text:
“I really like coffee. It reminds me of an Italian morning; the smell, the atmosphere, the environment.”
Reminiscent of his previous days in Italy, Francesco Bucci, owner of Papalecco, states what coffee reminds him of and why it is so important to have a lasting, tasty cup of coffee, cappuccino or espresso.
Plus, do Italians have a bigger respect for coffee over the norm, who doesn’t know the techniques of making a good cup of Joe?
To begin, do most of us ever consider what makes a good cup of coffee? Is it the cleaning process, or which type of specific bean that is used? Well I want to tell you it is all of the above.
“The cleaning process is just as important,” stated Andrea Guerrini, also owner of Papalecco. He continues, “Cleaning each part separately is just the first step.”
At Papalecco, located in Little Italy, your morning drink is made with first-class ingredients. Danesi coffee beans, straight from Rome, have that pure, shiny bean quality that is undeniably delicious when you take the first sip. The Danesi bean has a very aromatic scent to it; not overbearing and not to strong, but that perfect balance.
So how can you tell the drink you are enjoying is made with high quality standards? Here are a few secrets Bucci and Guerrini want you to know.
“When ordering a cappuccino,” Bucci says, “the foam must be shiny and have no bubbles. People should recognize it.” Guerrini continues with, “An espresso should have a light brown color that coats the top as well as the inside surface of the cup. The texture should not taste watery.”
To test your espresso for the right consistency, put a little bit of sugar on top. If it stays on the surface, it’s a good cup, bene! If not, discard the cup and go to a different location for a sufficient espresso.
Different coffee shops prepare there coffee according to a certain standard that they assume is correct, but is it exactly the taste you were looking for? At Z’s café on India street in Little Italy, the taste may be earthier then what you would expect; there organic as well as coming from Italy and Columbia.
“We asked our customers and they prefer the organic bean,” reflected Zion Yohannas, owner of Z’s. She added, “The more fanatic customers like organic beans.”
An espresso from Z’s did have the light brown texture on top, but the texture was not consistent enough to stay around the glass and the sugar on top fell straight to the bottom.
Italians do know more about preparing coffee. It’s something they enjoy everyday and for them, coffee seems to be a way of life. Having a delicious espresso or creamy cappuccino makes anyone believe they are at the very top of Leaning Tower-Piza. Ciao!
(Shanika Whaley is City Times’ arts and features editor)


tier: cub

shelf: history-culture

title: Uae seeks gulf de escalation after sabotage attacks ships

text:
DUBAI — The UAE said Wednesday it was "committed to de-escalation" after a spike in tensions in the Gulf but warned it would retaliate hard against Yemen rebel attacks on civilian facilities in the region.
The UAE minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, was speaking after the mysterious sabotage at the weekend of four ships, including two Saudi oil tankers, and after Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed drone attacks Tuesday that shut down a key Saudi oil pipeline.
"We are very committed to de-escalation, peace and stability," he told journalists at a briefing in Dubai.
He said a multicountry investigation into the sabotage attacks would be concluded within days, adding: "We are not going to jump the gun."
"We need to emphasise caution without throwing accusations," he said. "We have always called for restraint and we will always call for that."
However, he blamed "Iranian behaviour" for tensions in the Gulf region, where Washington has sent an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers in response to unspecified Iranian threats against American interests.
"It is this behaviour that has led to the difficult conditions," Gargash said.
The UAE says three Western countries — the US, France and Norway — would take part in an investigation into the ship attacks, alongside Abu Dhabi and Riyadh.
Gargash was speaking a day after drone strikes hit two pumping stations in neighbouring Saudi Arabia’s key east-west pipeline.
The pipeline, with a capacity of 5 million barrels of crude per day, provides a strategic alternative route for Saudi exports if the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf were to be closed.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the strikes and said they were in response to “crimes” committed by Saudi Arabia and its allies during more than four years of war in support of the government.
The UAE is part of a Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthis in Yemen.
“We will retaliate and we will retaliate hard when we see Houthis hitting civilian targets like what happened in Saudi Arabia,” Gargash said on Wednesday.
OPEC giant Saudi Arabia currently pumps around 10 million barrels per day of which around 7 million are exported.
At present, most Saudi exports are loaded onto tankers at terminals on the kingdom’s Gulf coast and must pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz in case of a military confrontation with the United States.


shelf: civic-law

title: AS I SEE IT

text:
AS I SEE IT
By Neal A. Shipman
While the June election seems like a long way off, in reality it isn’t as the deadline for candidates to file their petitions to appear on the ballot for a variety of open seats is April 9.
It can be easy to sit back and criticize those who serve us in elected offices, whether they be those who serve on our local park districts, city councils, school boards or even in county offices. But in reality, those people who decide to throw their hats in the ring to serve do so with the desire to help their communities, schools and county.
With the exception of elected county officials, those who do serve are truly doing a very thankless job that earns them very little, if any, compensation. They don’t do it for the recognition because there is very little of that either. Instead they devote countless hours attending meetings, listening to constituents, wrestling with budgets and planning for the future, whether that be in a city council or park board meeting room, at a school board meeting, or serving all of McKenzie County as an elected official, because they want to make a difference.
And we need more people who want to make a difference in our cities, our parks, our schools and our county. We need people who are willing to bring new ideas and programs to these boards. We need people who are willing to listen to their constituents.
That is not to say that the people who currently serve and are considering running again for an elected position are not these type of people. It’s just that as our cities and county over the past several years have welcomed thousands of new residents to our area, many of these people have brought with them a wealth of ideas that have worked before and may be of benefit in our schools, parks, and local government.
In this week’s McKenzie County Farmer, we carried a front page story that outlined all of the local offices that will be voted on in the June election, as well as the District 39 and county offices that will be voted on in the primary and general elections. As can be seen, while there is a fair amount of early interest in some of the offices, especially at the county level, the bulk of the other offices at the city and school levels seem to be lacking candidates.
Which means that if a person has ever thought of running for a public office, between now and the filing deadline, they have time to sit in on meetings and see what the board members do. They also have time to ask questions of board members that are currently serving. And they have time to seriously give consideration on what strengths they can bring to one of the boards.
All of our boards, be they school, city, park or county, need to have people with a vision and a passion to build upon the accomplishments of the past and help guide us to an even brighter future.
Are you such a person? Do you know of such a person? If so, give serious consideration about becoming a candidate for one of the many positions that will be on the ballot in this year’s election.


shelf: science-engineering

title: Analogue Synth Performance Control

text:
Analogue Synth Performance Control
12 HP Eurorack Module
AVAILABLE IN NATURAL OAK OR BLACK EBONISED OAK
£575 including delivery worldwide (and VAT within UK)
Each unit is hand crafted (including 1x desktop hand controller and 1x 12 HP Eurorack module) and can take up to 3-4 weeks to despatch
BLACK EBONISED VERSION
Classic design providing fingertip control of CV and Trigger outputs for virtually any modular synthesiser
Wangulator is a our new performance controller specially designed to fit under one hand and control up to five parameters simultaneously via control voltage.
Two trigger buttons are instantly available so you can get into the rhythm and control envelope generators and sequencers etc.
Designed around the Eurorack format you can control virtually any module with standard CV and trigger inputs from VCOs and VCAs to VCF cut-off, resonance or whatever takes your fancy.
Master unit in 12HP Eurorack format with 3.5mm mono jack out
Remote desktop unit made from oak and brushed aluminium
High quality 60mm & 45mm long life faders (100,000 cycles)
Soft touch fader knobs
CV x5: +/-5v or 0 to +5v or 0 to +10v on each channel
Linear / Log / Anti-Log fader curve select on each channel
Trigger x2: +10v 10ms pulse
Built-in short circuit protection on all outputs
Runs from standard Eurorack +/-12v power
Power consumption 40mA per rail
Module depth behind panel 3cm with standard plug inserted
+/-5% tolerance on above specs
Although it costs a little bit more, we prefer to use only the best quality electronic components throughout our design, which includes Bourns potentiometers with over 100,000 life cycles.
Please note that each unit is hand built so it can take up to 3-4 weeks to despatch after ordering


tier: polar

shelf: software-docs

title: B1abn2xb

text:
There must be regular database backup routines in place. This should also be documented in the design document.
There must be regular database maintenance routines in place. This should also be documented in the design document.
Considerations for clustering (high availability) of the Database Server should be made and documented.
In general, Micro Focus does not recommend virtualizing the ZENworks database server. However, it is possible to run Microsoft SQL Server on a virtual host. See the following documentation for more information:
Place data and log files on separate drives for the database [zenworks_database] on a server [server_name].
Check the database integrity at least every 14 days for the database [zenworks_database] on a server [server_name].
Keep the TempDB database and log files in a separate drive.
Keep backups in a separate drive. Network shared drive can also be used to take daily backup.
Ensure that you have the skills in-house, or readily available (contractor, consultant, or partner) to manage and maintain the Microsoft SQL Server, based on the best practices that Microsoft outlines for regular database management.
Microsoft also offers the SQL Server Best Practices Analyzer Tool. This tool addresses a wide variety of best practices as outlined by Microsoft. This tool can be found on the Microsoft website.
SQL Server supports the following types of storage for data files:
SMB/CIFS File Share
SQL Server failover cluster installation supports Local Disk only for installing the tempdb files. Ensure that the path specified for the tempdb data and log files is valid on all the cluster nodes. During failover, if the tempdb directories are not available on the failover target node, the SQL Server resource will fail to come online.
SQL Server supports Direct Attached Storage (DAS), Storage Area Network (SAN), and Network Attached Storage (NAS) storage architectures.
Direct Attached Storage (DAS): DAS is a digital storage system that is directly attached to a server or workstation, without a storage network in between. DAS physical disk types include Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) and Serial Attached ATA (SATA).
Network Attached Storage (NAS): A NAS unit is a self-contained computer that is connected to a network.
Storage Area Network (SAN): SAN is an architecture to attach remote computer storage devices (such as disk arrays and tape libraries) to servers in such a way that the devices appear as locally attached to the operating system (for example, block storage).
In general, Micro Focus recommends a SAN when the benefits of shared storage are important to your organization. The benefits of shared storage include the following:
Easier to reallocate disk storage between servers
Can serve multiple servers
No limitations on the number of disks that can be accessed
For more information on storage architecture, see: SQL Server and Network Attached Storage.
The disk types that you use in the system can affect reliability and performance. When everything else is equal, larger drives increase the mean seek time. SQL Server supports the following types of drives:
Small Computer System Interface (SCSI)
Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA)
Serial-attached SCSI (SAS)
Fibre Channel (FC)
Integrated Device Electronics (IDE)
Solid State Drive (SSD) or Flash Disk
For optimal performance, store the different files in different drives, preferably on different I/O controllers.
For OS use C:\
For SQL Binaries use D:\
For TempDB (1 file per processor, equi-sized) use E:\
Micro Focus recommends using SAN Storage or Solid State Drives for ZENworks databases to obtain optimal performance.
If you are using a SAN in conjunction with MS SQL, consider the following best practices:
Consider the bandwidth of the data channel that depends on the I/O demands for the SQL Server.
Consider the way the SAN abstracts the physical devices it presents to the system to take maximum advantage of parallelism.
Choose an appropriate RAID level for the SAN. For ZENworks database, RAID 10 is recommended. When you configure a RAID array, ensure that you align the file system to the offset that is supplied by the vendor.
For more information on RAID, see:
For more information on storage in general, see:
Throughput of any database server is greatly influenced by the resources allocated for the server. In most cases, it is best to keep them to the default values for better results.
Set the maximum worker threads to 0.
This ensures that the database server manages the needed threads that give the best throughput.
Set the max server memory to the default value (2147483647 MB).
Update the database server with the latest service packs.
Other factors that might influence the memory that is required, include the following:
The use of SQL Server mirroring
The frequent use of files larger than 15 MB
Read Committed Snapshot allows transactions to share locks to databases so that you can allow two distinct processes to update the same table at the same time. If this setting is not enabled, large amounts of blocking can occur that decreases ZENworks performance.
To enable Read Committed Snapshot, run the following command from an SQL editor:
ALTER DATABASE <database name> SET SINGLE_USER WITH ROLLBACK IMMEDIATE; GO ALTER DATABASE <database name> SET READ_COMMITTED_SNAPSHOT ON; GO ALTER DATABASE <database name> SET MULTI_USER; GO
To verify that the Read Committed Snapshot has been successfully enabled, run the following:
SELECT is_read_committed_snapshot_on FROM sys.databases WHERE name= '<database name>'
For more detailed information on snapshot isolation and transaction isolation, see the following links:
Because ZENworks uses a shared database for all Primaries, it is important that the database server be available at all times. The MS SQL Server provides several options to create high availability for a server or database:
For additional information on the MS SQL Server high availability, see the SQL Server High Availability guide.
This provides local high availability through redundancy at the server-instance level.
Protection at the instance level through redundancy.
Automatic failover in the event of a failure (hardware failures, operating system failures, and application or service failures).
Support for a broad array of storage solutions, including WSFC cluster disks (iSCSI, Fiber Channel, and so on) and server message block (SMB) file shares.
Disaster recovery solution using a multi-subnet FCI or running an FCI-hosted database inside an AlwaysOn availability group. With the new multi-subnet support in Microsoft SQL Server 2012, a multi-subnet FCI no longer requires a virtual LAN, increasing the manageability and security of a multi-subnet FCI.
Zero re-configuration of applications and clients during failovers.
Flexible failover policy for granular Trigger events for automatic failovers.
Reliable failovers through periodic and detailed health detection using dedicated and persisted connections.
Configurability and predictability in failover time through indirect background checkpoints.
Throttled resource usage during failovers.
For more information on AlwaysOn Failover Cluster Instances, see AlwaysOn Failover Cluster Instances.
Introduced in SQL Server 2012, AlwaysOn Availability Groups maximize the availability of a set of user databases for an enterprise. An availability group supports a failover environment for a discrete set of user databases, known as availability databases.
For more information on AlwaysOn Availability Groups, see AlwaysOn Availability Groups.
SQL Server Log Shipping allows you to automatically send transaction log backups from a primary database on a Primary Server instance to one or more secondary databases on separate secondary server instances. The transaction log backups are applied to each of the secondary databases, individually. An optional third server instance, known as the monitor server, records the history and status of backup and restore operations, and optionally raises alerts if these operations fail to occur as scheduled.
Provides a disaster-recovery solution for a single primary database and one or more secondary databases, each on a separate instance of SQL Server.
Supports limited read-only access to secondary databases (during the interval between restore jobs).
Allows a user-specified delay between when the Primary Server backs up the log of the primary database and when the secondary servers must restore (apply) the log backup.
For more information on Log Shipping, see Log Shipping.
Database Mirroring is a solution for increasing the availability of an SQL Server database. Mirroring is implemented on a per-database basis and works only with databases that use the full recovery model.
Increases the availability of a database.
Increases data protection.
Improves the availability of the production database during upgrades.
This feature will be removed in a future version of Microsoft SQL Server. Use Always-On Availability Groups instead.
For More information on mirroring, see Database Mirroring.
The MS SQL Best Practices Page provides additional best practices for SQL Server design, planning, and maintenance.


shelf: health

title: 3367 parents sue over failures in child hearing service at nhs lothian

text:
More than a dozen families are seeking compensation following "significant failures" at NHS Lothian's hearing service for children.
The health board apologised to more than 155 families after an independent investigation found serious problems diagnosing and treating hearing loss.
Sophie was born partly deaf and failed repeated hearing tests for years. Her family say no help was offered by the paediatric audiology department at NHS Lothian who kept saying she would be fine. But her parents say she is not.
Sophie is now seven. Her speech and language has not developed fully and is sometimes hard to understand. Her confidence has been affected.
Her mum Sarah said: "They failed Sophie. You kind of trust what they were doing, you thought maybe she doesn't need hearing aids, maybe she will just catch up and now she's almost eight years old and she's still not caught up and you think 'OK, maybe there were mistakes made then'."
An independent investigation by the British Academy of Audiology (BAA), published in December last year, found "significant failures" involving 155 children over nine years at NHS Lothian.
Several profoundly deaf children were diagnosed too late for vital implant surgery. The health board has "apologised sincerely" to those affected.
The BAA looked at more than 1,000 patient records finding "significant failures" in almost 14% of them.
The BAA said it found "no evidence" that national guidelines and protocols on hearing tests for children had been followed or consistently applied "at any point since 2009".
Read full story
Source: BBC News, 2 March 2022


shelf: finance

title: Other Loan Guarantee Programs

text:
Other Loan Guarantee Programs
While a guarantee may be necessary under certain circumstances and can sometimes foster better loan terms (related to repayment period or interest rate) depending on the bank, often they have up front costs of a 1 to 3.5 percent of the portion guaranteed and have annual fees ranging from 1/8th to 1/4th of a percent on the remaining loan balance. The guarantees may also come with high administrative costs due to extensive reporting requirements. In short, these guarantees can have varying cost-to-benefit ratios and should be thoroughly scrutinized based on your particular circumstances. Make sure to ask for a full breakdown of all associated initial and annual fees.
USDA Rural Development Business and Industry Loan Guarantee Program
This program can guarantee up to 80 percent of a bank loan, depending on the loan purpose. A USDA Rural Development feasibility study may be required. General guidelines as to whether a feasibility study is needed include:
- Required for a start-up business.
- Required for a renewable energy project.
- Required for an existing business that lacks a profitable history (or when past performance does not support the new debt service).
- Required for an existing business that will develop an independent operation in a new location.
USDA will look at each project on a case-by-case basis and make the determination about the feasibility study during the pre-application process.
Further Information: USDA Rural Development, Business, and Cooperative Programs
Contact Information: USDA State Offices
SBA Loan Guarantee program (“7(a) loans”)
You will have to work through your bank to apply for this type of guarantee. Up to 85 percent of loans of $150,000 and less, and up to 75 percent of loans above $150,000 can be guaranteed for up to 25 years.
Further Information: SBA 7(a) Loan Program
Contact Information: SBA Local Resources


shelf: education

title: How to kick start your lesson in a clil way

text:
The opening of a lesson is just one of many lesson stages, but if not done well can be a problem for the rest of your lesson. A lot of things need to happen at the start: set expectations, activate prior knowledge, engagement so everyone is involved etc.
I try to achieve all of these goals with one activity: The Problem of the Day
Estimated time to read this article: 7 minutes
Introduction to "The Problem of the Day"
Honestly, I always have to refrain myself from saying mean things like "David is the problem of the day today" whenever a student enters the room, knowing full well what the name of the first activity of the lesson is going to be.
And yes, I am that mean a teacher sometimes ;). But only when a student deserves it.
However, the name is not at all that important.
You can call it 'Starter problem', 'Questions for today' or 'Do you remember - questions' for all I care.
The important thing is: you ask your students a couple of questions at the beginning of the lesson.
In my case, often three.
For a reason.
More on that in a minute.
With 'The Problem of the Day' (or problems, if you want to be picky) I
Let's have a look at what this activity looks like!
Key Take Away
This activity for the opening of your lesson involves a lot of CLIL related topics and is very subject focused.
The setup of the activity
After I discussed the lesson goals and gave the new homework, I start with this activity.
It takes about 10-15 minutes, depending on the amount of time you take to discuss the questions.
The three questions are shown and students have to figure them out on their own.
They are allowed to have a look in their previous notes, their book or homework.
However, they cannot discuss it with their partners.
After a certain amount of time has passed, student can discuss the problems.
They have two different tasks, depending on how well they understand:
Again, after a few minutes I will ask someone random to explain the answers.
This implies all students have to participate.
They can all be asked to explain the problem.
Because students had time to discuss, or ask me questions, I do not allow "I don't understand" as an answer.
To motivate correct explanations, I reward them with Classdojo points.
That is all!
A lot of things are involved in this activity though.
Let's discuss the type of questions to ask first.
Key Take Away
The problem of the day consists of a couple of stages from "Think, Pair, Share":
1. Individual work
2. Work together
3. Plenary discussion
The questions in detail
The three questions (or problems in my case) are structured in a certain way:
1: Knowledge question
You might recognize Bloom's taxonomy here, on a basic level.
I ask for knowledge reproduction.
The lowest level of Bloom as well as a great moment to involve language.
Students have to explain something in their own words, something that was discussed the lesson before.
2: Apply question
The second questions is always an 'apply' question.
Again, Bloom, but a higher level now.
This question is often something students have done in the homework or in the previous lesson.
Because they are allowed to have a look at their homework, you would expect them to be able to do this with ease.
All I can say is: Don't be too disappointed 😉
It is okay though, because this makes students realize they do not fully understand yet.
3: Just a bit further..
The third question is a bit "above and beyond"
It might be a question related to the knowledge they have, but in a new situation.
Or a question that relies heavily on text, making it more difficult
Or even something that has to do with the current topic of the lesson.
This question allows for a bit of a challenge for the students who already understand the basic stuff.
Key Take Away
The three questions are in a specific order:
2. Simple application
3. Difficult application/Text
How prior knowledge is activated
A bit of a no brainer really.
By making sure you ask things about the previous lesson, you activate prior knowledge.
But this might be a bit of a challenge for some students.
Especially if your previous lesson was quite some time ago.
That is why you can implement a bit of scaffolding by allowing the book, homework or notes.
It is important students are aware of this prior knowledge before they start learning something new.
Otherwise, connecting this new knowledge to something before is going to be hard.
Students might not be aware of connections to topics discussed in previous lessons.
Or other subjects or chapters.
The role of 'silence' in this activity
Language is an important element of this activity.
But so is silence.
Allowing some time for students to think on their own is not a bad thing.
Active learning can happen even if students are not talking all the time.
And this moment of silence also has two other results:
- 1Students' energy level changes to a more focused one
- 2I have some time to do administrative work, like checking homework or absentees.
Key Take Away
By asking students to first work on their own, they activate their own prior knowledge and become more focused.
Language in the first activity of the lesson
Language is involved in a couple of different ways.
Input (reading): During question 1 and possibly question 3.
Output (speaking: Discussion after silence-time is over and explanation when chosen.
Output (writing): At the answer of question 1
In other words: a lot of language!
And this is just the start of your CLIL lesson!
Follow-up with differentiation
Just an idea I sometimes apply that helps to differentiate in your lesson:
If you make question 3 about something new, something you are going to discuss this lesson.
You can check how many people actually already solved this.
The people who understood, can already start working.
And skip your explanation.
Works very well in my lesson, but you know your students best.
Key Take Away
Language output and the possibility to differentiate can also be integrated by asking the right questions.
This "Problem of the day" activity is a CLIL activity because students are engaged with language and actively participating.
Language is involved in various ways and scaffolding can even be implement.
You might wonder: how long does it take to prepare an activity like this?
Seriously? It takes me two minutes.
If you have done this a couple of times, and know what the lesson is about, you can easily prepare this activity in a very short time.
That is the type of CLIL activity I like!
Ow, and do not be too fixated on "three activities"
This can obviously be changed to 2 or 4 or whatever suits your needs.
I do this all the time myself.
Good luck, and let me know below if you think you can apply this to your lesson!


shelf: home-craft

title: Paleo no bake samoa cookies

text:
So, you know how I've been saying that I'm #shreddingforthewedding. Well, that was all talk and no walk. I mean, some effort was being put in but I wasn't giving my full potential. NOW, I'm really going hard. I am T-minus 3 months away from the big day so it's crunch time! I've decided to take on a 30-day challenge of no bread, pasta, or rice AND I'm doing an hour of cardio 5 times a week at the gym. I even tried Spinning!
And because I successfully made it through one whole week, I am celebrating today with these no-bake cookies that totally meet my challenge's guidelines :-)
Since we're in the middle of Girl Scout Cookie season, I figure this recipe will be beneficial to many of you who are finding it hard to resist those sweet temptations! It's better for your wallet, and better for your belly!
The base of these cookies is made out of walnuts, shredded coconut, maple syrup, and just a bit of vanilla extract. It comes together super easily in a food processor. The "caramel" filling also comes together in the food processor and it's made out of medjool dates, lemon juice, and water. That's all! The cookies are dolloped with the caramel filling and dipped/drizzled in dark chocolate, and voila! A better for you samoa cookie!
Yield: 12 cookies
Paleo No-Bake Samoa Cookies
2 cups raw walnuts
1 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup maple syrup
pinch of vanilla powder (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
For the "caramel" center:
1 cup pitted medjool dates, soaked in hot water for 2 hours
1/4 cup water, plus more as needed
Juice of one lemon
4 ounces dark chocolate, for dipping
To the bowl of a food processor, add walnuts, coconut, maple syrup, and vanilla. Process until well-combined and mixture starts to come together. Test the mixture between your fingers to see if it sticking together well. If so, use a cookie scoop to scoop out mounds of dough. Roll the mounds into balls, then flatten slightly. Place on a wax-paper lined cookie sheet and transfer to freezer.
In the meantime, prepare caramel center. To the bowl of a food processor, add dates, water, and lemon juice. Process until a date paste forms and no tiny bits of dates remain. Add additional water as needed to create a smooth paste.
Melt dark chocolate in a microwave or over a double boiler.
Remove cookies from freezer. Dip the bottom of cookies into the dark chocolate and return to wax-paper lined cookie sheet to allow chocolate to harden.
Spoon date paste into a Ziploc bag with the tip cut off. Squeeze a mound of date paste onto the centers of the cookies. Drizzle cookies with remaining dark chocolate.
Serve immediately or store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Slightly adapted from Neurotic Mommy


title: Advent christmas in austria

text:
St. Nikolaus Day– Dec 6th -St.Nikolaus goes around to visit children to ask if they have been good or bad,if they love their parents and siblings and are given candy and small gifts. Sometime – Schwarze Peter will accompany him with a switch and as the story goes – take away the bad kids. Krampus – bad spirits adopted from ancient pagan traditions to chase the winter spirits away. They have fur costumes and with scary masks. Some young men will run through the streets scaring and maybe even swatting those they catch with a switch. Young women they know are usually their object.
During Advent trees, shops, city streets and town Squares are decorated in seasonal ornaments, lights and Christmas trees. The merry bustle of the cities and towns with their Christmas Markets fill the streets with cozy wonderful sights, sounds and smells – a warm feeling! Festive scents of punch and toasted almonds, roasted chestnuts, freshly baked apples, plenty of perfect stocking stuffers – gingerbread hearts, nativity figures, tree ornaments, toys and warm woollies.
Visiting Austria during this time of year is a Christmas trip you will cherish.
Austria was John Denver’s favourite place to be during Advent.
The setting of the Austria Alps and culture steeped in the Catholic tradition with the quaint onion domed churches and grand cathedrals, the peeling bells / Glocken, many carols, Christmas Markets with their many stands and outdoor gathering are just a delight to visit – Enjoy!
Please see our self-guided tours- Christmas Markets Austrian Advent Itineraries:


title: Van%20guilder

text:
Roc Van Guilder and his son Lee were acquitted Friday of misdemeanor criminal trespassing and criminal damage to property in connection with a Dec. 1, 2006 incident.
On that day, and because of the weather, heavy equipment was banned from driving in certain areas of the rain-soaked township roads. So Baugh’s property was used instead, as the heavy equipment was ordered to make its way toward its destination – the first of a dozen or more houses the state purchased and prepared for demolition. The destruction of houses is meant to aid in the development of the proposed Peotone airport, though the project has yet to gain official approval by the FAA. The legal issue became all about who ordered the bulldozers to cross the property.
According to courtroom observers, Will County Associate Judge Marilee Viola felt that the state did not prove its case against the two contractors, believing they were not the ones to give the order to drive a piece of 80,000 lb. equipment across the farm field belonging to Mark and Lynn Baugh.
At the time of the incident, the Van Guilders were employed by Hanson Professional Services, Inc., the company hired by the elder Van Guilder’s former boss – ex-Transportation Secretary Kirk Brown – who upon retiring, also went to work for Hanson.
Van Guilder has a 20-year history with the airport project, having previously worked as the airport’s project manager for the state’s consultant, TAMS, which has been taken over by Earth-Tech.
Mark Baugh’s first reaction was disbelief, but not surprise. He is very disappointed in the ruling and said this may not be the end of it.
“I didn’t know what information the judge did and didn’t have,” Baugh said. Because he was a witness he wasn’t in the courtroom for all of the testimony, but added that the judge should have had all the information to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.
“The fact that they didn’t have permission to cross my property should have been enough,” Baugh said. He added, “They (the Van Guilders) deceived the operators by telling them to ‘head west’ knowing there was private property to cross.
“It is far easier to ask for forgiveness after the fact, hoping they wouldn’t get caught, than to seek permission to use my property,” Baugh said. “What they did was wrong.”
Still, he is appreciative that Will County State’s Attorney Jim Glasgow decided to prosecute the case. And, he is grateful for the efforts of those who investigated and prosecuted it.
Will County Board Member John Anderson was involved in this case, to the extent that he urged Glasgow to get involved.
“Today, I learned that Judge Viola acquitted the Van Guilders. I am disappointed by her decision and vehemently disagree with her conclusions, but I do respect her ruling,” Anderson said.
Anderson said that it was his understanding that Judge Viola believed there was insufficient notice that trespassing was not permitted.
“However, there is a ‘no trespassing sign’ in Mark Baugh's front yard,” Anderson pointed out. “Additionally, Lee Van Guilder himself testified that he walked up to the front door to ask permission to move the machinery through the property. Van Guilder would not have gone to ask permission if he really believed that the machine would be allowed to cross the property.”
Despite his disagreement with the judge’s decision, Anderson believes the Van Guilder's prosecution is still a win for the Baugh's and for residents living in the area of the proposed airport footprint.
“The mere fact that the Van Guilders were prosecuted sends a clear message that this sort of behavior will not be tolerated, and the rights of residents living in the footprint area command respect,” Anderson said, admitting that he has received dozens of complaints about trespassing by the Van Guilders and employees of IDOT or Hanson.
Anderson is also grateful to Glasgow. He said when he asked Glasgow to accompany him to the Baugh's property to view the damage, Glasgow drove across the county in a snow storm. He is also grateful to the prosecutors who worked so hard on the case.


title: 62865

text:
The Reno6 series, recently launched by global technology brand OPPO comes equipped with the brands iconic VOOC Flash Charge. As a pioneer of the technology, OPPO takes a closer look into its leading flash charge technology and how it continues to shape the smartphone industry.
A must-have for users who use their smartphone to game, watch videos and create amazing content, OPPO’s SuperVOOC Flash Charge is not only reliable and incredibly fast, it also uses the highest level of multi-layered protection with all key nodes including the adapter, USB cable, cellphone and battery protected by intelligent chips.
With the popularization of apps like games and videos that consume huge amounts of power and large-scale commercial 5G use, there are new requirements for mobile phone battery life and charging experiences. Today, a quick five minute charge of a Reno6 smartphone using VOOC Flash Charge technology provides users with an impressive four hour video watch time or 100 minutes of PUBG mobile gaming.
guided by the user-led brand value, OPPO is continuously improving its VOOC Flash Charge technology to meet the different charging needs of users in all weathers, across multiple devices, in any number of situations, and to alleviate the ‘charge anxiety’ of users in the 5G era.
OPPO, which rolled out its highly anticipated Reno6 Series on September 7th, 2021 has always been at the forefront of bringing transformative solutions to the smartphone industry. In 2014, the tech giant turned the phone charging market on its head when it pioneered its proprietary rapid change technology ‘VOOC Flash Charge’, becoming the first in the industry to offer a low-voltage, fast-charging solution which has completely changed the way we use smartphones.
Since then, the global technology pioneer has continuously strived to improve and upgrade its VOOC technology to offer even faster and safer flash charging to millions of consumers worldwide.
In 2018, it debuted SuperVOOC, which had twice the charging power of its predecessor. The following year, OPPO unveiled its 65W SuperVOOC 2.0, breaking the previous record. Not one to rest on its laurels, OPPO last year unveiled its future cutting-edge 125W charging technology, 65W AirVOOC wireless flash charge, the ultra-small portable 50W mini SuperVOOC charger, as well as the 110W mini flash charger. In 2021, OPPO launched its new project—The Flash Initiative, at MWCSH, bringing its proprietary VOOC technology to automobiles, public spaces and chips inside a wide variety of technologies.
Currently OPPO VOOC flash charge series has supported 30+ OPPO models. Based on VOOC flash charge technology, OPPO has launched a variety of peripheral accessories including flash charge portable power banks, and flash charge car chargers, and reached cross-border cooperation with Gundam, Pokémon, EVA Evangelion, Detective Conan and others to become a leader in the industry.
OPPO has always placed efficiency and safety at the forefront of its development of Flash Charge technology. OPPO has always upheld this concept to the whole charging system, dedicating to providing the most comprehensive hardware & software level charging protection.
VOOC uses five levels of protective layering. Here’s a lowdown on each of these layers:
- First layer: Protective circuit on the adapter which eradicates hidden danger from the root even if internal circuit is broken.
- Second layer: An intelligent chip which detects the voltage and current to check if it’s safe to make a flash charge.
- Third layer: Electrical switch on the connector which acts as a second line of defense against voltage and current fluctuations.
- Fourth layer: Advanced protection on the cellphone end.
- Fifth layer: Voltage-fusing protection to guard against deviations from normal limits.
In addition, a safety scheme is in place from the adapter all the way through to the battery. Dedicated charging control units in both the device and the adapter monitor the status of components in real time, checking battery temperature, voltage, current, path impedance and numerous other parameters. The system can then respond quickly if any parameter strays outside the norm, to avoid abnormal charging.
As of June 2021, OPPO has over 195 milion flash charge users world wide, applied for more than 3,000 flash charge-related patents worldwide, owns over 1,500 granted patents, and has licensed the flash charge technology to nearly 40 companies, making it one of the fastest and safest technologies currently available in the world.
As a leader in flash charge technology, OPPO attaches great importance to the building of a robust ecosystem that supports flash charge protocols widely used in the industry to deliver the benefits of its flash charge solutions to more users. This year, OPPO took things to a whole new level with the launch of its latest project, The Flash Initiative, at the Mobile World Congress Shanghai (MWCS), aims to bring faster charging to every area of users’ lives including automobiles, public spaces and charging accessories.
Tarek Zaki, Senior Product Manager of OPPO MEA said, “Modern-day smartphones come with big, bright screens and high-end features that consume huge amounts of power and increase battery drain. Based on this observation and guided by the user-led brand value, we are continuously improving our VOOC Flash Charge technology to meet the requirements of users in all climates and situations across multiple devices. We are thrilled to offer the same fast-charging technology which has become synonymous with our brand in the latest Reno6 Series, complementing its innovative design and raft of high-tech features.”
Customers can experience the VOOC flash charging themselves in the Reno6 Series, now available for purchase across OPPO’s e-commerce websites and retail partner stores in the UAE and lower Gulf at a retail price of AED 2,999 for the Reno6 Pro 5G, AED 2,199 for Reno6 5G, and AED 1,499 for Reno6 Z 5G.


title: Skeletal crow

text:
These blanks come UNFINISHED, meaning you have to be the one to install eyes, jawsets, fur, and whatever else. We have several videos on our youtube page that will help you get started!
HINGES: We do sell hinges should you choose to order the pieces of this blank separately. This mask requires a V hinge, and an extra set of springs to work properly.
Our hinge kits come with the hardware needed to install them as well, which includes screws, lock nuts and washers. We also include extension springs with our hinge kits, to help with the moving jaw.
Type of masks: We do not set up the moving jaw; it is the customers responsibility to make their moving jaw in the best way for them. You can either use the elastic method or the spring method; whichever you find to be easiest for you.
- Uncut masks are straight pulled from the mold and sanded around the edges so they aren't sharp, and shipped to the customer as such. The customer then has to cut and hinge it themselves.
- Cut masks are pulled from the mold and cut out, and then sanded around all sharp edges. The customer then has to hinge it themselves. These masks are prone to warping during transit however, since there is nothing holding the edges in place!
- Cut and hinged masks are pull from the mold and cut, sanded around all edges and then the hinges are installed. It is then sent to the customer ready to have everything installed. Springs are attached on the upper jaw, however you need to figure out the placement for where it goes on the bottom, as it tends to vary on a per person basis.
*our springs are made with a zinc plated wire and are custom ordered as such so will never rust, nor need oiling. Positioning of the springs on a mask varies per person, since each person is typically shaped differently, and the spring needs to be positioned according to that and the specific tension they need*
If you're curious about how we do the padding inside our masks, please watch this video for examples
SKELETAL CROW INFO
Fits up to a 23" head
No jawset/tongue/eyes needed.
These require a V or hybrid hinge set and thick springs


text:
There is no different … the different is only in our mind
Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room.
One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room’s only window.
The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.
The men talked for hours on end.
They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation.
Every afternoon, when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.
The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and colour of the world outside.
The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every colour and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.
As the man by the window described all this in exquisite details, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine this picturesque scene.
One warm afternoon, the man by the window described a parade passing by.
Although the other man could not hear the band – he could see it in his mind’s eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.
Days, weeks and months passed.
One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep.
She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.
As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.
Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window besides the bed.
It faced a blank wall.
The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window.
The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall.
She said, ‘Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.’
There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations. Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled.
If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can’t buy. ‘Today is a gift, that is why it is called The Present. When we give, we do not merely give of ourselves and that which we give becomes part of another and touches the heart of the receiver.
As Bob Marley said, “The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.”
Share this positive story with friends and family … You could change a life too.
The original author of the story, with slight variation, was Allan Seager and published under the title “The Street” in Vanity Fair magazine in September 1934. If you would like to read the original version, it was included in Seager’s 1950 short story collection, The Old Man of the Mountain and Seventeen Other Stories.
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title: Hotel accounting operations

text:
Nimble Property has been the best comprehensive Hotel Accounting & Operations software offering an extensive set of hassle-free features and impeccable functionality, which include an easy-to-use interface, top-class support, and quick & easy setup with no maintenance – Altogether tailored for the hotel industry.
Our system is customizable, scalable, functionally integrated & supported, and comes with essential modules to manage the complete end-to-end Hotel Management.
Nimble Property is a solution for diverse Hotel Management groups, which enables state-of-the-art technology and scalable functionality to provide best-in-class Usability, Standard Reports, and Financial Automation.
Start your successful journey with nimble to streamline your operations, while reducing enormous time and
efforts to release more space to focus on the big picture ‘guests’.
Running your hotel properties is made easy on Nimble. We avail you auto updated reports to analyze and monitor your daily revenue across of all your properties, helping you keep better track of your receivables.
At Nimble Property, we integrate your existing PMS with us to give you a consolidated view of your entire hotel properties’ day-to-day operations. Let you hoteliers access real-time hotel’s revenue, receipts and payments
Gather value direct feedback from your customers and know the guest satisfaction scores with the market trends comparison.
Gain that competitive edge by exploring a simple way to track your daily sales and revenue audits that include accurate recording of sales, controlling cash, measuring cost vs. sales performance, and forecasting future sales.
Compare your actual revenue and expense figures with budgeted amounts in real-time. Analyze and control your multi-hotel property businesses efficiently at one place, with single screen access to Budget & Forecast Comparison reports.
We’ve made you bank deposits information sharing seamless, where you can track, update and cross verify your cash and check deposits of banking. Ease your general managers and corporate team’s work!
For best Competitive & Comparison analysis, you can import STR data directly into Nimble. Consolidated dashboard lets you view the performance status of your hotel in the market with Comparison of Competitors. Analysis include Room Occupancy Percentage, RevPAR - Revenue Per Available Rooms and ADR – Average Per Daily Rate, detailed comparison will be given on the dashboard.
From the ‘Hotel Team Login’, you can define access and control based on the roles of your hotel manager, accountants, and staff for easy review & approvals.
Authorize users to manage bills, and sales, enter PMS data and give approvals from hotel Lobby with Corporate level approval. Besides, simplify coordination with cleaning staff, manage AP, Inventory Sales, and Supplier payments status checking.
Manage your group of hotels and franchises on a single platform. Generate reports, P & L statements, and Balance Sheets in one go.


title: Radical idiots french intellectuals braced for the end of the world thinking classes have embraced a new fad the end of the world

text:
Decades after French philosophers stopped fretting over existence, the thinking classes have embraced a new fad: the end of the world.
Cited by converts from President Macron to pop singers and yellow-vest protesters, the doctrine of imminent apocalypse goes under the unlikely franglais name la collapsologie.
State officials have attended a new university master’s course in the Paris outskirts on the “risk of collapse and adapting to it”, while Facebook is awash with groups, including a popular one called: “Adoptez un collapso: let’s meet before the end of the world.”
La collapsologie, which Édouard Philippe, the prime minister, calls a personal obsession, is based on the assumption that climate change, declining resources and the extinction of species is driving the world to its destruction far more quickly than we imagine.
Pablo Servigne, an agronomist who coined the term collapsologie in his 2015 bestseller Comment tout peut s’effondrer, or How Everything Can Collapse, believes it will happen as early as 2030. His account of fatally converging forces — environmental damage, global capitalism and political upheaval — appealed to France’s love of universal theories, preferably inspired by the left.
The book, which has spawned a clutch of copycat collapse books, was itself inspired by the American author and academic Jared Diamond’s 2005 US bestseller Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, which is often quoted by the French prime minister as the government battles the yellow-vest insurrection over green taxes.
“If you don’t take the right decisions, there comes a moment when society collapses literally. It disappears,” Mr Philippe, 48, who is married with three children, said. “It’s an obsessive question. It gnaws at me more than people imagine.”
Nicolas Hulot, who was the environment minister and most popular member of the government, resigned in August accusing Mr Macron of failing to do enough to halt the collapse. The president, who sees climate disaster as his biggest challenge, stirred yellow-vest anger in November when he lectured them that “the end of the world” was just as important as “the end of the month”, which they worry about.
Stéphane Linou, the collapsologist who created the pioneering course at Cergy-Pontoise University, said that the present revolt by the rural working poor was a “first alert” of the upheaval to come.
“We don’t know if the trigger will be a large-scale social crisis or the end of oil . . . but, with the domino effect, the world as we know it will collapse,” he said in Le Parisien yesterday.
Les collapsologistes are strongly concentrated among left-leaning urban dwellers with at least one university degree, a survey showed.


title: Standing with maui a call for support amidst the devastating fires

text:
As the sun sets over the picturesque landscape of Maui, a somber cloud of devastation hangs heavily in the air. The recent wildfires have engulfed this paradise, leaving behind a trail of destruction that has struck a chord not only with those who call Maui home but also with countless others who have vacationed there, shared cherished memories, and formed profound connections to the island. In the midst of this heartache, I find myself reflecting on my own special relationship with Maui – a place that holds a piece of my heart.
Maui, with its stunning beaches, lush landscapes, and vibrant culture, holds a special place in the hearts of many. For me, it's more than just a tropical getaway; it's a place where I celebrated life's milestones and forged unforgettable memories. My journey with Maui began with a dreamy honeymoon spent exploring its hidden treasures, and later, it became the backdrop for a bittersweet final celebration of my father's life. These experiences deepened my connection to the island and its resilient people.
Extending a Helping Hand
Today, as Maui faces the aftermath of devastating fires, it is our turn to offer a helping hand to the island and its beloved residents. The communities that make Maui a vibrant and thriving place to live and visit are in need of support, and together, we can make a difference.
Introducing the "Road To Hana Banana Chocolate Chip Roll Out Cookie" Recipe:
In an effort to contribute to the relief efforts and stand in solidarity with Maui, I am excited to introduce my cherished "Road To Hana Banana Chocolate Chip Roll Out Cookie" recipe. This delightful treat pays homage to the iconic Road To Hana – a breathtaking journey that captures the essence of Maui's natural beauty.
50% of the proceeds from each purchase of this recipe will be donated to Maui United Way to aid in the relief of the island and its people. Your purchase will support those affected by the fires and help rebuild the communities that have been impacted.
How You Can Contribute:
To join the cause and make a difference in the lives of Maui's residents, click the link below to purchase the "Road To Hana Banana Chocolate Chip Roll Out Cookie" recipe. Not only will you be treating yourself and your loved ones to a delectable homemade delight, but you'll also be making a positive impact on a community that holds a special place in so many hearts.
In times of adversity, the strength of a community shines through. As we rally together to support Maui and its people during this challenging time, let's remember the memories, the joy, and the beauty that this island has brought into our lives. Let's stand united, extending our hands to help rebuild, restore, and renew the spirit of Maui. Thank you for joining me on this journey of compassion and support.


title: Blog

text:
A Noble History Comes Home: Chief Washakie paintings that hung in the Noble Hotel return to Lander for the first time in 50 years.
Twenty three epic paintings about the life of Chief Washakie by famed western artist J.K. Ralston will be on display at the Lander Pioneer Museum. The paintings used to hang in the Noble Hotel, but haven’t been seen in Lander since the hotel closed nearly fifty years ago.
The paintings and extensive history about Washakie and the Shoshone people will be on display in the main gallery of the museum for the coming year. There is also a display about the Noble Hotel featuring original furniture and a video on Washakie. The museum’s winter hours are currently Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The paintings were commissioned by Harold Del Monte, owner of the Noble Hotel in 1945. Del Monte, an avid historian, wanted guests to experience western history while they stayed at his hotel. He amassed a large collection of Indian artifacts, had western style furniture made to create the feeling of a mountain lodge, and used western themes throughout the hotel.
He hired Montana artist J. K. Ralston to create a series of paintings about the life of Chief Washakie, who Del Monte recognized as one of the most important Wyomingites. Ralston, then at the beginning of his career, spent time in Lander researching the landscape and clothing of the Shoshone. He then painted twenty three large scale oil paintings. The paintings cover important parts of Washakie’s life from his becoming chief, to the battle of Crowheart Butte, the coming of white settlers, the creation of the reservation and his death as a revered leader. Ralston went on to become one of the major western artists and his work is highly sought after by collectors.
When the hotel closed in 1969 the paintings went into storage. They were on display for two years at the state capitol in Cheyenne. The capitol building is closed for renovation and the Governor declined to buy the paintings to permanently display. The Alice C. Del Monte Trust, which owns the paintings, approached the Pioneer Museum about displaying them in Lander again. “We were thrilled to have the opportunity to host the paintings,” said museum Visitor Services Coordinator Randy Wise. “This is a major western art collection that has so many ties to this area: The Chief Washakie story, the connection to Lander and the Noble Hotel. It is especially nice to be able to have this exhibit during our 100th anniversary. It is an honor to be able to share these with the people of Fremont County again.”
An unveiling of the exhibit was held October 17. About 100 people attended the catered affair. When the curtain dropped and the paintings were revealed against the deep red background an audible gasp was heard. Many people in attendance could remember the paintings when they were in the hotel. More than a few had worked at the hotel when they were younger.
“What a wonderful thing to have back in Lander,” said Lander resident Gene Thompson. “This collection should be seen here where it was created and where Chief Washakie lived.”
“We are grateful for all the hard work that has gone into getting this exhibit to happen,” said Fremont County Museum Central Director Scott Goetz. “We’d especially like to thank May and Dave Raynolds for their generous sponsorship of the exhibit. Without their support the display would not be nearly as complete.”
The paintings will be on display anytime the museum is open. The museum held a free open house for the public to celebrate the paintings November 7, featuring guest speakers about Washakie, Ralston and the Noble Hotel, and special tours of the gallery.
The “Noble History Comes Home” exhibit is one of many new and exciting things happening at the museum. Museum officials share that new displays, programs and events will be coming up in 2016.
One of the Ralston paintings: Chief Washakie as a young man.
One of the Ralston oil paintings that hung in the Noble Hotel: A Shoshone Scout guides the army.
Steff Kessler of Lander looking at the Noble History Comes Home exhibit.
Visitors admire the paintings on exhibit at the Pioneer Museum.


text:
Japanese mining industry faces an uncertain future
In contrast to its high demand for metals and minerals, Japan’s domestic industrial production is almost negligible, and has been collapsing over the last two decades.
The country’s Metal Mining Agency (MMA) reported that between 1970 and 2001, the number of operating mines fell from 246 to 14, and the number of people employed in the mining sector fell from 34,000 people to just 405 over this period.
GlobalData’s mining technology team has reported: “Declining employment and falling production have contributed to a significant decline in the economic output of the country’s mining sector, with government figures noting that the GDP contribution of mining fell from $2.7bn in 2009 to $1.9bn in 2016.
“However, there remains potential for future mining developments in the country. Japan has the highest reserves of iodine in the world at five million tons, and is the world’s second-largest producer of the element, behind Chile. These strong reserves could be turned into a profitable enterprise in the future.
“Despite these positives, there is uncertainty regarding the future of Japan’s mining sector. In 2012, the government reformed its mining act for the first time since 1950, effectively tightening restrictions on the ability of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) to award mining permits.
“The older legislation enabled the METI to award permits on a first-come-first-served basis, but the new law creates a distinction between “specified minerals”, those deemed critical to the national economy, and other minerals; these specified minerals include commodities such as oil and natural gas, and are given priority over non-specified minerals when the METI awards mining permits.
“In practice, this could mean Japanese industry focuses on these few priority minerals, ignoring potential long-term mining projects, such as the development and exploitation of the country’s iodine reserves.”
A fleet of Huaneng Ruichi autonomous electric mining trucks have been deployed in China, supported by Huawei's Cloud Services and 5G-Advanced network
Rio Tinto completed its US$6.7bn acquisition of Arcadium Lithium, making it a key company in raw materials mining for batteries in the energy transition
Intel first began to work towards responsibly sourced conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo and adjoining countries about 12 years


tier: kodiak

title: 19468303

text: The mouse (Mus musculus) is the premier animal model for understanding human disease and development. Here we show that a comprehensive understanding of mouse biology is only possible with the availability of a finished, high-quality genome assembly. The finished clone-based assembly of the mouse strain C57BL/6J reported here has over 175,000 fewer gaps and over 139 Mb more of novel sequence, compared with the earlier MGSCv3 draft genome assembly. In a comprehensive analysis of this revised genome sequence, we are now able to define 20,210 protein-coding genes, over a thousand more than predicted in the human genome (19,042 genes). In addition, we identified 439 long, non-protein-coding RNAs with evidence for transcribed orthologs in human. We analyzed the complex and repetitive landscape of 267 Mb of sequence that was missing or misassembled in the previously published assembly, and we provide insights into the reasons for its resistance to sequencing and assembly by whole-genome shotgun approaches. Duplicated regions within newly assembled sequence tend to be of more recent ancestry than duplicates in the published draft, correcting our initial understanding of recent evolution on the mouse lineage. These duplicates appear to be largely composed of sequence regions containing transposable elements and duplicated protein-coding genes; of these, some may be fixed in the mouse population, but at least 40% of segmentally duplicated sequences are copy number variable even among laboratory mouse strains. Mouse lineage-specific regions contain 3,767 genes drawn mainly from rapidly-changing gene families associated with reproductive functions. The finished mouse genome assembly, therefore, greatly improves our understanding of rodent-specific biology and allows the delineation of ancestral biological functions that are shared with human from derived functions that are not.


text:
The Case for A Third-Party API Management Platform for Consumed APIs
API consumption management is a new field. If you've been building with APIs you already get the problem and know what the fuss is about - scaling your product alongside scaling consumed APIs is a pain. If you're wondering what are some relevant solutions and what an API Management Platform is, this deep-dive is for you.
An API Management Platform for Consumed APIs: What is it and who needs it?
Collectively, you can think of the third-party APIs that your business relies on to deliver its services to your customers as a single, bundled resource. That bundle is as much a part of your tech stack as any other set of tools you use, but it’s one that up until now you’ve been forced to manage and optimize as best you can, and you’re not alone.
That’s because up to now, there has been no single solution or bundled toolset that allows third-party API consumers to understand their API management requirements, proactively manage their API consumption, control their usage costs, security, performance, and so on.
As you may have noticed, if you search for ‘API management platforms’ hoping to find a product aimed at API consumers, you’ll instead come across articles or solutions that help API developers instead.
The phrase that we think best describes what’s needed here is “API Consumption Manager.”
So, who needs to use a tool like this?
- Integration / Infrastructure Teams
- VP RnDs
What types of tools are currently tackling API consumption (albeit partially and from different angles)?
- Some visibility platforms
- API security platforms
- Infrastructure—middleware built in-house
It seems like the industry needs a new phrase and tool that's more cohesive tool to help API consumers manage their inventories and production issues. Lunar belongs to this currently underserved API management category. It has yet to be widely recognized, but we are on the road to changing that.
What is an API Consumption Manager?
Integrating APIs is straightforward but managing and optimizing dozens or even hundreds of them later is not.
As Mark O'Neill, VP of Research at Gartner pointed out in his presentation, The State of the API Industry, at Apidays Paris, 2022, there’s a real gap in the market for solutions that help the API consumer. As a consultant, he recounted that “…one of the questions I get asked is…‘Our organization is consuming lots of APIs, our developers are using different APIs; we're using APIs as part of integrations…to Salesforce and others. Now we want to manage how our organization is using these APIs, we want to be able to see the universe of APIs that we are using (and that we could use) and we want to understand if those APIs go down, if they suffer a security breach, what's going to be the implications for us? Now the problem is there really are not many tools (if any at all) that do this.”
This general lack of oversight can leave you in the dark as to whether your APIs are delivering value or costing you money.
Consider the effects of unmanaged issues:
- Rate-limiting can harm user experience for your customers
- Certain unmanaged APIs can cause high costs in the production environment
- Lack of control over factors such as load balancing and throttling can cause expensive inefficiencies
With a single point of reference, companies should enjoy the benefits of external API management: view, control, and optimize your API usage, minimize your maintenance costs, and solve your performance issues, to save time and money.
Up to now, API-consuming businesses have just accepted that emerging problems with management and optimization are things they must deal with in-house. They take an ad hoc approach to managing and optimizing their growing inventory of third-party APIs, but even though they may have lost sight of those tools they’re using (and not using), lost track of their spending, and are playing whack-a-mole with fixing the breaking changes that inevitably come with scaling, that doesn't mean there isn't a better approach. There is, and Lunar is at the heart of it.
Some of the teams we’ve spoken to seemed almost resigned to the notion that escalating technical debt is unavoidable, but with an API Consumption Manager, they, and you, should prepare to be surprised.
What Teams Are Looking for in Consumed API Management:
- Controllable and configurable middleware
Infrastructure that provides insight and easy cataloging of their consumed APIs and their uses, filtered according to tags, consumption, clients, and other relevant parameters.
- Inventory Creation
A full inventory of their consumed third-party APIs and their endpoints, giving them (perhaps for the first time ever!) centralized oversight and management of all their integrations. They can now locate API endpoints to monitor volume and performance metrics (including latency and error rates) with ease.
- Visualization and Data Monitoring
For clear insights into usage patterns and consumption bottlenecks.
- Error Remediation and Elimination
Fixes to those bottlenecks and consumption problems in production in a fully autonomous way.
- Token Management
API tokens are essential for accessing APIs and maintaining security. Token management allows users to prioritize services according to their specific business logic, securely store and mask API tokens, and refresh token activation on an ongoing basis.
Quickly and efficiently create a caching policy based on headers and body parameters.
API Usage Insights (Metrics, Reporting, and Monitoring)
Mismanagement sometimes arises from a lack of ownership within the organization or the wrong scaling practices. According to the Rapid API Report 2022, over 54% of developers are using third-party APIs (a 49% increase over 2021). Being aware of performance issues can help to improve the time it takes to fix issues and keep you ahead of future issues.
Establishing a visibility standard on performance and consumption for all stakeholders (from developers to CTOs) that’s easy to access will keep API performance on the agenda. Over time, visibility of breaking changes and poor performance can save overhead and reduce the risk of downtime from unexpected cost spikes.
All stakeholders are beginning to realize that as well as monitoring performance, they need to understand how compliant the API stack is with privacy regulations and security standards. Greater visibility is the answer.
Keep an Eye out for these Deep Solutions
If you’re building middleware or using another tool, consider some of the crucial pains and solutions benefits that Lunar offers.
- Make it failsafe by design
Lunar is an edge proxy that funnels your traffic, so it integrates well with your infrastructure, but in the unlikely event that it was to ever go down, you would never know. We added built-in failsafe mechanisms to make sure that even if it fails, your traffic won’t be affected.
- Low latency
Lunar has a negligible latency of no more than 4ms in the 95th percentile. Consequently, it handles impressive workloads, achieving up to 84,867 requests per second, ensuring optimal performance in its API interactions.
- Work with your stack
Lunar acts like an additional layer that integrates fully with your tech stack and brings additional management tools, enabling you to build your own logic and configurations, and get customized reports.
API consumption management is a new field. Companies are scaling with APIs and looking to consolidate, unify, and manage their consumption with smart controls.
Companies of different sizes have already incorporated middleware and methodologies that do this.
In short, we’ve seen that companies care about managing API consumption at an infrastructure level.Managing caching, throttling, load balancing, and token management is part of what helps us to optimize our consumption, and managing all of these elements more effectively helps an organization to build up:
- Developer-led FinOps
- Smart tech stack management
- DevOps-led infrastructure optimization
- Lower tech-debt: Less clutter, faster development
Helping developers who are consuming APIs to build amazing applications is at the heart of why we’re building Lunar.
Lunar gives you the tools to address these problems. It allows your engineers to control and intercept outgoing traffic, build resilience, and enforce policies from a single unified interface. Lunar is the more coherent alternative for overseeing and managing the third-party APIs that your business relies on.
Get access to check out the beta -> email@example.com
Ready to Start your journey?
Manage a single service and unlock API management at scale


title: PRP Face Treatment Elmhurst IL

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PRP Face Treatment Elmhurst IL
PRP Face Treatment
Reveal radiant, younger-looking skin with our PRP Facial—a cutting-edge, natural treatment that harnesses your body’s own healing power to rejuvenate your face and under-eye area.
What is a PRP Face Treatment?
A PRP face treatment, also known as a PRP facial, is a non-surgical procedure that uses platelet-rich plasma (PRP) derived from your own blood to stimulate collagen production and cellular renewal. It’s ideal for anyone seeking natural, visible results with minimal downtime.
The PRP face treatment can be focused on the entire face, including the delicate under eye area.
What are the benefits of PRP Face Treatments?
How does a PRP facial work?
Your provider draws a small amount of blood and processes it to isolate the plasma rich in growth factors. This PRP treatment for face is then applied topically or injected into targeted areas, promoting smoother skin, improved texture, and a glowing complexion.
What is a PRP Under Eye Treatment?
Our PRP under eye treatment, also called a PRP eye treatment, targets dark circles, hollowing, and crepey skin beneath the eyes. It revitalizes this delicate area using your body’s own growth factors—without fillers or surgery.
What are the benefits of PRP Eye Treatments?
- Brightens and lightens dark under-eye circles
- Smooths fine lines and improves firmness
- Adds subtle volume to hollow areas
- Restores a refreshed, awake look
Book your PRP Facial in Elmhurst IL today!
Glow naturally with the power of PRP. Schedule your PRP face treatment or PRP under eye treatment today and experience the skin-renewing benefits of this regenerative therapy.
Accelerated Beauty, Short-Term Financing
We offer short-term financing through CareCredit and Cherry.


title: Maryland real estate commission

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Gain real-world experience practicing transactions in addition to receive coaching from trade professionals in simulation periods. Interact with customers and assist them find the home or property of their dreams as you guide them by way of a real estate transaction.
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Kaufman Buys Haymarket Constructing For $34m
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title: Is online yoga teacher training worth it

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With more online yoga teacher training certifications launched in response to the pandemic, including our own, so have more questions about the legitimacy of online training.
Our answer to these questions is that not only are online teacher training courses fully accredited by professional training bodies such as Yoga Alliance but we believe that done well, online Yoga Teacher Training offers just as much community and connection as an in person training, with even more flexibility to fit your yoga teacher training dreams into your life.
Since launching our online training as a response to the pandemic, our live online course students, as well as our tutors, have been pleasantly surprised at how a sense of togetherness, community and support is built online, just as it is in person.
We've deliberately scheduled time in the curriculum to replicate the casual coffee break chats you would normally have on an in-person course to support the accelerated getting to know each person atmosphere of an in person course. Students have commented how valuable the relationships they built online have been to their enjoyment and learning and how that support continued outside the course as well.
As senior tutors invite you into their homes for demos and lectures we believe that there is no reason an online training certification cannot offer the same - if not more - personalised support as an in person course.
At Fierce Grace we've also specifically made our online certification even more accessible with a weekend only schedule, which we believe has other benefits. Having the whole week to study practise and absorb what you have learned on the weekends gives you time to integrate the wide variety of information but mentally as well as in your physical practice. Being able to choose how to fit the online yoga classes into your schedule means you can carry on with your life while also taking the course.
And students in other time zones need not miss out either. Although our online teacher training schedule is in the British Time zone however this doesn't mean you will need to miss out if you're living abroad as the mix and with a mix of live and on demand options we can also offer schedules for those in the US and Australia or New Zealand.
Like our in person courses you can also expect the same commitment to teaching our teachers how to modify for all body types, physical issues and injuries which we believe make FG certified teachers a cut above the rest. And our commitment to humour. One of our philosophies is that humour is a useful tool for relaxing concern and increasing openness. This isn’t just in play during class but also your teaching team will have you giggling and laughing all through the course.
If you'd like to know more about any of our Yoga Teacher Training certifications - online or in person - you can find out more on our 200 Hour course page or schedule a call by emailing [email protected]


title: Stay in Touch

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Stay in Touch
Get sneak previews of special offers & upcoming events delivered to your inbox.
Cook’s Essentials®: Elevate Your Kitchen with Everyday Must-Haves
Discover a versatile range of kitchen essentials with Cook’s Essentials®, designed to make meal prep effortless and enjoyable. Whether you’re slicing, grilling, baking, or air-frying, this collection provides practical and high-quality tools to enhance your cooking experience.
Effortless Meal Prep with Quality Knives & Utensils
From Japanese steel knife sets to carving knives and forks, Cook’s Essentials® offers durable, precision-crafted tools to help you prepare meals with ease. Whether you’re slicing through steak, carving a roast, or prepping fresh ingredients, these knives are designed for performance and long-lasting sharpness.
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Bake, Roast & Air-Fry with Convenience
Explore versatile options like nonstick bakeware for effortless baking and roasting, or take your air-frying game to the next level with a universal air fryer lid—perfect for achieving crispy, golden results without the need for a full-size air fryer.
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Each Cook’s Essentials® product is crafted for functionality, durability, and ease of use, making it a go-to choice for home chefs. Whether you’re hosting a dinner, grilling outdoors, or preparing weeknight meals, this collection offers kitchen solutions designed to fit seamlessly into your routine.
Upgrade your culinary toolkit with Cook’s Essentials®—your partner for smarter, more enjoyable cooking.


title: Guaranty trust holding company plc stages music concert in ghana

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Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, the parent company of Guaranty Trust Bank (Ghana) Ltd, holds its first-ever show outside the shores of Nigeria tagged: GTCO Music Concert: Live in Ghana!
From the curators of the GTBank Fashion Weekend and GTBank Food and Drink Festival–two of Africa’s most celebrated showpiece events–comes the biggest corporate event of the year. This inaugural event will hold in the main bowl of the Accra Sports Stadium on Friday, 17 December 2021, and will feature performances from some of Africa’s brightest breakout stars of both Ghanaian and Nigerian origin.
The GTCO Music Concert is a community engagement event designed to spotlight the best of African entertainment to a global audience whilst promoting wider acceptance of our individuality as well as a shared character as vibrant and energetic people. It explores the joys of music and celebrates the beauty in diversity, a common heritage, and our collective aspirations. Authentic sounds, resounding afro-beats, and pulsating rhythm will be enjoyed by the effervescent concert crowd and live-streamed to millions worldwide!
At GTCO Plc, we recognize the potential for boundless creativity within the African continent and look to harness its industry towards creating a more connected, prosperous future for all. The GTCO Music Concert combines our strong zest for life and unparalleled dynamism to create a great experience that goes beyond banking.
Guaranty Trust Holding Company is a leading financial services company providing banking and non-banking services across eleven countries spanning West Africa, East Africa, and the United Kingdom. The Group operates a diversified, proudly African franchise and is renowned for its innovative approach to customer service and stakeholder engagement.
If there is one event on your calendar this festive season, it has to be the GTCO Music Concert!
All Covid-19 protocols will be observed at this event.
ATTENDANCE IS FREE


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Press Statement by Chairman of Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict
Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York |
Press Statement by Chairman of Security Council Working Group
on Children and Armed Conflict
At its thirty-second meeting, on 30 September 2011, the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict agreed, in connection with the consideration of the first report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict in Iraq (S/2011/366), covering the period from January 2008 to December 2010, to address the following message to the armed groups mentioned in the report of the Secretary-General through public statements by the Chair of the Working Group:
(a) Expressing deep concern about continuing violations and abuses committed against children in contravention of applicable international law in Iraq, such as the recruitment and use of children, killing and maiming of children, rape and other sexual violence, abduction, attacks against schools and hospitals and denial of humanitarian access;
(b) Condemning in the strongest possible terms the practice of armed groups, such as Al-Qaida, of recruiting and using children, including those with mental disabilities, as suicide bombers, and calling for the immediate disbandment of its so‑called youth wing “Birds of Paradise”;
(c) Strongly urging them to immediately halt violations and abuses against children as called for in Security Council resolutions 1539 (2004), 1612 (2005), 1882 (2009) and 1998 (2011), and to release all children remaining within their ranks.
The Working Group also agreed to address a message to civil and religious leaders in Iraq urging them to publicly condemn the use of children, especially as suicide bombers, and to engage with the Government of Iraq, in cooperation with the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other child protection partners, to prevent any kind of violation and abuses against children in contravention of applicable international law in Iraq.
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For information media • not an official record


title: Tesla powerwall 3

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Tesla Powerwall 3 is available now from Solahart Geraldton.
Tesla Powerwall 3 is a fully-integrated solar and battery system, perfect for residential and light commercial use.
As a Tesla Powerwall Certified Installer, Solahart can provide a customised solar-plus-battery solution designed to match the energy needs of your home or business.
The Powerwall 3 is a scalable solution, enabling it to support homes and businesses that use larger amounts of electricity with clean and sustainable energy generated by solar panels. It allows for the stacking of up to 4 units as your household or business energy needs increase.
Tesla Powerwall 3 is a fully-integrated DC inverter and battery system.
Utilising advanced rechargeable lithium-ion battery technology, the Powerwall offers robust energy storage solutions, enhancing solar self-consumption, load shifting, and backup power capabilities.
Solahart Tesla Powerwall Certified Installers provide customised solar-plus-battery solutions, enabling you to capture and store the abundant power of the sun. This reduces reliance on fossil fuels and promotes a sustainable energy future.
With Powerwall 3, you can store solar energy generated during the day for use anytime. During daylight hours, the sun shines on your solar panels, charging your battery. At night, your home draws electricity from your battery, powering your home with clean and sustainable energy.
Captures and stores excess solar energy for use at night
Easy system expansion designed to all stacking of up to 4 units as your household energy needs increase.
Combining Powerwall 3 and solar power you can lower your energy bills by maximising the use of your own solar generation.
DC inverter and battery solution all in one.
Home batteries like the Tesla Powerwall 3 battery allow you to maximise the use of your solar power and minimise your energy bills by storing excess electricity produced during the day for use:
We’ll calculate the savings specific to your energy needs as part of our free in-home solar assessment.
Each Tesla Powerwall 3 battery has a usable capacity of 13.5kWh.
If you’d like to scale your battery storage system beyond one Powerwall, we can discuss expansion options.
The Tesla Powerwall 3 is scalable up to 4 Tesla Powerwall 3 units.
The dimensions of each Tesla Powerwall 3 Battery are 1,099 mm high, 609 mm wide and 193 mm deep.
The design of the Tesla Powerwall 3 home battery is compact.
The Tesla Powerwall 3 is covered by a 10-year Tesla warranty.
Yes, the Tesla Powerwall 3 can be used to power your home during a blackout.
We will install your Tesla Powerwall 3 home battery in a suitable location.
The Tesla Powerwall 3 can be mounted onto a wall or to a floor.
It is also rated for both indoor and outdoor use, meaning it can be installed outside the home.
Looking for something else? Search our site here.
At Solahart, we’re proud to be leading Australia’s solar charge. Helping smart Aussies make a real difference to the planet, reducing their reliance on the grid, cutting their energy bills, and connecting them to their smart energy future.
Since 1953, we’ve been the trusted name in Australian solar, installing over a million solar hot water systems in over 70 countries, and over 1 million solar power panels in Australia.


title: (Click for a larger image.)

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(Click for a larger image.)
On February 8 2012 the world’s biggest network, Quakenet, got a new website. In comparison to the old, this new one is more of a Web 2.0 site with aesthetically pleasing URLs, the same design throughout all pages and a lot simpler to navigate. In the top-right corner there’s a flag which indicates the website might feature localization in the future. The translations will then be done by a team of already known people, to ensure accuracy.
The live statistics are now being updated periodically. In the old website, they were last updated on 8th of February 2005.
The Columns section has been renamed to Staff Articles. No new articles have been written, although the old ones (with the oldest dating back to February 2002) have been transferred over.
According to the (also updated) About page, the site was written in Django, a language that’s become increasingly used lately.
The left bar now shows the two latest news items, instead of a list of help topics, like it did before.
8 items in the main menu, which now are located right below the logo, have been removed. Some of them have been relocated to sub-pages and some have been removed. One of the removed ones is the Forum link, which has been dead for a few years. No forum is currently present, but there might pop one up in the future.
The logotype has been updated to a very simplistic one, made in only two colours. The primary reason for this was because the old logotype wasn’t owned by Quakenet. All content, including the new logotype, is now owned by Quakenet, as stated in the footer.
In addition to the user and channel statistics provided by Netsplit.de and SearchIRC, Quakenet now hosts a page with official statistics. It features line diagrams for both users and channels, and users can choose to look at either the last 24 hours, the last week or the last year.
One interesting feature that’s pretty unique for IRC networks’ websites is that the server list automatically calculates the distance from you to each server. Along with that, each server has its location and its current user count periodically updated.
This is not the end though. Behind the scenes there’s a long list of awesome features that may or may not be added to the site in the future, meeb says.


title: Arkansas doctor forgives a 650k debt for 200 of his cancer patients

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This retiring doctor from Arkansas had quite the generous parting; he decided to give a gift to his patients after working for 30 years.
Last year, when Dr Omar Atiq closed his oncology practice, he decided to do a good deed for his patients. Unfortunately, a lot of them had debts for their hospital bills.
He knew that they were under a lot of financial pressure because of the pandemic. So, to give a suitable parting gift, he decided to wipe away the debts of 200 of his patients.
The total was $650,000 that he took off the books.
He even made time to send his patients holiday cards where he informed them about their free-of-debt status.
No Higher Honor than Being a Physician, He Said
Atiq explains that their patients are like their extended families and that he had no higher honor than serving as their physician these 3 decades. He says how he’s been blessed to help them a little and he’s glad he could do it.
He founded the Arkansas Cancer Clinic in 1991. He’s from Pakistan originally, but moved to Arkansas after finishing his fellowship at the Manhattan’s Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
These patients, some of which had debts of thousands of dollars for their treatments, suddenly felt at least some relief. Atiq explained that one of the things that always bothered him is to see ill patients having to worry about anything else rather than getting better.
Sadly, throughout his long years of working as a doctor, he’s seen patients going bankrupt trying to pay for their treatments.
He then realized he has a unique possibility to make a change, to help someone feel better.
Without a doubt, being able to count our blessings is life is amazing, but it’s even better to be able to share them with others.