Do you have too many career interests outside of your basic clinical practice? Are your daily focus areas as few as three? Family, clinical and perhaps one other thing?
In this episode Australian intensivist, Marianne Chapman, speaks about how she keeps her life under control by focusing on her big three – family, clinical and research. This allows her to manage the stresses of an intensive care career. She sometimes has to say no very deliberately, and although she finds this hard, it helps her manage the workload. She notices that some of her colleagues seem to want to be experts in several areas, and whilst this may be important at the beginning of our careers, this can be a recipe for disaster for some of us over the longer term.
Marianne is a Senior Staff Specialist in Intensive Care Medicine at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and a Clinical Professor of Acute Care Medicine in the School of Medicine at the University of Adelaide, both in Adelaide, Australia. Her clinical research interests include gastrointestinal dysfunction underlying problems with the administration of enteral nutrition and the clinical effects of nutrition in the critically ill. Marianne is an eminent international researcher in this field and has published extensively on these topics.


Bradley and Pastor John are grateful for the kindness and help that the MECUM family, MECUM staff, and the generous businesses who help us with our cause for local children and their families. A Big shout out to the Road Art Director, Melissa Smith. You are amazingly helpful. We appreciate the generous bidders who will participate this morning. Thank you Lord for what You are planning to do. We love You.
Mustang Table and Stools sold for $ 3,835.
Harley Davidson Tank sold for $ 2,950.
Corvette Clock sold for $ 1,770.
A Big Shout Out to the MECUM family of staff.
Thank you Melissa for being such a great Road Art Director.
See everyone next year in Harrisburg.
Projects have already begun their early development stage.
We will post at various stages of the projects.
This item is a piece of wall art. The tank has been converted in a piece of art that mounts on any wall. The theme is "BLESSINGS" and features many little children. Children are blessings from God. The project is finishing up at Ron's Buff & Wax with the final clear coats and polishing. More pictures to come.
Fabrication is underway for a three foot aluminum clock featuring LED lighting. The clock theme is a 1963 Corvette Split Window. Pictures will be shown as it progresses. Jerry Funk is doing an amazing job of fabrication as always. This man is talented. A special thanks to Randy Sellers for helping us under a time crunch to create the laser cut pieces. Thank you Randy for your kindness and skillful help in 2016. The clock is getting to its final steps of fabrication. Kei Greene is working on the air brushing, then back to the shop for the final clear coats, sanding and polishing. Then the final assembly with the LED lighting.
It's TIME! For three years we have been investing in our local community Children's Playground project. And of course we will continue to work on it. But it is also time to begin developing the next phase of reaching children and their parents. For the sake of children and for the sake of the cause, we are committed to starting a restoration program for children and their parents. It's time to start raising the funds to build the building that will have many purposes. Children and parents working together under the leadership of businessmen who are skilled at the restoration hobby. Join us in helping to make this vision a reality. Thank you MECUM family for your kind and generous help. You are an amazing family.
August 3-5, 2017 is a special set of days for Bradley Diehl and Pastor John. Bradley volunteered to go with Pastor John to the MECUM Harrisburg 2017 Auto Auction at the PA Farm Show Complex. We met some great people. We are thankful for how generous people were FOR THE CHILDREN AND THE CAUSE.
We are now accepting donations for a future building.
We care about children. We care about their parents.
We believe there is a need to restore and strengthen those relationships.
We want to introduce children and parents to the hobby of restoring rides.
We were given two cars from Nancy Drake in memory of her husband Bill.
A building is necessary to start the program.
These 3 men were the first donors.
$1.00 from each. We are grateful for each donation.
When Bradley and I returned the next day, we saw a $5 and $10 bill.
August 5 - the day of the auction.
Bradley got to be on the stage and hold the gavel.
The MOPAR living room set winning bid was $2,250.
The GTO JUDGE table set went for $2,500.
And two families showed some great generosity at the auction.
Two checks will be coming: $5,000 and $3,000.
And then one more surprise from Amy.
She gave 10% of the sell of her dad's car ($2,850 check).
Rejoice with us on this great start to raise the money.
Here is a slide show of our time at MECUM.
We are planning to take two new auction items to MECUM Auto Auction in Harrisburg, PA. The two items will be sold on Saturday morning, August 5th, just before the car auction starts at 10 AM. We are grateful for the kindness and help the MECUM family has extended to us. They truly are a family who is interested in local community projects that benefit children. We are blessed to have the opportunity to work with MASON this year. Thank you Brandon Aby for transporting this year's projects to the PA Farm Show Complex.
Bradley and I had the opportunity to meet Fred and his wife from Rochester, NY. There are MOPAR fans. Below is Bradley, my helper. We are having a great time.
Friday, August 4, 2017 Bradley and Pastor John had the opportunity to sit down with Dana Mecum. We had a great discussion. Thank you Dana.
Bradley meets the auctioneer MARK who will be selling our Charity Items on Saturday, August 5, 2017. Thank you Mason for introducing us to MARK. Tomorrow I am going to ask if Bradley can be the one who brings down the gavel on the winning bid. The MECUM family has been and continues to be a great experience for us. We have been helped and blessed. We will update this page with the winning bidders and what the winning bid was.
Below are the pictures of the second project to go to MECUM Harrisburg 2017. These projects are for the children and for the cause. Enjoy looking at the talent of several local business men: Jerry Funk - fabricator; Ron Wenger - painter; APX Industrial Coatings for powder-coating the seats; Bill Secrest - upholstery; Kei Greene - air brush artist. Thank you men for your work on behalf of local children.
Below is a picture of the table before going to the body shop. Jerry Funk is a great fabricator. His work is excellent.
Bradley, Daryl, Bobby, Kei, Tammy, and Pastor John had a great experience with the MECUM family. Mecum is truly a family. And those who come to the event become family too. We met great people with great stories. Thank you Jerry and Bradley for helping Pastor John to build the custom skids for the door, table and stools. Thank you Shawn for transporting the items.
Thank you Joe (2016 Mecum Road Art director) for your help!
We met great people. Some of those people took us up on our offer to sit at the custom table. It is great to meet people.
Ed Thomas is from Dover, Ohio. Ed offered us $2,200 for the 1969 Z28 Bar Table and two stools. To get the table home, Ed used his friend's SUV and then his SUV to get the table to his game room at home. Ed plans to have his coffee at this table each morning.
Ed sent us this picture of his new table. Looks like Ed is a Steelers Fan.
The GTO Door Skin was sold to Gary Gray. At this time we do not have a picture of him. Thank you Gary for helping to benefit children.


STABLE is a project aiming to reduce the volatility and inefficiencies existing in digital tokens markets and stabilize them, thus driving their wider acceptance.
27 Sep 2017 Stable: Arbitrage of Cryptocurrencies, increasing the value of Stable coin.
2 Oct 2017 Current ETA for the end of ICO (block 4332000) is 1:45AM UTC - Oct 3rd, 2017.
9 Sep 2017 The first quarter of the ICO (6% discount) is about to end at block 4257k. ETA at block time of ~24 secs is: 0:30 UTC, 10th of Sep, 2017.
5 Sep 2017 BTC fell ~20%. Not by the same pctge & not at the same speed in diff. countries. Plenty of opportunities. Prices vary -2.5% to +6% vs avg.


text:
Digital Product Strategy
Connected Healthcare
How Much Does it Cost to Build an App?
Written by Jonathan Besquin
What does it cost to build an app? This is a million dollar question! There is no single answer to this question because cost will vary significantly based on your project requirements. To get an idea, a study was conducted, which involved emailing out a request for proposals (RFP) to 100 firms. The results were reassuring, for us at least. The study found that development costs ranged from about $93,000 to $214,000. Although, it could be much more depending on the scope of the project.
The varying costs associated with app design and development are influenced by costs, timelines, complexity, native vs cross-platform, customization, and UI features. It's always a good idea to compare your expectations with existing solutions and their associated budgets. You should decide which features are the most complex and challenging, then prioritize your feature list to create a ballpark estimate.
There are two primary types of projects:
Budget/Timeline Backwards – These projects have a max budget or hard delivery timeline and the project team works backwards to see what can actually be finished for the allotted time or budget. These projects tend to make sacrifices in features or quality in order to come in under budget or within a timeline.
Feature Forward – These projects are focused on the scope and work forwards to determine a timeline and budget based on the scope and features desired. Spending more launches the desired scope, and the team is willing to pay more to receive more.
THE COST TO BUILD AN APP: INFLUENCING FACTORS
How Much Do Software Development Companies Charge?
The largest influence on cost is which software development company you choose to hire.
Here are your options:
Onshore (USA): you should have a budget of about $150K+
Offshore (overseas): usually 10-20% of onshore rates
Nearshore (neighboring country): usually around $30-$60/ hour
Hybrid (onshore with offshore/nearshore development): usually less than $100/hour
Onshore resources will typically result in a higher quality product, but will also cost more. Offshore resources are much more affordable, but you'll lose some of the benefits that come with an onshore software development company. You have to find the right balance between the pros and cons of each type of company. This decision will heavily influence the outcome of your project.
Will Your App Borrow Concepts and Features From Existing Apps?
Do you want your app to be the next Snapchat or Instagram or is it just a better version of something that already exists? The level of customization that your app requires will play a large role in the total price tag. Creating something with a completely unique design that completely WOWs your audience will require a larger budget.
Some of Facebook's features that are costly and time consuming to develop include chat, news feed, and video calls. Apps with these messaging and interactive features cost more due to their complexity and the user's ability to customize them. Without diving into operational costs, Ben Schippers says it'd take approximately $500,000 and nine months of development and design time to create such an application.
Developing a social media site like Instagram would be challenging with its multitude of features. Instagram has account creation, image filtering, image loads, and searching for posts or users. According to Henrik Wedelin, co-founder of Barkbox, it would cost somewhere between $100,000 to $300,000 to build an Instagram-like mobile app over a three-to-six month period.
Social video apps like TikTok or Musical.ly have features such as music sync, filters, video creation/playback, and posting through the site. Similar apps may range between $80,000 to $100,000 to develop, but we think that's a low estimate.
Music streaming apps such as Spotify and SoundCloud have relatively basic features including streaming music, search features, libraries, and suggestions. These average around $110,000- $177,000 to make but hosting music and music licenses increase the total cost of the app.
Is Your App Available On iOS And Android?
To determine which operating system (OS) you should use for your app, you should research your end users and identify which OS is most popular amongst them. In addition to the different design guidelines, the technical implementation will vary between platforms.
Cost doesn't differ drastically between iOS or Android, however, if you choose to develop a native app for both iOS and Android, costs could as much as double.
Length of Your Feature List
The number and complexity of features will affect how much it costs to build your app. You may have narrowed down the list of features to the must-haves, but even then, your features could require a lot of work. If the level of complexity is high (i.e. video chat) you can expect to pay a premium price.
Do you need access to the camera within your app (i.e. Snapchat), does it need to have bluetooth capabilities, or do you want to incorporate augmented reality similar to Pokemon GO? You should ask yourself similar questions to decide which features you need and which would just be nice to have. Initially, you should just focus on the features that serve the core purpose.
By taking the time to really define the features your app requires, you can cut down costs. There's a big difference between the features you need and the features you want.
How Many Screens Will Your App Have?
The cost to build an app is influenced by the number of screens required. A greater number of screens correlates to a larger number of UX design and development hours. Only create screens that are critical to the user experience.
If the screens are relatively similar then including additional screens won't have much of an impact on your budget. However, if you want screens with pop-up items or toolbars, you can expect a larger price tag. As the number and complexity of the screens grow, so will the cost.
Is Your App Consumer Facing or Line-Of-Business (LOB)?
Is your app intended for a defined set of customers or is it meant to simplify internal business processes? Consumer facing apps usually have more engaging and customized user interface (UI) elements, which require a lot more design and development work. For this reason, the cost to build a consumer facing app is usually higher.
There is no single answer to this frequently asked question. The cost to build an app is dependent on the factors mentioned above and several others. If you know what problem you would like to solve, but aren't exactly sure where to start, we can help you out! In our discovery phase we'll learn about your business objectives and your users, then draft user stories to set our process in motion.
If you'd like to learn more about tech and the latest trends, visit our other posts and subscribe to receive weekly blog updates. To inquire about any custom application design or development, please contact us.
Designing for Conversions
Seamgen Is A Top React Native Development Company
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Posted on August 20, 2014 . Tagged with: pandoc,, hakyll,, and haskell.
Pandoc has a huge set of extensions which are not enabled by default and whilst Hakyll does enable quite a few in its own options (like footnotes), I wanted to add support for definition lists.
In Hakyll, the best way to do this seems to be to implement a custom content compiler, as this can then be used everywhere you render content. This is exactly what I did.
Which gives us both the pattern to copy and the type declaration. The next step is to add on custom options to the defaults. Pandoc gives a list of the options that can be passed to it in it's documentation.
We set the list of extensions we wish to apply.
Compute the default set of extensions.
Insert our list of extensions into the set.
Pass that over to the pandocCompilerWith compiler.
Subsequently, we can use customCompiler everywhere we were previously using pandocCompiler, and without having to repeat our options.


text:
Giovanni Maria Bononcini (getauft 23. September 1642 in Montecorone, Modena; † 18. November 1678 in Modena) war ein italienischer Violinist und Komponist.

Leben
Seine Ausbildung erhielt Bononcini höchstwahrscheinlich durch Marco Uccellini. Im Vorwort zu seinem Lehrwerk "Musico prattico" erwähnt Bononcini, dass er bei Padre Agostino Bendinelli (1635-nach 1702) Kontrapunktik studiert hat. Er wirkte zunächst als Kapellmeister an den Kirchen San Giovanni in Monte und San Petronio in Bologna und war Mitglied der hochangesehenen Accademia Filarmonica. Bononcini folgte 1671 dem Ruf nach Modena, dort war er zunächst als Hofviolinist der Herzoginwitwe Laura d'Este und ab 1674 bis zu seinem Tode auch als Domkapellmeister tätig. Seine beiden Söhne Giovanni Bononcini (1670–1747) und Antonio Maria Bononcini (1677–1726) waren ebenfalls bekannte Komponisten.

Werk
Er schuf Vokal- und Instrumentalmusik für verschiedenste Besetzungen und machte in seiner Instrumentalmusik einen deutlichen Unterschied zwischen dem da chiesa- und dem da camera-Stil. Durch das Gruppieren von mehreren Tanzstücken (Bononcini komponierte derer rund 150) entstand die Kammersonate (opp. 4, 9, 7, 12). Im Bereich der Kirchensonate gab er der bestehenden Canzonensonate mit häufigen Rhythmuswechseln eine feste Form mit mehreren Sätzen. Seine 29 Triosonaten bilden mit ihrer Satzform, ihrer Kantabilität und der kraftvollen Klangfarbe eine wichtige Vorstufe zu Arcangelo Corellis Stil. In einigen Sonaten ist die Skordatur erfordert. In seinem Vokalwerk dominiert die solistische Stimme, während die Instrumentalbegleitung deutlich im Hintergrund bleibt. Bononcini war auch als Musikschriftsteller tätig.

Werke
 op. 1 Primi Frutti del Giardino Musicale à due violini e basso (Venedig, 1666)
 op. 2 Sonate da camera, e da ballo a 1, 2, 3, e 4 (Venedig, 1667)
 op. 3 Varii fiori del giardino musicale, overo Sonate da camera … aggiunta d'alcuni canoni, für 2 Violinen, Viola und B. c. (Bologna, 1669)
 op. 4 Arie, correnti, sarabande, gighe, & allemande für Violine und Cello oder Spinett (Bologna, 1671)
 op. 5 5 Sinfonie, allemande, correnti, e sarabande à 5–6 stromenti, aggiunta d'una sinfonia a quattro, che si può suonare ancora al contrario (Bologna, 1671)
 op. 6 Sonate da chiesa à due violini (Venedig, 1673)
 op. 7 Ariette, correnti, gighe, allemande, e sarabande für 1–4 Instrumente (Bologna, 1673)
 op. 8 Das kontrapunktische Lehrwerk Musico prattico che brevemente dimostra il modo di giungere alla perfetta cognizione di tutte quelle cose, che concorrono alla composizione de i canti, e di ciò ch'all'arte del contrapunto si ricerca (Bologna, 1673; deutsche Übersetzung Stuttgart, 1701)
 op. 9 Trattenimenti musicali à tre & à quattro stromenti (Bologna, 1675)
 op. 10 Cantate per camera a voce sola, libro primo, für Sopran oder Bass und B. c. (Bologna, 1677)
 op. 11 Cantate per camera a voce sola, libro secondo, für Sopran, Alt oder Bass und B. c. (Bologna, 1678)
 op. 12 Arie e Correnti à tre, due violini e violone (Bologna, 1678)
 Zahlreiche Madrigale und Arien
 1 Oper I primi voli dell'aquila Austriaca del soglio imperiale alla gloria (Modena, 1667)

Literatur

 Giovanni Maria Bononcini of Modena: A Chapter in Baroque Instrumental Music (Greenwood Press ISBN 0-313-25655-1)

Weblinks

Komponist (Barock)
Komponist (Italien)
Klassischer Geiger
Domkapellmeister
Komponist (Kirchenmusik)
Komponist (Oper)
Sachbuchautor
Person (Modena)
Geboren 1642
Gestorben 1678
Mann
Historische Person (Italien)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Savannah Maria Forehand and McHenry Peter Forehand were confirmed into the Orthodox faith this morning during the Divine Liturgy. They are pictured here with Fr. Nick, their respective godparents and Deacon Patrick.


This course is aimed at primary school teachers who are teaching 3rd and/or 4th class. It is suitable for teachers who don't feel confident speaking Irish and who wish, therefore, to develop their skills in the language.
This course is aimed at primary school teachers who are teaching 3rd and/or 4th class. It is suitable for teachers who don't feel confident speaking Irish and who wish, therefore, to develop their skills in the language. The course is bilingual - each sentence in Irish is translated into English.
Although we would encourage you to use as much Irish as possible in your answers, you can use English if you need to.
Important: Although there are many examples of conversational activities given in this course and many practical ideas for activities of this kind available in the course forum, 'Practical Irish for Primary School Teachers' is primarily a language course rather than a course on methodology.
This course was written by Siobhán Patten.
There are five modules in this course and each module contains a mixture of grammatical explanation, useful vocabulary, conversations and exercises.


text:
Future of Transportation
White House social media summit not a 'one-and-done,' Trump's allies say
A Trump tweet and a poster defining "shadow banning" were on display at Thursday's White House social media summit. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
Tony Romm
Senior tech policy reporter
President Trump's "social media summit" probably marks the beginning, not the end, of Silicon Valley's political headaches, opening the door for the White House and its conservative allies to intensify their attacks on Facebook, Google and Twitter over allegations that they exhibit political bias.
Trump coupled his complaints about the tech industry — delivered Thursday in front of more than 200 of his closest online allies — with a promise to summon top tech executives to Washington in the coming weeks and a threat to unveil new regulations targeting the way social media sites moderate content.
"Something is going to be done," Trump told reporters Friday, blasting the companies as "absolutely, in my opinion, 100 percent crooked."
Exiting the summit, some conservatives also pledged to be even more vigilant, vocal and aggressive about what they perceive as attempts by Facebook, Google and Twitter to silence their voices, threatening continued clashes between the tech industry and its critics ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
"It draws more people's attention to the issue . . . which will make it impossible for the tech companies to ignore this," said Charlie Kirk, the executive director of Turning Point USA, a conservative student group.
Trump convened the social media summit Thursday after months of attacks on Silicon Valley claiming that major tech giants are biased against conservatives. At times, the president even has suggested that Google and its peers seek to influence federal elections, threatening regulation in response.
But Trump has not provided evidence of his claims of election interference, and some of the examples of bias he has cited have been debunked by experts. Facebook, Google and Twitter have said previously that politics do not influence their decisions about what content they allow or remove from their sites. All three declined to comment for this article.
On Friday, Trump suggested that he had clashed with one of the social-networking companies, telling reporters he had "something happen this morning" but declining to provide details.
The allegations of social media bias will receive another airing next week, when Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) convenes a hearing where Google representatives are expected to testify. And the companies are likely to face another confrontation with their conservative critics soon, given Trump's interest in bringing them to the White House for a meeting. Facebook, Google and Twitter were not invited to Thursday's gathering.
"It wasn't totally clear what he's going to do, but the impression was he wants to have a meeting, and at this meeting, he's going to have both sides," said Allen Estrin, a co-founder of PragerU, who attended the summit. An online outfit that makes videos about political issues viewed by millions of people, PragerU is locked in a legal war with Google over the search giant's content-moderation decisions.
Trump did not say if he would require the chief executives of Facebook, Google and Twitter to appear at his upcoming meeting, and a White House spokesman declined to comment Friday on the nature and timing of such a follow-up conversation. So far, the companies have not received formal invitations, according to two sources familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak on the record.
In September, though, Google chief executive Sundar Pichai generally agreed during a meeting with the president's aides to attend a "roundtable with the President and other internet stakeholders," the White House said at the time. The commitment came as Pichai sought to tamp down concerns in Washington that the company unfairly targets conservatives. The Google executive later joined a meeting with Trump and other business leaders in December focused on issues including trade.
Trump previously met with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in a private meeting where the president grumbled about his follower count, The Washington Post reported.
The White House also declined to elaborate on Trump's early threat of regulation. Addressing the summit, the president said he is "directing my administration to explore all regulatory and legislative solutions to protect free speech."
"I think that's something that needs to be done," said Jon Miller, who hosts the show "White House Brief" for Blaze TV, founded by Glenn Beck. "It's exploratory, he's looking at the options, and that's the first step to solving any problem."
Trump's comments still sparked some early concern within the tech industry. "I think this is more about politics than law and policy," said Matt Schruers, the chief operating officer at the Computer & Communications Industry Association, a Washington-based trade group for companies including Facebook and Google. "The issue plays well politically, and so it will continue to receive political attention."
But, Schruers said, there are free-speech concerns whenever the government seeks to regulate or try to shape online expression: "It is not the White House's role to attempt to work the refs to obtain favorable outcomes on content moderation," he said.
Some of the White House's allies this week proposed that Washington respond to allegations of conservative bias by seeking to weaken one of Silicon Valley's most prized legal shields. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act spares tech companies — which fight vigorously to defend it — from lawsuits over what their users post online, while granting them a legal green light to moderate their platforms without facing liability. Speaking at the summit, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) appeared to blast the legal protections as "special deals from government."
Once the president concluded his remarks, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) told attendees that she plans to begin work next week on a special task force to study broader regulation of Silicon Valley, including issues related to privacy and competition.
"I don't think this was a one-and-done for him," she said of Trump's interest in the industry. "It was an opening for what he [intends] to do over the next couple months."


iCharity Club Review: How To Make 6,000 Naira Daily online With Paying Mlm in Nigeria.
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iCharity club How it Works.
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How To Upgrade or Activate Your iCharity Club Account.
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All payments in the iCharity Club are from member to member and it goes directly to the Bank Account you provided when you updated your User Profile.
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At Team One Newport we carefully select our manufacturers for quality, service and price. If you experience a problem with your gear beyond normal wear and tear, contact us and we will work towards a solution per the manufacturer's warranty policy. Call our Warranty Department with any questions or concerns, and instructions for sending garments back (see contact info below). Be prepared that the whole process can take anywhere from 4-6 weeks.
All gear that is either sent in to the Team One Newport warehouse, or dropped off at the retail store, must be freshly laundered per manufacturer's care instructions. We will NOT accept any gear that is not clean.


2014: At 5:50 a.m., Darlene Shaver of Troy, Mont., became the first patient admitted into Cabinet Peaks Medical Center, a new, $40 million hospital in Libby, Mont. At 6:45 a.m., Cheryle Amos of Libby became the last patient discharged from St. John's Lutheran Hospital.
1747: The first venereal diseases clinic opened at London Lock Hospital.
1865: As the Civil War began winding down, Confederate general and traitor Robert E. Lee became general-in-chief.
1930: 3M began marketing Scotch Tape.
1958: The first American satellite, Explorer 1, was launched.
1990: The first McDonald's in the Soviet Union opened in Moscow.
2010: Avatar became the first film to gross over $2 billion worldwide.
1884: The first volume (A to Ant) of the Oxford English Dictionary was published.
1893: Thomas A. Edison finished construction of the first motion picture studio, the Black Maria, in West Orange, New Jersey.
2003: Space Shuttle Columbia on mission STS-107 disintegrated during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.
1653: New Amsterdam (later renamed The City of New York) was incorporated.
1887: The first Groundhog Day was observed, in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.
1914: Charlie Chaplin made his first film appearance in the movie Making a Living.
1925: Dog sleds reached Nome, Alaska, with diphtheria serum from Anchorage, inspiring the Iditarod race.
1935: Leonarde Keeler (1903-1949) tested the first polygraph machine, in Los Angeles, Calif.
1913: The Sixteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, authorizing the federal government to impose and collect an income tax.
1924: Thomas Woodrow Wilson (28th president, 1913-1921) died in Washington, D.C., at age 67.
1947: The lowest temperature in North America, minus 83.0 degrees F (63.9 degrees C) , was recorded in Snag, Yukon, Canada.
1995: Astronaut Eileen Collins became the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle as mission STS-63 launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
1789: George Washington was unanimously elected first president of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College, in the only unanimous electoral vote to date.
1861: Delegates from six seceded U.S. states met in Montgomery, Ala., and formed the traitorous Confederate States of America.
1902: Aviation pioneer Charles Augustus Lindberg was born in Detroit.
1913: Born this day: U.S. civil rights activist Rosa Parks (died 2005), and English race car driver Richard Seaman (died 1939).
2004: Facebook, an online social networking site, was launched by self-described hacker and thief Mark Zuckerberg.
1869: The largest alluvial gold nugget in history, called the "Welcome Stranger" weighing 3,123 ounces, was found in Moliagul, Victoria, Australia.
1976: The 1976 swine flu outbreak began at Fort Dix, N.J.


text:
Holiday in the Sun
For once, local racing has something to be thankful for.
by Dave McKenna December 5th, 2008 August 29th, 2020
Slot to Trot: Refenendum gives Maryland horseplayers new hope for their sport. Credit: Jim McCue, Maryland Jockey Club
Thanksgiving hasn't always meant only football. It used to mean horse racing, too. For some folks, it still means horse racing.
Nearly 6,000 people showed up at Laurel Park for the holiday card this year, lured by either racing tradition or all the free doughnuts, free coffee, and free pie.
Eliot Gunner, an Arlingtonian who grew up with racing at Massachusetts tracks, was among them.
"Thanksgiving always brings in a big crowd, and this year it's a very big crowd," says Gunner, a railbird who's been to a Maryland track every Thanksgiving, and essentially every weekend, since moving to the D.C. area in the 1980s. "A lot of them I haven't seen here before. And if I
don't recognize them, they're just here for the holiday."
Thanksgiving cards are as traditional as anything in racing, a sport that looks backward like no other.
Local newspaper archives show that the St. Asaph racetrack, a circuit in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, had the best Thanksgiving racing around here way back in the 1890s, with the stiffest competition coming from a track on Benning Road NE.
Thanksgiving used to regularly give Maryland racing its biggest day of the fall meet. On Turkey Day 1965, for instance, the Dixie Handicap attracted 18 entrants to Pimlico for the eighth-oldest stakes race in the country. That's the size of a Kentucky Derby field, and about three times as big as a typical race in Maryland these days.
It's not only the size of the fields that has shrunk around here. Though Thanksgiving remains on the schedule, total racing days are way down. In 1986, for example, there were 286 racing days in Maryland. This year, assuming no more weather cancellations, there will be just 164.
Those numbers are just one reason that Laurel Park, much like the entire sport, often seems to have only a past.
I used to work at the track in the 1990s, when I covered Maryland racing. The place was a time machine then, and it still is. Its retro ambiance is the result of inertia and a lack of money, not design.
Just one example of retroness among thousands: The elevator to the Laurel Park press box is manual, meaning it requires an elevator operator to close a cage and rotate a lever to get you upstairs or down.
This mode of transport went out of style about the same time as the steamboat. But the geezerly elevator, operator and all, blends right in at the racetrack.
The press box on the top floor of the track compound reeks of the past, too. There are huge piles of yellowed and ancient Racing Forms stacked on top of tables. Beneath these same tables are piles of metal film canisters, holding miles of footage from Laurel Park's glory days.
The stash would be a gold mine for a racing historian, since many of the containers are labeled "DC International." That was a premier turf stakes race held here from 1952 to 1994 that every year attracted crowds of about 40,000 and the top racing talent in the world. The International fields boasted hall-of-fame horses like Kelso; jockeys like Lester Piggott, Eddie Arcaro, and Steve Cauthen; and trainers including Bill Mott and Woody Stephens. There's also a chance the unkempt footage pile contains shots of Secretariat, the Babe Ruth of horses, who as a pre-iconic two-year-old won the Laurel Futurity here in October 1972.
But even if Maryland racing ain't what it was, those still in the game found themselves looking forward a little more this Thanksgiving.
This new outlook all comes from Election Day, when an overwhelming majority of Maryland voters checked "Yes" on Question 2, a referendum to allow as many as 15,000 slot machines at up to five locations in the state.
That result came after what to the racing element seems like a lifetime of lobbying. Though purses in the state have been hurting for years, one racing group, the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, took $400,000 out of the purse fund and put it toward the slots lobbying effort.
During the campaign, thoroughbred racing analysts claimed that within four years the new gambling revenues would add as much as $60 million to racing purses at state tracks.
But the positive impact that slots could have on the racing industry had never swayed voters before. So this time around, despite all the racing dollars involved in the campaign, the pro slots faction downplayed horses as much as possible. There were plenty of posters and bumper stickers left over from the slots referendum still at the track on Thanksgiving Day, but they featured pictures of schoolbooks and apples over slogans such as "Fund Maryland Education, Slots Yes."
In the end, the vote wasn't even close: Slots won 59–41, with every county in
the state approving the installation of one-arm bandits.
The racing folks' war over slots isn't yet won, however. The five slots licenses won't be granted until August. And while everybody in the horse crowd expects that at least one of the two biggest tracks in the state, Laurel Park and Pimlico, will land a license, these are folks who remember what happened to Barbaro at Pimlico—they know there's no such thing as a sure thing in racing.
Laurel Park will be vying for the slots license reserved for an applicant in Anne Arundel County. There are rumors that Peter Angelos, owner of the Orioles and at one time as politically connected as anybody in the state, might try to acquire land in the county to launch a competing bid. Laurel Park and Angelos can't both get that license.
"Everybody expects us to be all hip-hip-hooray now, just because slots passed," says Mike Gathagan, spokesperson for the Maryland Jockey Club, which runs Laurel Park and Pimlico. "But we're just past step one, with the vote. There's a lot of work still."
If Laurel Park is indeed named one of the slots compounds next summer, Gathagan says, it will have the machines "up and running" at the track in nine months.
Hardcore racing fans, like Gunner, don't give a rip about having slots at Laurel Park, unless that's the only way to keep their favorite pastime alive in the state. Gunner says he'll be back at the track next Thanksgiving as long as there's racing, even without slots—or free doughnuts, coffee, and pie.
"Sometimes, the free pie can be expensive," he said, three pieces into a giveaway apple confection and counting his gambling losses for the holiday. "This year, it cost me about $60."


I am AikA, which in Japanese means: "The Sweet Scent of Affection." I find my joy in giving love to people. My goal is to become a ray of sunshine to the people around me. I originally hail from Kanagawa, Japan, and I have lived here in Seattle since 2008.
I started this blog back in 2011, but I had not updated it regularly despite my passion for fashion and my desire to chase my fashion dreams. Then, I lost everything in 2013. I still clearly remember how devastated I was. I wasn't able to eat anything and was struggling to find my way to truly live. But throughout it all, fashion was always part of me. I never lost the will to dress up. And when I dressed up, I felt relieved and happy inside of myself. It was then that I had an epiphany: Fashion *is* my life!!!! I was convinced that this was really the time I had been given to take a shot to reach for my dreams that had been in my heart and to get REALLY serious about sharing my fashion in the world... After that everything has changed. I am happier now than ever in my life.
That's why I have made my life is ALL about fashion. Find what fulfills you, brings you peace and happiness, grab on and don't let go! More importantly.... "Don't EVER give up on your dreams! Never too late to pursue them!" I started this blogging journey when I was 27.
I want to inspire others through my style and fashion and also want to teach people that styling can help you look better and boost your inner confidence. Fashion is about how it makes you feel inside, not just about how others perceive you. I am only 5"/ 154cm with short legs and a long torso, so I used to feel inferior to my body... Yet, I now embrace who I am because I know how I 'style' myself to make me feel confident and look way better than I actually think.
I am always changing up my fashion/style because I don't want to restrict myself to one category. You will be noticing my hair color and hair style is also changing. I want to be able to pull off *ANY* kind of style while remaining who I am. Thus, I consider my style 'diverse and versatile.' Still, because I am heavily inspired by both American and Japanese cultures, I've striven to crate a fusion of American style and Japanese style that works on "both" continents as my signature. Most of all, I strive for a fashion that inspires "uniqueness."
That's what it's all about here in AikA's Love♥ Closet!!!


text:
Dělení na spolkové státy se používá ve více státech:

 Německé spolkové země – vyšší územně správní celky ve Spolkové republice Německo
 Rakouské spolkové země – vyšší územně správní celky v Rakouské republice
 Švýcarské kantony – vyšší územně správní celky ve Švýcarsku
 Spolkové státy Venezuely – vyšší územně správní celky ve Venezuele
 Spolkové státy Brazílie – vyšší územně správní celky v Brazílii
 Spolkové státy Mexika – vyšší územně správní celky v Mexiku
 Spolkové státy USA – vyšší územně správní celky v USA
 Spolkové státy Austrálie - vyšší územně správní celky v Austrálii

V minulosti
 Spolkové země Výmarské republiky - vyšší územně správní celky ve Výmarské republice

Související články
 Spolková země
 Federace


Character pages are simple. They tell us what your character can do, ability-wise, along with any items they may possess.
[b]Affiliation:[/b] Pirate, Marine, Bounty hunter, or something else?
[b]Crew:[/b] What is the name of your crew? If you are just beginning, None is acceptable. If you have a bounty, you NEED a crew name, even if it is just you.
[b]Bounty:[/b] Leave this blank when beginning, you will earn bounties later.
[b]Rank:[/b] Shichibukai? Rookie? Yonko? Admiral? Things of that nature.
[b]Tier:[/b] The tier you are currently at.
[b]Skills:[/b] Please list all skills your character has.
[b]Items:[/b] Please list, and link to all items your character has. Ships go on the Captain's page.


How do we learn the art of disguise?
Uli Lenart from Gay's the Word bookshop writes about hiding in the open for fear of being called different. To celebrate the International Day Against Homophobia/Biphobia and Transphobia Polari Magazine is publishing a series of stories from its writers about homophobic, transphobic and biphobic incidents.


Ah, Valley Forge National Historical Park, the Central Park of the Main Line.
Walk, ride or hike its 3,500 acres and you can just smell the history.
But the Park's not resting on its cherry laurels these days.
1. A TV show. Star fixer-upper Jeff Devlin, host of "Stone House Revival" on HGTV/DIY Network wants to film six episodes in the park and forge an ongoing partnership.
His plan/hope, still in the very early stages: Renovate some of the park's antiquated digs with cameras rolling and strict historical accuracy. To do it, though, he says he'll need help from the surrounding community and businesses. The buildings are in sorry shape and the Park doesn't have the funds to maintain them.
Jeff hangs his hat in West Chester but likes to stretch his cycling legs in Valley Forge. "You ride around here and don't realize the reality of historic homes buried in the woods," Jeff tells SAVVY. "We hope we can make a big difference – once we start the process, we'd replicate it again and again, even without the TV show." He's fine-tuning his pitch to network execs as we speak. So cool. But it'll be a while.
Valley Forge National Historical Park is historically significant as the site of the 1777-78 winter encampment of the Continental Army under General George Washington. Each year, it welcomes over two million visitors who enjoy visiting the historical buildings and learning the significance of this place in the Revolutionary War.
According to the park's Friends group, however, visitors come to the park not just for the history but for the landscape.
"People love to come here because it's a big, beautiful green space in the middle of sprawling suburbia," said Molly Duffy, Executive Director for the Valley Forge Park Alliance. In addition to numerous historic sites, the 3,500 acre park has forests, wetlands, tall-grass meadows, open fields and 26 miles of hike and bike trails.
The park also sits close to major highways, such as the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and near crossroads that serve a large commuter population. In addition, the surrounding area includes a plethora of apartments, shopping centers and corporate headquarters.


I really like these panels for some reason. Especially the middle one. She just looks kind of thoughtful and forlorn. Plus, I think we all know that feeling of not being able to sleep through a whole night in a strange bed because of the sheer unfamiliarity of it.
I have to agree with the above poster on the emotions in this page. The middle panel is very striking, with the droplets on the glass, the bed behind her, and Beauty standing there, hair a mess, her weight shifting, her arms crossed - it's wonderful. Also, this may be the first time we have foot focus in this comic. I have a friend who would be horrified. She has this thing about feet (chuckles).
Now the question is, will Beauty wait out the storm or go wandering through the halls? Maybe spy the Beast doing the same? Unless the chapter is about to end. I guess we'll see!
This chapter is quite a bit longer than the first two! I decided to let it follow its own rhythm rather than trying to mimic a 22-page issue style.
Toes and toes, Oh my!
A wild wet night passes by.
I love her bare feet. And her loose hair... Poor Beauty.
I was looking for samples of comics to show to a class I have and stumbled across yours. Delightful to say the least. I had to go to the beginning to read the whole of it. You use the space so well and the light and dark spaces are great. I just received a lesson in comics in a different class that I am taking. Wonderful to view yours. Thank you for the clean story plot and the fresh outlook on a classic tale.
I'm absolutely flattered! Thank you so much, I derly! I hope you'll keep reading along and commenting!
I have such a sense of the openness of that room...and how alone Beauty is in it. Whereas the darkness in the last page felt intimate, safe and warm after her nightmare, in this page it feels cavernous, full of echoey corners and empty space. Very cool!
This is definitely a solemn page - you get the sense of how alone and in the dark Beauty feels. As Kim M said, the space feels almost cavernous, with Beauty looking out the opening - the window - and being driven back in by what she sees/hears. I especially love the water droplets on the glass, as I said before.
In scenes like this, there's often a panel including the forlorn character's thoughts. Here, you use the silence so well. We already know the mother is a touchy subject, and the dream itself was quite intimidating. No more words were needed...for this page, anyway.
Beauty is scared of a little thunder!
It's cute how she does the "eek!"
This whole panel is so full of meaning and emotions. Beautiful.


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How do i make a Railgun style effect with a raycast shot?
Im having problems with creating a railgun style beam, i've looked into into and to no avail and with line rendering it seems like i need to add a pointless object . My gun shoots, applies force and has spark and explosions effects....BUT.... i would really like to have a glowing beam when i shoot.
It is difficult to understand what you want here. LineRenderer or TrailRenderer seems like what you would want. Don't understand the "pointless object" reference.
Could you post a screenshot of what you had in mind? Also it is not clear if you need help with the scripting, or creating the 3d asset, or all. Do you need shaders as well?
ikelaiah thats the thing im not to sure wether i need a script or what... and as for the "pointess object" i mean i have my script that fires a ray cast. it hits objects, applies force to rigid bodies, etc but everywhere ive looked if i want a beam i need to add a tiny bullet like object (which i dont want "hence pointless")with the renderer attached to that.
wel after 3 days of searching and countless attach to an object.... I DID SUCH A THING! :P wasn't as much a pain as i thought. i took gravity off and removed colliders.
Please can you explain how you did it?
I would love to get the solution to this, as I've been searching around for hours n hours n hours with no result. I did something with trail renderer and it looks so poor. Look at my own question for more info!


text:
New York⋅Los Angeles⋅Canada⋅Hawaii⋅Mexico⋅San Francisco⋅Las Vegas
North America Destination Guide
Big, bold and brash; North America captivates with its intoxicating charm
From the big cities of the United States to the sparse wildnerness of Canada and the beach-studded coastlines of Mexico, there are countless reasons visitors continue to flock to North America in large numbers. Stroll the familiar city streets of New York and Los Angeles, discover the wildlife of Canada's wild interior or simply brush up on your Spanish in sprawling Mexico in what is a truly beguiling part of the world. Plot your journey with the help of this North America travel guide.
Banff-Lake Louise
English is the official language of North America's largest country, the United States, while it's the predominant language in Canada – where French is also spoken. Elsewhere Spanish is the most widely spoken language, with Mexico and many of the neighbouring island states speaking Spanish as their official language.
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Hundreds of Essential Words and Phrases for Every Situation
French » | Spanish »
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Copyright © 2013 Living Language, a Division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
A region of unyielding diversity
The continent of North America stretches from the snowfields of Canada, down through the mountains peaks and deserts of the United States and all the way to the glistening turquoise beaches of Mexico. It's a continent diverse in people, language, landscape and cuisine. With this in mind, there are all kinds of North America holiday packages with options for everyone from the most simple to most elaborate holidaymaker. Follow this North America travel guide, point your compass in the right direction and plan your own voyage to the New World.
Starting in the Great White North, magnificent Canada is known for its iconic red maple leaves, majestic Rocky Mountains, French-infused east and Inuit heritage. Active travellers and outdoor enthusiasts will find much to do here, from hiking and hockey to skiing and snowboarding across the alpine landscapes. Strap on a pack and discover the prairies, or paddle across emerald-green glacial lakes and explore the far reaches of the Yukon.
Canada's major cities Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto will impress and delight with their sophisticated urban atmospheres, embracing dining, shopping and entertainment scenes in a big way with a side order of charming history. Before heading to the States, be sure to visit Ontario and stand in the splash zone at the spectacular Niagara Falls.
Big city lights, small town delights
The United States are incredibly vast with such an array of attractions you will be hard-pressed to pick just a few. Among the quintessential American sights are the Grand Canyon in Arizona, Mount Rushmore in South Dakota and Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. History buffs will enjoy a visit to Florida's St Augustine, the oldest European-established settlement in the US, while lovebirds might consider a glittering celebration of their nuptials in Las Vegas followed by a honeymoon across the Pacific in Hawaii.
Explore the USA's rich artistic and historical culture at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met), the Guggenheim or the Smithsonian in Washington DC, also home to a pretty iconic white house, you know the one. Experience a taste of glamour on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, or indulge your nostalgia with a trip to Disneyland in nearby Anaheim.
South of the border, colourful Mexico complements its sun-soaked beaches with a laidback vibe, offering a smorgasbord of mouth-watering food and mariachi music. In Mexico City, the third-largest city in the world, discover the ancient culture of the Mayans and Aztecs and peruse the celebrated artwork of Frida Kahlo at her former home and workplace, La Casa Azul (the Blue House). Otherwise, simply relax on the beaches of the Yucatan Peninsula or party until dawn in legendary Cancun. Bags packed already? Check out our cheap flights to North America and make your way from Toronto to Tampa to Tijuana!
When the temperatures start to drop and the snowflakes form, North American ski resorts open their doors and welcome visitors en masse. Dedicated ski resorts in Canada and the US are impressively large, recognised as some of the best winter escapes in the world. The familiar names of Vail, Aspen, Big White and Whistler come to mind, but what about Alyeska in Alaska, Crested Butte, Colorado, or Quebec's Laurentides region? Whether you're a verified powderhound or yet to find your snow legs, a winter holiday in North America is not complete without a little skiing, boarding, skating or a good old fashioned snowball fight. Big, small, romantic or family-friendly, there are countless chateaus and alpine villages that invite you to enjoy a white Christmas, and maybe a snow-capped New Year too.
A multicultural feast
Put down the calorie counter and step away from the entree-sized salad; broaden your tastes by taking a bite out of North America's flavourful cities. Food tourism is big business in the States with many travellers lead by their stomachs, eating their way from coast to coast. San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and New Orleans top the list of beloved restaurant cities, serving up everything from trademark Yankee hotdogs and hamburgers to gourmet gumbos and couture cupcakes. In Canada, gorging yourself on maple bacon is a must while poutine, thick-cut fries smothered in warm gravy and cheese curd, is a staple dish not to miss. Beyond tacos and tequila, Mexican cuisine is some of the freshest and most flavoursome on the continent. Sample the region's seafood (shrimp, fish, octopus and more) before enjoying a dessert of churros smothered in velvety chocolate sauce.
Immerse yourself in North American sports culture by joining the crowds of passionate fans cheering on their favourite teams from the bleachers. Watching American "gridiron" Football is a unique experience, coming to a climax with the annual championship game, the Superbowl. Catch a baseball game at the iconic Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Yankee Stadium, New York City, or Wrigley Field in Chicago and enjoy the national pastime with a hot dog in hand. If names like the Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls and LA Lakers resonate with you, make sure you work a basketball game into your travel itinerary – for a once in a lifetime experience, see the Knicks play a home game at Madison Square Garden. Canada's most popular spectator sport, ice hockey, is as entertaining as it is exhilarating, while in Mexico lucha libre wrestling and bullfighting are experiences not to be missed.
North America is a destination that warrants many return visits to truly appreciate its diversity and, thanks to Flight Centre's affordable flights to North America, you can do just that! Whether it's your first trip or you have lost count, you will always discover something new. With port cities aplenty, North America is an excellent destination to start or finish off a cruise holiday. Travel the west or east coasts of the States aboard a luxury liner, journey north to the untamed wilderness of Alaska, swap the glaciers for big wave surf in sunny Hawaii or dock at one of the beautiful beachside resort towns in Mexico.
Being such a varied and multifaceted destination, it only makes sense that we would offer a great assortment of holiday packages too. With flights and accommodation packaged together, you can save time, money and stress knowing your holiday is in the hands of the professionals. We might even sneak in bonus nights, discounted tours and complimentary breakfasts where we can! Speaking of tours, if you're wondering where to start on your North American adventure, consider booking a tour of the must-see sights.
Make your way across the grand United States on your own timetable with a hire car. Get your kicks on Route 66, as they say, travel south of the border or explore the great white of Canada from Newfoundland to British Columbia. Whether you're up for a long haul drive or just need to get from Point A to Point B, hiring a car can offer you a sense of independence in the land of the free.
Hawaii or Alaska?
Whether you're after leisure, excitement or both, Hawaii and Alaska have something for every traveller if they're willing to venture a little off the beaten track.
Iconic Eats in the USA
Whatever you're in the mood for, America's menu doesn't disappoint with hearty servings and trademark tastes across the land of plenty.
Mexico's Rivieras
Beyond the big name beach towns like Veracruz and Acapulco lie two stretches of Mexican coast, ideal for swimming, snorkelling and sunbathing away from the masses.
Canada's Top 4 Festivals
Canada is forever flaunting its festival spirit, playing host to an assortment of internationally celebrated events from rodeos to comedy shows and independent film showcases.
Classic American Road Trips
The rambling roads of the USA overflow with potential adventure, urging travellers to turn the radio up and roll the windows down.
Great Lakes of the Midwest
Once dominated by agriculture and manufacturing, the Midwest's rust-belt moniker has fallen by the wayside in favour of a new identity as a lake-laced outdoor playground.
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Your attempted Cajun accent was adorable. This is a great looking figure. I may have to get one for myself. You should have him posed on top of Sabretooth all the time. I wish he was the third Summers brother instead of Vulcan (or worse, Adam-X the X-Treme).


Today's responses are contributed by educators Pia LIndquist Wong, Rufus Thompson, Gail L. Thompson, Yvette Jackson, Veronica McDermott, Karen Baptiste, Joseph F. Johnson, Jr., Cynthia L. Uline, and Lynne G. Perez.
You can also listen to a ten-minute conversation I had with Pia, Yvette and Karen on my BAM! Radio Show. In addition, you might want to check out previous shows that have covered the same topic -- one with Angel Cintron and Paul Bruno and the other with Barnett Berry and Ilana Garon.
These schools are often severely under-resourced, especially in the "resources" that matter like effective leadership, collaborative and productive teams of smart- and hard-working teachers in it for the long haul, appropriate materials (especially when so many materials are mass-produced and created for a more White and affluent context), adequate, flexible and responsive programming (from courses offered to enrichment programs to supplemental/remedial programs). They often exist in highly politicized urban districts where decision-making is fractious and policy-makers prioritize other goals above the intellectual, social and emotional needs of students. In this setting, most teachers will work hard just to survive; they will quickly leave for places where they have a higher likelihood of thriving.
Teachers in urban schools daily encounter students who are under-prepared, students who appear to be uninterested in their own development and future, contentious relationships between school personnel and families/community members, etc. Having neither a nuanced understanding of the historical and political factors that produced "a" above, nor a deep appreciation of identity formation, multiculturalism and diversity, teachers can easily frame these serious issues as the result of individual deficits and defects, shaped by family dysfunctions rather than as expressions of the basic inequities, inequalities and power dynamics of a post-industrial, capitalist economy. With these assumptions in play, many teachers in high poverty urban schools struggle to develop relationships with their students and to respect, understand, empathize with and/or believe in them. When these connections are not present, teachers will seek them elsewhere.
Work on the pipeline of new teachers: create robust, articulated pathways between urban schools (middle and high schools especially) and undergraduate and teacher preparation programs. These sectors need to be in continual dialogue so that they are mutually supporting. We need more graduates of urban schools - from all cultural and language groups - returning to teach in them. For those unfamiliar with urban realities, we need to offer extensive, varied, and well-guided/well-structured experiences in urban schools so that they feel comfortable in these settings and so that they can develop a more sophisticated understanding of their complexities and how to operate successfully within them.
1. Make personnel decisions that recognize schools as communities and ecological systems where each member and his/her assets must be tailored to the needs of each site and the other members of that community.
2. Give teams of educators the appropriate resources to support successful collaboration, effective innovation and investments of professional time, energy and expertise geared towards on-going student success (coming to school, staying in school, being engaged in school activities, taking challenging courses, earning respectable grades).
3. Select programs wisely, implement them carefully, measure them using appropriate metrics and timelines, and study them to see if they are working. Stay the course if something is successful, study it so the reasons for its success can be replicated.
Advocate for broad based partnerships that bring educational resources together with the other resources/conditions needed for healthy youth development - physical and mental health care, stable housing, safe/non-violent communities, and workforce/internship experiences.
There are two main reasons why teachers avoid or leave urban and high-poverty public schools. First, although they have high hopes and are optimistic when they enter the teaching profession, many teachers quickly become overwhelmed by the realities they face. Second, many teacher training programs fail to adequately prepare teachers in key areas that would, undoubtedly, improve their teaching experiences. Results from the recently published "Teacher Confidence Study" (TC Study), offer clues about these specific areas.
In the TC Study, which we described in "Yes, You Can! Advice for Teachers Who Want a Great Start and a Great Finish With Their Students of Color," 293 K-12 teachers rated their levels of confidence about numerous teaching-related topics. The five areas where teachers were most likely to lack confidence pertained to (1) students' race, (2) students' academic skills, (3) parents' race, (4) parents' language skills, and (5) classroom management.
In terms of race, teachers were less likely to state that they were "very confident" about their ability to effectively teach African American students, especially African American males, than any other racial or ethnic group of students. Similarly, they were less likely to feel "very confident" about working with African American parents than any other racial or ethnic group of parents, but when race was excluded, English Language Learner (ELL) parents constituted the group with whom teachers were least confident about working. Furthermore, only 40% of the teachers stated that they were "very confident" about working with students who have poor math skills, only 36% rated themselves as "very confident" about working effectively with struggling readers, and only 43% rated themselves as being "very confident" about their classroom management skills.
These results suggest that teacher preparation programs and professional development providers can boost teachers' confidence, and consequently, their teaching efficacy, by targeting these areas. In the current high-stakes testing and standards-focused era, "race" and the educational needs of historically under-served students, such as African Americans, Latinos, and low-income students are often minimized or ignored through a "one-size fits all" curriculum model. Nevertheless, for decades, researchers have emphasized that a culturally relevant curriculum is necessary and can benefit all students, including Whites. Therefore, today, in order to close achievement gaps and empower teachers, equipping them with culturally-relevant-standards-based reading and math strategies is crucial.
Teachers also need specific training in strengthening their relations with parents, especially African American and ELL parents. In terms of communicating with ELL parents, teachers can learn to use translators, online translation programs, and learn basic words and phrases in the parents' language. However, improving their relations with African American parents and also African American students will require (1) a fundamental mindset change for teachers that results in an examination and eradication of negative stereotypes, (2) the realization that most African American parents and their children value a good education, and (3) a commitment to treat these parents and students as respectfully and with the same high expectations that they have for White middle-class students.
Finally, teachers need classroom management strategies that will enable them to develop strong, positive relationships with students; learn the differences between major versus minor misbehavior; respond appropriately to student disrespect, disruptions, apathy, and failure to follow class rules; explore other discipline options besides sending students to the office; and most important, to create a classroom management plan that allows teachers to spend the majority of class time on instruction.
When individuals who train prospective teachers and professional development providers devote more time to equipping teachers with strong classroom management skills and additional information, skills, and strategies that will help them work more effectively with the students of color who are most likely to underachieve and be labeled as "discipline problems," with students who struggle with reading and/or math, and with African American and ELL parents, undoubtedly, fewer teachers will avoid or leave urban and low-income public schools.
Teachers don't leave high poverty urban districts; they are exiled, like many of their students. To be exiled means to be sent from your place of belonging. Teachers and students belong in school, reaping the reciprocal joy of discovery, the emotional high of building competence and confidence, the pleasure of pushing each other to the frontiers of their intelligence.
Teachers aspire to make a difference. Urban teachers are often systematically denied the stimulation, excitement and reward that comes from learning and teaching in a sanction free, monitor free, and stress free environment. The result: they leave in disappointed, disillusioned droves. Some cast these educational exiles as burned out, a term suggestive of personal failing. Instead, we believe they are burned by a system that has failed them - and their students. Every time an idealistic, enthusiastic, caring teacher flees the system for self-preservation, the system has committed another crime of squandered potential.
The crime of squandered potential can be eradicated. Fearless leadership helps.
Fearless leaders choose to be fearless. They work with others to mutually rekindle the passion that brought them to education in the first place, and to loudly and boldly rewrite with their students and families the delimiting and deficit-laden narrative that has been written about them. Like architects, they redesign the narrative and rebuild the spirit, highlighting the unseen innate intellectual potential and strengths of their students, teachers and communities.
Like a soul friend, who knows you better than yourself, they explain with clarity and precision the debilitating and soul shattering effects of poverty, constant stress, and an unrelenting litany of negativity. They speak out about policies that strip hope, optimism and opportunity from the learning experiences of students who are made to feel school dependent. Like muses, they deliberately, unabashedly and persistently support each other to set as their intention the foundational principles and motivating beliefs of the Pedagogy of Confidence®, the fearless expectation and support for all students to achieve high intellectual performance (HIP). Fearless leaders are ministers, or go betweens. They provide what is necessary for teachers to employ transformative High Operational Practices. These HOPs enable teachers to mediate from strengths, to affirm belief in the capacity of their students for high intellectual performance, and to develop skills for students to demonstrate high performance and achieve personal agency.
With affirming, inspiring, mediating leadership, schools co-create an oasis where students and teachers aim for HIP, employ consistent High Operational Practices, and live and learn in an environment of hope. HIP HOP HOPE- the antidote to being exiled.
Once upon a time, we prepared scholars from K-12; we now prepare them from cradle to career. While some districts have embraced this evolution and provided adequate training and resources, others continue to argue their plight, resulting in high teacher turn-over and burn out rates.
1. Lack of social-emotional services: There has been a significant increase in the suspension rates for African American and Hispanic males. Where are the restorative practices to break the vicious school to prison pipeline? Unfortunately, high poverty schools lack high-quality wraparound services in the form of medical care, mental health and nutrition - schools that offer these and other community services that address the whole child fare better.
Some of the controversial policies that have been created, such as No Child Left Behind, still have residual effects of students being left behind more than ever. Over the last century, our country has failed to address federal policies that have manifested into deep seeded issues of institutionalized racism that has ultimately affected the advancement of Black and Latino males. For example, UCLA conducted a nationwide study that reported 24 percent of black males at the secondary school level were suspended during the 2009-2010 school year, at least once, compared to seven percent of white students. Another study in 2013 conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that scholars who were suspended in ninth grade lowered their chances of graduating by 20 percent.
2. Sparse resources: With decades-old policy and practices in place, educators struggle with effectively implementing research-based, 21st century learning. Teachers in high poverty schools leave the profession because financial resources are dwindling as mandates and blame increase. Leaders have to be innovative, flexible, and implement a sustainable vision. We know that schools have to do more with less, and this can be done through partnerships with businesses, successful schools, and educational institutions; grant applications; and most importantly, creating a community of trust, respect and support.
3. Parental accountability: The old adage, "It takes a village to raise a child" goes a long way, especially in struggling schools. Research shows that schools with high failure rates also have low parental involvement. Educators must find ways to account for parents' varying schedules - many of whom may hold multiple jobs - and meet with them to discuss their child's progress and how the parent can get involved in the learning and planning process. Some examples may be sending newsletters home in the parents' native language or having parent-led multicultural events.
4. Adequate professional learning: In some schools and districts, professional learning has become a time for teachers to gather to hear announcements, grade papers, or discuss disruptive scholars. Professional learning should be sacred time set aside where educators come together to share best practices and receive training that is designed around adult-learning principles and differentiated to their needs where they receive ongoing follow-up.
5. Support for teachers: The U.S. Department of Education reported that 40-60% of teachers don't feel appreciated. Although school leaders are under pressure to produce results, it's their obligation to encourage, build capacity and include teachers in the decision-making process. Teachers want to feel supported, heard, and provided with resources and training necessary to do the job. In failing schools, the blame is usually placed on teachers for not teaching enough, or not planning lessons that are rigorous enough. School leaders must create ways to support teachers in and outside the school building through professional learning communities where teachers are encouraged, involved, and most of all, empowered.
The National Center for Urban School Transformation (NCUST) has identified some (albeit few) high-achieving schools that serve low-income communities where teachers rarely leave. Often these impressive schools are in the same districts, with the same salary schedules, school board policies, crime rates, and other community challenges as schools with rapidly revolving personnel doors. So perhaps, the question, "Why do teachers leave high-poverty schools?" can best be answered by considering, "Why do teachers in some high-poverty schools choose to stay?"
NCUST has found that teachers in high-performing urban schools share a sense of accomplishment. Regularly school leaders acknowledge and celebrate the large and small learning gains they help students achieve. In contrast, often in more typical schools, large and small gains go unnoticed. The only news is bad news, and teachers perceive little evidence that their substantial efforts make a difference.
Also, in high-performing urban schools, we've found a wonderful team spirit among educators. Teachers are less likely to feel like they are independent contractors who must struggle to survive on their own. Instead, they benefit from rich collaborations that help them plan, solve pedagogical problems, and learn from each other. Teacher turnover is low, in part, because teachers perceive that they are members of a powerful team that is likely to make a positive difference for students.
Relatedly, in high-performing urban schools, teachers feel like they have strong support from their administrators and colleagues. Even though leaders in these schools have high expectations for teachers, leaders also expect themselves to create a learning culture in which teachers believe they have a strong likelihood of success.
Paul Batalden, a Dartmouth professor, has said, "Every system is perfectly designed to achieve the results it gets." In high-performing urban schools, systems are structured so that teachers feel a sense of mission, belonging, and accomplishment.. Leaders ensure that teachers receive high quality support through the many challenges associated with urban education. With this quality of systemic support, teachers stay. How can we help make sure that all urban schools are similarly designed to achieve high teacher retention rates?
Thanks to Pia, Rufus, Gail, Yvette, Veronica, Karen, Joseph, Cynthia, and Lynne for their contributions!
Please feel free to leave a comment your reactions to the topic or directly to anything that has been said in this post. I'll be including comments from readers in my next post.


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Q: Magento2: Calculate second option over base price + first option Goal:
I am looking for an integration that calculates a second custom option over the base price + first option. The product is a simple product.
Problem Example:
Base price of a simple product = $100.
Then we get to Option A.
S = 0
M = 10
So if we select M, the new price is going to be 100 + 10 = 110.
Then we get to Option B. Option B adds
No = 0%
Yes = 10%.
Under normal Magento2 circumstances it just adds another $10 because 10% of 100. Thus making it 100 + 10 + 10 = 120.
However i was wondering if any modules makes it possible to calculate option B based on base price + option A.
Thus in example: Option A we select M. This makes it 100 + 10. Then we get to option B, select Yes, and it calculates 10% over the total at that moment = 110 x 10% = 11.
This would make the total 110 + 11 = 121.
What I have done so far:

*

*Look if configurable products solve this. However when you build a configurable product, percent options get disabled.

*Looked at several module vendors, but I have not been able to find one that support this (yet). Absolute pricing does not seem to affect additional percentage options

*Tried to find earlier stackexchange topics, but it seems very limited

What would be helpful: Suggestions for modules that support this and/or development tips/tricks/workarounds to make this possible

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Ace Dragon Ltd
Theme: Adventure
Authors: Russell Hoban
Illustrators: Quentin Blake
By Russell Hoban
Illustrated by Quentin Blake
A fire-breathing dragon takes a boy on a fantastic sky-high adventure in this irresistible Hoban and Blake classic.
From the inimitable duo of Russell Hoban and Quentin Blake, the pair behind the hilarious tales of Captain Najork, comes a story about a little boy, a fire-breathing dragon, and their sky-high adventure! "I can make fire come out of my nose and mouth," the dragon under the pavement tells John. "I can fly. I can spin gold into straw if you have any gold." John doesn't have any gold – and he doesn't need any straw. (Not yet, anyway.) The dragon tells John that if he fights the dragon and wins, the dragon will take him flying." What a challenge! Where will it lead? John soon finds out – and he also finds out that you just never know when a bundle of straw might come in handy… With sword-flashing excitement, a moon landing and plenty of magic, this irresistible page-turner is brought back into print in a bigger format – and a beautiful, more colourful, new edition.
Enormous appeal to boys' and girls' sense of adventure.
A page-turning winner by perennial favourites Russell Hoban and Quentin Blake.
Fire-breathing dragon, sword-flashing excitement, moon landing, magic, home!
Russell Hoban is the author of many famous novels, including Turtle Diary and Riddley Walker, which won the John W. Campbell Award for science fiction. He also wrote over 50 children's books, including such classics as The Mouse and His Child, The Sea-Thing Child, The Twenty Elephant Restaurant, Jim's Lion, Soonchild and, most recently, Rosie's Magic Horse. Born in Pennsylvania in 1925, he moved in 1969 to London, where he lived until his death in 2011.
Quentin Blake is one of the world's foremost illustrators, particularly renowned for his collaboration with writers such as Russell Hoban, Michael Rosen, Joan Aiken and Roald Dahl. His books have won numerous awards, including the Whitbread Prize, the Kate Greenaway Medal and the Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration. In 1999 he was appointed the first Children's Laureate, in 2005 was created a CBE and in 2013 received a knighthood for his services to illustration. He lives in South West London. Find Quentin online at www.quentinblake.com and on twitter as @QuentinBlakeHQ.


After 14 years Toomas Meister has decided that he will leave the company. Toomas will do his last day in the group on the 20th of February 2018.
We would like to thank Toomas for his deeds and achievements during this time and wish him all the best with his future tasks.
We are also happy to announce that Roomet Soome will take the position as MD in Tartu and we are looking forward to be working with him in this new assignment.


From today I will start a small series with images from China. I've got quite a few images from our trip in 2011 and I have never really managed to get the ready to show them here on Images by Bay. Now is the time!
We traveled around for one and a month going from Hong Kong, Guilin, Yangshou, Fenghuang Ancient City, Zhangjiajie National Park, Shanghai and finally Huangshan (Yellow Mountain). We experienced so many things – from dog slaughter to some of the most beautiful places in China. And people of the worst kind to very kind ones that helped making the trip a great experience. We traveled through very rural parts to very modern cities like Shanghai. All through the journey the mood could change excited and happy to very moody and sad – China seems to have it all the sweets, the sad, the happy and the tragic.
The image of the orange umbrella was captured on a small visit to Huangshan Tunxi Old Street in China. The street is 1.5 kilometers long and narrow on both sides it is lined by long lines of shops. The shops used to be famous like Tongderen – a Chinese traditional medicine shop established in the Qing Dynasty with a history of over 120 years. Today there are cafes, restaurants and souvenir shops – It's not much to be excited about but it is still a nice place to rest and enjoy a cup of coffee and spend a few hours watching tourist walking past and trying to make a good bargain.
The photograph was captured with the Canon 5D Mark II and the Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 lens.
I hope you will enjoy the images and stories from China.


Urban were approached by the Gold Coast City Council (GCCC) to recreate a timber setting that had been destroyed when hit by a car. Located in the Burleigh Precinct, this setting was originally designed and created by a local artist for Council.
Gold Coast City Council wanted the re-creation of the setting to be as close as possible to the original. What we were given to work with was two small images and some broken pieces of timber from the old setting as a guide.
Armed only with the images and the pieces of old broken timber, the team at Urban set about to recreate a setting that would replicate (as close as possible) the original piece.
The end result was a strong, sturdy replica setting made from quality timber and treated with a double stain and high quality coating for durability. Urban installed the setting in its original Burleigh Precinct location to be enjoyed by both the locals and visitors.


I know this is normal for the first 5 to 10 min when car is first started in the colder mornings, but after complete antifreeze flush, now it takes more than 15 min before Idle is back to normal. This is kind of dangerous as I have to apply the brakes harder than usual at red lites to prevent the car from rolling forward.
I check antifreeze levels and bled the system a few times to get rid of any air, but still takes too long to idle to get back to normal until fully warm.
Any input is greatly appreciated .
It would sound that there is still some air left in the cooling system.
The best way to track this down is to go round with a laser temperature gun and measure at points all around the system.
Thank you Trevor. I will report back asap.


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Maryland: Photo Shows Likely Neglect and Abuse at Humane Society of Carroll County
Photo: Missy, a little Sheltie who suffers from pancreatic insufficiency and requires digestive enzymes in order to digest food, appears to have been neglected to death at the Humane Society of Carroll County.
A story that we have been following since February took a tragic turn yesterday when Missy's owner was contacted by the Humane Society of Carroll County, asking her permission to euthanize her dog.
Missy's owner wrote on Facebook, "Yesterday, I was called to the shelter, because Missy had collapsed. They wanted me to authorize euthanizing her."
Missy's owner refused to authorize euthanasia, and, instead wanted medical care provided to her suffering dog. She snapped this picture of Missy, documenting her condition. In the photo, you can clearly see that her fur is matted and discolored with urine and possibly feces. In the photo, she is severely emaciated and likely starving to death. Missy's owner says that the last she heard, Missy had been taken to an emergency veterinary clinic, but that the Humane Society was not providing her with any more information than that. Given her condition, it seems unlikely that Missy will survive.
The saga that led to the Humane Society's apparent neglect if not abuse of Missy likely began about 5 years ago. That is when the YesBiscuit! blog published a piece titled Lie of the Day: Carroll Co is "a great safe place for all animals." In it, attention was called to the Humane Society of Carroll County's extensive killing. For example, in the prior year, the agency reported killed 2,457 of the 3,053 cats taken in.
Toward the end of the 2012 YesBiscuit! blog, mention is made of Missy's owner Laura Shenk, a local animal advocate in Carroll County who offered to bring their shelter cats to adoption events in an effort to get them adopted, instead of being killed. The shelter declined her offer and years of conflict between the shelter and Shenk, who did rescue and advocacy work from her 150 acre agricultural property, ensued. The conflict escalated until one day in February a warrant was executed at Shenk's home and eleven dogs, including Missy, were seized. Initially, charges of cruelty were filed against Shenk for three of the animals. But the charges were dropped. In spite of the fact that the charges were dropped months ago, the Humane Society has refused to give Shenk her dogs back, even after a string of court cases that have not gone well for the County or the Humane Society.
Karen Baker, Deputy Director of the Humane Society of Carroll County said that all of the dogs seized by the County were in terrible shape, when they were taken. She stated that they all had a body score of 2, and that they had all gained a normal body weight, were doing well and were stable at the Humane Society. She also stated that the Humane Society had no record of Missy requiring digestive enzymes.
But, it is difficult to imagine how that could all be true. If Missy had arrived at the Humane Society with a body condition of 2 (no palpable fat) and had not been given her digestive enzymes, it seems impossible she could have survived the seven months she has been at the Humane Society.
In the photo above, it is obvious that Missy is emaciated, dehydrated and covered in urine at the Humane Society. When asked to explain that, Baker basically told us that that is how dogs look when they are dying.
But, clearly, dogs do not suddenly lose weight because they are dying. The level of apparent emaciation seen in the photo takes weeks or months of neglect to appear. Ms. Baker's statement also does not explain her matted, urine-covered fur or her terribly outgrown nails, after the Humane Society had had her in custody for more than 7 months.
Baker also insists that many changes have been made at the Humane Society since the YesBiscuit! blog was published. She says they have implemented all of the programs of the No Kill Equation, and that killing has stopped. If true, that is certainly good news. But, none of that explains the condition of this poor dog in this haunting photo. If the Humane Society was unaware that Missy required digestive enzymes to be added to her food, they should have been able to figure it out some time before she starved to death.
For the record, below are some pictures of Missy in her home before the local "shelter" came and took her.
Take action: contact the County Board in Carroll County and demand reforms. Late update: We did get an email from Baker including some photos, reportedly of Shenk's very messy house. But, they do not document anything near the neglect and abuse apparently perpetrated on Missy by the Humane Society. Regardless of what Humane Society claims happened to Missy before she came to them, they were responsible for her apparent lack of care after they took her.
#animalcontrol #ActionAlert #regressiveshelters #Missy #leadership #CarrollCounty
Violence is the Last Refuge of the Incompetent
A Tale of Two Cities and the Power of Compassion
No Kill in Motion: New Math Which Doesn't Count Animals and Memphis Redux


The Ontario PC Party will be holding their Leadership Convention on May 9 in Toronto. There will be a great deal of interest in the outcomes of this race.
There have been many surprising developments throughout the race. The party's membership has grown significantly and there has been a lot of buzz as to what the future holds for the party.
Join us for this special panel of those close to the leadership campaigns. Hear their insights and tactics while gaining unprecedented access to the strategies that make a candidate a winner. They will go into detail as to what took place behind the scenes in their respective campaigns and comment on what they believed were the key moments and lessons learned from this campaign.
You'll have the opportunity to ask our panelists questions that have been on your mind throughout the entire campaign. You'll also have the opportunity to network with the panelists themselves, public affairs and communications professionals and media personalities.
This entry was posted on May 12, 2015 by Richard Bellemare.