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Syria jets kill tens as international envoy visits

A government airstrike Sunday on a bakery in a rebel-held town in central Syria killed more than 60 people, activists said, casting a pall over a visit by the international envoy charged with negotiating an end to the country's civil war.

The strike on the town of Halfaya left scattered bodies and debris up and down a street, and more than a dozen dead and wounded were trapped in tangled heap of dirt and rubble.

The attack appeared to be the government response to a newly announced rebel offensive seeking to drive the Syrian army from a constellation of towns and village north of the central city of Hama. Halfaya was the first of the area's towns to be "liberated" by rebel fighters, and activists saw Sunday's attack as payback.

"Halfaya was the first and biggest victory in the Hama countryside," said Hama activist Mousab Alhamadee via Skype. "That's why the regime is punishing them in this way."

The total death toll remained unclear, but the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 60 people were killed. That number is expected to rise, it said, because some 50 of those wounded in the strike are in critical condition.

Amateur videos posted online Sunday showed residents and armed rebels rushing to the scene. One stopped to cover a mound of human flesh lying in the street with his coat.

More than a dozen dead or seriously wounded people lay in the street near a simple, concrete building, some in puddles of blood. Near its front wall, bodies jutted from a pile of dirt and rubble on the sidewalk.

Rebels screamed in distress while trying to extract the bodies, while others carried away the wounded.

It was unclear from the videos if the building was indeed a bakery. Nearly all the dead and wounded appeared to be men, some wore camouflage, raising the possibility that the jet had targeted a rebel gathering.

For the past week, rebels have been launching attacks in the area, most notably in the nearby village of Morek, where they hope to seize control of the country's main north-south highway, preventing the regime from getting supplies to its forces further north in the provinces of Idlib and Aleppo.

On Saturday, one rebel group threatened to storm two predominantly Christian towns nearby if their residents did not "evict" government troops they said were using them as a base to attack nearby areas.

The activist accounts could not be independently verified due to restrictions on reporting in Syria. The Syrian government does not respond to requests for comment on its military activities.

The attack coincided with the start of a two-day visit by Lakhdar Brahimi, who represents the U.N. And the Arab League, to meet with top Syrian officials.

Brahimi has made little apparent progress toward ending Syria's crisis since assuming his post in September, mostly because the sides appear more interested in fighting it out than in sitting down for talks.

Brahimi did not speak publicly upon arriving in Damascus for a two-day mission, and it was unclear whether he would present new ideas to end the war. His trip appeared troubled from the start.

Instead of flying directly to Syria as he had on previous visits, Brahimi landed in Beirut and traveled to the Syrian capital by land because of fighting near the Damascus airport, Lebanese officials said.

The Lebanese officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters, said Brahimi was expected to meet Syria's foreign minister later Sunday and President Bashar Assad on Monday.

The trip is Brahimi's third since taking the job following the resignation of former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan after both sides disregarded a cease-fire he brokered in April.

While not advancing a comprehensive peace plan, Brahimi has called on the sides to negotiate a solution.

The security situation has gotten notably worse for the regime since his last visit, with rebels storming a number of military bases and seizing valuable munitions. Russia, Assad's most powerful international backer, also appears to have changed his assessment of Assad's strength, as top officials say they do not seek to preserve his regime, while still calling for a negotiated solution.

Still, neither side appears willing to talk.

In a lengthy Sunday news conference, Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi repeated the Syrian government's line that it is fighting terrorist groups backed by foreign powers who seek to destroy Syria.

Al-Zoubi said the government was willing to engage in dialogue but said the other side wasn't.

"We speak of dialogue with those who believe in national dialogue," he said. "But those who rejected dialogue in their statements and called for arms and use of weapons, that's a different issue. They don't want dialogue."

Rebel groups refuse to talk to Assad, saying too many people have died for him to be considered part of the solution.

Violence raged elsewhere in the country on Sunday. Anti-regime activists reported government airstrikes on suburbs east of the capital and the northern province of Aleppo.

Airstrikes on the town of al-Safira, south of Aleppo, killed 13 people, including a mother and five daughters from one family, a local activist named Hussein said via Skype. He gave only his first name for fear of retribution.

The town lies next to a large military complex with factories and artillery and air defense bases. Hussein guessed the airstrike was payback for recent rebel attacks on the complex.

"The strikes don't hit the fighters at all," he said. "They want to take revenge on the civilians."

The Observatory said at least 10 rebels and an unknown number of government troops were killed in clashes in Afreen, near Aleppo, Syria's largest city, as rebels sought to storm an army base there.

Anti-regime activists say more than 40,000 people have been killed since Syria's crisis began in March 2011.

Associated Press writer Albert Aji contributed reporting from Damascus.

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University Tuition Fees Increase By 300%?

(This post by Mr Leong Sze Hian first appeared on his blog on 21 March 2014. It is reproduced with permission.

I refer to the article “How much more the 2014-15 university intake will pay” (Today, Mar 21).

University fees up as much as 7.9%?

It states that “(university) Fee increases will range between 2.6 per cent and 7.9 per cent.”

Spending per university student?

According to the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) Education Digest 2013 – Government recurrent expenditure on education per university student in 2012/2013 was $20,978.

According to the Department of Statistics’ (DOS) Singapore 2005 Statistical Highlights – the above was $13,420 in 1985.

Spending declined by 7% in the last 27 years?

So, it has increased by about 56% or about 1.7% per annum, in the last 27 years or so. However, inflation increased by about 63% from 1985 (CPI 69.3) to 2012 (CPI 113.1).

Does this mean that in real terms, it declined by about 7% over the last 27 years or so?

Tuition fees increased by 300%?

In contrast, I understand that tuition fees have increased by more than 300%, or more than 5% per annum, during the same period.

In this connection, GDP growth was about 457% from 1985 ($54.8 billion) to 2012 ($305.2 billion), or about 6.6% per annum.

Spending was 464% less than GDP growth?

Does this mean that relative to GDP growth, real education spending per university student was about 464% less than GDP growth?

In other words, GDP growth was 6.6% per annum and real education spending growth was about minus 0.25%, against tuition fee growth of about 5 plus % per annum.

In this connection, I understand that most countries historically, would spend more on education growth, relative to GDP growth.

Are there any countries in the world that has such a dismal record of education spending relative to GDP growth?

Leong Sze Hian is the Past President of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, an alumnus of Harvard University, Wharton Fellow, SEACeM Fellow and an author of 4 books. He is frequently quoted in the media. He has also been invited to speak more than 100 times in 25 countries on 5 continents. He has served as Honorary Consul of Jamaica, Chairman of the Institute of Administrative Management, and founding advisor to the Financial Planning Associations of Brunei and Indonesia. He has 3 Masters, 2 Bachelors degrees and 13 professional qualifications. He blogs at

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Kinabalu – irresponsible to resume school trips anytime soon

Will the minister and his MOE staff, principals and teachers, and those gung-ho parents whose children may or may not have been to Mount Kinabalu, please take a look at the graphic photo of the poor young victims of this tragedy in the Sabah news report link below (advisory, heart-rending graphic):

IMO, MOE should impose an immediate ban/moratorium on trips to Mount Kinabalu indefinitely. Mother Earth is presently going through a period of significant seismic upheavals with the advent of the quake that struck New Zealand and the catastropic Tsunamic waves that struck Indonesia, Japan, Sri Lanka, Thailand etc several years ago. In GEOLOGIC TERMS, the recent past and current periodic and spasmodic upheavals of the earth’s mantle could easily go on for several more years. It is not difficult to reason that each upheaval would give rise to more destabilities in the earth’s crust, local and elsewhere. And this would go on until goodness know when before major earth shifts have been played out and Mother Earth settles down to its next period of relative stability. As for now, does anyone know with any certainty when and where the next quake would strike? I believe, nobody,including seismologists, can with any certainty and accuracy pin-point the time, location or magnitude of the next earth movement. I recall a recent report of a new island or part of an existing island growing out of the seas in Japan. And there are still some existing known major faults, such as the Sans Andreas fault in the US, that has remained relatively ‘quiet’ so far.

Thus, does it make sense, however gung-ho we want our children to be in pursuit of ‘leadership training’ to send them back next season or the next, next, next season to Kinabalu, perhaps in the belief that ‘lightning never strike at the same spot twice’? That in my books would be a really irresponsible stupid folly. For one, sesimic movement of the earth mantle is not like lightning. And I am sure MOE and minister Heng are no fools to tempt fate like that notwithstanding that there are parents of PAST participants who appeared to be goading them on not least because they don’t have to lose any sleep over this since their children are NO LONGER on the line. It reminds me of what the WW2 US servicemen named US General Patton – ‘OLD BLOOD and GUT’. It was his guts but THEIR blood!

There are so many other activities that could easily replace climbing up a mountain in a now manifested known earth quake prone area. As an aside, for that matter, I think MOE needs to review the SOP with particular emphasis on proper due diligence regarding the risks and health ratings before any physically demanding trips are approved anymore. For instance, it can be made compulsory for MOE to send a field team comprising physical training experts, psychologists and physiotheraphists, even doctors, and other relevant specialists, to assess and vet all such outings submitted by schools as part of the approval process. As far as Kinabalu is concerned, it stands to commonsense reasoning to give it a wide berth literally till things have really stabilised. To obstinately insists on returning soon to Kinabalu is an unwise, psychologically unsound and absolutely insensitive decision to make.

There is absolutely NOTHING for any normal 12 years old kid to have to prove on Mount Kinablu at this point in time.

This article first appeared on Thetwophilo's Blog on 10 June 2015. It is reproduced with permission.

Tanjong Katong Primary School has my full support for the Mount Kinabalu Program

The Mount Kinabalu tragedy: what are schoolchildren doing there?

Mountain climbing not for 12 year old kids!


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Plan your next vacation

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Dates Br's Guests Min Nights Nightly Weekly
Apr 17 - Jan 06, 2018 5 10 3 $ 1,900.00 $ 13,300.00 Inquire
Jan 07 - Apr 16, 2018 5 10 3 $ 1,900.00 $ 13,300.00 Inquire
Dates April 17 - January 06, 2017
Bedrooms 5
Max guests 10
Min nights 3
Nightly $ 1,900.00
Weekly $ 13,300.00
Dates January 07 - April 16, 2018
Bedrooms 5
Max guests 10
Min nights 3
Nightly $ 1,900.00
Weekly $ 13,300.00
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General description

Beautiful New Modern Villa, fully furnished and professionally decorated. Located on the world famous "Teeth of the Dog" Golf Course 14th tee 11,675 sq ft (1,085 m²) Luxury Home with golf and sea views. Luxurious modern entry with indoor water gardens and waterfall.Villa has 5 bedrooms & 5 full bath including a Master suite with private balcony and enormous master bath with 2 person shower and multi-person Jacuzzi,  4 Large guest suites with en-suite baths and some with balconies  and outdoor showers and floor to ceiling custom corolina marble bath tile. All with AC & Fans.
Vast 70 ft pool with Jacuzzi, and lovely outdoor gazebo with bar and grill. Air-conditioned media room and dining rooms. Ceiling fans throughout. Custom, professional grade chef kitchen with granite, stainless appliances and island. Brand new decorator furnishings, all new plumbing and fixtures 2BR & bath service quarters, separated from main house. Lots of closets and storage. Ample covered  and guest parking.
We welcome you to “Punta Aguila 44”, a tranquil, tropical oasis nestled within the world renowned “Teeth of the Dog” golf course along the jagged ocean coast of the Casa de Campo Resort in the Dominican Republic, located on the south eastern shore of the Dominican Republic, next to the town of La Romana and just 70 miles from the capital city of Santo Domingo, the oldest city in the new world.

The resort was recently voted by Golf Magazine the “Best Golf Resort in the Caribbean.” (April 2008), and whether you’re interested in 36 holes a day, sand, surf & sailing, or simply chilling by your own private pool with friends and family, Casa de Campo’s Punta Aguila 44 has something for everyone.

The Punta Aguila (Eagle's Point) neighborhood is one of the resorts’ oldest and most exclusive of Casa de Campo, once home to Oscar de la Renta, and it is soon to be only steps away from the resort’s newest addition the exclusive Four Season Hotel at Casa de Campo. The area is defined by tall ivy covered walls that surround ocean front villas, refreshing tropical breezes, and secluded privacy that our guests prefer.

A vacation home for all seasons, “PA44” is a beautifully decorated new modern Villa, which describes the essence of a new wave of contemporary tropical design, and boasts a total of 11,675 sq ft (1,085 m²) of pure luxury. The house provides a wonderful set up for a large family, two or three small families with children or a group of couples or friends: privacy for sleeping; and great open spaces and pool area for dining and entertaining along with rooms and space to get away to for the kids or a private moment of relaxation.

Enter through, the massive wooden door which pivots carefully to expose the visitors to the breathtaking beauty of the indoor water gardens, past the  2 story waterfall wall, and out through the expansive “Gran Sala”  sailing across the 70 foot blue tiled pool and 20 person Jacuzzi all the way through to the “Teeth of the Dog’s” 14th tee.

The light and airy feeling is emphasized by the indoor/outdoor feel of the living space, 2 story open veranda style living area with custom large scale wood and glass sliding doors that tuck carefully into hidden wall pockets and open the entire space to for guests to pass in and out seamlessly from the enormous pool, Jacuzzi, Gazebo living area into the two large living room areas and a total of 4 different dining areas.

The Villa is complete with 5 bedrooms with 7 beds (sleeps 14), 5 full en suite baths, and two guest baths. One of the large guest rooms forms a “Guest House Suite” separate from the house opening onto the far side of the pool with its own outdoor garden shower.

The massive Master suite occupies the entire one side of the property, on the second floor and has its own private balcony with a view towards the sea, and enormous master bath with a 2 person shower and multi-person Jacuzzi and his and her cedar closets.  The remaining 4 large guest suites with en-suite baths have floor to ceiling custom “corolina” marble bath tiles and showers. Three of the bedrooms have custom cedar closets, and all have air conditioning and ceiling fans for your nightly comfort.
The pool is the largest one in any rental villa having a total length of over 70 feet.  A 20 person Jacuzzi connects to the pool and deck area for late afternoon socializing. The outdoor gazebo has a bar and grill for outdoor entertaining.  Inside the air-conditioned media room and dining rooms provide a cool retreat for dining or perhaps an evening of watching movies.

The professional grade custom chef kitchen has granite counter tops, stainless restaurant appliances and an island where early risers can find a morning coffee from your villa chef.  This villa has brand new furnishings, original fine art and was decorated by Yudelka Checo who is one of the most notable decorators in the Dominican Republic.

If you ever get tired of lounging by the pool, there is a lot to do at Casa de Campo. The resort is a luxurious 7,000 acre ocean front community and considered ¨The Most Complete Resort in the Caribbean.¨ It offers world class golf courses which includes, the famous Teeth of the Dog Golf Course plus Dye Fore and The Links Golf Course, polo fields, skeet shooting centre, tennis centre, equestrian centre, water sports, spa treatment centre, fitness centre, business centre, private beach, a la carte restaurants, Altos de Chavon (artist village) and the new marina, and a host of family, children’s, couples and group activities all of which will please almost any visitor.  And the nightlife will keep you dancing the night away often with celebrity visitors the paparazzi would be drooling over.

If you are looking for a place to relax and to enjoy the Caribbean lifestyle with all the modern amenities, Punta Aguila 44 is the place for you.

Casa de Campo charges a mandatory $20 per person, per day resort fee for all guests staying at the villa.

See more details

  • Max Occupancy: 14
  • SqFt (int): 11
  • Air-conditioning
  • Hot Tub/Jacuzzi
  • Internet - Wifi
  • Maid/Housekeeping
  • Pool
  • Beachfront
  • Parking
  • Wheelchair Accessible
  • BBQ
  • Blender
  • Coffeemaker
  • Dishwasher
  • Ice Maker
  • Microwave
Laundry Room:
  • Dryer
  • Washer
  • DVD
  • Satellite
  • Stereo
  • TV
  • Telephone
Media Room
Resort amenities:
Casa de Campo
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  • Handicap Access: No
  • Smoking: Not Allowed
  • Pets: Not Allowed
  • Children Allowed: No

Resort Fees apply and payable on site

Plan your next vacation:

Casa de Campo - Punta Aguila 44

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899A Greeenwood AVE

, Atlanta - Virginia Highland
Year Built:
Approx. Sq. Ft.:
Sq. Ft. Source: Developer
Unit #:
  • Property Details
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  • Description

    Amazing Price for New Construction in Virginia Highland. Bright open floor plan perfect for Entertaining. Deck of the Main level and off the Master Bedroom, Overlooking Large Fenced Yard. Spacious Den could also be fourth Bedroom. 2 Car Garage. Gorgeous Finishes throughout. 10 ft. ceilings on 1st and 2nd level. Huge kitchen and Formal Dining Rm. Walk to neighborhood Rests, Shops, Gyms, and the Beltline. This townhouse lives like a Single Family House.
    FMLS#: 5269820
    Neighborhood: Virginia Highland

    View Virtual Tour

    School Information
    • Elementary School: Springdale Park
    • Middle School: Inman
    • High School: Grady

    Home Style
    • Townhouse

    Exterior Features
    • Deck
    • Fenced Yard
    • Yard
    • Brick & Frame
    • Other

    Interior Features
    • 9 ft+ Ceil Lower
    • 10 ft+ Ceil Main
    • 10 ft + Ceil Upper
    • Hardwood Floors
    • Walk-In Closet(s)
    • Wall/Wall Carpet
    • Bonus Room
    • Separate Lvng Rm
    • Central Electric
    • Central System
    • Zoned
    • Forced Air
    • Gas
    • Zoned
    • Firepace
    • Handicapped
    • None
    • Basement
    • Bath
    • Finished
    • Interior Entry
    • Slab/None
    • Laundry Room
    • Upstairs

    Listing Provided Courtesy of: HARRY NORMAN REALTORS
       Listings identified with the FMLS IDX logo come from FMLS, are held by brokerage firms other than the owner of this website and the listing brokerage is identified in any listing details. Information is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed. © 2017 First Multiple Listing Service, Inc.
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text:
The Andy Warhol Bio

From the very beginning of the Andy Warhol Bio, he was obsessed with the rich and famous. For example as an eight year old he joined the Shirley Temple fan club and received an autographed photo from her that he always treasured. Another of his great passions was creating artwork. He combined all his passions with lots of hard work.

How Did Andy Warhol Die?
Andy Warhol did not die as a direct result of the gunshot wounds he received in 1968 although he suffered pain from the injury for the rest of his life. Most Andy Warhol Bio writers agree he died in a New York City hospital room in 1987 shortly after routine gallbladder surgery. It is possible he put off the surgery too long but there is no mistake he developed complications after the operation that led to his death. Those complications developed possibly because he wanted special arrangements for a room which somehow caused him more isolation and lack of care than a patient in a regular room.

Least Likely to Succeed
The Andy Warhol biography starts in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania where he was born in 1928. His family name was Warhola and they were poor working class immigrants. While in grade school he made the honor role for his artwork. In high school he used his art a way to win acceptance from peers. In college however opinions of his artistic talents varied. For instance one of his teachers said “If anyone would have asked me who was least likely to succeed, I would have said Andy Warhola.”

Truman Capote
While in college Andy became a commercial artist in a department store. When he moved to New York City after graduation from art studies in college his first job was at Glamour magazine to paint some shoes. Around this time he started to attend gay parties. He developed a crush on Truman Capote. The author was already a rich celebrity; Andy began stalking him. Many years later they became friends after Andy achieved his own success and fame but Capote said of his first meetings about Andy Warhol, “Just a hopeless, born loser.”

Magazines and his Mother
His mother was convinced Andy could not take care of himself when he was 24 years old so she moved into his New York City apartment. He was doing better in the business world by giving art directors and editors small presents of artwork and books he illustrated. This helped get him get an agent and the agent help him get a desirable assignment at the I. Miller Shoes account. He became one of the highest paid illustrators in the country because of his shoe art.

"Andy, Paint Money"
He had wonderful commercial artist success but Andy Warhol wanted to be taken seriously as a painter. Other artists that did commercial art on the side did not use real names for the commercial work but Andy always went by Warhol. When producing his artistic work he said he wanted to take all the emotion out of his work and keep his mind bland and empty as he painted. This is when he started to paint money and soup cans and gained major art gallery acceptance.

The Factory Technique
As a way to paint faster he decided to use a silk screen technique to produce the dollar bills and S&H Green Stamps faster. This also allowed him to distance himself from the finished artwork. Pop Art became a sensation in 1963 and Andy Warhol was considered part of that art movement. He was a celebrity.

Media Success
Movie making then gained his interest. He also needed more room to create his artwork so he rented a warehouse space and called it the Factory. A new exhibit at a gallery caused a sensation because it showed rows of his Brillo boxes. Andy Warhol was now a media success but he still wanted to become a financial success too.

Any Andy Warhol bio would say interesting characters entered his life at the Factory. Some of the most fascinating include Edie Sedgwick and the rock band The Velvet Underground with Lou Reed. He made movies without scripts. Then, in 1968 Valerie Solanas shot Warhol at the Factory almost killing him. He took months to recover and soon started Interview magazine.

Party and Disco Scene
Portraits of rich and famous people helped him financially. His portrait of Chairman Mao brought him fame. The book he wrote was called The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again. He regularly went to parties, discos, and popular clubs like Studio 54. Interestingly, he was not noted as a drinker or drug user; in fact, his artwork was most important to him.

The Catholic church was also important to him and he regularly attended mass. In the United States his work was no longer shocking or considered the next new thing but it was in Europe. The last well known series on The Last Supper was a big hit in Italy.

Final Days
Andy Warhol died of complications from gall bladder surgery in 1987. Warhol's will said his entire estate should go to create a foundation dedicated to the "advancement of the visual arts." Warhol had so many possessions it took Sotheby's nine days to auction his estate after his death; the auction grossed more than $20 million. He is a bigger star today than when he was alive. In that sense the Andy Warhol Bio continues as the major auction gallery Christie's and Sotheby's routinely sell his work for millions of dollars each.

Other Biography of Andy Warhol Pages

Andy Warhol Art
The best Andy Warhol paintings were provocative when new and still iconic today.

Andy Warhol Soup Can
The Andy Warhol Soup Can is probably his best known artwork. He produced thousands of silkscreen art prints including portraits of Marilyn Monroe and Pop Art paintings of Campbell Tomato Soup.

Andy Warhol Shoes
Overview of how Andy Warhol shoes influenced his rise to fame and controversy.

Andy Warhol Artwork
The Andy Warhol Artwork most famous was Pop Art, the popular objects like Campbell's Soup Cans and Brillo Boxes found in everyday life and products in the mass media.

Andy Warhol Pictures
The Andy Warhol pictures most famous were portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Liz Taylor, Elvis and other celebrities that started as Polaroids.

Andy Warhol Quotes
The Andy Warhol Quotes on this page help give insight to man famous for wanting to be famous.

Andy Warhol Self Portraits
Most Andy Warhol Self Portraits reveal little but say a lot

Andy Warhol Biography
An Andy Warhol Biography listing major events in the artist's life.

Andy Warhol Self Portrait
An Andy Warhol Self Portrait reveals little; shows a lot of his Pop Art style.

Andy Warhol Pop Art
Andy Warhol Pop Art was not his original idea; he wanted to belong and then he became the name and human symbol of the movement.

Andy Warhol Prints
Andy Warhol prints of Campbell's Soup, Marilyn Monroe, and Elvis Presley helped form the Pop Art movement in the 1960s.

Other Page of Interest

Doug Dourgarian Art Gallery
The Doug Dourgarian art gallery on line of shoe art, landscapes, New York City art prints, and California wine art.

Click here to leave the Andy Warhol Bio for more links to all the artists and all the online art galleries, art prints, and art posters. You can also browse the links found at the bottom of Home Page.

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text:
This red fox is my first attempt at a non-bird pattern. He’s inspired by the fox that visits Downeast Thunder Farm all too often. This guy is a friendly looking fox. However, my advice to you: never trust a smiling fox!

pdf pattern of a fox

Right click here and select “Save target as” (on a PC) to save this PDF fox pattern to your computer.

red fox pattern

Here’s a look at the simple treatment I did on the flip side.


text:
Email :
Phone : +27 (0)12 362 2422

About five million years ago, human kind took an important step in its evolution: standing upright and walking on two legs. Among other advantages, this enabled him to gain a better overview of surrounding terrain, but at the same time left him susceptible to the health challenge of vein disorders.

Arteries transport (for the most part) oxygen and nutrient rich blood from the heart to the whole body. Arteries have smooth muscle and can therefore contract and relax. Veins transport blood back to the heart to release carbon dioxide and other toxins. Veins do not have smooth muscle, but valves that close and open, thereby pushing blood in an upward direction. The surrounding muscles in the legs also assist in this process while we are moving around. Standing upright and still, exerts enormous strain on the veins in the legs, up to 10 times that of other postures.

The upright position encourages the flow of blood downward while simultaneously forcing the body to work against gravity to return the blood, about one and a half meters, from the feet to the heart. To ease the tremendous effort it would take for the heart to handle this task by itself, the legs contain a series of muscle driven pumps and one-way valves, a system called the “second heart”. This second heart requires a lot of exertion to perform this task, which was not a problem so long as human beings remained hunter gatherers, because the calf muscles and the soles of the feet were utilized through continuous moving around, to keep the blood circulation going.

But modern man and woman’s lifestyle causes blood circulation to stagnate, blood congests in the veins, the walls of the veins become weak, and the valves malfunction. Spider veins and painful, swollen legs begin to appear, and later bulging, deep purple varicose veins weave their way through the calves.

By age 30, about 44% of women and 19% of men begin to see signs of vein problems. By age 50, more than 64% of women and 42% of men are affected by some form of varicose veins.

The onset of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) usually goes unnoticed. Early symptoms such as spider veins or tired, heavy legs in the evening are often not taken seriously enough. The symptoms also often subside overnight.

Risk factors that adversely affect leg vein health

  • lack of exercise
  • standing still for long periods
  • poor nutrition
  • excess weight, also as part of metabolic syndrome (high blood pressure, high triglycerides, high blood sugar or insulin resistance and excess weight)
  • pregnancy
  • hot and humid weather
  • tight and restrictive clothing
  • advancing age due to mostly lack of exercise and movement

Lifestyle factors to help us address the risks

  • eat healthy, enjoyable, fresh, organic fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds
  • use the right food supplements and natural remedies to restore the function of your veins and circulation
  • manage your weight
  • do fun, enjoyable exercise, especially foot and ankle exercises to encourage blood flow
  • apply cold water compresses to your legs
  • elevate your legs when sitting or lying down to assist the drainage of blood
  • go for regular lymph drainage massage

Notice CVI stage 1 symptoms and start to manage it immediately as this will slow down the process:

    • tired, heavy legs
    • spider veins
    • tingling calves
    • edema (swelling of the lower legs and ankles)

At first the congestion and swelling recedes overnight, but this temporary relief stops occurring as the health challenge progresses. Cell metabolism deteriorates in the congested leg; fluid and blood pigments are released into the surrounding tissue, the lymphatic system cannot keep up trying to drain all the fluid. This ultimately leads to a brown discolouration of the skin – stage 2 of CVI.

Natural remedies

Nature has also provided us with some interesting and very effective therapies, the most successful of which are derived from plants.

French vintners (wine farmers) do not get CVI. They use the red vine leaves from the vine Vitis vinifera as a poultice and infusion to apply to their legs and have healthy legs. Just after the harvest of the deep blue-black grapes, the leaves turn red. This is harvested and used. The red vine leaf extract contains bio-active flaven, that contains the bioflavenoids (quercetin, quercitrin and kaempherol), all antioxidants with many benefits to the human body. An active commercial product of red vine leaf extract, called AS 195 has been made according to the French Pharmacopoeia, has a positive effect on the veins, as does horse chestnut, and Pycnogenol found in grape seed and pine bark extract.

The red vine leaf extract AS195 has been proven effective in the early stages of CVI (stage 1 and 2). A new scientific study supports a bulk of previous positive research results. This study showed that taking AS 195 as found in ANTISTAX ®, containing the red vine leaf extract AS 195, led to an improvement in the clinical profile of patients with CVI.¹  Swelling and pain in the leg were significantly reduced, feelings of tension declined, and “tired, heavy legs” symptoms improved. A previous study had already demonstrated that AS195 leads to a regeneration of damaged cells, positively influences their functional ability, and helps to restore the intactness of the cell layer.²  At the same time cells are protected from any further damage. ANTISTAX ® is available in South Africa without prescription, and can be found at most Pharmacies.

In the case of a pronounced chronic venous insufficiency, measures are primarily about stopping the progression of the disease. Varicose veins can become chronic if they are not treated immediately. In the worst-case scenario, leg and foot ulcers can develop – the most severe form of CVI (stage three). These ulcers are the consequence of long-standing circulatory disorders in the leg tissue. Therapy, ulcer treatment, and possible surgical operations are required at this stage, all of which need professional medical care.

How healthy are our veins?

A recent study in Germany concerning the prevalence of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), called “The Bonn vein study”¹ showed that the disease is indeed widely prevalent amongst the adult population.

The study, which spanned almost two years, tested a total of 3, 072 subjects between the ages of 18 – 79. Subjects answered standardised questions  regarding socioeconomic aspects, quality of life, and vein-specific details.

The incidence of prior vein-specific conditions among the subjects turned out to be surprisingly high: leg swelling, the typical characteristic of vein disease, occurred in almost every second woman and every sixth man. The prevalence of swelling increased with age. If one takes all of the symptoms typical of blood vessel illnesses together, then in fact every second subject indicated symptoms.

At 62%, women were considerably more commonly afflicted with symptoms like feelings of heaviness, tension, and swelling, as well as pain after standing for a long time. 6% of those questioned experienced a reduction in their quality of life.

At the end of the study, doctors conducted an examination of the leg veins of all the subjects in accordance with the CEAP classification for chronic vein disorders (C Clinical, E Etiology, A Anatomy and P Pathophysiology). The results were less than positive: only about 10%  of the participants had completely healthy veins, 59% of the participants had developed spider veins and small aneurysms located in the upper skin layer. 14% had varicose veins without further signs of a chronic vein disease. At the time of examination, every seventh subject had fluid build up which indicated CVI.

Altogether the study indicates that every fifth woman and every sixth man in Germany have indications of CVI.

On the positive side, only about 4% of the test subjects showed evidence of  adverse skin changes  as a symptom  of an advanced chronic vein disease, which is an improvement from the Tuebingen study of 1979, which showed a rate of around 13%. ²

This shows that the severe complications of the disease have significantly decreased in Germany, probably due to improvements in medical care, considering that the diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities have increased in the last several years. People afflicted with vein disorders in Germany today are better informed. As many as 23% of all test subjects had already taken therapeutic measures: the use of compression hosiery (15%), vein medications (7%) and operations (7%). The knowledge and use of therapeutic options increased significantly with age.

So where does that leave us as South Africans? Although no formal trials have taken place here, we must assume that we are far behind in terms of education and knowledge regarding vein health than say Germany is.

Although there are treatments for CVI as mentioned above, prevention is always the best medicine, and perhaps education is what is needed in our country. It is widely understood that the possibility of developing the disease has increased due to modern living habits. Nowadays many people work in sedentary jobs – the body, the legs and especially the leg veins get too little exercise and the danger of developing vein disease increases.

There are many things that people can do to promote their vein health. Regular exercise such as cycling, swimming, or walking stimulates the work of the leg veins, as does taking Scottish (alternating hot /cold) showers and splashing cold water on the legs.

In addition, medical research offers hope. In 2002 a study took place which attracted a great deal of attention: a laboratory experiment conducted by Prof. Dr. Dr. Stephan Nees observed the onset and progression of cell damage as it occurs in CVI. In the experiment it could be shown that during inflammation, large gaps opened up between the cells causing them to loose their cohesion and so discharge water, plasma and inflammatory factors into the surrounding tissue, leading to a typical edema or swelling.

The most interesting part of this experiment occurred when Prof Nees treated the damaged cells with AS 195, a special extract derived from red vine leaves. The cells recuperated and recovered their functionality and the cell layer was restored intact. ³

These observations showed that the red vine leaf extract contained in the ANTISTAX ® tablets is to some extent able to reverse existing damage in the veins.  One tablet daily is recommended to stimulate blood flow and strengthen and seal the vein walls, thereby protecting against further advanced changes in the veins.

It is good to know that there is a product now available in SA that medical practitioners can offer their patients at the onset of the CVI. It is still a disease that cannot be cured, but if therapy is started early enough it can drastically alleviate symptoms and avoid the damaging consequences.

The healing power of red vine leaf

Knowledge of the healing powers of red vine leaf dates as far back as ancient Rome: Galen, the famous doctor to the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, made use of vine leaf in his medicinal treatments.  Modern science has since medically researched, proven, and substantiated its benefits, the major one of which is in the treatment of chronic venous insufficiency (CVI).

Veins transport blood to the heart from the body’s organs. To reach the heart, the blood often needs to flow upward, against gravity, from the veins in the legs. To do this, the calf muscles and the muscles in the feet need to contract with each step to squeeze the veins and push the blood upward. To keep the blood flowing up, and not back down, the veins contain one-way valves. With the onset of vein disease, veins become dilated and the valves responsible for the blood-flow to the heart, no longer close properly, allowing blood to pool in the veins.

Through the increased pressure, the veins become permeable and the fluid seeps out into the surrounding tissue. This results in the accumulation of fluid, so called oedema. The increased amount of fluid in the tissues of the legs causes pain, swelling and this can cause further damage to the veins.

Historically, treatment for CVI has included compression stockings and in more severe cases, invasive therapy and interventions such as sclerotherapy (localized injections), ablation and vein stripping, which thankfully brings us back to Roman times and the healing power of the red vine leaf.

Research, special analysis, and processing of the plant have led to the development of an effective therapy: AS 195, an extract derived from red vine leaves, which exerts a protective effect on the veins. This extract is a highly effective natural vein therapeutic that produces very successful results even in the early stages of CVI.

The efficacy and tolerability of AS 195 was put to the test in a six week observational study conducted in Switzerland in 2003.¹ Sixty-five male and female patients between ages 25 – 82, suffering from CVI, received a single daily dose of 360 mg of AS 195 over a period of six weeks, and were asked to evaluate symptoms of tired, heavy legs; tension; tingling; and pain in the legs. The study was a complete success: in their total evaluation at the end of study, the patients and clinical investigators found that all the leading symptoms of CVI had receded by at least 50%.

For more information on CVI and the health of your veins, go to


text:
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Biomedical Infrastucture Grants Awarded to UC San Diego

Researchers at the University of California at San Diego School of Medicine, led by Lucila Ohno-Machado, chief of the Division of Biomedical Informatics in the Department of Medicine, have received two federal grants totaling more than $25 million to develop new ways to gather, analyze, use, and share vast, ever-increasing amounts of biomedical information.

The first grant for $16.7 million over five years will create a national center for biomedical computing called iDASH. The center will be charged with developing novel algorithms, open-source tools, and computational infrastructure and services so that scientists nationwide can share anonymized data essential to large-scale studies and medical progress.

“This new center and effort is a way to democratize science, to bridge the computational divide between institutions like UC San Diego with its deep, extensive computational expertise and infrastructure, such as the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) and the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (CalIT2), both of which are playing key roles in the new center, and institutions lacking these resources,” said Ohno-Machado. “The idea is to create new systems and methods that give researchers everywhere access to information that can help push science forward by making optimal use of data and algorithms.”

According to Ohno-Machado, iDASH not only affords the nation with a great resource to share privacy-protected data, but also coordinates talent from several departments, organized research units, and schools at UC San Diego, catalyzing the integration of quantitative and biomedical/behavioral sciences across campus, with involvement of multiple researchers from the Schools of Medicine, Pharmacy, and Engineering.

The other research grant is for $8.3 million over three years and is also a transformative initiative. The SCAlable National Network for Effectiveness Research (SCANNER) complements the ideas and goals of the iDASH grant, making it easier to integrate data from health care systems.

SCANNER, led by Ohno-Machado at the SDSC, will create certified computational systems and architecture necessary to securely exchange health information collected at the point of care, so that the same data can be used for comparative effectiveness research. For example, researchers will be able to assess the added value of a new medication like dabigatran, which could replace the popular drug warfarin in the management of anticoagulation. Or they might measure the value added by pharmacist participation in therapy management.

The grant is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Department of Health and Human Services. It involves partners in both academia and industry, among them San Francisco State University, Charles R. Drew University in Los Angeles, Vanderbilt University/Tennessee Valley VA, Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard University, RAND Corporation, and Resilient Networks.  By involving health care institutions serving diverse populations as well as interdisciplinary academic and industrial partners in the development of an architecture for secure information exchange, SCANNER takes effective steps into creating a national network for health care and biomedical research data exchange.

Biomedical informatics has become well-recognized by the NIH as an independent, scholarly field of research, collaboration, and training.

UC San Diego News Office

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text:
We Are Doomed!!!

Welcome to Agrabah. Now lets bomb the hell out of it.

Agrabah. Sounds foreign lets bomb it. Muffins baking in an oven.

A subscriber recently sent me this YouTube. In forwarding the Tube his comment was “Barry you’re gonna get a good laugh at this one”. I receive several emails a day from subscribers and do try my best to read each one. With that being said this one was no exception. He was right I had a good laugh actually a great laugh but soon the opposite effect kicked in. My laughter faded and a feeling of sadness had replaced it. I realized this YouTube served as a prime example of why we are doomed.

When societies, countries or nations become demoralized they take on several misguided beliefs. One of which follows. When citizens become dumbed down to the point of worshiping athletes and Hollywood poster children as their potential new leaders it sends a signal. A signal to the controllers that these minds are baked enough. They’re ready to be pulled out of the oven cooled and placed into the display case to be marketed. Marketed to who you ask… marketed to the public that’s who.

It’s these minds that serve as the advertising program promoting freedom of religion (as long as it’s their religion) the economies in a total recovery and thanks to good folks like “the Donald” America is going to become great once again. Really?

Ah the well baked muffins. See how they line up perfectly. One conforming to the other. Remind you of what our system currently is like?

Ah the well baked muffins. See how they line up perfectly. One conforming to the other. Remind you of what our system currently is like?Muffins baking in an oven.

Somehow along the way the well baked must have missed a few simple facts like the debt just rounded 19 trillion the middle class is suffering actually what middle class and by the way which I’m extremely confident in mentioning most of these muffins never heard of separation of church and state. You know the constitution. What everyone is supposedly fighting for.

Just in case I’ll refresh a few cooked muffins recently placed under the display glass for marketing. Separation of church and state” is a phrase used by Thomas Jefferson and others expressing an understanding of the intent and function of the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

It’s located in the first amendment. Possibly because of its importance or a more probable reason might be the founding fathers already knew the people don’t spend much of their time reading. Such placement would insure the masses needn’t be concerned about reading the entire constitution. This way the people could return and continue on with the real important tasks at hand. You know like killing the natives then robbing them of their wealth and land. Now that’s the American way baby!!!

The American Dream. Hope you enjoyed the Superbowl. Keep staying tuned to what's important.

The American Dream. Hope you enjoyed the Superbowl. Keep staying tuned to what’s important. Muffins baking in a oven.

If you’re muffins not fully baked yet there’s something you may want to consider. Currently the same things happening to you. Right before your very eyes your wealth is being robbed confiscated or forfeited. Choose the word you like best as for me they all amount to the same effect. For many your land is being taken either by confiscation or forfeiture due to taxation. The killing oh yes can’t forget about the violence. Look into it a bit further on you own and you’ll see its rapidly escalating. Payback really is a bitch isn’t it?

This short YouTube consists of a poll taken while asking this one question. Americans were asked the following question “should America bomb the country of Agrabah?” This question was posed to a wide range of Americans consisting of various religious and political beliefs as well as a healthy variation of wealth status. They wanted to create as level a playing field as possible. “Should America be bombing the country of Agrabah?”

While viewing the results my laughter promptly subsided and replaced with sadness. Actually hopelessness might be a more appropriate description of what took over. Some of the stats I’ve listed below.

  1. 41% of Trump supporters voted yes. America should bomb Agrabah.
  2. 30% of republicans that is republican primary voters support bombing Agrabah.
  3. 19% of democrats voted supporting the bombing of Agrabah.

Let’s recap this so it’s crystal clear. Of Americans that were polled two out of ten democrats’ three out of ten republican primary voters and 4 out of ten Trump supporters all were in favor of bombing the country of Agrabah.

Funny what happens to almost all of them. The puppets on the sage. Appearing in all nations. All of them after your freedom righ? Ask youself who's been funding them all.

Funny what happens to almost all of them. The puppets on the sage. Appearing in all nations. All of them after your freedom right? Ask youself who’s been funding them all. Muffins baking in a oven.

Some of you might be asking yourselves what so wrong about that? There are a lot of bad people over in the middle east. They’re all out to destroy us and they hate our freedom. At least by the polling numbers that’s what a sizable percentage of the population seems to think. Averaging it out and 30% of the polled were in favor of bombing the country of Agrabah. What could be so wrong about bombing Agrabah? It’s better to be safe that sorry.

Here’s what’s wrong with the numbers. The country of Agrabah doesn’t even exist!! It’s a fictitious country made up for the movie Aladdin. Yea the animated children’s movie Aladdin. I really want to clarify this so for the sake of those muffins leaning towards the well done side read carefully.

Fictitious is a synonym for pretend, invented, fabricated, untrue, false and or made-up. Oh yea almost forgot just in case referring to the aforementioned well baked a synonym is a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase in the same language.

Agrabah Doesn’t EVEN FUCKEN Exist!!! These people are voting to bomb a country solely because of it having a foreign sounding name. More accurately a Muslim foreign sounding name. People this by any way measurable is incredibly wrong. Agrabah “Sounds foreign to me… sure lets bomb it.” I can’t even fathom the words to describe how wrong this is!!!

When the well baked muffins are to the point that they’re answering questions before even asking WHY, WHAT, or WHERE we’re done for. WHY would we want to bomb them? What have they done to us that would even make us consider bombing them and last but not least? WHERE THE FUCK IS AGRABAH!!!*&$#@!!! Nope sounds foreign let’s just bomb it. It’s over folks and the price a lot of us are going to be paying during the reconstruction period is going to be costly.

Tierd of the squid. Don't worry Bernie or the Donald will make it all better. Muffins baking in an over.

Tired of the squid. Don’t worry Bernie or the Donald will make it all better. Remember we’re on the road to recovery. Muffins baking in an over.

Ask yourself one more time. Aren’t we so much more moral in western nations? In the not too distant future a large percentage of you are going to get your asses handed to you. WHY am I so certain of this? WHAT new knowledge did I receive that allowed me to reach the level of surety rather than merely wallowing in belief? It’s because such a large percentage of you will still be trying to figure out where the fuck Agrabah is while masses of the population are being slaughtered right in front of you.

Think I’m wrong? Better start asking those W-questions I keep mentioning about. One key subject to be asking w-questions might be your recent immigration issues. Do these people look like their starving to you? Not to mention the fact most are toting I-Phones and are males 25 to 45 years of age. Don’t worry about it just keep an eye out for the passports that list Agrabah as the country of origin and everything will work itself out just fine. Those of us who refuse to believe in conspiracy often finds themselves believing in coincidence. A respectful percentage of you are right on track for where you’re headed. Until next time this is Barry in DR

Kevin M February 14, 2016 at 4:06 pm

“Let’s bomb Agraba to find out if there were any bad guys In it”– future quote N. Pelosi. Thanks for the disturbing post!

Barry February 15, 2016 at 1:44 pm

Kevin disturbing yes the truth often is but it goes to show you how misinformed the general public really is. I believe it adds to my previous quote of the uninformed being meek. It’s always been the misinformed who are dangerous. Once again they’re looking to first instigate then actually start another manufactured war which I believe they will succeed in doing so. Again largely due to the ignorance of the general public. There really is nothing new under the sun.

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text:
Freedom Battle

GirlsHorseClub.com Blog Archive on October 20, 2009, 8:00

by horsewhispers, age 16

Fire burning and crashing,
Within a stormy eye.
The fury in his body
As he raises to the sky:
A loud and crying voice
That echoes to the cloud
His voice is loud and angry
Straight and true and proud
In his voice is a warning
He will fight until the morning
Against those who seek his liberty
He’ll let them plainly see
There is no death for liberty
His spirit will fight on
Despite the pain that is inflicted
Until his body’s gone
Fire burning and destroying

read more »


text:
01/31/2013 3:39PM

Borden cool under pressure as Kentucky's acting chief steward

Patrick Lang/Lang Photography
Longtime racing official Barbara Borden has been the acting chief steward in Kentucky since last April.

FLORENCE, Ky. – Controversy has made the seat of chief steward on the Kentucky racing circuit an occasional hot one. Among the prominent cases, there was the Dancer’s Image medication disqualification from the 1968 Kentucky Derby, the sponges-up-the-nose fiasco in 1996, the Jose Santos Q-ring debacle of 2003, and the Life At Ten embarrassment from 2010.

Those might have even been easy, since there are more daunting scenarios that might shift the spotlight onto the Kentucky chief steward in the world’s most famous horse race, the Kentucky Derby: an inquiry into the running of the race that could go either way; another medication positive in this age of high-tech drug science and legal maneuvering; or, God forbid, a multi-horse spill in front of a horrified public.

Barbara Borden is well aware. These days, 10 months into her tenure as acting chief steward for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, Borden is whiling away her time in the relative obscurity of Turfway Park in northern Kentucky. In just a couple of months, racing will return to higher visibility at Keeneland in Lexington and then, in late April, at Churchill Downs in Louisville, where on May 4 the Derby will be run for the 139th time.

Borden, 53, has been doing “mental pushups” in preparing for the day when her decades of experience in racing may be called upon to render judgments in such critical situations.

“The one thing is to try to keep a level head,” Borden said in a recent interview at Turfway. “It sounds trite, but there’s racing here year round, and things happen all the time. The Derby is another race, although obviously there’s a lot going on and millions of people are watching. You just hope you could exercise the same judgment that you would for any race on any given day. Stay calm and look at it like it’s happening on a regular Thursday.”

Borden was hired in the aftermath of the highly charged firing of John Veitch, which occurred shortly after the Churchill fall meet ended in November 2011. For the ensuing four months at Turfway, Rick Williams served as interim chief steward. Borden was hired April 1, 2012, initially with the title of state steward, which shortly was changed to acting chief steward.

The timetable for removing the “acting” label from her title “has yet to be determined,” said Marc Guilfoil, who oversaw the hiring process as deputy executive director for the racing commission. He explained that ultimately it will be a decision by Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat, acting on the recommendations of personnel within the governmental hierarchy.

Borden grew up in Mentor, Ohio, in the northeast suburbs of Cleveland close to Lake Erie. She is the third of three children to her father, Don, who turns 82 this week while living in retirement in South Carolina, and her mother, Mary, who died in a car accident in 1978.

The family had pleasure horses but was not involved with Thoroughbreds, although Barbara and her sister, Deb, and brother, Dave, all eventually gravitated to careers in the sport of Thoroughbred racing. Deb, who died in 2001, was a longtime employee of Daily Racing Form, and Dave was a jockey for about 12 years, through 1987, then worked for several years as a jockey agent. Today he is working in private business in Las Vegas and has been married for about 15 years to Alexis Harthill, the daughter of the legendary late veterinarian Dr. Alex Harthill.

After graduating high school in 1978, Borden intended to attend college, but she never made it. She took a backstretch job that summer at nearby Thistledown and never left the racetrack, working her way through the ranks at tracks such as Beulah Park, River Downs, and Tampa Bay Downs as a groom, exercise rider, and pony person before taking a job for a brief period at a California ranch in the early 1980s. She then worked for about seven years compiling charts for the Form while also accepting part-time work with the Kentucky commission in various lower-level positions, including a job in the licensing department and as a “sample technician” in the test barn. She eventually was hired as an assistant horse identifier in the fallout from the infamous Briarwood/Blairwood incident on Derby Day 1988 before being promoted in 1995 as the full-time chief identifier.

“When I was younger I wanted to be a concert clarinetist because that’s what my training was in,” said Borden. “It’s funny how life can take you down a different path.”

At the suggestion of her longtime mentor Bernie Hettel, Borden attended the first stewards’ accreditation classes at the University of Louisville in the early 1990s and worked her first meet as a steward at fall meets at tiny Blue Grass Downs in Paducah, Ky., in 1993. She continued to work primarily in horse ID while also serving short stints as a steward at smaller tracks such as Ellis Park and Turfway.

“Barb has a superb background to do the job she’s in now,” said Hettel, who was the chief steward for the Kentucky commission for nearly 20 years, until 2004, and is now executive secretary for the Virginia Racing Commission. “She’s spent a lot of time in the trenches, flipping lips and a lot of other things. Her family has all that background in racing. . . . She’s very well prepared to do the job.”

Her application last year won out over “about 20 to 25” candidates who also sought the job as chief steward, according to Guilfoil.

“Barb figured to be a great fit for us for a number of reasons, ” Guilfoil said this week from the commission offices in Lexington. “She has longevity in Kentucky as an official. She knows all the players, including in track managements; they know her, and she’s respected by all. She worked for us years ago, and she’s very comfortable with her colleagues, as they are with her. I think she’s done an outstanding job so far. She really hit the ground running.”

Borden has lived since 1997 in the same house in an older, quiet Louisville neighborhood just a couple of miles east of Churchill. For about 20 years, she has dated the same man, Gerry O’Brien, an Irish native who trains a small string of horses in northern Kentucky (for races in which O’Brien has a horse, Borden recuses herself). She has no children and is a vegetarian. Although she does not have a lot of time outside of racing, she enjoys snow skiing, traveling, gardening, exercising, and keeping her house in good shape while also rooting (often futilely) for the Cleveland Browns during football season.

She said she inherited “a certain toughness” from her father, who was critically injured while surviving the same crash that killed his wife.

“I’m sure that most of the time people see that side of me,” she said, “although I do crumble every once in a while. I just try not to let anybody see that.”

Borden is the rare woman to occupy such a high position in the racing industry, but she doesn’t seem to have thought much about the topic of gender, being as focused as she is on more important issues.

“I’ve never really heard of a woman being a chief steward, at least not in a racing state as major as Kentucky,” she said. “I’m good friends with Kim Sawyer,” a steward on the Southern California circuit, “and obviously there are women that have done extremely well in other jobs in racing.”

Borden is often described as a good-humored, caring person, an animal lover, and someone who makes optimal use of common sense and her 35 years of experience in racing.

“A lot of the job is watching races and replays carefully, and a whole lot of them, studying various situations that may arise,” Hettel said. “She has all that behind her and does her homework. Honestly, she is just a wonderful woman. I supported her many years ago, and she hasn’t ever disappointed me. She is that good.”

With the roles of stewards being mostly reactive, as opposed to proactive, Borden said she hopes to be like a little-noticed referee who diverts precious little attention away from the action on the playing field.

“I love this job,” she said. “It can be stressful at times, rewarding at times, enjoyable. I really do feel fortunate to be working alongside such competent, experienced officials in the great racing state that this is. Hopefully, I can make a difference when the situation calls for it.”

As for an unfortunate circumstance arising with the Derby or another major event, Borden noted that the 2012 Derby passed without incident with her in the stewards’ stand.

“We’ve been pretty fortunate so far, knock on wood,” she said. “We’ll just have to use our best judgment if something ever comes up.”


text:
03/23/2004 12:00AM

Cassidy has monster to beat Megahertz

ARCADIA, Calif. - The Grade 2 Santa Ana Handicap will not arrive soon enough for trainer Jim Cassidy and the 4-year-old filly Katdogawn.

"I just hope we get to Saturday without her killing herself; she's just a monster," Cassidy said.

She will need to be one in the 1 1/8-mile turf race for fillies and mares. Megahertz was assigned 120-pound high weight, and class handicapping suggests the Bobby Frankel-trained Grade 1 winner is the one to beat.

A confident Cassidy believes otherwise. "I'm the one to beat," he said.

Katdogawn has finished first or second in her last eight starts, which include two Grade 2 wins. The 4-year-old filly's most recent effort, second in the Grade 2 Buena Vista Handicap on "good" turf, was better than it looked.

"She hated the ground, had sinus trouble early in the week, and still got up for second," Cassidy said.

Frankel is expected to start both Megahertz and Mandela, 113 pounds. Fun House was assigned 118 pounds; Katdogawn was assigned 117.

Cassidy said he will run Moulin de Mougins, seventh in the Grade 3 Baldwin in his U.S. debut, in the $150,000 La Puente Stakes April 10. Minor stakes winner Unrivalled will skip the La Puente, Cassidy said.

"I have to give him a little time. He has a lot of ability, but he's a little light in the brain," Cassidy said.

Overnight stakes winner Ticker Tape will run April 11 in the $150,000 Providencia for 3-year-old fillies, Cassidy said.

'Flag' flies after he was gelded

As heavy mist fell Tuesday morning at Santa Anita, trainer David Bernstein pondered the possibility of a wet track when Unfurl the Flag runs 6 1/2 furlongs Sunday in the Grade 2 Potrero Grande Handicap.

"It would be just too damned bad, wouldn't it?" Bernstein said facetiously, knowing that a wet track would benefit Unfurl the Flag. His 1:20.11 time in a two-other-than allowance Feb. 21 was the fastest seven furlongs at Santa Anita since Spectacular Bid went seven furlongs in 1:20 on Jan. 5, 1980.

But was Unfurl the Flag's time legitimate? The track condition was fast, yet it was during a period of wet weather, and there was plenty of moisture in the track. The forecast Sunday is for a fast track. Bernstein credits Unfurl the Flag's improvement to being gelded four starts back, prior to his Nov. 22 race.

"He was getting hard on himself, and we didn't want to wreck him," Bernstein said.

Since being gelded, Unfurl the Flag has won both his starts on dirt, earning a 103 Beyer Figure Dec. 21, and a 111 last out. Mike Smith has been the regular rider for Unfurl the Flag, but he will stick with Bluesthestandard in the Potrero Grande.

Tyler Baze will ride Unfurl the Flag, and he was up for a half-mile workout on Tuesday.

"I warned [Baze] not to go in 45, so he went in 50," Bernstein said. The recorded time was 50.20 seconds.

Expected runners for the Potrero Grande are Bluesthestandard, 118; Midas Eyes, 117; Watchem Smokey, 115; McCann's Mojave, 114; and Unfurl the Flag, 114.

Good works by Baffert prospects

Bob Baffert can hardly contain himself, for good reason. Baffert has emerged with leading candidates for the Kentucky Derby, and both worked Tuesday at Santa Anita. Louisiana Derby winner Wimbledon worked five furlongs in 59.20; San Felipe Stakes winner Preachinatthebar worked a half-mile in 46.80.

"This is the most exciting time of the year, when you have 3-year-olds that are legit," Baffert said. "The training wheels are off, and they're handling it good."

Wimbledon, expected to start as the second favorite behind Lion Heart in the Santa Anita Derby on April 3, was working Tuesday for the second time since his 2 1/4-length win March 7 in the Louisiana Derby. He blew past a workmate and was strong to the finish.

Preachinatthebar was working for the first time since his nose win March 14 in the San Felipe.

"He finally figured out what he's supposed to be doing," Baffert said. "He's got good tracking speed."

Preachinatthebar worked by himself and galloped out five furlongs in 59. He is scheduled to run April 10 in the Blue Grass at Keeneland.

* The 6 1/2-furlong San Pedro Stakes for 3-year-olds on Saturday is not expected to affect the Kentucky Derby chase, but it may shed light on the form of upstart Rock Hard Ten. Jimmy's Instinct finished 2 1/4 lengths behind Rock Hard Ten in a mile allowance March 3, and he cuts back to one turn in the San Pedro. Mike Smith rides Jimmy's Instinct, whose San Pedro rivals are expected to include San Miguel winner Hosco and Wimplestiltskin.

* Two other Santa Anita Derby probables worked Tuesday morning. Imperialism, winner of the San Rafael Stakes last out, worked five furlongs at Hollywood Park in 1:00.80. At Santa Anita, Lucky Pulpit worked six furlongs in 1:14.80. Runner-up to St Averil on Jan. 17 in the Santa Catalina, Lucky Pulpit entrapped his epiglottis while finishing eighth in the San Rafael.

* Laffit Pincay and Eddie Delahoussaye will be honored April 5 at a charity dinner benefiting the Edwin J. Gregson Foundation, which supports backstretch workers and their families. The California Thoroughbred Trainers association is putting on the event. Information on tickets and contributions can be obtained by calling the CTT at (626) 447-2145.


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04/04/2005 11:00PM

Churchill lifts its ban on shippers

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Churchill Downs lifted its ban Monday afternoon on shippers from Gulfstream Park, Tampa Bay Downs, and the Palm Meadows training center, the south Florida facilities that have seen suspected or confirmed strangles cases in recent weeks.

Strangles, though rarely fatal, is a highly contagious bacterial infection that causes upper respiratory disease in horses. All three Florida facilities have had one or more barns under quarantine due to the disease, which also struck Churchill's Trackside training center in Louisville last month. Churchill had banned shippers from Gulfstream, Tampa Bay, and Palm Meadows on March 29.

In a release issued Monday evening, Churchill said it was lifting that ban but would require health certificates for shippers from those areas to be signed by an examining veterinarian within 24 hours of the horse's arrival at Churchill or the Trackside training center. In addition, horses from barns under quarantine restrictions at the south Florida facilities must have negative results from two consecutive tests for strangles, plus documentation from the Florida Department of Agriculture releasing them from quarantine.

As of Monday night, three barns at Palm Meadows remained under quarantine due to strangles. Gulfstream and Tampa Bay each had one barn under quarantine because of the disease.

A filly trained by Dale Romans and stabled at Churchill in March also has tested positive for strangles, but a Kentucky Department of Agriculture official said that the filly was removed from Churchill before becoming infectious. The filly was sent to Lexington's Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington after she was found to have a fever on March 27.

"Although one horse that was moved from Churchill Downs is now positive for strangles, our diagnostic testing shows that the animal departed from the track before the disease had progressed to an infectious stage," said Rusty Ford, equine programs manager for the Kentucky state veterinarian's office. "Because of that testing, we do not believe that additional precautions are required at Churchill Downs. The Kentucky Department of Agriculture and Churchill Downs will continue to monitor the situation and will be ready to take any additional precautions that could be required."

The Churchill release also noted that 23 other horses trained by Romans and currently in two barns at Churchill have tested negative for strangles.

"Romans voluntarily took all of those horses out of training when the one suspected strangles case arose," the Churchill statement said. "The horses will remain under voluntary confinement to their barns until each returns three consecutive negative test results for the disease."


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Firestone Walker Easy Jack Session IPA

Firestone Walker Easy Jack Session IPA Joins The Jack Lineup

Paso Robles, CA—You might mistake it for another drinkable, 24/7, go-anywhere, camping-approved, hipster-friendly and therefore appropriately fashionable Session IPA.

But instead it’s Easy Jack—a new seasonal offering available from Firestone Walker Brewing Company starting on April 1.

Easy Jack came about when Brewmaster Matt Brynildson went to the mountain top and returned with a vision for a different kind of Session IPA, one that would be brewed and dry hopped with a globetrotting selection of newer hop varieties from Europe, New Zealand and North America.

He foresaw a beer that would deliver massive hop aromas, surprising dimension, a signature malt balance and an empty glass before you knew what hit you. And so the newest member of Firestone Walker’s Jack IPA family was born.

“We didn’t set out to make a miniature IPA,” Brynildson said. “We wanted to start with something more delicate and summery, then carefully turn the hop volume up without sacrificing balance. We were able to pull it off by acquiring this hard-to-get mix of newer hop varieties.”

He added, “Our goal is more than drinkability. We want to blow your mind with radical flavor and complexity, all at 4.5% alcohol.”

Hop Safari

“We painstakingly selected these newer hop varieties in order to get some really unique hop aromas and flavors, and I think that’s what’s going to set this beer apart,” Brynildson said. “We also wanted these hops to express themselves in a way that lends itself to high drinkability. We were thinking about spring and summertime enjoyment from the start, so we wanted it to be light on its feet with this refreshing citrusy character.”

Bavarian Mandarina – Germany
“It’s real orangy, zesty, like a fresh orange off the tree, which I’ve never smelled in any hop before.”

Hallertau Melon – Germany
“As the name suggests, it has this melony, ripe tropical fruit characteristic that complements the citrus of the other hops.”

Blend of New Zealand Hops
“We are using a blend of New Zealand hops to create this huge Sauvignon Blanc character, with a classic Sauv Blanc racy, steely fruit profile.”

Mosaic – United States
“It’s a daughter of the Simcoe hop, which is in our Union Jack. It has a nice tropical vibe, with herbal and pine notes.”

The Jack IPA Family

Easy Jack joins Union JackTM, Double JackTM and Wookey JackTM as the latest IPA in the Firestone Walker lineup. Each offers its own take on the IPA style. Union Jack is a consummate West Coast IPA; Double JackTM is Union Jack’s brawnier imperial brother; and Wookey JackTM is a rustic black rye IPA. Now comes Easy Jack, the lighter sessionable sibling that still packs a punch.

Easy Jack Details

Seasonal Availability: Spring and Summer

ABV: 4.5%   IBU: 45   Color: 8SRM

Malts: American Pale Malt, Munich Malt, Malted Wheat, English Carmel-35, Cara Pils, Rolled Oats

Hops: Bavarian Mandarina, Hallertau Melon, New Zealand Blend, American Mosaic

Retail: $9.99 / six pack

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accelerated-mobile-pages HuaweiThemes

How to Fix EMUI 5 Themes App After Unlocking Bootloader

Back in 2016, Huawei launched the Mate 9, which was the first ever Huawei device to ship with the company’s EMUI 5 interface. The 5th iteration of EMUI brought a refreshed interface with some new features and improvements. My favorite feature on any device, considering the basics work well enough, is the themes feature. There is no interface however nicely designed that I wouldn’t get bored with. It takes me about a month at max with even the best looking wallpapers and icon packs. So yes, I love a powerful enough theme engine. And the one on EMUI 5 is, for a non-custom ROM theme engine, quite good. But that was all gone the moment I unlocked the bootloader on my Honor 8 Pro. Luckily it was easy enough to fix provided that you also manage to root your device after unlocking the bootloader.

If you’ve unlocked the bootloader on your Huawei device, there’s a good chance you’ve faced a similar issue. The Themes app still shows all the installed themes on your device, but all the stock EMUI 5 themes are gone. You can still download themes but when you apply them, nothing really happens. Unlocking the bootloader removes a couple of essential elements that are required for the themes app to work. We simply have to replace the necessary files and services.

  • Unlocked bootloader
  • A rooted device running on EMUI 5.
  • A file explorer capable of root operations.

Stock EMUI 5 Themes from Honor 9

Don’t miss: Get the Most Out of EMUI 5

How to fix EMUI 5 Themes app

  1. Goto Settings > Apps > Themes > Storage and hit the Clear Cache button.
  2. The themes app requires your Huawei ID to work, so download the Huawei Services app from the Google Play Store.
    Huawei Mobile Services
  3. Now open the Themes app and go to the Me tab.
  4. Tap on Login with your Huawei ID and sign in with your ID.
  5. Download the Stock EMUI 5 themes from the Honor 9 using the link in the downloads section.
  6. Extract and transfer the contents to your device. The zip contains 6 .hwt files.
  7. Launch a file explorer which can perform operations in the root directory and move the downloaded theme files to /data/hw_init/system/themes.
  8. There is a good chance you won’t find any folder named hw_init in the /data partition. Consequently, there is no themes folder either. So you may have to create an hw_init folder in the /data partition. Inside that, create a system folder and then a themes folder inside it. Now move the downloaded theme files inside the themes folder.
  9. Now you’ll have to set the required permissions. On most popular file explorers, you can select the item and then access its properties to change permissions.
  10. Set the permissions for the system and themes folders to 755 and the 6 .hwt theme files to 644. Refer to the screenshots below if you need help.
  11. When done, reboot your device.
  12. Once your device comes back up, go to the Themes app and Apply one of the stock themes you’ve just placed in /data/hw_init/system/themes.

The theme should apply like there never was anything wrong and then you should also be able to apply any other themes that you download. You can also still apply any themes by placing its .hwt file in the HWThemes folder on your internal storage.

Must read: Automatically Clear Android App Cache Only When It’s Crossing a Certain Limit

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Saturday, December 29, 2012

The Animal Ear Hood Backpack??

These Megazip Backpack Hoodies are the last place I'd ever imagine the animal ear trend would find itself. Bravo... bravo. Click here to shop!

Bunnie said...

OMG, wat? :O

I feel like... I should hate this... But I waaaaaant one... ; A;

lidia said...

i'm crazy over this backpack, it's on my birthday wish list :D

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Cadets Search for Side-by-Side 2013 Tour Team

| |

As the winter of 2012 fades away, Youth Education in the Arts and the Performing Ensembles team is hard at work preparing for The Cadets’ 2013 summer tour.

Rich Hammond serves as the director of performing ensembles for YEA!, and he is supported by the assistant director, Melissa Barlow. Together they manage The Cadets, Cadets2, and smaller ensembles that are part of the YEA!-sponsored Urban Arts Center.

Read the rest of the article here.

Posted by on Tuesday, December 18th, 2012. Filed under Current News, DCI World.


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Cairns wins again and in some style

Kenneth Cairns, who won the first Sunday competition of 2017 back on January 15, returned to the winner’s enclosure in some style on Sunday when he won the 18 Hole Singles Stableford competition with a splendid score of 44pts.

Having already lost one shot this season, Cairns, who was playing off 16, is set to see his handicap tumble after he posted a score that was eight points better than Competition Standard Scratch (CSS) for the day of 36pts.

His 44pts was all the more remarkable considering that he failed to score on the second and only managed a six, for one point, on the third. That left him at four points for the opening three holes as he had parred the first for three points.

However, he steadied the ship with a five for two points at the index one fourth and then clicked into gear by reeling off three successive three point holes as a birdie at the index 17 par five sixth was sandwiched between pars at the fifth and seventh. A two point bogey at the eighth was followed by a three point par at the ninth as he completed the front nine in 20pts.

His back nine began with a bang as he birdied the par five 10th for four points and, after a bogey five for two points at the index two 11th, he went on another run of three successive three point holes as he parred 12 and 13 and birdied 14th, his third birdie of a remarkable round. He added another three point par at the par three 17th and bogeyed 15, 16 and 18 for two points each as he covered the back nine in 24 points.

That left him three clear of 17 handicapper Eamon Hoey, who took second place overall on the third stage of countback after he and Alan McCabe (8) were tied on 41pts. Teenager Josh Mackin (2) also fired a round of 41pts and he took second place behind McCabe in Category 1 but also claimed the Gross Prize with an excellent score of 39pts. Brian Gaughran (14) claimed Category 2 while Dermot McKenna (23) was the Category Three winner.

Noel Reid (18) won the Men’s Singles Stableford on Easter Monday with a score of 40pts while Louise Lynn (18) won the Ladies Singles Stableford with 34pts. The Mixed Foursomes was won by Briege and Tommy Reneghan (19) with a nett score of 63.

Sunday, April 23 – 18 Hole Singles Stableford Competition – Overall: Kenneth Cairns (16) 44pts, Eamon Hoey (17) 41/21/14/8pts. Category 1 (0-11): Alan McCabe (8) 41/21/14pts, Josh Mackin (2) 41pts. Category 2 (12-17): Brian Gaughran (14) 40pts, Danny Miele (12) 39/20pts. Category 3 (18-28): Dermot McKenna (23) 39/19pts, Gerry Byrne (19) 39pts. Best Gross: Josh Mackin 39pts. CSS: 72 (36pts).

Monday, April 17 – Easter Monday Competitions – Men’s Singles Stableford: Noel Reid (18) 40pts, Fearghal Duffy (16) 39/21/16pts. CSS 72 (36pts). Ladies Singles: Louise Lynn (18) 32pts, Geraldine McGeough (25) 31pts. CSS 75 (34pts). Mixed Foursomes: Briege & Thomas Renaghan (19) 63 nett, Margaret and Michael Coburn (13.5) 65.5 net.


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11 January 2016
Whether you are a fan or not, it is hard to deny that David Bowie was a true artist. He didn’t just make music: he controlled every part of the process. That isn’t to say he did it all: one aspect of his genius lay in his ability to choose and mutually gain from his collaborators. This extended to the image he presented to the world, in clothing, make-up, video and live performance.
2 December 2015
Closer working between Hospice UK and Dying Matters' lead body, the National Council for Palliative Care, to improve end of life care.
12 November 2015
A new organisation which aims to provide guidance for healthcare professionals, patients and their carers on managing social media and other digital assets at the end of life has been launched.
6 October 2015
The UK is the best place in the world in which to die, according to a study comparing end of life care in 80 countries.
3 June 2015
Hackney’s Health and Wellbeing Board has committed to ensure that services for the dying, their families and carers in the east London borough are made as effective as possible.
21 May 2015
As part of Dying Matters Awareness Week (18-24 May), people across Wales are being urged to talk more openly about dying, death and bereavement and not to leave it too late to make their end of life wishes known.
20 May 2015
The National Council for Palliative Care (NCPC), lead charity of Dying Matters, has called a report into poor end of life care in the NHS "absolutely heart-breaking".
18 May 2015
Millions of people in Britain risk missing out on having their end of life wishes met and are leaving their affairs in a mess for their families to sort out because they haven’t planned for their death, according to a new study released by the Dying Matters Coalition.
15 May 2015
The National Council for Palliative Care (NCPC), which leads Dying Matters, was picked from more than 350 organisations to win one of ten prestigious GSK IMPACT Awards at the Science Museum in London on 14 May.
14 May 2015
One of the most celebrated actresses in the world, Dame Judi Dench, has become a patron of the National Council for Palliative Care (NCPC), the lead charity for Dying Matters.


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Erdogan channels Assange and Morozov

Tuesday, 4 June, 2013

“Now we have a menace that is called Twitter. The best example of lies can be found there. To me, social media is the worst menace to society.” As protests engulf Turkey, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is blaming social media for the unrest. His targeting of Twitter, which has become a hub for activists and a major news source as Turkey’s mainstream media have downplayed the crisis, will be watched with interest by Evgeny Morozov, who has made a profession out of his cynicism for the popular notion that the internet can be an agent of regime change. In the internet-inimical Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which hosts a regular Morozov column, the Belarus-born author argues that the net is, in fact, a tool for mass surveillance and political repression.

Echoing Morozov’s fears, the alleged-rapist, Julian Assange, took to the New York Times at the weekend and declared, “The advance of information technology epitomized by Google heralds the death of privacy for most people and shifts the world toward authoritarianism.” The notorious fugitive from justice was reviewing Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen’s book, The New Digital Age. He continued: “But while Mr. Schmidt and Mr. Cohen tell us that the death of privacy will aid governments in ‘repressive autocracies’ in ‘targeting their citizens,’ they also say governments in ‘open’ democracies will see it as ‘a gift’ enabling them to ‘better respond to citizen and customer concerns.’ In reality, the erosion of individual privacy in the West and the attendant centralization of power make abuses inevitable, moving the ‘good’ societies closer to the ‘bad’ ones.”

When the dictatorial Erdoğan, the seedy Assange and the skeptical Morozov are on the same page, it’s time to count our digital spoons.

Twitter Istanbul

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At 150cm tall this tree will be supplied flat packs and will require some self assembly. Supplied with 5 wooden balls 46mm diameter, this tree is perfect for younger children as the larger balls do not present a choking hazard.

This colourful classic is a joy for children to play with. Watch the marble running down the tree, making a delightful sound as it hits each brightly coloured leaf. Made from white maple and hard birch.

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18 Phase Two double-sided self-checking magnetic resources encourage children to match picture counters to words on one side, then check their answers by folding over the flip. On the reverse children can build the words from magnetic letters (not included). Size: open flip 12 x 14.5cm. Smart Flips Phase Two contains 18 flips.

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JAKARTA: Indonesian authorities on Monday (Jun 29) raised the alert level after Mount Raung in East Java erupted, causing ash to land in surrounding villages.

The eruption at Mount Raung on Sunday evening was heard 20 kilometres away, and ash fall was seen in villages about 10 kilometres away from the summit. Aircraft pilots also reported seeing large amounts of ash at a height of 3,500 metres.

Authorities cordoned off a two-kilometre radius around the volcano, and raised the alert level to “Siaga”, the second highest level.

The Head of Prevention and Disaster Preparedness at the local Natural Disaster Mitigation Agency added the eruption could be seen from a lookout post in Banyuwangi, East Java.

Volcanologists have recorded an increase in volcanic activity and tremors on the 3,332-metre high Mount Raung since Jun 24.

Apart from Mount Raung, other volcanoes for which Indonesian authorities have raised the second highest alert level are Mount Karangetang, as well as Mount Soputan and Mount Lokon in Sulawesi.

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Disney: Phineas and Ferb Merchandise

Disney Phineas and Ferb official mugs, t-shirts, posters, fridge magnets, key-chains post cards and much more! Official Disney Merchandise.

Phineas and Ferb is an American animated television comedy-musical series. The series follows Phineas Flynn and his English stepbrother Ferb Fletcher on summer vacation. Every day, the boys embark on some grand new project, which annoys their controlling sister, Candace, who frequently tries to reveal their shenanigans to the boys’ mother, Linda Flynn-Fletcher, and less frequently to their father, Lawrence Fletcher.

Phineas and Ferb Merchandise


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Photography Business Cards

Personalized Photography Business cards templates.  Choose from elegant damask photography cards, to cool Compact Camera themed business cards. Funny “I shoot people” Photography business cards are also one of our best sellers. Easy to use templates are provided. Custom design request also accepted. Send me a message with what you have in mind.

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People do a double take when I hand these out. It’s usually followed by “Wow! that”s cool!” Worth the price! ~J.

Cool Photography Business Cards

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All We Had A Novel

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  • Format: Hardcover
  • Copyright: 2014-08-05
  • Publisher: Scribner
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The stunning debut novel from sculptor and painter Annie Weatherwax, a wry and sharply observed portrait of a gritty mother and daughter, living on the edge of poverty, who find an unlikely home amid the quirky residents of small town America.

For thirteen-year-old Ruthie Carmichael and her mother, Rita, life has never been stable. The only sure thing is their love for each other. Though Rita works more than one job, the pair teeters on the edge of poverty. When their landlord kicks them out, Rita resorts to her movie-star looks and produces carpet-installer Phil, "an instant boyfriend," who takes them in.

Before long, Ruthie convinces her mother to leave and in their battered Ford Escort, they head East in search of a better life. When money runs out and their car breaks down, they find themselves stranded in a small town called Fat River where their luck finally takes a turn. Rita lands a steady job waitressing at Tiny’s, the local diner. With enough money to pay their bills, they rent a house and Fat River becomes the first place they call home.

Peter Pam, Tiny’s transgender waitress and the novel’s voice of warmth and reason, becomes Ruthie’s closest friend. Arlene, the no-nonsense head waitress, takes Rita under her wing. The townspeople—Hank and Dotty Hanson, the elderly owners of the embattled local hardware store, and even their chatter-mouth neighbor Patti—become Ruthie and Rita’s family.

Into this quirky utopia comes smooth-talking mortgage broker Vick Ward, who entices Rita with a subprime loan. Why rent when you can own? Almost as soon as Rita buys a house their fortunes change. Faced once again with the prospect of homelessness, Rita reverts to survival mode, and the price she pays to keep them out of poverty changes their lives forever.

Accomplished visual artist Annie Weatherwax has written a stunning, heartrending first novel. Ruthie’s wry voice and razor sharp observations about American life in the twenty-first century infuse the prose with disarming honesty and humor. All We Had heralds the arrival of a powerful new voice in contemporary fiction.

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Baby's First Words: Things That Go

by Unknown
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  • Format: Board Book
  • Copyright: 2016-05-24
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Activity Books

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Parents and friends will love teaching babies their first words with this vibrant board book, all about familiar objects they see on the road and in the air and water!

Babies will have fun learning the names of their favorite vehicles and the sounds they make through the glossy, embossed pictures in this playful and interactive book, packed with first words such as car, beep!, truck, vroom! and more.

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