Q about rectangular crop, how to keep it?
Change brightness in one area?
Radically reduced size of XCF file. What wrong with this idea?
Blend solid edge of pic to background / also TEXTURE?
"How to" eraser tool ?
Can you export jpeg at different dpi?
Do I need to re-load GIMP program?
How to merge two backgrounds?
How do you add the shine to someone's face? Like the models that model makeup?
How to change 72 ppi?


I am going to do a grower diary this year. This will be my second year growing. I live in Galt,California. I have many new goals this year. My first goal is have a better plan of fertilization. Last year I really did not do any fertilizing and was just focused on watering and trying to make it to the end of the season. It worked out pretty well but I know that my pumpkin did not reach its full potential. This will be my first year using mycorrhizae.


The Simpsons Episode 506 Marge on the Lam Marge on the Lam Marge and neighbor Ruth Powers have a girls' night. Meanwhile, Homer tries to have fun without Marge and Lionel Hutz is hired as Bart, Lisa, and Maggie's babysitter. Homer hitches a ride home with Chief Wiggum, who is following behind Marge and Ruth and decides to pull them over. However, Ruth speeds her car up and reveals to Marge that she stole it from her ex-husband. Marge decides to stay with Ruth, but eventually the police catch up with them and the charges are dismissed.


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Review of Sea of Mammals…
Posted on January 23, 2018 by teleportmagazine_7iztem
By Jack Bryson
The writing is pretty smooth and in general it's a fun story. The story is told from the perspective of Cora, an artificially intelligent robot who longs to be "free" and see life on Vardan V. Curiously, there are alien humanoid species all over the universe with whom Cora seems familiar, but only the sea creatures on Vardan V interest her.
Cora told her crewmates Ben and Tanya (scavengers) that there is a valuable artifact on Vardan V. The plot with Ben and Tanya is the most interesting- two thieves gamble that there is something valuable under thick layers of ice on the frozen moon. Their expedition is interrupted when shady scientists led by Professor Isaak Malcolm land on the frozen moon to search for the same artifact. An uneasy truce is forged between Ben, Tanya and the scientists as they work together to search for the artifact.
I want to sympathize with Cora but her enslavement is not convincing. She thinks like a human and resents being treated like a "device" that can be switched on and off, but she has the ability to walk away from Ben and Tanya when she's "had enough". When she fell in the snow, was that her programming contradicting her will? It's not clear. Perhaps it would be more convincing if we saw Cora struggle against the added code that imprisoned her on the Daragan Rift (Ben and Tanya's ship). At any rate, Cora sounds too human for my taste but I love robots and in general always root for them.
I give this story 4 out of 5 stars. It's a smooth read and entertaining. Check out the links below- you can find it on Amazon.
Author's Page- James Armer
Goodreads- James Armer
Review of Bright
The Steam Packet Demolition
Marjorie TWM
Jack, you're an amazing and insightful editor, reviewer and writer! Thank you! — Marjorie (TWM).
Thank you Marjorie….you're very thoughtful and I appreciate your encouragement.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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System Of A Down, Korn And Faith No More Announce New 2021 Stadium Shows
System Of A Down's huge two-night stadium stint with Korn and Faith No More has been rescheduled for next year.
Were it not for the coronavirus pandemic, this evening (May 22) System Of A Down, Korn and Faith No More would have been taking to the stage at Los Angeles' Banc of California Stadium for a two-night stint with one of the best bills in recent memory.
Understandably these dates were unfortunately postponed, and now the bands have just announced their new shows for this time next year instead: on Friday, May 21, and Saturday, May 22, to be precise.
"We're excited to announce that the rescheduled dates for our double-header with Korn, Faith No More, Helmet and Russian Circles have been confirmed for May 21 and 22, 2021," say SOAD.
Read this next: The inside story of System Of A Down's Toxicity
"Existing tickets will be honored for the new dates. We look forward to bringing this weekend to life next year when it is safe for our fans, crew, and venue staff. Thank you for your patience and understanding. For refund inquiries, please visit Livenation.com/refund."
Of course, it remains to be seen which bands might now be bringing new music with them when they hit LA next year. System Of A Down feels like a bit of a lost cause, with frontman Serj Tankian instead planning to release his own solo rock EP, and apparently having "nothing to do" with other writing sessions for the band.
Korn's The Nothing was only released last year, so you can't imagine they'd be in a massive rush to follow it up (although, with more time on their hands right now in lockdown, you never know…), while Roddy Bottum told Kerrang! earlier in the year that Faith No More had "no plans" to record any new music at that point. Again, though, with the situation around the world changing so drastically, maybe they'll change their minds.
Either way, get excited.
Read this next: Jonathan Davis: "Every time I listen to The Nothing, I start crying"
Check out more:
System Of A DownKornFaith No More
Now read these
Serj Tankian composed the music for Netflix's Down To Earth With Zac Efron
System Of A Down's Serj Tankian has revealed that he composed the music for the new season of Down To Earth With Zac Efron, which hits Netflix on November 11.
System Of A Down, Korn and more for new nu-metal festival
Sick New World is coming… and so far, System Of A Down, Korn, Deftones, Evanescence, Incubus and Chevelle have all started teasing this epic Las Vegas fest.
System Of A Down and Korn announce new 2022 shows
System Of A Down and Korn will be taking their huge double-header to Phoenix and San Diego in early 2022…
10 rock and metal albums recorded in haunted places
Because we all love a good spooky story, here are 10 rock and metal albums that were recorded in haunted places…
Serj Tankian gives COVID update: "I am doing well and hoping to be clear of all symptoms soon"
System Of A Down frontman Serj Tankian believes that "being vaccinated helped minimise my symptoms and suffering" after testing positive for coronavirus.
Serj Tankian tests positive for COVID; System Of A Down reschedule upcoming gigs
System Of A Down have announced that their Los Angeles shows have been postponed to 2022 following frontman Serj Tankian's positive COVID-19 test.
System Of A Down: Here's the massive setlist from the band's first gig back
System Of A Down debuted recent(ish) singles Genocidal Humanoidz and Protect The Land, as well as playing a whole load of Toxicity, at their first show since 2019…
Korn to replace Faith No More on System Of A Down's U.S dates
Korn will step in after Faith No More stepped down, citing Mike Patton's mental health…


Winner of the 'Révélation' category of the Victoires de la Musique Classique 2016, French trumpeter Lucienne Renaudin Vary was born in 1999 and studied classical trumpet with Philippe Lafitte at the Conservatoire du Mans. She then entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris in 2014, where she is the first student ever to be admitted both in the classical and the jazz departments at the same time.
At the age of 11, Lucienne won the Concours Selmer-Le Parnasse and the Third Prize of the Concours Européen des Jeunes Trompettistes d'Alençon in the 14-17 years old category. She has since been awarded first prizes at each competition she has participated in – Concours des Rencontres Internationales des Cuivres in Belgium, Concours des Clés d'Or in Paris and Concours des Jeunes Artistes 'Maurice André' in Alès.
In her native France, Lucienne has appeared at Salle Gaveau, Annecy Classic Festival, Salon Musicora, Festival Classique au Vert, Les Grandes Heures de Cluny, Les Flâneries Musicales de Reims (filmed by Medici), Un Violon sur le Sable, Colmar fête le Printemps, Antibes Génération Virtuoses, Festival de l'Epau and with Orchestre symphonique de Bretagne.
In 2015/16 Lucienne performed at the closing concerts of La Folle Journée in Nantes with the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra, broadcast live on ARTE. During the 2016/17 season Lucienne will perform programmes based on her new album release in Paris, Nantes, Limoges and Lille.
Further afield, Lucienne has performed at the Festival Spivakov in Moscow, concerts in Ankara, Rheingau Musik Festival and in Finland she played Sørensen's Trumpet Concerto under Moshe Atzmon. She also appeared on the Stars von Morgen show (ARTE/ZDF) presented by Rolando Villazón, in Berlin.
Most recently Lucienne made her debut with the London Chamber Orchestra and Vladimir Ashkenazy, performing Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No.1 for piano and trumpet with Daniil Kharitonov in Turkey. She will repeat this programme with the orchestra when she makes her London debut in May 2017.
Other highlights of the 2016/17 season include concerts at the Cartagena International Music Festival in Colombia with Les Siècles under François-Xavier Roth, her German orchestral debut in Munich and a performance of Hummel's Trumpet Concerto with Junge Philharmonie Frankfurt RheinMain.
She is an exclusive Warner Classics artist with her debut album released in 2017.


My mother died five years ago today. But, tears still come to my eyes. My children have expressed (or discontinued contact) their opinions on their own childhood as each person packs and carries his/her emotional baggage.
Things were not perfect in my relationship with my mother. I, too, have my own memories of difficult times, very different personalities, or way of thinking. For those that hear the story, their degrees of separation make them smile at my mother's behavior.
Her way is how she was and is remembered by so many. Mom made people feel comfortable and welcomed in friendship even if they had met for the first time. She wrote letters to a jailed community member to comfort him (we knew nothing about this until after she had died).
Despite the differences, losing my parent was very painful. She died of a cruel terminal disease so we watched her suffer before she eventually passed away. For her it was a blessing, but the gap that she left behind is so large that my father is still struggling to bridge it.
She left behind many grandchildren and great grandchildren who would be so grateful to have such a woman in their lives. Now, she is a photo or the subject of a brief story. Mom is a reminiscence or a smile.
But, for me, tears still continue to fall. Grief is elastic but never fully leaves the spirit. It is a goodbye that never ends because there is nothing like a parent and no depth of love that can ever replace it.
I don't know if it is so, but I hope that she is still watching me from the door as I walk away…..
Thanks for stopping by. It means more than you know.
You will wear yourself out worrying about your children.
You will stay up nights with newborns, croupy children in fully steamed bathrooms, 4 a.m. calls to get to the ice rink or gym, Will struggle to think of new and creative ways to feed your children and feed them dinner every day. You will buy the clothes and the shoes and the bows and the tie and the socks that match their favorite team's colors or the colors of their birthday balloons. They will tell you that they no longer like that color, or team, generally at the party that you have worked long and hard to create.
Your children will not remember any of those things.
They will remember the time that you were at your worst and said or did something humiliating. They will not remember the numerous apologies. They will remember it and tell it to their significant other, friend, colleague, and therapist for at least 25 years or more and repeat it over and over until it grows in strength and horror. They will only remember a small part of the situation magnified many times.
You will go to four different stores to find the toy that they love for the Holidays and then, empty handed, will secretly buy it on Ebay. You will not want your child to know that you went without something else so that she would not be disappointed. You will want to be the person to make their magical dreams come true and worked many extra hours to see the sparkle in their eyes and the grateful smile that made it all seem worthwhile.
You will go to great lengths to settle for something so simple as their smile more times than they will ever know.
You will show off their photos and run out of places to hang their artwork.
You will carry scars that they will never see from giving birth, adopting, raising, and being the recipient of their anger and disappointment thousands of times over.
You will jump through hoops, stay up late, drive thousands of miles and hear that you never did anything for them. And, besides, they never asked to be born anyway.
Your heart will break when that vision of who your child will be crashes to the ground and splinters. Your heart will break when you have to seek professional help for that child or when someone says that it is time to let go.
You will defend the child's behavior to your spouse, in-laws, teacher, medical professional and law enforcement. But you will pierce your own heart wondering what you did wrong to make him or her turn out this way.
Everything bad that the child does will be blamed on you and their lack of a proper upbringing or careful mothering.
You will never stop having to give money to your child. Period.
You will wonder how it took them two years to develop a vocabulary, and yet, they won't let you get a word in edgewise.
You will fight for them with principals, teachers, doctors, other family members, and your significant other.
You will give them your last shred of energy even if they are dancing on your last nerve.
You will try to get through their adolescence, realizing that you have failed miserably to learn anything useful to use with your other children. You will realize that none of them behaved the same through those stress-filled teenage years and you will still be shocked and hurt to hear what they each have to say to you.
You will wonder why it hurts each time anew to be the least important person in their daily lives and how much time they want to spend as far away as possible. You will wonder why you have chest pains and stress headaches when they say that they do not want to talk to you, see you, or hear from you.
You will learn that you have no privacy whatsoever. Not even in the bathroom.
You will question your sanity, your finances, your sense of values, your desires, work hours, choice of toys, organic produce, abilities to love and nurture another, the fear that comes with hearing about horrible things happening to children and pray that you never have to make those choices.
You will not know why it seemed so much easier for someone else to raise their children, if a tutor or a second language would have helped them to succeed, or if changing doctors would have affected the outcome.
You will cry more than you laugh and panic more than you sleep.
You will never stop apologizing and wonder why it is always your fault when they do not become accountable. Or accepting.
You will be amazed that you have done so many things over so many years and the time, money, heart, and strength it all took.
You will wonder what your life would have been like if you had never done this or had more than one child.
You will wonder if any other mother is going through these things.
You will realize that despite all the drudgery, hard work, sleepless nights, lack of money, hurtful words and withering embarrassment, you would have done it again.
If you are a Mom, have a Mom, want to be a Mom, or know someone who fits into one of these categories, please share.
Don't Worry. They won't be mad. IT'S ALL MY FAULT, ANYHOW.
Family is one of my priorities in this lifetime.
I have been blessed with a large and loving family. If there is a crisis, all hands are on deck and we are fiercely protective and involved. While we didn't all live in the same place, because we had love for each other, our children grew up to love as well. Is there such a thing as a perfect family? I certainly don't know of one. Our family, like yours, has its own issues and plenty of baggage. I have endured difficult family struggles and attitudes by some. It can complicate matters, or cause revisionist histories, when there are misunderstandings in action or communication.
My family is divided as my children live in four different locations in North America and have very widely different philosophies. (Yes, you guys really are all related!) But, there is not a day that goes by that I don't think of each, and try to figure out how to be the best mother to each vastly individual and unique adult child. We don't stop being mothers, or worrying, when they leave home.
As a parent, I may not be part of their daily lives, but I carry them with me in all that I do and think about. There are bonds of blood and bone that connect us. I am grateful when I observe them extending kindness and compassion to others. It thrills me and fills my heart to see them show respect to their grandparents and friendship to their cousins. Having respect for my siblings, and all of their children and grandchildren, my children have witnessed long-term loyalty, and empathy, and that we choose to live it.
Good, bad, or indifferent – we are a family. There is no such thing as "unconditional love." Everyone has a judgment, or strongly held belief or opinion, and absolutely NO fear of expressing it. But, it is my great hope, in my legacy as a parent, that my children continue to be part of each other's lives.
When you speak of a family, and each member's contribution to it, you do not leave out one because they are geographically distant. If there is truly love and respect, it is understood that we stand united whether emotionally or physically. The lessons that we learn in our families affect the balance in our future relationships.
We come together when there are milestones and life events, both happy and sad. We are a family and we don't pick and choose who has value, or who matters more, as if it were a competition.
Each member has a hand in caring for another and all are important parts of the whole. We are a family and all are welcome and special at our table.
What does family loyalty look or feel like to you?
Thank you for stopping by! I hope that you enjoy your visit.
Some believe that the wars are between the mommies that work outside of the house and the mommies who don't (not to mention how many of those have a side hustle). There is a lot of guilt and each side feels the need to overcompensate in some way to prove their mettle.
I remember feeling I had to prove myself with home-baked bread and other culinary delights to prove that I was just as good a Mom. Getting up at 5 a.m. to make the meatballs for supper, before we had to leave the house in the morning, had to be slotted into my day's duties.
But in the scheme of things, some attitudes never even get that far in realizing what a challenge it is to be the primary caretaker and answer to many bosses both young and old.
Statistics about women who are the primary caregivers to children, grandchildren, parents, and spouses are plentifully available.
Although men also provide assistance, female caregivers may spend as much as 50% more time providing care than male caregivers.


The AVRF series offers high-voltage outputs (to 400 Volts) with fast rise times and wide pulse width ranges. All models operate at pulse repetition frequencies up to 1 kHz.
The AVRF-1-B model provides amplitudes of up to 100V, with rise and fall times of 1 ns. The pulse width may be adjusted from 0.1 to 100 us, with a maximum duty cycle of 1%.
provides GPIB and RS-232 computer-control, as well as front panel keypad and adjust knob control of the output pulse parameters. A large back-lit LCD displays the output amplitude, polarity, frequency, pulse width or duty cycle as appropriate, and delay.
When triggered externally by a TTL-level pulse, the output pulse width may be controlled by the front-panel settings, or it may be set to track the input pulse width. The propagation delay in the externally triggered mode is typically 100 ns. Either output polarity can be provided. (A dual polarity option is also available).


text:
By Federal Agency
Stimulus Grants
Grant and Loan Programs
Home Owner Programs
First Time Home Buyer Programs
Federal Home Buyer Programs
Catalog for Federal Domestic Assistance
About the Top Government Grants Site
Mental Health Clinical and AIDS Service-Related Training Grants
(1) Institutions Clinical Training Grants: To encourage mental health specialists to work in areas and settings where severe shortages exist; to increase the number of qualified minority personnel in the mental health professions, and the number of mental health personnel trained to deal with the special
problems of children, adolescents, the elderly, the seriously mentally ill, and rural populations; and to assure that the skills and knowledge of mental health personnel are appropriate to the needs of those they serve.
(2) State Human Resource Development (HRD) Grants: To assist State mental health authorities in the development of human resources.
Mental Health National Research Service Awards for Research Training
Examples of Funded Projects
(1) Psychosocial pediatrics for primary care physicians; (2) social work training in community mental health; (3) a graduate program in nursing for ethnic minorities; (4) training foster parents as mental health workers; and (5) an interdisciplinary mental health care education program.
Agency - Department of Health and Human Services
The Department of Health and Human Services is the Federal government's principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially to those who are least able to help themselves.
http://www.samhsa.gov
Program Accomplishments
Six grants were awarded in fiscal years 2005. Six awards are anticipated in fiscal year 2006 and fiscal year 2007.
Uses and Use Restrictions
Grant funds may be used by Clinical Training grantees: (1) To defray institution costs of the training program (personnel, supplies, equipment, travel, and other necessary expenses) according to formula: $10,008 per predoctoral trainee, $19,608 to $32,300 per postdoctoral trainee depending on years of relevant experience; and (2) to provide trainee stipends and other allowances (tuition and fees, etc.) for individuals enrolled in the training program.
Funds may be used only for expenses directly related to the training program.
Individual Faculty Scholar Awards: Salary support, $25,000 in educational expenses, etc.
State HRD Grants: Varies according to project.
People Building Stronger Communities
Community-Based Pharmacies Are Effective Locations for Rapid HIV Testing
Stepping Stones Crowned Social Enterprise Champions
HHS Awards $1.2 Million Grant to Standing to Achieve New Directions
Mesa To Push Economic Development After Finishing Strong in 2012
Medical Education Simulated Learning Helps to Improve Patient Care Outcomes
Homeless Teens in Houston: Hard to Count
Celebrating National Recovery Month
US Ranks Below Industrialized Countries in Health Care Spending Efficiency
Pure Michigan Social Entrepreneurship Challenge Announces Contest Winners
Applicant Eligibility
Grants are awarded to public or private nonprofit institutions and organizations, and State and local government agencies for training relevant to mental health service priorities in the mental health disciplines of psychiatry, psychology, social work, psychiatric nursing, marriage and family therapy and in specialized areas of high priority and need such as State manpower development projects; and for State mental health agencies to plan, implement, and evaluate systems for mental health services manpower development.
Trainees in psychology, psychiatry, psychiatric nursing, social work, or marriage and family therapy unless training program is of limited duration or experimental nature, will be subject to payback requirements of Section 303 of the PHS Act.
Beneficiary Eligibility
Trainee stipends may be awarded only to citizens or nationals of the United States, or to persons lawfully admitted for permanent residence. Individuals seeking trainee stipend support must apply directly to and be accepted by the training institution, and submit an acceptable statement of appointment of Trainee Form (PHS-2271) a payback agreement, and a Statement of Non-Delinquency on Federal Debt Certification.
Credentials/Documentation
Costs will be determined in accordance with OMB Circular No. A-87 for State and local governments. For other grantees, costs will be determined in accordance with HHS Regulation 45 CFR, Part 74, Subpart Q.
Aplication and Award Process
Preapplication Coordination
This program is excluded from coverage under E.O.
The standard application forms, as furnished by PHS and required by 45 CFR, Part 92 (PHS 5161-1), must be used for applicants that are State and local governments. Application kits, containing the necessary forms and instructions for completing the forms, may be obtained from Grants Management Branch, Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS). Consultation on a proposed project may be obtained from the CMHS branch or center responsible for the training area of interest. Applications are reviewed by nonfederal consultants recruited nationwide from the mental health field. Amount of award and period of support are determined on basis of merit; must also be reviewed by the Center for Mental Health Services Advisory Council. This program is subject to the provisions of 45 CFR, Part 92 for State and local governments and OMB Circular No. A-110 for nonprofit organizations.
Award Procedures
Grants in support of approved applications are awarded directly to the applicant institution by the Center for Mental Health Services.
Contact the CMHS Headquarters Office for application deadlines.
Public Health Service Act, Title III, Section 303, Public Law 78-410, 42 U.S.C. 242a, as amended.
Range of Approval/Disapproval Time
Approximately 180 days after submission of application.
Support of an approved project is recommended for a specified project period, usually not in excess of 3 years. Prior to termination of the project period, grantee may submit application for renewal of support which is processed as a competing renewal application.
Assistance Considerations
Formula and Matching Requirements
This program has no statutory formula or matching requirements.
Length and Time Phasing of Assistance
Time frames are variable, but project period is generally limited to 5 years or less. Grantee may apply for renewal of support on a competing basis. Within project period a continuation application must be submitted on a noncompeting basis for each year of support. Payments will be made either on a Monthly Cash Request System or under an Electronic Transfer System. Necessary instructions for the appropriate type of payment will be issued shortly after an award is made.
Post Assistance Requirements
Reports must be submitted as follows: (1) Interim progress reports annually as part of a non-competing application for previously recommended support; (2) A final progress report within 90 days after end of the project period; (3) Annual financial status report within 90 days after the end of the budget period.
Trainees incurring the payback obligation upon completion of training, report annually on previous year's activities related to service that fulfills payback obligation.
In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-133 (Revised, June 27, 2003), "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations," nonfederal entities that expend financial assistance of $500,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Nonfederal entities that expend less than $500,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in Circular No. A-133. In addition, 45 CFR Part 74.26 requires that for-profit recipients and subrecipients have an audit performed in accordance with Government Auditing Standards or Circular No. A-133.
Records must be retained for at least 3 years; records shall be retained beyond the 3-year period if audit findings have not been resolved.
Account Identification
75-1362-0-1-550.
Obigations
(Grants) FY 07 $0; FY 08 est not available; and FY 09 est not reported.
Range and Average of Financial Assistance
$225,000 to $300,000; $250,000.
Regulations, Guidelines, and Literature
42 CFR 64. Guidelines are included in application kits. PHS Grants Policy Statement, DHHS Publication No. (OASH) 94-50,000, (Rev.) April 1, 1994.
Information Contacts
Regional or Local Office
Program Contact: Clinical, Anne Mathews-Younes, Ed. D., Human Resource Planning and Development Branch, Center for Mental Health Services, SAMHSA, Department of Health and Human Services, 1 Choke Cherry Road,Rockville, MD 20857. Telephone: (240) 276-1837. Program Contact: AIDS Training, Barbara J. Silver, Ph.D., HIV/AIDS Program, CMHS, SAMHSA, 1 Choke Cherry Road, Rockville, MD 20857. Telephone: (240) 276-1962. Grants Management Contact: Kimberly Pendleton, Grants Management Officer, SAMHSA, Department of Health and Human Services, 1 Choke Cherry Road, Rockville, MD 20857. Telephone: (240) 276-1421.
Criteria for Selecting Proposals
The following criteria will be used in determining projects to be funded: (1) Technical merit; (2) facilities and environment for the training program; (3) previous training records; (4) relevance to CMHS priorities; and (5) potential contribution to mental health field.
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Perhaps appropriately given its name, Good Energy's story started over a cocktail. For chief executive Juliet Davenport, few hangovers have had such a lasting effect. Amid the clink and murmur of delegates at a European Union (EU) energy conference after-party, she met Martin Jakubowski, a Czech-German entrepreneur with "Bill Clintonesque" levels of charisma.
The pair struck up the conversation the setting called for, on the EU's fledgling renewable energy strategy. Jakubowski wanted to invest in renewables to capitalise on the union's plans to integrate and liberalise the continent's energy markets and infrastructure. Davenport, a veteran energy advisor to both the European Commission and the UK government, had recently moved into private-sector consulting, after finding the bureaucracy of her earlier work stifling, unproductive and frustrating.
That chance meeting was one of several "eureka" moments for Davenport. The first came when, as an undergraduate studying atmospheric physics at Oxford, she stumbled across an article in a Sunday newspaper supplement on climate change.
A degree in economics and several years in the "cloak and dagger" world of European energy politics later, she was ready to do something useful, rather than arguing the toss on nuclear and coal power plants and, on one notable occasion, a way of attaching Japanese whaling quotas to UN renewable energy strategies.
Jakubowski wanted to build or invest in wind, solar, biomass and hydro energy plants and sell the electricity they produced directly to consumers who were keen to invest in the future, cutting out big utility companies and governments. Davenport, hooked, agreed more or less on the spot, to head up the UK arm of the fund he was running, Wasserkraft und Regenerative Energieentwicklung (WRE), an apparently humorous play on the name of the German utility provider RWE.
By 1999, she was ready to launch Unit[e], a subsidiary of Monkton Group, which WRE had set up two years earlier to support its plans for expansion into the UK market. They had found renewable energy producers to supply the electricity, and were targeting a customer base of up to 1 million over their first decade. There was just one small problem: Jakubowski and his partner had run out of cash.
Unit[e] opened for business in September 1999; by November of the same year, WRE was ready to pull the plug on the company and its 2,000 customers. In crisis mode, Davenport engineered a board takeover of the firm, while looking for new investors to keep the company afloat. It would be two years before the board completed the takeover with the help of angel investor John Sellers, and three before the company started taking its current shape.
In many ways, 2002 was the year that Davenport had hoped 1999 would be: one which defined the shape of the company. In an action-packed 12-month period, Unit[e] held a stock offering which raised £600,000, largely through its customers, bought the ten-turbine Delabole wind farm in Cornwall, and got its own electricity supply license, having previously used renewable back-office subcontractor's Utility Link for accreditation to sell its energy.
In 2003, Davenport took another big decision: it was, she realised, time to move on from parentheses and puns, and the company was renamed Good Energy. The transformation, from charismatic European-funded, growth-centric utility to small, UK-based renewable energy provider was nearly complete. All that was needed was one last eureka moment.
Today, she talks with great pride about the relationship Good Energy has with its microgeneration suppliers, the people who produce renewable electricity at home and sell the excess on to the company. That relationship was sparked by a call from Tony Marmont, a pilot-turned-professor whose Leicester energy farm she had visited earlier in the year.
Marmont had been selling the energy he didn't use from the wind turbines, solar panels and small hydro-power station at Beacon farm to Germany's EON, but they had decided the volume he was providing was too small to carry on.
In 2004, the company launched HomeGen, a new service through which Good Energy would buy excess renewable energy produced by microgenerators, sell it into the grid and advise new or existing small generators on the best ways of building up their facilities, whatever they might be.
Today, the company works with more than 2,000 microgenerators who provide around 5 per cent of the electricity Good Energy sells. Meanwhile, Davenport believes that it is companies like Good Energy that convinced the government to introduced the Feed-In-Tarrif incentive for home renewables producers by showing such a scheme was feasible.
On a similar note, she says that the government's Renewable Heat Incentive, unveiled in 2010, followed the lead of the Hot Rocs scheme Good Energy first piloted in 2008. Under HotRocs, the company pays its clients for the heat they produce in their own homes through solar thermal installations, funded by a premium it charges to its gas customers.
Again, she says, the scheme came about not because of company strategy but because customers wanted a gas product from Good Energy. With minimal advertising, the HotRocs scheme has been a solid, if not staggering, success. Now that the government is catching up, Davenport says, it is time to move on and innovate elsewhere, possibly by supporting bigger renewable heat schemes like the woodchip-fuelled biomass heat generators the company has invested in on behalf of its customers at a school in Bath and a swimming pool in Portishead, Bristol.
Whatever the new product is, the idea for it is just as likely come from outside the company as in. A lot of what Good Energy does, and does well, is to listen to its customers - a 2010 Which? magazine survey ranked the company top among UK energy providers for customer satisfaction.
As Davenport points out, the idea to sell shares to help fund the Delabole wind farm purchase didn't come from her; rather, it was during her conversations with customers, when the company was so small that she was still picking up the phone, that she realised that most of the people who wanted to buy renewable energy also wanted the chance to invest in the company which provided them just that service.
This has paid literal and figurative dividends; share offerings in 2004 and 2007 were oversubscribed, and allowed the company to revamp the Delabole wind farm at a cost of £11.8m, more than doubling its capacity from 4 MW to 9.2 MW. In return, the company paid out its first ever dividend, of 2.5 pence a share in December 2010.
Good Energy is now considering releasing a bond to fund new projects which would add to the power it generates from the Delabole site. Davenport demurs on likely locations, but says that the schemes will again be wind-powered.
A key task for the company today is building its customer base, selling more electricity and generating more cash to fund new developments. So far, it has managed steady growth; profits after tax were about £100,000 in 2002, a figure which had increased to £500,000 by the end of 2010.
However, the cost of the company's services may prove to be challenging during a period of slow economic growth. Electricity and gas for a four-bedroom house in London would cost around £970 a year to fuel with the cheapest utilities in the UK; Good Energy would charge as much as £1,220 a year, nearly 25 per cent more. With more and more households struggling to pay the bills, who will be able to afford Good Energy's good energy? Again, Davenport says, the company will succeed through good customer service and improvements in its renewable portfolio management to continue reducing its premium.
The 2008 launch of the Good Energy shop, which offers customers energy-saving solutions for the entire home, should help with this, and the company offers home insulation products through its website.
Meanwhile, Davenport believes that a recent spate of high oil and gas prices, due to unrest in the Middle East and the Japanese earthquake, are likely to reward existing renewable energy producers and drive more and more utilities and homeowners towards power sources which don't depend on international energy markets.


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text:
Mie police officer arrested for indecent acts with school girl
July 10, 2014 06:00 am JST July 10, 2014 | 07:04 am JST
Mie prefectural police said Wednesday that a 28-year-old police officer has been arrested for committing lewd acts with a junior high school girl in Yamanashi Prefecture.
According to police, the officer, identified as Hiroshi Yoshizumi, befriended the girl on a free phone app in April, and arranged for her to go with him to a hotel in Fujikawaguchiko, where he committed indecent acts, TV Asahi reported.
After the incident, the girl's mother notified police and said that her daughter was upset and acting strangely, but wouldn't say more. After going through the girl's phone app records, investigators found Yoshizumi's name.
Police quoted Yoshizumi as saying he was aware the girl was a minor but denied committing any indecent acts.
Abhorsenaube
Of course he denies it! He's a police officer and regardless if the indecent acts occurred or not he's 28 years old and should not be wanting the company of a Jr. High student. He should be fired.
Jpolice again! The department needs an enigma!
Sioux Chef
The department needs an enigma!
I don't think that word means what you think it means.
tmarie
Gotta love some of the cops here. Useless pervs who use their power to try and get off from the crimes they commit. Disgusting. Fire him, take away his pension, put him on a sex offenders list.
-2 ( +8 / -10 )
I figured out that this police officer traveled around 391 kilometers (242 miles) to meet the girl. Hentai and stupid cop!
"Mie police officer arrested for indecent acts with school girl" this needs a global alert APB
DaDude
Well if you take a girl to a hotel, I am pretty sure "indecent acts" will take place.
A clear definition of what an indecent act is needed here. Western thoughts on this is probably very different than Japanese due to Christian values.
Frungy
He went to a hotel with an underaged girl? Umm... yeah, case closed. I don't think it is relevant if anything actually happened or not, he clearly had criminal intent, he had motive, he had opportunity.
She may well have said, "no" once she got into the hotel room, but just taking her in there with the intent of having sex with here is sufficient to throw him in jail for SOMETHING. I sincerely hope that she said no and he backed off, but a medical exam really should be conducted.
So, this scumbag took a 13-14 year old girl to a live hotel and then denies any indecent acts? Really? And, how stupid is this little trout for going along with him in the first place? The pair of them need a good slap up the side of the head!
Aaron Loki Brummett
Lie, lie, counter accuse, deny!
ProudJapanese
I think Mirai thought to write police department need an enema
LFRAgain
Mirai Hayashi,
The word you're looking for, I believe, is "enema." But still, it bears mentioning that one, two, or even 100 bad police officers in a force of some 280,000 is not compelling enough to condemn all police in Japan. You're overreacting.
JapanGal,
According to a few lawyer sites I briefly glanced at, it seems an "Indecent act" does not necessarily have to involve sexual intercourse. It could mean sexual stimulation, intimation of sexual intercourse, or sexually gratifying oneself in the presence of the victim. Also, if any of the above acts results in shame, embarrassment, or humiliation for the victim, they constitute indecency.
That he wasn't charged with rape or obtaining "carnal knowledge" of the girl, forcibly or otherwise, suggests intercourse may not have occurred. But that leaves a whole laundry list of things the guy could have done with her or compelled her do with him. Which kind of makes you shudder, considering she was very clearly traumatized by what was ostensibly a mutually agreed upon meeting.
I mean to say "enema". Damn auto complete!
The department needs an enema....for sure
Girl is stupid ... Her fault and especially her parents
I wouldn't blame the girl on this one. As a police officer he's in a position of trust and authority, she was a young and impressionable young girl. As the adult he knew that what he was doing was wrong, yet continued for his own selfish desires I just hope the girl can recover from this.
There is nothing in the article to show the girl knew he was a cop. The only conclusion you can draw is, he is a scumbag!
YongYang
The girl, a child, is the victim. The man, an adult, is the criminal. Thank you.
WilliB
I think the antics of the local police force deserve a special news section.
lostrune2
How money changed hands
Yeah, a victim, but not innocent. What did she think they were gonna at the love hotel? Have a tea party? My guess is, she was very interested and was not against the idea until she realised she was in a locked room with a grown man who wanted more than she was prepared to give up. I hope she has learned a valuable lesson. As I said before, they both deserve a slap up the side of the face!
LaWren
A 13/14 year old girl cannot consent to "indecent acts" with an adult male, let alone one in a position of power. The usual women and children hating, victim-blaming going on, I see.
NOONE deserves "a slap", metaphorical or otherwise, how disturbing! The cop deserves jail, the girl deserves sympathy and counselling.
interuni321
Many police officers are not better than the thugs they are supposed to be stopping, both want the power to bully and abuse others.
Yeah, a victim, but not innocent. What did she think they were gonna at the love hotel? Have a tea party? My guess is, she was very interested and was not against the idea until she realised she was in a locked room with a grown man who wanted more than she was prepared to give up.
Kids this too young are not mentally developed enough, and don't have the world experience to realize that going to a love hotel with an older man is a bad idea. It's the responsibility of the adult to know this, and not take the kids to the love hotel. That's why it's illegal, and why kids that age legally cannot give consent.
So yes she was innocent. In this case, her age makes her innocent, regardless of her intention.
commanteer
Not fair. You can't expect a 13 year old to always make good decisions. This doesn't mean she is stupid or a bad person. She's a kid making a bad decision with the "assistance" of a fully grown adult. Again, a kid.
The problem is that most people forget how stupid they were as kids. That's one reason to keep a diary - so you can discover how stupid you really were once. Otherwise we forget.
marcelito
If the girl is a Junior High school student the case should be clear cut....if they don't chuck him out of the police force for going to a love hotel with what a 13 year old, then I really don't know what Jcops need to do to get the boot. I mean these guys are supposed to be the fine examples , out there to " protect and serve".
JoiceRojo
Commanteer, You said it exactly what I wanted to say Disillusioned, You are being too harsh on the criterion of a 13 year old, there are no much detail as how it went, but I can imagine an scenario where a teenager meets a young man adult and being fascinated by him because of his looks or because he is a cop (the uniform), admiration and liking are mixed, and if the guy traveled from one city to another, from the POV of the girl who trusts this guy it would not seem strange to meet him in a hotel, but after arriving there she might realized late of her being manipulated, the guys probably didn't have sex, but it might be kissing and groping and the groping is an indecent act, even if she "consented" (more like being manipulated to do so).
Who's to blame?, the cop, for abusing his position and taking advantage of a girl, you are blaming a 13 yro for not being sharp at noticing she was being manipulated by an adult.
jsyndrome
she trusted the cop..and later made the news
@Disillusioned: reads like you're rationalizing behavior society deems wrong and offensive. The child is A CHILD.
NathalieB
Oh. So in Buddhism its ok to take sexual advantage of a child? Sheesh....
But doing that against someone's will represents an indecent act. It's an enigma!


text:
Kristen Johnston's sister Julie Herschede dies after addiction battle
Suzy Byrne
·Editor, Yahoo Entertainment
August 18, 2020, 1:27 p.m. ·3 min read
Kristen Johnston is mourning the loss of her younger sister, Julie Herschede.
The Third Rock From the Sun alum, 52, shared that her "beautiful" sister "lost her battle with addiction" on Monday. "I know she's finally at peace. She had the best belly laugh in the world."
Yesterday my beautiful younger sister Julie lost her battle with addiction. 💔
I know she's finally at peace. She had the best belly laugh in the world. pic.twitter.com/tZZYlXbZfF
— kristen johnston (@thekjohnston) August 18, 2020
Soon after, the actress — who had shared a photo of herself with her Wisconsin-based sibling — thanked her followers for the "outpouring of love & support," saying, "It means a lot to me."
Johnston's sister was a mom to three daughters. Herschede and her girls visited Johnston on the set of The Exes in 2012.
The Johnston women....My mom, my sister Julie, and her 3 gorgeous girls...on the set of 'the exes' http://t.co/xx4zHNJI
— kristen johnston (@thekjohnston) June 16, 2012
Last year, Johnston — who has been outspoken about her own addiction issues — shared on Twitter that she had to give her sister tough love amid her addiction battle. When someone wrote about the challenges of loving an addict, the star replied, "All you can do is take care of yourself. It may mean letting go of them for a while... Never let someone else's pain become yours... I had to stop with my baby sister. I know how hard it is."
Johnston — who plays recovering addict Tammy Diffendorf on CBS's Mom —wrote about her drug and alcohol addiction in her 2012 memoir Guts, revealing that she had been an addict for most of her adult life. The book title came from an exploding-ulcer incident in 2006 caused by her abuse of the painkiller Vicodin.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly to promote the book at the time, Johnston said she "should have died" amid the acute peritonitis, which saw an "ulcer that burst and basically I became septic." She said, "I think they actually lost me twice on the operating table."
Johnston had been taking "somewhere between 20 and 100" Vicodin "a day. It was very hardcore."
After that health criss, she sought treatment for her addiction and it was an eye-opening experience, leading her to change the focus of her life.
"When I was at rehab I said to the counselor, 'I don't know if I want to act any more,'" recalled Johnston, who won two Emmys playing Sally Solomon on Third Rock from 1996 to 2001. "She goes, 'Maybe you just shouldn't.' And that's what awakened in me [the idea that] I need to also do other things like teach and write and do SLAM" — Sobriety, Learning, and Motivation, the organization helping NYC high school kids with addiction — "and all these other things I never would have done. It's a search for finding what makes you vital. You know, 'Why wake up every day?' And it can't be because of Vicodin. That's why I do all this other stuff. It gives me so much joy. I'm not smarter. I'm still an a**hole. But it makes me vital, it makes me feel like I'm not just chattel."
Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:
Ellen DeGeneres gets emotional in second apology to show staff
'Young & Restless' star Melody Thomas Scott talks stabbing Clint Eastwood, almost becoming Marcia Brady
Sean Penn says 'new bride' Leila George 'pushes' him to be 'a better person'


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