For Giles of Viterbo the concept of reform embraced the whole outlook of life, and not merely the return to the conscious observance of necessary rules and regulations. He was highly intelligent, decisive, and knew his own mind. For example, in a letter to a fellow Augustinian in 1505, even before he became Prior General, he described the state of the Church in the most depressing terms.
He stated that the Church had lost the gift of divine charity and was so near extinction that he could actually hear the death rattle. With bitter words he depicted the Rome of the previous Pope - Alexander VI, Roderigo Borgia - (Pope in 1492-1503), as a city in which gold, force, and the lack of sexual morals reigned supreme. On more than one occasion he told his correspondent that day and night his only thought was of how to promote the reform of the Order of Saint Augustine. Giles said that the reform of the Order of Saint Augustine was, except for his own destiny after death, his greatest concern here on earth.
He wrote that he was willing solemnly to swear this before God and the angels on the great Day of Judgment. As soon as he was elected Prior General in May 1507, Giles published a program of reform that would help shape the Augustinian Order during the pain and turmoil of the following thirty years of Protestant Reformation and the inching towards Counter-Reformation. The main tenet of the program was that, rather than anything revolutionary, the Order needed to return to the spirit and letter of the Rule of St Augustine. As a product of humanism and the Renaissnce, Giles looked back, not forward – or at least thought that he did. In fact, he was very much a child of the Renaissance, as well as an intellectual prodigy. In his estimation, however, all culture was secondary to the love and honour of God. Within the Rule of St Augustine, he saw vita communis (community life) as the lynch-pin, and stated that unquestionably the observance of high-quality community life was the Augustinian way to spiritual perfection.
Perfect community life meant the renunciation of private property, full participation in community prayer, attendance at meals in common, a careful administration of community property, and a greater degree of fraternal charity in community. That he message would be repeatedly read and remembered, Giles turned to the relatively-new technology of the printing press. In November 1508 he arranged the first printed version of the Constitutions of the Order. Into this book he also placed the Rule of Augustine, and the most-read commentary of the Rule at that time, i.e., the one by Hugo of St Victor. Another section of Giles' book contained Augustinian ceremonial and spiritual materials, including liturgical music. The final section of the book contained copies of papal bulls and privileges granted to the Order.
Giles reserved the last words of the book to himself, in the form of a letter from him to all members of the Order. In the letter, he reminded all Augustinian friars of the Order's indebtedness to the papacy, and of the duty of the Order to reform itself so as in fact to be fitting spiritual sons of Augustine of Hippo. It was his capacity of being Prior General of the Augustinians that Giles received Martin Luther at Convento S. Agostino in Rome during the winter of 1510-1511. Giles impressed Luther favourably, and won Luther to his position on the matter that Luther had been sent to Rome to discuss.
Giles remained in the position of Prior General for twelve years, although during that time he was simultaneously called to undertake various tasks for the Pope. He was an excellent administrator, and was among the greatest resource that the Order of Saint Augustine had for carrying out a reform of itself.
The history of both the Order and the Church may have been different had he been allowed to focus fully on the task of being a Prior General to the full extent of his ability. Unfortunately, Pope Julius II was more focused on his failing military efforts to preserve possession of the territory belonging to the Pope in central Italy. And this was while Martin Luther was growing anxious about the condition of the church and the Order in Germany. As a scholar himself, Giles promoted the building up of libraries in each Augustinian community.
Around this time libraries were expanding rapidly, in both the houses of princes and in religious houses. The amarium of the Middle Ages, which held fifteen or twenty manuscripts in a small religious house (convento) but hundreds of titles in a larger house, now developed rapidly because of the perfection of printing. (The first Bible was printed in 1455.) In 1518, for example, the library in the Augustinian headquarters in Rome at Convento S. Agostino (where Giles lived as Prior General), had 1,500 manuscripts and printed works, and then by 1626 had 22,000 items when the collection became the Angelica Library.
Some of the writings of Giles of Viterbo concerned Hebrew literature. With Hebrew the original language of the Old Testament of the Bible. Christian scholars at Rome and elsewhere in Europe were fascinated by the Cabalistic usage of some Jewish commentators on the Bible. Giles believed as much as did any rabbi that each letter of the Hebrew alphabet concealed a deep theology that still had to be discovered. In a voluminous treatise dedicated to Pope Clement VII that he wrote between 1528 and 1531 called the Scechinah - a Hebrew expression meaning the presence of God among humanity - Giles attempted to introduce kabbalah into the world of Christian humanism.
As the sixteenth century progressed, however, detailed knowledge of the real languages and cultures of the Near East grew, and facts began to displace myths such as this. This treatise by Giles was soon only of historical interest. On less esoteric administrative matters, Giles as Prior General stressed that Augustinians proceeding to become priests must be well educated. He much opposed the practice, particularly of diocesan clergy in rural areas, or having "priests for the Mass", i.e., men who were only trained enough to celebrate the Mass in the Latin language. These men were taught to read Latin, and did not necessarily comprehend all that they were reading. They were not given a full education for the exercise of other duties of the priest. Even though not common among the Augustinians or most religious orders, this practice, however, was not completely absent from the Order.
Even so, Giles was working on the reformation of the Augustinian Order, and had been chosen by the Pope with that in mind. His work of reform, however, was confined to correspondence and the sending of his delegates as visitators. Giles himself did not travel outside of Italy before 1512, and until 1517 necessarily stayed close to Rome as one of the council members of the Fifth Lateran Council (1512-1517).
"Hear ye most illustrious Princes of the Apostles, protectors and defenders of the city of Rome, the supplication of all the peoples of Christendom, prostrate at your feet. The Pope unites with the Fathers, the Senate and the whole world to implore our assistance for himself, for the Church, the City of Rome, these temples, these altars which enshrine your sacred relics this Council which is taking up arms with the support of the Holy Ghost for the salvation of Christendom..."
Giles did not hold back on his words in front of Pope Julius II, who twenty days earlier had been with his army in their defeat at the Battle of Ravenna. To a belligerent pope still hurting from a loss on the battlefield, Giles was not gentle. He proclaimed that the evils afflicting the Church could not be remedied by force of arms, but rather with the weapons of the Holy Spirit. He said, "Our arms are holy living, religion, prayers, vows, 'the defence offered by faith and the armour of light'… With these arms we shall be superior to any foe." He also proclaimed there his famous norm about reform, "People must be changed by religion, not religion by people."
Giles called for personal renewal as the way toward institutional reform. The norm for reform which Giles of Viterbo enunciated for the Fifth Lateran Council in 1512 discloses something of what he expected this great effort at Christian renewal to bring about. He insisted that people must be changed by religion and not religion by people - a reference to the agents of the Protestant Reformation. He was appointed as a papal legate to visit the court of the Emperor Maximillian at Augsburg, Germany in the winter of 1515-1516. This gave Giles the opportunity to visit some of the Augustinian communities in northern Italy, Austria and Germany, and to exhort them towards a more strict observance of Augustinian community life and practices.
The secretary to the gathering was Giralomo Seripando O.S.A., who was to become the next shining light in the Order of Saint Augustine after Giles of Viterbo.
The three photos on this page show the Augustinian Order in Poland. For Augnet's gallery on Poland, click here.


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Roadblocks and protests on first anniversary of Catalan referendum
October 2, 2018 Spanish News 3223 Views
Separatist premier Quim Torra urges activists to keep up the street pressure against the state
Supporters of Catalan independence on Monday cut off major roads, blocked the AVE high-speed rail link and organized street marches on the first anniversary of an unauthorised independence referendum and a police crackdown that made headlines across the world last year.
At an institutional event to observe the anniversary, Catalan premier Quim Torra publicly urged these groups to keep putting pressure on the state, drawing angry responses from unionist parties and civic groups.
Members of the self-organized activist groups known as the Committees for the Defense of the Republic (CDR) congregated on the L-11 highway where it meets the N-240 national road early Monday morning, said the Mossos d'Esquadra regional police force. The A-2 and AP-7 highways were also blocked, while at 8am around 400 people cut off the AVE high-speed train line in Girona. Activists at the train station chanted: "October 1, we don't forgive and we don't forget!" The premises have now been cleared, AVE spokespeople said on Monday morning.
According to local police, around 13,000 students marched through the streets of Barcelona this morning. Demonstrating for two hours or so in favor of independence, attendees waved flags and carried ballot boxes used in last year's unofficial poll.
Meanwhile, the leaders of Catalonia's pro-independence government gathered in Sant Julià de Ramis (Girona), the town where former premier Carles Puigdemont was going to vote in last year's referendum, which went ahead despite being ruled illegal by Spain's Constitutional Court. The police prevented Puigdemont from voting, and he was removed from office soon after when Madrid temporarily suspended Catalonia's regional powers. The ousted leader fled the country to avoid being arrested and tried for rebellion, and has since been living in Belgium where he continues to campaign for Catalan independence.
The event in Sant Julià de Ramis was attended by the Catalan premier, Quim Torra, and other members of his executive. In his address, Torra told the CDR groups to "keep putting on the pressure, you are doing the right thing by putting on pressure."
Torra, a separatist who was handpicked by Puigdemont as his successor, urged the movement to remain loyal "to the clear mandate in favor of independence," alluding to the referendum. According to Catalan government sources – which cannot be confirmed as the vote lacked the guarantees of an agreed referendum – just over 90% of voters cast "yes" ballots while 7% voted no, with a turnout of around 45% of registered voters. International observers headed by the Dutch ambassador Daan Everts said that the referendum, such as it was held, did not meet international standards.
Reading out a statement on Monday, Torra said that "a year ago, the Spanish state repressed such a basic right as the right to self-determination and also freedom of expression." He also demanded the release of jailed separatist leaders, the return of those living "in exile," and for the courts to shelve the case against the secessionist attempt.
Roger Torrent, the speaker of the Catalan parliament, added that "nothing will be the same again" and urged the independence movement to stay together. The October 1 vote is the seed of the republic," he said. Despite the call to unity, growing division was evidenced again when the CDR group in Barcelona asked for Torra's resignation, as it did on Saturday following the clashes with the police.
Unionist parties and civic groups in Catalonia reacted angrily to Torra's call for further street action.
"For separatist commandos to block roads, occupy public buildings and paralyze Catalonia is very serious. But for Torra to encourage them to continue is intolerable," tweeted opposition chief Inés Arrimadas, whose liberal, anti-independence group Ciudadanos was the most-voted party at the last regional election of December 21. Although the election gave separatist parties less than 50% of the popular vote, their combined forces earned more seats thanks to a proportional representation system that rewards rural dominance over city votes. The turnout rate was a historic 81%.
"The premier has just expressed public support for the CDR, for those who are curtailing the freedom of expression of Catalans. This is an extremely serious fact that makes Mr Torra unfit to be president," said José Rosiñol, head of the unionist civic association Societat Civil Catalana. "We demand his immediate resignation and new elections."
Puigdemont speech
Also on Monday morning, Puigdemont made a seven-minute address from Belgium calling for the unity of the independence movement and accusing the Spanish state of trying to divide them. "If we want to keep winning, it is essential not to stray from the path, to leave partisan interests to one side, and to avoid falling for the provocations of Catalonia's adversaries," he said.
The message comes on the heels of a confrontation between the Catalan government and the small far-left CUP party over the events this past weekend, when the regional police acted against radical activists in Barcelona who were trying to boycott a public tribute to the police who participated in the referendum crackdown. On Saturday, members of the CDR pelted the police with paint and assaulted several demonstrators, resulting in six arrests and 24 people treated for minor injuries.
The CDR have been behind other public disturbances in the past; in early April, members tampered with toll booths on several turnpikes. Spain's High Court, the Audiencia Nacional, has investigated CDR members for acts of vandalism.
9h10h11h12h13h

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Samantha is a Mansfield University Fisheries Biology Student and is focusing on reclamation work in the Cooks Run Watershed, Clinton County. Samantha's internship is sponsored in partnership by Trout Unlimited and the Clinton County Conservation District.
Eric has an Associates degree in Wildlife and Technology and is pursuing a B.S. LAS degree with an emphasis on Earth Sciences. His internship work focuses on a baseline monitoring study for a portion of the West Branch Susquehanna. Eric's internship was sponsored by Trout Unlimited.
Christy is pursuing a B.S degree in Biology with a minor in Environmental Science. Her internship work included analysis of benthic macroinvertebrate samples collected in the Two Mile Run (Kettle Creek Watershed). Christy's internship was sponsored by Trout Unlimited.


Jackson Electric Cooperative offers rebates to its members who purchase qualified energy efficient items. These rebates are paid from the Commitment to Community (Public Benefits Funds) dollars that are collected each month from each member account. This is a state mandated program where half of the dollars are used toward low-income programs and the remaining half toward energy efficiency programs. Rebates are available until December 31, 2019, or until funds are depleted. Availability of rebates are subject to change without notice. Please submit to our office your completed and signed rebate reward form within 60 days of your invoice date with the Energy Star label (if applicable) and paid receipt. Your rebate application may be rejected if all required documentation is not received.


A reminder that we are the creators of our reality and thus powerful.
Always remember that what is reality for you is effectively an extension of yourself, with others participating in it with you. But it is a reality that travels through your consciousness and finds in your mind the means by which it can become specific and real for you - to the extent that you create it very effectively and efficiently with a strength and a profundity that means for most human souls the outer reality is, of course, the reality - whereas it is in fact a created reality through the Creator - and you are essentially the agent of that creative pattern.
We would urge you never to lose sight of that truth. When you encounter difficulties and traumas and problems and sadness, restrictions and the like on the outer realms, never lose sight of the fact that it is a process of creativity and unfoldment that functions through you all of the time. If you have that in your consciousness as a growing realisation, then ultimately it makes you more powerful. It makes you all-powerful, and it gives you the right and the freedom to explore and express your reality as you, at your highest level of understanding, can best perform and celebrate the wisdom of the spirit that is your true self.
The purpose of this discourse is to help us to during the emerging pattern of unfoldment in the near future.
We would speak a little of these times.
In our view of things there are various points in the projected future that the human family collectively have worked together to form Therefore we can pick on certain months and times as being of notable consequence - notable consequence in that they produce a change in the rhythm and the expression in the outer life. Of course, for them to produce a change in such a way means that they are reflecting a change on the inner planes, and the higher planes of self. You cannot have movement in the outer planes, and developments in the outer planes unless they are projected through and from within those who perceive those alterations and modulations.
For us, looking at the way you have organised your world here, it would seem that when you approach the springtime of this year, and as the time gathers pace through the months of March particularly, then you will begin to notice certain remarkable changes, perhaps not so much always in the outer level (although they will exist there, of course), but in the way that you relate to the outer reality.
If we consider this more profoundly: there is no difficulty with looking on the outside and exploring this and exploring that – but it is only of value as a reference point that returns you back inside yourself. As you know, when you truly discover the inner kingdom, when you truly unlock and remember what you really are, then the outer world will seem to you as something that no longer dominates. In fact, although it has a place, it will have a place just as a garment has a place when you wear it. It will not dominate you; it will not imprison you, but rather adorn the expression of yourself.
So when we look at time and we consider this time before you, in the way that you travel through it, then as you approach what you call the 'Springtime' and the months of March and perhaps a little of that which is called 'April', you should begin to sense a stirring and a change within the self.
Of course, as this process works, because of the need for awakening, because of the need for true realisation, then inevitably to many - and to perhaps a large proportion of the human family - there may seem to be some difficulties and challenges.
It is particularly true for those who see the outer reality as that which dominates. It will be especially true for those who have invested all in the outer planes - those who see material reality as the cause celebre, as the actuality of life. For those who are focused in such a way life in the outer planes may appear to become more difficult, less predictable, more fragmented, and in many respects even unpleasant. This is because of the focus: what is often said to be 'the place in consciousness in which you find yourself'. If you can imagine yourself, for example, to be one who has no understanding of an inner or a higher life, one who dismisses anything other than the material world as being reality, then, if you can even begin to connect with that view of life, you can understand increasingly the frustrations and difficulties and challenges that will be very much the experience of those whose total immersion in the outer world really has magnetised and withdrawn them from any serious understanding consciously of their spiritual and inner nature.
In this regard, the future - and how the future works - as it always has done, will depend on you, and where you are in your consciousness. While this has always been true, of course, it becomes even more true as you progress through the next year or so, as the time unlocks and unravels in front of you like a magical, wonderful carpet. Your place in consciousness - how you see yourself - how you understand yourself to be as an entity - will be increasingly critical in the manner in which you experience and work through your experience in these coming times.
Therefore it is almost as if there will be even more of a schism in human experience – that for some it becomes more difficult, and for others it becomes more meaningful, more dynamic, more purposeful, more engaging. But it depends on you, as it has always done – but even more so in these times.
Greater awareness of the changes to come should not lead to any sense of elitism, but rather to a greater sense of responsibility.
In this process, what you have to bear in mind is that as well as looking after yourself and unlocking your own consciousness, then you must equally be in the understanding that you do it not for yourself, but you do it for everyone else who is participating in this reality with you, and especially those who for one reason or another are still locked into their material focus. Because, your see, there is no elitism in the realm of the spiritual self, there is no real hierarchy. We speak of 'hierarchies', but merely as a delineation of responsibility – not as an expression of superiority. What you must understand is that as you grow spiritually then your responsibility equally grows with you. The more you raise your own consciousness and expand your understanding, the more responsibility you have.
There are those who treat spirituality like some peculiar kind of club where they get together in their mystical groups and do all sorts of strange things, and then rather suggest that they are in some mysterious way different from everybody else. But this is never true. It is simply that some of you have been given an opportunity. Do not see it in any way as being separatism, or elitism, but rather as something given to you, as a chance to awaken yourself and be more and more operative from the core of your spirit, so that you in turn, either directly or indirectly, radiate to others the possibility of such awakening too.
You can get nowhere unless everybody else does. You cannot leave this planet behind and say goodbye and leave all the others in the mire. There are many spiritual stories that have suggested this – that there will be those who are so transformed in the coming years that they will leave here in some wonderful elitist spiritual capacity, and leave the others to go through another series of things. Such talk does not understand the bonding of the human soul, and does not understand the collectivism of human consciousness on the earth. You cannot leave anyone behind.
The prime responsibility is to oneself, but in the sense of being more disciplined than ever about inner work, which in turn helps everybody.
This is why, in this time, you have a responsibility, of course, first of all to yourself, and you must be very, very disciplined in these times, very disciplined for your inner work and your inner time. Do not look at your watch and say: "I cannot do it today because I am too busy." Do not say: "I cannot pray and reflect and connect with my inner self today because I have more important things to do." Because there is nothing more important than that, and there is nothing, nothing at all, more important than the unlocking of your inner light in these times. And the more you unlock your inner light the more then you can express your true presence in this outer world. You can have an imprint of your real identity more and more functioning in the outer planes. So there is nothing more important than that – and you do it, remember, not just for yourself, but for everybody.
There are those who have still got a little trapped in what is often called 'the psychic delights', and go off with their little bits of phenomena here and there. They miss the point, because these things are there to awaken you back into yourself, but not to be celebrated in themselves. So often what is called 'spiritual' becomes part of the glamour, part of the mystique that is nothing to do with growth of the true self. Whilst it can be fascinating to do all these outer things, they have little meaning, other than that they return you to yourself. You don't need anything for that; you don't need any particular thing other than yourself.
So in this coming time it is for you to firmly establish the unfoldment of your real self – to look to the soul, to its higher nature (which is eternal), and to be a diligent, respectful, and honest extension of that soul, so that you fulfil your destiny and your duty as this planet seeks to rise into a higher expression of itself.
It is imperative that we fully accept that the outer world is our creation and not blame others for it.
No! That is not the way! The way is in you, in yourself. Every time that you see something on the outer planes that offends you, find out what it is that offends you in yourself. Every time somebody on the outer planes does something that angers you, that annoys you, that seems to you to be polluting or destroying, do not go and fight them, do not blame them, do not place before them the problem. It is in you. It is in you.
We often see our problems and our difficulties and we ignore them as if they matter not. We are too busy looking at the problems in everybody else, and what they do wrong - how they are holding up our progress. It is not them! It is ourselves.
In this time, that has to be the fundamental underlying platform from which you work in consciousness. And only then, only then will you see true progress and the unfoldment of a greater, greater experience. There is no other way. You can blame who you like, but until you come back into yourself and realise that it is your own creation there is no way that you can fulfil this wonderful destiny that you have inside you.
The quality of our engagement with the events that are already unfolding will determine how quickly we 'unlock' the true glory of ourselves – but this is entirely inner work.
We would say this to you: as this time unfolds, remember that it is a time in which there will be some struggles evident to you because you have created them. They are already there, waiting over the horizon. It is how you negotiate them that determines how quickly and how wonderfully you unlock the light and glory that is in you. That is what is so fundamentally important – how you engage with that which awaits you.
We remind you that you are in transition in consciousness anyway, both individually and within the collective experience you have. The outer collective experience can be said to be one that is 'negotiated', in some sense. That it is, if you like, your projection - but within that projection there is a deep negotiation taking place between your self, your higher self, and what you understand to be the souls and higher selves of others in the outer planes. And this process is even more dynamic, and this process demands from you that instead of looking for solutions in the outer world you look for solutions where they have always been – and that, of course, is on the inner planes, and in the inner self.
This process is not going to be easy, but it is why we chose to be here. We are here to unfold the Age of the Soul.
These things are of no value as ideas unless you take them with you, and you reflect on them and work with them. They are of no value as merely a discussion point for an afternoon. They are the very foodstuff for your journey. They are the essence of that which is being asked of you. No-one ever said it would be easy. When you incarnated you were not given some kind of cosmic discount which said: "Well, you can go down and it'll be OK. It will be a good option for you, and it will all be OK for you. No problem." No-one ever said that! You came here as souls because of the power, and the glory, and the magnificence in you – the love and the wisdom that you could employ in this outer exchange here. That is why you came. You did not come for a rest. You came here to participate actively in consciousness. That is what you came to do.
If that were not true, then you wouldn't be here – and by 'here' we do not mean within these walls, we mean on the planet itself. You came because of what you have and what you bring. And in the centre of what you bring, of course, is the light of the spirit – the glory of the soul – because the age that you are unfolding in your outer reality is the age of the soul as we have told you many times - the age of the true knight, of the eternal being, of the king, of the Divine One, of the Christ. That is what these times are before you now. That is the time that you unlock. And the more that you work to understand the king, the light, the divine within you, the more the outer world can reflect it.
The knowledge of this unfoldment should lead to profound and subtle feelings of joy and anticipation, and a restlessness akin to that felt by a performer before the start of a performance.
This should fill you with both a sense of anticipation and also an underlying current of joyfulness - because the joyfulness flows through every fibre of your nature. And it comes because you know - you know within you where the glory resides. You know within you where the power and the wonder is. You know within you just how much love there is. You know. And it is for you simply to pay homage to that - to beckon it and summon it to the surface for what increasingly the outer world is in fact a reflection of the inner world.
That is one of the most important signals of all -  because it is in that restlessness, in that vibration where you almost tremble sometimes - it is in there that you have the clue.
We should relish the privilege of having chosen to be here at this time and the creative opportunities it offers.
What a gift you have to be here! What a wonderful thing it is for you to be on the earth in this time! In the mornings when you awaken you should get up into the world, out of your bed and embrace the day, because it is in such a way that you will take the steps forward that are necessary.
Of course occasionally you will feel that you embrace the day and it doesn't embrace you back exactly. There will be times when you think: "My, I have been hugging life so much and all it has done to me is stick pins in me!" But if you think properly the pins can turn to rubber, and the rubber can turn to warmth, and the warmth can turn to joy, because you have this marvellous capacity.
The unfoldment of the age of the soul will surely happen – it is not a choice. It is rather a programme that you are participating in and that you have to enact - and therefore you do not have a choice. But you do have a wonderful opportunity to be creative and to celebrate in that scheme of things - to expand.
The age of the soul is what you now are entering.
It is for you to decide how you do it. It is for you to "dot the i's and cross the 't's", to fill in some of the details. But the process is under way, and it is the most important thing that we can say to you.
It matters not what your background is. It matters not where you come from in terms of geography or race – whatever the cultural or spiritual formative patterns are in you. They are merely there to give you a kind of tapestry to recognise yourself by.
When you truly see within then you understand these things as nothing more than pictures on a page. But they are not the story. The story is you. And so you should grasp this time with a sense of joy and realise that in the service of yourself you serve everything. In the love of yourself you love everything. In the understanding of yourself you understand everything. In the giving of yourself you give of everything to everyone. It is said that the measure of one who leaves this world is not by what he took but by what, rather, he gave. It is what you give of yourself, through yourself, that is of paramount importance in these times.
This is the most important thing that we can tell you.
Transcribed and edited by Erik Punaks to whom we offer our grateful thanks.


The Audio Bullies played on the 5th. Dj Shadow is going to have his mix aired on a yet unnamed night.
but still he know how to work the deks!
the thing is like the mix or not they give a frsh taste to house music,like the first rave you went to.overuse of their own mixes though,bring back the good times,judge jules used to be like this,what happened.
I like this one. Definitely a fresh approach. I wouldn't listen to this kind of thing all the time, and there are a few horrible bits of shouting rather than singing, but a decent mix nonetheless.
This page has got 26487952 pageloads since 2002-02-09.


1954: In Brown v. Board of Education, Chief Justice Earl Warren, reading his first major opinion from the bench, said: "We conclude, unanimously, that in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."
1955: In Brown v. Board II, the Supreme Court held that school systems must abolish their racially dual systems, but could do so "with all deliberate speed."
1956: The Supreme Court, without comment, affirmed a lower court ruling declaring segregation of the Montgomery bus system illegal, giving a major victory to Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the thousands of anonymous African Americans who had sustained the bus boycott in the face of violence and intimidation.
1958: The Supreme Court upheld the rule of law in Cooper v. Aaron, stating that official resistance and community violence could not justify delays in implementing desegregation efforts.
1968: In Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co., the Court held that the Civil Rights Act of 1866 bans racial discrimination in housing by private, as well as governmental, housing providers.


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Eric Owusu records an assist in Buildcon slim win over Indeni in Ndola Derby
Olympics Philip Nii Sackey adjudged MOTM after victory against Inter Allies
MATCH REPORT: Inter Allies 0-2 Great Olympics – Maxwell Nii Abbey's brace propels 'Dade' boys to winning ways
TRANSFER NEWS: Legon Cities eye move for 'goal' monger Richmond Antwi
Kwaku Danso of Bechem United wins GPL NASCO Coach for December
Gladson Awako adjudged NASCO Player of the Month for December
Majeed Ashimeru joins Belgian outfit Anderlecht on loan
Accra Great Olympics announce Yaw Preko as new head coach
'Lethal' Kotoko forward Kwame Opoku picks MOTM after his brace sinks Liberty
EXCLUSIVE: Ex-Dreams FC centre-back Abbey Agbodzie joins Albanian side KF Skënderbeu
Audit reveals CAF in a state of'disarray'
Football International Soccer Top Stories
February 13, 2020 February 13, 2020 0
An audit into the state of the Confederation of African Football (Caf) has revealed an organisation in a state of disarray – both with regard to finances and governance.
Carried out by Pricewaterhouse Cooper, the audit describes Caf's accounting as 'unreliable and not trustworthy' as it highlights transactions totalling in excess of $20m which either have 'little or no supporting documentation' or are considered 'higher risk.'
One area it suggests further investigating is 'the role played' by Caf President Ahmad and his attaché Loic Gerand, among others, in the deal with French company Tactical Steel – some of whose financial dealings with Caf are described as 'highly suspicious'.
Ahmad has already strenuously denied any wrongdoing with regard to this case.
The forensic audit – which was complicated by Caf's tendency to make most of its payments in cash – also suggested considerable reforms were needed throughout Caf.
The organisation's structure is described as being over-reliant on decisions made by the Executive Committee (ExCo), despite the latter meeting 'once a quarter, resulting in delays in key decision-making and preventing managers of Caf departments from making timely business-critical decisions'.
In addition, a lack of clarity in Caf's organisational structure has left departments 'understaffed' and existing staff both 'overworked' and 'generally demotivated'.
The confidential audit, a copy of which has been seen by the BBC, was carried out as part of the unprecedented decision to send Fifa's Secretary General to improve the governance of African football's ruling body.
Fatma Samoura concluded her six-month role in early February, whereupon she presented her findings to leading figures in the Caf administration, who have said they will address the recommendations laid out by a joint Fifa/Caf taskforce.
These include, among others, major restructuring of Caf's organisational hierarchy, introducing a term limit for both the President and ExCo members and the introduction of an ethics code.
Whether ExCo members, who determine their own salaries and bonuses according to an audit which suggests amending this, are prepared to approve fundamental changes when they meet on Friday is another matter.
"More than 30 years of an outdated and patriarchal management at Caf have resulted in important shortcomings at all levels of operations," Caf said in a statement earlier this week.
"Caf will persevere … to ensure that we achieve the highest international standards."
The damning audit highlights a raft of financial deals which require further investigation, with Caf President Ahmad, a 60-year-old from Madagascar, one of those under scrutiny.
Ahmad has been President of Caf since March 2017
'From the email communication, it appears that Tactical Steel established the initial contact with Caf through Caf's President office'
PwC wants investigation into Ahmad's role in the controversial decision to employ a little-known gym equipment manufacturer to become a key supplier of sportswear to Caf.
Ahmad has previously told the BBC – in response to being asked if he had cancelled a deal with sportswear company Puma (value: $248,055) to take up a larger order with Tactical Steel (value: $1,015,313) in December 2017 – that the accusations were 'false, malicious, defamatory (and) part of a vendetta'.
This was an accusation levelled at his former General Secretary, Amr Fahmy, who had formally complained to Fifa – as did Caf's former Finance Director Mohamed El Sherei – with both men having since been relieved of their posts. (The audit recommends assessing both the roles of Fahmy and Caf's finance department regarding Tactical Steel.)
"From the communications reviewed, it appears that Caf's President office was directly involved in agreeing to the initial offer of Tactical Steel and then the additional handling and logistics costs without involving relevant departments in Caf such as Procurement, Marketing and Finance," states PwC.
Tactical Steel is run by Romauld Seillier, a long-standing friend – and former army colleague – of Loic Gerand, Ahmad's attaché.
Tactical Steel's website highlights its role in both making and supplying gym equipment
During the course of this deal – which was to provide sportswear and footballs, among other items – several payments made by Caf to Tactical Steel and the latter's affiliate ES Pro Consulting Ltd, based in the United Arab Emirates, were returned to Caf for reasons that are unclear.
"The refunds from Tactical Steel and ES Pro Consulting … are highly suspicious which could potentially indicate a kick-back arrangement between parties involved or a case of tax evasion through off-shore payments," ventured the audit.
In June 2019, Ahmad – who took charge of Caf in March 2017 – was questioned in the French capital Paris by anti-corruption authorities before being released without charge.
PwC's audit has also suggested closing down Caf's Emergency Committee, a group involving the Caf President and any three ExCo members which can bypass ExCo and fast track decision-making.
"Based on the documentation at hand, it appears that the decisions of the Emergency Committee has (sic) been taken in a less than transparent matter," the report stated.
The audit says it observed 'multiple payments for the same period/dates' when it came to claiming travel expenses – and although it failed to mention Ahmad by name, the BBC reported last year on how the Caf President received two different sets of expenses when claiming to be in two different countries at the same time.
Given that the audit was conducted 'in relation to Fifa Ethics guidance', it remains to be seen what action – if any – will be taken against the Malagasy.
'UNUSUAL PAYMENTS'
The Confederation of African Football's headquarters in Egypt
'A large number of payments were made in cash. The use of cash for business expenses in this manner results in little or no audit trail to verify if the cash has been spent legitimately or not'
As part of its audit, PwC reviewed just under $10m of payments made with money that Fifa gave to Caf to distribute as part of its Fifa Forward programme, which aims to enhance football development in countries across the world.
However, only 5 of the 40 payments "appeared to be aligned to purpose," said the report.
The rest – totalling some $8.3m – either had 'little or no supporting documentation' or were considered 'unusual/higher risk' with no patterns 'identified in terms of the nature or the value of the payments'.
Details were thin on the ground in some cases – with the central and East African region Cecafa receiving a payment of $500,125 when the only information given was that this was to organise an Under-17 match in Burundi.
Meanwhile, southern African region Cosafa was allocated $412,246 to stage an Under-20 game.
The story was largely the same for the annual subvention funds that Caf pays to its 54 member associations, which is currently $200,000 per year – having risen from $50,000 and then $100,000 per year under Ahmad.
Of the 66 high-risk payments reviewed, 48 – worth some $11m – had insufficient documentation.
Particularly troubling were three payments of $100,125 each supposedly made for the benefit of the Liberian FA – one of which ended up in Estonia, two of which were sent to a mystery company in Poland.
An annual grant supposedly destined for the Liberian FA ended up in a company in Poland
This was called Rosenbaum Contemporary and when its website was operating – prior to disappearing in 2019 – it identified itself as an industrial company.
Why the money went there is unclear, with PwC recommending legal action to recover the funds as well as a desire to 'rule out "insider" involvement' within Caf.
Complicating matters for those trying to understand the true nature of Caf's finances is the fact that many of the organisation's payments are made in cash, particularly to staff.
It cites a withdrawal of $350,000 in cash in December 2017, which was simply marked as 'payroll expenses', by way of example.
Of the 25 information requests that PwC made to Caf, all were granted save for three – with both 'bonuses' and 'travel expenses' among the latter.
Executive Committee members are said to hinder, not help, Caf's operations
'During the review, it was observed that payments and reimbursements to ExCo members majorly contribute to Caf's administrative expenses'
Caf's ExCo – which is effectively the organisation's board – also has issues to address in light of the audit, which questions the manner in which they are compensated.
"Exco members – jointly or through a committee comprising a part of the Exco members (e.g. compensation committee) – propose and approve salaries, bonuses, end of term benefits, indemnities and allowances for the members of the ExCo, leading to a self-approval situation."
Thirty-five payments made to the ExCo were reviewed yet not one had all the 'required documentation to clearly establish the legitimacy of the payments.'
In 2016 – a period when Ahmad's predecessor Issa Hayatou was in charge – $36,150 was paid to wives of ExCo members yet the latter could not provide documents re the 'eligibility of spouses of ExCo members for such payments'.
"Caf has also booked several ad-hoc payments to ExCo members – e.g. buying gifts, offering donations, organising funeral etc. – for which no documents were provided for review," the audit added.
Despite receiving indemnities of $450 per day when on duty and an annual bonus of at least $60,000, ExCo members are considered by the audit to hinder Caf's daily working activities.
"The ExCo, which is held responsible to take all executive decisions, meets once a quarter, resulting in delays in key decision-making and preventing managers of Caf departments from making timely business-critical decisions."
Despite the issues, Caf hosted a glittering awards ceremony in Egypt earlier this year
'Caf being a football governing body to promote and develop the game in Africa, it is important that Caf effectively manages its stakeholders – external and internal – effectively. Currently, there is little or no understanding about who the stakeholders are for the individual department'
With an unclear hierarchy and delays in decisions, Caf's working environment appears far from perfect – with the result that staff are said to be 'demotivated'.
"Staff expressed a lack of systematic communication, concerning key decisions, resulting in great amount of unclarity … and feeling of exclusion," said the audit.
"Staff are unaware of the existing organisation structure… Job roles and responsibilities assigned to individual staff members are not properly defined and known."
The list goes on – from a lack of leadership, committees meeting on an 'ad-hoc basis without systematic planning' through to the lack of a dedicated IT department.
In addition, staff attendance, overtime, vacations and medical absences are said to be neither monitored nor captured.
Meanwhile, large swathes of financial records are simply missing – with PwC estimating that it was unable to access around 20% of the data required for the period in review, which covered 2014-2019.
"Several sweeping governance and operational measures have already been implemented before and during the six-month partnership with Fifa," Caf's statement said.
"The ExCo has scheduled a meeting for 14 February to validate the 2020-21 Caf roadmap which will take into accounts (sic) all the recommendations."
Given the roadmap suggests relieving the ExCo of management and administrative responsibilities, it promises to be quite some journey.
BBC©
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t in our framework and the global estimator with ordering assumptions provides more reliable estimates.
In this paper we investigate panel regression models with interactive fixed effects. We propose two new estimation methods that are based on minimizing convex objective functions.
This paper considers inference on fixed effects in a linear regression model estimated from network data.


text:
You've Got to be Kidding
Artisans and more
Story Behind the Person
Focus on North America
Focus on Asia
Focus on South America
Focus on Australia
Central America and the Caribbean
Jonathan van Bilsen
The Colosseum of Rome
On my continued quest of visiting the new Seven Wonders of the World I am always thrilled to return to beautiful Rome and explore the Colosseum. Wherever you look these days there seems to be resurgence in the interest of gladiators and nowhere is this more evident than in the center of one of Europe's most spectacular cities.
Flying to Rome is easy, as there are many direct flights which should not take more than eight hours from Toronto. Once there, the bright lights, lively bistros and sidewalk cafés make you wonder how you will ever be able to leave.
This city, Italy's capital, has nearly 3,000,000 people, making it similar in size to Toronto's core. Its history, however, spans more than 2500 years, dating back to before BC, where it was once the center of civilization.
The city has been ruled by popes, kings and dictators, but it has always survived as one of the most glamorous cities in the world and today is considered the 11th most popular metropolis for tourists.
One of the reasons many visitors flock to Rome, aside from its Mediterranean climate, is the archaeological history. Aside from the Colosseum, Rome has a wealth of ancient ruins, such as the Forum, the Catacombs and the Pantheon, which has recently been named a UNESCO heritage site by the United Nations, and all are worthy of a visit.
The Colosseum, however, definitely tops the list. Built between 70 and 80 A.D. it was capable of seating 50,000 spectators and was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles such as re-enactments of famous sea battles, executions and dramas based on classical mythology.
The original name for the arena was the Flavian Amphitheatre, named after its founder, however the colossal statue of Nero nearby gave it its popular name. A massive earthquake in 1349 caused the outer walls to fall and rather than restoring it, the precious marble was used to construct nearby palaces, hospitals and churches. The bronze clamps, used to hold the marble in place were also pried or hacked out of the walls leaving its current pockmark like appearance.
The present state of the Colosseum makes it impossible to host large events; however people like Paul McCartney, Elton John and Billy Joel have performed there for smaller venues. Many large happenings are held outside, using the Colosseum as a backdrop. The largest event ever held in the Colosseum was in 107 when a famous battle was reconstructed using 11,000 animals (most brought in from Africa) and 10,000 gladiators. The entire event took 123 days.
When visiting the Colosseum be sure to take in the network of subterranean passageways once used to transport wild animals and gladiators into the arena. A €25 million restoration project is about to commence, which means there will be construction everywhere and is scheduled to last 2 1/2 years. Visitors under 18 and over 65 are admitted free of charge, while the rest of us pay €15.
Rome has nearly 2,000 hotels, so finding accommodation should not be difficult. Restaurants are everywhere, as Romans love to eat. Don't be fooled by their casual attitude, when it comes to food they are pickier than most. The city center caters to tourism and it is easy to fall into "tourist traps". I try and find places filled with locals and am usually assured of an excellent cuisine. There are hundreds of restaurants offering fare which ranges from traditional Roman dishes to exotic menus from all over the globe. There are possibilities for every pocket and for every mood. You can stroll amongst countless pizzerias, hip spots and popular eateries called "trattories", where it is not uncommon to find a stereotypical "mama" making fresh handmade pasta. Another enjoyable pastime is to visit the wine bars and nibble while enjoying a glass of wonderful Italian wine.
Many of the museums now offer passes, which are good for multiple visits to different locations, allowing you to see the top attractions at affordable prices. Keep in mind that Rome is an older city and access to subways, as well as many buildings may only be by stairs.
A few things to remember: June or July are the busiest months. A two-hour trip to the Vatican can become a full-day event with most of your time shuffling behind hundreds of other sightseers. The summer months are extremely hot and humid so they should be avoided if possible. Pickpockets are numerous and are found in the metros and at tourist attractions. Most these people are gypsies who have entered Italy illegally. Beware, for nothing is sweeter than a small child offering you a rose for free when suddenly an adult shows up demanding money. Avoid bus N64, as it is internationally known for pickpockets and purse snatchers. Always be aware of your surroundings, do not be fooled by the most sincere 'hard luck' stories and never carry money or jewellery openly.
Only change your currency at the bank and beware of unmarked taxis. The transit system in Italy is wonderful and much less expensive than any other form of transportation. Beware when you take photographs. Ask before you snap and should someone be dressed as a gladiator in the vicinity of the Colosseum, be assured that it will cost you to take their photo.
All in all Rome is an amazing city and well worth the visit. Is a place I've been several times and will always welcome the opportunity to go back to. I was pleased to see the Colosseum make the new list of Seven Wonders of the World as it is an amazing architectural feat and very hard to believe is over 2000 years old. Arrivederci, baby.
Giving Art the Finger
Amsterdam: unexpected swimming may become the norm
Northern Italy: Venice to Florence


At EcoEcho, we believe all journeys start and end with nature. We strive for a better journey today and a safe passage for future generations through natural and sustainable practices.
EcoEcho was founded by people who are passionate about food, people, and our natural surroundings. We see food as a culture that brings people together through love and respect—it's not just an industry. We share this same love and respect with nature. As an organic food processor and distributor, EcoEcho is committed to uplifting and strengthening our planet's communities and ecosystems.
Our certified organic products are sourced from bio-diverse agricultural cooperatives using direct trade, ensuring the highest possible quality both for our farmers and for you. You can feel good knowing that when you purchase EcoEcho products, your contribution will have a positive echo in the world around you.
What do our practices mean for you?
EcoEcho food and drinks are produced through organic means, meaning they are free of pesticides and herbicides, but full of flavour and nutrients.
Our products and processes are inspected and certified by internationally recognized independent certification bodies.
Our supplier partners are accountable to us, to the products we produce, and to the ecosystems in which they operate.
Our farmer families have dependable farming practices that are bio-diverse with little impact to the environment. This ensures reliable markets to sell their products, stable income, and better living standards overall.
13-40 North Rivermede Road, Concord, Ontario, Canada L4K 2H3.
©2019 Ecoma Organics LTD. All Rights Reserved.


Chris Draft – The ultimate game – One game, one life, one chance to make a difference, here's how.
We talked about the beginning of the foundation, the founding of it. Our last imitative to be added was our Team Draft initiative which was actually founded with my late wife, Keasha Rutledge Draft. She founded it right before she passed away from lung cancer. So she was diagnosed with lung cancer December 2010 right when I was finishing up playing. And then she passed December, 2011 but not before she made a commitment. She came to me and said, we're about to get married. What do you think about if we don't get any presents? What if we just decide to really fight against this disease?
I was like, that's awesome. It's not… they can't give us anything. The only thing we want right now is for you to be healthy. To be able to fight against it was outstanding. The fact she brought that to me was tremendous. When you ask me, what do I wake up to? When I wake up in the morning, what am I thinking about? I'm thinking about the people we have the chance to impact their lives. How is today going to allow a platform of today, the connections of today, going to push our movement that much further ahead? We have a mission to change the face of lung cancer, lung cancer that's only been through a prevention campaign that has a lack of compassion. It has not been about real people.
Every day, to have a chance to show somebody different, to talk to somebody about something different, to get them on our side. And then doing that and make it where someone is going through this disease feels more human. They feel more love. And then the cause of that, there's a positive energy. We know when there's positive energy that there's more of a chance of movement in a positive direction.


We propose a non-contact measurement method for determining two-dimensional (2D) temperature distribution of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). This method is based on both micro-hyperspectral imaging technology and reflected light method, owning merits of both high efficiency and high spatial resolution. Blue and green bare LEDs are used as LED under test, while red and near-infrared LEDs provide incident light to avoid spectral overlapping so as to reduce measurement error. During data processing, the convolution linear filtering algorithm is employed to improve the measurement accuracy. This proposed method is compared with the micro-thermocouple and infrared thermal imaging, with their respective comparison results in fairly good agreements. For spatial resolution of 2D temperature distribution, this method increases at least one order of magnitude compared with the thermal imaging method.
E. F. Schubert and J. K. Kim, "Solid-state light sources getting smart," Science 308, 1274–1278 (2005).
Y. Zhang, J. Wang, W. Zhang, S. Chen, and L. Chen, "LED-based visible light communication for color image and audio transmission utilizing orbital angular momentum superposition modes," Opt. Express 26, 17300–17311 (2018).
C.-M. Kang, D.-J. Kong, J.-P. Shim, S. Kim, S.-B. Choi, J.-Y. Lee, J.-H. Min, D.-J. Seo, S.-Y. Choi, and D.-S. Lee, "Fabrication of a vertically-stacked passive-matrix micro-LED array structure for a dual color display," Opt. Express 25, 2489–2495 (2017).
H. Baumgartner, A. Vaskuri, P. Kärhä, and E. Ikonen, "Temperature invariant energy value in LED spectra," Appl. Phys. Lett. 109, 231103 (2016).
S. Chhajed, Y. Xi, Y.-L. Li, T. Gessmann, and E. F. Schubert, "Influence of junction temperature on chromaticity and color-rendering properties of trichromatic white-light sources based on light-emitting diodes," J. Appl. Phys. 97, 054506 (2005).
N. Narendran and Y. Gu, "Life of LED-based white light sources," J. Disp. Technol. 1, 167–171 (2005).
Z.-Q. Guo, T.-M. Shih, Z.-B. Peng, H.-H. Qiu, Y.-J. Lu, Y.-L. Gao, L.-H. Zhu, J.-H. Zheng, and Z. Chen, "On a relationship among optical power, current density, and junction temperature for InGaN-based light-emitting diodes," AIP Adv. 7, 015307 (2017).
J. H. Kim and M. W. Shin, "Thermal behavior of remote phosphor in light-emitting diode packages," IEEE Electron Device Lett. 36, 832–834 (2015).
S. Lin, T. Shih, Y. Lu, Y. Gao, L. Zhu, G. Chen, B. Wu, Z. Guo, J. Zhang, X. Fan, R. R. Chang, and Z. Chen, "Determining junction temperature in InGaN light-emitting diodes using low forward currents," IEEE Trans. Electron Devices 60, 3775–3779 (2013).
H.-Y. Ryu, K.-H. Ha, J.-H. Chae, O.-H. Nam, and Y.-J. Park, "Measurement of junction temperature in GaN-based laser diodes using voltage-temperature characteristics," Appl. Phys. Lett. 87, 093506 (2005).
B. Wu, S. Lin, T.-M. Shih, Y. Gao, Y. Lu, L. Zhu, G. Chen, and Z. Chen, "Junction-temperature determination in InGaN light-emitting diodes using reverse current method," IEEE Trans. Electron Devices 60, 241–245 (2013).
Y. Ma, R. Hu, X. Yu, W. Shu, and X. Luo, "A modified bidirectional thermal resistance model for junction and phosphor temperature estimation in phosphor-converted light-emitting diodes," Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 106, 1–6 (2017).
K. Chen and N. Narendran, "Estimating the average junction temperature of AlGaInP LED arrays by spectral analysis," Microelectron. Reliab. 53, 701–705 (2013).
T. Kobayashi, T. Katagiri, and Y. Matsuura, "Multi-element hollow-core anti-resonant fiber for infrared thermal imaging," Opt. Express 24, 26565–26574 (2016).
A. Kozlowska, M. Latoszek, J. W. Tomm, F. Weik, T. Elsaesser, B. Spellenberg, and M. Bassler, "Analysis of thermal images from diode lasers: temperature profiling and reliability screening," Appl. Phys. Lett. 86, 203503(2005).
O. J. Joung and Y. H. Kim, "Application of an IR thermographic device for the detection of a simulated defect in a pipe," Sensors 6, 1199–1208 (2006).
M. Farzaneh, K. Maize, D. Luerssen, J. A. Summers, P. M. Mayer, P. E. Raad, K. P. Pipe, A. Shakouri, R. J. Ram, and J. A. Hudgings, "CCD-based thermoreflectance microscopy: principles and applications," J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 42, 143001 (2009).
J. A. Summers, M. Farzaneh, R. J. Ram, and J. A. Hudgings, "Thermal and optical characterization of photonic integrated circuits by thermoreflectance microscopy," IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 46, 3–10 (2010).
B. Vermeersch, J.-H. Bahk, J. Christofferson, and A. Shakouri, "Thermoreflectance imaging of sub 100 ns pulsed cooling in high-speed thermoelectric microcoolers," J. Appl. Phys. 113, 104502 (2013).
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G. Tessier, S. Pavageau, B. Charlot, C. Filloy, D. Fournier, B. Cretin, S. Dilhaire, S. Gomes, N. Trannoy, P. Vairac, and S. Volz, "Quantitative thermoreflectance imaging: calibration method and validation on a dedicated integrated circuit," IEEE Trans. Compon. Packag. Technol. 30, 604–608 (2007).
Fig. 1 Introduction of the experimental setup.
Fig. 2 Normalized spectrum of blue, green, red, and NIR LEDs.
Fig. 3 (a) The TSP of blue LUT under red incident light and 2D temperature distribution under different currents of (b) 100 mA, (c) 200 mA, (d) 300 mA, (e) 400 mA, and (f) 500 mA, respectively.
Fig. 4 (a) The TSP of blue LUT under NIR incident light and 2D temperature distribution under different currents of (b) 100 mA, (c) 200 mA, (d) 300 mA, (e) 400 mA, and (f) 500 mA, respectively.
Fig. 5 (a) The topography of blue LUT. The temperature distribution of Line S01 on the blue LUT at different currents under the incident of (b) red light and (c) NIR light, respectively.
Fig. 6 For five currents, the comparison of averaged temperature of blue LUT by μ-HIRL method with that by μ-TC method under two incident lights. The error bars represent MSE in results of μ-HIRL method from those of μ-TC method.
Fig. 7 Two lines on the blue LUT of (a) μ-HIRL method, (c) TI method. Normalized temperature (TN) distribution of blue LUT, measured by μ-HIRL method and TI method, respectively. (b) Line L01, (d) Line L02. Error bars represent the MSE in results of μ-HIRL method from those of TI method.
Fig. 8 (a) The TSP of green LUT under NIR incident light and 2D temperature distribution under different currents of (b) 100 mA, (c) 200 mA, (d) 300 mA, (e) 400 mA, and (f) 500 mA, respectively.
Fig. 9 (a) The topography of green LUT. (b) Temperature distribution of Line S02 on the green LUT under the NIR incident light. The circles indicate some dark dots on the right side of green LUT.
Fig. 10 For five currents, the comparison of averaged temperature of green LUT by μ-HIRL method with that by μ-TC method only under NIR incident lights. The error bars represent MSE in results of μ-HIRL method from those of μ-TC method.
Fig. 11 Two lines on the green LUT of (a) μ-HIRL method, (c) TI method. TN distribution of green LUT, measured by μ-HIRL method and TI method, respectively. (b) Line L03, (d) Line L04. Error bars represent the MSE in results of μ-HIRL method from those of TI method.


MediaMatrix by Peavey (InfoComm 2009 exhibit #5649) proudly releases the new NIO-4x4 eight-channel input/output card for the NION® digital audio signal processing platform.
The NIO-4x4 card features four microphone and line-level inputs and four line-level outputs, and is compatible with all NION processing nodes, including NION n6, NION n3 and NION nX. The NIO-4x4 card installs into a rear slot on all NION nodes via DIN connector and expands the I/O options of the MediaMatrix NION DSP platform. NION is built on an embedded Linux operating system architecture designed for stable, efficient and robust performance.


Vascular diseases are one of the major sources of deaths in the U.S. A report  states that "Aneurysm rupture is not a rare occurrence as evidenced by the fact that this event currently ranks thirteenth on the list for leading causes of death in the U.S.A." Also, this report  says that "Chronic venous insufficiency is a common problem in the U.S., affecting approximately 5% of the general population. It is estimated that half a million patients suffer from ulceration of the lower extremity as a result of longstanding venous disease." This report raises the importance of research needed in the area of angiography, the branch of medicine which deals with veins and arteries. In the field of cerebrovascular diseases , "Ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke account for one of the principal causes of death and disability in older aged population. In fact, stroke currently ranks third on the list of leading causes of death in the United States (see also trial reports from North America (NASCET)  and Europe (ECST) , and Wiebers et al. ). Each year approximately 500,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke in the U.S., and approximately 150,000 die as a result of this process. In addition, more than one third of stroke survivors are left with permanent physical disability which currently accounts for the leading cause of nursing home admissions in the U.S."
The branch of medicine that deals with studies of the arteries and veins or vasculature is angiography. The different ways angiography can be performed are: bi-plane x-ray/digital subtraction angiography (DSA), MR angiography (MRA), CT angiography (CTA), and ultrasound angiography. From the clinical point of view, DSA1 is considered the most reliable and accurate method for vascular imaging, a subset of x-rays. On the contrary, this method lacks three-dimensional information,2 which is easily available via MR and CT techniques. The MR and CT techniques lack the ability to locate tiny vessels and the morphological estimation of stenoses and aneurysms. One of the main reasons MR and CT techniques are not as successful in detection as DSA is due to the presence of nonvascular structures and background noise.
1. Vessel shape complexity and variability. The vessels are curvey, twisted (tortuous), and sometimes occluded,3 or there could be superposition of structures/vessels corresponding to the vasculature in various areas of the body, such as in the head, heart, and neck.
2. Vessel density and diameter of small vessels. The complexity of the filtering increases with density and reduction of the diameter of vessels (see Figure 2.1).
1 Subtraction of the x-ray images without contrast material from x-ray angiograms.
2One can still achieve the three-dimensional information using the stereo reconstruction from x-ray angiograms with multiple viewpoints.
3Overlap of vessels with one another.


text:
► Alternate sentence possible for convicted Virginia teen
Alternate sentence possible for convicted Virginia teen
On Behalf of Weisberg & Weisberg, P.L.L.C. | Jul 20, 2014 | Criminal Defense
A juvenile can be tried, convicted and sentenced as an adult. A Virginia judge may agree to an alternative sentence, one compatible with the defendant's age that would allow the juvenile to avoid incarceration with adults. Sentencing rulings in these cases are dependent upon the unique circumstances of the crime.
A Roanoke County teen with a driver's permit took three friends on a joy ride last November. The 16-year-old male grabbed the keys to his mother's Hyundai and drove off before sun up. The inexperienced driver lost control of the car, as the vehicle sped through a residential neighborhood at up to 50 mph.
The Hyundai went airborne after leaving the road and hit a utility pole. The car came to a stop in a yard, after flipping over and landing on its roof. A front seat passenger, the sole occupant wearing a seat belt, escaped serious injury.
Two friends in the rear seat, ages 18 and 20, were killed in the rollover crash. The young driver was badly injured. Alcohol was detected in the teen's system but not enough to charge the boy with DUI, even as an underage drunk driver.
The teen pleaded guilty to double counts of involuntary manslaughter. The convicted juvenile, now 17, requested an evaluation of the case for possible alternative sentencing. During a hearing, a judge declared the teen was guilty of the charges and agreed to move the sentencing date to a later time.
The judge has several choices. He may decide the teen should be sent to a juvenile correctional center or placed in youthful offender program. Since the teen was convicted in an adult court, a prison sentence of up to 20 years is also possible.
Criminal defense attorneys are aware that harsh penalties for young offenders can be disastrous for a juvenile's future. Lawyers work with teens, their parents and courts to minimize punishments.
Source: The Roanoke Times, "Roanoke County teen convicted of manslaughter in fatal crash" Laurence Hammack, Jul. 09, 2014


Since our trip to Anna Maria Island last year, Florida is a state that has continued to surprise us. A sleepy, pastel-coloured haven located off the Gulf of Mexico, our week on this idyllic island revealed a very different side to the sunshine state; one that made us wonder if there was more to Florida than we had first thought. Just a few months later and our suspicions were confirmed – our road trip around the state revealing more than one surprise. From dynamic Tampa and St Pete Clearwater, to beautiful Crystal River, it became clear that Florida is indeed immensely diverse: offering fragile ecosystems, thriving cities and colourful, artisan communities.
However, there was one stereotype of the 'sunshine state' that we knew must be true. Indeed, it was one confirmed to us during our once-in-a-lifetime trip to Universal Studios in January 2017. You see, Florida has a well-known super power, a skill recognised throughout the world: the ability to make dreams come true.
Importantly, it's not only children who can benefit from this magical power (something we had discovered during our week at Universal Studios). Indeed, enter one of Florida's parks aged thirty, and long-forgotten childhood dreams of walking the streets of Diagon Alley will almost certainly come true. In allowing visitors to escape the pressures of reality, Florida is the master of magic and surprise; and it seemed it had one final surprise for us, too.
Throughout our week in Florida, we had been carrying with us a set of crumpled envelopes: each detailing our itinerary for the next day. As the week passed, we gave little thought as to what might be in the final two envelopes, until that final Friday that is.
Hastily opening the folded paper, we read the bright pink lettering aloud: 'It's time to make your childhood dreams come true. You're going to Walt Disney World!' We stood silently dumbstruck. I could have sworn a tiny constellation of glittering stars were surrounding us.
Yet, before we could walk through Disney's shining gates, our itinerary had one final surprise: it seemed we would be visiting the rolling hills of Florida's Wild West.
Making our way up from St Pete, Clearwater to Walt Disney World, we took a small detour. For one day – and one day only – we were to become cowgirls, thanks to Westgate River Ranch: a fully-fledged 'dude' ranch located south of Orlando and the biggest of its kind east of Mississippi.
A 'dude' ranch, we discovered, is a working ranch that allows guests to stay and experience a slice of American, western-style living. For those seeking a slower way of life, Westgate promises a slice of 'old Florida': pulling you back to a time when the state was frequented by cowboys and cattle ranchers. Indeed, the area now known as 'River Ranch,' was once a resting point for 'cracker cowboys' during their lengthy cattle drives across the state, as they headed south.
As children, we harboured a fascination and love for horses – waking up early every weekend to spend our Saturdays at a working stables. Arriving in jodhpurs and clutching our tack boxes, we'd spend our weekends caring for the horses in return for a few 'hacks' through our very own Buckinghamshire wilderness. With vivid imaginations, we'd cross these dangerous 'wildernesses' of local fields, pretending to round-up the resident sheep with shouts of 'Yehaawww'. To most onlookers we looked entirely mad, but in our minds, we were real-life cowgirls.
As our jeep pulled up outside our home for the night – a ranch themed Deluxe Suite – we were almost overwhelmed with excitement. It was like we had stepped foot inside a wild-west movie. I just wished I'd brought a pair of cowgirl boots with me.
Having settled into our room, we headed to the stables for a lazy hour of horseback riding. Slightly creakier than the last time I rode (aged 12), I clambered up over my horse and sat back. The sun was high in the sky as we rode some of the 1,700 acres of the estate, the only sound coming from the gentle sighs of our horses. The hour-long hack was just one of the western style activities you can experience at Westgate River Ranch. Other activities include: airboat and swamp buggy rides (something I would certainly have done if we'd had the time), tractor hayrides and fishing in a 'catch and release' pond.
Walking a little gingerly after our horseback experience, we grabbed some bikes (which are free to use on the ranch) and set off to explore more of our surroundings. Turning the corner, we entered into a picture-perfect, wild west inspired 'village'. With the sun beginning to set and lingering Spanish Moss making the scene even more atmospheric, we sat back in two rocking chairs and sipped from bottles of beer. We were in our very own slice of the Wild West.
Westgate offers numerous places to eat on site, including the Smoke House Grill for lunch and dinner, a general store (ideal for those self-catering) and of course, the local Saloon. Aside from the traditional cabins, Westgate also offer luxurious glamping options, including giant teepees that looked to be every child's fantasy.
Westgate River Ranch really was the place of our ten-year old fantasies, and although it took a subsequent twenty years to find, it was well worth the wait. It may have only been a flying visit, but it was the perfect precursor to our final destination on our Florida road-trip: Walt Disney World.
Rising early on our penultimate day in Florida, we gazed out at the sunrise taking place across the ranch and gave a silent 'thank you' to the universe. After 32-years of waiting, today was the day when one of our most wished for trips was to come true: Twins That Travel were on their way to Walt Disney World. In a panic not to waste any precious moments in the parks, we threw our clothes into our suitcases, waved goodbye to the horses and jumped in the jeep for the hour-long journey north to Orlando.
Approaching the parks, the Disney road signs becoming ever more frequent, I tried to suppress an excited shriek. Dazzled by the number of parks offered by Walt Disney World (Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom, as well as two water parks), we headed down the final highway to our first stop and home for the night: Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa.
Our Disney experience began as we checked into Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa: a hotel that was every bit as magical as the the Disney Castle itself. Victorian in design, it is the park's flagship and most luxurious resort, and was an undoubtable highlight of our visit.
Mildly frazzled from our drive, we walked through the doors of the Grand Floridian and were met by the sound of a live pianist, alongside the intoxicating smell of vanilla and peonies. It was a sensory overload. Stopping dead in our tracks, the incessant SatNav still muttering directions in my hand, we stood mesmerised by the five-storey lobby, complete with traditional caged lifts and ticking grandfather clocks. We hadn't set foot in the parks yet, but were already transported into a Disney fairytale.
If I was not so British, a small tear may have leaked from my eye.
Quickly escorted from reception by Doug – one of the kindest and most accommodating persons we've met yet on our travels – we were led to our room. Stood mutely at the foot of our fairytale beds, Doug attempted to show us around the room; politely ignoring our stunned silence. "You'll also want to make sure you wear these", he said – handing over what is now perhaps one of my most prized possessions: a '1st visit' badge. Immediately attaching it to my dress (and taking several hundred selfies to send to friends and family), I finally sprung into action. There was no time to waste: it was time to explore the parks.
(For those intending to stay offsite, Orlando hotels can be viewed here).
One of the key advantages of staying at the Grand Floridian is the ease with which you can access the parks. With a monorail station found on the second floor of the hotel, and a boat to and from the Magic Kingdom, it was just a ten-minute journey into the park from our hotel room (a perk certainly not lost on two Disney addicts who had just 24 precious hours to explore this world).
Due to our limited time in the parks, we were kindly given 'FastPass+' tickets, which were uploaded to our handy Mickey Mouse shaped wrist straps (used for accessing the parks). For those looking to exploit their time in Disney World, alongside experiencing the majority of the rides, fast-passes come highly recommended. Cutting queuing time by often over an hour, our fast passes enabled us to whizz on and off of rides quickly, with little waiting around.
Prior to arriving at the parks, I also downloaded the Walt Disney World App, which was surprisingly useful. As well as showing you live wait times for rides and offering an interactive map to navigate the parks, the app also allows you to make lunch and dinner reservations across the parks' many restaurants. This was perhaps the most useful feature of the app and is something well worth using.
Marching through the gates of the Magic Kingdom we (for the third time that day) stopped abruptly in our tracks. Ahead of us was a Disney wonderland of pastel coloured buildings, shiny balloons and a path leading to the most iconic Disney emblem of all – Cinderella's Castle. Stood in front of it, the midday sun reflecting off its gleaming spires, it was the perfect welcome to another of Florida's magical parks.
It took us less than ten minutes to feverishly buy our Disney essentials, emerging from a store with sequinned Minnie Mouse ears and a Mickey Mouse balloon. With both of us jostling to hold the balloon, we moved quickly through the crowds as we headed to some of Magic Kingdom's most famous rides (including Space Mountain), before eating lunch at Gaston's Pub. Munching on my food – the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack playing gently in the background – I found it hard to remember a time when I'd ever been happier.
Prior to visiting the park, we knew very little about Epcot – aside from Laura vaguely suggesting it was perhaps a golf course given the giant ball-like structure at its entrance.
Our second stop after Magic Kingdom, I too was a little dubious as to whether our time was best spent visiting this park. With only a handful of rides, we were both unsure as to what it had to offer. Yet ironically, it turned out that Epcot in fact offers the world (quite literally), thanks to its 'World Showcase' that celebrates eleven nations in the form of walkable, bitesize countries. Wandering through Paris, before suddenly arriving in the crowded souks of Morocco, Epcot offers a visitor experience unmatched by any other Floridian theme park. I loved it.
"We're in England", Laura yelled, moving at high speed towards a small Costwolds- inspired cottage. Surreally, I followed after her, weaving through what felt like a familiar country village, complete with a pub a Twinings Tea room. Indeed, the only thing that betrayed this perfect English microcosm was the weather: the humid, 30-degree heat suggesting that we were no longer in the UK.
Three hours melted away as we moved seamlessly between countries and cities – each offering their own unique stores, cafes and restaurants. From a Japanese store selling back scratchers and panda-inspired face masks, to French perfume shops stocked with expensive cologne, we explored it all. Dare I say, we had more fun here than anywhere else in the parks.
The other unexpected surprise at Epcot was its intricate flower displays and curated gardens; the park running an annual International Flower and Garden Festival to celebrate these features. Again, unlike anything found in your usual theme park, Epcot offered quiet, bee-filled gardens and imaginative floral recreations at every turn. It was a haven from the larger crowds and rollercoasters of the other parks.
Disney's Animal Kingdom was a lot of fun to explore – in part due to the fact a blushing pink sunset was taking place as we arrived. Housing one of the most celebrated rides within the Disney parks – Avatar Flight of Passage – this is a place dedicated to animal experiences and wild nature; even playing host to an African inspired safari and conservation station. Donning our ponchos, we rode the Kali River Rapids more than once, before jumping on one of our favourite rollercoasters: Expedition Everest (unexpectedly terrifying).
With such limited time in the parks, we knew we had seen just a fraction of what the Animal Kingdom had to offer and vowed to return in order to uncover every hidden detail. Yet with the light rapidly fading, we were keen to return to the Grand Floridian Resort, where we had booked dinner at Cítricos – a Mediterranean inspired restaurant offering views across the iconic Disney Castle.
Dining on delicious fresh fish and crisp, Californian white wine (it's not all cheeseburgers and soda at Disney), we watched as fireworks illuminated the spires of the castle, sending explosions of colour skywards. The scene was almost too perfect to be true – an image straight out of Fantasia – and I tried to absorb every moment of it.
Disney's Hollywood Studios was our final visit on our whirlwind tour of Walt Disney World. Home to some of the most recognised rides within the parks, we were eager to get our hit of adrenaline before we left Florida, homebound for the UK.
Arriving on Hollywood Boulevard – the entrance to the park – the glamour and excitement of golden age Hollywood radiated from the bustling shops and swaying palm trees. Overhead, a jet loop-the-looped, creating the word 'Love' in fluffy white lettering. As nervous flyers, it was the perfect place to come to forget about our imminent flight home – disappearing into the world of Pixar, Star Wars and – surprisingly – Aerosmith.
For adrenaline junkies, Hollywood Studios should be your preferred park – with two high speed rides and, come the end of June 2018, the brand new Toy Story Land, which promises to offer the brilliantly named Slinky Dog Dash rollercoaster. Predictably, our own final hours here passed in a blur, as we rode the Rock'n' Roll Rollercoaster and formidable Tower of Terror.
Clutching our co-parented Mickey Mouse balloon, I gazed out of our hotel window at the parks. Our time was nearly up in our Disney paradise and a lump was fast forming in my throat. Muttering about the injustice of it all (why couldn't I fly home with a giant balloon?), I walked backwards out of our room – desperate to take in every last moment of our magical time at the Grand Floridian Resort.
Waiting for our flight home from Orlando airport, I reflected on our whirlwind weekend involving cowgirl antics and Disney adventures. Traditionally, theme parks and fantasy worlds are seen as places best suited for children; yet I'm certain they are just as important for adults. Laughing uncontrollably as our rollercoaster plunged backwards, and dining with Lumière from Beauty and the Beast, our two days in the Disney parks remedied any of our adult woes.
It may have been 25 years since I'd received my first (stuffed) Minnie Mouse, but the experience of walking through the Walt Disney World Resort was just as magical as I had imagined. In fact, perhaps even more so – a dream a few decades in the making now coming true. Indeed, in the words of Walt Disney himself: 'all our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.' This was a Twins That Travel adventure that confirmed just that.
This is a sponsored post in collaboration with Visit Florida who kindly took us on our week-long Florida road trip and made our trip to Walt Disney World possible.
"Sandals Grande Antigua: A Luxury Stay"
I would have been jumping for joy!! I love all the flower gardens!
How fun! Your post has certainly inspired me to revisit a few of these places.
Hi Katie! Aww I'm glad you enjoyed them too! It was a little frantic – we definitely need to go back for longer to truly soak it all up.


What is executive function? The term comes up a lot in the ADHD world. I aim to be a resource, and so I thought I should write a post about it to which to refer people.
-Working memory governs our ability to retain and manipulate distinct pieces of information over short periods of time. Fact: My long-term recollection is better than my short-term memory. I can recall moments from years ago that seem insignificant or the phone number that I haven't had in over 22 years. Yet, I often can't recall what I ate for dinner the day before.
-Mental flexibility allows us to be able to think about something in more than one way. It helps us apply different rules in different settings and it helps us to sustain or shift attention in response to different demands. For example, while cooking or driving or taking care of multiple children.
-Self-control/inhibition control enables us to set priorities, start tasks and stay focused on them. Think schoolwork or work projects. This means that it enables us to ignore distractions and resist temptation. For example, the distraction of Facebook or Netflix instead of writing a blog post about executive function. Right now, executive functioning skills are keeping me in this blog post window.
Really, they come down to mental control and self-regulation.
Self-control includes emotional regulation and control. If we have difficulty regulating our intense emotions, then our executive function is also compromised. To put it in basic terms, when we are upset, it's more difficult for us to think clearly. Think about times that you've been in a heated argument, or when you got frustrated while trying to learn something, or you felt you were in trouble.


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9-year-old meets MLB player after sending him encouraging letter: 'Don't give up. We're rooting for you'
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Area 51 is bracing for humans: Officials fear 'Alienstock' could cause county in Nevada to 'go broke'
iStock(LINCOLN COUNTY, Nev.) — With or without aliens, those living near Area 51 are bracing for another worldly onslaught next month. The...
California teen sues after bodycam footage shows officer punching him
iStockA California teenager has filed an excessive force lawsuit after body camera footage showed an officer punching the unarmed teen in the...
Miss Nevada stripped of her crown over her political posts, she says it's because she supports Trump
iStock(NEW YORK) — A beauty queen has been stripped of her title over her political posts, both she and the Ms. America Pageant...
DCC: Making the Team Sneak Peek: Training Camp Begins
A sneak-peek of a brand-new episode of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team takes us to the very first day of training camp. DCC: Making...
Michael Drejka told police shooting victim stepped towards him, contrary to video evidence: Prosecutor
iStock(CLEARWATER, Fla.) — Just hours after gunning down a Florida father in front of his family in a dispute over a handicap parking...
California man accuses Jehovah's Witnesses of covering up childhood sex abuse
iStock(LOS ANGELES) — A Los Angeles man filed a lawsuit against the Jehovah's Witnesses organization, accusing an adult elder of...


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Whether you're trying to make a baby or maybe you have irregular periods, it's important to know if you're ovulating regularly and also WHEN you're ovulating.
In this video I'm going to walk you through the steps that you need to take to tell if you're ovulating.
If you've ever wondered how you can tell if you're ovulating or what your body's ovulation signs are…. keep watching!
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Crowe - Israeli massacre in Lebanon and Palestine must end
Sinn Féin TD Seán Crowe speaking at the emergency demonstration in Dublin this afternoon, called on the Irish government to use its influence to bring about an immediate end to the Israeli massacre of people in Palestine and Lebanon. He called on the government to stop allowing US military to use Shannon airport and for a suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which provides Israel with favourable conditions when trading with EU member states including Ireland.
Deputy Crowe said:
"In just a few short weeks at least 462 Lebanese have died, 18 Israeli civilians have died and 60 Palestinians have been killed in the Occupied Territories. And for every person who has died in this conflict countless others have been injured. It is estimated that three quarters of a million people have been forced to flee their homes. Aid convoys, Red Cross paramedics, UN workers and observers have all been attacked by Israeli air strikes with the loss of life. The infrastructure of Lebanon is being systematically destroyed.
"The peace process in the Middle East lies in ruins.
"It is time for the UN to take the lead role in this crisis. The Israeli bombardment of Lebanon should stop immediately and Israeli troops should withdraw from the country.
"It is also time that the Irish government did much more.
The use of Shannon airport by the US military on their way to the Middle East should end.
Ireland should support an immediate embargo on the sale of all military weapons and hardware to the region.
When the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Dáil meets next week, it's members should back Sinn Féin's motion to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which provides Israel with favourable conditions when trading with EU member states including Ireland.
"I want to call on everybody here today to pick up your phone – ring the Taoiseach, ring the Minister for Foreign Affairs, ring each and every member on the Foreign Affairs Committee. Demand action."ENDS


In All you wish is an effective Idea, Jay Heyman indicates you the way to create robust advertising and advertisements principles that may dramatically elevate revenues to your company. excellent for marketers and small company owners?or operators of any measurement company, for that matter?this helpful advertising and marketing source may also help any enterprise stand out available on the market, construct higher industry percentage, achieve exposure, and scare the pants off the contest. This publication is the appropriate advisor to making really strong advertising and marketing messages.
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Greater, quicker, more desirable… The Olympic motto conjures pictures of heroes whose achievements transcended their athletic prowess, but in addition of tragedy and shame. through 1980, the trendy Olympic stream used to be gasping for breath, bankrupt financially, politically, and culturally. yet lower than the management of Juan Antonio Samaranch, and, consequently, Jacques Rogge, the Olympics started a trip again from the threshold.


Now that school's over and the new year is here, it's the perfect time to update your resume and send off job applications. Here are our tips for making a good first impression to your potential new employer.
Do you have a joke message on your voicemail? You and your friends might find it funny, but would a prospective employer?
Remember that first impressions are very important and you only get one chance to make them! If you do happen to miss a call from someone wanting to interview you, your voicemail message will be the first impression they have of you.
Think about your current voicemail message and whether it needs to be changed to something more professional when you're job hunting.
Just like your voicemail, having a joke or crude email address might have seemed like a good idea at the time you set it up, but what impression will it give an employer?
It's a good idea to create an email account with a plain and simple address such as your.name@provider.com when you're job hunting.
What is the first thing people see on your Facebook, Twitter or Instagram account? You may be surprised to learn that many employers will look at your social media pages before they even decide whether to contact you or not.
Having inappropriate content might mean an employer takes you off their shortlist. Have a look at what is on your social media pages and think about what you post when you're job hunting. At the very least check your settings to secure the content you don't want everybody to see – especially your new boss!


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