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My open letter to Vodacom… for what it’s worth

Dear Vodacom

I am frustrated. I do not understand what you mean when you talk about “Customer Care”.
Last night (27 October 2016), I lost about R43 worth of airtime. But let me go back a few hours.
In the afternoon, about 15:00, I needed to buy data. Vodacom used to know what I love. There used to be an offer to be able to buy 100MB data for the day until 23:59 (which I already think is a reason to use #datamustfall – sorry, that is how I feel!). That offer seems to have fallen away. The “best offer” these days seems to be R15 for 200MB for the day until 23:59. So I bought that. Before using the data, I wanted to make sure that I received it. So I checked my balance via *100#. I saw I had about R45 airtime and 200MB data. (I say “about R45”, because I remember the R45 part; it could have been R45,15 or R45,41 or whatever).
I switched on my data, and downloaded what I needed, including to documents of over 500 pages. I switched it off straight afterward. Later in the day I downloaded a book. All these I did on my tablet, using my data on my phone, by using my phone as a hotspot. I did also make a call of less that 60 seconds.
I checked my data after all of this, and saw I still I had about R43 airtime left, as well as about 123MB.
Now, as I stated, I bought 200MB for R15. I wasn’t about to not use all my data, or at least 175 of the 200MB. I do not like to waste, in effect, R8-something on data that I did not use.
So I checked whether I still had data left. I did have some data left, about 118MB, as well as those R43-something airtime.
I switched on my mobile data, and turned my hotspot on. And downloaded three small documents, not even 20 pages, and saved some Wikipedia pages. All the while, I kept checking when I received that SMS that says “you have less than ??MB data left”.
When I got the message that I have less than 30MB left, I did three things. I checked my balance again. I still had that, about R43 airtime and about 28.50MB left. So the message wasn’t wrong. Then I switched off my hotspot and then my mobile data option.
I wanted to make sure that it was off, so I checked my data again. I saw that I have R0 airtime and 5.00MB left.
I would like to know: How is this possible? How did I loose more than R40 airtime, and still have data left? How did I loose all that, even though I switched off my hotspot and mobile data after I received that message that I still had about 30MB left?
Yesterday isn’t the first time that something like this happens.
About two weeks ago, a similar thing occurred. I even sent a complain to your Facebook page, someone replied to me to write an email, and I received correspondence back. Of course, it appeared to be my mistake, as usual. [I have come to realize that Vodacom is never wrong.]
For yesterday’s incident, I have this service request number: A2-1XFB-LSE148 [One of the reasons I will be posting this on my Facebook, WordPress, and writing to media, is because the amazing promise that I will have to wait up to 2 working days for work being done; tomorrow is weekend, so if this isn’t resolved by tomorrow, that will mean I will have to wait for 4 days, IF the problem might be solved by Monday.)
I have a reference number for the email correspondence as well: 001F9aBYXDGQ57NC.
About three weeks ago, I had a similar issue again. Unfortunately, that issue wasn’t logged, since I didn’t ask for a service request number. In fact, when I was talking to the “Customer Care” agent last night, she couldn’t even find a call log for that time.
I am only a small customer. So I guess you will not go through a lot of trouble with this.
In fact, I predict that someone, somewhere in your “Customer Care” department will find a way to tell me that I am, in effect, the reason why I loose my airtime in this way. You will find a way not to be responsible – even if I checked my balances throughout the time I was using my data.
I will be posting this on my blog, and share a link to it on my Facebook. I am saying this merely for your knowledge, since I would like to have people know about the way you take airtime from customers.

I wanted to type “Kind Regards”, as is the norm in letters, but that would not be true.

Open letter to companies: How about having the correct change in your tills?

I do not plan to make my personal open-letter-movement a movement of constant complaining and fault-finding.

This letter, though, will be a little complaint.

Dear companies (at lack of having a better addressee)

I have a problem. When I pay, there are always one of two things that happen on my till-slip. 1.) The prices of items are rounded to the nearest 10c; 2.) Prices are 99c, but the till immediately calculate the total price to a “cash rounding” of (for an example) 10c if the amount payable was 19c.

Thank you very much for this “cash rounding” (I call it a “discount”).

Here is my problem. Why is it that sometimes, when my slip say R2-10 change, I only get R2 change? Sometimes my slip would even say R2-40, and I will still only get R2 change.

Is that a new view on “cash rounding”. I know what it really is: The person at the till most likely doesn’t have the correct change in the till; or worse, he/she doesn’t care enough to give me the correct change.

I have worked it out. On a quite day, when a there are only 25 customers at one till during a day, and each customer gets 10c short changed, that till makes a “profit” of R2-50. (I think I am aiming low when I talk about 25 customers). Many big shops has about 10 tills. So multiply that R2-50 by 10, and that shop would make R25 a day, and in a month of 30 days: R750. Again, this would be a very quiet month for even an average small shop. (If a shop serves only 25 customers a day, I will gladly give an extra 10c, especially if the service is good).

Please, all owners of shops around the country, could you make sure that the tills in your shops have the correct change? Every time I get “short-changed”, I feel like an idiot to actually ask for my change.

I mean, R2-50 a day might not be a lot to you, but if I give every place I buy an extra 10c, I will pay an extra R20-25 a month to your shops. (Again, maybe not a lot to you, but that is enough for one week’s milk for me, at current prices).

Kind regards

One of your dear customers

Open letter to myself: Becoming part of the “Open letter” community

A few years ago I became aware of the so-called “Open letter”.
I first encountered it on Daily Maverick’s Opinionista pages, in the form of letters by Onkgopotse JJ Tabane, which was called “Let’s Talk Frankly”.

Since then, I noticed open letters from politicians, musicians, artists, and many others. I saw that these letters are written for many different reasons and to different people (sometimes individuals, and sometimes groups).

People like FW de Klerk en Thabo Mbeki and Mmusi Maimane has recently written open letters. I remember Steve Hofmeyr once writing an open letter. Recently, I read about an open letter by a company (Skywise) to a government (South African President, to be precise). Even journalists has written a few open letters.

In my search, I came across “An Open Letter to Writers of Open Letters”, by Teddy Wayne, which appeared in “The Morning News”. And when I Googled “an open letter to writers of open letters”, I came across a few of these letters. Two mention two: Open letters by Charlotte Alter and Jennifer Fliss.

I decided that I also want to start writing open letters.

In his open letter, Teddy Wayne writes in his first paragraph: “To those who feel compelled to address the world from Facebook, Twitter, and email chains, here is a message: No one is listening, least of all Luther Vandross.”

So, as I join the community of Open Letter Writers, I already wonder: Will my letters be read?

To be truthful, I don’t really care. I will be writing my open letters to organizations and people who “influence” me in some way. I will write these letters more of a way to get my frustrations and joys aired. I will never shame someone, because that is not my style. I might complain about service by companies or share my thoughts on certain events.

I realize, as I write this, that many blog postings can seem like open letters anyway. I would venture a guess that most people who write a blog, want people to read it – the more, the merrier. These letters I will be writing, will be called “open letters”, to make a little differentiation on my other postings.


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A grassroots effort in Tennessee desires to change the minds of the management of the Cool Springs Galleria Mall in Franklin, Tennessee to be more gun friendly. The effort is encouraging management to remove their "Gun Free Zones" signs, which only invite criminals into an area where they can be assured no one will carry their weapons.

Nate Piccone and Jayme Braun began work on the project, utilizing Facebook to encourage support. Their Facebook page, Say No To Gun Bans, has garnered 2,413 likes since February 5, 2013.

Braun said that they were not attempting to shut down the Galleria or respond violently. "I actually like shopping there," he told Freedom Outpost. The goal is simply to make management aware that there is nothing to fear from law abiding citizens that simply want to be able to protect themselves and potentially anyone in the mall from a criminal intent on murder.

The two began a petition to have Galleria manager David Meadows remove all posted signs on all properties. So far the petition has the support of 2,568 people.

Braun writes in the petition, " With the attention of current events escalating in the US and covered relentlessly by the main stream media, it has never been more important to be able to protect ourselves from those that mean to do us harm. By taking even a brief look at the current statistics available to us today, we can easily determine one glaring observation. It cannot be ignored that where gun bans exist, higher crime events and acts of violence, including those associated with guns, exist with greater occurrence."

"Contrary to the mainstream media's propaganda," he continued, "statistics show that where people are allowed to own, carry and defend themselves, the crime rates are lower and gun violence is lower, still."

"Emotions are high, and for good reason. However, facts and statistics do not lie," Braun writes. "Criminals do not pay attention to any laws, much less gun control laws. Taking away responsible civillian's (sic) rights to carry a firearm, leaves only the criminals with guns."

Criminals purposefully target locations that are free of all guns, aside from their own. And for obvious reasons.

An email that has been prepared, which will be sent on behalf of supporters to David Meadows, along with a substantial number of CBL & Associates Properties, LLC officers, reads:

Please remove the posted weapons signs from all Tennessee area Malls owned by and/or under your immediate management control. Until these signs are removed, I will not shop at your facilities, and will take my business elsewhere. With your current gun ban, you are refusing your patrons the ability to protect themselves at all times. Continued safety on your property is something no business can afford it's customers. Please- let us protect ourselves and our loved ones while shopping at your locations. You are fully and lawfully able to restrict personal firearms on your premises, and we do recognize that. However,your ban on my own personal protection does not coincide with the 2nd Amendment. I consider your mall unsafe for myself and my family. Until you address this issue and remove your firearms ban on the premises, I will continue to shop only at locations where I feel safe.

I wrote shortly after the Aurora shooting took place that victims should be able to hold the theater responsible, since it was their decision not to allow law abiding citizens to carry their weapons in with them. I think the same should be true of the Galleria malls and any other public location. They are within their rights to determine the rules of what takes place on their property. However, in squashing law abiding citizens' rights to bear their arms legally while out in public, they then assume the responsibility of protecting those individuals and we all know how well mall security can do that, don't we?

It seems citizens are willing to protest with their pocketbooks and purchase from stores that recognize their duty and right to carry their firearms for protection rather than patronize establishments that wish to make them unarmed targets against criminals. I applaud their efforts.

Numerous calls and messages to David Meadows have not been returned.

Contact Information for Mr. Meadows office is below:

David Meadows, SCSM
General Manager
CoolSprings Galleria

Phone 615-771-4221
Fax 615-771-2127

Don't forget to Like Freedom Outpost on Facebook, Google Plus, & Twitter. You can also get Freedom Outpost delivered to your Amazon Kindle device here.

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Thursday, February 9, 2017

Fatal Truck Accident Off Bay Bridge Tunnel

Driver dies after tractor-trailer goes over the side of the CBBT
The driver of a tractor-trailer that went over the side of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (CBBT) Thursday afternoon has died. CBBT spokesman Tom Anderson confirmed the driver died when he was on the way to the hospital.

Authorities identified the driver as 47-year-old Joseph Chen, of Greenville, North Carolina. Chen was hauling a load of seafood for Evans Transports, which is based out of Washington, North Carolina.

The tractor-trailer went into the water on the southbound side of the CBBT at mile marker 15 around 12:30 p.m. Navy spokesman Cmdr. Dave Hecht said a crew with HSE 2 out of Norfolk was in the area training when police called for help.

That crew responded in an MH-60 Sierra and pulled the driver out of the water. WAVY’s Erin Kelly tweeted that officials said the driver was standing on top of the vehicle before he was hoisted into the helicopter.
. . .
Bridge officials issued Level 2 wind restrictions Thursday, with winds exceeding 47 mph. There was a Level 1 restriction at the time of the accident.

Under a Level 2 restriction, tractor-trailers must be hauling a gross payload of 30,000 pounds, in addition to the weight of the rig.
It's Pretty windy out. It peaked here at nearly 40 with gusts to 50.

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March Of Empires

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Bob The Robber Flash Game

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MacGyver's Michael Des Barres – TV and Life's Rock 'N Roll Assassin

Long Successful Career of Rock Star and Iconic 80s Actor

Murdoc...Photo by Kent Geib

In 1967, Michael Des Barres first appeared on the scene next to Sidney Poitier in, To Sir, with Love. On stage, his role in The Dirtiest Show in Town got the attention of Andrew Lloyd Webber and led directly to the formation of the so-called glam rock band, Silverhead. He went on to quite literally survive the “decadence and indulgence” of the time that many of his musical contemporaries did not. Whether coming out of the era alive played a role in creating the assassin that was Murdoc is open to question. But selling his interpretation to the producers of MacGyver was a clear function of the excessive aspect of the age, and he definitely didn’t ease into making an impression.

“I got that part in the parking lot.  I had a vintage white Rolls Royce, and I pulled up in this fantastic car," remembered Des Barres. "I was all decked out in black with the producers waiting to greet me. They saw this character, and that was it.”

As it were, the premeditation was just another day’s work for the vintage TV icon. “Everything I do is planned. I go to the grocery store, and I’m there to entertain everybody. It’s just the way I’m made,” he said.

Makes His Mark as Reoccurring Character

Appearing sporadically like the X-Files’ Smoking Man, audiences couldn’t wait to catch wind, and he made the most of a role that was music to his ears. “It was fantastic. I considered him a Rock ‘n' Roll assassin, and it taught me a lot about how to make villainy appealing,” said Silverhead’s former frontman.

As for actual study in spycraft, he simply let the clothes make the man and remained in the moment. “I just put on a cap with a good wardrobe and tried to be present,” said Des Barres.

This meant being up to snuff with all the tricky gadgets. “Learning that stuff was pretty grueling. On the other hand, it helped alleviate all the waiting around that happens on shoots, and I’m definitely not in the waiting around business. I need to be stimulated, so I’d go off with the stunt cats, and it was fantastic on every level,” he said.

In turn, he felt his appearances raised everyone’s game. “I did elevate that show, and there’s a ton of Murdoc fans out there, which I’m really proud of,” said Des Barres.

Glam Rock Guy

But long before he killed for hire, Des Barres highlighted in a forum that he felt was misunderstood by the mainstream. “The term glam rock really was a lazy form of journalism that characterized us wrong. Yes, some bands did get their hair all quaffed up and came out in expertly made up eyeliner. But my makeup looked like it was on for about four days because it usually was. So we were completely different entities, Des Barres asserted.

At the same time, there was more to it than just the getup. “What happened in the late 60s was an androgyny movement. It was young people getting together, dressing the same, smoking hashish, playing rock ‘n roll and experimenting with literature, love, and sexuality,” he said.

The latter part in light of the look also gave people the wrong idea. “We didn’t want to have sex with each other. We wanted to connect with women,” he revealed. “Girls would see us weighing 125 pounds, and wanted to hook up with us, because we looked like them.”

Meaning, rock ‘n roll’s bottom line never deviated for them. “Well, there’s only one reason to play music,” he joked.

Love now has a whole new meaning.

Forty years later, he’s toned it down by spreading the love in a more figurative manner. “Where I am right now, getting laid is a metaphor for seducing an audience,” said Des Barres. “I really want to turn people on other ways so my new album Carnaby Street is about connection and relationships.”

The process involved going on the road and playing every club possible. “We honed these songs, and recorded it in the studio within a week,” he said.

Now, in 180 countries, Des Barres says it’s getting great reviews and a tour will follow. But the performer doesn’t get his platforms confused as he slides between acting and music. “It’s easy if you want it to be. The thing that satisfies me most is playing rock ‘n roll in a club, but I get the same feeling as an actor. Like I just did NCIS, and it was a fabulous experience. For instance, nailing a scene with David McCallum and Mark Harmon was extremely satisfying,” said Des Barres.

High Notes as an Actor

Hitting the high note at the outset as an actor wasn’t bad either. “Sidney Poitier is the most noble, charismatic man I’ve ever met. There was nobody more influential to my career in terms of how he handled himself, and the impact he had on me as a man,” beamed Des Barres.

He ran pretty hot on TV too with a memorable appearance on WRKP. “Dr. Johnny Fever was fantastic because he was such an incredible character that Howard created,” Des Barres remembered.

Based on an influential rock ‘n roller writer named Lester Biggs, Des Barres reveled in the harmless decadence Hesseman channeled. “Howard based his character on that guy—just mellow, laid back, and so stoned. To have somebody like that on national TV, I thought it was fantastic,” said Des Barres.

As for the bragging rights between the show’s two bombshells, he didn’t shrink between Loni Anderson and Bailey Quarters.  “Jan Smithers—so sexy,” he expressed no doubt and left it as that.

Rich Monetti can be reached at [email protected]

Like his Facebook page for more entertainment stories

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MacGyver's Michael Des Barres – TV and Life's Rock 'N Roll Assassin
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Guiding You Out of the Chaos

Leaders have the remarkable privilege of leading teams of individuals to accomplish great outcomes.  Yet nothing about this task is easy.  Leadership is challenging, complex, frustrating and still enormously rewarding.  In today’s leadership environment, the pace of change and growth is dizzying and the expectation to keep pace with it all can be debilitating.

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During our time together, we walk you through multiple phases of self-discovery, strategy, team development and implementation. We offer a variety of options from 2-day strategy sessions to 12 month consulting commitments.

Organizational Consulting:
We become an extension of your team

Culture is the crux of your organization, the heartbeat of your team. If you don’t have a strong, healthy team that trusts and supports one another any plan you build will be destined to fail.

Everything you do every day as a leader is either building or eroding culture. If your culture needs attention, we’ll help you develop a plan to get your team culture healthy and vibrant again.

Strategy is CORE to your progress. Yet oftentimes, we fall into a routine and realize that while we’re crazy busy, we can no longer define the end goal.

Using the Paterson StratOp Process, we’ll take your team through an extensive exercise to build a strategic plan that is deeply embedded in your organization and becomes an overflow of your daily work.  Strategy shouldn’t be an addendum: It should define everything you do.

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If your congregation feels called to a roll-up-your-sleeves style of workmanship combined with a refreshing honesty and directness, Jenni is the one.”

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Bosch (UK) Customer Service

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Contacting Bosch (UK)

There is only one way to contact Bosch (UK), shown above. For more details, and to see what shortcuts or tools we provide to get better, faster help from Bosch (UK), tap or click the link above.

Common Problem Categories

As reported by Bosch (UK) customers to GetHuman in the last 60 days
Where to buy: 12 inquiries
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Technical support: 56 inquiries
Repairs: 28 inquiries
Returns: 44 inquiries

Bosch (UK) Customer Reviews

1.00 out of 5 | 60 reviews

About Bosch (UK)

If you're here looking up Bosch (UK) customer care, you probably already know who they are. But it helps to get an idea of how big they are and what their support operation looks like if you are a customer. Bosch (UK) also goes by or is associated with the names Bosch UK. They are considered to be part of the following sectors and industries: Utilities, Renewable Electricity, Renewable Energy. Bosch (UK) is associated with terms like private, e-commerce, b2b, b2c, renewables & environment by their customers and industry analysts. They employ less than 50 people according to customers in the know.

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About Me & Scientology

My babies & I at Fort De Soto Beach in St. Petersburg, Florida

My babies & I at Fort De Soto Beach in St. Petersburg, Florida

Hiya, and thanks for coming. I’m about 30, a computer guy, a mountain biker, a daddy, and a Scientologist.

This is my personal site where I explore a bit of my relationship to the religion, as well as my thoughts on various aspects of church activities.  Some are deep thoughts, others just pictures posted while out & about.  Most have to do with Scientology, though some might not.

On this, however, I’ve tried to explain, as best I could, a few different aspects of my life with respect to Scientology:

I also keep up a website on Scientology and Parenting, which has hundreds of articles on the subject of the application of Scientology to raising children.

I’m always game for answering honest questions about my choice of religion and participation in such, so if you have any others, please feel free to contact me.

13 comments on “About Me & Scientology
  1. hoogie says:

    HI! I’m really lonley right now can you please at least look at my first two I’d really appreaciat it! I’ll send a long message on one of yours right now. Just please send one to me I’d like to at least get one from someone.

  2. Emma says:

    Though your website helped me with my homework on ethical codes in debate, (as in debate class), i really think you should spend some time finding a bible and reading that. Christ can help you and help you understand life, and give you guidance, more than some man named Ron Hubbard. Christ is Lord, God of the Universe and all life. Our life is short. When you die if you are not saved by Jesus Christ, you will burn for eternity in the pits of Hell. Seek in Christ. Read his word. Find reedemtion, and forgivness. Spen eternity in Heaven wil Lord our savor, Im only trying to help you. Im only 15 but i know the Lord is the way to go, not this Ron guy. or those alien things.
    😀 Emma.

    • Tamara says:

      Dear Emma,

      I grew up a catholic and am now a Scientologist. Because I it works makes me happy and i believe in forwarding it aims.
      I also was a very successful debater throughout highschool.
      Here is some advice to you that you may even find helpful in debating, having to argue any side of an issue.
      It will get you a long way in your life to respect the beliefs of others religious or otherwise.
      For example you believe you will burn in hell and that you need to redeem yourself and be saved. Religious hatred and discrimination and disrespect of others beliefs cause wars.
      It’s not okay for you to go around telling people they are wrong or that your religious beliefs are superior. So don’t do it, it will make you less of a person.

      The aims of scientology is a civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war, where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where man is free to rise to greater heights.
      No ones god would have them burned for forwarding those things.

      I’m very happy for you in that you knwo what you believe in and have a strong sense of person integrity its just not okay to degrade others belefs.

      Good luck to you.

  3. Ellen Fix says:

    Great little blog. I am so glad you are getting so much out of the Basics.

  4. Andrea Lattanzi says:

    Hi Tad! Nice blog. I have questions for you about it. I’ll email you separately.

  5. Lee Riley says:

    Hi mate. It’s great to see a Scientologist getting his own message out there. I commend you mate. I work for CCHR in Australia and it really does have its moments. AT the coal face, so to speak. More power to you. Keep it up, i like to see people doing well.

  6. Hi Tad, Really like your site, have made a few sites myself and would like to get in touch with you.

  7. Corey says:

    Awesome blog. Good writing. Great theme choice 😉

  8. JM says:

    I consider Dianetics to be great 🙂

  9. Thanks Tad!

    We need more Scientologists world wide blogging like You.

    I´m from germany and writing on http://scientology-blogger.com/

    Who´s the next joining us?

  10. […] Kudos to Kirstie and Jason, great parents in anyone’s standards & also to the writer, Tad Reeves. […]

  11. Cinversa says:

    Fantastic site! I was looking for an idea to do something special and personal about our Church. This is the inspiration I was looking for. Will ask you question in an email. Thank you for doing this!

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The Ginkgo Pages Forum - Blog

Welcome, this blog belongs to my website The Ginkgo Pages about the tree Ginkgo biloba. - Cor Kwant
Go to search + archive.

follow me on twitter Follow me on Twitter

December 04, 2005

Updates of my homepage The Ginkgo Pages

* New photo photospecial page: Ginkgo near Capitol, Washington D.C.
* Added new photopage: old Ginkgo in Japan with chichi.

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Trusted and independent science based information wanted and needed.

Onshore gas development within Australia has the potential to meet domestic energy demands, contribute to the economic wellbeing of communities and the nation, and supply energy to the global community.

GISERA has been formed to provide independent scientific research that contributes constructively and objectively on Australia’s growing onshore gas industry. GISERA aims to ensure its research is informed by and of benefit to the broader community and industry. Its research addresses the potential social, economic and environmental challenges and opportunities of the gas industry.

Review a snap shot of each project on our Research summary brochure, and keep up to date with each project’s process in our Research Progress Infographic May 2018.

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While you weren't looking, the internet got super fast. I'm not talking Google Fiber fast. I'm talking Star Trek fast. Today, it's not just possible to download a movie in seconds. New technology makes it easy to download dozens of movies in fractions of a second. Fast is almost too slow a word to describe such speed.

Following are just a few of the exciting discoveries from the past six months that stand to fundamentally change the way that we connect. The future moves at lightning speed—assuming we let it get there.

Like all wonderful things, the future of ultra-fast internet hinges on lasers. Fiber optic cables transmit data on waves of light (read: lasers), and as laser technology improves, data transfer speeds get faster. Researchers at CalTech, for instance, just announced a new type of laser with exceptionally high spectral purity. That means that the laser is closer than ever to operating on a single frequency, and since light with a higher spectral purity can carry more data, this new laser will offer faster connection speeds.

How much faster? That's so far unclear. It'll have a hard time competing with another recent invention from CalTech's neighbors to the north. Scientists at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) are perfecting laser technology that adds a third dimension to data transmission. Current fiber optic technology only operates on two dimensions, but by adding a twist and introducing a third dimension, they're able to eclipse existing connection speeds. Last year, a team from Boston University used a similar method to achieve speeds as high as 1.6 terabits per second. Compare that to Google Fiber, which while faster than the vast majority of connections in America is still only 1 gigabit per second.

Finding ways to make information travel faster through the tubes is just part of the battle. Crazy laser technology only yields high speeds if the machines on either end of the connection can handle them. Thanks to another very recent breakthrough, we now have a chip that can accommodate mind-bending amounts of data.

The chip comes from the fine minds at IBM, and it's terrifically tiny but profoundly powerful. More specifically, it's an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) that will enable faster and more complex digital equalization across long distance fiber channels. How much faster? Again, Google Fiber clocks in at 1 gigabit per second. This new IBM chip enables connections as fast as 400 gigabits per second. That's about 5,000 times faster than the average connection in the United States.

Another aspect of internet speed people don't often think about is the rules that govern how data is exchanged between computers. In a word: protocol. Optimizing these rules can yield faster connections without expensive chores like replacing hardware or improving infrastructure. Like, a lot faster.

The best example in recent history is the new Flexigrid protocol. Whereas current connections tend to travel through the cable all by its lonesome, Flexigrid lays multiple signals over each other in a single cable. That means that data races towards its destination on parallel planes, allowing for exponentially faster transfer points. At risk of wearing out the question, you ask: How much faster? One recent test in the United Kingdom sent seven 200 gigabit signals on one "Alien Super Channel" and reached speeds as high as 1.4 terabits per second. At speeds like that, you can download all the movies pretty much instantly.

Advances aren't just limited to those with fiber at their disposal; they extend to the large part of the world still dependent on copper phone lines. Under the current protocol standard, VDSL, their connections are limited to just over 100 megabits per second. Slow! But a new protocol called G.fast allows for high-speed DSL—like, 1 gigabit per second style high speed—through existing copper line. Unfortunately, it might interfere with the FM radio spectrum, but who listens to the radio any more anyways?

Servers (or Lack Thereof)

The piece of hardware needed to make the internet work that I haven't mentioned so far is server technology. After all, the internet lives on servers! So if we can improve servers, we can improve how the internet works.

But what if we didn't improve servers and just got rid of them instead? A new European Union-backed project called PURSUIT wants to do just that. Instead of relying on static servers to store all of the internet's data, backers of this project want to figure out a way to distribute that load across all computers on a given network. Think of it as peer-to-peer sharing, on an internet-wide scale.

This would involve doing away with the idea of URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) in favor of so-called URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers) to find data. That data would live in many different locations instead of just one, which would improve speed, efficiency, and reliability. Inevitably, that means not having a central server that could go down in the event of an attack or massive data load.

Politics (or Excess Thereof)

Here comes the bummer. While most of these advances already exist—even if just in a lab—and make insanely fast internet a reality, the chances that you'll get to enjoy them any time soon are slim. As last week's news of the impending acquisition of Time Warner Cable by Comcast shows, America suffers from a severe lack of competition in the broadband business.

Long story short, a large number of folks across the country don't have much choice of who delivers their broadband to them. Some have no choice at all. Thankfully, that may soon change in the 34 U.S. cities, where Google hopes to expand Fiber coverage. The reasons this monopolistic nightmare is allowed to exist are complicated, and the ever-revolving door between big telecom and government agencies like the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), who's responsible for regulating this space, doesn't help.

There is hope, though. As Andy Kessler argued in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece this week, all it would take the get the good ol' U.S. of A. back up to speed (and beyond) is a little bit of old-fashioned capitalism:

New rules aren't the solution. With real competition, you get net-neutrality for free. If one operator in your town makes Netflix pay to guarantee its movies stream smoothly, as Comcast announced Sunday it will begin doing, that opens up a market for the next operator to do it for less, or free.

But new rules would help. So as Congress and the FCC hunker down to look at this Comcast-TWC deal and to take another swing at net neutrality, pay attention. Heck, call your congressman or congresswoman. The lightning-fast future of the internet is on the line.


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Weekly Rotations

A/N: Sharing my taste in music while expanding yours has always been a dream of mine. Weekly Rotations is, as its title suggests, a post that'll be made on a weekly basis, highlighting the latest additions to my playlist along with what's been listened to the most.  01: Ed Sheeran - Shape of You Everyday [...]


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I think this is brilliant sleuthing by our member Red Label

His original thesis is posted on the sidebar https://goldtadise.com/?p=417060

I am re posting his comments to a query by Northstar in a post below that many have likely missed.

here is my interpretation first:

I believe Red is saying he has discovered that the ratio 120,000 divided by the DXY is a constant ( plus or minus 3%) where the price of gold is adjusted to by the PTB….within the framework of the Bretton Woods Monetary System)

Basically Red is saying that Gold is tied to the DXY ( dollar index) and will not be in a Bull until it is rising regardless of the Dollars movements.

Until this ratio is broken , as it was going into the 2011 top…the price of gold is going nowhere and is NOT in a Bull market

Do I have this right Red ?

If the Gold price is wandering from this 120,000 / DXY it will be adjusted up or down frequently to get back in line.

That’s the theory Fully. IMO physical buying or selling from other sources other than the CB’s drives deviations in Gold price. IMO The CB’s want and need a steady price in Gold.

If the $USD is = 100 has shown that Gold price = $1200 +/-. there has been a correlation in play since last November regardless of the $USD Index Gold has remained in this ratio +/- 3%. The deviation from the ratio being overbought oversold conditions in the market. The OB/OS conditions were in the range of $20-$50. The interesting thing OS conditions were not necessarily followed by OB conditions and vice versa.

Chart in TradingView “120000/DXY”

Likewise today 1200/(89.70/100)=1337 Gold is showing to be $7 below the ratio at the moment. Gold has tracked this ratio for the last 15 months step for step. If the ratio holds 80 $USD will yield $1500 +/- Gold (likewise if the 110 $USD will yield $1090 +/-). So if you anticipate in your post a $100 dollar drop in Gold (ie $1200) it would likely mean an increase in the $USD near 100 unless the ratio breaks.

IMO the correlation needs to break for there to be a bullish /bearish market in Gold otherwise it is simply currency movement (purchasing power of the $US).


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As global player in the telecommunications market, we support global network operators. We help our customers to achieve the best performance and highest quality using the latest technologies. Our broad portfolio includes the measurement of network quality, the identification of optimization potentials and the implementation of optimization processes. We also analyze technical infrastructures for security vulnerabilities.

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More ideas from anastasia
This recipe is recommended for brunette hair color only, blonde persons shouldn’t try it because it will darken the hair.

This powerful mix popular in the oriental world is an effective natural remedy against hair loss and hair graying phenomenon. It is known as the Exotic Elixir due to its precious basic ingredient – curry leaves. It is believed that in only 5 minutes, the

Christmas Calendar, Christmas Diy, Christmas 2017, Calendar Ideas, Christmas Activities, Winter Craft, Xmas Crafts, Cooking, Schools, Bazaars, Xmas, Creative, Baking Center, Cuisine, December Daily, Christmas Crafts, Koken, Colleges

Beach Paintings, Colorful Paintings, Beautiful Paintings, Oil Paintings, Art Pics, Fashion Art, Drawing Fashion, Pretty Art, Seaside, Beautiful Ladies, Natural Person, Paintings On Canvas, Watercolor Techniques, Art Boards, Painting Clouds, Painted Ladies, Watercolor Artists, Paint Charts, Canvas Paintings, Water Colors, Drawing Trees, Acrylics, Shop Signs, Pretty Pictures, Woman, Color Paints, Fashion Drawings, Oil On Canvas


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4 Techniques used by top scorers on Aptitude Tests

Have you ever wondered how some graduates manage to get top scores on aptitude tests? They must be extremely intelligent and talented people, right? Well, not exactly.  Studies have shown that some otherwise extremely ‘brainy’ people could get very low scores on aptitude tests due to a lack of speed, focus or confidence.  The reason is two-fold. First, different categories of aptitude tests are designed to test different innate abilities (called aptitudes) such as numerical reasoning, abstract thinking and verbal reasoning.  Some who do very well on numerical tests may easily fail the verbal test. In fact, extremely talented people tend to be one-sided so while they may get 100% on one type of aptitude test, they will likely get a very low score or even fail another one.

Second, the aptitude tests that employers (or recruiters) use assess at least two of your innate abilities – and you must meet their benchmarks on both tests. These abilities almost always contradict each other. For example, numerical reasoning ability is quite different from verbal reasoning ability. This implies that the recruiters are not looking for Einsteins (by the way Einstein was far behind his peers in his verbal ability as a child) but just average people who can perform well on the job.  Besides, it is quite unusual for a first-time test taker to get top scores on BOTH. Unless … well, unless you know the tricks AND you are not a freakin’ genius because if you were, it would be harder for you to follow these tricks and you would not need the bloody job anyway.

Having conducted some extensive research, below we have summarised our findings. The following are the key techniques used by top aptitude test scorers.

Learn about the exact types of aptitude test questions you may get on a real test. Discover new ways to solve them. This does not mean you are cheating because you are not preparing the answers for real test questions BUT you are learning about question types, data format (data tables, pie charts, etc) to be able to anticipate what cords you will have to cut. Put it in another way, if you were a starting brain surgeon, you would need know to exactly what the brain looks like before you even are allowed to the operation room. This is what it is all about.

Learn about the key shortcut techniques to solve nearly half of the test problems in 15-30 seconds – in order to save time.  Imagine you are driving from one city to get to another.  How helpful would it be if you knew the shortcuts to get there also avoiding traffic jams and possible road repair situations? You could get there faster, with less stress and with more time to enjoy the scenery.  Learning the shortcuts to solve test problems does NOT MEAN you will have to be able to answer each question in 15 seconds. Shortcuts may not exist for some test questions. What you need to learn is how you can get 5 questions out of the way quickly so this adds up to 3-4 minutes of extra time. Then you will be working with less anxiety and more confidence through the rest of aptitude test problems.

Begin to apply your learned techniques in practice tests and anticipate and differentiate various test problems. Unfortunately, this one comes with practice. One erroneous assumption people make is that practice takes long time, that it develops over months and years.  According to NLP practitioners and reputable psychologists, it is practically possible to achieve automation in a matter of days and even hours.  For example, you could improve your speed reading skills in days. You could learn how to throw a basketball into the net accurately in hours. Aptitude tests are not much different. Of course, your results will get better in 1 month than in 1 day, however, you can still improve a lot in several days enough to make a difference on the test day.

Learn to feel like a test champion each time you do a test. Have you ever watched boxing fights of a legendary former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, Mike Tyson? He would say, “Fear is my friend, I use the fear to reflect it upon my opponent. If I don’t have fear, I don’t fight”.  Most novice test takers are really scared before the test.  Emotions could interfere with your ability to think straight during the test, however, there is no way to become emotion-free.  What you can do, however, is to imagine that recruiters too are scared that you will destroy their testing scheme by getting a Knock-Out score in half the time allocated for the test thereby leaving them shocked. Learn to feel like a champion Mike Tyson in his prime and you will have a chance to knock-out the test in the first round.

In sum, the above techniques could help you massively improve your aptitude test score. However, you also need the right tools achieve that. Therefore, we have developed GraduateMonkey aptitude test tutorials to help you along through your journey.  Click here to explore our test preparation packs.

Graduate Monkey Ltd.

27 Old Gloucester Street,

London, WC1N 3AX,

UK Company Number: 08570141

Skype ID: graduatemonkey


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Ampersand Three Fold Brochure Template

Ampersand Three Fold Brochure Template

Web Designer 3-fold Brochure Template

Ampersand, A clean, crisp, high impact, highly editable, super high quality Small Business / Corporate / Web Designer Photoshop PSD 3 -Fold Brochure Template Layout, perfect for any small business or product themed tri-fold brochure.

Highly editable PSD brochure template, very easily customise to make it your own in seconds!

What does this file ship with?

Ampersand 3-fold psd brochure template comes with the following awesome features:

  • 2x front + back PSD tri fold Templates
  • Included Print Ready CMYK PSD Files
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  • High Quality 300dpi Print Ready Files
  • Highly Organised Layers
  • Clean Design
  • Editable Styles
  • High Quality Font
  • Friendly Customer Support

Fully Documented stock image & fonts sources contained within final download.

Please download, send me your feedback and if you have any problems I will be more than happy to help you out with your purchase, one to one!

Many Thanks! ~Quickandeasy

Get more awesome PSD Flyer Templates over at my site, QAE Design!

More Corporate / Business Items

More Party Flyer Templates:


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Premier rabbit and cavy equipment

Plastic Cage Tags

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SKU: PCT. Category: .

Plastic clip-on tags can be attached using our clips, c-rings, or even plastic cable ties. You can write on these with either permanent or dry-erase markers.

Additional information

Weight .0625 lbs
Dimensions 3.5 x 2 in

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Home/Greenville SC Plumbing Services/Water Heater Installation and Repair
Water Heater Installation and Repair 2017-07-06T14:42:14+00:00

water heater installationKT Plumbing provides water heater installation and repair for Greenville and the surrounding communities in the upstate.

Our Water Heater Installation and Repair Services Include

  • Water Heater Repairs
  • Hot Water Heater Installations
  • Tankless Water Heater Installations

Want to know if a tankless or standard water heater is better for your home? – Read our comparison.

You may think that getting a hot water heater installed is not that difficult.  Truth is you not only need to make sure it is installed properly but you also need to make sure you install the right water heater for your home. It is not just about the brand name either what is most important is the size of the water heater. If it is too small and you will run out of hot water mere frequently and if you get one that is too big you will end up wasting energy.  Speaking of efficiency did you know that tankless water heaters are the most energy efficient water heaters you can buy.

Hot Water Heaters For Your Greenville Home

To ensure that you get the right water heater and that it is properly installed contact the experienced plumbers at KT Plumbing. Not only will we install the best water heater for your home we offer a low price guarantee on water heater installations. So call your Friendly Neighborhood Greenville Plumbers at KT Plumbing and we will be glad to help you and answer any questions you have. Call us at 864-663-6105 today!

Water Heater Installation and Repair was last modified: by


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Tag Archives: Prophecy series

Announcing Book 2 of the Prophecy series – preorder now!

Book Two of the Prophecy Series

A blessing and a curse…
Seven years ago, a single moment changed the course of Nicholaus Bock’s life forever—the moment his preternatural Gift to heal awakened in him. A gift that made him an invaluable commodity to the known galaxy. Now his mentor’s intriguing and secretive new student goes out of her way to challenge his loyalty to everything he values.

A dark secret…
After facing death and destruction during the Anferthian invasion, Sakura Yamata revels in her new-found Gift to heal. Helping Earth’s survivors keeps her mind off the loss of her family, and the memory of the terrible choices she made. Nick could penetrate her defenses and discover what she’s hiding. She must not let the handsome healer close enough for that to happen.

A race facing annihilation…
When a mysterious disease strikes the hidden sanctuary of the Anferthian dissenters, Nick and Sakura are called in to help. But someone is going to great lengths to ensure the dissenters don’t survive. Nick and Sakura must set aside their differences and work together to save them before the fragile peace between three worlds is shattered.

Coming October 18, 2016
Available for pre-order now at Amazon  B&N  iBooks  Kobo

Excerpt from Salvation:

Very slowly, he reached out until his palm brushed hers and her fingers curled around his hand. A gentle tug from her urged him to follow her. She led him out of the lab and across the common room to the couch.

“Sit.” She patted the cushion next to her. “Right here.”

To say his curiosity was piqued would be an understatement. He lowered himself until he perched on the edge of the couch.

“Now, put your head in my lap.”

“Excuse me?” This adorable stranger looked an awful lot like Sakura Yamata, but was saying things to him she’d never say. “Are you serious?”

“Serious, yes. Thrilled, no. Do not read too much into this.”

He swallowed back a laugh. It’d probably be inappropriate to ask “face first?” She’d slug him for sure then storm to her room without showing him whatever it was she thought was so all-fired important.

“All right.” Nick moved slowly as he stretched his body the full-length of the couch, in case she changed her mind.

Once his head rested on her lap, he met her gaze. Her eyes were such a deep brown they appeared almost black. Studying her face, he saw things he’d never noticed before. The arc of her eyebrows, the sweep of her lashes, the heart shaped bow of her pink lips. How had he lived with all this beauty for weeks and not really noticed?

Author Bio:

Lea KirkLea Kirk loves to transport her readers to other worlds with her science fiction romances. Her fascination with science fiction began at six years old when her dad introduced her to the original Star Trek TV series. She fell in love with the show, and was even known to run through her parents’ house wearing the tunic top of her red knit pantsuit and her white go-go boots pretending to be Lieutenant Uhura.

In January of 2016, she published her well-received debut novel, Prophecy, Book One of the Prophecy Series. She followed that up in April with a short story, All of Me, set in the Prophecy Series universe. Another short story, Space Ranger, will be released October 11, 2016 as part of the Pets in Space Anthology. Salvation, her second full-length novel comes out a week later. The third book in her series, Collision, is scheduled for 2017.

Ms. Kirk lives in Northern California with her wonderful hubby of twenty-six years, their five kids (aka, the nerd herd), and a whole slew of characters just itching to have their stories told!

Contact Links:

Website: https://www.leakirk.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeaKirkAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeaKirkWrites

Other books by Lea Kirk:

Prophecy, Book One of the Prophecy Series

Amazon Universal Link: myBook.to/ProphecyLeaKirk
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/prophecy-lea-kirk/1123164930
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1070616637
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/prophecy-47?

All of Me, A Prophecy Series Short Story

Amazon Universal Link: myBook.to/AllOfMeLeaKirk
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/all-of-me-lea-kirk/1123494973
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1091353723
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/all-of-me-35?

Space Ranger, A Prophecy Series Short Story
(Part of the Pets in Space Anthology)

Release date: October 11, 2016


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Steve Maraboli
“You can never recover from losing a person you love, but you can find a way to let it be part of your life rather than letting it take over every part of you.”
Darien Gee, Friendship Bread
" Mourning is one of the most profound human experiences that it is possible to have... The deep capacity to weep for the loss of a loved one and to continue to treasure the memory of that loss is one of our noblest human traits".
Shneidman (1980)
© Grieving Together 2013. All rights reserved.


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truth vs. lie
Photo by Shutterstock.

The brazen lies of the Romney/Ryan campaign — on full display in Paul Ryan’s spectacularly dishonest speech at the Republican National Convention — have political pundits at a loss. Here’s Kevin Drum:

I struggle to describe [the attack on Obama’s selectively edited quote “you didn’t build that”]. It’s not worse than past attacks, but it is different. In the past, you felt that maybe campaigns were at least a little bit embarrassed about this kind of thing. They’d blame it on someone else. They’d try to produce some lame defense. They’d haul out some fake white paper to give themselves cover. They’d do something. The Romney campaign just doesn’t seem to care. If it works, they use it. It’s like the campaign is being run by cyborgs.

I dunno. What’s the right word to describe this?

Ooh, ooh, call on me!

The right term is “post-truth politics.” What Kevin is struggling to describe is that Romney’s campaign is not contesting the truth value of its assertions so much as contesting whether truth value itself is relevant.

One effect of the radicalization of the right over the last few decades has been the discovery of just how much our politics is held together by norms rather than rules. There’s no rule you can’t filibuster every bill in the Senate by default; there’s no rule you can’t interrupt a president’s State of the Union; there’s no rule you can’t hold the routine debt-ceiling vote hostage. It simply wasn’t done. But if you shrug off the norm and do it anyway, there’s nothing to stop you.

Similarly, it seems that the lip service given to truth in politics is but a norm itself, one with increasingly tenuous hold. Political campaigns have always lied and stretched the truth, but when caught in a lie, would typically defend themselves (claim it was actually true), retract, or at the very least stop repeating the lie. Either way, the presumption was that truth-telling had some moral force; one ought to tell the truth, even if that commandment was often honored in the breach.

What’s creepy about the Romney crew is that they don’t do any of those things. They don’t deny, they don’t stop, they just don’t care at all. What they’ve realized is that, given today’s hyper-polarization and fragmented media, there’s no practical risk to lying. It doesn’t hurt them, in terms of getting votes, so why shouldn’t they do it?

A couple of years ago, I wrote a post that, as far as I’ve been able to tell, coined the term post-truth politics. I also wrote a couple of follow-ups, here and here. After that, economist Paul Krugman adopted the term and it started bouncing around more and more. In just the past few weeks, it’s really taken off.

(My authorship of the term seems to have been lost to history; such are the wages of being an obscure niche blogger. Thanks to Alec MacGillis, at least, for giving me a shout-out!)

Regardless, I don’t care about ownership, I’m just happy that journalists and pundits are starting to seriously grapple with the issue itself. For some recent thoughts on what the post-truth era means and how to deal with it, see James Fallows of The Atlantic, Michael Scherer of Time, Greg Sargent of The Washington Post, MacGillis and Jonathan Cohn at The New Republic, Ezra Klein at The Washington Post, Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo, press critic Jay Rosen, and Brendan Nyhan at Columbia Journalism Review.

When I originally wrote about post-truth politics, I was focused on how Obama should operate within it. But most of the recent discussion has been about how journalists should operate within it. They face two basic problems.

David Bernstein of The Boston Phoenix gets at the first in this tweet:

Dear media critics: OK, entire news media called Romney’s welfare attack a lie. Campaign still pushing it. Now what?

Fair question! The political media, at least certain quarters of it, has become more forthright about calling out lies and deceptions lately. (For some reason, the welfare attack in particular has fired them up.) But the Romney campaign doesn’t give a damn. As their pollster said the other day, “we’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact checkers.” A key feature of the post-truth political landscape is that there are no longer universally recognized arbiters or referees of fact. The right has their own media ecosystem. Why should they care what journos outside it say?

So what’s a journalist to do when she calls a lie a lie … and then the candidate keeps repeating it? One of the great demands of daily journalism is novelty. Reporters are supposed to write about what happened today, what’s new. Pundits and analysts hate debunking the same lie over and over again; it bores them and their readers. But if a candidate or campaign just bulls through the initial round of scolding and keeps on telling the lie, what then? The whole enterprise can seem futile, especially when none of it seems to reach or budge undecided voters.

So that’s one problem. The other one is well-captured by Ezra Klein’s tortured admission yesterday that, after trying and trying to be even-handed with Ryan, he has to admit: His speech was full of lies! Ezra is extremely concerned with being intellectually honest. He wants people in D.C., even people he disagrees with, to know that he’ll treat them fairly and engage their best arguments. (It’s not shtick, either — he’s really like that!) But an honest appraisal of the Romney/Ryan campaign is what it is:

Quite simply, the Romney campaign isn’t adhering to the minimum standards required for a real policy conversation. …

I don’t like that conclusion. It doesn’t look “fair” when you say that. We’ve been conditioned to want to give both sides relatively equal praise and blame, and the fact of the matter is, I would like to give both sides relatively equal praise and blame. I’d personally feel better if our coverage didn’t look so lopsided. But first the campaigns have to be relatively equal. So far in this campaign, you can look fair, or you can be fair, but you can’t be both. [my emphasis]

That’s the root of it: Campaign reporters have deeply internalized the need to appear fair, to be above mere partisanship, to criticize or praise both sides in equal measure. The GOP is acutely aware of this dynamic and for years has used it to their advantage. But real fairness is geared to the facts, not to appearances, and today’s right simply lies more, misleads more, and denies established facts more. That is the conclusion a fair-minded appraisal yields. Empirics have a liberal bias, to paraphrase Colbert.

So what do journos do? Do they call them as they see them and get labeled “biased” and “partisan”? Or do they follow the lead of The Washington Post‘s The Fix and cover politics like a theater critic assessing performances? That’s been the default mode for Politico-style journalists (like, say, Mark Halperin) for a long time. It’s safe and comfortable. There’s rarely any penalty for getting things wrong. You can rise quite high among the ranks of Very Serious People in that mode. But for those like Ezra, rankled by facts, irritated by conscience, it’s not a very attractive route.

I don’t have a good answer. But I might as well share my experience/perspective, for what it’s worth (very little).

It won’t come as a surprise to anyone that I have no training in journalism. I was never taught to be even-handed or “neutral.” What training I have for what I do came from two places. The first was a whole lot of time spent with a large extended family in the South (Georgia, mostly) filled with raucous, hyper-verbal drunks with highly sensitive bullsh*t detectors and razor-sharp senses of humor. The second was grad school in philosophy.

In both places, I learned to love arguing, the mechanics of stringing facts and evidence together to reach conclusions. But I also learned that in real-life situations, the technically superior argument does not always carry the day. In real-life situations, the one that wins is the one with wit and timing, the one with the ability to employ mockery, flattery, flirting, storytelling, peer pressure, guile, and the whole array of other non-factual, non-logical communicative tools available to the human animal.

Traditional journalism, particularly in its post-war American variety, has purposefully denuded itself of most of those tools. The idea is “just the facts.” That can inform an argument, but it can’t win one. Journalists do not like to think of themselves as in an argument, as competing with, say, a campaign to convince the public of something. They still think of themselves as neutral arbiters of truth. But neither the campaigns nor the public view them that way any more.

What would it look like if journalists tried to win an argument with a campaign — an argument over, say, what Obama has done with state welfare waivers? For one thing, they wouldn’t just string together correct facts once and call it good. They would do it repeatedly. They would call out the campaign explicitly as acting in bad faith. They would mock and shame the campaign for its behavior.

This would be a serious departure for U.S. journalists. It would put them in an explicitly adversarial role with political operators — not the same operators all the time, not the same party every time, maybe, but not “neutral.” More like prosecutors working on behalf of the truth.

Let’s be real, though: Journalists fear making those kinds of choices for good reason. It’s absolutely verboten for a Very Serious Person in D.C. to behave this way. They rightly sense that it will limit their careers and their access to the halls of power. As a person of, ahem, modest ambition, I don’t mind all that much. But for ambitious journos in D.C., there are real perils to calling a spade a spade.

So what’s the answer? Lemme know what you think.


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Great Southwest Council, Boy Scouts of America Heading

Scouting for Food

Scouting for Food
Share this event

As Scouts, we know how fortunate we are to have a warm meal every night — whether around the campfire or at the kitchen table. And we know that not everyone is so lucky.

That’s the genesis of Scouting for Food, the annual food-collection drive run by the Great Southwest Council. It’s another reminder to our local communities that Scouts are here, doing good turns.

Scouting for Food will take place on February 3, 2018. We have partnered up with Smith’s Food & Drug and will set up in front of the stores to collect non-perishable food and cash donations. We have setup a SignUpGenius signup sheet with all Smith’s Food & Drug locations in the Albuquerque metro area. Units are asked to sign up for a 3 hour time slot at the location of their choice. If your first location is not available, please consider covering another Smith’s location. Remember, we are doing a good turn for our community and would like to have all Smith’s stores covered by units. Last year we had a record number of units participate, don’t be that unit that didn’t help out this year. Below is the link to the SignUpGenius. If you have any questions, please contact Bryan Nigg at 505-270-7411 or at

Click on the link below to sign up.

All food and cash donations are given to Roadrunner Food Bank and help needy families throughout the council’s borders.

Contact E-mail


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Did Obama Say We Should Kill the Old Folks to Save Money Last Night?
Publius’ Forum ^ | 6/25/09 | Warner Todd Huston

Posted on Thursday, June 25, 2009 9:13:35 AM by Mobile Vulgus

I am wondering when the euthanasia folks are going to start touting this one? I mean, it sure seemed to me as if the most caring, most civil, most intelligent president evah just said that healthcare could be cheaper if we don’t give old folks and the infirm the full measure of care they now get. It appeared that Obama said we should just let them die or suffer because they aren’t worth the effort. Imagine if Bush had said something like this? The left wouldn’t have hesitated to call him any manner of names.

Obama said during the ABC Special on Wednesday night that a way to save healthcare costs is to abandon the sort of care that “evidence shows is not necessarily going to improve” the patient’s health. He went on to say that he had personal familiarity with such a situation when his grandmother broke her hip after she was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Obama offered a question on the efficacy of further care for his grandmother saying, “and the question was, does she get hip replacement surgery, even though she was fragile enough they were not sure how long she would last?”

But who is it that will present the “evidence” that will “show” that further care is futile? Are we to believe that Obama expects individual doctors will make that decision in his bold new government controlled healthcare future? If he is trying to make that claim it is a flat out untruth and he knows it…

Read the rest at Publiusforum.com

About Gunny G

GnySgt USMC (Ret.) 1952--'72 PC: History, Poly-Tiks, Military, Stories, Controversial, Unusual, Humorous, etc.... "Simplify...y'know!"
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Radiation Levels Were at a Catastrophic Level in South Bend? :

According to Tim Flanegin, owner of MineraLab, the company that runs Radiation Network, it was simply a technical glitch.

Nonetheless a very scary glitch for many. WSBT in South Bend, Indiana had many concerned individuals call after the reported readings seemed to have gone through the roof.

There is no doubt in my mind that we should be on the look out for radiation (especially the particles that are more difficult to test for). So I am glad that people were alert and actively engaged. However, this does “seem” to be a glitch.

In a statement to WSBT Tim Flanegin says this about the occurrence:

“My apologies to all. I have no idea what caused this. The alert level reading (Wednesday) evening appears to be a false alert from an equipment malfunction,” said Flanegin. “We use some form of radiation, almost everyday. We count on it for medicine, the sciences, communication and cooking.”

If anyone has any data to confirm this please email me ( BobTuskin@theintelhub.com ).

It is possible there may be more to this story. If so, I will be sure to provide an update.

via Radiation Levels Were at a Catastrophic Level in South Bend? :.

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About Gunny G

GnySgt USMC (Ret.) 1952--'72 PC: History, Poly-Tiks, Military, Stories, Controversial, Unusual, Humorous, etc.... "Simplify...y'know!"
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Monday, June 5, 2017

Time For A Gun Debate Now, Giant Toddler?

You may have seen this part of Giant Toddler Donald "Rump" Trump's inane tweetstorm on the terror attack in London Saturday, in which 7 were killed and dozens injured:

Then this morning in Orlando, Florida an all- too- familiar scene:
A 45-year-old man shot and killed five people at his former workplace in an industrial area near Orlando Monday morning before turning the gun on himself and committing suicide, authorities said.
At a press conference later Monday, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said the suspect worked for Fiamma Inc., an RV accessory company where the incident took place, until he was fired in April.
“He was a disgruntled employee that came back to this business this morning,” Demings told reporters, adding that there was no indication the shooter had any links to terrorism.
“This is likely a workplace violence incident. We will get more into the details of the investigation as it unfolds,” Demings said.
Demings identified the shooter as John Robert Neumann Jr., a white 45-year-old U.S. Army veteran who was discharged in 1999. He lived alone and has no family in the area, he said.
We await the Giant Toddler's tiny fingers pounding out a tweet initiating a debate on gun violence any moment now.

(Image: Some use guns, some use knives and a truck; the Giant Toddler has his own means/ via Wonkette)

DivaNewYork said...

This fuckin' guy. Every time I think 'well, that's the dumbest goddamn thing I've ever heard,' he tops himself. The depth of his ignorance is breathtaking.

W. Hackwhacker said...

I envy people in other countries -- they don't have this ridiculous tool as their nation's representative. He's going to cause a lot of damage before he's done, unfortunately.

DivaNewYork said...

And we won't be the sole victims. The world may be laughing at us but deep down, Hackie, they know he'll take them down with us.


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Fancy Food Bites

One benefit of living just outside San Francisco is that this is definitely Foodie Heaven.  Anyone who loves food can just spend days wallowing in the variety, the freshness, the quality and the innovation – in ingredients, in restaurants, in service models, you name it. From Alice Waters to Thomas Keller to the brilliantly talented folks just getting their start in food trucks & pop-ups, San Francisco and its environs are one of the best places in the world to cook and eat.

Winter Fancy Food ShowEach winter, just as I start to get a teensy bit weary of the crucifers dominating the farmers’ market, the Winter Fancy Food Show comes to town.  No need to plan any meals during this trade show. Over 320,000 square feet of exhibit space means you really have to pace yourself.

But I don’t go to the Fancy Food Show to eat. Well, OK I do (it’s fun to imagine the looks on readers’ faces), but that’s really the secondary benefit. My main purpose is to check out the new products & hunt for trends. Many manufacturers introduce products here that aren’t yet on retail shelves, so you get a sneak peek at what’s ahead. This is not to say that I advocate trend chasing. I actually believe that that companies caught up in “follow-copy-repeat” behaviors do their brands more harm than good. Analyzing trends can, however, provide insight as to how consumers’ need states are shifting, and inspire smart companies to determine how to leverage their own brand equities to meet those needs ahead of their competition.

So here are some of the tidbits I found interesting at this year’s show:

Fresh Refreshment

Though there seemed to be fewer beverage exhibitors than I remember from past years, this is one category where there really was some product news.  Key sub-themes in this category:

  • Low Sugar – I’m delighted to report that sodas, juices, waters and non-dairy milks were all featuring less sweetener, lower calories and more natural sweeteners (I will not engage in the debate over the relative good and evil of various sweeteners in a marketing blog).  Obviously the best low-cal beverage is good old tap water, but I’m glad to finally see beverage offerings that aren’t loaded with sugar. Guilt-free guzzles include: Steaz® zero calorie sparkling green tea, Bruce Cost 66 unfiltered ginger ale and Califia Farms® Unsweetened Pure Almond Milk.
  • Creative Flavors – Victoria's KitchenContinuing what we’ve seen for the past few years, sodas are featuring more exotic fruits (blood orange, guava, soursop), but beverages both carbonated and not are now infused with herbs and florals (Belvoir Elderflower Presse, Fever Tree Mediterranean Tonic Water), surprising combinations (Wild Poppy™ Plum Licorice and Peach Vanilla, Victoria’s Kitchen™ Almond Water in Mint Licorice and Vanilla Rose) and even savory blends (Numi’s Savory Tea™ comes in flavors such as Fennel Spice and Carrot Curry).
  • RunaFunctional Favors – Functional beverages, those offering any number of health and wellness benefits, seem to be taking hold. On a recent trip to Whole Foods I noted the breadth of SKUs in the cold case. It’s a tricky game to play; staying on top of regulations re health claims, educating potential (skeptical) consumers on the benefits, standing out in a crowded category. If this show is any indication, there are a slew of entrepreneurs jumping into this space. A variety of cold-pressed juices, shots, and waters have been enhanced with super fruits, caffeine alternatives and probiotics.
    Republic of Tea Be ActiveIt will be interesting to watch which are quite literally “flavor of the month” and which become more mainstream. Some of the brands hoping to do your health a favor: Gogee™, Runa®, and The Republic of Tea®. Said Republic has perhaps the best branded functional series in the tea world with their Be Well Red® and Be Active® blends.Numi Savory Tea
Savor the Savory

Wild California CrispsPerhaps connected to the trend of abandoning sugar, we are finally starting to see some innovation on the savory (as opposed to sweet) side of life. I already mentioned Numi’s Savory Tea™.   I also saw a wider variety of chips than I’ve ever seen, made from all sorts of alternatives to wheat flour – lentils, garbanzos, quinoa, and every vegetable you can slice and bake.
My favorite chips were Wild California™ Crisps, made with Sonoma grape flour and an aim to source 100% of their ingredients from the Golden State. I love Lesley Stowe’s raincoast crisps®. These new crisps have a similar flavor profile, just much thinner trufflesand lighter (which translates immediately in my head to fewer calories, but that falls apart if I eat a whole bag).
Apparently I’m not the only person addicted to truffles, because the funky fungus appeared in everything from popcorn to jam to ketchup.  But the savory food version of Jennifer Lawrence (fresh, spunky and spicy) is Sriracha, which I’ve always loved in my Thai peanut sauce but now appears in bloody mary mix, hummus and even chocolate!

Conscious Capitalism

At the Natural Products Expo, we’re used to seeing a plethora of companies touting the sustainability of their ingredients and packaging, their fair trade policies and the causes they support. Those things, almost more than the products they sell, define the business they’re in. That’s not typically the case at Fancy Food, but it seemed to be a rising theme. Notably, it was less about in-your-face “green badging” than it was a matter of fact statement of values and business practices; a smart approach as claim-cynical Millennials reach the age of maximum purchasing power.  Boulder-based Hope Foods shines with innovative spins on hummus (flavors like Thai Coconut Curry and Green Chile Lime would turn a boring veggie platter into memorable crudite), lentil dips and chocolate spreads (think the decadence of Nutella in a product that’s low calorie, low glycemic, organic, dairy and gluten free!). Their tagline, “live differently. honestly. boldly.” is indicative of the values and business practices by which their brand lives.  Aforementioned Runa® and Kuli Kuli have a mission bigger than selling product. Both companies, inspired by the founders’ experiences working in developing countries, want to bring the health benefits of their products to customers while creating economic opportunity for indigenous farmers.

Kuli Kuli

A Renewed Focus on Innovation? Not Yet.

Unfortunately, my biggest takeaway is that there wasn’t as much innovation as I expected. I was hopeful, given promising economic indicators and buzz about increasing project and hiring activity, that companies had finally resumed their investment in product innovation and we would see some of the results. Perhaps it’s too soon, or perhaps companies are continuing to play very conservatively. I saw some very interesting new flavors in familiar products, but little in the way of real breakthrough innovation.

Kudos to the companies mentioned above, who are leading the way. It’s perhaps no coincidence that most of the interesting products are coming from entrepreneurs. Is it simply that they have everything to gain and less to lose than the larger companies? The past several years have seen so many small companies with heart purchased by larger conglomerates. Is this how the big guys do innovation now? They let the little guys take all the risk and just buy those companies once they’re successful? Perhaps it’s only natural that the “most special” products in the specialty category are coming from smaller, more specialized companies? I’m not sure of the answers, but will be watching over the coming months to see how it plays out.

I work with companies that want to plan for strategic innovation, grounded in consumer insights, that fuels their business strategies and inspires growth. Contact me if you’d like a fresh look at your innovation processes.

Monica Hahn is a branding & marketing consultant & career coach based in San Rafael, California

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Monica Hahn is a consultant who provides marketing and brand strategy, based in the San Francisco Bay area. Monica is also a career and executive coach who works in person or virtually.

What clients say
What clients say about Monica Hahn: Monica has been one of the most influential and valued Career Coaches I've had the pleasure of working with. She's always shown a genuine interest in helping me achieve my career goals. Monica’s integrity, passion, and intellect distinguish her in her field. Her ability to envision and pave new pathways to our brand and concept are unparalleled.
Kevin Price interviews Monica Hahn of Hahn Solo Strategy. Monica Hahn is a consultant who provides marketing and brand strategy, based in the San Francisco Bay area. Monica is also a career and executive coach who works in person or virtually.

Listen to my interview with Kevin Price on "The Price of Business."

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Happiness Is the Key to Attracting Everything

The Perfection Paradox

on November 27, 2011

I love talking about perfection because I have lived through both the agony and the ecstasy of being a perfectionist.

I’ve already shared that I grew up in an alcoholic home, filled with uncertainty and a lot of emotional pain. What my little soul did to compensate for the pain, was strive very hard to always make straight A’s and do exceptionally well at academic studies and school projects. I discovered early that I could impress my parents and teachers by excelling at things.

The good news is that I became really good at a lot things, including all of the subjects taught in school and extracurricular activities as well. My favorite subject of all time was Show and Tell. I can remember doing things for show and tell that blew the minds of my fellow students and teachers. Once I remember being a little girl and telling my teacher that I was going to make a cardboard box television set to demonstrate the story of Thanksgiving. She told me that she thought it was a very bad idea and thought I should think of something else. What she didn’t realize was that I had a plan that I knew would impress the heck out of her. Sure enough, I used my drawing talents to draw scene after scene of the story of how the pilgrims and the local natives came together for Thanksgiving feast after harvesting the food that the natives had taught the pilgrims to grow. I drew the scenes on a long roll of newsprint paper and used rollers that I made to fit the cardboard TV, to scroll through the scenes. Needless to say, my teacher and fellow students were beside themselves with compliments for my project and I got the coveted A+ I was after.

Impressing people and making good grades became my reason. It became my what, my why and my how. I remember writing a poem called Storybook Land in first grade after a field trip to a park for children called Storybook Land. We were assigned to write a poem about our experience. I had never composed a poem before, and it was honestly one of the most fun things I ever did. I was happy with my product, but had no idea how much attention and notoriety I would get. The principal came in along with other teachers and by the fuss they made over my poem, you would have thought I had won the Nobel Peace Prize or something.

You would think at first blush that all of this was very good and that this striving little soul was creating healthy experiences for herself. In many ways that was true, but the self-esteem that I got from producing and impressing people, masked the pain and suffering I experienced at home.

I became literally addicted to the feelings I experienced and the attention I got when I produced over-the-top projects and aced every exam. I lived for the feeling I got from impressing others. Then I started doing something very unhealthy. I became dissatisfied with my own best efforts. Every time I accomplished a goal that should have brought a lot of self-satisfaction, I raised the bar on myself. I started judging myself very harshly if other people weren’t as impressed as I wanted them to be or as they had been in the past. I felt like a failure all the time because I wanted to impress people and I expected and demanded better than my best.

The important point to remember here, because this is true for many people out there, not just me, is that if you place your self-worth in the hands and opinions of others, you will make yourself miserable. You simply cannot please and impress everyone all the time. And if you put your self-acceptance always out of your reach because you have unrealistic expectations of yourself (perfectionism), you will never accept yourself. I’ve come to love the saying that you have to accept yourself exactly as you are, right here and now, before you can change and improve for the better.

Perfection. It is great to strive for it. And it is always great to aim for the stars. If you aim low, you are never going to fly high. But if you aim for the stars but don’t reach them, it’s okay. You tried—you did your best. And that’s okay.

I’ll leave you with a little poem I wrote called:

Perfectly Imperfect

It’s perfectly perfect to be imperfect,
In fact that is all we can be.
‘Cause being imperfect and knowing I am,
Is the powerful truth that set me free.

Up until then I constantly struggled
To be something I could not be.
I tried to be better than my best allowed
So I couldn’t accept being me.

Now I just love being happy
And I still do the best that I can
But I do not have to succeed every time
Perfection’s no longer the plan.

Now I am frolicking under a Power
Who’s force is far greater than mine.
I get to enjoy being human
Imperfection is perfectly fine.

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Tuesday, February 21, 2017

The AuthaGraph World Map

You cannot accurately represent the global of the Earth on a flat map.  The most common flat map projections grossly overestimate the size of land masses near the poles such as Greenland, Antarctica and Siberia.  Recently, Japanese architect Hajime Narukawa came up with an award winning approach to minimize distortion, the AuthaGraph World Map.

As you can see, the map does away with most of the distortion at the poles and gives a better sense of the scale of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.  While it emphasizes how far South America is from Asia, it deemphasizes how close it is to Africa. It also makes it easier to visualize the Great Circle airplane routes.

For more, watch this:

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3/3 Free Articles leftRemaining

Rethinking Sales Compensation

February 23, 2018, 12:00PM - 1:00PM EST

The goal of sales compensation is to produce optimal sales performance and drive business results. Yet less than 9 percent of U.S. companies believe their sales compensation plan consistently drives precise selling behavior. This results in companies wasting hundreds of billions of dollars and failing to achieve their business objectives.

Harvard Business School’s Frank Cespedes has looked closely at sales compensation and has discovered why so many companies have sales compensation plans that don’t work. He has found that companies often buy into conventional wisdom, which holds that:

  • Money is the only motivator
  • Comp plans must be simple
  • We pay for results, not process

However, these assertions are false, can be damaging, and need to be reexamined. Compensation is just one part of strategic sales performance management; without the link to a bigger strategic plan, even the best compensation plans won’t pay off.

In this Harvard Business Review webinar, Cespedes shares insights from his study of sales compensation, describes why so many companies make mistakes with sales compensation, and provides practical advice on linking strategy and sales in a way that produces real business value.

Frank Cespedes is a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School and author of Aligning Strategy and Sales (Harvard Business Review Press).

This article is about SALES
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2014 Journalism Awards

2014 Contest Florida Press Club

General News Reporting, Third Place, Henry Frederick, Headline Surfer

New Smyrna Beach Mayor Adam Barringer raised taxes while not paying his own tax bills

May 4, 2014

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Mayor Adam Barringer led the vote to raise property taxes to support the municipal budget back in September while not paying his own taxes, Headline Surfer® has learned after reviewing public records.

SE Volusia ad authority's $70,000 exec. director, operations manager & board chair chow down on public dime

December 16, 2013

DAYTONA BEACH -- After Southeast Volusia Advertising Authority Chairman Palmer Wilson was removed an unprecedented second time with County Councilwoman Deb Denys imploring her colleagues to "finish this" and getting her way in a 4-3 split vote seen by some as politically-motivated, Wilson's successor, Tom Clapsaddle, ate on the public's dime.

No April Fool's Joke: Daytona Beach City Commissioner Carl Lentz shows how to get a bang for his buck

April 1, 2014

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Carl Lentz, IV, a real estate agent won a seat on the City Commission on his first try, back in 2012, thanks in part to inherent advantages.

Religion Reporting, Third Place, Henry Frederick, Headline Surfer

Mayor Adam Barringer invisible after KKK furor, but takes center stage in MLK celebration

Daytona Beach Mayor Derrick Henry pays homage to poet Maya Angelou

Remembering MLK: Keeping the Dream alive in Daytona

Henry Frederick Picture

Short Bio

Henry Frederick is publisher of Headline Surfer®, the award-winning 24/7 internet news outlet covering the Daytona Beach-Sanford-Orlando metro area via HeadlineSurfer.com for a decade now. A longtime cops & courts reporter focused on breaking news & investigative reporting, Frederick is among the Sunshine State's most prolific daily news reporters, having amassed dozens of journalism-industry awards in print anddigital platforms. Frederick is enrolled at Full Sail University in Winter Garden, FL, where he's three-fourths through the online Master of Arts program in New Media Journalism. His graduation is in August.


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Zika, Bats, Cardinals and Harmony

If given enough time and observation, Mother Nature will always guarantee us a healthy balance in our environment. Currently here in Miami, Zika is creating lots of chatter. Long Island for example is using bats as a natural way to contain mosquitoes: “The Town of North Hempstead is using bats to combat mosquitoes. Bats eat mosquitos and other insects“. We Shamans suggest great precautions be taken by pregnant ladies, and we also KNOW this dis-balance will come to an end. Below is an example of how this is occurring with another unwanted condition:

“mosquitoes responsible for transmitting the West Nile Virus like feeding on robins and cardinals about the same, but for some reason, robins are like little viral factories. Meanwhile, due to some fluke of biology, West Nile doesn’t reproduce as much in cardinals, making them less efficient carriers for the disease.

What makes this all so curious is that Levine and her colleagues found that while mosquitoes in Atlanta love to feed on robins earlier in the year, they switch over to a mostly cardinal diet

Click Here for Full Article

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/when-it-comes-to-west-nile-virus-atlantas-cardinals-may-be-our-feathered-saviors-180960076/#iRG5GyPy2UbmLQKx.99
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