Is Senomyx putting baby parts into your fruit juice? The answer may (not) surprise you.
Posted on July 26, 2018 February 28, 2019 by Chris in Data and society, The politics of health.
Every time you purchase mass-produced processed "food" from the likes of Kraft, PepsiCo, or Nestle, you're choosing, whether you realize it or not, to feed your family not only genetically engineered poisons and chemical additives, but also various flavoring agents manufactured using the tissue of aborted human babies.
It's true: A company based out of California, known as Senomyx, is in the business of using aborted embryonic cells to test fake flavoring chemicals, both savory and sweet, which are then added to things like soft drinks, candy and cookies. And Senomyx has admittedly partnered with a number of major food manufacturers to lace its cannibalistic additives into all sorts of factory foods scarfed down by millions of American consumers every single day.
– Natural News, Ethan A. Huff, Sickening: Major food corporations use tissue from aborted babies to manufacture flavor additives in processed foods, Natural News 25 April 2015, archive link.
Needless to say, this is total bullcrap, and in the following, we're going on a ride in the Magic Schoolbus through this fetid swamp of lies, half-truths and quarter-wits.
About ten years before I was born, a healthy foetus was (legally) aborted in Leiden, the Netherlands, and samples were taken from the foetus's kidney. They were much like the cells in your kidney. Like the cells in your kidney (hopefully!), they had a beginning and an end. That end is known as the Hayflick limit or 'replicative senescence limit'. Cells contain small 'caps' at the end of their chromosomes, known as telomeres.4 At every mitosis, these shorten a little, like a countdown clock, showing how many divisions the cell has left. And once the telomeres are all gone, the cell enters a stage called cellular senescence, and is permanently stuck in the G1 phase of the cell cycle, unable to move on to phase S. This is a self-preservative mechanism: with every mitosis, the cell line ages, and becomes more likely to start suffering from errors it passes on to its descendants. Experimentally, we know that the Hayflick limit is around 40-60 divisions.
Kadir Nelson, The Mother of Modern Medicine. Oil on linen, 59 1/2 x 49 1/2. Image courtesy of the National Museum of African American History & Culture, Washington, DC.
HeLa cells were immortal 'by nature' – they underwent changes that have rendered them cancerous/immortal, depending on perspective. But it's also possible to take regular mortal cells and interfere with their cell cycle to render them immortal. And this brings us back to the kidney cells of the foetus aborted in the 1970s, a life that was never born yet will never die, but live on as HEK 293. A cell biologist, Frank Graham, working in Alex van Eb's lab at the University of Leiden,6 used the E1 gene from adenovirus 5 to 'immortalise' the cell line, effectively rewriting the cell's internal regulation mechanism to allow it to continue to divide indefinitely rather than enter cellular senescence.7 This became the cell culture HEK 293,8 one of my favourite cell cultures altogether, with an almost transcendental beauty in symmetry.
HEK 293 cells, immunofluorescence photomicrograph.
You don't need to take new cell samples every time you need a few million cells to tinker with.
All cells in a cell line are perfectly identical.9 It goes without saying just how important for reproducible science it is to have widely available, standardised, reference cell lines.
Admittedly, this was a whistle-stop tour through cell cultures and immortal(ised) cell lines, but the basics should be clear. Right? I mean… right?
There is not a single disease ever identified cause by a lack of a drug, but there are diseases caused by a lack of vitamins, minerals and nutrients. Why, then, do we consider the former – chemical medicine – the standard of care and food-as-medicine as quackery? Money and power is the obvious answer.
Whereas cannibalism is considered by most modern societies to be the ultimate expression of uncivilized or barbaric behavior, it is intrinsic to many of the Western world's most prized biotechnological and medical innovations. Probably the most 'taken for granted' example of this is the use of live, aborted fetus cell lines from induced abortions to produce vaccines. Known as diploid cell vaccines (diploid cells have two (di-) sets of chromosomes inherited from human mother and father), they are non-continuous (unlike cancer cells), and therefore must be continually replaced, i.e. new aborted, live fetal tissue must be harvested periodically.
For the time being, the VRBPAC has mooted but not approved tumour cell line derived vaccines, and is unlikely to do so anytime soon. However, the idea that diploid cell vaccines need a constant influx of cells is completely idiotic, and reveals Mr Ji's profound ignorance.12 WI-38, for instance, is a diploid human cell line, and perfectly 'continuous' (by which he means immortal). There is no new "aborted, live fetal tissue" that "must be harvested periodically".
If you have soldiered on until now, good job. This is where the fun part comes – debunking the fear propaganda against Senomyx by a collection of staggering ignorami.
Senomyx is a company with a pretty clever business model. Instead of using human probands to develop taste enhancers (aka 'flavourings') and scents, Senomyx uses a foetal cell line, specifically HEK 293, to express certain receptors that mimic the taste receptors in the human body. Then, it tests a vast number of candidate compounds on them, and sees which elicit a particular reaction. That product (which typically is a complex organic chemical but has nothing to do with the foetal cell!) is then patented and goes into your food. To reiterate the obvious: no foetal cells ever get anywhere near your food.
The kerfuffle around this is remarkably stupid because this is basically the same as High Throughput Screening (HTS), a core component of drug development today.14 Let's go through how a drug is developed, with a fairly simple and entirely unrealistic example.15 We know that low postsynaptic levels of monoamines, especially of serotonin (but also dopamine and norepinephrine) correlate with low mood. One way to try to increase postsynaptic levels is by inhibiting the breakdown of monoamines, which happens by an enzyme called monoamine oxydase (MAO). But how do we find out which of the several thousand promising MAO inhibitors that our computer model spit out will actually work best? We can't run a clinical trial for each. Not even an animal test. But we can run a high throughput screen. Here's a much simplified example of how that could be done (it's not how it's actually done anymore, but it gets the idea across).
We take a microtitre plate (a flat plate with up to hundreds of little holes called 'wells' that each take about half a millilitre of fluid), and fill it with our favourite monoamine neurotransmitters. Mmm, yummy serotonin! But because we're tricky, we label them with a fluorescent tag or fluorophore, a substance that gives off light if excited by light of a particular wavelength, but only as long as they're not oxidated by MAO.
We add a tiny amounts of each of our putative drugs to a different well each of the microtitre plate.
Then, we add some monoamine oxidase to each well.
When illuminated by the particular wavelength of light that excites the fluorophores, some wells will light up pretty well, others will be fairly dark. The bright wells indicate that the candidate drug in that well has largely inhibited monoamine oxidase, and thus the monoamine neurotransmitter remained intact. A dark well indicates that most or all of the monoamines were oxidised and as such no longer give off light. This helps us whittle down thousands of candidate molecules to hundreds or even dozens.
What Senomyx does is largely similar. While their process is proprietary, it is evident it's largely analogous to high throughput screening. The human cell lines are modified to express receptors analogous to those in taste buds. These are exposed to potential flavourings, and the degree to which they stimulate the receptor can be quantified and even compared, so that e.g you can gauge what quantity of this new flavouring would offset 1 grams of sugar. The candidate substances are then tested on real people, too. Some of the substances are not sweeteners itself but taste intensifiers, which interact to intensify the sweet taste sensation of sugar. It's a fascinating technology, and a great idea – and has a huge potential to reduce the amount of sugars, salts and other harmful dietary flavourings in many meals.
S2227, a menthol-like flavouring manufactured by Senomyx. Can you spot the aborted cells? Nope, neither can I.
The end product is a flavouring – a molecule that has nothing to do with aborted cells (an example, the potent cooling sensate S2227, is depicted to the left – I dare anyone to show me where the aborted foetal cells are!). Soylent green, it turns out, is not people babies after all.
Now, two matters are outstanding. One is the safety of these substances. That, however, is irrelevant to how they were isolated. The product of a high-throughput screen is no more or less likely to be toxic than something derived from nature. The second point is a little more subtle.
Companies like PepsiCo and Nestle S.A. seek to gain over competitors. To do so, they boast products like "reduced sugar", "reduced sodium", "no msg", etc. Sales profits and stocks increase when consumers believe they eat or drink a healthier product.
The Weston A Price Foundation carries skepticism. They believe that the bottom line is what's important. Companies only want to decrease the cost of goods for increased profits. Shareholders only care about stock prices and investment potential.
Err… and you expected what? There is absolutely no doubt that something that gives your body the taste of salt without the adverse effects of a high-sodium diet is A Good Thing – so consumers do not merely think they're getting a healthier product, they're getting a product with the same taste they prefer, but without the adverse dietary consequences (in other words: a healthier product). To people who have to adhere to a strict low-sodium diet due to kidney disease, heart disease/hypertension or other health issues, this could well give back a craved-for flavour and improve quality of life. To people struggling with obesity, losing weight without having to say no to their favourite drink can result in better health outcomes. People with peanut allergies can enjoy a Reese's Cup with a synthetic and chemically different protein that creates the same taste sensation, without risking anaphylaxis. In the end, these are things that matter, and should matter more than the fact that – shock horror! – someone is making money out of this.
All Senomyx does is what drug companies have been doing for decades, and an increasing number of companies will. But yet again, the cynics who see lizardoid conspiracies and corporate deceit behind every wall know the price of everything, but haven't thought about the value of it for a second, have seized upon another talking point. They did so exploiting a genuine pro-life sentiment so many hold dear, intentionally misrepresenting or recklessly misunderstanding the fact that no aborted tissue will ever make its way into your Coke, nor will there be a need for a stream of abortions to feed a burgeoning industry for artificial taste bud cell lines. If anybody here is exploitative, it's not Senomyx – it's those who seize upon the universal human injunction against cannibalism and infanticide to push a scientifically incorrect, debunked agenda against something they themselves barely understand.
1. ↑ This is not a post about the politics of abortion, Roe v Wade, pro-life vs pro-choice, religion vs science or any of the rest. It is about laying a pernicious lie to rest. My position regarding abortion is quite irrelevant to this, as is theirs, but it deserves mention that all of the people who got in touch hold very genuine and consistent views about the sanctity of life. Please let's not make it about something it isn't about.
2. ↑ Needless to say, this is not my friends' usual fare, they too have seen it on social media and were quite dubious.
3. ↑ In line with our linking policy, we do not link to pages that endorse violence, hate or discrimination.
4. ↑ From Greek τέλος, 'end'.
5. ↑ Finally, Rebecca Skloot's amazing book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, paid a long overdue tribute to the mother of modern medicine in 2010. Her book is a must-read to anyone who wants to understand the ethical complexities of immortal cell lines, as well as the touching story of a woman whom we for so long have known by initials only, yet owe such a debt to.
6. ↑ Disclosure: the University of Leiden is my alma mater, I have spent a wonderful year there, and received great treatment at LUMC, the university hospital. I am not, and have never been, in receipt of funds from the university.
8. ↑ Human, Embryonic, Kidney, from experiment #293.
9. ↑ Sort of. Like all human processes, cell culturing is not perfect. One risk is a so-called 'contaminated cell line', and the classical case study for that is the Chang Liver cell line, which turned out to be all HeLa, all the way. This is not only a significant problem, it is also responsible for huge monetary loss and wasted research money. You can read more about this, and what scientists are doing to combat the problem, here.
10. ↑ For ethical reasons, this blog refuses to link to, and thus create revenue for, quacks, extremists and pseudoscientists. However, where the source material is indispensable, an archival service is used to obtain a snapshot of the website, so that you, too, can safely peruse Mr Ji's nonsense without making him any money. GreenMedInfo has a whole tedious page on how to cite their nonsense, which I am going to roundly ignore because a) it looks and reads like it was written by someone who flunked out of pre-law in his sophomore year, b) 17 U.S.C. §107 explicitly guarantees fair use rights for scholarship, research and criticism.
12. ↑ The word 'profound' is especially meet in this context.
13. ↑ Which sounds like something someone MUST have done already. Come on. It's 2018.
14. ↑ This article is a fantastic illustration of just how powerful this technique is!
15. ↑ Unrealistic, because we know all there is to know about monoamine oxidase inhibitors, and there's no point in researching them much more – but it illustrates the point well!
16. ↑ Yes, I brought THAT meme in here!
You lost me at magic bus. You want me to jump on a bus you call magic. Just what is magic? Its fabricated, an illusion, fake, phoney, trickery. We all know its a slight of the hand or optical illusions, the power of APPARENTLY influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces.
Nah, Ill let that bus go on by. Gotta choose your words wisely. If you say they dicovered it 35 years ago, that just means today, its more advanced.
Not only is it a magic bus, it's a Magic School Bus! I'm not sure if you're familiar with it, as it's an American thing, but the Magic School Bus was an edutainment series in the US for kids, featuring a school bus driven by a somewhat demented primary school teacher, Ms Frizzle, who would take her students through everything from the solar system to the inside of the human body on the 'Magic School Bus', which had the capacity to change size at will (and apparently also to travel through time, space and all that, instantly).
It is, of course, entirely irrelevant to the rest of the post, which requires you to get past a useless attempt by the author to be funny and turn on your scientific brain, because the rest doesn't involve a scintilla of a smidgen of a trace of magic.
Missionaries: the other white meat.
If you are taking parts of the human body whether they be proteins, cells, or rib meat because you enjoy the flavor you're still engaging in cannibalism. Leave aside the abortion aspect, it is no different than missionaries being eaten by cannibals in the South Pacific.
Except you do NOT ingest any human cells. You use cells in vitro to assess the response of synthetic receptors expressed by those cells, thereby gauging the expected sensory response to a small molecule chemical that did not originate in the body or the cell line. You don't ingest the cells. It's no different from good old high throughput screening. This surely can't be that hard.
who's the staggering ignorami? what does HEK stand for? Human embryonic kidney.
Indeed. I said as much, and you'd know if you had checked Footnote 8.
You confuse complexity with foundations. Most things are easy to explain to someone who has a good grasp of the underlying ideas. Unfortunately, cell cultures and cell lines aren't common knowledge, as witnessed by the sheer abundance of people who think that testing a molecule on synthetic receptors created from an embryonic immortalised cell line is the same as consuming human tissue (which it is not).


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Danziger Gallery announces representation of Carla van de Puttelaar
30 October 2014 — 20 December 2014
Danziger Gallery, West 23rd Street, New York, NY, United States New York City Show on map | add to calendar
October 30 until December 20, exhibition of work by Dutch artist Carla van de Puttelaar from 1998 to the present
From October 30 until December 20, a large overview of works by Carla van de Puttelaar will be shown at Danziger Gallery.
About Carla van de Puttelaar
Carla van de Puttelaar (b. 1967) is a graduate of the renowned Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. Her work has been exhibited in The Netherlands, Hungary, Germany, Belgium, France, Spain, Korea and the United States. Collections holding van de Puttelaar's work include Museum Winterhur (Switzerland), Huis Marseille Museum voor Fotografie (The Netherlands), and the Victoria and Albert Museum (London). She has had her work published in numerous press publications, with a monograph published by Le Caillou Bleu (Belgium) in 2008.
Carla's work at Danziger Gallery
Danziger Gallery announces its representation of the Dutch artist Carla van de Puttelaar and their first show of her work. Carla is best known for her luminous nude studies characterized by their exquisite use of light and subtle color, van de Puttelaar's pictures engage the sense of touch almost as much as the sense of sight. Human skin becomes its own landscape – a place where every freckle, crease, and mark is a noted event.
This exhibition showcases work from 1998 to the present where van de Puttelaar's photographs, whether of women or flowers, tread a fine line between the sensual and an almost medical dispassion. Shot against darkened backgrounds, and illuminated by the special quality of natural Dutch light, the works create a daring fusion of beauty and realism enabled by the artist's careful control of composition.
In a 2009 interview with the writer Joerg Colberg, van de Puttelaar explained "The female body is my source of inspiration. I have my own tale to tell, which is different from what nude images the media want to show. I am especially interested in the skin, the sensations that give away somebody's mood. I also like the differences in women's bodies as a whole, which show their individuality and their many different forms of beauty. I often hear from both men and women that my work could only be made by a woman and that is the biggest compliment I can get. I certainly believe that most of nude photos we see are made from the typical male point of view. Through my photos of women I can express myself as a woman. Again very autobiographical."
30 October 2014 - 20 December 2014

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Gregg Thomas, Jim McGuire and Jim Lake were named to the 2017 Legal Elite, an honor given by Florida Trend magazine.
Two-thirds of Thomas & LoCicero's attorneys have been named "2017 Florida Super Lawyers" by legal publisher Thomson Reuters.
David R. Wheeler, Editor
Hate speech is still protected speech, Jim Lake says in an interview with the Alive Tampa Bay website.
Join the Tampa Bay Times, Politifact and WFTS who will talk about what you can do to identify where a story comes from, and what's behind it.
On Wednesday afternoon a judge heard arguments on whether to make public the interview Austin Harrouff gave to the Dr. Phil Show.
It's certainly in poor taste, but I'd also say that it's not something that any prosecutor could successfully go after Madonna for.
"She will be the first to tell you, though, that there are a lot of good people in our town — and a lot of them are lawyers."
Everything in that subsection offends the First Amendment of the United States Constitution
Unlike many states, Florida's version does not contain any special burden shifting, burden of proof, motion to strike, or discovery provisions to help flesh out the details of SLAPP dismissals. Further, as noted, there have been limited opportunities for Florida courts to weigh in on the earlier narrow law.
Schreiber ordered the release of the Orlando Pulse shooter audio recordings following dozens of media requests.
Review and rating websites are largely protected from liability under the Communications Decency Act.
The reality is they don't want people to say anything against the picture they're trying to paint.
In the aftermath of the horrific mass shooting at the Pulse club in Orlando, questions are swirling about the shooter, his motivations, and the 911 calls during the attack.
The case is remanded to the Circuit Court of the Ninth Judicial Circuit.
The National Association of Minority & Women Owned Law Firms
TLo's Latest Addition to the Firm
Clerk's offices in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Hernando and Pasco are at different stages of pushing records to the Web after the Florida Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that documents can be released electronically.
Your employees, family, and friends all have the ability to share content on social networks in text, audio, and video formats that can significantly impact your business relationships and future growth.
Last year, the Federal Circuit ruled that Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1052(a), which prohibits registration of "scandalous, immoral, or disparaging" marks, could not be used to deny registration of the mark the "Slants" for an Asian-American band, because Section 2(a) violates the First Amendment.
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Summer Reading Group: "God, Nihilism, and Flourishing"
Ronald Osborn
This is the final post in a seven-part series for Spectrum's 2016 Summer Reading Group. Each post was drawn from chapters of the book Flourishing by Miroslav Volf. You can view the reading/posting schedule here.
"A specter is haunting the world," Miroslav Volf writes in his epilogue to Flourishing, "the specter of nihilism." By "nihilism" Volf does not mean widespread and explicit rejection of morality or religion. He is concerned instead with what he calls a "stealthier kind of nihilism." Sometimes it "wears a clean, ironed, and buttoned-up uniform of moral order," and sometimes it "romps around pushing against the parameters" of this order. In all cases, however, it drains the world of meaning and leaves us "with the crushing burden of an unbearably light existence." Consider, for example, both the "passive" and "active" nihilisms recently on display amid the leafy suburbs of Silver Spring, Maryland—the nihilism, as startling as it may sound, of the Seventh-day Adventist Church's 2016 Annual Council meeting.
According to the nineteenth-century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, the moral and spiritual trajectory of Western civilization has culminated in the rise of those he called the "Last Men"—mindless consumers incapable of heroic striving and entertaining themselves to death, all the while imagining themselves to be the highest exemplars of humankind. We need not accept Nietzsche's atheism to see that religious institutions and people are by no means immune from the malaise he diagnosed. His indictment of our market-driven "herd-morality" offers more penetrating insights into the life of the church than we might care to admit.
Attending just one day of this year's Annual Council as a lay observer, one would find it difficult to shake the feeling of being, indeed, in the presence of history's "Last Men," albeit not in the sense they themselves imagined. The delegates sitting near to me grew most animated not when some of their fellow believers offered carefully reasoned and heartfelt pleas with them to pause in their rush to vote upon a vaguely menacing document just handed down from on high. Instead, they came most alive during the sales pitches by representatives from two cities vying to host a future General Conference. "St. Louis or Indianapolis? Which will it be? Watch these promotional videos about their entertainment and dining venues and then decide!" Here was a group of men (for they were almost entirely men) blinking and voting in blocs on matters of momentous importance to the entire Adventist community. But many of them appeared to care more about having two options of where to go shopping than they were with the fact that they had just been presented with a single option for understanding the church's ecclesiology and doctrine of unity.
If the passive nihilism of the Last Men is one of the specters haunting our world, there is a second type of nihilism that Nietzsche did not diagnose so much as embody. This is the active nihilism of those who Volf calls "today's high achievers." "They work hard, they compete hard, and they walk over the bodies of the vanquished with smug indifference." For them, life is all about "bending the shape of the world to align with their needs." They are the ones who are not bound by the same rules that apply to others, for "nothing has authority over" them. They decide on the exceptions to the rules. Or, we might say in the language of a recent document from the General Conference Secretariat, they are the ones with "plenary power" over everyone who happens to be "lower" than them in the grand scheme of things.
Unfortunately, all of the perils of will to power—what St. Augustine called libido dominandi, the lust for domination—apply to Adventist officialdom no less than to any other fallible human institution, as anyone who has lived close to church politics and has any sense of realism knows. It is possible for the General Conference president and all the president's men to lead not by building consensus across differences but by consolidating and expanding their own power. It is possible for those in the Inner Circle to attempt to bend the church to their own wills through procedural maneuvering, pressure tactics, and backdoor dealings. It is possible for them to refuse to submit to the teaching authority and tempering wisdom of the church's theologians and biblical scholars. It is possible for them to forget that they have been appointed as valued functionaries with strictly administrative rather than priestly, apostolic, or ecclesiastical titles. It is possible for them to mistake "winning" by sheer majoritarian votes with building actual unity in the body of Christ. And it is possible for them to do all these things with blinkered confidence that God is always on their side.
Perhaps the greatest evidence that even church officials can be active nihilists at heart can be found in the bold claim we now hear being made by some individuals that obedience to Christ is virtually synonymous with obedience to the Working Policy—the one book they themselves have the power to write and re-write. Active nihilism might best be summarized as the notion, in Volf's words, that "meaning lies with us." When we are parched for meaning, we end up projecting our own power onto others—whether this power appears in a secular or a religious guise—in an attempt to fill finite goods and fallible institutions with ultimate values.
When the passive nihilism of the middling managers and the active nihilism of the dynamic powerbrokers come together in the name of Church, the result is often a soul-crushing fundamentalism and—in the Adventist context—the worst of two possible worlds: endless speech-making and pro forma voting but without any of the robust checks and balances of a healthy democracy, combined with a religious hierarchy in which those at the top claim ever growing authority in theological matters but without strong theological qualifications or intellectual accountability. The great virtue of an ecclesiastical as opposed to a managerial hierarchy is that at least a conclave of bishops carries with it the authority of hard earned erudition. Not so a conclave of bureaucrats.
Volf's book is primarily addressed to those who have grown skeptical of the possibility of a generous and peaceful religious engagement with the urgent political crises of our age. Yet many of his insights can also be applied to believers who are full of confidence in religion's importance. His answer to the challenge of contemporary nihilism—both in and out of the church—is a recovery of sacramental theology. To see the world as a sacrament is to see it as a gift, and "To think of a gift," he writes, "you must, of course, think of a giver." Volf freely acknowledges that this theological vision is entirely contestable. However, he argues, the Christian narrative, if true, "makes possible a unity of meaning and ordinary pleasures." It frees us to encounter the world not as something to dominate and control but as a space in which we might still be surprised by joy. It leads us out of the traps and masks of nihilism to a theology of Sabbath rest. "On this one day of the week, a day toward which all days are aiming and from which they all gain meaning, human striving comes to an end, and the joy in the world as the gift and in God as the giver reigns supreme…. We come to experience ordinary things as extraordinary—as the Lover's gifts—and therefore rejoice in them all the more."
For Adventist readers, Volf's book comes as an essential reminder that our flourishing as individuals and as communities does not finally hinge upon whatever happens to be voted by men in dark suits at the General Conference. Whether or not the church remains faithful in its visible, institutional forms, our flourishing remains anchored in God's ongoing care for all of creation. When nihilism seeps into even our church life, Christ still offers us the warmth of authentic human community at the margins and the peace of Sabbath rest.
Ronald Osborn is a wandering philosopher and the author of "Humanism and the Death of God: Searching for the Good After Darwin, Marx, and Nietzsche" (Oxford University Press, 2017).
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Stevo, Mark, and I stood on the edge of the enormous cliff next to a brown wooden sign that said "Bill Hall Trailhead". We had made the long drive from Phoenix out to the west side of the North Kaibab the night before in search of adventure and a tough challenge. This Grand Canyon goal was to complete the Thunder River/Deer Creek trail with a side trek aimed for the Tepeats Cave up on the Tepeats Spring Canyon.
Packs were heavy on our backs, loaded down with supplies for the three day journey. Being as ready as we were going to be, we took our first steps towards Monument Point as the sun was rising just before bombing into the abyss of the Grand Canyon. From the top we could see Bridger's Knoll sticking up out of the esplanade plateau like the razorback of an old dinosaur. From there, we bombed down and let me tell you, with a 30 lb pack on your back pushing you down, it wasn't easy. The trail was loose and steep, and with trekking poles in hand we picked our way down the first set of switchbacks. Before long we were skirting the trail westward in the shade, and as we rounded the bend we found ourselves at a beautiful open vista of the canyon beyond . . . and a nice 15 foot down climb. Stevo was first up and took it in stride while Marko and I adjusted our packs. With handholds aplenty, we made quick work of the short climb and pushed on.
We finished the skirt and the many short, fast switchbacks which plopped us down on the esplanade plateau where the Indian Hollow trail met up with us. We strode forward amongst the sandstone formations and washed out cracks taking everything in, joking about current events, and talking about the dinners we would be downing that night. Just a few miles in, we took a quick rest and completed our water drop next to a huge sandstone formation. Knowing we had many more miles ahead we pushed on, over the open planes until finally we reached the head of the redwall. We looked down at the tiny trail below which we knew would be our ticket to Thunder river and eventually Tepeats Creek. Man what a view!
With no time to waste we bombed off again down the next dropoff. The sun had been creeping its way above our heads and as we dropped in elevation the temps began to rise. We hit the base of the redwall in a place called Surprise Valley. We joked "Surprise! It's hot as hell!" After a short breather and a huge chug of water we headed east across the valley towards Thunder River. Up and down the small hills we climbed, the gorgeous canyon walls all around us, until finally we heard a fierce rumbling in the distance. We kept trekking closer and closer until reached the top of the canyon that fed Thunder River. A huge waterfall was just rapidly spewing gallons of water per minute from the rock face. It was hard to fathom where all the flow was coming from. An underground river riding a water table out of the wall? It's hard to know. Like a pack of kids finding an X on a treasure map we scurried down the switchbacks and soon found ourselves at the base of the falls. The water was a crisp, clean, and cool and though we were star stuck admiring the falls, we knew we had to move on.
We dropped down further, skirting the canyons narrow west side trail until we reached Upper Tepeats camp where we would stay for the night. It was only noon, but we knew if we had any chance of getting to the Tepeats cave we would have to get a move on. We setup our tents, staking our claim, and strapped on day packs to once again hit the trail with our eyes set on the cave, 1500 feet of gain and 3 miles of a bushwhack away.
Is it time to cross yet?!
Crossing the river to the east side of the canyon we soon met the confluence of Thunder River and Tepeats Creek. Heading east, we stayed on the south bank until forced across the creekagain. Thick reeds, cat law acacia, and other brush did its best to thwart our efforts. We pushed further up the creek, hopping back and forth before finally coming to a mini-subway (rock formation in Zion). Soon after we pushed up past the mini-subway we found the mini-narrows, another formation resembling a Zion-like staple. The creek was wall-to-wall here and there was no other choice but to push up through the 50 degree waters. After 50 yeards or so we spotted a cairn sitting on a wall to the right of the creek. We decided to take that option, anything to get us out of the water for a while. We climbed up out of the riverbed to the south bank which took us skirting far above the rushing waters of the creek. This was the easiest terrain of the whole side trek to the cave, so we enjoyed it!
All good things come to an end, and so did our dry wall skirt as the trail dumped us back into the creek and pushed us north up the final canyon that held the cave. We were all tired by this point, but there was work yet to be done. We found a small use trail and continued to push forward, hopping rock to rock, pushing through thick brush, and skirting exposed rock faces before the mouth of the cave finally came into sight. It was on the east wall, just below the last cottonwood we could see in the canyon. We had expected the trial to become a little easier from here, but it only became harder. Marko, exhausted form the journey and coming in cold, decided to sit out the last push and replenish his batteries creekside with a water filter and a good snack. Stevo and I pushed on up the loose rock hopping back and forth the final quarter mile before reaching our goal.
Up Tepeats Creek we go!
We turned around knowing time was running short and headed back the way we came. Through the maze of the cave, out the mouth, and back across the skirting exposed faces of the trail, we made our way until finally meeting back up with Mark. We could have easily spent hours in the cave checking out every crack, every room, nook and cranny. There is no telling how big the place was as some rooms were inaccessible without the proper gear. Satisfied with our journey for the day, though, we slogged back to camp tired but in good spirits. To our surprise we arrived just before the last bit of light slipped out of the canyon. As we cooked our Mountain House meals we exhaustedly reflected on the trek behind us and what was yet to come. What a great day it was, there's nothing I love more than being outdoors.
cave lake, so clear and clean!
Kari and I set out from Phoenix on a Saturday night in great spirits, our sights set on Mount Lemon for some trad climbing. Located just outside of Tucson, AZ, Mount Lemon is a "sky island" where the base rises rapidly from the surrounding desert to a good 7000 feet in prominence. Along the road that would lead us to the top, characterized by hairpin turn after hairpin turn, was a different climbing crag. We were aiming for a trad route called Standard Route with the Black Quacker linkup just off of Rap Rock near the summit. After the long drive up the mountain, we found a nice spot on incinerator ridge where sparse camping is welcome and plopped down for the night. As an added bonus we got to watch a killer lighting storm from afar as it lit up the night sky just before crashing out.
The next morning the sun rose far too early. Rustling like a couple of lazy bears we finally got up, got breakfast rolling, and packed everything up for the day's trek. The engine vroomed as I started my van and before long were off once again, headed for the summit parking lot. We pulled in to see a few other climbers getting ready to set off for their intended routes. We grabbed our gear and the route description and headed down Mount Lemon Trail #5 towards Rap Rock. We passed a small metal shack next to Quartzite Spring, and just 100 yards later the climber's trail bombed down a drop-off headed to the saddle just behind Rap Rock.
Down, down, down per usual, we hit the saddle and found the trail split, heading both east and west. Following the route description we took the trail to the east and it was bushwhacking time! The "trail" was tight and overgrown so we stumbled our way through it, trying to find the path of least resistance, until finally circling the southern face of the wall and the base of our climb. We started pulling gear from our packs and prepared for the ascent. Rope? Check. Harness? Check. Shoes, helmet, trad rack? Check, check, check. Quick draws? …silence… Quick draws? Kari looked up at me with an 'Oh crap!' look and I knew there was something wrong. We pulled our bags apart, double and triple checking, but it soon set in that the quick draws were still sitting in the van, doing nobody any good.
Such is life, I guess. We were outdoors with some awesome weather…I could think of worse places to be! We stashed our gear, I stuffed my daypack with water for two, and we took off to the west of the rock thinking it looked like a better trail to get back to the saddle. This proved to be our second mistake of the day! Skirting the base of Rap Rock was easy enough at first, but soon we were pushed into a nasty, thick bushwhack with no clear trail to the saddle. We had already lost too much time as it was, so we had no other choice but to keep pushing up through the enclosing brush.
Bushwhacking! Climbing back up to gather our quick draws, little log balance action!
Hopping boulders, dodging sharp thorns, and pushing up some unforgiving gain we finally reached the saddle. I looked to Kari, who was a bit flustered, and asked "Just like home, huh?!" Being from Iceland, Kari was used to the off-trail bushwhack and we were both determined to get a good climb in for the day. We reached the van and found the quick draws hidden away in the bottom of his gear bag. We laughed at the silly mistake, at that point it was all we could do, and headed back down to where we had left our gear at the base of the climb.
No one else had been in the area so our gear was undisturbed. We strapped all our gear on and got ready for the climb. Quick draws?! Check! The climb was a 4 pitch and Kari opted to take the first. Reaching the first gear placement is always the hardest climb for lead climbers, and the hardest part to watch for lead belayers. Kari was up on the wall just 5 or 6 feet off the ground but began to skirt toward a crack off to the right. As he traversed, the ground below dropped off making the penalty for a fall even more severe. Until he placed his first piece, the only support he had was being tied to a rope, which in turn was tied to me 15 feet below. He finally reached the crack, looking (from my perspective) like a sticky tree frog, where he placed his first piece and clipped the rope in without breaking a sweat. "On belay" I hollered, letting him know I had him if a fall were to occur.
Kari pushed on, up the crack until finally reaching a nice pine on the ledge above. He set the anchor, pulled the slack out of the rope, and hollered back "On belay!" I was technically on 'top rope' at this point, the safest kind of climb you can have, especially with a bomber tree to hold my weight if I were to fall. I threw my pack on and plunged my hands into my chalk bag… it was finally time to climb! Up the tiny holds on the slab I went, finding the traverse, and like a silly climber I gave the drop below me a good gander. My fingers beaded with sweat as I continued to traverse toward the crack. I finally reached it, throwing my hands inside the negative crack and using friction to hold myself in place until I could grab a good hold higher up. I collected the gear and slowly picked my way upwards to the tree where Kari waited. I clipped into the anchor, relieved to have the first section done.
After a short break, I began to gather the gear and prepped for my first trad lead up the second pitch. The full trad rack weighed on my neak, dangling over my chest, obstructing my clear view of footholds below me. "This is going to be fun" I thought to myself as I reviewed the pictures of the route ahead. The runout to the first gear placement was pretty substantial, at least in my mind, at maybe 20-30 feet (I could easily be exaggerating) and the description read "PG13". I started the climb, slowly making my way up the slab. It wasn't a very technical start, but the next safe rock seemed to be miles away. I looked back down to Kari 15 feet below and thought "I can't downclimb this, I have no choice but up". This was about the time that I noticed Kari was looking away from me, and I knew it couldn't be a good sign. He later told me that he had looked at me half way up the pitch and thought "What have I gotten Mike into?" It was time to turn the lizard climbing brain on and push all the negative thoughts out. I concentrated only on the holds and feel in front of me, and before I knew it I had worked my way into the first usable crack and was searching for a good placement for my first nut.
Finally I stuck it, threw a quick draw on the end of the nut leadwire, and yelled "clipping" as I pulled the rope up to clip in. A huge weight lifted off my shoulders and I sighed as I finally felt relatively safe. Leading is a total mind game. Sure there is danger, but if you can keep it together you'll be just fine. I kept pushing up, placing piece after piece as I shouted "Clipping! Clipping!" Feeling focused, I spanned from one high left to a crack on the right into a layback which felt good. Inch by inch, I scampered up the pitch until I finally made it to the next belay station. I set up a good anchor and put Kari on top rope. The friction was high from the second pitch; I was pulling with each arm independently to take the slack out as he climbed, coiling the rope at my feet until finally Kari popped over the ledge as well. "Nice lead man!" He exclaimed as he clipped into the anchor. It was my first true trad lead and I was happy everything went as "smoothly" as it did.
Kari lead the third pitch, making it look easy as always, even through some tough overhang spots and questionable crack traverses. He stopped at the top of the third pitch at a hanging belay and once again I was ready to climb. I clung to the rock, pulling gear as I went up and over the tough overhang start to a traverse with a foot on a convenient tree limb (I counted on it, why not?!). I tried to climb quickly as I knew Kari wasn't a fan of the hanging belay. I finally reached Kari at the belay. My feet were on fire from being stuffed in aggressive shoes, it didn't help that the sun was beaming on my already pressured feet. We swapped lead for just the first section of the pitch as I needed a break and Kari wanted to take on some exposed chicken head work (small rock formations that were great holds and almost looked like little deformed mushrooms which stood proud above the surrounding surface). He quickly reached a good belay spot and I was off again. Chicken heads are great for climbing but labor intensive on the rope as they cause quite a bit of friction, so Kari stopped short and I finished the final pitch onto the summit and into the dark. The sun had long since forgotten us and the moon came out to help light Kari's final ascent up the 4th pitch.
Summit! We finally made it! Exhausted form the day's climb we gathered our gear and prepped for the hike out. We slowly made our way down the backside of Rap Rock down a class 3 scramble and back to the saddle that would eventually lead to the van. It was a full day and we were both ready for it to be over, but we still had the "short" 25 mile drive down the mountain and the two hour road trip back to Phoenix ahead of us. What another awesome day, I'd take an exhausted moonlit walk back to the truck any day over being stuck inside an office. Get out there and push your own limits, you never know what new experience you'll have and I can guarantee you won't regret it!
Looking up the 4th pitch (exposed and spicy but good holds) towards chicken head central!
Food: 2 Cliff bar, 1 plum, 3 protien bars, 1 bag of meditorranian vegitabke chips.


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Moshe Shlisel
CEO & Co Founder, GuardKnox Cyber Technologies Ltd.
Moshe is a Veteran of the Israeli Air Force (IAF). He served as the Deputy Commander of Special Operations and oversaw the development and application of highly complex products, including the development and implementation of hardware based security solutions. He held various executive positions within TADIRAN Communication and Elbit Systems, served as General Manager of medical ERP startup ExactCost, CEO of audience measurement startup TruMedia and COO of satellite communication company SatixFy. Moshe holds a B.Sc. in electro-optics from the Technicon and an MA in Economic Policy (Cum Laude) from Tel Aviv University.
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Entry into effect of the new law for payment of tax arrears by instalments
The Process of Adjustment of Tax Arrears Law 2017 establishes a procedure for settling arrears of taxes which arose prior to that date by up to 60 monthly instalments. It covers all nationally-imposed taxes including income tax, value added tax, special contribution for defence (commonly known as SDC tax), capital gains tax, stamp duty and special contribution to be paid by employees, pensioners and the self-employed.
The law entered into effect on 3 July 2017, but the Tax Department announced on 14 July that the option of payment by instalments will not be available until 21 July 2017. Until then, taxpayers may obtain a waiver of 95% of any penalties and interest by submitting a completed application form at a tax office in person accompanied by a remittance for the amount outstanding as long as they have submitted all requisite returns and have no other tax liabilities outstanding.
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This bathroom shelving unit offers great storage in shabby chic style. A versatile solution with handy towel staker, shelving and hooks. A versatile storage solution with 2 towel holders, basket style shelving unit that is ideal for holding those bottles, lotions and potions, all completed with 3 handy hooks on the bottom, great for holding towels and bathrobes. In a classic shabby chic style that will suit many interiors and help keep your bathroom clutter free.
This bathroom shelving unit offers great storage in shabby chic style. A versatile solution with handy towel staker, shelving and hooks.
A versatile storage solution with 2 towel holders, basket style shelving unit that is ideal for holding those bottles, lotions and potions, all completed with 3 handy hooks on the bottom, great for holding towels and bathrobes.
In a classic shabby chic style that will suit many interiors and help keep your bathroom clutter free.
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A great addition to our range of shelving and storage units. In a selection of sizes, colours and finishes to suit every interior.


The new layer concept in Cinema 4D R10 helps you to easily manage complex scenes, such as imported CAD files which often contain thousands of polygon objects.
So what are layers? Layers are nothing other than groups of scene items that can be controlled together.
hidden in the Object Manager, Material Manager and timeline.
locked, i.e., protected from unintentional changes.
have their deformers switched on or off.
have their Subdivision Surfaces switched on or off.
You can quickly and easily tell layers apart by assigning a custom color to each layer. The layer colors also appear in the Object Manager, timeline and Material Manager to indicate which scene items are on which layers.
Layers in Cinema 4D are global; in other words, they belong to an object, tag, shader, and so on and are not tied down to a particular manager. This allows you, for example, to hide an object in both the Object Manager and the timeline at the same time. For this reason layers are also saved in the scene file.
Child objects do not inherit their parent's layer properties. For example, if you hide a parent object's layer, its child objects are not affected (provided the objects are not on the same layer as the parent).
You can assign layers to items via Drag & drop. The most popular way is to open the Layer Manager (main menu: Window | Layer Manager), create layers (double-click in the Layer Manager), and Drag & drop the layer onto the item or vice versa.
You can also drag layers directly onto objects in the viewport.
If you hold down the Ctrl/Cmd key while dragging and dropping a layer onto an item, the layer is assigned to the item's children as well .
You can also assign an item's layer color to child items or surrounding items by painting with the mouse button held down.
Right-click on the selected items and choose Add To Layer.
Select the items and in the Layer Manager choose File / New Layer From Object Selection.
Almost all items have a Layer field in the Attribute Manager on their Basic Properties tab. To assign a layer, Drag & drop the layer into this field or choose the desired layer from the drop-down list.
You can make layers children of other layers via Drag & drop in the Layer Manager. This allows you to arrange layers into tree structures.
Ctrl-clicking on a property (switch) for a parent layer sets the property for the parent and its child layers. This means that with a single mouse click you can set a switch to the same status for the entire branch. Following this you can then go about adjusting the switch status individually for child layers as desired.
Now that you know how to create and assign layers, what can you do with them? This is the topic of the next section.
The Layer Manager with all switches present.
Create and delete layers and arrange them into hierarchies. As with arranging objects in the Object Manager, simply Drag & drop one layer onto another. You can also drag child layers out of the hierarchy or into other hierarchies.
Use various switches to manage the items on the layer, such as whether they are shown in the editor, managers and renderer.
To select a layer, click on its name. If you then Shift-click on another layer's name, this will select both layers and the ones between them. You can also invert the selection status using the Ctrl/Cmd key.
With the introduction of Cinema 4D R17, layer settings of selected (or multiple) layers can also be displayed and modified in the Attribute Manager (which also has a special Layer mode). In conjunction with the Take function, Takes can be assigned to Cinema 4D elements on different layers.
In this example, all items that are not geometry (such as lights, cameras and backgrounds) have been assigned their own layers, which in turn have been placed inside a Scene layer. Likewise, the geometry has been split up into various layers, which in turn are inside a Geometry layer. Here, all geometry is hidden in the view except the walls. You can hide or show various parts of the scene in seconds using a just few mouse clicks.
The benefit of using layers becomes even greater when you are working with very complex scenes, such as an architecture scene with the building imported from CAD and containing 20,000 different polygon objects together with 100 lights and 20 cameras added in Cinema 4D. Layers offer an elegant solution to working quickly with these complex scenes. Suppose you want to texture the walls. Simply hide everything else in the Object Manager so that you can focus on the walls without other objects getting in the way.
Keep in mind that as well as using layers you can hide items using various View menu options in the Object Manager.


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Home » CFL » The 5 Greatest Toronto Argonauts of All-Time
The 5 Greatest Toronto Argonauts of All-Time
(© imago images) Bildnummer: 06953893 Copyright imago Students Commentator Doug Flutie USA centre maintains to with the supporters American Football men USA
The Argos have a rich history dating back all the way to 1873, making it one of the oldest existing professional sports teams in North America. As you'd expect, the CFL team has seen more than its fair share or exceptional athletes over the years. But who ranks at the top, as the greatest Toronto Argonauts of all-time? Let's find out.
5. Dick Shatto
Dick Shatto played for the Argos for 12 years, from 1954-1965, becoming the all-time leading rusher (6,958 yards) for the franchise and holder of the record for most touchdowns (91). Shatto was honored as an 'All-Time Argo' in 1996 and inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1975.
Unfortunately, the Argos team wasn't very successful during Shatto's tenure, finishing last in their conference eight times.
4. Mike O'Shea
O'Shea won three Grey Cups with the Argos as a player in 1996, 1997, and 2004 and went on to collect his fourth with the team as Special Teams Coordinator in 2012. He sits second all-time in tackles in CFL history and is the Argonauts all-time leader in defensive tackles.
He is a winner of the CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award in 1999 after having a season of 84 tackles, 13 special teams tackles and three interceptions. He is also a five time East Division All-Star and has been named an All-Time Argo at linebacker.
3. Dan Ferrone
As a five-time CFL all-star offensive lineman Dan Ferrone could make this list with just his playing ability. Ferrone however was a natural-born leader, who was instrumental in leading the Argos to Grey Cup championships in 1983 and 1991. Ferone was inducted to the Canadian Football HOF in September 2013 and served the Argo organization as an offensive line coach in 2002, team Vice-President in 2003 and team President in 2004.
2. Terry Greer
Terry Greer is considered by many as one of the best wide receivers to play in the CFL. He held the CFL record for most catches in a season and still holds the record for most receiving yards in a season with 2003. Greer was the first player to gain 2,000 yards receiving in a professional football season.
Greer was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2019 was named to the All-Time Argos depth chart at receiver in 2007.
1. Doug Flutie
Many believe Doug Flutie to be the greatest CFL quarterback of all-time. He was named the CFL's Outstanding Player from 1991-94 and then again in 1996-97. Flutie also holds Grey Cup rings from 1996 and 1997, where he was named Grey Cup MVP in both championship wins.
Flutie went on to have a successful career in the NFL, earning Pro Bowl and NFL Comeback Player of the Year awards. He was enshrined in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2008 and the Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2007, becoming the first non-Canadian inductee.
If you're an Argos fan looking to bet on the team in the upcoming CFL season, check out our picks for the best CFL betting sites in Ontario to get going.
CFL Latest News
Ranking the Last 7 Argos Grey Cup Winning Teams
Can the Toronto Argonauts Repeat in 2023?
Argonauts CB Jamal Peters Signs with NFL's Atlanta Falcons


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Pedro Afonso (Brazil) weather
Today. Maximum daytime temperature: 33 degrees Celsius; Minimum nighttime temperature: 25 degrees Celsius. Light showers changing to clear by nighttime. Sunrise: 06:12; Sunset: 18:41. UV: Extreme;
Light showers changing to clear by nighttime.
Thursday 2 February. Maximum daytime temperature: 32 degrees Celsius; Minimum nighttime temperature: 25 degrees Celsius. Cloudy changing to heavy showers by late morning. Sunrise: 06:12; Sunset: 18:41. UV: Extreme;
Cloudy changing to heavy showers by late morning.
Friday 3 February. Maximum daytime temperature: 33 degrees Celsius; Minimum nighttime temperature: 25 degrees Celsius. Cloudy changing to light showers by late morning. Sunrise: 06:12; Sunset: 18:41. UV: Very high;
Cloudy changing to light showers by late morning.
Saturday 4 February. Maximum daytime temperature: 33 degrees Celsius; Minimum nighttime temperature: 26 degrees Celsius. Partly cloudy changing to sunny intervals by late morning. Sunrise: 06:13; Sunset: 18:40. UV: Extreme;
Sunday 5 February. Maximum daytime temperature: 34 degrees Celsius; Minimum nighttime temperature: 25 degrees Celsius. Clear changing to light showers by lunchtime. Sunrise: 06:13; Sunset: 18:40. UV: Very high;
Clear changing to light showers by lunchtime.
Monday 6 February. Maximum daytime temperature: 33 degrees Celsius; Minimum nighttime temperature: 25 degrees Celsius. Clear changing to light showers by lunchtime. Sunrise: 06:13; Sunset: 18:40. UV: Very high;
Tuesday 7 February. Maximum daytime temperature: 33 degrees Celsius; Minimum nighttime temperature: 24 degrees Celsius. Clear changing to light showers by lunchtime. Sunrise: 06:14; Sunset: 18:40. UV: Extreme;
Seven day forecast for Pedro Afonso
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Palmas 82.0 miles
Conceicao Do Araguaia 90.0 miles
Carolina 124 miles
Antonina 198 miles
Peixe 214 miles
Maraba 259 miles
Taguatinga 265 miles
Barreiras 308 miles
Barra Do Corda 312 miles
Barra 371 miles
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ARSCLIST November 2014
Enesco Bach Unaccompanied Sonatas
Steve Smolian <[log in to unmask]>
I'm trying to establish the edition history of the Continental LPs of Enesco playing the Bach Sonatas and Partitas on Don Gabor's label, Continental.  They were issued as three individual LPs and all three together, all four editions being the same long box with velvet-flecked covers.  They are almost always found as the three record set.
They were first listed in the Schwann September, 1950 catalog.
The Schwann listing in December, 1950, lists them as Continental 104/106, implying an album release with no indication they were also available as singles.  Yet the Billboard review of August, 26, 1950, is for CLP-104 only.
The base of the spine spine of 104/106 lists them as 104-105-106.
On Nov 1, 2014, a copy of Continental 104 was sold on eBay (for over $ 2,500).  According to Popsike, a web site that tracks eBay record sales back to 2006, this is the first time any of the single record packages was sold there ever.  At least 15 copies of the 3 LP set had sold in the same venue during the 2006-2014 period.
Can someone with the September, 1950 Schwann tell me how the listing appears in that issue, with as close an approximation of the typography of the numbers as is feasible?  Was it listed in the New Release pages for August, 1950? Does it indicate if singles were available? The set?
Is there an ad for Continental in this issue as well?  In October?  November?  If so, does this indicate that single LP issues were also available?  My December issue has a two-page ad for Remingon and one for Plymouth, both later Gabor labels.
My file for Continental has pre-LP catalogs and supplements only.  Has anyone an LP catalog of theirs that lists these records?
According to Kurtz Myer's "Record Ratings," there was little notice taken of the Enesco set in the record review press.   It was the subject of a "Rarisima" column in "Classic Record Collector" but adds no
I'm preparing to list my copies of the other two in eBay and would like to describe it accurately.  My assumption going in is that they were first issued as singles and later as a set, which would make the singles the true first edition.  This is subject to correction, of course, hence this email.


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Geo-Matt® PRT™ Wheelchair Cushion is intended for use as a therapeutic seat cushion.
16"x16"x3", 18"x16"x3", 18"x18"x3", 20"x18"x3", 22"x18"x4", 24"x18"x4".


My sister lives in Cyprus and I have been there a couple of times to visit her.
She is incredibly happy there, and it is a fairly popular place for British people to emigrate to as it is much warmer, has the laid-back Greek culture and beautiful food, isn't too far on the plane and is friendly to outsiders. It has a very positive, outgoing atmosphere.
North Cyprus is Turkish, Southern Cyprus is Greek. When I refer to Cyprus I am only talking about the Greek side. I have not been to the North.
It is a great place for children as there are plenty of beaches, outdoor swimming pools, holiday resorts and family-friendly places you can go to. English is very widely spoken, you do not need to learn Greek but it may be useful if you plan to live there.
Although it is a warm and sunny country, it is very arid, dusty, barren and has frequent sandstorms. The landscape is more reminiscent of the Middle East than Greece due to its location.
Food is typical Greek food- salads, lamb, halloumi, amazing ice cream. Strangely, it can be difficult to find fresh fruit and vegetables, I presume most people grow their own.
- You like Greek food, sunshine, calm seas and a fun, party atmosphere.
- You are looking for somewhere to raise children where they can speak English and be accepted quickly by the natives.
- You want a laid-back, quiet life and don't get bored easily.
- There's not much to 'do' unless you like sunbathing all day and going out for a drink on the evenings. The streets are strangely empty in the daytime, especially in the smaller towns, and I didn't sense a great deal of community before 7pm at night.
- The food was difficult to get. It's lovely, but I kept having to eat at restuarants. I've no idea where the natives get their raw ingredients from, all I could find was ice cream, bread and cereal.
Nice post, BellaRuth. I knew a female co-worker that vacationed in Cyprus for two weeks, and she loved it. The only problem is, as you mentioned, there isn't much of a nightlife over there...But, I can see that being a real positive if you have young children with you--and you want live in peace and quiet to enjoy the sun, LOL.
BellaRuth, your shared report is quite interesting and beneficial for those who want to go there in coming future. I never go there and now I also want to visit this destination. If any member tells me about some famous and most visited attractions of Cyprus then I can easily visit this state.
Tani321, this information is quite beneficial and helpful me and all other readers who want to go there in coming future. I think now I can easily go there and enjoy this trip. I will try to visit all these places during my tour. These places sound amazing according to my interest.
Why not Sherlock. You will definitely go there without any hesitation. I am glad that you will be satisfied with my shared information. I am happy you are planning to go there. I will say you don't forget to share your journey story with me. I am stay here to read it. Would you like to share with me?


HomeCEO ConfidentialHow to Choose Winner Keywords for Your Resume?
How to Choose Winner Keywords for Your Resume?
Many job seekers do not know that keywords are used in resumes and it could potentially have them miss out on great opportunities. We all know that keywords are used by bloggers to direct search engines to their websites.
Keywords in your resume will have the same effect. You want to use keywords that the recruiter will be scanning for. When those keywords aren't discovered, your resume may not receive a thorough read.
Also, keep in mind that recruiters are using technology to help them out these days. Many are using tool to scan for the appropriate keywords linked to the open position. It does become a bit technical here, but one needs to keep up with our ever-evolving times. Always make sure you have an updated resume format and the best keywords you can find, if you want to be successful in your job applications.
Here are some ways you can use to choose the right keywords for your resume.
When you look at the job ad, you can usually find most of your keywords right there. Especially check out the job description and the required skills. From there, you are able to find almost all the keywords you need to include in your resume. If the recruiter breaks up certain tasks, you need to adjust your resume accordingly. Let's say, instead of administrative tasks, the recruiter writes, typing and filing. You need to make sure that the keywords used, reflects on your resume. This is especially important if you are applying online, because it is much easier to scan your work through a keyword finder.
Research the company you are applying at and see what they are about. Take an in-depth look at the industry and find some keywords this way. You would not only impress the recruiter, but also the employer. Speak about some terms use in the industry or just throw in some industry based keywords. This does not only show that you have taken the time to research the company, but also shows that you took the time to adjust your resume specifically for this position. Always keep up with current resume trends. You can find a good resume writing service online if this all seems a bit overwhelming.
There is so much information online that can help you find your keywords. You just have to look in the right places. LinkedIn is a great source, because it is built around professional working in a variety of industries. Find some individuals or companies listed on this platform and look for the commonly used words when talking about the industry. You should be able to notice very quickly that there are terms used often and if you want your resume to be successful, you should throw a few of these in as well. It does sound like a very technical process, compared to a few years ago, but if we do not keep up with current trends, we could be missing out on great opportunities.
If you want to go for more specific keywords, you can always check out the company website. This should be part of your research in any case, but when searching for keywords, this will always be beneficial. Just keep your eyes open for those words that come up more than a few times. You do not have to use all the keywords you find, because that can also be detrimental, but choose the ones you believe will make the biggest impact. No one likes a blog post stuffed with keywords and the same will go for your resume. It is all about finding that perfect balance of including keywords, but not making it obvious to the eye. You are not hiding anything and most recruiters know that applicants use keywords in their resumes. You simply want to show how careful and precise you are when taking on a task.
Besides LinkedIn, there are many other websites, like indeed.com that you can go to and look at other resumes. Serious job seekers are usually aware of current trends and have mastered the art of using keywords. Look at a few industries related resumes and check out how they include their keywords. This will not only give you some relevant keywords, but also help you with resume format and structure. Use this information to build a better resume and get that job. The competition is fierce out there, but that does not mean that you will not get the job. Start with believing in your skills and then put in the work to get you there.
As you can see, there are many ways to get keywords for your resume. You just have to be smart about the process and also select your keywords carefully. There is no right or wrong keywords, because you do not always know what the recruiter is going to search for. All you have to do is choose the ones that comes up a lot and the ones you feel you would search for as a recruiter. It really is not rocket science and it should not feel that way either. This is just a great way of having your resume read amongst the masses. Do not allow this to overwhelm you, but see it as a simply improvement of what you already have.
Jobs are scares and we have to do all we can if we want to be employed. Keep on looking for the job you really want if you want to be happy in that position. Do not just wildly apply for random jobs, but apply for those that can help you get closer to your end goal. I wish you nothing but luck in your search for the perfect job and I really hope these tips will help you to include the correct keywords in your resume. Happy job hunting future employee.


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Implications of the CARES Act on USPTO Deadlines
By: dbllawyers
By Ashley Barendse
Barendse is an Associate at Dunlap Bennett & Ludwig's Leesburg, VA Office.
[Apr. 1, 2020 Leesburg] As the COVID-19 Pandemic continues to affect the legal system, there is one glimmer of hope for trademark and patent owners: the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (the "CARES Act"), which gives the USPTO Director authority to "toll[], waiv[e], adjust[] or modify[] a timing deadline" under the applicable trademark or patent statute. The CARES Act became law after the President signed the bill on Friday, March 27, 2020.
The USPTO has previously stated that it could not extend deadlines for patents or trademarks unless Congress acted, as those deadlines were implemented by statute. The CARES Act has met this need. Under the authority granted by the CARES Act, the USPTO published a notice on March 31 advising that certain trademark and patent deadlines would be extended, if they presently fall between March 27 and April 30 for a period of an additional thirty (30) days from the original deadline, if the owner can show that any delay to respond was due to the virus. This means that the extension is not automatic and would not be granted until a deadline has passed.
How will this affect me?
The CARES Act includes assistance to businesses and individuals alike. Congress recognizes how this pandemic has affected the economy and the livelihoods of those with small businesses. While you will have to include a statement in your later filing that any delay in filing was due to COVID-19, this statement can encompass a variety of factors that would "affect" small businesses or individuals.
Helpfully, the Notice was backdated to March 27, when the CARES Act became law. That means if an owner was affected by COVID-19 and was unable to make its deadline on March 27, the new due date for the filing/fee would be April 26 – provided the owner includes the statement regarding how it was affected by COVID-19.
As a reminder, these statements must be certified under penalty of perjury that the owner was unable to file or submit a response due to COVID-19 and is not a blanket extension applying to any delay to act.
The USPTO previously waived Petition fees for late filings, so this extension will work together with that prior determination.
How long does the CARES Act extend the USPTO's authority regarding deadline extensions?
The CARES Act references the National Emergencies Act, which was invoked on March 13, 2020, in declaring COVID-19 a national emergency. The CARES Act states that the USPTO Director's authority to extend or modify deadlines for the duration of the national emergency declaration and for the sixty (60) days following the expiration of the emergency.
What trademark filings can be extended under the CARE Act?
The USPTO's Notice encompassed many of the trademark filings that are a part of a trademark's application or registration maintenance phase. Among those are responses to office actions or final office actions; Statement of Use or Extension of time to file the Statement of Use; Notice of Opposition or extension of time to file the Notice of Opposition; Priority Filing basis; transforming an extension of protection to the United States into a United States application (for foreign registrations); Section 8 Use or Excusable Nonuse filings for maintenance; and Section 9 Registration Renewals.
What patent filings can be extended?
Similar to the trademark notice, the patent notice provided deadline extensions for a reply to an office notice issued during pre-examination processing by a small or micro entity; reply to an office action or notice issued during examination or publication processing; issue fees; notice of appeal; appeal brief; reply brief; appeal forwarding fee; request for an oral hearing before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board ("PTAB"); response to substitute examiner's answer; amendment when reopening prosecution in response to, or request for rehearing of, a PTAB decision with a new ground of rejection; maintenance fee filed by a small or micro entity; and requests for rehearing of a PTAB decision.
What do I need to show to get the extension?
The USPTO states a delay is "due to the COVID-19 outbreak" if the trademark or patent owner was "personally affected" by the pandemic. The USPTO goes on to provide a non-comprehensive list of how the owner could be "affected" by COVID-19: office closures, cash flow interruptions, inaccessibility of files or other materials, travel delays, personal or family illness, or similar circumstances, which would have affected the owner's ability to make a timely filing or payment.
What about copyrights?
While the Copyright Office is separate from the USPTO. The Copyright Office has also extended deadlines for those affected by COVID-19. While most copyright applications can be filed online (and those that can be filed online have not had their timing requirements changed), any physical deposit of the copyrighted work and any physical application (for those that cannot be filed online) can be delayed up to two (2) months after the virus "disruption" has ended. This will protect statutory damages for owners who are unable to copyright their work, either due to internet/computer concerns or the inability to provide physical materials for the copyright.
As always, the attorneys at Dunlap Bennett & Ludwig are ready and willing to help you navigate the unfamiliar terrain created by the coronavirus. We will continue to monitor this situation with the USPTO and alert you of any further changes so that you can continue to focus on your business and what is most important to you.
Tagged with: coronavirus, COVID-19, stimulus bill, USPTO
Posted in: Intellectual Property, Intellectual Property - Patents, Intellectual Property - Trademarks
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Intellectual Property – Patents
Intellectual Property – Trademarks
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A drying phase is an essential part of chemical manufacturing processes. Humidity measurement plays a key role in ensuring consistent product quality and optimizing production costs. For the highest possible efficiency, the relative humidity (and equilibrium relative humidity) is usually measured in the exhaust air of driers with the aim of improving throughput and/or reducing the energy costs in chemical production.
Humidity measurement is, however, also of decisive importance in the control of raw materials and final products. Normally the relative humidity is measured in the air space of the silo above the stored product. To determine the quality of single chemical samples, it is important to measure the water activity or equilibrium relative humidity. The samples that need to be analyzed are usually in the form of granules, powder, dust or paste.


Setl Group is one of the major financial and industrial associations in the Northwestern region of Russia. Founded in 1994 as the Petersburg Real Estate construction company, the Setl Group holding company started its business with construction of dwelling houses. For the years of its work BC Petersburg Real Estate grew to a big multifunctional holding company, Petersburg Real Estate Corp., and won the leading positions in promising markets of the region. In 2006, in the framework of structure optimization, Petersburg Real Estate Corp. was transformed into Setl Group, and a number of member companies of the Corporation received new brands. Today Setl Group is a holding company which is developing its business both in Russia and abroad. The holding company consolidates several companies and firms specializing in development, general contract services, sale of construction materials, brokerage transactions in the market of residential and commercial real estate, management and operation of real estate sites, consulting, information technologies, design of advanced engineering process and techniques for serial production, and radio electronics design. The holding company unites such well-known brands as Petersburg Real Estate Corp., Setl City, Setvill, Honvill, Praktis, Setl North Europe OY and others. One of the key areas of the holding company's operation is developer's business. Setl City, a part of the holding company, has been operating in the market since 1994, dealing with housing and commercial sites construction in and outside St. Petersburg. They include a number of residential housing construction on large areas in the suburbs of St. Petersburg, Leningrad Oblast and Kaliningrad, and an A-class business block in St. Petersburg. Along with Setl City, the holding company includes developers' companies Setvill and Setl North Europe OY specializing in the construction of cottage settlements in Leningrad Oblast and in Finland. Today these companies are preparing and implementing 7 cottage settlements of various classes. Setlprof is a general contractor organization dealing with a wide range of construction and installation operations. The company acts as a contractor for several sites in St. Petersburg, including dwelling houses, hotels, shopping malls and business centers. After Petersburg Real Estate Corp. was transformed into the Setl Group holding company, the Petersburg Real Estate brand has been associated with the brokerage business. Petersburg Real Estate company, a member of the holding company, is a major broker in the sale of housing under construction in St. Petersburg, Murmansk and several other cities of Russia. The company also deals with all kinds of transactions with urban and country residential real estate, having the reputation of the most professional and reliable realtor firm. Praktis is a company of the holding company, providing consulting and brokerage services in the market of commercial real estate and dealing with management and operation of housing and commercial real estate sites. The Setl Group holding company pursues an active policy of regional development. Branches of brokerage divisions in a number of Russian cities — Omsk, Novorossiysk, Yaroslavl, Murmansk and several other cities — have been opened. The holding company is considering the possibility of developers' business evolvement on the basis of the branches that have been founded./06.2011 The emitter owns group of the companies operating under a uniform brand Setl Group within the frames of which carries out functions of the operating company. Setl Group is one of the biggest investment and industrial associations in the North-west Region of Russia, developing its activity both in Russia and abroad. The Holding unites a number of companies and firms specialized in development and provision of a general contractor's services for objects under construction, in supplies of construction materials and broker's operations at the market of residential and commercial real estate, management and operation of real estate, as well as in consulting, and information technologies. Setl Group Holding is implementing an active regional development policy. Branches of broker units have been opened in a number of Russian cities: Omsk, Kaliningrad, Yaroslavl, Murmansk; country development in Finland is in progress. Our company turned to the International Financial Reporting Standards and implemented an inaugural issue, these measures being planned steps heading toward development of the public market of capital. We are also planning to approach the international stock market.


The Online Vault is a reservoir of insights, thoughts and ideas shared by Corporate Leaders, Industry experts, Thought Leaders, Philosophers and Spiritual Masters on some fundamental ways of living, leading and managing. The ideas expressed are purely the personal views of our contributors and is merely presenting the information to anyone who wishes to read it. It holds no binding on anyone to believe allowing everyone free to accept, reject or simply park their experience aside.
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In my effort to get more questions answered before I announce the winning schools on Friday, I'm answering three questions from one school today, which I've chosen because they are all linked. Each has something to do with online pressure.
The questions are from class 6RS at Perton Middle School in Wolverhampton. Thank you to them!
The online disinhibition effect is the well-established observation (by psychologist John Suler back in 2004) that most people, of all ages, are somewhat less careful, less thoughtful, less inhibited in a conversation that is online, compared to a face-to-face or even a phone conversation. So they can be crueller and say things they'd never say directly.
This is partly because you don't have eye contact so you can't see that someone has been affected by your words but it's also partly because there's a time-lag, so your words don't necessarily have an instant reaction. Whatever the reasons (and there are more), people can be more cruel online and the effects are worse for the person who is suffering, because if people don't get to see the results of their words they can't step in and repair the damage.
If you're being upset by the group chat (and the chat typically continues over far, far longer than a face-to-face chat would) you may well feel any or all of these: undermined, left out (and you may think, perhaps correctly, that others in the group are talking about you secretly, too), upset, angry/sad, worthless.
So, you can feel very bad, low, left out, worthless. Helpless, even.
Tell someone. Please, please tell someone. A friend (either in the group or not) or a teacher (they are trained to respond usefully) or another adult.
Do your best to push it lower down your priority list of things to think about. I know that's hard – emotion makes us focus on what's upsetting us – but if you try you might surprise yourself.
Always remind yourself that although this feels bad right now, it will NOT feel bad later – whether tomorrow or next month or next year, I don't know, but at some point it will not be in your thoughts.
Are these really the friends you want to have? If this was just a one-off, fine. But if this keeps happening, why do you call them your friends? Friends are meant to support each other, be in tune, care. (Of course, friendships can have their wobbles but basically your friends should not be making you feel bad on a regular basis.) Walk away and make new friends?
The Teenage Guide to Friends has masses of advice about this, including how to make and maintain good friendships and how to recognise negative friendships.
Finally, if you are going through something like this right now, I'm really sorry. Here, have a big virtual hug from me. Or, if you'd rather not have one, have my solidarity instead.
Simple answer (though I realise not easy to follow): ignore it.
Did you know that chainmail has been around for a very long time? When I was a teenager, we had chain letters – yes, I know: LETTERS! Actual paper that would come through the post, telling us to send it to six other people and if we did we'd get lots of money (or something) and if we didn't we would be doomed and cursed and die a painful death. It was really scary and loads of people fell for the con. The pressure to respond was huge: partly the fear of bad luck coming our way and partly (mainly) the fear of letting people down and breaking the chain.
The advice then was NOT to reply. And the advice is the same now.
You now also have the extra burden of things like streaks in Snapchat. Again, if you possibly can, don't get caught up in this. Say you were ill or your parents banned you or you ran out of credit on your phone or your phone broke or you were too busy trying to change the world.
Or just say you're a leader, not a follower and you don't do chains. Stand strong! Don't be forced to do something you don't want.
Final tip: as with anything, it's easier if we're not alone. So, see if you can find someone else who hates these things. Then you can stand together and plan how to tackle the situation.
Who are these people who are judging you? If they are not your friends, what right do they have to judge you? If they are your friends, they wouldn't be judging you.
g you? How do you know? It's common to think people are judging us and, of course, sometimes they are. But sometimes we're actually judging ourselves and just imagining that others are.
Teenagers are changing all the time and each of you is trying to find out who you are becoming and who you want to be. You have some control over how that goes but you don't have full control because there are lots of things about you that just are how they are. Try to relax about the things you can't control and focus on the things you can. It's OK to experiment with different looks; it's OK to make mistakes. It's OK to follow others if you want to but it's also OK to be different. Be patient and kind to yourself – school can be tough with all this judging going on but you'll carry on changing for a long time after school is over, too. Everything changes – thank goodness!
I wrote a post about this in answer to another question – see here.
Thanks to Perton Middle School for your questions!
I'm very interested to see that the two main topics that are cropping up in the questions in this competition are image/self-esteem and screen over-use. Both Positively Teenage and The Teenage Guide to Life Online were clearly very necessary books! Phew!
Don't forget to check in here on Friday to see the announcement of winning schools.


text:
Sign the Letter
Kinsey Brief
Harm to Children
Undermining Laws
A Danger to Public Health
A Child Victim
Are you willing to get involved?
If you are willing to help, please contact us using the large form below. If that is too big of a commitment right now but you would like to keep up-to-date on our cause, use the form to the right to send us your email.
1. SIGN THE LETTER
2. RECRUIT OTHERS
3. EDUCATE
4. PROTECT
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For more than a half century, most developed nations have been undergoing a "sexual revolution." This radical shift in traditional sexual norms, values and expectations has led to the liberalization of laws regulating sexual behavior. Many of these dramatic changes in sexual norms and laws can be traced back to the fraudulent sex "research" and sexual ideologies of Dr. Alfred Kinsey, founder of the Kinsey Institute.
With its recently granted UN ECOSOC status, the Kinsey Institute and its allies will have even more influence and greater access and prestige to advance their harmful sexual rights ideologies, especially in developing countries, unless they are exposed and stopped.
The Stop Kinsey Coalition
We have formed the Stop the Kinsey Institute Coalition to call upon ECOSOC to withdraw NGO recognition, or, at the very least, not renew the group's accreditation when it comes up for renewal. We hope you will support us in this effort.
For the sake of the health and innocence of your children and ours, let's work together to stop the harmful work of the Kinsey Institute from spreading any further.
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The Moreland Zebras Soccer Club is ready to serve up a win at Balfe Park this season, with the club's change rooms and facilities recently given a complete makeover.
The project, which was funded by Council and the State Government along with contributions from the club, included an extensive refurbishment of the outdated change rooms, completely new accessible toilets, a viewing area and an extension and refurbishment of the kitchen.
Moreland Mayor Cr Helen Davidson joined members of the club and community at Balfe Park and said the refurbishment would go a long way in accommodating increasing demands for good soccer venues in Moreland.
"Council is encouraging our community to be more active, more often, and part of encouraging participation is making sure our recreation facilities provide for all participants," said Cr Davidson.
"This refurbishment provides the Brunswick Zebras with a solid foundation to build on their soccer club memberships."
Balfe Park is located at 54-62 John Street, Brunswick East.