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Mandatory Health Insurance Is a Necessity for Armenia
Marianna Koshkakaryan, MD., MPH
- How do you assess the state of healthcare in the country? Can you, please, describe the recent achievements of healthcare in the country? How effective is communication and collaboration with the medical organizations of other countries and the WHO?
Armenia has made significant achievements in terms of reforming and developing the healthcare system since the late 1990s. In particular, significant institutional and structural reforms were carried out during these years. The most important of them is the development of family medicine in Armenia, which ensuresalmost 100% coverage of population to be covered by practices of re-qualifiedphysiciansunder the family medicine scheme , which is especially actual for rural communities. The population has also been granted the freedom of choosing primary healthcare doctors, in other words open enrollment system allows for free choice of providers in contrast to the previous system based on the catchment area. A large number of out-patient clinics (rural ambulatories, health centers) in rural communities were renovated and upgraded during these years. As part of the program for themodernization of hospitalsin the country, a whole range of hospitals and medical centers, both in Yerevan and in marzes, were fully renovated/reconstructed. The only regional center for bone marrow transplantation and stem cell laboratory were established in Yerevan. Financing of Armenia's health care system was alsoreformed by changing providerpayment mechanisms and establishment of the State Health Agency, responsible for contracting health care providers and paying them based on the volume of work performed. . Since 1997, Basic Benefit Package has been introduced, which makes it possible to provide free medical services to the population in the frames of the state order.
Due to changes made over the past year the scope of this package has been expanded. In particular, currently it includes oncological treatment services, surgical treatment of acute ischemic stroke, more effective methods of treatment of acute cases of myocardial infarction with the use of special drug-eluting stents. The package also includes medical services forchildren from 7 to 18 years old. An air ambulance service was created, which allows quick evacuationof affected people into hospital. The salary of polyclinicdoctorshas been increased by almost 30%.
Nevertheless, regardless of all these reforms the system still has some disadvantages and challenges, first of all, related to the quality,availability and accessibility of healthcare services. Hospital care dominates national health spending, absorbing 42.3% of the budget. This suggests that the larger part of the population prefers to go immediately to the hospital, bypassing primary healthcare level - polyclinics. The reasons here are many, including mentality. Our citizens, for some reason, are convinced that free healthcare cannot be quality by definition. We apply to a doctor only when the situation has already become critical, whereas there might bepreventivemeasures to be undertakenwhich is much more cost-effective than treatment. Many citizens do not even know about free medical examinations and other services provided at primary healthcare facilities. That is to say, we also face the problem of lack of awareness of the population.
Total health expenditures account for about 10% of the republic's GDP, while the public funding is among the lowest in the world, contributing to 1.5% of the GDP. Thus, the main burden is shouldered by the population. Today out-of-pocket payments faced by the population contributes to 83.4%. As for cooperation, it should be noted that Armenia actively cooperates with organizations such as the World Bank, UNICEF, WHO, USAID, Asian Development Bank, and so on. All these organizations are investing in the development of medicine in our country. Cooperation with the Diaspora is very important to us, too, as it has traditionally, stood ready to support reforms in the healthcare system of Armenia.
- Which segments of the population use free medical services, are these services of justifiable quality? Where do citizens most often go for treatment and mainly for what reasons?
Primary Healthcare services, the Ambulance service, and some emergencyconditions are covered by of the state order, that's to say are completely free. In addition to that, people with first, second and third groups of disability, people from socially vulnerable groups, conscripts, parents of killed military personnel/soldiers, and some other beneficiaries including Family Benefit Package program, also enjoy free inpatient treatment and are granted some medications. However, public funds are still insufficient, and people pay for medications and the services of hospitalsmainly from their own pockets. It is one of the reasons that many patientsleave abroad for treatment. The main directions of such treatment are oncological diseases, blood diseases, specifically onco-hematological conditions, and in rare cases organ transplantation. Our citizens mostly travel to Germany, France and Israel. People leave for the US, Russia and even neighboring Georgia for treatment. For example, postoperative treatment of oncological diseases is of higher quality in Georgia based on the new treatment schemes and affordable medicines.
- How does the lack of health insurance affect the health of the population, how can it solve the existing problems? For example, the problem of affordability of medicine for all layers of the population, the improvement of the health of the society as a whole?
The main burden of medical expenses lies on the shoulders of the population and leads to high rates of morbidity and mortality of our citizens. 93% of deaths are due to non-communicable diseases: cardiovascular diseases, oncological diseases, diabetes, chronic lung diseases, injuries, and so on. The aging of the population leads to an increase in the percentage of such diseases and, accordingly, to an increase in the financial burden on the population, if the state's approach to this problem has been not changed. It is here that the need to introduce universal health insurance comes to the fore. And now the Governmentis at the stage of active discussions on this opportunity. The basic principle is that the social health insurance system should be based on social solidarity and justice. In other words, the rich should pay for the poor, and the healthy should pay for the sick. This is one of those few mechanisms that allows to solve the problems in the sphere. Of course, the introduction of mandatory health insurance is not easy andrequireshardefforts. Today, international organizations and experts who actively explore and present the experience of other countries, are supporting the Ministry of Health in order to form the health insurance concept. It is planned to introduce mandatoryhealth insurance in Armenia to be operational from 2021. It is possible that the state will pay for socially vulnerable and disabled . It should be noted that all these issues regardingrevenue mobilization, strategic purchasing, etc. are still under the discussion. It is also necessary to understand how we could bring outinformal workers whoseincomes are not fixed to a single field, for example, taxi drivers or citizens who are labor migrants. Thus, it is assumed that the medical services will be available to the entire population, without exception. International experience clearly supports the introduction of this system, especially when the state is unable to fully cover medical services.
- What urgent measures need to be taken to improve the healthcare system?
The need for such measures is certainly visible. And to improve the system, first of all we need to understand the causes of our problems. The main cause is the scarcity of public funds allocated to health care. In this light, government spending on health sector should be increased in any case. But just the increase in funding is not enough to resolve all the problems of the health sector. A comprehensive approach is needed, which is still not present today, even though the priorities have been set correctly. In my opinion, the primary health care - theoutpatient care/polyclinics – is one of these priorities. It is much more efficient to spend public funds on disease prevention rather than treatment. The population, in its turn, should understand the importance of prevention and not seek medical help only when they have a devastating pain somewhere in the body. According to the Center for Oncology, 54% of cases of cervical cancer detection occur in the third and fourth stages of development, when the prospects for preserving the life are very small. By the way, if detected at an early stage, cervical cancer can be stopped very easily and without any consequences. This disease is easy to detect through avery simple screening, PAP test, which is implemented in the frames of the national screening program for early detection and prevention of cervical cancer, used in all polyclinics. However, in a paradoxical manner, part of the population does not go to polyclinics for prevention.
Solving healthcare problems implies one common line of action, an interministerial approach.In other words, if we want to overcome the issues, we need a strategic approach.
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'Black-Ish' Spin-off 'Mixed-Ish' Will Premiere This Fall
Via Madamenoire:
ABC is gearing up for another black-ish spin-off. After the successful launch of grown-ish, starring Yara Shahidi, ABC is premiering mixed-ish, which will focus on Tracee Ellis Ross' character, Rainbow Johnson.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the prequel spin-off will follow a young Rainbow Johnson in the 1980's and her experience growing up in a mixed family. Viewers will watch as Bow struggles with whether to assimilate or acculturate when her family moves to the suburbs. The 'mixed-ish' episode was supposed to be part of black-ish's current season however it will now air next season.The cast will include Arica Himmell, who will play Johnson, Tika Sumpter, Mykal-Michelle Harris, Christina Anthony and Ethan Childress.
Text "RICKEY" to 71007 to join the Rickey Smiley Morning Show mobile club for exclusive news. (Terms and conditions).
While another show has been added the family, black-ish has been renewed for its sixth season. There are new folks behind the scenes though due to Kenya Barris exiting ABC for Netflix last year. Showrunners Kenny Smith, whose resume include The Game, The Jamie Foxx Show and One on One, and Jonathan Groff, who has worked on Glee, have taken the show over.
Mixed-ish will premiere during ABC's fall 2019-2020 season.
31 Photos Of Black Women Rocking Tracee Ellis Ross' Collection With JCPenney
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'Black-Ish' Spin-off 'Mixed-Ish' Will Premiere This Fall was originally published on getuperica.com
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The ISKCON movement prevalently known as Hare Krishna movement in the west is a monotheistic wing of Gaudiya Vaishnava branch of spirituality that is believed to have started from the days of Lord Krishna. He is believed to be the head of all goods and creatures who took birth on earth to give the sermon of Bhagavad-Gita about five thousand years ago. This movement follows his teachings as it is written in Vedas and scriptures such as Srimad Bhagavat or Bhagavad-Gita.
Few important practices of this movement involve chanting God's holy name consistently to bring solemn and lasting peace. This is primarily done to revive our relationship with the almighty. It is said that Lord Krishna took incarnation as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu 525 years ago. He took incarnation as his own devotee to come out with a new form of congregational chanting known as Sankirtana which is a subtle form of spiritual practice in this era. He also made famous the chant of Mahamantra which comprised of simple names of gods such as Hare Rama or Hare Krishna. It was in fact, Swami Srila Prabhupada (1896-1977) who transformed Sri Chaitanya's movement into ISKCON.
At 69 years of age, Swami Prabhupada left Vrindavan to spread the message of Lord Krishna to the west to execute the message of the spiritual master. He reached Boston in a freight ship, carrying a meager $7 and a chest containing books of Lord Krishna. For a few years, he struggled in the new country and earned his living by speaking at Yoga studios or at spiritual meetings of bohemians. In the free time, he would just sit under a tree of a public park and chanted the names of Lord Krishna. Few curious onlookers joined him in chanting. Some of them took an active interest in his cause and founded 'Krishna consciousness' movement.
Like the sun is the same source of light for everyone around the world but is known by different names; similarly Krishna consciousness, Krishna or god are synonymous terms for the worship of the supreme deity. One can practice Krishna consciousness anywhere and can become a part of ISKCON. To adopt the practices of this movement, you need not change your religion. Though 'Krishna consciousness' is known to have arisen from the Gaudiya Vaishnava cult commonly referred as Hinduism, but it aims to serve the eternal purpose of a soul which is to attain eternal spiritual equanimity and hence is known as sss. Also, it transcends the religious and social identities of individuals.


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Last updated: 12:04 PM ET, Wed May 23 2018
Tourism Industry Upbeat Despite Loss in Market Share
Destination & Tourism	Monica Poling May 23, 2018
PHOTO: The statue of Liberty and Manhattan, New York. (photo courtesy of spyarm/iStock/Getty Images Plus)
From 2015 to 2017, the United States' share of the global travel market fell from 13.6 percent to 11.9 percent.
"That may not sound like a lot, but it translates to $32 billion in lost visitor spending and 100,000 fewer U.S. jobs," said Roger Dow, President and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, speaking at the association's annual trade show, IPW in Denver this week.
Dow noted that many top-tier destinations such as Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Orlando, and Seattle, are "thriving" but despite their success, many visitors are choosing to travel to places other than the United States.
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"More people around the world are traveling than ever before—but too many [are] visiting places other than the U.S.," said Dow. "Bottom line: we're falling behind our competitors."
Despite the dip, the tourism industry remains encouraged by recent positive indicators.
Earlier this year, U.S. Travel banded together with 14 other major business groups in Washington to launch the Visit U.S. Coalition to address the decline in market share. Specifically, the new organization was designed to work with the White House to promote a simple and achievable idea—the United States should be the most secure and the most-visited country in the world.
"We've been urging the president to proclaim America open for business, and we're very encouraged that he did so on the world stage in Davos," said Dow.
The Visit U.S. Coalition is also promoting policies that could have an immediate, positive impact on inbound travel, including:
—expanding and rebranding the Visa Waiver Program
—setting goals for expanding travel visas
—boosting enrollment in Global Entry
—increasing the number of visa processing facilities worldwide, and
—developing criteria for 10-year visas with qualified countries.
Visit U.S. has also been vocal on policies it finds concerning, including "extreme vetting" of U.S. visa applicants, which could see U.S. agencies requesting the social media profile information and travel history from 14 million visa applicants.
"That's a vast expansion of private data collection with dubious security value," said Dow. "Making the U.S. visa system unnecessarily intrusive or burdensome will impact global interest in travel to the U.S. Even a small decline could cost the U.S. economy millions, which is why we are engaged on this issue."
Dow also spoke about enhanced new technologies being employed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, that are both facilitating entry to the United States, while also making the nation more secure. Among them, Biometric Air Exit technology, which uses facial recognition to securely identify departing travelers and automated passport control kiosks and an increasing number of airports, which allow eligible Visa Waiver Program travelers to skip Customs forms and lines. Further, U.S. citizens and Canadian visitors can also use a Mobile Passport Control app to expedite their entry into the U.S.
"We're also thrilled to note the expansion of many trusted traveler programs," said Dow, referring to the inclusion of Argentina and India to Global Entry, as well as the growth of Customs and Border Protection pre-clearance which is now available at 15 airports in six countries around the world.
An expansion of TSA PreCheck is also creating easier access for pre-screened travelers, who enjoy expedited screening for domestic flights. Seven new international airlines joined the program last year, for a total of 53 airlines.
"I have long said that trusted traveler programs, which thoroughly pre-vet travelers before they even get on the plane, are the bright future for both effective security, and efficient and convenient travel," said Dow.
Dow also pointed to research from Destination Analysts that found the United States remains the top most-desired destination among international travelers.
"We undoubtedly have Brand USA to thank for that," he said.
Brand USA is funded through 2020, but the U.S. Travel Association is now working with Congress to re-authorize that funding past 2020.
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Yesterday was a bit unusual. My size XL tops was too loose, so I went to the market and picked up four new ones in size L. While there, I see they have clearance on liverwurst, at 1/3 of normal price. I picked up all 35 of them. Earlier that day I did the mistake of making my One Meal a Day too small, and I fell for the temptation, and had a liverwurst feast in the afternoon. Will make sure my One Meal a Day is at normal size today, so I can stay strong all day.


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crime crime
Pizza Delivery Driver Won't Be Fired For Shooting Robbery Suspect
January 15, 2015 • A Papa John's driver who shot a robbery suspect in the face will not be fired, despite her violation of the company's policy against employees carrying guns. The employee will now work inside a store.
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A Closer Look At Sexual Assaults On Campus
Colleges Straddle Line Between Assault Prevention And Victim-Blaming
November 21, 2014 • When it comes to raising assault awareness among possible victims, figuring out what to say has been complicated for schools. Some that have tried have been criticized for putting the onus on victims.
Robert Snyder takes a break at Baia de Guanabara, Brazil's second largest bay. Courtesy of Robert Snyder hide caption
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Goats and Soda
Volunteer Recap: Why Wearing The Right Shoes In Rio Matters
October 21, 2014 • When public health student Robert Snyder visited Rio de Janeiro last summer to do volunteer work, he learned the hard way that Birkenstock clogs are not a wise footwear choice.
Dan Huff rests after a long day's work. He spent much of his life incarcerated in the California prison system. Now, he lives in drug- and alcohol-free transitional housing in Portland, Ore. Beth Nakamura for NPR hide caption
Beth Nakamura for NPR
Men In America
'I Am Not An Inmate ... I Am A Man. And I Have Potential'
August 29, 2014 • Many of the 2 million men serving time in the U.S. have formed their sense of manhood while incarcerated. And becoming a different kind of man isn't easy — either behind bars, or beyond them.
Officer Michael Crowder says his roots are too deep to leave Detroit, but he knows younger officers who were lured away by better pay. Dawn Uhl-Zifilippo hide caption
Dawn Uhl-Zifilippo
Other Cities Poach Police From Detroit's Low-Wage Force
WDET 101.9 FM
July 22, 2014 • From Toledo to Houston, cities are courting Detroit cops, who are seen as battle-tested from routinely dealing with high crime rates — and fed up from years of low pay and cuts in benefits.
4 Children, 2 Adults Killed In Apparent Domestic Dispute In Texas
July 10, 2014 • The suspect in the shootings in Spring, Texas, engaged police in a three-hour standoff before surrendering.
The Lafayette Parish Correctional Center in downtown Lafayette, La. By most counts, Louisiana has the highest incarceration rate in the country, but sentencing reformers have loosened some of the state's mandatory minimum sentences and made parole slightly easier to get. Denny Culbert for NPR hide caption
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States Push For Prison Sentence Overhaul; Prosecutors Push Back
July 9, 2014 • Several red states, including Louisiana, have been diverting some offenders away from prison and into drug treatment and other incarceration alternatives. But not everyone is embracing the effort.
Police investigate the scene of a shooting at 75th Street and Stewart Avenue on Saturday in Chicago. At least 50 people were shot in the city, nine of them fatally, in a wave of violence over the Fourth of July weekend. E. Jason Wambsgans/MCT /Landov hide caption
E. Jason Wambsgans/MCT /Landov
More Than 50 People Were Shot In Chicago Over The Holiday Weekend
July 7, 2014 • The Chicago Tribune called it "the greatest burst of gun violence Chicago has seen this year." The number of shootings in the city has risen since last year even as the homicide rate has fallen.
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Leggo My Legos! Australian Toy Stores Hit By Series Of Thefts
June 3, 2014 • According to a detective, the crimes sound like the work of an "organized syndicate" that might be specifically targeting the interlocking toys.
The Chicago skyline. The city's police chief says his officers can't keep up with the number of illegal weapons on the city's streets. Carolyn Kaster/AP hide caption
Carolyn Kaster/AP
45 People Were Shot In Chicago Over The Weekend
April 22, 2014 • That follows 33 shootings the weekend before and 27 one week before that. As the weather is warming, the deadly incidents are on the rise again.
There are signs around the reservoirs in Portland's Mount Tabor Park that warn against putting anything in the water. They apparently didn't dissuade one young man from urinating into the city's drinking supply this week. Randy L. Rasmussen /The Oregonian/Landov hide caption
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One Man's Pee Pushes Portland To Flush 38 Million Gallons Of Water
April 17, 2014 • The trespasser relieved himself into one of the city's reservoirs of treated water. Officials say there's not much of a danger to public health, but they're being cautious.
"Too darn funny what a co-worker put on top of her lunch. It was fake of course, but got the point across." Courtesy of Toni Kinnard hide caption
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Stop, Thief! When Colleagues Steal From The Office Fridge
April 2, 2014 • Colleagues steal Greek yogurt and half-eaten oranges, and bosses help themselves to their employees' frozen dinner. Yes, fridge theft is apparently rampant in offices all over the world.
A McDonald's Happy Meal was allegedly part of a secret drug market run out of a drive-thru window at one of the restaurants in Pittsburgh. Eric Risberg/AP hide caption
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Heroin In The Drive-Thru? McDonald's Employee Busted
January 29, 2014 • Undercover police officers say they bought heroin at a McDonald's in Pittsburgh, acting on a tip that included a code phrase. They were then allegedly given a Happy Meal box containing the drug.
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CEO Of A Bitcoin Exchange Charged With Money Laundering
January 27, 2014 • The charge: That he conspired to sell more than $1 million in bitcoins to individuals who used the virtual money to buy drugs on the Silk Road website.
Student Shot And Killed At S.C. State University
January 24, 2014 • The shooting took place at a dormitory around 1:30 p.m. The Orangeburg, S.C., campus was locked down for hours afterward; a search for the suspects is still underway off-campus, officials said.
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Leading Canadian manufacturer of tools and accessories for gardening, construction, and snow removal. Market: Canada. Challenge: Implement a visual identity platform that speaks to different market segments and optimizes brand recognition at points of sale.


Though it is unlikely that significantly improved means of measuring benefits will become available in the foreseeable future, it seems possible that better ways of quantifying the incremental costs of regulations of all kinds may gradually be developed, and the board will watch any such developments carefully. The board cannot cease to be concerned about the cost-effectiveness of and standards. To do so would be a dereliction of its duty and they did service to it's constituents.
According to our east Dallas accountants, neutrality means that, in formulating or implementing standards, the primary concern should be the relevance and reliability of the information that results, not the effect that the new rule may have on a particular interest. A neutral choice between accounting alternatives is free from bias towards a predetermined result.


If you or someone in your family needs behavioral healthcare treatment, Central wants to make it convenient. You're welcome to visit us at Central during walk-in hours to get started.
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday: 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.
Central has on-call therapists available 24/7. You can call us on the phone between 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, or 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM Wednesday. After business hours or during the weekend your call will be connected to a therapist through our answering service.
To schedule an appointment call Central today.
This number is not an emergency contact. If you are experiencing an emergency call 911.


On August 26, 2012 I gave my final sermon at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Orange, Texas. As of September 1, I will no longer be employed there.
I have enjoyed my time here in Orange and look forward to the next step in my ministry.


Here at Riviera Insurance, we are experts in Fleet Insurance. We search the market saving you time and money. Our experienced team of insurance specialists recognise that each individual's requirements are different.
Riviera Insurance Service Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA FRN 786116). Riviera Insurance Service Limited is registered in England 09827823.We are covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Private customers and micro-enterprises may pursue complaints with the FOS if we cannot resolve them. Further information is on the FOS website.
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Please be aware our office will be running alternative Easter hours. Please view the hours here.


The Children and Families Program provides support to children with cerebral palsy and their families. We also support professionals, such as educational assistants, health professionals, day care providers.
As you work your way through your child's early years, you might find you need a little support along the way - we are here for you.
Cerebral Palsy - many relevant resources on CP can be found on our website. Brochures, booklets, videos, DVDs regarding cerebral palsy as well as customized information packages are available upon request.
Education - We can help you with your concerns regarding the education of your child from kindergarten to secondary years. This may include issues regarding transportation, school accessibility, safety of your child, educational and transitional plans, or knowing your child's right to an education.
If you have any other inquires or concerns, or if you would like to connect with other families, please contact us.
Cerebral Palsy is caused by physical damage to the brain, so it is not contagious and not hereditary. There are therapies which can help children manage cerebral palsy's effects and thus maximize their abilities.
Physical Therapy (PT) aims to assist individuals to achieve their potential for physical independence and mobility focusing on movements involving large muscles such as those in the legs and trunk. Physical therapy includes exercises, correct positioning, and teaching alternate ways of movement such as walkers, orthotics or handling a wheelchair.
Occupational Therapy (OT) designs purposeful activities to increase independence through fine motor skills - movements involving smaller muscles in the arms, hands, and face. Occupational therapists can help children to use adaptive equipment such as feeding, seating and bathroom aids.
Speech and Language Therapy aims at improving communication. It can also help in the treatment of concerns with feeding, drooling, non-oral feeding, or other oral-motor functions. A child may only need help to overcome a slight articulation problem, or may not be able to communicate verbally and may require a non-verbal communication system. Alternative communication systems include eye-gaze systems, blissymbol boards, and electronic voice synthesizers.
The OFCP financial assistance program is available to persons of all ages with cerebral palsy in the province of Ontario who are Individual Members of OFCP. The program operates from September 1 to June 1 each year or as long as funds are available.
Assistive Devices Funding Program - To assist with the purchase and lease of equipment.
Assistance for parents who have the extra expenses associated with a child with serious special needs. Some of the costs covered are travel to doctors and hospitals, special shoes and clothing, parent relief, wheelchair repairs and hearing-aid batteries. The amount of assistance available is based on total family income, number of children in the family and the costs associated with caring for their child. This program assists parents of children with special needs who are under 18 years of ate and living at home with their parents. An application form is available from the local Ministry regional office.
The Assistive Devices Program (ADP) is administered by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
ADP assists in paying up to 75 percent of the cost of equipment, such as orthopaedic braces, wheelchairs, hearing aids, enteral feeding supplies and equipment, visual and communication aids. Most devices must be authorized by a qualified health care professional registered with the program and purchased from vendors registered with the ADP Branch. Ontario residents are eligible who hold an Ontario health card and have a physical disability of six months or longer. In most cases, the client pays a share of the cost at the time of purchase and the vendor bills ADP the balance. Additional information is available on the Ministry website or by contacting them at 1-800-268-6021 toll free for Ontario or Toronto 416-327-8804.
Families of a child with a developmental or physical disability can apply for this funding assistance. Application forms are available on the Ministry website or can be obtained by contacting your local Regional Office.
This grant is paid in addition to other respite services to families caring for a child who is medically fragile and/or depends on a technological device needing care 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
To apply, contact the Ministry's regional office nearest you.


We will be closing our town centre shop at the end of April as owner Susan White plans to retire. We would like to invite you to a celebration event on Saturday the 15th March between 12pm and 2pm to say thank you and goodbye.
Please do share your thoughts and photos on the end of an era and we will post the best on our new website.
Whites Sports Shop, Warrington – Est 1901′s photo. — at Warrington Town Centre.
Susan White interviewed on BBC Radio Merseyside this morning!


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3-year-old boy dies after falling into grease trap behind Tim Hortons in NY
Man arrested after breaking into Phoenix homes, attempting to sexually assault woman
STREAMING LIVE: FOX 10 News Now
Witness: Exec gave lap dance to doctor in drug bribes scheme
Posted Jan 29 2019 03:24PM MST
Updated Jan 29 2019 03:39PM MST
Prosecutor: Drug founder driven by greed
BOSTON (AP) - A former employee of a drug company accused of bribing doctors to write prescriptions for its fentanyl spray says she watched her boss give a lap dance to a doctor the company was targeting.
Jurors heard the testimony Tuesday on the second day of the closely watched trial against Insys Therapeutics founder John Kapoor and four other former employees of the Chandler, Arizona-based company.
>>VIDEO: Pharma founder in court over opioid bribe scheme
Holly Brown worked as an Insys sales representative. She told jurors that she saw her boss Sunrise Lee sitting on the doctor's lap and "bouncing around" while the doctor put his hands all over her chest during a night out in Chicago.
Lee's lawyer tried to show that Brown's memory was faulty, noting that they had all been drinking.
Kapoor and the other defendants say they did nothing illegal.
Posted Jul 15 2019 09:06AM MST
PHOENIX (FOX 10) — Phoenix Police arrested a man after he broke into two homes and attempted to sexually assault a woman.
Police say Monday morning around 4:30 a.m. a 32-year-old man went into a home that had an unlocked front door near 28th Street and Osborn.
A woman in the home woke up to the man trying to sexually assault her. The woman fought back and called for her son when the man ran out the back door.
PD: Man found dead in roadway near 25th Avenue and Van Buren
Updated Jul 15 2019 07:45AM MST
PHOENIX (FOX 10) — A homicide investigation is underway after a man was found dead in a Phoenix roadway.
Police say a 22-year-old man was found dead in the roadway by a passing driver near 25th Avenue and Van Buren Street late Sunday night.
A homicide investigation is underway, but investigators have little information to go off of. Please contact Phoenix Police or Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS if you have any information.
Ozone pollution advisory issued for metro Phoenix
PHOENIX (AP ) - For the second time in less than a week, environmental regulators have issued an ozone pollution advisory for metro Phoenix.
The advisory was issued because the Phoenix area is expected to exceed the federal health standard for air quality on Monday.
An ozone pollution advisory also was issued last Wednesday for the Phoenix area.


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10Melanin
BLACK CULTURE IN LISTS OF 10
Written By 10Melanin Team
10 African Festivals Similar To Halloween
Everybody loves Halloween, the chance to have fun and dress up is so important and black people have proven time and time again that we're the best at it. However, sometimes the connections we have to western holidays can feel somewhat misplaced. During slavery and colonisation religion's such as Christianity taught us to turn our back on our ancestor's cultural rituals and celebrations. But there are plenty festivals similar to Halloween that are celebrated in the motherland that none of us are aware of, and while we can't celebrate them and nor should we imitate them, they are important for us to know. The western world has been good at modernising cultural festivals and traditions. This has allowed them to go continue on for generations and we're starting to see this in Africa as they try to hold on to their own cultural traditions, due to the continent becoming more modern. This list looks at the festivals celebrated in Africa that involve masks and costumes but also have some dark origins.
10. Chewa's Festival For The Dead (Malawi)
Burrard Lucas
Warning : The following is not subtle for the faint hearted. The Chewa people are apart of the Bantu tribes and are mostly found in Malawi. Traditionally when a community member has died, it is customary that the body of the deceased is washed. The body is then taken to a sacred place where the throat is slit and water is poured through the inside of the body. It is quite common in most cultures that the body of the deceased is washed and prepared, but not necessarily in the same way of the Chewa people. After the water has ran through the body it is then collected and a meal is prepared with it for the whole community, as it is believed the body has been cleared of any immorality and might help stop the spreading of disease.
9. Odo Festival (Nigeria)
Face2faceafrica
The Odo Festival marks the return of the dead to the northern Igbo villages of Nigeria. The festival happens every two years and can last up to eight months and has three stages. The first stage is the arrival of the Odo (dead), it involves many celebrations and festivities which welcome the spirits back. The second is where the spirits stay at their ancestral homes, this can last around 6 months to give time for the spirits to interact with their living relatives. The third is the spirits departure, and can be very emotional for residents as they won't be with their deceased ancestors for another 2 years and this part is called Awuru Odo Festival.
8. Odun Egungun (Nigeria)
Egungun in the simplest terms means any Yoruba masquerade figure, as you can see in the image above. The Yourba people come from Yorubaland, which in modern day spans across the areas of Nigeria, Togo and Benin. The Egungun are celebrated in festivals also known as Odun Egungun which honour the Yoruba's deceased family members and acts as the medium for the masker's to transformation into their ancestors. The festival involves rituals and celebrations that are believed to help develop trade and wealth, generally bonding the people of Yorubaland together regardless of their religious beliefs, this occurs at the end of the dry season and lasts seven days. Each of the numerous lineages are given a separate day to perform and the masker is kept at a distance from the surrounding crowd with the help of attendants dressed in masquerade costumes of different types.
7. The Makishi Masquerade (Zambia)
Culture Trip
The Makishi masquerade is performed at the end of the Mukanda, an annual initiation ritual for boys between the ages of eight and twelve that celebrates the death of childhood and adolescence to manhood. The ceremony dates back at least 500 years and has been passed down through the generations, it is celebrated by the Luvale, Chokwe, Luchazi and Mbunda people, who live in the northwestern and western provinces of Zambia. Every April, the young boys are taken away and isolated in the bush where they are circumcised, tested of their courage and taught about their future roles as men and husbands. Each initiate is assigned a specific masked character, which remains with him throughout the entire process. The completion of the Mukanda is celebrated with a graduation ceremony in which the entire village attends, this is where the Masked characters (Makishi) dance and perform until the graduates re-emerge from the camp to reintegrate with their communities as adult men.
6. Fêtes des Masques Festival (Mali)
Martha de Jong-Lantink
The Fête Des Masques is celebrated every year during the months of April and May by the Dogon people in Mali. It takes place as a memorial to the villagers' dead and to celebrate the harvest. Masks are the most important symbol of Dogon culture they are believed to protect against vengeance and help pass on knowledge through the generations. Dancers are performed to recount the story of the origin of the Dogon people and although these are now often performed for tourists they still remain sacred and important to the villagers. Each dancer, representing a different spirit performs, leaping and waving his stick and looking for evil spirits which might prevent the deceased from going to paradise. There are other Fête Des Masques celebrated in the neighbouring countries of Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso, but it is the Dogon people who are pictured.
5. Kakamotobi (Ghana)
Okay Africa
Kakamotobi also known simply as the Fancy Dress Festival, is an annual masquerade festival held from Christmas to New Year's Day by the people of Winneba. It began almost 100 years ago when Dutch and British colonisers introduced putting on masks and wearing fanciful attires to socialize in the coastal towns of Ghana. The people of Winneba adopted and owned this practice by setting up various masquerade troupes, to create elaborate characters and perform with marching bands for their townsfolk. To mark Ghana's independence, the institution was formalised by Ghana's first president, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and now occurs yearly. Although costumes vary greatly many of the more traditional outfits serve as satire and to mock the colonisers.
4. Gungu Festival (DR Congo)
The Gungu festival, also known as Fesnag, dates back as far as 1925 and originally was started to commemorate Belgian National Day. The Pende people who live in the Gungu region, like much of Congo have been exploited with several of their sculptures and artwork taken away to Belgium, so it's great they were able to steal something back. Although it has colonial origins, it's very much an African festival, rich in Congolese culture. The festival lasts between five to seven days and is involves important, but secret, initiation rituals which help young boys transition into manhood. During this time they learn to weave raffia costumes and spirits of the ancestors are summoned to interact with the living and give guidance. Symbols of the occasion include the famous Minganji circumcision masks, which are pictured above. The festival draws people from all over the country as various troops and performers from all the tribes are welcome to participate in the celebrations.
3. Ouidah Voodoo Festival (Benin)
Inger Vandyke
While Voodoo in the western world is often dismissed or seen as something extinct, nearly 80 percent of Benin still believe in Voodoo and consider it very powerful and something that must be respected. Almost 10,000 people visit the Ouidah Voodoo festival every year in January, to witness the plays, ceremonies and performances. The delegations of the different voodoo communities come to the beach, where the festival is held, and pay tribute to the "pope" of the Voodoo and the most powerful wizards, where animal sacrifices take place, a common practice in Voodoo. Other common sights are Zangbetos, whose outfits resemble haystacks as seen in the photo above, they are considered to be the night watchmen and charged with the maintenance of law and order.
2. Eyo Festival (Nigeria)
The Eyo Festival traditionally is held when a king or chief of Lagos dies, to help escort the departed soul and usher in a new king, however in modern times it is more commonly performed as a way to attract tourists. The word "Eyo" refers to the white-clad masquerades who represent the spirits of the dead, and in Yoruba language known as "Agogoro Eyo" which means "Tall Eyo". The festival dates back to 20th of February, 1854 when it was first performed to commemorate the life of the Oba Akitoye. During the festival, main roads are closed as the hundreds of white robed figures move about in the streets singing and dancing.
1. FESTIMA (Burkina Faso)
Matzuri
The Festival International des Masques et des Arts also known as FESTIMA is a biennial festival that celebrates traditional African masks, it was founded in 1996 to help preserve traditional cultural practices in modern times. The event draws people from all over west Africa, who come to showcase their heritage from over 50 communities, some of which are seen in this list. The events you can witness here are dances, performances, live music and you can also learn about traditional culture from seminars, storytelling and activities for children. It is estimated that 100,000 people visit the festival each year with 2,000 of those being international.
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Your pictures are astounding. Jordan loves the LOTR references too . . .
Pang looks more like B.C. and the Rockies!
I'm glad you're doing well and we (as always) wish you the best.
You will know. It's probably still too early for you to know if you want to stay or not. But you should definitely know by Christmas.


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Q: set_weights stopped working on tensorflow 2 Updating our code base from keras --> tensorflow.keras for unrelated reasons.
keras 2.3.1
tensorflow 2.1.0
This code works on keras, but fails on tf.keras:
weights = applications.VGG16(weights='imagenet', include_top=False).get_weights()
model.set_weights(tempweights)

Error:
You called `set_weights(weights)` on layer "model" with a  weight list of length 26, but the layer was expecting 32 weights. Provided weights: [array([[[[ 4.29470569e-01,  1.17273867e-01,  3.40...

using keras.applications.VGG16().get_weights() does not fix it, results in exact same error.
Have examined these github issues that look similar, but wasn't able to find the cause of my issue:
https://github.com/keras-team/keras/issues/7229
https://github.com/keras-team/keras/issues/4753
The following works:
model.weights[0] = weights[0]

It SEEMS Like keras.model.set_weights() had some behavior for dealing with mismatched weights, but tf.tensorflow.keras does not have this behavior?
Confirmed. Behavior has changed. Include_top=True fixed it in our specific case, because that made our models match up. Keras doesn't throw errors when models don't match, and I'm not sure exactly what it does in that case. Not going to investigate that though. Leaving the solution here.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Siemens is a high growth organization working on products and software that is leading edge in changing the world. Be part of this fantastic opportunity and inspiring culture of relentless innovation towards Ingenuity for Life.
We are looking for a professional Sales Executive with experience in selling enterprise software into the Consumer-Packaged Goods industry. We are looking leaders with experience selling PLM and or Manufacturing solutions.
Ideally you will have some engineering design experience and have had played a strategic role selling comprehensive software solutions. You are a person who looks at the big picture rather than focusing on a small part of it.
• Under broad direction, you will apply strategic value selling methodology, tools, and processes to improve sales effectiveness on complex projects and pursuits.
• You will engage customers and develops strategic recommendations that positions Siemens Industry Software (SISW) products and services to advance the customer's strategic initiatives and delivers mutual value.
• Translates value statements into opportunity specific value Propositions, addressing current and emerging customer needs and demonstrates measurable impact on customers' business performance.
•With minimal guidance, you will develop and execute a complete sales experience including competitive counter tactics to competitively differentiate SISW products/services and position SISW best respond to customer's needs. You will be the go to person for their manufacturing software needs.
• Secures commitment at appropriate levels to for customers to buy from Siemens PLM.
• Uses comprehensive knowledge of the customer's industry, market segment, business operations, direction, focus, and resources to demonstrate Siemens value.
• Translates industry and market trends as they relate to the prospect to position Siemens as a preferred provider and trusted advisor.
• Create effective competitive strategies to reduce competitive threats and acquires competitive information through win/loss analysis.
• Leverages Siemens capabilities and resources across the organization to bring strategic value to the customer with minimal assistance.
• Translates information to identify the client's needs and develops a plan to sell value.
• Establishes overall account plans, and maintains a sales pipeline to achieve targets and quotas.
• Addresses contract issues prior to contract negotiations and sets priorities on critical issues.
• Leads cross functional teams to create competitive advantage.
• Assesses and advises on the client's financial situation to improve the ability to sell, support, deploy, and/or influence Siemens product solutions.
• Establishes and maintains forecast accuracy for the account portfolio.
Must currently reside in the greater Chicago or Detroit.
5 to 10 + years of experience in a selling complex enterprise solutions to US Strategic accounts.
Background in providing high end sales to varied technical verticals; namely, 4+ years of information technology solutions knowledge.
Demonstrable track record of success against assigned quotas.
Demonstrate the ability to articulate a sales strategy both verbally and written.


An EMI Nashville country duo, Brothers Osborne joined veteran duo Brooks & Dunn as the only duos to win both ACM "Vocal Duo of the Year" and the ACM "New Vocal Duo or Group of the Year" award in the same night. They also debuted their new single "It Ain't My Fault," which is making its way up the Billboard country charts and the digital streaming charts.
"We've been staring at trophies like this for a long time since we were kids," said duo member John Osborne. He added that the ACM trophies are "iconic," so to be holding two of them is quite special. "It's amazing and we're beyond grateful," he said, effusively.
Brothers Osborne is now the reigning "Vocal Duo of the Year" by both the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association (CMA). Most recently, they performed at the Country 2 Country Festival in the United Kingdom, where they earned rave reviews for their live concert by such outlets as Rolling Stone, Billboard and The Village Voice, among others. They will join Chris Stapleton as part of his "All-American Road Show" this spring.
To learn more about Brothers Osborne, check out their official homepage.


Popular women's perfumes range from sweet and delicate to sensual and seductive. Fragrances can be classed as woody, floral, oriental or fresh scents. Florals may be fruity or flowery, while oriental scents are spicier. Woody fragrances may smell a bit like oak, cedar or tobacco, while fresh scents are often identified as smelling clean and green.
Classic fragrances remain popular today, with both the original and new versions of some popular scents available at fragrance counters. Lighter variations on classics like Chanel No. 5 Eau Première make ideal daytime scents, or try heavier and more intense classics for evening, like Yves Saint Laurent's Opium, a soft oriental scent. Miss Dior offers a woodier option, if you're not a fan of floral fragrances.
There are popular women's fragrances that aren't designed for women at all, but which can be worn by either gender. Unisex fragrances typically have notes of leather, spice and tobacco. Options include Kilian's Back to Black Aphrodisiac, Annick Goutal Mandragore Pourpre and Cartier L'Heure Mysterieuse. If you're not a fan of traditional women's perfumes, these scents can be an ideal alternative.
Some of the top fragrances for women are candy-sweet fragrances like Pink Sugar by Aquolina and the slightly more grown-up Pink Sugar Sensual, Juicy Couture by Juicy Couture and Thierry Mugler's Angel. These fragrances combine fruity notes with caramel, creme brulee and even chocolate fragrances. Fruity, but less-sweet options, include the perfumes in the DKNY Be Delicious line.
Several of the most popular scents contain classic fragrances, including woodsy notes and floral oriental scents. Sarah Jessica Parker's lavender and orchid scent is more woody and mossy than flowery with hints of musk and amber. Lacoste's Touch of Pink is a fresh, flowery oriental scent with fruit, spice, jasmine and amber. Liz Claiborne's Curve combines fruit and floral notes with sandalwood and cedar for a well-rounded sheer floral scent.


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Close Up Photographer of the Year 2023 winner features alien-like salamanders
By Hannah Rooke
Canadian photographer Samantha Stephenson came first place in the fourth Close Up Photographer of the Year contest
(Image credit: Samantha Stephens)
A photo of two juvenile spotted salamanders trapped in a carnivorous pitcher plant has been awarded first place in the annual Close Up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY) 2023 competition. The first prize winner – Canadian photographer Samantha Stephens – received a £2,500 cash prize (roughly $3,000) plus a CUPOTY trophy for the image.
Samantha captured the winning shot at Algonquin Provincial Park, and the plant's latest meal is a little different from its usual moths and flies. Pitcher plants are a type of carnivorous plant that trap their prey in a cavity filled with digestive liquid, but salamanders aren't generally on the menu.
• The best microscopes for photography (opens in new tab) capture beyond the naked eye
Metal Wing [Nikon D500, Nikkor 85mm/f3.5 macro lens 1/125, f/16, ISO 640] (Image credit: Minghui Yuan)
On capturing the winning shot, Samantha said, "While following researchers on their daily surveys I saw a pitcher with two salamanders floating at the surface of the pitcher's fluid, both at the same stage of decay. I knew it was a special and fleeting moment. The next day, both salamanders had sunk to the bottom of the pitch"
Now in its fourth year, the latest CUPOTY contest received more than 9,000 entries from 54 countries across the 11 categories: Animals, Insects, Plants, Fungi, Intimate Landscape, Underwater, Butterflies & Insects, Invertebrate Portrait, Manmade, Micro and Young Close Up Photographer of the Year.
Space Invaders [Fujifilm X-T3, Fujifilm XF 80mm f/2.8 1/200, f/20, ISO 160] (Image credit: Bruno Miitelli)
Hemitrichia Calyculata [Sony a7rIV, Laowa 100mm f2.8 1/200, f/8, ISO 200] (Image credit: Nathan Benstead)
This year's jury included Wildlife Photographer of the Year winner, Karine Aigner, Amateur Photographer Editor, Nigel Atherton, plus a host of talented and experienced photographers and editors.
CUPOTY is supported by Affinity Photo 2 and it celebrates photographers who have a passion for capturing things that sometimes our eyes can't even see. From microscopic photos of bacteria and algae to delicate mushrooms and striking insects, the world of the very small is really rather big.
If you love taking photos of things close up head to the CUPOTY website (opens in new tab) to find out how you can enter next year's competition and view the top 100 entries.
Batrachospermum Red Algae, Winner in Micro category [Pentax K-1, Olympus 4x S-plan Apo 1/5, ISO 100] (Image credit: Marek Miś)
Check out our top 10 pro macro photography tips (opens in new tab) and discover the best macro lenses (opens in new tab) you can buy
Smile for the Camera! [Olympus EM1 MkIII, Olympus 60mm 1/40, f/4, ISO 250] (Image credit: Rafael Steinlesberger)
A Rare Moment in Nature - [Olympus EM1 Mark II Olympus Zuiko 60mm f2.8, 1/250, f/18, ISO 200] (Image credit: Raj Bharathi)
Ice Encrusted Comatricha, Winner , Fungi [Olympus OM-D-E-M1 Mk II, Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm f2.8 Macro 1/15, f/4, ISO 200] (Image credit: Barry Webb)
Veiled [Sony A7III, Laowa 100mm f2.8 2x Ultra-Macro 1/500, f/2.8, ISO 500] (Image credit: Wim Vooijs)
Today's best Canon RF 24mm F1.8 MACRO IS STM deals
Hannah Rooke
Having studied Journalism and Public Relations at the University of the West of England Hannah developed a love for photography through a module on photojournalism. She specializes in Portrait, Fashion and lifestyle photography but has more recently branched out in the world of stylized product photography. For the last 3 years Hannah has worked at Wex Photo Video as a Senior Sales Assistant using her experience and knowledge of cameras to help people buy the equipment that is right for them. With 5 years experience working with studio lighting, Hannah has run many successful workshops teaching people how to use different lighting setups.


As far as coming up with good reasons to get married is concerned, we think Minty's sort-of proposal to Evvar was quite a good un."I just want someone I can sit on the sofa with and watch The Goonies on a Sunday afternoon," he implored as she was about to go back to the dreaded Mummy on the bus.Wonder was he watching the telly last weekend, then, because that's EXACTLY what we were doing.Slobbing on the sofa watching The Goonies that is.
Not going back to Mummy. Gosh, Channel Five is brilliant for rubbish 80s movies isn't it?The climax to the interminable wedding magazine storyline was actually quite a hoot in the end.Best bit by far was Evvar's hen night. When only Evvar and Shirley turned up. "I've got enough food 'ere for 30 people," Shirl commented."I know. Great, innit?' Evvar drooled.
Then a rather large George Michael arrived to mime very badly to some records."Seventy quid I paid for that," poor Shirl complained. "What did you do with the other fella on the website? Eat him?"You see, Easties CAN do comedy. Not often, but sometimes.


The Bushmen or San peoples of South Africa and neighbouring Botswana and Namibia, who live in the Kalahari, are part of the Khoisan group and are related to the Khoikhoi. However, they have no collective name for themselves in any of their languages. They have a sign language that they use while hunting.
With the pygmies of Central Africa, they have been considered root of female DNA lineage - the legendary Mitochondrial Eve.
The term San was historically applied to them by their ethnic relatives and historic rivals the Khoikhoi; as the term means outsider and was derogatory, many of this group prefer to be called Bushmen, despite the fact that the term is considered politically incorrect by most Westerners (see this UPI feature (http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=17062002-072804-4319r)).
In modern South Africa, the Bushmen have largely been absorbed into the so-called Coloured or Cape Coloured population of the Western Cape.
The Bushmen of the Kalahari were first brought to the western world's attention in the 1950s by South African author Laurens van der Post with the famous book The Lost World of the Kalahari, which was also a BBC TV series.
Since 2002, the Bushmen of Botswana are seeking legal action to prevent the Botswana government from removing them from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, their ancestral homeland. The Bushmen are arguing that the Government of Botswana is attempting to destroy their culture through forced relocation and persecution based on their identity.
Survival International (http://www.survival-international.org/bushman_0202.htm) and National Geographic (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/04/0416_030416_san2.html) highlight the Botswana bushmen issue.
Francis Xavier Bushman (January 10, 1883 – August 23, 1966) was the first major male movie star, first starting in 1911 in the silent film His Friend's Wife.
In 1918, he was the subject of a huge scandal as his affair with longtime costar Beverly Bayne became a national scandal.
Long after his film career waned, Bushman made his broadcasting mark on the CBS Radio network's long-running dramatic serial entitled: "Those We Love." In the program, which ran from 1938 to 1945, Bushman played the role of John Marshall, father of the twins, played by Richard Cromwell and Nan Grey.
Bushman reasons with Ireggae about his childhood in St. Thomas and how he learned to sing in church choir.
Bushman also talks about how his step-father introduced him to the rastafari way of life at a very early age and his many long journeys into Kingston until he finally caught a break with Steely and Cleevie.
Bushman discusses his many singles and albums to date, including 'Higher Ground' his newest release on the Greensleeves label.


text: Q: Edit Attribute Name in Additional Information tab on WooCommerce Product Page I'm wanting to change 'Dimensions' to 'Package Dimensions' in the Additional Information tab of the Product page. Any ideas on how I can achieve this?


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Columbia – Health & Benefits Attorney
| By Webmaster
Legal Aid Society has an immediate opening for an attorney in its Columbia office. The attorney will provide legal representation to income-eligible clients in civil cases, with a specific focus on health, benefits, and education, income tax controversies with the IRS and employment law. As a part of a holistic approach, representation may include varying areas of law as needed, community education and outreach, administrative advocacy, litigation in state and federal courts for clients in accordance with program guidelines and priorities and the Code of Professional Responsibility
2-3 years demonstrated experience in public interest law and the problems of disadvantaged communities preferred.
Admitted to practice in Tennessee or eligible for admission through UBE scores or comity.
Has substantive experience required for work under a specific funding source or in a specialized unit.
Ability to relate to the needs of people of diverse backgrounds and adhere to confidentiality standards.
Ability to communicate effectively in oral and written form. Excellent interpersonal skills.
Experienced in public speaking and training others on the law.
Good organizational skills.
Experience with Microsoft Office software (Word, Excel, Outlook, etc.) and Legal Files database preferred. Ability to learn new computer skills.
Must have driver's license and access to transportation.
Fluency in written and spoken Spanish a plus.
Salary: Dependent on experience. Excellent benefits and loan forgiveness.
Legal Aid Society has thirty-seven attorneys in eight offices in Middle and East Tennessee. Its attorneys provide low-income people expert legal assistance at all levels of state and federal court. Its staff includes national authorities in the fields of domestic violence, housing, consumer law, federal income taxation, health advocacy, nonprofit group representation, social security and special education. For more information about LAS, visit www.las.org.
Applications must include a cover letter, resume, writing sample and three references (with phone numbers). No phone calls, please. Send by mail or e-mail (in Word or PDF format) to:
Hiring Manager
Re: Columbia HBE Attorney
1321 Murfreesboro Rd, Suite 400
e-mail: HR@las.org
Apply as soon as possible. Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics.
or visit the Contact Us page
Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and The Cumberlands 1321 Murfreesboro Pike, Suite 400, Nashville, TN 37217 Phone: 615-244-6610
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Asian stocks gain on stronger Chinese factory data
By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer
Posted: November 30, 2020 8:50 PM
Updated: December 1, 2020 9:23 AM
Ahn Young-joon
A currency trader watches monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Nov. 30, 2020. Asian shares were mixed on Monday on renewed caution despite a record high finish on Wall Street last week driven by hopes for a COVID-19 vaccine and relief for the global economy.
Show Caption Hide Caption
Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Nov. 30, 2020. Asian shares were mixed on Monday on renewed caution despite a record high finish on Wall Street last week driven by hopes for a COVID-19 vaccine and relief for the global economy.
Eugene Hoshiko
FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2020, file photo, media members film the blank stock board at Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo because of a problem in the system for relaying market information. Koichiro Miyahara, the head of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, resigned Monday, Nov. 30, 2020 to take responsibility for a massive system glitch that shut down trading.
FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2020, file photo, Koichiro Miyahara, president and CEO of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, bows as he enters the venue for a press conference in Tokyo after its trading was suspended because of a problem in the system for relaying market information. Miyahara resigned Monday, Nov. 30, 2020 to take responsibility for a massive system glitch that shut down trading.
Japan Exchange Group (JPX) CEO Akira Kiyota speaks at the start of this year's trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo on Jan. 6, 2020. Koichiro Miyahara, the head of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, resigned Monday, Nov. 30, 2020 to take responsibility for a massive system glitch that shut down trading on Oct. 1. Kiyota will serve as Miyahara's replacement,
FILE - In this Oct. 1, 2020, file photo, Koichiro Miyahara, president and CEO of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, speaks during a press conference in Tokyo after its trading was suspended because of a problem in the system for relaying market information. Miyahara resigned Monday, Nov. 30, 2020 to take responsibility for a massive system glitch that shut down trading.
Seth Wenig
FILE - In this Nov. 23, 2020 file photo, a street sign is displayed at the New York Stock Exchange in New York. Stocks are falling in the early going on Wall Street as traders return from the Thanksgiving holiday, but major indexes are still on track for hefty monthly gains. The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% shortly after the opening bell Monday, Nov. 30 weighed down by losses in energy companies and banks.
Currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. Asian stocks rose Tuesday after Chinese manufacturing improved, with investors looking ahead to U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's appearance before legislators.
Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. Asian stocks rose Tuesday after Chinese manufacturing improved, with investors looking ahead to U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's appearance before legislators.
A currency trader walks with documents at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. Asian stocks rose Tuesday after Chinese manufacturing improved, with investors looking ahead to U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's appearance before legislators.
BEIJING (AP) — Asian stocks rose Tuesday after Chinese manufacturing improved, with investors looking ahead to U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's appearance before legislators.
Benchmarks in Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney advanced.
Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index closed down 0.5% overnight but ended November up 10.8% for its biggest monthly gain since April.
Investors are increasingly optimistic about the expected development of a coronavirus vaccine despite caution about the short-term economic impact of rising virus cases in the United States and Europe.
The future "seems incredibly bright and bullish," Stephen Innes of Axi said in a report.
The Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.2% to 3,433.77 while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo advanced 1.5% to 28.824.46. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.8% to 26,569.69.
The Kospi in Seoul advanced 1.3% to 2,625.22 and the S&P-ASX 200 in Sydney was 1.4% higher at 6,608.70. New Zealand declined while Southeast Asian markets rose.
An index of Chinese manufacturing released by a business magazine, Caixin, hit a decade high in November as the country's recovery from the pandemic gained strength. A separate survey Monday by the government statistics agency showed activity at a three-year high.
Strength in the Chinese economy is helping offset unease about rising virus cases in the United States and Europe and possible renewed controls on business and travel.
In Washington, Powell said in a statement Monday that economic prospects are "extraordinarily uncertain" after the pace of improvement moderated. He said a full recovery is unlikely until the public is confident the disease is under control.
Powell was due to appear Tuesday before the Senate Banking Committee with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The panel oversees the $2 trillion aid package approved by Congress in March.
The S&P 500 declined to 3,621.63. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.9% to 29,638.64. The Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1% to 12,198.74.
The slide followed reports showing the pandemic dragging down U.S. economic activity in the near future. But investors appear to be looking beyond that.
Investors are encouraged by the end of uncertainty about the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. They are reassured Washington will be under divided control, reducing the chances of big changes in taxes or regulation.
Markets also have been heartened by announcements from pharmaceutical companies of advances in vaccine development.
One developer, Moderna, said Monday it is ready to apply for emergency approval in the United States and Britain. Pfizer and German partner BioNTech are asking to begin vaccinations in the U.S. in December. British regulators also are assessing the Pfizer shot and another from AstraZeneca.
In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude oil lost 36 cents to $44.98 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 19 cents to $45.34 on Monday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, sank 32 cents to $47.56 per barrel in London. It dropped 59 cents from the previous session to $47.59.
The dollar rose to 104.43 yen from Monday's 104.34 yen. The euro advanced to $1.1960 from $1.1946.
N. Idaho property management company to pay $50,000 for violating Washington eviction moratorium
Reps. Chase, McCaslin push for 51st state 'Liberty' in new House bill
Here's when and where you can get your COVID vaccine in WA
Washington moving to Phase 1B of vaccine rollout plan, will now include anyone 65 and older
'25-percent capacity will guarantee 100-percent failure'; Spokane restaurants push to reopen
WATCH: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are sworn in as the 46th President and Vice President of the United States
Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman's book available for pre-order through local bookstores
Hospital association: 'Concerns' about Inslee vaccine plan
'I wish Joseph Biden success': Rep. McMorris Rodgers releases statement on Inauguration Day
Another Foggy Start then Sun & Clouds for Wednesday - Mark
It's starting to feel more like January in the Inland Northwest! -Kris
Meet Slash! The newest Spokane Police K9
28-year-old man dies from head-on collision with semi truck near Plummer
PHOTOS: Parents 'March for More' in response to CVSD's reopening plan
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text:
Project Albatross: Sources And Influences
Reading through Project Albatross, my long-lost post-apocalyptic novel, after a gap of more than twenty-five years, is a little bit of personal time travel.
I remember where I lived when I wrote the story – which city, which house, who I shared with, what my rooms were like, and a fantastic big writing-desk that must have come from a bank.
The music I listened to, which is a major key into certain scenes, is a strong influence.
Likewise the subjects I was studying – which included a scenic diversion from European prehistory into some British archaeology up to the early Mediaeval period. (It's no surprise that was the year I had no exams, giving me the time and mental space to write a novel.)
The locations I'd lived in and travelled by then also played their part. Poetry, art and arty films.
But it's the books I'd read, more than anything else, which show up in my memories.
Belmarch, a slim and peculiar novel of the First Crusade by Christopher Davis, an author whose other works I never sought out.
A good handful of Aldous Huxley, from school-years study of Brave New World to his light early comedies such as Crome Yellow, via The Doors of Perception (of course) and The Devils of Loudon*.
Educational gore from Stephen King, and magical horror from Peter Straub's Shadowland (still one of my favourite dark fantasy stories).
Madness and oddments and weird structural components from The Ring Master by David Gurr.
All of these strands surface more or less in the story, which I'm still typing up and trying to make sense of my later additions (thank you, Scrivener, for making this easy).
Once I'm finished and have the whole story to push around, it might become clear whether I ought to publish.
More to follow on this. Not sure when.
*Having searched Goodreads for this one, I find out there is a novel on the same subject by Alexander Dumas which, of course, I must now read. #fangirl
on April 19, 2017 at 12:00 am Comments Off on Project Albatross: Sources And Influences
Tags: albatross, aldous huxley, belmarch, how long does it take to write a novel, influences, peter straub, where do your ideas come from
Project Albatross: Rediscovery
In the middle of 2016 I rediscovered what I'll call Project Albatross: my post-apocalyptic novel written in 1990, a wild crazy drama laced with climate change and socio-political upheaval on the far side of Hubbert's Peak.
My memory of the story played me somewhat false, however.
The storyline hangs together pretty well.
Some parts are written in present tense, some in the past.
Elements of the prose are lyrical as poetry – and just as obscure.
Other elements are clumsy – stilted dialogue, head-hopping, transitions awkwardly phrased.
My punctuation is wildly creative. From my current perspective, 25 years on, I can only wonder why I chose to use so many commas and semi-colons when the obvious thing to do is shut the flippin' sentence off with a full stop and start a new one.
Literary paragraphs, running on and on without pause, without dialogue, without line breaks. Even when there's a change of character speaking. I've read novels like that and given up on them halfway through (I'm looking at you, 2666).
Single-sentence chapters.
Typing it out from longhand sheets where very little alterations have been made – and very few crossings-out – it's like reading a story I once knew by heart. While I've forgotten the complexity of the story, and some of the iconography, sometimes a phrase leaps out at me from the page as if fresh in my memory and I know exactly how it ends, like a quotation or a prose poem.
Overall, I'm surprised at the scope of my ambition, even if the 25-years-ago version of me fails to deliver on some of that. Huh: everyone's young once.
It's also undeniably different from the novels I've written since.
Maybe that's a good thing.
on February 15, 2017 at 12:00 am Comments Off on Project Albatross: Rediscovery
Tags: 1990, 2666, albatross, literary novel, peak oil, post-apocalypse
Wild crazy drama, anyone?
With the announcement by Pope Francis that climate change is upon us, I wondered whether it might be time to dust off the post-Apocalyptic novel I wrote back in 1990.
Climate change isn't the point of the novel. It's an unusual mixture of WW1, religious upheaval and forbidden love.
OR (if you want the Hollywood version – you'll have to imagine the accent however):
"One woman's struggle against the forces of a world in crisis."
It was hand-written, longhand, and I can't remember if I even typed it up or just filed it away with my (two) previous unusual novels.
It was also the last novel I wrote without a structured plan. Chances are the storyline is all over the place. That usually means a lot of work – far more than I'm inclined to take on.
My heroine set off through the story with a map which came straight out of "Albatross" by Judy Collins, a haunting song brimming with imagery both rich and powerful.
Somewhere in the middle was a scene of intense barbarism.
Somewhere parallel to my heroine was an anti-hero she was destined to meet.
Somewhere in my world-building, climate change had ruined the global economy and turned Britain into a poisoned, depopulated, pseudo-feudal state.
And the ending, that I spent (IIRC) 60,000 words charging headlong towards across a blasted near-prehistoric landscape, owed more than a little to Leonard Cohen's "Joan of Arc".
Wild crazy drama and big scenes of bloodshed not dissimilar to (what I've heard about) Game Of Thrones.
But I'm not sure where I've put the flippin' thing.
on June 24, 2015 at 12:00 am Comments Off on Wild crazy drama, anyone?
Tags: albatross, climate change, game of thrones, joan of arc, judy collins, leonard cohen, pope francis encyclical laudato si'


text:
HomeChallenge CupSwinton 8-32 Warrington: Wolves reach quarter-finals of Challenge Cup
Swinton 8-32 Warrington: Wolves reach quarter-finals of Challenge Cup
11th April 2021 Correspondent Challenge Cup 0
Warrington booked a Betfred Challenge Cup quarter-final date with Catalans Dragons as they secured a hard-earned 32-8 victory over Championship outfit Swinton at Heywood Road.
The last-eight tie will be a repeat of the 2018 Wembley final in which the French side triumphed to become the first non-British side to lift the famous old trophy.
The Wolves paid due respect to their Championship opponents by naming a near full-strength team although there was still no place for former Australian test centre Greg Inglis.
The 34-year-old has not played for almost two years after announcing his retirement in April 2019 and was also left out of the Wolves' first two Super League fixtures to give him more time to build up his fitness; it will be a case of wait-and-see again next weekend ahead of the trip to Hull, according to coach Steve Price.
The Lions were no respecters of reputations and took it to their Super League opponents in the opening exchanges, and their ambitious approach to the game saw them take a shock 8-4 lead midway through the first half.
A try by winger Luis Roberts and two goals from Martin Ridyard cancelled out an early Toby King try for the visitors.
Tom Lineham's try levelled matters at 8-8 before two tries in the final six minutes of the half from King and Blake Austin looked to have settled any Warrington nerves as they went in at half-time leading 20-8.
However, the expected points avalanche in the second half never materialised as the Wolves struggled to make any impression on a stubborn Swinton rearguard.
It was only 13 minutes from time that they added to their total with a try from former Swinton old boy Matty Ashton, who then unfortunately was forced to leave the action soon after on his return to his former club following a heavy head knock.
Matty Ashton scored against former club Swinton
The unconvincing Wolves did have the final say when Danny Walker claimed a fine individual effort in the closing minutes to give a somewhat flattering look to the final scoreline as the Championship side took many of the plaudits for their efforts.
Swinton Lions
Warrington Wolves
RL Today: George Williams feels at home with Warrington & Sonny Bill Williams trains with Fury


text:
Censor deez. - They called me mad and laughed. Who is laughing now!? MUAHAHAHAHA!
Censor deez.
Regarding the boycott, strike, whatever the hell you want to call it, I'm not participating, obviously. However, I did take a small step in regards to the reported censorship of the Interests search feature, where "adult content" interests are apparently no longer searchable.
To my interests, I have added three items:
Anything people censor
This represents the entirety of my protest placard. Thank you.
Tags: boycott, censorship, strike
Current Mood: rousing of rabble
bronxelf_ag001 on March 21st, 2008 03:57 pm (UTC)
and supposedly, they reverted back to whatever the old search criteria were three days ago.
twfarlan on March 21st, 2008 04:23 pm (UTC)
So in other words, the immediate questioning of that action was enough. The days of bitching that followed... needless.
This of course says to me that today's boycott/tantrum is even more pointless than I had already thought.
Well people want to continue to rail on against the conspiracy. They claim it's the principle of the thing. But it's not, really.
See, what it's being used for is to say "but they could make all the *current* basic accounts plus accounts in the future and not give us any warning!
Aside from the big "so fucking what" of that, they could have done that IN THE FIRST DAMNED PLACE and they didn't. So what's the bitching about?
If the bitchers want to argue that this is an issue of failure to communicate a change when SUP had previously stated they would be posting changes for discussion in advance notice of the proposed change date, then yes, that's a fair point. It's such a good point that SUP already backed up and said, "You're right, we broke our own policy here and we're backing off, discussing possible ways to make it where existing users can go on making ad-free accounts." So hey, good on those who made this point.
For those who just want something for absolutely nothing as compared to nearly nothing (ads), may I offer a hearty, "Bite me," and the suggestion to go elsewhere with the oh so precious content these freeloaders provide. Oh, but wait, as many people have mentioned, none of the available alternatives allow new accounts that are ad-free, either. Hmm.
this is a straight c/p from a comment I made about this this morning:
I mentioned in a friend's lj yesterday that what this seems to come down to is the fallacy that quantity, by virtue of itself, creates greater quality.
The logic, if you can call it that, is that there are far more free users than paid, so most of the content is created by those users. They believe that content is like coin- a fair trade for the very thing that keeps LJ functioning, and by removing the ad-free basic service, they are not being traded with fairly for their "coin" (that being their content.)
The flaws in this logic are large enough to drive a train through, but let's go with the most obvious ones-
On it's face, it would seem that there might be something to this, strictly based on odds. It's sort of like shooting darts in the dark- if you shoot 500 darts, it is more likely that 3 will hit the target than if you only shoot 5. However this makes the utterly ridiculous assumption that all content is inherently created equal, and further, (and here's where it *really* goes off the rails) that the people posting the best content *are also basic account holders*. Though "good" is clearly a subjective call in terms of content, those who have a very serious investment in their content and continue to regularly produce it (as opposed to the vast majority of LJ users, who are *not* using LJ as a blog the way we do at wordpress or blogger) are *not* using basic accounts, but are heavily skewed in favor of paid or permanent accounts.
They also are under the delusion that their "content" by virtue of their simply being more of it, makes them inherently more valuable because of the viral nature of the net. This MIGHT have been true ten years ago. It is absolutely not true now, and probably hasn't been true since LJ did away with invite codes (I needed an invite code to get my lj too.)
They believe that they are *owed* the basic/ad free account because they've been supporting LJ with their very presence and content all these years. Well the complete arrogance of that aside, I would remind them that currency fluctuates. The volume of content/presence by basic users is no longer *WORTH* what it once was, just like the dollar is worth less against the pound today than it was yesterday (I assume-I haven't checked this morning.) I look at it more like a pay as you go thing- you paid with content, and you got ad-free basic. The irony is these same people *STILL* have ad-free basic (though I wouldn't blame SUP for one moment if they removed that too after all this)- They just can't get another account at that level.
The reason why *THIS* outcry has become so divisive is because for the first time it is pitting one section of the userbase against another, and the one doing the complaining is arguing from a position of more people=more important vs. the people who are paying for the service=the ones who are allowing all those other people to basically be here in the first place. The arrogance of the position that their *free* content is *inherently more valuable* because there is more of it is pissing off a whole lot of people who at this point, would be perfectly happy if the folks who were so up in arms deleted their accounts permanently.
Of course they won't, because as you have noted, there's *no other* service that is similar to the LJ opensource model that is offering the free/no ads thing either.
For every person bitching about this whole thing who also does not have a paid account and never has had one*, who has said that they will take their content and go home and then oh then won't WE be sorry?
Show me.
If a person who decries this move has not ever had a paid account or donated or done anything like that, even receiving paid account time as a gift (not coincidentally the only way you know someone values your content enough to consider it worth paying for), and claims that LJ would be poorer without their content, does not make good on the threat to go away, then ... well, I probably wasn't listening to that person, anyway, to be quite honest. That person should, right away, right now, delete his or her LJ account and go elsewhere. Show me that we're so much worse off without that precious content. Come back in a year and ask me if I ever noticed the lack.
* Those who have previously had paid accounts and let them lapse because they did not want to support the business model are doing exactly what they ought: voting with their dollars. I have no problem with that; this is a person who pulled his or her own weight on the server/bandwidth equation and has decided not to contribute to/support the company any longer.
hyrkanian on March 21st, 2008 05:48 pm (UTC)
I have yet to decide whether I will renew my paid account. I have until July something to decide. But I am heartily glad that I didn't buy a permanent account, because now I can actually make a statement should I decide to stop paying or go elsewhere. The chances of me buying a "permanent" anything in future are much reduced as well.
Considering that the new owners are not truly obligated to respect "permanent" account status, there's no serious advantage to it when dealing with a property that can be sold at any time, as LJ has come to be.
Ah, good point.
It wasn't one I'd really considered until I tried in response to your comment to articulate what advantage a permanent account would convey. Thinking about it, I honestly can't see that there's any advantage over regular paid accounts, which at least do you provide you with a less-galling way "out" if things were to become untenable here.


Our Toy Library provides a large variety of toys, puzzles, games, activites for young children and they'll love being able to choose their own toys which they can borrow for a fortnight at a time.
Come along and have a look. Or for inquiries, contact the centre or email the toy library at dpctoylibrary@gmail.com.
Browse our Toy Database to see what is available.


The Orange County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday cut county funding to help compensate physicians and hospital emergency departments for caring for uninsured patients, the Los Angeles Times reports.
County staff had proposed eliminating county funding for the program entirely.
Other emergency medical services ( California Healthline , 12/13/06).
Orange County supervisors are expected to approve a budget within two weeks ( Los Angeles Times , 6/13). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations.	Sign up for an email subscription.


In 2008, parents of children with special needs must still work so much harder than many parents every single day just to ensure their child's rightful place in this world?
Just rambling...feel free to ramble back.
I've got two favorite quotes this month. Since I couldn't decide between them, you get a bonus dose of wisdom this month, along with a smile on your face, I hope.
'cuz you're really a yawn if it goes."
you've never been in bed with a mosquito."
Now go celebrate differences, and advocate for needed change!
What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Unless you're armed with a camera to capture all those magical moments of pure escapism, as I was at this moment. G Rated.
In addition to bringing us refreshing showers, threatening thunderstorms, gutsy little flowers that boldly stick their fragile little heads out of the mud, and other long-awaited promises of Spring, April 2008 will also include the first ever World Autism Awareness Day. The effort, being held on Wednesday, April 2nd, is the result of a resolution introduced by the nation of Qatar and approved by the United Nations on December 18, 2007.
That recognition, described at www.autismspeaks.org as an "unprecendented global effort...marked around the world with education, awareness and celebration," is expected to continue to raise awareness for autism to a whole new level. CNN is dedicating the day to mass coverage of this important topic with its programming entitled, 'The Myths of Autism.' One in 150 children is now diagnosed with autism, which is four times more common in boys than girls.
For more information on World Autism Awareness Day, visit www.autismspeaks.org, www.autism-society.org or www.cnn.com.
Awareness is key for all disabilities.
Spring is finally here and that means flowers!!!! I don't care how hard the Weather Channel tries to mess with my mind, including with those threats of late-season snow and single-digit wind chills. Well, I do care, but in less than twenty-four hours the calendar will proclaim that it's officially April anyway, and that means summer can't be far behind, right?
I am ever the eternal optimist- a handy survival tool when living in the Midwest, and when parenting children with special needs.
I LOVE flowers....and kids with/without special needs.
I'm a big supporter of reading for all children (and for adults) and I believe the earlier we begin the process of reading to them (think brain development), the greater the benefits. I especially believe in the value of reading to kids with special needs, regardless of a diagnosis (again, think brain development). You have no idea how this kind of effort may impact your child is positive ways down the road. Try to give it your best shot, no matter how tough.
My son and I spent hours reading books from the beginning of his life, from Mercer Mayer to Dr. Seuss, to Sesame Street to Captain Underpants, to books about rockstars and guitars and the solar system. Early on, Eric wiggled and squirmed and seemed unable to be easily immersed in the magic of words and pictures. But with time, persistance, maturity, (and adding lots of fun), reading soon became one of our favorite things to do together.
In fact, once Eric learned that I could do the voices of Elmo, Cookie Monster, Grover and Barney, and also mix up all the crazy Dr. Seuss rhymes and make up great kids' tales, reading became an exciting adventure that was never boring.
To my son, I was the coolest mom in the land.
Eric grew to love books as much as his big sister, Jenna, mainly because we didn't deny him the chance to experience reading because of his cerebral palsy. Today, I believe strongly that our commitment to reading to both of our children had positive impact on their development in many ways.
Plus, it was a great way for us to escape the on-going daily demands of addressing Eric's special needs and just be together, mother and child. I will always treasure those priceless moments and memories reading with both of my children.
Special Note: I know it's tough, if not impossible, to read to your kids if you're struggling with your own literacy issues. The good news is there is help available, so what are you waiting for!! Seek out the support you need; then watch your own world (and that of your children) open up in big ways. There are some terrific resources to help you make that magic happen.
Now give all those hi-tech gadgets a rest, turn off the TV, and go pick up a book and READ!!
It will change your life, and the lives of your children.
Heads up to all those facing the challenges of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Oprah producer's have a call out for stories for a possible upcoming program entitled: Has Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Touched You?
Let me know if the show happens and if it includes you.


Help!  my saturn became flaky!
Discussion in 'Saturn' started by Digdug2600, May 18, 2002.
Hey guys, glad to return to SX, long time and I havent been here.
My saturn (modded) has served me faithfully for the past two years. But this last trip home from college for the summer (brought my saturn home) was strange becuase when I got home and hooked up my saturn, it has serious problems. It takes several minutes to load the forst screen, and the FMV's are skippy as hell, and then the games aren't even playable. I looked at the lens and I don't think it needs to be cleaned but I could be wrong. My theory is possibly the lens got knocked out of calibration on the ride home and now it needs to be readjusted so it's in focus?
I'll buy a CD cleaning kit of anyone thinks thats the problem, but Ive never had that problem in any other applicance. Oh yea, I forgot to mention, it still plays audio cds fine. Weird, huh? Any ideas on how to fix it I greatly appreciate.
It really sounds like something with your lens assembly. On one of my saturns that had the laser power upped to play CD-RW's the same exact thing happened and didn't go away even after returning it to the original setting. Had you done anything like that? Also were there any internal mods you've done to the machine, things oyu may have soldered, etc that could have come loose? That's another likely candidate for unplayable games.
If both those fail. Try swapping in another CD-assembly and powering up the machine with that just to isolate that as the problem. With a CD assemby it could be anything from the motor getting flaky to a sticky lens. Experament a bit.


Hello, everyone! We know it has been a minute since we offered any updates to what is happening behind-the-scenes here at Haulix headquarters, but today we have some pretty exciting news to share that we think everyone will appreciate.
Over the weekend our team made changes to our system that increased the storage and bandwidth limits in all of our regular plans. With more storage, you can upload more promos. More bandwidth means more downloads and streaming and less overages. Subscription prices stay the same!
We've also added a brand new subscription tier we're calling 'Beast Mode.' This plan sits in between the Indie Powerhouse and Rising Star plans and costs just $54/month.
For more information on our subscription tiers and to see the changes we've made, visit our official site today.