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Soneva Villa Ownership offers buyers private escape in paradise
m@ldives 192 views March 11, 2021
Hidden among dense jungle or perched over the azure waters of a remote private lagoon, Soneva's luxurious Private Residences are a welcome retreat from the stresses of the outside world.
Introduced in 2011 in response to requests from returning guests, the pioneering Soneva Villa Ownership scheme made Soneva the first and only company to offer Maldivian real estate to foreign buyers.
Today, the portfolio includes a breath-taking selection of expansive private villas at Soneva's award-winning Maldives properties in two of the world's most unspoiled natural havens: Soneva Fushi in the Baa Atoll, and Soneva Jani in the Noonu Atoll.
A sanctuary of tranquillity, each villa has been positioned to ensure the utmost privacy and seclusion for owners and their guests.
Soneva Villa Ownership offers the rarest of luxuries in an uncertain world – that of time, space and peace to savour life's simplest pleasures, whether feeling the sand between one's toes, making precious memories with loved ones or disconnecting from the cycle of daily news.
Built to the same uncompromising sustainability criteria as Soneva's world-leading resorts, the Private Residences are designed to have a minimum impact on the earth, existing in perfect harmony with their exquisite natural settings.
As a true home-away-from home, the villas' bespoke interiors are personalised to owners' exact needs, from the beautiful furniture crafted from reclaimed natural materials, to fun and playful touches such as children's treehouses, dining towers or twisting waterslides into the private pool.
The castaway-luxe Private Residences at Soneva Fushi are found on the quiet private island of Kunfunadhoo within the unspoiled Baa Atoll, far from the usual tourist trail and part of a protected UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
Ranging from a spacious one-bedroom pool villa, to a sprawling nine-bedroom mansion, each villa is set within its own extensive rainforest garden, just steps away from the soft sandy beach and crystal-clear waters.
The spectacular Villa 65 at Soneva Fushi is up for sale under the Soneva Villa Ownership programme.
The Three Bedroom Crusoe Suite with Pool is a beach-front property comprised of two duplex villas, the whitewashed walls and thatched roofing blend perfectly with the island setting.
The outdoor bathroom is where nature meets luxury. Then there is your pool and outdoor sitting area – perfect for days when all you want to do is relax in your sanctuary, enjoying the service of your Barefoot Butler.
The fully-equipped kitchen has ample space for food preparation, while the 10-seater dining table is ideal for gatherings and in-villa dining.
Located on the sunset side, this villa is close to the vibrant house reef and the diving school, and offers uninterrupted views of the Indian Ocean.
Offered under contract with Soneva Fushi, upon purchase it will be upgraded at the resort's expense into a spacious Four Bedroom Crusoe Suite with Pool. The modifications include extending the pool, adding sweeping terraces and an in-villa gym.
Centred around an ancient Banyan tree, the recently built Villa 43 Sunset Reserve is one of the largest, most luxurious private residences on the island.
With a maximum occupancy of 12 adults and four children, the 2,303 sqm (21,851 sqft), six-bedroom property is ideal for large and extended families, with expansive outside al fresco living space, including two swimming pools, Soneva's signature open-air bathrooms and sunken seating areas.
A haven from the outside world, it also features its own private gum, spa and sauna facilities, as well as a library and a well-stocked cellar.
On the sunrise side of Soneva Fushi, the new, four-bedroom Villa 38 has a maximum occupancy of eight adults and four children.
Partly encircled by a vast private swimming pool, the 1,525 sqm (16,415 sqft) villa features open plan living spaces, terraces and balconies and large outdoor bathrooms, as well as a fully-equipped private gym, spa suite and steam and sauna facilities.
At Soneva Jani, one of the world's lowest density resorts, there are two types of Private Residence to choose from: the iconic over-water villas, ranging from one to four bedrooms, or the vast three- or four-bedroom beachfront Island Reserves.
A tiny and remote archipelago in the beautiful Noonu Atoll, this tranquil enclave is surrounded on all sides by the sparkling turquoise waters of a 5.6 kilometre private lagoon.
The 1,226 sqm (13,197sq ft), four-bedroom over-water residence is the ultimate in over-water luxury. Perfectly private, it commands unmatched views over the lagoon, with its own private infinity pool and a slide that plunges straight into the ocean.
A wealth of living space, both inside and out, includes large al fresco terraces with plush daybeds and catamaran nets, light and airy bedrooms, a library, private fitness room and outdoor bathroom.
The unique, 1,956 sqm (21,054 sqft) Villa 34 is inspired by nature, with organic lines, sinuous curves and a sense of light and space throughout.
This huge, three-bedroom Island Reserve has a maximum occupancy of six adults and two children, with everything a family needs for a relaxing retreat from everyday life.
As well as extensive outdoor living and entertaining areas, including a large swimming pool, sunken dining and signature open-air bathrooms, the property also features a private wine vault, gym and sauna facilities, and a soaring dining tower with panoramic views across the horizon.
Since 2011, 31 Private Residences have been sold to buyers from across the globe, including 23 properties at Soneva Fushi and eight at Soneva Jani.
The most Soneva villa owners are based in the UK (four), followed by Russia (with three owners), then France, China, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and Switzerland (all with two owners), and Denmark, Canada, the UAE, Japan and Thailand (which all have one owner each).
The most popular villa size among investors has been three-bedroom properties.
The private villas and retreats in the Soneva Villa Ownership portfolio are sold on a renewable leasehold and fully maintained by the resort to ensure owners' peace of mind, including repairs, fixtures and fittings, lighting, gardening and replacement furniture.
Private owners also enjoy exclusive benefits, including significant savings on food and beverages at Soneva Fushi and Soneva Jani (including private In Villa Dining), motorised water sports and flight transfers.
Soneva is a pioneering family of hospitality properties, offering holistic encounters in luxurious and inspiring environments – from world class resorts to outstanding natural locations.
Soneva Fushi, Soneva Jani and Soneva in Aqua in the Maldives, and Soneva Kiri in Thailand rebuke the traditional concept of luxury and instead promise the luxury of time, purity and solitude.
Every day, guests are encouraged to discover sandy feet, inspired minds and full hearts.
Combining luxury with a conscientious approach to sustainability and the environment, and proactively changing the nature of hospitality, it delivers intuitive service and meaningful experiences to the guests.
TagsSonevaSoneva FushiSoneva Fushi MaldivesSoneva GroupSoneva JaniSoneva ResortsThe Soneva Group


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Issue Focus
In 2020, MDRC published nearly 40 pieces on the COVID-19 crisis, including profiles of innovative programs, policy options for recovery, and tips and strategies for practitioners. In addition, MDRC staff authored or coauthored the following commentaries, which appeared in other venues, on how evidence can help policymakers and practitioners respond to the pandemic:
"Strategies for Promoting College Completion in the Age of COVID-19," by MDRC's Alexander Mayer and Alyssa Ratledge, Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity, July 15.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has already exacerbated inequities in higher education. Educators fear that the pandemic and ensuing recession will make it impossible for many students to start, or to continue, their college education this fall…Fortunately, however, we do have a lot of research evidence on 'what works' in higher education that can illuminate better ways of supporting students, especially low-income students, during the pandemic and through to graduation day."
"3 Ways to Get Benefits to the Families that Need Them," by Anthony Barrows, ideas 42, and Rekha Balu & Rebecca Schwartz, MDRC Center for Applied Behavioral Science, Governing, July 30.
"Why don't government social services programs better serve families struggling through crises like the COVID-19 pandemic? One reason is that these systems are designed for compliance over access. Many of those who are in need and qualify are deterred by high administrative burdens, including excessive steps and paperwork. In a time of crisis, behavioral science offers insights into how to reduce the paperwork and other administrative burdens that prevent people from taking advantage of crucial support services."
"There's No Need to Choose Between Taking Action and Building Evidence," by MDRC's Dan Bloom, Government Executive, September 1.
"Activists and reformers argue that large-scale action is needed now. No more blue-ribbon panels of esteemed academics or small pilot programs. And they are right. But, like the critical care physicians, the advocates must be humble enough to admit that we don't yet know the most effective cures for the illnesses from which our society suffers. Often, policies that seem like obvious solutions produce unintended consequences and don't end up helping the people they are designed to help. The answer is not to wait. Yes, let's move forward with bold reforms. But let's study them carefully at the same time…."
"Building Economic Mobility and Reducing Inequality: Start with the Evidence," by MDRC President Virginia Knox, Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity, November 18.
"The pandemic of 2020 has reignited a national conversation about inequality, having laid bare the chasm in health and well-being that groups of different racial, ethnic, geographic, or economic backgrounds experience over their lives. When COVID-19 subsides, policymakers in the Biden-Harris administration and members of the new Congress will be faced with decisions about the high levels of inequality and low levels of mobility into the middle class that make it hard for people to attain their ambitions and, in doing so, threaten the economy and our political and social fabric. The good news is that public and philanthropic investments have built a foundation of evidence that can inform each stage of the decision process."
"How Behavioral Science Can Help Future-Proof State and Local Government," by Michael Hallsworth & Brianna Smrke, BIT North America, and Rekha Balu & Rebecca Schwartz MDRC Center for Applied Behavioral Science, Route Fifty, December 1.
"While the last few months have seen great innovations, not every government response to Covid-19 has been a success story. In just one example, recent headlines describe long wait times for unemployment assistance compounded by increased caseloads and stress for staff. In response, we at Behavioral Insights Team (BIT) and the Center for Applied Behavioral Science at MDRC (CABS) have identified four priorities for governments to help them adapt policies, programs and services during this evolving crisis, based on our work applying behavioral science with dozens of public sector partners."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Our dentists, Drs. Pecora, Langner, Zaremba, Jourdan, and Vravick, provide conscious sedation as an option to all of our patients, including those who have difficulty receiving dental treatment. We invite you to schedule a consultation with our team to see how conscious sedation can help you. If you have any questions about the benefits of conscious sedation in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, we invite you to contact AlwaysGreatSmiles.com today.


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Q: Using Angular 2.0 or React without changing our build process? I want to begin using a front-end framework in a very large legacy codebase (just some widgets at first) but with minimal changes to the build process. Management wants to try this but it's low priority and we have more important things going on, so whatever I do can't hassle other developers.
With Vue and Angular 1.X I can just include a JavaScript file and begin coding. Is it possible to do something similar with Angular 2.0 (which seems to require node.js and a tool like webpack on the build server) or React? And if not, what's the best way to use them and have the least effect on other developers? Thanks for any help.

A: For React to properly work, you will need a package-manager, a bundler and a compiler (e.g. yarn/npm, webpack & babel), see also here. You can write React in plain Javascript but it's not recommended.
Regarding the integration: you should test the new framework with a small, isolated widget first and the slowly transform the rest of your code.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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The $15 Billion Tab India Could Have Avoided Picking
By India Spend
India needs lots of coal to power its energy needs. Increasingly, the gap is being filled through imports. Yet, amazingly, the problem is not that there is a shortage of coal in the country but more the wherewithal to mine it.
Petroleum imports have always been the sore spot in India's trade balance. It is India's top import and the primary cause of persistent trade deficit. Now, it is the turn of another fuel, coal, to weigh on India's trade balance.
During the financial year 2013-14, India imported coal worth Rs 93,293 crore or $15.47 billion. From being almost self sufficient in coal a decade back, India is now among the three largest importers. Coal was the seventh largest item in India's merchandise trade during FY14, accounting for 3.7% of total imports.
Unlike oil, India has large reserves of coal pegged at over 300 billion tonne. India is also the world's third largest producer of coal after China and US. However, production has not kept pace with demand, and, as a result, India has moved from a position of near self-sufficiency in coal production 15 years back to importing over 20% of its requirements (refer to table 1).
The value of coal imports during FY14 stood at Rs 93,293 crore – up from Rs 41,341 crore five years back. Import volume over the same period has almost tripled while domestic coal production has grown at just 2.8% per annum. India's energy needs, and consequently the demand for coal, will keep rising with economic growth. Therefore, unless the domestic coal production picks up dramatically, imports will make up the shortfall and will continue to increase dramatically.
Our coal imports are only slightly lower than China and at par with Japan. However, it is worth pointing out that China has been far more successful than India in producing coal domestically: it's coal production is six times that of India, and it meets over 90% demand through domestic production. Japan has very small reserves and imports almost everything it needs; so the situation is not comparable.
Bulk of India's coal, a little over 80%, is produced by government-owned Coal India Limited, which also owns most of the reserves. So, slow growth in coal production effectively means Coal India has not been very successful in scaling up production as required. As it stands, Coal India is the largest coal producing company globally. Suggestions to improve its operational performance include splitting it into several smaller companies which are easier to manage.
The Government says the main factors constraining coal production are difficulties in land acquisition, in obtaining environment & forest clearances as well as difficult geological conditions in some areas. Difficulties in resettlement & rehabilitation of affected people and law & order problems also hold up development of new mines. Logistical issues, such as inability to move coal from mines to demand centers via railways, also holds up new developments.
Apart from these factors, there is one more issue – the scams swirling around coal block allocations, which means that the private sector will likely have a marginal role in coal production for a while to come. The coal block scandal has parallels to the 2G telecom spectrum allocation scam where a scarce resource was 'allocated' for a song rather than auctioned for a potentially higher price.
Meanwhile, private sector Indian companies have been much more successful in buying coal mines in other countries like Indonesia, Australia and Mozambique. Indian companies have made or are making investments in developing coal mining & transport infrastructure in Indonesia and Australia. It is ironical that despite India's own massive needs for investments in infrastructure and energy, Indian companies are making these investments overseas.
Image Credit: Flickr
2G Spectrum coal Coal India India Manmohan Singh Scam
India Spend
Completely scale adaptive channels through value-added deliverables. Monotonectally network intermandated partnerships before interactive meta-services. Energistically provide access to one-to-one e-services before holistic synergy. Assertively create an expanded array of web-readiness whereas goal-oriented potentialities. Authoritatively grow multimedia based users through granular outsourcing.


Christian films, books and TV preachers give their take on the last book of the Bible, Revelation. Speculation about end times is a Christian cottage industry with theories bandied about on things like the identity of the beast, the rapture, the role of Israel, or the nature of the judgments poured out on the earth. Revelation is written in highly metaphorical language, so there are tons of speculations. Other Christians read through Revelation once or twice but unsure of what to do with it, so they ignore it. In The Heart of Revelation, J.Scott Duvall offers a third way of of reading revelation. He attends to the vision of hope in the book without devolving into personal speculation about what we may or may not suffer.
After a brief introduction discussing the cultural context, Duvall explores the book's message through the lens of ten themes: God, Worship, the People of God, the Holy Spirit, our enemies, our mission, Jesus Christ, judgment, new creation, and perseverance. By attending to Revelation thematically, Duvall provides a overview of the book rather than a detailed walk through the text (elsewhere he has published a commentary on revelation in the 'Teach the Text Commentary Series).
In his introduction Duvall offers these guidelines for understanding the book: (1) attend to the meaning of the book to its original hearers in Asia Minor, (2) Be aware of the symbolic nature of its language and (3) a focus on the main theological message of each vision (9-10). The result is a historical-literary sensitive reading which doesn't get caught up in theorizing about locust in smoke or Russia's role in Armageddon (Sorry Hal). This isn't to say that what Duvall says isn't compatible with various eschatological options. He allows for the book's future orientation without speculating about the minutia. His focus remains on the major themes through out the book and I think that mild Preterists, Millennialists and Dispensationalists can all read this book profitably.
The picture he paints is of a loving God who is the true center and source of life, a worshipping community drawn from every tongue, tribe and nation, a Holy Spirit who is living and active among us, an oppressor who is defeated by the cross and enemies we will overcome as we take up our cross and suffer. We also see our calling to be faithful witnesses to Jesus, the coming judgment against sin which takes seriously God's holiness and our human freedom, a new heaven and new earth where God will dwell with his people, and the challenge and promise for those who persevere until the end.
If Revelation mystifies you and you want a book that helps you see the meaning and purpose of the book, this is a great place to start. Each chapter ends with a list of key texts, a reading plan and community group questions for exploring Revelation in a small group setting (or personal study). I give this book four stars.


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Riker's Block
The Riker Scale
About John Riker
Back to the Track: A Retrospective on High School Running
May 23, 2020 ~ jrike10
One year ago today, I crossed the line at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland after the 1600m state championships, officially completing my high school distance running career.
A lot has happened since then: I've moved to Illinois, transitioned from high school and college, and taken the longest break from running I've had since starting training in spring of my seventh-grade year. My plans to join the club running team changed only two practices in, and in the months since I've bounced between frisbee practice, slam dunking workouts, and Pop-a-shot perfection (a far cry from mile repeats).
Video by Andrew Rowan
But the absence has also provided time to recover from a very mentally draining high school running career and explore what I wanted to do as an athlete. And now that I'm back running regularly, due to great weather, quarantine, and the lack of access to gyms, I've gained new perspective on why I enjoy distance running. I only run now when I feel like it, and that's pretty great.
On the one-year anniversary of my final race (and I haven't raced since then, either), I want to delve back into my cross country career and reflect on those special four years. While I was racing, I kept a journal about all of my races and training (which is now a 270-page paperback memoir titled Oh We Rollin), and recapping races and wrestling with my thoughts through writing helped me digest it all and understand myself better as an athlete. Today, with the distance of a whole year in passing since I last toed the line, I'm exploring the ten lessons I learned as a cross country and track athlete and ten career hypotheticals that could have been particularly impactful. While I wouldn't want to go back and restart high school again, I really enjoyed my experience and the ability to look back on those four years is something I treasure.
Confidence side of sports – One of the most jarring moments of my career came in the calm before the storm in regionals of my sophomore year track, when I was preparing for the mile that could qualify me for the state meet. Coach Redmond had trained me very well and I had done well in the workouts, and I used that foundation to give me optimism and confidence that I could put it together and break 4 minutes and 28 seconds, the qualifying standard. Just before I headed out to the line, I heard one of the elite runners a year older than me mutter to himself how terrible he was going to do. I couldn't believe it – here was one of the best runners, a guy I looked up to, and he already discounted himself out of the race. And when it came down to that final lap as the pack thinned out, he couldn't push himself beyond his limits and will himself to a states spot. I learned right there – there are places you can go as an athlete when you believe in yourself that you just can't with a pessimistic mindset.
But the real lesson came in my final track season. There were good signs that season, like an overall drop in my mile over the first weeks and a fun race in the Devil Run, but I was drained by repeatedly falling short of my expectations. It was the continuation of a two-year trend of disappointing finishes and frustration that other runners in my grade were improving and leaving me in the dust. It all came together in the first days of May. I combusted in the mile time trial, fading badly on my last lap and falling to third place. I couldn't take any more disappointment, and the next day I resolved to tell Coach Redmond that I just couldn't take the expectations and the pressure. More than that, I couldn't take the pain of seeing my confidence erode during the race, and I had little confidence that if I came to the starting line, that I could put together a strong physical and mental performance and simply do well. This was May of my senior year, supposedly my peak, and I couldn't break 4:40 in a time trial when my sophomore PR was 4:26.
I didn't talk to Coach Redmond to ease the burden of high expectations, and I put myself out there to race the distance double at the county championships, the mile and two mile. For the first time all season, I felt physically great in the opening laps of that mile, and my unfounded optimism and confidence helped me to reach a new personal record by less than a tenth of a second and a season record by five seconds. And about an hour later, I lowered my season-best in the two-mile by another ten seconds. With my confidence back, I wanted to put myself on that line and see what I could do instead of dreading the seemingly inevitable failures, and the combination of my physical training and confidence paid off again at regionals in the mile and two mile. By the time of the state championships, I was brimming with certainty in my training and strategy and wanting to be out racing, a world of change from where I had been only a couple weeks earlier. And when the early thinning of the race put the brunt of the pacing work solely on me for the torturous middle four laps of the two-mile, something that would have been an insurmountable obstacle before became a measuring stick and did not faze me. I had the best performance of my career, a school record in the two mile and personal record by almost 10 seconds (and 15 from early May) and, despite my seventh-place finish, I was content with my career and had learned a valuable lesson that I really didn't deserve.
All that to point to what I learned about sports – so much of it is what you put there in the arena, physically, mentally, and emotionally. It's about having that confidence to go attack a challenge instead of being paralyzed by nerves and failures and put everything on the line because it's sports and you're confident you can do well. It's something I saw not only in running but in the professional leagues I watch like the NFL and NBA. That's the way I measure a good athlete—have you become confident enough to dominate the battle within, the inner game of confidence? After all, all you can really ask for in sports is a chance.
Rewards of investment and meaning – One of the greatest contrasts in my day-to-day between my time running and my months at college without running was the absence in college of these moments of seemingly extreme importance that come up through athletics. Those big races or performances motivate you to stick to a six-days-a-week training regimen, to monitor your eating and sleeping habits during race week, and look at your teammates in the huddle with a sense of shared despair about the overemphasized importance of that meet in your heads. There's a mountain to climb, a mix of mundane and monumental, and you're building toward a great goal that will make the hours worth it.
There wasn't anything that really replaced running in that competitive outlet and dedication (save for fantasy basketball and Pop-a-Shot), and there were not any real huge days of importance other than maybe exam week that really stood out on my schedule as extremely meaningful. I needed the break for competition because my anxieties about athletic failure and the need to measure up to a standard needed time to settle down, but I gained newfound appreciation for putting in the time and effort for a worthwhile pursuit, and then putting it all together on race day and seeing the outcome.
Failure – High school running taught me a lot about failure, whether that meant going out too fast and burning out, missing out on a states qualification, losing to a competitor in a race, or being part of a team and not meeting shared goals. Failure on the state level was particularly impactful in cross country and track. Nothing could petrify me more than the unforgiving hills of the Hereford state course after my freshman year (I seriously had nightmares about it), and to live up to my potential the following year, I had to embrace the exact strategy that had doomed me the year before and have confidence that I was better trained – to look failure in the face. And of my nine appearances in the state meet between cross country and track (1 freshman year, 2 sophomore year, 2 junior year, 4 senior year), I failed in my goals seven of the nine times. I flamed out spectacularly in four of those, faded to some degree in every year in cross country (I placed in 11th in my sophomore year, 39th my junior year and 14th my senior year, despite holding top ten for the majority of the race), and actually met my true time/place goal only in my final two mile race senior year.
The fact that those performances were on the state level was especially crushing, but it taught me to how to use failures constructively, and when they were the very obstacle to overcoming future failures. With distance running, there's the terrifying fact that you're going to be exhausting yourself to the limit and don't know exactly where that perfect balance in pacing between too fast (so you'll burn out) and not fast enough (so you'll still have something in the tank you didn't use), and to combat that I learned that failure is hard, but the reaction can go a long way.
Post-race outlook – I was a mess after my sophomore regionals race. I was jammed – the leader of the second wave of runners for most of the race, and then when runners started passing me in the last mile, I couldn't reach another gear – and lost to a bunch of runners younger than I was (in fairness, I was also thrown off mentally by the fact that we just ran the counties course backwards). We qualified for states easily, and I was still top ten, but I moped afterward because I felt I was obligated to mope when I didn't do well, to make sure it didn't happen again and give the appearance of my competitive edge. Then a lightbulb went off – I could be competitive and still be gracious after disappointments, and my team environment would be so much better if I picked myself off the ground and acted with poise instead of tantrums. I made a point for the rest of my career to cut the act and it served as a foundational point for my career, absent one or two time trials.
That issue came up on that same course for counties my senior year. I had aimed to win counties even before I was out of middle school, and every year I had been planning and visualizing myself crossing the line first. It was incredibly muddy my senior year, the type of mud that engulfs your shoes, but I still kept the faith and kept the mental wherewithal to stick with the leaders, Obsaa and Eldad from Northwood. I wouldn't give up first. Those two pulled ahead gradually, but in the final half mile I felt I was pulling closer to Eldad. Then, one runner passed me, then another, then another. I sped up for a bit, and then my legs felt entirely cold in the damp and frigid October air. I dropped from third to 13th. Not getting top three was inconceivable to me entering the race, and instead I totally bombed and lost to runners I'd never before imagined as competitors. The aftermath of that race was one of the least frustrating I can remember, though. I knew I gave it my all and went for the prize, and it didn't work out. Some of my teammates were crushed and I totally sympathized with them and our lost dream of winning the county championship – their sentiment was genuine and not wrong at all. But I also saw value in picking my head up and keeping poise in chaos.
Taking care of your body – The most straight-forward lesson. During my cross country and track days, I poured a ton into my training. In addition to those six days a week, I took weight training classes two years, read books and watched videos about running, visualized and reflected through writing, and looked for a (legal) edge every way possible (ah yes, beet powder). I knew that if I slipped up in my training, I couldn't match up to my competitors and perform as I needed to for the team. College life is a lot different, and the mental and physical discipline of the regimen back then is something I look back on with amazement and perhaps a tinge of envy.
Not every race has a moral to the story – This lesson is specifically antithetical to my own prior beliefs. As I said earlier, I reflected a lot on my races through conversations and writing, and I always tried to learn from both disappointments and successes. But sometimes, there just isn't an answer. I faded all four years at cross country states, and aside for my first year where I just got overwhelmed, there wasn't a reason I could pinpoint. My training was in the right place, nutrition and sleep was in order, and the strategy was the strategy I needed to have in place to succeed. And it wasn't like my home course didn't have the steepest hill of any course in the county. Reading into it didn't do all that much good either, though, and learning from races only adds anything of value if it helps you race better in the future. Not all races are that way, and some you just have to let go.
Identity – This is a huge divide between high school and college. I was known primarily for running in high school; most of the friends I hung out with on a daily basis at college didn't know I did high school running until, like, March. That was a very needed change for me. I wrote down specifically going into my freshman year of college that I wanted to be known as someone who was a nice, fun person and not for any athletic aptitude or achievement. To be honest, that's how I felt in high school too, and I felt like athletics kind of dominated my perception and obscured anything central to me as a person. Now, it's better to be known for something good than notorious for the bad, and my friends and coaches knew more than just the outside perception, but the burden of being "the runner" weighed on me in freshman year, sophomore year, junior year, and senior year. Freshman year I remember asking older varsity runners how to deflect attention, because I hated having to react to people saying stuff to me related to running. Not having that be the case in college felt freeing. That does not mean I didn't enjoy running itself or talking about running, but it was an entirely welcome challenge to reinvent myself in college. If someone couldn't imagine John Riker without running, then did they know John Riker at all? It's a particularly applicable and interesting lesson for me in sports journalism, where a lot of the job comes in peeling back the layers and seeing athletes as people more than just numbers or interchangeable parts.
Making the most of a moment—This lesson is what I did best as an athlete in high school. I genuinely enjoyed my high school running career and kept a lot of that experience with me, whether through memory, photobooks, running logs, Oh We Rollin, videos, or memorabilia. From the second I stepped on the field at Frost for my first cross country practice, I knew every second would be fleeting. There's only so much you can enjoy about a blazing hot Dundee workout, but I tried to soak in as much as I could from the meets, the team get togethers, and everything in between. This past year I took a huge mental and physical break from running, and though it's always fun to imagine being back running one time, I'm really content with having done my career how I feel was the right way and taking advantage of the awesome opportunity of being a high school varsity athlete.
Decision-making – A huge struggle of mine in distance running, and what I suppose is true of most runners, is making hard decisions in the middle of the race when you're really tired. The iguana brain always wants to quit, but over the course of training, resisting that urge to slow down or stop kind of goes away (this was really huge my sophomore year, where I couldn't put out of my mind to stop on the side of the course and it drained me a lot during the DCXC and counties meets). That is the relatively easy part, though. Instantaneously making decisions about what to do, when or how to make moves, in the heat of the race when you know you'll look back on it later is really hard to master. So many times those instincts don't pay off – I stepped my foot over the line at DCXC sophomore year and lost by less than a tenth of a second because I didn't lean with the chip that was on my chest, and lost another race in the final steps because I wasn't sure of the course and ran downhill a little bit and lost momentum. Other times it does, and you build off that momentum.
As I mentioned before, there were also races that I ran that did not pan out, and that made me examine the decision-making in those races. By my senior year, when a lot of my performances were disappointing in my eyes, I came to value the process more and in just going for it. Senior year counties was the best example – I was going to go for it all because I felt I owed myself the opportunity to see what I could do, and I wouldn't even be content if I placed second but never tried to go for first. Getting the results is great, but it doesn't always happen. Sometimes the decisions that position you best for success don't pan out, and that doesn't mean they're the wrong choice.
Team mentality – I really loved being part of a team with a shared purpose. You train together, you win and lose together, you eat team meals and bond together. It undeniably adds a dimension to the experience of sports, and without it sports is really an incomplete experience and you miss out on one of the central joys. One of the reasons I stepped away from running (aside from the cold Chicago weather) was because I felt I had fulfilled my obligations to my team (the Wootton Patriots), and when I was racing, one of my greatest motivations was not letting the team down. To the criticism that running is an individual sport, I would argue that who I was as a racer was shaped by my status as a member of a team and by the care and effort of my coaches and teammates. I couldn't extricate my team out of my performance because they were a driving factor, whether that's in the huddle, on the sideline of the course or track, or during practice. It's also literally a team sport by the point totals, and those shared joys are the best (winning counties as a freshman and DCXC as a senior were some of my favorite memories). Being a part of the team made workouts and road runs much more bearable, and the social environment was one of the greatest supports a runner could ask for.
This is the part of the article where I transition from the sentimental lessons I learned along the way to the questions and hypotheticals that I have wrestled with for a long time. I wrote these mostly because it's a fun way of exploring the four years, and it's purely speculative. But I still think it's of some value. Read at your own risk.
What if I ran more miles over the summer?
I have this in the Oh We Rollin book. Every summer I would ask myself whether I was running enough miles and looking at the other runners. While my training plans were around 30-40 miles a week in the summer, the powerhouse schools trained their athletes at 60-70. There's obviously a greater chance of injury with more mileage, but there is also a limit how far you can go with limited miles and only so much a runner can do to close a mileage gap. Each of those summers I had to tell myself to trust in Coach Redmond's experience and running wisdom, but it was undoubtedly hard to not look over my shoulder.
This hypothetical could have two wildly different outcomes. The absolute worst is that I could miss serious time with injury and lose a lot of the joy that comes with running. I was extremely blessed to never miss more than a day or two with an injury, and I can't even fathom how much worse it would have been if I was relegated to the sidelines. But now for the more interesting scenario. I think I could have become more aerobically strong with more miles, and closer to the level of the top athletes my senior year of high school at the state level (though I don't even know if this would be enough – my 400 was a mayonnaise-esque 59 seconds and those guys were talented), maybe good enough for top-five in states. I would have won a couple more invitationals, maybe have slightly better PR's and challenge for a county title or two. There's also a darker side. I would have been injured at some point in my career and practically, I would have a lot less time. Boosting the mileage might have even been a source of frustration, especially if I did it to match other athletes. Would I want to match their workouts next? Copy their daily habits? The bottom line is that as someone whose strength was in distance and most definitely not in speed, the gains could have been noticeable but it may not have led to the ultimate prize. In almost any scenario, it would have made for a worse cross country experience. I also think it may have made a slight boost in recruiting, but I wouldn't be in the running to be the next Oregon Ducks track star or anything else of consequence even if I doubled the miles.
What if I had not taken antibiotics at the end of junior cross country? – I tanked from top 10 to 39th in my junior year at states, only a week after getting 3rd at regionals and running a school record at counties. The closest answer I could find to a difference between those two meets and states was the medicine I started taking in late October. During those weeks, my meets were getting better and better and my workouts were getting worse and worse. Over the course of the next couple months it felt like a turning point in my career. Track season was extremely disappointing and only salvaged by a county-wide war of attrition that spring that helped me make states, and I never regained that confidence in myself until the very end of my racing days.
In one scenario the antibiotics didn't make any difference and my career turns out exactly the same. Let's go with the more interesting and far less likely one – I actually do get top ten at states and do somewhat well in the NXR meet a couple weeks later. It's debatable whether I would have been in better shape going into spring track, but if it really did make a difference, then I enter the year a little bit stronger and with a bit more confidence. I'd liken this to my senior and sophomore seasons, where my racing shape went from decent to great over the year, whereas my actual junior went terrible to good. I'd venture to say that I set PR's in my two events, qualify for states, and even challenge in the wide-open mile at states. I might get more notice from colleges with better junior times as well. But I don't think any of this would have elevated me above the guys who would win state championships my senior year and made any substantial results, and my final month of senior year wouldn't have felt so sweet if not saturated by the confidence slump of the last two years.
What if I had won DCXC outright during my sophomore year?
In DCXC sophomore year, I traded places with Whitman's Aaron Bratt for the last half-mile about ten different times, including three times in the last fifty meters. As we broke for the finish line, I told myself to stick my foot across the line to make sure I won the contested finish. If I "crossed" the line first then I won, right? The split-second decision cost me, as sticking my foot out actually arched my shoulders backward and opened Aaron up to take the win (it was one he deserved for his effort, certainly). I scored a PR and school record, but was kicking myself for not winning the race and never did win a big time meet until my senior year.
But if I had pulled it out? Well, DCXC after that race was already jubilation. I got more hugs from people on the team than I'd had in my life combined, and much more attention. People blew that September meet way out of proportion, it was almost dreamlike. The time obviously wouldn't be much different, and what made that race special, being in the zone and scoring a personal best, wouldn't have changed. It would have been cool to be on the stage being interviewed, and my mind would've been entirely blown. But in the ensuing weeks when the appearance of glamour was torn away – the course was measured at 3.07 miles and the running community didn't take the meet as seriously, all of the athletes had to give their prize bags back to keep amateur status and the actual postseason meets proved what really mattered — not all that much would've changed. And from that meet, I learned to always lean forward, something I did in every meet after that. Those couple inches went a long way.
What if we had won counties during my junior year?
My freshman year was incredible. The varsity team looked really good and blew our competition away, and around halfway through the season, I was like, "I think this is the kind of team that could actually win stuff." And we won the school's first county title by a wide margin, setting off a celebration that was highlighted by Coach Redmond dancing to whatever music the DJ was blaring. We also pulled out a super-close regionals finish a couple weeks later. One of my favorite moments ever.
But that was my first taste of cross country. I knew way more and winning just meant more as I grew older, and we had a pretty good shot to win counties again during my junior year. These were all guys in my grade and the grade above, and I now understood that winning wasn't so easy. We were projected by the fans and experts to be around the 8-10 spots, lower than even our disappointing fifth place the year before. Instead, we balled out. Three of us, myself, Mitchell, and Joe scored epic PR's and placed higher than expected, and we came within 15 points of beating a much better Whitman team that practically lived in the top 25. If we had made up those 15 points with our 4 and 5 runners? It may be asking for too much already to have Mitchell and Joe run so well, but taking 15 spots between our other runners was reasonable.
I would have loved nothing more than this to come to fruition. It would have been one of the greatest upsets in counties history and the other guys could say that they were a part of the winning varsity squad. That validation would've been a huge confidence boost for all of us, and the shared memory of winning when it meant that much and with a score that tight over our biggest rival would have defied words. I don't think it would have affected our performances at regionals and states all that much, but to bring that trophy back to our school and our coaches would've meant a ton. We did get a DCXC Invitational team title the next year though, so I guess that sort of makes up for it.
What if senior year had drier courses?
During junior year at counties, I ran a huge 5K PR in the mid-15s, and the following year I was aiming for something really special. Instead, almost every race we ran was damp, from shoe-soaking counties to muddy DCXC to an absolute monsoon at my final XC race, NXR. Instead of scoring PR's, I didn't break 16 minutes in the 5K and didn't come close to my personal record. My counties time was slower than my time on the course as a freshman by a significant margin.
Place-wise, I don't think the mud mattered all that much. I would've done about the same in DCXC and NXR meets, and while I would've probably been more tempered in counties, I can't say that it would've given me the win. I would have certainly broke 16 minutes multiple times, but even then breaking my PR was a reach. It's a tantalizing hypothetical, but one that I'm fine living with.
What if I had taken the first mile slower in senior cross-country counties?
On the mud-soaked counties course my senior year, I took it out with the top guys and ran the first mile in 4:59, which translates to 4:40s on a drier course. I wanted to win, and instead I petered out and fell to 13th. If I didn't stick with those guys for the first mile and tried to make up ground, would it have turned out differently?
Well, I would've gotten third place for sure. With better pacing I could've run a more even race and held off guys I'd gone up against in other races. I wouldn't have gotten first, as Obsaa was in way better shape than I was and would've created a gap I couldn't close. But could I have passed Eldad, who stuck to Obsaa and faded a bit late but kept second? That would depend on whether he stuck to Obsaa because he thought I was going to stay with them. If that was true and I was with the chase pack, he might have lagged off Obsaa, run a more even race, and stayed out of my grasp. If not, maybe I do get second. But as I said earlier, I was going for the win, and I was fine afterward with my process and wouldn't have even been content with second place. Once the sting wore off, this one wasn't such a burning question.
What if I had attended Richard Montgomery?
Here's the case for attending RM. I continue my magnet school learning instead of dropping out in sixth grade and do the program at RM, eventually finding running as something to do in high school. The difference once I'm part of cross country at RM is that I'm teammates with Rohann, a TikTok celebrity now but also Virginia's top runner now and a MoCo legend, my middle school archrival Mark Unger, and perhaps the best speed-distance talent I've seen in Garrett Suhr in the year below me. Our distance squad had guys more inclined for the 4×800 (which I fell far behind quickly) and I was a freshman when that year's famed seniors were at the peak of their powers, so having a teammate who would challenge me every workout would be an interesting change.
For one, I wouldn't have had a better coach than Coach Redmond, and I wouldn't have had a better experience than I did with the Wootton team. I think that would be impossible, and I don't say that out of disrespect to RM. As a racer, I think I would have been faster especially with strategy with teammates in meets, but I would have grinded myself out with insecurities about being the top runner at practice and possibly messed up workouts. I don't think it would vault me into the upper echelon of the guys competing my senior year, and the difference in training certainly could have resulted in more injuries. I would have worn a much cooler Rocket singlet and supported a superior football team, but I'd leave that trade on the table.
What if coronavirus had ended my senior track season?
One I've really thought about recently. My character arc (borrowing from my film studies minor) during senior track plays so much into how I see my whole career, and not having that last redemptive moment would have been devastating. Sure, I didn't reach the top five in my two-mile race, but I conquered myself and won that inner game of confidence after all of the struggles. I also would've ended on a mediocre indoor states race and would not have had the opportunity to run in the Devil Race, one of the greatest distance running inventions of all-time. I would have had great moments over my career and enjoyed the experience overall, but I would've seen my career as a relative downward arc that didn't live up to the initial joys. Knowing how invested I was in running, it's not hyperbole to say that I would've been traumatized by the experience of not having a senior track season after all of the hype and preparation, and I would have really been done with running after that break. Of all of the fun senior things I got to do that spring like prom, my last day of school and graduation, states by far meant the most to me. I would've come to terms eventually with ending on a sour note, but the aftermath would not be pretty. My condolences go out to all of those seniors who did lose their track seasons this year – that really, really sucks.
What if I had not run in high school?
Alright, so we're taking running out of the equation. I'll also take out basketball, which my eighth grade year really proved to me that I didn't have a serious future in the sport. As far as other school activities, I would have still done the school newspaper Common Sense, taken the same classes, and been involved in my church and the FCA chapter at school. A lot would have changed.
My friendships would have changed. I'd probably still know my best friend Joe Poho from newspaper, but overall the bonds forged between teammates through all those years of training would have been lost. I don't know if I would've been able to find another sport that leaned into my strengths, either. Something that was special about distance running is that my effort was proportional to my performance, or at least more than in basketball for me. Baseball wouldn't have been an option given my lack of experience, and my weeklong lacrosse career wasn't especially promising in sixth grade. Tennis, rec sports or weight training are the most likely options, though I doubt I could've made the competitive Wootton tennis team even with practice.
The interesting option is football. My mom wouldn't let me play growing up, but if I'd really pestered during high school, maybe I could have filled in and experienced what it's like to play under the Friday Night Lights. If I'd bulked up, I could have played quarterback at some point and lived out my childhood dream of beating Churchill. Of all of the hypotheticals on this list, it's also the one where I'd most certainly be injured. I'm also not sold on the community being a better fit for me than running. In short, high school would have been extremely unbearable without distance running, and I would have had a much different understanding of myself and a less-than-fully-realized competitive mentality.
What if I was someone faster?
In running it's very easy to look sideways. I did it when comparing mileage over the summer, and I certainly monitored race results of my rivals during cross country and track season. Several of them are running Division 1 cross country and have county and state titles to their names. Eldad even lapped me in the two-mile during indoor states.
I don't think it would have mattered, and of all of the athletes I competed against, I had the rare opportunity to compete injury-free for four years at the varsity level, for an awesome and caring coaching staff and with a fun team. I had a lot of ups and downs and times where I was really frustrated and lost, but I ended up in a place where I could claim victory – not over all other competitors like some of my rivals, but on the fears and mental roadblocks that had been holding me down. Even if I was faster, I'd always be measuring myself up against the faster level, and where I finished my career I was at a point where I could find contentment that is rare in the heat of competition.
I wouldn't trade all the memorable road runs, banquet videos, spaghetti dinners, running conversations, strategy sessions, friends, struggles and experiences with any other runner in the state, no matter how fast. Honestly. High school cross country and track was a fantastic experience. It's one that is in the rearview mirror now and one that I look back on occasionally with a smile, and I'm content being where I am with that as a chapter of my life. Save for a few hypotheticals, there aren't a lot of ways it could have been better, and I am so grateful for all of the teammates, coaches, and competitors who made it so special. I may be onto Pop-a-Shot domination now, but it's always fun now and again to look back on the Glory Days.
Posted in Nostalgia Blast, Running	XC
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-3/16" inner diameter is perfect for short draw systems, kegerators, or for restriction line.
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3/16" I.D. flexible clear vinyl hose. 100' roll. Ideal for kegerators or other "short draw" draft beer systems. Also perfect for the necessary restriction lines attached to all dispensing towers.


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Macdonald Gardens
The Ottawa neighbourhood known as Macdonald Gardens lies in the eastern most corner of 'Lowertown East', tucked away north of Rideau St., west and south of the Rideau River, and east of Cobourg Street. At what is more or less its geographical centre is the Macdonald Gardens park: eight acres of grass, trees, and winding paths. It is this park that will spring to the minds of most who hear the name, partially because of its iconic summer house on a hill and partially because of its history as one of Ottawa's earliest cemeteries. An integral part of that built and cultural heritage is the institutional presence that dominated this area in the early 20th century, whose hospitals and embassies shaped, and in some cases, continue to be part of the social makeup of the neighbourhood. Although urban renewal ravaged much of Lowertown East in the late 1960s, this section of the larger plan was left relatively less scathed, resulting in a well-preserved built landscape that can tell us much about the value of what was otherwise lost as the city shifted into a period of much denser urban growth. This park and the built heritage around it tell a story of Ottawa's many attempts to beautify itself, to be seen as a national capital, and to attempt to meet the housing needs of its residents.


BATAVIA – And then there were three. Suspense mounts as Batavia mystery writer Annie Hansen waits to hear the April outcome of the Soon to be Famous Illinois Author Project for 2017.
She has been nominated twice in the statewide contest, in which librarians judge fiction authors to select and promote a winner. They had 66 nominees, who were winnowed to 20 seminfinalists and then three finalists.
Also in the running is an alternate history thriller by Daniel Rosenberg titled "The Towers Still Stand," and a historical novel set in Renaissance Italy, "The Bard," by Karen Bedore.
The winner will be announced at 1 p.m. April 12, at the Gail Borden Public Library, 270 N. Grove Ave., Elgin.
Among a variety of promotional perks, the winner will receive statewide recognition by libraries as the top self-published book; a $1,000 cash prize; print book sales to Illinois libraries; a book review in Library Journal; and a book tour of Illinois libraries.
Hansen said her book is available at Town House Books in St. Charles, Anderson's Bookshop in Downers Grove and major outlets. The Geneva History Museum currently carries the first two titles.
Hansen said she plans to write two more installments in the series.


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Yasutoshi Yoshida
Yasutoshi Yoshida is a visual artist and musician in Tokyo, Japan. He operates his own record label 'Xerxes' and is a member of Barom One, Mecha-dote-chin & Monster DVD. Government Alpha is the name of his harsh noise project. He is a member of Barom One, Mecha-dote-chin & Monster DVD. He has produced over 12 albums, including 1969/1999 (1999), Sporadic Spectra (1999), Aerial Patrol EP (2002), Strange Days (2003), Prospective Massacre (2005), Strange Days 2 (2005), Ignis Fatuus (2005), Venomous Cumulus Cloud (2007), and Subtle Drugs (2010 Neon Blossom Records). His artwork has shown internationally, and his music collaborations include Saturday Night Groove Sessions with Jazzkammer (2002), Radiation Snowfall with Bastard Noise (2003), Planet of Fluctuation with MSBR (2003), and Das Methadonprogramm with Azoikum (2005).
"I have never been to an art school, I just started to make artwork for my own releases as I needed it for the covers and had no friends who could do this. that's how i started doing it all myself and find my own way.
I got a lot of influences from Art-brut, especially from Adolf Wölfli. I'm also highly influenced by many album covers of Nurse With Wound, and I would love to have such good covers for my releases."
Visit his website


A knight in shining armor or a lunatic?
Finding her lover in bed with another woman is just the beginning of Julie Bird's surreal trip to China. Losing her way in the suburbs of Beijing does little to improve her mood… and then the bandit shows up. Bandit, in twenty first century China? Things go from irritating to bizarre when a sword-wielding madman, or hero, rescues her. He claims to be the son of an emperor from three hundred years ago, and must return to fight for the throne. This man, although hot, is obviously not in his right mind. But what else could Julie do except repaying his kindness?
Bijou Li's passion for writing had started before she could write. When she was three years old, she spent all her waking hours scribbling on her dad's notebook during a daylong train ride. But she didn't follow her passion for another two decades. In college, Bijou Li majored in English literature and anthropology. While doing her research in the Great Cool Mountains in China, Bijou lived with the Mosuo, an ethnic group who practiced "walking marriage." The hard-working Mosuo women inspired Bijou to write Country of Daughters and other novels.
Brand new for February! An outstanding new title from Bijou Li! Don't miss this one!


DOCTORS' surgeries in Henley and South Oxfordshire are facing a shortage of GPs over the next decade.
A report commissioned by the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group says the number of doctors at the 10 surgeries in the south-east Oxfordshire locality could decrease by 11, or more than 20 per cent, by 2027.
At the same time, the area's population is expected to rise by as much as 6,500.
The report blames the problem on doctors retiring and difficulties with recruiting replacements.
It recommends that more must be done to spread GPs' workloads among other staff, including nurses, physiotherapists and pharmacists.
The south-east Oxfordshire locality is split into three neighbourhoods and includes the Hart and Bell surgeries in Henley as well as the GP practices in Sonning Common, Nettlebed, Goring and Woodcote, Benson and Watlington.
These serve a population of more than 93,000 and currently have more than 40 GPs between them. The report, which is about a new primary care plan for the area for the next five to 10 years, says: "The south-east realises that more must be done to realise the potential of utilising different kinds of clinical staff.
"Alternative solutions might need to be investigated, such as a pharmacist completing medication reviews, or a physiotherapist seeing musculoskeletal patients.
A spokeswoman for the commissioning group said: "The locality plans are taking a forward view beyond the next year and thinking about the workforce is a key part of this.
"Given the age profile of GPs in the locality, we have estimated that 11 GPs might be expected to retire within the next 10 years. We know this is likely to be a picture repeated across the country. This needs to be considered alongside the additional demands expected in primary care.
The group wants to encourage more doctors to work in this area, which has historically had difficulty with recruitment.
The Bell and Hart surgeries are both training practices and new doctors Chee Pavey and Will Hearsey both trained at the latter before joining full-time.
The group suggests increasing the number of training centres and encouraging GPs to remain in the area where they have trained with financial incentives such as bursaries, mentoring schemes and additional support staff.
Dr Philip Unwin, senior partner at the Hart Surgery, said: "We are in a very lucky position of being training practices in Henley and getting a decent supply of good quality trainees coming through.
"Other practices are not so lucky. There is already a shortage of GPs, which is leading to the closure of practices, including some in north Oxford. We are looking at other ways of increasing our services by possibly employing a paramedic to help with visits, maybe a pharmacist and expanding the role of nurses because demand is relentless.
The report says that healthcare services in the area will be put under further strain as new homes are built, increasing the population to almost 100,000 by 2027.
An increase in the number of elderly people will also require improvements in care services.
It suggests increasing the capacity of the current GP practices, with around 3,000 extra patients able to be accommodated in the Henley sector without changes to the existing infrastructure.
Other ideas include planning for extra demand, investigating mergers with other bodies, improving administration and IT systems and sharing work with other services in the region.
The commissioning group wants to increase initiatives that promote preventative and self-care to ease the strain on healthcare services.


Old wine, the name Of Alba is the more important of the thirteen Piedmont. This is the wine traditionally drunk at the meal.
A classic wine of the Langhe. The dolcetto has an intense red colour, brilliant with reflection of violet. Captures the nose with a complexity of scents, leaving you to wander the mind in a field of flowers, and orchards of cherries, vineyards and mature fruit. The taste is dry and harmonic.
Food pairings: Perfect with risotto al dolcetto d'alba and radicchio, with appetizers of vegetables and meats, to accompany the veal or beef, mushrooms, soups of legumes.
Cellar: The cellar in Barbaresco, a beautiful village in the heart of the Langhe today on the UNESCO world heritage. Established in 2005,...see the card.


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Подхоз () — бывшее село в Акмолинской области Казахстана. Находится в подчинении Степногорской городской администрации. Входит в состав Бестобинской поселковой администрации. Код КАТО — 111837200. В настоящее время село «Подхоз» упразднено, оно было включено в состав посёлка Бестобе в качестве улицы Подхоз с жилыми домами № 1, 4, 7, 11, 14, 19, 24, 28, 40, которая 20 декабря 2018 года была переименована в улицу Кен дала.

География
Село Подхоз расположено примерно в 6 км к востоку от посёлка Бестобе и в 89 км к востоку от Степногорска. Близ села проходит автодорога P-170.

История
В 1931 году на территории современного посёлка по следам горных выработок была обнаружена золотоносность нескольких кварцевых жил. 25 августа 1932 года было официально начато строительство рудника «Бестобе». Рядом с посёлком рудника возник небольшой аул, в котором в годы СССР располагалось подсобное хозяйство рудника Бестобе, образованное тогда же, когда и сам рудник.

Решением акима Акмолинской области от 11 марта 1997 года посёлок Бестобе был передам в административное подчинение города Степногорска.

Население
В 1989 году население села составляло 191 человек (из них казахов 75 %).

В 1999 году население села составляло 159 человек (81 мужчина и 78 женщин). По данным переписи 2009 года, в селе проживали 134 человека (74 мужчины и 60 женщин). В 2017 году в бывшем селе «Подхоз» проживало 48 человек.

Примечания

Упразднённые населённые пункты Степногорской городской администрации

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


A parent's worst nightmare is their child being hurt in any way. This includes various forms of abuse such as physical, sexual, or emotional. It can be difficult to detect or prove that your child is being abused, especially if you believe the abuser is your child's other parent. Here we will discuss signs of potential abuse and what you can do to protect your child.
Knowing whether your child is suffering from abuse can be very difficult, especially since the accusation is so severe. Many children will not open up about the situation out of fear of their abuser, or they have built a mental block to protect themselves. Physical evidence can also be hard to use as proof. A couple of bruises are usually not enough evidence since children often get bruises playing with their friends. While it can be difficult to prove abuse based solely on suspicion, a combination of signs can provide enough evidence to be sure your child is being abused.
Consistent wearing of long-sleeve or baggy clothing to cover marks.
Distancing from close friends or family members.
Discovering your child is a victim of abuse is devastating and infuriating to any parent, which can result in a myriad of reactions, some good and some bad. If your child tells you they are experiencing abuse, it is important to remain calm and process what they have disclosed to you. It can be difficult to refrain from interrogating your child about every detail of the abuse, but this forced discussion can lead them to relive the abuse and scare them from telling you anything more. It is crucial to reassure your child they did nothing wrong. Many victims, especially children, will blame themselves for the abuse. Once you have comforted your child, contact the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services for assistance.
Child abuse is taken with the utmost seriousness in every state and court. At A. Traub & Associates, we understand the safety of your child is what matters most. If you believe your child is suffering from abuse of any kind, contact our Lombard, IL family law attorneys at 630-426-0196.
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A. Traub & Associates provides legal advice and representation to Lombard, Arlington Heights, and nearby communities, including Addison, Aurora, Bartlett, Batavia, Berwyn, Bloomingdale, Bolingbrook, Chicago, Cicero, Darien, Des Plaines, Dolton, Downers Grove, Elk Grove Village, Elmhurst, Elwood, Geneva, Glen Ellyn, Glendale Heights, Hanover Park, Harvey, Hinsdale, Hoffman Estates, Lisle, Melrose Park, Naperville, New Lenox, Maywood, Northlake, Oak Brook, Oak Brook Terrace, Oak Forest, Oak Park, Orland Park, Palatine, Park Ridge, Rolling Meadows, Roselle, Schaumburg, Villa Park, West Chicago, Westchester, Wheaton, Wheeling, and Woodridge, Illinois (IL). We practice primarily in DuPage County, Cook County, Kane County, and Will County.


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Robbins puede referirse a:

Divisiones administrativas
 Robbins (California).
 Robbins (Carolina del Norte).
 Robbins (Illinois).
 Robbins (Tennessee).

Personajes
 Alexandra Robbins, periodista, profesora y escritora estadounidense.
 Daniel Robbins, programador estadounidense.
 Frank Robbins, historietista estadounidense.
 Frederick C Robbins, Premio Nobel de Fisiología o Medicina del año 1954.
 H. C. Robbins Landon, musicólogo estadounidense.
 Harold Robbins, escritor estadounidense.
 Jerome Robbins, coreógrafo, bailarín y director estadounidense.
 Lionel Robbins, economista británico.
 Tim Robbins, actor y director estadounidense.
 Tom Robbins, escritor estadounidense.
 Tony Robbins, autor y orador de auto-ayuda estadounidense.

Personajes ficticios
 Al Robbins, de la serie CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
 Arizona Robbins, de la serie Grey's Anatomy.
 Demelza Robbins, de la serie de libros de Harry Potter.


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Gauteng's Innovation Hub – a critical pit-stop on Africa's IT superhighway
March 23, 2013 • Online & Social
The concept to establish a centralised, technology-focused entrepreneurial community in South Africa's Gauteng Province was first discussed in 2001. Four years later the foundations for a Science and Technology Park, the Innovation Hub, were put in place and the idea of an area dedicated to applied innovation in trade and industry to benefit provincial, national and global socio-economic development became a reality.
McLean Sibanda, CEO of the Innovation Hub, the established Science and Technology Park in Pretoria, Gauteng. (Image: Google/123people.co.uk)
Now, in 2013, Chief Executive Officer McLean Sibanda says South Africa has come a long way as far as realising the inherent benefits of ICT – but, like many other sectors, challenges still remain.
"In 2000, with Y2K, there was a lot of uncertainty. The market had not realised the full potential of the sector and broadband connectivity was primarily business focused. By 2005 ICT had taken on a different dimension and its potential had been realised in many sectors. Today, ICT has moved away from being product focused to becoming an enabler…we are a highway, so to speak, and ICT broadband is helping in government's delivery of services, including education. There is also the interconnectivity aspect of ICT, with new services being made available and delivered via mobile platforms. But, if we compare South Africa with the rest of the world, the challenge of regulation and rollout of technologies remains," explains Sibanda.
Regulation is at the heart of broadband connectivity in Africa, including allocation of spectrum to enable technologies like LTE to make a difference in people's lives.
"Regulators do play an important role in keeping us on the straight and narrow… but it is important that we look forward, look ahead… and learn from best practices. It is important to be proactive," Sibanda adds.
He uses this point to help define the Innovation Hub. It is Africa's first internationally accredited Science Park and a full member of the International Association of Science Parks.
It is also a subsidiary of the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency, an agency of the Gauteng Department of Economic Development.
As such Sibanda explains that the Innovation Hub is well positioned to serve as an intermediary between entrepreneurs, businesses, industry regulators and government – all key stakeholders in the broader development of the ICT industry. It has an established channel through to decision makers and can influence policy to help direct how issues are being addressed.
There are similar sized initiatives in other parts of South Africa, including the establishment of a Science and Technology Park at the Vaal University of Technology, which is focused on the chemical industry, a healthcare/biotech initiative in Cape Town as well as the eMonti Science and Technology Park focused on economic development within the East London region.
The Innovation Hub's status as Africa's first internationally accredited Science and Technology Park means that it has a model that the organisers of similar projects are keen to emulate.
"It is being used as a reference park, we are working with Botswana on its Innovation Hub and we have received interest from Russia and Geneva based on entrepreneurship training and best practices," says Sibanda.
Pretoria is considered a strategic location given the proximity to key industrial organisations like the CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research), as well as to various nearby academic institutions, including the University of Pretoria, and government departments.
"Gauteng is a central region for us because a quarter of the country's population reside in the province and it contributes over 35% to the country's GDP," Sibanda adds.
Engaging the ecosystem, developing economy
The Innovation Hub covers several key sectors including IT, Biosciences, Green Technologies and Industrials. The intention is to help nurture and establish what Sibanda calls 'pockets of excellence' representing these key areas… however, IT is widely acknowledged to be dominant.
Operators of various levels – from entry level right through to established enterprises – engage with Innovation Hub to leverage off the benefits of this collective community.
The organistion is home to 47 businesses. These are made up of fledgling companies who utilise the Innovation Hub's Business Incubator Program, including access to complimentary Wi-Fi connectivity and mentorship, as well as businesses looking to invest in commercial space to benefit by being part of a networked community of peers. It also includes industries and companies that want to tap into the intellectual property of the Innovation Hub and make use of its database of market research reports and the like.
However Sibanda also points out that the Innovation Hub is involved with collaborative projects with entrepreneurs and major corporations to apply innovation towards economic development.
An engineering and R&D project with Transnet and the CSIR is one example, but there are others that also involve the practical application of technology to help develop sectors, including Sappi, SAPS Honeydew and the City of Tshwane, amongst others.
Regular activities including product/ technology demonstrations, workshops and seminars are used to promote the objectives of the Innovation Hub.
Recently, the Innovation Hub has confirmed its commitment to partnering with Tech Demo Africa to shine the spotlight on technology, entrepreneurship and application in Africa.
Sibanda considers Tech Demo Africa 2013 to be an effective and established platform to showcase developments, the results of innovation and ongoing Research & Development, and generally the best the country has to offer.
The ongoing objective is to help create a more open society and show why technology innovation has meaning in the lives of everyone.
Chris Tredger, Online Editor
csireMontigautengGauteng Department of Economic DevelopmentMcLean SibandaScience and Technology ParkSouth AfricaTech Demo AfricaThe Innovation Hub
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