A Houston abortion clinic has lost its license after state officials yanked it following an investigation. The abortion facility in question violated a state law requiring abortion practitioners to have admitting privileges to admit women quickly to a local hospital when they are injured in botched abortions.
Yesterday, the Texas Medical Board temporarily suspended the license of abortionist Theodore Herring for violating new Pro-Life law House Bill 2.
During an anonymous Department of State Health Services inspection held in December, Herring was found to be non-compliant with Texas law that requires abortionists to maintain admitting privileges with a local hospital. Herring was cited with illegally completing 268 abortions while failing to hold any admitting privilege at a hospital within thirty miles of where he completed abortions.
The 30 miles admitting privileges requirement has been in effect since Oct 31st when United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturned the US District Courts injunction. After the court decision, Planned Parenthood sought to have the Supreme Court reinstate the hold on the Pro-Life bill. The Supreme Court denied Planned Parenthood's request, allowed the law to remain in effect, and allowed Texas to enforce the law while the court case continued in the Fifth Circuit Court.
The trial was held in New Orleans in early January. Now both sides wait for the final ruling from that three-judge panel.
Texas Right to Life is proud that the Texas Medical Board has upheld the rule of law by taking this disciplinary action against Dr. Herring. Dr. Herring is not the only abortionist practicing illegally in Texas, and we encourage the Texas Medical Board and the Department of State Health Services to continue fully enforcing the Life-saving safety policies passed in House Bill 2.
Herring's license will be suspended pending further review by the Texas Medical Board. That meeting might not occur until their next scheduled meeting in May.
Pro-life advocates have talked about why such law are necessary and why violators put women's health at risk.


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Digital marketing is not modular. That is to say, you can't have a box and say "this is my social media box," "this is my owned media box," and "this is my paid media box." Marketing is a web. Each campaign connects with the others — and can either strengthen or subvert them. If you aren't considering the whole marketing campaign — the holistic view of the marketing campaign — you aren't going to be getting the most out of any of the individual components. A single tear in the fabric of your campaign can bring the entire thing tumbling down.
Take this very simple concept, an integrated social media campaign: your blog pushes readers towards your social media pages while your social media pages feed your followers back to your blog. New visitors enter in at either side, becoming part of this cycle, slowly building both readership and followers and creating a closed circuit loop of engagement and integration.
But what happens when one part of this cycle — one link in this chain — is weak?
If your blog isn't reliably sending traffic to your social media audience, your social media followers may languish. This doesn't just decrease social media engagement, it also reduces your blog traffic, which, in turn, even further reduces the amount of social media followers you gain. The system as a whole has become weaker because of a single issue.
If you're looking at your marketing campaign from a modular perspective, you will see your traffic going down — but you might not realize that it has to do with your social media presence or your social media integration, because "traffic" and "social media" may be two separate boxes in your strategy. You might try to bolster your search engine optimization — which will help, but won't address the real problem.
To better integrate your marketing, you need to concentrate both on entry points and links: where your audience is finding you and also how your audience is moving between your marketing. Followers are gained through search engine optimization, social media marketing and content marketing, but they also move between these platforms, which need to be appropriately integrated.
A common problem is integrating websites with email marketing campaigns. If the transition isn't seamless, the audience can be lost even when they attempt to convert. Companies can also establish significant social media presence but be unable to drive traffic to their website; their social media reach ultimately has limited value as far as revenue generation is concerned, though it may still have a significant brand-building component.
There's some resistance to the term holistic. When your headache could be caused by anything from stress to high sodium, it can be easy to imagine connections, some of which are unlikely at best. You can find yourself chasing weird diets or making radical changes to your sleeping schedule. Marketing can be the same way. You see a jump in conversions or traffic and you look for any little thing that could have caused it… even if it might be something completely unrelated to your marketing campaign.
You roll the dice often enough, eventually you're going to hit upon a winning combination.
The danger of a whole approach to marketing is that it's overwhelming. It is always tempting to try to drill down to a few specific strategies or techniques and attribute all of your success to them. In other words, the holistic marketing approach can feel so complex that there is a tendency to become reductionist — which ultimately defeats the entire purpose. This is another reason why having a campaign strategy is of such vital importance. By approaching things in a controlled, systematic matter, even very intricate webs of data can become manageable.
Despite the current emphasis of mobile marketing and optimization, there's little data available to quantify the activities that mobile users actually complete online on a day-to-day basis. Statistics tend to be skewed towards optimistic promises, such as: "70% of mobile consumers shop online." This says nothing about how often they shop online or what time period this shopping takes place in; it just means that seven out of every ten people have shopped online at some point. Let's try to get a bit of a fuller picture of what consumers are actually doing when they pick up their smartphones and tablets.
91% of users access their email on a daily basis. Just looking at that statistic would seem to indicate that email is the most important mobile task, but that isn't true. Digging a little deeper, we find that only 7.6% of the time that a user spends on their phone is spent on email. We can still see email has tremendous marketing reach — it just doesn't have a significant volume of activity.
More importantly, a full 80% of consumer time is spent on the following five apps: Facebook, YouTube, Maps ('search'), Pandora and Gmail ('email'). So when we say that consumers are spending more time on mobile devices than ever before, this is undoubtedly true — but the vast majority of time is being spent on social media, not on search queries or consumer activities.
Mobile consumers are more likely to encounter a company's brand through social media rather than through an organic web search. Searching for local businesses through the 'maps' function is also undoubtedly skewing activity statistics.
And, at the same time, an app like Pandora or YouTube could be used for a more passive user experience. Users may simply have Pandora running in the background, or even be playing YouTube playlists for music rather than social media purposes. So we can see that consumers are using the Internet through their mobile devices very often, but how often they're using it actively may be arguable.
Surveys would indicate that companies wanting to reach out to the mobile consumer would need to also focus on developing their social media campaigns, rather than strictly developing the mobile functionality and accessibility of their websites. It's undoubtedly true that modern websites must be responsive, but the question here is whether the mobile consumer is looking for their website at all — or if they're more likely to encounter the brand through another platform.
When mobile users do search online, their searches tend to be more local than desktop users — one in three rather than one in five. And virtually every study supports higher conversion rates through mobile devices, if only because the customer is already somewhat committed; mobile consumers appear to search for products when they already have a purchase in mind. A significant amount of searches involve reading product reviews and looking up specific products, services and companies, bolstering this theory.
Thus, we can see that mobile usage is very important to an e-commerce marketer; we just aren't able to quantify exactly how important. We know that consumers convert more often, but we also know that they are usually already primed to buy and have an idea of what they want to purchase. And we know that brands are probably more likely to be interacted with by the mobile consumer through social media rather than their website.
Let's not ignore the elephant in the room: Google is changing its search engine results page to promote mobile-friendly results when relevant. But this is less of a concern than it may at first seem to be. Though every Google algorithm change throws the marketing world into a frenzy, Google's standards for a 'mobile-friendly' site are fairly straightforward.
In fact, they're so straight-forward that you can test your website with Google's simple tool. Google has been gauging mobile-friendliness through its AdSense portal for some time now; it's not as nebulous a concept as, for instance, their "page quality" metrics or "site authority" scoring.
All of the above is not to say that a mobile website design isn't important, nor that mobile website users should not be targeted. For e-commerce websites, the mobile user experience has to be streamlined, attractive and usable. For the purposes of improving user experience, a solid mobile platform is absolutely important.
But it is to say that, for the purposes of mobile user behavior, social media advertising may actually be more important to the average marketer and have more of an overall impact on the average consumer. The vast majority of mobile users are not looking for e-commerce sites or sorting through search engine results, but are instead flipping through their social media accounts and checking their email. It is there that the company needs to reach out to them.
Digital marketers tend to have a sort of love-hate relationship with humor. A little humor is necessary to any marketing campaign; people simply respond better to something that makes them laugh. That's why State Farm had Jake wearing khakis and why Old Spice had I'm on a horse. But a sense of humor is highly subjective and it can quickly go the wrong way. Marketers who misinterpret their audience's sense of humor often find themselves on the defensive, running damage control. Sometimes a brand never truly recovers.
Always know your audience and demographics.
Stay on message and on brand.
When straddling a fence, keep a foot on the safer side.
Hitman is a popular video game franchise published by Square Enix. As a promotion for a recent title, the company launched a Facebook game called "Hire Hitman," allowing users to 'assassinate' their friends. All in good fun, right? The problem was the game's cruel sense of humor. Assassinations were sent with insults – such as "awful make-up" or "big ears" — which inevitably led to accusations of cyberbullying. They completely missed the mark with their audience; weirdly, few people actually wanted to insult and virtually kill their friends. The company later apologized, stating that it was "wide of the mark." Of course, knowing the game industry, it's likely that the app was simply outsourced to a third-party developer and never double-checked — which is yet another point of caution.
Absolutely everyone knows these commercials — so, at very least, they were memorable. Meant to be a satirical look at the different features and aesthetics of mac computers and PCs, it ultimately backfired. Why? In general, people tend to cheer for the underdog. The Mac vs PC commercials featured a casually dressed young man (the Mac) who repeatedly foiled the older gentleman in a business suit (the PC). No one really enjoys seeing competitors dig at each other; it's like seeing mommy and daddy fight. And Mac also misidentified its audience; many Mac users found themselves identifying more with the PC side of things than the cool-looking Mac.
There are two types of humor that almost always win out: self-deprecating humor and absurdity. Consider all of the most popular, humorous advertising campaigns, such as the Geico Gecko. Most people do enjoy laughing at someone — but they don't want to feel like a bully, they want to be both laughing at and laughing with at the same time. Absurdity, silliness and exaggeration is inoffensive because it's so disassociated with reality that there is nothing that can be seen as untoward. Still, silliness can become problematic if it does hit too close to home or comes off too mean-spirited, as seen with Pepsi's voodoo doll campaign.
Sometimes everything just goes wrong. You could catch the attention of the wrong person. Your joke could have implications that you never anticipated. Damage control isn't necessarily a bad thing — it's all about how you handle it. If you handle damage control gracefully, you may even be able to improve the standing of your brand when all is said and done. But if you handle it improperly, you could do irreparable harm.
Own it. Apologize and explain — but don't make excuses and don't snark.
Be proactive. React quickly and take direct action against any wronged parties.
Take it seriously. Don't try to spin outrage into another joke; it can be misinterpreted.
An intuitive understanding of your audience is necessary to craft memorable, humorous copy without taking it a step too far. Marketers need to straddle the line between clichéd, forgettable jokes and offensive or obscure jokes, while still staying on message and furthering their company's brand. Social media and other real-time communication portals have made it very easy for a marketer to stick their virtual foot in their mouth – but, by the same token, an audience is likely to forget issues of poor humor as long as the marketer handles it quickly and in the appropriate way.
I love statistics. I love data analysis. I love graphs. It's a sickness, but it's one shared by many marketers — analytic information is really the only information we have to determine whether our strategies are working. Unfortunately, digital marketing and social media statistics are not peer-reviewed or published in academic journals; most of the 'studies' we have come from small sample sizes delivered by who-knows-who. That doesn't mean the data is worthless, it simply means that we need to be skeptical and avoid making any assumptions. Data doesn't always tell the truth. Quite frequently, data lies.
Every marketer knows that words are powerful. Words are more powerful than numbers, even though numbers may be more honest. But unfortunately, words can also be used to mislead. Take, for example, the above infographic from KISSmetrics. One could easily surmise that unique views always go up by posts per day, because that's exactly what they're telling you. But that's not what this graph is saying at all. In fact, without more data, this graph is essentially useless.
If it's a graph of separate sites, plotted by how much they post and how much traffic they get, it only shows something very alarming: that posting between 23 to 30 posts a day could garner you only as much traffic as posting half as often. There's also another possibility: that this is correlation, not causation. Without knowing which sites have been polled, it's very possible that the more popular sites post more often because they are more popular — and can hence sustain the cost of their content — rather than being more popular because they post more often.
While there's an upward trend, the data is extraordinarily erratic; any reasonable person would see this. Yet because the takeaway states the conclusion directly — that traffic always goes up by daily post quantity — the reader would assume this to be correct.
In statistics, you're often told that causation doesn't equal correlation. It's a fancy way of saying that just because two things happen at the same time, it doesn't necessarily mean that they're related. You could win the lottery and also trip and break your leg and it could then be said that 1% of all lottery winners this year broke their leg. But it could also be that 1% of everyone that year broke their leg.
In the above graph, we are shown that 88% of consumers have abandoned their shopping carts during a checkout process and 84% of consumers who abandon their shopping carts search online for cheaper prices. The implication is that most consumers who abandon their shopping cards are searching online for cheaper prices — and that could well be true, but not necessarily based on this data.
Why? Because the data doesn't show a control value. For all we know, 84% of consumers who don't abandon their shopping carts also search online for cheaper prices. In other words, the statistic may not mean anything at all; it may just be that almost everyone both abandons shopping carts occasionally and searches online for cheaper prices occasionally.
But this also shows something a little more insidious and dangerous. Using common sense, we know that savvy consumers are looking up prices online and that this is probably affecting conversion rates. So we look for data that supports our beliefs because that makes sense; we don't care whether the data actually makes sense.
There's a reason why demographic research is conducted over thousands if not tens of thousands of individuals. A margin of error can significantly skew results when data is taken from small sample sizes. Even a moderate sample size can be dangerous. Take this color study, which purports to show variations of least and most favorite colors by gender.
These results are crazy! Apparently, no man has ever had the color purple as his favorite color, even though over 20% of women listed it as their favorite color. Simply looking at this infographic would lead you to believe that the color purple is universally hated among men.
But it begins to make sense when you discover the context of this study. It only polled 223 individuals. Meanwhile, a study by a sociologist at the University of Maryland, which polled 1,974 individuals rather than 223, found vastly different results. Here, we see that 12% of men — not 0% — listed purple as a favorite color. It's still not a popular color, but it's also not universally reviled. In fact, it's more popular than red, yellow, orange and pink.
Many marketing metrics have astonishingly low sample sizes and most of them are not culled from the best resources. An informal Internet poll is probably the worst way to collect data because it is all self-reported data; how can we ever know whether it's true?
At this point, one might be inclined to have a minor crisis in faith. After all, almost everything we do and assume is based on data that we researched at some point or another on the web. But all of this doesn't mean that data isn't valuable, it just means that we need to engage our critical thinking skills, consider the source and really dig in before we take things to heart.
For a diverse and global community, the web can sometimes appear startlingly homogeneous. Design and marketing techniques proliferate quickly on the backs of those eager to get in on the next big thing, and once a trend builds momentum, it can become almost impossible to kill. Clients begin asking for the bells and whistles that they've seen elsewhere on the web and readers come to expect it. Eventually some trends overstay their welcome and simply have to go.
It may be time for us to call it quits on the parallax — at least, other than some very specific applications. Sure, parallax design looks fantastic, but now that it's been scattered across half of the web, it's lost much of its initial impact. Worse, it's encouraging infinite scrolling and one page designs. One page site designs were at first promoted for allowing full control over the chronology of the company's story, unfolding a tale in front of the eyes of the consumer. While it does achieve that, there are many technical problems holding it back from being a truly effective technique.
It obfuscates the UX. While a user can scroll down to slowly reveal the company's messaging, it makes it very difficult for the user to actually browse through the site and control their own user experience. If the user simply has a direct question or needs specific information, they won't be able to find it. This can leads to user frustration and site abandonment.
It makes analytics difficult to track. With a parallax, infinite scrolling design, you can't determine where the user is bouncing off of your site or what content the user is revealing beforehand. You also can't see which areas of your site are more popular because they are all on a single, slowly revealed page.
It's bad for SEO. Having all of your relevant information on a single page is the last thing you want for the purposes of search engine optimization. Infinite scrolling websites also put a premium on concise copy, which is simultaneously more readable but less easily optimized.
I don't think I'm alone in this: a modal window is very likely to get me to leave a site entirely. The rest of the website goes dark and a prompt appears at the center of the screen: Buy Our Product! Sign Up for Our Newsletter! Do Something, Anything, to Get Rid of This Ad! Modal windows are very popular today as an aggressive method of capturing leads. But the web already rejected pop-ups –what makes advertisers believe that today's consumer will be any more forgiving?
It breaks the user experience. Whatever the user intended to do — whether it be find more information about your product or just read an article — has now been interrupted and there's a good chance the user might just leave entirely. The fact that many modal windows can't be easily closed only adds to this frustration.
When it fails, it fails spectacularly. Modal windows do two things: present you with an ad and black out the rest of the site. So when they malfunction — which happens a good 10% of the time — the site often remains blacked out and inaccessible. Sometimes the site may not even come back after the modal window has been closed.
It's too aggressive. When you market things correctly, the consumer wants to get more information from you. A modal window is the sales equivalent of cornering a customer in a store. The dialog will be completely different than it would be if the customer themselves had come up with a question.
The inherent difficulty involved in measuring the effectiveness of social media marketing has led many digital marketers to adopt quantity-based metrics. In other words, the effectiveness of campaigns is often measured simply by the quantity of followers. While this is one important metric, it's not always the best metric; depending on a content marketing campaign, additional traffic may not actually lead to any actual increase in revenue. Aggressively obtaining followers (such as, say, through modal windows) may lead to followers who were not initially invested in the company's messaging and who will not become invested later on. Worse yet, it may alienate followers by appearing both desperate and pushy.
Traffic doesn't mean conversions. Marketers learned this lesson years ago, but may need to relearn it in the social media context. A local business followed by a tremendous amount of global followers won't necessarily make any more revenue than another business with a smaller amount of local followers.
People don't take social media that seriously. They may follow you with no real intent to ever interact with your brand or make a purchase from you; being interested in what you have to say by no means guarantees a sale. While more exposure is still good, it shouldn't be used as the only end goal.
Users that don't engage can actually be harmful. Many online communities gauge the success of your posts based on how many of your followers actually engage with it. If you have a large amount of followers and none of them are paying attention to your posts, your posts won't gain any traction.
Most digital marketing trends don't last long; the industry simply moves too fast. New trends are constantly on the horizon and marketers need to remain agile and be willing to abandon old techniques should they become ineffective. Tactics such as infinite scrolling (jazzed up in all that lovely parallax) were effective and marketers were right to use them — but that doesn't mean they will remain effective forever. Marketers have to be constantly in the process of analyzing and improving if they are to avoid played out and now ineffective conventions.
When social media moved from a passing fad to something that was certainly here to stay, many professionals regarded it with suspicion. The idea of potential clients or employers being able to see what you did last Friday night was terrifying to most, and many individuals struggled to lock down their accounts, create fake accounts or simply forego social media entirely. But today, the entire idea of a freelancer or employee as a professional is evolving. Professionalism is less about what silly stuff you do online — which, on some level, really cannot be avoided — and more about how you are seen as a person.
At some point, most people just stopped caring about what was out there about them. Employers can — and do — Facebook stalk prospective employees, but in the grand scope of things, it stopped mattering. After all, everyone else was equally as exposed. A social media presence just became one of many factors that could either impress or alarm an employer, ranking somewhere below in-person conduct and college transcripts.
At the same time, the freelance industry was becoming inundated by startups; quirky companies that tended to embrace individuality rather than ignore it. Is it unprofessional to have a doll collecting page on your professional website? Maybe not, anymore. Especially not if you're looking for work with a doll company. Smaller businesses wanted individuals who were passionate about their interests, even if their interests weren't necessarily aligned with their work.
No one cares that you ate an entire tub of Ben and Jerry's last night — it's just not going to come up during an interview process. But an interviewer does care if you got blackout drunk the prior night, lost your wallet and ended up falling into a local body of water. Ice cream isn't going to stop you from coming to work the next day. Being at the bottom of the Mississippi River will.
Is it fair that you're judged not only on professional merit but also on your conduct outside of the office? Perhaps not — but it's always been true. It's also not illegal, just to head that one off at the pass. Employers are free to discriminate regarding who they hire as long as they don't discriminate on the basis of protected classes. An employer can absolutely refuse to hire you because you posted about cheating on your girlfriend. But they cannot refuse to hire you because you posted about being a girl with a girlfriend.
So it really isn't rocket science. If you post about ordinary, even offbeat, things on your social media accounts, it'll be fine; if you post about reckless or objectionable activities, it might not be. And you can't always know what will offend someone. That's life. We live some of our lives online and it's unavoidable that some of it will leak through.
In the old days — you know, those heady days of 2004 — people were often advised to simply lock down their social media accounts. But that isn't always the best solution. There is a reason why many professionals today spend a lot of money on reputation management rather than just closing down their social accounts and disappearing from the web. Simply put, it's not possible to eradicate information from the Internet any longer.
But what you can do is overwhelm it. Closing your social media accounts just means that you have less control over your web footprint than you did before. The other information is still out there and it's likely that you have no control over it. By creating positive information through the social media accounts that you control, you can monitor your reputation and improve upon it. Don't ask yourself whether an employer or client will find something — they will find something. It's all about what they find.
Never trash previous or current clients. It's like talking negatively about an ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend; no one wants to hear that.
In fact, don't talk about your clients at all unless you have permission and it's glowingly positive.
"I'm swamped today!" is fine; "I hate my job and everyone who works here!" is alarming.
To a certain extent, having some element of personality on parade is important. It's memorable. It's personable. It will get you to stick in a client's mind. It will connect you to like-minded individuals. We're no longer beholden to strict, homogeneous markets through our geography. We have virtually limitless contacts out there. Displaying some element of personality will lead you towards a working environment that you truly enjoy and working partners that you can really click with. But obviously, that doesn't mean you can just put everything in your life out on display. It's a good rule of thumb to consider carefully every piece of information you ever attach to your name. It will last forever.


Robin Banks releases his first official video since getting shot. Check out "That's A No Go" which was recorded and shot before the incident. The instrumental is produced by Motivated Beatz & Dennis On The Beat and the video is directed by Die Fire Films. Watch "That's A No Go" by Robin Banks below.
Preme is formerly known as P Reign releases his brand new single called "Can't Hang" featuring PARTYNEXTDOOR.


The Elstead Contour 1 light ceramic table lamp in white with shade features a polar white ridged cylinder base, with polished nickel metalwork. Supplied with a white faux silk 15″ hard-backed lamp shade.
A classic country style table lamp that looks great in traditional or modern rooms, fitted with a convenient inline cable switch. Also available in lime, please see below.


This is attractive to the first time buyer but the lump sum offered by the Mortgage Lenders may be outweighed by the fact that the mortgage to which the cash back is linked is not usually on fixed or discounted interest rates.
Many Lenders may also request that once the agreed term has expired, the Borrower agrees to take the standard variable rate meaning that you are unable to secure a further deal for some time.
NB: Again check out the early repayment charges.
It must be noted that YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE.


Envoys from EU and UN hold talks with Palestinian minister in softening of stance.
"The minister of finance has a difficult task before him and I want to offer him encouragement and as much support as I can give," de Soto said as he arrived for the talks.
The EU and UN contacts followed a meeting on Tuesday between a senior US diplomat and Fayyad, an independent with close ties to the White House and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president and Fatah leader.
"I think the EU will be a catalyst, engaging the Palestinians through dialogue rather than enraging them through sanctions"
By holding the talks the US broke ranks with Israel, which has called on other countries to disregard all members of the Palestinian unity cabinet established on Saturday between Fatah and Hamas, an Islamist party that does not formally recognise Israel.
The meetings marked the re-establishment of limited engagement between the Palestinian government and the Quartet of Middle East mediators - the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia.
"This is part of our endeavour to end the siege," said Mustafa al-Barghouthi, the Palestinian information minister, referring to a year-old ban on direct aid to the Palestinian government from Western powers.
US and Israeli officials say the embargo, imposed after Hamas was elected to power in January last year, remains in place.
Ehud Olmert, Israel's prime minister, has said there should be no dealings with the Palestinian government until it meets the Quartet's demands to recognise Israel, renounce violence and accept existing interim peace deals.
Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera's senior political analyst, said the future of sanctions has been threatened by the EU and UN contacts with the new Palestinian government.
"For all practical reasons, the wall of sanctions is crumbling down because three of the Quartet members - Russia, the EU and the UN - have shown all sorts of positive signs toward the new [Palestinian] government," he said.
Bishara said that the EU talks with representatives from the new unity government suggested a change in strategy.
"I think the EU will be a catalyst, engaging the Palestinians through dialogue rather than enraging them through sanctions," he said.
Also on Wednesday, Hamas-led police forces killed a Fatah fighter and injured four others, in the first serious clash since the unity government was formed on Saturday.
Fatah said members of Hamas's Executive Force fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the home of a senior al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades commander in the northern Gaza Strip, killing a member of the group and injuring the others.
Hamas confirmed that the clash had taken place but said its men opened fire after being shot at by al-Aqsa fighters.


The Delta Girls Basketball Team will start sectional play tonight vs. Heritage Christian High School. The game will be played at host Tipton High School and starts at 6:00 pm.
Delta 6th grade girls played great defense to lead them to two road wins. The A team won 31 – 4 led by Lilee Lamotte with 13 points. The B team won 16 – 4 led by Aveah Roberts with 6 points.


The German government is infamous for heavy censorship laws and crackdowns on certain business practices, and this week that trend continues with new legislation concerning pre-order offers on video games.
he ruling came from the Higher Regional Court in Munich following a court case surrounding the pre-order sales of smartphones. This was brought to light through a customer protection claim involving Media Merkt — originally with them enabling pre-orders on smartphones that don't have firm release dates.
With increasing pressure on games publishers to clean up the anti-consumer gambling that is loot boxes, these moves aren't all that surprising, it's just weird that it took this long for something like this to happen.
There is a legitimate concern regarding this change and its potential for beginning a slippery slope into other crackdowns, so it remains to be seen if other vague practices in gaming, like Early Access offer, will get a similar treatment.
The pre-order market for gaming has been a contentious issue for a long time, with lots of underhanded stuff going on and being accepted as normal by gamers. Things like pulling content from the main game to offer it as a pre-order bonus, or including gameplay altering rewards in multiplayer games that upset balance, all of these and many more tactics have drawn the ire of gamers over the years. One of my personal pet peeves is only tangentially related to this, but it still irks me. That being offering "Collector's Editions" that don't include the game at all. Hands up if you have that wasteful and overpriced garbage.
I don't think this change will have a major impact on the volume of pre-orders, just the speed at which they're offered. I'm frankly happy that these kinds of things occur because they usually act as a signal for the games industry to stop being dicks. That's of course assuming these kinds of regulation don't interfere with other practices that actually aren't problematic.
Is World of Warcraft the last great MMO?


Y'all are probably tired of me and polka-dot prints right about now. I'm sorry, not sorry though. Polka-dot prints are one of the hottest prints of the year and rightly so because let's face it polka-dots are such a classic. They never go out of style either! And today in partnership with Virtue Clothier I will be showing you four ways I styled this dress from the brand.
Virtue Clothier is a Made in Nigeria brand that sells affordable basics for women on Jumia Nigeria. This brand is no stranger here as I've styled several pieces form the brand in the past, see here. Now, this dress (here) is part of the legit black Friday deals on Jumia and is currently on sale for N2,999 with free shipping! Let's hop into this, shall we?
I wanted to incorporate retro vibes and red accents. Hence I opted for a red beret, alien shades, pointed shoes, and a big buckle belt to cinch in my waist. I also added a yellow blazer for more color. This is my favourite look!
I styled the dress as a top by wearing my all-time favourite black pleated skirt. And then I added a pop of yellow with my repeat offender mules. I see church wear appropriate all over this.
I added a blazer over the dress and swapped the shoes for the first red pumps. The cut and fit of the blazer gives me vintage/retro vibes which I just love. This is the perfect overly modest work look.
I brought out the dress in all its beauty and kept the blazer, this looks screams boss chic to me. Like I'm ready to sign those billion dollar deals but I'm doing it in style!
I love this dress, it's one of my recommended picks from the brand. I loved the thickness of the material and the overall fit on me, it's not too tight which is how I prefer my pencil dresses. Before I forget, I wore the dress backward because I prefer the look of it. In my opinion Virtue Clothier pieces fit slightly bigger. I'm a size 10-12 normally, I tend to go for a 12 in pencil dresses so as to give me more room but I thought to go for a size 10 this time and to my surprise, it fit just right, not too tight and yall know I've gained weight.
Again the dress (here) is currently on sale for N2,999 with free shipping! Check out some other amazing deals on Virtue Clothier as well. I'll be sharing a few more of my favorite pieces from this brand shortly, stay tuned!
Hey girl, it's amazing to see you on here. Thank you, I appreciate you.
Perfect dress with endless styling opportunities.....all four ways are fabulous. My favorite is with the beret.
You can say that again, thanks hun, it's my favouite look too.
the beret looks great, polka dot prints are trendy and never goes out of style.
Exactly, polkadots are such classic prints. Thanks Melody, have a great week too.
I really like that pleated skirt and look two is definitely my favourite.
Plus, your family members do really great with the photography, always looks really nice!
Thank you Desire and yes my family members have got a good eye, I'm thankful for them.


text:
Levi Strauss (), né Löb Strauß () le  à Buttenheim et mort le , est un homme d'affaires américain d'origine allemande inventeur du blue-jeans. Il change son prénom de Loeb en Levi en 1850. Il fonde en 1853, à l'âge de , la compagnie de vêtement connue mondialement pour ses blue-jeans Levi Strauss & Co.

Biographie

Enfance

Löb Strauß est né le  à Buttenheim, en royaume de Bavière de Hirsch Strauß et Rebecca Haas Strauß, des juifs ashkénazes. Il a pour nom de naissance Löb (ou Loeb) Strauß. Il a trois frères et trois sœurs aînés. Son père succombe en 1846 de la tuberculose et un an plus tard, Rebecca, Loeb, Fanny, la sœur aînée Maila émigrent à New York pour rejoindre ses frères, Jonas et Louis, qui travaillent dans le domaine du textile. Ces derniers ont ouvert un commerce de gros appelé  C'est ainsi que le jeune Loeb débute dans le métier et qu'il commence à se faire appeler « Levi » par ses amis et proches (dans le recensement de cette année-là, son prénom est transcrit en « Levy ») plutôt que Loeb.

Levi Strauss & Co.
Quand les nouvelles de la ruée vers l'or en Californie se font entendre à l'ouest du pays, Levi déménage à San Francisco, en Californie pour faire fortune et ouvrir un commerce de tissus. Il fonde l'entreprise Levi Strauss & Co.. Sa société importe de la mercerie, des vêtements, sous-vêtements, parapluies, mouchoirs, rouleaux de tissu et les vend aux petits magasins qui surgissent dans toute la Californie. Ce sont ces magasins qui ont contribué à équiper les mineurs de la ruée vers l'or et à terme, les nouvelles familles qui ont commencé à peupler les régions de l'Ouest. En janvier 1853, il devint citoyen américain et prend le prénom de Levi (son prénom hébraïque).
La première adresse où Levi dirige ses affaires est au 90 , et le nom de son entreprise est tout simplement Levi Strauss. Dans les années 1850, cet endroit est très proche du front de mer, pratique pour la réception et la vente des marchandises qui arrivent par bateau de son frère Jonas, basé à New York. En 1856, comme son commerce et sa réputation s'élargissent, Levi déménage l'entreprise au 62 , puis au 63 et 65 Sacramento. À cette époque, David Stern, marié à sa sœur Fanny est associé à l'entreprise. En 1861, l'entreprise déménage au 317 , et en 1863 la société est rebaptisée Levi Strauss & Co. Puis, en 1866, Levi déplace le siège à nouveau pour s'installer dans de plus grands locaux au 14-16 , où il reste pendant quarante ans. Outre une activité de grossiste en tissus, l'entreprise distribue des bottes et vêtements de travail mais n'a aucune activité de production de vêtements.
Trentenaire, Levi est déjà une figure bien connue dans la ville. Il est actif dans les affaires et la vie culturelle de San Francisco, et soutient activement la communauté juive, dont le Temple Imanu-El (signifiant en hébreu Dieu est avec nous, nom très ancien qui devint plus tard, déformé par la langue latine "Emmanuel"), première synagogue de la ville. Malgré sa stature d'homme d'affaires important, il insiste pour que ses employés l'appellent Lévi, et non pas Monsieur Strauss.

En 1872, Jacob Davis, tailleur de Reno dans le Nevada mais aussi l'un des clients réguliers de Levi Strauss (il achetait des rouleaux de tissu de la société pour l'utiliser pour sa propre entreprise), écrit à Levi Strauss pour lui parler d'un procédé qu'il a inventé pour riveter les coins des poches sur les pantalons d'homme. Il voulait faire breveter cette idée nouvelle, mais avait besoin d'un partenaire d'affaires, ainsi il propose de breveter le procédé en commun. Levi a été enthousiasmé par l'idée et le brevet est accordé aux deux hommes le , le blue jeans est né.

Il savait que la demande serait formidable pour ces rivets « salopettes cintrés » (l'ancien nom de jeans), ainsi Levi amena Jacob Davis à San Francisco afin de superviser la première installation de fabrication de la côte ouest. Il est possible que la première fabrication des jeans a été réalisée par des couturières qui travaillaient de chez elles. Dans les années 1880, Levi loua des locaux d'usine, puis ouvrit sa propre usine au sud de . Le célèbre Jean 501 connu à l'époque simplement comme « XX » - a été rapidement un best-seller, tout comme les autres produits rivetés ajoutés aux nouvelles lignes fabriquées par Levi et Jacob.

Comme la fin du  approchait, Levi était toujours impliqué dans le fonctionnement au jour le jour de l'entreprise, mais pensait qu'il devait faire entrer ses neveux dans l'entreprise à ce moment-là. En effet leur père, David Stern était mort en 1874 et ses quatre fils, Jacob, Sigmund, Louis et Abraham devaient travailler désormais avec leur oncle Levi. En 1890, c'est l'année durant laquelle le « XX » devient le « Levi's 501 » que Levi et ses neveux constituent officiellement la société.

Diversification
Levi effectua d'autres activités professionnelles au cours de sa carrière. Il devint un membre fondateur et trésorier de la chambre de commerce de San Francisco en 1877. Il fut directeur de la Banque du Nevada, de la  et de la . En 1875, Levi et deux associés achetèrent la  propriété de l'ancien milliardaire William Chapman Ralston, et le tissu de l'usine a été utilisé pour faire la « couverture doublée » des pantalons et manteaux de la Levi Strauss & Co.. Il a également été un des plus grands philanthropes de la ville. Levi a été un contributeur du , de l' et du . En 1895, lui et un certain nombre d'autres éminents Sanfranciscains apportèrent des fonds pour construire un nouveau chemin de fer de San Francisco à la vallée de San Joaquin (un projet qui a malheureusement échoué) et en 1897, Levi a fourni les fonds pour vingt-huit bourses d'études à l'Université de Californie.

S'il n'est pas l'inventeur du rivet, Levi Strauss se caractérise par un sens des affaires. C'est lui qui privilégie le pantalon et qui initie la communication de la marque :
 étiquette au dos en cuir avec le dessin symbolisant la résistance du pantalon en 1886 ;
 bon de garantie en 1892 ;
 …

Décès
Durant la semaine du  Levi commença à se plaindre de sa mauvaise santé. Pourtant, le soir du vendredi 26, se sentant mieux, il participa au dîner de famille à la maison sur  qu'il partageait avec la famille de Jacob Stern. Il se réveilla brièvement dans la nuit, et dit à l'infirmière en présence qu'il se sentait . Finalement, il meurt le jour même, le vendredi  à l'âge de 73 ans. Sa mort fit les gros titres en ce dimanche  dans l'édition du San Francisco Call. Le lundi , jour de ses funérailles, les entreprises locales furent fermées temporairement afin que leurs propriétaires puissent assister à la cérémonie. L'éloge fut lu à la maison Levi's par le Temple Emanu-El, tout de suite après, les employés de la société escortèrent le cercueil à la station de chemin de fer du Sud du Pacifique, où il a été transporté jusqu'au  (maintenant ) à Colma, situé au sud de San Francisco.

L'après Levi Strauss
Après le décès de Levi Strauss, ses quatre neveux héritent de l'entreprise. Quatre ans plus tard, le Séisme de 1906 à San Francisco dévaste la ville. Le siège de Levi Strauss & Co. sur  comptait parmi les bâtiments qui n'ont pas survécu à la catastrophe. Le bâtiment a survécu au tremblement de terre, mais pas au feu, qui a fait rage pendant trois jours : tous les articles de mercerie, meubles et dossiers de l'entreprise ont été détruits. L'usine a subi le même sort. Cela a représenté une grande perte, mais ne marquait pas la fin de la société. Les frères Stern firent des plans pour une nouvelle installation et une nouvelle usine, comme l'oncle Levi aurait sans doute fait. Ils ont également continué à payer les salaires des employés et les crédits accordés à d'autres, moins chanceux en tant que marchands jusqu'à ce qu'ils puissent se remettre sur leurs pieds. Car, bien que les bâtiments et les usines aient diminué, l'entreprise construite par Levi Strauss a été un socle solide, en raison de sa clairvoyance, son sens des affaires et de son indéfectible dévouement à la qualité.

Filmographie
 Pionniers et millionnaires : Levi Strauss, pour une paire de jean's, de Christoph Weinert (2009), 43 min, documentaire TV Arte.

Notes et références

Voir aussi

Liens externes

  Site d'entreprise
  Musée Levi-Strauss à Buttenheim

Personnalité liée à San Francisco
Homme d'affaires américain
Millionnaire au XIXe siècle
Ruée vers l'or en Californie
Naissance en février 1829
Naissance dans le royaume de Bavière
Décès en septembre 1902
Décès à San Francisco
Décès à 73 ans

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
from __future__ import unicode_literals

from django.db import migrations, models

class Migration(migrations.Migration):

    initial = True

    dependencies = [
    ]

    operations = [
        migrations.CreateModel(
            name='Coder',
            fields=[
                ('id', models.AutoField(auto_created=True, primary_key=True, serialize=False, verbose_name='ID')),
                ('coder_type', models.CharField(max_length=200)),
                ('pronoun', models.CharField(max_length=10)),
            ],
        ),
        migrations.CreateModel(
            name='Descriptor',
            fields=[
                ('id', models.AutoField(auto_created=True, primary_key=True, serialize=False, verbose_name='ID')),
                ('adjective', models.CharField(max_length=100)),
            ],
        ),
        migrations.CreateModel(
            name='Phrase',
            fields=[
                ('id', models.AutoField(auto_created=True, primary_key=True, serialize=False, verbose_name='ID')),
                ('phrase', models.CharField(max_length=200)),
            ],
        ),
    ]

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


This certainly isn't the first time that I've written a post on the subject of burnout and it likely will not be the last. Burning out is very common for people who work from home, particularly those who are self-employed. Because we can work at any hour of the day, we may feel that we should be working at every hour of every day.
As a result, you might burn out. You get buried under an increasingly large (and self-inflicted) load of work and you start to lose sight of the light at the end of the tunnel. However, a distinction has to be made. Being overworked and getting burned out are not necessarily the same thing. They can exist independently.
This scenario is more common that most of us would like to admit. You're sitting at your desk and you feel like you're burning out. You feel like you're overwhelmed with the work load and you just can't get started on any of it. Instead, you procrastinate and distract yourself accordingly.
Guess what? You're feeling the effects of burnout, but you may not actually be overworked. This is more an issue of motivation. It is very hard to get yourself motivated about tasks where you have no passion and no interest. The work load may indeed be reasonable, but you may be bored or disinterested. That leads to a feeling of burnout.
And here is where the flip side is particularly compelling. What if the workload really is more than you can probably handle, but you don't feel burned out at all? No, I haven't drifted off into some mythical dreamland that does not exist.
For the fortunate few who don't have to choose between success and happiness, pursuing a passion might not feel like work at all. They have way too much to do, but only because they choose to give themselves this much to do. Because of this elevated level of interest and investment, the individual may not experience the symptomatology of burnout.
Yes, this is the most commonly cited combination, but it may not actually be the most common scenario. If you are feeling the effects of burnout, though, evaluate your situation carefully. Are you not taking enough breaks or are you simply not pursuing the right kind of work?
As a side note (since this isn't a Grammar 101 post), both "burned out" and "burnt out" are acceptable spellings for the same term.
I'm not sure I follow your definition of burn out Michael. In the second paragraph you say: As a result, you might burn out. You get buried under an increasingly large (and self-inflicted) load of work and you start to lose sight of the light at the end of the tunnel.
Burnout to me is not an overload of work sitting in front of me. I define burnout as not wanting to do the work because I have gotten tired of of. Even if it is just one assignment, it's burnout because I don't want to do it, I'm tired of doing it and want to do something different.
What you describe above feels to me like procrastination or lack of will power to do the work. It wasn't too much until you procrastinated.
Six of one, half a dozen of the other. Because you don't want to do the work (because you are tired of doing it), you let the work get piled up. That leads to burn out, because the less you want to do it, the bigger the pending work load becomes and this self-perpetuates itself.
But Michael, it's not the pile that creates burnout, it's the burnout that creates the pile. You can be lazy and create the pile by procrastination, but then the burnout would be because you didn't want to do the work in the first place and created the pile. So, the burnout comes before the pile.
Actually it sounds like the chicken and the egg quandary.
Yup, that's closer to my point. It's a chicken and egg scenario that self-perpetuates itself.
This is quite true. Sometimes, we either overestimate ourselves or we feel it's something we just have to do and this kind of undertaking usually ends up getting procrastinated over the course of time and the ensuing pile frustrates you even more to the point of burnout without even having done much work at all.
That is truly something to ponder, both your points are valid! I am currently buried at work! Considering upper management created the pile, and then some additional responsibilities without thinking of the true cost. One can only do so much to keep up with ones pile before it takes a complete toll on one's health. I think I would define it as overworked and after years it becomes burn out.


Tehran, Jan 29, IRNA – Managing Director of National Iranian Airlines (HOMA) Farhad Parvaresh said on Friday initial memorandum of understanding (MOU) for purchasing 118 Airbus planes worth 10.5 billion dollars was signed during President Hassan Rouhani's visit of France.
'Major part of the amount of this huge deal will be covered through a finance deal; 45 of the 118 Airbus planes are the middle-and-near-far-range Airbus 330 planes, 16 of them are the modern Airbus 350s, and 12 of them the Airbus wide body Airbus planes, which are continental far-range planes,' said Parvaresh.
Elaborating on Airbus 350s, he said that they are far range, very modern planes used only by a couple of airlines in the Middle East region currently.
On Airbus 380s, too, he said that those continental, far-range planes are convertible in accordance with the country's needs of the day and will be delivered to Iran within the next 4 to 5 years.
'But the delivery of 12 of them depends on provision of the required financial conditions and further development of the Iranian airports' conditions, since they are very large and wide body planes,' added official.
On the time for delivery of those Airbus planes, the HOMA managing director said that delivery of new planes is a time-taking process, since they are not made prior to receiving orders and the Airbus also had orders prior to the Iranian demand.
Parvaresh said that Airbus has promised to deliver 5 to 8 of those 118 planes within the remaining 11 months of the current year, 2016 to Iran.
He also emphasized that parallel with receiving these new planes the Iranian passenger air fleet will be renovated and the oldest planes will be retired each year and proportionately with the receiving any number of the new planes.
HOMA managing director said that maintenance, after-sale services and repairs of the new planes, too, are included in the signed contract for purchasing them and the Airbus Company is responsible for all such services.


text:
Sending out an SOS: Russian satellites come to the rescue
MOSCOW. (Yury Zaitsev for RIA Novosti) - Thirty years ago the Soviet government issued a resolution on setting up a space-based system to search for ships in... 20.02.2007, Sputnik International
MOSCOW. (Yury Zaitsev for RIA Novosti) - Thirty years ago the Soviet government issued a resolution on setting up a space-based system to search for ships in distress (known by its initials in Russian, KOSPAS) anywhere in the world.
The quick location of such ships reduced by nearly tenfold the time of rescue operations in comparison with the usual methods and also reduced the risk of accidents involving rescue ships and aircraft themselves. For Russia, with its vast, sparsely populated areas and enormous expanses of ocean, creating an effective search-and-rescue system was of significant importance both socially and economically.
In official documents the system was called Nadezhda, which means "hope" in Russian, as were the satellites that made up its space segment. Their design was based on satellites from the Tsikada national navigation system. KOSPAS was set up as an independent national system, but was created simultaneously with a similar American-Canadian-French system called Search And Rescue Satellite -Aided Tracking, or SARSAT. The two sides cooperated closely to guarantee their technical compatibility.
The first satellite of the Soviet system, Kosmos 1383, was launched in 1982 (a group of Canadians was saved with its help the same year), while the first SARSAT satellite was launched in 1983. In 1984 KOSPAS was put into test operation and in 1987 into full-time operation in the U.S.S.R.
In 1988, at the Soviets' initiative, an intergovernmental agreement was signed by the Soviet Union, the United States, Canada and France on cooperation in the use of the KOSPAS-SARSAT system in the interests of the whole international community. The agreement had a duration of 15 years, with the possibility of further periodic extensions for 5 years. Today 36 countries have officially joined the system, including the four countries which signed the agreement on the international status of the system and maintain its space-based segment.
The main scientific and technical concept of the space-based search-and-rescue system involves the use of several satellites (at least 4 put into a near-polar orbit at altitudes of between 800 and 1000 kilometers) equipped with radio devices to detect distress signals from transmitters installed on ships and aircraft. The satellites circle the Earth approximately every 100 minutes and can observe an area of about 5,000 kilometers in diameter. Distress transmitters are switched on automatically in case of accident or, they can be turned on manually. The signal is then relayed by satellite to an information processing station on Earth. Information about the signal's location is sent to national control centers - in Russia it goes to the International Computing Center - where it is analyzed and passed on to the relevant search-and-rescue service.
KOSPAS receives signals from two types of distress transmitters. The first type is the ARB-121, an SOS transmitter in use since the 1970s, which operates on a frequency of 121.5 MHz. The second type is the ARB-406, which was specially designed for the KOSPAS and works on a frequency of 406 MHz. They send radio signals once every 50 seconds with obligatory information about the country that owns the transmitter and the object in distress. The likelihood of locating an ARB-406 during the first passing of the satellite through the transmitter's visibility area is almost 100 percent.
Russia, in accordance with its obligations on maintaining the space-based and ground-based segments of the KOSPAS-SORSAT system, will guarantee the functioning of at least two satellites and three ground-based information-receipt and-processing centers, as well as one coordination and computing center.
For the past several years, upgraded Nadezhda-M satellites have been used. In 2000, a draft project was approved by the Rosaviakosmos Russian space agency for a new generation KOSPAS rocket space complex based on a small satellite, the Sterkh. Serial production is underway of radio beacons for aircraft and helicopters, as well as for rescuers, geologists, tourists - in short, anyone who might find himself in a remote place in an emergency situation. These radio beacons transmit emergency signals and information about their location received from the GPS-GLONASS systems, among other sources. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov may have implied as much when he said that the national GLONASS program, which is being resumed, will make it possible to find even lost children and dogs. More than 17,000 people across the world have been saved over the past 25 years thanks to the KOSPAS-SARSAT system. On average 100 people are added to the list every month.
Russia, as the successor to the Soviet Union in the KOSPAS-SARSAT international agreement, has been successfully fulfilling its obligations related to using and developing both the space-based and ground-based segments of the system, though so far it has failed to make effective use of it. As a matter of fact, the situation is similar to the one that has been going on for years with GLONASS: the space-based segment of the system was fully completed back in 1995, though little attention has been paid to supplying customers with the necessary equipment.
At present there are nearly 660,000 distress transmitters using a frequency of 121.5 MHz and nearly 285,000 transmitters using a frequency of 406 MHz. However, there are only several dozen Russian aircraft equipped with such radio beacons, and only in the past few years has the number climbed into the hundreds. As before, if an aircraft or helicopter crashes in the taiga or the tundra, it can't be found for months.
After the terrorist attacks on a Tupolev-134 and a Tupolev-154 airliners a few years ago, the Russian Ministry of Transportation issued a decree mandating all aircraft and helicopters to be supplied with KOSPAS-SARSAT radio beacons. Regrettably, there has been little progress so far.
No information is available on the number of personal radio beacons used by Russians. This is despite the fact that the system was Russia's idea in the first place and is considered a priority by other space powers that joined the program much later than it did.
Yury Zaitsev is an expert with the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Space Research.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and may not necessarily represent the opinions of the editorial board.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Grants Available for Individuals Who Want to Build a Pond in Michigan
Regulations for Building Ponds in Pennsylvania
How to Make a 1 Acre Pond
Maine Laws on Building a Pond
How to Calculate the Square Feet of a Pond
Home - Exterior
Pond Building Grants
By Antonia Lawrence Updated September 26, 2017
Pond creation and conservation is gaining more popularity and funding both in the United States and in the United Kingdom. In the U. S., Massachusetts has established a state program to support lake and pond conservation through grants and support activities. In the U.K., there are several online and regional groups that gather information and help direct pond enthusiasts with grant opportunities. Many grants are designed to create or clean up pond habitats that support diverse plant and animal life.
Massachusetts Lakes and Ponds Program
Grant money is available for groups wishing to restore ponds in environmentally damaged areas.
The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation has a program with grant funds that aims to restore and conserve the state's 3,000 lakes and ponds, many of which have been contaminated. Conservation efforts focus on educating the public on the integral importance of the watershed to the overall environmental health of the state's ecosystems. Grant monies are awarded to public and private groups engaged in conservation and clean up efforts. Grant money is also given for educational materials and community outreach programs.
Pond Creation
In the U.K., homeowners considering building ponds on their property can apply for Wildlife Enhancement Grants through national and local Wildlife Trusts. Grants are given for pond creation since ponds are important ecological "transition zones" between dry land and open water. Ponds support complex plant and animal systems, which have been neglected or destroyed during past urban and agricultural development activities. Ponds created or restored in areas of high wildlife value are also eligible for Higher Level Stewardship grants.
Pond Conservation
The group Pond Conservation, located in the U.K. has organized a directory of funding for individuals and groups interested in pond conservation. Funding comes from governmental, public and private organizations. Many of the grants are project specific, such as conserving ponds that support many species of reptiles and amphibians. Pond conservation ideas that work in tandem with the national Habitat Action Plan and Biodiversity Action Plan can receive grants that are often organized by the region or species impacted by the project.
Lakes and Ponds Program
Pond Creation and Enhancement
Based in Seattle, Antonia Lawrence has been writing and editing since 2007. Lawrence has worked and traveled extensively in both Europe and Asia. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in history and French language from Agnes Scott College and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Florida.
summer garden and pond image by Nicola Gavin from Fotolia.com
Homesteading in Oregon
How to Restore Balance in an Ecosystem
Guidelines on Building Ponds in Arkansas
Why Fish Die in Man Made Ponds
How to Build Homes by Wetlands
Grants to Help Seniors With Home Repairs


Gel nail overlays is a treatment where UV gel is applied over the top of your bare natural nail. Your nail bed is cleaned and prepared, and cuticles made neat before several layers of UV nail gel in the colour of your choice is applied. The high quality nail finish will last around three weeks, at which point you will need a gel nail infill treatment to restore the full nail finish.
Contact me to book a gel nail overlay treatment either in the comfort of your own home or at my home based salon. Gel nail overlay treatments cost £20 for your fingers or toes, and take about an hour to complete.


text:
Bhutan is firmly with India on Doklam issue: Top govt officials
UPDATED: February 22, 2018 20:05 IST
New Delhi, Feb 22 (PTI) Bhutan is "firmly" with India on the Doklam issue, top government officials today told a parliamentary panel and reiterated there had been no troop buildup by China in the region since its standoff with India ended in August last year. This was conveyed by Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale and Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, which is looking into various aspects of the India-China military standoff at Doklam, a source who was present in the meeting said on the condition of anonymity. Bhutan was firmly with India on the Doklam issue, the source quoted the top officials as telling the panel while replying to queries on the recent visit of Army Chief Bipin Rawat, NSA Ajit Doval and Gokhale to that country. The members also asked the officials about reports on the possibility of land being transferred by Bhutan to China in the Doklam region in exchange for territory in another area. Troops of India and China were locked in a 73-day-long standoff in Doklam from June 16 last year after the Indian side stopped the building of a road in the disputed tri-junction by the Chinese Army. Bhutan and China have a dispute over Doklam. The face-off ended on August 28. Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who is also a member of the panel, asked what Chinas goal was on Doklam and why Beijing chose the region to create a confrontation. Gandhi also asked about reports of a major Chinese buildup near Doklam, to which the officials replied that nothing has been done in Indian territory.
Members also questioned the foreign secretary about the "one belt one road" (OBOR) project and the scale of Chinese investment in India. Gokhale replied the project was not in Indias interest, another source said. At the beginning of the meeting, BJP members expressed concern over the Doklam issue coming up again when the foreign secretary and other top government officials had already briefed the panel more than once on the matter, the sources added. BJP MP Sharad Tripathi also wanted to know why other experts had been called when the foreign secretary and defence secretary were already there to brief the panel. Earlier in the day, the panel was briefed by former Army Chief Deepak Kapoor, former Ambassador to China Nalin Surie and military intelligence veteran and retired Army officer Vinayak Bhat. PTI JTR PYK BDS BDS -


Jon Renau's exclusive Ev-o-lu-tion Collection was developed specifically for women with permanent hair loss. Created in collaboration with clients who have Alopecia, this line represents years of research, investment and testing. Understanding the unique needs and preferences of women with complete hair loss is what makes the Evolution Collection so exceptional.Hand-tied wig caps are widely praised for their craftsmanship and comfort, especially when worn directly against the skin of the scalp. The Evolution Collection is the result of refining our hand-tied cap design. Because of the comfort details and advanced materials incorporated in this new line, five days rather than the standard three days are required to produce an Evolution Collection wig! In keeping with Jon Renau's core values of superior quality, innovative products and care for the well being of our clients, the Evolution Collection offers a great leap forward to improve the lives of women.


text:
Elles Bailey - 'Road I Call Home'
Now I could just say 'I absolutely love this album from start to finish' and be done with it. What an easy review, but it's not very helpful for you guys out there is it. I will also try not to use phrases like 'oh my god' too. Haha it's going to be difficult.
This album opens with 'Hell or High Water'. Starting off stripped back and bare and turning into a really rocky anthem of a song.
'Wild Wild West' references the gun slinging history of America followed by 'Deeper' which has a sound a bit like '70's soul music complete with brass section.
'What's The Matter With You' my favourite track without a doubt. A bluesy ballad with attitude. Really relatable to anyone who has gone through a bad patch or suffered a relationship break up.
'Medicine Man' was the first single released from this album and it is definitely in keeping with the bluesy style songs that we know and love from this singer/songwriter.
'Road I Call Home' The title track of the album is a lively little number and is quite different from most of the songs on the album being more rock influenced as opposed to mainly blues. It was a song inspired by Elles' hectic touring lifestyle.
'Foolish Hearts' is a beautiful break-up ballad and 'Miss Me When I'm Gone' is out and out blues and has a fantastic guitar riff.
There are those trumpets for that 70's sound again. 'Help Somebody' is a real foot tapping song with a really catchy melody. It is in complete contrast to 'Little Piece of Heaven' which has more than a trace of soul in it.
And last but by no means least 'Light In The Distance' is beautiful. It's stripped back to the bones with just Elles singing along to herself playing a lone piano. It really doesn't need anything else.
How would I describe this album over all?
Elles Bailey is a female British version of Chris Stapleton in her writing style. Bluesy country rock with guitar riffs that, in places, put me in mind of Bon Jovi's Blaze of Glory album. It does indeed take the listener on a trip across cowboy country.
Influences include a touch of soul music in places and a whole lot of Baileys soul is poured into this album too. Top quality musicianship throughout and those stunning smokey vocals....... (no words)
It has something for everyone and has all the storytelling traits that country music is famous for.


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How The Fellowship of the Ring Set Up a Massive Blockbuster Franchise
Dec 21, 2021 Blockbuster, Fellowship, Franchise, Massive, ring, Set
20 years have passed since Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring ransacked theaters like a wild pack of Uruk-hai, and to this day its presence is still felt throughout the cinematic landscape. Many have tried to duplicate its success, but few have successfully achieved Jackson's grand design — a perfect balance between intimate character drama and extraordinary, big-budget adventure.
Yet, after the extravagance of Return of the King two years later and Jackson's Hobbit trilogy, which were essentially soulless animated blockbusters, we tend to forget that Fellowship, at its core, was a relatively small film (at least compared to the sequels) about the relationships forged between a small, diverse group of individuals whilst enduring an arduous journey. This is the pivotal step studios tend to skip when preparing their own would-be blockbuster franchises, choosing instead to lure audiences with expensive CGI and breathtaking action sequences.
RELATED: Rogue One 5th Anniversary: Still A Great Star Wars Story
The brilliance of Fellowship is the way in which Jackson, along with writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, patiently lays the foundation for the rest of the series, carefully establishing key characters such as Frodo (Elijah Wood), Sam (Sean Astin), Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), and Legolas (Orlando Bloom) whilst also providing key bits of exposition that would pay off in later films.
Let's start from the beginning.
Fellowship kicks off with a grandiose, albeit simply structured, prologue that gives us the story so far. Essentially, this is akin to the opening crawl of Star Wars, except more visually opulent:
Right from the get-go, the audience understands the fundamentals of Middle-earth and the importance of the One Ring. Now, Jackson downshifts to the Shire via a sequence that introduces Bilbo (Ian Holm), Frodo, and Gandalf. This sequence also does a great job showing off a beautiful, natural world filled with luscious trees and vegetation, inhabited by real people — a complete contrast to the bleak, barren landscapes seen in the prologue. Now, we know what's at stake should Sauron once again take power.
As a side, we also see Frodo as a simple fellow who spends his days reading books in the forest and attending parties with his fellow Hobbits. He reads about adventures of other people, notably the exploits of Bilbo, but has no desire to take part in any adventures. By contrast, at the end of Return of the King, he's writing his own adventure for others to read. It's a minor but interesting setup that doesn't pay off until the last twenty minutes of the final movie.
We also learn quite a bit about wizards during the opening sequences in the Shire. Gandalf enjoys himself at parties but doesn't take kindly to nonsense. When Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) set off a rather large firework shaped like the dragon Smaug, the scraggly-haired, gray-robe donned wizard dishes out a worthy punishment.
Keep in mind, we're about 20 minutes into the film at this point (and about 25 minutes in the extended edition). In fact, the first major set piece — Gandalf vs. Saruman — doesn't happen until the 40-minute mark; and even that sequence is more about Saruman's treachery than action.
One of my favorite scenes in the trilogy entire likewise has more to do with character and plot than enthralling audiences. At around the hour mark, Frodo and Sam, now on their journey, but neither fully aware of the dangers lurking before them, happen upon Merry and Pippin. There's a cute bit where the foursome stumble down a hill and run into some mushrooms and then this happens:
What started out as a lighthearted adventure, in which Frodo and Sam complain about sleeping on the ground, bump into some elves, and chastise Merry and Pippin for stealing some crops, quickly turns into an intense situation. This scene, shot like something out of a horror film, perfectly captures the growing dread, and ultimately ends with Frodo understanding the true power of the One Ring for the first time. It's brilliant.
Later, we are introduced to Aragorn/Strider, who guides the four Hobbits further on their journey, but the film pauses long enough for this important character beat:
We haven't even met Liv Tyler's Arwen yet, but already Jackson has sown the seeds for Aragorn and Arwen's subplot — another bit that doesn't pay off fully until the final film. When the conclusion of their story arrives, though, audiences are fully invested and more than likely bawling their eyes out:
The first half of Fellowship of the Ring does a splendid job establishing its characters, the stakes and laying out key exposition so that the second half can lean a little harder on the action. And yet, despite the massive set pieces, including the spectacular Mines of Moria/Bridge of Khazad Dum sequence, Jackson continues to sprinkle in quieter character beats like this:
Again, this moment is a clever bit of exposition mixed with character development. We learn more about Gollum's tragic backstory, and we see Frodo's current predicament: the Hobbit struggles to understand his role in the story. Naturally, Gandalf reassures him and offers sound advice, further establishing Gandalf's significance to the young hero. When the wizard dies, Frodo feels helpless and, more importantly, alone:
In the last third of the film, Jackson positions Frodo so that he's separate from the rest of the Fellowship, where he remains until Sam proves his loyalty:
By the end of Fellowship, Frodo has evolved from a playful, carefree Hobbit devoid of responsibility to a true hero ready to take on whatever challenges await him. The character doesn't enjoy the same significant arc in later films, which focus more on the physical and psychological tole beset by the Ring of Power, which is why it was important for the first film to establish his individual growth.
RELATED: Harry Potter Reunion Trailer Brings Iconic Cast Back to Hogwarts
Note the contrast from the beginning of the film which showed Frodo sitting in the forest reading a book by himself to the final shot in which he stands atop a mountain alongside his loyal friend Sam:
It's such a striking bit of visual storytelling that adds so much to the experience.
That's what makes Fellowship such a brilliant motion picture. A lesser director would have dove headfirst into the action or spent far too much time delivering dry bits of exposition. Jackson spends nearly three hours introducing this strange new world to his audience via magnificent moments like this that also expand our developing characters — in this case, we learn a little more about Aragorn through his reaction to "the kings of old":
The big action climax in which our weary troupe takes on a legion of Urak-hai carries significance because it's framed around Boromir's (Sean Bean) noble death.
His arrow-ridden demise only works because Jackson devoted a good deal of time on Boromir's character. We understand his plight, the reason for his insanity because of scenes like this that perfectly illustrate his growing frustrations:
I love that Aragorn wears Boromir's gloves at the end of the film, signifying his acceptance of his duty to his kin. Again, minor details that go a long way in fleshing out a massive narrative that could have easily buckled under its own weight.
Even the aforementioned Mines of Moria sequence features tiny character flourishes that aid in the big picture. Merry's pre-established clumsiness leads to Gandalf's death, Boromir's love of the "little ones" causes him to grab Merry and Pippin and leap across the collapsing stairs, Legolas saves Gimli's life, and we even see just how important the quest to destroy the Ring is when Gandalf sacrifices his life to save the Fellowship.
In other words, nothing in Fellowship is action for action's sake. Every scene serves a grander purpose either by communicating the importance of the journey to the audience, or further developing the characters. As such, Return of the King works wonders because, after all the set up great and small — from Sam's powerful loyalty to Aragorn's personal feelings of inadequacy – the payoff is absolutely spectacular on both a visual and emotional level.
(As an aside, this is why I'm so excited for more of Denis Villeneuve's Dune series. The first film, released in October, similarly spent nearly three hours establishing its massive universe. Now, in Dune: Part II, he can throw all the battles and set pieces he wants at the screen because the audience will already be fully on board. Hopefully, Villeneuve sticks the landing.)
Of course, it's sad that after all of these years no other trilogy has matched Peter Jackson's grand design. Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy comes close, and Marvel has certainly done an excellent job sprinkling its ever-expanding universe with likable characters. Even so, nothing has quite captured the magnificence of Lord of the Rings, mostly because studios either want to skip Fellowship and go straight to The Two Towers or misinterpret what made Fellowship so good to begin with.
After all, while Lord of the Rings eventually evolved into a massive billion-dollar blockbuster franchise, its roots and beginnings center around four Hobbits, a wizard, an elf, a dwarf, and two men – all of whom truly represent The Fellowship of the Ring.
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Q: How to use 'fn', which generates a function that calculates the golden ratio Using 'fn'  generate function that calculates golden ratio approximation.
final formula:
1 + 1 / (1 + 1 / (1 + 1 / (...)))
some results:
golden_ratio(0) = 1
golden_ratio(1) = 2
golden_ratio(2) = 1.5
golden_ratio(100) = 1.6180...

Function signature: def golden_ratio (n), where 'n' is number of invocations (and number of terms in continued fraction)
In general, I did the task, here are the errors:

*

*Function signature: def golden_ratio (n), where 'n' is number of invocations (and number of terms in continued fraction).

*print (w / q)
The results are incorrect.
With n = 1000, it displays about 1.62, as it should.
golden_ratio(0) = 1
golden_ratio(1) = 2
golden_ratio(2) = 1.5

but with these n - it does not work.  Help me please(
this is my code:
n=1000
def fn(f,n):
    def wrap(*arg):
        for _ in range(n):
            arg = f(*arg)
        return arg
    return wrap

def fib(q, w):
    q, w = w, q + w
    return q, w

f3 = fn(fib, n)
q, w = f3(0, 1)
# gold section
print(w / q)

A: When you defined the Fibonacci function
def fib(q, w):
    q, w = w, q + w
    return q, w

you chose its typical initial values 0 and 1 in q, w = f3(0, 1) assuming that the function's first invocation results into q = 1, w = 1 leading to w / q = 1.0.
Your problem
Given n = 0 and your code, your problem is that fib(0, 1) isn't executed by arg = f(*arg) because your for-loop for _ in range(n): doesn't execute (n = 0 -> range(0, 0))!
The following return arg then returns your initial function arguments 0, 1 (unchanged) back which results into q = 0, w = 1. And thus you get a division by zero error.
Possible solutions
There are three possible solutions to fix your code.

*

*Ensure that your for-loop executes for your very first iteration being n = 0 by changing for _ in range(n): to for _ in range(n+1):

*or adapt your initial function arguments f3(0, 1) to be the expected result 1, 1 as it's being returned by return arg by changing q, w = f3(0, 1) to q, w = f3(1, 1)

*or change your mind that golden_ratio(0) is actually the first iteration of your approximation and therefore you iteration variable n is 1-based instead of 0-based, i.e. enforce in your code n >= 1.

Picking the first option, you get
n=0
def fn(f,n):
    def wrap(*arg):
        for _ in range(n+1): # <-- fix for-loop
            arg = f(*arg)
        return arg
    return wrap

def fib(q, w):
    q, w = w, q + w
    return q, w

f3 = fn(fib, n)
q, w = f3(0, 1)
# gold section
print(w / q)

which gives you
golden_ratio(0)    = 1.0
golden_ratio(1)    = 2.0
golden_ratio(2)    = 1.5
golden_ratio(3)    = 1.6666666666666667
golden_ratio(4)    = 1.6
golden_ratio(5)    = 1.625
...
golden_ratio(100)  = 1.618033988749895
...
golden_ratio(999)  = 1.618033988749895
golden_ratio(1000) = 1.618033988749895

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Cee Lo Green Under Investigation for Alleged Sexual Battery, "Voice" Coach Denies Wrongdoing
Gnarls Barkley musician says "nothing" happened at restaurant where reported incident allegedly occurred.
By Rebecca Macatee
Published Oct 31, 2012 at 3:56 PM | Updated at 3:57 PM CDT on Oct 31, 2012
"The Voice" judge and mentor Cee Lo Green
Cee Lo Green wants to make it clear he's done nothing wrong.
An LAPD spokeswoman told E! News there is an investigation pending on a sexual battery claim against the "Voice" coach. Cee Lo (real name: Thomas DeCarlo Callaway) told TMZ, however, that, "Nothing ever happened [at the restaurant the claim reportedly alleges the assault too place at] or anywhere else."
Although the LAPD told E! News they weren't releasing any information at this time other than confirming the pending investigation, detectives have reportedly already visited a restaurant in Downtown L.A. and questioned several employees.
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According to Cee Lo, though, he has not patronized the reported restaurant in question for three months.
The identity of the alleged victim and restaurant where the reported incident is said to have taken place are not being released at this time.
A rep for Cee Lo did not immediately respond for comment.
Stars Steppin' Out
--Reporting by Michelle Falls
"The Voice" makes musical memories


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Minds Matter Washington D.C. Sends Students to Prestigious Summer Programs
By MM National | March 30, 2016
New York, NY – March 30, 2016 – Minds Matter Washington, D.C. is sending its first class of students to summer programs this year. Several students have already gained acceptance to prestigious programs at Harvard Medical School via the National Student Leadership Conference, Cornell and Carnegie Mellon. Minds Matter is an intensive three-year academic and…
Minds Matter Selected as 100 Women in Hedge Funds' 2016 U.S. Beneficiary
By MM National | March 3, 2016
15th Annual Gala to be held November 9, 2016 in New York City New York, NY – March 3, 2016 – 100 Women in Hedge Funds today announces Minds Matter National, Inc. as the beneficiary of its U.S. philanthropic activities in 2016, including the 15th Annual Gala at Cipriani 42nd Street to be held on…
Minds Matter News
Minds Matter transforms the lives of accomplished high school students from low-income families by broadening their dreams and preparing them for college success. To learn more about our mission visit our national website.
Why Minds Matter
Partners & Tools
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MM Instructors
Enrichment Advisors
Test Prep Instructors
© 2020 Minds Matter Seattle


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Oppo R11 Leaks Again With 3 Different Colors After TV Commercial Leak
RidaMay 08, 2017 06:21 AM EDT
Oppo might soon unveil the new R-series smartphones into the tech market. The Oppo R11 has once again surfaced online in three different colors. The leaked image though blurred but gives enough details of the variant colors, camera, and other exterior design. The same Oppo R11 appeared recently in a 20-seconds TV commercial confirming the name of the device and hints that the smartphone is ready to hit the Chinese tech market.
According to Android Headlines, the Oppo R11 smartphone in the leaked image surfacing on internet hints that the smartphone will come in three different colors. The blurred image reveals that it will come in standard black, gold, and rose gold colors.
The image also shows that the smartphone is featuring a dual camera set up at the rear and no provision of fingerprint scanner at the rear. This clearly indicates that the fingerprint scanner could be placed in the home button at the front.
According to GSMArena, the Oppo R11 smartphone appeared in a 20-second TV commercial video posted below revealing the same three colors variants. Along with the online surfacing, the smartphone was listed on the GFXBench database hinting most of the details of specifications and features.
The smartphone is spotted carrying a model number Oppo R6051. The listing shows that the smartphone will carry 5.5-inch display with a resolution of 1,920 pixels by 1,080 pixels. Under the hood, the Oppo R11 smartphone is seen powered by 2.2GHz octa-core Qualcomm ARMv8 processor coupled with Qualcomm Adreno 510 GPU. In addition, the processor is seen paired with a 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage.
The Oppo R11 listed also hints that the front face of the smartphone would feature a 20-megapixel camera and a dual camera with each 16-megapixel rear camera with autofocus, HDR face detection, and flash. The GFXBench listing also shows that the smartphone runs on Android 7.1.1 Nougat and has WiFi, Bluetooth, digital compass, GPS, accelerometer, barometer, gyroscope and light sensor.
Oppo R11 smartphone leaks have not been confirmed by the company officially and there are chances that the device would come with better specifications, features, and colors. Therefore, readers are requested to take all the details with a grain of salt. Stay tuned for more updates.
More: Oppo, OPPO R11, Oppo Smartphone, Oppo R11 Smartphone, OPPO R11 Leaks, Oppo leaks and news


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Q: BS4 import is not working in eclipse I am new to python. I want to run python scripts in eclipse as i am bit comfortable with that. I am trying to import and run Beautiful Soup in eclipse oxygen.Import is successful,but I am getting an error(un-resolved import soup) with following code.However beautiful soup is working fine with anaconda.[enter image description here][1]
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup as soup

A: Old question, but I figured I would post the answer that worked for me.
The trick is to use the folder that the bs4 is in. For the asker above it would be
sys.path.append("C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3\Lib\site-packages")

I'm guessing because import is looking for a package named bs4-- of which, inside the bs4 package itself, there is none.