1.	Universal Health care is an Application, which through its "Medical Plan" provides its subscribers or corporates access to healthcare services and offers the right to receive medical facilities and treatments from the Company Medical Partner . Universal is owned and operated by the Company.
2.	Subscribers means a person who has enrolled himself/herself with universal Health Care .
3.	Universal Health care Digital Photo ID card(hereafter referred to as "Photo ID Card")means, the subscriber will be identified by the Medical Partner on the basis of the Photo ID card issued to them which shall bear the logo of universal . It may also bear the name/logo of the employer or corporate, whenever applicable, alongside Universal Health care logo. The Photo ID card shall have photograph of the subscriber. Flashing of this Photo ID card or the physical Photo ID card at the point of service or billing, entitles the subscriber to discount on the total medical bill.
4.	The success of the country lies in the pace of health of citizen. Medical emergency where victim require emergency medical care due to motor accidents, sudden collapse of victim due to heart attack stroke, poisoning, or emergent delivery in emergency.
Patient relative need to transport such patients to the nearest Govt. & private hospital at earliest. As we all know we have very fragmented ambulance network system in country. If we talk of Govt. ambulances system, they never agree to take the patient in private setup. Second they have guideline that in which disease/ emergency you can provide the services. Utmost important many of the time number does not work. If we talk of private ambulance services they are scattered. In emergency in all other developed country, they have one uniform number be it Govt. ambulance service or private ambulance services.
Universal care is bringing both Govt. & private medical services together. I have gathered all the data of private ambulance operator in our country. You need to dial just one number from any where in country and ambulance will be at your door step in 15 mts.
If Hospital need AMBULANCE NETWORK HOSPITAL can book ambulance anytime thru 8800128128. we are providing ambulance on time 24*7 Ambulance is well equipped and with trained staff.
Dr. Shailesh jain is also managing director of a program at Universal care called "Universalcare.in ," which provides second opinions online. The program started in 2014 and has reached tens of thousands of people, Shailesh jain says. They started it because of the high demand for second opinions from all over the world, most stemming from patients who weren't able to physically travel there. Today, 30 percent of their online patients are from abroad. While the online program won't work for every condition – multiple sclerosis is one where it's essential to be seen by a doctor – it does work for 1,260 conditions.
Patients & insurance company have to submit all their lab work, including pathology reports and blood tests – and they want to know two things, Shailesh jain says: whether or not they have the correct diagnosis, and if they are on the optimum treatment plan. UCHS doctors agree with the original opinions about 75 percent of the time, Shailesh jain adds, and when they disagree, they call patients directly – instead of just sending out the report that goes to all online patients.
6. Patient and Network hospital can avail the facility of homecare services for patient. Looking for post-surgical care, elderly care, chronic care, tracheostomy, urinary catheterisation care, wound care, injections, IV infusions, vaccination or other nursing assistance? Get all of this, and more in the comfort of your home by highly qualified and experienced nurses.
7. E- Health Record maintenance of Hospital IPD Record. The My eHealth Record is a way of securely storing and sharing important healthcare information with your consent, so that it is easily and quickly available when needed for your ongoing care.


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Hawaiian Electric and MANAOLA Hawaiʻi joint fundraiser for Aloha United Way features new bath & body collection
Jul 2, 2021 | PC Community
Pre-orders taken July 2-31 for the eco-conscious product line, fall delivery
Starting today, Hawaiian Electric and luxury Hawaiian fashion label MANAOLA HawaiÊ»i are launching pre-sales of a new environmentally-conscious bath and body collection as a fundraiser for Aloha United Way (AUW). Five gift options from MANAOLA's Lei Puakenikeni Collection, priced at $22 – $56, will be available for pre-order through the Pop-Up Mākeke website until July 31 and orders fulfilled in October. Visit www.manaolahawaii.com/AUW for the links and details. All proceeds from the sales will benefit AUW's ALICE® Fund, which brings together people, resources and sustainable solutions to help make the community stronger and more resilient.
The Lei Puakenikeni Collection uses only sustainably and ethically sourced ingredients, natural fragrance, and biodegradable packaging for the special made-in-Hawaiʻi line that also is cruelty-free and vegan. Product samples will be available at MANAOLA locations in Ala Moana and Pearlridge shopping centers and pre-sale orders also taken in-stores.
The fundraiser items include a coconut and soy-based candle ($22), a bath set featuring shampoo and conditioner bars ($26), a home diffuser with bamboo reeds ($44), a gift set with a bath bar soap and shampoo and conditioner bars in a jute bag ($50) and a gift set with a bath bar soap, moisturizing body lotion and candle in a jute bag ($56).
"We are always looking for fresh and creative ways to support AUW and our community, and we sought out MANAOLA because they embrace the same commitment to communities, Hawaiian culture, sustainability, and customer service that we also value," said Bob Krekel, Hawaiian Electric business process and continuous improvement manager, and employee fundraising committee chair. "MANAOLA also is known for high quality and innovation and we're proud to collaborate with them on a new product debut and fundraiser. Together, we're hoping for a successful campaign that will lift up our community through these challenging times and help build a resilient Hawaiʻi."
The debut of a bath and body collection by MANAOLA marks a new venture for the innovative fashion house known for its indigenous artistry and an opportunity to support a local small business on Hawaiʻi Island while giving back to the community. The new line also elevates the exotic, sweet-scented puakenikeni flower which holds deep significance for the brand's founder
Manaola Yap. "The collection was inspired by beautiful memories of his tÅ«tÅ« and the acts of kindness, generosity, love and aloha, which is our way of life," said Zachary Pang, CEO of MANAOLA HawaiÊ»i. "When Hawaiian Electric contacted MANAOLA to collaborate on creative ways to kākoÊ»o (support) our local community through Aloha United Way, the answer was simple, together is the only way we can thrive as a community. It is especially important for us to support the Native Hawaiian community, and through the ALICE initiative, we are able to reach nonprofit agencies that serve these community members through programs that honor culture, build skills, and increase access to resources."
The ALICE initiative refers to asset limited income constrained employed individuals who are hardworking Hawaiʻi residents that work full-time, sometimes many jobs, and still live paycheck to paycheck. Funds raised will benefit programs designed to help residents with increased earning potential and/or reduced household expenses; improved access to social service benefits and community resources; and development of financial capability and "soft skills."
"These are often the first steps a family can take toward stronger economic footing. If we want to rebuild our communities so they are better and more equitable than before, we believe it's important to help those who are struggling to make ends meet and living on the edge of poverty," said Emmaly Calibraro, vice president of resource development and donor relations at AUW. She noted that before the pandemic reached Hawai'i, 42% of the population was ALICE or living in poverty. Estimates put that number at 59% post-pandemic.
"We want to thank Hawaiian Electric and MANAOLA for creating this fundraiser that will ultimately benefit those who need it most. We continue to be encouraged by each organization's creativity and utmost commitment to building Hawai'i's communities," added Calibraro.
For further details on the Lei Puakenikeni Collection to benefit AUW, including shipping & handling charges and delivery details, please visit manaolahawaii.com/AUW or hawaiianelectric.com/AUWfundraiser. For more information, email 2021fundraiser@hawaiianelectric.com or call (808) 543-5608, Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. except holidays.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


APOSTROPHE is a Loading... luxury yacht, built by Hakvoort and delivered in 2013. Her top speed is 13.5kn and she boasts a maximum cruising range of 3800.0nm at 10.5kn with power coming from two 670.0hp Caterpillar C-18-DITA diesel engines. She can accommodate up to 10 people with 5 crew members waiting on their every need.


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Secrets to a Successful Soft Launch
by Rose Agozzino | January 20, 2019
Rose is the Senior Marketing Specialist at Ludia, a leading video game company that creates and distributes cross-platform digital games. She provides input and direction for several brands and licenses in her role and has been with Ludia for six years.
Learn more from her Mobile Hero profile.
Launching a mobile game takes a lot of work. After months – and maybe even years – of negotiations, development, and production time, comes the soft launch. Soft launches are a great time to learn more about how the product performs, reset expectations and apply fixes for course-corrections. But the soft launch period isn't just for testing the app. Marketers should be using this window to test every aspect of advertising and marketing.
In this post, I'll be covering a few items that I believe are MUSTS for anyone in, or about to enter, soft launch. While my experiences center primarily around mobile games, all of these tips can (and should!) be applied to any mobile app.
Integrated Tools
While you might think that no one wants to see your app succeed more than your own team, there are two entities that do – Apple and Google. Indeed, they love seeing mobile apps and games succeed so much that they've built free tools into their developer programs!
From organizing Store Listing Experiments to their Open Beta program to Pre-Registration, Google Play provides all the tools new developers and veterans alike should be using to test and maximize their title's potential. A/B test app icons, descriptions and screenshots using the Store Listing Experiments prior to your full launch and see which assets resonate most and perform best.
Apple also has plenty of tools to use during soft launch. Organizing playthrough sessions and beta groups for the title prior to launch is a cinch thanks to TestFlight. Take advantage of Apple's Pre-Order program prior to launching, too! Titles in a Pre-Order program often receive additional promotion on the App Store.
These free tools are just waiting to be used; but make sure to evaluate these programs to see if they're right for your organization!
Perfecting Your Image
App Store Optimization, most commonly known as ASO, plays a major role in the discoverability of your app or game in the stores. It's not just branding or colors that are important – from your icon and screenshots all the way down to the package name, these store elements will impact your performance.
In most cases, discussions and decisions regarding ASO come later in the production timeline. This can cause friction when, as a marketer, you discover your game has a very generic package name. According to many sources, the package name has a surprisingly high impact on discoverability and ASO on the Google Play Store. Which means that, before production work even begins, start researching relevant keywords to be included.
Your package name isn't something that can be edited once it's been created – remember to be savvy! If you're working with a brand or licensor, make sure to include relevant terms that fans of that brand would search for. Or if you're creating a genre-specific game, go ahead and include highly trafficked relevant terms to give yourself a bump at launch.
While the package name may only impact Google Play stats, it's always a good idea to get ahead in planning your store listing. Using tools and services like SensorTower, AppAnnie and others can help you get a good idea of how the rest of the competition is ranking. Just make sure to take this into account when you begin researching your title, descriptions and keywords.
Understanding your competition is paramount to ASO. There are plenty of keywords that nearly anyone can rank for, but if the players you want aren't searching for them, there's little point in ranking for them. Instead, look at what is trending and appropriate for your content and pick the relevant keywords.
Creatives also play a HUGE role in conversions, installs and all-around ASO, and soft launch is the time to test "ALL THE THINGS!" Unless you're restricted by licensing, have fun testing different variations of icons and screenshots. Play with colors and positioning of key elements.
For example, if your game is a match-3 title, you can go ahead and add gameplay elements to the icon to further highlight the unique selling points. During our soft launch for Dragons: Titan Uprising, we decided to add the colorful runes beside the franchise's iconic character, Toothless, to distinguish ourselves from other games in the market. We also played around with color and positioning before deciding on the above icon.
As mentioned previously, marketers should definitely be utilizing the Store Listing Experiment in the Google Play developer dashboard and test all possibilities before fully launching, and organize testing through companies like SplitMetric to test on iOS.
Buying Smart
User Acquisition creatives are equally important. Not only are you able to run several variants at once, you'll be able to collect conversion and click through data almost immediately to isolate your top performers.
At Ludia, we focus our efforts on brands and licenses. While these types of partnerships may seem costly upfront, licensed content helps bring down the cost for user acquisition.
When we announced Dragons: Titan Uprising in November, we launched with 1 teaser video, showing off dragons and gameplay, and 3 static assets. While videos tend to outperform static images, we were pleasantly surprised to see that one static asset in particular rose to the top of the pack. Indeed, this static image included well-known characters from the brand (Toothless and Hiccup) as well as the official Dragons logo. Since our game is based on the franchise, viewers of the ad quickly recognized the characters and were quick to click and complete an action. This asset had more clicks and installs, and performed 2x better than the video ad.
Another important element in the marketer's playbook is to track everything. Use tracking tools and MMPs to really understand where you're putting your marketing dollars and what you're getting in return. This does take coordination (and maybe some negotiation) with the production team, but it is one of the most important pieces to integrate before soft launching, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Doing all of this during soft launch allows you to test all your campaigns and tracking prior to your full launch, and flag any potential problems before the big day, with plenty of time to fix it!
Soft launch is also the time to identify and define your user profiles for further UA campaigns. Most networks these days allow you to pass back event information for campaign optimizations, known as Post-Install Events (PIE). Discovering events users complete can allow you to further refine your UA strategy. Some examples include an early funnel event (finishing the tutorial) or later progression (reach level 10). Once you've defined the events, you can build event campaigns in which the user must trigger that event. These campaigns are known as Pay-Per-Event (PPE), and can allow you to go after more qualified users to improve your game metrics, like retention and monetization, while decreasing your UA spend and stretching your marketing budget.
There is so much to be done and said about soft launches, and I've covered just the basics that I believe every marketer should know. From free tools to keywords and refined user acquisition strategy, successful launches are simply due to building a good quality app. A successful soft launch needs a solid marketing strategy too. Marketers will want to work with the production team from the start to identify key elements of the app so that you can put your best foot forward right from the start.


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Gojira – L'Enfant Sauvage
July 30, 2012 by pclegg84
L'Enfant Sauvage
It feels like such a long time since Gojira released 'The Way of All Flesh', the 2009 album that cemented the French death-metallers reputation as true metal heavyweights following the monstrous 'From Mars to Sirius'. Three years isn't the longest between albums for any band – in fact it's not unusual – but with Gojira it has felt like an eternity, with only the promise of the 'Sea Shepherd' EP for the charity of the same name still in the works, having been announced seemingly ages ago, and the live 'The Flesh Alive' DVD as something to tide Gojira fans the world over in anticipation of their new release. Then they signed to Roadrunner, things sped up a little and here we are, with their new album 'L'Enfant Sauvage'.
The most noticeable difference between their latest work and their predecessors appears to be a shift towards vocal-driven harmonies rather than the bludgeoning riff patterns that we've become accustomed to setting their tone. 'Liquid Fire' is one example, released as a single for this album and it shows too, possessing a chorus that switches between gruff and clean spoken vocals. At times 'L'Enfant Sauvage' feels less dynamic that its predecessors, in the riff department at least – towards the end there's an unfamiliar feeling of drag, particularly 'The Fall', by which time it really begins to feel like by-numbers metal. There's still times when they deliver earth-shattering grooved aggression with their usual aplomb, such as on 'The Axe', which has one hell of a pulsating twin-pedal chugging groove that Gojira have become well known for, and the proverbial battering ram of 'Planned Obsolescence'.
Gojira – Planned Obsolescence
Ultimately 'L'Enfant Sauvage' is a difficult one to surmise. Did I enjoy it? Mostly. Did it have some truly explosive sections where I wanted to go ape? Yes it did. Is it a letdown? Hmmm…considering how Gojira have been lorded since 'From Mars to Sirius' and 'The Way of All Flesh' dropped, you'd have to say yes. I don't feel as though that, as good as some of the tracks are, there's anything half as explosive as on previous albums. 'The Way of All Flesh' had marauding technical numbers like 'Oroborus', and the raw power of 'All The Tears' or 'Adoration for None'. 'From Mars to Sirius' had 'In The Wilderness', 'From the Sky', to name a couple. Remember, for a death metal band, Gojira aren't exactly about riff salad – and 'L'Enfant Sauvage' in particular features a lot of simple riffs that often threaten to blend into one big soufflé, but for some great shifts in tempo and verve from drummer Mario Duplantier.
If I had to choose between this record or any of Gojira's previous works, I'd probably plump for one of the older records at least 90% of the time. That's not to say it's a bad record. Or that's it's necessarily their worst. 'L'Enfant Sauvage' is still a damn good metal album and better than a lot of what you'll probably hear this year, but it isn't immediate – it will take some of you a few listens to grow into it and indeed, some of you might well be doing similar chin-stroking to me when deciding how to sum up this album. Anticipation's a bitch, isn't it?
Buy 'L'Enfant Sauvage' here
Posted in Album Reviews.	Tagged Death Metal, France, Gojira, PC, Progressive, Roadrunner
'Remember Bane' – 'November Rain' parodied, 'The Dark Knight Rises'-style
All I can say is, whether or not you're a Batman fan, or a Guns n' Roses fan, and regardless of whether you've yet seen 'The Dark Knight Rises', this brilliant parody of GnR's 'November Rain' tackles the perceived inaudibility of villain Bane's speech in the new film, and muses on whether director Christopher Nolan could have chosen a villain a little more memorable. Whatever. Admittedly, I'm one of the very few left not to have seen Nolan's take on Batman – hey, my time is taken up by so many things – and while it's very much on my 'to do' list, it doesn't prevent my enjoyment of this. Fantastic stuff, Overthinkingit.com!
(via MetalSucks)
Posted in Parodies.	Tagged Batman, Comedy, Guns N' Roses, Overthinkingit.com, PC, The Dark Knight Rises, US
Knife Crimes – Complete Discography
Knife Crimes
Demo MMXII (Complete Discography)
Church of Fuck/Witch Hunter
How often is it that you hear of bands who commit one recording that gets the underground buzzing so much, only for said band to then return to dust? Like Siege? Punky Bruster? Minor Threat? Bands like those had something special about them to create a single album or recording of note that people still talk about those recordings many years after they were originally released, whether on a cult level (certainly in the case of Punky Bruster, a Devin Townsend side project) or on an altogether more influential platform.
It's unlikely that Knife Crimes will ever achieve that level of notoriety or cult status, but even so, word was beginning to spread amongst the UK underground of their 'Demo MMXII' recording that was attracting plaudits and perhaps beginning to gather a little place when suddenly, the band split, and its more than likely that most of you will get into Knife Crimes, like me, too late, simply off the back of word of mouth reviews like this. It's to Witch Hunter Records' credit that they've put 'Demo MMXII' out as a CD release, boosting its tracklisting with the final two recordings from the band, and entitling it, a la Minor Threat fashion, 'Complete Discography'.
Knife Crimes posted on their Tumblr account when announcing 'Complete Discography' the words 'Thanks to the world for letting us down'. This statement rings true lyrically. The last song ever written and recorded by the band 'World Past Saving', opens 'Complete Discography', a defiant spit on man's chokehold on the planet, and former B-side 'Field of Flames' is no less uncompromising. The tracks comprising 'Demo MMXII' make up the belly of the EP and are full-on smashers with demoralizing lyrics bleak as they come. 'Cold Cross' is particularly miserable hardcore, with the lyrics 'Born into this world/Baptised in boiling water/disowned by the world/like lambs to the slaughter' set against a thunderous twin pedal assault and guitars that even sound like they're lamenting their own existence on this world. In Knife Crimes' world, Jesus has a lot of explaining to do.
The three additional tracks aren't half bad either. These are the final Knife Crimes recordings, do not disappoint, but in the knowledge of the band's split, the closing track doesn't half feel like the dying breaths of the band. The appropriately named 'Death Hymn' is a dark acoustic number with raging hardcore vocals over the top; an appropriately sorrowful trudge into the end. The final echo of the guitar is really as haunting as it gets. The conclusion of a short history. The end of the briefest of careers. Maybe if the world continues down its current path, this might well be the appropriate soundtrack. As it is, this happens to be one of the greatest statements of UK hardcore to date, which is all the more shame, despite respective members' committing to future projects, that Knife Crimes are no more.
Buy/download 'Complete Discography' here (name-your-price)
Or here (CD)
Stream it below:
Posted in Album Reviews, Downloads.	Tagged Church of Fuck, Hardcore, Knife Crimes, PC, UK, Witch Hunter
Gorod – A Perfect Absolution
A Perfect Absolution
You might have thought by now that technical death metal had started to become the old whippersnapper whose best days were behind it, largely thanks to the swathe of Meshuggah clones who've pounded their own groove-laden, off-kilter route, an underground resurgence in old-school death metal and perhaps simply the failure of bands within the technical death metal sub-genre to really build on their previous successes. Yes, The Faceless*, Necrophagist – I am looking at you and pointing to my watch (*note: The Faceless have since confirmed a release date for their new album)
Yet despite that, its been proven that the weedly-weedly approach can still draw the punters, with Athiest returning strongly, and new bands such as Revocation and Spawn of Possession electrifying with their approaches to this niche. One such band I had reservations on were Gorod, who despite a boatload of hype upon their wider emergence a few years back didn't really thrill me with their breakthrough fifth album 'Process of a New Decline', which at times really seemed to want to push how weedly-whoo one could get, over actual clever songwriting. Not that it was particularly bad – it certainly has its great moments, but not enough for it to really shine in comparison to the rest of their discography.
Gorod too, seemed to disappear off my radar for a little while, although they did come back with the 'Transcendance' EP last year, along with its sprawling 15-minute title track, before re-emerging with their sixth album, 'A Perfect Absolution'. If anyone deserves a medal for most improved this year, then Gorod would certainly be contenders for the gold.
Known for their love of concepts, 'A Perfect Absolution' is based on Kiev in the year 945, "when Igor, King of Kiev, was murdered…while collecting a "tribute" while visiting his Pagan neighbours the Derevlians, who lived in a forest. After the incident, his widow, Olga, avenged him in an extremely harsh manner before converting to Orthodox Christianity". Nice. Compared to 'Process of a New Decline', the song-writing appears to have gone up a notch, the songs sound a lot tighter, and the new members, Julien Deyres (vocals) and Nicolas Alberny (guitar) have bedded right in with the simplest of ease. No signs of any transitional problems whatsoever for their first album without previous members Guillaume and Arnaud. Key to this is the rediscovery of groove, and a refrained approach to the technical stuff. Instead of becoming a molten mass of wizardry, Gorod appear to have struck the right balance, ably to mix their usual flamboyance with catchy grooves and a much more precise attack.
Two key songs that sum up this improvement would be '5000 at the Funeral', and 'Varangian Paradise', the former beginning with a piano-driven melody before getting right back into their usual swing. The chug is an overdone thing in metal, but its still one hell of a tool in priming for an assault, and Deyres' low spoken growl at the beginning sits nicely atop it before they all really lower the boom. The latter is really the Bordeaux, France act's supreme indulgence, kicking off with a massive stadium-sized riff that ought to have thousands, and not hundreds, pogoing in unison, before kicking back with some laid-back flamenco chords plucked directly from the schools of Athiest, Cynic and Latin America.
Overall, this is perhaps Gorod's most diverse album to date, having sprung a move that I dare say will open them up to wider audiences, without shedding too much of their skill. They've created an album free completely free of filler and their urges to let the guitars have complete maraudering freedom have been pinned down and refined from a technical stew to a precise technical brew. And a concept album in 39 minutes! Wowzers. It seems there's nothing Gorod won't try out, and that's what makes them all the more exciting. Let's give them the attention they really deserve.
Buy 'A Perfect Absolution' here
Posted in Album Reviews.	Tagged Death Metal, France, Gorod, Listenable, PC, Progressive, Technical
Municipal Waste/Toxic Holocaust – Toxic Waste
Municipal Waste/Toxic Holocaust
Tankcrimes
I've been admittedly slow to actually go out and get Municipal Waste's latest album, 'The Fatal Feast', despite having been quick to obtain their previous records upon release. I'm not sure why this is about from the lack of cash or even failure to check out any potential streams. And remember, I run this blog on a shoestring – I don't even have Spotify – so I take what I can get. And unfortunately, I haven't got 'The Fatal Feast'. Contrastly, I did get Toxic Holocaust's latest album 'Conjure and Command' and enjoyed it, though you guys wouldn't know cos I didn't get round to reviewing it.
All of the above be irrelevant now though, cos the two have teamed up for the most-excellently named 'Toxic Waste', each contributing two tracks delivered in non-too-surprising fashion. The 'Waste go first, with 'Trapped in the Sites', a catchy anthem designed to get your thrash-skank on to, and 'Mourning Sex', which doesn't take two guesses to guess what its about. This is the more frenetic of the two MW tracks, practically galloping from Witte's twin pedal attack towards the end. Toxic Holocaust start off in party mood with 'We Bring 'Em Hell', and the more typical bashing of 'Altar-ed States'. Both bring the now requisite Toxic Holocaust snarl and crunch to the table, not bringing anything new but showing the desired step up in quality that has brought Joel Grind's men this far, thus far.
Originally available on a coloured 7" vinyl, Tankcrimes kindly made the EP free to download, generating 6,900 downloads in its first 24 hours! It's not too late to join the party, and you can stream 'Toxic Waste' below if you're still not convinced.
Buy 'Toxic Waste' here (12″ vinyl)
Download here (free download)
Municipal Waste MySpace
Toxic Holocaust Bandcamp
Posted in Album Reviews, Downloads.	Tagged Metal, Municipal Waste, PC, Tankcrimes, Toxic Holocaust, US
The Fierce and the Dead – On VHS
The Fierce and The Dead
On VHS
The Fierce and the Dead are a London quartet supplying instrumental post-rock. They made a small dent last year with their debut album 'If It Carries on like This We're Moving to Morecombe', but have returned with the free-to-download 'On VHS', a four-track EP showcasing exactly the kind of work that has got people turning their heads towards the band.
This EP is something of a mixed bag, the unsettling and slightly repetitive '666…and 6' opening proceedings before its' second track, 'Hawaii', comes along; a marauding shredder compared to the usual plaintiff stylings familiar with most bands of their ilk, and it wouldn't have sounded amiss as a soundtrack to the video games of yesteryear. It steps up a gear in the second half, the title track possessing a sweet bass riff that drives the song as though it's a late-night jam on the beach, occasionally being interrupted by a trepidant melody backed up with possibly a swarm of bees as it glides in, eventually returning to its siesta by the shore. 'On VHS' last track 'Part 3' is an indelible post-rock crystal stamp, leading at first with a laidback brooding riff which eventually bulks up into a noddable groover.
The Fierce and the Dead aren't the first post-rock band to emerge in all of history and while there are some interesting flashes of brilliance on display here, it'll be a while before they truly stand out from the pack. But already they're on the way, and there's no reason not to suggest they can't join the pantheon of instrumental rock. 'On VHS' is an enterprising work, one that becomes more enjoyable with each listen from its unsettling beginning to its smooth sojourn at the end, and the only way for these guys can surely be skywards?
Buy/download 'On VHS' here (CD/name-your-price download)
Posted in Album Reviews, Downloads.	Tagged Downloads, Instrumental, PC, Post-Rock, The Fierce and the Dead, UK
Come on people – 'Slide One Out for Kingsgate!'
The next phase in our campaign to stop the Kingsgate Shopping Expansion in Huddersfield is a side-running Campaign to Erect Kingsgate Water Slide Park!
Yes, Kingsgate Phase 2 might well be on its knees for now because of Kirklees Council's planning approval of the redevelopment of the iconic Palace Theatre in Huddersfield, which should ensure that Kingsgate owners W D Huddersfield can never build through it and thus not take out The Parish, the town's premier alternative music venue, with it. Hopefully, that runs for several other properties in the surrounding area too, because who knows if Kingsgate 2 is gone for good?
While we wait for the next move from Peter Everest and co., we should inform you of a side-running campaign that perhaps originally began purely as spoof, through the form of two local news reports detailing plans to turn Kingsgate into Huddersfield's premier venue for slip n' slide action…
Look North – Huddersfield Kingsgate Water Park Development – 23.03.12
Look North – Kingsgate Swimming vs Shopping – 13.04.12
Thanks to those reports the campaign has even had backing from Kirklees Council's Green Party Councillor for Newsome, Andrew Cooper. Now, the campaign has taken a new turn with the release of a campaign song.
'Slide One Out for Kingsgate' is a song dedicated to the dream of erecting a water slide park at Kingsgate Shopping Centre, in the hope that we can get this approved instead of more bland high street shops. The song is sung by local pop superstar Bona, featuring producer extraordinaire Hercalees Kelk and a triumphant solo from none other than Evile's very own guitar king, Ol Drake!
The song is streaming below people, and now, more than ever, we need you to spread the word of this noble cause. It'll bring a touch of diversity that Huddersfield's town centre sorely needs, but more importantly, it's a water slide park. So hit that play button below, and spread the word. Cos all we wanna do is slide! (Slide, slide, slide, slide…)
Bona feat. H. Kelk – Slide One Out for Kingsgate
Posted in Campaign to Stop the Kingsgate Expansion, Downloads.	Tagged Bona, Evile, Hercalees Kelly, Huddersfield, Kingsgate Shopping Centre, Kingsgate Water Slide Park, Ol Drake, PC, UK


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Home / News / Former Capitals 60-goal scorer Dennis Maruk is coming out with a book
Former Capitals 60-goal scorer Dennis Maruk is coming out with a book
August 15, 2017	11:08 pm
Washington Capitals alum Dennis Maruk is coming out with a new book and it appears to be one heck of a good read. According to Amazon, Dennis Maruk: The Unforgettable Story of Hockey's Forgotten 60-Goal Man is available for preorder now and will be released on October 17.
Maruk wrote the book with Sportsnet Central's Ken Reid. Reid has previously written the national bestsellers One Night Only and Hockey Card Stories. The foreword is written by Hockey Hall of Famer Bryan Trottier.
On shelves in October. @dennismaruk21 on life on & off the ice – pulled a 180 when he retired. #morethanahockeybook pic.twitter.com/jBgAbIvYTU
— Ken Reid (@SNKenReid) August 9, 2017
The preview of the book is fascinating.
From feared NHL sniper to ship captain and bellhop ― with hockey's greatest 'stache
Only 20 men in NHL history have scored 60 or more goals in a single season: Gretzky, Lemieux, and Hull all hit the magical mark. And so did an undersized, take-no-prisoners centre named Dennis Maruk. When Maruk found the back of the net 60 times in 1981–82, he was the toast of Washington ― he even dined with the president. A few short years later, he was out of the game. Maruk not only left the rink, his life did a complete 180. Instead of flying up the ice and in on goal, he was behind the wheel of a service ship in the Gulf of Mexico. Instead of setting up teammates, he was setting up furniture for Goldie Hawn. He was never sent down to the farm as a rookie, but after the game he was a farmhand for John Oates. And instead of fighting in the corners, Dennis Maruk found himself fighting for his life.
Maruk was drafted in the first round of the 1975 NHL Draft by the legendary California Golden Seals. He would go on to play 14 seasons in the NHL.
After a trade to the Capitals in 1978, Maruk had the best seasons of his career. Maruk scored 50 goals during the 1980-81 campaign. During the 1981-82 season, Maruk scored a career high 60 goals. His mark of 76 assists and 136 points in the 1982 season remain Capitals' records for a single-season.
Maruk now serves as a motivational speaker. He also regularly participates in Capitals alumni events.
Book, Dennis Maruk, Dennis Maruk: The Unforgettable Story of Hockey's Forgotten 60-Goal Man


Neptun HP laptops are covered by a 2 to 5 year warranty (duration of battery warranty is model dependent). For most laptops sold since autumn 2016 an onsite warranty is included, older models are covered by a bring-in or pickup & return warranty service. The warranty is linked to the devices serial number and the warranty type and duration can be checked online.
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When linking PayPal with Bill.com in order to pay bills, PayPal provides Bill.com with a token that allows us to make payments out of the PayPal account on your behalf. The token is called a Pre-approval Key. Currently, each Pre-approval Key has a limit of $50,000.
If the current approve limit has been exceed, or is about to be exceeded, (i.e. $47,000 in PayPal payments have been processed and the company needs to make $5000 more in payments), a new Preapproval Key need to be obtained.
If there are no active Pre-approval keys in the Pre-approval Keys section, this means the Pre-approval Key has already expired. Click "Pre-approve Account" in the Pre-approval Keys section - this will open a new tab to log into PayPal in order to confirm the new Pre-approval Key request.
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text:
const path = require('path')
const mkdirp = require('mkdirp')
const spawn = require('spawn-command-with-kill')
const {oneLine} = require('common-tags')
const isWindows = require('is-windows')

const ignoreOutput = isWindows() ? '> NUL' : '&>/dev/null'
const mongoPort = process.env.MONGO_PORT || '27017'
const mongoPath = process.env.MONGO_PATH ||
  path.join(__dirname, '../.mongo-db')

const stopMongo = oneLine`
  mongo admin
  --eval "db.shutdownServer()"
  --port ${mongoPort}
  ${ignoreOutput}
`
console.log(`stopping mongod with \`${stopMongo}\` (in case it is running)`)
const stopMongoChild = spawn(stopMongo, {stdio: 'inherit'})

stopMongoChild.on('exit', () => {
  mkdirp(mongoPath, err => {
    if (err) {
      throw err
    }

    const startMongo = oneLine`
      mongod
      --dbpath ${mongoPath}
      --port ${mongoPort}
      ${ignoreOutput}
    `
    console.log(`starting mongod with \`${startMongo}\``)
    spawn(startMongo, {stdio: 'inherit'})
    let stopped = false

    process.on('exit', cleanUp)
    process.on('SIGINT', cleanUp)
    process.on('uncaughtException', cleanUp)

    setTimeout(spawnGenerate, 5000)

    function spawnGenerate() {
      const babelNode = './node_modules/.bin/babel-node'
      const generateCommand = `cd api && ${babelNode} scripts/generate`
      console.log(`generating and inserting data with \`${generateCommand}\``)
      const generateChild = spawn(generateCommand, {
        stdio: 'inherit',
      })
      generateChild.on('exit', cleanUp)
    }

    function cleanUp() {
      if (!stopped) {
        stopped = true
        console.log(`stopping mongod process with \`${stopMongo}\``)
        spawn(stopMongo)
      }
    }
  })
})

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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text:
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Ghost Racer Wants to Be the Most Ambitious Car Game
Microsoft to Start Gaming Development Systems in March
How to Transform your Weight Loss Routine into a Lifestyle
Be Aware: Excessive Excersise Could Do You a Lot of Damage
10 Steps to Make to be Successful in Bodybuilding and in Life
Discover How Physical Exercises Make your Brain Work Better
British Study: Daily Workouts Help you Cope Better with Stress
Virtual Reality Could Change Game Streaming Systems Forever
This New Gear VR Controller Feels Like it's From the Future
Apple Unveils their Top 5 Best Selling Movies of All-Time
Virtual Reality Video Camera Will be Launched in Barcelona
Manufacturer Plans to Stop Delivering Secondary Camera Parts
HomeContent
By Fox News
Marketers give it a 50/50 chance they will attend an in-person event, conference or trade show in the first half of 2022, a new MarTech survey has found. It's a statistic that should scare any event organizer who had hoped this two-year uncertainty for in-person gatherings was nearing an end.
Respondents to MarTech's Event Participation Index gave the likelihood they would attend an in-person business event in the first half of 2022 a 5 out of 10. That outlook improved slightly for the second half of 2022, when marketers gave the likelihood a 6 out of 10.
Marketers gave it a 7 out of 10 likelihood they would attend an in-person event in the first half of 2023, but the pandemic has shown us just how much can change in a year.
This past survey marked the eighth time we have fielded the Events Participation Index, and there's a clear pattern in the data. When asked about the likelihood of attending events more than 6 months away, respondents were always more optimistic. But each time those far-away dates got closer, their comfort level fell.
For example, respondents in March 2021 gave the likelihood of attending an event in the first quarter of 2022 a 7 out of 10. But marketers give the entire first half a 5 out of 10 when asked again this November.
It's not surprising, given the rise of new variants like Omicron and the reluctance by many to get vaccinated against the virus. But for event planners, it just means the optimism your registrants have today may not be there come event time.
The chart below shows the likelihood respondents gave for attending events within three months of the time the survey was fielded. It shows that we are indeed out of those darker periods where in-person gatherings were either canceled or not remotely feasible. But it also shows that we've yet to see a period where likelihood crosses 50%.
That hesitancy is also playing out in budgets. About 78% of the 220 marketers who took our survey said they are budgeted to attend only a small number of events in 2022.
"I think event producers should expect continued reduced attendance and plan for smaller, regional events," one respondent said. "I think events need to shift away from the model where exhibitors need to commit a year or more out. Perhaps more pop-up type events that are more nimble and have more allure because of the intimacy and the opportunity for deeper connections."
Virtual events or bust?
Just because potential attendees are wary of in-person events, that doesn't mean they are all-in on virtual events. Respondents gave the likelihood they would attend a virtual event in the first half of 2022 a 6 out of 10 chance. What's interesting is that was the same likelihood they gave for the second half of 2022 and the first half of 2023.
It suggests that just as there are likely people who will never feel comfortable at an in-person event, there are others who either do not see the value in virtual events or are "fatigued" by the sheer volume of virtual events that are available now.
"Virtual events are convenient, but they aren't the same. I don't want to sit on a virtual conference all day; the times are always weird and it's too easy to skip a session if I have a project due," one respondent wrote.
However, that comment represents the minority. Most respondents suggested that organizers continue to focus on hybrid and virtual experiences, especially if they need to once again cancel in-person shows.
"I prefer virtual events as an attendee," wrote one respondent. "Limiting travel expenses and time has allowed me to attend more events than ever before. Some in-person is nice, but prefer this to be after an initial relationship is established and the goal and value of the offerings are clearly established."
Our data also supported that. When asked whether they would prefer to attend events in-person or virtually, 27% said they preferred to attend in-person only, 34% said they preferred to attend virtually and 39% said they would prefer to attend in-person and access virtual components.
"I think people will expect hybrid events to become the norm," wrote one respondent. "In-person attendance may stay a bit lower than historical numbers and virtual attendance will increase overall attendance significantly. Event hosts will play with pricing to figure out the ideal gap between in-person and virtual prices."
No clear path for event organizers
Salesforce last week held its Dreamforce NYC event in New York, but concerns over the new Omicron variant led the marketing technology giant to step up safeguards, according to an email sent to attendees before the event that laid out the protocol.
"Complete an onsite rapid test through testing partner Senneca on December 9. Testing hours are 7:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. ET. COVID testing may take up to an hour so please arrive early and plan accordingly. Look for your Dreampass in your email once your vaccine record and tests are verified. You must have your Dreampass to enter the event space. Bring your favorite mask and be prepared to wear it while you're onsite."
While these safeguards certainly add a new hassle to in-person experiences, people are generally in favor of protocols like this if it means they can attend conferences. For example, more than 70% of respondents to our survey said organizers should mandate that attendees be vaccinated.
In fact, despite the Delta variant wave this year, marketers did attend in-person events in 2021. About 30% of our respondents said they attended up to two in-person business events this year. About 16% said they attended up to five events, 4% attended up to nine, and 4% said they attended 10 or more.
Of course, that also meant 46% attended no in-person events this year.
So what are organizers to do? Many companies are moving ahead with in-person conferences in 2022, as of now, but our data suggests that attendance at least for the first half of the year will continue to be below pre-pandemic levels.
If anything, the data we gathered highlights how deliberate companies need to be in making decisions on holding events. There is hope but also plenty of concern on the part of audiences about in-person safety that will certainly affect attendance. Meanwhile, just because virtual is cost-effective, that doesn't mean audiences, particularly those who valued events for networking purposes, are going to accept virtual as an alternative to in-person.
"I think they should expect a pretty even split in their audience of folks who choose to take part in only virtual sessions versus attending in-person. Even for myself, I much prefer attending in-person but am starting to heavily use any virtual content, especially post-event," wrote one respondent.
"I think two things are equally true," wrote another. "Some people miss in-person events, but others have appreciated the time and money saved by attending virtual events. The companies that do virtual well will have an advantage going forward. Teleconferencing companies have made it easier for things like break-out sessions, replicating the networking benefits that come from in-person events."
Events Participation Index timeline
August 2021: Delta variant has marketers less eager to return to in-person events this year
April 2021: Most marketers expect to attend in-person conferences by early 2022
February 2021: Marketers say COVID vaccines create hope for quick return of in-person events
September 2020: Marketers hopeful for late 2021 in-person conferences
July 2020: No in-person events until 2nd half of 2021, marketers say
June 2020: Prospect for in-person conferences fades for 2020
May 2020: Many marketers unlikely to attend in-person conferences until COVID-19 vaccine
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Rare owls return to abandoned community near Los Angeles airport
February 19, 2019, 9:21 a.m.
A small group of burrowing owls, like this one near the Salton Sea in California in 2007, seem to be thriving near Los Angeles International Airport, despite the noise and the asphalt. (Photo: Douglas Barnum/U. S. Geological Survey)
Los Angeles real estate is always a hot commodity, so it's a good thing that some burrowing owls found a nature preserve to call home, even if it is under some Los Angeles International Airport flight paths.
Scientists have discovered 10 burrowing owls in the LAX Dunes, a nature preserve located at the west end of the airport, the Los Angeles Times reports.
"For wintering owls, this tiny chunk of land has become priceless coastal real estate," biologist and avian expert Pete Bloom told the Times, raising his voice over the deafening roar of aircraft a few hundred feet overhead. "That's because there is no place else left for them to go in the city of Los Angeles."
Comeback story
The LAX Dunes Preserve was formerly a 3-mile long beachfront community called Surfridge. Purchased in 1921, the land became a secluded residence for the likes of Hollywood director Cecil B. DeMille and voice actor Mel Blanc. With scenic views and isolated nature, the community thrived until the late 1950s as LAX began to grow.
Between the noise and the pollution, air traffic caused Surfridge to lose much of its charm. In 1961, using eminent domain laws, Los Angeles began to purchase or condemn Surfridge neighborhoods as a "noise abatement" measure. By the mid-1980s, the land had mostly been cleared of human homes and turned over to Los Angeles World Airports, which decided to restore the land to its natural state.
Since then, sand, native and invasive flora and dozens of wildlife species began to return to Surfridge. More than 900 plant and animal species now call the preserve home, according to Friends of the LAX Dunes, a coalitions of interests dedicated to preserving the dunes. This includes the critically endangered El Segundo blue butterfly.
And, apparently, a small group of owls.
A burrowing owl stands near in its den in the LAX Dunes. (Photo: U.S. Geological Survey)
Scientists have found 10 burrowing owls in the preserve, including a breeding pair standing guard over a nest. The protective duo reportedly hissed if scientists got too close. These are the most owls that have been seen on the land in 40 years.
"This is very exciting — a real stunner," Bloom said.
The owls' reappearance in the preserve, which is closed to the public, is a sign that conservation efforts are working. Scientists hope that the younger burrowing owls will become permanent residents of the dunes, especially since, according to Bloom, the nearest burrowing owl is a single bird living 27 miles away at Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach in Orange County.
Burrowing owls were among the most common birds in California, but their numbers have dropped steadily since the 1940s due to land development, pesticides, the decline in rodent populations and other causes.
"With almost no place left for migratory burrowing owls to rest and bulk up in the winter months," Bloom said, "the dunes have become critical to the survival of the species."
How much do you know about owls?
A once-secret redwoods reserve will soon be open to the public
Related topics: Birds, Wild Animals
Burrowing owls have reclaimed an abandoned beachfront community just west of Los Angeles International Airport.
Camera trap captures rare high-definition photos of a jaguar in the wild
Can Africa's Great Green Wall combat climate change and mass migration?


I am finding things very hard at the moment, coz I have terrible menopause.
It is affecting my sleep – even though I tend to sleep about six hours a night, I am not even getting that.
I am having nightmares, sweating all the time, having to go to the toilet and needing water all the time.
That is just at night.
In the day, I am dizzy and restless.
I feel very depressed and getting vicious memories as usual.
I am finding writing very hard, but I want to write so much.
My head feels like it full of cotton wool.
I want things to perfect or just really easy so I can do stuff without too much fuss.
So I will write but when I have the ability to do it.
This entry was posted in mental welfare. Bookmark the permalink.


text:
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£1,000 reward to shop drink drivers
CASH REWARDS of up to £1,000 are being offered to Christmas and New Year revellers who report drink-drivers to the police. Derbyshire Constabulary and West Midlands Police are promoting the rewards to help catch drivers who are over the alcohol limit or under the influence of drugs. Running until New Year's Day, the scheme will see posters placed in pubs and clubs urging drinkers to report those flouting the law to the Crimestoppers hotline.
Jeep Cherokee now on sale – UK Jeep sales set to double
The new Jeep Cherokee (above) is now on sale in the UK Jeep may have the sort of SUV, off-road credibility as Land Rover, but they've failed miserably to make the most of that in recent years, particularly on this side of the Pond. But things are changing for Jeep, and the arrival of the new Jeep Cherokee – with it's contentious, but individual, looks – promises to give Jeep a real shot in the arm in its quest to rebuild sales in the UK. With a choice of two diesel engines – 140 hp and 170 hp versions of the 2.0 litre diesel – a choice of four trim levels - Longitude, Longitude+, Limited and Trailhawk – and a 3.2 litre petrol engine for the hardcore Trailhawk version (available from the end of 2014), Jeep has a strong offering.
Vote in our greatest supercar of 2010 poll
It's the year of the supercar. 2010 heralds first UK deliveries of spectacular supercars from Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche. Plus we're counting down to Lexus's first hypercar, Aston's £1m rival to the Bugatti Veyron, and McLaren's successor to arguably the greatest of all time, the F1.


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Maduro foe claims Venezuela presidency amid protests
by Joshua Goodman
Supreme Court Will Review New York City Gun Law
by Adam Liptak
Harris Wofford, 92, Ex-Senator Who Pushed Volunteerism, Is Dead
by Robert D. McFadden
It's Friday, January 25, 2019. I'm Albert Mohler, and this is The Briefing, a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview.
What qualifies as a legitimate government? On of brink becoming failed state, crisis escalates in Venezuela
The biggest news on the international stage, and that's really saying something, was the news that came from Caracas, Venezuela on Wednesday. The leader of Venezuela's National Assembly declared himself the new interim president of Venezuela. That came as news, and not good news, to the man who thinks he is the president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro.
Venezuela is on the brink of becoming a failed state. Indeed, by many definitions it already is one. An experiment with Marxism and socialism has driven Venezuela to the brink of absolute disaster. Mass starvation is taking place, the grocery stores are empty, the entire national infrastructure has been falling apart.
All of this began about two decades ago, especially in looking at the leadership of the late Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chavez. Chavez was a self-declared Marxist, socialist. He held up Cuba and the Soviet Union, that's right, the former Soviet Union as examples.
Chavez also followed other examples in turning himself into basically a dictator, a military autocrat and yet, as he was dying in the year 2013, he appointed as his handpicked successor the current strongman of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro. But there was a big difference between the time of Hugo Chavez and the time of Nicolas Maduro. There's a big lesson there.
During the time that Chavez was in power, Venezuela had massive oil revenues, billions of dollars flowing in because Venezuela, then and now, has the largest free oil reserves anywhere in the world. But in the time between Chavez's appointment of Maduro and Maduro taking office, well, the oil economy changed dramatically.
During roughly that same time period, the United States became net energy self-sufficient. That largely because of new technologies such as fracking. The international price of oil has been depressed for some time now and thus the socialism experiment of Hugo Chavez, it was already trending toward disaster as socialism always does, under Nicolas Maduro it was an absolute death spiral for the Venezuelan economy.
And it's also of note that Nicolas Maduro has held on even though in recent elections just about every fair-minded international observer declared that the elections were invalid. But Maduro nonetheless had himself sworn in for a second six-year term.
As Joshua Goodman of the Associated Press reported, for the past two weeks, ever since Maduro took the oath for a second six-year term in the face of widespread international condemnation, the newly invigorated political opposition had been preparing for nationwide demonstrations coinciding on Wednesday of this week with the anniversary marking the end of Venezuela's last military dictatorship in 1958.
So, big news happened beyond that on Wednesday in Venezuela. Raising his right hand, we are told, in unison with tens of thousands of supporters, Juan Guaido, who is the leader of the National Assembly, took what was declared as a symbolic oath of office declaring himself the rightful leader under Venezuela's constitution until a new national election can be held.
Guaido, facing the crowd said, "Today, January 23, 2019, I swear to formally assume the powers of the national executive as president in charge of Venezuela." He then told the crowd, "We know that this will have consequences." The Associated Press then said that that happened just moments before he was quickly drawn away to an unknown location "amid speculation he would soon be arrested."
But that set the stage for an even surprising development. President Donald Trump on Wednesday recognized Juan Guaido as the rightful president, at least interim president of Venezuela. Declaring that Maduro was not a legitimate leader, that the election had not been a legitimate election.
As the Associated Press reports, "In a seemingly coordinated action, the United States led a chorus of Western hemisphere nations, including Argentina, Brazil, Canada and Colombia, that immediately backed the bold challenge. With President Trump calling on Maduro to resign and promising to use what President Trump called the 'full weight' of the United States economic and diplomatic power to press for the restoration of Venezuela's democracy." President Trump said, "The people of Venezuela have courageously spoken out against Maduro and his regime and demanded freedom and the rule of law."
There are big worldview issues at stake here, one of them has to do with what qualifies as a legitimate government. As this story makes very clear, an illegitimate government is a government that claims democratic legitimacy but actually lacks that legitimacy. That's certainly the case with Nicolas Maduro.
But it is not only a matter of the election, it's also a matter of the last six years and beyond. Venezuela's failure, its collapse, as I described it, its death spiral into status as a failed state. Venezuela's people are starving. The crime rate is sky rocketing. Children are malnourished even according to base international estimates.
Another dimension of this story has to do with the fact that even though the Cold War is often declared to be over, this is a story right out of the play book of the Cold War with almost the same kind of alignment. For example, Nicolas Maduro could not possibly have continued in power in Venezuela without the internal support of the military and the external support of its key ally, namely Russia, under Vladimir Putin.
Russia's support of Maduro as dictator has been made abundantly clear, along with several other allies which are also associated with Marxism in one way or another. But Putin went further and militarily provoked the United States, indeed perhaps even violating the Monroe Doctrine, by sending to Venezuela two Tu-160 strategic bombers known as White Swans. The supersonic bombers are a clear provocation, but they were also intended to be a very clear sign of Russia's support of Nicolas Maduro.
At the same time, continuing the pattern of the Cold War, Maduro responding to the action by the United States and other nations declared, "Before the people and nations of the world and as constitutional president, I have decided to break diplomatic and political relations with the imperialist U.S. government." Maduro then gave American diplomats 72 hours from the time of his announcement on Wednesday to leave the country.
One of his few allies, the president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, said, "In these decisive hours in which the clause of imperialism are again looking to deal a death blow to democracy and the self-determination of the South American people," Morales pledged his support to Maduro.
Again, that's just the language of the Cold War, which was supposedly over, brought back into the headlines in the year 2019.
But there's another dimension that also demands our attention here and it has to do with how Maduro has continued in power. Here's the historical pattern we need to watch. When you have a dictatorship like Nicolas Maduro, when you have a dictatorship propped up by the military, whether it is a dictatorship of the right or of the left, the interesting thing to watch is the direction the military believes the nation is going. The direction the military believes the people are going because at the end of the day, when you have a government and a military, as is now found in Venezuela, eventually the military will decide which it believes is the direction of the future and it will go in that direction.
There is plenty of historical precedent, at some point it is likely that the Venezuelan military will decide that its own future is going to be much more positive with Nicolas Maduro as a former, rather than current president. That kind of historical pattern generally does not end well for the deposed former dictator.
But from a humanitarian and a Christian worldview perspective, the biggest issue here is the travail, the pain, the hunger, and the despair of the people of Venezuela. And it is a reminder to us that eventually an illegitimate government becomes the head of a failed state. And all you need is proof positive that Venezuela is slipping into that status is the fact that such an oil rich nation now cannot even come close to feeding its own people.
For the first time in a decade, Supreme Court to take up gun rights case. What are the constitutional and moral issues at stake?
Coming back to the United States, yesterday on The Briefing I talked about Tuesday as a very big day in announcements from the United States Supreme Court. We looked yesterday at the case in which the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to move forward with its policy related to transgender personnel and the military.
But the second of the cases announced by the Supreme Court is also very important, so important in fact that it is not believed that the Court will be able to hear oral arguments in this case until it begins its new term later in the year 2019.
Adam Liptak of The New York Times reported the story this way, "The Supreme Court said on Tuesday that it would review a New York City gun law that limits residents from transporting their guns outside their homes, its first Second Amendment case in nearly a decade and a test," said Liptak, "of the court's approach to gun rights after the arrival of Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh in October."
Now, the big story behind this is the fact that gun rights are very clearly articulated, at least in basic form, in the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution. But it wasn't until the year 2008 that the Supreme Court of the United States made clear that the interpretation of the Second Amendment that would prevail would be an understanding that assigned the right to bear arms, not just to state militias, not just to the government, but to citizens of the United States of America.
The Court made that declaration in what was known as the Heller case from 2008. That was another five to four vote in which the Court established that there is an individual right of American citizens at least to keep guns in their homes for self-defense. A part of the background of this issue, and certainly of this new case announced by the Supreme Court, is the fact that over the last half century, different governmental levels including cities, counties, states, and to some degree even the United States Congress had moved towards some forms of so-called gun control.
Interestingly, the interpretation of the Second Amendment had become in recent decades one of the hottest issues of Constitutional interpretation. This was true in the law schools and it was true throughout the states and throughout the courts, all the way up to the Federal Courts and the 2008 Heller Decision.
The Heller Decision itself did not, of course, answer all the questions. The big historical importance of the Heller Decision is that by that 5-4 majority, the Supreme Court declared that the Second Amendment applies to citizens, not just to state militias. The Heller Decision also did not go on to say that Americans as private citizens have a right to any and every form of what might be defined as a gun or a weapon. Congress and the states were recognized as having at least some authority to establish some parameters and limitations.
But the big question now, almost 11 years after Heller, is what those boundaries and limitations might rightly be understood to be. Furthermore, over the last half century the issue of gun ownership and gun rights versus gun control, it has become one of the deepest of the partisan ideological, cultural and political divides in the United States. It's not just a matter of Constitutional interpretation, it is a matter of deep moral judgment. Even of what might be called moral intuition and Constitutional instinct.
One of the guiding presuppositions behind the majority decision in the Heller case in 2008 was that the framers of the U.S. Constitution understood the danger of a government, any government but in particular the new government of the United States of America, having a monopoly on gun ownership. Deeply ingrained in the American experiment was the understanding that there would be the opportunity for both state militias, they now take the form, by the way, of the state units of the National Guard, along with citizen soldiers. Citizens who could protect their own homes and gather together in mutual protection.
There can be no doubt that as a part of the original Constitutional conversation, including some of the conversation and debate behind what became the Bill of Rights, was the fact that a strong national government with a monopoly on armed force could become quite quickly a dictatorial autocratic force.
But, of course, the world is quite different in 2019 than it was in 1789, even in the definition of guns. And both sides in this controversy understand and understood that eventually the Supreme Court of the United States would and will have to answer some of these specific questions.
The interesting thing is that the Supreme Court has basically declined previous opportunities since 2008 to take a case that would test gun rights. So why this case? Why now? Well as Adam Liptak and others have observed, it must be because with the new composition of the Court, there is at least a majority ready to reconsider these questions and given that 5-4 conservative majority on the Court following the precedent of the Heller Decision written by the late Justice Antonin Scalia, there is good question to think that the particular statute in question from New York City is extreme vulnerable to being overruled, judged unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
So what is that New York law? Interestingly, the city of New York, which has a very involved process in order for any citizen to own a weapon, allows citizens of New York, having gone through that onerous process, once they do have a permit to have a weapon, they allow the weapon only in the home. And furthermore, perhaps sometimes taken to registered gun ranges. But here's the interesting thing, an owner of a gun in New York cannot even transport that gun, can't take that registered weapon from one home to a second home. Or even take the gun, though registered and unloaded, out of state.
Those who filed the litigation against New York City, in their legal documents made this case, "Only New York City flatly prohibits its residents from removing their lawfully purchased and duly registered handguns from the city limits, even to transport them (unloaded, and locked up) to second homes at which they are constitutionally entitled to possess them, or to out-of-city shooting ranges or competitions at which they are constitutionally entitled to hone their safe and effective use."
"That prohibition," they said, "does not even make sense on its own terms. It has the perverse consequences of forcing New Yorkers to leave their handguns behind in their vacant residences whenever they leave the city for an extended period of time."
In its editorial, written by the editorial board celebrating the fact that the Supreme Court has taken this case, The Wall Street Journal declared, "The Court's willingness to hear New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. City of New York probably reflects the presence of new Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh."
"Though former Justice Anthony Kennedy was part of the Heller majority, other Justices weren't sure how far he would go to protect the right. There now may be," says the editorial board of the Journal, "five Justices to better define the limits of gun regulation with Chief Justice John Roberts as the swing vote." The editorial concludes, "The New York City case will be an early signal."
Indeed the case, though probably months away from being heard, much less decided, will be an early case. It is also going to be a fascinating Constitutional debate and those oral arguments are sure to be among the most interesting to come before the nation's highest Court in a very long time.
We simply conclude this matter by reminding all of us that Christians in particular have a great stake in the question of how a text is to be interpreted. The interpretation in this case, of the Constitution of the United States, just underlines in this respect how important that stewardship of the interpretation of a text really is.
Turning creation upside down: While every single human life is sacred, not every means of bringing about reproduction is morally right
There were a couple of very interesting developments in recent days that simply tell us how moral cultural change takes place within a society. One of them has to do with the cover of the February issue of Parents magazine. What makes the cover interesting? The fact that for the first time, there is a male couple, two dads, with two children celebrated on the front.
The text on the front is this, "We high five all the time," says fitness pro Shaun T, with his husband Scott Blocker and their one-year-old twins, Silas and Sander. "It reinforces we're a team as parents." But the couple and their twins are not merely celebrated on the cover, there is an inside column entitled, "Let's get real." Again with the smiling family looking out at readers. The headline in the story, "Tackling twin sanity together."
"Aside," the magazine says, "from trying to get the world physically fit, Shaun T and Scott Blocker are raising baby twins. Easy, right?" Aaron Breed is the reporter in the story. Later in the story we are told this, "Six years ago fitness trainer Shaun T, creator of the Insanity workout and the new Transform 20 Program, was ready to start a family with his husband and business partner, Scott Blocker, but the journey wasn't easy. 'We went through all the things that couples struggling with fertility go through, tests, doubt, grief, not knowing, waiting.'"
The magazine then tells us, "12 attempts, six egg donors, five surrogates, two doctors, one miscarriage, and thousands of dollars later, their two adorable sons, Silas and Sander, arrived." The next text says, "Though they share the same egg donors, Sander is from Shaun's sperm and Silas is from Scott's sperm. Their surrogate delivered them two minutes apart. 'Ask all the questions you want,' Shaun says, when people wonder how the boys came to be." Scott simply added, "It blows my mind how much I've learned."
Now, as we're thinking about this entire effort to turn creation upside down, just keep in mind that here is Parents magazine, that's a big piece of media real estate, when you think about American popular culture, parenthood, and family. Here is the depiction of this same-sex couple with their two twins and the entire messaging of the cover and of the article inside is, "This is great, this is normal, get used to it. This is a family just like any other family."
But of course it isn't. Just consider these words, "12 attempts, six egg donors, five surrogates, two doctors, one miscarriage, and thousands of dollars later the couple has these two adorable sons." Now remember that the Christian worldview affirms the fact that every single human life is sacred and possesses full human dignity, that certainly includes these two beautiful little boys, but the question is, does that imply then that every means of bringing about reproduction is morally right? The answer to that question is clearly no.
Christians are not questioning the status of the boys, but Christians would question the status of the family. And especially the messaging coming from this magazine that this is now, or at least should be now, a matter of cultural aspiration. Again, a very clear sign of the times.
A man who stood at so many hinge moments in history himself becomes part of the hinge in the sexual revolution
Similarly, but with greater subtlety, there was a very interesting sign of the times that appeared in the form of an obituary that ran Wednesday in The New York Times. The headline of the obituary, "Harris Wofford, ex-Senator who fostered service organizations, dies at 92." Indeed, Harris Wofford was a Democratic Senator from the state of Pennsylvania.
He's probably better known in American history for his role in the Kennedy administration. He helped to create the Peace Corps. He also served as director under Bill Clinton. He was a leader of many different service organizations, and at various times also served as the president of two colleges. He had the status of special assistant to the President of the United States during the administration of John F. Kennedy. He later also became an advisor to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Harris Wofford is one of those figures who simply shows up in many of those iconic black and white photographs from both the Kennedy and the Johnson administrations. He had a very long life invested in public service. And he stood at many of the most interesting and important historical events of American history from the 1960s onward.
But that's not what makes the obituary important and significant as we think about moral change in the United States. Instead, consider what comes many column inches later in this obituary by Robert D. McFadden. "Mr. Wofford's wife, Clare, whom he married in 1948 and with whom he had three children, died in 1996. In April 2016, writing in the Sunday Review section of The New York Times, Mr. Wofford disclosed his pending marriage to Matthew Charlton, 40, a designer with whom he had been living for 15 years. They married that year."
Mr. Wofford, in that article written for The New York Times, said then, "At age 90, I am lucky to be in an era where the Supreme Court has strengthened what President Obama calls 'the dignity of marriage' by recognizing that matrimony is not based on anyone's sexual nature, choices or dreams. It is based on love."
And The Times obituary goes on to say that in that article, Senator Wofford did not define himself as gay. Writing instead, "Too often, our society seeks to label people by pinning them on the wall, straight, gay or in between. I don't categorize myself based on the gender of those I love. I had a half-century of marriage with a wonderful woman, and now am lucky for a second time to have found happiness."
Just let that sink in for a moment. Included in this obituary, as if it makes absolute sense, is the fact that this former United States Senator, having become a widower, he had been married to a woman named Clare, with whom he married and with whom he had three children. After she has died, he then announces some years later that he's getting married again. But this time, not to a woman, but to a man. He does not declare himself to be gay, saying instead that he is not going to define his romantic or marital relationships by gender. And then he says an explanation, "I had a half-century of marriage with a wonderful woman, and now am lucky for a second time to have found happiness." That in the context of the article that announced that he was marrying a far younger man.
Now keep in mind the timeline here. His wife had died in 1996. It was in 2016, that would be 20 years later, that he declared that he's now marrying a man. Same-sex marriage had become legal by action of the Supreme Court only the previous year, in 2015, and in 2016, the former Senator announced that he was marrying a man with whom he had been living for 15 years.
Let's just take his bookends, the death of Mrs. Wofford in 1996 and the marriage, the second marriage of Senator Wofford to a man in 2016. That's a 20 year period. A 20 year period in which the entire moral structure and definition of marriage in the United States was turned upside down.
And it turns out in an ironic, and for Christians very sad way, that this man who stood for so many years at the hinge moments of history, on the biggest of questions you could imagine facing human society, the question of marriage, he himself became a part of that hinge.
For more information, go to my website at AlbertMohler.com. You can follow me on Twitter by going to twitter.com/albertmohler. For information on the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, go to sbts.edu. For information on Boyce College, just go to boycecollege.com.
I am preaching today in Jacksonville, Florida, and I'll meet you again tomorrow for The Briefing.


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Best Ethereum Metaverse Projects
The metaverse is a fast-growing industry that is changing how people interact on the internet. According to MarketWatch, the industry will be worth more than $800 billion in the coming months. In this article, we will look at what the metaverse is and highlight some of the top projects built on Ethereum's network.
The internet industry has always been growing. A decade ago, during the 2G era, text was the main way of interacting with the internet. As internet speeds increased, people shifted to images and then to videos. Today, some of the biggest entertainment projects on the internet are all video-based. Think of companies like TikTok, YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon Prime.
The next evolution of the internet is the metaverse. This is an industry that allows people to directly take part in the virtual world. For example, think about Zoom Video or Microsoft Teams meetings. These companies enable people to hold virtual meetings in a seamless manner. Metaverse promises to change this by making it possible for people to hold a meeting or attend a class in the same virtual location.
The metaverse industry is being enabled by a convergence of things. For example, internet speeds are now blazingly fast thanks to the 5G technology. Also, computers are significantly faster and more reliable due to the faster chips from companies like Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Nvidia.
Third, and most importantly, blockchain technology has helped bring the metaverse industry to life by making it possible for developers to build these projects. Fourth, the virtual reality industry's hardware has also advanced significantly in the past few years.
The metaverse industry is still in its infancy, but it promises rapid growth in the future. This is part of the reason why Facebook decided to name its parent company Meta Platform. Other companies like Microsoft and Nvidia have also announced their plans to move into the industry.
Ethereum is a major enabler of the metaverse industry today. The network does this by providing a smart contract environment where developers can build their projects. So, let us look at some of the best Ethereum metaverse projects.
Axie Infinity is a blockchain project that runs on Ethereum's network. AXS is its native token that is valued at more than $24 billion.
Axie is a metaverse platform that enables people to play games virtually. Players in the network compete with each other, and winners are then rewarded using the AXS token. They can use these tokens to shop inside the ecosystem. Alternatively, users can cash out these funds and convert them into the virtual currency.
In addition to the game, the developers are building a platform where people will be able to buy land and create their own virtual environments. The land will be known as Lunacia, and it will have 90,601 plots of land.
For example, you can buy a piece of land in Lunacia and build your dream home using the materials provided. When the time comes, landowners can decide to sell it to other interested buyers.
Most importantly, there will be intense gaming going on in this land. For example, gamers will have the resources needed to fight a monster known as Chimera.
Axie Infinity has received funding from investors. According to Crunchbase, it has raised about $5 million from venture capital firms. The AXS token rose by more than 1,600% between April 2021 and December 2021.
Decentraland is a Chinese metaverse project that has raised more than $25.5 million from investors. It was built using Ethereum's blockchain, and in the past few months, it has become one of the best-known metaverse platforms.
Decentraland is a platform that enables people to create a virtual universe where they can interact with other people. In the network, one can buy a piece of land and then create a virtual ecosystem. You can also view pieces of land created by other people within the ecosystem.
There is also a lot of commerce going on in the Decentraland's marketplace. In it, you can use non-fungible tokens (NFT) to buy plots of land or entire streets. In November, a fashion company bought several plots of land on the platform for more than $2.4 billion. Other plots are going for thousands of dollars.
In addition to land and plots, other items you can shop in this ecosystem are avatars, estates, and other pieces of collectibles. In this environment, the currency that is used is known as MANA. Its price has jumped by more than 5,000% in 2021, bringing its total market cap to more than $5.76 billion.
The Sandbox is an Ethereum-based metaverse project that is similar to Decentraland. It has raised about $93 million from Softbank, the giant Japanese conglomerate. It has also partnered with the likes of Snoop Dogg, Adidas, and Hell's Kitchen.
The Sandbox is a platform that allows people to game in a virtual environment and win prizes. They can also buy products like land and gaming equipment in the marketplace. Most importantly, anyone can build games using the platform and monetize them. In the marketplace, you can buy products like avatars and gaming gear.
In November, The Sandbox broke records after a buyer spent more than $4 million buying a plot of land in the ecosystem. As shown below, the price of avatars has jumped to more than $9,000.
The native token for The Sandbox is known as SAND.
In the past few months, the price of the SAND token has jumped by more than 700%, giving it a market cap of more than $5.6 billion.
The metaverse industry is growing at a fast rate. In the past few months, platforms like Axie Infinity and Sandbox have moved from zero to becoming some of the biggest companies in the world. In this article, we have looked at platforms built using Ethereum. Other metaverse platforms that we have not looked at are Enjin, UFO Gaming, and Enjin.
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