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Q: Microsoft VS Installer -> Install my Software and SQL database I made a Setup.exe for my software using "Microsoft Visual Studio Installer Projects".
My software uses Microsoft SQL Server and I also need it to be installed, then I went in my Setup.exe properties and selected "SQL Server 2019 Express LocalDB" to be installed also, but when I run the setup, it doesn't install the SQL Server on my machine.
How can I make this Setup.exe to install my software and also SQL Server at same time?

A: When you build a setup project with prerequisites the resultant output contains two files one is Setup.exe and the other is your project name . msi. The setup exe is responsible to check for prerequisite installed on a user system and prompt to install one if it doesn't exists, after which it launches your MSI automatically.
If you are using pre-available prerequisite in your project then they have system checks (if dependency already installed) pre-defined, but if you use your own bootstrap package then you have to write the checks for them yourself.
What I am assuming here is that you already have sql server installed on your system that is why you are not getting a prompt for its installation. Otherwise on any other system where sql server will be missing the exe will install it.


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MEN'S SPRING-SUMMER 2019 SHOW: IN DETAILS
A closer look at the Men's Spring-Summer 2019 Fashion Show by Louis Vuitton's new men's artistic director Virgil Abloh.
The 56-looks collection starts with all-white opening to an explosion of colours. Leather embossed with the house's signature monogram, iconic bags revisited with multicoloured and iridescent large chains, accessories and many more shown on a rainbow-bright catwalk.
Discover in details the Men's Spring-Summer 2019 Show by Louis Vuitton's new men's artistic director Virgil Abloh presented in Paris.
Tune in to watch the Spring-Summer 2019 Men's Show replay now on Instagram Stories and at louisvuitton.com, and discover additional insider content on Louis Vuitton's Instagram Stories feed and the House's official social media pages.
Instagram Fashion Show Ready to Wear Palais Royal Virgil Abloh
LOUIS VUITTON FOR UNICEF
As part of its LOUIS VUITTON for UNICEF partnership and on the occasion of World Children's Day, Louis Vuitton launches a new Silver Lockit bracelet designed by Sophie Turner.
World Children's Day, held on November 20th, marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989. It is a day to honor children and mobilize people to help save children's lives, fight for their rights and help them fulfil their potential. In continuation of its #MAKEAPROMISE campaign, Louis Vuitton, with the help of Sophie Turner, continues its commitment to raise awareness and funds for UNICEF to support the most vulnerable children around the world.
Sophie Turner, English actress and Friend of the House, was invited by Louis Vuitton to design a special Silver Lockit bracelet to help LOUIS VUITTON for UNICEF continue its promise to helping children. Inspired by her notion of luck, the bracelet was designed with braided red and white cord colours with a circular charm rabbit illustration, taken from the design* of her most recent tattoo.
Since the launch of the Silver Lockit in 2016, the partnership has raised over six US million dollars for UNICEF.
The Silver Lockit, inspired by the tumbler lock invented by Georges Vuitton in 1890 to protect clients' most precious belongings, is a symbol of protection. It was chosen as a symbol of sealing one's promise to help children at risk.
The launch of the Silver Lockit by Sophie Turner will be held on November 20th 2018 on louisvuitton.com and in over 160 Louis Vuitton stores worldwide.
Join us. #MAKEAPROMISE #WORLDCHILDRENSDAY
UNICEF does not endorse any brand, product or service
* (Crédit Curt Montgomery Tattoos)
Discover Louis Vuitton for UNICEF
Make a donation to children at risk
Unicef The Silver Lockit
MEN'S SPRING-SUMMER 2019 SHOW: A NEW BEGINNING
Another preview of the Louis Vuitton Spring-Summer 2019 show, which will be held on June 21st at 2:30 PM (Paris-time) at the Domaine du Palais Royal.
Literal and figurative, somewhere between luxury and street, here's another peak of the inspiration for the new men's collection, designed by Men's Ready-to-wear Artistic Director Virgil Abloh.
Tune in to watch the runway show live on louisvuitton.com on June 21st at 2:30 PM (Paris-time), and discover additional insider content on Louis Vuitton's Instagram Stories feed and the House's official social media pages.
Pictures courtesy: Jackie Nickerson
MEN'S SPRING-SUMMER 2019 SHOW: MOOD BOARD
A preview of the Louis Vuitton Spring-Summer 2019 show, which will be held on June 21st at 2:30 PM (Paris-time) at the Domaine du Palais Royal.
Here's a glimpse of the inspiration for the upcoming men's collection, designed by new Men's Ready-to-wear Artistic Director, Virgil Abloh.
Instagram Fashion Show Ready to Wear Virgil Abloh Palais Royal
Louis Vuitton's sophisticated streetwear proposal for fall
Get a head start on your updated Fall wardrobe. The new Men's Style Selector helps you arrive at your perfect total look by suggesting key accessories and leather goods that correspond to three different lifestyle themes: Relaxed Sport, City Essentials, and Business Smart.
Focusing on Relaxed Sport, a sweatshirt in neon yellow featuring an upside logo appears counterbalanced by a monogram lightweight coat and smart trousers. To these streetwear layers, the Men's Style Selector suggests such accessories as a matching neon scarf, an updated Voyager belt and black Derby boots. Leather goods to accompany the latest Monogram jeans and sleek bomber include the Christopher, backpacks and Monogram Eclipse messenger bag.
Each Men's Style Selector tip will get you closer to the wearing the season's key statements in a way that works for you.
Discover the Men's Leather Goods Style Selector
Discover the Men's Accessories Style Selector
Menswear Leather goods Accessories Streetwear Fall-Winter

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Prior to Observer Analytics, Lucas built a social sports bar app where users could live stream multiple videos from Twitch and YouTube in VR. He sees a future where VR becomes ingrained into day-to-day life, opening up new possibilities for how people consume entertainment, learn, and socialize.
Lucas received his BS in Business Administration from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.


NBA Hoopz is a basketball game for the Sega Dreamcast. It is a sequel to NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC.
NBA Hoopz is part of Midway Games' line of fast-paced arcade-style basketball games dating back to Arch Rivals, however this time comprises of 3-on-3 matches and covers the 2000/2001 NBA season.
Main article: NBA Hoopz/Magazine articles.


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Campeonato de Europa
Wiebes fulfills the predictions and sprints to the gold in Herning
Marcos Marín Martín
Podium screenshot by Respira Ciclismo
Everything made us think before the race that a sprint would decide the name of the new European junior champion. And in a massive sprint, Lorena Wiebes was the top favorite. Winner of the Healthy Ageing Tour (plus two stages), Trofeo da Moreno and a stage in Borsele, the Dutch rider knew what to expect in a race like this. And she didn't dissapoint, as in the sprint she beat Denmark's Emma Norsgaard and Italy's Letizia Paternoster, the only riders who theoretically could have beaten her.
In spite of what we could think in a flat course like this, the race was not boring at all. From the very first beggining we saw interesting thinks, although some of them were crashes. Nothing special happened in the first of the three 20-kilometer laps, but with 35 kilometers to go the movements started.
The first rider to attack was time trial champion Elena Pirrone (Italy), who got a maximum gap of only 15 seconds. She was quickly caught by the bunch, where the Dutch national team set the pace. Two more Italians plus a Russian counterattacked and it was again a Dutch rider who bridged across the two groups: Lorena Wiebes.
Next move was a Belgian one. Shari Bossuyt attacked solo and the Italian riders started to chase her, catching her before the bell rang. A short calm period came to the bunch with only one lap to go, in which there were several crashes.
None of them affected the top favorites, but the bunch split when Pirrone (Italy), Norbert (France) and Mekhtieva (Russia) were in the front with some seconds over the rest of the riders. De Ruiter (Netherlands) closed the gap and with 2 kilometers to go it was the Italian national team the one pullin in the front of the peloton, preparing the sprint for their fastest rider: Paternoster.
But she couldn't beat Lorena Wiebes. The Dutch rider was the first to start sprinting, but her maximum speed lasted long and got a deserved gold medal ahead of local idol Emma Norsgaard and Paternoster. The best Spanish rider in the finish line was Sofía Rodríguez, who came in 9th.
Turismo de Huesca patrocinará al Renault Auto Cuatro
Nuevas incorporaciones para el Supermercados Froiz 2021
Caja Rural-Seguros RGA presenta su nuevo maillot ULEVEL Sport
European Road Championships 2017: a golden era that needs to be seen | El Pelotón 06/08/2017 at 14:46
[…] further enjoyment, check the 3 category races reviewed here: Junior race won by Lorena Wiebes: https://elpeloton.net/2017/08/wiebes/ U-23 race won by Pernille Mathiesen: […]


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candelabrum
Candelabrum; brass, cast and wrought, with twelve arms and a central shaft, making thriteen branches in all. The arms are constructed of six elements, each comprising of a pair of branches, which swivel round the centre of the shaft, so that they can be arranged in the same plane, or at right angles to each other, forming a three-dimensional structure in the shape of a stylised tree.
Made by: K M Seifert & Co (for Vereinigte Werkstatten fur Kunst im handwerk)
Originally retailed by: Vereinigte Werkstätten für Kunst im Handwerk
Designed by: Bruno Paul
Designed in: Munich
Made in: Munich
Height: 410 millimetres
Width: 710 millimetres (at maximum point)
Curator's comments
Made by K.M. Seifert & Co., for the Vereinigte Werkstätten für Kunst im Handwerk, after a design by Bruno Paul. Text from J. Rudoe, 'Decorative Arts 1850-1950', revised ed. 1994, no. 406: Bruno Paul studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Dresden and from 1894 at the Munich Academy, supplying caricatures for the satirical magazine, Simplicissismus. In 1897 he was a founder member of the Vereinigte Werkstätten, with whom he exhibited at the Paris 1900 Exhibition, at Turin in 1902 and St.Louis in 1904. This large candelabrum, with its ceremonial appearance, has been described as 'the most spectacular of all Jugendstil candelabras' (G.Dry in Munich 1988, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 'Art Nouveau in Munich', cat.no.77). It was until recently attributed to Pankok and was first published as by Paul by Graham Dry, with reference to its exhibition at the Munich Ausstellung für Kunst im Handwerk in 1901 (Katalog, 61, no.145) and the following information summarizes his catalogue entry (op.cit.above). It was sold in several sizes by the Vereinigte Werkstätten until at least 1914, though it appears to have been most popular between 1901 and 1907 when it forms a regular decorative feature in contemporary illustrations of rooms by the Vereinigte Werkstätten (for example, Die Kunst, 12. 1905, 367). The use of bold forms with simple ribbed decoration marks a move away from the dependence on stylised plant forms that characterized early Munich Jugendstil work up to 1900 (see 1993,10-12,7, candlestick by R.Müller). Only two other versions of this candelabrum have been recorded, one in the Stadtmuseum, Munich (Munich 1988, cat.no.77) and one in a private collection in Germany (Munich 1992, Stadttmuseum Munich, 'Bruno Paul: Deutsche Raumkunst und Architektur zwischen Jugendstil und Moderne'', exhibition catalogue, no.176). This third example has been in the same Munich family since it was bought in the early 1900s. For a 1930s candlestick by Paul, see 1993,10-12.6. Information supplementary to Rudoe 1994: A similar candelabrum sold Sotheby's New York, 'Important Design', 14 December 2016, lot 210 (unsold).
Rudoe 1994 / Decorative Arts 1850-1950. A Catalogue of the British Museum Collection (406)
On display (G48/dc3)
tree/bush
Associated with: Bruno Paul
Acquisition name
Purchased from: Ketterer Kunst
Britain, Europe and Prehistory
Treatment: 09 Sep 1993


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Justice Alito's jurisprudence of white racial innocence
Alito gets very upset if you suggest that racism exists.
By Ian Millhiser Updated Aug 13, 2020, 9:27am EDT
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Justice Samuel Alito testifies about the court's budget during a House hearing on March 7, 2019.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Ian Millhiser is a senior correspondent at Vox, where he focuses on the Supreme Court, the Constitution, and the decline of liberal democracy in the United States. He received a JD from Duke University and is the author of two books on the Supreme Court.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court held, 6-3, in Ramos v. Louisiana that criminal defendants in state court may be convicted only by a unanimous jury.
The practical impact of Ramos is small — until recently, only two states, Louisiana and Oregon, permitted a non-unanimous jury to convict a defendant. And Louisiana recently amended its constitution to eliminate this practice. But advocates saw in the ruling a big symbolic change in favor of racial justice. As the Court's lead opinion pointed out, non-unanimous juries are a practice rooted in white supremacy.
One justice took umbrage with that invocation of racism: Justice Samuel Alito. His dissent was the latest in a string of opinions bristling at the idea that racism still shapes many policymakers' decisions today, and that the legacy of past racism still affects people of color. In the most noteworthy of those opinions, 2018's Abbott v. Perez, Alito convinced a majority of his colleagues to write such a strong presumption of white racial innocence into the law governing racial voter discrimination that it is now virtually impossible for voting rights plaintiffs to prove that state lawmakers acted with racist intent.
Alito does not appear driven by broad skepticism of racial issues. While he has repeatedly lashed out at the mere suggestion that white policymakers may have been motivated by racism, he took a drastically different tone in Ricci v. DeStefano (2009). In that case, Alito wrote a lengthy concurring opinion suggesting that a cohort of mostly white firefighters were denied promotions due to a conspiracy between New Haven Mayor John DeStefano and a local black preacher.
In other words, when black or brown people have been on the receiving end of allegedly racist treatment, Alito preaches that we shouldn't jump to such conclusions; yet in a case where white people were allegedly harmed, he wasn't so cautious.
With his Ramos opinion, Alito continues to build a distinctive profile as a jurist: He has emerged as the Court's foremost defender of white racial innocence.
Alito scolded his fellow Republican justices for pointing to the legacy of racism
Alito sometimes scolds liberals for attributing modern-day policy outcomes to racism. But in Ramos, much of his vitriol was directed at two of his fellow Republican justices. Indeed, the racist origins of non-unanimous juries were discussed prominently in the Court's lead opinion in Ramos, which was authored by conservative Trump appointee Neil Gorsuch.
In his opinion, Gorsuch offered a brief history of how the practice of allowing non-unanimous juries to decide a defendant's fate is rooted in white supremacy. The delegates who drafted Louisiana's 1898 constitution, Gorsuch argues, "sought to undermine African-American participation on juries" by allowing juries to resolve cases in a 10 to 2 verdict (the idea was that only a small number of black jurors were likely to serve on the jury in the first place).
Gorsuch also argues that Oregon's use of non-unanimous juries "can be similarly traced to the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and efforts to dilute 'the influence of racial, ethnic, and religious minorities on Oregon juries.'"
Gorsuch's decision to invoke this dark history produced a livid response from Alito. "To add insult to injury, the Court tars Louisiana and Oregon with the charge of racism for permitting nonunanimous verdicts," Alito writes in the introduction to his dissent. He adds that "too much public discourse today is sullied by ad hominem rhetoric, that is, attempts to discredit an argument not by proving that it is unsound but by attacking the character or motives of the argument's proponents," and accuses the majority of his colleagues of engaging in such rhetoric.
Alito goes on to make a fair point. Though Louisiana and Oregon may have originally permitted non-unanimous jury verdicts to advance white supremacy, "both States readopted their rules under different circumstances in later years." Louisiana, for example, originally provided for non-unanimous juries at an 1898 constitutional convention dominated by white supremacists. But the state "adopted a new, narrower rule" at a new constitutional convention in 1974.
Alito suggests that it is unfair to attribute the results of the 1974 convention to racism, if the delegates to that particular convention were not actually motivated by racism. It will be interesting to see whether he applies a similarly forgiving rule in a pending case alleging that provision of Montana's 1972 constitution is tainted by 19th-century anti-Catholic bias. (It's also worth noting that liberal Justice Elena Kagan joined most of Alito's opinion, most likely because Kagan is the Court's most stalwart defender of the idea that the justices should be reluctant to overrule precedents, and Ramos overruled a 1972 decision.)
But Alito's Ramos dissent also fits into a broader pattern. In multiple cases, including cases where there is clear evidence that modern-day lawmakers acted with invidious racial intentions, Alito treats the mere suggestion that anti-black or anti-brown racism may still play a role in policymaking with contempt.
Alito's brand of racial resentment is unique on the Supreme Court
It's notable that both Gorsuch and Justice Brett Kavanaugh penned opinions in Ramos that acknowledged what Kavanaugh described as "the racist origins of the non-unanimous jury."
And then there's the Court's other white conservative, Chief Justice John Roberts. Roberts's race opinions are animated by his belief that any legal acknowledgment of race is odious, regardless of whether the purpose of a race-conscious law is to foster white supremacy or to tear it down. "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race," Roberts famously wrote in an opinion arguing that two race-conscious plans to desegregate public schools were unconstitutional.
Roberts's form of color-blindness is often actively hostile to civil rights laws. Hence his decision in that school segregation case, and his later decision in Shelby County v. Holder (2013), which struck down much of the Voting Rights Act.
And yet, there is daylight between Roberts and Alito. Though Roberts joined Alito's opinion in Ramos, he did not join Alito's Ricci concurrence.
And Roberts broke rather sharply with Alito in a recent dispute about whether the Trump administration could add a question to the 2020 census form that would have discouraged many immigrants from participating in the census. Department of Commerce v. New York (2019) involved the Trump administration's attempt to add a question to the 2020 census form asking whether each respondent is a US citizen.
The idea of adding a citizenship question to the main census form is opposed by prominent census experts in both parties. As top Census officials from the Reagan and Bush I administration warned, adding such a question "could seriously jeopardize the accuracy of the census," because "people who are undocumented immigrants may either avoid the census altogether or deliberately misreport themselves as legal residents."
The Trump administration made the implausible claim that it added this question to help enforce the Voting Rights Act — a statute this administration has shown little interest in enforcing. But, while the New York case was pending before the Supreme Court, leaked documents revealed that the administration may have had a very different motive. A late Republican strategist, Thomas Hofeller, who urged the Trump administration to include a citizenship question on the 2020 Census form, had determined that such a question would "clearly be a disadvantage to the Democrats" and "advantageous to Republicans and Non-Hispanic Whites."
In any event, a 5-4 Supreme Court struck down the citizenship question, with Roberts coming very close to accusing the Trump administration of lying. The claim that a citizenship question was needed to enforce the Voting Right Act, Roberts concluded, "rested on a pretextual basis."
Alito began his dissent with characteristic anger at the idea that anyone would dare accuse the Trump administration of racism. In a preview of the sort of rhetoric he later deployed in his Ramos dissent, Alito wrote that "it is a sign of our time that the inclusion of a question about citizenship on the census has become a subject of bitter public controversy and has led to today's regrettable decision" in the opening paragraph of his New York dissent. For Alito, it was fundamentally wrong to attack "the decision to place such a question on the 2020 census questionnaire ... as racist."
No other justice joined Alito's dissent.
Alito's racial views have fundamentally reshaped American voting rights law
Yet, while Alito's jurisprudence of white racial innocence is distinct, Alito's views on race still overlap a great deal with his fellow Republican justices. The greatest triumph of Alito's efforts to write white innocence into the law came in Abbott v. Perez, where Alito wrote the majority opinion.
The facts of Perez are, to say the least, complicated. In 2011, Texas's Republican-controlled legislature drew congressional maps that, as a federal court eventually determined, included some districts that were illegally racially gerrymandered. These maps never took effect, in large part because a different federal court determined that they violated the Voting Rights Act.
That left Texas in a bind. In early 2012, the state still had no lawful maps that it could use in its upcoming congressional elections, and the state's primaries for these congressional races were just a few months away.
As a stopgap measure, a federal court in Texas drew interim maps that the state could use in its 2012 elections. Many of the districts in these hastily drawn interim maps closely resembled the racially gerrymandered districts drawn by the Texas legislature in 2011. The court, moreover, emphasized that "this interim map is not a final ruling on the merits of any claims" that some parts of the map were illegal racial gerrymanders.
The court, in other words, would allow Texas to use imperfect maps for one election only, given the risk that Texas would not be able to hold an election otherwise. But the court was also equally clear that it might strike down some of the state's racially gerrymandered districts at a later date.
Nevertheless, in 2013, the Texas legislature passed a new law ratifying these interim maps as its own — including the districts that were still being challenged as racial gerrymanders. And Alito's Perez opinion held that this new law reenacting the racial gerrymanders should be upheld.
"The primary question" in Perez, according to Alito, "is whether the Texas court erred when it required the State to show that the 2013 Legislature somehow purged the 'taint' that the court attributed to the defunct and never-used plans enacted by a prior legislature in 2011."
According to Alito, courts must apply a strong presumption that lawmakers did not act with racist intent — even under the unusual facts that existed in the Perez case. "Whenever a challenger claims that a state law was enacted with discriminatory intent," Alito wrote, "the burden of proof lies with the challenger, not the State."
Having laid out this standard, Alito then swiftly absolved the Texas legislature of any racial guilt. "The only direct evidence brought to our attention suggests that the 2013 Legislature's intent was legitimate," Alito wrote in Perez. "It wanted to bring the litigation about the State's districting plans to an end as expeditiously as possible."
Alito's argument, in other words, is that the 2013 maps weren't enacted to preserve a racial gerrymander; they were enacted to shut down litigation challenging a racial gerrymander. And this distinction is sufficient to cleanse the state legislature of any allegation of racism.
It's as if the school districts on the losing end of Brown v Board of Education (1954) had passed a new law recreating the same racially segregated schools that were challenged in the Brown litigation, but claimed that these segregated schools should be upheld because the new law had a legitimate purpose — to bring the litigation challenging public school segregation to an end as expeditiously as possible.
Alito sees a racial conspiracy when white people are the alleged victims
The common thread animating Alito's opinions in Ramos, New York, and Perez is that he views allegations of racial animus with extreme skepticism. Someone who reads these cases in isolation, in other words, could easily conclude that Alito is a particularly strident defender of the sort of color-blindness favored by Chief Justice Roberts.
But then there is Alito's opinion in Ricci v. DeStefano.
Ricci was a difficult case involving the exam that New Haven, Connecticut used to determine which firefighters would be eligible for promotion to lieutenant or captain. The 2003 exam produced significant racial disparities. As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg laid out in her Ricci dissent, "the pass rate for African-American candidates was about one-half the rate for Caucasian candidates" on the lieutenant exam, and the "pass rate for Hispanic candidates was even lower." On the captain exam, "both African-American and Hispanic candidates passed at about half the rate of their Caucasian counterparts."
These results led to allegations that the test itself was racially biased, and the city eventually decided to disregard the examinations. After a cohort of firefighters who performed well on the exam sued, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to reinstate the tests.
Alito joined the majority, but he also wrote a separate concurring opinion suggesting that the city decided to discard the exams, not because of a good-faith concern that the tests' disparate impact on racial minorities arose from a flaw in the test, but because of a conspiracy involving the mayor and a prominent local black activist. Alito's concurring opinion describes, at length, the relationship between then-Mayor John DeStefano and the Reverend Boise Kimber, whom Alito described as "a politically powerful New Haven pastor and a self-professed 'kingmaker.'"
Alito quotes DeStefano's former campaign manager, who described Kimber as "very good at organizing people and putting together field operations, as a result of his ties to labor, his prominence in the religious community and his long-standing commitment to roots," and Alito also claims that "Rev. Kimber adamantly opposed certification of the test results—a fact that he or someone in the Mayor's office eventually conveyed to the Mayor."
The implication of Alito's opinion, in other words, is that the tests were scuttled due to a corrupt bargain between the city mayor and a local black activist that DeStefano needed to turn out votes.
Alito's concurrence hedges a bit. His ultimate conclusion is that "a reasonable jury" could conclude that the city tossed out the exams due to pressure from Kimber. But Alito's Ricci opinion shows none of the caution — and certainly none of the anger — that Alito musters when someone suggests that a white policymaker might have been motivated by racism against people of color.
Alito raises his allegations of a racially motivated conspiracy, moreover, despite the fact that there is considerable reason to reject this theory of why the city tossed out the tests. Among other things, as Ginsburg points out in her dissent, "the decision against certification of the exams was made neither by Kimber nor by the mayor and his staff." Rather, "the relevant decision was made by the [New Haven Civil Service Board], an unelected, politically insulated body."
It is still possible that the Civil Service Board felt pressured to throw out the test by the mayor, and it is equally possible that the mayor acted the way he did due to pressure from Kimber. Ginsburg's opinion does not reject Alito's theory outright — though it does express a great deal of skepticism. As mentioned above, Ricci was a tough case. And it's doubtful we'll ever know with certainty why the city decided to discard the tests.
But if there were plausible reasons to suspect that invidious racial motives played a role in Ricci, there was far more reason to suspect such motives in Abbott v. Perez. Both cases required judges who were, at the very least, open to the possibility that racial animus tainted the government's decisions.
Alito is not that judge.


We have talked a lot about various facets of interview. How to dress, what to expect and what now, we have even discussed one basic interview question in detail. Today, let's talk about other quite basic interview questions.
Before I lead you into the interview questions, keep in mind that these are the basic questions, often forming the first part of the interview. These days, it is very common to have several rounds or at least two rounds, where the first round comprises of these basic questions. Based on the performance in the first round, you are then taken for a technical or job specific interview. For such rounds, they are just looking how well you know what you should know. So, make sure you make a strong impression there; and to prepare for that, go through the job requirements and description well in advance.
It's a very simple question, but could be a vital one if answered perfectly. When describing yourself, don't start off with your hobbies and your lifestyle. What you should be answering with is your name and your qualifications which make you eligible for the job. That is, if you are qualified for IT technical and an Administration job, while the job is for only an IT guy, then highlight your IT qualifications and skills.
Go into the details of your qualifications that make you eligible to the job. Inform the interviewer if there is any special award or any special assignment that you have completed in the field. Your senior's recommendation, if any, and your experience.
Q. What about this job interests you?
In this question, you have the chance to flatter the interviewer. Tell him/her about how the company's main focus areas interests you and how you feel that your skills could be best utilized in the progress of the company. Talk about company ethics, how you are good fit for them, and the working environment.
Some companies conduct inductions before interviews, where they will show the lifestyle of employees of the company, so you can take material for this question from there. And to prepare, you can search online, most companies on their career pages highlight the lifestyle of employees and the working environment.
Q. What are your career goals and/or where do you see yourself some years down the line?
I have seen that some people falter in this question, they often mention a goal or their future expectation that is not in the best interest of the company. And that, for the interviewer is the biggest negative against the candidate. So, the biggest no-no for this question would be – don't ever talk about anything that might indicate you moving away from the company.
You should talk about development and progress. If you are being hired at a junior level, then talk about how you see yourself progressing on the hierarchical ladder. Be modest in your approach towards progress. Aggressiveness is mostly good when you are applying for sales or marketing job. If you are being hired for a top management job, where progress would mean being equivalent to the owners or directors of the company, then you should talk how you look forward to increase your responsibilities, use your abilities to take the company to a higher level, and being an invaluable asset to the company.
I hope that this article helps you get started; I will be discussing more questions in my next article. Till then, happy job hunting!


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An analysis of the nature and function of the education policies at colleges of education in the National States in South Africa
Educational Planning & Administration
Ndlala, Mangena William
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10530/569
The purpose of this study was to investigate how the educational policies formulated by the Department of Education and Training as well as the Departments cf Education and Culture, influence the functioning of the colleges of education in the National States in South Africa. It was also to determine the extent to which policies, evolved within the colleges themselves, are-af-feeted—by—interventions from the various Departments and political movements. Methods of research included, among others, interviews of college rectors, lecturers and students, serving teachers and some educators attached to the Departments of Education and Culture. This researcher intended to establish how these people perceive the influence and impact of these policies on the selected sample of Colleges of Education in the National States. The literature review revealed that policy serves as a guide and a source of reference in any given venture, involving a choice amongst a wide range of alterntives; and that it provides a reasonable guarantee that there will be consistency and continuity in the decisions that are made. This investigation demonstrated, however, that there is a stigma attached to policies formulated by the Education Departments in the National States. This is due to the negative perception that the National States are illegitimate administrative structures created to perpertuate apartheid policies. The policies which are formulated by the Department of Education and Training are also challenged by the students in particular, and lecturers in general, who argue that these policies are oppressive and therefore unacceptable. The negative perception held by students and lecturers on the current educational policies manifests itself in the emerging college culture of violence which is characterised by the rejection of current authority structures. Students seem to rely on coercion and intimidation as means of problem solving instead of the use of negotiation tactics. College policies therefore do not always serve as guides and thus cannot guarantee any consistency and continuity in the decisions that are made. In this way education policies do not empower the college authorities to be fully in charge of their institutions. Emerging from these findings are the following recommendations: * that education policy makers should consider various options which will encourage a wider spectrum of consultation and involvement of interest groups, including Thompson's model of policy development and redefinition cycle (in Monahan, 1982), Muschkat1 s (1986) morphological model and those of Saran and Kogan. that policy makers formulate policies which are based en the rule of law and on the principles of justice and fairness. It is hoped that this research will be a source of reference for further research in policy studies undertaken -especially— for postgraduate studies. It will also serve as a useful source material for educational policies in South Africa, especially with regard to colleges of education.
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand in the fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the Department of Educational Planning and Administration, 1992.
Name: An analysis of the ...


New Delhi: To celebrate the outstanding achievements of India's Special Olympics athletes, Herbalife, a global nutrition company, held a rousing homecoming reception for 89Special Olympics athletes. Returning home with a haul of37gold medals; 10silver medals and 26 bronze medals, participating athletes were recognised for their excellent display of strength, grit and courage in 8 events at the Special Olympics World Winter Games 2017 held in Austria.
MC Mary Kom, five-time World Amateur Boxing Champion and Olympic boxer,Heena Sidhu, India's first Air Pistol Shooter – were also present at the event and SainaNehwal, India's star badminton player – all Herbalife sponsored athletes were also present on the occasion.
"Special Olympics has been gaining visibility and momentum over the years. What these athletes need more of right now is the encouragement, support and recognition by the public. With a partner like Herbalife, I can see things getting better, and I wish them success in their future endeavours", added Heena Sidhu.
psychology and nutrition, to help athletes train and perform better in their respective fields. The session was helmed by renowned Sports Scientist and EQ Consultant, ShayamalVallabhjee.


Be warned, this video starts out with a banger.
Westernworld clothing has put together a sequel to their popular video Awaysted. It is most of the same crew with some new faces. Skating new spots from the streets of SF to the DIY of FDR.
They travel, skate, and try to 'Stay Away' from the rigours of normal life. Who wants normalcy anyway?
Vagrant Skateboard's team rider Elijah Akerley puts together another great part. From raw hillbombs, to crazy lines in backyard pools, to the most hard to reach ditch, he will find a way.
Enjoy the hard work of Adam Anorga and the crew of Westernworld Clothing.
Vagrant Skateboards are available to Canadian skateboard shops through Platform Distribution.


text:
Consumer prices up
Uncategorized	— 28 October 2017	— by Adele Ramos
BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Oct. 26, 2017–Escalating transport costs continue to drive up consumer prices for goods and services, which rose by 0.7% in September 2017 and 1.2% for the first 9 months of 2017, according to the latest information released by the Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB).
"The 'Transport' index remained the main contributor to the overall rise in consumer prices during the month, recording an average increase of 6.6 percent compared to September 2016," the SIB explained.
It explained that higher international airfares coupled with the effects of last year's increase in domestic bus fares contributed significantly to this rise in transport costs.
Notable increases in pump prices also contributed to the rise in transport costs.
The SIB said that, "…prices within the 'Fuels and Lubricants' category saw a 5 percent increase with prices rising across all fuel types."
According to the data, the price per gallon of premium gasoline rose by 16% (from $9.63 in September 2016 to $11.17 in September 2017), the price of regular gasoline prices increased by 11% (from $9.35 to $10.38), and the price of diesel rose by 15% (from $8.18 to $9.40).
Whereas prices in the fuel category were up, prices in the food and non-alcoholic beverage category were down. For example, prices were down for ground beef, beef steak, pig tail, whole chickens, flour, eggs and milk.
Meanwhile, the price of cooking fuel — Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), which has been trending upwards since the start of this year, recorded a 14.7% increase, with the average cost of a 100-pound cylinder increasing from $86.32 in September 2016 to $99.02 in September of 2017.
This was reflected in the second category which recorded a substantial increase: 'Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels'.
"During the month of September 2017 home rental prices were 0.4 percent higher than they were in the same month of 2016. This was almost entirely attributable to an increase in rental prices in Dangriga, as virtually all other municipalities saw some decreases in rent compared to last September," the SIB said.
The data revealed that across the seven municipalities for which prices were collected, "Dangriga continued to experience the highest rate of increase in consumer prices."
The converse was true for Orange Walk Town, where average rent prices were down compared to last September.
Eden Cruz


text:
Share this Story: TransAlta leaves coal behind with final conversion at Keephills station
TransAlta leaves coal behind with final conversion at Keephills station
TransAlta is out of the coal power generating businesses in Alberta
Josh Aldrich
Dec 29, 2021 • December 29, 2021 • 3 minute read • 5 Comments
TransAlta offices shown in downtown Calgary on Wednesday, December 29, 2021. The company says it has completed the conversion from coal to natural gas power in its Canadian power generation. Photo by Jim Wells/Postmedia
TransAlta is out of the coal power generating businesses in Alberta.
The energy company announced Wednesday that it had completed the last of three planned coal-to-gas conversions at the Alberta thermal power generation facilities near Wabamun, about 45 minutes west of Edmonton.
TransAlta leaves coal behind with final conversion at Keephills station Back to video
The move will allow TransAlta to achieve its goal of reducing emissions by 60 per cent of its 2015 levels by 2030, and has the company on track for hitting net-zero by 2050.
The Keephills Unit 3 (KH3) conversion cost the company $77 million and created 600 jobs in the region.
The conversion maintains the company's current generation capacity and reduces CO2 emissions by almost 50 per cent, "from approximately 0.86 tonnes CO2e per MWh to approximately 0.43 tonnes CO2e per MWh," TransAlta president John Kousinioris said in a news release. "This not only highlights TransAlta's continued commitment to meet Alberta's need for safe, reliable and low-cost electricity, but also delivers a step-change reduction in the emissions from our converted units."
TransAlta's Keephills power plant in Alberta. Photo by Postmedia News
TransAlta is also scheduled to close the Highvale coal mine on Dec. 31, with the transition of the company's thermal facilities in Alberta to natural gas complete when they retire KH1.
TransAlta has retired 3,794 MW of coal-fired generation capacity since 2018 and converted 1,659 MW to natural gas, while diversifying its operations to include hydro, wind, solar and battery assets.
Four of the six units at TransAlta's Sundance power plant were retired between 2017 and this November. A fifth natural gas unit is set to be retired April 1 while the final unit will continue in place after being converted to natural gas earlier this year on Feb. 1.
TransAlta also converted both units at its Sheerness power station in the past couple of years.
The company has spent $295 million on its coal-to-gas program at its three Wabamun-area thermal power generation facilities.
Duane Reid-Carlson, the president and CEO at EDC Associates Ltd. — an energy consulting firm based in Calgary — called the announcement an important milestone. He noted Capital Power is on track with its switch from coal to natural gas as well, with the Genesee Power Station also set for a transition.
There still is a long way to go to get to net-zero emissions, however, with Alberta accounting for roughly one-third of Canada's carbon emissions, the bulk from the oil and gas industry and coal-fired power.
"Reducing the carbon footprint of the electrical industry is the cheapest and easiest step to make and is well underway and well ahead of schedule," he said. "That puts Alberta as a whole in a better place while the oil and gas industry similarly marches forward to reduce its carbon footprint, which it is now embracing wholeheartedly."
Energy companies in Alberta have the bulk of three decades to figure out next steps to counter the carbon output from the power stations, which account for about 50 per cent of their remaining emissions. Reid-Carlson said the likely paths forward will be through carbon capture or hydrogen programs, both of which are cost-prohibitive investments.
One thing Albertans can take confidence in, he said, is the supply to the power grid, even in moments of high demand such as during the recent cold snap. Despite the conversion from coal to natural gas, there has not been a decrease in supply. Further, there are roughly 17,000 MW worth of projects queuing up over the next three years while the current capacity of the system is 17,000 MW.
These projects include Cascade Power Generation — a 900 MW gas-fired green field combined cycle plant by Kineticor — and Suncor's cogeneration unit that will sell its power to the grid and create steam for its oilsands operations.
"Alberta is well-positioned with lots of electrical energy and lots of opportunity to build capacity should demand grow much higher than expected due to the electrification of everything that's also expected under the reduction of our carbon footprint, generally speaking, and our economy as a whole," said Reid-Carlson.
jaldrich@postmedia.com
Twitter: @JoshAldrich03


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It is hard to believe that something as simple and as important as a flu shot can be so difficult for the world's most advanced medical system. Either authorizing a flu shot is something more complex than I think or just maybe our medical system or at least the delivery of preventive care is not all that it is cracked up to be.
I have seen it all in this year. I went from a standard Blue Cross package to an Affordable Health Care plan with Blue Cross to Medicare to a Medicare Advantage Plan with Blue Cross. All that happened in the space of four months.
With that background, my wife and I planned to get our 2014 flu shots from Walgreen's where we have gotten them the last couple of years.
We have not missed a flu shot in fourteen years. My very efficient wife had already gotten the forms and we filled them out at home. Because we are both over 65 and our younger daughter is about to have our second grandchild, we were told to get an extra strength flu shot and a TDAP shot.
The following is from the government's Medicare site.
Medicare Part B covers 100 percent of the cost of a flu shot once every flu season with no Part B deductible required. This is true for both Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans.
Original Medicare will pay for the flu shot no matter where you get it, as long as the health care provider is enrolled in Medicare.
You will pay no copay or deductible if you see a doctor or other health care provider who takes assignment. If you receive your Medicare benefits from a Medicare Advantage plan, the plan cannot require that you get a referral for the vaccine, but it can require that you use providers in the plan's network.
We called ahead to make sure Walgreen's had the flu vaccine we need and headed off to get our shot. My wife, who has not transitioned to Medicare from Blue Cross Affordable Care quite yet, had no trouble getting her shot.
It took an hour and fifteen minutes before I got my shots and I had to agree to pay for it myself. The extra strength flu shot and other shot that I got cost $118. I was assured by the Walgreen's technician that Blue Cross promised to reimburse me for my shots.
We got a pretty good song and dance from Walgreens. The net of it was that the only policy of mine that Blue Cross could see was the one that was terminated in February. I have a hard time buying that since I have been paying Blue Cross and their specified deductible for appointments with a doctor over the last few months.
Since we were only a quarter of a mile from our insurance agent, we thought we should stop by and see if they could explan why I could not get a flu shot without paying for it. An agent called Blue Cross for us and confirmed that Walgreen is listed as a provider. His only guess was the federal government is requiring all Medicare folks to use one flu shot provider.
That did not make much sense to me given what I had seen on the Medicare site but after nearly two hours I was tired of fighting and the agent was offering to mail in our claim for us so we took him up on that and went home with our heads shaking.
We wondered if the federal government is only paying for certain providers, why isn't there a giant billboard telling us whom that might be?
Obviously we are not getting the correct story. All I know for sure is that health care was a whole lot easier in Canada.
All I had to do was give them my number and we got whatever care we needed. As to lessons learned from this. One is that I will not be going back to Walgreen's for any shots. I probably would have walked out this time if we were not fighting a deadline so we could visit our next grandchild. Two is that we might be the most advanced country in the world capable of some medical miracles, but getting access to even basic services like a flu shot is not exactly simple. We have some great doctors and medical professionals, but I think they too deserve a better system.
As to my reimbursement, I am not holding my breath. We had an even more complex experience getting shingle shots. At the time we were getting ready to visit Canada and one health care professional told us it would be easier to find a clinic in Canada for the shingles shot. We persevered and got it in the United States, but it took untold hours and over two years to get that claim resolved.
If most advanced means most complex, I think we win by a mile. Good thing the fall weather is great on the Crystal Coast. It will take my mind off of this.
The older you get, the more resilience you need. Life for most of us has ups and downs, great moments and serious challenges.
Life will put you flat on your back when you least expect it. Sometimes it is hard to get up unless you draw on your inner reserves and confront your challenges. Often it is really hard and you need the support of the people around you. Then there are times that you have to stand alone and face what fate has dealt you.
A lot of what I learned about life came from the ten years we spent farming in the small village of Tay Creek, New Brunswick. Keeping our farm, Tay Ridge Angus, running was more than a full-time job. There were plenty of times that I took two steps forward only to realize that somehow I had gone backwards three steps.
When you are twenty miles from a real town in a place with weather that can cook you in the summer and seriously freeze you in the winter, you mostly have to depend on your own skills and the help of your neighbors. You learn to fix or build just about anything with whatever you can find at hand. Quitting or not finishing the job is not an option.
Surprisingly a lot of what I learned on the farm served me well in my technology careers. Certainly at Apple, there was no one waiting around the corner to offer a helping hand. Often if you wanted something done, you had to do it yourself or convince other very busy people to help you. Doing a job well when no one is watching or will find out becomes the way you live.
One of the things I have learned is that strength often means learning to keep your mouth shut when it would be very easy to point out the error of someone's ways. If you survive through enough jobs, you will run into people who seem to spend a lot of time trying to shift the blame for their inaction or inability to perform a task to you.
It takes a good deal of finesse and inner courage to not let them get the best of you. I have always found focusing on the task and not the person is a good way to solve a lot of problems.
Try to understand what you are trying to accomplish and do what is needed to keep moving forward without irritating people who are in a position to help or harm you. Sometimes people will figure out that your determination to be successful has the power to sweep others along with you. Most often they will figure out that joining in your success is easier than standing in the way.
However, modern work places are not simple places where doing the right thing for the company or the customer is always looked upon favorably.
There may well be a day when you have to take a stand and let things take their natural course. Sometimes it is unavoidable. No company or product is worth compromising your ethics. More often than you might guess, a job is not worth the emotional damage that it can do to you. In the end sometimes the best solution and the one which lets you sleep at night is moving on to another job.
I actually like to work and feel fortunate to have another great boss at this stage in my life. After a handful of really bad micro-managers, it is particularly nice to be working at something I enjoy for someone I respect and who appreciates my efforts and skills. A good boss can be a great filter for the bad stuff that can happen to you. Unfortunately bad bosses are often unavoidable and good ones are hard to find especially when you need one.
Still there are times when other pieces of my career drive me to distraction and I need to get away from it all. Out on the oyster rocks of the White Oak River seems to be a place that has the power to restore me. Certainly the view from my kayak is a lot different than when driving over the river on one of the bridges. It is nice that one of my special places only takes ten minutes of paddling to reach. I wish that spot in the river had been nearby during my last few months at Apple, but there were some other stops on our journey before we could find peace along the Southern Outer Banks of North Carolina.
Most of us try to focus on the things that we love. If you have been lucky in life, you have enjoyed work or a career that fits your passions.
I have been very blessed in that respect. After college I worked with my hands and lived close to nature. Spending sixteen years in Canada with ten years devoted to building a cattle operation in a snowbelt in New Brunswick gave me more than I could have asked to receive. We started with no cattle and ended up with over two hundred. I built barns, took care of cattle in minus forty weather, and handled things that hardly seem possible today. It was a dream come true.
I believed in Angus cattle, wintering my cattle outside, and putting up my hay in round bales. None of those things were the norm in New Brunswick. At the time the Department of Agriculture thought I was nuts. No one did round bales, cattle stayed in barns, and Herefords were better adapted for New Brunswick. We managed to survive in farming long enough to prove that we were not crazy. Our performance tested bulls and the breeding stock born from the cattle we brought from Western Canada made a big difference in the province's Angus cattle. Today the few farmers left in New Brunswick use round balers almost without exception. Few of them keep their cattle enclosed in barns and Angus are not looked down on as they were when we were farming there.
After we sold all our cattle in 1982, I developed a love for technology. I went to work at one of the first computer resellers in New Brunswick. The technology that we were selling at the time really changed people's lives and let them do things they could only imagine. It got even better when I went to work at Apple in 1984. I often got to see the gleam in people eyes as they figured out that we really were selling magic and not snake oil. A Macintosh and a LaserWriter could do things that had always been sent to professionals. Whole new worlds of computing were opened up. People's lives were changed.
Even as the rest of the computing world caught up with Apple's ease of use, in 2000 my team of sales professionals were selling the idea of cyber security through diversity of platforms. I felt passionate about what I was doing and that our country needed to do more about computer security. We had CIOs, many research scientists and department heads who agreed with us. I even got to sit in as technical backup on a Congressional hearing on home computer security. Things really aren't much more secure in the computer world, but Apple and I have both moved on to new things.
My passion for North Carolina's Crystal Coast helped convince me to write a travel guide for the area. It is a great place to live and visit. The articles and books that I have written about the area are something that I really enjoy doing. It is pretty hard to complain about something that lets you fish, boat, kayak, hike the beaches, and take pictures of some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.
Sometimes I think those years of chasing my passions should be enough for me, but there are still some dragons to slay. I recently accepted the job of vice president of marketing for WideOpen Networks. I took the job because what the company is doing to help communities get fiber to their homes and businesses inspires me as much as anything I have ever done.
I believe that the infrastructure that matters most in this century is the way that we are connected to the Internet. Most of us have a pretty poor connection. There is a huge information super highway being built around the world and many people still connect with modems, the dirt roads of yesterday, or cable modems which are little more than crooked two lane roads.
While we should have a national program which brings fiber to everyone and lets private enterprise compete for our business, we have the worst model. Private companies are responsible for the infrastructure so they put in the absolute minimum and basically hold the customers hostage. Improvements will be a long time coming. There is no real competition except in most densely populated urban areas. Since they own the infrastructure, you have no real choice and even now they are trying to prevent reasonable access to what was supposed be put in as a service to our communities.
Think of it this way, what if all our roads had been built by private companies? Would we have a national system of Interstates where almost everyone has access to good roads? What if a private company could decide what businesses could drive on our Interstate highways? Would they let competitors use their highway or make them use the twisty two lane roads?
The next time you pay your cable bill, multiple it by the number of homes in your subdivision and see how much money is being made and compare it to places like Chattanooga, Tenessee which is delivering fiber to the home.
Think also about what is determining the services you get through your cable modem. Is it your needs or the cable company's desire to maximize profits? Are you getting the services and competitive prices you deserve and want or are you getting what your cable company wants you to have at prices they determine. Studies have shown that when communities have open networks where customers have a choice of services, prices come down. Remember long distance prices when there was no competition?
I am enjoying the conversations that I have with forward-looking community leaders who understand how their communities will be at a disadvantage if they do not get state of the art fiber connections to their homes and businesses so they can compete with others around the world. It will be interesting to watch their communities thrive while some whither as they let current Internet providers cherry pick the best places to make money and ignore the rest of us.
It is whole lot easier to convince people to look at something if there are real reasons why it makes sense and fiber to every home and business makes even more sense than an Interstate highway system did in the fifties or a LaserWriter in the office in the eighties.
I have been fortunate to be on the cusp of real change several times. I love being back there. I am also happy to not be in the position of convincing people that they need colored iPhones.
We all have dreams and sometimes if you are lucky enough you get to live one. In the summer of 2003, my wife and I celebrated our 30th anniversary by taking a trip to Beaufort, North Carolina.
It was great to get away with Glenda and visit such a special place. That trip planted a seed that eventually blossomed into the hope that we might one day be able to live on the coast.
We were not sure where we wanted to live and had never really looked at coastal towns as anything other than vacation destinations. We started taking short trips and trying to imagine ourselves living in some of our favorite beach areas. We went as far north as Chincoteague, Virginia, and as far south as Southport, North Carolina.
We also visited places in beween like Virginia Beach, Nags Head, Hatteras and Ocracoke Island. We even tried a mountain destination, West Jefferson, North Carolina, just to make sure we were hooked on the coast. We kept coming back to North Carolina's Southern Outer Banks. I have a long history with the area and it just felt like home.
Finding a spot on the water proved a challenge back in the days of the real estate bubble when the whole world seemed to trying to move to the coast. We finally admitted to ourselves that we could not afford waterfront property in the Beaufort area and ended up living just off the White Oak River not far from both Emerald Isle and Swansboro.
While I would love to see a stronger economy in the area, living in Carteret County has been even better than I imagined. In a certain respect it seems like our life was a journey that was destined to bring us here. I grew up in North Carolina, went away to McCallie, a military high school in Tennessee, and then kept going north with a stop in Cambridge for college. Canada beckoned after college and we eventually spent ten years on the farm before getting sucked into the whirlwind of Apple.
The changes that I have found in Carteret County after growing up in North Carolina and making such a long journey to get back to where I fished in the summer of 1969 inspired me to write a short book, The Road To My Country. Before settling in Carteret County we looked at places which were not nearly as friendly.
We have found a great church, Cape Carteret Presbyterian, and a nice neighborhood in which to live. We are close to modern services which are spread from Morehead City to Cape Carteret and Swansboro. We have made some good friends and there are enough good restaurants to keep us happy.
More importantly I have been able to fulfill my dream of being able to slip my kayak in the water and go fishing just about any time that I want. I still work in technology about half the week but beyond that fishing is just another thing that I choose to do. My kayak and skiff are just a few steps behind the house. With the water almost at our doorstep, I no longer have to put my kayak on top of the car to go kayaking. It is a wonderful treat to just go fishing without a lot of planning.
Fishing the Southern Outer Banks requires some dedication but the rewards are great when you do land a nice sized fish like the Red Drum that I chased for a few years. When I get tired of fishing there is always boating or walking the beaches of the area. One of my favorites spots is the Point at Emerald Isle. It is the same spot I fished in the summer of 1969 with my uncle, Austin Brown.
There are a whole series of special places that I love in Eastern North Carolina. Areas like Hammocks Beach State Park are treasures that remind us of what the coast was like before it was developed. Where we live is such a special spot that I felt compelled to share the secrets that I have learned in a travel guide for the area, A Week At The Beach - The 2013 Emerald Isle Travel Guide. It is available both in paperback and Kindle format.
I cannot think of a nicer place to live than where we currently have our home. We are surrounded by the Croatan National Forest and the waters of the White Oak River. Bogue Banks protects us from storms and Cape Lookout National Seashore is an easy forty-five minute drive.
With Nags Head under three and one half hours away, the Intracoastal Waterway just ten minutes from my dock, and the Atlantic Ocean just another ten beyond that, I think that my priorities are in order. The nearest Target or SAMs Club are thirty-five minutes away. That is actually a little too close for my taste.
On Wednesday of this week we fished in rough water out beyond the Point in our skiff, but I also managed a couple of wonderful kayak trips including one on Friday, August 30, when I missed a nice drum on the oysters rocks. I will probably head back out and look for him again today. It only takes me fifteen minutes to paddle there.
It has just been a little over a year since we finally sold our other home and were able to bid adieu to Roanoke, Virginia, where we lived for over twenty years after coming back from Canada. That makes it even easier to think of the Crystal Coast as home. How hard is it to love a place where summer hangs on well into the fall?
As far as I am concerned a life by Raymond's Gut is living my dream. Seven years after moving here I think I am part of the dream.


What are DNA groups and why are they important for men? David Achata shares that a DNA group is a group of about three men who get together regularly to discover the truth about who God is, nurture each other with the gospel, and act in accordance with what the Spirit is calling them to do. They are crucial for men because they provide a rare opportunity for men to work through the things that are going on inside of them, so that they can be healthy and care for others well.


Milbrandt, Anelia, 2005: "A Geographic Perspective on the Current Biomass Resource Availability in the United States", National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO.
Biomass resource potential for the lower 48 states of the United States of America.
Provide information on the biomass resource potential for the United States of America lower 48 states.
Estimate technical biomass resources available in the United States by county.  The following feedstock categories are considered for this study: crop residues, methane emissions from manure management, methane emissions from landfills and wastewater treatment facilities, forest residues, primary and secondary mill residues, urban wood waste, and dedicated energy crops.
This GIS data was developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory ("NREL"), which is operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC  for the U.S. Department of Energy ("DOE"). The user is granted the right, without any fee or cost, to use, copy, modify, alter, enhance and distribute this data for any purpose whatsoever, provided that this entire notice appears in all copies of the data. Further, the user of this data agrees to credit NREL in any publications or software that incorporate or use the data.


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Yes, just 4 sleeps before I set off on my trip to the South of the United States.
I've set up my phone to show the weather in each of the 7 cities I'm visiting. It's been interesting to see.
On recent days, I've been seeing a 2 degree increase in temperatures as we've moved South-East. Then, a sharp drop after our flight to Washington DC. But, the starting temperatures in Raleigh NC have always been much higher than my hometown.
Raleigh is similar to home. The increase in temperatures is less pronounced. And, Washington is colder than home. But, there is time for that to change. So, hopefully, I'll be enjoying some of the highs in the twenties that I've seen recently. I suspect I might have to switch to Fahrenheit, if I'm to fit in.
It's a short post today. Lots to do in 3 remaining days.


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El Castellà aragonès (Castellà d'Aragó o Baturro) és la varietat lingüística parlada i pròpia de la major part d'Aragó. És un dels dialectes que conformen el castellà.

També és denominat, sobretot per part dels aragonesos, com a baturro.

El límit geogràfic entre el castellà i l'aragonès (parlat al nord d'Aragó) és molt difuminat, i probablement sempre ho ha estat; actualment l'aragonès retrocedeix clarament davant del castellà a les zones on encara es parla. De la mateixa manera, els trets més específicament aragonesos en el castellà retrocedeixen davant dels més generalitzats.

Àrea geogràfica
El castellà aragonès és la varietat lingüística pròpia de la major part del territori d'Aragó. Al nord es parlen varietats de l'aragonès i a l'extrem (Franja de Ponent) es parla català.

Origen
El castellà aragonès procedeix de l'evolució del romanç aragonès medieval que es parlava en aquestes zones, romanç que va anar evolucionant i adoptant cada vegada trets més occidentals, és a dir, trets més generals del castellà. A aquest procés se li ha denominat castellanització de l'aragonès. La imposició del castellà davant d'altres llengües va ser tal que, segles més tard, ja es podia parlar de l'existència d'una mateixa llengua comuna en gran part dels antics regnes de Castella, Aragó i Lleó, el castellà. No obstant això, cada territori conservava els seus trets dialectals propis.
El dialecte ha conservat millor els seus trets propis davant del castellà en l'àmbit rural aragonès. Al , el dialecte va ser popularitzat per la literatura i el cinema aragonesos.

Característiques lingüístiques principals

Classificació

Forma part de les varietats septentrionals del castellà de la Península.

Fonètica
 Entonació ascendent de les frases, amb allargament de la vocal final. A l'àrea de la vall de l'Ebre, amb més intensitat
 L'accentuació fonològica de les paraules és sempre plana (majoritàriament) o aguda. En castellà aragonès no es dona l'accent esdrúixol. Les paraules esdrúixoles del castellà estàndard són planes en castellà aragonès: pajaro, medico, cantaro.
 Forta tendència a desfer els hiats, en general tancant més la vocal més tancada (alta) del grup, o ben desplaçant l'accent a la vocal més oberta (baixa).
 Reducció dels grups consonàntics cultes de les paraules castellanes: eletrico, 'eléctrico', perfeto, 'perfecto', repunante, 'repugnante', com en tots els dialectes rurals castellans.

Morfosintaxis
 Ús dels pronoms forts després de preposició: con yo, pa tú
 Els sufixos diminutius més comuns en castellà aragonès són els sufixos -ico/a i -ete/a o -é/eta: un poquico/un poquete, una mocica/una moceta, un zagalé/una zagaleta
 Els noms d'arbres usen el sufix -era: olivera, almendrera, noguera
 Ús del vocatiu maño/a (en part del territori)
 Omissió o elisió de la vocal final de determinades partícules (preposicions, articles, conjuncions) quan la paraula següent comença per vocal: d'aquel, d'Aragón, yo m'hago
 Ús de la conjunció il·lativa pues al final de frase.
 Absència o escassetat de leísmo —ús del lo— (tret estès per les varietats del castellà del centre peninsular)
 Subsistema pronominal àton, mantenint el paradigma llatí: se les dije
 Pèrdua de la [r] de l'infinitiu al costat de pronom enclític: decime, contame, dame (decirme, contarme i darme en castellà estándar), tret també present en molts altres dialectes.
 L'ordre dels pronoms àtons combinats és en primer lloc el pronom de complement indirecte i en segon lloc el pronom reflexiu (ordre contrari al del castellà estàndard): me se cayó; també és comú aquest tret en molts altres dialectes peninsulars.
 Ús freqüent de l'article definit amb noms propis: la Pilar, el Jesús (Només en algunes zones).
 La conjunció disjuntiva del castellà aragonès és u en tots els contexts fònics (a diferència del castellà estàndard, en el qual la conjunció disjuntiva principal és o i la conjunció u s'utilitza únicament en alguns casos particulars): peras u manzanas.

Lèxic
Les majors diferències dialectals entre el castellà aragonès i el castellà estàndard es donen en el camp del lèxic, a causa de la conservació del lèxic propi del romanç aragonès medieval. Part d'aquest lèxic és particular d'aquesta varietat. Una altra part és comuna a les varietats orientals del castellà (varietats de La Rioja, Navarra, Sòria, de l'interior del País Valencià, de la part oriental de Castella-la Manxa, Múrcia i de la part oriental d'Andalusia). Finalment, una altra part del lèxic del castellà aragonès és comú amb les varietats lingüístiques de l'orient peninsular i sud de França (valencià, català i occità). El lèxic propi rep la denominació d'aragonesismes.

La conservació del lèxic propi aragonès es fa especialment evident en el lèxic de les activitats rurals (agricultura, ramaderia, caça) i en el vocabulari empleat per descriure la geografia i fenomenologia locals, els objectes domèstics o les tradicions culturals. Alguns dels aragonesismes més freqüents en castellà aragonès són:

 Camp semàntic de les plantes: ababol (amapola en castellà estàndard), aliaga (aulaga), morcacho (centeno), panízo (blat de moro), espirigallo/pipirigallo (esparceta)
 Camp semàntic de les fruites i verdures: alberge (albercoc), mangrana/minglana (magrana), presco/presiego/presquilla (préssec), espinay/espinae (espinac), mongeta blanca (mongeta)
 Camp semàntic dels animals: paniquesa (mostela), tajugo/tajubo (teixó), ardacho/fardacho (llangardaix), zapo (gripau), boque (cabró, boc), sargantana (sargantana), caparra (paparra), mardano (carner), cuchareta/cullerot (capgròs) mascle (mul), cardelina (cadernera)
 Camp semàntic de la geografia: zaborra/zaborro/cantal (pedra, roca), algezón (tros de guix)
 Camp semàntic de la casa: falsa (golfa), lluna (pati interior)
 Camp semàntic de les activitats i utensilis domèstics: poal (galleda), badil (recogedor), escobar (escombrar), jorear (airejar), rujiar (ruixar)
 Camp semàntic del menjar: laminero (llaminer), niquitoso (dengoso), farinetas (gachas de farina de blat de moro), sunsirse (quedar-se sec, sense aigua), abadejo (bacallà), arguellarse (desmedrarse), esbafarse (quedar-se sense gas)
 Camp semàntic de les parts del cos: melico/meligo (melic), ancón (maluc), arpa (cama), tubillo (turmell), rudilla/rodeta (genoll), morros (llavis) per a persones; coda (cua), lleuger (pulmó) per a animals
 Camp semàntic de la comunicació: charrar (parlar), embolicar (embolicar, enganyar, entabanar)
 Camp semàntic de l'aigua: chipiar (mullar, calar), capuzar (ficar en l'aigua (de cap))
 Camp dels insults: fato (ximple), carnuz (ruin)
 Camp semàntic dels oficis: yesaire (yesero, guixaire)
 Paraules formades amb el prefix típic aragonès és-: escachar (xafar), esbafarse (quedar-se sense bombolles (una beguda)), escaparrar (llevar paparres)
 Expressions idiomàtiques pròpies: pa cutio (sense canvis, sempre igual), dar ferrete (molestar o desgastar)

Varietats internes
El castellà aragonès, com qualsevol varietat lingüística, no és homogeni. Internament, existeixen diferències dialectals. María Antonia Martín Zorraquino distingeix tres varietats internes o subdialectes:

 Castellà aragonès sud-occidental: és la varietat parlada en el sud-oest de les províncies de Saragossa i Terol. Abraça les parles de les comarques de Tarassona i el Moncayo, Aranda, Comunitat de Calataiut, Camp de Daroca, Jiloca, Serra d'Albarrasí, Comunitat de Terol i Gúdar-Javalambre. És la varietat més castellana.
 Castellà aragonès central: ocupa la zona central de les províncies de Saragossa i Terol, abastant les parles de les comarques de Ribera Alta de l'Ebre, Camp de Borja, Valdejalón, Comarca de Saragossa, Camp de Carinyena, Conques Mineres i el Maestrat aragonès. És una varietat intermèdia que comparteix trets de les varietats sud-occidental i nord-oriental.
 Castellà aragonès nord-oriental: abasta una petita zona del nord d'Osca (Sallent, Broto, Jaca), l'extrem nord de la província de Saragossa (Cinc Viles), un ampli espai del sud de la província d'Osca (Monegres) i la part oriental de les províncies de Saragossa i Terol (Sota Aragó Històric i Ribera Baixa de l'Ebre). És la varietat que conserva més peculiaritats representatives de resultats fònics típicament aragonesos. Dins del mateix, per la seva peculiaritat, destaquen parles com les de Casp o Chiprana.

Relació amb altres dialectes i llengües
És difícil precisar l'extensió i importància de l'idioma aragonès medieval. Diversos investigadors ho relacionen amb les varietats del castellà frontereres amb el català, especialment amb l'anomenat xurro de les comarques valencianes nord-occidentals, arribant fins i tot la seva possible influència del castellà murcià.

Situació actual i tendència futura
En l'actualitat, el castellà aragonès està perdent gran part dels seus trets dialectals propis. Això és degut en gran part, al procés d'uniformització dialectal del castellà peninsular que existeix avui dia. L'educació, els mitjans de comunicació i l'administració d'Aragó faciliten avui dia només l'ús del castellà estàndard, quedant restringit l'ús del castellà aragonès per a l'àmbit col·loquial i informal.

A més, els trets dialectals aragonesos són, sovint, vists per alguns aragonesos com a vulgars, poc prestigiosos o regionalment marcats i estan essent substituïts a poc a poc per formes més generals i menys marcades del castellà peninsular. Aquesta situació, habitual en moltes comunitats lingüístiques, té similituds amb el fenomen lingüístic de la diglòssia.

Referències

Bibliografia

Dialectes del castellà

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text:
Greece: Protesters decry 20-year sentences for monks in Molotov cocktail incident
February 1, 2017 at 14:42 GMT +00:00 · Published
Ultra-Orthodox believers gathered outside Parliament in Athens, Wednesday, to protest prison terms imposed on eight monks of the Esphigmenou Monastery who used Molotov cocktails against police officers during an eviction of the order's administrative offices in 2013.
Golden Dawn MP Giannis Lagos was also part of the rally, where flyers from his far-right group were handed out. One supporter stated that the state "should not prosecute" the monks and "leave the anarchists free."
A court decision on Jan 27 handed down a 20-year sentences to Abbot Methodios and monk Antypas for throwing a petrol bomb at police trying to evict their monastery. The other six monks were found guilty as accomplices and received sentences of ten years and four months.


text:
Q: How many regenerations does the Doctor have after The Time of the Doctor? In The Time of the Doctor, the Doctor says that he has a "new regeneration cycle". Does this mean he has another set of 12 regenerations, or just the one?

A: The series 9 finale, "Hell Bent", strongly implies that he has more than one:

 Rassilon: [preparing to kill the Doctor with his Power Glove] How many regenerations did we grant you? I've got all night.
Doctor Who Series 9 Episode 12 "Hell Bent"

However an explicit number has not been confirmed.

A: Personally if they stick to the same number as the old regeneration cycle, he would have 11 regenerations left...  According to what Matt Smith's doctor said was that he was reset... meaning to me that this meant that he was the first doctor in the new regeneration cycle... So when he regenerates that would put Capaldi as the 2nd Doctor in the new regeneration cycle.
As far as Moffat saying that The Doctor can regenerate as many times as he wants, that's only true if they allow him to keep getting more regenerations... And in truth there are ways to bypass the limitation of regenerating as well.  If you know the older Doctor Who stories, it's said that Rassilon is truly immortal so he has no need for regenerating...

A: The old 12th Doctor regenerated to defeat the Daleks, Matt Smith turned young after the battle on Trenzalore, back in the TARDIS he said two lines for the new cycle 1: "This is just a reset" 2: "It's a whole new regeneration cycle" so Peter Capaldi is the First Doctor to be in the new cycle.

A: Apparently, The Doctor doesn't know. In Series 8 "Kill The Moon" he stated he wasn't sure if he'd regenerate "forever" if the astronauts kept shooting him. Can't find the exact quote.
I know it's an old question with an already accepted answer, but it's worth noting this new information...or lack of it, if you will.

A: Probably! But technically nothing explicit was promised.
The general assumption is that he was given 12 new regenerations to play with (minus one now), but Moffat is well known for pulling "technically I never actually said" in order to justify his plot twists, so I wouldn't say it's an absolute certainty: "A whole new regeneration cycle" could conceivably just mean the one regeneration into Capaldi, really.

A: "A whole new regeneration cycle" implies that he got at least a full 12-pack, if we assume that it plays by the same rules as the old cycle did.
But assumptions like that can be dangerous where this series is concerned. It's possible that it might be a whole new kind of regeneration cycle, and thus it could play by different rules. Even if it still plays by the old rules, they've introduced so many ways around the limit just in NuWho alone that when the time comes, they can just pick another method or even reuse this one. Another thing NuWho introduced is the ability to use regeneration energy for things other than regeneration itself, so we can't even assume that there will be another 12 Doctors before he runs out again, even if he got a full and standard cycle. In short, we know nothing.
Moffat himself said that The Doctor can regenerate as many times as he wants, and as far as the meta-story is concerned, this is true. As long as it makes sense for the BBC to keep producing the series, they will write in as many ways around the limits as they need to. So while the limit may sometimes have meaning within the context of the story itself, I'm not sure it should be treated as meaningful outside the plot.

A: The easiest way to see it is thinking of Matt Smith as the first Doctor (replacing William Hartnell)and that he has another 12 regenerations ahead of him but not to confuse him as the actual first Doctor. Since Peter Capaldi however The Doctor now has 11 regenerations ahead.

A: It is a whole new regeneration cycle meaning he can regenerate 12 more times. If you remember when the TARDIS was in the human body, she said that "she has 30 desktop of the TARDIS" and when the doctor claimed "it has only been changed a dozen times" she said "so far, yes" which could mean that more regeneration are to come.

A: When the 10th has his hand cut off in the 2005's Christmas Special what does he say? "I'm still within the first 15 hours of my regeneration cycle". So, when the 11th mentions "A whole new regeneration cycle" he might be referring to a single regeneration.
At this point, everything is possible: single regeneration only, new set of 12 regenerations, unlimited regenerations, other number somehow... Nothing got written in stone. And even if it was, come the need they'd find a new way to extend that number.
I think we'll have to wait for the series for some development on that matter. What we know is that there will be new doctors as long as it is proffitable, so we need not to worry. Yet, wish we knew the specific details.

A: Come on now, he will regenerate as long as the franchise is viable  :)
As for the 'new set of lives' This new set of regenerations (judging by the first story) will be the politically correct set.  You will see women (very very soon) playing the doctor not too mention every colour of the rainbow.  And possibly shock horror an American in the role (all depends 'where' the viewing figures are).  And why not!  ..to the future horrah

A: The precedent set in the classic series, when the Master was given a new set of regenerations, was just that - an entirely new set.
The young Matt Smith that appears just before Capaldi does not appear to be a "new" doctor, so the logical conclusion is that the Doctor has another 12 regenerations ahead of him.

A: The Doctor said in the end of The Time of The Doctor "a whole new regeration cycle." That means he has another 11 regerations left.

A: We don't know. The writers intend for it to be unknown. Probably at least one more.
In Kill the Moon, the Doctor says he doesn't know how many times he may regenerate, and that he could very well regenerate forever.

You'll have to spend a lot of time shooting me because I will keep on regenerating. In fact, I'm not entirely sure that I won't keep on regenerating for ever.

And in Hell Bent, (the second most recent episode at the time of this answer,) Rassilon doesn't know, but implies the Doctor will regenerate at least once more. When he's about to kill the Doctor, he says,

How many regenerations did we grant you? I've got all night.

The writers were clearly very intentional about establishing that the Doctor has an unknown number of regenerations.
The show will never again have to deal with the problem of the Doctor running out of regenerations unless a future writer wants to make another story out of it. But in any case, we can be certain that the Doctor will never run out of regenerations for as long as the show continues.

A: He got at least one more, and probably a full set.
As of Series 11, Twelve (Peter Capaldi) has regenerated into Thirteen (Jodie Whittaker). During the final scene of Series 10, Twelve is rather ambivalent about whether he wants to regenerate at all, but at no point does he mention running out of regenerations. Thirteen also has not discussed it during Series 11, and out of universe statements by new showrunner Chris Chibnall have repeatedly emphasized the importance of accessibility to new viewers. Series 11 has heavily focused on introducing new characters and settings rather than returning to past continuity, so it's unlikely that they will bring up the "number of regenerations" issue any time soon.

A: A regeneration is when you take a new form, right? The doctor had 12 regenerations. When he was "born" he didn't regenerate into the 1st doctor, which means 1st reincarnation- 2nd reincarnations is one regeneration and so on. So when the 11th doctor(Matt) turned into the 12th doctor(Capaldi), he still has one more regeneration before he has used all 12 regenerations.
If what you say that he got a new regeneration to regenerate into Capaldi, the doctor would have only regenerated 10 times before he regenerated into Capaldi, which can't be right.
Do the math, folks.

A: I think Peter Capaldi is the first the new regeneration cycle Matt Smith was the 12th and final doctor if not counting John Hurt he will be still considered the eleventh doctor Peter Capaldi stays the 12th doctor so he has one more regeneration left or dies in the 8th series after the master returns

A: So in Time of The Doctor, Smith said that 10 aka Tennant was having vanity issues so he regenerated twice. I see the first as healing himself since he got shot by a dalek. And in Night of The Doctor, McGann was dying. The Sisterhood of Khan triggered a regeneration. They also said timelord science was advanced. And right before McGann changes he says physician heal thy self. So I see the War Doctor as Doctor 8.5 and the 8th Doctor as Doctor 8.0. So really Capaldi could be the last doctor, or the new first doctor of a new regeneration cycle. I myself believe that Capaldi being old means a whole new cycle and it will keep the series going on for a few more decades. Probably by 75th Anniversary or 100th Anniversary this will all be explained. Or it will all end with Capaldi.

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Space Center Houston is conducting a $5 million campaign to support the restoration of Apollo Mission Control Center.
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The restoration of Apollo Mission Control Center will feature the authentic consoles used to monitor nine Gemini, all Apollo moon missions and 21 space shuttle missions. These missions include the flight of Apollo 11 that first landed men on the moon, the Apollo 13 mission that famously experienced an in-flight emergency and 40 other space missions.
More than just a site where history was made, Apollo Mission Control Center is a symbol of the dedicated team that made history over and over. It did so through a process that continues to inspire generations of scientists, engineers and astronauts to tackle the technological and scientific challenges of today and tomorrow. Help restore it today!
In early 2017, the Webster City Council approved a $3.5 million commitment from its Hotel Occupancy Tax Fund as a lead gift to its longtime partner Space Center Houston to help fund the restoration of NASA's Apollo Mission Control Center. To motivate additional support, $400,000 of the gift was directed as a 1:1 challenge for a crowdfunding campaign to invite the public to help with the restoration and raise additional funds.
Space Center Houston conducted a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign from July 20 through Aug. 19, 2017. During this period, 4,251 people from around the world donated $506,905, more than double the initial goal of $250,000. Of the funds raised on Kickstarter, $400,000 was matched by the city of Webster through its lead gift. As of December 31, 2017, approximately $4.2 million of the campaign goal had been raised. Help us reach our goal!
Sign up for our newsletters and digital communications to learn more about this restoration as well as Space Center Houston programs, exhibits, special discounts and more!


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Snuggling up with a blanket and hot chocolate around the fire – there's something undeniably cosy about winter. While you're going about finding ways to thaw out your frozen bones, spare a thought for your elderly pets who need special love and care during the colder months.
As pets age it's important to keep up regular vet visits (twice a year is recommended), so that age-related concerns can be detected early, to spare your pet unnecessary suffering that is often intensified in the colder months.
These health issues can generally be treated quite easily, often with prescription medications and dietary supplements to make your pet more comfortable and allow him (or her) to manage the aging process with grace and dignity.
Watch your pets closely when it's cold. Some may spend more time sleeping inside, which conserves warmth and energy, but others that are more exposed to the cold (outdoors) may require a bit more sustenance to sustain a higher body temperature and support their higher energy requirements under winter conditions. But keep in mind that maintaining a healthy weight is crucial for older pets, since osteoarthritis is one of the most common disorders for their age group, and extra weight compounds the issue.
Complete nutrition and access to fresh water remains a top priority in winter. The nutrition that you provide for your pet can greatly assist some of the metabolic and body composition changes that are associated with old age. Generally, senior diets should be lower in calories yet still contain protein, fat and fibre but nutrient composition does vary to provide for his particular senior needs.
Also pay attention to dental care, by using either pet-specific toothpaste or dental treats to reduce plaque build-up.
The natural aging process makes body temperature regulation less consistent so, be sure to keep him dry, warm and preferably indoors during the colder months. If being indoors is problematic, give him adequate shelter and additional warmth – blankets and pet jerseys work well. Cats often seek warmth in weird and wonderful places, like underneath the bonnet of the car, so always check carefully before starting the engine and heading out.
Although winter days are shorter, help your best friend remain stimulated and in shape by maintaining a routine of regular (low impact) exercise. As he grows older he may also begin to lose his sight or hearing, which can be stressful and cause disorientation. To minimise this stress, remove clutter and put measures in place to prevent him from getting lost.
Above all, be aware of your aging pet – you know him best and if you notice anything out of the ordinary you should not ignore potential warning signs and rather get him to the vet for a check-up. Be especially aware of lumps; toileting or respiratory issues; changes in weight, energy, appetite or water intake; stiffness or limping and significant behaviour changes.
* Information provided by the non-profit Pet Food Industry Association of Southern Africa (PFI).


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