For the Christian, meditating on God's Word isn't optional; it's something you have to do consistently.
The Lord, in our opening verse, outlined the importance of meditation and what it'll produce in your life: all-round prosperity, and durable success.
Sadly, some Christians would rather meditate on the challenges they're facing than on God's Word, not realizing it's the Word that can put them over and above the challenges of life.
Always meditate on the Word, not on the problems or circumstances. The challenges you face, and the circumstances of life are not real; they're all subject to change. 2 Corinthians 4:18Open in Logos Bible Software (if available) says, "…the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
" The Word of God is the unseen reality, the only sure and dependable foundation in life; keep your gaze on the Word only.
Refuse to be swayed or moved by circumstances. See nothing else but the Word prevailing in your life, putting you over and above circumstances, and piloting you from glory to glory.
During your quiet moments, think on the Word! From thinking, mutter the Word; and from muttering, roar the Word!
These are different levels of meditation. Don't doze off while meditating; walk around in your room, and utter creative words that'll shape and align your future with God's perfect will for your life.
The world is full of negative voices and forces, but you've got to counter them by releasing the forces of life from within you; these are your faith-filled confessions.
You've got to create your fruitful and productive life—your victorious life—with your words. No one but you can do this for you. Meditation is God's recipe for success; do it consciously.


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to 26/6/2021
Ref : LL5345 - A190621
We highly recommend you arrive in Paris the day before this flight.
We suggest you to be at the check-in counter 2 hours before departure.
We highly recommend stay one night in Paris after this flight
From 19/6/2021
19 June 2021 Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen
Embarkation 19/6/2021 from 16h00 to 17h00
Departure 19/6/2021 at 18h00
20 June 2021 Kongsfjorden (King Bay), Spitsbergen
Arrival 20/6/2021
Departure 20/6/2021
21 June 2021 Nordvest-Spitsbergen National Park
21 June 2021 Nordaust-Svalbard Nature Reserve
22 June 2021 Sailing toward the ice floes
22 June 2021 23 June 2021 Nordaust-Svalbard Nature Reserve
24 June 2021 Soraust-Svalbard Nature Reserve
25 June 2021 Isfjorden
Arrival 26/6/2021 early morning
Disembarkation 26/6/2021 at 07h00
Innovative design, sleek shape and profile, refined interior decoration, friendly, intimate atmosphere: French designers and decorators have managed to give this ship a unique style and veritable signature of its own. Combinations of fine materials, colours and tones harmoniously livened up with touches of bright colour, elegant lines, discreet and subtle refinement… everything has been designed to create a unique atmosphere onboard, a veritable personality: the chic style and naturally relaxing ambiance of a veritable private yacht.
More about L'Austral

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Kampung Vietnam is located on Galang Island, and now becomes an uninhabited region that in ancient times this was the residence of Vietnamese refugees. Galang Island is located about 50 km from the center of Batam. To reach the island, the visitors have to pass through the bridge Barelang and several other islands first. From Hang Nadim Airport is located on Jalan Hang Nadim, Batam Batu Besar, the visitors can use personal vehicle.
The Vietnamese refugees, often referred as boat people fled to the Galang island due to internal conflict in Vietnam. The Indonesian government allowing them to stay in Kampung Vietnam and gradually repatriate them to their hometown so that now there is no more refugees in the region. Although it is empty, Kampung Vietnam now becomes one of the tourism destinations in Batam, that still has the same condition, complete with a variety of legacy.
Many relics of Vietnamese are still can be seen here. One of those relics are the boat that being used by the Vietnamese refugees to left the country and to avoid a civil war, to go to this island.
Kampung Vietnam on Galang Island is located approximately 50 km from the center of Batam. To reach this place, the visitors can drive and crossed Barelang bridge that connecting Batam Island, Tonton, Nipah Island, rempang, Galang and Galang Baru Island. The visitors can also use public transportation of Metro Trans with route service Jodoh - Galang with fares starting from Rp 5,000.


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Give the gift of cycling.
November 30, 2022 Peloton Magazine
In spring of this year, our parent company, Outside, Inc. launched Find Your Good and partnered with 14 nonprofit organizations that share our mission to get everyone outside in support of a healthy planet. We're hoping to raise $2,500 for our two partners in cycling, each working to bring the joys and health benefits of riding bikes to more communities. We need your help!
Bahati Foundation
Providing inner-city youth access to cycling, with the resources and support to foster success on and off the bike
The goal: New cycling helmets for 60 kids. Every $40 donated to Bahati Foundation will put a high-quality helmet on a new rider's head.
Grow Cycling
Promoting education, access, and opportunities that increase diversity, inclusion, and belonging in cycling
The goal: $2500. This will cover the costs of building almost 65 feet of Grow Cycling's new Los Angeles pumptrack, which will provide access to safe and healthy cycling activities for thousands of local residents.


From Gundam Mobile Suit Variations comes the Gouf of Colonel M'Quve. This was released as a 1/100 Master Grade version from the Bandai Online Hobby Shop, so yes, it is an exclusive. Kinda regal don't you think? It show cases the vanity of M'Quve with its gilded design. Of course, anybody who walks into a battlefield with the concept of camouflage far from his mind must be a really brave person or one who is very confident in his abilities or of the firepower he brings.


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Part (1) will be a lunchtime teach-in to educate people on the connected, current, local issues of tribal sovereignty, the proposed development and desecration of 188+ Sacred, Indigenous burial sites at the Citico Mound site on the Chattanooga riverside, and the gentrification/ removal of the adjacent, historic African-American Lincoln Park neighborhood. Details coming.
Part (2) will be an evening time march/ rally at a prominent, local, fossil fuel industry site to bring attention to the names of the black snakes in our area and how they are poisoning our waters and our future. Details coming.
#NoDAPL isn't over. Members of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe who have been suffering to protect the Sacred water and their ancestral homelands -- experiencing the most militarized, corporate police oppression of a mass of nonviolent/unarmed citizen activists in US history (700+ arrests under the attack of water cannons in sub-freezing temps, LRADS, brutal dog attacks, tear gas, rubber bullets, etc); they are not giving up. They are asking us to move the movement to all our homes. Here in the US, black snakes are everywhere, colonization still happens everywhere, all our water is under attack, tribal sovereignty is disregarded everywhere. It is for us to #StandWithStandingRock by standing like stones against these oppressions everywhere. Join us in action in Chattanooga, on this day of national solidarity.


Is Piers Morgan leaving Good Morning Britain?
He certainly makes mornings on ITV a bit more lively with his no holds barred opinions but is Piers Morgan set to leave Good Morning Britain?
There are probably a few people who'd like this to be the case but there is no doubt that some love to hear the presenters outrageous comments - even if it is love to hate.
Piers and his co-host Susanna Reid will be absent from the morning news programme for a couple of weeks as they take a break from presenting duties for the Easter holidays.
The duo will not be back on screen together until Tuesday, April 23, and will be replaced by some other familiar faces in their absense.
Regular GMB star Charlotte Hawkins confirmed on Twitter today that she'll be taking the reigns from Monday to Wednesday alongside Richard Madeley who has regularly filled in for the departing host.
Replying to a fan on the social media platform, the 43-year-old said: "I'm looking forward to next week too, I'll be presenting with @richardm56 Mon-Wed!"
Richard created quite a stir when he last hosted the programme when the regular hosts took another break in February.
Viewers were left amused by the 62-year-olds comments when he went "accidental partridge" when interviewing a naked Brexit protester.


When your doctor prescribes medication for you, you may have pills left over. Properly disposing of unused medications has become more challenging in a country where there are so many prescription medications. The traditional advice was to flush leftover medicines down the toilet, especially drugs that could be abused or harmful, such as OxyContin, Percocet, and morphine—but that means they end up in our drinking water. An investigation by the Associated Press in 2008 found that municipal water supplies in several areas were contaminated with antibiotics, hormones from birth control pills and other medications, seizure medications, blood pressure medications, and antidepressants.
Flushing unused medicine down the toilet isn't the only way that drugs get into our water supply. Medicines get into our water when people take them and then excrete them in their urine. Excretions of drugs that have been ingested and metabolized are somewhat less of a concern. However, conventional water treatment practices are not able to fully remove these metabolized drugs before they reach our drinking water. When some drugs enter the water supply, they are there to stay.
Another way medicine gets into the water is when people wash off ointments and creams. But what comes out of our bodies and off our skin is very diluted. When we flush medicines down the toilet we introduce drugs into the water supply in their full concentration.
How Can Drugs in the Water Affect Our Health?
The good news is that the amounts of drugs currently detected in drinking water are probably too small to have a short-term effect on human health. But, nobody knows what the effects on humans are of long-term daily exposure to drugs at these levels. We know, for instance, that chemicals in our drinking water that act like hormones actually do more harm to our health at low doses than at high doses! These chemicals (endocrine disrupting compounds or EDCs) are used mainly in plastics, shampoos, and lotions.
Much of what we know about regular exposure to low doses of drugs comes from studying fish and other animals because the same drugs found in drinking water have also been found in ground water and in wetlands, lakes, and streams. For instance, a study published in the Journal of Environmental Science and Technology in 2011 found that drugs in the water can accumulate in the brains of fish and cause changes in behavior. We have much to learn about the long-term effects on fish and other animals (some of which we eat) as well as on the environment.
If drugs in our waterways are affecting fish, could drugs in drinking water affect our children? Young children drink more water for their size than adults, so the amount of drugs they are ingesting by drinking water is much larger, pound for pound.
Are There Really that Many Unused Drugs Out There?
According the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 48% of Americans surveyed in 2008 reported using at least one prescription drug in the past month. This means that about 150 million Americans use prescription drugs at any given time. This could translate to hundreds of thousands if not millions of pounds of unused drugs per year. A recent drug take-back initiative organized by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reported collecting over 2 million pounds of drugs in 2 years.
Can I Toss Them in the Garbage?
The FDA recommends disposing of most unused drugs in the garbage by removing them from their original containers and mixing them with undesirable substances like coffee grounds or cat litter. This makes the medication less recognizable to someone searching for potentially dangerous drugs like painkillers in the garbage. The FDA also suggests that you put the drugs and coffee ground mixture into a sealable bag to prevent the medication from leaking. While this is better than flushing pills down the toilet, the drugs can still leech into the groundwater. For example, the bag or container can get punctured on the way to the landfill and the drugs can leech into aquifers below the landfill.
What is the Best Way to Dispose of My Medications?
Drug take-back programs are a great way for you to safely dispose of your unused medications. They are often sponsored by hospitals, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), or your community. The DEA holds a National Drug Take-Back Initiative once a year in over 5,000 locations, so be on the lookout for this and check here on the DEA website to find drop-off locations in your area. Many police stations also host drug take-back events or have drop-off boxes where you can leave your unused medications. Most pharmacies will take back your medications for a small fee.
The drugs that are collected using take-back programs are usually sent to pharmaceutical companies to be incinerated. Some research shows that incineration can produce toxic chemicals called dioxins that can be released into the air. The leftover ash is put into regular landfills so it is possible that it can leech into the soil and groundwater. However, compared to other drug disposal methods, take-back programs are still the safest way to dispose of your unused drugs.
What Else Can I Do to Keep Medicines Out of the Water Supply?
Why do we even have leftover pills? Healthcare professionals are usually required to fill prescriptions in certain units, regardless of whether or not you need to finish taking all of the medicine in the prescription.
Some prescription drugs—pain killers, for instance—are taken on an as-needed basis so you can end up with a lot of leftover pills. Doctors and pharmacies should develop strategies to reduce the amounts of unused drugs. Meanwhile, you can do your part by talking to your doctor about how many pills you expect to need and properly disposing of your leftover pills.
If you are buying over-the-counter medications, don't purchase more medicine than you can use before the expiration date. This will save you from wasting money and save you from having expired medicine in your house.
1. "How to Dispose of Unused Medicines." US Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2013.
3. "Fighting Drugs In Drinking Water." Fighting Drugs In Drinking Water | Clean Water Action. Clean Water Action, n.d. Web. 29 May 2013. <http://www.cleanwateraction.org/programinitiative/fighting-drugs-drinking-water>.
4. Kumar, A and Xagagoraraki, I, Human Health Risk Assessment of Pharmaceuticals in Water: An Uncertainty Analysis of Metprobabmate, Carbamazepine, and Phenytion. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology. 57(1) pp.146-56.
5. Vandenberg LN, Colborn T, Hayes TB, et al. "Hormones and Endocrine-disrupting Chemicals: Low-Dose Effects and Nonmonotonic Dose Responses." Endocrine Reviews. March 2012. Web.16 Apr. 2012.
6. Belluck, Pam. "Traces of Anxiety Drug May Affect Behavior in Fish." The New York Times. NY Times, 14 Feb. 2013. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/15/science/traces-of-anxiety-drug-may-affect-fish-behavior-study-shows.html>.
7. Bearer, CF. Environmental health hazards: How children are different from adults. The Future of Children. 5(2)pp.11-26, 1995.
8. "Therapeutic Drug Use." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC, 18 Feb. 2012. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. <http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/drugs.htm>.
9. "Drug Disposal – National Take-Back Initiative." US Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration. DEA, Oct. 2012. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. <http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/>.
10. Singh, S and Prakash, V, Toxic environmental releases from medical waste incineration: A review. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. 132 pp. 167-81. 2006.


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Telefónica, MTN announce strategic partnership
Spain-based Telefónica and South African operator MTN formed a strategic partnership that will place a strong focus on services for enterprise customers as well as the future development of new digital services.
The two operators have joined forces under the Telefónica Partners Program, an initiative launched by Telefónica in 2011 that the company said includes operators covering a total of 35 markets (or 48 markets including the 13 operating companies of Telefónica) in Europe, Latin America, Asia and Middle East. Including MTN, that number now increases to 50 markets, a Telefónica spokesperson said.
Under the terms of the agreement with MTN, the companies will work together with the goal of improving their respective standing in the area of enterprise customers, including services to multinational companies in each other's footprint, collaboration in machine-to-machine (M2M) communications and new digital products, and services targeting the B2B segment.
The two groups plan to cooperate on various strategic initiatives and exchange best practices to capture new industry opportunities. They will also enter in discussions on how to engage effectively in international wholesale, devices and network/IT procurement.
Other potential areas of collaboration could also include alignment in key technology projects in network and IT, new initiatives (such as mobile money or big data projects), and commercial and marketing strategies.
Mario Martín, industrial alliances group director at Telefónica, said the Spanish group "has a strong belief" in the advantages of scale and the pooling of skills that industry partnerships can bring.
"We are confident that this agreement will bring important benefits to both our groups," Martín said.
The MTN Group is an emerging market operator with 231 million subscribers in 22 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The MTN Group is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa.
Telefónica, meanwhile, said it has a "significant presence" in 21 countries and a customer base of over 327 million subscriptions around the world.
- see this Telefónica release
Telefónica claims EU first with launch of Cyanogen OS smartphone
Telefónica returns to revenue growth in Spain, but market appears unimpressed
Telefónica hopes Spain's new 5G lab will be a tonic for the industry
Telefónica and MegaFon extend strategic alliance first signed in 2013
Machina Research: Vodafone continues to lead global M2M market
Verizon hopes to launch standards-based 5G this year
Verizon plans to bring 5G to four U.S. cities this year and hopes to have standards-based equipment in place for some of those deployments.


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Home Fit & Fun Entertainment Kate Moss feels she's as famous as Katie Price
Kate Moss feels she's as famous as Katie Price
Violet Pereira, Mangaluru. Team Mangalorean.
Los Angeles, May 30 (IANS) Supermodel Kate Moss says her popularity equals that of reality TV stars Kerry Katona and Katie Price.
Despite being one of the world's most in-demand and highest-paid supermodels, Moss considers herself to just be a normal British girl who has made a success of her chosen career — just like Katona and Price, reports femalefirst.co.uk.
Moss says she's never been allowed to become arrogant because she's "from Croydon and if you get above your station someone will f***ing knock you down".
"Especially when my mum is my mum and my dad is my dad and my brother is my brother. You can't go around with airs and graces at all and I would never want to," she said in a video interview, featuring her being questioned by photographer Nick Knight.
When asked if there are many other celebrities with the same level of fame, Moss replied: "There has been loads. Kerry Katona, Katie Price."
Revealing how she reacts to her billboard campaigns, she added: "Sometimes I'm still like, 'Ooh look there's me.' I'm never like, 'Wow look at me on the bus.' You have to be a bit grounded about things like that."
Previous ArticlesPharrell Williams buys $7 mn Hollywood home
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Are you a green tea lover? Treat your skin to it as well and discover the positive effects green tea can have on your complexion. MARK facial soap with green tea is natural, handmade soap to cleanse your skin, remove dead skin cells and smooth the surface of the skin thanks to its gently exfoliating properties.
Green tea in combination with organic rosemary essential oil helps to regulate skin sebum production and effectively fights acne and blackheads. As a powerful antioxidant, it deactives harmful free radicals, helping to slow down skin ageing and wrinkle formation. Its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties efficiently shrink large pores and prevent skin infections or eczema. Oat and rice powder promotes healing of red and irritated skin and leaves it feeling silky smooth. The soap contains coconut, olive and castor oils that treat and soothe the skin.
Wash your face morning and night with lukewarm water and the facial soap with green tea. Rinse off thoroughly. Tone the cleansed skin with MARK face water Neroli / MARK face water Damask rose and use a moisturiser or MARK organic oil Coffee / MARK organic oil Lemongrass.
Green tea is very rich in vitamins and antioxidants which protect the skin from free radicals, UV radiation and sun damage. It strengthens natural lipid barrier of the skin and helps with restoring skin cells and wrinkle prevention. Thanks to its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects, it shrinks pores, helps reduce skin sebum production and prevent breakouts.
Neem has very strong antibacterial, antiviral and anti-inflammatory effects. It effectively fights acne, blackheads, purulent rashes and large pores. Contained antioxidants minimize acne and heal acne scars. Fatty acids and vitamin E in neem powder tighten the skin, preventing wrinkles and slowing down skin ageing.
Rice powder softens, soothes and hydrates your skin, leaving it smooth and velvety. It also acts as an antioxidant and slows down skin ageing.
Oat powder calms red and irritated skin and helps fight skin imperfections and eczema. It has a mattifying effect and leaves a smooth, silky feeling on the skin. It contains number of antioxidants and prevents wrinkle formation.
Rosemary organic essential oil has antibacterial and antifungal properties that protect the skin from external factors and help regulate skin sebum production.
100% natural product which does not contain any palm oil, preservatives, perfumes, colourants or any other synthetic chemicals.


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Lluís Marquina i Pichot (Barcelona, 1904 - Madrid, 26 de juny de 1980), més conegut com a Luis Marquina, va ser un director, guionista i productor de cinema català. Fill del poeta i dramaturg Eduard Marquina i de Mercedes Pichot, germana del pintor Ramon Pichot i la mezzosoprano María Gay, va ser un gran amic de Salvador Dalí.

Lluís Marquina es va casar amb Paz Jiménez-Encina y Quesada el 1926 i van tenir tres fills: la novel·lista Teresa Marquina, Mercedes i Eduardo.

Carrera professional
Marquina fou estudiant d'Enginyeria Industrial, carrera que va acabar l'any 1932. Fins al 1934 s'especialitzà en Enginyeria de So a França, on va treballar als estudis Tobis de París, i a Alemanya, on formà part de l'UFA a Berlin. A Espanya es va fer un lloc als estudis Cinematografía Española i Americana SA (CEA) establerts a Madrid sota la presidència de Jacinto Benavente. En poc temps, destacà pels seus coneixements vers la sonorització i va ser promocionat al càrrec de subdirector tècnic. En aquesta etapa va sonoritzar El agua en el suelo (1934) i Vidas rotas (1935) ambdues dirigides per Eusebio F. Ardavín. També es va encarregar de la cinta de Benito Perojo Rumbo al Cairo (1935) i de La Traviesa Molinera de H. D'Abbadie D'Arrast (1934), a més fou màxim responsable de la sonorització de diversos musicals.

La irrupció en el cinema de Marquina arribà de la mà de Luis Buñuel. El director de Calanda que en aquell moment dirigia la productora Filmófono li oferí fer-se càrrec del rodatge de Don Quintín el amargao (1935). La rebuda per part dels espectadors propicià la realització d'una segona part titulada El bailarín y el trabajador (1936), que ell mateix guionitzà.

Durant la Guerra Civil Espanyola es va fer càrrec de la sonorització del film de propaganda nacional Alma y nervio de España dirigit per J. Martínez Arboleya (1937). També treballà en el primer Noticiari de Falange Española. Més tard, es traslladà a Argentina on va codirigir La chismosa amb Enrique Susini i va coescriure Así es la vida del director F. Mugica.

En tornar a Espanya començà a treballar per la productora Cifesa. Amb la productora col·laborà fins al 1944 i hi realitzà diversos projectes. En destaquen dues coproduccions amb italià, una comèdia en col·laboració amb el seu pare i diversos melodrames.

Marquina patí una caiguda de popularitat que allunya el públic de les seves pel·lícules. De 1945 a 1948 no dirigí cap film. No obstant així si va actuar com a assessor de direcció.

El 1955 decidí fundar la productora DIA, que s'encarrega de produir diversos films de diferents directors. Durant aquesta etapa va produir Congreso en Sevilla (1955) de A. Román i Los maridos no cenan en casa (1956) de J. Mihura, entre d'altres. La seva etapa com a productor va acabar a principis dels seixanta. Llavors es va tornar a dedicar únicament a la direcció cinematogràfica.

També fou col·laborador de ràdio i televisió.

Filmografia
Director
 1935. Don Quintín el amargao
 1936. El bailarín y el trabajador
 1938. La chismosa (codir. Enrique Susini)
 1938: Celuloides cómicos (codir. Javier Poncela
 1940. El último husar
 1941. Yo soy mi rival (codir. Mario Bonnard)
 1941. Su hermano y él
 1941. Torbellino
 1942. Malvodada
 1942. Vidas cruzadas
 1942: Noche fantástica
 1944: Santander, ciudad en llamas
 1945: Sol y sombra de Manolete (codir. Abel Grance) (inacabada)
 1948. Doña María la Brava
 1949. Filigrana
 1950. El capitán Veneno
 1951: Manchas de sangre en la Luna (codir. E. Dei)
 1951. Quema el suelo
 1952. Amaya
 1953. Así es Madrid
 1954. Alta costura
 1954. Las últimas banderas
 1956. Aventura para dos (codir. D. Siegel)
 1958. Historia de un joven pobre (codir. M. Girolami)
 1960. Adiós, Mimí Pompón
 1961. Ventolera
 1961. La viudita naviera
 1962. La batalla del domingo
 1964. Valiente
 1968. Cerco de terror
 1968. Tuset street (codir. J. Grau) (no acreditat)

Guionista
 1936. El bailarín y el trabajador
 1939. Así es la vida
 1941. Su hermano y él
 1941. Torbellino
 1945. La luna vale un millon
 1947. Serenata española
 1950. El capitán Veneno
 1953. Así es Madrid
 1957. Madrugada
 1958. Historia de un joven pobre
 1958. Una muchachita de valladolid
 1958. ¿Dónde vas Alfonso XII?
 1959. Un trono para Cristy
 1959. Una gran señora
 1960. Adiós, Mimí Pompón
 1960. ¿Dónde vas triste de ti?
 1960. Maribel y la extraña familia
 1960. Navidades en junio
 1962. La batalla del domingo
 1963. Crucero de verano
 1964. A escape libre
 1966. Atraco al Hampa

Referències

Directors de cinema barcelonins
Morts a Madrid
Guionistes de cinema catalans
Productors de cinema barcelonins
Guionistes barcelonins

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Category Archives: Enrique Blanco
Carta Blanco: NFV at Telefónica
Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) is set to become one of the defining trends of the era in the mobile network. Spanish incumbent Telefónica is the first operator to lay out its approach to NFV and its plans are both detailed and aggressive. Mike Hibberd met with Global CTO Enrique Blanco ahead of Telefónica's NFV announcement, to learn of the changes in store.
Telefónica unveils comprehensive virtualization plans
Spanish multi-national operator Telefónica has unveiled a wide-reaching Network Functions Virtualization programme that it says will see it have more than 30 per cent of new infrastructure virtualized by 2016. The initiative, which will launch in June this year and has been named Unica (which is Spanish for 'unique'), provides a framework for Telefónica's "global, end-to-end virtualisation deployment," the firm said.


Megapoli.com.br website is scored 130 1Pagerank.com points (1PRS) This website Google PageRank is 0 out of maximum 10 and its estimated worth is about $ 8.95. It has potential to earn online around $ 0.15 US Dollar daily. Megapoli.com.br was registered 6 years 1 month ago (2013-03-01) and is hosted in North Carolina, Asheville, United States. As no recently active internet threats were reported, Megapoli.com.br is probably SAFE to browse.
A MegaPoli é uma empresa voltada ao ramo de toldos, cortinas, sombrites e coberturas em policarbonato. Procuramos sempre inovações e preços baixos a nossos clientes.


Page 51 - Gallery Design of Interior Architecture | Provence Calanques Dining Tables For 12. Extra Long Fabric Shower Curtain Liner. Iron Pipe Shelving.
collection of galleries from Interior Architecture like Dining Tables For 12. Extra Long Fabric Shower Curtain Liner. Iron Pipe Shelving. and other designs you might like Premium Laminate Flooring. Bathroom Shower Doors. Decorative Acoustic Panels. Narrow Entryway Table. White Bedding Sets. Soaking Tub With Shower. Wrought Iron Deck Railing.


Pro-Am Tournaments are held in 11 cities across Canada which include Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Mississauga, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Barrie and Markham. Choose the Tournament closest to you or travel to another Tournament destination across Canada.
Whether you have a full team, partial team or you want to register as a Free Agent, we've got you covered. Select your Tournament city and get registered today!
Over 90% of funds are raised online and Players raise an average of 20% more when they utilize their online fundraising centre. See the FUNDRAISE tab for more information on how to maximize your fundraising efforts!
All Players must meet a minimum fundraising requirement by puck drop to participate. At Hockey Helps the Homeless we support you by providing the fundraising tips and tools you need to exceed your fundraising targets. See the FUNDRAISER tab for more information on how to maximize your fundraising efforts!
Enjoy complimentary bag drop service, breakfast, lunch and dinner alongside hockey legends. All players receive a personalized jersey and participant gift before lacing up with the Pro's.
At Hockey Helps the Homeless we provide Sponsorship opportunities that meet the goals of your organization.
Hockey Helps the Homeless Tournaments would not be nearly as successful if it wasn't for our generous Donors. Annually, over 15000 Donors combine to give over $2,000,000 and we are incredibly grateful for your support. Thank you.
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List anyone and everyone that could donate to your Campaign – Friends, Family, Colleagues, Neighbors and Clients, etc. and then upload their contacts quickly and easily into your Participant Support Centre.


In Honor of Women's Awareness Month Science of Spirituality Presents Divine Beauty A Full-day Women's Meditation Retreat - for Women, by Women! Top women speakers come together to share the impact of meditation on them, their family, their kids, and their communities. Please note that male companions will be seated separately for the talks. Retreat is FREE of Charge. Includes complimentary vegetarian lunch. RSVP requested. Saturday, March 30, 2019 10.30 - 11 AM - Registration and Welcome 11-11.30 AM Introduction to Meditation Helena Toro M.Sc. Columbia University Industrial Engineer, Sustainability Management 11.30 AM - 12.45 PM The Hidden Hard Work of Happiness: Developing Your Forgiveness Practice Sara Schiffer Quality Assurance, Certified Professional Coach 12.45-1.30 PM Complimentary vegetarian lunch 1.30-3 PM Finding Lasting Peace through Meditation Zelma Chamberlain, M. Ed., Education Expert Retreat ends with an invitation to take up a 21-day Meditation Challenge to build up and strengthen daily meditation practices. For Details and RSVP: Please RSVP to 732-366-9009 ext. 3 or email NJinfo@sos.org Science of Spirituality is a international spiritual organization under the guidance of Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj dedicated to transforming lives through meditation. Speaker Bios: Sara Schiffer Director, Quality Assurance, Certified Professional Coach Sara Schiffer initially pursued her CPA and a life in Big Four Accounting and then transitioned into leadership coaching and training to help herself and others pursue joy at work. Sara, who has been meditating for over 25 years, has found that it helps bring more happiness to all aspects of life, from calming down before a heated meeting to transforming relationships to facing the big questions that face us all. Zelma Pierce Chamberlain M.Ed is a retired educator. With over 20+ years of experience working with a non-traditional population, Zelma has found that meditation is key to living a life of peace and love. Coping with stressful situations is not easy however meditation allows her the opportunity to navigate life's challenges with grace, knowing that all is provided under the protection of the Supreme Power within. Many have found her workshops direct, engaging and resonating with practical experiences that are enjoyed by all. Helena Toro, M.S., Sustainability Engineering Helena is a Sustainability Manager and Industrial Engineer with 12+ years of experience in business consulting and facilities and sustainability management in North America, Latin America, and Asia. She is focused on helping companies measure and improve their business practices by greening infrastructure and operations, engaging internal and external stakeholders, and planning and executing projects in a fast-paced environment. She is a meditation practitioner and shares her experiences via workshops and retreats in many parts of the US. FAQs Are there ID or minimum age requirements to enter the event? No. This form of meditation can be done by any one - from 8 to 80 years! Generally, recommended for kids 8+ years or older What are my transportation/parking options for getting to and from the event? NJ Transit Perth Amboy train station is a 10-12 minute walk to the meditation center. What can I bring into the event? Nothing! No yoga mats, no postures required. Just your presence. How can I contact the organizer with any questions? We would love to answer your questions and RSVP at 732-366-9009 ext. 3. What's the refund policy? It's a FREE event including a vegetarian lunch!
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text:
Brod nad Dyjí (until 1947 Kolenfurt; ) is a municipality and village in Břeclav District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 500 inhabitants.

Geography
Brod nad Dyjí lies in the Dyje–Svratka Valley. The village lies on the shores on the Nové Mlýny reservoirs.

Economy
Brod nad Dyjí is known for viticulture.

References

External links

Villages in Břeclav District


.. your dump file ..
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Leap into "Leap" by 30 year old American composer Benjamin Dean Taylor who's also an accordionist, ukulele strummer and dixieland trumpet player. He's been commissioned to write for The Omaha Symphony and was in town not long ago to take part in its New Music Symposium. At the tail end of the concert, KIOS-FM's news anchor Michael Lyon authoritatively evokes a lion and other zoo inhabitants in versifier Ogden Nash's whimsical verbal supplements to Saint-Saëns "Carnival of The Animals." Dmitri Shostakovich makes an aural appearance from when he was in his late 20s, penning a neo-classical, frenchified score for a Russianized stage version of Balzac's La Comedie Humaine. When even younger, Czech composer Leos Janácek created something rather light-hearted, the Suite for String Orchestra. Hints of his future folk-music inspirations surface. Likewise on tap is a friendly, gentle one-movement oboe concerto by Englishman Eugene Goosens. Expect to be charmed.


Dungeons & Dragons Online Forums > DDO News > Announcements & Contests > Thread of the Week: Collectors Cards!
View Full Version : Thread of the Week: Collectors Cards!
Dane McArdy and the rest of the community has created some really great collector card images, based on monsters, characters and creatures in the game! Check them out here (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=138929)!
Congrats on the thread of the week!
Well deserved ... Those cards are awesome!
I stole everyones Thunder this week.
I don't need any thunder!
Yes you have. I think you owe everyone involved a cut!!


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text:
Happy Alchemy, first published by McClelland and Stewart in 1997, is a collection of writings by Canadian novelist Robertson Davies. The collection was edited after Davies' death in 1995 by his literary executors: his wife Brenda and daughter Jennifer.

Happy Alchemy consists of various of Davies' unpublished speeches, book reviews and essays. It touches on themes, subjects and interests that were near to Davies' heart: in particular, theatre, opera and music.

The book
The book opens with a quotation from the English poet Matthew Green:"By happy alchemy of mind They turn to pleasure all they find."

Companion Volume
Happy Alchemy was preceded in 1996 by a companion volume, The Merry Heart.

References

See also
 Robertson Davies

1997 non-fiction books
Books by Robertson Davies
McClelland & Stewart books
Books published posthumously
Books of literary criticism
Canadian essay collections
Speeches


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text:
Visit > Events and Exhibits
Loveland Garden Club Lecture
"The Brother Gardeners: Botany, Empire and the Birth of an Obsession"
presented by Andrea Wulf
In this beautifully illustrated lecture, award–winning author Andrea Wulf, tells the tale of a small group of 18th century naturalists that made England a nation of gardeners. It's the story of a garden revolution that began in America with farmer John Bartram, who transformed the English landscape with the introduction of hundreds of American trees and shrubs. The lecture explores the botanical passions, obsessions, friendships and squabbles that knitted together the lives of six men that changed the world of gardening and botany. The six men included John Bartram, the cantankerous Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus and Joseph Banks who joined Captain Cook's Endeavour on the greatest voyage of discovery of modern times. Friends, rivals and enemies, their correspondence, collaborations and squabbles make for a riveting human drama set against the backdrop of the emerging British empire and America's magnificent forests. As botany and horticulture became a science, the garden became the Eden for everyman.
Andrea Wulf was born in India, moved to Germany as a child, and now lives in Britain. She is the author of several acclaimed books. The Brother Gardeners won the American Horticultural Society 2010 Book Award and was long-listed for the Samuel Johnson Prize in 2008. Her book The Founding Gardeners was on the New York Times best seller list. Andrea has written for many newspapers, including the Guardian, LA Times, and New York Times. She was the Eccles Brititsh Library Writer in Residence in 2013 and a is a three-time fellow of the International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello. In 2014, she co-presented a four-part BBC TV garden series and speaks regularly on the radio. You can learn more about her at www.andreawulf.com.
The cafe will be open for dinner prior to the lecture from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. A booksigning and dessert reception will follow the lecture.
Cost of the lecture is $10 for members and $14 for non-members. Space is limited. Please call (402) 346-4002, ext. 201 or email m.sears@omahabotanicalgardens.org to register and make payment by April 5.
This lecture series is made possible by a generous gift from the Loveland Garden Club, Garden Club of America.


text:
OLD DIARY LEAVES, First Series(1874-78)
MME. BLAVATSKY AT HOME
H. P. B. has been mainly dealt with public capacity; let us now see how she appeared in the home.
But first, does anyone know why she so much preferred to be called "H. P. B.", and so abhorred the title of "Madame"? That she should not like to be addressed by the surname Blavatsky, is not so strange when one remembers the facts of that wretched marriage, as given by Mr. Sinnett in his Incidents etc. It brought neither credit nor happiness to her, nor peace to the consort whom she, for a wager, tied to herself, for better for worse. Yet before she would marry the other Mr. B., at Philadelphia, she stipulated that she should not change her surname, and did not, save in the subsequent divorce papers, wherein she styles herself by her second husband's name. The title "Madame" she had a sort of loathing for, as she associated it with a female dog of that name that an acquaintance of hers owned in Paris, and which was specially disliked by her. I think the apparent eccentricity of calling herself by
MME. BLAVATSKY AT HOME 409
her three initials had a deeper significance than has been generally suspected. It meant that the personality of our friend was so blended with those of several of her Masters that, in point of fact, the name she bore but seldom applied to whatever intelligence was momentarily controlling it; and the Asiatic personage who was speaking to you through her lips was certainly neither Helena, nor the widow of Genl. Blavatsky, nor a woman at all. But each of these shifting personalities contributed towards the making of a composite entity, the sum of them all and of Helena Petrovna herself, which might as well be designated "H. P. B." as anything else. The case recalls to my mind that of the composite photograph—an apparently real entity, yet but a blending of a dozen or more—which Sir Francis Galton first brought to our notice in his Inquiry into Human Faculty. My theory may seem untenable, at first sight, by those who did not know her so intimately as myself, yet I incline to the belief that it is the correct one.
The routine of our life at the "Lamasery" was the following. We breakfasted at about 8, dined at 6, and retired at some small hour in the morning, according to our work and its interruption by visitors. H. P. B. lunched at home and I in town, somewhere near my law-office. When we first met I was a very active member of the Lotos Club, but the writing of Isis put an end, once for all, to my connection with clubs and worldly entanglements in general. After breakfast I left for my office and H. P. B. set herself for work at
the desk. At dinner, more often than not, we had guests, and we had few evenings alone; for even if no visitors dropped in, we usually had somebody stopping with us in our apartment. Our house-keeping was of the simplest; we drank no wine or spirits, and ate but plain food. We had one maid-of-all-work, or rather a procession of them coming and going, for we did not keep one very long. The girl went to her home after clearing away the dinner things, and thenceforward we had to answer the door ourselves. That was not much; but a more serious affair was to supply tea, with milk and sugar, for a roomful of guests at, say, 1 A.M., when H. P. B., with lofty disregard of domestic possibilities, would invite herself to take a cup, and in a large way exclaim: "Let's all have some: what do you say?" It was useless for me to make gestures of dissent, she would pay no attention. So after sundry fruitless midnight searches for milk or sugar in the neighbourhood, the worm turned, and I put up a notice to this effect:
"Guests will find boiling water and tea in the kitchen, perhaps milk and sugar, and will kindly help themselves."
This was so akin to the Bohemian tone of the whole establishment that nothing was thought of it, and it was most amusing later on to see the habitués getting up quietly and going off to the kitchen to brew tea for themselves. Fine ladies, learned professors, famous
artists and journalists, all jocosely became members of our "Kitchen Cabinet", as we called it.
H. P. B. had not even a rudimentary notion of housekeeping. Once, wishing boiled eggs, she laid the raw eggs on the live coals! Sometimes our maid would walk off on a Saturday evening and leave us to shift as we might for the day's meals. Then was it H. .P. B. who catered and cooked? Nay, verily, but her poor colleague. She would either sit and write and smoke cigarettes, or come into the kitchen and bother. In my Diary for 1878, I find this in the entry for April 12: "The servant 'vamosed the ranch' without preparing dinner; so the Countess L. P. turned in and helped me by making an excellent salad. Besides her, we had O'Donovan to dinner." He was a rare chap, that Irishman; a sculptor of marked talent, an excellent companion, with a dry humour that was irresistible. H. P. B. was very fond of him and he of her. He modelled her portrait from life in a medallion, which was cast in bronze and which is in my possession. What he may be now I know not, but at that time he was fond of a glass of good whiskey (if any whiskey may be called good), and once made a roomful roar with laughter by a repartee he gave to one of the company present. They were drinking together, and the person in question after tasting his glass, put it down with the exclamation, "Pah! what bad whiskey that is!" O'Donovan, turning to him with solemn gravity, laid a hand upon his arm and said: "Don't, don't say that. There is no
bad whiskey, but some is better than other." He was a Roman Catholic by birth, though nothing in particular, it appeared, in actual belief. But, seeing how hot and angry H.P.B. would always get when Roman Catholicism was mentioned, he used to pretend that he believed that that creed would eventually sweep Buddhism, Hinduism, and Zoroastrianism from the face of the earth. Although he played this trick on her twenty times, H. P. B. was invariably caught again in the trap whenever O'Donovan set it for her. She would fume and swear, and call him an incurable idiot and other pet names, but to no purpose: he would sit and smoke in dignified silence, without changing face, as if he were listening to a dramatic recitation in which the speaker's own feelings had no share. When she had talked and shouted herself out of breath, he would slowly turn his head towards some neighbour and say: "She speaks well, doesn't she; but she don't believe that; it is only her repartee. She will be a good Catholic some day." And then, when H. P. B. exploded at this crowning audacity, and made as if to throw something at him, he would slip away to the kitchen and make himself a cup of tea! I have known him bring friends there just to enjoy this species of bear-baiting; but H. P. B. never nourished malice, and after relieving herself of a certain number of objurgations, would be as friendly as ever with her inveterate teaser.
One of our frequent and most appreciated visitors was Prof. Alexander Wilder, a quaint personality, the type of the very large class of self-educated American
yeomanry; men of the forceful quality of the Puritan Fathers; men of brain and thought, intensely independent, very versatile, very honest, very plucky and patriotic. Prof. Wilder and I have been friends since before the Rebellion, and I have always held him in the highest esteem. His head is full of knowledge, which he readily imparts to appreciative listeners. He is not a college-bred or city-bred man, I fancy, but if one wants sound ideas upon the migration of races and symbols, the esoteric meaning of Greek philosophy, the value of Hebrew or Greek texts, or the merits and demerits of various schools of medicine, he can give them as well as the most finished graduate. A tall, lank man of the Lincoln type, with a noble, dome-like head, thin jaws, grey hair, and language filled with quaint Saxon-Americanisms. He used to come and talk by the hour with H.P.B., often lying recumbent on the sofa, with—as she used to say—"one long leg resting on the chandelier, the other on the mantel-piece." And she, as stout as he was thin, as voluble as he was sententious and epigrammatic, smoking innumerable cigarettes and brilliantly sustaining her share of the conversation. She got him to write out many of his ideas to use in Isis, and they will be found there quoted. The hours would slip by without notice until he sometimes found himself too late for the last train to Newark, and would have to stop in town all night. I think that, of all our visitors, he cared about the least of all for H. P. B.'s psychical phenomena: he believed in their scientific possibility and
did not doubt her possession of them, but philosophy was his idol, and the wonders of mediumship and adeptship interested him only in the abstract.
Yet some of H.P.B.'s phenomena were strange enough, in all conscience. Besides those heretofore described, I find mention of others in my Diary, among them this curious one:
I met one day in the lower part of the city (New York) an acquaintance with whom I stopped for a few moments to chat. He was very prejudiced against H. P. B., and spoke very harshly against her, keeping to his opinion despite all I could say. At last he used such objectionable language that, in sheer disgust, I hastily left him and went on my way. I go home as usual in time for dinner, and went to my room—the one marked "G" on the plan given in Chapter XXIV was then my sleeping apartment—to make my toilet. H. P. B. came along the passage to the open door, and from thence bade me good evening. The washing-stand was in the N. W. corner, opposite the door, and the "hard-finished" white wall above it uncovered with pictures or anything. After finishing my washing I turned towards the shaving-stand, behind me and just in front of the window, to brush my hair, when I saw something of a green colour reflected in the glass. A second glance showed it to be a sheet of green paper with writing upon it, and to be attached to the wall just over the washing-stand where I had the moment before been occupied without seeing anything save the blank wall before my eyes. I found
the paper attached to the plastering by pins at the four corners, and the writing to be a number of Oriental texts from Dhammapâda and Sûtras, written in a peculiar style and signed at the lower corner by one of the Masters. The verses were reproaches to my address for having allowed H.P.B. to be reviled without defending her; unmistakably referring to my encounter down town with the person I had met, although no names were mentioned. I had not been five minutes in the house since my return, had spoken to nobody about the incident, nor exchanged with anyone in the house more than the few words of greeting with H. P. B. from the door of my room. In fact, the incident had passed out of my mind. This is one of those phenomena of the higher class which involve the power of thought-reading, or clairaudience at a distance, and either that of producing written documents without contact, or of writing them in the ordinary way, attaching them to the wall before my return home, and then inhibiting my sight so as to make them invisible for the moment, but visible the next instant by the restoration to me of my normal vision. This seems the more probable explanation of the two, yet, even then see how fine is the phenomenon, first, in the clairaudience at the distance of three miles, and then in the inhibition of my sight without arousing the slightest suspicion in my mind of the trick being played upon me. I had carefully kept this green paper until 1891, when it was with me on my round-the-world tour, and was appropriated by somebody without my permission.
I should be glad to recover it. Another production of H. P. B.'s has disappeared along with it. It is a caricature representing my supposed ordeal of initiation into the school of adepts, and most comical picture it is. In the lower foreground I stand with a Hindu fehta (turban) as my only article of dress, undergoing a catechetical examination by Master K. H. In the lower right-hand corner a detached hand holds in space a bottle of spirits, and a bony bayadere, who looks like a starved Irish peasant in a time of potato-blight, is dancing a pas de fascination. In the upper corner H. P. B., wearing a New Jersey sunhood and Deccanee men's turn-up shoes, and carrying a bell-shaped umbrella with a flag marked "Jack" streaming from its point, bestrides an elephant and holds out a mammoth hand to "control the elements" for my helping, while another Master stands beside the elephant watching my ordeal. A funny little elemental in a cotton nightcap and holding a lighted candle, says, "My stars! what's that?" from a perch on K. H.'s "shoulder, and a series of absurd questions and answers written below my Interrogator's book, complete the nonsensical satire. From this description the reader may judge of the joviality of H. P. B.'s temperament at that period, and of the kindly license allowed us in our dealings with the Teachers. The mere thought of such irreverence will doubtless make cold chills to run down the spines of some of H. P. B.'s latest pupils. I do not know how I could better illustrate this joyous exhuberance of hers than by quoting the expression used
by a Hartford reporter in writing to his paper. "Madame laughed," he writes. "When we write Madame laughed, we feel as if we were saying Laughter was present! for of all clear, mirthful, rollicking laughter that we ever heard, here is the very essence. She seems, indeed, the Genius of the mood she displays at all times, so intense is her vitality." This was the tone of our household; and her mirthfulness, epigrammatic wit, brilliance of conversation, caressing friendliness to those she liked or wanted to have like her, fund of anecdote and, chiefest attraction to most of her callers, her amazing psychical phenomena—made the "Lamasery" the most attractive salon of the metropolis from 1876 to the close of 1878.
A very interesting phenomenon is that of duplication of objects, the making of two or more out of one. I have given some instances above, and here is another which was described in the New York correspondence of the Hartford Daily Times of December 2, 1878. The correspondent passes an evening with us and meets a number of other visitors, from one of whom, an English artist, he gets the following story of what he saw H. P. B. do:
"I know it will seem incredible to you, my dear fellow," said my friend, "for it does to me as I look back upon it; yet, at the same time, I know my senses could not have deceived me. Besides, another gentleman was with me at the time. I have seen Madame create things." "Create things!" I cried. "Yes, create things,—produce them from nothing. I can tell you of two instances.
"Madame, my friend, and myself were out one day looking about the stores, when she said she desired some of these illuminated alphabets which come in sheets, like the painted sheets of little birds, flowers, animals, and other figures, so popular for decorating pottery and vases. She was making a scrap-book, and wished to arrange her little page in these pretty colored letters. Well, we hunted everywhere but could not find any, until at last we found just one sheet, containing the twenty-six letters, somewhere on Sixth Avenue. Madame bought that one and we went home. She wanted several, of course, but not finding them proceeded to use what she could of this. My friend and I sat down beside her little table, while she got her scrap-book and busily began to paste her letters in. By and bye she exclaimed, petulantly, 'I want two S's, two P's, and two A's'. I said, 'Madame, I will go and search for them down town. I presume I can find them somewhere.'
"'No, you need not,'" she answered. Then, suddenly looking up, said, 'Do you wish to see me make some? '
"'Make some? How? Paint some?'
"'No, make some exactly like these.'
"'But how is that possible? These are printed by machinery.'
"'It is possible—see!'
"She put her finger upon the S and looked upon it. She looked at it with infinite intensity. Her brow ridged out. She seemed the very spirit of will. In about half a minute she smiled, lifted her finger, took up two S's
exactly alike, exclaiming, 'It is done!' She did the same with the P's.
"Then my friend thought: 'If this is trickery, it can be detected. In one alphabet can be but one letter of a kind. I will try her.' So he said: 'Madame, supposing this time, instead of making two letters separately, you join them together thus A—A—?'
"'It makes no difference to me how I do it,' she replied indifferently, and placing her finger on the A, in a few seconds she took it up, and handed him two A's, joined together as he desired. They were as if stamped from the same piece of paper. There were no seams or (artificial) joinings of any kind. She had to cut them apart to use them. This was in broad daylight, in the presence of no one but myself and friend, and done simply for her own convenience.
"We were both astounded and lost in admiration. We examined these with the utmost care. They seemed as much alike as two peas. But if you wish, I can show you the letters this moment. 'Madame, may we take your scrap-book to look at?'
"'Certainly, with pleasure,' returned Madame, courteously. We waited impatiently until Mr. P. could open the volume. The page was beautifully arranged, and read thus, in brilliant letters:
"THIRD VOLUME, SCRAP-BOOK OF THE
THEIR TRIBULATIONS and TRIUMPHS
"'There,' said he, pointing to the S in Scrap and the S in Society, 'those are the letters she used, and this is the one she made.' There was no difference in them."
There was nothing out of the common in the furnishing and decoration of our apartment save in the dining-room and work-room—which was at the same time our reception-room and library all in one—and they were certainly quaint enough. The dead wall of the dining-room which separated it from H.P.B.'s bed-room was entirely covered with a picture in dried forest leaves, representing a tropical jungle scene. An elephant stood, ruminating beside a pool of water, a tiger was springing at him from the back-ground, and a huge serpent was coiled around the trunk of a palm tree. A very good representation of it is given on p. 205 of Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly for February, 1892; although the picture of the room, the Hindu servant bringing in the roast, and the dining party at table drinking wine, is ridiculously inaccurate. The room was not like the picture; we had no Hindu servant; we did not have a drop of wine or spirits in the house; our furniture was
1The reporter, it seems, trusted to his memory, and omitted copying down at the time the words of the inscription which—being before me at this moment—I find to read as follows: "Ante and post natal history of the Theosophical Society, and of the mortifications, tribulations and triumphs of its Fellows." The letters H.P.B. duplicated are the S's in "History," "Theosophical" and "Society," two of them having been made out of the third; the P's are in "Post" and "Triumphs," and of a smaller size than the S's. She seems to have quietly duplicated several other letters, for I find no less than eight A's besides other duplicates.
totally different from the artist's sketch of it. I have never heard of another wall-picture of the sort mentioned, and it seemed to strike all our guests as entirely appropriate in such a home as the "Lamasery". The whole forest scene grew out of the covering with autumn leaves, of a figure of an elephant cut from brown paper. I made another similar invention in the work-room. The entrance-door was in an angle made by cutting off a corner, and above it the wall formed a square of perhaps 4 X 5 ft. One day I found at a curiosity-shop a splendidly mounted lioness-head; the eyes glaring, the jaws wide open, the tongue retracted, the teeth white and menacing. On getting it home and looking around for a place to put it, this square of wall struck my eye, and there I hung my trophy. By an arrangement of long, dried grasses, I made it seem as though an angry lioness were creeping through the jungle and ready to spring upon the visitors who chanced to look up at her. It was one of our jokes to have new-comers seated in an easy chair that faced the door, and enjoy their start when their eyes wandered from H. P. B. to glance around the room. If the visitor chanced to be a hysterical old maid who screamed on seeing the trophy, H. P. B. would laugh heartily. In two corners of the room I stood palm-fronds that touched the ceiling and bent over their tips in graceful curves; little stuffed monkeys peered out over the curtain cornices; a fine stuffed snake lay on top of the mantel mirror, hanging its head over one corner; a large stuffed baboon, decked
out with a collar, white cravat and pair of my spectacles, carrying under one arm the manuscript of a lecture on "Descent of Species," and dubbed "Professor Fiske", stood upright in a corner; a fine large grey owl sat perched on a bookcase; a toy lizard or two crawled up the wall; a Swiss cuckoo clock hung to the left of the chimney breast; small Japanese cabinets, carved wooden images of Lord Buddha and a Siamese talapoin, curios of sorts and kinds, occupied the top of the cottage piano, wall brackets, corner étagères and other convenient spaces; a long writing table took up the centre of the room; some book shelves with our scanty library rose above its farther end, between the two Eighth Avenue windows; and chairs and a divan or two filled up the floor space, so that one had to pick one's way to get to the farther end of the chamber. A hanging four-light gas chandelier with a drop-light over the table gave us the necessary physical illumination; the other, H. P. B. supplied. A pair of sliding glass doors (seldom closed) divided the work-room from her little bed-room, and on the wall over the doors we constructed a huge double triangle of thin punched steel sheets. Altogether the room was very artistic and pleasing to its occupants and guests, the theme of many a description in newspapers and talk among our friends. No frame could have been more appropriate for setting off the bizarre personality of its mysterious occupant, H. P. B. Many were the pen sketches of the room that appeared in the American papers of the day; among them the following
by the same correspondent of the Hartford paper, from whose interesting letters the above extracts were copied:
"Madame was seated in her little work-room and parlor, all in one, and we may add her curiosity-shop as well, for never was apartment more crammed with odd, elegant, old, beautiful, costly, and apparently worthless things, than this. She had cigarette in mouth, and scissors in hand, and was hard at work clipping paragraphs, articles, items, criticisms, and other matter, from heaps of journals from all parts of the world, relating to herself, to her book, to the Theosophical Society, to any and everything connected with her life-work and aims. She waved us to a seat, and while she intently read some article we had a chance to observe the walls and furniture of this NEW YORK LAMASERY. Directly in the centre stood a stuffed ape, with a white 'dickey' and necktie around his throat, manuscript in paw, and spectacles on nose. Could it be a mute satire on the clergy?1 Over the door was the stuffed head of a lioness, with open jaws and threatening aspect; the eyes glaring with an almost natural ferocity. A god in gold occupied the centre of the mantelpiece; Chinese and Japanese cabinets, fans, pipes, implements, and rugs, low divans and couches, a large desk, a mechanical bird which sang as mechanically, albums, scrap-books, and the inevitable cigarette-holders, papers, and ash-pots, made the loose rich robe in which the Madame was apparelled seem in perfect harmony with her surroundings. A rare,
1No, on the materialistic scientists.—H. S. O.
strange countenance is hers. A combination of moods seems to constantly play over her features. She never seems quite absorbed by one subject. There is a keen, alert, subtle undercurrent of feeling and perception perceivable in the expression of her eyes. It impressed us then, and has invariably, with the idea of a double personality: as if she were here, and not here; talking and yet thinking, or acting far away. Her hair, light, very thick, and naturally waved, has not a grey thread in it. Her skin, evidently somewhat browned by exposure to sea and sun, has no wrinkles; her hands and arms are as delicate as a girl's. Her whole personality is expressive of self-possession, command, and a certain sangfroid which borders on masculine indifference, without for a moment overstepping the bounds of womanly delicacy."
It has been remarked above, if I remember, that what made a visit to the Lamasery so piquant, was the chance that on any given occasion the visitor might see H. P. B. do some wonder in addition to amusing, delighting, or edifying him or her with her witty and vivacious talk. In a pause in the conversation, perhaps a guest would hold up a finger, say "Hush!" and then, all listening in breathless silence, musical notes would be heard in the air. Sometimes they would sound faintly far away in the distance, then coming nearer and gaining volume until the elfin music would float around the room, near the ceiling, and finally die away again in a lost chord and be succeeded by silence. Or it might be that H. P. B. would fling out her hand with an imperious gesture and
ping! ping! would come, in the air whither she pointed, the silvery tones of a bell. Some people fancy that she must have had a concealed bell under her dress for playing her tricks; but the answer to that is that, not only I but others, have, after dinner, before rising from the table, arranged a series of finger-glasses and tumblers, with various depths of water in them to cause them to give out different notes when struck, and then tapping their edges with a lead-pencil, a knife-blade, or some other thing, have had her duplicate in space every note drawn from the "musical glasses." No trick bell worked beneath a woman's skirts would do that. Then, again, how often have people been present when she would lay her hand on a tree-trunk, a house wall, a clock case, a man's head, or wherever else she might be asked to try it, and cause the fairy bell to ring within the substance of the solid body she had her hands in contact with. I was with her at Mr. Sinnett's house at Simla when, all of us standing on the veranda, she made the musical sounds to come towards us on the air of the starlit night, from across the dark valley into which descended the hill-slope on which the house was built. And I was present when she made a bell to ring inside the head of one of the greatest of the Anglo-Indian civilians, and another to sound inside the coat pocket of another very high civilian at the other side of the room from where she sat.
She never could give any satisfactory scientific explanation of the modus operandi. One day when she and I were alone and talking of it, she said: "Now, see here;
you are a great whistler; how do you form instantaneously any given note you wish to produce?" I replied that I could not exactly say how I did it, except that a certain arrangement of the lips and compression of air within the mouth, the knack of which had been acquired by many years of practice, caused each note to sound simultaneously with the act of my thinking of it. "Well now, tell me: when you would sound a note do you think that, to produce it, you must pout your lips, compress your breath, and work your throat-muscles in certain prescribed ways, and then proceed to do it?" "Not at all," I said; "long habit had made the muscular and pneumatic actions automatic." "Well, then, that's just the thing: I think of a note; automatically or instinctively I work the astral currents by my trained will; send a sort of cross-current out from my brain to a certain point in space, where a vortex is formed between this current and the great current flowing in the astral light according to the earth's motion, and in that vortex sounds out the note I think. Just, you see, as the note you mean to whistle sounds in the air-tube formed by your lips, when you put them into the right position, work your lip and throat-muscles in the right way, and force your breath to rush out of this channel or lip-orifice. It is impossible for me to explain any better. I can do it, but can't tell you how I do it. Now try any notes you please and see if I cannot imitate them." I struck a note out of one of the tumblers at random, and instantly its echo, as if the soul of it
ringing in Fairyland, would sound in the air; sometimes just overhead, now in this corner, now in that. She sometimes missed the exact note, but when I told her so she would ask me to sound it again, and then the note would be exactly reflected back to us out of the Âkâsha.
In connection with the above read what Mrs. Speer says (Light, January 28, 1893) about the musical sounds that used to accompany M. A. Oxon.
"September 19th.— Before meeting this evening we heard the 'fairy bells' playing in different parts of the garden where we were walking; at times they sounded far off, seemingly playing at the top of some high elm trees, music and stars mingling together, then they would approach nearer to us, eventually following us into the séance-room, which opened on to the lawn. After we were seated the music still lingered with us, playing in the corners of the room, and then over the table round which we were sitting. They played scales and chords by request, with the greatest rapidity, and copied notes Dr. S. made with his voice. After Mr. S M. was entranced the music became louder and sounded like brilliant playing on the piano. There was no instrument in that room."
The musical phenomena were evidently identical with those of H. P. B., but with the radical difference that she produced the sounds at will, while in Stainton Moseyn's case they were beyond his control and most brilliant when his body was entranced. The Speer Circle had a great deal of these "fairy bells" first and last, and, some
very unconvincing theories given by the spirits to account for them. For instance, Benjamin Franklin's alleged spirit told them (Light, March 18, 1893, p. 130) that "the sound you call fairy bells represents a spirit instrument, one used in the spheres." Yet he adds: "We could do much more for you had our medium a musical organisation, but it is a bad one for music." Why, if it were to be drawn from an instrument? That is almost like saying that Thalberg or Paderevsky could play their instrument better if the gasman of the building were not deaf in one ear! We may safely deny the "spirit-instrument" theory, for we have the explanation in the fact that the more musical the temperament of the medium naturally, the more melodious the fairy bells can be made to jingle in his presence. Moreover, in the case of a medium, the more deeply he is plunged into trance, the nearer and clearer may be the tintinnabulation of the bells, bells, bells!


To thousand of ''night clubbers"' across the nation Melvin "Slappy" White need no introduction, but for the sake or those unfortunate few who have never had the pleasure of laughing themselves hoarse from his special brand of comedy we offer these highlights on Slappy's career.
Melvin Edward White, known as Slappy from Coast to Coast, was born in Baltimore Maryland, September 27, 1921. He began his career as a dancer and did not take to comedy until 1940 when he joined with a fellow hoofer and labeled his act the "Two Zephyrs". The '"Two Zephyrs" made the circuit together for over four years appearing with such notables as Lionel Hampton, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and many others. With this team Slappy was first introduced to Californian, making his West Coast debut in Los Angeles at the Orpheum theatre along with Louie Armstrong.
After "'The Zephyrs" came "Lewis and White" his second successful comedy team. "Lewis and White" traveled together for several years and appeared with such greats as Johnny Otis, The Ink Spots, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton.
The team with which most of his fans are familiar is "Redd Foxx Slappy White". "Foxx and White" toured from Coast to Coast with the Billy Eckstine Orchestra for over four years.
Slappy's career as a single started 1n 1951 when Dinah Washington requested him to introduce her act at the "Black Hawk" in San Francisco. Slappy was such a hit with the patrons, Dinah asked him to "get the folks in the mood" and he lengthened the introduction to 15 minutes, putting in some of his best jokes here and there. Dinah noticing the reaction of the listeners, and the abilities of Slappy as a single and assisted him in starting his single career.
Space isn't available to list all the places this Captain of the Comedians has appeared. Some of the more familiar ones are: Zardi's in Hollywood; the Sans Souci, Miami Beach; the worldfamed Apollo Theatre, New York City; the Howard Theatre, Washington, D.C.; the Patio club, Las Vegas; the Club Oasis and Pigalle in Los Angeles, and The Barrelhouse in Watts.
We must warn you at this point that people with weak hearts, weak stomach muscles, and above all weak kidneys should approach this album with caution.
And now, enough of this jive. Let's sit back, relax, and enjoy what Slappy has prepared for "Party Gags".
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Pandemic fails to dent appetite for cross-border M&A
Dealmakers have charged through the pandemic, completing transactions both at home and in foreign markets despite the challenges posed by COVID-19 and a level of disruption that has forced a rethink of the accepted M&A model.
Baker Tilly's annual Cross-border M&A Outlook report, produced in conjunction with M&A intelligence firm Mergermarket, finds a remarkable 95% of dealmakers surveyed were able to finalise cross-border deals in the past year, despite lockdowns and limited travel between countries.
More than half of respondents (56%) say COVID-19 has increased their appetite for cross-border M&A deals, which supports the flurry of activity expected throughout the remainder of 2021.
But the report also shows Dealmakers weighing the increased risks of the lingering pandemic against the need to pursue M&A as a means for growth and transformation within their organisations.
"The appetite for deals and the positive sentiment for cross-border action is heartening — particularly when you consider that enthusiasm builds on an already very strong first half of 2021," says Baker Tilly Global Corporate Finance Lead Michael Sonego.
"This comes despite the well-understood challenges: closed borders, travel restrictions, economic uncertainty and the immediate demands of managing the pandemic. Where deals are strategically important, people make them happen.
"Even a pandemic hasn't slowed the interest in M&A."
Cross-border M&A interest grows, despite challenges
The Dealmakers report highlights the shift in sentiment in 2021 compared to that seen in the last survey in 2019.
Before COVID-19, 78% of survey respondents were focused on domestic M&A opportunities. In 2021, that proportion fell to 37% as the collective gaze shifted back to foreign markets.
Dealmakers say they are looking towards Western Europe (49%) and North America (49%) for cross-border investment opportunities, with respondents preferencing reliable infrastructure, COVID-19 management and attractive target valuations, over riskier options in the developing world.
"Respondents have been attracted to developed economies that have been able to return to some semblance of normality on the back of a successful vaccine rollout," Mr Sonego says.
"Conversely, uncertainty around COVID responses, including a slow vaccine response and closed borders, have added an unacceptable additional layer of risk.
Mr Sonego notes that some economies, particularly in the Asia-Pacific, have struggled with limited vaccine availability.
"We can see in the reduction of interest in some key markets — even Australasia which has traditionally been seen as a safe haven for investment — that the perception of risk has changed."
The first half of 2021 has seen a buoyant acquisitions market based on values, with the highest half-year on record.
Deal values reached almost US$3 trillion in the first half of 2021 but volumes lagged slightly compared to the first half of 2019.
The positive outlook among respondents to the latest survey suggests global M&A will remain robust through Q4 and into 2022, as companies adjust to changed conditions.
Dealmakers are also hoping to see a return of previously stalled deals now that more countries are reopening and a new equilibrium has been reached.
Adrian Cheow, APAC Corporate Finance Lead and leader of Corporate Finance for Baker Tilly Singapore, says businesses that have adapted and adjusted to the challenges of the past two years are now poised to power through coming months.
But those that held back waiting for certainty are less well positioned.
"The push to acquire businesses in response to changing customer behaviour is a red flag for those companies yet to adjust to the new normal," he says.
"There's clear interest among dealmakers in acquiring targets that can strengthen business models by introducing new revenue streams or broaden the opportunities to engage with customers digitally or through new channels."
New business models mean new business
The pandemic has accelerated the trend to doing business by ecommerce and digital connections, according to the survey, meaning deep transformations are necessary, according to 39% of dealmakers, to be well-positioned for the post-pandemic era.
Survey respondents say it is unlikely that consumer behaviour will revert to old ways even when the pandemic is over.
As well as improving growth prospects, transformational M&A is seen to provide opportunities to rebuild an organisation around its core customers, enhance operations and reach new customers.
More than half (55%) say they have already made such acquisitions as part of digital transformation strategies.
In keeping with this attitude, the survey found more than half of respondents believe digital financial services operators will be a focus of dealmaking soon. They say many fintech start-ups in locations worldwide are reaching maturity, having proved their worth during the pandemic.
"For many businesses, the pandemic provided the impetus to bring forward digital transformations that had been delayed for years," says Xavi Mercadé, Chief Executive of Baker Tilly Spain.
"There has needed to be change in response to changing consumer habits, which can be seen in the rise of ecommerce, as well as the shift to remote or hybrid working, even the willingness to try new brands or experiment with different services."
Financial services and technology businesses were the natural winners thanks to that rapid transformation, Mr Mercadé says.
"Dealmakers see a market for companies that can compete in the neobanking, financial security, digital payment or value exchange space," he says.
"It's an area ripe for disruption with a very large, very new market of customers who will be expanding their spending in this space."
In the energy and mining sector, dealmakers say there is a push by companies to sharpen strategies and reassess portfolios in the wake of the oil price slump in 2020.
There is also strong and growing support for net-zero carbon emissions strategies, leading many corporations to shed non-core assets that may not align with their environmental and sustainability governance, or ESG, frameworks.
Several respondents noted that non-compliance to ESG parameters could be a dealbreaker with investors, staff, regulators, and financiers increasingly vocal about associating with companies who are not focused on good ESG.
Mid-market dodges a raft of regulation
Respondents anticipate that interest in mid-market targets will drive M&A activity in 2021 and beyond. More than half (53%), believe mid-cap sector will account for the bulk of deals.
Another 43% say the small-cap end of the market will attract most attention.
The attraction in both sectors lies in fewer regulatory barriers and the better value to be realised through synergies and reliable revenue sources.
Dealmakers also identified several key challenges in a post-pandemic world.
Chief among these is an acknowledgement that they face a dynamic and growing list of risks and complexities, some related to the pandemic and others stemming from regulatory changes and increased protectionism in some jurisdictions.
Almost half of respondents (42%) expect a longer, more complicated due diligence process will be their main challenge.
Most agreed that assessing the underlying economic risks and potential business continuity problems had made the process exponentially more complex and time consuming. As a result, 93% said due diligence was more important now than before the pandemic.
EMEA Corporate Finance Lead Olivier Willems says the role of due diligence continues to grow in importance for dealmakers, but it is also a more complicated process than pre-pandemic.
"There's a tension between the increased focus on due diligence — ranked far more important now than pre-pandemic — and the complexity of undertaking proper due diligence in the current market," he says.
"Dealmakers and sellers have had to be creative in how they capture and share information quickly in the absence of physical inspections, and some of that innovation will improve the speed of future deals."
Deal financing was also raised as a potential challenge, with 35% concerned about their ability to raise funds to pursue deals.
"The challenge to secure financing could act as a brake on some activity," warns Julie Haeflinger, Corporate Finance leader at Baker Tilly France.
"This is likely to be exacerbated in sectors where investors, banks or private equity are reluctant to engage in assets that have poor records in ESG. It is only going to get harder to find capital if there's a risk of damage to the financier's reputation."
Despite the concerns, there remains a sense of optimism among three-quarters of respondents that financing conditions will improve through the latter part of 2021 as governments continue vaccine rollouts and better manage the Delta breakout.


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Q: Protect against hacking / break-in attempts on servers I've recently set up a Confluence server in my home, and use CCProxy to route external port 80 to internal port 8090 that the Confluence server uses. But I see that every now and then unknown IP addresses appear in the CCProxy log. I guess that this stems from robots scanning random IP's for available ports to check for vulnerabilities.
I saw the same thing when I opened port 22 on my NAS to enable SFTP. Suddenly my NAS emailed me about blocking this and that IP address that had tried to access through SSH (which also uses port 22). In this case I just changed the SFTP port to some random port up in the thousands area.
But what can I do to protect against this? What is reasonable to do to protect open ports? Or can I just lie back and trust that the username/password login is enough to ward off hacking attempts?

A: You are correct, these are bots that scan for open ports and they usually perform a dictionary attack with known email and password combinations.
Given that they only scan on certain ports, you could change the portnumber to something other than port 80, and add that port in the url, for example: mydomain.com:8090 to make it work.
But if you setup that after 5 bad login attempts the ip address is permanently banned, you are safe too. You will get lots of these attacks in your log, and if your log is detailed enough, you will most likely keep seeing the same hostname or pattern reappear from a different IP Address. Do not even consider to only temp-ban.

A: There are lots of ways of doing this.
I'd suggest setting up a VPN and requiring access via VPN before accessing Confluence.
The next thing would be to use HTTPS.  If you put it behind a proxy, you could even require client certificates.
Using something like fail2ban and decent passwords will stop brute Force attacks, but not exploiting vulnerable code in Confluence if it exists (and my guess is that it might). Preventing access to the app altogether until done other verification has taken place must be better.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Home/Ginger/Tightening supply underpins Nigerian ginger
Tightening supply underpins Nigerian ginger
Nigerian dried ginger prices have shown renewed upward pressure of late due to problems with the more recent phases of harvest.
The country's November/December crop was quite successful but the later January/February crop has been summed up as being a failure.
In a March 14 market report French trader Sivanil/Touton Ingredients observed that "the last meaningful rain in southern Kaduna was in the last week of November." Moreover, the company noted that this was followed by the harmattan (desert winds) in the second week of November, which further spoilt the prospects for the crop in early 2014.
It was felt that Nigeria might have lost about 20% of the crop due to the adverse weather.
Robert Brandler of Tillbrook Products agreed that a good harvest in November and December was followed by problems more recently. "It's in the last three to four weeks it has really started to tighten. Also, it seems that the Ethiopian crop is not very good this year. There is a lot of cross border trade going on as the borders are open now," he said.
Production problems were exacerbated in January by wandering cattle.
There is currently a lot of tension in Nigeria's ginger growing areas between wandering Fulani herdsmen. Historically, many of these herdsmen lived in the northeast of Nigeria but they have fled from there in the last few years due to all the disruptions from terrorist activity. They particularly like the ginger areas as there is a lot of fertile grass there, which is grown to help protect the ginger crop.
Over the Christmas period Nigerian farmers stop harvesting and then switch to harvesting other crops such as sorghum from January. Typically, the ginger farms are left unattended during these times and the Fulani herdsmen invariably take advantage of this, sending their cattle in to feed off the dried grass.
Unfortunately, this can cause hoof damage to any of the ginger growing close to the surface, causing the root to dry out too much, and go rotten.
Hence, trade reports have indicated that there is a lot of damaged Nigerian ginger this year. It is thought that this might be mixed with better quality ginger for sale on local markets.
Sivanil explained that local buying agents were unable to gather enough material for storage to meet the demand during the season. Importers from India, Mali and Chad had been among those scrambling for what was left of the crop.
The company viewed prices for Nigerian split dried ginger as having gained by around USD200 per tonne from the levels quoted back in February and said that this upsurge had started in early March.
Marco Van der Does of Rotterdam company AVS Spice Brokers said the most recent price quote he had seen was around USD2,400 per tonne c&f.
Brandler said he had also seen shipment offers of USD2,400/tonne c&f.
Further upward potential
Van der Does added: "Nigeria is still one of the cheapest origins for ginger, so there is scope for the price to go up."
However, Van der Does cautioned that Nigerian prices would not get too close to those of China or India because this would turn US and EU buyers further away from Nigeria as an option due to the higher aflatoxin risks with the African origin compared with India and China.
Alexandre Bleneau of Sivanil agreed that Nigeria was likely to remain the cheapest origin even though further increases in its prices looked inevitable over the coming months. However, he pointed out that Sivanil was not experiencing any aflatoxin problems with the Nigerian produce.
He added that it was very difficult to evaluate the stocks held by local buying agents and farmers but suggested that this retention of goods could not last too long.
With the first rains of the year occurring two weeks ago, farmers were currently weeding their farms. Plantings for the next crop would probably start at the end of March or early April.
EU and US demand for Nigerian ginger had been limited of late but there was strong interest in the Far East, Middle East and Maghreb, Sivanil noted.
"The main European buyers anticipated this price increase and are covered on the nearby," Bleneau added.
Rainy season imminent
Brandler said: "Most people who are involved in Nigerian ginger will have bought by now. It's the end of the season and the rainy season is about to start. Speculators did not buy this year, so there is not much material locally, in the hands of the local merchants. A lot has been bought and traded in the last three months, so there is probably a reasonable supply overseas, the main demand being from Asia."
In addition, the quality coming out of Nigeria by this stage of the year was very poor. "There is a lot of uncut, second grade ginger," he said.
Nevertheless, a lot of buyers were still looking at Nigerian ginger as its prices remained cheaper than those of China or India.
Similarly, Sivanil noted that the increasing realisation that Indian and Chinese harvests were below expectations meant that Nigerian ginger was an attractive alternative, particularly in view of its continued competitive pricing.
Blair Coutts of UK trader Blair Impex remarked that it was not surprising to see Nigerian prices edging up of late as Nigerian sellers knew they were in an appealing position with the other key origins quoting substantial premiums over the Nigerian produce. Moreover, with Nigeria now citing production problems there was even more reason for its own ginger prices to increase.
In addition, Coutts revealed that certainly from a UK perspective he had not seen much demand. "A lot of people have already booked their material. Prices have already moved up but more contracts will be concluded at the higher prices," he said.
Van der Does felt that much of the demand side would be driven by India and the extent of its imports depending on its own crop and inherently strong domestic off-take.
Brandler predicted that prices at local level in Nigeria could gain by 30-40% over the coming months.
Nigerian dried ginger prices likely to stay firm
Nigerian ginger unmoved by dwindling new crop supplies
Indian demand helps propel Nigerian ginger prices higher
Asian dried ginger prices reflect solid demand for fresh
Lack of offers helps maintain firm trend in Chinese ginger
Supply pressure builds up in Thai dried ginger market