text:
United Way and Holbrook & Manter Partner to host seminar for charitable groups
There are over 1.4 million non-profit organizations in the United States. That number does not include churches and other religious entities. While it may only feel like you've been solicited by all of them, the fact remains that the average person will be asked to make a charitable gift over and over again. With so many charitable causes and avenues from which to choose, how can you trust that an organization will do what it says it will do with your contribution?
United Way of Union County has met the Better Business Bureau's 20 Standards of Charitable Accountability for the last 11 years and is accredited through the Central Ohio watch dog. This spring, we joined Holbrook & Manter, CPA's in encouraging all local non-profits to consider going through the BBB's accreditation process. A seminar with more than 30 representatives of local organizations was held to describe this free program, which provides a well-recognized means for local charitable organizations to be accountable to donors.
"If you are going to pursue these standards, then it will force many organizations to think differently, behave differently, and in many cases, mature as an organization," said Dean Pulliam, the Charity Accountability Analyst of the Better Business Bureau of Central Ohio. "This is the age of transparency. Donors want to know what you're doing, why you do it, and how accountable you are."
Pulliam says it takes a minimum of six to eight weeks for a charity to become accredited. Those in the program are then reviewed every two years to make sure they maintain accreditation. At any time, Pulliam says he can provide coaching for charities looking to achieve the standards, no matter the situation in which they find themselves.
"From a board member's perspective, you have some fiduciary responsibility that you have to be aware of when you serve as a volunteer in that capacity," said Brian Ravencraft, a CPA with Holbrook & Manter. "The Better Business Bureau accreditation helps out a lot with those responsibilities. These 20 standards are good measurements to use and help out a lot with those responsibilities."
Ravencraft said that most of the non-profit organizations that his firm audits meet about 90 percent of the standards and simply need to fine-tune a process or report to achieve the others. Amy Cooperider, Finance Director of Turning Point, the domestic violence shelter that serves Union County and a United Way Partner Agency, was at the seminar. She said it won't take much effort for the shelter to become accredited as it already meets all standards.
"Since we are already very transparent, we need to get affiliated with the Better Business Bureau to compete with other non-profits vying for those same grant dollars," she said. "The program made me think about how we've arrived at the day when companies can access our information online, and do so frequently. Researching a charity is easy to do now. Time to step up and get with the digital age!"
"You would be surprised by how many inquiries are made, checking charities out," Pulliam said. "They're checking you and your legitimacy. If I were in your chair, I'm concerned about anyone who might call the Better Business Bureau to ask about your charity. Are they accredited? If not, are they pursuing accreditation? I expect them to check us out."
United Way works to bring neighbors and resources together to improve lives in Union County. United Way of Union County has raised more than $18 million for local needs since it was established in 1958. More than just a fundraiser, United Way collaborates with local businesses, government, and non-profit organizations to solve pressing social service issues large and small.
For more information, please visit www.unitedwayofunioncounty.org.
The 20 Standards of Charitable Accountability of the Better Business Bureau.
1. A board of directors that provides adequate oversight of the charity's operations and its staff.
2. A board of directors with a minimum of five voting members.
3. A minimum of three evenly-spaced meetings per year of the full governing body with a majority in attendance, with face-to-face participation.
4. Not more than one or 10% (whichever is greater) directly or indirectly compensated person(s) serving as voting member(s) of the board. Compensated members shall not serve as the board's chair or treasurer.
5. No transaction(s) in which any board or staff members have material conflicting interests with the charity resulting from any relationship or business affiliation.
6. Have a board policy of assessing, no less than every two years, the organization's performance and effectiveness and of determining future actions required to achieve its mission.
7. Submit to the organization's governing body, for its approval, a written report that outlines the results of the aforementioned performance and effectiveness assessment and recommendations for future actions.
8. Spend at least 65% of its total expenses on program activities.
9. Spend no more than 35% of related contributions on fund raising. Related contributions include donations, legacies and other gifts received as a result of fund raising efforts.
10. Avoid accumulating funds that could be used for current program activities. To meet this standard, a charity's unrestricted net assets available for use should not be more than three times the size of the past year's expenses or three times the size of the current year's budget, whichever is higher.
11. Make available to all, on request, complete annual financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
12. Include in the financial statements a breakdown of expenses (ex. Salaries, travel, postage, etc.) that shows what portion of these expenses was allocated to program, fund raising and administrative activities.
13. Accurately report the charity's expenses, including any joint cost allocations, in its financial statements.
14. Have a board-approved annual budget for its current fiscal year, outlining projected expenses for major program activities, fund raising and administration.
15. Have solicitations and informational materials, distributed by any means, that are accurate, truthful and not misleading, both in whole and in part.
16. Have an annual report available to all, on request, that includes:
a. The organization's mission statement,
b. A summary of the past year's program service accomplishments,
c. A roster of the officers and members of the board of directors,
d. Financial information that includes:
i. Total income in the past fiscal year,
ii. Expenses in the same program, fund raising and administrative categories as in the financial statements, and
iii. Ending net assets.
17. Include on any charity websites that solicit contributions, the same information that is recommended for annual reports, as well as the mailing address of the charity and electronic access to its most recent IRS Form 990.
18. Address privacy concerns by:
a. Providing in written appeals, at least annually, a means (ex. Such as a check off box) for both new and continuing donors to inform the charity if they do not want their name and address shared outside the organization, and
b. Providing a clear, prominent and easily accessible privacy policy on any of its websites that tells visitors
i. What information, if any, is being collected about them by the charity and how this information will be used,
ii. How to contact the charity to review personal information collected and request corrections,
iii. How to inform the charity (ex. A check off box) that the visitor does not wish his/her personal information to be shared outside the organization, and
iv. What security measures the charity has in place to protect personal information.
19. Clearly disclose how the charity benefits from the sale of products (i.e., cause-related marketing) that state or imply that a charity will benefit from a consumer sale or transaction. Such promotions should disclose, at the point of solicitation:
a. The actual or anticipated portion of the purchase price that will benefit the charity (ex. 5 cents will be contributed to abc charity for every xyz company product sold),
b. The duration of the campaign (ex. The month of October),
c. Any maximum or guaranteed minimum contribution amount (ex. Up to a minimum of $200,000).
Respond promptly to and act on complaints brought to its attention by the BBB Wise Giving Alliance and/or local Better Business Bureaus about fund raising practices, privacy policy violations, and/or other issues.
http://www.unitedwayofunioncounty.org/20140506.php


text:
11015 Romanenko è un asteroide della fascia principale. Scoperto nel 1982, presenta un'orbita caratterizzata da un semiasse maggiore pari a 2,6577301 UA e da un'eccentricità di 0,2814855, inclinata di 6,77443° rispetto all'eclittica.

Collegamenti esterni

Corpi celesti scoperti nel 1982
Romanenko

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


On her 15th birthday a girl is introduced to society as prepared for marriage. They consider she changes from a girl to a woman at this age.
I was lucky to attend this part of the ceremony during my visit to Trindad, Cuba.
Trindad is a World Heritage of Humanity village that has strong colonial influences (architecture and traditions). This tradition was introduced by the Spaniards but also has a strong French influence.
It is composed of a religious ceremony, a photo shoot and a feast of plenty of food and drinks with accompanying music and dancing. Sometimes professional dancers are hired for the event too.
It is not something that happens frequently, but for this Cuban community it was a celebration of extreme importance.
It is at this point that the illegal emigrants are permitted to make a returning visit to Cuba and reunite with the family and in many cases pay for the whole event.
For such poor folks, this feast is filled with wealth and exaggerations. The debutante is photographed by a professional photographer, and she ends up looking much like a bride. This photographic ceremonial goes through several changes of clothes and in typical situations and positions.
LiaF7 › @Smokey2017 it is an old tradition. Even last century many were married from 16 to 20 years old. Over 20 parents would start worring they would only be aunts. Today youngsters don't get married or make that decision nearer to their 30s.
In Cuba this tradition is like a big ceremony for them. Other countries in high society at this age they do the debutante ball where daughters of wealthy people are shown to young men of wealthy families. It's to say: Hey I am available for courtship, lets keep wealth together lol. Doesn't mean they will get married at that age.
@Smokey2017 it is an old tradition. Even last century many were married from 16 to 20 years old. Over 20 parents would start worring they would only be aunts. Today youngsters don't get married or make that decision nearer to their 30s. In Cuba this tradition is like a big ceremony for them. Other countries in high society at this age they do the debutante ball where daughters of wealthy people are shown to young men of wealthy families. It's to say: Hey I am available for courtship, lets keep wealth together lol. Doesn't mean they will get married at that age.
LiaF7 › That is something I have learnt in my travelling... so many different traditions. And what is normal for some is a shock for others.
That is something I have learnt in my travelling... so many different traditions. And what is normal for some is a shock for others.
LiaF7 › Hey @ze2000 maybe some tribes in Africa think the money we spend on a wedding ceremony and cocktails and honeymoon are wrong too.
In Cuba people are poor, on this date family comes from abroad and in most cases pay all expensives. Girls feel like princesses and everyone has plenty of food to party.
Very difficult to stop a tradition that makes them so happy.
Hey @ze2000 maybe some tribes in Africa think the money we spend on a wedding ceremony and cocktails and honeymoon are wrong too. In Cuba people are poor, on this date family comes from abroad and in most cases pay all expensives. Girls feel like princesses and everyone has plenty of food to party. Very difficult to stop a tradition that makes them so happy.
LiaF7 › In USA i know there is a big party for the "sweet sixteen". I know my niece had a party and a cruise with friends for her 16th birthday.
In USA i know there is a big party for the "sweet sixteen". I know my niece had a party and a cruise with friends for her 16th birthday.
LiaF7 › See @Smokey2017 the 16th is different from other years why? There has to be an antique tradition related to it.
See @Smokey2017 the 16th is different from other years why? There has to be an antique tradition related to it.
LiaF7 › In Cuba and spanish cultures it is 15. To anglo-saxons the 16th is special.
In Cuba and spanish cultures it is 15. To anglo-saxons the 16th is special.
LiaF7 › Normal birthdays. I think the jewish have a special birthdate for boys too.
But for my knowledge the english speaking communities have a special treatment for the girls "sweet sixteen" Boys don't have a 16th special birthday.
Normal birthdays. I think the jewish have a special birthdate for boys too. But for my knowledge the english speaking communities have a special treatment for the girls "sweet sixteen" Boys don't have a 16th special birthday.
LiaF7 › Yes I agree. I always celebrate life. But what I am focusing on is putting a year more important than others in different cultures.
Yes I agree. I always celebrate life. But what I am focusing on is putting a year more important than others in different cultures.
ze2000 › @LiaF7 I mean the story behind it is wrong, it's like showing off cattle "hey she's ripe, come and get her".
@LiaF7 I mean the story behind it is wrong, it's like showing off cattle "hey she's ripe, come and get her".
LiaF7 › @ze2000 you are right. The whole concept is wrong for today's world. Made sense until 1930 maybe... but like I said girls feel like princesses and they don't have graduation parties so probably the closest they get to feeling like stars on one day is this.
@ze2000 you are right. The whole concept is wrong for today's world. Made sense until 1930 maybe... but like I said girls feel like princesses and they don't have graduation parties so probably the closest they get to feeling like stars on one day is this.
LiaF7 › @Smokey2017 don't forget that this is only an exhibition. Like parents saying... hey i have a daughter unmarried, anyone want to court her? She can be married 10 years later. This is only a showoff like ze said.
@Smokey2017 don't forget that this is only an exhibition. Like parents saying... hey i have a daughter unmarried, anyone want to court her? She can be married 10 years later. This is only a showoff like ze said.


The NH workers' compensation attorneys at Manning & Zimmerman Law have represented hundreds of New Hampshire men and women who have been hurt at their place of work. Often these are highly skilled workers with years of experience. Their hard work has allowed them to earn a good living with the hope of someday enjoying a well-deserved retirement.
Suffering an injury at work, especially an injury requiring surgery and a long recovery period, can be financially devastating. When workers are injured during the course of their employment, they are entitled to compensation. The workers' compensation system has been the law in New Hampshire for more than 100 years.
One of the essential benefits provided to injured workers is the entitlement to have reasonable, necessary, and related medical treatment paid for by the employer's insurance carrier. During treatment and rehabilitation, workers experiencing significant pain may be prescribed painkillers, and often this means opiate-based medications.
Even if a worker is taking this type of medication for the first time, the worker may develop an addiction to these very powerful drugs. The science of addiction is such that opiates can change a person's brain chemistry, leading them to crave these medications. Tragically, some workers who have been injured and are treated with opiate painkillers develop an addiction and begin a downward spiral.
The New Hampshire judicial branch has developed a Drug Court that links offenders to treatment facilities. Cities and towns are creating "safe houses" at fire stations, including in Manchester and Nashua. And organizations such as Hope for New Hampshire Recovery and many others are working tirelessly to help victims of addiction.
Fortunately, for injured workers who have developed an addiction to opiates prescribed to treat an injury, there is hope. Their employer's workers' compensation insurance carrier can be held responsible for the cost of addiction rehabilitation in many circumstances. Injured workers who develop an opioid addiction should speak with an experienced attorney about their options for treatment and care. The earlier an attorney becomes involved, the more likely they will be able to assist with getting the care needed.
Workers are often worried about how they are going to pay for an attorney. Attorneys in the workers' compensation system in New Hampshire are generally paid on a contingency fee basis (a percentage of any future recovery). They may alternatively be paid by the insurance company after a successful hearing. Thus, in most cases, workers do not need to pay any fees up-front.
At Manning & Zimmerman Law, we are proud to fight for the rights of workers who have suffered workplace injuries. It is essential that you have experienced legal representation from the onset of your case through litigation. Big insurance companies have lawyers looking out for their interests and you should too! For a free consultation with our NH workers' compensation attorneys, call (603) 624-7200, send us an email to info@MZLawNH.com, or use the "contact us" or chat feature on our website.
If you have been injured and are in need of the services of an experienced New Hampshire workers' compensation attorney, contact the Law Office of Manning & Zimmerman at (603) 239-2489, complete a request for a consultation on our website, or send us an email.


Barbier-Louvet champagne is above all a beautiful family story. Théophile Blondel was the founder. He bought the first vines in 1835 and they are still being grown to this day. Since then, this vineyard has been passed down from generation to generation. Over the years, the estate has grown and owns vines in the great vintages of Louvois and Bouzy. Today, there have been over seven generations of us, who have passed down their know-how as a true family secret in order to preserve our authenticity.
In 1970, the Barbier-Louvet brand was created by our parents, from Barbier, our father's name, and Louvet, our mother's name. In 2007, we, the children, Céline Barbier Poulain and David Barbier, took over the estate in order to perpetuate the family tradition.
Attached to our history, we created a "Théophile Blondel" cuvée spéciale to pay tribute to our founder. This prestigious cuvée is created from our finest harvests, our finest grapes coming from our most beautiful vines. This champagne is aged three years in the cellar before being marketed and is not blended with any other reserve wine.


text:
Statistiche

Cronologia presenze e reti in nazionale

Palmarès

Club

Competizioni nazionali

Saarbrücken: 1950-1951

Collegamenti esterni

Calciatori della Nazionale tedesca
Calciatori della Nazionale saarlandese


Smoky, toasty oak aromas are dominant on a black-fruit bouquet that also shows graphite. This is saturated and tight, with complexity and outright deliciousness of savory, meaty, spicy blackberry flavors. Toast, cured beef and cocoa flavors prove that there's more to this than just heft and oak. Best from 2019 through 2032.


Es gibt 64744 Eintr�ge in das G�stebuch.
I enjoy checking your web sites. With thanks!
Love marriage specialist baba ji Solve your love marriage problems with world famous love marriage specialist baba ji.
love marriage problems solution provide with 100% suitable results.
Basically needed to express I'm just thankful I stumbled onto your site.
Nursing jobs appear to be opening everywhere, and salaries are on the rise.
A lot of thanks for every one of your labor on this web page.
Kim takes pleasure in going through internet research and it's really simple to grasp why. Most of us know all concerning the compelling way you create powerful techniques by means of this web site and therefore cause response from other individuals on that situation and our favorite girl is certainly discovering a great deal.
Have fun with the rest of the year. You have been carrying out a superb job.[X-N-E-W-L-I-N-S-P-I-N-X]I am extremely inspired with your writing talents as neatly as with the layout to your weblog. Is this a paid subject matter or did you customize it yourself?
Either way keep up the nice quality writing, it is uncommon to look a great weblog like this one these days.
Hi there to every one, the contents existing at this site are genuinely remarkable for people knowledge, well, keep up the nice work fellows.


text:
Item #: OP1592
TRAVELS IN THE ATLAS AND SOUTHERN MOROCCO: A NARRATIVE OF EXPLORATION. Thomson 1889 1st UK edition J.B.
By Thomson, J.B.
London, 1889, 1st edition. 488 pp, 31 plates, small ills, maps. Thomson was one of the �most successful of the great geographical pioneers of Africa.� (Ency. Brit) The Scottish explorer was noted for having explored the Great Rift Valley lakes, the Sudan and the Zambezi River. He concluded treaties for the British with the natives forestalling the Germans in their intent to do the same. School RSM on title page, no other marks. Spine faded, edges bumped, some wear, overall Very Good.
From: http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Joseph_Thomson
JOSEPH THOMSON (1858-1895), Scottish explorer in Africa, was born on the 14th of February 1858 at Penpont, Dumfriesshire, being the fifth son of William Thomson, originally a working stonemason, who had attained the position of a master builder. In 1868 his father removed to Gatelawbridge, where he rented a farm and a quarry.
Joseph Thomson was soon attracted by the geological formation and historical associations of Nithsdale. For a short time he worked in his father's quarry. In 1875 he went to Edinburgh University, where he paid particular attention to geology and botany, and after completing his course in 1878 he was appointed geologist and naturalist to the Royal Geographical Society's expedition to East Central Africa under Keith Johnston. The latter died at Behobeho, between the coast and the north end of Lake Nyasa, on the 28th of June 187 9, and Thomson then took command.
Though only twenty one his coolness and tact were remarkable, and he successfully conducted the expedition across the desolate region of Uhehe and Ubenato the north end of Lake Nyasa, and then by a hitherto unexplored trackto Lake Tanganyika, where he investigated the moot question of the Lukuga outlet. From Tanganyika he started to reach the Congo, but troubles with his carriers, who dreaded the warlike Warua, obliged him to retrace his steps. Going round the south end of Tanganyika he discovered Lake Rukwa, whence he marched via Tabora to the coast at Bagamoyo, reaching London in August 1880. In the following year he published an account of his travels under the title To the Central African Lakes and Back. About this time the sultan of Zanzibar, being anxious to develop certain supposed coal beds on the river Rovuma, was advised to obtain independent expert opinion as to their value. Application was made to Thomson, who undertook to survey them, and started from Mikindani, on the 17th ofJuly 1881. The coal, however, turned out to be merely bituminous shale, and Thomson, on his return to Zanzibar, had to endure much delay and vexation through the sultan's chagrin.
For a considerable time theexplorer had directed his attention to Masailand, a region of EastAfrica occupied by a powerful tribe of warriors who had a reputation for savagery and intractability somewhat greater than their actions warranted. Through their territory ran the shortest route from the seato the headwaters of the Nile.
In 1882 the Royal Geographical Society took up the question, and requested Thomson to report on the practicability of taking a caravan through the Masai country, which no European had yet been able to penetrate beyond Mt Kilimanjaro. By undaunted courage and great resourcefulness he succeeded in crossing the Njiri desert and exploring the eastern rift-valley. Thence he went with a picked company through Laikipia to Mt Kenya and Lake Baringo, afterwards traversing the unknown region lying between Baringo and Victoria Nyanza, reached on the 10th of December 1883. On his way back he visited Mt Elgon and discovered there a series of wonderful caves. The account of this adventurous journey appeared in 1884, under the title of Through Masailand, and it is a classic in modern travel.
The hardships and anxieties attendant on such a career began to tell upon Thomson's exceptionally hardy constitution, but in 1885 he undertook an expedition to Sokoto for the National African (afterwards the Royal Niger) Company, and succeeded in obtaining the signatures of the sultans of Sokoto and Gando to treaties with which he had been entrusted by the company, treaties which did much to secure British interests in Nigeria. In 1888, by way of recreation, he travelled through southern Morocco and explored a portion of the Atlas range, and published the results in the following year, under the title Travels in the Atlas and Southern Morocco. In 1890 he entered the service of the British South Africa Company and in that and the following year, starting from Quilimane he traversed the region between lakes Nyasa and Bangweulu and the Zambezi.
It was a period of great tension between the Portuguese and the British, and Thomson's party on leaving the Portuguese frontier was fired on by the Portuguese who, too late, realized that they had allowed a treaty-making envoy to pass through their territory in the guise of a peaceful trader. Thomson concluded treaties with native potentates which gave to the Chartered Company political, trading and mining rights over a large part of the district since known as North-East Rhodesia. This journey, in which he covered nearly a thousand miles of hitherto unexplored country, proved disastrous to a constitution already undermined.
In 1893 he visited South Africa in search of health, but unavailingly. He died in London on the 2nd of August 1895. The accounts of his travels not recorded in the books mentioned were published in magazines or in the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society. Thomson was the last, as he was one of the most successful, of the great geographical pioneers in Africa. He had an extraordinarily keen topographical instinct which enabled him to comprehend at a glance the natural features of the countries he traversed. To undaunted courage and promptness of decision he added a forbearing and patient disposition. "Joseph Thomson," wrote Sir Clements Markham, "had the high and glorious distinction of never having caused the death of a native. This is a proof of very rare qualities in the leader of an expedition, and places him in the very first rank of explorers. "Besides the accounts of his own travels Thomson wrote, in collaboration with Miss E. Harris Smith, Ulu (London, 1888), a novel based on his insight into the working of the African mind, Mungo Park and the Niger (London, 1890), a sound critical biography and many magazine articles on African politics.
See Joseph Thomson, African Explorer (London, 1896), abiography by his brother, the Rev. J. B. Thomson, which contains a list of the published writings of the explorer.
LET'S SEE THE HIGHLANDS A.A. Thomson 1931 1st ed Near Fine
By: Thomson, A.A.
- Item # OP2924-1211
THE HIGH ATLAS: TREKS AND CLIMBSON MOROCCO'S BIGGEST AND BEST MOUNTAINS Hamish Brown 2012 1st edition
By: Brown, Hamis
- Item # GB6718
MOROCCO ROCK: JEBEL EL KEST & TASKARA NORTH Emma Alsford, Paul Dontihorne 2012 1st edition
By: Emma Alsford, Paul Dontihorne
JOSEPH DALTON HOOKER: BOTANIST, EXPLORER, AND ADMINISTRATOR W.B. Turrill 1963 Scientific Book Club ed Rare DJ Fine
By: Turrill, W.B.
ROCK CLIMBING ATLAS: SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE AND MOROCCO Groenewegen and van den Berg 2008 1st ed New Softcover Multiple Copies Available
By: Groenewegen, Wynand and Marloes van den Berg
- Item # GB2370-8676
MOROCCAN ANT-ATLAS NORTH: ROCK CLIMBING ON THE NORTH SIDE OF JEBEL EL KEST Steve Broadbent 2010 Current edition
By: Broadbent, Steve
WESTERN HIMALAYAS AND TIBET: A NARRATIVE ON LADAKH AND MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN INDIA Thomas Thomson Hardcover
By: Thomson, Thomas
- Item # BK1816
MOROCCAN ATLAS THE TREKKING GUIDE Alan Palmer 2010 1st ed
By: Palmer, Alan
EXPLORATION OF THE VALLEY OF THE AMAZON: MADE UNDER DIRECTION OF THE NAVY DEPARTMENT (PART 1 Only) William Lewis Herndon 1854 Part 1 Hardcover Very Good
By: Herndon, William Lewis
- Item # OP5394-113
GUIDE TO MOUNTAINS: AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO MOUNTAINS INCLUDING AN ATLAS OF THE WORLD'S MOUNTAIN RANGES SIGNED by Doug Scott 2006 1st ed
By: Scott, Doug
Sorry, we were unable find any similar items available by this author.
GREAT CLIMBS: A CELEBRATION OF WORLD MOUNTAINEERING 1994, 1st UK edition SIGNED by Chris Bonington and Doug Scott
By: Bonington, Chris
Price $75.00 ~ Regular $150.00, You Save $75.00 (50%)
- Item # BK168A
ACROSS EAST AFRICAN GLACIERS: AN ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST ASCENT OF KILIMANJARO Meyer
By: Meyer, Hans and E. H. S. Calder
WITHIN REACH: MY EVEREST STORY Mark Pfetzer and Jack Galvin 1998 1st ed DJ
By: Pfetzer, Mark. and Jack Galvin
TROUBLE AT THE MILL AND OTHER PLACES Frank Whitehead 1993 1st ed Hardcover DJ Fine
By: Whitehead, Frank
- Item # OP5185-
MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON: AN EXPEDITION TO THE EQUATORIAL MOUNTAINS OF AFRICA Patrick Synge 1938 3rd UK ed Hardcover Rare DJ Near Fine SIGNED LETTERS
By: Synge, Patrick M.
- Item # OP1062A-165
BAKER OF THE NILE Dorothy Middleton 1949 1st ed Hardcover DJ Near Fine
By: Middleton, Dorothy
TODD SKINNER IN MALI AFRICA POSTER
- Item # PS18
GREAT CLIMBS: A CELEBRATION OF WORLD MOUNTAINEERING 1994, 1st UK edition SIGNED by Bonington , Scott, Salkeld, Diemberger, Webster
Price $125.00 ~ Regular $150.00, You Save $25.00 (17%)
- Item # BK168B
A CHANGE IN ALTITUDE: A NOVEL OF CLIMBING MOUNT KENYA Shreve, Anita 2009 HARDCOVER MULTIPLE COPIES AVAILABLE
By: Shreve, Anita
- Item # BK2454-1210

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Developers Create Your Business Value: Why You Can't Deny Them the Tools They Need!
"My devs are always asking for new tools! Sometimes they remind me of kids in a toy store, begging their parents to buy them everything they see!"
Have you ever caught yourself saying this?
It's easy to fall into this kind of thinking when developers talk about a seemingly endless stream of new tools coming on the market, while you're the one who will need to provide justification for each new budget item.
Now, software is increasingly becoming the source of competitive advantage, as industries across the board become more and more digitised, and, in this context, your software developers are the key differentiators for your business.
Maximizing the value your developers create is a given for any successful business strategy.
But are they really just asking for shiny new toys? And do new development tools really represent costs that are that hard to justify?
In this post, we'll take a look at the questions surrounding talent, tools, productivity, and cost.
Why Are There So Many New Tools?
It's a good question. Why do so many new (and often very complex) tools for development and related processes keep turning up on the market? Aren't the existing tools good enough?
Software development is one of the least static fields in business or technology, and the same holds true for IT. When it comes to development, everything is in a constant state of change: hardware, operating systems, architecture, programming languages, development environments, and the conceptual frameworks which underlie all of these factors.
Much of this change is driven by major, ongoing changes in actual technological capabilities. At any given time, the current generation of computers and peripherals can easily do a large variety of things that they couldn't do at all—or could do only with difficulty—just a few years ago.
The truth is that even the most advanced players at the leading edge of software development are barely keeping up with the real capabilities that the current generation of hardware offers. Everyone is continually racing to play catch-up, and there is no sign at all that this process will slow down. There are good reasons to think that it is largely or entirely independent even of factors which may affect Moore's Law.
Such rapid development of new architectures, capabilities, and processes requires new tools. Older tools may not even be technically capable of dealing with new hardware and system capabilities, while new tools are more likely to be optimised for those same features. In many ways, workarounds and patches to old tools are simply ways of bringing old inefficiencies with you to a new environment, and the end result is likely to be a pileup of technical debt.
When developers ask you to buy a new tool, can they always guarantee that it will work wonders, or even do the job adequately? No. They can't. They can (and probably will) do a considerable amount of research to find out the pros and cons of the tool, and determine whether or not it will meet their specific concerns, but it is always the case that the ultimate test of a tool's value comes when it is put to work. Your team may need to try out several tools before they find the combination that works best for them, and they may need to update their suite of tools fairly frequently.
if you allow them to do this, you're allowing them to innovate, and to find the methods that help them work with a high level of productivity. That's something that doesn't come pre-packaged—It is the result of a dynamic interaction between your development team members and their tools, and it emerges from experimentation, rather than being ready-made.
When you take the cost of modern development tools and their support systems (software for managing continuous delivery, for example, and added servers to support it), and you scale that cost across your development team, the actual cost per team member will be small.
How small? Many companies spend more on office chairs than they do on development tools, and the vast majority of developers are likely to be much happier with old chairs and new dev tools than vice versa. It's often easier to justify spending money on office furniture, simply because the improvements are visible, while most development tools are nearly invisible, unless you are working directly with them.
But such tools can be of considerable value to the company—and over time, usually of much greater value than new office furniture. It is important to keep this in mind when discussing the purchase of tools with developers, and it is even more important to emphasise and demonstrate this value when justifying such purchases to higher-up decision-makers.
The real bottom line with development tools, both software and hardware, is that return on investment is generally very high. Good tools save time: development time, testing time, debugging time, and deployment time. And the value of that adds up very quickly. First-rate tools can also save you from expensive trouble, by reducing bugs, reducing downtime, and increasing reliability.
If you look at tools in terms of time saved, capabilities increased, and problems prevented, it's easy to see how an investment of $10,000 could save you $100,000—and very often, it isn't difficult to do some quick back-of-the-envelope estimates and see where the savings are likely to come from.
When you're considering the purchase of development tools, it is also important to keep in mind the specific needs of developers—the key issues which are most likely to affect productivity. For example, if your developers are working in a cloud-based environment, they're going to need fast, reliable connectivity. If your software needs to work with a variety of mobile devices, your QA team will need to be able to do thorough, rapid, automated testing on those devices, either in-house, or through an on-line testing service.
These things have a direct and measurable impact on the technical aspects of day-to-day work; slow Internet speeds and sequential testing on inadequate hardware can slow down your entire operation, and can even result in important work left undone.
So there it is: if you value your developers (and you should), give them the tools to match that value. It's an investment that will pay for itself several times over (and much more than even the best brand-new office chairs).
Andrew is a full-stack developer, automation specialist and technologist, leading and delivering large financial and media projects. Andrew's favourite tool DevOps tool has most likely been replaced with something better by now.


RITES Limited invites application for the post of Manager & Deputy Manager on contract basis. Apply Online before 04 September 2017.
Educational Qualification : Full time First Class Degree/Diploma in Civil Engineering.


The making of pictures has a history going back perhaps 100,000 years to an African shell used as a paint palette. In this book, each chapter addresses an important question: What happens when we try to express reality in two dimensions? Why is the 'Mona Lisa' beautiful and why are shadows so rarely found in Chinese, Japanese and Persian painting?
Lucian Freud (1922-2011) spent seven months painting a portrait of the author who is an art critic. In this title, he describes the process chronologically, from the day he arrived for the first sitting through to his meeting with the couple who bought the finished painting.
Vincent van Gogh's short, passionate life was driven by an almost unimaginable creative energy that eventually overwhelmed him. It is Jo van Gogh-Bonger, Van Gogh's sister in law who after Vincent's death and that of her husband, his brother Theo, devoted her life to preserving and exhibiting the paintings, and editing the letters.
A series of conversations between Philippe de Montebello and Martin Gayford exploring how we experience art, how we look at it, and how we think about it.
From October to December of 1888, Paul Gauguin shared a yellow house in the south of France with Vincent van Gogh. They were the odd couple of the art world -- one calm, the other volatile -- and the denouement of their living arrangement was explosive. Making use of new evidence and Van Gogh's voluminous correspondence, Martin Gayford describes not only how these two hallowed artists painted and exchanged ideas, but also the texture of their everyday lives. Gayford also makes a persuasive analysis of Van Gogh's mental illness -- the probable bipolar affliction that led him to commit suicide at the age of thirty-seven. The Yellow House is a singular biographical work, as dramatic and vibrant as the work of these brilliant artists.
A record of a private conversations with art critic Martin Gayford, this title reveals via reflection, anecdote, passion and humour the fruits of his lifelong meditations on the problems and paradoxes of representing a three-dimensional world on a flat surface.
Jonathan Yeo is one of Britain's best-known portrait painters. Coinciding with a retrospective exhibition at London's National Portrait Gallery, this title features his most popular paintings, drawings, collages and prints. It also presents several of his new canvases made especially for the show.
"First published in the United Kingdom in 2018"--Title page verso.
Previously unpublished drawings from the private sketchbooks of the pre-eminent British painter offer a new perspective on the artist s personality and artistic genius "
First published to accompany Piano Nobile's exhibiton at Piano Nobile Kings Place, Thomas Newbolt: Drama Paintings - A Modern Baroque, this fully colour illustrated book presents a substantial publication on contemporary artist Thomas Newbolt.
This short biography, written from a vantage point of familial intimacy, affords a revealing and, at times, heartbreaking testimony to van Gogh's perilous life.
Focusing on Eileen Cooper RA, this title spans the entire breadth of her career, from her early days as a singular figurative voice in British art, and her exploration of ideas of feminism and femininity in painting, to her mature work, characterized by uninhibited colours bursting with energy, contained by her expressive use of line.


text:
Figure skating: Yuzuru Hanyu aiming higher still at NHK Trophy
KYODO NEWS - Nov 21, 2019 - 22:16 | Sports, All, Japan
SAPPORO - Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu is setting a high target for himself at this week's ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating NHK Trophy, the double Olympic men's champion said Thursday.
Hanyu, who set a career high of 322.59 points in winning Skate Canada, the second event in this year's Grand Prix series, is looking to improve on that in the sixth meet in Sapporo.
"I'm confident having posted the highest score this season. I need to surpass that," he said at Makomanai Sekisuiheim Ice Arena. "I'm in really good condition."
In his official practice, Hanyu landed three different quad jumps, a loop, a salchow and a toe loop.
Rika Kihira, who was second among the women at Skate Canada, nailed one of the quad salchows she attempted, but declined to promise she would attempt it in her program.
"I can't afford mistakes," she said. "I want high-percentage jumps. I'll make a final decision about it after I check the condition of the ice."
Both Hanyu and Kihira are looking to the NHK Trophy to earn their spots among the six skaters in their respective competitions at December's Grand Prix Final in Turin, Italy.
More figure skating stories:
Figure skating: Hanyu wins Skate Canada, Kihira takes silver
IN PHOTOS: 2019 Skate Canada International
Nov 21, 2019 | KYODO NEWS
3 hours ago | KYODO NEWS


text:
Q: In what circumstances should one wrap numbers in dollars? Here is an example to consider:
A $3.1415$ approximation for $\pi$ was known on 314 BC?

Or maybe
A 3.1415 approximation for $\pi$ was known on 314 BC?

And here is another:
We run 32 experiments, the average result was always 42\%

etc.

A: Correct is $3.1415$ or $\numprint{3.1415}$ with  the numprint package, with babel in french we have \nombre{3.1415}$. $3.1415$ is a number (mathematical object)  and not a collection of digits. There are other packages to print correctly numbers. You need to separate content and form.

A: I've started always using \num{123.45} from the siunitx package.
This has the advantage that the numbers are internally processed so you can globally adapt the style of those numbers using the \sisetup command. For example, you could later on decide whether to display the numbers in the text style or in the math style.
Furthermore, you can effortlessly control how exponential numbers are displayed and you can easily fit the numbers with units, too: \SI{12.34}{\second\per\meter}.
However, I don't use this for all numbers: page numbers, for example, are never math ("see pages 12–32"). Likewise for years, or more generally dates ("1st of January …"), chapter numbers and so on. Basically anything that looks slightly ordinal.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


La Commerciale Srl Promozioni Immobiliari, owner of the processing of personal data, ensures compliance with the legislation on data protection by providing the following information about the processing of personal data carried out during the navigation on this website, in accordance with the European Regulation 2016/679 concerning the Protection of Personal Data (General Data Protection Regulation, known also as GDPR). In fact, this information describes how we handle the personal data we acquire - either independently or through third parties - through the website http://www.lacommercialerealty.com, and it is only valid for visitors/users of this website.
The data that are collected in the ways indicated below will be processed mainly by computerized and telematic means (management software, accounting, etc.), only possibly with the support of paper means (registration forms, order forms, etc.), with the logic of organization and processing strictly related to these purposes and in any case in such a way as to guarantee their security, integrity and confidentiality in compliance with the organizational, physical and logical measures required by the current regulations.
The computer systems and the software procedures used to operate this website acquire, during their normal operation, some personal data whose transmission is implicit in the use of Internet communication protocols. This information is not collected to be associated with identified people, but by their very nature - through processing and associations with data held by third parties - they could allow to identify the users. This category of data includes IP addresses or computers domain names used by users connecting to the website, URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) of requested resources, time of request, the method used to submit the request to the server, the size of the file obtained in reply, the numerical code indicating the status of the response from the server (successful, error, etc...) and other parameters regarding the users' operating system and/or user's computer environment.
To deepen the characteristics of this data and the treatment that is carried out, please refer to the section dedicated to cookies on our pages.
The data will be accessible, only for maintenance purposes, by the company that manages the technological infrastructure and its staff.
The data collected will be processed to respond to requests coming from the interested parties, conveyed through the forms on the website, via email or telephone and concerning the way of how to: register to the website, request information, access to the download area to download the free resources of the website.
Personal data will be also used to contact the User (for example Mailing List or Newsletter). Through the registration to the mailing list or to the newsletter, in fact, the User's email address is automatically added to a list of contacts to which can be sent emails containing information, including commercial and promotional ones, related to the activity and services of the Data Controller and its partners.
This website allows the registration of the user to the website to request information and quotes. This form requires a series of personal data (Name, Surname, Email, etc.). The request is subject to acceptance of specific, free and informed consent. The data are processed exclusively by authorized and trained people.
The provision of data relating to the mandatory fields is necessary to obtain an answer and if you do not provide them, it makes it impossible to access to various services, while the optional fields are aimed at providing the data controller with additional elements useful for interpreting the request.
The data are kept for a period of time not exceeding the achievement of expectations by law. With reference to cookies, reference is made to the state display in the infrastructure of this website.
the right to lodge a complaint with the Control Authority. The exercise of your rights can be done by sending a request by email to the address of the data controller.
The management and storage of Personal Data will be carried out on servers located within the European Union property of the Owner and/or third parties duly appointed. The data will not be transferred outside the European Union. In any case, it is understood that the Data Controller, where necessary, will have the right to move the server location to non-EU countries. In this case, the Data Controller hereby ensures that the data will be transferred in accordance with the applicable laws, stipulating, if necessary, agreements that guarantee an adequate level of protection.
The Data Controller is La Commerciale Srl Promozioni Immobiliari, in person of its legal representative, who can be contacted at the following addresses: tel. +3906 3200613 - email : lacommerciale@lacommerciale.org through which you can exercise all the rights provided by the GDPR and the Privacy Code (right of access, rectification, cancellation, limitation, portability, opposition), as well as revoke a previously agreed consent; in case of failure to reply to their requests, the interested parties can lodge a complaint with the Supervisory Authority for the protection of personal data.
This Privacy Information was updated for the last time on 25th May 2018 and may be subject to periodic review, also in relation to the relevant legislation and jurisprudence. In the event of significant changes, appropriate evidence will be given on the website's homepage for a suitable time. In any case, the interested party is invited to consult periodically this Policy.
See at the following link the cookies policy.
It is possible to download through the below links the information of La Commerciale Srl Promozioni Immobiliari in Adobe Acrobat format.
Any changes or additions to the information can be published in the present area of the company website, which we invite you to periodically check for updates.
For further information regarding the methods of personal data processing, the personal data existence confirmation request, the request of rectification or of removal of personal data, please send an email to lacommerciale@lacommerciale.org quoting clearly the information or the required action.


EP - 42 Hey Gorgeous, ???? You Lost? How to Find Your True North ????
Descripción de EP - 42 Hey Gorgeous, ???? You Lost? How to Find Your True North ????
6- Accept your Gifts: you have something to offer the world that others do not!
Get your MATCHA CLEANSE ASAP: TheMatchaShoppe!
Share this podcast with two pf your best friends! text them now!
EP 43- ????????10 Things I Wish I Told My Younger Self: The Legit Gangsta Ways????????
EP- 40 Mastering the Art of The?????Boys Club: Make a Seat for Yourself ????
EP - 39 ???? She Handles Pain, That Sh*t's AMAZING ????????????????????


Slight wide-angle delivers a new photographic perspective.
Provides an equivalent focal length of 70mm on APS-C cameras.
Even when used wide open at F/1.8 aperture, the lens design provides outstanding image quality with maximum aberration compensation, thanks to optimal use of sophisticated glass materials and highly advanced optical design.
SP 45mm F/1.8 Di VC USD (Model F013) is a 10-element, 8-group construction, utilizing two moulded glass aspherical elements and one LD (Low Dispersion) element.
The LD elements and the XLD glass element (SP 35mm) optimally compensate for chromatic aberrations, which tend to become particularly prominent in fast-aperture lenses in general, and deliver crystal clear images without any residual colour fringe.
Fluorine coating technology, developed for use in industrial optics applications, has been adapted to photographic lenses. The water and oil repellent coating applied to the front element surface allows instant removal of dirt or smudges with ease. The coating also provides a reasonable level of durability, and will sustain its effectiveness for years.
The 9-blade diaphragm retains a nearly circular opening even when stopped down by two stops. Marvellously tuned blur in the subject background can be obtained without generating undesirable shapes of aperture patterns.


text:
module.exports = {
  // default applies to all environments
  default: {
    enabled: true,
    available_providers: ["ens"],
    provider: "ens"
  },

  // default environment, merges with the settings in default
  // assumed to be the intended environment by `embark run`
  development: {
    register: {
      rootDomain: "embark.eth",
      subdomains: {
        'status': '0x1a2f3b98e434c02363f3dac3174af93c1d690914'
      }
    }
  },

  // merges with the settings in default
  // used with "embark run privatenet"
  privatenet: {
  },

  // merges with the settings in default
  // used with "embark run testnet"
  testnet: {
  },

  // merges with the settings in default
  // used with "embark run livenet"
  livenet: {
  },

  // you can name an environment with specific settings and then specify with
  // "embark run custom_name" or "embark blockchain custom_name"
  //custom_name: {
  //}
};

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Killing Floor 2 is a Co-Operative Multiplayer based Survival Horror FPS shooter that serves as a sequel to the Original Killing Floor 1. The game revolves around a squad of players surviving multiple waves of mutilated zombies, corpses and bosses while trying to build an economy for even harder waves of hoards. It was released on April 21st, 2015 on the Steam marketplace. As of now (in beta stages), the game is to feature Up-to-date graphics in Unreal Engine 3, a varying range of weapons available to almost all classes, leveling and skill perks for each class, a more complicated AI and character customization.
The utilizes modding features that allow it's community to create mods for the game. This includes maps, player models, gun retextures and entire maps in the Unreal Development Kit's SDK. Due to it's beta release, Tripwire's community immediately published maps and plugins for server hosters to improve upon the game's experience. Entire game modes can be created using this mod.
The Cyst is the lowest tier of the specimens. Their true strength is only ever showed in large numbers, easily overwhelming an unsuspecting newbie who aren't experienced at FPS games. They're extremely easy to kill with the most weakest weapons (the starting handgun) and can be taken out within a few shots.
The Clot is the lowest tier of the specimens. Their main strength is grabbing down the player, so that they'll be caught up with another group of zed in attempt to finish them off. They are really to be avoided at all costs, and usually give trouble for newbies. However, they can be taken out just as swiftly like the Cysts.
Moving up in the chain, we have the Slasher that has the same exact properties as the Clot and the Cysts, however, he is much faster than both of them and at the same time, can grab down the player, preventing him/her from moving. Like the last two, they are just as easily killable and usually only present a problem for newbies.
The Stalker is a cloaked zed that could only be seen if the player looks hard enough at a spot where moving, jagged lines are seen or if there's a close enough distance where they become uncloaked in order to attack (commandos have a special trait to allow them to see uncloaked Stalker's from a longer distance). They can very easily flank unsuspecting players, catching them off guard if not ready. Their health are significantly lower than a Cyst, Clot or Slasher so dealing with them is only ever a problem for newbies.
The Crawler is meant to be a sneaky, low tier Zed that only really shines in high numbers. Once again, they're only a real problem for newbies due to their extremely low health. Since they stick to low ground, it can be difficult to contain a crowd when bundled with the Cyst, Clot or Slasher.
Much like a slasher, the gorefast is relatively weak with a significant increase of health, and after reaching a certain distance between a player, it will attempt to 'lash' out to them. It's advised to keep some distance between them as having them in a pack can easily overwhelm the player.
Much like Boomer in the Left for Dead franchise, the Bloat can take a magnitude of hits and will spit toxic bile on any player that comes into close contact, causing them to lose health.
The Husk is akin to a mini-boss, where it's main goal is to provide a hindrance to the player as they deal with swarm after swarm of easy mobs. Typically, this could be the killer of the player as this enemy can shoot a fireball at the player every so often. While it's pretty easy to crown this mob (get up real close with a shotgun and keep pulling the trigger), they can one-hit kill on low health.


Your raw material is a powder or a liquid, the product properties of which are not optimal for your needs: A powder dissolves poorly in water or is too dusty. In granular form, a liquid would be easier to handle or this form is requested by the consumer. A powder mixture does not remain stable or cannot be uniformly proportioned. In short, you have a good idea and are looking for support in the implementation in an easy-to-handle final product.
With the fluidised bed technology, the properties of powders can be improved and liquids can be transformed to very usable powder or granules. Our expertise in this demanding technology is based on many years of intensive research, development and manufacturing. Our quality meets the highest international standards. We are experts in both continuous and batch-wise fluidised bed processes.
Neuhaus Neotec offers all companies of the food, feed, pharmaceutical, chemical and biotechnological sectors an extensive process know-how in the design of product properties. You have a good product idea – we deliver the "Engineering" for the desired product properties. Neuhaus Neotec is your competent partner for both the development of completely new products with defined particle properties and the optimisation of existing products and processes.
As experts in mechanical and thermal process engineering, our special plant design belongs to the leading-edge cluster technology in international markets. In 2010, the business area "fluidised bed" was further expanded by the takeover of the Heinen Drying company. For the development of innovative products, we work with the most modern testing procedures at our highly specialised pilot plant. We offer engineering by dedicated process engineers with detailed application knowledge, cooperative reliability and the high quality of a German machine manufacturer.


text:
package com.javadeobfuscator.deobfuscator.transformers.stringer.v3.utils;

import com.javadeobfuscator.deobfuscator.transformers.ClassFinder;
import org.objectweb.asm.tree.ClassNode;
import org.objectweb.asm.tree.FieldNode;
import org.objectweb.asm.tree.MethodNode;

import java.lang.reflect.Modifier;
import java.util.Collection;
import java.util.HashSet;
import java.util.Set;

public class StringEncryptionClassFinder implements ClassFinder {
    @Override
    public Set<ClassNode> find(Collection<ClassNode> classes) {
        Set<ClassNode> found = new HashSet<>();

        for (ClassNode classNode : classes) {
            if (classNode.superName.equals("java/lang/Thread")) {
                boolean foundBigInteger = false;
                for (FieldNode fieldNode : classNode.fields) {
                    if (fieldNode.desc.equals("[Ljava/math/BigInteger;")) {
                        foundBigInteger = true;
                        break;
                    }
                }
                boolean foundInit = false;
                for (MethodNode methodNode : classNode.methods) {
                    if (methodNode.desc.equals("(ILjava/lang/Object;)V") &&
                            Modifier.isFinal(methodNode.access) &&
                            Modifier.isPrivate(methodNode.access) &&
                            Modifier.isStatic(methodNode.access)) {
                        foundInit = true;
                    }
                }

                if (foundBigInteger && foundInit) {
                    found.add(classNode);
                }
            }
        }

        return found;
    }
}


The secret to this action thriller is a whole lot of gas.
No offence, but gas, and a deadly one at that, does play a significant part in this film. It temporarily wipes out the memories of the people exposed to it. At the end of the agonising experience called Acid Factory, you wish you inhaled some of it too.
Six people trapped inside an acid factory have lost their memory – and the next 90 minutes tell you how they walk around the place in painfully slow strides, jump on each other, mouth profanities and wait for the one guy who seems to have set them up.
In between, a lot of battered cars get blown up, a lot of cigarettes are lit, a lot of blood is spilt and an obligatory nightclub sequence shows off the assets of crooner Manasi Scott and Vida Samadzai (who was Miss Afghanistan eons ago).
Acid Factory features some Sanjay Gupta staples -- men in black, women in high heels, bikes, cars and an industrial setting. As an added bonus you get some stylish opening credits, edgier, cooler than what follows.
The film seems to be a wish-fulfilment of sorts for many people. Fardeen Khan gets to show off his shades and aviator jackets. Dino Morea gets to look like Johnny Depp. Aftab Shivdasani gets to bash up a few people. Manoj Bajpai gets to display some high-pitched histrionics. Danny gets a film and Dia Mirza gets to dress up like Lara Croft and fire a gun. Meanwhile Irrfan Khan, lucky guy, gets a limousine and kisses a girl. Twice, in slow motion.
And they all get to blows, and scream -- 'I will kill you' -- every now and then.
In the spirit of action thrillers, some questions are left intentionally unresolved, others not so – like how did Manoj Bajpai's ugly wound heal so miraculously post intermission? Or how does Aftab's wife walk past the security check at the airport without a ticket and only a bagful of money, and land up right near the conveyor belt?
Acid Factory aspires to be a slick, cutting edge action-suspense-thriller. The kind of films many boys swear by -- you know with guns and gore, bikes and babes. But the appeal of such films hinge on the stunning action sequences, slick editing, crisp dialogues and a thread of mystery that ends with a well-executed climax.
You know where director Suparn Verma is coming from. But you don't know where he's headed.
Poor dialogues, done-to-death action sequences, and an amateurishly handled climax kill what could have been a promising film. And the relentless hammering of the background score and sound design will grind you to a pulp.
Some of the most ridiculous lines seem reserved for Gulshan Grover, who commands a malnourished team of extras masquerading as cops. In true 70s' style he is outwitted by Irrfan repeatedly and manages to land up at the scene of crime only after it is all over, sirens blazing, victim's pretty wife in his car. You almost expect Fardeen to say, "Inspector saab inko arrest kar lijiye!"
If you've never heard of a Columbian film called Unknown, you haven't really missed much. If you give this 95-minute copy of the poorly-received film a miss, you'll do yourself a favour.


text:
Pill Poppers
Doctors "just say no" to drug company hype and freebies.
by Ted McDonough
Next time you're watching TV and feel that sudden urge to "ask your doctor" about your cholesterol level or heartburn, you may want to ask more than simply, "Is the advertised drug 'right for me?'" Is the expensive pill you want, aside from its pretty color, any different than the one you are already taking? More importantly, does your doctor accept lunch, cash or other freebies from drug companies?
While you're at it, ask yourself this question: Do you need the drugs, or do the drugs need you?
St. George physician Catherine Bonomo, 46, tries to get her patients, and other doctors, to ask those questions every day. Mostly she finds it's like hitting her head against a wall.
"You see a commercial on TV 75 times and these nice people on television are telling you this is the medicine you need. They are happy people, floating around. Their lives are good. That is already ingrained in your memory bank. You go to visit the doctor. He makes an attempt to explain to you why this medicine may not be the one for you, but you've already been conditioned," Bonomo says.
It's an increasingly common predicament for doctors: patients showing up pre-diagnosed by advertising and demanding a drug by brand name. Try suggesting a different drug, or be even bolder'like Bonomo'and tell the patient they don't need the drug at all, that drug companies may be no different from other salesmen, and you'll get an earful.
"A few [patients] are receptive, but most of them aren't," says Bonomo. "They get frustrated. 'But it was on TV, so it must be true.'"
Bonomo doesn't give in. "I make a few people unhappy, but I think medicine is one of those fields that you have to maintain some integrity and some intellectual honesty about what you're doing. There are business aspects about medicine, but I would hope that most physicians would remember that it's a little bit more than that.nn
Bonomo is hyperaware of the impact of drug-company marketing on patients and the doctors who serve them. She is the only physician in the state of Utah to have sworn off the drug companies'at least officially. Bonomo said drug companies are not all bad: "They peddle some good drugs," she says. What she doesn't want is for her medical decisions to be influenced by advertising.
Her quarters at the emergency department of Dixie Regional Medical Center are remarkable for being devoid of pens and calendars bearing logos of pharmaceutical manufacturers. She gets quizzical looks from fellow doctors and patients for the "No Free Lunch" button she wears on her scrubs every day to work. It's the moniker of a growing movement of physicians who say they can't be bought off by drug-company giveaways. The same sort of giveaways'free lunches, golfing junkets, cash "consulting fees," or, a past drug-company favorite, ski vacations to Utah'that were once the staples of U.S. congressmen until public outrage put a stop to them.
For all the money drug companies spend advertising new or improved products'around $4 billion last year'it's just a tiny portion of the amount drug companies spend to sell their wares in other ways. The total marketing budget of U.S. pharmaceutical companies'everything from ads, to sponsoring medical conferences to buying lunch for doctors'topped $22 billion in 2003, according to IMS Health, a company that tracks drug sales for its drug-industry clients. The vast majority of that $22 billion went to directly influence doctors, primarily through $16 billion worth of free drug samples delivered to physicians' offices by an army of drug reps bearing lunch.
Doctors are routinely paid "consulting" fees to listen to drug-company talks at resorts. And drug companies are significant sponsors of lectures at medical schools and conferences where doctors sit through required continuing medical education courses. In Utah, Bonomo isn't altogether alone in fighting such tactics. At the University of Utah School of Medicine, American Medical Student Association co-president Nick Warner says he is having little luck trying to get fellow students to "just say no" to the drug reps who routinely take third- and fourth-year students to lunch.
What Drug Companies Feed On
In a recent book, Dr. Marcia Angell, a former editor of The New England Journal of Medicine, takes issue with the long-touted pharmaceutical-industry assertion that drug prices are high because pharmaceutical companies invest so much in researching new cures for the world's diseases. Angell claims drug-company marketing budgets now far outstrip the amount spent on research and development. By her estimate, twice as much is spent selling drugs as researching them.
"The drug companies have done very little recently that's new," Angell said from her home in Cambridge, Mass., pointing out that cholesterol-lowering Lipitor, the best-selling drug in the world, is patterned after a drug that came on the market in the mid-1980s. "In most cases the basic research is publicly funded, done mainly in universities with [National Institutes of Health] funding. … That's what they feed on.nn
Angell, author of The Truth About the Drug Companies, claims what research drug companies do is devoted to creating their own versions of drugs already invented by others, resulting in an assembly-line stream of pills barely better than generic versions available for years.
Pharmaceutical companies have essentially turned into marketing machines, she says, concerned mostly with promoting diseases to fit the drugs they make. Developing a cure for a previously incurable disease is much less profitable than, for example, making a slight change to the makeup of an existing drug, patenting it, coloring the resulting pill purple and selling it as something new and expensive, as happened with Nexium, the "Purple Pill," which is chemically similar to AstraZeneca's earlier acid-reducing drug.
Instead of research, Angell claims the pharmaceutical industry spends most of its time making up scary names for common ailments to sell drugs of little value to a wealthy population. Meanwhile, the industry largely eschews research on diseases such as malaria that kill thousands of the poor.
It's the market at work, Angell says. "There are more healthy people in the country than there are sick people, so if you want a really big market what you are going to do is push drugs to essentially healthy people," she said. "If you look at direct-to-consumer advertising, you see that much of it is promoting a medical condition, not a drug, so that people will think that they need drugs when they may not need them."
She blames drug-company ads for duping many into believing they have "dubious or exaggerated ailments" such as "generalized anxiety disorder"'otherwise known as shyness, "premenstrual dysphoric disorder"'aka PMS, or "gastro esophageal reflux disease"'aka GERD.
Today, thousands of Americans have prescriptions for Nexium'the fourth-best-selling drug in the country'or similar prescription drugs developed to treat the serious problems of stomach acid eating the esophagus. Many, Angell alleges, just have heartburn.
"The implication in the direct-to-consumer ads is if you have heartburn you're well on your way to cancer of the esophagus," Angell said with a sarcastic laugh. "It's playing into a drug-intensive style of medicine that teaches for every ailment or discontent there is a pill. For most people who have heartburn, the best way to treat it is probably to lose a little weight, get out and take a walk or drink a glass of milk, but that somehow is seen as less good than taking a prescription drug.nn
An ongoing class-action lawsuit alleges AstraZeneca duped the nation by heavily marketing Nexium just as its old version of the drug was losing patent protection, opening it up for competition from generics.
Drugmaker Eli Lilly took a similar tack when it got approval from the Food and Drug Administration to market the antidepressant Prozac for severe premenstrual syndrome. It colored the drug pink and sold it as Sarafem, a "new" drug that costs several times the now-generic Prozac. The condition the drug is supposed to treat has never been recognized by the American Psychiatric Association, but the APA is now considering adding "premenstrual dysphoric disorder" to its manual of mental problems based on the FDA approving a drug for it.
Of 78 drugs approved by the FDA in 2002, only 17 were new chemical compounds, Angell claims. None of the new drugs put out by U.S. drug companies that year were classified by the FDA as likely improvements over drugs already on the market. And, she notes, drug companies are taking more in profits than any other industry, a 17 percent average profit rake for the top 10 American drug companies in 2002, compared to 3 percent average profits for other Fortune 500 companies.
The No Free Lunch Bunch
Bonomo says most of her professional colleagues deny that drug-company gifts'a slice of pizza or a few logo-emblazoned pens'influence their prescribing habits. However, she knows the impact is real because she sees new drugs in circulation at the hospital where she works every time the drug reps pay a visit. Too often, Bonomo said, a drug rep arriving with lunch from the Olive Garden substitutes for careful review of the medical journals when it comes time to decide which drugs to buy.
Her outlook on drug-company marketing differs because she didn't enter the medical profession believing perks and constant advertising came with the job.
In her mid-40s, Bonomo has been a doctor just four years. She never thought about entering medical school until after her two children were raised and she was divorced. Then, "I decided if my life is going to change, it ought to really change," said Bonomo, a former ambulance driver.
Bonomo entered the University of Utah School of Medicine at age 33. She served her medical residency in Los Angeles under a doctor who was a member of No Free Lunch, a New York organization enlisting physicians nationwide with the pledge to "accept no money, gifts or hospitality from the pharmaceutical industry" and "seek unbiased sources of information" apart from drug-company marketers about which drugs are best for their patients.
Bonomo later signed up with No Free Lunch herself because she is convinced the ties between the pharmaceutical industry and the medical establishment are now so tight that many doctors can't tell the difference. The result, Bonomo believes, is that some ineffective, possibly dangerous, treatments have become standard despite scientific evidence against them.
Her prime example is the promotion of a blood-clot-busting drug as something of a miracle cure for stroke. The treatment became standard in 2000 when the American Heart Association (AHA) trumpeted that the drug "saved lives" in stroke victims'a claim withdrawn when it came to light the drug's maker, Genentech, had built the heart association a new conference center.
The AHA's green light came despite several studies showing that, unless given very carefully, stroke patients given the drug were up to three times as likely to die as patients given a placebo.
Still, ask any doctor today, and nine out of 10 will tell you to administer the drug within three hours of a stroke, Bonomo says.
"The scientific evidence out there does not support this; in fact, it says just the opposite," said Bonomo, her voice rising. "But this was pushed and marketed so heavily by the pharmaceutical companies that it has been entrenched into the thought processes of many physicians."
Eight of nine AHA experts who wrote the stroke guidelines had financial ties to the drugmaker. That is not uncommon. In a 2002 review, The Journal of the American Medical Association found 60 percent of doctors defending a drug's use had relationships with the drug's makers. Drug companies provide a significant portion of the budget for the FDA. One-third of the experts who recently recommended putting Vioxx and other arthritis medications recalled for increasing the risk of heart attack back on the market worked as consultants to makers of the drugs, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
Vioxx is just the most prominent example of alleged bad behavior by drug companies. Patients and lawyers are lining up in huge class-action lawsuits against the makers of some of the most popular medications. Allegations range from hiding information about dangerous side effects, to price-fixing, to paying other drug companies not to market generic versions, to cornering the market on a drug's active ingredient, then hiking prices.
In April, Mark Shurtleff, Utah's attorney general, announced settlements in two lawsuits against drugmakers. In one, Pfizer subsidiary Warner-Lambert paid Utah $1 million to settle Medicaid fraud allegations Shurtleff said demonstrated "the company was more concerned about profits than the health of its customers.nn
The company was charged with illegally promoting its epilepsy drug Neurontin for a long list of unapproved conditions, including bipolar disorder for which the drug was found to have no effect. Allegations included paying doctors illegal kickbacks to promote the "off-label" uses, lying about the drug's safety in medical literature and illegally billing Medicaid. The 50-state $430 million settlement paled in comparison to the drug's $2.7 billion in sales for 2003, 90 percent of which came through "off-label" prescriptions.
Among the biggest lawsuits are giant class-action cases against the makers of antidepressants linked to suicide in young people and arthritis drugs, like Vioxx, found to promote heart attacks. Scares over some arthritis drugs were exacerbated by revelations that drug companies knew of problems, but hadn't made findings public.
Among the most startling aspects of Vioxx to anyone who has seen television commercials for the drug is that while it is one of the best-selling medications for arthritis'$1.3 billion in 2004'it has never been proven any better than aspirin at relieving pain. The drug's maker never claimed it was'at least not in the medical literature'where its benefit was given as a lower incidence of ulcers.
It's one of the drugs Angell argues is more marketing than drug. "For most Americans, and certainly for Americans who have good insurance, we're overmedicated," she says. And in many cases "we're taking drugs that have never been shown to be more effective or safer than older, cheaper drugs."
Among the "ask your doctor" television ads running in recent months, one tells viewers that although they may think they have their cholesterol under control, they should think again. That's because the definition of high cholesterol was changed last year. Eight of nine experts who sat on the government National Cholesterol Education Program panel that recommended the new guidelines had financial ties to companies marketing cholesterol-lowering drugs, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest. In a letter of complaint, the Center noted no studies had proven that increasing use of such drugs helped elderly men likely to take them, but the drugs were known to increase the risk of cancer.
Angell claims the big drug companies control not only the drug-approval panels, but, with heavy political contributions, call all the shots in Congress. Last year, Congress passed a law creating a new drug benefit for Medicare. The industry successfully lobbied for a line in the legislation specifically barring the nation's Department of Health and Human Services'now headed by former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt'from negotiating lower drug prices. The administration argues the free market will provide lower prices than a government monopoly.
Tommy Thompson, Leavitt's predecessor in the HHS job, loudly grumbled about the negotiation ban, but Leavitt'to whom the drug-company lobby gave $9,500 over his last two Utah gubernatorial races'hasn't argued against the policy. The new federal coverage for seniors' drugs is projected to increase drug-company profits by 38 percent over its first eight years.
Ethics and Erectile Dysfunction
The shock troops in the drug companies' selling efforts are the "detail men" who descend daily on hospitals, medical schools and doctors' offices.
"They'll come in with pizzas. I've seen them come in with shaved ice machines, doughnuts, sometimes meals, drop them off in the back, say, 'Hi,' smile a lot. They look nice," Bonomo said, her measured doctor voice giving way to her more usual folksy speech pattern. "They will drop off food, but they also will drop off pens, napkins or calendars, something so their name is seen over and over and over and over again.nn
Under pressure from doctors like Bonomo, the drug companies' lobbying association, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), came up with a new code of ethics in 2002 instructing member companies in the ways of influencing doctors. Under the rules, giving doctors cash for writing prescriptions is bad'not to mention illegal. Paying doctors a handsome "consulting" fee to come to a resort golf course for training as company "speakers," however, is just fine.
So, while pharmaceutical companies cannot bribe docs directly, they can form alliances with them in plenty of other ways, just as political lobbyists often form alliances with elected officials. One maker of a popular erectile-dysfunction drug paid doctors cash after they wrote prescriptions. Ostensibly the money was to compensate doctors for time spent enrolling the newly prescribed patients in a study.
The practice is perfectly acceptable under PhRMA's ethical guidelines and there is no formal regulation. The rules are purely voluntary.
The American College of Physicians also has a new ethics manual strongly discouraging doctors from accepting "gifts, hospitality, trips and subsidies of all types." But that didn't stop the ACP from financing its annual meeting, in April, largely through the drug industry. Drug companies were inspired to fork over money to sponsor $60,000 in tote bags after ACP's promise that the annual meeting "offers an unparalleled opportunity to meet with physicians of power'prescribing power." No Free Lunch asked to exhibit but was turned down.
PhRMA spokesman Jeff Trewhitt notes that a large portion of drug-company-marketing spending goes for free samples that give doctors "early hands-on experience with a new medicine" and often are the only source of medication for the poor.
But the more drug companies advertise products, the worse the public's view of the industry, polls show. PhRMA now recognizes that the brand as a whole needs promotion. As the industry struggles not to become the next "big tobacco" in the mind of the public, PhRMA is getting ready to counter what Trewhitt calls a "barrage of distorted allegations." If you thought the television was filled with drug ads before, get ready for a blitz.
Trewhitt said PhRMA will be "talking about the innovation of the industry" and advertising its efforts to get drugs into the hands of the one-fourth of Americans who don't have drug coverage. A new wave of drug-industry commercials already has aired touting drug-giveaway programs for the indigent, to whom PhRMA member companies provided about 40 million free prescriptions during the past two years.
The ads may be just in time. Bonomo is the only No Free Lunch member in Utah, but following last year's scandals of allegedly dangerous'but widely advertised'drugs being pulled off the market, there is a growing wave of suspicion of the pharmaceutical companies.
In Salt Lake City, family doctor Ross Brunetti hasn't officially sworn off the drug companies, but he has taken an increasingly common position of limiting his interactions with their reps, whom he refers to as "overdressed used-car salesmen.nn
He says he doesn't have a choice. The number of drug reps plying their wares doubled in the late 1990s reaching the point where, today, there is more than one drug rep for every five office physicians. If Brunetti visited with every rep who dropped by his office, that would be all he could do. He estimates that six reps drop by his office every morning, followed by six more in the afternoon.
"In a week, I might see three people trying to sell me the same thing," he said. "On Friday, when they want to get out early and go skiing, they're all here, all in the morning. There are more drug reps than patients. It's like a minefield.nn
Brunetti is offended by the sheer amount of money spent peddling drugs, which he believes drives up costs, but he also thinks constant meetings with drug salespeople are a serious liability issue for doctors. "The biggest cause of medical malpractice is interruptions. That's their job, to interrupt me. I don't let 'em. I let 'em stand there 'til I'm good and done with a patient," he said.
"As far as we're concerned [drug reps] are lying when their lips are moving," he said. "We tolerate them only because they leave [drug] samples for people who can't pay.nn
The charity drug programs PhRMA is touting in new ads provide a large portion of the prescriptions issued through the Salt Lake Community Health Centers. David Keahey, a physicians assistant who regularly volunteers at the Central City clinic, appreciates the programs, but says the drug companies aren't giving it away strictly out of the goodness of their hearts.
The drug companies "have donated a lot of stuff over the years," he said. "There is another issue. The drug companies, in my opinion, do this not only out of a sense of altruism … but to keep the status quo. They can say, 'Well, we're taking care of the problem, we have these programs so we're doing our part.'nn
Twenty years ago, when Keahey began volunteering, drug companies helped by dropping off large numbers of samples. Now, the samples largely have been replaced by charity programs and accompanying large amounts of red tape with which not all low-income clinics can cope.
Keahey's clinic has resorted to hiring employees who do nothing but fill out drug-company forms. Keahey can't see much reason for the constant form filling, but noted "anytime you put requirements of paperwork and bureaucracy between patients and service you're going to reduce utilization.nn
Angell remains one of the biggest thorns in the side of the industry. PhRMA's Website prominently featured a lengthy rebuttal to her book, particularly her claim that drug companies skimp on research spending in favor of marketing and profit.
The drug industry argues with Angell's numbers, saying she incorrectly lumps administrative costs with marketing when she compares advertising to research spending. Angell shoots back that most drug companies report the costs together, "which obfuscates how much they spend on both." PhRMA's numbers, she claims, leave out billions spent on so-called "education" of doctors through sponsorship of medical conferences and meetings of professional societies.
The industry's own numbers show marketing making up a huge portion of spending, $21 billion in 2003 compared to $33 billion spent on research and development.
PhRMA also looks to different statistics to refute Angell's allegation that drug companies sponge off government research. Trewhitt points to a 2001 study by Congress that found nearly all top-selling drugs that year were developed without help from the government. Angell says that's a misreading of the report that found four drugs were certainly developed without government help but couldn't make a determination for many others because of missing records.
Trewhitt acknowledges the nation faces a drug "crisis," but paints the problem as one of lack of insurance coverage to pay for drugs.
The drug companies argue it's a whole new world. Spending on drugs is increasing because drugs are now available to treat and prevent conditions that used to land people in the hospital. Under this analysis, the growing chunk of the health-care pie that goes for cholesterol drugs, for example, is made up for by savings on heart surgeries. Bottom line: Everyone may be on something, but we'll all be healthier for it.
Indeed, more Americans are medicated than ever before. In the past decade the number of prescriptions ingested by Americans has jumped by two-thirds, according to IMS Health. Americans lead the world in per-person drug purchases, spending 18 percent more than France, the next leading drug-consumer, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Sales have increased at an average rate of 11 percent per year during the past five years. A significant increase also has been recorded in bad drug reactions reported to the FDA, which went up more than 200 percent during the past decade.
To criticism that U.S. drug companies aren't inventing many new drugs, Trewhitt acknowledges "it would appear" to be the case, but adds that's a temporary phenomenon. Inventing drugs is a lot harder than it used to be, Trewhitt said. Drug companies are geared to solve medical problems with chemicals, but today's unsolved conditions, such as Alzheimer's, must be cured through still-developing biotechnology. "This is a steep learning process for many companies as they make the transition," he said.
While pharmaceutical companies remain among the most profitable in the nation, it's getting harder to make a buck as competition heats up and health plans lean on patients to use low-cost generic drugs, notes IMS Health.
"A single point of market share can mean tens of millions of dollars of profitability," states the Website of IMS Health, which keeps detailed lists of doctors' prescribing habits to help drugmakers identify "key prescribers driving brand performance."
"Now, more than ever, brand managers are facing increased pressure to achieve aggressive revenue targets with tighter budgets," the Website notes. "Marketers must optimize brand performance … focusing on reaching every stakeholder, from physicians to consumers."
The Website might just as well have added "reaching politicians," another target of pharmaceutical company largesse.
As the political debate over drug costs heats up, drug companies are making sure politicians know where their bread is buttered. In Washington, D.C., Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch is ferried to speeches in drug-company jets. In Utah, the State Health Department is encountering resistance to its idea for controlling Medicaid spending by promoting generic drug use. The department estimated a generic shift could help save $12 million per year, but some legislators balked, citing states that have tried similar tactics only to lose money on new bureaucracy. Drugmakers gave Utah lawmakers more than $56,000 for last year's elections.
Increasingly, industry critics see little difference between such campaign contributions and the freebies and cash provided to doctors.
What the typical patient doesn't know, Bonomo says, is that the typical physician doesn't know a whole lot about drugs. Reading scientific studies isn't in the standard course for doctors. While there are widely available sources of information on drugs not written by the drug companies, reading the literature dropped off by the drug reps, along with a pizza, is much easier.
Sporting her "No Free Lunch" badge, Bonomo often gets looked at like she's a crazy person. She sometimes feels like a lone prophet in the wilderness decrying the false God raining doughnuts and drug samples from the sky.
Often, she'll walk in on a group of doctors surrounding a pizza dropped off by a drug rep and chide them, "You're selling your soul to the devil. You guys are eating the drug food again. Haven't you been listening to me?"
Sometimes, when she hasn't eaten for 10 hours, that slice of pizza looks good. But "No Free Lunch" Bonomo keeps her fast.


text:
Q: CSS Divs keep overlapping I am making a login screen with two sections. The login section (500x350) and a register section (500x350).
The problem is that everytime I resize the window the two divs keep overlapping.
 I have tried float, display:block, display:inline, Overflow automatic en hidden.
What could I try next?

A: The height and width are more than the window size. Try using % instead of px. See THIS You can increase the % according to your requirement.

          Login Section

          Register Section

       #login{
         background:yellow;
         height:50%;
         width:35%;
         float:left;
       }
       #register{
         background:pink;
         height:50%;
         width:35%;
         float:left;
       }


text:
Q: Drupal and Ubercart - buy products including and excluding tax I am developing an e-commerce site for use in the UK, and have been required to let the user buy products either with or without tax included.
I have slightly modified the AAC module to show prices either including or excluding VAT depending on a cookie which is set via a "view prices including/excluding" link, but of course whenever a product is added to cart, the price is that from the database - i.e. including VAT.
Does anyone know of any neat tricks or modules that would let me do this?

A: We've decided to go for just viewing prices excluding the vat, and not being able to buy them at the excluding vat price.
In case anyone needs it, here is the code/formula used to get the full price and work out the lower vat-free price:
(line 217-222 of uc_aac.module in my version - and you will need a div with the class "excluding_VAT").
//Get the updated price, minus VAT
new_val = parseFloat(updated_price.substr(1));
new_val = (100/115) * new_val;
new_val = Math.round(new_val*Math.pow(10,2))/Math.pow(10,2);

$(".excluding_VAT").html("£"+new_val+" exc VAT");


text:
2021 ACM Awards Will Take Place in Nashville
Angela Stefano Published: February 17, 2021
Getty Images for ACM
The ACM Awards will take place in Nashville again in 2021. The Academy of Country Music unveiled its plans for the annual awards show on Tuesday (Feb. 16), and they're likely to be quite similar to those for 2020's event.
The 2021 ACM Awards are set for April 18, a Sunday, and will air live on CBS beginning at 8PM ET. As they did in 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the awards show from April until September and caused showrunners to move the event to Nashville for the first time ever, the ACMs will be staged at the Grand Ole Opry House, the Ryman Auditorium and the Bluebird Cafe, three legendary venues in Music City.
"We're thrilled to return to Music City's most iconic venues as we come together on April 18 to celebrate the best in country music, back in our normal awards cycle," ACM CEO Damon Whiteside says in a press release. "A huge thank you to the city of Nashville, Grand Ole Opry House, Ryman Auditorium and Bluebird Cafe for welcoming us back to Nashville, where we can look out for the safety of our artists while shining a spotlight on this vibrant city after a tough 2020."
Because the ACM was established to spotlight and promote West Coast-based country music and its artists, the ACM Awards had taken place in the Los Angeles, Calif., area or Las Vegas, Nev., since their inception, save for when the show temporarily moved to the Dallas, Texas, area to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2015. However, as many of the artists involved with the Academy and the awards show are based in Nashville, the event's 2020 move ensured that the ACM Awards could take place live and in person, even if no fans were allowed and artists had to be scattered across the city.
Whether the 2020 ACM Awards' full slate of COVID-19 safety protocols -- a skeleton crew, pared-down performances and strict masking and social distancing rules among them -- will again be in place in 2021 remains to be seen. The Opry House and the Ryman have been allowing a limited number of fans at recent performances, though the much smaller Bluebird Cafe remains closed to the public.
"The health and safety of the artists, fans, industry, staff and partners involved in the ACM Awards is the number one priority," the Academy's press release notes. "All guidelines set forth by national, state and local health officials will be closely followed and implemented during the production, along with additional safety measures to be instated by Dick Clark Productions and the Academy of Country Music."
The 2021 ACM Awards are the 56th annual iteration of the event. Additional details, including a host, awards nominees and show performers, as well as who will be allowed to attend the event in person, will be announced in the coming weeks.
In recognition of the ACM Awards' 2021 return to Nashville, the Academy's charitable arm, ACM Lifting Lives, is making a $25,000 donation to the Music City, Inc. Foundation's Nashville Christmas Day Explosion Relief Fund. The money will specifically go to musicians who are out of work due to damage sustained by several venues in a bombing on 2nd Avenue North in downtown Nashville on Christmas 2020. The bombing site is only a couple of blocks away from the Ryman.
"The impact of the explosion was felt throughout the music community," says ACM Lifting Lives Executive Director Lyndsay Cruz, "and we hope this donation can help alleviate some of the burden on the community."
See Pictures from the 2020 ACM Awards Red Carpet:
See the Best Pictures from the 2020 ACM Awards:
Source: 2021 ACM Awards Will Take Place in Nashville
Filed Under: acm awards
Categories: Taste of Country Nights, Television
Why Jason Aldean Is Extra Nervous About Presenting at the ACM Awards
2022 ACM Awards Will Stream Exclusively on Amazon Prime
Dan + Shay Explain That Audio Issue During Their 2021 ACM Awards Performance
Luke Bryan Was 'Totally Surprised and Shocked' by His ACM Entertainer Win
The Best of the 2021 ACM Awards Red Carpet — See Pictures!
2021 ACM Awards Winners: See the Full List
2021 ACM Awards: Everything You Need to Know
Carly Pearce and Lee Brice Win 2021 ACM Awards Music Event of the Year for 'I Hope You're Happy Now'
What to Expect From the 2021 ACM Awards


After two years in Paris Van Gogh left the city, tired of the ceaseless activity and lonqinq for a peaceful and calm environment to work in. His initial enthusiasm for the city had worn quickly and his relationship with his brother Theo, exasperated by their shared living arranqements, was under considerable strain.
In February 1888, Van Gogh headed for the south of France, to Arles, a rural, aqricultural town nestled between the River Rhone and the wild countryside of the Camargue. He arrived armed with romantic preconceptions: to him the south was an unpolluted haven, a place of pure, clear colours and translucent light - it was to him the Japan of France, landscape scenes such as this, and paintings of trees and blossoms dominated his work as he immersed himself in the countryside, ignoring the ancient, buildings and more popular tourist sites in the town. His palette had brightened and become bolder, and increasingly he drew on the influence of Japanese woodcuts, which can clearly be seen here. He painted a number of pictures of the little wooden drawbridge outside Arles, which ironically was very Dutch in design.