A lot of people do not have avatars as a result of the new rule. Avatars are not needed though they do often help to enhance the roleplay experience.
The way to get your pictures from flickr and other websites have already been highlighted, so I won't go over that. However, there is another option that is sometimes overlooked and that is free lineart.
Sometimes artists will put up lineart for you to take and color. They only ask that you credit the artist (and we ask that you do that too). So I figured I would make a short list (that may grow) of lineart that can be used by you for your character(s).
Dog or Wolf by Sethya - you MUST full view this one to see it. Otherwise it shows up as nothing but a black blob.
Many of these artists you can search through their galleries to find more and you can always search on DA for "free lineart".
Again, if you use these please make sure you leave a link or a credit to the artist in the picture or your profile and follow any rules that they have listed.


A stunning Asteroceras prepared by Andy Cowap.Ammonites of this quality from this world famous fossil locality are few and far between. This magnificent specimen was discovered in 2002 after a storm brought down a small section of cliff. The ammonite has been preserved in solid calcite and has an immaculate centre. This world class ammonite would grace any collection. Approximately 200 million years old. Fossils Direct are totally committed to bringing to our customers worldwide not only unique fossils from around the United Kingdom, but also the finest prepared material.


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Beyond the Graphite (9)
From the Cover (3)
SF Bay Area (8)
A Teacher of Professionals
Acting instructor Clark Houston Lewis thrives on nurturing students' talents
Clark Houston Lewis working with his acting students. Photo by Bob Toy.
Academy of Art University School of Acting instructor Clark Houston Lewis was more interested in music than theater when he was growing up. But after earning a degree in choral conducting from the Juilliard School, he gravitated to acting in off-Broadway and regional East Coast productions. He also started coaching other actors and singers. His clients have included stars like Marisa Tomei and other lead actors appearing in Broadway musicals such as A Chorus Line and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. After moving to Los Angeles, he continued coaching and also directed numerous plays, films and television shows.
Acting Students Infuse Pulitzer Prize-winning Play, 'Anna in the Tropics,' with Elegance
By Celeste Sunderland
The cast of "Anna in the Tropics." Photo by James Beach.
The power of literature should never be taken lightly. Especially when it involves matters of the heart.
Earlier this month, students from the Academy of Art University's School of Acting stepped into the roles of a varied set of characters in Nilo Cruz's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Anna in the Tropics. They revealed a profusion of emotional vulnerability, all sparked by a story. But not just any story. One of the most enduring love stories of all time, Tolstoy's Anna Karenina.
Read aloud by a "lector" (a figure who traditionally read to cigar factory workers while they rolled tobacco), the novel inspires longing, lusting and adulterous liaisons among the characters—some eye-opening, others tragic.
Film Review: 'True Story' - Mea Culpa? - Mea Crap-a.
By Amanda Vigil
(L–R) Jonah Hill as Mike Finkel and James Franco as Christian Longo in "True Story." Photo by Mary Cybulski. Copyright © 2015 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved.
Ego and narcissism mix into a fine cocktail for the setting of the latest bromance film from actors James Franco and Jonah Hill, though the seriousness of it's premise is all too real.
In 2002, an on the rise New York Times field reporter Michael Finkel (Hill) is fired from his prestigious journalism job for writing a composited story about a non-existent young African boy who is sold into bondage on a cocoa plantation. Finkel is stripped of all credibility, thus ruining his career. On the same day that the editor's retraction is scheduled to print, Finkel receives a call from a reporter in Oregon, inquiring if he has any comment on the Christian Longo murders.
Film Review: 'Clouds of Sils Maria' - In Search of the Timeless
By Rosalea Collinge
Juliette Binoche (Maria Enders) in Olivier Assayas' "Clouds of Sils Maria." © Carole Bethuel / CG Cinema. A Sundance Selects Release.
In Clouds of Sils Maria, Juliette Binoche and Kristen Stewart both give intriguing, multi-faceted performances as they play a successful actress and her personal assistant. In this movie, which was written and directed by Olivier Assayas, we watch as the two characters are swept along by the inevitable passage of time, their different ages providing each woman with her own perspective and showing how these both clash and compliment each other. Accompanying this is an in-depth exploration of the nature of relationships, highlighting the differences between a true connection and fleeting desire.
Selfie vs. Self-Portrait
As selfies continue to rise in popularity around the world, it is useful to explore the history of the self-portrait and find the distinction between self-indulgence and art
By Gordon Silveria
Selfies are nothing new. People have been creating self-portraits since the 15th century; in fact, the first self-portraits were akin to modern day photo-bombs, with artists painting themselves into crowd scenes in historical, mythological or religious paintings. Jan van Eyck's self-image can be seen in a mirror in the Arnolfini Portrait (1434). Diego Velázquez painted himself into Las Meniñas (1656), a portrait of the Spanish royal family, essentially setting himself up as the first portrait-bomber, the first truly modern artist. An infant might well have said, "Hey, I thought we were going to get a nice family portrait. What's Velázquez' big head doing in the shot?"
Velázquez' big breakout in painting himself into the portrait was essentially a statement that the artist can be more important than the painting. He proclaimed to the world that this portrait of royals also staked the claim that the artist is greater than the work itself; the artist becomes one with his art.
Illustration by Academy of Art University student Dylan Vermeul.
Academy Grad Produces Popular Fresno Lifestyle Show
Kristina Rosa working at NBC affiliate station KSEE24 in Fresno, CA. Courtesy of Kristina Rosa.
After graduating from high school, Kristina Rosa originally planned to follow in the footsteps of her idol, celebrity psychiatrist Dr. Drew Pinsky. She was studying psychology in her hometown of Riverside when a conversation with one of her teachers made her wonder if it was the right field for her. "My teacher pointed out that I really liked interviewing people," said Rosa. "I realized she was right."
Film Review: '5 to 7' - A Break from Convention
Bérénice Marlohe (Arielle) and Anton Yelchin (Brian) in Victor Levin's '5 to 7.' Courtesy of Walter Thomson. An IFC Films release.
While an affair conducted between the hours of 5 and 7 p.m. may suggest trappings of a clichéd rom-com, 5 to 7 is much more unconventional than that. Written and directed by Victor Levin (Mad Men), the story looks at an extramarital affair through new eyes, to discover the intricacies that lurk in the places many people gloss over when making assumptions about someone's love life.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


As we have seen across the Gulf and beyond recently fire alerts and, more disturbingly, actual fires in high-rise buildings are a worryingly common occurrence. These buildings create challenges and circumstances not found elsewhere in the built environment, being unique not only in terms of their height, but also in their capacity and layout.
While people are of course the priority, fires in high-rise buildings can also have a major financial impact in terms of repair costs and related losses. They are often landmark buildings so if there is a fire there is also 'landmark' reputational damage and their size means any fire incident can also impact on the surrounding urban area.
During a minor fire incident on the 33rd floor of London's Shard (Western Europe's tallest building) in 2015, the alarm system – an Advanced system as it happens – did its job and directed a controlled evacuation, while the fire was quickly extinguished by sprinkler systems. The fire panel in a high-rise installation must be up to several challenges, as what can be simple in a 'normal' building becomes much more complicated in a tall one.
Evacuations in high-rise buildings can tie up huge resources, shut down large areas of a city, close businesses and even risk lives if the evacuation is not managed effectively. It's imperative to only evacuate when a fire is real.
A false alarm management strategy must be in place and be represented in the system programming. Solutions like Advanced's AlarmCalm use automatic and human validation to ensure a fire is real and avoid false alarms and related unnecessary evacuations.
The challenge here is time or, more specifically, the amount of time needed to evacuate the building. With some high-rise structures having well over 100 mixed-use floors, with thousands of occupants, it can take over an hour to evacuate them all. It's not a case of switching on the strobes and sounders and expecting everyone to leave. This would undoubtedly result in failure to evacuate, queues, clogged evacuation points and possibly crush events or deaths, especially in the panic of a real fire.
The evacuation process must be managed in stages so staircases and emergency exits can handle a safe volume of traffic. The areas closest to a fire need to be evacuated first in what can be a rapidly evolving situation. The floors above and below the fire come next and, at the same time, the floors at the bottom and top of the building (if the fire is in the middle floors), will be evacuated.
There can be a lot of signals occurring at once in adjacent areas (vertically or horizontally) and in open atria and common areas that span many building compartments. These can include different strobe, beacon and sounder patterns or recordings, and even live voice notifications from the fire service, indicating when users should prepare to evacuate.
Where voice sounders are used, the fire system should ensure that any messages are clear and understandable, remain synchronised and properly indicate what is happening. There are various national and international standards that cover this.
Redundancy is also important. Standards dictate how much of a system is permitted to be affected by a fault. Some audio systems distribute message generation across the fire network, while others use a central amplifier. The former provides more protection in the event of an amplifier failure. In the latter if the central amplifier has a fault or is affected by the fire, all audio notification could be lost.
Redundancy of the fire system is a much larger consideration in high-rise buildings and there are various options available, from backup processors to complete fire panels, that can be applied globally or in very high risk areas. Networking topologies can also supply some level of protection for faults and these should not be ignored.
London's Shard, Europe's tallest building, is protected by Advanced fire panels.
Another challenge in high-rise buildings is the importance of smoke control and airflow, both in aiding firefighters in controlling the spread of the fire and in ensuring that evacuation routes are kept clear of smoke. This can be managed via fans and dampers, using either the building's HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system or using a dedicated system to manage airflow through the building in the event of fire.
The air handling system in any building is highly significant when there's smoke or fire, but in a high-rise it can be vital and can have huge influence over the spread and extent of the fire, as well as the smoke, which often poses more of a threat to life.
Modern smoke control is an active and dynamic tool. The best fire systems can manage smoke and airflow through a building both automatically and manually, and can help keep evacuation routes clear of smoke by pressurising stairwells, for example. They can also clear smoke from a particular area, help contain a fire or purge smoke from a building after a fire is extinguished.
The operation of such systems is highly complex, with many layers of detection and interlocks required to guarantee safe operation, so the speed and power of the fire panel, and the ease with which it can be programmed and controlled are vital.
Challenge four is time again. As we have seen, the fire system in a high-rise does much more than merely detecting a fire and notifying the occupants. It controls critical systems, manages the building's response to each individual incident to protect life and property, and helps the fire services do their job.
A fire system is mandated in a building and the best are highly intelligent, with the ability to control many operations vital in safely protecting occupants and infrastructure. The panel needs to remain operational for long periods in adverse conditions, even as cables degrade (due to fire) or ultimately fail.
As cables break down, the alarm panel will need to contend with erroneous or spurious signals from devices and peripherals, which must all be filtered and processed. Additionally, in a fire condition everything can be 'on', so the panel needs to be designed to cope with higher currents and fluctuating voltages across the system.
Distributed systems that can continue to operate independently as standalone units, without requiring the control of one master panel, will perform better in a high-rise installation. Built-in redundancy, diverse routing of cables and fault-tolerant networks will also help here, and can also reduce installation costs.
Challenge five is networking. Specifically, the importance of rapid data transfer and control across a high-rise building's fire system. The system in any complex building, especially a high-rise, will be networked with thousands of individual devices, linked to hundreds of panels and repeaters. They will all work dynamically and/or under the control of the fire fighter, fire marshal or responsible person in charge, without permitting access to anyone else.
Getting information to the person in control so they can interpret and act on it quickly is vital. They can make real-time decisions, as the fire incident develops, and manually override any automatic evacuation or cause and effect strategies.
What messages are playing on what floors?
Has a floor been safely evacuated?
What is the status of the smoke management system?
Is it doing its job? If not, has a fan or damper failed in the wrong position, potentially fanning a fire or allowing smoke to travel to adjacent areas?
Have flow valves operated in each area or have pumps failed, meaning they're not available and the suppression system has failed?
Feedback needs to be almost instantaneous. If a firefighter decides to evacuate the 31st floor, but it takes 30 seconds for the feedback light to come on confirming that the message is being played, they may begin to wonder if the system has failed, which could divert them from more pressing actions.
Advanced makes systems to EN and UL standards, among many others. Standards vary across the Gulf region, but local compliance is usually granted provided that a fire product is compatible with one of the standards regimes. For example, the UAE will issue a Civil Defense Certificate of Compliance to any product with EN or UL accreditation.
UL-compliant systems are common in the Gulf, and are among the most exacting for high-rise buildings. Compliant systems can be managed at Command Centres, networked panels where all system information is available and the whole system and its outputs can be controlled.
Command Centres are typically large, complex pieces of equipment so need to be intuitive, with clear labelling and controls (often colour coded) as they manage alarms, audio, fire service communications, smoke control, fire system settings and third party systems from a single interface.
On some systems, the Command Centre has the facility to communicate with other firefighters in the building via the integrated phone system and remote outstations on every floor. These outstations can page (broadcast) instructions to occupants throughout the building, or on a particular floor, using the voice evacuation system. A microphone is usually built into the main Command Centre, and often other terminals, to allow selective paging or announcements to the while building.
TouchControl, the new fire touchscreen repeater with Active Maps.
Adequate emergency lighting in a high-rise building is vital. Modern emergency lighting panels, such as Lux Intelligent from Advanced, can self-test each luminaire and ensure they work when they need to. The range of luminaires, both traditional and LED is now huge and environmental lighting can be converted to emergency use, delivering compliance and performance benefits.
In the future, we are likely to see a move towards even more intelligent systems that focus on directing the public towards a specific exit route, as opposed to simply lighting up the area. The technology to do this does exist, but with limited guidance legislation, the jury is still out on whether the public will take notice, or simply follow the crowd.
Emergency lighting is not only there to ensure escape routes are visible, illumination is also needed to assist firefighters. In high-rise buildings, you also need to provide standby or 'stay-put' lighting to allow for non-evacuation if it is not deemed the best course of action or where occupants are marshalled on 'refuge floors' and awaiting safe evacuation.
The final challenge is interfacing and configuration. A high-rise building's fire system needs to interface with other systems such as suppression panels, emergency monitoring stations, building management systems, graphics PCs, paging systems/DECT phones or the internet for remote control.
Ensuring interfaces are effective and do not impair the performance of the fire system is important.
In summary, the fire system in a high-rise building needs to work harder than in almost any other site. The good news is that the fire industry and the standards that guide it are well ahead of the curve, providing robust and technologically advanced solutions that often surpass statutory requirements.
The Grenfell Tower Fire – What will it teach us?


When I first watched this TED Talk, "On being wrong," given by Kathryn Schulz, it was like an epiphany. Schulz explains here how we react to people who disagree with us, and moreover how we react to finding out that our own assumptions, opinions, and beliefs are just plain wrong. The ideas she expresses here, if understood by more people, could have major implications for social justice, diversity, equality and tolerance around the world. How does it feel to be wrong, she asks. The same as it does to be right . . .


Searching for homes is a task you enjoy for a small period of time, but then it all starts to look the same. yourHOMEteam has made it a little easier, putting all of our properties within your reach. If you are looking for a home that can provide quiet country-style living or even upscale living just outside of town, one of the places you should try is Springfield, Louisiana. It is a town that full of beauty and wonderful amenities.
Overall, Springfield, LA can provide much of what most consumers are looking for in a town if they seek a quiet, small town feel and a location within driving distance to two of the largest cities in Louisiana. Even if you work elsewhere, Springfield is closely located to both Interstate 12 and Interstate 55 to get you to anywhere in the state. New Orleans is only about 45 minutes away and Baton Rouge is about 35 minutes from Springfield. Check out our listings of homes for sale in Springfield, LA and let your HOME team work with you to find the perfect match.
We will show you any listings you would like to see and answer any questions you may think of along the way. Your HOME team is familiar with the Springfield area and all of its wonderful resources. When you have us on your side, you can basically let us do all of the work for you and spend your time focusing on the important matters at hand. Our team of professionals will locate properties that meet all of your criteria, allowing you to spend your time more efficiently instead of looking at houses that agents are just trying to get rid of.
Real Estate in Springfield is minutes away from a David Toms signature golf course. This facility not only has a beautiful golf course, but also hosts weddings, charity events, and has its own restaurant. Residents of neighboring cities drive in from miles around to play golf and attend events in Springfield's Carter Plantation. Carter Plantation also has homes that line the golf course as well as the subdivision that surrounds it. Carter Plantation isn't the only amenity that Springfield has to offer. Springfield real estate is also well known for access point to the Tickfaw River. Many people from all over the state come down every year for to the Tickfaw River through the city of Springfield. The Tickfaw 200 boating event is a tradition in the area and is very well attended. During the other weekends on the Tickfaw river you can find anglers trying their luck at catching some of the fish that call te river home, and some of the recreational boaters navigating the many waterways that provide fun for all types of sport craft. If amenities aren't enough to convince you that Springfield should be on your short list, the schools may be able to help. Springfield High School, part of the Livingston Parish School System is one of 3 Bronze Star schools and the LPSS has an "A" rating. The close knit school is not a very large school so you still get the student to teacher ratio that provides a rich learning environment.


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Location: Store Home > The Unmaking of Gough - Paul Kelly 1976 Paperback USED
The Unmaking of Gough - by Paul Kelly
Get other Books about Gough Whitlam click here
Get other books about the 1975 dismissal click here
Used paperback: .1976 edition in good condition fading to spine.
Controversy and recrimination followed. Many Australians, including Whitlam himself, believed he had been the victim of a coup. This is Paul Kellys view on the events.
About Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly is the author of six successful books. The Unmaking of Gough (1976), later titled The Dismissal (1982), The Hawke Ascendancy (1984), The End of Certainty (1992), November 1975 published in 1995 and a collection of articles Paradise Divided (2000). The End of Certainty was described in The Times Literary Supplement as "the most comprehensive account of Australian polity since that of Sir Keith Hancock half a century ago".
He presented the 2001 five-part television documentary for the ABC on Australian history and character '100 Years � The Australian Story' and wrote a book with the same title. He has covered federal governments from Whitlam to Howard. In 2003 he co-edited Hard Heads, Soft Hearts, a new domestic reform agenda for Australia.
Paul Kelly was Graham Perkin Journalist of the Year (1990) and was a double Walkley award winner for journalistic excellence in 2001. He has written widely on international affairs in America, Europe and Asia and has interviewed a number of world leaders including Tony Blair, Lee Kuan Yew, George W Bush and Jiang Zemin.
A Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, he is currently Adjunct Professor of Journalism at the University of Queensland and a participant in the Australia-America Leadership Dialogue. In 2002 he was a visiting fellow at the Kennedy School of Government and a visiting lecturer at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University.
About The Dismissal:
The Dismissal (from Wikipedia)
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Kenneth Cole's 7219S sunglasses are designed in a classic navigator silhouette with a metal finish, paired with acetate coated havana temples. Adjustable silicon/rubber nosepads allow for a more personalized and comfortable fit. Featured from the brand's 'Techni-Cole' line, these gold-tone frames are fitted with green polarized anti-reflective lenses that offer 100% UVA/UVB protection from the sun's harmful rays. 'Kenneth Cole' branding prominently displayed on the left lens and temple.


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Home / Estate Planning / Changing Title of Assets into the Trust Name
Changing Title of Assets into the Trust Name
January 31, 2011 Estate Planning
As an estate planning attorney I am often confronted with situations where the person who has created a trust has not done all of their homework. In short, I'm talking about situations where the trustor has not undertaken the action necessary to transfer registered title of one or more assets into the name of the trust.
As an example, pretend Bill Doe creates a living trust, and notwithstanding instructions given him to do so, he does not change the title ownership of his brokerage account which holds $400,000 of publicly traded securities. To fulfill this task, he simple needed to contact the brokerage firm and change title on the account from himself to "Bill Doe, Trustee of the Bill Doe Living Trust". But he did not do that. At the time of his death, the account was held in his individual name, not in the name of the trust.
Assets held in the trust name are not the subject of the death probate, but assets not held in the name of the trust may have to be probated in order to transfer legal title to the decedent's heirs.
But there are ways to avoid the death probate process, even in these circumstances.
The following assets are not required to be probated upon the death of the owner:
Assets held in joint (tenancy) with right of survivorship;
Assets held in community property;
Assets the subject of a contractual disposition, like life insurance and IRA accounts;
Accounts the subject of a pay on death designation, like savings and brokerage accounts; and
There are numerous exceptions for avoiding probate contained in the California Probate Code, starting at Section 13000, the most commonly used of which is an affidavit procedure pursuant to Probate Code §13100. This section permits the transfer of title of assets without probate based upon the presentation of an affidavit, provided ALL assets which would otherwise be the subject of a probate do not exceed $100,000 in COMBINED value.
But in the example of Bill Doe above, unless he has changed the account owner to be the trust or designated a pay on death beneficiary for his brokerage account, it will have to be probated resulting in substantial delay and $11,000 of statutory attorney fees.
But there may still be another way to avoid probate in this example. And that is to bring a petition before the Probate Court under Probate Code §850(a)(3)(B) for a determination that the trustee of the trust ". . . has a claim to real or personal property, title to or possession of which is held by another" and request ". . . an order authorizing and directing the personal representative or other fiduciary, or the person having title to or possession of the property, to execute a conveyance or transfer to the person entitled thereto, or granting other appropriate relief."[1] To do so, the court must be ". . . satisfied that a conveyance, transfer, or other order should be made"[2], in other words, that the trust has a valid claim.
Probate Code Section 850 has its beginnings in the case of Estate of Heggstad (1993) 16 Cal.App.4th 943. In that case a decedent had executed a living trust and attached to it a list of assets intended to be held in the name of the trust. The decedent thereafter changed legal title to all of those assets into the name of the trust with the exception of one parcel of real property, title of which was never changed. Whether or not said real property was subject to disposition pursuant to the trust terms was an issue of more than whether or not the asset would have to be probated. If it is was the subject of the trust, it would pass to the trust beneficiaries, otherwise, as a probate asset it would have been the subject of the California intestacy laws and would pass in part to the decedent's surviving spouse. Without getting into a great deal of detail, the Heggstad court determined that the listing of the real property as a trust asset which schedule of assets was incorporated into the trust was a sufficient showing of the decedent's intent, and confirmed its ownership by the trust. Shortly thereafter, the Probate Code was amended to provide a statutory method of bringing petitions before the probate court in similar cases, and eventually that amendment ended up in Probate Code §850.
Normally the Probate Courts are very liberal in granting these petitions, especially when there is no opposition. However, in one recent case, the Probate Judge denied the petition, and in turn, that decision was appealed.
The facts in this recent care are that an elderly trustor created a living trust, and in conjunction with that made a list of assets intended to be held in the trust. Omitted from that list was reference to securities held in her individual name with a value exceeding $100,000 (and thus not subject to avoiding probate pursuant to Probate Code §13100). The stock certificate evidencing her ownership to these stocks had been lost, thus impeding her changing title of those to the trust. She died shortly after creating the trust and before title to the stocks could be changed.
However, at the time she executed her trust, she also executed a general property assignment which stated "I . . . hereby assign, transfer and convey to [the] Trustee of the [the Trust], all of my right, title and interest in all property owned by me, both real and personal and wherever located." She also executed a pour over will providing that her entire estate should be distributed to the trustee of her trust.
The Judge of the Probate Court denied the petition to confirm ownership of the stocks by the trust based upon the statute of frauds[3] requiring transfers of assets to be evidenced by a document in writing. The Court of Appeal reversed the Probate Court ruling, holding that the Civil Code subsection relied upon was only applicable to documents pertaining to loans, and finding that the general assignment form, combined with the intent of the trustor as set forth in her pour over will was sufficient grounds for a finding that the stocks were intended to be held in the trust, and ruled accordingly.
There are several lessons to be learned from this case. First, it is important to change legal title of your assets to the name of the trust. Second, if that hasn't occurred, there may still be other ways to avoid the probate process, albeit more expensive than if you had followed the first rule. Third, having a complete estate plan, including things like a general assignment form and pour over will are extremely important, because you never know when those might be needed.
[1] Probate Code Section 856.
[3] Civil Code Section 1624(a)(7)


Know what's grosser than finding that your dog has chewed up a tampon and strewn the fluffy cotton contents all over your yard?
Discovering, upon examination, that it is decidedly NOT your tampon.
Eww.. But you know what they say.. once a pooch gets a taste of blood…….
and they say dogs are so smart. hmmm…maybe we should re-evaluate that thought.
and who is "they" ??
I'm curious now how you could tell it wasn't your tampon. I don't think I would recognize mine.
It was a plastic applicator. I've only ever used cardboard.
This is way too much information on sooooo many levels.
I think that "don't ask, don't tell" applies in this situation.
With all that info, I'll just say happy Easter to all.


The iconic Sugar Loaf is the best spot in Rio for the thrill of the cable-car ride, for the small hikes on top of the Urca mountain, for the views over Rio and for the sunsets. Lucky us, we got it all!
Seeing all of Rio starting to light up beneath us was one of my best experience in the city.
I love the night view shots. It's so beautiful.
Sugarloaf is an awesome chunk of granite. These are wonderful Sugarloaf pictures. Will you climb the face? I understand there are a number of routes up the wall. That would be a dramatic conclusion of your trip.
You know I love mountain landscape and this is just breath taking. I am singing; Ohhhhh what a wonderful world…… while watching!
What beautiful scenic shots! The sunsets are amazing.
Mrs BB and I spent part of our honeymoon in Rio. Love it. Enjoy, and toast a caprahina to love and life!
@Bluefish – I was amazed at how clear they turned up!
@Tulsa Gentleman – You can´t climb – not that I know of anyway. There are actually two mountains: Urca, the first one, and the Sugar Loaf. In Urca, the first cable car stop, you can walk around quite a lot, going up and down. But on the Sugar Loaf, there aren´t many paths.
@Scarlet – We were lucky to be there on a clear day!
@beaverboosh – Lucky you! So you know how great it is.
@shionge – I loved it!


For as long as I can remember I've had short nails. I'm not a biter by any stretch, but I've found it impossible to get them to any sort of length without suffering from breakages.
Despite wasting money on products that promised super strong nails and enhanced growth, nothing has worked for me – until now!
I'd almost given up trying to grow them out until I tried the Sally Hansen 18k Gold Shield. I discovered this eye-catching little bottle of magic tucked at the back of my beautiful Mum's dressing table, and was itching to give it a try.
Instantly hardens & fortifies nails to prevent breaking, chipping and splitting. Gold shield forms a protective barrier to lock in moisture, nails grow longer & stronger.
The product combines peptides and amino acids – both known to promote healthy nail growth. The thing that I really love about this though is the sparkling 18-karat gold flakes; I'm a sucker for anything shiny and this is certainly no exception.
The packaging is very simple and smart. The guidance on how to use is a little squashed on the back, but easy enough to read. The square lid lifts off to show the brush itself, which has a black screw top.
The brush is surprisingly long and the bristles are thick which means that they hold a lot more of the gel and make it easier to apply in a few sweeps. The product (for me) is a perfect formula and one dip of the brush is all it takes to cover one nail.
The gold flakes are very visible on the nail surface. I use this as a base coat and paint over it, but I'm not averse to wearing it alone for a little shimmer.
After applying, my nails feel immediately stronger and not so bendy or like they're going to break off right away. I've been using it since Christmas and my nails are happily growing away; they're grown around 3-4mm each and I haven't experienced any accidental damage or breakage at all.
The only real downside to this product is that I do find it difficult to remove when I'm wearing a polish on top. Using regular nail polish remover and a cotton pad the top coat of colour is completely removed, but this stuff doesn't budge and requires some aggressive scrubbing to get it off.
Overall this is a fantastic product that goes a long way and is hands down (pun slightly intended) one of the best items from the Sally Hansen nail line that I've tested – and the ultimate nail harderner I've come across yet.
Do you have a holy grail nail product that you can't live without? Drop me a comment, and let me know what I should try next!
I've never seen or heard about this before but it sounds really impressive!


Based on sales, customer feedback and personal use, the Diaface Moonflex Diamond Files are the best diamond abrasives money can buy.
Patented diamond pod configuration allows this tool to cut and polish the ski or snowboard edge at the same time.
This drastically reduces striations in the metal—a typical drawback of many other diamond type polishing stones.
We have yet to find anything that will outlast or outperform the Italian made Diaface Moonflex.
These shorter Diaface Moonflex Diamond Files fit the SVST Double Duty Side Edge Beveler as well as the orange FK/SKS Multi Tuner. Fits other brands - check specs of your tool to make sure.
Also available in a longer, 100mm x 25mm format which fits the SVST Aluminum Pro Edge Beveler, Pro Edge Beveler w/ Stainless Steel Plate & All Stainless Pro Edge Beveler.


You would not think someone so afflicted would or could be cheerful, not prone to melancholy or the miseries. Early on she acquired ways of dealing with her life, with life in general.
Miss Jane by Brad Watson. Watson's new novel is inspired by the true story of the author's great aunt, a woman born in 1915 in rural Mississippi, who never married because of a birth defect, but lived a rich, if quiet, life nonetheless.
I thought this was related to Jane Austen. I mean, look at the cover!
Beautiful old style cover and interesting plot.
What a lovely, lovely cover. I like reading books about inspiring people.
Like this beginning very much.
Those first lines are inspiring and the full premise full of emotion and intrigue, about this outwardly strong and self controlled individual. I wonder if Miss Jane is really that calm and accepting of her life limitations, or if her eventul inner peace with herself, comes at a high price?
Probably not a book I would read, yet I am still intrigued and wanting some answers!
Sounds absolutely beautiful. If it carries on in that style, I would love it.
Like Yvonne, I am wondering too.
She sounds like an amazing woman. I don't like memoirs, but ENJOY!!
I haven't heard of this book but it sounds like a lovely read. I definitely want to find out more about Miss Jane and that cover is gorgeous!
eye out for it. Have a good day!
With his plaintive, intelligent, spirit-riven portrait of Jane Chisolm, Watson has become our Flaubert. Miss Jane is that beautiful―and profound.


The European Court of Justice has ruled that the UK's longstanding reduced 5% rate of VAT on energy-saving products was in breach of EU laws. John Sinfield, Knauf Insulation's managing director – Northern Europe, responds.
Triumphs of 'process over purpose'! We all recognise them when we hear them; indeed you can probably imagine the look on someone's face as they deliver the line: "I see what you mean and actually I sympathise with what you want to do. Indeed, it is actually core to what the institution I work for wishes to achieve. However we have this rule – and I confess the rule was created to serve a completely different function - but I think it might apply to your case. So I am afraid we can't allow this admittedly admirable and socially desirable activity to go ahead. Sorry. I really am. But they are the rules..."
This phenomenon wouldn't exist in nature. Natural selection would have ruthlessly weeded it out. However, it thrives in large bureaucracies and the recent ruling from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) regarding the UK's application of reduced rates of VAT for energy saving materials is a clear example.
Currently, certain energy saving measures, such as insulation, receive a reduced VAT rate of 5% rather than the standard rate of 20%. The UK's reasoning for this is that the refurbishment of our ageing and leaky housing stock constitutes a 'social policy', which permits the reduced rate. That is assuming the EU agrees with the justification. Which the ECJ has now made clear they don't.
So, unless HMRC finds a route around the decision, energy efficiency measures will be hit with a 20% VAT rate. Compare that with a continued 5% rate charged on home energy bills. That's worth repeating; the consumption of energy is charged at 5% VAT while the measures that allow householders to permanently reduce the need for that energy are charged at 20%.
Ironically, much of what had come out of the EU to date on energy efficiency pushed in the right direction. The recent Energy Efficiency Directive places a requirement on member states to produce a long term plan to address the wasted energy in their building stock. It also requires them to propose a programme that would deliver against that long-term plan.
Long-term thinking was sorely missing in UK energy efficiency policy over the last parliament as grand plans in the Green Deal and ECO stumbled and hastily designed sticking plaster policies surpassed even previous schemes for their boom-bust short-term nature. We await an update on how the new government will approach energy efficiency, with the only news heard to date being a funding claw back from the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund (GDHIF) programme by George Osborne.
The new Secretary of State has a great opportunity to fix the Green Deal and create a strong market for people looking to improve their homes. But this ECJ ruling has just made it that much more difficult a task. Indeed, the option of using the government's balance sheet to buy down the current interest rate would likely just put the cost of a package of measures back to square one once the additional 15% VAT cost had been factored in.
So, as we enter a period where the UK must make a decision on a Brexit, I would like to see both the separatist and the better together camps set out how they will embed two core raison d'etre into decision making.
For the separatists wishing to bring powers back to these shores, they must set out their mechanism for embedding long-term planning into short-term parliaments because, from a narrow energy efficiency perspective at least, much of the recent focus on long-term thinking has come from the EU. And, for the better together camp, given the ECJ ruling, what's the new mechanism for avoiding nonsensical decisions that fundamentally undermine stated goals?


If you've read an earlier post on 'Would we do it differently now?', you'll know that if I was writing this book again, I'd put far more emphasis on making sure that learners have a good understanding of sound-symbol correspondence in English.
At the same time, they need to know that every pattern has exceptions (even short vowels can confuse, with busy/friend/son) and that the range of spelling options for long vowel sounds (meet, meat, mete?) make it essential for them to work out their own ways to remember which word they're thinking of.
It's so easy to make those little mistakes and typos (and don't get me started on auto-correct 'fails') … but what about when they're made in public? If you (or your students) wondered whether small mistakes really matter, you might like to look at this collection of 50 of the Most Unfortunate Spelling Mistakes Ever (from Slice).
SpellingWorks: would we do it differently now?
Back when SpellingWorks was first published, there were books around on phonics, and on spelling rules, but not much on spelling strategies… so we focussed a lot on developing those strategies.
Now I look at the book again, though, I think if I was writing it again, I'd put more emphasis at the start on 'make sure you have that basis of understanding sound/symbol correspondences in English'.
I think we're all much more aware now that that that understanding is something you can't assume (especially for learners from another language background).


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Q: Get Home/office address from google maps I have an map based android app and am providing functionality to login using gmail account. Now, Google maps on the device has saved home and office address of the user. Is it possible to get this data without user having to input it?

A: You can geocode the addresses with Google Geocoding API.
Depending of what you want, you can get an XML or JSON response by calling
http://maps.google.com/maps/api/geocode/json?address=ADRESS HERE

Where all the spaces of the address must be replaced by +.
The data you want is located in geometry->location.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Home » Topics
Recession & Employment
Fiscal Impacts
Labor Market Impacts
Sectoral Employment
As workers and consumers, immigrants play a role in the labor markets and economies of the countries in which they settle. The research collected here examines how immigrants fare in the labor market, whether they are affected differently than native-born workers during cycles of boom and bust, the role of immigration policymaking as a lever of competitiveness, immigrant employment by sector and skill, and the fiscal impacts of immigration. MPI's research also assesses the role of temporary workers and the labor recruitment process.
By Laura Harjanto and Jeanne Batalova
Immigration Has Been a Defining, Often Contentious, Element Throughout U.S. History
How Can Europe Deliver on the Potential of Talent Partnerships?
By Kate Hooper
Moving Beyond Pandemic: The Corporate World's Response to COVID-19 Pandemic, its Omicron Variant, Digital Nomad Visas & More
The Invisible Work of Family, Friend, and Neighbor Caregivers and Its Importance for Immigrant and Dual Language Learner Families
By Maki Park and Jazmin Flores Peña
El estado de la política migratoria y de integración de Costa Rica
By Diego Chaves-González and María Jesús Mora
The State of Costa Rican Migration and Immigrant Integration Policy
European Cities on the Front Line: New and Emerging Governance Models for Migrant Inclusion
By Liam Patuzzi
Immigrant Workers: Vital to the U.S. COVID-19 Response, Disproportionately Vulnerable
By Julia Gelatt
Seasonal Worker Programs in Europe: Promising Practices and Ongoing Challenges
By Kate Hooper and Camille Le Coz
Bienvenidas asimétricas: Respuestas de América Latina y el Caribe a la migración venezolana y nicaragüense
By Andrew Selee and Jessica Bolter
An Uneven Welcome: Latin American and Caribbean Responses to Venezuelan and Nicaraguan Migration
Rebuilding Community after Crisis: Striking a New Social Contract for Diverse Societies (Transatlantic Council Statement)
By Demetrios G. Papademetriou and Meghan Benton
Beyond Work: Reducing Social Isolation for Refugee Women and Other Marginalized Newcomers
By Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan
The Eurasian Economic Union: Repaving Central Asia's Road to Russia?
In recent decades Russia has been increasingly reliant on Central Asian migrant workers. Those workers, in turn, have sent back remittances that have been crucial for their countries of origin. Since 2015, many of these ex-Soviet countries have come together in the Eurasian Economic Union to solidify their bonds and ease migrants' passage to Russia. This article explores the bloc and how it reflects Russia's role in the region.
The "Trump Effect" on Legal Immigration Levels: More Perception than Reality?
Despite a widespread perception that the Trump administration has drastically slashed legal immigration to the United States, a review of the data shows that temporary and permanent admissions during the period mostly followed previous trends—at least until the COVID-19 pandemic hit. This article examines trends in temporary, permanent, and humanitarian admissions during the administration, and the related policies that could take a more significant bite ahead if left unchanged.
Legal Migration Pathways to Europe for Low- and Middle-Skilled Migrants
This event hosted by MPI Europe and the Research Unit of the Expert Council of German Foundations on Integration and Migration featured a discussion on research into legal migration pathways for work and training for low- and middle-skilled migrants.
The Colombian Response to the Venezuelan Migration Crisis: A Dialogue with Colombia's Migration Czar
Felipe Muñoz, Advisor to the President of Colombia for the Colombian-Venezuelan Border, discusses how Colombia is coping with the influx of Venezuelan migrants, plans for future policy decisions surrounding this migration, and developments in regional and international cooperation.
Chronicling Migration in the 21st Century Through One Family's Journey
Marking the launch of New York Times reporter Jason DeParle's book tracing the arc of migration and its impacts through the life of an extended family of Filipino migrants over a three-decade period, from Manila and through Dubai to the Houston area, this conversation with MPI's Andrew Selee and the World Bank's Dilip Ratha explores migration at both a global and very personal level.
Rethinking U.S. Immigration Policy: Building a Responsive, Effective Immigration System
This discussion marked the launch of MPI's Rethinking U.S. Immigration Policy Initiative, which aims to generate a big-picture, evidence-driven vision of the role immigration should play in America's future, as well as to build a bipartisan center so needed reforms can be enacted.
Beyond Walls and Tariffs: Responding to Migration Challenges at the U.S.-Mexico Border
This event features a smart conversation by a range of experts on U.S.-Mexico border conditions, looking at policy responses by both countries and regional cooperation.
Video, Audio, Webinars
Migration from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to the United States doubled between 2000 and 2019, yet these immigrants represented less than 3 percent of the overall U.S. foreign-born population as of 2019. MENA immigrants are more likely than other immigrants to be English proficient, have a college degree, and work in management, business, science, and arts occupations.
As host to more immigrants than any other country, the United States has been shaped and reshaped by immigration over the centuries, with the issue at times becoming a flashpoint. This article covers the history of U.S. immigration and the major laws governing immigration, and provides a comprehensive overview of the present-day immigrant population.
Europe has announced it will launch a set of Talent Partnerships, combining new mobility schemes for workers or students with related investments in capacity-building in partner countries. As the details are being hammered out, this MPI Europe policy brief explores how and under what conditions these partnerships could help meet European labor market needs and provide tangible benefits for partner countries and migrants themselves.
How has the business world responded to disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic? In this episode of Moving Beyond Pandemic, we speak with two former government officials who are now in the private sector—Ian Robinson of the immigration law firm Fragomen and Brendan Ryan, CEO of Nomadic, about the trends and policy environment shaping business mobility decisions.
Child care provided informally by relatives, friends, and neighbors is the most common form of U.S. child care, and it is particularly prevalent among immigrant and Dual Language Learner families. Yet it is frequently overlooked in child-care policy conversations. This brief explores the importance of this type of care and highlights promising practices for increasing support for care providers and the families they serve.
Dentro de América Latina, Costa Rica es uno de los principales destinos para migrantes y refugiados de una amplia gama de países y con características e intencionalidades migratorias diferentes. Este informe examina el marco institucional y la capacidad del sistema migratorio del país, con un enfoque en la integración de inmigrantes en cuatro áreas de políticas: registro y regularización, salud, empleo y educación.
Within Latin America, Costa Rica is a top destination for migrants and refugees from a range of countries and with different characteristics and migration intentions. This report examines the institutional framework and capacity of the country's migration system, with a focus on immigrant integration in four policy areas: regularization and registration, health, employment, and education.
Hanne Beirens
Meghan Benton
Kathleen Newland
Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan
Susan Fratzke
Jasmijn Slootjes
Kate Hooper
The Ukrainian Displacement Crisis: A Conversation with the European Commission's Director General for Migration and Home Affairs
Immigration Data Matters
This easy-to-use online guide compiles some of the most credible governmental and authoritative nongovernmental data sources pertaining to immigrants and immigration in the United States and internationally. The guide directly links users to more than 220 data sources, organized by topic and region, and offers tips on how to access more complicated datasets.


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MASSIVE REFUGEE INFLUX
As this issue of the Bulletin went to press reports from Ngara indicated that this district in Kagera Region had suddenly received over 200,000 refugees fleeing from Rwanda. The exodus was described as the largest and fastest the United Nations had ever seen in Africa. Every hour 10,000 refugees were said to be squeezing across the two-lane border bridge at Rusumo. The exodus followed the deaths of Presidents Juvenal Habyarimana of Rwanda and Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi on April 6th when their plane was attacked by gunfire at Kigali airport. This was immediately after they had attended a meeting in Dar es Salaam with President Mwinyi who had been acting as Rwanda peacemaker for many months. They had chosen to travel together in the same plane because the Rwanda president's plane was faster.
The Times later reported (May 9th) that the world's largest refugee camp had been established at Benako, Ngara District, and had soon become 'a broad colourful canvas of humanity, testament to the tolerance and dignity that Africans, faced with wretched injustice, somehow muster. This seething mass of humanity passes relentlessly up and down the two roads that pass the camp, concentrated around convoys of 20-ton lorries, Toyotas and Landrovers, dispensing what the international community has to offer. Tanzanian Red Cross workers, screaming through megaphones, order the Wakanbizi (editor Wakimbizi?) -refugees-into rows 100 ft deep. In the sun the scenes are jovial but in the rain Benako's mud oozes beneath the leaden skies and a hellish medieval misery descends'.
The paper reported that ten planes crowded with journalists had arrived at the tiny Ngara airstrip in one morning. The manager of an Italian engineering company helping at the airport watched in dismay as a huge CNN charter plane shuddered across the mud and dust strip. "This cannot go on" he said. "With all the termites, this airstrip will soon look like a gruyere cheese".
Refugees at the camp reacted angrily when one of the journalists closed in on a semi-conscious woman who was slumped at the front of one of the long food queues. The Tanzania authorities had begun setting up hundreds of tents to accommodate extra police.
Engineers from Medecins sans Frontieres were said to be working round the clock on a pipeline to the Benako camp in an attempt to stop refugees tramping through the quagmire to get at the only source of water, a murky lake nearby. It was estimated that up to half a million gallons of water were needed per day for the refugees.
Speaking to some of those Rwandans who had escaped to Ngara, Charles Kizhiga, in the Dar es Salaam Daily News, quoted them as saying 'We have lost faith in any form of government ..our country should be governed by a strong foreign army, not Belgians or French, and they should stay until two generations pass'.
ANGER IN MWANZA
On April 27th it was reported that 70 Rwanda and Burundi nationals in Mwanza region, who had celebrated the deaths of the two presidents at a party at the New Mwanza Hotel, had been arrested on the orders of Prime Minister Malecela. The celebrations had angered Tanzanian residents in Mwanza where flags were flying at half mast. Tanzanian Director of Public Prosecutions Kulwa Masamba later stated that it was not a crime in law for someone to celebrate another persons death.
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Sexual harassment is illegal, costly, debilitating, and wrong. This sexual harassment training is appropriate for any audience. It can be used to address employees, shareholders, contractors, or board members.
A thought-provoking, new release, Sexual Harassment Is...™ uses impactful imagery, video and music to inspire and stimulate discussion about protecting your employees and organization from sexual harassment. Use this new release on its own or as a complement to Sexual Harassment: You Decide™ or Sexual Harassment: It Can Happen Here™ programs.