The now-infamous Southern California wildfires (otherwise known as the Woolsey Fire) are still raging on. As residents of Los Angeles, we can attest to this. Though our office is far from the threat of the flames, we've smelled the smoke and seen the red haze cover the sky. So even though some evacuation notices have (thankfully) been lifted, the devastation caused to the communities of L.A. and Ventura counties is nothing short of horrific. Some people lost their pets, some lost their homes, and some even lost their family members.
As such, relief efforts are in full force. There are a number of different organizations that you can donate to directly. (Click here to see more information about verified charities and outreach centers.) Yet why not help in other ways, too? Namely by giving some love to a few specific beauty brands that are donating a percentage of their sales to the cause? Keep scrolling to see the beauty brands that are supporting wildfire relief efforts.
Osea is a skincare line that was founded in Malibu. The brand's founder took to Instagram to update everyone on their status. "We are very sad to report that we've lost our family home in the Woolsey Fire," she wrote. "It was a magical little cottage where our parents were married, we grew up, and where OSEA was born, our truest source of inspiration and our anchor. Up until 5 months ago it was also home to the main OSEA office. We are grateful beyond measure that our business is safe."
"Our Mom has always told us that OSEA is taking us on a journey and we are simply meant to follow its path," she continued. "This hasn't always made sense but today it makes more sense than ever; we are certain the path is to now help our community." As such, the brand will be donating 100% of its profits from now up until tonight. That's right, 100%. So if you've been itching to stock up on plant-based skincare, there's no better time than now.
Our first recommendation is this organic seaweed cleanser, which removes dirt, makeup, and buildup with ingredients like vegan lactic acid, lime, cypress, juniper, and jasmine essential oils. It's gentle on the skin yet effective at ridding it from impurities.
Anti-pollution skincare combats damaging free radicals, keeping them from harming and/or aging skin. This one protects against wind and air pollution with organic algae, shea butter, and avocado oil. It smells lovely, too, thanks to pure lavender and geranium.
If you're looking for a face mist that doubles as a vitamin booster, this Osea Sea Vitamin Boost is for you. Spritz it over your skin to lock in moisture and provide a radiant glow to otherwise dull skin. The secret is in the brand's organic algae, pomegranate, and resveratrol.
Now for one of our favorite skincare indulgences: a face mask. In this one, fig, pineapple, and pumpkin enzymes exfoliate the skin chemically, while eco-friendly jojoba beads provide manual exfoliation. Hematite and organic algae hydrate the skin and prevent irritation.
Thrive Causemetics is another brand donating to various relief organizations. Last week, the brand committed to donating 100% of every sale for a full day. On top of that, if you repost its Instagram image using #thrivecausemetics, it'll immediately donate $5, no purchase necessary. That's exactly the kind of social media outreach we like to see.
This four-shade eye shadow palette is perfect for anyone who prefers matte powders over their shimmery counterparts for daily wear. What's really unique about this palette is that each shadow is water-resistant, so it'll stay put even in a freak-rainstorm encounter.
This lipstick offers sheer-to-full coverage, which means you can wear it like a tinted lip balm or layer it for a more opaque finish. Thanks to a combination of natural waxes and hydrating ingredients, it feels comfortable and stays put without the need for a primer.
This eye brightener is a light-reflecting eye shadow duo that can be applied on the brow bone and inner corners or all over the lid as a traditional cream eye shadow. It's vegan and waterproof, which makes it one of our favorite eye-opening products.
This bronzer marries skincare and makeup thanks to a combination of sodium hyaluronate and vitamin B5, which hydrates and plumps the skin as you wear it. Dust it all over your skin for a sun-kissed glow or apply it under the cheekbones as a powder contour product.
Throughout the entire day, on November 27, Youth to the People will be donating 100% of its sales to California wildfire relief. Place an order for any one of the brand's superfood-infused skincare products to benefit the cause. By the way, the fact that this brand houses its formulas in glass as opposed to plastic makes it environmentally friendly, too.
This age-prevention cleanser is one of the brand's buzziest products. It's marketed as a "daily green juice cleanse for your face" since it has a bevy of cold-pressed antioxidants and phytonutrients from ingredients like kale, spinach, and green tea.
This moisturizer uses adaptogenic herbs to calm and moisturize the skin (herbs like ashwagandha, rhodiola, reishi, and holy basil to be exact). It even defends against environmental stressors.
If you're a lover of facial oils, try this one from Youth to the People. It uses maqui, açaí, prickly pear, and goji berry extracts to nourish the skin with antioxidants and give it a serious glow.
The brand's original moisture cream is lightweight and hydrating (which is exactly what you'd expect from a hyaluronic acid cream). Like all other Youth to the People products, it includes a blend of superfood ingredients to boost the skin's health.
We especially like this firming and brightening serum, which combines vitamin C, peptides, and hyaluronic acid to smooth fine lines and wrinkles, address uneven tone, and firm skin.
All proceeds from online orders for the brand's Fire Relief Set that are placed within the U.S. will be directly donated to wildfire relief efforts that benefit animals that have been injured or displaced by the fires. More specifically, it will go to organizations such as the North Valley Animal Disaster Group, MAD Dog Rescue, and Marin Humane. We don't know about you, but that makes us want to buy one set for us and one for each of our friends.
Each set includes a coconut oil cleansing milk, a hydrating sheet mask, a green tea concentrate serum, and pure argan oil, which means your skin and hair will also benefit from the purchase. By the way, it's being offered up for $120, even though the actual retail value is $149. We're detecting a good holiday gift.
It's also important to note that for a full day last week, Beautyblender made the same promise to donate proceeds to wildfire relief Although its donation period is over now, we want to give attention and praise to any brand that participates in such a good cause.
Our thoughts are with everyone who has been displaced or affected by the wildfires. Next, keep with the spirit of giving by checking out eight other ways to give back if you're obsessed with makeup.


The Chester County Retirement Board and Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (Ben Franklin) launched Venture Chesco, an initiative investing up to $4 million in emerging and growing companies located in Chester County. The partnership, announced yesterday at Evolve IP headquarters in Wayne, includes $2 million in County funds matched by $2 million in Ben Franklin funds that will be used to invest in new technology companies and existing companies looking to apply new technologies to their business operations.
Chester County Commissioners' Chair Michelle Kichline, one of the five members of the Chester County Retirement Board commented: "Chester County has a long history of growing strong technology companies. From QVC to Shared Medical Systems, and from Centocor to Vanguard and Evolve IP, we have seen small start-ups apply innovation and new technologies and grow to employ thousands of county residents.
The Chester County Retirement Board members include the three Chester County Commissioners, County Treasurer Patricia Maisano and County Controller Margaret Reif. The Board's commitment to this partnership with Ben Franklin is a direct result of the goals set for the County's 10-year economic development strategy, VISTA 2025, specifically to "Improve access to capital for start-ups and early stage business ventures." The funds allocated by Chester County represent a small percentage of the overall pension fund, valued at $431 million in December 2017.
Terence Farrell, Chester County Commissioner and Retirement Board Member, noted: "We are very pleased to be able to add this critical piece of financing to an already strong entrepreneurial ecosystem here in Chester County. Adding this new source of capital to the ongoing efforts of our county incubators and accelerators positions us very well to continue to be a prime location for innovation, entrepreneurship and growing young companies.


M&E Appraisal Associates, Inc. ("M&EAA") are certified storm panel manufacturing equipment appraisers.
M&EAA provides storm panel & shutter production machinery & equipment appraisals for use by business owners, corporations, financial institutions and asset based lenders, accountants, attorneys and other legal professionals.
Storm panel making machinery & equipment appraisals are provided for the following purposes: asset based lending or refinance; allocation of purchase price (Fair Value); bankruptcy; condemnation or eminent domain; corporate conversions and dissolution; divorce; insurance loss settlement; lease end negotiations; management considerations; mergers, purchases, and sales; and taxation (ad valorem, estate and gift).
Types of metal storm panel manufacturing equipment appraised include roll formers, coil steel slitting lines, shears, stamping presses, hydraulic presses, OBI presses, punch presses, riveters, welders, fork lifts, material handling equipment, test equipment, etc.


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Home > Science
Blood Moon dazzles star gazers in longest lunar eclipse of 21st century
>> Reuters
Published: 28 Jul 2018 10:27 AM BdST Updated: 28 Jul 2018 10:36 AM BdST
People watch a blood moon lunar eclipse near Roskilde, Denmark Jul 27, 2018. Ritzau Scanpix via Reuters
A full moon rises behind the Temple of Poseidon before a lunar eclipse in Cape Sounion, near Athens, Greece, Jul 27, 2018. Reuters
A full moon during an eclipse rises behind power line in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jul 27, 2018. Reuters
An Emirati man uses a telescope to take a picture of the lunar eclipse of a full "Blood Moon" at Al Sadeem Observatory in Al Wathba near Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Jul 27, 2018. Reuters
The moon is seen near the Illimani mountain during a full lunar eclipse in La Paz, Bolivia, Jul 27, 2018. Reuters
A full moon rises during a lunar eclipse behind the statue of the ancient goddess Athena in Athens, Greece, Jul 27, 2018. Reuters
A blood-red moon dazzled star gazers across much of the world on Friday when it moved into Earth's shadow for the longest lunar eclipse of the 21st Century.
From the Cape of Good Hope to the Middle East, and from the Kremlin to Sydney Harbour, thousands of people turned their eyes to the stars to watch the moon, which turned dark before shining orange, brown and crimson in the shadow.
The total eclipse lasted 1 hour, 42 minutes and 57 seconds, though a partial eclipse preceded and follows, meaning the moon will spend a total of nearly 4 hours in the Earth's umbral shadow, according to NASA.
The fullest eclipse was visible from Europe, Russia, Africa, the Middle East, and much of Asia and Australia though clouds blocked out the moon in some places.
The eclipse will not be visible from North America or most of the Pacific.
Reuters charted the eclipse from across the world, capturing a shimmering orange and red moon above Cairo, the Temple of Poseidon in Cape Sounion, near Athens, the Bavarian village of Raisting in Germany, Rio beach in Brazil and Johannesburg.
In Nairobi, Kenyans watched as the moon darkened.
"This is what life is all about: Magical moments like this," said Teddy Muthusi as he watched from Uhuru Park in Nairobi. "It's just beautiful. It's well worth it."
On the banks of India's Ganges, temples were closed ahead of the eclipse. Enthusiasts watched through telescopes at the Marina South Pier in Singapore and at the Al Sadeem Observatory in Al Wathba near Abu Dhabi.
Hundreds of people in Australia paid to watch the eclipse from the Sydney Observatory before sunrise.
When the moon moved into the conical shadow of the earth, it went from being illuminated by the sun to being dark. Some light, though, still reaches it because it is bent by the Earth's atmosphere.
"It's called a blood moon because the light from the sun goes through the Earth's atmosphere on its way to the moon, and the Earth's atmosphere turns it red in the same way that when the sun goes down it goes red," Andrew Fabian, professor of astronomy at the University of Cambridge, told Reuters.
At the same time, Mars is traveling closer to Earth than it has done since 2003, so some observers may see what looks like an orange-red star - and is in fact the red planet.
"It is a very unusual coincidence to have a total lunar eclipse and Mars at opposition on the same night," said Robert Massey, deputy executive director of the Royal Astronomical Society, who watched the eclipse from the Mediterranean Sea.
For thousands of years, man has looked to the heavens for omens of doom, victory and joy. The Bible contains references to the moon turning into blood and some ultra-Orthodox Jews consider lunar eclipses ominous and a cause for moral contemplation.
According to some Hindu beliefs, celestial bodies such as the sun and moon emit negative energy during an eclipse and so some temples in India were closed to minimize any disturbance.
Astronomers, though, said there was no cause for worry.
"There is no reason to believe that blood moons foretell doom," said Massey. "This does not herald the apocalypse: seeing a lunar eclipse and Mars in the sky is something people should enjoy rather than worry about."
The next lunar eclipse of such a length is due in 2123.
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London, Ont. man gets five years for plot to have man rape estranged wife
Sam Pazzano Courts BureauMore from Sam Pazzano Courts Bureau
Updated: April 20, 2018 9:35 AM EDT
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A husband who hatched and almost executed a "sinister" plot to have a stranger rape his estranged wife under the pretext of a "shared rape fantasy" was sentenced to five years in jail.
The London, Ont., man claimed his sick scheme would end with him "rescuing" his wife from the interloper in a bid to renew their romantic relationship. The plan was foiled when several neighbours heard the terrified woman's screams after the intruder attacked her at her home in January 2017, said Justice Ian Leach as he passed sentence last Friday.
The perverse plot began in December, 2016 — more than a year after the couple separated — when the husband pretended to be a woman and created an online profile where he posted graphic images of his wife to lure men.
The online profile depicted a single female "looking to fulfil sexual fantasies," including being a sex slave, engaging in BDSM activities to the point of tears and enduring beatings and gaggings, court heard.
The man, posing as his wife, exchanged text messages with a stranger to stir "sexual interest" and provided her address, workplace address and driver's licence to prove it was genuine.
"The heartless, calculated, sustained and determined evil on display here was striking and frankly unforgettable," stated the judge in sentencing the 37-year-old man, known only as "Mr. B" due to a publication ban. He pleaded guilty to publishing intimate images without consent, assault, sexual assault and obstruction of justice.
Mr. B. guided the man right into the victim's home on that night through a series of texts, court heard.
The interloper stopped his attack once the concerned neighbours arrived. The husband who was monitoring the scene within walking distance of the woman's home came running to her property in January 2017.
The stranger pulled out his cellphone to reveal the text messages he thought he was exchanging with the woman to prove his innocence.
The husband snatched the phone and bolted from the scene. He broke the cellphone in half "in an attempt to destroy all evidence of the texts he had exchanged" with the intruder, said Leach, who added the "appalling and deeply disturbing" crimes also involved trying to frame an innocent man.
The plot exposed his wife "to quite extraordinary and shocking" danger of violence by unknown men, said Leach.
The text messages, which were later retrieved, showed the attacker thought he "had a mutually agreed arrangement with (the woman), involving a pre-arranged plan for consensual sex." He was freed unconditionally, said Leach.
Courts target invasion of online privacy
Courts are now recognizing that invasion of online privacy strikes a powerful blow against victims, asserts a Toronto civil lawyer.
"Sometimes it's still not possible to remove those images. They can be downloaded and reposted months from now," said Molly Reynolds, a privacy-focused lawyer who deals in cases of non-consensual dissemination of sexual images.
Courts should deter those spreading these non-consensual images by imposing stiff sentences and ordering the offenders to pay to remove the material from the Internet, said Reynolds.
The case of a London man who moved to arrange the sexual assault of his wife highlights "the inherent dangers of using websites for sexual conduct," cautioned a veteran Toronto defence lawyer.
"You may not be dealing with the people you think you are," said Joseph Neuberger. "The potential danger here is quite limitless."
spazzano@postmedia.com
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This week, Nick Berk joins Rick and Matt to give an update on his repaired bicep. Also, Summerslam thoughts, Berk's relationship with Matt Riddle, Matt's new favorite country artist is Ronda Rousey's husband, and Nick's sob story of the pizza delivery girl. Enjoy!


We've all sat back and fantasized about living in our favorite TV show. And sure, while being on the Flintstones would have been awesome, and sharing that oversized Manhattan apartment with the Friends crew might've scored you a date with Jennifer Aniston, the fact remains: those places, like the shows they were on, were completely fake!
But that's not always the case. Some TV houses are actual homes on public streets that you can walk by, gawk at, Instagram, and stand in front of while dreaming about what it'd be like to live with Tony Danza -- or buy, if you've got some extra scratch lying around. Which is why we consulted Zillow.com and Realtor.com to see how much you'd likely have to pay for each of your favorite TV homes.
For the TV buff who may not have a lot of cash but is willing to live in Evansville, IN, the Connors' old place sold for a measly $129,000 in 2012.
In perhaps the greatest stroke of TV house realism, the Long Island house that served as the exterior for Ray and Debra's home is, quite literally, across the street from the house used as the exterior for Frank and Marie, Ray's parents on the show. Stand in the middle of the street long enough and you might just get offered a lasagna.
While Archie Bunker's armchair actually sits in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC, you can find his entire house -- labeled on the show as 704 Hauser Street -- located across from a cemetery in the Glendale/Middle Village section of Queens. Although, just so you know, in the show it's supposed to be Astoria.
That cherry pie at the Double R diner must have been even better than Agent Cooper said, since its real life counterpart -- Twede's Cafe -- sits a whopping 50mi away in North Bend. This four-bedroom house north of Seattle sold for half a million dollars earlier this year after a Kickstarter campaign failed to raise enough cash to turn it into a Twin Peaks museum/B&B.
The folks who made The Wonder Years never specifically told us where the Arnolds' lived (though, really, where else but New York would ANYONE be a Jets fan?) but their real-life 3/3 home sits on a quiet street in Burbank that looks -- even today -- almost exactly as it did when it was used for exterior shots over 20 years ago.
Known as Spellman Manor and built in 1880, this converted office building was once home to the Democratic Party of Monmouth County. The main house is 6,000sqft, with another 2,000 in the carriage house.
Magic really is the only way to explain how a five-bedroom house -- with three women living inside -- could have only one bathroom and nobody ended up killing someone. Though sharing a house with Piper, Phoebe, and Prue wouldn't have been terrible under any circumstances.
While the house the Winslows called home for nine seasons is still standing on Chicago's north side, it seems that poor Steve Urkel's childhood domicile has been demolished and replaced with a much larger, newer version. Something Steve would have never done to Laura.
This Studio City two-bedroom house would have made a convenient commute had Ben Savage and company actually decided to live there while filming the show; it sits just a few blocks from the CBS studios. Another fun fact: the house once belonged to soap opera actor Joseph Campanella who, presumably sick of LA traffic, moved within walking distance of where they shot his story, Guiding Light.
If you've ever had the joy of watching a Cosby episode with one of those New Yorkers who likes to tell you about every NYC location in every TV or movie ever, you'll know that the Huxtables' Brooklyn Heights address -- 10 Stigwood Avenue -- doesn't even exist in Brooklyn. In fact, there isn't a single "avenue" in all of Brooklyn Heights.
Our dearly departed Robin Williams got his big break at this impressive seven-bedroom home in Boulder. When Williams passed away this summer, the white picket fence out front was decorated with flowers, wreaths, and other fan condolences.
For true authenticity, we suggest you rent a giant blue van on your next trip to New York City and drive it out to Westchester County, where you'll find the home of the Bower Family, supposedly at 3344 Oak Hills Drive in Fairfield, CT. Sure, the van doesn't have windows and that might make you look a littttle creepy, but nobody ever questioned Tony Danza about it, so why should they question you?
At least once, you had to wonder how the Lamberts lived in the one city in Wisconsin that was sunny ALL of the time. That's because their house is actually in Pasadena, and that charming little sign the Ford Explorer drives by in the opening credits that reads "Port Washington, Wisc., Population 9336" sits in front of the South Pasadena Historical Museum.
You might call this "the Omar Infante of TV Houses", as it's easily the best utility house on this list. Not only was it used for interior and exterior shots, but the backyard was used to film scenes when the gang "went camping", and the living room -- which was large enough to fit a sound stage -- was the actual set for Kelly Taylor's bedroom.
The Cunninghams must have spent a lot of time fighting over the bathroom in their Milwaukee home, as this six-bedroom, 3,900sqft house only has two of them. And considering the amount of time it took the Fonz to do his hair when he came over, that really only left one.
The home that belonged to Blanche Devereaux (one of the greatest fictional Miamians of all time) and was shared with Dorothy, Rose, and Sofia at 6151 Richmond Street is actually a ranch just off Sunset Boulevard in Brentwood. After season one, a replica was built at MGM Studios in Orlando but has since been torn down.
Even though "Murder House" is about as badass a house name as you can get, this Country Club Park mansion used in the first season of the AMC hit is actually known as the Rosenheim Mansion. Built in 1908, the 10,440sqft property is also the rare TV home used for both exterior and interior shots.
It might be a sad comment on America that when most people born in the '70s and '80s visit one of America's most historic and beautiful cities, this first thing they say is, "Wow, this looks JUST like Full House!" But the home the Tanners shared at 1882 (or 1883, or 1892) Gerrard is typical of San Fran, and contrary to popular belief, is NOT one of the "painted ladies" across from Alamo Park. It's about a mile away.
The Pacific Palisades 5,100sqft home used for exteriors shots of Jeff and Suzie's house has five bedrooms and 4.5 baths, so plenty of space to let your socially ill-mannered friends crash when their wives throw them out.
The front door of 508 St. Cloud Road that Jazz got tossed out of so many times actually sits in Brentwood, not Bel Air. Unlike the Fresh Prince, though, it would have fit right in in Bel Air -- it's got five bedrooms, five bathrooms, 6,438sqft, and a $7 million price tag.


fish tacos on fresh flour tortillas, originally uploaded by aarn! +9th January, 2009+.
got 1-lb of fresh caught and skinned ocean pollock from the new deal fish market, cut it into four equal sized pieces (one for each taco, more pieces = more edges = more crunch), breaded it in a dry-wet-dry of flour, lots of fresh cracked pepper, salt, some cumin and nutmeg, then into the egg, then back into the flour, then straight into a hot frying pan with a little canola oil. browned on each side, then sliced up and placed on a tortilla with some lettuce, black beans, corn, cilantro, mango salsa, and some seasoned greek yogurt.
making fresh flour tortillas is easy. mixed 1 1/2c. flour, 1/4t. salt, 2T. butter (used earth balance), cutting in the butter until mixed. then added 1/2c. warm water and worked until about the consistency of a wet bread dough. let sit at room temp for a while, then sliced into 6-8 sections and rolled into rounds on a floured cutting board with a french rolling pin. placed each rolled and floured round in a dry frying pan on medium heat, browning both sides. put them in a covered baking pan in a 200-degree oven with the warm plates while the rest were finishing cooking. takes about 5-min per tortilla.


It all started at about ten in the morning.
I use a USB memory stick to store my writing files on, mainly for the fact that I can plug it into pretty much any computer to hand and get on with some word-churnage. I also use the same memory stick at work for transferring files between computers when necessary. Normally this isn't a problem, but yesterday my world collapsed when one of the office macs threw up an error message as the stick was being ejected by the OS. Reinserting the stick revealed an empty directory, no sign of any of the 7.5GB of files that should have been on there. Where had all my writing gone?
At that moment, panic set in. I couldn't remember when I last did a back up, though I was sure it wasn't that long ago. Unfortunately I couldn't check as I was at work and my back up drive lives at home. Was it two weeks ago? Three? I really wasn't sure. Hastily I scrambled around the internet for some software to attempt a recovery, heart pounding as I tallied up how much work I may have lost. Anxiously I waited for the two hours it took for the recovery software to do its work. Alas, when the recovery had finished I was no better off. The most recent files it had been able to save were from the beginning of last week. Everything I'd updated on the stick since 25 february was gone, corrupted by a minor technical glitch.
As it turned out things weren't as bad as they could have been; when I got home I checked my last back up and was pleased to see that it was last Tuesday, 26 February. Given that my output of new words has been quite low in the last week all I've really lost is a couple of page-setting files (which I can remake), some cover design work (which to be honest I wasn't all that thrilled with anyway) and about five thousand words of text that shouldn't be too hard to replace. However, the sense of shock and feeling of dread I suffered when I thought I'd lost more was enough to make me change the way I store my files. From now on, any files I change on the memory stick will get backed up to both my desktop and my portable hard drive as soon as I'm back in front of my computer. In addition I am no longer going to use my personal memory stick for work-related stuff, even if it is easier and quicker than shoving files over the network or sending them by e-mail.
Anyway, that was yesterday and this is today. Today has been a much better day. Today the first five copies of the anthology have arrived and that sense of achievement I was talking about in my last post has filled me with lots of happy. So if you'll excuse me I'm going to sit and fondle my creation for a couple of hours, grinning like a Cheshire Cat as I do so.


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Palace of the Academies
The Young Academy
Thinkers' Programme
Spring Symposia
Energy Reflection Group
Science-related initiatives
Contact Forums
Publishing with KVAB
The Flemish Committee for Scientific Integrity
Academic network in Belgium
Belgium boasts eight Academies that each have their own members. The KVAB works with several of them.
The KVAB is the Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten [Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts].
The ARB is de Académie Royale (des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts), the KVAB's French-speaking counterpart. The ARB and KVAB are successors to the Theresian Academy, which was founded in 1772, re-established in 1816 and split in 1938.
The KAGB is de Koninklijke Academie voor Geneeskunde van België [Royal Academy for Medicine of Belgium], an institution of the Flemish Community falling within the remit of Agentschap Zorg en Gezondheid [Health and Care Agency].
The ARMB is de Académie royale de médecine de Belgique, the KAGB's French-speaking counterpart.
The KANTL is de Koninklijke Academie voor Nederlandse Taal- en Letterkunde [the Royal Academy for Dutch Language and Literature], based in Ghent, Koningstraat 18. The KANTL and the KVAB's Humanities Class meet annually.
The ARLLFB is de Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique, the KANTL's French-speaking counterpart.
The KAOW-ARSOM is de Koninklijke Academie voor Overzeese Wetenschappen – Académie Royale des Sciences d'Outre-Mer, [the Royal Academy for Overseas Sciences] It is the only bilingual Academy and is based in the Louizalaan in Brussels.
The Young Academy iis a member organization of the KVAB which operates autonomously and consists of young scientists and artists. It was established in 2013 by the KVAB, and uses the KVAB's secretariat.
Apart from the KANTL and the KAOW-ARSOM, all Academies are located in the Palace of the Academies in Brussels.
In addition to the Academies, there is also the RASAB, the Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium, a collaboration between the KVAB and the ARB for, among others, international representation. The staff at RASAB take care of the administration of the national committees and the representation of Belgium in international scientific unions.
The national scientific committees coordinate the various disciplines in Belgium and their representation in an international context. For example, the national committees nominate the delegates in the general meeting of the international scientific union of the discipline (affiliated with ICSU ). These nominations are approved by the Classes of the Academy/ies. Some national committees organize conferences, talks or other events, such as the annual Crystal Growth Contest (National Committee of Crystallography) and the biennial PhD-day (National Committee of Mathematics). There are 25 national committees, ranging from Antarctic Research to Mathematics.
Finally, the KVAB and ARB together accommodate a number of Royal Committees:
• Royal Historical Committee
• Royal Committee for Toponymy and Dialectology
The KVAB wishes to enter the societal debate on scientific and artistic topics.
Read more about the KVAB
Rue Ducale 1 - 1000 Brussels
Email: info@kvab.be
VCWI
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Inverse Daily
NASA's big, tardy rocket isn't doomed — but it sure seems kinda doomed
Plus: Gawker's back.
Nick Lucchesi
7.29.2021 1:30 PM
When the NASA space shuttle program ended pretty much a decade ago last week (the final mission was on July 21, 2011), it was hard to think about what would come next, especially if you grew up with the inspiring NASA live footage of the shuttle going to and returning to Earth.
Would a private company make rockets and sell their services to NASA? That kind of thinking might've seemed dangerous a decade ago, trusting a privately owned company with the lofty purposes of NASA.
And yet, NASA's major rocket system to send humans and space science back into the great unknown may be doomed. The Space Launch System, or SLS for short, "would be the most powerful rocket we've ever built," NASA has proclaimed. The problem is that it's getting more expensive and further behind schedule.
Meanwhile, companies like SpaceX are getting results with engineering and developing their own rockets.
So, if you're NASA, you don't pause the mission progress to wait for your own tardy rocket. You contract with SpaceX. And that could maybe spell doom for SLS. It's our lead story today. Keep scrolling to read more about it in a story from the new guy, Jon Kelvey.
I'm Nick Lucchesi, editor-in-chief at Inverse. Before we jump in, I want to point you to Gawker, which relaunched this week under editor-in-chief Leah Finnegan. You can read Leah's welcome letter here.
This is an adapted version of the Inverse Daily newsletter for Thursday, July 29, 2021. Subscribe for free and earn rewards for reading every day in your inbox.
The Falcon Heavy, a rocket system developed by SpaceX, is getting the nod above NASA's own project, the Space Launch System. NurPhoto/NurPhoto/Getty Images
Tricky rocket politics — Jon Kelvey reports on how NASA has selected the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket to launch the Europa Clipper in 2024 — putting the future of NASA's own flagship rocket into question:
Exploring this watery world is one of NASA's top priorities for the next decade. That's why the agency is pouring so much effort into a mission to explore the Jupiter moon's oceans — the Europa Clipper — which will launch in October 2024.
But earlier this month, NASA announced it is altering the mission in one critical way. The Clipper will launch SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket, and not atop NASA's flagship launch vehicle, the Space Launch System.
The decision raises new questions about the future of the Space Launch System, which NASA continues to say is a cornerstone of its Artemis program to return humans to the Moon by 2024. It also tells us a lot about the symbiotic relationship between Elon Musk's SpaceX and the agency.
How we got here:
NASA could retire expensive SLS rocket for commercial launchers (2018)
Video shows NASA assembling its biggest, most powerful rocket ever, the SLS (2018)
SpaceX has done it: The Falcon Heavy sends "Starman" into space (2018)
What could go wrong? Flagler County Sheriff's Office
Florida, man — Sarah Wells reports that Florida man washed ashore this past week after attempting to walk on water to New York. But while he failed, others have succeeded at this impossible task:
When not at the helm of an inflatable hamster wheel, Reza Baluchi is an ultramarathoner and activist who is on a mission to run over 85,000 miles — across land and water — and raise money for charities supporting causes like children's hospitals and services for the homeless.
He also told Fox 35 Orlando that he's raising money for "the Coast Guard ... the police department ... [and] the fire department."
Apart from these proposed donations, Baluchi also says on his website that he hopes his journey helps inspire unity and peace in the places he visits and that the water leg of his journey, in particular, will show "the world that anything is possible if only you believe."
More from innovation reporting by Sarah Wells:
How do you react to this robot smiling at you?
New CRISPR face mask could help us fight Covid-19 variants
Flying cars are "imminent," new study finds
Here's Jordan in a GIF that's sped up to reduce file size. Sorry, Jordan.
Hands-free driving is coming to GMC — Jordan Golson reports on the hands-free Super Cruise coming to the GMC Sierra and Chevy Silverado for 2022. Here's a snippet of his test-track dispatch:
I drove a prototype GMC Sierra pickup truck with Super Cruise on GM's test track going 70 mph, but my hands weren't on the wheel.
To pull this off, the car matches its view of the world with a previous lidar scan to determine its current location. Then it maintains speed and lane position without any input from the driver.
Read the full story and check out the photos of our intrepid writer.
More transport headlines:
2021 Cadillac CT5 review: "I still love the Caddy."
Look: The Kia EV6 is an electric spaceship for the road
The 5 electric cars with the longest range (that aren't made by Tesla)
Sup. Lorado/E+/Getty Images
The most damaging myth — Elana Spivack reports on new research that finds higher testosterone levels in males correlate with higher socioeconomic status, but there is little evidence to suggest the former actually causes the latter to be true:
Testosterone occurs naturally in everyone, but the hormone is most strongly associated with males. In many ways, this cultural connection makes some biological sense. Males typically produce much more testosterone than females do. And testosterone plays a starring role in male bodies, including fertility, fat distribution, and red blood cell production.
But there is another trait — one not to do so much with biology — that seems to come hand in hand with high testosterone levels in males: higher socioeconomic standing.
Go deeper:
Read more in our testosterone hub
Does testosterone make infectious diseases worse in men?
Study reveals crucial way hormones in puberty alter men's brains
Actor and writer Wil Wheaton marks a birthday today. Charley Gallay/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
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Science Song of the Day: "The Sounds of Science" by the Beastie Boys (pictured above). ("I've got science for any occasion / Postulating theorems, formulating equations.")
Follow me on Twitter at @nicklucchesi, if for no other reason than to get Inverse headlines in your timeline and a few other Inverse-y things.
Before we go: Wil Wheaton (49; pictured above), Stephen Dorff (48), Josh Radnor (47), Alice Dellal (34), Scott Steiner (59) were all born on this day. (Source: AP.)
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Please visit the links to learn more about our department, see what instructional resources we offer, and read our latest AISD Tech News blog posts. We want this site to work for you! Please feel free to submit your suggestions, ideas, and needs so that we can better support you and your use of technology in the classroom!
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text:
JANE'S ADDICTION Cancels Shows Due To PERRY FARRELL's Injury
JANE'S ADDICTION was forced to cancel the last couple of shows on the band's "Spirit On Fire" tour with SMASHING PUMPKINS due to an injury suffered by frontman Perry Farrell.
Earlier today, Farrell shared a statement on social media revealing that he sustained the injury after JANE'S ADDICTION's October 19 concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Since that show, the singer has been in "pain and discomfort" but says that he has been receiving "rigorous physio therapy that has done wonders."
OUR LADY PEACE will replace JANE'S ADDICTION on the "Spirit On Fire" dates in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Montreal, Toronto and Quebec City. Farrell and the rest of JANE'S hope to rejoin the tour this Saturday in Cleveland.
Perry's statement reads as follows: "Friends and lovers, the tour so far has been an absolute blast. Filled with so much joy, and rock vibes. I've loved seeing all your faces, hearing you sing with us and feeling the love and energy from each and every one of you. Especially all the people from my generation, and there's been a lot of youngsters I have enjoyed speaking to. Good times.
"I'd like to address a lot of the comments and give you all an update.
"After Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, I suffered an injury that resulted in my inability to perform. I have since been in pain and discomfort and have been receiving rigorous physio therapy that has done wonders.
"Due to doctors orders, we regrettably and forcibly have to cancel the following shows, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, as well as Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City. Our friends, OUR LADY PEACE will be covering the next three shows as we aim to rejoin the tour this Saturday in Cleveland.
"I am filled with sadness and frustration to have to announce this, but I have to mend in order to continue the tour and get back on stage.
"Thank you for your understanding."
JANE'S ADDICTION guitarist Dave Navarro has been sitting out the current tour due to his battle with long COVID. He is being replaced at the shows by QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE's Troy Van Leeuwen.
"Spirit On Fire" marks the first JANE'S ADDICTION tour in more than a decade to feature returning original bassist Eric Avery. Prior to this trek, Avery last played with the band for a short stint in the 2000s before departing again in 2010.
Update. pic.twitter.com/FlbQ5ffbG2
— Jane's Addiction (@janesaddiction) October 24, 2022


The sunny sky with glazing glasses made our day walk. We were made to walk in narrow roads which led us to many historic places I never visited before. All those places were part of a pettah, which means a village inside a fort. The pettah was occupied by people of different trades, one of which was and still is silk weaving.
The journey of our tour began with the walk to the Dargah. It looked like a mosque, but it wasn't. the guide told us the difference between a Dargah and a mosque. I was interested in it because there was a sufi saint buried there. We learnt that buried sufi's head always faces Mecca. The guide also told us more about Islam and sufism. "Terrorism has no religion" - said our tour guide. I will always remember that.
Then we walked to the temple. It was based on the story of Mahabharata. It was a story of some Pandavas who fought against 100 people and they won. So the temple was spiritual and meaningful. We also saw a basil plant also called tulsi. People eat that when they cannot have kids. So they go and pray there and eat it. Then the fertilization begins. I was surprised that a small leaf could make a difference. It was an amazing experience to be there.
The last place we walked to was to see silk weavers. We saw how people make silk and give it colour. The health consequence for this it that it's so loud, so people may get deaf. Then we went to the place where they dye silk. They dip it in the benzidine-based dyes. They don't use gloves, or masks, or coats to prevent injuries and health problems.
I enjoyed this day as I learned a lot of new things and experienced them, instead of just reading about it.


text:
MedPlast plots future, touts HS Design partnership
Brad Dawson
TEMPE, Ariz. (April, 23, 2009)—Medical component manufacturer MedPlast Inc. has examined every part of its business since its formation a year ago and outlined what kind of company it wants to be in the future.
As a result, MedPlast has upgraded and expanded capabilities at its plants, in particular to meet growing demand in the health care sector, which makes up about 70 percent of its revenues. The Tempe-based firm also has reassessed its relationship with engineering and development specialist HS Design Inc., of which MedPlast is a minority owner.
Before MedPlast's formation a year ago, HS Design was minority-owned by Applied Tech Products. But ATP did not show much interest in utilizing the other company's resources, and the two operations had little interaction, according to MedPlast CEO Harold Faig.
Buyout fund Baird Capital Partners purchased ATP's Engineered Rubber and Plastics Group and K&W Medical Specialties Inc. in April 2008, and combined the businesses to form MedPlast. During the past four to six months, as the new company has built and extended its own sales and marketing organization, it discovered the value HS Design brought to the table.
Now, MedPlast is touting the partnership as providing a one-stop solution for customers seeking engineering, design and manufacturing expertise for their devices. "We found that many of their key customers are ours, and it made sense to leverage each others' skill sets," Faig said.
"We have many opportunities to provide to existing and new customers the benefits of both organizations."
In generating those opportunities, HS Design has the ability to provide conceptual designs for new products and integrate elastomeric and thermoplastic parts—MedPlast's specialty—into devices. Many of the company's customers have complex requirements and need a custom plastic, rubber and silicone molding manufacturer with integrated development and design capabilities, Faig said.
Many medical devices are made by combining two or more types of parts, and that specification falls into an area MedPlast does very well, where a thermoplastic or TPE is molded onto a thermoset material, he said. The company's products include two-shot handheld products for diagnostics and parts for disposables, pharmaceuticals and other devices.
"Our investment in HS Design enables MedPlast to offer our customers a wide range of services and expertise that we would not have individually been able to provide," Faig said.
The CEO said that if he were starting the business today and didn't have HS Design's capabilities, he would be looking for a way to go get them. "It was a strategic resource that wasn't being utilized. Now it's an important piece of what we're trying to provide."
The integrated approach and streamlined workflow also decrease time to market and contain costs by eliminating or reducing design changes during the manufacturing process, MedPlast said.
Health care is one of two business modules the company MedPlast encompasses, the other being industrial/consumer. HS Design does some business in the latter category as well, and, as in the medical market, the two entities have similar customer lists within that segment, Faig said.
MedPlast—which overall wants to grow 20 percent annually—wants to build long-term, high-quality industrial/consumer business, and one of its plants, located in Monticello, Iowa, is dedicated to that sector, he said. The plant also is compliant with ISO 13485, a quality management certification tied to the design and manufacture of medical devices.
Attaining ISO 13485 certification at each of its five plants is a top priority for the company, as is adding engineering resources—an objective aided greatly by the HS Design integration. Meeting Current Good Manufacturing Practice regulations and becoming Six-Sigma-capable are goals MedPlast is working to achieve as well, Faig said.


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text:
Individuals - S
Salerno, Joseph - American economist of the Austrian school, professor at Pace University
Say, Jean-Baptiste - 18th-19th century French economist
Schoolland, Ken - Professor of Economics and Political Science, author
Schulman, J. Neil - American science fiction writer, winner of Prometheus Best Novel and Hall of Fame awards
Schumpeter, Joseph - 20th century Austrian economist
Sciabarra, Chris Matthew - Politics scholar at New York University, editor of The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies
Scientists - Researchers of the natural sciences
Senior, Nassau William - Nineteenth century English economist
Sennholz, Hans - German-American economist of the Austrian School
Shaffer, Butler - Professor of law at Southwestern University
Sidney, Algernon - 17th century British Member of Parliament
Simon, Julian - Professor of Business Administration, author
Sirico, Robert - Co-founder and President of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty
Skousen, Mark - Author, investment advisor, professor of Economics
Smith, Adam - Eighteenth century Scottish economist, author of The Wealth of Nations
Smith, George H. - Writer, author of Why Atheism?
Smith, Vernon L. - 2002 Nobel Prize winner in Economic Sciences
Sobran, Joseph - Nationally syndicated columnist, past Senior Editor for National Review
Sociologists - Students of society and social institutions
Sowell, Thomas - Author, syndicated columnist, fellow at the Hoover Institution
Spencer, Herbert - 19th century English philosopher
Spooner, Lysander - Lawyer, abolitionist, entrepreneur, legal theorist and political radical
Stigler, George - 20th century American economist, winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize in economics
Stossel, John - Host of "Stossel" show on Fox Business channel and former ABC News correspondent for the "20/20" newsmagazine
Stromberg, Joseph R. - Historian, research fellow at The Independent Institute
Sullum, Jacob - Senior editor of Reason, nationally syndicated columnist
Sumner, William Graham - Nineteenth century professor of political and social science at Yale University
Szasz, Thomas - Psychiatry professor and author


text:
Chet T. Moritz is an American neural engineer, neuroscientist, physiologist, and academic researcher. He is an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and holds joint appointments in the School of Medicine departments of Rehabilitation Medicine, and Physiology & Biophysics at the University of Washington.

Moritz's research is focused on neurotechnology including stimulation to restore function after brain and spinal cord injury. His work also includes brain-computer interfaces to control muscle and spinal stimulation. His discoveries have been featured in Nature, MSNBC national news, Wired, Popular Mechanics and local TV news and community outreach videos. He has also been quoted in the New York Times, Newsweek, Scientific American, Forbes, and Science News, and in a news story by Nature.

Education
Moritz graduated with a bachelor's degree in Zoology from the University of Washington in 1998. He then enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley, and earned his Doctoral Degree in Integrative Biology in 2003. From 2003 till 2004, he served as a Postdoctoral Fellow of Integrative Physiology at the University of Colorado, and subsequently rejoined the University of Washington as a Senior Fellow.

Career
Following his Postdoctoral fellowship, Moritz joined the faculty at the University of Washington as a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology & Biophysics in 2009, and was promoted to Assistant Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine in 2010. Along with this appointment, he held secondary appointments as assistant professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2014, and later joined the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering in 2018. Since 2010, he has been a member of the Graduate Faculty, and a mentor for the Neuroscience Graduate Program.

Research
Moritz has worked in the area of neurotechnology, neuromodulation, brain-computer interfaces, and home rehabilitation physical therapy.

Brain computer interfaces
Moritz conducted a study in 2008 demonstrating that a brain-computer interface can be used to control stimulation of paralyzed muscles and restore movement. This has spawned several successful human trials of this concept in people with spinal cord injury. With Alik Widge, Moritz also demonstrated that cognitive areas of the pre-frontal cortex could be used to limbic stimulation paving the way for psychiatric neuroprostheses and an allowed patent. With David Bjanes, Moritz demonstrated a new way to provide sensory feedback directly to the brain.

Neurotechnology
Moritz's team demonstrated that stimulation of the spinal cord could lead to lasting improvements in hand and arm function that persisted beyond stimulation. This demonstration of 'engineered neuroplasticity' paved the way for human trials of spinal cord stimulation. He and Fatma Inanici's recent studies regarding transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation indicate that non-invasive transcutaneous electrical stimulation of the spinal networks is very effective in restoring movement and function of the hands and arm for people with both complete paralysis and long-term spinal cord injury. This work lead directly to a multi-site clinical trial with ONWARD medical, for which Moritz serves as one of two co-PIs for the study. Parallel work is also exploring optogenetic stimulation of the spinal cord with collaborators Polina Anikeeva and Sarah Mondello.

Motor unit physiology and biomechanics
In his studies of motor unit physiology, Moritz focused on experimentally measured force variability across a wide range of forces to improve the ability of a motor unit model to predict steadiness in the hand. He also published a paper in 2004 demonstrating the contributions of feed-forward anticipation and neuro-mechanical reaction when humans encounter surprise, expected, and random changes from a soft elastic surface to a hard surface underfoot. Furthermore, he studied implications regarding muscle pre-stretch and elastic energy storage in locomotion.

Home rehabilitation
Moritz and colleagues demonstrated that surface electromyography (sEMG) can be used to control a therapy video game using activation of weak or spastic muscles. Termed NeuroGame Therapy (NGT), the team showed improve wrist control in children with cerebral palsy (CP) and tested the approach in older adults following stroke.

Awards and honors
2003 - President's Award, American Society of Biomechanics
2009 - EUREKA Award, National Institutes of Health
2012 - Young Faculty Award, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
2013 -2018 - Allen Distinguished Investigator, Paul G. Allen Family Foundation
2015 -2018 - International Research Consortium on Spinal Cord Injury, Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation
2020 - Weill Neurohub Investigator, Weill Neurohub at UCSF, Berkeley and U. Washington

Bibliography
Moritz, C. T., Barry, B. K., Pascoe, M. A., & Enoka, R. M. (2005). Discharge rate variability influences the variation in force fluctuations across the working range of a hand muscle. Journal of Neurophysiology, 93(5), 2449–2459.
Moritz, C. T., Perlmutter, S. I., & Fetz, E. E. (2008). Direct control of paralysed muscles by cortical neurons. Nature, 456(7222), 639–642.
Kasten, M. R., Sunshine, M. D., & Moritz, C. T. (2012). Cervical intraspinal microstimulation improves forelimb motor recovery after spinal contusion injury. International Functional Electrical Stimulation Society.
Widge, A. S., & Moritz, C. T. (2014). Pre-frontal control of closed-loop limbic neurostimulation by rodents using a brain–computer interface. Journal of neural engineering, 11(2), 024001.
Inanici, F., Samejima, S., Gad, P., Edgerton, V. R., Hofstetter, C. P., & Moritz, C. T. (2018). Transcutaneous electrical spinal stimulation promotes long-term recovery of upper extremity function in chronic tetraplegia. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, 26(6), 1272–1278.
Bjånes, D. A., & Moritz, C. T. (2019). A robust encoding scheme for delivering artificial sensory information via direct brain stimulation. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, 27(10), 1994–2004.
Inanici, F., Brighton, L. N., Samejima, S., Hofstetter, C. P., & Moritz, C. T. (2021). Transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation restores hand and arm function after spinal cord injury. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, 29, 310–319.
Samejima, S., Khorasani, A., Ranganathan, V., Nakahara, J., Tolley, N. M., Boissenin, A., ... & Moritz, C. T. (2021). Brain-Computer-Spinal Interface Restores Upper Limb Function After Spinal Cord Injury. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, 29, 1233–1242.

References

Neural engineering
American neuroscientists
Physiologists
Electrical and computer engineering
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
University of Washington faculty

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
using MOS.CodeGallery10.ViewModels;
using Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls;

// The Blank Page item template is documented at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=234238

namespace MOS.CodeGallery10.Views
{
    /// <summary>
    /// An empty page that can be used on its own or navigated to within a Frame.
    /// </summary>
    public sealed partial class DevicesPage : Page
    {
        // strongly-typed view models enable x:bind
        public DevicesPageViewModel ViewModel { get { return this.DataContext as DevicesPageViewModel; } }

        public DevicesPage()
        {
            this.InitializeComponent();
            NavigationCacheMode = Windows.UI.Xaml.Navigation.NavigationCacheMode.Enabled;
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Library » Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (Bhāgavata Purāṇa) » Canto 9: Liberation
Lord Rāmacandra Rules the World
This chapter describes how Lord Rāmacandra resided in Ayodhyā with His younger brothers and performed various sacrifices.
Lord Rāmacandra, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, performed various sacrifices by which to worship Himself, and at the end of these sacrifices He gave land to the hotā, adhvaryu, udgātā and brahmā priests. He gave them the eastern, western, northern and southern directions respectively, and the balance He gave to the ācārya. Lord Rāmacandra's faith in the brāhmaṇas and affection for His servants was observed by all the brāhmaṇas, who then offered their prayers to the Lord and returned whatever they had taken from Him. They regarded the enlightenment given to them by the Lord within the core of their hearts as a sufficient contribution. Lord Rāmacandra subsequently dressed Himself like an ordinary person and began wandering within the capital to understand what impression the citizens had of Him. By chance, one night He heard a man talking to his wife, who had gone to another man's house. In the course of rebuking his wife, the man spoke suspiciously of the character of Sītādevī. The Lord immediately returned home, and, fearing such rumors, He superficially decided to give up Sītādevī's company. Thus He banished Sītādevī, who was pregnant, to the shelter of Vālmīki Muni, where she gave birth to twin sons, named Lava and Kuśa. In Ayodhyā, Lakṣmaṇa begot two sons named Aṅgada and Citraketu, Bharata begot two sons named Takṣa and Puṣkala, and Śatrughna begot two sons named Subāhu and Śrutasena. When Bharata went out to conquer various lands on behalf of the emperor, Lord Rāmacandra, He fought many millions of Gandharvas. By killing them in the fight, He acquired immense wealth, which He then brought home. Śatrughna killed a demon named Lavaṇa at Madhuvana and thus established the capital of Mathurā. Meanwhile, Sītādevī placed her two sons in the care of Vālmīki Muni and then entered into the earth. Upon hearing of this, Lord Rāmacandra was very much aggrieved, and thus He performed sacrifices for thirteen thousand years. After describing the pastimes of Lord Rāmacandra's disappearance and establishing that the Lord appears for His pastimes only, Śukadeva Gosvāmī ends this chapter by describing the results of hearing about the activities of Lord Rāmacandra and by describing how the Lord protected His citizens and displayed affection for His brothers.
Text 1:
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Thereafter, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Rāmacandra, accepted an ācārya and performed sacrifices [yajñas] with opulent paraphernalia. Thus He Himself worshiped Himself, for He is the Supreme Lord of all demigods.
Lord Rāmacandra gave the entire east to the hotā priest, the entire south to the brahmā priest, the west to the adhvaryu priest, and the north to the udgātā priest, the reciter of the Sāma Veda. In this way, He donated His kingdom.
Thereafter, thinking that because the brāhmaṇas have no material desires they should possess the entire world, Lord Rāmacandra delivered the land between the east, west, north and south to the ācārya.
After thus giving everything in charity to the brāhmaṇas, Lord Rāmacandra retained only His personal garments and ornaments, and similarly the Queen, mother Sītā, was left with only her nose ring, and nothing else.
All the brāhmaṇas who were engaged in the various activities of the sacrifice were very pleased with Lord Rāmacandra, who was greatly affectionate and favorable to the brāhmaṇas. Thus with melted hearts they returned all the property received from Him and spoke as follows.
O Lord, You are the master of the entire universe. What have You not given to us? You have entered the core of our hearts and dissipated the darkness of our ignorance by Your effulgence. This is the supreme gift. We do not need a material donation.
O Lord, You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who have accepted the brāhmaṇas as Your worshipable deity. Your knowledge and memory are never disturbed by anxiety. You are the chief of all famous persons within this world, and Your lotus feet are worshiped by sages who are beyond the jurisdiction of punishment. O Lord Rāmacandra, let us offer our respectful obeisances unto You.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: Once while Lord Rāmacandra was walking at night incognito, hiding Himself by a disguise to find out the people's opinion of Himself, He heard a man speaking unfavorably about His wife, Sītādevī.
[Speaking to his unchaste wife, the man said] You go to another man's house, and therefore you are unchaste and polluted. I shall not maintain you any more. A henpecked husband like Lord Rāma may accept a wife like Sītā, who went to another man's house, but I am not henpecked like Him, and therefore I shall not accept you again.
Text 10:
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Men with a poor fund of knowledge and a heinous character speak nonsensically. Fearing such rascals, Lord Rāmacandra abandoned His wife, Sītādevī, although she was pregnant. Thus Sītādevī went to the āśrama of Vālmīki Muni.
When the time came, the pregnant mother Sītādevī gave birth to twin sons, later celebrated as Lava and Kuśa. The ritualistic ceremonies for their birth were performed by Vālmīki Muni.
O Mahārāja Parīkṣit, Lord Lakṣmaṇa had two sons, named Aṅgada and Citraketu, and Lord Bharata also had two sons, named Takṣa and Puṣkala.
Texts 13-14:
Śatrughna had two sons, named Subāhu and Śrutasena. When Lord Bharata went to conquer all directions, He had to kill many millions of Gandharvas, who are generally pretenders. Taking all their wealth, He offered it to Lord Rāmacandra. Śatrughna also killed a Rākṣasa named Lavaṇa, who was the son of Madhu Rākṣasa. Thus He established in the great forest known as Madhuvana the town known as Mathurā.
Being forsaken by her husband, Sītādevī entrusted her two sons to the care of Vālmīki Muni. Then, meditating upon the lotus feet of Lord Rāmacandra, she entered into the earth.
After hearing the news of mother Sītā's entering the earth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead was certainly aggrieved. Although He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, upon remembering the exalted qualities of mother Sītā, He could not check His grief in transcendental love.
The attraction between man and woman, or male and female, always exists everywhere, making everyone always fearful. Such feelings are present even among the controllers like Brahmā and Lord Śiva and is the cause of fear for them, what to speak of others who are attached to household life in this material world.
After mother Sītā entered the earth, Lord Rāmacandra observed complete celibacy and performed an uninterrupted Agnihotra-yajña for thirteen thousand years.
After completing the sacrifice, Lord Rāmacandra, whose lotus feet were sometimes pierced by thorns when He lived in Daṇḍakāraṇya, placed those lotus feet in the hearts of those who always think of Him. Then He entered His own abode, the Vaikuṇṭha planet beyond the brahmajyoti.
Lord Rāmacandra's reputation for having killed Rāvaṇa with showers of arrows at the request of the demigods and for having built a bridge over the ocean does not constitute the factual glory of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Rāmacandra, whose spiritual body is always engaged in various pastimes. Lord Rāmacandra has no equal or superior, and therefore He had no need to take help from the monkeys to gain victory over Rāvaṇa.
Lord Rāmacandra's spotless name and fame, which vanquish all sinful reactions, are celebrated in all directions, like the ornamental cloth of the victorious elephant that conquers all directions. Great saintly persons like Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi still glorify His characteristics in the assemblies of great emperors like Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira. Similarly, all the saintly kings and all the demigods, including Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā, worship the Lord by bowing down with their helmets. Let me offer my obeisances unto His lotus feet.
Lord Rāmacandra returned to His abode, to which bhakti-yogīs are promoted. This is the place to which all the inhabitants of Ayodhyā went after they served the Lord in His manifest pastimes by offering Him obeisances, touching His lotus feet, fully observing Him as a fatherlike King, sitting or lying down with Him like equals, or even just accompanying Him.
O King Parīkṣit, anyone who aurally receives the narrations concerning the characteristics of Lord Rāmacandra's pastimes will ultimately be freed from the disease of envy and thus be liberated from the bondage of fruitive activities.
Mahārāja Parīkṣit inquired from Śukadeva Gosvāmī: How did the Lord conduct Himself, and how did He behave in relationship with His brothers, who were expansions of His own self? And how did His brothers and the inhabitants of Ayodhyā treat Him?
Śukadeva Gosvāmī replied: After accepting the throne of the government by the fervent request of His younger brother Bharata, Lord Rāmacandra ordered His younger brothers to go out and conquer the entire world, while He personally remained in the capital to give audience to all the citizens and residents of the palace and supervise the governmental affairs with His other assistants.
During the reign of Lord Rāmacandra, the streets of the capital, Ayodhyā, were sprinkled with perfumed water and drops of perfumed liquor, thrown about by elephants from their trunks. When the citizens saw the Lord personally supervising the affairs of the city in such opulence, they appreciated this opulence very much.
The palaces, the palace gates, the assembly houses, the platforms for meeting places, the temples and all such places were decorated with golden waterpots and bedecked with various types of flags.
Wherever Lord Rāmacandra visited, auspicious welcome gates were constructed, with banana trees and betel-nut trees, full of flowers and fruits. The gates were decorated with various flags made of colorful cloth and with tapestries, mirrors and garlands.
Wherever Lord Rāmacandra visited, the people approached Him with paraphernalia of worship and begged the Lord's blessings. "O Lord," they said, "as You rescued the earth from the bottom of the sea in Your incarnation as a boar, may You now maintain it. Thus we beg Your blessings."
Thereafter, not having seen the Lord for a long time, the citizens, both men and women, being very eager to see Him, left their homes and got up on the roofs of the palaces. Being incompletely satiated with seeing the face of the lotus-eyed Lord Rāmacandra, they showered flowers upon Him.
Thereafter, Lord Rāmacandra entered the palace of His forefathers. Within the palace were various treasures and valuable wardrobes. The sitting places on the two sides of the entrance door were made of coral, the yards were surrounded by pillars of vaidūrya-maṇi, the floor was made of highly polished marakata-maṇi, and the foundation was made of marble. The entire palace was decorated with flags and garlands and bedecked with valuable stones, shining with a celestial effulgence. The palace was fully decorated with pearls and surrounded by lamps and incense. The men and women within the palace all resembled demigods and were decorated with various ornaments, which seemed beautiful because of being placed on their bodies.
Lord Rāmacandra, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, chief of the best learned scholars, resided in that palace with His pleasure potency, mother Sītā, and enjoyed complete peace.
Without transgressing the religious principles, Lord Rāmacandra, whose lotus feet are worshiped by devotees in meditation, enjoyed with all the paraphernalia of transcendental pleasure for as long as needed.


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Resources related to the Merlin HC.4, provided by the Vertical Flight Society.
Resources related to the Merlin HC.4, provided by public sources across the internet.


text:
DOCTORS DESERVE BETTER.
Home » Campaigns » Pensions: Reform the broken tax system
We're calling for
Annual Allowance to be abolished in Defined Benefit pension schemes
A rise in the Lifetime Allowance to a realistic level and in future it must be linked to inflation
Pension contribution recycling must be made available to all affected NHS employees
HCSA writes to Chancellor over pensions tax
President calls on Hunt to take urgent action
Campaigns: Senior doctors
We're calling for an end to salary erosion and punitive pension tax
Campaigns: Pay review reform
We're calling for a truly independent system
Pensions tax is broken. The NHS scheme punishes the highest payers and leaves senior doctors with little choice but to leave the pension scheme, leave the NHS altogether, or to retire early. The system is unnecessarily complicated - precious time is spent filling in paperwork and seeking expensive individualised advice.
Reforming the scheme to retain higher payers will benefit everyone with an NHS pension. And crucially, it will help to retain experienced doctors within the NHS at a time when they are needed more than ever.
'A national scandal'
The Health and Social Care Committee recently concluded that "it is a national scandal that senior doctors are being forced to reduce their working contribution to the NHS or to leave it entirely because of NHS pension arrangements."
HCSA's survey data has revealed that one in 12 senior doctors want to work fewer hours for pensions taxation reasons. One in 16 had already made definite plans to leave the service due to pensions tax. NHS workforce data shows retirements have grown in 2022, with 20 percent more doctors retiring in 2021-2 compared to a year earlier – and this is set to worsen.
Why Annual Allowance on doctors' pensions is still an issue and must go
The Annual Allowance (AA) is a yearly limit on tax-free saving within a pension. The standard AA is currently £40,000 but this is tapered down to £4,000 for the highest earners. In a Defined Benefit (DB) pension scheme such as the NHS, AA is applied to growth in pensionable benefits rather than the amount which is contributed.
This is complicated and difficult to predict. Many colleagues have been caught out by surprise tax bills over the last few years, with some quite literally paying to go to work. HCSA pushed hard to "scrap the taper" and as a result of widespread lobbying, the government raised the taper threshold by £90,000 in 2020.
Though this improved the situation at the time, the pension tax problem has NOT been solved.
Many senior healthcare staff are now breaching the standard annual allowance just by working full-time - the only options to reduce growth are to go part-time or to opt out of the scheme temporarily (hokey-cokey).
Unexpected and unfair tax charges cannot go on. Even government advisors the Office of Tax Simplification recognised this, suggesting that AA could be removed from DB pensions as the Lifetime Allowance already limits tax relief.
HCSA is calling for Annual Allowance to be scrapped in DB schemes.
The Lifetime Allowance freeze - out of step and driving doctors to retire
Lifetime Allowance (LTA) is the total amount an individual can pay into a pension before retirement without incurring tax charges. If, at retirement, you have surpassed the LTA, you will pay 25 percent on the excess amount as income, or 55 percent if withdrawn as a lump sum.
Ten years ago the LTA stood at £1.8 million but this has reduced dramatically over time, and has recently been frozen at £1.073m until April 2026. With current record levels of inflation, LTA is massively out of step with the economy.
Doctors are getting a raw deal and are being incentivised to retire early. We are calling for the LTA to be increased to a realistic level and to be linked with inflation.
The quick term fixes we need NOW
Whilst we lobby for system reform, there are short-term quick fixes that must be taken immediately to prevent an exodus of senior doctors:
1. Employers must follow guidance and make provision for recycling of employer contributions. Ideally this should be mandated at a national level.
2. Tax-free financial advice should be made available for NHS employees – up to £500/year is already allowable under HMRC rules, but, as with pension recycling, the availability is a postcode lottery.


Automation is the use of control programs corresponding to computer systems to regulate the industrial machinery and processes changing human operators. In the pre-industrial phases, whereas business was simply the handwork at artisan level, the instructional processes were relied heavily upon easy things like the slate, the horn guide, the blackboard, and chalk. It was limited to a single textual content book with a few illustrations. Educational technology was thought-about synonymous to easy aids like charts and photos.
Workbook: a set of spreadsheets, used for organizing tabular knowledge. In some instances, people abuse the use of keywords in an effort to get more site visitors than they rightfully deserve. If, for example, one were to include keywords in a single's article that don't have anything to do with the content, they might be deceptive people searching for info on that topic.
When you navigate to the Site Diagnostics section of your Google AdSense account, you may see some hyperlinks to your articles embedded in links which are blocked as a result of file. Please remember that most of the time, these will not be direct article links, however cached variations of your articles on websites like which intentionally block the AdSense crawler from spidering their cached variations of your pages. Since nearly none of your site visitors comes from these pages, and since now we have no control over different websites, there's nothing we will do, but, extra importantly, there's nothing to worry about either, since this does not have an effect on your visitors.
Computer systems is not limited to the areas the place we most expect to find it resembling enterprise and business. Duringthe Stone Age, ignition of fireplace by rubbing stones, manufacture of varied handmade weapon and utensils from stones and clothes practice have been a few of the simple technological developments of utmost importance. A fraction of Stone Age people developed ocean-worthy outrigger canoe ship know-how to migrate from one place to another across the Ocean, by which they developed their first casual training of data of the ocean currents, climate conditions, crusing follow, astronavigation, and star maps. Through the later Stone Age period (Neolithic period),for agricultural follow, polished stone tools had been made from quite a lot of hard rocks largely by digging underground tunnels, which may be considered as the primary steps in mining expertise. The polished axes have been so efficient that even after appearance of bronze and iron; individuals used it for clearing forest and the institution of crop farming.
Since Allan Turing, advancement in information expertise has come a great distance. Having advanced from enormous machines to pocket measurement and wearable gadgets, and from use in navy and heavy obligation industries to workplaces, schools and big businesses, computer systems now grace homes, even deep within the African village. If the content of your article falls into one in every of these areas, please turn adverts off.


Senior striker Katie Benz, who leads the No. 17 Cal women's soccer team with 10 goals, broke her leg in the 61st minute of today's match against Santa Clara.
Benz suffered the injury after a rough tackle from a Broncos defender. The Santa Clara player was not carded.
Although it is not clear of the extent of the injury, Cal coach Neil McGuire confirmed that Benz will be out for the remainder of the season.


SOS Children's Villages Kenya is an affiliate of SOS CV- International whose mission is tbuild families for children in need, help them shape their own futures and share in the development of their communities. In Kenya, the organisation runs five Children's Villages in Nairobi, Mombasa, Eldoret, Meru and Kisumu. SOS Children's Villages Kenya alsruns education and health institutions and works with local communities through Families Strengthening Programs.
We seek to recruit for the position of Clinical Officer based at SOS CV KE Medical Center – Nairobi.
Ensures quality care and treatment services.
Support the administrative function of the medical facility.
At least twyears' experience in clinical work.
Highly organised, able twork independently, with minimal supervision.


text:
How Does the "Resident" Versus "Citizen" Distinction Observed in Other Parts of 28 U.S.C. § 1332 Play Out in CAFA's Local-Controversy Exception?
By McGlinchey Stafford on June 2, 2017
Posted in Case Summaries
Hargett_v._St_Bernard's_Hospital_Inc.. et al., 2017 WL 1405034 (8th Cir. April 14, 2017).
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (the "Eighth Circuit") found that under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005's ("CAFA") local-controversy exception citizenship can be ascertained either through irrefutable evidence, or through class definition before removal. If a Federal District Court allows the plaintiff to redefine the class to restrict it to a particular state post removal, then this will not divest a Federal District Court from exercising its jurisdiction.
Plaintiff Tammy Hargett ("Plaintiff") was injured in a car wreck, and received medical treatment from defendant St. Bernard's Hospital ("St. Bernard's"). St. Bernard's contracted with co-defendant RevClaims, LLC ("RevClaims") to pursue any claim the Plaintiff might have against the driver responsible for her injuries. This was in lieu of collecting a reduced but certain payment from Arkansas Medicaid, which insured the Plaintiff. The Plaintiff contended this practice was in violation of the Arkansas law. Thus, she brought a class action representing all persons who were Arkansas Medicaid-eligible beneficiaries, who were treated at one of the defendant hospitals, and who had similar liens on their third-party claims by RevClaims.
The defendants removed the action pursuant to CAFA, and the Plaintiff moved to remand. The District Court granted the motion to remand, finding that the proposed class was defined as "all persons who were Arkansas residents at the time the medical services . . . were provided to them." Further, the District Court directed the Plaintiff to amend her complaint to explicitly restrict the proposed class definition to include only Arkansas citizens. In light of the District Court's ruling, the defendants appealed to the Eighth Circuit.
At the very outset, the Eighth Circuit observed the local-controversy exception was narrow, i.e., a District Court should resolve any doubt about the applicability of the exception. Additionally, the Eighth Circuit remarked that the term 'citizen' has long meant something different from "resident", as it requires permanence and residency is a more fluid concept. Therefore, a complaint or notice of removal resting on residency will not establish citizenship for diversity jurisdiction.
In support of its distinction between the definitions of "citizen" and "resident", the Eighth Circuit referred to In re Sprint Nextel Corporation, 593 F.3d 669 (7th Cir. 2010). There, the Seventh Circuit noted two ways plaintiffs could have established citizenship: (1) by presenting evidence of citizenship; and (2) by defining the class as all Kansas citizens who purchased the text messaging. (Editor's Note: See the CAFA Law Blog analysis of Sprint posted on March 28, 2010). The Eighth Circuit also referred to its opinion in Hood v. Gilster-Mary Lee Corp., 785 F.3d 263 (8th Cir. 2015), where it reversed the District Court's finding that a class comprising of workers at a particular Missouri plant was more than 2/3rds Missourian by citizenship. (Editor's Note: See the CAFA Law Blog analysis of Hood posted on July 30, 2015). In so doing, the Hood opinion reiterated Sprint's two ways to establish predominantly local citizenship: (1) sound evidence; and (2) defining the class as local citizens.
The Eighth Circuit found Hood and Sprint persuasive in this instance. It explained that generally, plaintiffs remained free to meet their burden through evidence or through a class explicitly limited to local citizens, but they were not free to rest on guesswork. The Eighth Circuit opined the District Court's requirement that the Plaintiff clarify her class definition suggested not only guesswork, but also resolved doubt in the her favor.
In addition, the Eighth Circuit found the District Court cited to no authority for ordering the Plaintiff to restrict her class definition through an amended complaint before remand. The Plaintiff attempted to rely on Hood and she argued she could redefine the class as only local citizens. The Eighth Circuit, however, found that the "redefine" language was not part of Hood's reasoning. Both Hood and Sprint spoke of defining the class in the first instance, i.e., before removal to include only local citizens, and did not authorize redefining of the class post removal.
In the end, the Eighth Circuit found the District Circuit erred in allowing Plaintiff to redefine the class, and accordingly, reversed the order remanding the action to the state court.
Yaron Shaham
Burden Of Proof Of A Party Invoking The Local Controversy Exception Is By A "Preponderance" - Or More Than 50% - Of The Evidence
Generic Demand For Damages Does Not Justify Local Controversy Exception to CAFA
Sworn Declaration Itself Serves As Factual Evidence Supporting The Amount-In-Controversy


At YWCA Minneapolis, we equip children with the knowledge, skills and drive to reach their true potential. Our NAEYC-accredited and Four-Star Parent Aware rated early learning programs offer a whole-child learning approach to build children's social-emotional, cognitive, physical and cultural development.
We help prepare all Minnesotan children to thrive — creating a sense of belonging in the classroom with our anti-bias curriculum and pushing to eliminate the educational opportunity gap in our state for families from all races, ethnicities, cultures and incomes.
Through high-quality child care and early learning programs, YWCA Minneapolis can help your child develop their individual interests and skills, connect with peers and build positive behaviors to support their academic success and become well-rounded learners for life.
YWCA's award-winning programs, staff, facilities and teaching initiatives have helped thousands of Minneapolis children prepare for life in and beyond school. Leverage our nationally accredited early childhood education and child care programs to set your child on course for a bright future.
We offer the best curriculum, staff and family guidance in the state.
YWCA Minneapolis provides an industry-leading teacher-to-infant ratio of 1 to 3-4 at each child care center. Our early childhood education curriculum (grounded in anti-bias and child-initiated play) focuses on the whole-child learning approach and covers social, emotional, cognitive and physical development while supporting self-esteem. We also assist with child assessments, behavior guidance, curriculum and family resources to position the families we serve to thrive.
All YWCA Minneapolis lead teachers have a required bachelor's degree, and many staff are pursuing additional educational credentials. Along with these experienced educators, we provide preschool literacy tutors through our partnership with Minnesota Reading Corps to prepare students to become strong readers and long-term learners.
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YWCA Minneapolis provides each newly enrolled family with a free one-year Health & Wellness family membership. This gives members full access to our state-of-the-art fitness facilities and classes. YWCA swim lessons are also included as part of our preschool curriculum, teaching children essential life-saving skills; these swim classes are available in September through May at select locations, based on staff availability.
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YWCA Minneapolis children take regular visits to local community sites to engage and celebrate different cultures across our city. These activities provide social, cultural and recreational opportunities that are both fun and enlightening. We also provide on-site music classes through September to May that explore unique styles and cultures.
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We also structure our menus to minimize sodium, sugar, saturated fats, food dyes and artificial ingredients whenever possible to provide the healthiest nutrition for your child.
We ensure fast, transparent communication and support for your child's needs.
Throughout our child care and early learning programs, you will have access to daily parent-teacher communication and regular conferences to monitor your child's progress. We perform research-based assessments at regular intervals — and provide free screenings to access any need for therapeutic services (including occupational, speech or physical therapy) through our partnership with Health Dimensions Rehabilitation.
YWCA Minneapolis programs also provide annual on-site kindergarten screening through the Minneapolis Public Schools, which can be used for enrollment in any Minnesota school district.
YWCA Minneapolis was named one of the nation's top 10 for "exemplary programs" for family engagement by NAEYC.
Our centers are proud to be NAEYC-accredited and Four-Star Parent Aware rated.
YWCA Minneapolis is featured on NAEYC's site as one of the top 10 "exemplary programs" for family engagement in the nation. Our Four-Star Parent Aware rating demonstrates our excellence in the use of practices to best prepare children for kindergarten — and beyond.
Please contact us regarding financial assistance opportunities that may be available to your family.
Refer a family to a YWCA Children's Center and receive $100 off your tuition if they enroll! Plus, the referred family also receives $100 off their tuition.