Abstract: This article describes strategies and equipment that allow students with physical limitations become more independent with daily living skills.
All students have different abilities and unique needs. Students who have physical disabilities in addition to sensory impairments often benefit from a variety of adaptations to routines, materials, and the environment. The following are examples of adaptive equipment and strategies that can be considered in order to help students with physical limitations be more independent with their daily living skills.
Before considering the use of adaptive equipment to promote a student's ability to eat independently, take a look at basic positioning. The student needs to be as close to the table as possible. This will minimize the amount of food that falls into the lap and can discourage slouching, which can interfere with swallowing.
. This incorporates a 90-degree bend at the hip, a 90-degree bend at the knees, and 90 degrees of flexion at the ankle. This means that smaller students may need footstools when they eat in a school cafeteria so their feet don't dangle. This kind of accommodation might not be possible in all places, such as restaurants and outdoor settings, but it is important in school cafeterias, classrooms, and at home in order to develop independent eating skills.
utensils may help. Hollow-handled utensils allow a helper to insert a finger into the handle to teach the correct motion of scooping.
Adapted utensils might also work with students who have tactile or sensory deficits, coordination problems, or reduced strength. Angled spoons may help students get the food to their mouth more successfully because they require less wrist movement. Weighted utensils are good for students who need more feedback to help them grade their force when scooping food onto the utensil or if they have tremors/unsteadiness in their hands. A rocker knife or T-shaped rocker knife can be helpful for people who have the use of only one hand.
Adaptive equipment can also help students develop more independence with cooking skills and food preparation, especially those who have the use of only one hand.
The Pan Holder (suction cups) keeps the pan from turning when cooking on the stove. The suction cups don't work as well, however, when the stove top gets hot.
Students with physical or visual impairments can use adaptive equipment to dress themselves more independently.
(which look like regular shoelaces) for older students who want to look more age appropriate.
For the students who lack fine motor coordination or who have the use of only one hand, a button hook or a zipper pull might be useful.
Some students at TSBVI use a device known as a Dressing Bar. A student in a wheelchair that has upper body strength and some coordination in his hands can use the dressing bar to pull to standing and then pull his pants/underwear up or down by himself. Students who have less upper body strength or coordination skills can hold onto the dressing bar while being assisted with their pants/underwear.
The Flipfold is a 4-panel device that can assist students with folding shirts, pants, and towels.
These are only some of the many adaptive devices that are available. The purpose of this article is not to make you an adaptive equipment expert, but to give you a quick look at things that might help the students you work with. If you feel that a student could benefit from adaptive equipment, please contact an occupational or physical therapist in your district or contact us at TSBVI.


Topic: SAVE THE CONWY T-Shirts - orders in by 16th March!
Re: SAVE THE CONWY T-Shirts - less than a week left!
You will want to take a look at the Welsh Rivers Facebook page after 12 noon today.
Hmmmm.... maybe I should have said "team members and family" Mr Laws! Say hi to the folks from us pls?
Will do, they had a great time.
How have we got this far into the thread and not mentioned the Saracen's Heat at Symonds Yat?
I heard you all had a rubbish time... jerks.
My Mum. She's paddled the Nile and everything.
Joe L wrote: Groo. On the mickey mouse run in Valldall.
Not sure if that's the correct spelling. A local paddler informed us that the hole was named after a local girl, as its a sticky little hole that everyone gets stuck in sometime.
On the Aberglaslyn Gorge there are (for some of us anyway) Garry's Ledge and the Temporal Focus Graduation Drop.
Topic: Things I see on the river during my travels.
Re: Things I see on the river during my travels.
TechnoEngineer wrote: Ordered ^^^^ - thanks for the recommendation!
Get a copy of squirt boating and beyond by Jim Snyder.
Sychnant Pass was a death trap last week with jerks driving waaay too fast in both directions.
A55 is a joke of a road.
It's been there for ages, and is below the "usual" take out. Probably passable with care. Maybe.
I know, but I'm at work so can't post a picture and the drop I've got a snap of you'd never get anyway.
Conwy Falls Cafe have that as well.
I love the way that as you wander about the chaps are in different "Where's Wally" Style places!
Topic: Go pro Won't turn on.
Re: Go pro Won't turn on.
GoPro have a very strict policy and dealers have to sign things to say that their goods won't end up on eBay!
Two-loos is not in the Ogwen Valley. How dare you? How VERY Dare you?!
I've spent the difference in cost on a trip to Val Sessia and another to the alps. I can live with that. Better the devil you know after all.
sandy wrote: Rub it in why don't you.
Amused to discover that my new ultrabook (slim laptop) will run premiere pretty much as well as my desk-top!
sandy wrote: My computer is part of the problem when using Premiere Pro - It has 8gb RAM but is still crap when editing until I've rendered the workspace - think the processor is struggling to cope. Are there anyways to speed things up?
More RAM and regular breaks to render your workspace.


text:
Bilal Said Al-Azma (born 23 February 1955) is a Saudi Arabian sprinter. He competed in the men's 4 × 100 metres relay at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

References

External links

1955 births
Living people
Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Saudi Arabian male sprinters
Saudi Arabian male long jumpers
Olympic athletes of Saudi Arabia
Place of birth missing (living people)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
using System;
using System.IO;
using Org.Unidal.Cat;
using System.Threading;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using Org.Unidal.Cat.Message;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Linq;

namespace CatClientTest
{
    public class Context
    {
        public int Value { get; set; } = -1000;
    }

    public class Program
    {
        static AsyncLocal<Context> asyncLocal = new AsyncLocal<Context>();

        static void Main()
        {
            System.Threading.ThreadPool.SetMinThreads(5, 100);
            try
            {
                SimpleTest().GetAwaiter().GetResult();
            }
            finally
            {
                if (null != Cat.lastException)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("Cat.lastException:\n" + Cat.lastException);
                }
                Console.WriteLine("Test ends successfully. Press any key to continue");
                Console.Read();
            }
        }

        private static async Task SimpleTest()
        {
            var startTime = DateTime.Now;
            Console.WriteLine("Start: " + startTime);
            Console.WriteLine($"Top ThreadId: {System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId}");
            ITransaction newOrderTransaction = null;

            try
            {
                newOrderTransaction = Cat.NewTransaction("SimpleTestAsync-" + DateTime.Now.Ticks, "NewTrainOrder");
                asyncLocal.Value = new Context { Value = -8 };

                newOrderTransaction.AddData("I am a detailed message");
                newOrderTransaction.AddData("another message");

                var tasks = Enumerable.Range(1, 5).Select(async (i) =>
                {
                    await InvokePaymentWrap(i).ConfigureAwait(false);
                });

                await Task.WhenAll(tasks);

                Console.WriteLine("//////////////////////////////");

                for (int i = 100; i < 103; i++)
                    await InvokePayment(i);

                newOrderTransaction.Status = CatConstants.SUCCESS;
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                newOrderTransaction.SetStatus(ex);
            }
            finally
            {
                Console.WriteLine(newOrderTransaction.DurationInMillis);
                newOrderTransaction.Complete();
                Console.WriteLine("End: " + DateTime.Now);
                Console.WriteLine($"Duration: {(DateTime.Now - startTime).TotalMilliseconds}");
            }
        }

        private static async Task InvokePaymentWrap(int i)
        {
            var forkedTran = Cat.NewForkedTransaction("remote", "InvokePaymentWrap");
            asyncLocal.Value = new Context() { Value = i };
            try
            {
                await InvokePayment(i).ConfigureAwait(false);
                forkedTran.Status = CatConstants.SUCCESS;
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                forkedTran?.SetStatus(ex);
            }
            finally
            {
                forkedTran?.Complete();
            }
        }

        private static async Task InvokePayment(int i)
        {
            ITransaction paymentTransaction = null;
            try
            {
                Console.WriteLine($"{i} - InvokePayment 1 ThreadId: {System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId}. AsyncLocal: {asyncLocal.Value.Value}");
                paymentTransaction = Cat.NewTransaction("NewPayment" + i, "PaymentDetail");
                paymentTransaction.Status = CatConstants.SUCCESS;
                await Task.Delay(100).ConfigureAwait(false);
                Console.WriteLine($"{i} - InvokePayment 2 ThreadId: {System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId}. AsyncLocal: {asyncLocal.Value.Value}");

                await InvokeInnerPayment(i).ConfigureAwait(false);
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                paymentTransaction.SetStatus(ex);
            }
            finally
            {
                paymentTransaction.Complete();
            }
        }

        private static async Task InvokeInnerPayment(int i)
        {
            ITransaction paymentTransaction = null;
            try
            {
                Console.WriteLine($"{i} - InnerPayment 1 ThreadId: {System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId}. AsyncLocal: {asyncLocal.Value.Value}");
                paymentTransaction = Cat.NewTransaction("NewInnerPayment", "PaymentDetail-" + i);
                paymentTransaction.Status = CatConstants.SUCCESS;
                await Task.Delay(1000);
                Console.WriteLine($"{i} - InnerPayment 2 ThreadId: {System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId}. AsyncLocal: {asyncLocal.Value.Value}");

            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                paymentTransaction.SetStatus(ex);
            }
            finally
            {
                paymentTransaction.Complete();
            }
        }

        private static void Test99Line()
        {
            var name = DateTime.Now.ToLongTimeString();

            ITransaction newOrderTransaction = null;

            for (int i = 1; i <= 950; i++)
            {
                try
                {
                    newOrderTransaction = Cat.NewTransaction("Line99Test", name);
                    newOrderTransaction.Status = CatConstants.SUCCESS;
                    System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(1);
                }
                catch (Exception ex)
                {
                    newOrderTransaction.SetStatus(ex);
                }
                finally
                {
                    Console.WriteLine(i);
                    newOrderTransaction.Complete();
                }
            }

            for (int i = 951; i <= 1000; i++)
            {
                try
                {
                    newOrderTransaction = Cat.NewTransaction("Line99Test", name);
                    newOrderTransaction.Status = CatConstants.SUCCESS;
                    System.Threading.Thread.Sleep((i-950)*10);
                }
                catch (Exception ex)
                {
                    newOrderTransaction.SetStatus(ex);
                }
                finally
                {
                    Console.WriteLine(i);
                    newOrderTransaction.Complete();
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


This is insanity! Check out this blurb from our friend Jeremy Parish that details just how Nintendo is cutting costs on the 2DS.
Curiously, the 2DS is even more of a tablet-style system than it appears at first glance, as it actually features a single large screen in its center, not two separate ones. As one of their cost-cutting design measures, Nintendo reduced the number of screens in the system from two to one, and the appearance of separate screens is merely simulated by the way the case masks out the extraneous portions. This means the entire screen is by necessity a touchscreen, with the upper screen protected by a layer of plastic that sits above it.
In other words, Nintendo is just breaking up the two screens with the plastic casing, then blocking the touch input on the top half by a covering. I think I want one of these just to crack it open and peek at the inside!


The Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College (CCS Bard) was founded in 1990 as an exhibition and research center for the study of late twentieth-century and contemporary art and culture and to explore experimental approaches to the presentation of these topics and their impact on our world.
Since 1994, the Center for Curatorial Studies has presented rotating temporary exhibitions of contemporary art in the 9,500 square-foot CCS Galleries. Designed by architect Jim Goettsch and Nada Andric, the Galleries include advanced storage facilities and a special gallery designed for the presentation of video art and works on film.
In 2006, the Center for Curatorial Studies inaugurated the Hessel Museum of Art, a new 17,000 square-foot building dedicated to the Marieluise Hessel Collection of over 1,700 contemporary works. The new museum provides an educational venue for Bard students as well as the wider public, and a place to test out the possibilities of exhibition making utilizing the remarkable resources of the collection as a whole.
Exhibitions in the Hessel Museum of Art compliment the extensive exhibitions curated for the CCS Galleries.


The trips to the Middle East were very dangerous and very expensive, and many times the trips would last as long as two years. So the Christians decided that this was not very feasible and it did not seem fair because only those that were rich or strong enough would be able to get this indulgence. So various church organizations decided to build copies (not exact replicas, each built according to its culture's style) so that it would be easier for people to get the 'spiritual benefit' of the trip to the Holy Land." But even this was difficult for many people so the Franciscans, about the Fourteenth Century, started the practice of placing wooden crosses in the parish churches everywhere. Usually there were fourteen, each representing a "station" or important moment in the Passion. "The idea, then as now, was that you could simply go to your parish church and meditate on each of the stations, so you didn't have to go all the way to Jerusalem." In 1731 Pope Clement XII Corsini fixed the number of stations at 14. After Vatican II "a plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful who make a pious exercise of the Way of the Cross." So now we see how the Stations of the Cross are brought into our Lenten Journey. We are not only to partake in the sacrament of Reconciliation (confession) but we are to attend a gathering of the Stations of the Cross, which are held every Friday during Lent, therefore completing our penance. "Those who are 'impeded' can gain the same indulgence, if they spend at least one half hour in pious reading and meditation of the passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ (Enchiridion of Indulgence)." During this time a plenary (full) indulgence is granted, however on other days of the year only partial indulgence is granted.
"Using Scripture and traditions concerning the death of our Lord, and some legends, the Stations went through many variations, at one time numbering more than three dozen separate incidents- or stations." However, "In 1731, about four hundred years after the way of the cross became popular, Pope Clement XII Corsini fixed the number of stations at fourteen…" Even though the number of stations was fixed at fourteen, which fourteen stations should be used is not fixed. The Stations of the Cross almost seem to change with the times to reflect the needs of God's people. The common goal they share is that they serve as a guide for all Christians to help prepare them to enter the Paschal Mystery and to walk with Jesus in His last hours.
Is attendance of the Stations of the Cross mandatory? I know that in some of the literature it does mention that it is necessary as part of the follow through to our penance as we also go to confession, but what it does not say is if we have to physically attend every Friday. Would it be satisfactory if we only attended one session during Lent or are we obligated to attend all?
The Stations of the Cross (Via Cruces in Spanish) is not mandatory. The Stations of the Cross are a devotional exercise appropriate for any time of the year, but certainly a devotion that is exercised more so during the season of Lent. The only thing that is necessary after the Sacrament of Reconciliation is the completion of the penance that the priest gives to the penitent. It certainly could include the Stations of the Cross, but that would be on a case by case basis. No devotion of the Catholic Church is every mandatory, only for the assistance of a person's faith life.


Schalise Vancura is returning to Charter School Capital in the role of Sr. Operations Manager. In her previous role here, she was a valued member of our Financial Analysis & Risk Team. Prior to Charter School Capital, Schalise earned her Bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska and her Masters in Financial Analysis from Portland State University while working with a local boutique consulting firm where she managed the daily operations of various small-sized companies. Most recently, Schalise was an AVP in the Equity Research department of a boutique investment bank and broker-dealer specializing in the financial services sector. While Schalise hails from Nebraska, she has come to love the trails of Oregon, which she frequents with her Goldendoodle, Remy. When she's not out appreciating the great outdoors here in the Pacific Northwest, you can find her enjoying traveling, reading, wine, and whiskey!


Pop star opened up about feeling "sexualised" because of her skimpy outfit.
Miley Cyrus laid bare her heart like never before while talking about her revealing dressing style and feeling "sexualized" in a latest magazine interview.
The pop star even took to social media to share a glimpse of the cover shoot – and needless to say her glamorous looks in a see-through dress have sparked quite a frenzy.
Dressed in a sheer black outfit, Miley flashed her radiant smile in the stunning cover photo that she posted on Instagram. In the image, the Harper Bazaar's August cover girl is seen lying on a heart-shaped bed of flowers as she wraps around her arms, hiding her modesty from the lenses.
Despite the subtle flash of skin, the picture is tasteful in every manner and appeared to be a stark departure from Miley's usual tongue-out pose in the past. A fan admiringly commented, "Miley! How are you so perfect"?
"Freedom on a pink pure heart," a second Instagram user wrote, while a third gushed, "Inspirational queen," referring to the extract from her interview.
"Thank you Miley!! For brining awareness and non prejudice to our community. For understanding! For being there!" another fan shared for Miley's stand on the trans community.
"Your pictures make me smile when I need it. Thank you," someone else commented.
The 24-year-old songstress' fans are no stranger to her transformation over the years, and even the Wrecking Ball hitmaker seems to hold no restraints while talking about her changing style.
"I didn't want to show up to photo shoots and be the girl who would get my t**s out and stick out my tongue. In the beginning, it was kind of like saying, 'F**k you. Girls should be able to have this freedom or whatever.' But it got to a point where I did feel sexualized," she told the magazine.
In fact, the Disney star seems to be encouraging about not fitting into a set mould. "I don't give a f**k about being cool. I just want to be myself," she says reiterrating that "you are supposed to change all the time."
@harpersbazaarus on newsstands across the country July 25th!!!!! Loooooove!


Engineering is known for being a good, well-paid, in-demand job. However, these aspects may not have anything to do with happiness or a healthy work/life balance—or a healthy life at all. Defining what you want and who you want to be and sticking to that is important for happiness.
For Wozniak, building value equated to creating things that gave him enjoyment, and eventually he made a lot of money.
Wozniak said that most of his early success was him just having fun.
Wozniak knew what he wanted, and it wasn't status or money. Yet he was, and still is, a tinkering prankster.
We live in an ever-growing economy.
As we live in this continually expanding world, ethics becomes increasingly important.


text:
Everything we know about work is wrong. The pandemic proved it.
Good policy choices drive down poverty. We have to keep moving forward on that
John Micek
Hospitality and leisure workers, who staff restaurants, bars, and hotels, and who had to bear the brunt of pandemic for low wages, are leaving the workforce, NPR reported. In April, more than 740,000 people left the sector. (John Partipilo for the Tennessee Lookout)
So what can the plight of a little cafe tell you about the state of the American economy and the changing face of work? A lot, as it turns out.
The other week, the bistro where my family and I have been grabbing brunch every Sunday since the start of the pandemic announced that it would be shuttering on weekends, and shifting to a more limited, weekday schedule. The reason was a familiar one: The owner couldn't find the staff they needed to both function effectively and to keep themselves and their current staff from being ground into dust from the punishing pace.
The news was heartbreaking, if entirely unsurprising. Employers across the nation are struggling with a labor shortage so profound that one Alabama pizzeria vowed to hire "literally anyone" just to keep the doors open, Business Insider reported earlier this week.
Business leaders have falsely blamed the crisis on generous pandemic unemployment benefits, arguing that they're a disincentive to return to the labor force. Study after study has proven this is not the case. Instead, more seismic forces are at work.
In April of this year, a staggering 4 million people quit their jobs, in a phenomenon that's come to be called "The Great Resignation," Vox reported.
It's not that people don't want to work, but rather it's that, after an earth-shattering 16 months that have seen hundreds of thousands of our family members, friends, and neighbors die at the hands of an implacable and indiscriminate foe, there's just a genuine question of whether grinding it out for 4o hours a week at a job with substandard pay, low benefits, and little work-home balance is really worth it.
Increasingly, the answer is a resounding "No."
Hospitality and leisure workers, who staff restaurants, bars, and hotels, and who had to bear the brunt of pandemic-induced rage for low wages and little dignity, are leading that exodus, NPR reported. In April, the sector lost more than 740,000 people.
In the midst of the pandemic, workers across industries discovered something: When they weren't tethered to desks or jobs, there was time for something miraculous: Family and community, the hobby they'd been putting off learning, the time to retrain and search for new, and more fulfilling, work.
Admittedly, not everyone had this luxury, working parents had to scramble to find child care, or balance the demands of remote work against acting as their children's homeroom teacher. The shift was particularly hard for low-income workers. Frontline workers didn't have the luxury of stepping back at all.
Even so, "We have changed. Work has changed. The way we think about time and space has changed," Harvard Business School professor Tsedal Neeley told NPR. Having been given time and space and flexibility by the pandemic, workers now crave and demand it, she told NPR.
And then, something else happened, because of unprecedented, direct payments from the federal government — as much as $3,200 each — the number of Americans in poverty began to fall, according to Vox, from 12.8 percent in 2018 to 8.5 percent. That's based on projections that researchers at Columbia University made in March.
Separate research by the Urban Institute, also cited by Vox, projected that 2021 poverty will be about 7 percent, nearly cutting the 2018 rate in half.
The Biden White House's child tax credit program, monthly payments of $250 to thousands of American families, is similarly expected to lift millions of children out of poverty, the Guardian, and other outlets have reported.
Republicans argue against such largess, saying it perpetuates the welfare state. But it is hard to deny the bottom line reality: When you give people money, they are less poor, happier, and more likely to inject that money back into the economy. In fact, economists expect economic growth of about 7 percent this year, and 4.9 percent, in 2022, fueled by the stimulus and vaccines, Reuters reported.
Good policy choices drive down poverty. And American workers, by now accustomed to the flexibility of the pandemic economy, and the regular flow of stimulus checks, are unlikely to want to backtrack on that.
But it can't end there. To help both employers and workers, Washington and Harrisburg need to step up and do a couple of things.
One of them is finally making the wealthiest Americans, who grew even richer during the pandemic, pay their fair share. Earlier this week, new research by a coalition of Pennsylvania advocates showed that that if a wealth tax proposed by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., had been in effect in 2020, "the nation's billionaires alone would have paid $114 billion for that year—and would pay an estimated combined total of $1.4 trillion over 10 years."
That would pay for roughly half the $3.5 trillion budget resolution backed by the Biden administration that would dramatically remake the post-pandemic economy.
We also need to stop tying health coverage and other benefits to employment. The United States stands nearly alone in tying health coverage and other key benefits to work.
In Pennsylvania, lawmakers need to finally raise the state's minimum wage from $7.25 an hour, where it's sat for more than a decade, to $15 an hour. They also need to crack the piggy bank on the $5 billion in federal stimulus money they've locked away for no good reason. Doing that would pay for child care and a host of other programs that would enable Pennsylvanians to go back to work in a sustainable and healthy way.
The pandemic proved that everything we know about work is wrong. And there's no stepping back from it now.
This commentary was originally published by the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, an affiliate of the nonprofit States Newsroom which includes the Louisiana Illuminator.
by John Micek, Louisiana Illuminator
A 3-decade veteran of the news business, John L. Micek is the Pennsylvania Capital-Star's Editor-in-Chief. An award-winning political reporter, Micek's career has taken him from small town meetings and Chicago City Hall to Congress and the Pennsylvania Capitol. His weekly column on U.S. politics is syndicated to 800 newspapers nationwide by Cagle Syndicate.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


People inquiring about colon cancer often know that getting screened can be crucial, but that doesn't make it easy. Anxiety about getting a colonoscopy, from the liquid diet to prep for the test itself, is common. Getting screened is not a pleasant task; however, it is the best tool available.
Is finding out worth the preparation involved? YES. Early screening saves lives.
According to a study published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, the five-year survival rate when diagnosed with Colon Cancer in the "local stage" is greater than 90 percent. However, this study also reported that only 40 percent of patients with colorectal cancer get diagnosed when the disease is at this stage. Meaning, it is highly preventable, but people are less likely to catch cancer in time.
Now, don't go run 10 miles, do yoga for hours, or bench press hundreds of pounds. Physical health is about steadily replacing one habit with a healthier one. Start small, with something woven into everyday life. Get off the train a stop sooner and walk or stroll around the track at the field while your kids are at practice. Once you have an established routine, move on to activities that increase your heart rate.
Is your diet heavy on fatty foods or red meat? How much fiber are you getting? Make sure that most meat you eat is lean meats and fish.
Intriguing research published in Nature Communications recommends how quickly changing your diet can improve the health of your colon.
Researchers did a diet swap with 20 rural South Africans, who ate mostly vegetables, beans, and a little meat and 20 Americans, used to a typical diet of more meat, cheese, and fried foods.
After just two weeks, the colon samples from the Americans eating more vegetables showed less inflammation and fewer biomarkers associated with cancer, while the Africans showed a dramatic increase in inflammation and cancer biomarkers.
Talk to your family about family risk and history.
People seldom are hesitant to speak about their health, with their families. It's imperative to exceed such barriers, especially for those who have a family history of colon cancer.


text:
Q: compiling less from gulp with options We're using gulp-less to compile LESS files to css. The problem is that we have calc() statements in the less files which we want the less compiler to copy over to the css as-is, instead of evaluating them during compilation.
When invoking lessc from the command line, this is easily done using
lessc --strict-math=on

But how to do it from the gulp script?
I've tried adding the option to the task parameter, like so:
gulp.task('less', function() {
  return gulp.src(<my less files>)
             .pipe(less({
                       'strict-math': 'on',    // this is what I tried to add
                        paths : [ <my less paths> ]
                     }))
             .pipe(gulp.dest(<my css path>));
});

.. but to no avail. Is it possible? Any work-arounds or alternatives if not?

A: Dash separated named options are in camelCase in javascript, try this :
 .pipe(less({
      strictMath: 'on',    // this is what you have to do
      paths : [ <my less paths> ]
 }))

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Cincinnatti, Ohio : North Light Books, 1997.
127 pages : illustrations ; 28 cm.
In this book, Diane Phalen shows you easy watercolor techniques for conveying the spirit of the countryside in a style reminiscent of American folk painting. In 14 step-by-step painting projects - from simple scenes to more elaborate landscapes - you'll learn how to paint quaint fields, covered bridges, mills, stone walls, geese, trees, lakes and other things country. Each project includes a list of the materials used, detailed color mixes, step-by-step instructions, a photo of the finished piece, and a black-and-white line drawing of the design to help you get started right away.
Phalen, D. (1997). Painting the American heartland in watercolor. Cincinnatti, Ohio: North Light Books.
Phalen, Diane, 1953-. 1997. Painting the American Heartland in Watercolor. Cincinnatti, Ohio: North Light Books.
Phalen, Diane, 1953-, Painting the American Heartland in Watercolor. Cincinnatti, Ohio: North Light Books, 1997.
Phalen, Diane. Painting the American Heartland in Watercolor. Cincinnatti, Ohio: North Light Books, 1997. Print.
|a Phalen, Diane, |d 1953- |0 http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n96119913.
|a Painting the American heartland in watercolor / |c Diane Phalen.
|a Cincinnatti, Ohio : |b North Light Books, |c 1997.
|a 127 pages : |b illustrations ; |c 28 cm.
|a Watercolor painting |x Technique. |0 http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2008113407.


Praised by the Seattle Times for his "consummate guitar artistry" Michael Partington performs internationally. Recent appearances include BBC Radio 3, St. Martin in the Fields, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle's Benaroya Hall. He has released seven CDs for Rosewood Recordings, and has been invited to teach at schools ranging from the Gothenburg Royal Academy in Sweden to the San Francisco Conservatory. He has studied with most of the world's greatest guitarists including Oscar Ghiglia, Eduardo Fernandez, David Russell, Manuel Barrueco and many others. Private instruction with Michael is $85 per hour.


If you're a fan of Cadbury Creme Eggs, you know how hard it is to wait 365 days for Spring to come. Now you don't have to wait so long to savor the chocolate, gooey creaminess that only Cadbury can bring you! Inside the same milk chocolate shell of these Cadbury Screme Eggs you will find a spooky green and white sugary surprise. So good it'll make you SCREAM!
Display box contains 48 Cadbury Screme Eggs Halloween Candy, each with a net weight of 1.2 ounces.


Many Vendors will be at attendance!
DJ Cee will be spinning on the ones and twos.
This is a free event to the Public, come down and enjoy the beautiful models, cars, and atmosphere.
We will have Street Fighter IV hooked up for your gaming pleasure.
The beautiful Amy Fay, and Mai Tai will be walking around taking pictures with your cars. Be nice to the girls and they'll be nice to you.
We encourage all amateur models to come and have a good time. Please keep your attire modest, this is a public event and there will more than likely be young children and families present.
We will be accepting registration applications until (4/14/2010) at 11:59pm.
Any application submitted after this date may not be considered for the show.
There is a limited amount of spots available for cars, so get your application in as soon as possible. The vehicles that are chosen to participate in the car show will be notified via Email by (4/16/2010). It is your responsibility to confirm your attendance no later than (4/17/2010) if you do not confirm you may lose your place and it can be given to the next vehicle on the list.
A $10 registration fee must be paid for at the time of confirmation.
We will be accepting registrations at the door for $15. You must have your ride in the CarZ.com garage to be in the show.
There will be plenty of raffle prizes and vendors showcasing their latest products!
Raffle tickets are $2/ea. The 50/50 raffle tickets are $1/ea.
Must be present during the raffle to receive prizes.
Regarding the application process. One of the steps of the application process is to be a CarZ member and to add your ride to our garage. We will be reviewing your ride through the CarZ Garage so it would be in your best interest to fill it out as thoroughly as possible.
More categories can and will be added depending on the cars that register.
All judging categories are subject to change.
Rules for vehicles and spectators attending Collision Course.
- NO Bouncing or throwing sparks.
- DO be respectful, courteous, and CLEAN… Whatever you take to the event or buy must leave with you or be disposed of properly.
- Any vehicle chosen for the show will not be allowed to leave until shows end, this is for the safety of the public.
We invite everyone to come out and have a good time, even if you are not participating in the show. We would like to thank everyone in advanced for your support and participation in the event.
We will have a flyer up shortly.
The registration forms will be up shortly as well.
This event is open to all cars, so feel free to post this up on your other forums.
You will be notified by 4/21/10 if you have been accepted. You must confirm your attendance by 11:59pm 4/22/10.
Last edited by CarZ; 04-14-2010 at 11:50 PM.
Registration form and flyers up! Cmon guys!
Im new and of course need help. 1992 honda accord MES connector location.
New 1991 (black, of course) Accord EX owner, with water leak issue... Hayelp!


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text:
File under: Ecstatic
Djivan Gasparyan
I Will Not Be Sad In This World (LP)
Label: All Saints Records
Remastered reissue. Printed inners with sleevenotes and archival photos. Armenian master duduk player Dijvan Gasparyan's debut album originally appeared in 1983 before being re-issued by Brian Eno, who called it "one of the most beautiful and soulful recordings I have ever heard." Available on vinyl for the first time in 33 years, restoring the original 1983 artwork to its former glory, this is a unique and powerful musical statement that has had a lasting cultural impact. A widely acknowledged classic by the undisputed master of the duduk, a traditional woodwind instrument from Armenia. A double-reed instrument of ancient origin and noted for its unique, mournful sound. Originally released in the Soviet Union in 1983, Eno came across the musician during a visit to Moscow in the late 1980s and subsequently introduced the record to Western audiences via a reissue on his Opal label.
"It sounds for all intents like music from another world" Los Angeles Times
Whether you've heard the name Dijvan Gasparyan or not, there's a good chance you've heard his playing. The Armenian duduk player died last year at 92, and was not only legendary in his home country, but across the world. He's collaborated most visibly with Peter Gabriel and David Sylvian, but most non Armenians have probably heard his music thanks to his soundtrack work: Gasparyan contributed to a huge amount of Hollywood scores, from Ridley Scott's "Gladiator" and Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ" to Alex Proyas' "The Crow". "I Will Not Be Sad in this World" is the musician's debut full-length, and arrived only a few years after he had won his fourth UNESCO worldwide competition. It was originally released on the Soviet label Melodiya, and reached the rest of the world after Brian Eno caught a performance in Moscow in 1988, releasing it on his Opal/Land Records imprint the following year. Gasparyan dedicated the re-release to the victims and survivors of a catastrophic earthquake that hit Armenia in December 1988, bringing attention not only on the music of the region but its plight.
Fittingly, given his later work in cinema, Gasparyan was initially drawn to the duduk thanks to his interest in movies. While his dad had played duduk and taught a young Gasparyan how to play, he was most inspired by the music that accompanied films he saw at a local theater. He would visit regularly and befriended older musicians who taught him circular breathing techniques - a crucial process for advanced playing - and eventually invited him into their group. After performing with the Tatoul Altounian National Song and Dance Ensemble and studying at the Yerevan Conservatoire, he joined the Yerevan Philharmonic Orchestra, eventually becoming a professor at the school. This first selection of his recorded music then was a chance to break out of his home country and reach untrained ears, and it quickly established him as the world's go-to duduk player. Listening now it's easy to hear how affecting these sounds must have been. Gasparyan's reeded melancholia still sounds breathtakingly beautiful, but it's somewhat familiar now thanks to its ubiquitous usage in Hollywood.
The Armenian maestro's pop collaborations were important, but his contributions to established Hollywood canon fodder like "Gladiator" - where the ancient sound of the duduk represents a history central and Northern Europeans can't lay claim to - have made it synonymous with a certain mystical pre-modern past. Training the ear to hear past this usage though allows us to hear the nuance of Gasparyan's performance; he's able to imbue his careful, soulful compositions and performance with the sadness of an embattled region that all too often (even now) is ignored by the rest of the world. At times it sounds like a voice crying out across history, weeping, lamenting and praising the resilience of culture to survive through the eras.
Cat. number: WAST004
I Will Not Be Sad In This World
Maurizio Abate
Standing Waters
Group Bombino
Guitars From Agadez Vol. 2
Standing Waters (LP)
Ustad Hafizullah Khan
Khalifa Kirana Gharana
"Second Poem To Karmela" Or Gypsies Are Important (Lp)
"Second Poem To Karmela" Or Gypsies Are Important
CD digipack | €9.90
Buck Curran
Morning Haikus, Afternoon Ragas (Lp)
Teyuna Mamos and Zaga of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
Music for the Mother: Ancestral Music from the Sierra de Santa Marta in Colombia (LP)
The Sacred Entertainment, Réak Ceremonial Horse Trance Music (LP
William Eaton
Music By William Eaton (LP)
Gontran
L'Envol (LP)
Mohamad Zatari Trio
Istehlal (LP)
Sonido Verde de Moyobamba
Sonido Verde de Moyobamba (LP, Sun yellow)
Pandit Pran Nath
Ragas Of Morning & Night
Seirios Savvaidis
Mesourania/Wendy's Wedding (Tape)
Tape | €9.00
Langsyne
Lang'syne (Lp)
Padang Moonrise (The Birth Of The Modern Indonesian Recording Industry ⋆ 1955-69) (2LP+7")
2LP+7" | €32.00
Aman!!!
Aman!!! #2 (Tape)
Pandit Kanwar Sain Trikha
Three Sitar Pieces (LP)
Diane Denoir
Diane Denoir (LP)
Bert At The BBC (8CD boxset)
Regrelh
Cants Dels Trobadors: « La Douceur D'Un Son Nouvel » (LP)
Jakub Šimanský, Tomáš Niesner
Tance Neznámé
Fretted and Indebted (12")
More by Djivan Gasparyan
Moon Shines At Night (LP)
More from All Saints Records
Laraaji
Sun Piano (LP)
I Know This Much Is True
2LP, Clear Vinyl | €35.00
The Shutov Assembly (2LP)
Nerve Net (2LP)
Moon Piano (LP)
Budd Box (6Cd box)
6CD Box | €38.00
Bring On The Sun (2lp)
Sun Gong
Wind In Lonely Fences 1970 - 2011
CDx2 box | €18.00
Budd Box
Essence/Universe (LP)
Celestial Music 1978 - 2011


Everything I'm going to suggest will sound contrary. These suggestions may sound like radical measures, but this is what I've seen breathe new life into a broken marriages for thousands of women in your distressing situation–and it's what I did to revitalize my own broken marriage. He did it because something was missing in your marriage. If you can set aside his crime for the moment and stay focused on the worthy goal of saving your marriage, you'll give yourself a huge advantage.Here are the specific actions I recommend to recover the good you had together in the beginning: I don't want to diminish that what he did–moved out, cheated, found someone else–was an incredibly hurtful betrayal. You've known it too, but didn't know what to do about it. He was vulnerable because there was so little oxygen in your marriage. If you're having a visceral reaction to this idea right now, keep in mind that I'm in your corner, and this is not the end of the story.
Of course, there's no real comfort in making him suffer, even though it's more tempting than a Cinnabon.If he asks why you're so happy, you can acknowledge that his recent announcement or behavior reminded you that life is short and you decided to pay more attention to your happiness.There are going to be days when you think it's not worth it, or it's hopeless and stupid to try to save your marriage.For one whole evening, or at least one hour, just say, "I hear you," or "uh-huh," and nothing else.One woman did this at her marriage counseling sessions, and her husband said, "I keep waiting for you to interrupt me but you're not!


text:
UCSC botanists assess how much wildfires…
San Jose woman leads chase in stolen medical van with patient onboard
UCSC botanists assess how much wildfires damaged California's plants
DAVENPORT, CA – DECEMBER 7: Alex Hubner marks a survey site with flags on a steep hillside inside a burn zone of the CZU Lightning Complex Fire on Monday, Dec. 7, 2020, near Davenport, Calif. Students from UC Santa Cruz conducted a survey of soil conditions and plant life at the Swanton Pacific Ranch-Cal Poly to assess fire damage and recovery in the forest. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
By Cypress Hansen |
PUBLISHED: December 13, 2020 at 1:30 p.m. | UPDATED: December 14, 2020 at 5:20 p.m.
DAVENPORT — Beneath a stand of badly burned Monterey pines tucked behind the coastal prairies that line Highway 1, Todd Keeler-Wolf slid down a steep, ashen hillside cradling something in his hand.
Arriving at the base of the hill with binoculars, a camera and a rangefinder swinging from his neck, he opened his soot-covered palm and showed his younger colleagues a couple of Monterey pine seeds, unharmed except for their lightly toasted wingtips.
"These seeds rained down recently when the ground was still pretty hot," said Keeler-Wolf, a retired vegetation ecologist, who explained that Monterey pines release their seeds after fires when plants that compete for light and water have burned away.
Survey members move across a steep hillside inside a burn zone of the CZU Lightning Complex Fire on Dec. 7 near Davenport. Students from UC Santa Cruz conducted a survey of soil conditions and plant life at the Swanton Pacific Ranch-Cal Poly to assess fire damage and recovery in the forest. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
In the wake of the late summer wildfires that tore across California, Keeler-Wolf assembled a team of enthusiastic botanists from UC Santa Cruz's Arboretum and Botanic Garden to conduct one of the only post-fire assessments in the state aimed at evaluating how the Golden State's different plant communities respond to varying levels of burn severity.
By trudging through burn scars in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Point Reyes National Seashore and Mendocino National Forest, the team hopes to learn precisely how the wildfires burned the land and how the damage will influence future generations of plants.
"Each forest stand has different species, different properties, different fuels, different flammability, different fire cycles," Keeler-Wolf said. He said he believes it's impossible to accurately measure the severity of a fire without getting your hands dirty in the field and paying attention to the stories plants tell.
"Todd's work is great because typical fire assessments are more about fuel loads and less about species — and they're certainly not about how these plant communities are changing," said Lorraine Parsons, a vegetation ecologist at the Point Reyes National Seashore who is not currently involved in the project.
Last Monday, the scorched hillside overlooking the highway north of Davenport was the team's first assessment plot of the day.
Tori Bauman, an undergraduate intern at the arboretum, began by pushing white flags into the ground in a 25-meter-wide circle. Bauman and Keeler-Wolf then poked around in the duff, the decaying vegetation on the forest floor.
They examined the tiny sprouts of poison oak and blackberries whose reddish green leaves stood out against the charred soil. They called out findings to Lucy Ferneyhough, the arboretum's native plant project manager, who took notes on a clipboard and made her own observations. The group examined dead branches and new growth, checking for fallen seeds and digging their hands into the soil in search of clues.
Alex Hubner, a native plant specialist at the arboretum, pulled a chunk of soil out from under a carpet of flame-roasted pine needles. Instead of the chocolate brown you'd expect healthy soil to be, his dirt clod was a pale peachy-orange and let out a metallic clinking sound when he tapped it.
The dirt had been vitrified, literally turned into glass, much like how a kiln turns clay into ceramic dishes. "What we can say from this is that the fire stuck around here for a while," Hubner explained. "It burned hot and it burned long enough to completely remove any organic matter and chemically alter the soil."
Because the scientists couldn't be there when the fires burned, they rely on evidence like baked dirt and freshly fallen seeds to determine exactly how ferocious the blaze was as it spread across the landscape. Some spots burned so hot that the only evidence of entire trees are underground tunnels where their roots had been. "It's like someone snapped their fingers and the tree was gone," Hubner said.
Todd Keeler-Wolf examines Monterey pine seeds. (Cypress Hansen — Santa Cruz Sentinel)
But a wildfire isn't typically a wall of flames that bulldozes everything in sight. Vaporized trees "will be right next to a patch of entirely unburned terrain," Hubner said. Understanding why that happens and how different plants resist or succumb to fire offers greater insight for prescribed burns and predicting mudslides.
Hubner said he hopes that getting a more granular picture of how an ecosystem burns will help land managers and researchers know what to expect as they shift their stewardship practices away from fire suppression. Repeated mild burns, he said, prove helpful in controlling invasive species and promoting a diverse understory, the layer of vegetation beneath a forest's main canopy.
While Hubner examined tiny seeds under a magnifying loupe he keeps on a chain around his neck, others in the group of eight excitedly shared their plant discoveries, calling out Latin names such as Toxicodendron diversilobum (Pacific poison oak) and Baccharis pilularis (coyote brush).
When the team members finished its analysis of the Monterey pine stand, members jumped into their Toyota Tacomas and drove deeper inland along a bumpy dirt road.
Keeler-Wolf, 69, exchanged witty jokes with the other self-proclaimed "old guys" on the trip: Brett Hall, the 65-year-old director of the arboretum's native plant program, and Jim West, a 76-year-old self-taught botany savant who knows the Santa Cruz Mountains like the back of his hand.
Lifelong professionals but volunteers on this project, the senior scientists shared a wealth of knowledge and an appreciation for learning opportunities. Each of them frequently stopped what they were doing to examine the fine details of a rare species or relay interesting tidbits to the younger researchers, who listened closely, asked questions and absorbed the new information.
"I'm actually feeling quite good about the young people coming up into the world of ecology," Keeler-Wolf said. "It makes us old guys feel like it's worth it."
After eating a quick lunch while standing around a box of pine cones that West had collected for Ferneyhough's studies, the team drove onward to the last assessment spot.
On the meandering walk through sedge prairies and manzanita scrub, West explained that more than 200 plant species could be found within 1,000 feet of where they stood. "Diversity equals flexibility equals multiple options to any given problem," he quipped, pointing his finger in the air.
Nothing says flexibility in the face of fire like coastal redwoods. If their flame-resistant bark doesn't save their trunk and branches from wildfire, they can resprout from surviving roots and burls below ground. The team is confident the torched trees in nearby Big Basin Redwoods State Park will recover, though it may take decades or centuries for the sprouts to grow into trees again.
"Every single plant has some way of dealing with fire, whether it's capable of resprouting or not," Hubner said. "And so far, we've found that just about everything that resprouts has resprouted already."
Some species appear to be sprouting here for the first time in recorded history. Often called "fire followers," some species of wildflowers, including the sweet-scented phacelia, have never been seen in the Santa Cruz Mountains until now, Hall said. "There's a lot of things that come up after a fire and then we don't see them again until the next fire," he added.
Unfortunately, it's not just rare native plants that take advantage of the cleared understories and pulse of nutrients that fires provide. In heavily burned spots where the slate has been wiped clean, invasive species can swiftly take over, outcompeting native grasses, wildflowers and saplings.
The younger botanists, however, expressed optimism for the future of the burned forests, their faith in the inherent wisdom of plants made stronger through studying fire's consequences.
"Seeing the plants cleared out and coming back so immediately is pretty cool," Ferneyhough said. "Maybe we have a chance now to maintain the land in a way that's less dangerous to humans."
Hubner agreed, noting that people may have a thing or two to learn from the plants his team is studying.
The plants "know what to do with fire," he said. "We are the ones who need to figure out how to exist here. We're still trying to understand our relationship with fire. But the plants have already figured that out."
Cypress Hansen | Cypress Hansen is a UC Santa Cruz Science Writing intern.
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Spitz: Baker rescues mom's wedding gift to son
Julia Spitz/Daily News staff
Business owner helps customer.
Not exactly a stop-the-presses kind of story. Just one that made all the difference in the world to a Northborough mom before her son's wedding last weekend.
Adam Jusseaume and his bride, Fernanda, wanted a small, intimate wedding, said his mother, Susan Jusseaume. They decided their May 16 ceremony outdoors at the Wayside Inn's Grist Mill in Sudbury would include only about 25 immediate family members and close friends. The reception would be a cookout. Adam's father, David Jusseaume, a nondenominational minister, would officiate.
But even the most frills-free weddings are once-in-a-lifetime affairs, so "we decided to surprise them with a wedding cake," Susan said.
"We wanted just a small cake, two tiers," said Susan, but it would be a very special cake nonetheless.
"I designed it with calla lilies on top," in tribute to her daughter-in-law's favorite flower, and incorporated Fernanda's favorite color, lavender, in the frosting. She thought the bakery she'd chosen would be able to execute her vision, but when she went to pick it up the afternoon before the wedding, "it was nothing like I envisioned. What we got wasn't what I had in mind."
The colors were off. The size was too small. The perfect present was all wrong.
"Susan was almost in tears," said David.
They paid for the cake and left with it, but "we were devastated," he said.
"I said to my husband, 'What are we going to do?"'
Susan consulted with her daughter, who suggested giving BellaCakes in Marlborough a try, but when they arrived at the West Main Street bakery, the sign on the door was turned to "Closed."
"I was closing up" for the day, said BellaCakes owner Kristen Livoti, and truth be told, she couldn't wait to leave.
"I can honestly say this was one of the busiest weeks we've had" in the nearly two years the bakery's been open. Livoti said she'd had to turn down orders that week because there was simply no way she could fill them. On Saturday, she'd already done a wedding cake and "a castle cake with turrets."
"I was looking forward to going home and watching a movie," she said.
Instead, she saw Susan and David and "she invited us in and talked to us," said Susan.
There was one cake available, and "it was a very nice cake she had in the case," said Susan, but it wasn't a wedding cake.
The Jusseaumes decided they would give one more bakery a try before going with something else that wasn't perfect for their only son's wedding, but would come back for the premade cake if they weren't successful.
"I felt really bad" after they left, said Livoti. "It kind of broke my heart.
"It's a wedding. I feel everyone deserves a beautiful cake" on their wedding day, she said.
Their final attempt at finding a cake didn't pan out, said Susan, "so I called her back to take the cake in the case."
Instead Livoti "said she would be willing to make us a cake," Susan said.
Livoti whipped up a chocolate cake with buttercream frosting, raspberry filling and a fondant lavender ribbon.
"I had it done around 9 o'clock" that night, said Livoti.
"It was elegant," Susan said. "The one she made was what I wanted.
"It was well worth it" to pay for yet another cake.
The weather cooperated last Sunday. It was a beautiful day and the wedding went off without a hitch. The cake was a hit, but, in the end, it was about more than just a cake.
"In this day and age, for somebody to take time out of their life" to help someone who wasn't a longtime customer or friend, "it just made the wedding," said Susan.
"This was an exceptional act of kindness and selflessness," David said.
I'm not sure that a small-business owner helping out a customer quite qualifies as "selflessness," but I do know going the extra mile for patrons makes a big difference in whether a small business succeeds or fails.
I also know the range of emotions and anxiety a wedding can trigger, and the desire to give your child something really special on his or her most special day.
No, this isn't a stop-the-presses story. Just a little story with a happy ending, and perhaps a gentle reminder.
"We just want people to know there are good things that happen," Susan said.
(Julia Spitz can be reached at 508-626-3968 or jspitz@cnc.com. Check milforddailynews.com for the Spitz Bits blog.)


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Ongoing Geointel and Analysis in the theater of nuclear war. Established 1984
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SUPPORT DEFCON
Crisis may be easing, but nuclear threat still hangs over India and Pakistan
by Brad Lendon
Written by Brad Lendon
Tensions on the border between India and Pakistan last week pushed the two nuclear-powered South Asian adversaries closer to conflict than at any point in the past two decades.
While the situation has calmed — Pakistan on Friday released an Indian air force pilot it captured after shooting his pane down — drastic swings in relations are the norm. Both countries know the risks when tensions spike.
Following their separation in 1947, relations between India and Pakistan have been in a near constant state of agitation. The two sides have fought several major wars — the last being in 1999 — involving thousands of casualties and numerous skirmishes across the Line of Control in the contested Kashmir region.
Since that last clash, both countries have quietly sought to enlarge and upgrade their military capabilities.
With its military buildup over those decades, India now exceeds Pakistan on most numerical measurements — fighter jets, troops, tanks and helicopters.
India far surpasses Pakistan in other measures, too, especially in military budget, $64 billion to $11 billion, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
But, as is often the case, numbers don't tell the whole story.
India has about 3 million military personnel compared to fewer than 1 million for Pakistan, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, but New Delhi can't focus them all on its neighbor to the west.
A chunk is focused on India's northeast and its border with China.
"India's strategic problem is bringing its heft to bear. It has traditionally had to split its forces and leave some in the east to deter Chinese adventurism," said Peter Layton, a former Australian Air Force officer and now fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute.
In 1962, India and China engaged in a bloody border war and skirmishes have continued to break out sporadically throughout the subsequent years, most recently in the Doklam area in 2017.
Read more at CNN
Are nuclear weapons keeping the India-Pakistan crisis from escalating — or making it more dangerous?
Opinion: India, Pakistan, and the remote but real threat of nuclear war
Where do we go from here with Iran?
Middle East • Russia
Could Syria Cause Russia and Israel to Go to Nuclear...
How could Iran break out to a nuke in only 2 months? –...
Iran Attacks! The United States Responds…Sort Of.
Iran's Choices
Why A U.S.-Iran War Isn't Going To Happen
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The steep price of freedom
States are trying to change a system that keeps poor people in jail. The bail industry is blocking them.
By Collette Richards and Drew Griffin, CNN Investigates
Updated 1:36 PM EDT, Fri August 30, 2019
On the side of a building just outside the county jail in Des Moines, Iowa, there is a drive-thru window. But it is not dishing out burgers and fries. The main item on its menu is freedom, and it can come at a steep price.
"Get your bail bond here. Don't wait at jail," reads the old-timey script on a sign in the yard.
The unassuming tan building with green and burnt orange accents sits on a small hill before the jail. There is no way to miss Lederman Bail Bonds on the way in or out of the correctional complex.
It's the family business – run by four brothers who have operations across Iowa and the rest of the Midwest. But behind the familiar drive-thru window set up is a well-funded political force with an agenda to stop the jail at the bottom of the hill from making any changes to a bail system that keeps their profits rolling in.
Across the country, bail bond companies like the ones owned by the Ledermans are up in revolt, fighting back against states' efforts to rethink and overhaul an antiquated money bail system.
Corrections officials, jail runners, judges, public defenders, civil rights groups, and bipartisan leaders alike agree that the system in place that handles the presumed innocent is broken.
As structured, the bail bonds industry survives largely off those who don't have the financial resources to post bail. Overwhelmingly, the service of a bail bondsman is their only way out of jail. Bail bond companies make money by charging a fee – typically 10% of a defendant's bail amount. So if a defendant has bond set at $50,000, the bail bond company charges $5,000 to get them out. No matter what, the bonds company will collect that charge – guilty or not guilty. Even if the charges are dropped. That is the price and process of release.
Those who can't afford the 10% the bond company charges can set up a payment plan, usually in small installments like $100 a week until the big bill is paid off. Contracts like those tether vulnerable families to debts that can linger on for years – landing them in court for missed payments, with garnished wages and accruing interest. Experts say defendants will sometimes plead guilty to lesser charges, even if they are innocent, in order to avoid the bail system and get out of jail sooner.
More affluent defendants, who can afford to post bond with their own money, go free and get the money back provided they show up for their court dates.
Reform efforts across the country seek to make the bail system less burdensome on the poor. The majority of states addressing the issue are trying to make money bail the last resort, by mandating that judges apply the "least onerous release conditions possible" and consider the defendant's ability to pay, as well as eliminating money bail for low-level charges. As a result, the $2-billion-a-year bail bonds industry is in a fight for its very survival.
"Bailing out her nephew left a Baltimore woman in a cycle of debt"
A CNN review of all 50 states and the District of Columbia found that the powerful industry has derailed, stalled or killed reform efforts in at least nine states, which combined cover more than one third of the country's population.
To date, more than 25 states have passed laws or enacted changes that address bail practices, while several still have pending efforts or bail procedure review committees in the works.
The story of bail reform is as messy as it is laborious. It's a long road of continuous push and pull between stakeholders. Even among reformers, there's disagreement over how best to do it. A popular remedy is using some sort of computerized "risk assessment" tool that evaluates the likelihood a person would show up for court based on criteria such as age, past failures to appear for court and criminal convictions. However, some scholars and civil rights activists, including the ACLU, oppose such tools, saying they are flawed and often racially biased.
Whether attempting sweeping or modest change, lawmakers have described the bail industry's involvement as nasty and contentious.
Jeff Clayton, the Executive Director of the American Bail Coalition, said that the process is tense on both sides and that his industry is unfairly being called predatory.
"We don't arrest the people," Clayton said. "We don't set their bails. And if people want to use our services, we feel that's an extension of their constitutional right to do so." Clayton adds that while his group "participated in public policy discussion regarding bail reform" in the nine states outlined by CNN, "we definitely had significant impact" but "I don't think we were the driving force."
Even after a reform is passed, the battle can continue.
Last year, California lawmakers passed the most far-reaching legislation yet – ending cash bail altogether. But shortly after the passage of that law, the bail bond industry, and the insurance companies that underwrite their bonds, raised more than $3 million to fund a ballot referendum that put everything on hold. The effort was successful, and voters will decide the issue on the November 2020 ballot.
The same thing is happening across the country.
In Texas, for example, there was a clamor for reforms following the jailhouse death of Sandra Bland, who had been arrested for allegedly assaulting an officer during a July 2015 traffic stop for not using a turn signal. Her family was working to secure the 10% fee to hire a bondsman on her $5,000 bail, but three days after her arrest she was found hanging in her cell. Had Bland been able to afford her bond, reformers say, she would not have sat alone in a jail cell for three days.
Texas tried to pass reforms in the 2017 session, but the bail industry's lobbying efforts helped thwart the measure from progressing, according to a committee staff member. This past session, despite even wider support and a strong initiative by the governor, bail reform died again, as the bill the House passed was never put on a Senate committee calendar.
Most lawmakers pursue bail reform because of the consequences that come with putting a price on someone's freedom, particularly if that person is poor.
County jails are overflowing with people waiting to have their day in court. They far outnumber those who are serving actual sentences for crimes.
Max Pepper/CNN
Cherise Fanno Burdeen, who runs the Pretrial Justice Institute, an organization that has fought for reform for over four decades, likens the bail system to a "ransom." And for those who can't pay, she said, the toll of remaining in jail until trial can be devastating. They might lose a job, which, in turn, could mean rent won't get paid, families won't be fed and so on. It's particularly troubling for people accused of nonviolent or relatively minor crimes, she added.
"Low-risk people who can't afford to post bond spend days, weeks, months in jail until they take a plea or their cases are actually dropped," said Burdeen. "It has a dramatic impact on people."
Alice Hughes' experience with a bail bonds business meant she had to come out of retirement and find a job.
It started with a phone call from her nephew, who was arrested on drug charges and violating a protective order and wanted her to help bail him out of a Baltimore jail. His bond was $75,000. Hughes said she did what anyone in her position would do. She took all the cash she had, $700, and brought it to a bail bonds shop across from the jail. The money didn't come close to the $7,500 charged to get her nephew out. So she co-signed paperwork setting up a payment plan for the rest.
"Normally, I check things out before I do them. I read everything," Hughes told CNN, "but in this instance, all I was thinking about was getting him out."
Hughes' nephew did get out, and he was released on bail, but failed to keep up with the payments to the bond company. Before Hughes knew it, the company went after her.
And the debt kept getting bigger. The court ordered wage garnishment for her to chip away at the debt.
Her biweekly paycheck from the retirement community she works at has $131 taken from it and given to that bond company. Because of accruing interest, she says, she may never be able to pay it off. At the time of her case's judgment she owed $8,690. Hughes's attorney has filed a motion to have the garnishment end, and she is part of a putative class-action lawsuit that alleges the bail company was operating without a license. The parent company says it was licensed, but she was dealing with an unlicensed entity. The court has denied two motions to dismiss.
Maryland's highest court adopted a rule in 2017 that requires judges to consider defendants' ability to pay for their release, among other aspects. But the change came too late for Hughes and her nephew, who was arrested in 2014.
It can take years to fully measure the effectiveness of reforms. But studies in several counties show their effort at overhauling the bail system have been successful at achieving two main goals: Making sure people show up for their court dates and reducing recidivism rates.
In Spokane County, Washington, a state auditor report found that "defendants released on pretrial services were much more likely to show up for their court hearings than those released on bail."
Lucas County, Ohio, saw a 50% decrease in recidivism for those released on misdemeanor charges, according to a report by the National Association of Counties.
Results and practices such as those have prompted lawmakers to seek statewide reforms. In a handful of states such as Montana and New Hampshire, officials say they did not face heavy backlash from the bail industry when seeking changes. Seven states and the District of Columbia do not have a private bail bond industry. Instead, they have a mixture of options like allowing defendants to pay 10% of their total bond directly to the court, like they would through a private bondsman. But for nearly every other state considering reform, measures are challenged by the bail bond industry and its lobbyists.
That was the case in Iowa. And a good part of the resistance to reform measures there can be traced back to the owners of the hilltop bail bond drive-thru.
Lederman Bail Bonds Des Moines, Iowa location.
In a courthouse across the street from the Lederman's bail bonds office in Davenport, Iowa, justice officials started a pilot program last year to ease the burden of bail on the poor.
Under the program, judges in four counties used a computerized risk assessment tool called the "Public Safety Assessment" to determine a person's risk of failing to appear at court or reoffend if released.
The tool analyzes nine risk factors, including age, past criminal convictions and previous failures to appear. Judges were then given a defendant's risk score to determine whether he should be released on his own recognizance, have some level of supervision or require a bond. Decisions were ultimately up to a judge.
The pilot program threatened the profits of the bail industry and Lederman's family business. And Josh Lederman set out to do something about it.
Josh Lederman, one of the owners of Lederman Bail Bonds, began attending monthly public meetings for Department of Corrections where he questioned the merits of the pilot program.
Along the way, he opened up his wallet, giving more than $36,000 to Republicans, mostly those running for the Iowa state legislature, donating more in one year than he had in the past 15 years combined. Some of the candidates were running unopposed in their races.
But his biggest investment started in 2017, before the 2018 legislative session, when he began shelling out about $74,000 to date to hire a powerful lobbying firm in Des Moines.
The Lederman's lobbying efforts worked, according to officials in the state justice system and Democratic state lawmakers.
Late in the legislative session last year, language to end the program was inserted into the Justice Systems appropriations bill which passed, killing the bail reform pilot program.
This came as a shock to many, including Democratic legislators who fought against the program-killing language.
"This was an unusual piece of legislation, stuck in a budget bill," said Iowa state Sen. Tony Bisignano.
Another Democratic lawmaker said it all came down to money. "Lederman Bail Bonds didn't like the program because there were defendants that were getting out of jail without having to post any type of a bond," said state Rep. Rick Olson. "They were losing business."
When the bill landed on Gov. Kim Reynolds' desk, she used the line-veto to extend the program to run until December 31 last year, when it ultimately ended.
Lederman Bail Bonds did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
This session, the legislature had the opportunity to address the pilot program's future. But the same language to forbid the use of the PSA tool was included in the same budget bill, and the program has been officially ended.
CNN has talked to over a dozen officials in Iowa – judges, corrections officials, public defenders, and legislators alike – who supported the bail reform effort and are now trying to figure out the next step in bail reform in their state.
Burdeen, from the Pretrial Justice Institute, believes that despite the bail industry's efforts, there is momentum behind changing the bail system. "I think that there's a real need for an awakening around fundamental fairness," she said.
CNN's Audrey Ash contributed reporting.


Where to Find the Best Landscaper?
Finding the best landscaper for the job can actually get a bit challenging for a lot of people. There are five questions listed below that will be of good help if you are still looking for a landscaper to cater to your landscaping needs and some things that talk in detail about the landscaping profession.
Designing gardens, outdoor spaces, and landscapes is a multidisciplinary type of profession that most people find surprising, especially those who are still going to start on their first landscaping project. Professional landscape builders and designers are involved in not just making at least one garden but even hundreds of them in different scales and varieties that actually no other person outside of the profession will be able to do.
Obtaining a landscape space that is just breathtaking is not something that comes out naturally. A lot of things and challenges actually take place when it comes to creating beautiful landscapes; however, they are not usually discussed in detail by most professionals. If you plan to start on a landscaping project, then keep in mind that the more things you know about the landscaping scene, especially the things that go on behind it, the more you are capable of asking relevant questions to your potential landscaper to know if they are indeed fit for the job. If you have hired the right landscaper for the job, then you are sure to have a pleasurable and relaxing landscaping experience.
The five questions you can ask to be able to determine how to hire the best landscaper are listed as follows.
What kind of landscaping site information should you take into consideration?
What types of plants should you grow in this area that will thrive well?
Is there any building rule or regulation that will greatly affect the landscape you want made?
How will you be able to determine which landscape design suits your needs?
How will you ensure that all of your landscaping plans will go as you want it?
Just knowing these five questions is not enough; if you want to hire the best landscaper, you must also know what answers these questions truly deserve. Some appropriate answers for the abovementioned first question will be discussed so that you are assured to have an idea of what to expect when you hire a landscaper for the job at hand.
Wanting a lot of information, may it be essential or not, as regards your landscaping project is a good quality of a good landscaper.
A good landscape designer or a good landscaper is curious on a site's information such as the views, soil types, levels, heights, window sizes, details of surrounding buildings, temperatures, rainfall, and prevailing winds and so much more that he/she wants to know.


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boutique fitness studio
TITLE Boxing Club Announces BOGO Deal on TITLE On Demand in January
Tatyana Stemkovski2020-01-15T15:09:22-05:00January 15th, 2020|Tags: boutique fitness studio, boxing and kickboxing fitness classes, boxing-inspired fitness club, TITLE Boxing Club, virtual fitness application, workout|
Every In-Club Membership Bought in January Comes with Complimentary VIP TITLE On Demand Subscription.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — TITLE Boxing Club is offering a buy-one-get-one offer, just in time for 2020 resolutions. For the month of January, every new in-club membership comes with a complimentary VIP TITLE On Demand subscription.
The free TITLE On Demand subscription will match the term of any membership agreement purchased in January, up to one year. When members sign on to TITLE On Demand they will have access to myriad classes that work for anyone's fitness levels or schedules. Members can choose a five to 45 minute class in boxing, kickboxing, strength & power, speed & agility and recovery. Each class is taught by TITLE Boxing Club instructors with several years of experience in helping members meet their fitness goals.
"TITLE Boxing Club is committed to helping everyone crush their fitness goals in 2020 – no matter where they are working out," said Susan Boresow, President. "Each TITLE Boxing Club across the country is a community, but we wanted to provide our members an option to work out while on the go. With TITLE On Demand, our busy members can get the best of TITLE Boxing Club – a great workout with an experienced trainer – on their own time and in their own environment."
This deal is a great value, with a TITLE OnDemand monthly subscription usually $24.99 per month, and an annual OnDemand subscription coming in at $239.99. The complimentary TITLE On Demand subscription with the purchase of an in-club membership comes with:
Personalized classes that cater to a variety of ability and intensity levels – from mastering boxing basics to enhancing speed and agility to conquering quick cool-downs and recovery
Equipment-free workouts, so anyone can create an affordable, mobile-friendly studio anywhere they reside
The choice of sessions ranging from five to 45 minutes, so subscribers can design a fitness regimen that meets the demands of their own schedules, whether they're time-crunched moms, busy business travelers, beginning boxers or ex-athletes
TITLE Boxing Club On Demand is available on Apple iOS, Android, Apple TV, Google Play, Amazon Fire TV and Roku. For more information, visit titleboxingclubondemand.com.
About TITLE Boxing Club®
TITLE Boxing Club, a Franworth company, is a boutique fitness studio that specializes in boxing and kickboxing fitness classes. Based in Kansas City, the company has more than 190 clubs open and operating across the country and another 150 in development. The brand is currently ranked on Entrepreneur magazine's prestigious Franchise 500 list and the Inc. 5000 list of American's fastest-growing, privately-held companies. In 2015 the fitness franchise earned the title of No. 1 Fastest Growing Franchise by Inc. Magazine. To learn more about the fitness franchise opportunity, visit https://titleboxingclub.com/own-a-franchise/.
TITLE Boxing Club Signs Landmark Franchise Deal for Mexico City
Tatyana Stemkovski2019-07-16T11:43:37-04:00July 16th, 2019|Tags: boutique fitness studio, boxing and kickboxing fitness classes, boxing-inspired fitness club, TITLE Boxing Club, virtual fitness application, workout|
Boxing Fitness Franchise to Open 25 Clubs in Mexico's Capital
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — TITLE Boxing Club, the nation's leading boutique boxing fitness franchise with more than 190 open clubs across the United States and international locations in the Dominican Republic and Mexico, announced today it has signed a record 25-unit franchise agreement for Mexico City with current franchisees Alan and Jack Sandoval.
The Sandoval brothers have spent most of their professional lives as entrepreneurs in industries ranging from apparel, home & corporate decoration and real estate investment. The two already own locations in Miami and have a strong passion for the TITLE Boxing Club brand. As natives of Mexico, they saw an opportunity to bring the franchise to their home country and sign the multi-unit deal. Already well on their way to opening 25 clubs, the Sandovals and their team have opened five clubs throughout Mexico City since early 2018.
They anticipate opening five more clubs in 2019 and then five per year until 25 clubs are developed, "Ultimately, we want a TITLE Boxing Club close to everyone in Mexico," said Jack Sandoval.
"Fitness has always been important to my family, and I was looking for a new workout to try. By the end of my first class at TITLE Boxing Club, I was hooked—not only on the workout, but also on the investment opportunity," said Alan Sandoval. "After opening clubs in Miami, my brother and I knew we had to bring the brand to Mexico City. The timing was perfect; Mexico has always had a love for boxing, and the fitness market is primed and ready for a brand like TITLE. We are proud to bring 25 clubs to Mexico City and introduce everyone in Mexico to the best hour of their day."
With the Mexican fitness and health club industry generating more than $1.8 billion in revenue per year, Mexico, and specifically its densely-populated capital, remains a hot growth market for TITLE Boxing Club to continue its international expansion. International momentum has largely been sustained by the brand's premium service of explosive, total-body boxing and kickboxing classes that energize, strengthen and challenge members.
"This is a milestone agreement for TITLE Boxing Club, being the largest deal our franchise has ever had, and we couldn't be happier to continue our great relationship with the Sandovals and their team," said President Susan Boresow. "Mexico is the perfect country for our biggest deal; boxing is ingrained in the country's culture, and the people have grown up with it. Mexico is renowned for introducing the world to boxing legends, from Julio César Chávez to Canelo Alvarez and more. We strive for TITLE Boxing Club to become a part of that culture and to produce a few champions of our own! This expansion marks a new era for our brand, and we are looking forward to offering our one-of-a-kind fitness experience to members in Mexico City."
Founded in 2008, TITLE Boxing Club started franchising in 2009 and has since exploded domestically and has continued to embark on its international expansion in 2019. In addition to its development in Mexico, the brand is eyeing international growth in Canada, Colombia and Brazil.
For more information about TITLE Boxing Club's franchise opportunity, please visit https://titleboxingclub.com/own-a-franchise/.
TITLE Boxing Club Sells Out Manhattan with Franchise Agreement; Looks to Expand Throughout East Coast
Tatyana Stemkovski2019-03-28T16:30:01-04:00March 28th, 2019|Tags: boutique fitness studio, boxing and kickboxing fitness classes, boxing-inspired fitness club, TITLE Boxing Club, virtual fitness application, workout|
Strong Demand for Explosive, Total-Body Boxing/Kickboxing Classes Drives Franchise Growth
NEW YORK — TITLE Boxing Club, the nation's leading boutique boxing fitness franchise with more than 190 clubs open across the United States, announced today it has sold the franchise rights for all of Manhattan to Michael Tosto, current multi-unit franchisee. Tosto owns three locations in Manhattan and will more than double the boxing franchise's presence on the island with his new deal.
"New Yorkers resonate with genuineness, and that's exactly what TITLE Boxing Club is all about," said Tosto. "When I came to New York City, I wanted to build something great. We started building TITLE Boxing Club in the center of Manhattan nearly five years ago, and now is the right time to expand outward with one of the hardest workouts you'll find in the city."
Tosto opened his first location in Midtown West in June 2014. When he wasn't teaching a class or training his staff, he was searching for his next club's location. In May 2017, he opened TITLE Boxing Club's second Manhattan location in Midtown East. Once both of those were extremely successful and he had a proof of concept to show landlords, he opened his third club in the Flatiron District in January 2019. In fact, two of Tosto's three locations don gold and platinum bags, which are earned by hitting revenue milestones each year. His Midtown West club has four gold bags (2015-2018) and two platinum bags (2016-17), while the Midtown East club received a gold bag for its accomplishments in 2018.
As part of his newly-signed deal for the entire island, Tosto is currently looking for his next club location in Upper East Side, Upper West Side NoHo, SoHo and the Financial District.
"Michael has proved to be one of the most passionate and hardworking franchisees at TITLE Boxing Club, so we are proud he is looking to grow the brand in New York City," said Susan Boresow, TITLE Boxing Club President. "Now, it's all about duplicating that success with more locations throughout Manhattan. It's an incredible opportunity for Michael, TITLE and New Yorkers looking for a great workout."
With the global fitness and health club industry generating more than $80 billion in the United States annually, the entire East Coast remains hot for TITLE Boxing Club to continue its domestic expansion. The brand is looking for franchise partners particularly in other New York boroughs like Brooklyn and The Bronx, Long Island, south to Newark, NJ and its surrounding areas, and into Pennsylvania, strategically targeting Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Momentum has largely been driven by the brand's premium offerings of explosive, total-body boxing and kickboxing classes that energize, strengthen and challenge members.
Specifically, the franchise is anticipating five additional locations in Pittsburgh, 12 in Philadelphia, 10 more in New York and 10 throughout New Jersey.
Boresow said the brand's franchise model provides entrepreneurs with tactical site selection, marketing, operations, as well as strong leadership support. She noted the franchise is ideal for entrepreneurs similar to Tosto – those passionate about health and fitness who have leadership experience and a desire to be an active member in their community.
"Our geographically-targeted growth model was created to provide an infrastructure to help grow and support our franchisees with the proper operations, marketing guidance and ongoing training needed to ensure their success," said Boresow. "East Coast franchise operators also have the benefit of all-star franchisees like Michael Tosto in their backyard."
Founded in 2008, TITLE Boxing Club started franchising in 2009 and has since exploded domestically and embarked on its international expansion this year. The development model aims to aid in the brand's domestic expansion plans to open more than 50 clubs in 2019. TITLE is also anticipating major development globally, specifically in Mexico, Canada, Panama, Columbia, Dominican Republic, Australia, Japan, Brazil, South Africa, Columbia, Peru, Chile, Dubai and China.
TITLE Boxing Club, a Franworth company, is a boutique fitness studio that specializes in boxing and kickboxing fitness classes. Based in Kansas City, the company has more than 190 clubs open and operating across the country and another 150 in development. The brand is currently ranked on Entrepreneur magazine's prestigious Franchise 500 list and the Inc. 5000 list of American's fastest-growing, privately-held companies. In addition, TITLE Boxing Club is No. 387 on Franchise Times Top 200 (Plus 300) list. To learn more about the fitness franchise opportunity, visit https://titleboxingclub.com/own-a-franchise/.