In October of 1975, Bruce Springsteen became a household word thanks to his simultaneous appearances on the covers of both Time and Newsweek. I remember hearing "Born to Run" a few times back then and thinking that I'd never heard anything that sounded quite so big. Darkness on the Edge of Town came out just before I went off to college in 1978, and one of the songs I played my first morning on the air in December was "Candy's Room." But neither one of those made me a fan.
At college, I met several fellow students who were Springsteen acolytes, but it wasn't until The River came out in 1980 that I became a full-fledged devotee myself. It couldn't have been out very long before I bought it—at the big grocery store near campus that had a couple of racks of records in the pharmacy department, if I'm recalling correctly. I can see me lying on the floor in our college apartment that first afternoon, listening closely while reading the liner notes and lyrics while my roomie wrote a paper at the dining room table. It remains my favorite Springsteen album today: "Hungry Heart," "Cadillac Ranch," "Point Blank," "The River," "Wreck on the Highway"—they'd all be on my Springsteen top 10.
Springsteen was an instant buy after that: Nebraska, Born in the USA, Live: 1975-1985, and Tunnel of Love, before other artists moved ahead of Bruce on the list of artists I would run to buy. In the mp3 era, I have added several other Springsteen albums and tons of bootlegs. He's #14 on my most-played artist list at LastFM, so I'm listening to him more today than I ever did in the 80s and 90s. I saw him perform a couple of songs at a John Kerry rally in Madison in 2004, but a full concert remains the top item on my bucket list.
Forty years after "Born to Run," instead of sitting in a New Jersey hotel room on a beautiful afternoon doing work I could get paid for, I struck out in search of some of Springsteen's places. I was pleased to find an AM oldies station for the ride, one playing mostly 50s and 60s—the music that would have inspired him while he was living here.
The highway exit right outside the hotel has a sign for Freehold, the town where Springsteen grew up (although fanatics will quickly remind you he was born at a hospital in Long Branch, New Jersey). I did not go to Freehold looking for the Springsteen manse, or the high school where he skipped his graduation ceremony. It was enough to pass through and to have lunch at the Burger King.
From Freehold, I followed the signs (and the GPS) to Asbury Park, stopping for a while at the boardwalk and the beach, where city crews were cleaning up after the season and the surf was coming in hard. It's easy to picture the Springsteen of legend there, the guy who painted a beautiful picture of what it's like on the Fourth of July, and who blew the doors off the Stone Pony across the street.
The afternoon waned, and it was time for me to be somewhere. As I left Springsteen's traces behind, the oldies played on. As they do.
A drive through Asbury Park and environs is on my bucket list, but at least you helped me do it vicariously. Would have been cool if you'd seen a '57 Chevy while "Da Doo Ron Ron" was on the radio . . .


Emma Lew lives in Melbourne. Her first collection of poems, The Wild Reply (1997), won the Mary Gilmore Award and was joint winner of the Age Poetry Book of the Year Award. Her second collection, Anything the Landlord Touches (2002), won the Victorian Premier's C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry and the Queensland Premier's Judith Wright Calanthe Prize for Poetry. A selection of German language translations of her poems by Mirko Bonne was published under the title Nesselgesang in 2008. Crow College: New and Selected Poems was published by Giramondo in 2019.


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The Future Of Business Is Purpose: Here Are Its Leaders
Jay Coen Gilbert Contributor
Co-founder of B Lab and the movement of Certified B Corporations.
The 2018 Best For The World honorees include (clockwise from top left): Sunrise Banks, Animal Experience International, Mascoma Bank, and CORE Kitchen.
Compilation by B Lab.
21st century business leaders see assets everywhere and in everyone. They create value and competitive advantage by competing not just to be best in the world, but best for the world.
As consumers, talent and investors increasingly seek values-aligned businesses to buy from, work for and invest in, entrepreneurs are seeking to create the greatest positive impact not just to be nice, but to be more successful. The supporting evidence is mounting and clear.
As I covered earlier this year, Larry Fink, the President of BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, sent an annual letter to CEOs that stated, "Without a sense of purpose, no company, either public or private, can achieve its full potential."
Andrew Ross Sorkin, the thought-leading DealBook columnist for The New York Times said of Fink's letter in his column at the time, "BlackRock's Message: Contribute to Society, or Risk Losing Our Support": "This could be a watershed moment on Wall Street, one that raises all sorts of questions about the very nature of capitalism."
A new, unified vision of capitalism, one that puts people and planet alongside profits as the purpose of business, is one Certified B Corps have been working toward for more than a decade. B Corps are businesses that are verified by the nonprofit B Lab for their positive impact on society and the environment.
Meet the Leaders Redefining Success in Business
A new vision of capitalism needs new leaders. Leaders who build their missions into their businesses' DNA. Leaders who compete not just to be best of the best, but to be best for the world.
The 2018 Best For The World list of nearly 1,000 global business leaders is announced today by B Lab. These businesses, which span more than 100 industries and 52 countries, are lighting the way for early adopters within mainstream businesses to join the purpose-driven movement. The 2018 Best For The World honorees—who all meet the highest standards of legal accountability to consider stakeholder interests when making decisions and of public transparency to rebuild trust—are recognized for achieving a verified score in the top 10 percent of all Certified B Corporations on the B Impact Assessment (the assessment used by B Lab to certify B Corps and measure the impact of global investment portfolios). As in prior years, separate lists of honorees exist for overall, worker, customer, community, governance and environmental impact.
The full, sortable list of nearly 1,000 Best For The World 2018 honorees is available on B the Change. To further explore the lists , you can view the interactive B Analytics platform. For real data wonks, you can review and even contribute to the analysis and visualization of the impact of the Best For The World honorees. These datasets are hosted by Best For The World: Governance honoree data.world. You can also read stories highlighting honorees from this year's lists and review the Best For The World criteria.
B Lab released the list of the 2018 Best For The World honorees.
Graphic by Jerrod Modica
What Does the Future of Business Look Like?
The future looks like mutually owned and independent Mascoma Bank, headquartered in Lebanon, New Hampshire. With more than 6,700 banks in the United States, Mascoma is setting itself apart by investing in its local community and its people for nearly 120 years. The mutually owned bank has no shareholders — the owners are the depositors and, really, the community. It gave $1.5 million to philanthropic efforts in 2017, between the bank and its foundation. "I think our employees view us as being a place that is truly focused first on its communities," says CEO Clay Adams. "Our employees know we have their backs, and they're more willing to go to bat for their customers as a result. In my view, that is what will drive financial results, which of course plow back into the community as well."
And the future has more companies with sourcing and hiring practices like that at Bay Area's CORE Kitchen. All of the restaurant's food is prepped and prepared on-site. Everything from chopping zucchini for the popular Thai zucchini noodles dish to cracking coconuts for curry collard wraps has to happen day-of and in-house. The number of free, healthy meals served to homeless families climbed to more than 40,000 in 2015. Team members qualifying for some sort of economic or workforce development program has climbed from around 25 percent in 2011 to almost 75 percent in 2016."We hire formerly incarcerated individuals, with a preferential policy for people with life sentences on parole. We take people who have committed the worst of crimes, forgive them completely, and give them a chance to be defined by their dreams, not by their mistakes," Founder and CEO Corey Rennell says. Rennell and his team are working on a guide to share with other businesses to help them build in hiring people with barriers to employment.
The future of business is also home to companies like Houwzer, a Philly based real-estate disrupter. Houwzer was launched by veteran Mike Maher in 2015, posted $670,000 in revenue in 2016, was heading north of $1.5 million in 2017. The company has 50 full-time employees, most of whom are real estate agents who receive a salary instead of a commission, with offices in Philly, Haddonfield, Conshohocken, West Chester, and Washington, D.C. Houwzer differentiates itself in the marketplace by eliminating the 3 percent seller commission fee, instead charging a $995 flat fee to cover the costs of marketing the listing, which the seller pays only upon a sale. Finally, Maher has inculcated into his business a social impact culture—Houwzer is the only real estate brokerage B Corporation in the nation. "There is so much broken in this business," Maher says. "We're selling brick and mortar, and yet we're not involved in our communities. Real estate has so many implications—socio-economic, gentrification. Yet we act like we're doing just another transaction." Houwzer employees perform 50 volunteer service hours each year and the company annually donates 2.5 percent of profits to charity.
These exemplary businesses are only three of the nearly 1,000 Best For The World honorees demonstrating 21st century leadership. They are redefining success in business so that their success rewards not only their shareholders, but also their customers, their employees, their communities, and future generations.
Jay Coen Gilbert
I am co-founder of B Lab, which serves a global movement of people using business as a force for good. Our vision is that one day all companies will compete to be best f...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Are you ready player? How to build an NFT game Part III – CoinGeek
By Administraroot May 19, 2022 10 Mins Read
Home » Business » Are you ready player? How to build an NFT game Part III
Business 9 hours ago
Last time we finished off with all of the pitfalls of NFT games in which the game token minted distracts and distorts the focus and intent of the game, to the chagrin of all the real gamers.
Now that we have spent enough time talking about all the things that developers shouldn't do, let's talk about how game tokens can be used effectively to increase player engagement with the game without ruining the game in the process.
First off, let's briefly go over the goals which a token economy sets out to achieve in a game, along with the things that are to be avoided:
Collecting tokens should enhance the game, not be the primary purpose of it
The tokens should encourage player interaction and engagement by enhancing existing gameplay and mechanics and not becoming an objective in itself. Namely, the pursuit of token accumulation shouldn't become the focus of the game. Otherwise the game ceases to be a game, and becomes more of a collection competition. Even in the cases of games that were primarily collection-based, such as the famous Magic The Gathering by Wizards of the Coast (where players' primary mode of achievement was by collecting more rare cards), the main objective of the collection 'game' was to improve the individual players' chances to win against their opponents in challenges.
They achieved this by balancing the game elements of skill and chance. A player with a better collection of cards only increased their chance or luck element. A player with better strategic skill at playing could still beat a player with a stronger deck. Collecting the cards without purpose had little value, so those that traded the cards were also very much engaged in playing the game itself, which has kept MTG popular even to this day.
Real money transfer of in-game tokens should be controlled
Real money transfer (RMT) has the largest potential to ruin a game. The reason for this is simple. If a token has more value as a vehicle for monetary speculation than as a useful game mechanic, then the game ceases to be the main focus of engagement for players and becomes secondary to its use as a financial instrument. This doesn't even go into the potential illegal aspects of RMT.
Suffice it to say that if there is uncontrolled liquidity in the game token (measured in USD turnover per day), there will be nefarious factions who will seek to use the token to launder the proceeds of crime. This can be an extraordinary burden on the game company operating the game in terms of legal burden (in the form of potential C&Ds, and lawsuits when it runs afoul of FINCEN laws) and continuing compliance costs. Therefore, unless the game is primarily a collection type game of NFTs themselves (which have limited liquidity), it is essential to control the exchange of the token outside of the game economy.
Games with successful in-game currencies such as Roblox and EVE employ strict controls on RMT for this reason. In the case of Roblox, the purchase of their in-game currency Robux can only be made through the company directly, where they seek to maintain control and careful KYC reporting. Roblox is one of the few games today that allow the redemption of their in-game currency for dollars, allowing many talented game creators to invest time and effort into building Roblox game experiences to make a living. This is a success story that harkens back to the old toolmakers during the frontier age of North America who was paid in (Fur Trading) company scrip for their wares and services. This is a healthy way to use an in-game currency because the game designers can manage inflation and recession of the game economy by controlling the price at which scrip can be purchased or redeemed to real-world currency.
In-game currency should be more valuable in the game, than outside the game
In order for the in-game currency to be effective, its primary use must be in-game. Seems pretty obvious, right? Once a game currency holds more value outside, it will soon bleed out of the game economy due to supply and demand, and in-game prices will inflate in return.
Take EVE Online, which is the most extensive game economy that has ever been developed. The in-game economy is predominately player-controlled, with sources and sinks of the currency determined by player activity that the developers CCP had a full-time economist on payroll to monitor the health of the in-game universe constantly. With the exception of a small element of the economy that acted as an NPC source of ISK (namely the single-player missions), the entire in-game economy was run by the players. The game just designated where the resources were located, and players fought to control territory, extract, produce, trade, and manufacture mostly all in-game assets. It is for this reason that they strictly restricted RMT, as outside trading could severely imbalance the game and ruin the sense of fairness. To address this they simply disallowed in-game items or in-game currency to be traded for real money—but this is precisely the unlocked potential of NFTs: to allow for an outside resale value of in-game assets to incentivize players to not just succeed in the game as a player, but to benefit by being a game experience creator.
How to do this successfully? This is the undiscovered country. The key is ensuring that while trading of in-game assets outside the game opens many new possibilities, the assets must be more valuable used in-game, so that most buyers are interested in them only as assets that are to be used to further their game experience, instead of solely as objects of real-world speculation.
Players should feel a sense of attachment to the NFT assets, not treat them as investments
I remember when I bought my first Prowler for 100m ISK, that was a lot of money. That 100m ISK represented about a month of grinding away at the game. It felt like I was making a real live car purchase. That ship served me well for years, after being narrowly destroyed on more than one occasion of reckless null space trafficking, and now that ship has history, at least to me. It's sentimental.
This is the kind of attachment that an NFT should endear from its players. It must be allowed to acquire character, history, and uniqueness. This is what essentially gives collectibles their collectability and value.
Conversely, once all players just see the NFTs as simply a means to increase their material wealth by buying them low and selling high, then the NFTs just become a speculative stock, a commodity, and the market will very soon become all sellers, and no one wants to just hold or use the assets. No healthy2 market exists comprising only of speculators and investors.
Separate the NFTs from the money
Finally, there must be a clear distinction between the use of NFTs and game money. As complicating the interplay and exchanges between these only serve to create exploitable situations which, in the end, destroy the game economy, such as was the case with Axie Infinity.
NFTs are collectibles and tradable. They represent the 'collectible' goal of the game. This is an incentive mechanic that is well known and used by real-world collectible card games. These are easy to adapt on the blockchain, as a digital version of a collectible asset is simple to implement and control. Game balance is preserved by controlling the supply of these rare items.
Game currency, on the other hand, has historically not been tradable outside of games until the advent of digital assets and blockchains because they freed the game developers from having to support exchange platforms and infrastructure in which trades can be reliably executed between players. Once a game currency is tradable on the outside, then its value can float and vary. This is a double-edged sword. The variance in the valuation of the in-game currency allows speculation to take place on the future value of the game currency, which is essentially a proxy for what people think the game platform itself will be worth in the future. And what reasonable game producer wants speculation of a game's success to be a primary factor of its actual success3? This is especially sticky for games that allow creators to redeem in-game currency for real money and create game experiences and player-generated assets. This legitimate positive economic function can be largely disrupted by rampant and uncontrolled speculation.
While such speculation certainly could act as an extra incentive for creators to engage with the game economy, it has an equally harmful effect when the speculation pushes the price in the other direction, which can act to quickly destroy incentives for creators when the value of their previous hard work can be swiftly eroded.
Do these problems sound familiar? They should, as these are precisely the kinds of issues that real-world economies face. It is the job and mandate of the central banks to manage and limit the effects of such violent fluctuations on their national economies.
The best practice here is to limit all outside exchange of in-game currencies. While games assets like NFTs can benefit from being freely traded, the currency should be strictly controlled by the game platform to ensure that the internal economy is not adversely affected by external speculators.
As successful as Roblox's Robux and EVE Online's ISK is for their game platforms, there has yet to be an NFT-game with in-game currency that is traded in the outside world without turning the game effectively into a thin shell for money laundering. The last best attempt represented by Axie Infinity resulted in a total failure (economically), as the majority of the players became engaged in the game solely to earn a buck (whether through grinding or speculative trading) and not to actually enjoy the playing of the game.
A good game must provide a sense of achievement, entertainment, challenge, education, and gratification to its players in the end, as that is essentially what players are willing to pay for. It can't simply be another means to an end or a way to make a living. While the promise of Play-to-Earn games remains to be seen, one thing is clear, the P2E element of the game can't be its major constituent. Just like in the real world, NO economy can exist where >80% of the participants are speculators and investors. There must be producers, and consumers, for it is through them that real value is created and consumed. The key then to making an NFT-game work is to stop focusing on the former and concentrate more on the latter.
Are You Ready Player?
/Jerry Chan
WallStreetTechnologist
[1] Some fans will argue that Second Life's Lindon economy was bigger, but I would disagree, as Second Life's money was used primarily for a vanity economy.
[2] Read as 'stable'
[3] Should games be treated like IPOs of companies? Why would someone want to invest in a company? And do those same reasons apply for them investing in a game? This doesn't address the fact that this essentially acknowledges that game currency used in this way is effectively unregistered security.
New to Bitcoin? Check out CoinGeek's Bitcoin for Beginners section, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about Bitcoin—as originally envisioned by Satoshi Nakamoto—and blockchain.
The legal team members include General Counsel Marc Goldich, Chief Corporate Counsel Lawrence Florio, and Chief Litigation and Regulatory Counsel Noah Axler.
Many blockchains and digital currencies assert to be "decentralized," however, its short history has proven this to be demonstrably false, as several incidents have occurred in the past six years proving so.
In a trial set for two days, parties will present their arguments over whether Peter McCormack is liable for defamation with regard to social media posts he made about Dr. Wright's status as Bitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakamoto.
Portuguese Finance Minister Fernando Medina confirmed to Parliament that his ministry is studying how to tax digital currency gains in the country.
Join the official Bitcoin SV Discord channel:
www.discord.gg/bsv


We took a trip to Leeds for the first time. Since we are always looking to go to vegan festivals to try new food we jumped at the opportunity to see Leeds and check out the Greater Yorkshire Vegan Festival. To make things better, some people we met off a child free vegans Facebook group offered to let us stay at their place in Lincoln.
We woke up earlier this time so we didn't have a replay of almost missing the Mega Bus like on the Bristol trip. We got on the Mega Bus at 8:40 or so and were off by 8:55. The bus went from Birmingham to Manchester to Leeds.
The weather was a grey and damp but not raining thankfully.
The Mega Bus took us to the main bus station where all the buses go to. We got out and figured out where we were and where to go.
We got started walking around Leeds. It's not the biggest city so we didn't think it would take too long to see everything.
We spotted a church and headed over to see the inside.
As it turns out it is the oldest church in Leeds.
The inside of the church was decorated nicely.
We headed towards the Arcades. We were in the main shopping area of town.
Leeds has a pretty impressive pedestrian walking area.
We got creeped out by some dolls in the window so we carried on.
We didn't go inside the market but it looked pretty cool from the outside.
Inside the shopping centre there were some school kids singing some songs.
We explored around some more looking at all the old buildings around Leeds.
The have a couple Canadian streets for some reason: Quebec Street and Toronto Street.
We finished exploring the city centre and we needed to find the Vegan Fair venue. We had to use Google maps to find our way there.
It wasn't far. We made it to Greater Yorkshire Vegan Fest at the Leeds Town Hall.
We got in line at the "V-Revolution" food tent. They are a vegan restaurant from Manchester. We got a couple "Mini Mac's" which were really tasty. There were lots of other food stalls outside. One important thing that the organisers forgot was to make sure they had garbage bins. People were ditching their garbage on the tables at the entrance to the venue as there were no garbage bins anywhere. Note to future festival organisers: you need lots of garbage bins!
Aside from the garbage bin situation everything was going well.
This is the booth our Facebook friends were running for "Population Matters". It talks about voluntarily reducing the human population because of the environmental impact of the ever increasing human population (7 Billion and counting!) While they gave a talk on the subject we watched their booth for them. Basically we handed out free vegan condoms and answered the common question "what isn't vegan about normal condoms?" Normal condoms sometimes have casein in them which is a milk product. A lot of people were in agreement that the human population needs to be sustainable, others were blushing at the sight of condoms and there was one person that was against birth control that was not impressed by the condoms. We only found out about her afterwards because she posted all over Facebook.
The Leeds Town Hall was really cool looking. Nice ceiling!
From Leeds we caught a ride to Lincoln with our new friends and stayed at their place. When we left Lincoln we took the train to Birmingham which we booked on Trainline. We had an hour stop in Nottingham, where we did a little exploring to see if we wanted to return.
If you enjoyed this post you may enjoy our trip to Manchester where we went to the Northern Vegan Festival.
Thank you. Leeds is a lovely city.
This would be so cool! I'm not vegan but I'd still want to check something like this out.
What a great and perfect spot for a couple this beautiful place. Those photos are so lovely.
Thank you. Leeds is a great city.
Wow, the architectures are so nice. I love the ceilings too! I think I need to head up in Manchester too! Thanks for sharing your experience!
We do too. Manchester is great as well!
Loved all the pics and what a beautiful post. Now I'm stoked to go visit this place.
Thank you. Hope you make it there.
Leeds sounds like a great place to visit, and the church was truly beautiful. You're right about those dolls though - they were creepy!
Haha, yeah a little bit!
You're lucky to have explored the place with your husband. The place is great, by the way. Wish there was more photos on the Vegan festival.
Yeah, we wish we took more too! We were a little overwhelmed.
This looks like an amazing place! The booth your friends have sounds really interesting. I haven't really comes across anything like that before about reducing the human population. Definitely a topic for debate I think.
Leeds is great. With over 7 billion people in the world, we really need to start discussing the reduction of the human population.


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Mahindra Hikes Prices Of Its Popular SUVs
Home Hyundai Hyundai Venue Exterior and Interior Revealed : Juicy Details Inside
Hyundai Venue Exterior and Interior Revealed : Juicy Details Inside
April 1, 2019 | Videh Vora
Added in: Hyundai
Hyundai has kept all of us busy with the teasers of their upcoming compact SUV. Called the Venue, this compact SUV has been the talk of the town for a few days now. Earlier today, we reported that Hyundai will be offering BlueLink technology, a segment first, with the car. This SUV has been spotted quite a few times earlier but has managed to hide its design highlights and interior details with camouflage. Not anymore, thanks to an anonymous petrolhead, we can bring you images of Hyundai's compact SUV, seen for the first time without any camouflage, have a look.
Let us first talk about the interiors, where we see a couple of exciting features. The central area of the car is adorned by a decently sized touchscreen infotainment system, surrounded by the central AC vents. Below the system, one can see hot buttons present for media, navigation and the works. Two rotary knobs are present besides these hot buttons to control the volume and other features of the car. Moving further down, we see the hazard switch button and the passenger airbag light, which are followed by the AC controls. The climate control vents come with a digital display. Below the controls, you'll see two USB ports, one for a quick charge and one to connect with the car using Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
Other highlights that can on the inside of the car include a number of buttons on the steering wheels. The button cluster on the right-hand side of the steering wheel is quite similar to the one seen on the Verna which comes with cruise control. The steering wheel also gets an adjustment lever. We can also see fabric seat covers, a colour MID, Hyundai clean air tech, a smart key, a storage space above the glovebox and an automatic transmission lever.
Now Hyundai has 2 types of automatic transmissions on sale, the new AMT gearbox and a trustworthy torque converter, both of which come with a different type of gear lever. When you combine this fact with the rumour suggesting that the Hyundai will come with a 7-speed DCT gearbox, this gear lever is very likely to belong to this new transmission setup. The Turbo badge seen at the rear further reinstates the fact that this indeed is the 7-speed DCT model which would be paired with a 1-litre turbocharged petrol engine.
Also Read: Hyundai Venue Shows off Its Square DRLs in a New Teaser
Moving to the exterior of the car, the front end showcases the bumper integrated headlight which gets whisker-like LED DRLs on the top edge of the front fascia. The cascading grille gets a chrome finish and looks very attractive in the pictures. The side profile of the car would stand out with the dual tone, precision cut alloy wheels. The rear end showcases the net tail light assembly which gets LED inserts. The reverse light has been integrated at the bottom side, in the rear bumper. Scheduled to be launched in the month of May, by the looks of it, the car seems to be a worthy competitor to the likes of the Mahindra XUV300, Ford Ecosport and the Tata Nexon.


Obviously you would rather feel positive anticipation than dread regarding your future. But what about those times when dread, be it mild anxiety or out-and-out terror, grabs a hold on you?
That's where The Method comes in. It's an elegant, simple "tool" for withdrawing the energy from negative, painful, and uncomfortable emotional states and patterns.
Beyond helping you to feel better, shifting from negative to positive anticipation is extremely practical, even crucial. You see, our emotional states are like preludes to the conditions they match up with them. Worrying about what is going to happen to you is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Positive anticipation is as well.
When you feel eager about the wonderful things in store, you feel more energized. Energy equals joy. The more energized you feel, the more joy you feel. Dread drains you of energy; it therefore causes sorrow.
Dread shuts you down to the positive possibilities of life. When you feel joyful you open yourself to more positive opportunities. Joy raises your level of creativity. It empowers you to relate to others with more love, compassion, and generosity, producing more relationship harmony. Harmonious relationships then add to your state of joyful empowerment, uplifting you even more, and the cycle of increasingly positive outcomes and experiences spins round and round.
When we depend upon the evidence of our circumstances to feel positive anticipation nothing in our lives really improves. Circumstances go up and down, taking our expectations up and down with them. So we make some progress and then find ourselves slipping back.
This see-saw life pattern changes when we use The Method to free our energy from negative anticipation .
We then turn adversity to our advantage by withdrawing our energy from the feelings of anxiety, dread and despair as circumstances trigger them off. This permits that freed up energy to send us into a higher level of joy than we have ever known, and in that joy our positive anticipation soars higher than ever, with all the benefits that brings.
Just knowing or believing that feelings of positive anticipation are preferable to feelings of negative anticipation does little or nothing to help us actually feel any better. In fact, it can cause us to feel worse if we understand the negative consequences of negative anticipation.
Now that we The Method, though, we can apply what we know. We can turn those circumstances that used to bring us down into spring boards that send us up to a higher level of feeling and functioning than we have ever experienced, and witness our lives reflecting our higher peak of positivity with circumstances that reflect, validate and support the wonderful way that we feel.
For assistance in harnessing the power of positive anticipation contact me to schedule your demonstration of The Method via phone or Skype. The method heals emotional wounds and frees you from patterns of negative, fear-based, emotional reactions. The session lasts only around 20 minutes and the results are immediate.


 Joel 1:16 Interlinear: Is not before our eyes food cut off? From the house of our God joy and rejoicing?
Hasn't the food been cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God ?
Has not food been cut off before our eyes, Gladness and joy from the house of our God?
Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, [yea], joy and gladness from the house of our God?
Isn't our food supply cut off right in front of us, along with joy and gladness from the Temple of our God?
Is not the food cut off before our eyes, yea , joy and gladness from the house of our God?


My mother is a painter, and she has never owned a home. I was fourteen when our landlord, Mr. Andersen, died. My mother couldn't afford to buy the house, which Mr. Andersen had rented to her for next to nothing for over twenty years, even accepting art in place of rent on several occasions.
And so we moved from the San Francisco neighborhood of Noe Valley to the outer Richmond in March of 1995, just before my eighth grade graduation. After spending my high school years deep in the Clement Street fog, college on the east coast, and several years in other cities, states and neighborhoods, I returned to San Francisco last summer in August of 2008.
For over a year now I have been living in the childhood home of the man whose generosity provided me with the house I grew up in. Without my mother's memory for place, I could have lived here ignorant of the history embedded in the building, the trace of all the people who have occupied these walls, and the incredible kismet of having landed where I did. Walking my dog every day, I am also faced with the exterior of my old home, painted a different color now—and surely changed from within as well. The women who live there have owned it for ten years, and their own stories are now layered with mine in the familiar, distorted rooms.
Beginning graduate art school in this climate of estranged familiarity, I found myself obsessing over place and its heavily layered meanings. I made a map of my neighborhood, intending to mark it with stories of people I had known, but quickly ran out of space. I made another map, this time filling it with anecdotes of memories situated in the place.
Finding that I was questioning the accuracy of my memories, I mapped "Things I don't remember right," followed by places present, changed and gone. "The Visceral Neighborhood" (above) maps maps my emotional landscape.
Fifteen map versions later, I felt nowhere near finished mapping my own experiences. Looking at the depth of my relationship to this corner of the city, the vastness of the project I had undertaken began to become clear. This place, and every place, is both a vessel for and a vital character in the lives lived within it. My experience of the neighborhood had already filled fifteen maps, but it only scratched the surface of a vast social archeology waiting to be uncovered within the blocks surrounding my house.
I began to seek the participation of my neighbors, strangers and friends with whom I share this space. The intersection of my important places with the narratives of other lives lived in the neighborhood reveals an intrinsic connection to people I didn't think I knew.
As I continue my investigation into the social archeology of my neighborhood this year, I will be the collector of stories, the facilitator of conversations. I will use our shared experience of place as a tool of connection, providing a space for the act of telling our stories while bringing in a wider audience to experience the neighborhood through a multitude of personal lenses. In exchange for adding their stories to my growing archive, my neighbors will receive artwork, segments of a giant woodcut print of a beloved cityscape we will all share. I hope to unearth, on an intensely local scale, some of the narrative interconnections underlying this one corner of a city saturated with stories.
I'll be sharing the maps as they develop here on Shareable.net, and I'd love to hear about other projects that seek to map the social archeologies of neighborhoods.


Loan Servicer: FCI Lender Services, Inc.
The borrower founds this property in Clifton Heights, PA by working with his real estate agent. The borrower is an electrician by trade and is on track to rehab 12 houses in 2016. This is a repeat borrower for Legacy Capital.


It's the new now next of the Dizzy Lizzie line. With double collars and double cuffs it's a perfect addition to any wardrobe. This geometric printed Vero Beach shirt is everything you need for your Spring ensembles.


A pit bull named Ace saved a sleeping deaf boy in Indianapolis after his house caught on fire this week.
Nick Lamb, 13, was home alone on Wednesday afternoon and sleeping without his hearing aids when his dog began licking him vigorously to wake him up, he told The Indianapolis Star.
"I couldn't hear anything because I had my cochlear implants off . . . My dog Ace smelled it," Lamb said. "I just wanted to get out."
Firefighters were called to the scene shortly after Lamb escaped to the backyard and called his mother, around 1:10 p.m. They reported that the garage was engulfed in flames when they arrived.
After the fire was put out, Indianapolis Fire Department Capt. Rita Reith said in a news release that, "He was thankful that Ace entered his room and licked his face until he woke up. The boy quickly covered his nose and mouth with his T-shirt and exited the rear of the house."
Fire inspectors suspect the fire was started by an electric source, but said further inspection is required. The damage to the home was estimated at $175,000.
Reith said that Lamb had just returned from summer camp over the weekend, and was excited that this would be the first summer he was old enough to stay home alone. Medics examined him at the scene and determined that he had no injuries from smoke inhalation.
"It's amazing, because if he wouldn't have been there, he probably wouldn't have even woke up," Lindsay Bernard, the boy's mother, said of hero-dog Ace to WTHR Indiana.
Lamb's cat, Pixie, was also recovered from the home by firefighters, and was found to be just fine after being examined by a veterinarian.


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PD Dr. Cornelia Henschke
© Henschke
Cornelia Henschke is the head of the Junior Research Group MeDIoRI (Incentives and Impact of Regulatory Instruments and the deputy head of the Berlin Centre for Health Economics Research (BerlinHECOR) at the Department of Health Care Management, Technische Universität Berlin. She received her MSc degree in business and economics from the Technische Universität in Berlin in 2008, having concentrated in particular on healthcare, hospital and operations management and accounting. In 2013 she finished her PhD in economics, having focused on the adoption and diffusion of medical in devices in Germany. In October 2019 she finished her habilitation at the Berlin University of Technology. From August 2018 to July 2019 she has been a Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice at the Duke-Robert J. Margolis, MD, Center for Health Policy | Duke University (USA). Moreover, she is engaged in teaching for Berlin economics, medicine and public health students.
Her research interests include reimbursement systems in health care, funding mechanisms for medical devices, inpatient innovations, and emergency services.
Main research areas
Health Services Research, Health Economics
Effects of policies and regulatory instruments, especially in the context of health technologies (pharmaceuticals, medical devices, procedures, health programs)
Financing and remunerating health technologies in health care, especially in inpatient care (value based purchasing, coverage with evidence development)
Health services research in the area of health technologies (diagnosis and treatment)


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Q: Preventing polygon symbology from rotating with data frame when switching between map sheets in map series? I am using ArcGis 9.3, Windows XP and want to know if it's possible to have symbology in my polygons not rotate with data frame when I switch between mapsheets in my map series?
I do NOT have MPSAtlas or PLTS. I DO have DS Mapbook installed.

A: Use Cartographic Representations: Data needs to be in a Geodatabase.
http://webhelp.esri.com/arcgisdesktop/9.3/index.cfm?TopicName=Rotating_feature_representations
You can do it without Cartographic Representations but have less control on the feature/symbol.
Creating a marker from a picture graphic:
http://webhelp.esri.com/arcgisdesktop/9.3/index.cfm?TopicName=Creating_marker_symbols

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Home » Braves » Braves bullpen has become a clear advantage over opponents
By Chase Irle
The Braves bullpen began the season in atrocious fashion, handing out seven earned runs on Opening Day in only three innings of work. That was the trend of the first month of the season: the offense building a lead, and the bullpen figuring out a way to blow it. But Alex Anthopoulos never stopped moving things around, and eventually, he found his island of misfit toys (as I like to call them) – a group of guys that may not have the reputation of the elite relief arms but have done more than their share in turning this ship around.
It began with the emergence of Luke Jackson into the closer's role, as Arodys Vizcaino and A.J. Minter promptly exited the major league bullpen altogether. The sliderman hasn't been the lights out 9th inning arm championship teams need, but his effectiveness as a whole cannot be denied. He's only allowed nine earned runs in 37 innings pitched since Opening Day and has 12.3 strikeouts per nine innings. His work, however, would be irrelevant if it wasn't for a couple of young studs turning into elite set-up men.
Once a starter, Sean Newcomb has been sensational coming out of the bullpen. An argument can be made he is the most valuable when in the rotation, but lefties that can come out of the pen and throw multiple innings should not be taken for granted. What Newk is doing in his new role is nothing short of insane, and the Braves should not be eager to make him a starter again. He has not allowed an earned run since May 24th and has only given up two since making the switch to a reliever (21.9 innings pitched). These are Andrew Miller-esque numbers, and the Braves need him most in the role he's in now, or maybe even as the closer down the road.
Newk's counterpart, Jacob Webb, has been equally as unhittable. The right-hander was a prospect we pegged as a potential bullpen breakout candidate in the offseason, and he's making us look like geniuses. Webb's toting a 1.33 ERA for the season, has allowed one earned run since the middle of May and is another arm that could be in line for some save opportunities if Jackson continues to falter.
Those three have been around the majority of the last two months and been the critical cogs in turning this unit around, but it is Anthony Swarzak – who Alex Anthopoulos acquired for nothing – that has put the Braves bullpen over the top.
The former Mariner has come to Atlanta rejuvenated now that he's in the heart of a Pennant race. Swarzak has been used 15 times since May 22nd and only allowed one runner to cross the plate – Howie Kendrick on a solo home run. His ERA sits at 0.54 for the Braves, and his best moment might have come last night against the Cubs. He relieved Sean Newcomb in the 8th inning with two on and nobody out but quickly forced Kris Bryant into a double play to ease the pressure. Then struck out Anthony Rizzo looking. Atlanta went on to beat Chicago by a score of 3-2.
Because of these four arms (and a few others), the Braves now have the second-best bullpen ERA in the National League on the season. That's pretty spectacular considering how incompetent they were for the first month or so, and it is because of their recent work. The Braves have the best bullpen ERA in the majors since acquiring Anthony Swarzak (2.67).
#Braves bullpen now boasts the third-best ERA in the National League (3.78). Entering play today that was good for sixth best in the Majors.
Since adding Anthony Swarzak on May 22, the Atlanta pen has posted an MLB-best 2.67 ERA over that span.@680TheFan https://t.co/nA4XESreD6
— Kevin McAlpin (@KevinMcAlpin) June 26, 2019
Given how poor relief pitching has been across the board this season, Atlanta has found themselves a substantial advantage. Who would have thought that even a month ago? That's not to say bullpen help is no longer a need heading into the trade deadline. Regression is bound to happen, and the Braves have to find a solution for the 9th inning. But these unappreciated toys deserve a pat on the back because they have been a primary reason as to why Atlanta has established a 5.5 game lead in the NL East.
Related Items:Anthony Swarzak, Braves, Bullpen, Featured, jacob webb, Sean Newcomb
Opinion: Austin Riley should not be sent down
Braves: Ender Inciarte activated and starting tonight
Kyle Wright likely to start for Braves tonight against Nats
An interview with rising Braves prospect Drew Waters
The Braves 5 Most Untradeable Prospects
Urban Meyer has fond words regarding Kendall Sheffield


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Negative Rates, Part 1: Unexpected Ways Negative Interest Rates Influence Currency Exchange Rates
Frances Coppola
A country's currency exchange rate can reflect its economic prospects. Economic theory says that when the economic outlook for a country is bright, expected returns on investment rise. And as investors attracted by those higher returns move money into the country, its currency exchange rate rises versus other currencies. Conversely, when a country is experiencing an economic downturn, expected returns on investment fall; investors move their money to other countries where prospects are better and currency exchange rates fall.
However, the real world doesn't always behave neatly according to economic theory. In particular, exchange rate behaviour has been unpredictable as negative interest rates have emerged in different parts of the world. Consequently, businesses engaged in importing or exporting in the current global economic environment could choose to observe a broader span of macroeconomic and market conditions in order to anticipate foreign exchange rates.
The Theoretical Interest Rate-Exchange Rate Relationship
Ever since the 2008 financial crisis, central banks around the world have tried to generate recovery by cutting interest rates. In the last eight years, major central banks have cut rates on average every three days.1Therefore, interest rates in developed economies are at historic lows – and some countries are experimenting with negative rates. Cutting interest rates is supposed to encourage businesses to borrow for investment while encouraging people to spend rather than save money, thus increasing economic activity and generating jobs and growth. It is unclear how successful this approach has been: some say that without this central bank intervention the situation would be worse, while others say there should be greater use of fiscal policy (tax cuts and government spending).2
Although cutting interest rates is primarily intended to influence domestic businesses and households, it also has an effect on trade. When central banks cut policy interest rates, currency exchange rates tend to fall. In 2008, for example, when the Bank of England cut its base rate from 5 percent to 0.5 percent, sterling's exchange rate fell by as much as 25 percent against all major currencies.3 Similarly, after the European Central Bank (ECB) introduced negative rates on bank reserves, the exchange rate of the euro versus the U.S. dollar fell continually over the next few months.4
Falling currency exchange rates tend to encourage exporters and discourage importers, which improves a country's competitiveness and can help it recover from a downturn. Conversely, rising exchange rates discourage exports and encourage imports. Manipulating currency exchange rates to gain an export advantage is contrary to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF's) Articles of Agreement. 5 However, if the currency exchange rate falls as a consequence of monetary policy intended to benefit the whole economy, not just exporters, it is usually accepted by trade partners and by the IMF.
But exchange rates and their ripple effects don't always behave as expected. In the case of the Swiss franc, they appeared to do the opposite.
The ECB and the Swiss Franc Exchange Rate
Switzerland has long been regarded as a "safe haven" by investors due to its stable economic history and long tradition of secure banking. During the Eurozone crisis of 2012, worried investors moved money out of certain other countries and into Switzerland's calmer environment, causing the Swiss franc to rise sharply versus the euro. Because a sharp rise in exchange rate is bad for exporters, on which Switzerland's economy depends, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) imposed a cap on the exchange rate at 1.20 francs to the euro. It did this by issuing large quantities of francs, which it sold in exchange for euros and euro-denominated assets.6
But when the ECB announced its intention to start quantitative easing (QE), the SNB decided that it could no longer hold the cap. On 15 January 2015 it lifted the cap. At the same time, it slashed interest rates to minus 0.75 percent, at that time one of the most deeply negative interest rates in the world, expecting that the negative rate would prevent its currency from rising.7
It did not work out as expected. The franc's exchange rate versus the euro jumped when the cap was lifted. By close of business that day, one euro bought less than one franc – a depreciation of about 20 percent. Meanwhile, franc LIBOR – the rate at which banks lend Swiss francs to each other on the London market – dropped to almost minus 1 percent. The SNB 0.75 percent negative rate was not enough to deter investors from moving money out of euros and into francs.8
Despite persistently negative interest rates, the Swiss franc's exchange rate has remained elevated – but its export trade did not noticeably suffer. In fact, according to a European Commission report, exports for all of 2015 rose 12 percent over 2014, and at the end of 2015 Switzerland's trade in goods surplus was 34.6 billion euros and its current account balance (which includes trade in services and investment income as well as trade in goods) was 11.4 percent of its GDP.9
Despite economic theory, negative interest rates and a high currency exchange rate did not appear to deter export trade. And Switzerland is not the only country where negative interest rates have had unusual effects on the exchange rate.
Japan's Exchange Rate Rising despite Negative Rates
For more than two decades, Japan has been stuck in a deflationary economic slump.10 The "three arrows" introduced by the government of Shinzo Abe in 2012 – monetary policy, fiscal policy and structural reforms – continue to miss their targets, as several rounds of QE and rising government spending have had little more effect than to increase Japan's sovereign debt. In January 2016, the Bank of Japan dropped its opposition to negative rates, cutting its deposit rate to minus 0.1 percent.11
While Japanese policy makers expected the negative interest rate to apply downwards pressure on the yen's exchange rate, the yen actually rose to 18-month highs against the U.S. dollar.12 Like the Swiss franc, the yen has traditionally been regarded as a safe haven by investors, particularly those worried about the state of the U.S. economy. As 2016 has been a turbulent year for global markets, and the U.S. economy has not performed as well as expected, investors have been moving money out of dollars into yen thus causing the yen exchange rate to rise – despite the negative rates.13
Exchange rates are not always a good indicator of the economic strength of a country. For some countries, such as Japan and Switzerland, the exchange rate can depend much more on the outlook for the world economy, the fears investors have and the behaviour of neighbouring countries. Businesses trading with these and other "safe haven" countries may wish to explore a broader spectrum of global macroeconomic and market conditions when planning their FX risk management strategy.
"Major central banks have cut rates 672 times since Lehman", Financial Times; http://www.ft.com/fastft/2016/07/28/major-central-banks-have-cut-rates-672-times-since-lehman/.
"Buttonwood's Notebook: Five Years On", The Economist; http://www.economist.com/blogs/buttonwood/2014/03/monetary-policy.
Explanation beyond exchange rates: trends in UK trade since 2007, U.K. Office for National Statistics; http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20160105160709/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171766_324876.pdf
Negative interest rates in Europe: A Glance at Their Causes, The World Bank; and Implications http://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/GEP/GEP2015b/Global-Economic-Prospects-June-2015-Negative-interest-rates.pdf
Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund, International Monetary Fund; https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/aa/pdf/aa.pdf
"Oh Switzerland, What Have You Done?", Forbes.com; http://www.forbes.com/sites/francescoppola/2015/01/17/oh-switzerland-what-have-you-done/#31702d331bce
"S'weird in Switzerland", The FRED [Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis] Blog; https://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2016/08/sweird-in-switzerland/
Switzerland, European Commission trade report; http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2006/september/tradoc_111571.pdf
"Japan's three arrows of Abenomics continue to miss their targets", The Guardian; https://www.theguardian.com/business/economics-blog/2015/nov/16/japan-three-arrows-abenomics-recession-economy-targets-shinzo-abe
"Bank of Japan Introduces Negative Interest Rates", The Wall Street Journal Online; http://www.wsj.com/articles/bank-of-japan-introduces-negative-interest-rates-1454040311
"Japan's Negative-Rate Experiment Is Floundering", The Wall Street Journal Online; http://www.wsj.com/articles/japans-negative-rate-experiment-is-floundering-1460644639 13.Ibid.
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Active Adult at The Georgian! Open concept floor plan with Tuxedo-style kitchen! 10 ft island in kitchen with 42" cabinets, granite countertops, tile backsplash and pendant lights over island. French doors open to game day porch with wood burning outdoor fireplace. Bonus room and full bath over garage. Vaulted and extended back patio with OUTDOOR FIREPLACE!Golf cart parking inside the garage. HOA includes front and backyard maintenance and trash included!!Ride your golf cart to "The Frog" Golf Course as well as access to the amenity at The Georgian.


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A ziarat to Ziarat
Afghan reconciliation: Paris talks a welcome step, says Mushahid Hussain
Bride vs. dulhan: The many sides of a desi bride
Striving to incorporate Western concepts in traditional shaadi, Pakistani-American dulhans need to step back.
Fauzeya Rahman December 24, 2012
I got married last year in Houston, Texas in a mostly 'traditional' Pakistani wedding with a few twists. As our valima came to a close, we hugged the last of the relatives hanging out around the reception hall. Then my husband and I breathed a huge sigh of relief: we were done.
Done with the months of planning, the deluge of details and the careful balancing act of emotions required to keep both sides happy. While I know our wedding wasn't anywhere close to the elaborate festivities commonly seen in the Pakistani community — whether in the US, at home or elsewhere in the world — it was enough to make me wonder if I'd do it again if I had the choice.
Regardless of one's approach to a wedding, stress seems to be the most common component. And when talking with Pakistani-American brides busy planning their weddings, it seemed that the stress level of a Pakistani wedding can take the cake.
"There's a definite difference between the elaborateness of a desi wedding and an American wedding," says Sarah, owner of The Transformation Studio, a beauty and wellness center in Houston. "Being Pakistani makes it more stressful, from the old school chauvinism and prerogative given to the groom's family, to the huge guest lists."
Or maybe it's because lately, the Pakistani wedding has morphed into a hybrid of traditional customs, Western concepts and fairytale. We're no longer just the 'dulhan' on stage with the lowered gaze. Now, we're also the 'bride', who has an opinion on everything from the decor to music selection to guest list. Now, our multi-day weddings demand a level of personalisation and attention to detail previously unheard of.
"We're far more controlling in terms of what we want," says Amna, who got married in 2008. "But these weddings aren't meant to be organised by you. They're not meant for you [the dulhan] to plan. But because we're now raised differently, we have strong opinions and so we tend to get more controlling."
"I've seen a very big shift in weddings from when I first moved to the US," Sarah said. "A wedding used to be a pretty standard affair; now brides are having meltdowns over napkin folds. The more details involved, the more stress there is."
And while a woman may see herself as a bride of today who calls the shots, there's a good chance her family still sees her as a stationary object around which all celebrations take place. This distinction can open the door to all kinds of conflict. We now have far less patience for nosy aunties, inappropriate questions or decisions made without our consent. After all, we're independent, intelligent people — why can't we do what we want?
Of course, as the bride and as a woman, you can do what you want — but I recommend doing it with finesse. While your wedding is just a day (or, more accurately, a few days), you have the rest of your life to spend with not just your husband, but his family and your family. If you let the stress get the best of you, you could end up making things quite awkward as you start your new life.
"There's a major emotional component to getting married," says Sarah. As a trained counselor and cosmetologist, she's been around dozens of brides. "Every time there's a life transition, there's a fear of the unknown. Of course, there's also familial stress and in-law issues that are too common in our community. A bride's mom can either be a help or absolute hell. Sometimes diva attitudes come out unexpectedly and weddings bring out people's true colours."
She's seen long-lasting friendships permanently destroyed and brides who behave as if they own their family. "The wedding has become more valuable to some people than the marriage. The wedding itself has turned into an object to allow a person to show off."
Which is a bit ridiculous considering how elaborate our weddings were already. There's definitely more pressure now to put together a beautiful, unique wedding while decked out in the latest designer threads. With the onslaught of websites, message boards and blogs, brides have access to so much knowledge that, if they're not careful, they can quickly slip from being informed to being overwhelmed.
"Sixty percent of the brides I see are particular — to a degree that borders on obsessive — about everything from lip colour to how winged the eyeliner is," Sarah said. "Social media has a major effect. The awareness of options has gone up, and I've seen several beautifully thought-out weddings. I think it's a good thing to be informed, but people need to restrain themselves and not lose their minds."
With sites such as Pinterest, brides are immediately transported to a perfect world where handmade flowers and mason jars filled with drip-less candles are effortlessly bound with raffia ribbon that secures a handmade label with the couple's names. They are led to believe guests expect this level of creativity, the bride's mental health (or budget) be damned!
Truthfully, no one will notice each and every personal touch. Whether in the US or Pakistan, brides would do well to focus their energy on what matters the most and delegate or let go of the rest.
If you have a major sweet tooth, go cake-tasting crazy and find a delicious cake that will make you smile whenever you need something to take your mind off the wedding craziness. If music is your thing, sit down with a friend and come up with some excellent playlists for the various events.
While you may see yourself as an independent super bride and your family may still see you as a prop adorning the various wedding stages in different outfits, find a balance somewhere in between the two extremes.
To do so without losing your mind, communicate your expectations clearly with those around you who you can trust. If a friend or family member has never come through for you before, chances are they aren't going to deliver during your wedding, either. Instead, take note of the friends who genuinely offer to help and assign clear tasks that you'd like them to do. After that, let it go and move on to the next to-do item.
Be organised. Make lists and go over them with your go-to team. Most importantly, manage your expectations. Things will get crazy and they will go wrong, but for the most part there's nothing you can do about it. All you can control is your reaction to the situation.
Most importantly, take care of yourself. Schedule monthly massages and facials leading up to your wedding. Detox to get rid of the impurities that can clog one's system. You can do this by sitting in the sauna or even spending a few extra minutes in the shower. Try to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into your diet (preferably raw).
Try to find an outlet to relieve stress that works for you, whether it's exercise, painting, writing or talking to a neutral party. It will help you keep your cool when everything inevitably goes awry.
While your wedding is no doubt the biggest event of your life, it's also just the beginning of your new life. Enjoy yourself and the moments that truly excite you, and simply let go of the rest.
We're no longer just the 'dulhan' on stage with the lowered gaze. Now, we're also the 'bride', who has an opinion on everything from decor to music selection to guest list.
Fauzeya is a reporter in Austin, Texas. She enjoys research, writing and finding new ways to tell a story
Published in The Express Tribune, Ms T, December 23rd, 2012.
Like MsT on Facebook and follow at @TribmagMsT for your dose of girl talk
Nobody | 9 years ago | Reply
Interesting write up. I never understood why there is so much bruhaha around the wedding itself as opposed to the marriage. Perhaps that's partially the reason divorce is so common, at least among couples in the US; desi couples here are no stranger to divorce anymore either.
Personally, I refuse to stress myself out over a one day (or 3 days if you're stretching it) function. It's supposed to be enjoyable; a celebration. Not the life or death function people make it out to be. So what if your make up isn't perfect or the napkins aren't folded right? Petty details are nothing to get fussy over. I think I'll elope if and when I do find my guy. The idea of a wedding turns me off. And I won't even start about the drama that comes around ruksatti time. What's the point of a ruksatti anymore anyway? It's not a funeral.
Mohammad Shahid nazir | 9 years ago | Reply
come on ladies come on ladies....ONE POUND FISH !!
Hottie of the week: Ali Sethi
Fancy a spa-rty?


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Share this Story: Women's world hockey championship loss against Team USA gives Canada Olympic motivation
Women's world hockey championship loss against Team USA gives Canada Olympic motivation
Tim Baines
For two weeks, the women that have been the mosaic, the heart and soul, of Team Canada became one.
As they stood on the blueline after the gold-medal game of the women's world hockey championship Tuesday night, they felt the heartbreak together. Tears and hugs. Everything came out on that Scotiabank Place battleground -- they had thrown everything they could at their mirror image, the mighty U.S. team. Canada couldn't defend its world title, losing 3-2.
Forgetting the pain of the loss, using it to push forward to next year's Olympics in Sochi, will define the team's character.
"If you dwell on it too long, you never recover from it," said captain Hayley Wickenheiser, her eyes red. "You're never as bad as you think and you're never as good as you think."
It wasn't what Canada wanted ... or expected. When so many things went right, this game went wrong.
It was intense. Physical. Fast. Oh, and add a big one. Emotional -- in front of an electric crowd.
"It's a tough feeling. You feel like it's a year of hard work that didn't end the way we hoped. But we have to get better because of it," said forward Jayna Hefford. "Going into Vancouver (in 2010), we had the same motivation. The next 10 months, we're not going to forget how we're feeling."
"It doesn't matter if we have the MVP, we all want the gold medal," said tournament MVP Marie-Philip Poulin, who said she'd trade the award for a gold "in a heartbeat."
It was the end of a terrific week of hockey, a wonderful week of support from Ottawa fans, a great building block for the next generation of Team Canada players -- young girls who had to draw inspiration from a splendid group of role models currently wearing the Canadian crest.
There were half a million bucks made from the tournament, money which will be plowed back into girls' hockey programs in Canada. There were 150,000 or so tickets sold and more than 90,000 actual bums in the seats, with an expected economic spinoff of $35 million. Classrooms adopted teams. What a success story.
"When (Ottawa) hosted the first championship in 1990, young girls and women sat around the table and saw they could play the game," said Fran Rider, a vice-chair of the organizing committee. "This is what grows the game. Really, it's never been stronger."
To grow the game elsewhere -- to get some kind of parity -- there needs to be a buy-in, maybe a rethinking of somewhat warped societal views.
"There's no-one that's reached the level of Canada and the U.S. and they're not close," said Tony Rossi, the IIHF's director for this tournament. "You run into some social implications. The greatest gender equality is probably in Canada, the U.S. and the Scandinavian countries. Who are the best hockey players? As you move further east in Europe, maybe not so. Money's where it's at. If you spend money, you'll get there."
BOOS CRUISE: There were some boos when Russian GM Alexei Yashin got his bronze medal Tuesday. It didn't bother him. "These things happen," he said. "It's a business. It's not only about me. If you look at the NHL, they boo everybody. If Ovechkin goes to Toronto, they boo him. If Crosby goes to Columbus or anywhere, they boo him. Stars hear the boos around the league, so I guess I'm s star."
CLOWNING AROUND: Staying relaxed off the ice is important for Canada. Who are the clowns? "Marie-Philip Poulin is becoming more and more comfortable ... she's becoming more of a pain in people's behinds," said Tessa Bonhomme. "And Catherine Ward is a quiet class clown behind the scenes. Said Poulin: "We always like a good laugh. We learn from the best ... Tessa is quite the clown ... sometimes we give it back to her."
END BOARDS: Canada had a plan when shooting on goalie Jessie Vetter. "She's a very good goalie," said Canadian coach Dan Church. "She has an unorthodox style. With any goalie, if you put the puck into their feet, you get to the dirty areas and outwork them around the crease ... good things happen." Vetter settled down after Courtney Birchard opened the scoring for Canada ... The officials get medals, too? It's like minor sports teams giving those silly participation trophies out ... It looked like Canada was standing still early in the second period. Church wanted to avoid a "track meet." The U.S. speed is deadly ... Penalties were bound to eventually hurt Canada. A series of trips to the box resulted in the U.S. taking the lead with 5:34 left in the second ... No contact in women's hockey? There was plenty to go with the intensity.
tim.baines@sunmedia.ca
Twitter: @TimCBaines
Women's world hockey championship loss against Team USA gives Canada Olympic motivation Back to video


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Johnston poverty rate slightly above state average
By Steve Reed
sreed.jhn@wilsontimes,com | 919-740-6834
SMITHFIELD — According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data, 15.1% of Johnston County residents are living in poverty with a per-capita income of $24,872. That's compared to the state figures of 14% living in poverty with a per-capita income of $28,123.
In 2018, the federal poverty income threshold was $25,465 for a family of four with two children and $17,308 for a single parent of one child.
Johnston County Department of Social Services Director Scott Sabatino said 42,608 people requested public assistance from the county's DSS office during the 2018-19 fiscal year at a cost of $272,856,786.
"That doesn't include those who applied for assistance online, by mail or by telephone," Sabatino said.
The North Carolina Justice Center think tank cites Census Bureau figures showing 1.4 million North Carolinians lived in poverty last year.
"People and communities across the state still face barriers to getting ahead such as lack of access to good-paying jobs, unaffordable child care, little access to public transportation to get to work and inadequate education and job training resources," the center said in a report released last week.
More than 31% of Johnston County Public Schools students participate in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's school nutrition program to receive free or reduced-price meals.
"They receive income applications from parents to process for qualification into the free and reduced-price meal program. Also, our menus are the same for all students regardless of their meals status," said Johnson County Public Schools spokeswoman Delores Gill. "Back Pack Buddies is a program which goes on at individual school run by a club, organization or PTA. West Johnston has a specific food pantry."
The proportion of students receiving free or reduced-price lunches is 44% at Micro Elementary, 51% at North Johnston Middle, 52% at Glendale-Kenly Elementary, 39% at North Johnston High, 46% at Pine Level Elementary, 42% at Princeton Elementary, 29% at Princeton Middle/High, 55% at Selma Elementary, 54% at Selma Middle, 52% at West Smithfield Elementary, 46% at Smithfield Middle, 44% at Smithfield-Selma High, 45% at South Smithfield Elementary and 60% at Wilson's Mills Elementary.


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Epilobium hypericifolium är en dunörtsväxtart som beskrevs av Ignaz Friedrich Tausch. Epilobium hypericifolium ingår i släktet dunörter, och familjen dunörtsväxter. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Dunörter
hypericifolium

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Because of the illegal nature of her work, Jane wears a ski mask to protect her identity. She is holding a menstrual extraction kit, which she makes using commonly found supplies.
Abortion. It's a topic few like to talk about, but one everyone has an opinion about. And when people do talk about it, merely sharing opinions can lead to heated debates.
There is only one clinic in Northern Nevada, and this clinic has persistent protesters holding large, graphic signs out front whenever it's open. Planned Parenthood in Reno does not provide abortions, so anyone looking for this service is required to go to the clinic.
For those who won't or can't get there, or afford to go to the sole provider in town, there is another, very much illegal and underground option.
She goes by the name "Jane." Jane performs underground, holistic and pill-based abortions. She has been providing abortions in Northern California and Northern Nevada for about four years.
The work she does is illegal. In fact, it's a felony in the state of Nevada. We agreed not to publish recognizable photos of her and have distorted her voice.
Editor's Note: This story contains graphic subject matter. Additionally, we understand this is a controversial topic, which is why we reached out to Melissa Clement with Nevada Right to Life for her organization's response. She provided this prepared statement: "This story is horrific; however, I'm a little shocked that anyone in favor of abortion would have a problem with this unarguably unsafe practice just because it's illegal or underground. Nevada Right to Life opposes all abortion, whether legal or illegal, because it takes the life of an innocent unborn child. Dehumanizing terminology like 'product of conception' does not conceal abortion for what it is: a flagrant human rights violation."
Jane began performing abortions after her own negative experience at the local clinic.
"I became pregnant after already having a live birth. I knew that I could barely take care of myself and my child," Jane told us when we met recently in a secret location.
Jane sought out and ended up meeting others who had secretly been providing people with at-home abortions and began to train under them. She charges very little and often times provides the service for free.
"When I do charge, it's based on a sliding scale. I wouldn't charge anybody more than $400, which is about half the cost of an abortion anywhere else," she says.
The West End Women's Medical Group—the only legal abortion provider in Northern Nevada — charges a minimum of $700. According to the clinic, the price may go up to as much as $2,100, depending on how far along the pregnancy is.
The clinic accepts only cash payment: No checks, no money orders, no credit cards. Full payment must be made in cash prior to receiving the services. According to the clinic's website, this is the only medical office in Reno certified by the National Abortion Federation.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, 49 percent of U.S. abortion patients in 2014 had incomes below the federal poverty level.
Jane recognizes how expensive abortions can be. That's why she sometimes provides her services for free.
The anonymous abortion provider meets her clients through mutual friends who know what she does. Word of mouth and trusted communication lead people to Jane.
Her methods are varied. She provides herbal abortions, which take the longest—up to two weeks. The patient will take a mixture of different herbs every two hours, in either a tea or in tincture form. She also provides the "abortion pill" Misoprostol, which is her most common method. She dispenses three doses of four pills. The pill stimulates contractions. The other method involves a device made from tubes, a jar and a syringe for suction called a menstrual extraction kit.
Jane gets the Misoprostol in bulk from others who have access to the drugs.
When it comes to safety, Jane insists the equipment she uses is similar to the equipment used in legal clinics. She also says she provides post-abortion care.
Jane is aware of the risks revolving around the work she does.
Current Nevada law states only physicians can perform abortions. Illegal abortions are classified as Class B Felonies. In other words, abortion performed by a non-physician will be punished in the same manner as voluntary manslaughter.
Although remaining anonymous, Jane hopes to continue to add her voice to the national narrative around abortion. She is aware of the increasingly restrictive legislation being passed and the continuous closing of clinics around the country.
This story comes to us from the NPR Next Generation Radio Boot Camp held in Reno this summer. You can view the full project and other stories here.
Sound healer Cheryl Lynn Bowers prepared for a healing ceremony in the Ashtanga Yoga Studio in Reno, Nevada's Midtown District. It was dusk, and the air in the studio was warm as Bowers unloaded a small beige suitcase full of percussion instruments, tuning forks, rain sticks and artifacts to place on an altar for an offering.
The Witt family has been farming in Northern Nevada since 1870. For over a hundred years they ran the Milky Way Dairy farm in Minden, Nevada. Spurred by rising corn prices in the 1980s Craig Witt started looking into methods of growing his own feed. His biggest obstacle was the sandy Nevada soil. So Craig enrolled at the University of Nevada, Reno, got a degree in agriculture and started making his own compost.


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Parastactobia kumiskucinga är en nattsländeart som beskrevs av Wells 1990. Parastactobia kumiskucinga ingår i släktet Parastactobia och familjen smånattsländor. Artens utbredningsområde är södra Asien. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Smånattsländor
kumiskucinga


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The Daily Scroll: A Mentorship Recap - January 4th, 2021 Show Notes
Hey Questers and welcome back. It's Monday, January 4th, which means it's the real start of the new year. Come on, let's be real.
First Monday.
First Monday. This is episode 261 of the Mentorship Quest and welcome back. We are stoked to be bringing you a quote today from Miss Venus Williams and she says, "My motto has always been that you can't say, 'Oh, it won't happen to me'. You have to say, 'That can happen to me.' So always be aware that things can happen."
You know Venus is generally regarded as one of the all-time greats of women's tennis. She's won first in both singles and doubles. So, she's a pretty incredibly inspiring woman and she's part of a sister duo, which makes her one of our favorites. But this quote has a lot to teach us here as we kick off the new year.
Yes. Well, she says, you can't be saying that, "oh, things aren't going to happen to me." because really anything can happen. Anything can happen.
Anything can happen.
Exactly. So many times, we say, "well, that won't happen to me." If you're in sports and you're constantly playing games, highly competitive games that are very quick, you might think, well, it won't happen to me that I'll lose three games in a row or it won't happen to me that I'll get shown up at the Olympics or whatever it is. Then lo and behold it happens. So, you really need to be prepared mentally for anything.
Right, and giving this advice more generally about focus and awareness and what you can do with those when you intentionally point them towards something. It reminds me of, I mean, I'm no professional tennis player, but I play a lot of Tetris, super dorky. I love to play Tetris on the Nintendo Switch. But there are lots of times where I will win the game by just not giving up. By being at the top and I'm scrambling to get the line. I'm just clearing one line at a time. But there's that moment when you're playing and you're at the top and you're going to lose anyway that you are ready to just give up or just think I can't win. But if you just keep plugging away or you think, "it's possible, it's possible, it's possible" you might make a move or clear a line or something that opens it up and you're able to keep playing. So being able to direct and intentionally focus on something, I think is what Venus is really alluding to here.
Well, I mean, this can go both ways. You can be thinking of something negative and saying, well, that won't happen to me or you can be thinking of something positive or exciting, like winning the game or breaking through to that next level or laying down that new habit in your life. Maybe you're looking at that and saying, well, that won't happen to me, but it can happen. Anything can happen. Being aware that things can happen and do happen all the time allows you to take that awareness and as Shi said, be intentional about it.
Right and that awareness word is probably our favorite. Here in that last line, "always be aware that things can happen." Awareness means that you have the recognition that something is possible. If something's possible, your subconscious can go to mind or go to work figuring out a way to make that happen or what connections that it can make in your life, or what actions or steps need to get taken. Awareness is the name of the game. It's that first step towards that ultimate creation piece. But by thinking, "oh, it won't happen to me" you cut off that possibility and you cut off that ability of awareness to be able to direct your subconscious, to attract those things to you.
Don't go cutting off your possibilities.
Come on! You guys have got this! I mean, it doesn't mean that there aren't going to be dangerous things on the road. It doesn't mean that things aren't going to get weird or scary, or you're going to be outside of your comfort zone. But if you say that it won't happen, then it won't, right? If you say that it can happen then at least it has a possibility if you put enough dedication and time and focus behind it. Shi and I recently have been talking a bit about the word beware. Sometimes you see the word beware and you think, well, that means I shouldn't go further or maybe it's something that it gives you that tickle in your belly that says just beware. But really the word beware is a conjunction of two words we're all very familiar with. So, really, "beware" is about 'be' 'aware' when you have those signals perk up, look out and focus yourself in a direction that will take you in the direction of your advantage.
Bring that awareness to whatever activity or goal that you have right in front of you. Beware doesn't mean don't proceed. It just means be aware and often that can mean be aware that there are probably things you don't want. If you are walking into a situation where your awareness shows you things that are dangerous you have had that awareness and that level of focus, that you can make an informed decision and turn around. Blindly thrashing through something where you should have come in with more awareness and perhaps some more couth is one of those instances we've probably all found ourselves in and we realize what beware really means. So, just to remind you of what Venus tells us, she says, "My motto has always been that you can't say, 'Oh, it won't happen to me.' You have to say, 'That can happen to me.' So always be aware that things can happen.
Alrighty, gang. So, your quest for today is a bit of a navigating the way quest. What's one thing you can make yourself aware of today in order to avoid future troubles tomorrow. Are you maybe experiencing some beware signs? That means it's time to be aware!
Hey, if this is a "navigate the course quest" does that make it a mapquest? ;)
Mapquest. Are you ready?


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Slide or Die
Book #1 of DriftX
By Todd Strasser
Illustrated by Craig Phillips
Drift it. Sling it. Slide it. Shred it....
Just don't get T-boned.
Kennin is new to Sin City, running from a tragic past and anxious to start a life outside the gearhead crowd. But he can't resist the lure of all the hot, tricked-out cars in Las Vegas.
WhenKennin accidentally proves his talent, he's pulled into a tsuiso battle against the toughest drivers around. The competition is cutthroat, and Kennin's outsider status only makes it worse. With ugly rivalries and vicious sabotage all around him, Kennin's ride will be gut-wrenchingly dangerous...and totally amping.
Todd Strasser
Todd Strasser has written many critically acclaimed novels for adults, teenagers, and children, including the award-winning Can't Get There from Here, Give a Boy a Gun, Boot Camp, If I Grow Up, Famous, and How I Created My Perfect Prom Date, which became the Fox feature film Drive Me Crazy. Todd lives in a suburb of New York and speaks frequently at schools. Visit him at ToddStrasser.com.
Craig Phillips
Craig Phillips has been creating cover art and drawings for books, comics, and magazines for nearly two decades. He is most at home working on tales about myth and magic. His latest book—Giants, Trolls, Witches, Beasts: Ten Tales from the Deep, Dark Woods—is a 200-page graphic novel about just that! It will be in stores in May 2017. When he is not drawing and writing, he likes to swim in the lakes and walk in the forests and mountains of New Zealand. Visit him at CraigPhillips.com.au.
Publisher: Aladdin (January 1, 2006)
Grades: 9 and up
Teen Fiction > Action & Adventure
Teen Fiction > Social Themes > General
Teen Fiction > Sports & Recreation > General
ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
Book Cover Image (jpg): Slide or Die
Author Photo (jpg): Todd Strasser
More books from this author: Todd Strasser
See more by Todd Strasser
More books from this illustrator: Craig Phillips
See more by Craig Phillips
More books in this series: DriftX


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Joshua Trujillo/seattlepi.comThe Getty Images Building's large floor plates resist being broken into larger pieces.
Joshua Trujillo/seattlepi.comThe Lake Union Center complex on the north side of the Fremont Bridge blocks much of Fremont's views of bridges and water and disconnects it from the Ship Canal.
Grant M. Haller/Seattle Post-IntelligencerThe first-place Mariners, who play in the most expensive park ever built, had gross revenues of $166 million in 2001.
Associated Press"I love watching games, and I love competing to build a team that can win championships, and competing to do so profitably. That's me." -- Mark Cuban, Mavericks owner
Dan DeLong/Seattle Post-IntelligencerHoward Schultz puts his basketball passion on display. The Starbucks chairman, who bought the Sonics in 2001, has a 42-percent stake in the team.


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Top 5 Incredible Reasons Why You Should Pursue a Career as a Medical Assistant
Aadil Sheikh 4 months ago 56 Views
Do you always fancy the world of medicine but are not sure where to start? Pursuing a career as a medical assistant is a fascinating way to jumpstart your career in medicine. It's a fantastic opportunity to do what you are passionate about as you learn more. Still not convinced? Below are incredible reasons why you should pursue a career as a medical assistant
Times are changing, and each industry people are getting replaced by technology. It has led to massive retrenchment and others losing their jobs with no hope of securing another one. However, in the field of medicine, there'll always be a need for a medical assistant.
Another reason to show job security is that the baby boomers generation is aging. They'll continually need medical attention. Thus medical assistant will be required to avail their services
Do you feel like you want to free working environment with reasonable working hours? A medical assistant is one of the careers that you can choose. You can opt to work part-time or fulltime depending on medical facility policy. The profession enables you to develop a working schedule that will fit into your lifestyle. The beauty of this is that there are fewer chances of experiencing work burn out as you choose which hours work for you.
Read, CONDITIONS REQUIRING HOME CARE
Plentiful job prospects
The population is ever increasing. Not forgetting the rate at which technology is advancing. The increasing population is always affected by a change in lifestyle. As a result, people are affected or infected by infection and are looking for a preventive approach to health care. Thus many people will continue seeking advice from medical assistants. Medical assistant jobs are among the fastest-growing careers that one should look out online.
There're plentiful of careers that one can choose to specialize in as a medical assistant. To name a few occupational setting that one can select includes particular care unit, chiropractor offices, among others. That's not all; you can click here to see the list in detail. It's a stepping stone into knowing which career path to take.
Quick training programs
Are you looking for a short course to take? Taking medical assistant program will assist you in going through a short term vocational certificate program. The training program roughly takes two years. Within that time, you acquire the relevant information as well as skills to thrive in the field of medicine. The medical assistant program allows you to go through internship programs. They're a platform to ease you into the new career with confidence.
Various work environment
When thinking of working in the world of medicine, the first thought is working in a large hospital. Are you scared of that thought? You'll become thrilled to know that as a medical assistant, you can find other places to spread your wings. Different work environments include private doctors office and outpatient care unit, among others.
While choosing a career always select among the fastest-growing occupations. You can click here to see the list in detail before making a final decision. A career in medical assistant will enable you to play a significant role in medical administrative duties as well as patient care, among others.
Also Read, HOW TO PREVENT ASTHMA ATTACKS WITH PERFECT MEDICINE
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Q: Why are block variables optional? Non-block variables are obligatory:
def foo arg; end
foo # => ArgumentError

In order to allow optional arguments, a default value has to be supplied:
def foo arg = nil; end
foo # => nil

But block variables are optional:
def foo █ end
foo # => nil

Without a default value, an absent block variable is assigned nil, and in fact, block variables cannot take default values:
def foo &block = ->{puts :foo}; end
# => syntax error

On the contrary, a method can take an extra block that is not required in the definition:
def foo; end
foo{puts :foo} # => nil

What is the advantage of block variables being designed like this as opposed to non-block variables?

A: There wouldn't be much point throwing an error when no block is given, since any method that uses either yield or block.call will throw an error anyway if there is no block.
There also wouldn't be much point supplying a default block, since the default code to be executed can just be written into the method itself (which would be a lot neater than writing it inline with the arguments).