Timeless style conquers the ages. We�ve designed the GLASER teak chairs for customers who want a little more detail in their chairs. Our have a smooth curved top and can be combined with Glaser arm , all made out of kiln-dried, Grade A teak. Use our matching benches, or our GLASER tables to create the perfect set for your space.
When you buy this item online it is shipped to you by a common carrier in a flat knockdown box with some assembly required. All assembly instructions and assemble components and hardware are included.
Look back over time and you will see this elegantly curved garden style chair in the finest European gardens. We have designed the GLASER teak arm chairs for customers who want a little more detail in their chairs. It has a smooth curved top and shaped arm rests, all made out of kiln-dried, Grade "AA" teak. Use our matching benches or our GLASER tables to create the perfect set for your space.
Sit back and relax we've got your back (literally). The High Back comfort series offers this high back arm chair. It is beautifully designed for either residential or commercial use. The high back arm chair can be used as a dining chair with any of our teak tables. The seat is very sturdy and comfortable because of the curve that is designed to be perfect for your back.
Batyline® is an extremely durable and high quality material consisting of a polyester fiber covered by a coating of PVC, making it nearly impossible to tear. It is 100% synthetic and resistant to rot and mildew. It is highly resistant to UV radiation and fading. It can withstand temperature extremes, ranging from -25F to 150F. It is an ideal material to be used near swimming pools or other aggressive environments with chlorine or salt water.
This folding armchair made of premium teak, batyline mesh and stainless steel hardware. It unique look is perfect addition to your patio . It comes in three color, Brown, Sand and White.
Simple clean lines create a comfortable folding chair for you and you guests. The Cambria folding chair is the best choice for customers who require simple folding chairs. They can easily tuck away for the winter months. The curved back and seat cradles you in comfort for hours of seating. Stainless steel hardware and a custom design for easy folding and locking system.
Clean lines and a comfortable simple form is what we have here. The cambria comfort folding teak arm chair is a new design. It is perfect where comfort and portability is desired. This chair is the best choice for customers who require a simple folding chair which they can take with them easily or tuck away for the winter months. The curved back and seat cradles you in comfort for hours of seating. Buy 2 or more and save.
When you buy this item at our store it comes fully assembled and ready for pickup or delivery. When you buy this item online it is shipped to you by a common carrier in a flat knockdown box with some assembly required. All assembly instructions, assembly components, and hardware is included.
Strong lite and easy that's the way we do it at Tom's Our deluxe stinson teak folding chair has lumbar support which makes it very comfortable on your back. It is also easy to move it about or fold and store away. We also use stainless steel hardware on all the pivoting joints. It is fully machine made with precise craftsmanship. Buy in quantity to save even more.
When you buy this item online it is shipped to you by a common carrier in a flat knockdown box with some minor assembly required. All assembly instructions, assembly components, and hardware is included.
Extra company coming over for dinner on the patio? Pull out the folding chairs and you ready to go. Our deluxe stinson teak folding chair has lumbar support which makes it very comfortable on the lower back. It is also easy to move about or fold and store away. We also use stainless steel hardware on all the pivoting joints. It is fully machine made with precise craftsmanship. Buy in quantity to save even more.
The deluxe Slumber teak chair is made with high quality plantation grown teak and solid brass hardware. It is our most comfortable recliner chair due to wider slats and 5 position reclining mechanism. This chair is perfect fit with any of our tables or a stand alone for reclining.
Are you a super deluxe rocker? Our outdoor deluxe teak rocking chair is perfect for relaxing on the porch, fireside, or under the shade of a tree after you have rocked out. The Gently raked backs and smooth armrests define our teak rocking chairs, bringing comfort to the outdoors. This product is machined to the highest quality control standards by craftsmen in Indonesia.
Compare the quality of our teak rocking chair to that of other sites and you will know you are getting one of the best teak rockers available.
Our beautifully designed teak stacking chair comes with a contoured seat and graceful lines that has been specifically designed for comfort and style. The Teak Stacking Chairs have curved back and seat which gives you the ultimate comfort while dining. These Teak chairs can be easily stacked for storage. Made with a natural finish and Indonesian Forestry Premium Grade "AA" teak wood. Due to shipping limitation we only ship this chair as a set of 4 and more. If you are picking up from our store , you can buy less than four.
Frame Made from a single, solid piece of teak lumber.
Chairs can be stacked or nested for easy storage.
Slats sandwiched in the frame of the chair.


text:
Tag Archives: HFA
On The Comprehension of the Cause-Effect Relationship between Asperger Syndrome and Pragamatics Language Deterioration in a Bilingual Child with Social Communication Disorder: A Pilot Case Study (Published)
Article Author: Sadeq Al Yaari, Melita Kovačević, Jasmina Frey Škrinjar and Fayza Saleh Al Hammadi
Asperger Syndrome (AS) is often associated with social, cognitive, motor, and language problems, but an estimated number of AS bilingual individuals with this syndrome; especially those with social communication disorders (SCD) typically receive the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Consequently, such inaccurate diagnosis has negative effects not only at the linguistic level, but also at the level of treatment method where AS is merely a subgroup of ASD just like higher-functioning autism (HFA) or pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). Utilizing Peabody picture vocabulary test (PPVT-3) in Arabic and then in English to test an AS bilingual 12 year-old boy with SCD, the first aim of the current pilot case study was to investigate the cause-effect relationship between AS and pragmatics mechanism where these children, the researchers hypothesize, fail to crystallize implied meaning of the target language (L2), not the source language (L1), which will help identify what language and which of its aspect (s) is affected more. The study also compared two ASD diagnostic methods: Autism diagnostic observation schedule (ADOS) and Australian scale for Asperger's syndrome (ASAS). The purpose was to specify which of these two assessment tools suits more AS individuals with SCD where, again, the researchers claim the former to be more accountable than the latter as it depends on the explanatory approach unlike the latter that follows the exploratory approach. The tests were administered in light of the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM–V) and international classification of diseases and related health problems (ICD). To ensure the reliability and validity of the study, the researchers analyzed all case's monthly and yearly school exams of both English (Case's L1) and Arabic (Case's L2) language courses starting with the 1st grade and culminating with the 7th grade in addition to an intelligence quotient (IQ) test that has been given prior to the tests. In addition, series of interviews were held with the parent along with related individuals to the case. Of the two languages, outlined results show significant deterioration in meaning comprehension in both L1 and L2. Compared with ASAS, ADOS found to be more accountable as it provides specific authentic data of the social behavior, cognitive and motor functions and linguistic and communication abilities of AS bilinguals with SCD in standardized and well-documented contexts. Further research on multilingualism and other ASD subgroups using large number of population, different methods and additional clinical resources is needed to turn the study from individuality into commonality; therefore, replicate its findings and generalize its outcomes
Keywords: ADOS, AS, ASAS, Arabic, Bilinguals, DSM-V, English, HFA, ICD., IQ, PDD-NOS, PPVT-3, SCD
Gender Science Kenya Unemployment economic growth Entrepreneurship Assessment Marketing Development Evaluation Economic Development Management Teacher Culture communication Secondary Schools Performance Nigeria : Academic Performance Sustainability Students Challenges Information Education Teachers
Deployment of Ritual for Social Regeneration in Contemporary Nigerian Drama
Emerging Issues of Green Logistics in Manufacturing Firms of China: A Literature Review
The German Shakespeare

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The Launch Date Of the Samsung Galaxy A32 is 2021, January 22. Presenting important determination and highlights. The Samsung Galaxy A32 Price In Pakistan Is Rs. 42,500 while in USD it is $ 245.
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In 2021, Xiaomi introduced two long-awaited flagships for the global market - Xiaomi 11T and 11T Pro . The novelties attracted the attention of fans with an excellent 108-megapixel camera, Redmi note 10 price in Pakistan top processors and support for fast Wi-Fi 6. These gadgets are worthy representatives of high-performance smartphones that have already gone on sale on the Russian market.
Two from a casket or find the difference in design
Externally, the new Xiaomi flagships are identical. Their cases have the same dimensions of 164x76x8.8 mm, and the difference in weight cannot be felt: 11T - 203 grams, 11T Pro - 204. Both models are presented in three colors: white, gray, blue. Phones with 6.67" displays are quite bulky and feel massive in the hand.
The back panels are glass, but the company decided not to disclose what kind of glass it is. The texture of the panels is slightly different: in gray, the smartphone is glossy, and in white it has a light satin texture. The light version is more practical if you use the gadget without a case, since fingerprints are not so noticeable on it.
The case is rounded along the perimeter, so its edges do not dig into the hand, despite the bulky size. The design of the novelty is similar to Mi 11 and POCO F3 . The fingerprint scanner was placed on the right side of the case - in the power button. An under-screen sensor would look more appropriate in the flagships of 2021, but this would lead to their rise in price.
Smartphones have lost their 3.5mm headphone jack. An adapter with Type C was not included in the kit either. But there was an infrared port, which many other manufacturers have long abandoned.
The gadgets were equipped with two speakers, and for the 11T Pro version they were tuned by the legendary acoustic company Harman Kardon. Her logo was even placed on the case as a symbol of high-quality sound. Also, each phone has three microphones.
A small red dot is visible in the block with cameras. It indicates that smartphones are designed for shooting video. This dot is a small LED that blinks while recording.
Among the shortcomings regarding the design and body of new products in general, there is a lack of high-level water protection. The developers limited themselves to IP53, that is, vivo v20 price in pakistan they are afraid of diving into water.
Also, the disadvantages include a non-hybrid slot for a SIM card, in which you cannot insert a microSD memory card.
High-quality AMOLED display with a frequency of 120 Hz
Both new items were equipped with modern identical AMOLED displays with a diagonal of 6.67 ″. This is strange, because Pro-versions of smartphones are traditionally equipped with larger diagonal matrices. Both displays have a 20:9 aspect ratio, 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, and support HDR10+. Xiaomi 11T Pro additionally has support for Dolby Vision.
The screen resolution is 2400x1080 pixels. The maximum brightness is 1000 nits. The screen area on the front of the smartphone is 85.1%. The matrix is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus.
In smartphone settings, users can switch between three color profiles: standard, vivid, and saturated. All of them are well calibrated, have a wide color gamut, uniform illumination and perfect gamma. Thanks to this, all images on the screen look juicy and very natural.
Top technical stuffing
If outwardly the flagships are identical, then inside they have completely different processors:
The Xiaomi 11T is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 1200, an octa-core chipset built using the 6nm process technology. The processor Mali-G77 MC9 is responsible for the graphics in the smartphone.
Xiaomi 11T Pro was equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chip. It is developed using a 5 nm process technology. It is more productive, but it heats up more. GPU - Adreno 660.
For comparison, as of October 2021, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 is ranked fourth in the AnTuTu ranking, and the MediaTek Dimensity 1200 is twelfth.
In terms of memory, the Pro version also offers something more. Xiaomi 11T has two options - 8/128 GB and 8/256 GB. Xiaomi 11T Pro added another top-end 12/256 GB to them.
The rest of the smartphones are similar in terms of technical characteristics. Both have Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 6 and NFC wireless modules. The developers even left an infrared port that turns a smartphone into a remote control for home electronics.
Xiaomi 11T and 11T Pro photo flagship cameras
Both smartphones received three cameras on the back cover. The first and main one has a resolution of 108 megapixels and f/1.75 aperture. The developers have installed electronic stabilization and phase detection autofocus. The camera works with a Nona-Bayer filter that combines 9 pixels into a single 2.1mm to increase light sensitivity. As a result, at the output, the user receives pictures with a resolution of 12 megapixels, but in top quality. In the settings you can switch to full resolution.
The second module is an f/2.2 ultra wide-angle lens with a 120° field of view. This sensor is also equipped with electronic stabilization.
The macro lens has a resolution of 5 megapixels and f / 2.4 aperture. It has an autofocus system. You can focus in macro mode from a distance of 3 to 7 cm.
This set of three cameras provides ample opportunities for shooting photos and videos. You can take detailed macro shots or capture large scenes and landscapes.
At night, the details of the frames are reduced and the photos are noisier, but the quality is quite acceptable. The absence of an optical stabilizer is almost imperceptible since the electronics compensate well for hand shaking even in low light conditions.
The front camera for selfies is built into a small hole at the top of the screen in the center. This is a 16MP module with f/2.5 aperture. There are no complaints about the quality of pictures on the front camera. Even in low light, it shoots well. There is a portrait mode with bokeh effect. The background is separated from the object accurately, the blur is pleasant, and it can be adjusted in post-processing.
The main difference between the Xiaomi 11T and 11T Pro cameras is that the older version is capable of shooting video in 8K resolution at 30 fps and 4K at 60 fps. The younger version of Xiaomi 11T does not shoot in 8K, and in 4K the frame rate is limited to 30 fps. This is due to the capabilities of the chipsets: MediaTek Dimensity 1200 is not capable of processing the 8K format.
The autonomy of the flagships Xiaomi 11T and 11T Pro
Both smartphones were equipped with a 5000 mAh battery, which consists of two cells. Separating the battery increased the charging speed and eliminated overheating. The autonomy of the smartphone is acceptable. When testing the phone in PCMark Work 3.0 with the screen running at a brightness level of 200 nits, the battery lasted for 13 hours and 16 minutes. While watching a YouTube video, the battery ran out after 14 hours.
In everyday use, the charge lasts for a day even with active use, and for a day and a half with moderate use. Both smartphones show very close results in tests and it is impossible to single out a winner among them, despite different chipsets.
At the same time, smartphones have different chargers. Xiaomi 11T Pro supports 120W thanks to HyperCharge technology, while Xiaomi 11T supports only 67W. It takes only 21 minutes to fully charge the battery of the older flagship. The younger version charges more slowly, but the result is also good - from 0 to 100% in 35 minutes.
Which version to choose
For ease of comparison, we have collected in a common table all the characteristics and functions that distinguish the two flagships:
There is no fundamental difference between the two flagship models, with the exception of processors and the amount of RAM in the top version. Xiaomi 11T Pro can be advised to those who play modern demanding games or use other "heavy" mobile applications. For such people, the 12/256 GB Pro version may be more suitable. Also, infinix hot 10 price in pakistan the older model is useful to users who prefer to shoot video in 8K format. The usual Xiaomi 11T is not capable of this.
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Sun Sovann discovered God's love through a Bible Society literacy programme in Cambodia.
World bible
Sun wanted to read his own name. Now he reads the Bible
Kaley Payne | April 6th, 2017 04:11 PM	| Add a Comment
All Sun wanted to do was to write his own name. He got much more than that. Sun never went to school. In Preah Vihear, one of Cambodia's poorest provinces, it's a hand-to-mouth kind of existence. Sun is a field labourer. Growing up in the north under the Khmer Rouge, education was more than a luxury. It was unheard of.
Like so many of Sun's neighbours, he took up drinking to wash away a hard day's labour. Palm wine is the "poor man's drink" in Cambodia. It's everywhere and it's cheap. Many field workers brew it themselves. Alcohol abuse is commonplace.
The rough, red roads to Preah Vihear have kept the far north province and its villages extremely isolated. Border disputes between Cambodia and Thailand have seen some investment in infrastructure in recent years, to provide the army access to the border. While the dispute kept locals wary, it did bring better roads. It has also meant Bible Society and other organisations have penetrated the jungle province and started much-needed programmes in the area.
While learning his alphabet, Sun became interested in the biblical stories his wife and son loved so much.
Sun has a wife and son. They both go to the small village church, but Sun was never interested in that. In 2016, when Bible Society started a literacy class through the church, his son joined. And it sparked something in Sun too. He remembered his desire to be able to write his name. So, he sat in his son's class. And he learned to read.
It's not just his name that Sun can read. Bible Society's literacy classes use Bible-based resources to teach. While learning his alphabet, Sun became interested in the biblical stories his wife and son loved so much. He started going to church with them. He stopped drinking so much wine.
This is Sun's name in Khmer: សុវណ្ណ. He knows what it says. But more important than that, he says, he knows that God loves him.
"I caused a lot of problems for my family," says Pol
Hundreds of kilometres away, in Tomnup village along the Tonle Sap River, Heap and Pol's marriage looked a lot like Sun's used to. They had been arguing for decades. Home life was scarred with conflict and alcohol. "I caused a lot of problems for my family," Pol says. Sometimes, it got violent.
Heap made friends with her neighbour, Vuth, whose family looked very different. "They seemed like a good family, who loved each other," says Heap. Vuth went to church. She told Heap about Jesus.
"I saw that [Vuth's] family was grounded in this belief," Heap tells me. She too started going to church and became a believer. Vuth shared Bible verses with Heap and Pol. Neither Heap nor Pol could read. They relied on Vuth to tell them what the Bible said. Pol, a fisherman, wasn't sure he believed what Vuth was telling him. He wanted to read it for himself.
In their village, Vuth was also a facilitator of a Bible Society literacy class. The class was full of children, some aged only five years old. Heap and Pol are almost 60. Yet when I visited the class in Tomnup, they were sitting at the back of the class with their paper, eager to learn.
"If we didn't have faith, life would still be really hard," says Heap
Heap says she understands more about the world, God, good and evil. Learning to read has given her this wisdom. Her new faith has also given her hope. "If we didn't have faith, life would still be really hard." Pol says their marriage is more peaceful. He no longer drinks.
Reading the Bible is something Pol is particularly proud of. Now he can read, he particularly likes to read Hebrews as it teaches him more about Jesus every day.
"Jesus has come to save us. Jesus has come to be with us. And the Bible says that God will never leave us." Pol and Heap know this for sure. They read it themselves.
For more than ten years, church volunteers trained by Bible Society have facilitated literacy classes in remote villages across Cambodia. All the teaching is contained in an MP3 player, so volunteers can just facilitate the classes (many volunteers only having basic literacy themselves). About 46,000 previously illiterate people have learned to read using Bible-based text books. In 2016, 600 classes were run in the Khmer language.
Can you help Bible Society fund this important work?
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Q: AngularJS: replacing templateURL with 404 page url when data is not loaded This doesn't work of course, but should explain what I want to achieve:
In the factory "myapp.factory('gameService', function($http, $location) {" I load data from json feed
"return $http.jsonp('api/game/' + id + '?callback=JSON_CALLBACK')", if the data is not loaded change the templateURL, which was loaded in at first, to 404 page url instead.
var get_data = function (id) {
     return $http.jsonp('api/game/' + id + '?callback=JSON_CALLBACK')
            .then(function(response) {
               //data loaded, do magic
            }, function(response) {
                //data not loaded
                templateUrl: 'views/page_not_found.html'; //<- how to inject this so it works?
            });
};

A: The best way to do this is to make a state in route provider to 'page not found', like this:
app.config(function ($routeProvider) {
    $routeProvider
      .when('/', {
        templateUrl: 'views/main.html'
        controller: 'MainCtrl',
      })
      .when('/pageNotFound', {
        templateUrl: 'views/page_not_found.html'
      });
});

and in your function make this:
var get_data = function (id) {
    return $http.jsonp('api/game/' + id + '?callback=JSON_CALLBACK')
        .then(function(response) {
           //data loaded, do magic
        }, function(response) {
            //data not loaded
            window.location = '/#/pageNotFound';
        });

};

A: Fixed it with ng-switch and ng-include
In the controller, when data is not loaded I added:
$scope.page_not_found = true;

And to the template I added:

It doesn't really replace the templateURL, everything happens in one .html template. I hide the main content and import the 404 page with ng-include, this solution seems to be faster as well.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Boutique Shops And Beauty Shops In Karachi
December 3, 2017 July 2, 2017 ElizabethShopping Mall
Bangkok has more than enough buying malls to suit every kind of lifestyles and budgets. But these Top 10 Shopping Malls offer the most effective procuring experiences, by way of diversity of products, accessible location in downtown areas and total buying satisfaction. Whether you are looking for probably the most upscale, the trendiest, the funkiest, or essentially the most specialised, you will see that them among these procuring malls under.
Beyond Squarefeet forty nine from India is another mall administration company, which is foraying into varied other countries similar to India, Iran, Nepal, Nigeria, Qatar, and so on. Mall administration is slowly changing into a trend and is way wanted services in Asia and other markets. Philippines has the most variety of purchasing malls in the high one hundred largest buying malls on the planet with 22.
For occasion, Hong Kong's Union Square is a megastructure above a prepare station and includes residences, places of work and lodges, all constructed on a podium mall. The complete thing houses roughly 70,000 residents on 35 acres, an area the scale of the Pentagon. The monolith represents an entirely new concept of urban living, a self-ample city within a city"—but one without streets, blocks or particular person buildings.
But what would Victor Gruen consider Hong Kong's city malls? They belong to a excessive-density, mixed-use neighborhood, they usually're surrounded by residences and pedestrians, relatively than a sea of asphalt and cars. In different ways, they exceed Gruen's imaginative and prescient: They're built-in into mass transit and have stunningly tall vertical atria.
Executing in opposition to these considerations will usually require that mall gamers develop new capabilities. Westfield, for instance, has established a Digital Office group that experiences to the CEO with the mission of spearheading digital initiatives throughout the group. Other corporations have created customer experience" teams which can be responsible for creating and integrating a unified vision of buyer initiatives. Still others have created retail groups chargeable for working on partnerships with retailers, or alternatively, operating retail operations themselves.
Tagged beauty, boutique, karachi, shops
The Latest Trend Of Shopping For Youngsters!
Denver's Premier Shopping Destination


Greeting card set with French phrases printed on 100% recycled paper with veggie-based ink. Blank inside. Set contains 8 cards and 8 envelopes in a box. Includes 2 each "Bonjour", "Merci Beaucoup", "Bon Anniversaire" and "Je T'aime" cards. Blank inside. Card 6.25" x 4.5" Made in San Francisco, CA.


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Q: Add Azure Custom Script Extension from Blob to Virtual Machine Scale Set by Powershell To do this with a script that is publicly available this is no Problem using:
$publicSettings = @{
    "fileUris" = (,"$uri");
    "commandToExecute" = "powershell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -File azure_cse_vm_initial_script.ps1 $argument"
}

Write-Host "  ==> Add-AzureRmVmssExtension"
Add-AzureRmVmssExtension -VirtualMachineScaleSet $vmss `
    -Name "customScript" `
    -Publisher "Microsoft.Compute" `
    -Type "CustomScriptExtension" `
    -TypeHandlerVersion 1.8 `
    -Setting $publicSettings

But how to do in case I use a storage account with a blob container? Can the access key be added to the Settings object? But how? And what to use for the URL.
The script I want to run should not be public accessible because it is the Installation script of my application.
Thanks,
Daniel

A: I would create a shared access signatur for that script (see Using shared access signatures). Then you can simple add the SAS token to the URI. E. g:
https://myaccount.blob.core.windows.net/sascontainer/sasblob.txt?sv=2015-04-05&st=2015-04-29T22%3A18%3A26Z&se=2015-04-30T02%3A23%3A26Z&sr=b&sp=rw&sip=168.1.5.60-168.1.5.70&spr=https&sig=Z%2FRHIX5Xcg0Mq2rqI3OlWTjEg2tYkboXr1P9ZUXDtkk%3D

A: You could also use storage account name and storage account key to download the script: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/extensions/custom-script-windows#extension-schema


Nephi1 has great desires to know mysteries of God, 1 Ne. 2:16.
mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them that seek diligently, by power of the Holy Ghost, 1 Ne. 10:19.
how unsearchable are the depths of mysteries of God, Jacob 4:8.
I will unfold this mystery unto you, Jacob 4:18 (Alma 40:3).
records are preserved that people might read and understand mysteries of God, Mosiah 1:5.
open your minds that mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view, Mosiah 2:9.
interpreters prepared for purpose of unfolding mysteries to men, Mosiah 8:19.
Amulek had never known much of the Lord's mysteries and marvelous power, Alma 10:5.
given unto many to know mysteries of God, Alma 12:9.
conditions for knowing mysteries of God, Alma 26:22.
Korihor claims priests yoke people with pretended mysteries, Alma 30:28.
plates to go forth to every people, that they shall know mysteries contained thereon, Alma 37:4.
these mysteries are not yet fully made known unto me, therefore I shall forbear, Alma 37:11.
twenty-four plates to be kept, that mysteries and works of darkness may be made manifest, Alma 37:21.
many mysteries that are kept that no one knoweth save God himself, Alma 40:3.
people fear that prophets will work some great mystery which they cannot understand, Hel. 16:21.
seek wisdom, then shall mysteries of God be unfolded, D&C 6:7 (11:7).
if thou inquire, thou shalt know mysteries of God, D&C 6:11 (8:11; 42:61).
the Lord explains mystery, D&C 10:64 (19:8; 38:13).
mystery of godliness, how great it is, D&C 19:10.
Joseph Smith given keys of mysteries and sealed revelations, D&C 28:7 (35:18; 64:5).
if thou ask, thou shalt receive revelations to know mysteries and peaceable things, D&C 42:61, 65.
world not to know mysteries, D&C 42:65.
if mysteries are desired, provide support for Joseph Smith, D&C 43:13.
he who keeps commandments will be given mysteries of kingdom, D&C 63:23.
mysteries to be well of living water to everlasting life, D&C 63:23.
the Lord reveals mysteries of kingdom to those who serve him, D&C 76:7.
the Lord reveals secrets of his will to those who serve him, D&C 76:10.
mysteries of kingdom surpass all understanding, D&C 76:114.
book which John saw contains mysteries, D&C 77:6.
Melchizedek Priesthood holds keys of mysteries of knowledge of God, D&C 84:19 (107:18–19).
Parley P. Pratt is blessed in expounding all scriptures and mysteries to edification of school, D&C 97:5.
at his coming the Lord will reveal hidden things which no man knew, D&C 101:33.
Melchizedek Priesthood to have privilege of receiving mysteries of kingdom, D&C 107:19.


Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Premier Properties serves Fargo, Moorhead, Detroit Lakes and surrounding areas with skilled and passionate agents. They are honored to represent Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, a trustworthy and nationally respected brand. Every day they intentionally practice their mission of integrity with their valued and knowledgeable real estate agents, entrusted clients and the community in which we live and work.


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Where in the world is Luis Velasquez Alvaray?!
Well, LVA was a no-show at his National Assembly hearing. Guy was promptly, unanimously sacked and the rumor going around over at Noticiero Digital is that he skipped the country. His right-hand guy, Antonio Barazate - the same guy who tried to do an end-run around the Maduro faction by buttering up Chavez's mom - shot himself in Barinas when it became clear LVA was throwing in the towel. Barinas faction chieftain Pedro Carreño conspicuously also failed to show up at LVA's hearing, suggesting his clique is quickly reaching an Ameliachesque level of disfavor.
How to read this? Well, my conjecture is that this signals the ascendancy of the Maduro faction. It's just imaginable - though staggering in its implications - that the barely literate former rabble-rousing bus driver is really succeeding in establishing his people as the dominant force in the chavista faction wars. Which is good news for midgets near and far - and for their white-powder dealing higher-ups. It's interesting thinking through this development alongside Jack Sweeney's piece on the changes in the State Department staff dealing with Venezuela. Jack notes that more and more counter-narcotics types are getting assigned to Foggy Bottom's Venezuela desk. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Day 2: England-Paraguay, Argentina-Ivory Coast
Three games today, including two good ones.
England-Paraguay: England is my pick to win the tournament, so I'm eager to see them playing a credible team right from the start. Paraguay has a history of advancing, but they'll have to get results against England and/or Sweden to get to the second round, which will be hard. England - and spare me the anglophobe comments - is flat out fantastic this year. Especially in mid-field - where futbol matches are won - the concentration of talent is frightening. Steven Gerard, Joe Cole, David Beckham and Frank Lampard are, all four of them, just show-stoppers. And their reputed striking difficulties are overblown - Owen is fit, and injured wunderkind Rooney's replacement Peter Crouch (all 6 feet and 7 inches of him - and as good with his feet as with his head) has been terrorizing defenses all year. (My pet theory is that Rooney will get fit by the second round and then have trouble earning a place back from Crouch.) I say England 2 - Paraguay 0.
Argentina-Ivory Coast: Play starts in the "group of death" tonight with Argentina taking on the best of the first-time participants. The BBC had an excellent report on World Cup fever in the war-torn Ivory Coast (click here and slide to 33:16) and, frankly, it's hard not to root for them. The Ivorians have at least three top-level players - Chelsea's intimidating striker Didier Drogba and Arsenal's on-form defensive duplet Eboué-Touré - whereas Argentina is still relying on Riquelme after all these years, and on the over-hyped teenager Messi. I say Argentina 1 - Ivory Coast 1. (Still, with Holland and Serbia-Montenegro - a talented team without a country - also in the group, the fight to qualify will be a cuchillo.)
There's also Sweden-Trinidad & Tobago, but that one's barely worth watching. The Trinidadians - who are only in the world cup cuz they're in the absurdly over-represented Concacaf qualifying group - will be aiming merely to prevent humiliation. I say they'll fail, and call it Sweden 3 - T&T 0.) Sweden, incidentally, could get pretty far in this tournament with a little luck. They have two of my favorite players (Lundberg and Zlatan - the class!) and Larsson to boot. It'll be important for them to try to actually win Group B (which also has England and Paraguay) because the second-place team in the group looks sure to end up playing Germany in the second round: not a pretty prospect.
Gangland stuff
Thinking about the way Venezuela is perceived abroad, perhaps what's hardest to convey is the way gangland tactics have colonized the regime. Europeans, used to thinking about politics as a struggle for control over the institutions that make and apply laws, can't begin to fathom the extent of their collapse in Venezuela. Their understanding of "politics" has no room for the aggressive pursuit of state loot we're seeing. And I'm not talking about mere corruption here. Because the opposition keeps framing the issue in corruption terms, but the word badly mischaracterizes the problem - if it was just corruption, it wouldn't be so bad.
It isn't, though: it's out and out gangsterism.
Corruption, in itself, need not be a social disaster. Italy, Greece, Brazil and even South Korea show that it's possible for an economy to grow consistently over decades, creating a massive middle class, even with a lot of corruption in the system. Once institutionalized in a stable way, corruption can be made compatible with long term growth and social development.
In Italy, the Christian Democrats institutionalized an elaborate system for distributing corruption rents between insiders - longstanding officials in key posts within the party acted as gate-keepers to the loot, harmonizing the interests of the various party factions and bringing a measure of order and predictability to the looting. Mexico's PRI institutionalized a system of 6-year "turns" for various factions to get their hands on the goodies, with the understanding that each new government would cover up for the last. Both systems lasted for decades, and both were compatible with growing incomes and rising living standards.
Every corrupt regime that stands the test of time realizes sooner or later that no amount of money is enough to satisfy every player's craving for state rents if everyone's scrambling for the loot at the same time, because it's never in a parasite's interest to kill the host organism. To make the system work, to make the system last, you need some informal institutionalization. You have to establish a stable set of unwritten "rules of the road" for corrupt officials and wannabes to bring a measure of predictability and stability to their actions. You need some widely-shared understandings of the Dos and Don'ts - if the standard kickback is going to be 10% of the contract's value, you need to apply that consistently, both to give the payers a measure of predictability and, more importantly, to make sure that no faction in the regime feels like it's getting a worse deal than any other.
Much of it is about regulating relations between top-level crooks and the class of aspiring bandits a step down from them on the organizational ladder. A stable corrupt system has to have a way to reassure second-tier thieves that, if they go along and get along, if they follow the implicit rules without raising a fuss or trying to jump the queue, they will, in time, get their shot at being first-tier pillos with access to the really big bucks. Without an implicit, stable seniority system, there's no way to control the competition for spoils between factions.
Even chickens understand that they need a pecking order.
What's new and scary about kleptobolivarianism is that there seems to be no stable pecking order, no institutionalized system for regulating and stabilizing the looting. Without it, the scramble for loot all too easily succumbs to gangland logic.
The Luis Velasquez Alvaray scandal provides a startling glimpse of chavismo's serious difficulties in institutionalizing corruption. Even in the upper echelons of the kleptocracy, you can never feel quite safe in your position. At any time, some other faction could make a play for your faction's racket. You may be getting obscenely rich, but you have to sleep with one eye open.
In such circumstances, your only insurance is to be more aggressive than the other guy. To steal more, faster in order to secure your position before you find yourself in trouble. To stash away enough compromising material on the other guy to make sure you can blackmail him in case he decides to go after you - (hell, LVA said explicitly that that was his game!) And, increasingly, to be willing to turn to violence if that's the only way your short-term interests can be secured.
Only problem is that if every faction starts following this logic at the same time, the result is pretty much anarchy. We end up with what we're seeing more and more: gangland stuff.
In this sense, the Danilo Anderson murder really was a watershed moment in Venezuela's recent history - an event whose full impact we are only now starting to appreciate. More and more, I think that the laughably amateurish cover-up was not merely a matter of incompetence. That somebody high up wanted to send a message - you can and will be killed if you cross me - and could only send it effectively if everyone in the country could SEE that the murder had been covered up. There's just no other explanation I can fathom for the opera buffa starring Giovanny Vasquez de Armas.
Because we can sit here and argue for months. But the reality is that the top, say, 3,000 people in the regime, they know. They know exactly who killed Danilo Anderson, and they more or less know why. They got the message. They understand that in the absence of any stable mechanism to institutionalize the looting, disputes will end up getting settled at the point of a gun. Just ask Luisa Coronel, Francisco Ameliach's assistant.
So this is what it's come to. The opposition keeps talking about corruption, but the reality is that corruption, in the old sense, is something for Venezuela to aspire to these days. It sounds morbid, but a system for looting state resources in an orderly fashion would be far preferable to what we're getting now.
The consumption boom and how he told it...
It's a challenge that every reporter assigned to cover the economy has to face: how to write about an irreducibly complex topic without either dumbing the story down or sending the reader into a boredom-induced catatonic comma. Jens Gould demonstrates how it can be done well in this piece in yesterday's New York Times:
With oil revenue flowing into its coffers, the government is spending like never before on social development programs that free up cash for the poor by providing free education and health care and cheap food. Wage increases and infrastructure projects also fill the economy with money that filters down to Venezuelans' pockets. As a result, consumers are buying more each year, helping Venezuela post growth that exceeded 9 percent last year and in the first quarter of 2006.
But economists here and abroad say that such rosy indicators are part of an artificial economic boom that could later hurt the country; the spending spree, they say, is masking the fundamental limitations of an economy propped up by spending, but failing to generate enough new private investment to sustain longer-term growth and job creation.
It's worth reading the whole thing. The only thing I would've done differently is that I would've leaned on the we've-been-here-before-angle more - cuz the current boomlet is such a 1975 redux it makes you weep. On the other hand, I my reporting probably wouldn't have been as good...
Teodoro Petkoff still hasn't understood what draws the poor to Chavez
Picking up where I left off yesterday, I wanted to comment on this bit from Teodoro's interview in El Mundo on Tuesday:
Q: At first, president Chavez also campaigned on the importance of work with dignity. Thousands of people ran to Miraflores to look for jobs. And what happened?
A: It's true. He took power with that goal in mind. He announced that his great enterprise would be to attack poverty. And I have to recognize that he succeeded in making the social question the great topic of national debate. Today, no one doubts that that's the issue...
Teodoro has been playing on variations of this riff for some time: Chavez's one merit is that he put poverty at the center of the national debate. I think that's wrong, in a subtle but deep way.
For as long as I can remember, the "social question" has been at the center of Venezuela's national debate. It's not like Luis Herrera beat Piñerúa in the 1978 election because Piñerúa didn't talk about poverty. It's not as if Lusinchi campaigned on a platform of abolishing inherittance taxes. No! Every government in the democratic era has come to power with a discourse about poverty. There's nothing innovative about that...
Chavez's discoursive innovation was something quite different: Chavez talked to the poor, not about them. While the old elite talked about the poor, using technocratic language that made sense within elite conceptual categories, Chavez talked to the poor in their language, using their conceptual categories, and saying things that made sense to them.
This, I think, it's the crux of his considerable success in engendering fierce loyalty among his poor supporters. Chavez's discourse treats them as subjects, not as the objects of the debate. Though I'm convinced this is a purely rhetorical ploy, the emotional impact of the strategy has been startling, and continues to be effective. Poor people feel included by Chavez's discourse - and, politically, that feeling is worth a thousand realities.
Teodoro doesn't seem to quite grasp the distinction. In his little riff, he always credits Chavez for having launched a debate about poverty. In his 30-second talking-head spots, he seems to think he's matching him. But he isn't - because he's subtly but badly misunderstood the nature of Chavez's discoursive innovation. Teodoro is trying to counter a guy who talks from the gut and to the poor with a discourse from the head about the poor. It won't work.
Like an over-caffeinated grandpa reading a bedtime story...
My unbridled enthusiasm for Teodoro Petkoff's politics is matched only by my dismay at the guy's abysmal electioneering skills. A little bird put this campaign ad and this other one in my inbox. It's stunning - after all these years, the guy still manages to come off as both condescending and over-intellectual when he panders.
I can't exactly put my finger on why I think these ads are so terrible. It's not the message; though it could be better phrased, it's what we've come to expect from him. Partly, it's that - bizarrely - he's dressed like a mortician.
Mostly, tough, it's the impression you're left with after watching them, the taste they leave in your mouth. There's something about his intonation that makes him sound like an over-caffeinated grandpa reading a bedtime story. It's terrible. You don't feel like you're watching a leader in waiting, you feel like you're watching a pundit, a fantastically entertaining insider maybe...but not a leader.
One thing actively horrified me: he uses that ghastly formulation - "los más pobres" - to refer to the poor, and so unwittingly ends up talking about them, rather than to them - a estas alturas del partido! Teodoro, pana, you're not at the Ateneo: you can't talk to people whose votes you desperately need as though they're not in the room!
My source isn't sure if these ads are already running on Venezuelan TV, or if they're just screen-tests. Note to Teodoro's people: Teo is a disaster reading into a camera. You'd do much better going for more produced, voice-overed ads like this one.
Want s'more free advice? Get it through your heads: you can't beat Chavez with brilliant analysis. You can sell a lot of newspapers that way, yes, but it won't win you an election. Teo needs to use his ads to establish an emotional connection with the audience - because elections are won in the gut, not the head. That's true not just in Venezuela, that's true everywhere.
So show the guy walking through the Sur del Lago town where he grew up, show him emoting as he sees the conditions there, show him talking to poor folks, not about them. That might get you somewhere. But these ads - especially the first two - are seriously off on the wrong track.
Makarem's Recadi Past
Delicious tidbit on North American Opinion Research Big Cheese Julio Makarem: according to the Diccionario de la Corrupción en Venezuela, Volume III, Makarem was indicted way back in 1989 for his role in a complicated scam to bilk millions of subsidized dollars out of Recadi.
(Recadi being the 1980s corruption sink-hole in charge of administering rationed, subsidized dollars under the Lusinchi-era Currency Controls.)
Makarem fled the country to avoid trial.
Garcia wins Peru by 10 points - NAOR poll off by 28
Heh...sorry, couldn't help the headline. Not a week ago, chavista briefcase-pollster North American Opinion Research was saying Humala would win in Perú by 18 points. In Lima, NAOR's "tracking poll" through May 31st had Ollanta beating Alan by ten points, but official results show Alan beat Ollanta by 62% to 38% in the capital.
But on more subtantive grounds: God it was great to see Chavez's unhinged meddling in Peru backfire spectacularly. A couple of weeks ago, I talked about the internationalization of hemispheric politics in Latin America. Yesterday, for the first time possibly ever, a newly elected South American leader chose to portray his own election as a direct rebuff of another South American leader. Alan García is defining his presidency via its antichavismo, from the start.
LIMA, Peru, June 4 (Reuters) - Ex-President Alan Garcia, who leads Peru's runoff election, said on Sunday he had defeated plans by anti-U.S. Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez to increase his influence in Latin America.
"Today, Peru has sent a message of national sovereignty and has defeated efforts by Hugo Chavez to incorporate us in the expansion strategy of his military and backward-looking model, which he's tried to implant in Latin America," Garcia told supporters after exit polls showed him winning the election.
Interesting stuff. I have this sense that, in 20 years, we could look back on the summer of 2006 as the time when the wheels fell off of Chavez's hemispheric project. But it's early days still...all eyes now have to go on the big prize: México.
Anatomy of a Scoundrel...
The more folks look into it, the longer Julio Makarem's "rabo'e'paja" looks. You know who I'm talking about...Mr. Makarem, chairman of that most respectable polling firm North American Opinion Research, he of the Humala-will-beat-Alan-Garcia-by-18-points poll, the very same two-bit would-be intimidator of Venezuela's English-language blogosphere, our ever-popular alleged Belkys Cedeño gopher and shady Petrotulsa/Vatramafia influence-peddler extraordinaire...well, according to the Diccionario de la Corrupción en Venezuela, Volume III, the guy was indicted way back in 1989 for his role in a complicated scam to bilk millions of subsidized dollars out of Recadi. He fled the country to avoid trial.
Una joyita, el tipo.
Light Summer Reading
A couple of months ago, Harvard's Center for International Development hosted the second conference on Venezuelan Economic Growth 1970-2005. I'm really sorry I didn't get to attend, but I've been reading the conference papers (all linked to from the conference web page) and many of them are really fascinating.
Everybody who is anybody in the inbred little world of Venezuelan political economy research seems to have presented. We're talking Ricardo Hausmann, Francisco Rodríguez, Osmel Manzano, Dan Levy, Roberto Rigobón, Jonathan DiJohn, Javier Corrales, Michael Penfold, Francisco Monaldi and a number of others who are maybe not so well known, but are doing really high level work on why the Venezuelan economy tanked from 1977 onward.
Many different points of view were put forward (it was the labor laws! no, it was the clientelism! actually, the crappy financial system! no, the oil policy!) and your head more or less spins after reading a few of the papers. I would really love to interview some of the authors for the podcast...actually, thinking about taking that on as a summer project.
Quotable Vegas
Thanks to Katy, I got my hands on a copy of Falke, Federico Vegas's remarkable novel about the ill-fated "invasion" of Venezuela by anti-Gomez exiles in 1929. I'm just starting it, but the book is so quotable you can hardly help yourself. I can't imagine Vegas is, erm, unaware of the contemporary overtones when he writes passages like:
No hay quien se salve del gomecismo...unos están a favor y otros en contra mientras nuestro verbo gira desde hace demasiado tiempo alrededor del mismo sátrapa. Es un caso de vampirismo. ¡Nos ha chupado hasta los sesos!...La palabra "Gomez" anula esos inesperados vericuetos que le permiten vagar a una imaginación libre, y por lo tanto, su persistente efecto acaba tarde o temprano con las buenas conversaciones.
Nobody's safe from gomecismo...some are in favor and others against while our words have been centered for too long around the same old fox. It's a case of vampirism...he has sucked us down to our brains!... The word "Gomez" annuls those unexpected byways that allow a free imagination to wander, and so its persistent effect puts an end, sooner or later, to good conversations.
Teodoro Petkoff still hasn't understood what draws...
Like an over-caffeinated grandpa reading a bedtime...
Garcia wins Peru by 10 points - NAOR poll off by 2...


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What Makes a Stellar Business?
Launching a business comes with a huge to-do list. Getting the company off the ground can take a lot of work, and most of the time you're more than happy to do it. Because this is something that you've wanted for a long time. But you'll also want to make sure that you make a success of things. So, let's take a look at three things that make a business special.
First of all, you're going to find that any company that is authentically passionate about what they do and the products they make, they're infectious. And consumers want to love them too. Just creating something half-heartedly isn't fun. But when they are leaders in their niche, you can't not love that company!
People-Focus
The next thing that always makes a great company, and shows them as incredible in the eyes of their consumers, is a people-centric nature. When a company is kind to its people, champions them, pays well and hires the best, it shows. And that company is definitely much more respected in society than a company that doesn't look after its people – or customers for that matter.
From here, you're also going to find that those key businesses that everyone loves is that they all have great ethics. Unethical companies always lead a bath taste in your mouth. But when it comes to a company that is accountable, that's fair, transparent and have integrity, then you're way more likely to be drawn to them. Just take a look at the infographic below to find out more.
Infographic Design By Norwich University
Simple Software for Small Business Owners »
Why Administrative Efficiency in Healthcare Businesses Is so Important »


On Episode 3 of UFC 204 Embedded, middleweight champion and creative driver Michael Bisping makes his way back home to Clitheroe for a walk down memory lane. Title challenger Dan Henderson dines on food he carried with him across the pond and gears up for his bout. Back in Manchester, Bisping has a high-energy training session with coach Jason Parillo and fellow UFC fighter Lorenz Larkin. Henderson takes a city tour and struggles with his soccer skills . UFC 204 Embedded is an all-access, behind-the-scenes video blog leading up to the world middleweight championship at UFC 204, taking place Saturday, October 8 on Pay-Per-View.


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Agents welcome mandatory qualification, new regulator and code of practice
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Letting agents have responded with enthusiasm to the government's announcement over the Easter weekend that the industry would in future have to abide by a mandatory code of practice and individuals would have to achieve a nationally-recognised qualification.
The government caught some sectors of the industry by surprise when it revealed on Sunday that criminal charges would be brought against those letting and managing agents who break the code, and said that a new regulator will be set up to police the code.
Agents failing to comply will be barred from trading, while those who commit serious code breaches will face prosecution.
Former RICS residential faculty chairman Jeremy Leaf said on Twitter: "Excellent long overdue news which should compromise rogue operators and enhance customer confidence, but must be properly enforced."
But he added: "We need firm dates for delivery as all a bit wishy washy in that regard at the moment."
Kristjan Byfield of London agency Base Property Specialists also took to social media to say: "In principle this is good news ... How this is legislated, funded and enforced will be pivotal. However, with it taking 18 to 24 months for the government to configure a letting fee ban this could be a slow task."
ARLA was also supportive with David Cox, chief executive, saying in a statement: "We are hugely supportive of these proposals. After 20 years of campaigning, the government has finally listened to our call for proper regulation of the industry. For the last two decades, successive governments have passed significant amounts of complex legislation on landlords; none of which have been properly policed or adequately enforced."
He continued: "These announcements demonstrate a very sensible shift towards focusing on the root cause of the issues affecting the sector rather than trying to find legislative solutions to individual problems. For landlords, their rental property is usually their biggest asset after the home in which they live; and for tenants, it's their home.
"It must be the right of every landlord and every tenant to have a letting agent who knows what they are doing, is professionally qualified and the money they entrust to their agent is protected. This is a huge step towards creating a level playing field across the industry, and we look forward to working with the government on this."
NALS also backs the measure, with chief executive Isobel Thomson saying: "We welcome the government's recognition of the current contribution that lettings and management firms play within the Private Rented Sector. Creating a level playing field will eliminate the poor practice and dishonesty that currently tarnishes the sector and ensure a safe and fair experience for tenants and landlords. Agents who already submit to self-regulation should have nothing to be concerned about."
The government's announcement reads: "With thousands of renters and leaseholders suffering at the hands of rogue agents every day from unexpected costs, deliberately vague bills or poor quality repairs, a new mandatory code of practice is proposed to stop managing and letting agents from flouting the law.
"To further professionalise both sectors, letting and managing agents will be required to obtain a nationally recognised qualification to practice, with at least one person in every organisation required to have a higher qualification.
"A new independent regulator responsible for working practices of agents will be given strong powers of enforcement for those who break the rules – and agents who fail to comply will not be permitted to trade. Criminal sanctions could also be brought in for those who severely breach the code."
Housing minister Heather Wheeler says: "Most property agents take a thorough and professional approach when carrying out their business, but sadly some do not. By introducing new standards for the sector, we will clamp down on the small minority of agents who abuse the system so we can better protect tenants and leaseholders who find themselves at the end of a raw deal."
Other proposals to be brought in under the code include:
- a new system to help leaseholders challenge unfair fees including service charges;
- support for leaseholders to switch their managing agents where they perform poorly or break the terms of their contract;
- a requirement for all letting and managing agents to undertake continuing professional development and training.
The new code will be developed by a working group comprising representatives of letting, managing and estate agents, as well as tenants and regulation experts. The government says the group will be established as soon as possible and is expected to draw up the final proposals early next year.
The group will also look in greater depth at unfair additional charges for freehold and leaseholders and whether they should be capped or banned. This includes the use of restrictive covenants, leasehold restrictions and administration charges.
The government has also published its response to its consultation on the introduction of mandatory Client Money Protection schemes for letting agents, with legislation to be brought forward to introduce privately-led schemes and civil penalties of up to £30,000 for agents who fail to comply with the scheme.
According to industry estimates, £2.7 billion in client funds is held by letting agents at any one time.
"Making this scheme mandatory is vital to ensure every agent is offering the same level of protection, giving tenants and landlords the financial protection that they deserve, and will mean they are reimbursed if their letting agent is fraudulent or goes bankrupt" says the government's statement.
Poll: Is mandatory training and qualification a good or bad idea?
Mandatory Qualifications
Simon Shinerock
03 April 2018 08:21 AM
I have been through FS regulation and it was a misguided nightmare. Becoming directly authorised by the regulator became so complex and heinous that advisors who survived mostly joined networks, there are currently about a tenth of the advisors than there were pre regulation. Ironically the companies who called for regulation and trumpeted licensing were the first to go bust. What happened to less regulation not more? I will find the silver lining in this but don't for one moment think it will punish the wicked and reward the good, that's not how these things work
Andrew Hill
Who's expected to pay for this? Plus CMP and the tenant fee ban... Are the government trying to force new agencies out of business or what? This is starting to get too much, the increased overheads will surely mean increased rents for tenants to increase our incoming fees to help cover the added unnecessary costs.
Why not hand out banning orders to rogue agents? Or enforce laws and regulations already in place before forcing more on us which are frankly unnecessary.
April fools?
Check out the release date and ask yourself, do government departments work over Easter weekends?
Retired Agent
03 April 2018 23:09 PM
The expulsion of a Letting Agent by the Property Ombudsman from their scheme does not appear to have been an unmitigated success when it was discovered it was still trading and had not paid the Complainants the award against it, and a further banning order was issued as I understand it? This type of agent will just carry on as before until they are jailed; is this what will happen to agents who don't follow the Government's diktat on qualifications, or my guess would be something far less draconian?
I wish we could not use the term "Rogue Agents"; they're not even agents but probably criminals and fraudsters.
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PORT VILA, Vanuatu (Vanuatu Daily Post, August 18, 2016) – The Government has established a Commission of Inquiry (COI) to investigate over Vt4.454 billion worth of failed investments by the Vanuatu National Provident Fund (VNPF), within a 60-day time frame.
This figure, said Minister of Finance and Economic Management (MFEM), Gaetan Pikioune, translates to almost 32% of the total investments undertaken by the Fund from 2007 to 2014.
Exercising powers conferred on him by the Commissions of Inquiry Act, Minister of Justice and Community Services, Ronald Warsal, ordered the establishment of the COI into the alleged mismanagement, illegal and improper conduct of the past and present staff of the VNPF and Board, involving the investment of the members' funds into various unprofitable, nonviable businesses within the country and abroad.
"The amount of funds involved is quite substantial," he said.
The Commissioners are: Anita Jowitt, John William Timakata, Cathy Abel Nako with Jowitt as chairperson of the commission.
Tony Naliupis is appointed as Assessor and Andrew Kausiama secretary.
Meanwhile MFEM Pikioune, called for accountability.
"There must be accountability in how we manage our Fund," he said.
He acknowledged the Opposition Bloc for raising concerns and listing some of the non-profitable investments, the Minister of Justice for putting the COI instrument in place, State Law and also the VNPF Board and Management for their work in the last three years.
MP for Efate Joshua Kalsakau, stressed the importance of dealing with funds that belong to the people. He questioned the extent to which the investigation will proceed and whether officers implicated will actually be prosecuted.
In response Minister Warsal pointed out that the composition of people who will be undertaking the inquiry include Chartered Accountants and high profile lawyers.
"The question of whether criminal or civil proceedings can be advanced against people implicated is hinged on the findings of the Commission," he said.
He assured this COI is different and needs to be resolved as soon as possible, with an outcome that must satisfy the members of the Fund.
Justice Minister Warsal and MFEM Pikioune, launched the Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the Vanuatu National Provident Fund (VNPF) at the VNPF Conference Room 4pm yesterday.
High government officials present at the launching included two Director Generals, the Ombudsman, the Auditor General and the Governor of the Reserve Bank.


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Net-A-Porter picks up the luxury skincare line for their beauty selection
By FAYE BROOKMAN
Move over dermatologists. With consumers digging deeper into ingredients, there's rising interest in skincare from founders with different advanced degrees: scientists. Dermatologists might know a lot about treating skin, but scientists create the formulas.
Admitting he isn't a typical beauty entrepreneur, Stoddart says he serendipitously discovered what he named Organic Molecular Vessels™ (OMV™), a time-released delivery method engineered from natural starches that drives Noble Panacea's products. The method protects active ingredients such as retinol and peptides at the molecular level to preserve their potency until they can be released at the moment of need, explains Noble Panacea CEO Celine Talabaza. Put simply, she equates them to little houses with windows that open at the perfect point. The brand asserts OMV™ increases the efficacy of its products up to tenfold.
Following its launch in November, Noble Panacea is premiering today on Net-a-Porter and scheduled to enter Harrods in April. "Net-a-Porter has personal shoppers and offers the perfect one-on-one conversations to help educate people about the line," says Talabaza, a product and marketing veteran who previously occupied roles at L'Oréal, Unilever and LVMH Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy. Scientists don't always make the best beauty marketers and her leadership is seen as a plus for the nascent brand.
Sustainability is a central tenant of Noble Panacea. OMV™ production is reported to be environmentally-friendly. It involves crystallization of carbohydrate and salt in a closed-loop, renewable process that doesn't yield waste. Water is reused and re-purified in the production process. The packaging is equally environmentally-conscious. Mirroring the shape of the OMV™ Technology, Noble Panacea's octagon recyclable containers are composed of a starch substance. Also encased in a recyclable material, the products are individually packaged in so-called Active Daily Doses to ensure freshness. A refill option will be available later this year.
Read the full article at beautyindependent.com


I am Brandi from Atlanta, GA. I first started running in 2011 and before I knew it I was running....A LOT! In 2012 I set a goal to run 40 races in the year which I accomplished by running my first full marathon in December 2012. Each year since then, I have continued to push my race schedule more. In 2013 my goal was 52 races (one race per weekend) and I ended up running 58 races and in 2014 I completed 64 races. My races cover distances from 5Ks to full marathons, but my absolute favorite distance is the half marathon.
Running is more than just a physical activity for me, it is a social event as well. I believe that running and an active lifestyle should be fun because if you don't have fun doing something then why are you doing it? I enjoy wearing themed and fun outfits to races and will also rock the occasional race costume. I love to express my creativity and bring smiles to those around me on race day.
Running has provided me with many great opportunities over the past few years. Not only have I found my "happy place", I have met some amazing friends, and traveled to some wonderful places. I am excited to share my adventures with you.


A couple years ago, my friend asked me to write a story for a zine she was producing. The theme was "First Kiss." For weeks I racked my brain about what to write. The first time I touched lips with someone outside of my family it was to share a peck with my best friend. Gina. She loved me like a sister. I loved her like something else. A story I wanted to tell, but didn't know how. My first tongue kiss was with a boy named Papito. He was on house arrest and put me in a sleeper hold while we made out. I didn't like it. He did. A story I knew how to tell, but didn't want to.
I never did write anything for my friend's zine, but I recently revisited the topic in light of Crush Month on Man Repeller, because kisses and crushes go together like peanut butter and celery. I suddenly found myself needing to know posthaste what Rihanna's first kiss was like, which sent me down an internet rabbit hole that ultimately ends in the below — 10 famous peoples' first kiss stories. Because you wanna know, right?! Timothée Chalamet's is in there. And Michelle Obama's. That's right. Read on.
By the way, what's your first kiss story? Was it good? Was it gross? How'd you feel afterwards? I'll be waiting in the comments to hear all about it.
Word on the street (Rolling Stone, print, circa 2011) is that RiRi might not have always been such a bad gal. Her first kiss wasn't until high school and it was "the worst thing ever." She says the dude "pretty much dumped his entire saliva glands into [her] mouth," which traumatized her so she "didn't kiss for, like, ever" afterwards. Some spit was poured into her mouth, she poured herself into her music.
Okay, now someone please tell Nora that her favorite 32-year-old teenager waited for her first kiss. "I waited until I was 17, and he was a jazz singer named Brenden Call," Carly Rae Jepsen told MTV News. "Nice guy, sweet guy. We still keep in touch on Facebook." She added that while she has some friends who've told her some horror stories, she had never had a really terrible kiss before. This was back in 2012. Hope it's still true for her sake.
Britney's first kiss was with none other than *cue drum roll* JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE! She recounted the smooch on The Oprah Winfrey Show back when that was a thing, telling O that she was 12 when it happened. They were playing truth or dare while listening to Janet Jackson (because what else do Mickey Mouse Club stars listen to while playing truth or dare?) and "his friend dared him to kiss me." The rest is matching-denim-looks-to-the-AMAs history.
"My first kiss was with Meghan Ashley Higgins when I was five years old," the Empire star told Essence on the series debut of "Style Your Guy." Can't say Meghan Ashley Higgins means anything to me, but props on the young first kiss. I was probably four myself, but we can't all be this suave.
Of course the Biebs' first kiss was "really awkward," kind of like his new clothing line. "I was, like, 11 or 12. And I was on a snow hill and it was late and we were all cold and I was with this girl, and we were together, and then I kissed her." Kiss aside, is "snow hill" a term I should be familiar with?
Interesting. I can tell you that Ellen's first celeb crush was Michael Jackson (same), her first pet was a cat named Debbie, but her first kiss? "It was with some guy… in New Orleans," and that's all the information I've been able to find on that.
Feature photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100.


The Royal Canadian Geographical Society, in partnership with Canada's national Indigenous organizations, has created a groundbreaking four-volume atlas that shares the experiences, perspectives, and histories of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.
This ambitious and unprecedented project inspired by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action. Exploring themes of language, demographics, economy, environment and culture, with in-depth coverage of treaties and residential schools, these are stories of Canada's Indigenous Peoples, told in detailed maps and rich narratives.


This Easy Pumpkin Cheesecake is the perfect fall dessert. It's full of cinnamon and pumpkin spice with a smooth creamy finish.
Have you ever had a pumpkin cheesecake? The first time I had one was as a teenager and I thought my dad was crazy! I have since come to love them and I hope that you do too. This Easy Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe was amazing! With the Moravian Cookie crust, the flavor was just wonderful! You could do graham cracker instead, but I think that the ginger snaps made it special.
So, you might be thinking that I was a bit crazy to snub my nose at my father when he offered me this pumpkin cheesecake when I was a kid. Let me start off my saying that this was back in the 80's and there were no Cheesecake Factory restaurants with a million cheesecake flavors. I also grew up in Hawaii so there was no real fall season. Yes, it cooled off quite a bit December through February, but it wasn't frigid. And the was no crazy blogging world that went bat-sh#t crazy for pumpkin everything.
This idea of pumpkin cheesecake was so foreign to me. I mean, there was no way that strawberry puree was going to go with that! I can't put fruit on it? It sounded strange. Why add a vegetable to a cheesecake for crying out loud?!
The cinnamon and ginger spices are so wonderful together. They just about sang in my mouth! And if you're wondering about what to add to the top, check out this post to see what I added! I went a bit beyond Cool Whip… Enjoy!
This recipe is part two of a three part series including Moravrian Ginger Snaps and Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake.
I know you're all bat sh#t crazy for more pumpkin recipes, so check out this Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal recipe for breakfast, this Pumpkin Chili for dinner and then some low-carb Pumpkin Spice Biscotti with your coffee for dessert.
Easy to make and delicious to eat! Make this Easy Pumpkin Dessert Cheesecake for your next dinner party!
Place the cookies and pepitas into a food processor and pulverize until it crumbles. Gradually add in the butter and pulse a few times to get all the crumbs coated and wet. Press into a 9 inch round springform pan. Bake for 15 minutes, remove, and let cool while preparing the filling.
Whisk sugar, spices, and salt and set aside.
Line a baking sheet with 5 layers of paper towels. Pour out the pumpkin puree and press 5 more paper towels over top. Press out the excess water from the can. No need to go crazy, just press until the towels are saturated. Throw away the top towels and flip the puree into a bowl, discarding the bottom towels. Add the vanilla and lemon juice to the bowl and set aside.
In a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese for 1 minute - it should be smooth with no visible lumps. Add in a third of the sugar mixture, mix and scrape the bow. Repeat for the remaining ⅔ of the sugar. Be sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to completely incorporate the sugar. Add in the pumpkin and beat for 1 minute. Gradually add in the eggs with the mixer on medium until all the eggs are mixed in. Reduce the speed to low and incorporate the cream.
Cover the bottom on the springform pan with 2 layers of heavy foil and place it into a larger roasting pan. Pour the filling into the springform pan and smooth the top. Transfer the roasting pan with the cheesecake inside into the oven. Pour some water into the roasting pan so it comes about half way up the side of the springform pan.
Bake for 75 - 90 minutes. The center should have some giggle to it and reach 150℉. Leave the cheesecake in the oven, with the door cracked, for an additional hour to cool, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling for another 3 hours. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
To remove from the pan, slide a knife around the edges then remove the ring. Work a metal spatula under to loosen it, then transfer to a large platter or cake stand. Let it sit for 30 minutes before serving.
I hoard those thin gingersnaps and hide them from the family just so I can make crust out of them, this looks soooooo good!
Well, now you can make the cookies anytime you like! They are so good!!


The water level is down phase from yesterday, but it is still a inch per day and its pace does not increase. I think that the slow pace of decrease is very natural, because almost all basin of the Yukon River is unrelated to concrete and a water sucked by the ground as a sponge should be gradually flowing out the river.
Today, a nice northerly wind is blowing.


Posted on Thursday, August 29th, 2013 at 9:45 am.
As most of us do not control our body language, it is an authentic tool to get to know a person's true feelings and thoughts.
To understand and control body language, participate in Body Language Training Course from pdtrainig in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles.
Body language also allows us to understand ourselves better, as we can then decode what our body is expressing about us. Training in body language is targeted towards the building and maintaining of positive relationships at work and in life.
Different people use different body signals to consciously or sub-consciously communicate with others. Posture, facial expressions, hand movements, manner of walking, ways of greetings can tell a lot about a person. When we meet a person, we take into account both the verbal and the nonverbal signals to judge their feelings and behavior. For example, when a person is not interested in a conversation, s/he will look around and not keep constant eye contact. A person who is shy will avoid making eye contact, but will look down instead of looking around to see something of interest.
Reading the body language of others helps to quickly judge their behavior, which provides us with important information to adjust our behavior. It also assists us in controlling our own body language to create a favorable impression.
In a work environment, knowledge about body language can provide a deep and quick understanding of colleagues, boss, and customers. Channelizing the understanding towards achieving positivity in the work environment helps in building goodwill.
As we all interact with other people every day, using our knowledge of body language can help us to effectively handle other people by adjusting our behavior accordingly. Skill building in body language is especially beneficial to those whose job requires communicating with many people. Understanding nonverbal communication can provide them with the valuable insight that can help them to successfully establish new relationships and maintain old ones. Having skills in interpreting and controlling body language enhances personal worth along with creating an environment of well-being.


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Appeals court cites bias, overturns cold-case murder verdict
FILE - William Talbott II pleads his innocence before a judge sentences him to life without parole at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Wednesday, July 24, 2019, in Everett, Wash. Talbott was convicted of killing a young Canadian couple more than three decades ago. An appeals court in Washington state on Monday, Dec. 6, 2021, overturned the cold-case murder convictions. The three appeals court judges found that one of the jurors should have been dismissed during the jury selection because she said she didn't know if she could be fair. (Andy Bronson/The Herald via AP, File)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Dec. 6, 2021 4:09 PM PT
EVERETT, Wash. —
An appeals court in Washington state on Monday overturned the cold-case murder convictions against a man accused of killing a young Canadian couple in 1987, citing juror bias.
Detectives arrested William Earl Talbott II in 2018 using the then-novel method of genetic genealogy to name him as the killer of Jay Cook and Tanya Van Cuylenborg.
Genetic genealogy involves identifying suspects by entering crime-scene DNA profiles into public databases that people have used for years to fill out their family trees.
The three appeals court judges found that one of the jurors should have been dismissed during jury selection because she said she didn't know if she could be fair. She had experience of violence against women and she did not know if she, as a mother, could be unbiased in such a case, she said.
"A flood of emotion might come over me … and cloud my judgment," she said.
The juror, known as juror 40, was still seated by Superior Court Judge Linda Krese, who has since retired. The juror heard witness testimony for weeks and reached the guilty verdict with 11 others, following three days of deliberation.
"After her clear, repeated expressions of actual bias as to the precise nature of the allegations at the heart of this trial and evidence which would be introduced, we cannot conclude that juror 40 was sufficiently rehabilitated such that Talbott was provided a fair and impartial jury," Judge Cecily Hazelrigg wrote for the appeals court.
Prosecutors have until Jan. 5 to ask the state Supreme Court to review the appeals court ruling.
In 2019, Talbott, 58, became the first person convicted by a jury in a case involving genetic genealogy, which previously had been used to crack the Golden State Killer serial murder case and which has since been used to solve many other cases.
Talbott was sentenced to life in prison for two counts of aggravated murder in the first degree.
Talbott's appellate attorneys raised many other issues related to the evidence in the case, as did Talbott in court papers he prepared himself. The appeals court only addressed juror bias, not concerns related to genetic genealogy.
Cook and Van Cuylenborg, of Vancouver Island, were on a trip to Seattle to pick up furnace parts for Cook's father on Nov. 18, 1987. They never made it to their destination. Within days, their bodies were found many miles away, and about 65 miles apart.
Cook, 20, had been beaten, strangled and left dead beneath a blue blanket south of Monroe. Van Cuylenborg, 18, was shot in the head. A passerby found her half-naked body in wet leaves off a rural roadside north of Mount Vernon. Prosecutors believe she was raped.
No arrest was made for more than 30 years. Then a Snohomish County sheriff's detective who inherited the case, Jim Scharf, decided to try genetic genealogy, using a DNA profile from semen-stained pants found in the couple's van and semen on the young woman's body.
With the help of DNA analysis by Parabon Nanolabs, genealogist CeCe Moore traced family trees on the ancestry database GEDmatch. The mother's and father's lines intersected with the Talbotts, a Woodinville family with only one son, William.
Scharf put the SeaTac trucker under surveillance. One day in south Seattle, a coffee cup fell out of his truck. An undercover officer swooped in to collect it. Saliva on the cup came back as an apparent genetic match.
Top headlines by email, weekday mornings
Get top headlines from the Union-Tribune in your inbox weekday mornings, including top news, local, sports, business, entertainment and opinion.
Mexico finds 57 adolescent migrants crammed into truck
Mexican immigration authorities say they have found 57 Guatemalan adolescents packed into a trailer on a highway near the U.S. border
Billy Packer, an Emmy award-winning college basketball broadcaster who covered 34 Final Fours for NBC and CBS, has died at 82
A mid-Michigan man says he's innocent of the charges brought against him in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot in Washington
1 year, 1 day in prison for lawyer in police car firebombing
A lawyer who purchased gasoline that another lawyer used in firebombing an unoccupied New York City police car during protests over George Floyd's death in 2020 has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison
Prosecutor: Don't dismiss murder charge against ex-cop
A prosecutor has asked a judge not to dismiss a second-degree murder charge against a former Grand Rapids police officer accused of shooting a Black motorist in the back of the head during a struggle over a Taser
AP Week in Pictures: North America
JANUARY 20 - 26, 2023 This photo gallery highlights some of the most compelling images from North America made or published by The Associated Press in the past week.
SDPD releases video of police fatally shooting man during brief gun fight in Barrio Logan
17-year-old boy injured in hit-and-run crash in Oceanside has died
Three people injured after propane tank explodes at Kearny Mesa catering event
Ex-Memphis officers charged with murder in beating of Tyre Nichols; video to be released Friday
Several lanes of north I-15 closed near Rancho Bernardo after truck overturns, spills gravel
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Had enough of the dreary British weather? We know the feeling! Why not get in the summer party mood with a Hawaiian themed Luau? A tropical shindig is always loads of fun no matter the time of year, and we have everything you need in order to transform your venue into a Hawaiian paradise and get you dressed the part too.


If you haven't read part one of the Zombie Fallout series, click here to read a review.
Welcome to Month of the Living Dead! A month-long look at novels that feature my favorite form of the undead: zombies. When I was eleven, my dad introduced me to my first zombie movie with Return of the Living Dead…and I couldn't sleep for a week (I was a weaker child back then). When I was twelve, he gave me an unedited copy of the script for the original Dawn of the Dead just before I sat down to watch said film with him…and afterwards I was bitten and forever infected with a love of the walking dead. So, over the next few weeks, in celebration of the shamblers, I shall be hosting a veritable festival of my favorite festering flesh-feasting forays. Or, perhaps just some zombie stories I've read recently. So run to your local abandoned farmhouse or shopping mall, board up the windows, pull some trucks up to the gates and ready your machine guns, because this is going to be a long, intense month! And I hope we all survive to see another day without the dead.
Some of you may recall that some time ago (read: back in June), I had reviewed a self-published zombie novel called Zombie Fallout. It wasn't the best thing I've ever read involving zombies, but it also wasn't the worst – and as I recall it was the only novel that I read in an entire night. If I could equate Zombie Fallout to anything else, it would have to be the first Michael Bay Transformers movie: it was silly, had a ridiculous arsenal, plenty of action, and human characters you felt no connection with but by God did you love the set pieces! That being said, if Zombie Fallout is Transformers, then Zombie Fallout Part Two: A Plague Upon Your Family is sadly in line with Revenge of the Fallen.
One of the most serious offenses in the novel starts off in the very beginning: where we get exposition on Eliza. In my review for Zombie Fallout, I had mentioned that Eliza was one of the most mysterious – and therefore threatening – villains I had the pleasure of reading about. We knew nothing about Eliza and how she came to be; if she was an advanced zombie or something more terrifying. While I expected there would be some answers to my questions, what I never expected was how we open up with a three-part prologue that delves into her entire back-story, thus we lose most of the mystique and impact that would have come from learning these things about her over time. Yes, we would have learned about her past eventually, but to have her exposition rushed at us before the novel even opens up just feels like poor pacing. It's like if you ordered a three-course meal and got your entre before the appetizers were even ready. What makes this even more glaring for me is that Eliza is referenced throughout the whole novel, but her presence is a bit of an issue.
The story proper starts immediately after the events in Zombie Fallout, where our heroes are being picked up by the survivors of Little Turtle. From here, the main drive of the story for Michael is that he wants to put as much distance between himself and Eliza as possible, as well as trying to find his remaining family. The other survivors wish to find their own families as well, which causes some contention within the group as they struggle over where to go next. It is here that we also meet up with a new character: BT. When we're introduced to the new big guy, he's loud, obnoxious and constantly threatening that he and Mike will one day have it out. In other words, he's the exact same as every other character with speaking lines. Oddly enough, BT is introduced to the audience after the events that brought him in contact with the group, which was a bit odd to me. The circumstances could have made for some interesting scenes and allowed for a more natural explanation for his attitude towards Michael Talbot aside from the general machismo thing that goes on between them.
From here on the plot becomes a long road trip marked with occasional stops that turn into hold-outs against the undead wherever they go. While these moments can be a bit tense and the action is well-described, they're unfortunately broken up with constant detractions and analogies that go on for far too long, thereby eliminating much of the visceral impact. These distractions spill out into the rest of the narrative as well, which led to moments that were a struggle to make through. Most of the dialogue involves Michael making a comment or decision that infuriates everyone (especially his wife) or everyone (especially his wife) telling him that he's the one to make a decision…and then berating him for his choices. Really?
The tone of the novel shifts at a constant pace from light-hearted humor and frat-boy style jokes to intense combat which is a testament to the author's career as a Marine. It gives the whole piece a disjointed feel and could be distracting in its own right. Perhaps the shifts are Michael's way of coping with the situation, especially as it becomes more desperate with every passing day, but it does little to pull the reader in. There are times where one would imagine the author was either trying to make a dark comedy or something in line with Shaun of the Dead, but it doesn't have the same impact.
That being said, some of the jokes do work, and there is a rather elaborate anecdote that was one of the funniest parts of the entire series as of this point. As before, the fights are tense, especially the climactic Helm's Deep-type battle at the end of the book, but other than that, there is sadly not that much to go off about here. Many of the characters are irritating, the overall tone is split in a jagged pattern and there's a rather unhealthy fixation with bowel movements and bodily functions.
In defense of the book, the Talbot family does become stronger as everyone undergoes plot arcs that are meant to strengthen their relationships and establish their roles both in and out of the group. The story is very much one of their survival and continued unity in the face of an increasingly hostile world and powers much bigger than them. The Talbots are as far from a functional and sane family as one can get, which works for the story and gives a depth of realism. Most of the tension in the family revolves around Josh and his affliction, which is something we've seen in countless zombie tales to date. Albeit this one does have a rather fresh twist, which makes me wonder more as to the amount and methods of control Eliza employs on the undead.
In all, A Plague Upon Your Family is very much a "middle" book – while it gives the characters reason to continue on and that very reason is one most of us may have in a zombie-infested world, the narrative and characters bring much of it down. I've seen on Amazon that this book has rave reviews, so maybe I've totally missed something in here. I would also like to point out that I have absolutely nothing against the writer, Mark Tufo. In fact I hope he continues to write because I see that there is plenty of potential in this world he's making. Also, there's an event that occurred around the one-third mark of the book that had me shaking my head in utter confusion and disappointment.
If you've read Zombie Fallout and enjoyed it, then you wouldn't be remiss to pick up a copy of A Plague Upon Your Family. I applaud what Mark Tufo is doing with this series, but there's just something about it that irks me in all the wrong ways. Still, I do have the third part and I'll likely be picking up anything else of his if I can.
And that, my friends, is part one of Month of the Living Dead. We've filled the tubs, hoarded all the cans, and taken stock of all our ammunition. Join us next week as we explore something a bit different.


As a result of investment in this area, there is now considerable capacity in Scottish schools, Universities and Further Education settings in terms of the numbers of teachers with training in the relevant skills. Letters of recognition and congratulations are appropriate from line managers, and higher up the organisation especially. That's understandable, given the human condition's need for a sense of control and, in a manager's case, the appearance of expertise.
When people talk with you about what's on their minds it's common to hear them talk around the topic instead of getting to the heart of the matter. (Often, they don't know the heart of the matter; they just know how they are feeling). The simple truth: People who know themselves better do better. There are two different models of mentoring, one is called sponsorship and the other is called developmental. Participating in programmes organised by Staff Development, such as those accredited by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM), provide opportunities for you to develop skills relevant to your own job and personal career aspirations."