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Travel and border information for Norway in Norwegian / English

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SC: Central African Republic / MINUSCA

Statement delivered by Permanent Representative Ambassador Mona Juul in the Security Council meeting on the Central African Republic / MINUSCA, 23 June 2021.

Let me thank today’s briefers for their valuable insights, and let me also thank Secretary-General Guterres for his latest report on the Central African Republic.

Recent news from the CAR, including the latest SG report, is very sobering. Norway is deeply concerned about the increase in protection concerns, and the dramatic deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the country: Over half the population needs humanitarian assistance and protection. One third remains displaced. Half of the country’s children are out of school. And food insecurity has reached alarming levels, and risks getting even worse next year.

Crucially: much of this humanitarian crisis is man-made. Therefore, we see three important elements that must change to ease the suffering of the people:

First, the violence against civilians must stop. Human rights violations and abuses- including conflict-related sexual violence- must stop. Violations of international humanitarian law must stop. Violations and abuses of children’s rights, including the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict must stop. Targeted abuse and stigmatization of ethnic and religious minorities must stop.

And let me be clear: this is a message to all parties to the conflict.

Armed groups should lay down their arms and commit to DDR/R processes. But the national defence forces and their foreign instructors also bear a heavy responsibility. The Secretary-General is clear in his latest report, which states that: “MINUSCA’s investigations revealed that most civilian deaths from recent clashes resulted from indiscriminate, disproportionate, and excessive use of force by national defence forces and bilaterally deployed and other security personnel.” This is unacceptable: the national army and those who have been invited to support it should protect the people – not kill, rape and loot.

Second, the recent sharp increase in the number and the gravity of SOFA violations by national security forces- but also by their Russian instructors- is inadmissible. MINUSCA is an instrument of this Council. It must be allowed to do its work, and fully and independently implement its mandate. MINUSCA’s access should be unrestricted for the mission to truly protect civilians- as it is mandated to do. We urge all those with influence over the actors on the ground to help end the targeting of MINUSCA, and ensure the safety and security of UN Peacekeepers. Recent signals by the CAR authorities are positive, but we need to see an actual change in the field.

Norway also strongly condemns the targeting of humanitarian workers and infrastructure. We call on all actors to ensure unhindered humanitarian access.

Third, an inclusive political dialogue must be resumed. We need a reinvigorated Peace Agreement. We applaud the announcement by President Touadéra of the imminent launch of a “republican dialogue”. We encourage him to make this dialogue genuinely inclusive, addressing all legitimate grievances.

And we congratulate Prime Minister Dondra on his recent appointment, and are looking forward to the formation of a new, inclusive government. We call on the new Prime Minister to ensure the full, equal, and meaningful political participation of women. This could be a unique opportunity to put the political process back on track. We particularly recommend making use of the excellent AU resources to this end, such as

Norway commends regional actors also for their engagement. We applaud the intensified involvement from the AU, UN, EU and ECCAS. We appreciate the leadership the President of Angola has taken, and urge the government of CAR to honour commitments on dialogue and inclusion made during the second mini-summit in Luanda in April. We encourage the ICGLR to continue working closely with the international community in these important mediation efforts.

Let me conclude by expressing Norway’s deep appreciation for the work MINUSCA is doing, in very challenging circumstances. We are pleased to see that the reinforcement of the Mission is gearing up, following the decision of this Council to increase the troop ceilings. Norway has also decided to second civilian staff to MINUSCA.

SRSG Ndiaye, you and your team have our full support and confidence.

I thank you.


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Travel and border information for Norway in Norwegian / English

Traveling to Norway? - Register your arrival in our traveler registry
(About the registry)

Statement in response to the report by the Secretary General

Delivered by Minister-Counsellor Henrik Malvik at the Permanent Council, Vienna, 2 September 2021.

We thank the Secretary General for raising the situation in Afghanistan and highlighting the role of the OSCE.

Thousands of Afghan civilians - young and old - are once again leaving their homes in fear of their lives and future. The country and its population are facing a multi-layered crisis of very significant proportions. A sustainable end to the conflict in Afghanistan can only be achieved through an inclusive, just, durable and realistic political settlement that upholds human rights. We are especially concerned for the situation for women and girls, human rights defenders, media workers and civil society representatives.

The OSCE must support those participating States that now feel the consequences of the situation in the neighboring country of Afghanistan. We must build on the excellent work our organization through the field missions is already doing on issues such as border management control and the fight against radicalization and violent extremism, and further strengthen these efforts in the Central Asian region.

Norway calls for an immediate end to violence in Afghanistan, the restoration of security and civil order, and urgent talks to resolve the crisis of authority and to arrive at a peaceful settlement. We will support any efforts that the OSCE can support or shoulder to this end, in OSCE participating states and among Asian partners.

Thank you

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Internship Opportunity (Consulting Engineer) at Cisco, Bengaluru: Apply Now

Applications are invited for Internship Opportunity (Consulting Engineer) at Cisco, Bengaluru. Online applications are open on the official website.

About Cisco

Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational technology conglomerate headquartered in San Jose, California, in the center of Silicon Valley. Cisco develops, manufactures and sells networking hardware, software, telecommunications equipment and other high-technology services and products.

  • Recent graduate or on your final year of studies towards a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a technical field, such as Networking, Computer Science, Information Technology, Electrical/Computer Engineering or a similar field
  • Minimum GPA of 8.5 and above
  • The requirement is for 2022 passout only
  • Fluent in English (verbal and written)
  • Passionate about networking, information technology or computer science
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with ability to troubleshoot technical problems
  • Ability to multi-task, self-start, and work in a fast-paced team environment and the ability to work independently
  • Develop complex designs, implement Cisco leading-edge technologies worldwide and provide optimization services to the largest networks and customers in the world
  • Consult to solve problems that cross a broad range of technologies and determine the best solutions for customers
  • Review network requirements and propose designs to meet business needs
  • Build and maintain relationships with a variety of customers
Click here to apply for Internship Opportunity (Consulting Engineer) at Cisco, Bengaluru.

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JOB POST: Project Assistant (Technical) at IIT Roorkee: Apply by Aug 6: Expired

Applications are invited from eligible candidates for the post of Project Assistant (Technical) in Civil Engineering Dept. at IIT Roorkee.

Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee is a public technical and research university located in Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India, headed by Director Ajit Kumar Chaturvedi. It was formerly known as University of Roorkee and Thomason College of Civil Engineering.

Job description

Field data collection in Mahanadi (Chhattisgarh), Data entry, testing of water sample forsediment concentration etc.

Title of project

Replenishment study of Mahanadi and its Tributaries in Chhattisgarh State.

Sponsor of the project

Director, Geology and Mining, Chhattisgarh, Indravati Bhawan, First and second Floors Division-4, Atal Nagar-491002, Raipur, Chhattisgarh.

Diploma (3 years), or ITI with four years experience.

Rs. 25,000/- consolidated per month.

30 months.

How to Apply?

Candidates desiring to appear for the Interview should submit their applications with the following documents to the office of Principal Investigator through email, by post or produce at the time of Interview:

  • Application in a plain paper with detailed CV including chronological discipline of degree/certificates obtained.
  • Experience including research, industrial field and others.
  • Attested copies of degree/certificate and experience certificate.
  • Candidate shall bring along with them the original degree(s)/certificate(s) and experience certificate(s) at the time of interview for verification.
  • Preference will be given to SC/ST candidates on equal qualifications and experience.
  • No TA/DA is admissible for attending the interview.
  • The selected candidate may get an opportunity for PhD admission.
Application Deadline

Aug 6, 2021.

Dr. Z. Ahmad Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering,
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee- 247 667, (U.K.), INDIA

Tel:9012223458; 01332-285423

Email: z.ahmad@ce.iitr.ac.in

Click here to view the official notification for the post of Project Assistant (Technical) at IIT Roorkee.

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Recycle your Nudient packaging

We encourage all our customers to join us on our quest to a more sustainable world. Together we can all make an effort to make the world a better place. That is why we have started a collaboration with Bower, a service that allows you to recycle all of our used packages and get rewarded for it. Rewards that you can either use at Nudient or donate to charity. Pretty clever right? Bower is available in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland.

1. Open the App and scan the barcode on your empty Nudient Box

2. Bring the box to the recycling station. Confirm in the app that you are at the actual location. Place the box in the correct recycling bin. (The app will provide guidelines on how to recycle correctly)

3. You will receive a discount code to use for Nudient products. You also have the option to donate the reward to charity.


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Common respiratory viruses are on the rise; Tennessee restarts vaccine outreach after GOP pressure: Latest COVID-19 updates

Common respiratory viruses are making a comeback, and a particularly severe flu season could be on the horizon, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Friday.

Most common respiratory viruses – influenza viruses, common human coronaviruses, rhinoviruses and more – circulated at historically low levels in 2020, likely due to COVID-19 mitigation measures such as wearing face masks and social distancing, the CDC said in its weekly update.

But now, as those measures relax, some viruses have begun circulating at increased levels at an unusual time of the year, the CDC said.

"Reduced circulation of influenza viruses during the past year might affect the severity of the upcoming influenza season given the prolonged absence of ongoing natural exposure to influenza viruses," the CDC wrote. "Lower levels of population immunity, especially among younger children, could portend more widespread disease and a potentially more severe epidemic when influenza virus circulation resumes."

Not sure how to tell the difference between COVID-19 symptoms and the common cold? Check out our guide here.

Also in the news:

►Friday's opening ceremony marked the official start of an unprecedented and long-awaited Olympics amid the coronavirus pandemic. About 100 U.S. athletes still have not been vaccinated against COVID-1

►Minnesota Vikings offensive line coach/run game coordinator Rick Dennison is out of a job after refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, ESPN's Courtney Cronin reported Friday.

►As Georgia sees a surge in new cases in the past few weeks, Gov. Brian Kemp said the state will not be implementing restrictions and encouraged people to get vaccinated.

►Florida’s COVID-19 hospitalizations and cases again jumped significantly this week. About 5,300 Floridians are now hospitalized, a 65% jump since last week, the Florida Hospital Association said. Officials have said more than 95% of those hospitalized were not vaccinated.

►The delta variant is one of the most infectious respiratory diseases scientists have ever seen, said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, according to CNBC. "The delta variant is more aggressive and much more transmissible than previously circulating strains," Walensky told reporters at a briefing Thursday. "It is one of the most infectious respiratory viruses we know of, and that I have seen in my 20-year career."

►Nine firefighters battling the largest wildfire in the nation, the Bootleg Fire in the Fremont-Winema National Forest in Southern Oregon, have tested positive for COVID-19. They are being quarantined away from the fire camp.

►Students, teachers and staff at Chicago Public Schools will be required to wear masks indoors when school begins in August, officials said.

📈Today's numbers: The U.S. has had more than 34.3 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and 610,200 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: More than 192 million cases and 4.1 million deaths. More than 162 million Americans — 48.8% of the population — have been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

📘What we're reading: Panicked cities, states and towns pressed President Joe Biden on rescue funds during the COVID-19 pandemic. Months later, some are slow to spend the money. Read more here.

Keep refreshing this page for the latest news. Want more? Sign up for USA TODAY's Coronavirus Watch newsletter to receive updates directly to your inbox and join our Facebook group.

St. Louis to require masks indoors, again

In St. Louis and St. Louis County, every person five years and older – including those who are vaccinated – will be required to wear face masks in indoor public places and on public transportation beginning Monday, officials announced Friday.

"We’ve lost more than 500 St. Louisans to COVID-19, and if our region doesn’t work together to protect one another, we could see spikes that overwhelm our hospital and public health systems," Dr. Fredrick Echols, acting director of health for the City of St. Louis, said in a statement.

"The City and County health departments are taking this joint step to save lives, make sure hospitals can provide the care residents rely on, and protect our children so they can enjoy a full range of educational opportunities this year."

US to buy 200M more doses of Pfizer vaccine 'to prepare for every contingency'

The federal government is buying 200 million more doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine to prepare for future needs, such as boosters and shots for kids under 12.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration wants to have "maximum flexibility" to address changing conditions, and it’s "going to prepare for every contingency." The additional doses will be delivered between this fall and spring of next year.

It’s unclear whether booster shots will be needed for fully vaccinated people, but breakthrough infections attributed to the rapidly spreading delta variant have sparked a discussion. Most new coronavirus cases in vaccinated people have been mild or asymptomatic.

Iowa may have to toss out tens of thousands of expiring COVID-19 vaccine doses

Iowa might have to throw out tens of thousands of doses of coronavirus vaccine over the next six weeks unless public demand for the shots rebounds.

The Iowa Department of Public Health said Friday that 38,730 of the state's doses are set to expire by the end of July, and another 178,651 could expire by the end of August. Sarah Ekstrand, a spokesperson for the health department, said clinics and county health departments are trying to limit the number of doses that would have to be thrown out.

"Our local partners have been diligent in their administration methods, ensuring they use on-hand supply before placing additional orders," Ekstrand wrote in an email. "Counties have also worked collaboratively to redistribute doses within the state to meet the needs of Iowa communities."

Iowa demand for vaccine has continued to sag in recent weeks, despite rising case numbers and hospitalizations blamed on the highly transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus. Hospital leaders have said more than 90% of Iowans recently hospitalized for COVID-19 have been unvaccinated. Read more.

– Tony Leys, Des Moines Register

83% of US Olympians are vaccinated

About 83% of the U.S. Olympic delegation, which includes 613 athletes, have been vaccinated, said Jonathan Finnoff, chief medical officer of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. The International Olympic Committee has said it would urge participants to get vaccinated but not require it.

Since the Olympics were postponed, the coronavirus has been a constant shadow over the Summer Games, altering the landscape of the event and prompting concerns that it will increase the spread of the coronavirus in Japan before distributing it around the world. Others urge the Olympics could bring a hint of joy and relief after a difficult year for so many across the globe.

The Olympics have consistently made headlines for positive COVID-19 tests in the Olympic Village. "In the short term, excitement might occur and people will enjoy watching TV, cheering the athletes, and it might have a bit of an Olympic atmosphere," said Shinsuke Kobayashi, managing director of the Olympic and Paralympic news office for Japan’s Kyodo News agency, in an interview this week. "But I am worried about what will come afterward."

The arriving athlete delegations are expected to be smaller after organizers asked that athletes arrive no earlier than five days before their first day of competition to avoid overcrowding. The move is part of a set of COVID-19 countermeasures that will now be tested during the opening ceremony.

But public health experts have raised concerns about the effectiveness of the countermeasures, which have been planned for months and laid out in playbooks for participants.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey says 'it's time to start blaming the unvaccinated'

Alabama's Republican Gov. Kay Ivey drew fire on Friday after saying it was "time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks" for a spike in her state's COVID-19 cases, with critics charging she has failed to show leadership in tackling the pandemic.

Asked Thursday what it would take to lift Alabama's low vaccination rate, Ivey snapped to a reporter: "I don't know, you tell me!"

"Folks are supposed to have common sense," Ivey continued. "But it’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks. It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down."

Her remarks come as the U.S. vaccination effort is flagging and cases are surging because of the more contagious delta variant. Alabama has reported more than 11,000 new COVID-19 infections over the last 14 days, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. The state reported a positivity rate of 11.7% at the end of last week, up from 7.6% the week before. Read more.

– Taylor Avery

Tennessee to restart vaccine outreach after pausing over political pressure

Tennessee's state government will resume all forms of vaccine outreach, with the narrow exception of social media posts aimed specifically at children, after halting many forms of vaccine advocacy this month in response to conservative political pressure, the state's top health official said Friday.

Health Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey said the agency would resume outreach recommending vaccines for children and once again hold vaccination events on school property. Some events at schools will occur as early as next week, Piercey said.

The Tennessee Department of Health drew nationwide attention this month after exclusive reporting by The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY network, revealed the agency had dramatically scaled back efforts to promote the coronavirus vaccine to minors. The changes came after conservative state lawmakers lambasted the agency for promoting the vaccine to minors and proposed dissolving the entire agency to make the outreach stop. Read more.

— Brett Kelman, the Tennessean

3 states contribute to over 40% of positive cases

As the number of COVID-19 cases across the country is rising, three states have contributed to over 40% of all recent positive cases, according to the White House on Thursday.

White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said Florida, Texas and Missouri were contributing the highest number of cases, with Florida accounting for one in five positive cases for the second week in a row. Those states also have some of the lowest rates of vaccination, Zients said, adding that "within communities, these cases are primarily among unvaccinated people."

But in Florida and other states with high case numbers, he said, such as Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri and Nevada, people are also becoming vaccinated at greater rates than the rest of the country, an encouraging trend. "People in these states are feeling the impact of being unvaccinated and are responding with action," Zients said.

Nearly half the country has been fully vaccinated, according to the latest CDC data, but a rise in case numbers is being attributed to the highly spreadable delta variant. While breakthrough infections do occur among the vaccinated, Zients said 97% of hospitalizations and deaths have been among unvaccinated individuals.

COVID-19 booster shot could help immunocompromised people, experts say

People who are severely immune-compromised should consider getting a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, several members of a federal advisory committee said Thursday. The committee members added immunocompromised people should take other precautions like wearing masks and making sure those around them are vaccinated.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which doesn't have the regulatory authority to recommend a third shot, presented data at its meeting Thursday that suggested a booster shot was unlikely to cause harm and might benefit someone who is significantly immunocompromised because of cancer or who is on powerful medication to prevent autoimmune reactions or organ rejection.

"There is sufficient data to suggest that an additional dose would be helpful," said Dr. Grace Lee, a committee member and professor of pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine in California. Read more.

— Karen Weintraub

Italy to require health passes for public activities

The Italian government on Thursday approved a measure that will require individuals participating in public life to present health passes containing information about their COVID-19 status beginning Aug. 6.

The "green" passes will be issued to those who can prove they have received at least one vaccine dose in the last nine months, recovered from COVID in the last six months or tested negative in the last 48 hours.

People will be required to have passes to access public spaces like restaurants, movie theaters, gyms and sports events.

Contributing: Christine Brennan and Rachel Axon, USA TODAY; The Associated Press.


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endless playlist: february

tune out to our favorite songs of the month.

Since February revolves romance and love, it's time we devote the spotlight to our newest Band Crushes of the month. It doesn't matter if you're single or taken--right now, it's all about being in a relationship with your playlist.

So let's get started! From hip-hop hits to folksy jams, this month's Endless Playlist is guaranteed to be a match made in music heaven. Grab the leftover chocolate and start streaming below.


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Neil Rasmus/

obsessed: ruby jean wilson

the marc jacobs muse talks pajamas, hat hair, and her favorite snacks.

Ruby Jean Wilson left Australia to make it as a model in New York almost three years ago, and we think she's doing a pretty awesome job. After playing muse to Marc Jacobs for his spring '13 collection, she has been making the rounds at New York Fashion Week castings, as well as showing her dark side in Maniamania's fall '13 lookbook.

We caught up with the 19-year-old at the Modellounge X Microsoft--a secret underground lair where the models relax between shows, get massages, and sip on an endless supply of Smart Water--to grill her on her current obsessions, from Wavves to comfy jammies.

Creative Visualization by Shakti Gawain

I actually have this book with me right now, I was just reading it in the park. It's really good for visualizing what you want, staying positive, and keeping a good mindset. I read books like that often to remind me what's what.

Men's Loafers:

I wear men's loafers all the time because they're really comfortable. I like just plain leather ones. I have mostly vintage ones. They fit me really well, and they're really comfortable.

I've been spending a lot of time with my Australian friends like Nicole Pollard, Jemma Baines. The Australians tend to kind of congregate together a little.

Since I've had short hair, I've been loving hats. I guess it's because I don't have a messy bush of hair that comes out from the bottom anymore, so they're a lot easier to wear. I'm loving furry hats, bowler hats, printed hats, and crazy hats and accessories. I'm growing [my hair] out now so it's at a funny stage. It's been cool. It's good to know what you like for the future. Like... I probably wouldn't have a pixie cut for the future, but it was cool for a while.

Hair Care:

I'm lucky to have pretty good hair, but bleach and treatments like that really do damage it. I use Oribe treatment, which is really good. I take a collagen supplement too for my hair because I heard that helps strengthen it.

I've been listing to this band Wavves a lot. My sister turned me on to them--the music is really cool.

Always Having a Snack:

I always pack snacks with me because you never know, and I hate when you get to a hotel really late and there's no food to be found. I like dried fruit, nuts, easy stuff like that.

Good pajamas are a must. I love comfortable pajamas because it's nice to finish a job and get into something really cozy.

In my free time I'm either Skype-ing with my sister or browsing Tumblr. I follow lots of random ones, I like ones that post current fashion and current editorials. I get really inspired by that stuff. I follow NYLON too!

'60s Fashion:

I follow a lot of '60sfashion, I really like it and feel like it goes with my personality. I do a lot of vintage shopping, too.


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Signs of Aging | Obagi Skin Health

One third of the skin cells are dormant at any one time. Cellular renewal in healthy youthful skin takes about 6 weeks. As your skin ages the natural response is a slowing of cellular  renewal, creating an inbalance of new skin cells versus old.

Additionally, collagen and elastin begin to break down causing the skin to loose elasticity

Obagi aging skin treatments

Aging - Causes

 Aging is determined by genetic and external influences. Exposure of the skin to environmental stresses is inevitable, as are the associated signs of this ageing process; most commonly fine line, wrinkles, sagging and discolouration.
Obagi aging skin treatments

Reversing the sign of aging - Treatments

 The Obagi Nu-Derm® System is the number 1 physician dispensed prescription strength skin care system. It works by penetrating down the surface of the skin to transform the function of the skin cells at a cellular level and correct the damage from within.

Your Obagi Solutions :


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Animalkind: Remarkable Discoveries about Animals and Revolutionary New Ways to Show Them Compassion (Paperback)

Animalkind: Remarkable Discoveries about Animals and Revolutionary New Ways to Show Them Compassion Cover Image
List Price: $17.99
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The founder and president of PETA, Ingrid Newkirk, and bestselling author Gene Stone explore the wonders of animal life with “admiration and empathy” (The New York Times Book Review) and offer tools for living more kindly toward them.

In the last few decades, a wealth of new information has emerged about who animals are: astounding beings with intelligence, emotions, intricate communications networks, and myriad abilities. In Animalkind, Ingrid Newkirk and Gene Stone present these findings in a concise and awe-inspiring way, detailing a range of surprising discoveries, like that geese fall in love and stay with a partner for life, that fish “sing” underwater, and that elephants use their trunks to send subsonic signals, alerting other herds to danger miles away.

Newkirk and Stone pair their tour through the astounding lives of animals with a guide to the exciting new tools that allow humans to avoid using or abusing animals as we once did. Whether it’s medicine, product testing, entertainment, clothing, or food, there are now better options to all the uses animals once served in human life. We can substitute warmer, lighter faux fleece for wool, choose vegan versions of everything from shrimp to marshmallows, reap the benefits of animal-free medical research, and scrap captive orca exhibits and elephant rides for virtual reality and animatronics.

Animalkind provides a fascinating look at why our fellow living beings deserve our respect, and lays out the steps everyone can take to put this new understanding into action.

About the Author

Ingrid Newkirk founded PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), the largest animal rights organization in the world, with affiliates in eight countries, in 1980. She is the author of Save the Animals! 101 Things You Can DoKids Can Save the AnimalsThe Compassionate Cook, and several other books available in multiple languages.

Gene Stone has written, cowritten, or ghost-written more than forty-five books on a wide variety of subjects, including the bestsellers Forks Over Knives, How Not to Die, Living the Farm Sanctuary Life, and The Engine 2 Diet.

Mayim Bialik, PhD, is perhaps best known for her lead role as Blossom Russo in the 1990s television sitcom Blossom, and she starred on the top-rated comedy The Big Bang Theory. Bialik earned a BS from UCLA in 2000 in neuroscience and Hebrew and Jewish studies, and a PhD in neuroscience from UCLA in 2007. She designed a neuroscience curriculum for homeschoolers in Southern California, where she also teaches middle and high school students. Married to her college sweetheart with two young sons, Bialik is also a Certified Lactation Education Counselor. Visit her at

Praise For…

“Humanity’s survival depends upon our learning to live in harmony with all other species. The second law of ecology is the law of interdependence. Without bees, phytoplankton, worms and trees we cannot live; without dogs, cats, horses, elephants and penguins we cannot be truly happy. We are a part of them as they are a part of us and together we are the planet Earth. Ingrid Newkirk and Gene Stone have done a wonderful service to us all with their stories of kindness and compassion. The book is truly inspiring.”
— Captain Paul Watson, CEO and founder of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

“Thought-provoking... Animalkind will have you thinking about the creatures that share our planet — their astonishing capabilities and emotions, and the ways in which we could improve how we cohabit with them.”
Columbus Dispatch

“What Animalkind reveals only reinforces my belief that some of the most brilliant individuals you could ever hope to meet have fur, fins or feathers.”
— Alan Cumming, stage and screen actor

"We share this planet and the same kingdom with the animals and although we feel superior to them, they have senses that far surpass ours. This book shows how much we have to learn from them beginning with compassion, simplicity and unconditional love. It is a must read."
— Dr. Marty Goldstein, author of The Nature of Animal Healing

“With wisdom and eloquence, Ingrid Newkirk and Gene Stone remind us of what we've always known, but too often forget: animals are deserving of our care.”
— Jonathan Safran Foer, New York Times bestselling author of Eating Animals

“Compendious… Meant to evoke both admiration and empathy.”
— The New York Times Book Review

“This book makes the spot-on case that the future of laboratory research will not be based on four-legged or tail-wagging models, but rather on sophisticated, human-relevant and high-tech animal-free testing methods. As Newkirk and Stone point out, these modern technologies are delivering better human health outcomes and are benefiting patients, physicians and researchers.”
— John Pawlowski, MD, PhD, Harvard Medical Faculty Physician

“This is the book to buy, read, and give to others so that everyone finally sees why they should respect and cherish all animals.”
— Anjelica Huston, Oscar winning actress

“A resourceful guide…a treasure of greater compassion, integrity and awareness, Animalkind is both a moving compendium of animals’ remarkable intelligence and emotional complexity, and a manual of all the ways we can stop accepting and contributing to their slaughter and exploitation.”
— Joy Williams, author The Quick and the Dead and The Changeling

Animalkind is a much-needed antidote to viewing other animals as second-class citizens and offers a fresh look into the cognitive and emotional lives of other animals. This thought provoking and engaging book will change your view of who other animals are and how you should interact with them in respectful and compassionate ways. It could be a game-changer.”
— Marc Bekoff, Ph.D., author of The Emotional Lives of Animals

“Buy this book for anyone you know who harbors even the slightest doubt that animals aren’t super-clever or that there aren’t many ways to help them — because Newkirk and Stone show that animals are, and that you can.”
— Edie Falco, Emmy winning actress

"A fascinating look at animal behavior, as well as a treatise against cruelty toward animals... Newkirk and Stone’s informative survey effectively nudges readers to think twice about their own use of products sourced, perhaps less than ethically, from the animal kingdom."
— Publishers Weekly

“This emotional and informative book should be required reading for everyone! I urge you to pick it up and embrace its beautiful message of compassion and understanding. The time is now for all of us to fall in love with Animalkind!”
—Mike White, filmmaker, actor, and producer

“This book takes you by the hand and leads you, enchanted, into the wonderful world of diverse animal life.”
—James Cromwell, Emmy winning actor
Product Details
ISBN: 9781501198557
ISBN-10: 1501198556
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: January 19th, 2021
Pages: 304
Language: English


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Bathroom Remodel Costa Mesa

Your bathroom is one of the most important spaces in your home. You should feel relaxed, comfortable, and completely at your ease in it. If you have purchased a home with a bathroom that does not suit you, then you should have it remodeled.

You must work with a remodeling company that inspires trust and confidence. You should employ a company that staffs only the most qualified and experienced remodeling experts. OEG Construction & Maintenance has been in the kitchen and bathroom remodeling business for over 20 years. The company specializes in additions, full home remodeling, drywall installation and repairs, and flooring installations. We can carry out a complete refurbishment or transformation of your bathroom. We can also install custom-built or pre-fabricated vanities. If you want new tiles, floors, or shower walls installed, OEG Construction & Maintenance is the company to turn to.

The remodeling of your bathroom is a significant undertaking. Redoing your bathroom is the kind of investment that will make your home more valuable when it is time to sell it. However, the job need not be excessively expensive.

You want to work with a company that you can trust to be cost effective and get the job right the first time. OEG Construction & Maintenance is a well-established brand in the remodeling industry.


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Does Nexium (Esomeprazole) Cause Bloating? & How to Prevent It?

Does Nexium cause bloating?

Bloating is not a frequent side effect of esomeprazole (Nexium). Short-term use of Nexium (for a week or two) is less likely to cause bloating. However, Acid suppression from long-term use of Nexium and other proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) can result in overgrowth of the gut bacteria and subsequent bloating.

Bloating was reported in 43% of  GERD patients receiving Esomeprazole (Nexium) 20 mg twice daily for 8 weeks (reference). The condition may be related to Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO).

On the other hand, Many People with GERD and gastritis report relief of bloating with Nexium use.

Bloating during Nexium treatment is not necessarily related to the medication. So, It is important to investigate the cause of bloating with Nexium use. Read the next section to learn more about the possible causing of bloating during Nexium treatment.

What are the causes of bloating during Nexium use?

As we explained in the above section, bloating is less common when using Nexium Short-term or on-demand. But long-term use of Nexium may result in SIBO and subsequent bloating.

Nexium can cause bloating by:

  • Inhibition of gastric acid secretion: Stomach acid is an important defensive line against the growth of unwanted organisms in the small intestine and colon.
  • Untreated H. pylori stomach infection: Some studies found that using PPIs such as Nexium can flare-up H. pylori symptoms including epigastric pain and bloating.
  • Long-term Nexium treatment causing Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO).
  • Affecting digestion and absorption: Stomach acid is necessary for normal digestion. Decreased stomach acid may result in bloating.

Indirect causes of bloating during Nexium therapy:

  • Disease-related bloating: Some conditions that are treated with Nexium cause bloating. Gastritis, GERD, and peptic ulcer disease can cause bloating.
  • Other drugs causing bloating: You may take other medications with Nexium that cause bloating, for example: (ref)
    • Antacids such as Gaviscon, Maalox, Pepto-Bismol
    • Diarrhea medicines such as Imodium, Lomotil, and Kaopectate.
    • Fiber supplements and bulking agents such as Citrucel, Metamucil, and Fiber.
    • Multivitamins and Iron pills.
    • Opioid pain medicines.
    • Aspirin.
  • Misdiagnosis: Bloating is common with other conditions that resemble gastritis or GERD symptoms. Common diseases that cause bloating include Functional dyspepsia, lactose intolerance, gallbladder diseases, gastroparesis, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
  • Food-related bloating: Wrong dietary habits can lead to bloating during Nexium therapy such as:
    • Drinking coffee or carbonated drinks.
    • Eating fatty or fried foods.
    • Eating large meals.
    • Beans, onions.
    • Broccoli, cabbage, sprouts, and cauliflower.
    • Eating too fast and not chewing the food enough.

How to prevent Nexium from causing bloating?

1- Avoid long-term use without medical guidance.

Long-term use of PPIs including Nexium is most commonly related to bloating and gas. Avoid using Nexium OTC medication for long periods without medical guidance. Long-term use of Nexium can produce other potentially harmful side effects such as (reference):

2- Work with your doctor to reach the lowest effective dose.

Using the lowest effective dose of Nexium can improve the bloating. For example, using Nexium 20 mg instead of 40 mg. Ask your doctor about the best option that fits your condition.

3- Ask your doctor about Nexium on-demand use.

Nexium can be used on-demand to avoid its side effects. However, Stopping Nexium or taking it on demand can do more harm than good.

According to your condition, your doctor is the only one capable of determining what fits you.

4- Consider treating other causes of bloating.

As we explained to you before, Bloating during Nexium treatment can be related to other factors such as food, the original disease, or other medications.

Work with your doctor to define the possible cause of bloating and manage it accordingly.

Also, follow the below general tips to prevent and treat bloating.

Articles that will interest you:

General tips to effectively treat bloating.

  • Avoid gas-producing foods and drinks: such as beans, onions, cabbage, broccoli, sprouts, coffee, carbonated drinks, and alcohol.
  • Don’t eat too-fast: this leads to air swallowing.
  • Don’t eat too much at a time: small frequent meals are better than large one or two meals.
  • Take digestive enzyme supplements such as Lactase enzyme, and Beano (contain alpha-galactosidase enzyme).
  • Ask your doctor about Probiotics: Probiotics are living micro-organisms that can inhibit the growth of harmful gut bacteria and restore gut balance.
    Several clinical studies showed that probiotics can potentially decrease gas and bloating. However, the results were not consistent across all studies.
    Ask your doctor about a trial of probiotics if the other measures fail.

When to see a doctor for bloating?

Bloating is usually an ordinary sign of digestive problems related to gut diseases or medications.

See a doctor if you experience:

  • Persistent bloating of undiagnosed cause.
  • Associated with severe nausea or vomiting.
  • Severe constipation.
  • Abnormally severe abdominal pain.
  • Weight loss without explanation.
  • Fever, shortness of breath, or extreme fatigue.


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Clever and achievable strategy

Programs created for ROI

Collective events and talks

Outsourced marketing services

We started Oliver and York because we wanted to deliver campaigns that drive a positive response in people. We wanted individuals to feel what brands are about and be moved to act. Since 2014, we have worked with some of Australia's biggest brands as well as some of the best small to medium business owners and operators in the business. Our focus remains unchanged. We deliver class leading campaigns and programs that bring a smile to the faces of our clients and their valued customers.

We listen, activate, measure, celebrate for a moment and repeat.

Big brands and small use the Oliver and York Marketing Engine Room for a vast array of marketing needs, from strategy and consultancy to social media management and eDM distribution.

Oliver and York is a Public Relations machine ready to work on both big and emerging brands. We have the ideas, the contacts, the know-how and the attitude. Most importantly, we activate with return on investment in mind.

Oliver and York delivers impactful digital content and design services, creating clever and engaging assets for businesses and brands that drive outcomes and action. No big production overheads, just clever storytelling and design.

After working with one of New York’s largest Marketing Communication Agencies, Sues launched her career in Australia working with some of the country’s leading Marketing and PR Agencies on big brand and consumer campaigns including Disney, Nintendo, 7Eleven and Toyota.

In house Management followed within the Marketing Strategy team of a leading Australian retailer, working on large scale brand relationships including the establishment of Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food Program in Australia, The Block and Disney partnerships.

In 2014, Sues launched Oliver and York with ex-Telstra and KPMG Chartered Accountant Danielle Oorloff to bring to the industry a unique and business savvy approach to marketing, public relations and digital content campaigns.

To date, Oliver & York has grown to work with some of Australia's leading brands, including Carlton and United Breweries (delivering the launch of Carlton Zero, Pure Blonde Organic, VB 50 Years of Cheers campaign and Budweiser World Cup), BMW, Nissan, Great Ocean Road, Repco, The Good Guys, CGU, Huxtaburger, Jamie’s Ministry of Food Australia and Best Friends Pets to name a few.

Sues is also a current GDP with Monash University and has been a panelist for RMIT, educational bodies and is a regular speaker at industry events.

Meet Sues TONKS,

our Managing Director.


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Folding Knife Pipe Cutter Electrician Cable Cutter

49 in stock

SKU: 32510846957 Category:

WORKPRO Classic Utility Knife with 5pc Blades

Quick change mechanism
Lock-back blade
With five extra blades stored in handle
Lightweight ABS handle with blade storage
Stainless steel belt clip

Instructions for Use

How To Change The Blade

1. Push the head-cover of the blade;
2. Drop-down the cover of the blade;
3. Change the blades;
4. Accepts all standard utility blades

Thank you for visiting Omikos, your number one source for all the tools you need. We’re dedicated to giving you the very best tools. Here you can find a wide variety of tools. From car repair sets and home tools to woodworking tools and more. So why are you waiting? SHOP NOW!

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We display the finest tools. We offer the lowest prices while bringing the finest and top-rated tools in the world.

We strive to bring you the best!

Omikos is the site to trust when you are about to buy tools from single screws to power tools and many more, making it convenient for you to pick the best products at the best prices. We’ve come a long way, so we know exactly which direction to take when supplying you with high-quality yet budget-friendly products. We offer all of this while providing excellent customer service, friendly support, and free shipping in the USA.

Our mission is to provide economical and actionable shopping experiences for our customers.

Join our  Facebook page to connect with us all the time.

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You can use the form below to subscribe or unsubscribe from our newsletter. Please visit our Newsletter Archive to view articles from previous issues of The Hook.

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We maintain a large inventory of products, spare parts, and complete systems on site, allowing immediate shipment of most items. So while other manufacturers may put you on a waiting list for months, we’re able to ship most equipment the same day it's ordered.

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ShareFit is Now Offering Free Exercise Programs Created for Beginners

Sep 24, 2016 | Fitness | 0 comments

Getting into an effective exercise routine can be difficult for beginners who may not even know where to start. Thankfully, ShareFit is here to help you navigate the exercise routines that will help you get fit in no time.

Because the brand is now offering free exercise programs that have been created specifically for beginners, there’s no excuse to not get on a fitness routine that will allow you to burn fat and calories, shed excess pounds, build muscle, and feel physically and emotionally well. So keep reading to learn more about ShareFit’s unique program and to find out if it’s right for you.

Start a Running Routine for Wellness
If you’ve been searching for a beginner’s guide to running that’s all-inclusive and will answer all of your questions as you move from one fitness goal to the next and achieve more than you ever thought possible, ShareFit has you covered. You’ll learn how to start a running program and how to stick to it, and all you’ll need to get started is a pair of comfortable and supportive sneakers and a place to run.

This plan, in particular, which is a part of ShareFit’s free exercise programs for novices, will gradually take you from a walking routine to a running routine. In a month’s time, you’ll be running for 10 minutes straight if you’re able to stick to the training plan and stay consistent. This program will make it possible to attain this seemingly impossible goal, so as long as you believe in yourself, all you have to do is follow the plan to succeed.

Achieve the Perfect Balance Between Strength Training and Cardio
When it comes to losing weight, and keeping it off, a combination of strength training and cardio workouts are necessary. In ShareFit’s free training program for beginners, you’ll move through a four-week strength training plan that’s ideal even for the busiest people.

You’ll learn how to move slowly yet progress steadily, and how to integrate these workouts into your daily routine. You’ll walk and/or run on certain days of the week, strength train on others, and rest on the ones in between. Plus, you’ll never get bored because you’ll be introduced to new workouts to keep things fresh, and you can do the workouts in 10 minutes or less.

Because ShareFit has been helping so many people lose weight and get into the best shape of their lives, you really have nothing to lose by trying out their free exercise programs for beginners. Even if you’re familiar with exercising, the programs can give you a new perspective, or they can help you enter a new field of fitness that will increase your strength and endurance even more.


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[Video] ORC Beauty: How To Get A Glowing Glam Look For Dark Skin By Toni Olaoye

I just recently subscribed to beauty vlogger, Toni Olaoye and she is amazing, in this video, she shows how to get a soft glamorous look for dark skin.

Products she used in the video: Abh Dip Brow Dark Brown, La Girl Concealer Warm Honey & Chesnut, The Nubian Eyeshadow Palette, The Nubian 2 Eyeshadow Palette, Tarte Amazonian Clay Palette, L’oreal Liquid Liner, L’oreal Superstar Mascara, H20 Waterproof Liner, Kiss 100 Lashes , Sephora Beauty Amplifier, Makeup Forever Hd, Foundation Y177, La Girl Concealer Warm Honey, La Girl Concealer Dark Cocoa, Sacha Buttercup Setting Powder, Sephora Beauty Amplifier, Black Opal Stick Foundation Black Walnut, Bh Cosmetics Professional, Blush Palette, Benefit Cosmetics Sun Beam Highlighter, Too Faced Candlelight Glow, Mac Gold Deposit, Nyx Two Timer Pencil, Nyx Brown Eyebrow Pencil, Mac Yash, Sephora Bubblegum Lipgloss, Mac Fix +

Watch below

If you need help getting original make-up items, all you need to do is PING! 58E376C9 or call 08117631075

Libs of ORC

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Localization Importance for Businesses in 2021

Localization Importance for Businesses in 2021

Your website, product, or app may be the best thing since sliced bread, but if it’s only available in English, you’re probably leaving (a lot of) money on the table.

55% of global consumers say they only buy products from websites that provide information in their own language.

Even among users proficient in English, 65% prefer to peruse content in their native tongue.

In addition, 72.4% of global consumers want to use their local language when shopping online.

You could be missing out on 40% of your total addressable market if your website isn’t localized.

importance of localization

What Is Localization?

Localization (sometimes abbreviated as ”l10n”) is the process of making adjustments to your products or content to meet the needs of a specific geographic market.

Besides language, a localization strategy considers the political, cultural, and legal aspects of an area, which affect how the target market interacts with your brand and uses your products.

Localization involves different tactics, such as using culturally-sensitive images or colors, adjusting formatting and user interface design, applying local currency and measurement units, and offering payment methods preferred by the local market.

Localization is sometimes confused with its close partner, internationalization (or “i18n”).

Although these two concepts work hand-in-hand, they are different.

Simply put, i18n involves changes in the source code so that a piece of software can support any language. L10n provides local content to fill the container set up by i18n and doesn’t involve changes in the source code.

Why Localization and Not Just Translation?

In today’s market, simply translating your content into different languages is no longer enough.

While translation is still a crucial step in the localization process, it doesn’t guarantee an engaging experience that speaks to a local audience. Brands need an all-encompassing localization strategy to address the sentiment and needs of local audience segments.

What is Localization’s Importance in 2021?

You may wonder, why now?

Maybe you have been chugging along just fine for years. Maybe you’re starting out and trying to get the most of your resources. Why should you invest in localization in 2021 and in the years to come?

If you’re asking yourself these questions, keep reading to learn exactly what localization’s importance is for modern businesses.

Brands Must Cater to Local Markets

Consumers now expect personalized experiences that address their unique circumstances, including purchase history, preferences, demographic information, and of course, geographic location. Delivering such a targeted experience is key to building customer relationships and driving conversions.

The pandemic necessitated executive orders and legislation changes that affect different regions differently. This further highlights the need for companies to adjust their communication strategies so they can provide relevant information to each geographic area and address the needs of local customers.

As the dust is still settling in 2021, it’s more important than ever for brands to be sensitive to local market situations. They need to communicate the most pertinent information to stay top of mind, meet market demands, and advance their relationships with the audience.

Modern Marketing is Local Marketing

51.8% of all internet users reside in Asia, particularly China and India. In fact, Chinese boasts the most number of first-language speakers, and China is now the largest retail market in the world.

What does this mean for brands? Since people prefer to consume content and shop in their native language, English is no longer king in the online commerce world. Companies must cater to local preferences to capture market shares in today’s fragmented marketplace.

Genuine Connections Drives Global Sales

To tap into the vast potential of today’s global marketplace, you need to build genuine connections with your prospects. This means meeting them where they’re at and speaking their language — literally and figuratively.

Many English idioms and cultural references get lost in translation. Meanwhile, a mention of local events or personalities can help you earn the trust of a local audience more quickly than any award-winning copy. What can you do or say to make your audience feel like you’re “one of them”?

Don’t overlook seemingly minor details that can help improve your communication.

For instance, most people in the U.S. consider Sunday the first day of the week. For those in the U.K., their week starts on Monday. But in the Maldives? Their weekends fall on Friday and Saturday.

The Benefits of Delivering a Localized Online Experience

You’re intrigued. But is creating a localized experience for each market worth the time and effort?

Here are the benefits of localization and why you should hop onto the bandwagon:

Market Penetration and Opportunities

If you have tried to break into a foreign market, you know it’s not a walk in the park. In particular, communication barriers are major hurdles. Aligning your brand with the local culture makes it much easier to overcome these challenges. It helps you get accepted by the local consumers and gain traction in the marketplace.

Market Expansion and Sales Growth

A comprehensive localization strategy allows you to reach more potential customers through various channels (e.g., website, social media, emails, mobile apps) in their preferred language and within the appropriate context. You can meet your audience where they are at to build meaningful relationships while promoting your products in the right place and at the right time to drive sales.

A well-designed l10n process can streamline the localization of your products and marketing materials to overcome cultural barriers and speed up time-to-market. You can gain a more diverse customer base, engage with the audience more quickly, and even gain the first-mover advantage when introducing new products to win more market shares.

Competitive Advantage

If you’re entering a new market, especially in a foreign country, you’ll likely be competing against local businesses that have already established a presence. Localization helps you build trust with the audience and level the playing field. If you’re competing against other “outsiders” that haven’t localized their content, you’ll be able to position your brand favorably among local audiences.

Brand Image

Innocuous product names or witty taglines can get lost in translation or even turn into a disaster that hurts your brand image.

For example, Chevy’s Nova (“no va”) means “doesn’t go” in Spanish — doesn’t bode well for a car! In addition, a color palette can easily evoke different feelings in different cultures.

A comprehensive localization strategy gives you full control of your messaging to deliver a consistent and on-brand experience across all markets.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

68% of consumers start their online experiences with a search engine. It’s more important than ever to get in front of prospects when they’re researching online. Localized website content, including keywords, metadata, images, dynamic PDFs, etc., can augment your online presence by making it easier for customers to find your site when they’re shopping online.

Customer Experience

Localization research will help you understand and deliver on what’s valuable to different audience segments.

For example, you can discover and implement the preferred payment methods in different locales to reduce friction along the purchasing path. You can also provide the most helpful content for different audiences and highlight key benefits in your sales copy.

This knowledge will help you better connect with the local audience, build brand awareness, and deliver a relevant shopping experience.

Customer Trust and Loyalty

Most people want to do business in a language they can understand. Information communicated in your audience’s native tongue is more likely to resonate with them. When you go the extra mile to speak your customers’ language and respect their culture, you can accelerate trust and commitment with your customers. They will also be more likely to tell others about your brand.

Customer Service and Customer Retention

75% of consumers are more likely to buy from a website again if the merchant delivers post-sales customer support in their preferred language. By localizing your support services, you can help buyers troubleshoot more effectively and get the most from your products. This will increase customer satisfaction, so they’re more likely to make repeat purchases.

localization improves Customer Service and Customer Retention

Cost Reduction

Localized websites and content aren’t just great for consumers. The standardized approach also allows you to streamline training and internal processes for sales and support teams. For example, they can access market-specific product data and draw from correct information compliant with local regulations so you can avoid costly errors and delays.

Risk Mitigation

You must be aware of a region’s political, historical, and cultural considerations when entering a new market. A localization strategy takes these factors into account, so you can avoid pitfalls such as using verbiage that could get you into hot water — such as phrases with negative connotations or terms that infringe upon local regulations.

Ready, Set, Localize!

Localization’s importance makes it a veritable linchpin to growing your customer base and expanding your market share in today’s global market. It helps you reduce time-to-market, drive sales, lower costs, mitigate risks, and improve customer retention.

Where to start? Here are five key questions to consider:

  • What content can you localize?
  • Where are you pulling your content?
  • Is your website or app internationalized?
  • Who is your target audience?
  • What’s the extent of your localization?

There are many moving parts in a localization effort. Consolidating these tasks can help you streamline workflows while ensuring that nothing falls through the cracks. OneSky offers an end-to-end localization solution that covers 50+ languages so you can translate, localize, and test your apps, games, and websites all in one place.

See how our translation management platform works and get started for free today.

Greg Sung

Co-founder & CEO, OneSky

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Petits Rituels Candles

May 22, 2015

I can’t quite believe that it’s been 4 months since I’ve posted anything about a candle on here (shocker right?? You all know how obsessed I am with them) don’t worry though, as that’s about to change right now…

I recently had a lovely chat with Nathalie after seeing the Petits Rituels Twitter page and she was kind enough to send me some beautiful candles to try out. By the way, Nathalie is the creator of Petits Rituels and oh my god has she done such an amazing job.

Petits Rituels Candles Petits Rituels Candles
Petits Rituels is a luxury brand of handcrafted aromatherapy candles, made with nothing but natural waxes and pure essential oils. Each candle has an incredibly long burn time of 40 hours and are priced at £35 which for the strong and lasting scent payoff, packaging and the luxuriously sleek glass jar is extremely good value.

Nathalie sent me 3 candles to try out:

MINTY BONBON – Spearmint & Lemongrass: This has got to be my favourite of the three scents. Its crazy wonderful and really packs a punch. I love the sweet spearmint with the pop of fresh lemongrass. It’s divine how stunning they are together. I have it sat in my bedroom and its scent fills the entire upstairs of our house even without being lit.

Petits Rituels Candles
ORANGE GOURMAND – Orange & Rose Geranium: I love orange scented candles, they work at all times of the year and this one is definitely something wonderful. I could even go to say it’s the best orange scented candle I have tried. This is a very ‘happy’ candle. It brings warmth into the house when it’s raining outside and you can’t help smiling when you smell it.

Petits Rituels Candles
SENSUAL HEALING – Ylang Ylang, Jasmine, Rose and Lavender: Total and unaltered relaxation in a candle! This is the candle for when you need just that bit extra to relax you. I’ve taken it in the bath a few times and nearly fallen asleep. It’s especially lovely for some alone time with the other half, the mixture of scents in this candle and a massage go hand in hand.

Petits Rituels Candles
There we have it guys. Just want to say that I can’t recommend Petits Rituels enough. They are some of the best candles in my collection and have even better scent payoff as well as looks than some that candles I have paid double the price for.

Go check them out now at Petits Rituels.

PR Samples

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  • Reply Kristen @ KristenLoves

    These sound heavenly! Minty Bonbon would be my fave too xx

  • Reply Yanikah

    Love Ylang Ylang and Jasmine. Would love to smell that one 🙂

  • Reply Eleanore Hood

    Oooo candles!!!!! YES PLEASE for all of them xx

  • Reply Sparkle Fairy

    Love the sound of all of these scents. The packaging is so lux too x

  • Reply Makeup and the Bride

    These look amazing. Such a great sounding company!

  • Reply April Young

    Luuuuurrrrrve candles!!!!!

  • Reply Emma Charlotte

    I’d love the sensual healing one!

  • Reply Emma Everleigh

    These all sound gorgeous! I’d love to try the Minty Bonbon one in particular. xxx

  • Leave a Reply


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Autumn Statement 2016 Tue, 21 Sep 2021 01:45:07 +0000 Iconique Images Ltd. en-gb Autumn Statement - Spreadsheets, Surprises, Simplicity? Today's first and last Autumn Statement of the Chancellor, Spreadsheet Phil, was perhaps a taste of things to come in a post-Brexit Teresa May government.

A sense of clamping down on any perceived unfairness necessitated by the expected poor post-Brexit finances for years to come.

Business Tax Wed, 23 Nov 2016 14:11:22 +0000


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On This Day

Events in History in 1362

  • Jan 16 A great storm tide in the North Sea destroys the German island of Strand and the city of Rungholt
  • Apr 6 Tard-Venus robber bands strike at Brignais, France
  • Apr 25 Muhammad VI ruler of Granada killed with a lance personally by Peter I of Castile, along with 36 followers and his head sent to Muhammad V (or 27 April)
  • Sep 28 Guillaum de Grimoard elected as Pope Urban V


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OpEdNews Op Eds    H4'ed 7/10/10

The United States Bullies are at it Again.

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This time they are occupying the hostile country of Costa Rica as 46 US Warships plus 7000 marines have invaded that tiny country under the guise of enforcing drug trafficking.

If it is drug trafficking they are concerned about why not invade Colombia from whence most of the crap comes from. Of course in so doing they might have to confront those who are really profiting from the drugs, rather than the delivery boys who transport it.

There are several scenarios that may be more reasonable for this occupation than the drug story among which is the location of Costa Rica in proximity to Venezuela (a country by the way that was just given praise from the United Nations for their efforts in thwarting drug trafficking), which is threatening certain American corporations with nationalization.

Another of the possible reasons for the occupation is merely a "heads up' to Costa Rica recently gave up their sovereignty to the free trade CAFTA, yet they still resist off shore drilling as they did while they still had their sovereignty prior to CAFTA and not only kept Harkin Oil from drilling, but beat them in court when Harkin, the company George W Bush was on the Board of Directors and was an insider trader when he sold his stock knowing the company was going to have a negative report, but was relieved of any wrong-doing when his daddy, who was President at that time, silenced any investigation. After Bush, while he was president, travelled to Costa Rica on Harkin's behalf, was told "no" and to leave the country Harkin sued the nation for $56Billion, but lost that suit in a Costa Rican court. Now they simply need to go to a mediation board comprised of corporate attorneys, not officials from Costa Rica, appointed by the World Bank to hear the case.

Nation's under similar arrangements have constantly lost the cases, hence having to take out loans through the World Bank, but that's another tale. Or is it? Is that a main reason our military has taken up occupation of Costa Rica, a country that is so peace oriented it does not even have a military. They choose to spend that money on education for their youth and healthcare for their entire population.

Whatever the reason the United States has no legitimate business invading the confines of Costa Rica or any other nation which has not physically threatened our nation and/or our people. Instead, it appears our leaders have chosen to defend corporations using our people as pawns. Since World War II what war have we fought to protect our democracy and our people?

Give up? Not a single one. All, however, have made certain people wealthy while actually making the population less safe.

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Dennis Kaiser is an author and consultant focusing on individual rights. As a US citizen Dennis is deeply concerned over how our nation has fallen from being productive and full of hope to one where that hope is being stripped from the majority (more...)

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Can Europe Make It?

Charlie Hebdo, and being non-European

Being European is a form of life beyond ethnicity, religion, skin color, or sex; it is a peculiar ontology that is open to everybody, that is an achievement of world history.

Firat M. Haciahmetoglu
19 April 2015
London crowd.

London crowd. Flickr/Ant Jackson. Some rights reserved.Charlie Hebdo reminds us that life is much more complicated than the simple contrast between the bad guy, “the Islamist,” vs. the good guy, “the European”.

Left and Right

The Political Left always points at something “beyond,” or more precisely, “beneath” this simple picture where the truth proves much more complicated. The power of the arguments of the Left is hidden in premises with which the great majority of European people are assumed to agree.

Thus. It is indeed a simple “postmodern fact” that those Islamists who killed eleven people were not born killers. As we all start from zero, from pure nothingness and contingency, it must be concluded that there could be no unchanging, perennial, ahistorical essence in this world. If they “could” kill those innocent people just because they depict something, for them, wrong, then something external must have made them that way.

We are all born innocent. If we agree on this point, then this massacre only raises the one question of how and why a human being reaches such an extreme point in depravity that he can commit such a barbaric crime.

These assumptions allow Slavoj Zizek, in his article on this precise issue, to claim that “those who do not want to talk critically about liberal democracy should also keep quiet about religious fundamentalism."

For the Left, the pure givenness has never been enough, as what is given is taken to be a material construction. Hence, if we really desire to resolve this mess that is growing day by day at the borders of Europe, we have to think more deeply, indeed “critically”.

The keyword here is “critical” which, within the European context, always-already entails a peculiar prefix, namely, “self”. Self-criticism is the glorious tenet that marks the ontology of European Leftists; it is not only the “natural disposition” of the Left towards the world, but also its selfish obsession that it cannot give up – an issue we will come back to later.

Having discerned responsibility not in the Islamist perpetrators but in the larger picture, the Left urges us to desist from Islamophobia, fascism and any kind of essentialism about the Other; and it struggles to keep the multicultural ideal alive.

The Political Right, on the other hand, is not as “simple” as historically the Left takes it to be. It is not that they do not grasp the contingency of our beginnings. Yet, the Right still misses something that the Left so benevolently embraces. People on the Right are bereft of self-criticism; they are in love with their own image in a world where anything non-European serves only as a justification for this well-deserved narcissism. For them, if Charlie Hebdo, or any such event, raises any question at all, it can only be the one that leads directly to a reinforcement of their self-love. So, the Right will simply wonder, “Why can’t they become just like ‘us’?”

If there is no essence, or, as Sartre puts it, if existence precedes essence; and, if, consequently, you are the one who chooses what you are to be, then why would you like to be like them? Look at them, at how inferior they are, how barbaric, how ugly they are? Just be like “us”, accept “our” supremacy.

Notice how the word “us” takes on an insidious twofold sense here. You will become like “us”, but you ought not to forget the original. You ought to be grateful to “us” that “we” have accepted you into “our” community.

The Right accepts the contingency of beginnings only to the extent that this very acceptance proves the strength of their unique history which in spite of this absurd arbitrariness could built something tremendously meaningful and unique out of what it was that made “us” ‘Europeans’ and them ‘non-Europeans’.

The randomness of the singularity therefore only reinforces the unparalleled stability of western history; after all, it is Europe that epitomizes the highest peak that humanity has ever reached, not the Middle East, not China, and not India.

We have the Right and the Left with their own peculiarities; man may not have essence, but doctrines, ideologies and political positions inevitably do. This is the “general panorama” of Europe that is full of repetitions and no more reductive than any representation would be.

non-European Europeans

However, it is not my aim to discuss in this essay for or against the Left or the Right; that has been done abundantly by many authors, much more extensively and professionally than I can. What I would like to point out here, rather, is something that does not yet exist in this general panorama even though it is there. Along the lines of Gayatri Spivak’s famous question “can the subaltern speak?”, I will try to reveal something whose existence is denied not only by the Right but more arduously and surprisingly by the Left. This “something” is a concept which is not my creation, but it is already there, given, created by history. Let me call it “the non-European Europeans” and ask: “can non-European Europeans exist?”

In order to understand what this concept signifies, we must, first of all, understand how thousands of people can join IS, not only those whose lives have been shattered by the chaos American forces visited on the Middle East, but also those who were in the periphery of these events, and, therefore, in a sense, lack the direct justifications to join any radical organization, but nevertheless, choose to do so.

I refer to those hundreds of European citizens who went to Syria to join IS. But I also include those moderate people living in relatively liberal Muslim countries who one day decided to join IS. Or, let me put it in this way, I register the silence of the “innocent” Muslim people before the phenomenon fundamentalist, extremist, or jihadist – the violence that takes whatsoever form. Without noting this silence, we can neither understand the attack on Charlie Hebdo nor discern what is so crucially missing in this picture.

This silence is the restlessness of hypocrisy. It is the inquietude of hypocrisy that pushes people into the arms of IS and of any other fundamentalist groups. Precisely, it is the hypocrisy of being in the middle of modernity and tradition. The latter can be Islam or anything else; that is not what is decisive here. Rather, the problem is the unbearable split of being two different people in one, single body: it is a conscious schizophrenia. It is suffering. It is not being able to know what you are, the ultimate loss of your integrity, consistency, and self-attachment; an uprootedness that floats in the middle without finding any secure corner for itself.

Hence, there is a spectre of hypocrisy hovering above the non-western world. And one can claim that the home of this spectre is the Middle East: the counter-image of a Europe that Edward Said extensively analyzed from Aeschylus to the twentieth century.

The ultimate force behind any fundamentalist organization in the Middle East is therefore the breakdown of this hypocrisy; the moment that the non-European man recoils: “Enough, I cannot bear this!”

This existential collapse is followed by taking shelter in the nearest form of integrity that one can find; and the crux of the problem is that there is only one choice which has integrity in the Middle East, and it is offered by fundamentalism. In other words, there is only one resolution of the conflict between tradition and modernity. The split, the subjective reflection of this conflict, is what fundamentalist groups such as IS exploit to the letter. They know that the more pressure the world exerts on Muslims, the more people will join them.

What is right or what is wrong is secondary in this dialectic; first comes the existential anguish that non-European man suffers from. And just to emphasize: it is not an anguish arising from the plenitude of the bourgeoisie. On the contrary, the scarcity of reality hits him hard and cracks his ontology.

Coming back to our concept of the non-European European. This is the other pole of this equation; the split resolved in favor of (post)modernity; the integrity that is found in European values. However, despite the fact that IS signifies an absolute hatred towards the West, the non-European European does not bear an unconditional love for the West, for being European does not necessarily mean self-love and narcissism. And precisely on this point, not only the Right but also the Left fails to realize what it is to be a non-European European.

Being superior to the Other

Let me begin with the political Right which, at first appearances, seems surprisingly more open to this concept than the Left is. However, behind its alleged openness hides yet another hypocrisy. The Right does not care about the Other qua Other, or, it cares insofar as the Other satisfies its own desires.

There is a predominant, almost a “natural” sense of superiority in the political Right of Europe. The Right will welcome non-European Europeans indeed, but only in order to hear the echoes of its own supremacy, to fortify its edifice.

It is not the Other here that exists; rather, it is the European ego that appraises itself by mediating itself through itself while acting like it is the Other; that is, the Other is just a means to intensify the satisfaction of being superior to the Other.

Hence, the non-European European exists insofar as it serves the desires of the “original” European. In a word, there is neither equality nor solidarity with the non-European European on the Right. There is pure submission, if you like to be like “us.”

What about the Left?

The situation is much more subtle when it comes to the Left. The hypocrisy is well hidden behind the good-will of the Leftists. This good-will takes the form of “self-criticism” here. The Left loves and rejoices in criticizing itself, i.e., the West. There is a striking similarity here with the Right: while the Right falls in love with the image of itself, the Left is seduced by the flaws in this image. The former loves the beauty of itself, the latter loves the ugliness of itself, for the beauty cannot be criticized.

This will to criticize is yet another form of European ego, but this time, it talks not only for those who claim to be European, but, for everyone around the world, from the farmer working in a rice field in Asia to the fisherman in a village in the Middle East.

The Left loves to announce: “this is all because of the West!” Notice how everything Other has been eliminated from the picture. Everything is because of the West. “How ugly we are, and yet how seductive this ugliness is that we cannot do anything but criticize.” If there is a problem in this world, it should be “our” problem. If there is a responsibility for all the evil in the World, it has to be “us.”

Discern the obsession here, the masochistic pleasure of being ugly, the same enormous European ego that has been turned upside down. It is hard to decide if the Left in fact desires a solution at all; or if it rather indulges in the problems. With its “Grand Theories” in its inventory, ingenious eclectic capabilities and superior logic, it relishes being the one who develops yet another magnificent piece of explanation of what is wrong with the world, what is wrong with “us”.

The Left is a site for one-man shows. It seems to me that the people suffering in the Middle East are received by the Left with a sly smile as yet more material that they can deconstruct, psychoanalyze; and show the world how brilliant they are in their analyses.

Just like with the Right, in this picture too one cannot encounter the Other. The Leftists would disagree here, they would claim “’we’ are the ones who support the rights of Muslims and all Others. Furthermore ‘we’ already are listening to Muslim intellectuals and the Third World.”

But notice again the twofold sense of the word “we” here. The question, on the other hand, is not if Muslims can talk. The whole world is waiting for them to talk, for them to say something, anything. And, indeed they talk. If what they say is not intelligible or does not bring any change, the problem lies somewhere else.

The subject here is not Muslims; for not all non-westerners have to be that or this. There is “more” than what Europe wants to see in the Middle East. Let me put it even more simply: not everybody who was thrown into the Middle East has to be a Muslim, or, to be crushed under European confession. The non-European European is not the Other that the Left supports and communicates with; it is the Left itself, it is Europe itself. An insidious exclusion is at play here.

Let me illustrate the problem with a metaphor. Imagine that Europe is a cottage. A small, beautiful cottage. The non-European European is doomed to hover over it. Whenever she gets too close to the door, the Leftist comes out (not the Rightist!) with a friendly smile on his face. He stands next to her, puts his arm on her shoulder and begins to tell her how ugly in fact this cottage is! How cruel, how merciless, how brutal, how savage… He explains to her one by one – and he explains quite well – why she should never ever desire to go inside. He convinces her and after ensuring that she has returned to her purposeless wandering, with a smile, he goes back inside.

Yet, she is stubborn, stubborn to exist. She comes back to the door, and in the blink of an eye, the Leftist appears next to her again. He starts repeating himself; she interrupts him and insists, “but I want to see! I belong there!”

Then things get serious. The hospitality of the Leftist suddenly turns into a restive hostility; he begins with accusations: “You are Islamophobic, you are a neo-liberal, you do not respect difference. How could you desire to be like us? Are you sick?”

The “Europeanness” of the non-European, this eagerness to be a part of the ugliness, is what the Left cannot bear. It loves to hate itself, it has dissolved so hard in its love that it cannot share the slightest part of it. If someone will hate himself, it can be no one but the European. Let the Leftist hate himself also for you, for all humanity. You should not be contaminated by the West. “We” spare you, run as fast as you can, let us tackle this enormous problem; after all, “we” created this: it is all “us.” Hence, the non-European European does not, cannot exist for the Left. In its obsession with the beauty of its ugliness, the European Left is one of the most conservative constituencies of Europe. The hypocrisy here, as with everything else the Left does, is “impressive.” It denies the existence of the Other for the sake of the Other while celebrating its own existence. This is how similar the Left and Right become in the face of the non-European Europeans.

In short, it is indeed correct that everything that happens in the world is about the West. But the West is not only about the West. Being European is no longer a geographical destiny. It is rather a form of life beyond ethnicity, religion, skin color, or sex; it is a peculiar ontology that is open to everybody, that is an achievement of world history.

The non-European Europeans are the culmination of this fact. The concept itself is a contradiction that conveys the collapse of any essentialist claim.

The non-European European is not an autonomous puppet that the “genuine European” keeps close to itself in order to remind itself of its own superiority. It is as “European” as anyone who claims to be so without feeling any obligation to show its gratitude. There is no generosity of “original Europeans” here. Nor is the non-European European a puppet who has to wait for its great European masters to cut its ropes and set it free. It can speak for itself, the whole drama unfolds around her or him; it can and must criticize itself. It also has responsibilities, freedom and morality.

Hence, the non-European Europeans exist, whether Europe likes it or not. And if Europe wants to change anything at all, it should start acknowledging this fact and recognize their existence

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text:
I don’t take a whole lot of pictures anymore.

This wasn’t a conscious decision, but it is a big change from the person I used to be.

In my early days as a mother, I was a huuuuge scrapbooker.  I did what every typical mother does.  I took one million pictures of my first born, around 500,000 of my second, and by the time the third one came around, I took about two a month, just so she would know she wasn’t born as a 5-year-old.

I used to not only take pictures at events, but take them at every different angle so I knew that I would have at least one, good “croppable” picture However, in my new, too busy, crazy widowness I click no more.

Now, part of the reason for this is because I lost my camera and after two months of looking, I still can’t find it.  I can, however, remember putting it someplace and thinking, “I bet I’ll forget where I’ve put this.”

Does anyone else do that?   All I can think is that it’s probably keeping my glasses company…which I lost a short time after the camera while thinking the same thing.  And that they’re both probably nestled in a comfortable mismatched sock nest.

Anyway, I rationalize the fact that I have not purchased a new camera with the fact that I now own a phone that takes pretty good pictures.  The problem with that is…I have no idea how the damn thing works and I can’t figure out how to get the pictures off of my new-fangled phone and into a usable format.

Needless to say, I have issues.  But you already knew that.

I will admit that I began to take fewer and fewer pictures as the kids got older because I just didn’t have the time.  It’s one thing to take a picture of a single child lying on her belly in the middle of your living room floor when she’s pretty much immobile.  But trying to get three kids to look at you and smile in some sort of normal fashion when there’s an elephant at the zoo who’s looking like he’s getting ready to poop (sorry…we’re in the “potty word” stage at my house)…is pretty much an impossibility.

And these days, I pick my battles.

I’ve felt guilty for years about my “lack of documentation.”  I was so good about it for so long.  I have a scrapbook that documents every moment of the first year of my oldest child’s life.  My son’s is half done.  And my youngest is probably going to think she was hatched.

One of the things that makes me the saddest about giving up on “memory making” is that in the back of my oldest daughter’s scrapbook, she has a beautiful message written to her by her dad and then a separate one from me.  I was surprised, when I asked my husband (the engineer) to do this, how much time he took.  It’s obvious that, at 12 months old, his daughter had his heart and he told her so…before she was even close to understanding it.  And when I (the English major) read what he had to say…my own letter paled in comparison.

Thanks to my short attention span and (later) considerable lack of free time, my two other children don’t have that.

For me, scrapbooking was more than just a way to be creative and get together with my friends.  I have always enjoyed listening to my grandparents talk about how things were and what was happening when they were growing up.  Scrapbooking became more about journaling to my kids (and their future kids) about what was going on in our lives, than it was about the actual pictures.  There is a big part of me that is so sad that I’ve let that go.

Unfortunately, picture-taking just wasn’t quite the same after my husband died.

I think for awhile, I just couldn’t stand the thought of taking pictures of events he was missing (and now that I say that out loud…it makes absolutely no sense).  For the most part, I was in all of the family videos because he was the only one who knew how to work the video camera.  But he was in all of the pictures because I was the only one who remembered to take them.

So, to have him suddenly not in anything …that was a pretty huge gaping hole while I was trying to document our family history.

I’ll be honest. After he died, I didn’t even download pictures for 3 months.  Oh, I took them. I just didn’t download them.  I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that that would be the last time I downloaded pictures of him.  I know to a lot of you…that may make no sense.

But to this day, it still makes me sad.

When I finally did get up the guts to download them (mainly because I was worried that my memory card would rebel at some point and just flush them all), it was such an emotional experience.  I downloaded 250 pictures…from 2 weeks before he died in July to Halloween.

That is still my hardest “folder” to look at.  There is nothing that drives home the fact that he is gone, more than a series of pictures where one day he’s there…and the next he’s nowhere to be found.

Now,  I’ve decided to let go of my guilt in the picture-taking department.  I try and journal because I want my kids to read about what I went through…what they went through…and how special they are to me.  I want them to know that even though they think I’m perfect (there is laughing in my head right now), I have always just been human.

I want them to someday know that being “okay” with life didn’t happen overnight.  It’s a long, slow process and that in the game of life, almost nobody draws a full house.

I have no pictures of the first moment I saw my husband.  But I can picture it like it was yesterday.

I have very few pictures of the fun times we had in college (and the ones I have, I should probably burn.  You know who you are).  But I remember being so completely happy.  And thinking, “I can dress him better.”

Our ride, alone, from our wedding to our reception…there are no pictures.  But I remember looking at him, being so happy, and wondering if my hair was coming down.

Mad rushes to the hospital where we would meet our next member of the family.

Driving in the mountains where we would get lost because I can’t read a map.

Just an every day family dinner.

Holding his hand as he left me.

I still take pictures every once in awhile so that we can remember occasions…but not at every angle hoping to capture every second of life.  Because I know that the most memorable moments…good or bad…are usually never documented with a picture.

They’re documented in our hearts.

Catherine Tidd 2011

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Catherine Tidd

Catherine Tidd is a widow, a writer, public speaker, and mother to three young entertaining children. She received a degree in English from Rollins College in 1998 and has since worked as a writer, editor, Marketing Manager, and Event Planner. Originally from Louisiana, Ms. Tidd currently lives in Denver, CO.

More Articles Written by Catherine


text:
Ordinary Person 2
Maida Barbour, 41, from Austin, Texas

You don't need X-ray vision to see that Maida Barbour is brilliant. Articulate, perceptive, and hilarious, she's the kind of person you'd imagine would have an Oscar® stuffed somewhere in an artfully cluttered home office. Maida's sister wrote that when she was younger, "sometimes Maida scared me. She'd speak so confidently about her aesthetic vision and she'd take on the world."

But something went awry. She'd spent the past few years in Austin, Texas, limping along from job to job—office manager at an IT firm, organizer of fairs for inventors—trying to find one that felt right. As Maida wrote: "I'm 41, and I still haven't figured out what I'm meant to be. I spent parts of the past 20 years working in film because it seemed like the richest, most creative field possible. But I never really found my niche. ... I want to make a living doing a job that fits me, but I don't even know what my job title is, let alone what credentials to get."

I recognized Maida's combination of giftedness and aimlessness; some of my favorite people wear similar disguises. I also noticed that, while I loved Maida's witty, acerbic description of her own career struggles, she tended to talk in circles.

"If you're going to be creative, you need to do something unprecedented," Maida said. "But of course, if there's no precedence for your work, no one accepts it."

This self-defeating logic is typical of an alter ego I call the Clever Critic. Creative work can be incredibly hard, the odds of failure astronomical. To avoid this grueling, scary road, many geniuses think themselves into paralysis, finding reasons to abort their ideas almost before conceiving them. Maida's Clark Kent specs were wraparound sunglasses that looked oh so hip but kept her groping around in a very dark world. When I presented this theory, she agreed with me.

"So what should I do?" she said.

"Start working. Immediately. Daily. Religiously."

"I guess I could write a book," she said. "I have some ideas."

"Brilliant! Grab a pen. Start now."

"But I don't have the right credentials...," mumbled Maida, going into her Clever Critic.

"My dear," I said, "if I had a dime for every time I've heard someone claim to need credentials that definitely aren't necessary and probably don't even exist, I could afford enough gum to last me a month."

"That's a really lame image," said Maida.

"I know," I growled. "And do you see that stopping me?"

For the rest of that hour, we discussed several sophisticated, ingenious ideas for Maida's future books.

"Fabulous," I told her. "Start writing three pages a day. No excuses."

The next time we talked, she sounded different: wearier, warier, slightly on edge, like a Chihuahua in cold weather. The voice of a working artist.

"I'm writing," she said, "but it's all garbage."

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