means which had been designed to counter it. Let this crisis drown the other! Let his Great Complication dissolve amidst the end of his world.
He developed some skill at this game, of dwelling upon one fear in order to dispel another. He could be quite sure that he was not going to abandon the course now. No more bolting from lessons. He'd had some excuse for the first time he'd absconded; that walk-out on the first day – it had sprung from his independence of mind. But repetition was out. Any further backsliding would betoken dishonesty and cowardice.
Day Minus Four. An increase in rumours. Walking the corridors between sessions. Overhearing conversation between seniors. Clipped phrases, forcedly hushed; this was their Day Minus Two.
"Revenants? You're sure?"
"They had to admit it."
"You saw them?"
"Saw; didn't speak."
"They won't let us, that's why."
"Won't tell us what death means."
"More jargon."
"Shush!" nudged one speaker as Midax's presence was noted. Midax walked on past them. He was happy not to hear more, happy not to understand their twitchy dialogue; instinctively he agreed with the Institute's policy which discouraged communication ahead of time. Good reasons must exist for the policy. Something terrific enough to save the world must have its own special procedure, to be imparted in correct order.
Besides, the course was confusing enough as it was; he didn't want his mind boggled still further by premature inexpert revelations.
In any case his curiosity was going to be satisfied very soon. Maybe, to some extent, this very hour.
The conference in the Great Hall was billed as a gathering of the Institute's entire personnel – the only such gathering which those trainees present were likely to see. And the staff had promised that the occasion was going to clarify something important. The meaning of a key term, jelling, which had been used frequently but without definition during the past few days, would be explained.
The Hall was three-quarters full. He sidled along one of the rows of seats. He wasn't too far from the front; only four rows separated him from the dais. He took a place and listened to the chatter buzzing around him.
The word "jelling" kept being bandied about. Obviously it still wasn't understood by most of the people who used it, though the old hands already talked as though they knew what it was. Midax looked forward to when he would join this select number. Academically he was once more keen; it was almost as if he had recovered from the Great Complication, or Perfection's Knock (his sense of humour was re-surfacing too).
Then all of a sudden he saw, a few seats to the right, in the row in front of him, the back of Pjerl's head. Memory socked his wits flat. His every other aim, his every other ambition or ideal, went into eclipse. No! they shouted as they were effaced, turn away from this force or you're finished! Such advice was impossible to follow. He was going to have to approach her, or at any rate try. No. Turn away from this woman. Forge ahead with your own life. Forge ahead with his own life? Forget it. Any chance of a last-minute sortie to emotional freedom? Forget it. What was the use of trying to escape prison when the prison was greater than the outside? Oh but you must listen. We – the congregation of all your other principles – hereby launch this last appeal. Get out of the Pjerl current while you can. But his soul yearned to escape further into the current, so that appeal was no good.
Inellan had begun to speak from the lectern.
"....It is therefore appropriate that the Luminarium is shaped like a hothouse, if for 'heat' we read 'complexity'....
(She's just over there and how can I avoid spending this evening wondering what I should have done?)
"....though in the case of heat the excitation and movement is merely physical whereas in the case of complexity it is developmental...."
(How can one possibly balance the risk? The risk of doing something and the risk of doing nothing; the risk of doing something now which may cause such ruin as to ensure that I can do nothing later....)
"....it is, therefore, appropriate to describe the functioning of the Luminarium using the simile of the hothouse. Heat, after all, implies...."
Inellan, thought Midax, you're too fond of the word "appropriate". It's starting to annoy me. And I'm already on the edge; so you'd better cut the polysyllabic guff, or.... Midax passed a hand across his throat.
Then his fingers clenched as his flailing thoughts hit upon a plan. Pity to waste a healthy rage! And since he had to stick with the course insofar as he was so committed to it by now, that he no longer could leave of his own free will, and since, on the other hand, if he did not leave he was going to be irrevocably separated from Pjerl because in four days' time he was due to enter the Luminarium whereas she as a mere observer wouldn't go in –
He must arrange to leave not of his own free will.
He must get himself expelled.
"....In this way we can see that it is appropriate that all the so-called double-ell rays, the life-light rays which our engineering skill has trapped inside the Luminarium, should, in their zigging and zagging, trace waves in which the candidates will sink their perceptions, until the process becomes invisible and the vistas.... jell."
Ignorant of impending doom, Inellan spouted on, while one brain in the sea of faces before him – the brain inside the head of Midax Rale – was drawing a cross-bow shaft of wit, tighter and tighter each time the word "appropriate" fell from the Lecturer's lips.
"It is therefore similarly appropriate that...."
"APPROPRIATE GARBAGE," Midax let fly, not with wit after all, but with direct insult.
Inellan stood blinking. The audience began to buzz, some in approval, some in indignation at the verbal custard pie which had been hurled in their lecturer's face.
"Hear, hear," someone cried.
"It's that Splasher," someone else spluttered; "throw him out!"
Midax, half-satisfied, peered around: he sensed that there might be a substantial number on his side. He certainly could hear some supporters. Not exactly what he wanted – not a help towards expulsion – and yet it was gratifying to have touched a common chord....
However, the voice of support was drowned in further blasts from the Lecturer's microphone:
"Appropriate behaviour always consists, in this and other areas, of observing those patterns which facts make, and conforming our wants to them."
"WAFFLE!" shouted Midax. And definitely, this time, a sizeable fraction of the audience seemed to agree, as far as he could judge from other verbal missiles hurled from the floor: the hour for open criticism must have struck. Midax was obviously not the only trainee who had found the course to be lacking in logic and structural rigour. Maybe, with his shouted sarcasm, he had just nailed the whole mystery-mongering morass. He had issued a clear rallying call for those who were willing to insist upon proper underpinning of the course and proof of the Institute's grandiose claims. And if the call was answered, what then would become of his plan to get expelled? Could he abandon his new following?
Next thing he noticed, was that he need not worry: despite the murmurs of approval and the hear-hears, not a single figure actually went so far as to stand up to second his rallying call.
The murmurs began to die down. Expecting censure, Midax watched the Lecturer, but the Lecturer instead of looking at him was recognizing someone at the back of the hall, another member of staff who had just stood up: a tall, stringy woman. Midax realized it was Examiner Jaekel as her charmless, leathery voice cracked out:
"Inellan, remind him that he was born a universe too soon!"
Teasing little outbreaks of laughter began to caper through the hall. Inellan blinked in relief, and took the cue:
"Yes, as my colleague the Examiner has just pointed out, and as I myself have pointed out before, a demand for explanations – stress laid upon causes and reasons – is (or rather will be) more appropriate to Universe Seven than to our Universe Six. For the concept of causation implies some step, some gap, between causer and caused. And such gaps are rare in a universe such as ours, sustained, as ours is, by immediate pulse of reality."
Blast the man to shreds, fumed Midax. He's got the very days and nights on his side, the thumping beat of the Time-Tree supporting our existence without the need for a single cause.
From another back corner of the hall, a thin male voice sounded.
"A little less exactitude, Lecturer Inellan."
Help had come to Midax from a direction not previously imagined, yet instantly recognizable. For the words had been uttered by none other than the grey voice of Assigner Alsair, Sovereign of Serenth. Prestige wrought its spell; heads silently turned to where the austere old Head of State sat in his corner, his mien an expression of freezing impartiality.
Midax was too astounded to feel relieved. Alsair, the rare-spoken, friendless legend, the remote and lofty co-ordinator of Serenth, had just supported him against Inellan.
Alsair was more than merely the Sovereign of Sycrest. Since the death of Icdon he was sovereign of all known people in existence. The audience hung on his words as he continued:
"We ought to take some notice of the concept of causation. After all, our land of Sycrest, the most complex known country in this universe, is so rare and special, we ought to consider the possibility that within it may lurk some fore-shadow of Universe Seven."
Silence stretched awkwardly. The Lecturer, rebuked, bowed his head. Then he replied:
"Of course, Assigner.
"Actually, of course," (turning the flank of the argument), "both views are right.
"In maintaining our Institute and in perfecting our plans, we have been following in the footsteps of our mighty predecessors. Carrying out their purposes, we form, with them, a duet of cause and effect. I admit this.
"I would merely add, nevertheless, that we obtain more by seeing than by delving; we have visions rather than analyses; our land of Sycrest may be special but there is no getting away from the fact that we live in a predominantly result-centred, teleological universe. Instead of seeking causes, which push from behind, we submit to destiny, which pulls from ahead."
No comeback this time, from Head of State or anyone else. Inellan had triumphed.
The lecture resumed its interrupted course; Midax listened in a state of apathy. He had not succeeded in getting himself expelled from the Institute; he had merely made a fool of himself. His protest from the floor had been squashed. His one articulate supporter, Alsair himself, had been squashed too, though more respectfully. How to approach Pjerl after this?
Besides, wondered Midax, even had he triumphed as a heckler, how could that have helped him to devise a form of greeting which could do justice to the occasion – possibly the last time he would ever see her? ("Hello, I'm Midax Rale. You're Pjerl Lhared, aren't you?" What scintillating stuff.) He reviewed endless combinations of words.... tried guessing her replies.... previewing conversations as though the utmost caution were necessary even for saying Hello. It was as though he had lost all his courage. In fact, that was precisely the case.
Lecturer Inellan carried on quite a while longer before he ran out of voice, but presently the booming from the dais ceased and chatter broke out on all sides. People rose for the interval or leaned over to make comments to their neighbours. Taking an anxious look around, Midax saw that Pjerl appeared to be sitting quietly. It's now or never. He stood up, feeling sick, and began edging into her field of view.
At that moment a young straight-backed fellow strode up and buttonholed Midax. "You're the ex-Splasher, aren't you? My name is Jolld, Jolld Tontrar. I'd like a word with you. I'm from an earlier class but I had to repeat some of the course, so I'm in your class now."
"So you are. I recognize you," said Midax politely while his blood fizzed with impatience.
The youngster continued to speak, illustrating his every point with a finger-stabbing gesture. "I think that although you're wrong" (stab) "in what you say, you had a jolly good try" (stab), "shaking up old Inellan with your notions of the importance of caus-ay-" (stab) "-tion, and there's definitely no harm in giving 'em a whirl" (stab), "since your own background gives you the wherewithal to get off that road any time you like – d'you see? Aristocratic dilettantism" (stab), "with its concept of style" (prolonged stab), "always brings us back to seeing that what emerges is more important than what causes a thing. D'you see?"
I don't care enough to try, thought Midax. "You quite approve of the Splashers, it seems."
"I do, in fact I admire them," admitted Jolld. "They've got style, but then so have we. That Light-Tank, for instance! Wow. Jumping the gun a bit, if you ask me – creating pockets of U7 style in a U6 medium – but then – "
"Jolld, excuse me a minute. I have got to go and sort something out. Thanks for sharing your insights with me."
His smile became bitter as the satisfied Jolld moved off. It was no joke, it was the truth, that style was winning out over substance all along the line.
For instance, right at this moment, as Midax edged towards Pjerl, he must forbid his feelings to show. In fact, in his effort to "make it happen spontaneously" he was even manoeuvring so as deliberately not to be the first to make eye contact –
Yes, he was gazing past her and waiting for her to notice him before he himself took the risk of seeming to notice her.
Which, of course, might turn out to be a self-defeating mistake: if he edged so far, he was making it happen. And that being so, then her recognition of him would be thus robbed of value by the spontaneity-rule. Fount take it all! Why not just speak and take the consequences?
Too late – it was she who spoke –
"Hello Midax," her greeting hit him with gut-liquefying impact.
As when one looked into the blinding sun, the experience was not anything to which he could give any form, outline or proper perspective.
He heard himself say, "Hello Pjerl..."
She spoke again, pelting him with further golden syllables:
"It's a long way from the wine-shop, isn't it?"
"A long way from the boat, too," he responded, grabbing the only association of ideas that was ready to hand. Hastily he then explained, "I saw you on a barge the other day, with my former crowd."
"My former crowd too," Pjerl said.
What was that? What had The Power said then?
"'Former'? Aren't you going back to them?" he gulped.
"No," said Pjerl, and the word opened the floodgates of hope.
"But, I thought," he sought to control his clogged-up voice, "when I saw you here, that you were – um – just here for the occasion – in your capacity as observer – "
"Not any more. I've joined the Institute properly; in fact I'm in your class now, Midax."
Life was suddenly as sweet as it could be. He fervently renewed his dedication to the training course. He was so happy, at this moment, that his one thought was to retire and gloat safely over his winnings –
"Good! Welcome!" he said to her. "And now – I must go – please excuse me as I need to make some preparations for the next session – for reasons too boring to explain." Too boring indeed for a real gambler, who might instead have had the guts to pursue a winning streak.
Pjerl smiled, "See you." The copper gleams of her hair inclined in acknowledgement of his welcome. For an instant, then, he saw her face as a face instead of as an overpowering fuzz of beauty. Just for a moment – objectively – Pjerl Lhared was, to him, a personable young lady, with a good figure, good looks, warm and lively mind, and vivacious attractive manner. Then the moment fled into the past and the opportunity for saner joy was lost as his vision dug blind-deep once more into the well of glory.
He wandered to his room, lay down and let his head swim among the weeds of recollection. Every word he had uttered chugged past in review, for checking and re-checking in case of gaffes. Her words re-eddied all the while, shimmering around him in repeating waves, in case they might reveal (on second or third or millionth glance) any cause for hope or despair. Each word a headache, but never mind – at the price of some headaches, his luck had come cheap! Fantastic luck! Oh, the disaster that might have been! Suppose he had succeeded in getting himself expelled from the Institute.... he would have lost his only reason for existence.
Whereas now – in mystery and in baffled wonder – his whole heart lived.
>>>next chapter>>>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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← The Middle returns tonight!
The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory from noon today until 3:00am tomorrow for our area. The advisory warns of a wintry mix including freezing rain.
Today we will gather for worship at 9:00am but have cancelled the Bible classes and LTC practice that were scheduled to follow our worship gathering.
Our intention is to give everyone the opportunity to get home safely by about 11:00am. You are encouraged to look at the forecast for your particular area and make a decision about the wisdom of your travelling today.


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Glenn Shaheen
Glenn Shaheen is the author of Predatory, winner of the Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize, and runner-up for the Norma Farber First Book Award from the Poetry Society of America. He is also the author of Unchecked Savagery, a chapbook of flash fiction. His poetry has appeared in Subtropics, /nor, Barrelhouse, and Washington Square, among other publications.
By Glenn Shaheen
In Energy Corridor, Houston, Texas is the macabre avatar for a nation that has systematically stripped political and economic power from the middle and lower classes. In these poems the speaker wrestles with the guilt and complacency of living in the world's wealthiest nation. It is easy in America to do nothing and suckle the trickling down of the rich, but these poems urge that we have a community responsibility to alter the way we act. Through varied lenses, from Jean-Jacques Rousseau to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, from Goethe to contemporary electronica, from the 1982 Tylenol Murders to the Stanley Cup, these poems assemble the rhetoric of our cultural landscape into a call to arms. We must change our ways.
WINNER OF THE 2010 AGNES LYNCH STARRETT POETRY PRIZE
"Glenn Shaheen is claiming new ground for American poetry. His poems are about the nightmares of information overload, collapsing infrastructure, ubiquitous violence, and other ills of late empire. The subjects are not happy, but Shaheen's clear vision and crisp—often witty—language offer the pleasures of surprise, discovery, and recognition."
—Ed Ochester


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December 27, 2010 • Issue 10:12:02
Paperless merchant acquiring: A legal perspective
By Adam Atlas
We've been talking about it for years: going paperless in merchant acquiring. If you can buy a house on eBay without paper, why can't you get a merchant account without paper? The answer is that we, as an industry, have not worked out the logic of paperless applications and merchant agreements. The purpose of this article is to provide certain legal perspectives on making a merchant acquiring business paperless.
Yes. Pursuant to the Federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, also known as E-Sign, a "signature, contract or other record relating to such transaction may not be denied legal effect, validity or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form." This federal law applies, with certain exceptions, and may have been embellished upon by certain state laws.
The principle that electronic agreements have the same effect as written agreements is generally accepted in U.S. law. The existence of this legal principle does not, however, imply that all banks are ready to roll out online merchant account applications. Instead, it means that if they wanted to, there would not be much of a legal impediment.
Has anyone done it?
Yes. I have had the pleasure of advising some of the leaders in our industry in drafting and providing the legal framework for online electronic merchant applications and agreements. The banks that have ventured into this territory tend to be skittish about it. I think this is because online applications and agreements are a bit of a paradigm shift for banks.
Some banks, for example, will shift the burden of legal enforceability of their online agreements to the ISOs that wish to use them. That means ISOs have to guarantee to the banks that if merchant agreements fail because they are electronic and not on paper, the banks can sue the ISOs for the agreements' lack of enforceability.
Is it a pre-application, application or agreement?
When discussing electronic merchant account sign-ups, it's important to distinguish between pre-applications, applications and agreements. These terms are not necessarily industry-defined, but with some explanation, you will see how they differ. A pre-application is a type of inquiry form that you are likely to see on many ISO web pages. It serves, essentially, to pick up leads from the Internet.
An application is a form in which merchants provide more detailed information concerning their business operations and where pricing is set out. A merchant agreement details everything one would find in an application together with the terms and conditions applicable to the acquiring bank's merchant services.
When establishing an online merchant sign-up process, ISOs should be very clear with themselves and with merchants as to exactly what they are trying to accomplish at each stage of the process.
What about tailoring pricing to the merchant?
Most online agreements will allow ISO representatives to tweak certain variable fields so as to continue to permit the customary give and take between merchants and acquirers that is integral to the sales process. Training will be required of ISOs and agents to understand what prices can be changed and how to change them.
Several ways exist to handle the electronic sign-up process to accommodate the needs of ISOs, agents and merchants. One is to create a login application via which an agent and merchant can access an application together, perhaps on a laptop at the merchant location.
The merchant or the agent could then make subsequent adjustments to it, with the merchant having the final right to accept it, thereby creating a permanent record of their agreement.
Does an electronic signature require specific technology?
No. Something as simple as the merchant expressly agreeing to a defined set of terms and pricing, and indicating such on a dedicated website, will often be enough to secure legal agreement on the document.
Note that E-Sign and other similar laws contain specific requirements for an agreement to be effective, so review of your paperless sign-up process by an attorney is recommended. That said, it will probably cost the average ISO less to use paperless sign-ups than the current cost of printing many copies of lengthy agreements and applications.
What form does the 'signed' agreement take?
As a matter of law, an agreement signed in electronic format must be recorded as such so the parties can retrieve it at a later date. The "recording" of the signature becomes an "electronic record" of the agreement, and that is the form the agreement takes in the archives of the parties concerned. We have all signed up for various online services, such as LinkedIn or Facebook. That kind of sign-up process, together with disclosure that is required for our industry, is the essence of a paperless merchant sign-up.
Are paper copies still required?
No. So long as an electronic record of the agreement is accessible by all parties thereto and contains all the terms and conditions of the agreement, there is no specific legal requirement, under federal law, to create or retain a paper copy. There may be business or marketing reasons to create a paper copy and deliver it to the merchant; there may also be bank requirements or card company rules that require it, but the law alone does not.
When creating a paperless sign-up process, ISOs and processors must reflect on how documents will be accessed years into the future. Could you open a document from 1998? That's the kind of question you have to ask yourself when you make a document in 2010 that will need to be accessible in 2020 or later.
What do the banks get?
Whatever they want. Banks already employ a wide variety of practices for keeping records of merchant agreements. Some will allow ISOs to board merchants by entering data into the bank system and permit ISOs to retain paper copies of agreements. Some banks will accept scans of original documents; others want the originals.
Paperless agreements are much easier to manipulate than paper agreements, so they will simplify the process of record keeping. That said, data storage is an issue, and banks may not want to store all the data concerning every agreement on their own systems. The issue of what banks get in a paperless application process is one to be settled by an arrangement with the bank.
Ultimately, banks must be able to access electronic records of merchant agreements regardless of where the records are kept. When merchants cause losses, as they often do, banks need to sue, and they need to have something to show the court that hears the claim.
Is paperless the way to go?
In theory, going paperless in the payments industry is easy. In practice, there are several moving parts, including the merchant agreement; the lease; and automated clearing house, check, gift-card and other ancillary agreements that all need to be rolled into a paperless application. This takes flexibility on the part of suppliers and coordination of each party's legal requirements. We'll all be there sooner or later, I hope.
In publishing The Green Sheet, neither the author nor the publisher is engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If you require legal advice or other expert assistance, seek the services of a competent professional. For further information on this article, email Adam Atlas, Attorney at Law, at atlas@adamatlas.com or call him at 514-842-0886.
Payments 2010: Fast forward to the future
Black Friday, Cyber Monday post promising sales
MasterCard, Visa, PayPal thwart DDoS attacks
Dwolla P2P goes national
Chip and PIN versus mag stripe debated
Discover's Zip cards ready for prime time
Trade Association News
Selling Prepaid
Prepaid in brief
Has gift card industry reached turning point?
GAO on why prepaid needs regulation
Checks give way to debit cards
Keys to driving merchant retention
Jeffrey Shavitz , Charge Card Systems Inc.
Are you awake to mobile payments?
Ken Musante , Eureka Payments LLC
Experts weigh in on social media marketing - Part I
Bill Pirtle , MPCT Publishing Co.
E-commerce fraud: Identifying and reducing risk
Nicholas Cucci , Network Merchants Inc.
CheckAlt Payment Solutions
Virtual testing for ATM and POS networks
QuickStart System , Lexcel Solutions Inc.
It's a fine life, isn't it?


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text:
Majority of Budapest Residents Oppose 2024 Olympic Bid: New Poll
Posted on Feb 2, 2017 8:40 AM by Robert Livingstone in Featured, 2024 Olympic Bid News
NOlimpia supporter against the Budapest 2024 Olympic Games bid also wears a black ribbon as a tribute to Hungarian bus crash victims in Italy (NOlimpia Facebook photo)
Budapest residents are souring over the idea of hosting the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games according to a new poll – the first since the start of a referendum signature collection campaign that was launched across the city last month. According to a Medián poll commissioned by website hvg.hu, a majority say they they would like Hungary's Olympic bid withdrawn, and even more support a public vote to determine the issue.
Of residents contacted by telephone on January 28 and 29, 68 per cent do not support hosting the Games due to potential costs and only 26 per cent said that it was worth organizing the Games at any cost. 59 per cent want the bid for the Games withdrawn, 60 per cent support a referendum and 32 per cent say a referendum is not necessary.
The Momentum Mozgalom political youth group has organized a NOlimpia campaign to force a referendum over Budapest's Olympic project, and after getting a question approved by the elections committee they need to collect 138,000 signatures over 30 days. Two weeks into the drive, the group is more than halfway to its goal.
If the group can hit its target, it will automatically trigger a referendum. No date has been set.
Of those surveyed, nine per cent have already signed in favor of the referendum while one-third plan to do so before the February 18 deadline.
The new poll, however, is based on only 600 respondents and is subject to a wide margin of error. A poll commissioned in December by the Budapest 2024 bid committee and conducted by pollster Kód Kft revealed 63 per cent support for the Games from a sampling of 1,000 citizens.
The reduced support is an indication of the strong anti-bid campaign being run by Momentum Mozgalom. The group previously consulted with opponents of the withdrawn Hamburg and Boston 2024 Olympic bids, including the No Boston Olympics organization who were instrumental in rallying opposition that pressured the city's Mayor to reject the plan.
Hamburg lost its referendum by a narrow margin in November 2015.
A Hungarian Youth Organization seeks referendum over Budapest 2024 Olympic Bid (Facebook)
Opponents claim the Games will be too costly and too risky, and that the general public needs to weigh in before any plans move forward.
The referendum push is poorly timed for Budapest's bid as the Olympic campaign reaches a critical milestone Friday. Final documents are due from all three candidates, including rivals Los Angeles and Paris, and the international promotion phase is set to begin.
Prior to Friday, promotion could only be targeted domestically, but in the final phase of the campaign advertising and messages are permitted to be directed internationally in the hopes that they will reach the almost 100 voting International Olympic Committee (IOC) members and thousands of influential stakeholders.
While LA and Paris are expected to kick off their international campaigns immediately and have already organized launch events, Budapest has decided to delay its launch by several days, presumably to focus on domestic support and move past the referendum risk.
The IOC Evaluation Commission will visit Budapest beginning May 10 for site inspections and document reviews. The winning bid will be named at an IOC all-members session September 13 in Lima, Peru.
Momentum Mozgalom
NOlimpia
BidWeek: A Politically Correct Non-Shortlist
Budapest 2024 Olympic Bid Opponent Spins Question To Get New Referendum Approved
Budapest 2024 Gets Support From Nine Elite Ambassadors
Three 2024 Olympic Bids "Advancing Extremely Well" IOC Says
Mayor Drops Toronto 2024 Olympic Bid Under IOC Pressure
Budapest 2024 Backed By Top Hungarian University In Debrecen
Budapest 2024 Olympic Bid Boosted As City Named European Capital of Sport For 2019
Paris 2024 Congratulates Emmanuel Macron on French Presidential Election Victory
BidWeek: Why Does It Take So Long for the IOC To Choose a Host City?
Newly Released LA 2028 Olympic Budget Remains "In Line" With Bid Estimates
Poll Shows 60 Percent Support A Budapest 2024 Olympic Bid
"Record Breaking" Support, Amid Opposition, Shown For Hamburg 2024 Olympic Bid Referendum


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Q: MDM is Not Saving Session Data .dmrc file Am trying to replace LightDM with MDM in 13.10. Am able to install and configure MDM, but when I go to login the system tells me that the .dmrc file is being ignored. Initially there was no .dmrc file, but I copied one from another user. I moved that to my home directory and changed the permissions to 644. This didn't solve the problem. I can confirm that my user owns $HOME; however, in the "Other" section of the folder properties it says others can read/write.

A: Too quick on the draw. Solved this problem by changing home folder permissions to exclude Reading or viewing by others.

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"Mermaids" published in 2012 Roanoke Review, vol. xxxvii, Sept. 2012.
Winner of 2011 Roanoke Review Fiction Prize.
"After the Rain" published in Big Muddy, Vol. 11, No. 2, April 2012.
September/October 2011. Nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
"Flat Bed" published in Third Wednesday, Vol. 3, Issue 2, Spring 2011.
"META-fiction Woman" published in Musings, Vol. 1, Spring 2001.
"A Little Kindness" published in Minimus, Vol. 9, 2000.
"Unspoken Messages" published in Potomac Review, Vol. V no. 1, Winter 1998.
"Skating Blind" published in Buffalo Spree, Winter 1997. Nominated for Best American Short Stories and O'Henry award.
"Pancakes" published in Minimus, Vol. 7, 1997.
"Silence" published in Potato Eyes, Issues 11-12, Winter 1995, Spring 1996.
"Unnatural Disaster" published in Folio: A Literary Journal, Winter 1995.
"Starry, Starry Night" published in A LOVING VOICE II: A Caregiver's Book of More Read Aloud Stories for the Elderly, 1994.
"Edges" published in FURY Magazine, Fall 1994.
"Whose Story Is This?" published in MDWA Spring 2013 Pen-in- Hand.
"Where Do Stories Come From?" published in MDWA Winter 2013 Pen-in-Hand, vol. 26, no. 1.
"Writers Need a Tough Skin" published in MDWA Fall 2012 Pen-in-Hand vol. 25, no. 4.
Atticus Review (online journal) published Jan Bowman's recent interview, "Dogs of Glory & Reading For Pleasure: An Interview with Jay Bates and Michael Schmeltzer" of River and Sound Review.
Interview & Book Review: Trajectory Journal, K. L. Cook, Spring 2013 Issue 6. Full Interview is posted online at my website.
Interview & Book Review: Trajectory Journal – Sheldon Lee Compton – Fall 2012 – Issue 5. Full Interview is posted online at my website.


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Package com.amazonaws.services.inspector.model

Class Summary

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Description

AddAttributesToFindingsRequest

AddAttributesToFindingsResult

Agent

 Contains information about an Inspector agent.

AgentPreview

 This data type is used as a response element in the
 PreviewAgentsForResourceGroup action.

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 This data type is used as a response element in the
 ListAssessmentAgents action.

Application

 Contains information about an Inspector application.

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 This data type is used as the request parameter in the
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 Contains information about an Inspector assessment.

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DescribeApplicationRequest

DescribeApplicationResult

DescribeAssessmentRequest

DescribeAssessmentResult

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DescribeFindingRequest

DescribeFindingResult

DescribeResourceGroupRequest

DescribeResourceGroupResult

DescribeRulesPackageRequest

DescribeRulesPackageResult

DescribeRunRequest

DescribeRunResult

DetachAssessmentAndRulesPackageRequest

DetachAssessmentAndRulesPackageResult

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 This data type is used in the AssessmentsFilter data type.

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 Contains information about an Inspector finding.

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GetAssessmentTelemetryRequest

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ListApplicationsRequest

ListApplicationsResult

ListAssessmentAgentsRequest

ListAssessmentAgentsResult

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ListAttachedRulesPackagesResult

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 This data type is used in the Telemetry data type.

Parameter

 This data type is used in the LocalizedText data type.

PreviewAgentsForResourceGroupRequest

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ResourceGroup

 Contains information about a resource group.

RulesPackage

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 A snapshot of an Inspector assessment that contains the assessment's
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RunAssessmentRequest

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SetTagsForResourceRequest

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Tag

 A key and value pair.

Telemetry

 The metadata about the Inspector application data metrics collected by the
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TimestampRange

 This data type is used in the AssessmentsFilter and RunsFilter
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UpdateApplicationRequest

UpdateApplicationResult

UpdateAssessmentRequest

UpdateAssessmentResult

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A sustainable community is one that is economically, environmentally, and socially healthy and resilient. It meets challenges through integrated solutions rather than through fragmented approaches that meet one of those goals at the expense of the others. And it takes a long-term perspective—one that's focused on both the present and future, well beyond the next budget or election cycle.
This is our opportunity to exercise leadership and build a model of true sustainability for others to emulate. If not here, where? If not now, when?
We must act locally to replicate globally!
How do we preserve what's great about Sonoma while adapting to new pressures and solving the chronic problems facing us?
We Aren't Sustainable, Equitable, or Thriving. Yet.
43+ kinds of animals and plants are listed as rare, threatened or endangered.
Over 100 nonprofits and agencies work to make Sonoma Valley a better place. Most share a similar vision of a better Sonoma Valley. But we lack a coordinated workplan, common goals, and shared, measurable outcomes that would lead to efficiencies and greater success.
Sustainable Sonoma is a platform for organizations and community stakeholders to come to the table for the benefit of Sonoma Valley. Our core partners are working together to build a common agenda, shared measurement systems, mutually reinforcing activities, continuous communication, and backbone support for our partners.
Avoid duplication, search for integrated coordinated solutions that move beyond current silos.
Include all community constituencies, learn from diverse views and voices.
Sustainable Sonoma is a Collective Impact initiative that aims to unite these efforts through a common agenda, shared measurement systems, mutually reinforcing activities, continuous communication, and backbone support organizations.
Hearing from community members, through multiple channels, on their goals and strategies for making Sonoma Valley a better place—add your voice here!
Focus groups and public events that ask the questions: What do you want to see in Sonoma Valley's future? How do we get there? What do you NOT want to see?
Adopt a strategic plan written by a broad partnership of community interests.
Recruit influential community champions. Suggestions welcome!
Use best practices from "collective impact" and "place-making" processes.
2. Sonoma County Water Agency report to Sonoma Valley Groundwater Management Basin Advisory Panel, 2014.
3. Portrait of Sonoma County. Sonoma County Department of Health Services. 2014. The California Poverty Measure. PPIC and Stanford. 2013. Learn more here.
4. Sonoma Ecology Center analysis of Sonoma County Permit and Resource Management Department data. 2015.
5. Sonoma County Economic Development Board, Community Foundation Sonoma County.
6. Sonoma Valley Economic Development Partnership, 2014.