text:
Tips are about making small changes with skills you already possess to produce better results in your life.
But! Beware of tips. They are often disguised as advice to learn skills.
This is a definitely a tip, however it’s really pointing towards something much larger — developing stronger listening skills.
Having a fulfilling romantic life takes a variety of communication skills (verbal and non-verbal). Although hard to admit, unfulfilling romantic lives are largely due to romantic skills that are underdeveloped and/or underused.
1) Guidance from teacher/coach (who obviously knows the skill in a practical way).
3) Continued practice to strengthen your skill.

industry_corpus2: Subject Education


text:
I have read, and loved, all of Jennifer Worth’s books, my favourite actually being ‘In the Midst of Life.’ So when ‘Call The Midwife’ was televised it became our family’s regular Sunday evening viewing. A drama that my husband, daughters and I could watch and enjoy together. We learnt from Sister Julienne’s wisdom, laughed at Sister Monica Joan’s antics and quoted Chummy’s hilarious lines. We involved ourselves in the romances and the everyday ups and downs of Poplar life. And we grew to love these characters. So it was that I remember watching the last episode of Series Four about a young mother, overwhelmed and hospitalised by morning sickness, who is prescribed a new drug, thalidomide. With no prior warning, and knowing exactly what that prescription would mean for her unborn baby, I felt a wave of grief, panic and horror flood over me. But the emotion that gripped me most was sorrow – sorrow about what the consequences of this decision, to prescribe thalidomide, would do to the lovely Dr Turner? This kind, hard-working family doctor who put himself out and worked tirelessly for his patients. This stalwart and respected member of the community whose character we had grown to love. What would it do to him?
Here was a young doctor affected by a war that had not been over for long. A war that had caused hardship and sadness and circumstances that were better forgotten. He is an optimist, a dreamer, an idealist. A man with a vocation who wants to build a better future for his patients. This is the 1960s. The NHS has been established, antibiotics are available and tackling many feared illnesses, attitudes to contraception are changing and the pill is available and becoming more widely accepted. Dr Turner, and many others like him, are dreaming of a better future – and then the devastation of thalidomide hits.
I was born in a small village in the middle of the New Forest in June 1962. My mother had been born nearby, as was her father before that. Everyone knew everyone else and everyone knew everyone else’s business. This was both a good thing and a difficult thing; people looked out for and helped each other but people also whispered about each other too.
My birth caused quite a stir in the village. Doctors came out from Southampton, 20 miles away, to view and examine this ‘interesting medical anomaly’ and word spread round the village of my arrival. So many times was I woken from sleep during the first few days of my life, to be prodded and examined and photographed, for medical interest and general curiosity, that I developed a shrill scream. My parents were told that I was brain damaged and would never even sit up, let alone walk, talk or make anything of my life. Fortunately for me, my parents were experienced parents and believed that if they could just get me home and give me some peace and quiet that I would blossom. Which, under their love and protection, I did.
I should never really have been affected by thalidomide. By the time my Mother was prescribed the drug, late in 1961, the drug company, the medical profession and the government all knew what this drug could do. Her prescription itself was a chance prescription.
The irony of it was that had our family doctor not been away on holiday at the time, thalidomide would never have been prescribed for her. Our village GP, who had known our family for years, was stunned and shocked by my birth. He was a well-read man who kept up to date with all the recent research into treatments and drugs and he had known what thalidomide was capable of for months. He was so troubled by my birth that he questioned my mother about any drugs or treatments that she may have used during her pregnancy and when she said the name ‘Distaval’ (the brand name for thalidomide in the UK) he looked like a broken man. My mother remembers him shaking his head and muttering, “But I would never have prescribed that.” Seeing the effect that this information had on this friend and champion of the family she added,“It wasn’t you who prescribed it. It was the locum doctor who was here when you were away. I still have the bottle on the top of my wardrobe.” The doctor’s face remained unchanged. He remained a broken man. This had happened on his watch and at his practice.
Stephen McGann, who I had the pleasure of meeting at the Thalidomide Society AGM last year, plays his role as Dr Turner so well. You see his caring and gentleness alongside his professionalism when Susan is born. Realising that there is life, and that Susan is going to fight to live that life, he stays true to the oath he has taken to preserve life and give her the best chance he can. Later, as he realises the enormity of the effects of this ‘wonder drug,’ you can also see his pain, his feelings of shock and horror and the sickness and guilt that he feels for prescribing it. You see his dream of making things better for his patients shattered.
I know that many of us, myself included, have had awful experiences with doctors in the past. Those who have treated us like a medical problem rather than a human being. Those who have not listened to us or made us feel valued. Those who have strapped us into uncomfortable limbs or equipment because they ‘know best’, or carried out unnecessary operations in the name of research. But there are many, many doctors out there who have trained in medicine because it is a vocation to them. They want to make people better. They want to make their lives better for their patients and will do everything in their power to achieve this – my husband being one of them. They work long, long hours, they listen, they go the extra mile, they give of themselves, they cancel holidays to be there for their patients and they care deeply. Sometimes things happen – and doctors carry the weight of those things around with them. They are human. And when I see Dr Turner with his head in his hands, or remember the sad look in my childhood GP’s eyes, it makes me ponder how many other GPs and doctors lived with similar guilt and sadness for the rest of their lives?
Heidi Thomas and the Call the Midwife team have done an amazing job in telling the story of the Thalidomide babies and the effect that their births had on their families and their communities. We were born at a time when people still believed the ancient myth that disability was the result of sin. That disability could be caught like a disease. That children like us should be hidden from view. Hence I, and many others, experienced new playmates on the beach being plucked away from us, hushed warnings being spat in their ears about how ‘we need to keep away.’ Luckily for many of us, our parents didn’t listen to these things. They took us home and fought for us to take our place in society. They didn’t hide us away but thrust us out into the world to be seen. They encouraged us to achieve our potential and then when we did they showered us with pride and unconditional love. The actress who played Susan’s mother did so with such tenderness it made me weep; the way she braced herself to look at her baby and then whispered, “ Oh love, what a mess…’ still makes me tearful when I think of it. You just know that here is a mother who is going to love and protect her child no matter what. She is going to make good out of an awful situation, just as my parents, and many of the parents of thalidomide children, did and we are still doing.
Watching Susan’s birth on television and ‘meeting’ baby Susan at the AGM was very emotional. It made me reflect on how I would have felt if that had been my baby. It made me reflect on my mother’s emotions, her wonderful love for me and the guilt that she lived with. It made me reflect on the effect our births had on our siblings, our families and our communities. And it made me reflect on the lessons that have been learned from thalidomide and the good that has come from it: safety laws on drugs, development of artificial limbs, disability rights, Motability schemes, home adaptations, access laws and a greater understanding of disability as a whole.
Drama is an incredible medium for educating the public about many subjects. I think that the ‘Call the Midwife’ team have been able to show the human cost of the thalidomide scandal, the cost not only to those affected physically by the drug but to those mentally scarred by it through no fault of their own. When my parents died my siblings and I cleared their home and shared their furniture and belongings between us. I had always loved a painting of birch trees that had hung over the mantlepiece in the dining room so I put in a request to have it. When I eventually arranged for the painting to be hung on the wall of my own dining room I noticed that the signature on the bottom was that of our family GP. He had always loved the New Forest and had apparently taken up painting in his retirement. Looking at the forest scene, and imagining him taking in the serenity of it in his later years, I pray that, unlike my mother, who felt guilty about the way I was born for the rest of her life, he was able to feel that peace and forgive himself.

industry_corpus2: Health & Medicine


text:
MY PREWI II (23,04m / 75,6') is the latest model from the most prestigous Italian mega yacht shipyard Azimut, launched in 2018. Permanently based in Croatia, this luxury mega yacht is exclusively available for private yacht charters in the Adriatic only.
Accommodating up to 10 guests in 4 equal size en suite cabins, three of which are doubles and 1 twin, plus two Pullmans, she is also one of the best motor yachts in this range with a specific charter layout. With a maximum speed of 32kn, exemplary interior and superstylish exterior, vast flybridge and low fuel consumption, PREWI II is simply an astonishing proposal for all those keen to sample the Croatian lifestyle, Mediterranaen cuisine and luxury yachting holiday in the Adriatic.
Tip: Azimut 72 Fly PREWI II has a large high-low bathing platform, generous headroom, ubiquitous hardtop and huge glass windows which provide amazing panoramic views of the passing coastline.
NEW Azimut 72 Fly (2018) available for private yacht charters in Croatia!

industry_corpus2: Real Estate & Construction


text:
There is definitely more of Munchy the Stuffed Calico Cat Fat Cats by Aurora to love! This chubby calico cat stuffed animal is big & beautiful! You might know someone who has a calico cat like this at home, or maybe you have one. Big, round, soft, cuddly, and never turns down a snack. That's a Fat Cat and there is nothing wrong with that. Why bother catching mice when the food is brought right to you by loving people? This stuffed calico cat isn't going to waste energy chasing birds when that energy could be better used for cuddling or lounging around. It's a lifestyle choice, a philosophy, a methodology, and most of all, it makes for a really fun and fat stuffed calico cat! Munchy is around nine inches tall and is almost as wide. That's a lot of plush calico cat to love and hug and cuddle. But Munchy isn't all about size, there are other important features to love. Things like the big, bright white chest and paws, the excellent calico coloring, and the pretty light blue eyes. Munchy is the total package. One, big fat calico cat package! Fat Cats by Aurora are available in other chubby kitty styles too. You can see them all HERE! These plump cat stuffed animals are always hungry for love!
Aurora World Inc. is one of the world's most popular plush companies with over 25,000 retail outlets worldwide. Their products can be found in major zoos, department stores, gift shops, and at StuffedSafari.com, of course! Aurora stuffed animals are incredibly well made with a focus on durability, safety, affordability, and most importantly, cuteness. The entire line of Fat Cats by Aurora, including Munchy the Stuffed Calico Cat, is made from all new, child safe materials and meets or exceeds all U.S. safety standards. Recommended for ages three and up, this fat calico cat stuffed animal is surface washable.
I bought this for my dad who recently lost his wife (my mom) from cancer and our family cat. He needed companionship without losing someone else. This cat was perfect! It is super Fluffy and chunky. Absolutely perfect. He has made my dad feel better as he enjoys putting the cat in every photo he takes around the house and has someone to count on and will never leave!

industry_corpus2: Others


text:
supports our nation's veterans and the local communities that surround us. The money we raise helps organize other events for supporting our veterans and providing enjoyment to the community.
Sign up for the latest news here!


text:
The government has announced a £20m fund to research and develop driverless car technology in the UK, launched a joint policy team to co-ordinate cross-departmental work, and established a non-statutory code of practice to help ensure public safety.
Business secretary Sajid Javid said the measures would put the UK at the forefront of the intelligent mobility market, which is forecast to be worth around £900bn a decade from now.
The funding pot is part of a £100m mobility research package announced by chancellor George Osborne in his pre-election budget.
Javid said the move would secure highly skilled jobs and play to the strengths of the UK’s well-established automotive sector – the bulk of research and development for the showcase automotive tech demonstrated by the likes of Formula 1 takes place in this country.
To oversee the initiative, the Department for Transport and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will create a joint policy unit, the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV), to co-ordinate government policy.
The unit is already working on a number of projects, including tests of roadside communications technology to ease heavy traffic flow and improve safety, and piloting technology that provides drivers with useful journey and safety information.
Meanwhile, the code of practice will provide industry with a more advanced framework to safely trial connected vehicles.
Public safety will be a key consideration in the development of truly autonomous vehicles in the coming years, and the government is keen to ensure they display “exemplary driving characteristics”.
Some of the guidelines set out in the code of practice, which is available to download, cover areas such as ensuring test drivers are trained and hold a full, clean driving licence; that tests are fully insured; and that local councils and emergency services are notified.
It also puts forward a number of technical specifications for driverless cars, including guidance on the data that should be collected and the security of that data. It suggested that testing organisations should consider adopting the security principles set out in the BSI PAS754 Software trustworthiness – governance and management – specification, and take all necessary measures to eliminate the risk of uncontrolled access – physical or online – to a test vehicle.
To date, trials of driverless technology conducted in California have seen a number of crashes, but the vast majority of those involved the driverless cars being rear-ended by humans who were not watching the road ahead.
In one notable incident, a Google driverless car cut up a second autonomous vehicle operated by a firm called Delphi Automotive, forcing it to abandon a planned lane change. Both parties said this demonstrated that the technology was working as intended.
Wonderful to finally see government support, any government anywhere, for this amazing new technology. It's mind-boggling that the US has chosen to languish on the sidelines while knowhow is being developed that can save countless lives, roads, miles, hours. This will be a real game-changer; why has the US chosen to sit out the game?

industry_corpus2: Automobiles


text:
Our prayer - from the beginning of this adoption journey until now - has been that people would see God, and see what He can accomplish when people are willing to submit to His story for their lives, rather than trying to write their own. As I've shared before, if our life story had been written by us, it wouldn't look anything like this. It certainly wouldn't involve turning our (happily introverted) world upside down and opening our (nice, quiet) home to 5 children who have had a rough start to their lives. But surrendering (unwillingly, at first) to the calling that God placed upon our lives, has changed us.
It's taken three years to get us to this point, but now we can't imagine not following Him down this path. We're ready for the next step. We know that we'll never be completely prepared to take on what these kids are bringing with them, but we also know that we serve a God who is - and so we will take them, with open arms.
ADOPTION UPDATE: We heard from our agency this week - and we're still waiting for final review and approval from Costa Rica. They pushed our application to the end of their stack (since we won't be ready to travel until June, at the earliest), so that's why there's been a delay. The good news is that the planned delay also gave our new social worker time to update and finalize (this week!) our home study, so that is now ready to go to USCIS for a revised approval by U.S. immigration for the 5 children (rather than our previously approved status for 4).
One other cool story and then I'll get to the financial update.
Our agency called us about 3 weeks ago to say they thought it would help the post-adoption process if we would talk to a family (or two) that they knew of who had adopted 3 children at once. Being INTJ's, our reaction to this additional request was less than enthusiastic, and I went so far as to ask, "Do you know anyone who had no children and adopted 5?" We couldn't see the value of talking to a couple who had always wanted children (which we didn't) and then adopted two fewer than we were planning to take. However... that "rule following" side of our personalities came out, and if that's what the agency wanted, then we would follow through.
Here's where the story becomes GOD'S story. And I truly think He is still chuckling!
On the Monday after that call, a woman that I have worked with (who didn't know anything about this new requirement) sent me a private Facebook message with a link to a video about a family who had adopted. She assumed we'd already seen it, but since they reminded her so much of us, she wanted to share. I watched the video and almost cried.
Here was a couple who had no children (although they did want children - we couldn't be exactlyalike, right?) who adopted 5 siblings from Colombia. "Good news, honey, apparently we're not the only crazies out there in the world!" :) If we HAD to do this talking-to-people thing (hello, introverts!), then we knew right away that we wanted to do it with this couple. They seemed down to earth, with similar personalities and a sense of humor (that's a bonus). I utilized Google to find them (a slightly less-crazy version of cyber-stalking, I promise!), and sent a message through Facebook.
Thankfully they believed me when I said we were not really crazy, and the email conversation started from there. They've been home with their kids for 3 years, so close enough to the in-country time to remember what that was like, but long enough to share what they've learned about being a family - and first-time parents! We told the agency (and they are thrilled), and are now getting to know Tyler and Beth (who happen to have recently relocated about 5 hours from us). Thank you, God, for caring about the details!
Let people know I'm available for work.
Pray that we would continue to trust and follow God.
Pray for our kids - that even now God would be preparing them, and their hearts, for a major life shake-up.
Pray that God would provide the finances (through work or donations) as we need them.
Pray for this story to illuminate the awesomeness of God.


text:
Pharmaceutical drugs come and go. They come initially heralded as wonder drugs, magic bullets. They go as unsafe, dangerous, or even lethal. It is a pattern that has been repeated decade after decade for the last 100 years. (See 'Banned, withdrawn, dangerous Big Pharma drugs').
Darvon, or Darvocet, or Co-Proxamol (Big Pharma drugs are called different names in different countries) is such a drug. The main ingredient of the drug is propoxyphene, and the drug may be masquerading under other names - it is the way the drugs industry obfuscates and misleads us so we never quite know what we are taking! The drug was introduced in the 1950's, and had a long history of safety fears. But obviously, it is in Big Pharma's best interests to keep drugs on the market for as long as possible, and this is what they have done.
The problem is that the drug caused heart problems. The public interest group, 'Public Citizen' called for the drug to be banned in 1978. It again called for a ban in 2006. It was eventually banned in the UK in 2006. But as dangerous as the drug might have been here, it continued to be sold elsewhere, throughout the world. The European Drugs Agency banned the drug in Europe in 2009. But it was still sold in the USA, and other parts of the world.
Eventually it was banned by the FDA in the USA on 19 November 2010. But even then, there was prevarication. Drugs are not banned without a fight! Following the Public Citizen petitioning to ban the drug in 2006, it took three years for an 'expert advisory committee' to vote, narrowly, to ban the drug. But that was not the end of the matter. The FDA overruled the committee's decision, and asked the drug company to investigate the affect of the drug on the heart. Only when this report was received was the drug banned!
When banning the drug the FDA said that it puts patients at risk of abnormal, and even fatal heart rhythm abnormalities. Yet the drug has been marketed as a painkiller for over 50 years before ANY action was taken, even though the evidence of its dangers had been known for most of that time. So, for over 50 years, patients were given a drug that could have given them serious heart disease.
It has been estimated that 10 million people in the US took the drug. But the advice from FDA had a further sting in the tale. Patients must not stop taking the drug - because there was a danger of 'serious withdrawal symptoms'. So they had to continue taking the drug, which caused heart disease; or they had to suffer severe withdrawal symptoms.
As usual, patients did not receive a good deal from the Big Pharma drugs industry!
And little timely, or effective protection from the statutory drug regulatory bodies!
Indeed, Public Citizen castigated the FDA for waiting for so long to protect the public. They said the because of FDA negligence at least 1,000 to 2,000 people in the USA died from using these drugs - just during the period between the ban in the UK and the ban in the USA.
Yet, in another sense, all this is routine stuff. The drugs industry introduces a drug, after testing and regulatory controls are undertaken. It is given to patients. Reports of 'side-effects' or 'adverse reactions' are received, and ignored by the regulators. Patients suffer by contracting new, usually more serious diseases. Many patients die. And only then, when faced with an untenable situation, do the drug regulators act.
There is no fail safe mechanism in the world of pharmaceutical drugs. Drugs are considered safe until such time that they prove, overwhelmingly, that they are not. It has been the same with drugs-past, drugs-now, and drugs-future. These drugs have little to do with health, and plenty to do with the drugs business, and making money.
For more information on this banned drug click on this link.
There are many good causes that we can support. The number of Health Charities, or Patient Support Groups, has grown enormously – it is usually possible to find a charitable organisation that has been formed to support the sufferers, and the carers of sufferers, of most diseases these days. And many of them do a good job.
“A marketing practice just as evil as exploiting sick patients with newer, better drugs far beyond their financial means: Bribing patient groups that monitor progress on specific diseases desperate for newer, better treatments with cash. The flow of cash between drug makers and patients is the theme behind this interesting and controversial report in today's New Scientist.
C3: Colorectal Cancer Coalition: 81%.
Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance: 50%.
Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation: 44%.
Sarah Boseley, health editor of the Guardian, expressed concern over a cancer group linked to a drug firm in an article published on 18 October 2006. In an earlier Guardian article, 29 March 2006, looking at the campaign that heralded Herceptin as a ‘wonder drug’ for breast cancer, it looked at the charity CancerBackup. It found that their latest financial statement showed that 31% of its income from companies and charitable trusts that included Roche and around 14 other major drug companies.
It said that patient groups were “the most rewarding target” and that Big Pharma companies with turnovers as large as the GDP of small nations could obviously influence these groups. It reported that the industry journal ‘Pharmaceutical Marketing’ ran an article describing how "motivated patients can move mountains and boost your drug's fortunes".
The article also reported that Liberal Democrat MP Paul Flynn has done a survey to find out which patient groups accepted drug-company money. Of 24 major organisations, only six did not do so!
From April 2006, under new industry rules, the drug companies will have to declare on their websites what money they give to patient groups. As the Guardian article said - this should make interesting reading.
WDDTY reported that one company, Glaxo-Smith-Kline (GSK), had been caught out 'astroturfing' a patients group called Ekbom Support Group, which helps advise people with restless legs syndrome. GSK's advertising included a link through to the group's website, which described the company's drug ropinirole as an effective treatment for the problem. Yet this appeared eight months before the drug was approved, and the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority, which oversees drug advertising in the UK, ruled that GSK "was, in effect, directing patients to a website that contained misleading messages about the safety of ropinirole, which might indirectly encourage patients to ask their doctors to prescribe it."
The Times article stated that the Alzheimer’s Society led a patient campaign against a NICE ruling that the dementia drugs Aricept, Reminyl and Exelon were not cost-effective and should not be paid for from public funds. Yet during the previous financial year the Alzheimer’s Society received £31,000 from Pfizer and Eisai, which sell Aricept. In the last year the society also received £13,000 from Shire Pharmaceuticals, manufacturer of Reminyl, and £14,000 from Novartis, manufacturer of Exelon.
This article was first published within the E-Book, "The Failure of Conventional Medicine".
A direct link to the chapter itself can be found here.
Medical Mistakes? Or Dangerous Medicine?
It has been estimated that between 5-10% of patients admitted to hospital are infected with hospital-acquired diseases, such as MRSA (360 deaths in 2005 in England alone) and Clostridium Difficile (1,300 death in 2004). The problem, according to the NHS is that health professionals needed to do more to address hygiene to improve patient safety - thereby ignoring the troublesome fact that whilst these infections can be spread by bad hygiene their actual cause is the overuse of antibiotics – Conventional medicine’s most miraculous miracle drug!
It is the same throughout the world. On 25th October 2006 the BBC reported that in Italy it has been estimated that as many as 90 people die in hospital every day “due to medical malpractice and organisational errors”. Note again that the deaths are not caused by ‘medicine’ – but by malpractice, and error. The calculation of 33,000 annual deaths is more than the number of people killed on the roads in Italy, which means that there are an awful lot of ‘errors’ and ‘malpractice’ going on!
Celia Hall, Medical Editor, Daily Telegraph. "One NHS patient in 10 'is harmed in hospital'". 6 July 2006. This article said that nearly a million patient safety incidents or 'near misses' in a single year were recorded in NHS trusts, drawing attention to the effectiveness of the Patient Safety Agency. It estimated that in 2004-05 there were 974,000 patient safety incidents in England and Wales and MPs believe that 22% of mistakes go unreported.
In the same Daily Telegraph article the charity, Peter Walsh, the chief executive of 'Action against Medical Accidents' (AvMA) called for stronger sanctions. "We hope the report will give an injection of urgency into work to improve patient safety. Whilst there has been welcome progress we want to see more teeth given to existing guidelines and safety alerts. It should be compulsory for NHS providers to implement them".
Sarah Bosely, in the Guardian, 11th August 2006 stated that there were 40,000 NHS drug errors logged in a year, the figures having been collated by the National Patient Safety Agency. The article said that the statistics inevitably underestimated the problem 'since not all errors are reported'.
Jerome Burne. Daily Mail 12 September 2006. "In the UK, 10,000 people are killed every year by adverse drug reactions which happens when the prescription drug supposed to be curing you kills or harms you instead. That is more than the number who die from cervical cancer, taking illegal drugs, cancer of the mouth and passive smoking combined. It's actually more dangerous to visit your doctor than it is to drive your car - in 2004, traffic accidents were responsible for some 3,221 deaths. Yet a further 40,000 people each year are made sick enough by drugs they are taking to be admitted to hospital".
WDDTY e-news. Doctor Error: It’s rife, especially among the newborns. 07 February 2008. "It's an urban myth - and one that happens to be true - that the death rate plummets when doctors go on strike. Patients in hospital are especially vulnerable to the doctor's ministrations, and it's even worse for the newborn baby who hasn't yet made it home. A new study into newborns that needed 'hospital' care - usually because of low birth rate or premature birth - has revealed the extent of doctor error or doctor-induced (iatrogenic) problems. Researchers monitored the progress of 388 babies who had been admitted to a neo-natal unit in Southern France from January to September 2005; in that time, researchers witness 267 doctore errors, and nearly 30% of these were serious. Two babies died as a direct result of the errors". (Source: The Lancet, 2008; 371: 404-10).
WDDTY reported on research (published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, 2006; 166: 1410-6) that studied the progress of 7,054 patients admitted to a veterans' hospital between 2003 and 2004. Of these, 792 patients suffered a heart attack while in the hospital ( about 11%) and that they were twice as likely to die from the attack. As the article says, this means that up to 2,690,000 people could be harmed by medical ‘mishaps’ every year. This represents around 4.5% of the entire population. It goes on to say that in the USA, where twice as much is spent on ConMed drugs, the problem could be affecting up to 13,450,000 people every year. Government officials were said to be 'shocked' to hear that nobody knows how many of the reported 'blunders' ended in death. Apparently, only 1 in 4 hospitals 'own up' to the patient when something goes wrong; the rest presumably blame the patient illness on admission. Just 1 in 25 drug reactions is ever reported. Edward Leigh, chairman of the Commons Public Accounts committee said that 1 in 10 people admitted to a hospital in Britain every year will suffer a mishap or accident that will harm him, and that this is based on known, reported accidents. Apparently, the committee members discovered that the situation is not getting better, that doctors and hospital staff are not learning from mistakes, but repeating them every year, that guidelines are being consistently ignored, and safety recommendations are not being implemented.
How close are our GPs to the Pharmaceutical drug companies?
The question about doctors being too close to drug companies is recognised as a serious problem. In a Daily Telegraph article on 9th July 2006, the GMC (General Medical Council) was said to be warning doctors about taking ‘freebies’ from pharmaceutical companies, and to ‘blow the whistle’ on colleagues who were ‘taking bribes’ from drug companies. They were revising their rules to enable such doctors to be removed from the register, and ‘struck off’.
“The decision to toughen up the rules comes as evidence increases that, in return for promoting their products, some doctors are taking inappropriate gifts and hospitality from the pharmaceutical industry.
The article pointed to a report by the campaign group Consumers International that said doctors were continuing to accept kickbacks, gifts, free samples and consulting agreements in exchange for prescribing or promoting drugs. It said that such inducements accounted for a substantial part of the £33 billion spent on product promotion by the industry worldwide each year.
Despite this, concerns continue. WDDTY reported on 6th November 2007 that the drug giant Bristol-Myers Squibb (annual sales: $17.9bn) had been handed a $515m fine for mis-selling drugs, inducing doctors to prescribe drugs inappropriately, and setting fraudulent prices on some of its products. It said that the company had been caught making illegal payments to doctors as an inducement to get them to buy their drugs. Doctors had also received ‘consulting fees’ to sit on ‘advisory’ boards and programmes, some of which involved necessary trips to luxury locations. Meanwhile, the company was paying retail and wholesale pharmacies to buy its drugs. It was also encouraging doctors to prescribe its anti-psychotic drug Abilify (aripiprazole) to children when it had been licensed for use only with adults. (The source of this information was the British Medical Journal, 2007; 335: 742-3).
In another WDDTY article, “Bribery: Doctors gifted $100,000 a year to use hip replacement products”, dated 29th November 2007, Orthopedic surgeons in the US were reported to have received bribes of $100,000 and more every year to use special hip and knee replacement products on their patients. Apparently five manufacturers were fined $311m (£150m) by the US Department of Justice. The companies admitted paying 'many' orthopaedic surgeons 'consulting fees' that ranged from $10,000 to hundreds of thousands of dollars every year. Investigators discovered that the payments had been common practice between 2002 and 2006, and that as well as receiving “consulting fees”, the surgeons were also treated to lavish trips and expensive gifts. (The source of this information was the British Medical Journal, 2007; 335: 1065).
“We are health care providers who believe that pharmaceutical promotion should not guide clinical practice. Our mission is to encourage health care providers to practice medicine on the basis of scientific evidence rather than on the basis of pharmaceutical promotion. We discourage the acceptance of all gifts from industry by health care providers, trainees, and students. Our goal is improved patient care.
"We aim to achieve our goal by informing health care providers as well as the general public about pharmaceutical industry efforts to promote their products and influence prescribing; provide evidence that promotion does in fact influence health care provider behaviour, often in ways that run counter to good patient care; and provide products that can replace pharmaceutical company paraphernalia and spread our message.
"We believe that there is ample evidence in the literature-contrary to the beliefs of most heath care providers - that drug companies, by means of samples, gifts, and food, exert significant influence on provider behaviour.
"There is also ample evidence in the literature that promotional materials and presentations are often biased and non-informative. We believe that health care professionals, precisely because they are professionals, should not allow themselves to be bought by the pharmaceutical industry: It is time to Just say no to drug reps and their pens, pads, calendars, coffee mugs, and of course, lunch.
These are laudable objectives. However, there appears little evidence that their motives have been generally accepted by the conventional medical establishment.
This article was first published in my e-book, "The Failure of Conventional Medicine".
Diabetes. Are patients better with, or without these conventional drugs?
Anyone suffering from Diabetes, and in Britain, about 2.5 million people do, must be wondering whether they are better off with, or without the drugs they are prescribed by their NHS doctor.
(ii) but they were interested in using the drugs for the growing problem of Obesity.
This is quite typical of what is happening in the Conventional Medical world. On the one hand, a complete lack of transparency when it comes to responding to concern about serious adverse reactions to drugs. But, on the other hand, a desire to use drugs in other, more lucrative areas of ill-health.
In both cases, the patient appears to be the last to be considered.
As always, when discussing the disease-inducing-effects (DIEs) of pharmaceutical drugs, a question is posed by the conventional medical establishment. Do the benefits of the drugs (in this case, for the treatment of Diabetes) outweigh the risk (in taking drugs that cause Pancreatitis and/or Pancreatic cancer).
One of the drugs concerned, Januvia, has apparently been found to double the risk of developing acute pancreatitis. This was the result of a study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), in February 2013. The study found that in most cases, hospital admission for pancreatitis happened within the first 60 days of patients taking Januvia.
The makers of Januvia, Merck, have long rejected any link between Januvia and pancreatitis!
The link with pancreatic cancer is even more serious, as it is a disease that kills 80% of people within the first year of diagnosis. There is research, published in 2011, indicating that Januvia could increase the risk of of pancreatic cancer (by 172%) and thyroid cancer too (by 48%).
Equally, what cannot be denied is that Januvia is a money-spinner, one of Mercks best-selling drugs, earning an estimated $4.1 billion in 2012.
So what are the drug regulators doing? Not, it would seem, very much. The FDA announced in March 2013 that 'it will investigate' the risks associated with Januvia. Yet, in the meantime, there is little evidence that any move has been made to inform patients, or that there is much concern about those people who might contract pancreatitis, or pancreatic cancer, during the time it takes to investigate the drug. Not much urgency there, it would seem!
Yet this cannot be considered to be a new linkage. As Agora Health stated in their 'Daily Health eAlert (June 2013), the FDA were aware of the dangers of Januvia as early as 2006, as between October 2006 and February 2009, the FDA received reports of 88 cases that linked this drug with pancreatitis.
It would seem that being diabetic, not an easy one at the best of times, is being made far worse by the drugs the Conventional Medical Establishment gets them to take.
Victoza, another diabetes drug, was introduce in 2012. Even at the testing stage, animal studies indicated that it cause thyroid tumours, and human studies indicated that it caused pancreatitis. So why was it approved? Only the drug regulators know. But despite the evidence, the drug was uncompromisingly heralded as a 'breakthrough' in the treatment of type-2 diabetes! Other drugs, of the same type, are called Byetta, Exenatide, Liraglutide - and of course, Januvia.
"When considered alongside other emerging and long-standing evidence, a worrying picture emerges, posing serious questions about the safety of this class of drug".
So, are diabetes patients better off with these drugs, or without them?
Remember the diabetes drug, Avandia? Some people dubbed it as 'the killer drug' - although it must be said that Avandia has many rivals to this claim! Recall that it was banned throughout Europe in September 2010, as it was found to significantly increase the risk of heart attacks? Yet Avandia was marketed from 2000, and for 10 years it was allowed to cause heart attacks and strokes - whilst it was being 'investigated' by the drug regulators.
Will it take as long for these 'new' drugs to be banned? Will the drug regulators allow pharmaceutical companies to profit from drugs that are causing death whilst they 'investigate' the problems? How long will it take before the needs of patients come before the profits of drug companies?
One thing that every diabetes sufferer can do is to challenge their doctor, challenge the NHS, challenge the Department of Health, challenge their MP - and demand safer medicine. We all need to ask the question. Is the need to treat diabetes worth risk of getting acute pancreatitis, and pancreatic cancer? Do the benefits of these drugs really outweigh the risks?
Diclofenac is a NSAID painkiller, launched in Britain in about 1993, that has been found to cause heart attacks, and banned by the MHRA in June 2013 - at least for patients with heart problems. As usual, this ban took a long time, even though all NSAID drugs have been linked with heart disease for many years. This has been one of the few such drugs that has faced even a partial banned. Vioxx is another. And, as far as I am aware, the drug is still available elsewhere in the world, and clearly, is still available in Britain for those patients who do not have heart problems!
The dangers of Diclofenac have been known about for many years. In June 2005 a BBC article outlined ‘Safety doubts for more painkillers’. This referred to all NSAID painkillers, and within the article there is a comment that “enough concern exists to warrant a consideration of the cardiovascular safety of all NSAIDs”. However, it took the drug regulatory system a further 8 years to act on Diclofenac, whilst other NSAID painkillers are still being given to patients. After the ban was announced (June 2013) I checked the Wikipedia website, and it still had this to say about Diclofenac.
Other internet websites that described the ‘side-effects’ of Diclofenac also failed to give clear warnings that the drug caused heart attacks, and were content to repeat this bland ‘well-tolerated’ assurance.
This is quite typical. Most drugs are known to be dangerous for many years before they are banned, and prior to the ban patients are told little about the dangers, but plenty of re-assurances about their safety!
The Daily Mail reported the problems in September 2011, but even then added “Don’t stop taking the pills, but do talk to your doctor”.
An Asian vulture seemed to have been treated better than human patients! Diclofenac is used for veterinary purposes, and in India its manufacture was banned for cattle as it was killing a rare species of Asian vulture! Even this did not appear to suggest to the Conventional Medical Establishment that Diclofenac might be a dangerous drug! The withdrawal of the drug in India did, however, lead to the recovery of the vulture. This was happening in 2009 - 4 years prior to the current ban.
The ban on Diclofenac was announced by the BBC, a media organisation which has a long history of relaying news of conventional ‘medical breakthroughs’, but rarely about medical catastrophies like this. So I searched on the internet to see what they had been telling us about this drug.
* February 2013. BBC article refers to ‘heart risk’ and says that the drug is ‘overused’.
* May 2013. BBC article refers to ‘common painkiller’ that ‘poses heart risks’ on the basis of an article published in the Lancet.
* June 2013. BBC article refers to a ‘heart risk warning’ about the drug.
So, like most of the mainstream media, they have been well aware of the problems associated with Diclofenac, but rather than warning us, they have relied almost entirely on what they are told by the conventional medical establishment. Our Media appears to have little stomach for investigative journalism when it comes to exposing dangerous drugs!
This puts us all at risk. Known drug dangers are kept secret by the conventional medical establishment. And the Media is not prepared to ask serious questions about the dangers caused by pharmaceutical drugs or vaccines.
What this means is that no patient, at any time, can be satisfied that any current drug or vaccine (Diclofenac was a ‘current drug’ even for people with heart conditions until the MHRA announcement) is safe.
Thanks to Vijay Vaishnav for this additional information on Diclofenac - sent to me via Facebook. Clearly the dangers of Big Pharma drugs go further than the damage caused to human populations.
"Doclofenac can also indirectly affect human health because of the ecological disturbance it causes. For example, use of diclofenac in animals has been reported to have led to a sharp decline in the vulture population in the Indian Subcontinent, a 95% decline in 2003, 99.9% decline as of 2008. The mechanism is, it is presumed, renal failure, a known side effect of diclofenac. Vultures eat the carcasses of livestock that have been administered veterinary diclofenac, and are poisoned by the accumulated chemical, as vultures do not have a particular enzyme to break down diclofenac.
"The loss of tens of millions of vultures over the last decade has had major ecological consequences across the Indian Subcontinent that pose a potential threat to human health. In many places, populations of feral dogs (Canis familiaris) have increased sharply from the disappearance of Gyps vultures as the main scavenger of wild and domestic ungulate carcasses. Associated with the rise in dog numbers is an increased risk of rabies and casualties of almost 50,000 people. A major shift in transfer of corpse pathogens from vultures to feral dogs and rats can lead to a disease pandemic causing millions of deaths in a crowded country like India; whereas vultures' digestive systems safely destroy many species of such pathogens.
P.S. Diclofenac might have been banned by the MHRA, but it is still sold as Voltarol, and still advertised on television (January 2014). And on Voltarol's website you can search in vain for any mention of the known dangers.

industry_corpus2: Biopharmaceuticals


text: The brownie crew is still on trend and is the accomplished way to draw the absorption in the crowd. Added and added women are coast into the break to cut their beard short. So far, the brownie beard cut is the top best for many. Getting a brownie beard cut will absolutely acquiesce you to have a good timea lot of advantages. First, this looks actual attractive. You can still attending actual feminine alike if your beard is short. Second, it works for both academic occasions and accidental days. Just application the adapted accent will already accomplish your appearance adapted and admirable to area you are branch to. Third, it is way too accessible to maintain. Don’t balloon about your beard blush to booty your hairstyle to a accomplished new level. In this article, there are some absorbing brownie hairstyle. Get aggressive from these Brownie Haircuts 2017 – 2018!


text:
Buds to Blooms is the sole owner of the information collected on this website. We do not (or will never) sell, share or rent this information to others in ways different from what is disclosed in our privacy statement below. This information is only used to administer our website, analyse trends and to generally help improve our site, and will never result in your receiving of spam e-mails.
In common with other websites, log files are stored on the Buds to Blooms web server - saving details such as the visitor's IP address, browser type, referring page and time of visit. Cookies may be used to remember visitor preferences when interacting with the website. This information is not linked to a visitor's personal identification in any way.


text:
SAN DIEGO, CA – July 22, 2013 – On Saturday afternoon September 7th, WBO Lightweight champion Ricky Burns will defend his crown when he takes on tough veteran Ray Beltran in a bout that will be televised in the United States on WealthTV and www.wealthtv.com.
The undefeated 6’ 9” Fury (18-0, 13 KOs), fighting out of Cheshire, UK, is the reigning Irish heavyweight champion, who is rated No. 6 by the World Boxing Council (“WBC”). The charismatic 24-year-old giant has defeated four previously unbeaten opponents – Dereck Chisora (14-0), Neven Pajkic (16-0), Marcelo Luiz Nascimento (13-0) and Rich Power (12-0) – in his last seven fights.
The fight is promoted by Matchroom Sport and will originate from Scottish Exhibition Centre in Glasgow, Scotland.
“I’m delighted that Ricky’s fourth defense of his WBO title will be shown live in the States on WealthTV,” said Burns’ promoter Eddie Hearn. “Raymundo Beltran promises to be the toughest test yet of Ricky’s reign and with some big unification bouts on the horizon for Ricky, American fight fans will enjoy seeing the best of the Scotsman in front a passionate sold-old Glasgow crowd.”, said Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport.
Burns of Coatbridge, Scotland has a record of 36-2 with 11 knockouts and has not lost a fight in over six years which spans 21 fights. He won the WBO Super Featherweight title with a thrilling 12 round unanimous decision over Roman Martinez. He made three defenses of his crown which includes wins over Andreas Evensen and Joseph Laryea. He then stopped former WBO Super featherweight champion Nicky Cook in one round.
Burns won the full title with a twelve round unanimous decision over former WBA champion Paulus Moses. Burns looked great in taking out fellow United Kingdom fighter Kevin Mitchell in four rounds. In his last bout, Burns had to dig deep but he retained the crown after Jose Gonzalez had to retire on the stool after nine rounds on May 11th.
Burns is 8-0 in world title fights.
Born in Los Mochis, Mexico, Beltran comes from an area that breeds great fighters. Now a resident of Phoenix, Arizona Beltran has a record of 28-6 with 17 knockouts.
“Ray Beltran is the Mexican buzzsaw who is always in the kind of action fight that fans like to see. Beltran will fight in a real entertaining battle against Ricky Burns. Boxing fans are in for a real treat,” said Bob Arum, CEO, Top Rank.
The 31 year-old has fought all over the United States in opponent’s hometowns and has had quality wins. He had a win over David Torres (21-1) before being on the wrong end of two debatable decisions to future world title challenger and undefeated Sharif Bogere and undefeated Luis Ramos Jr.
Beltran had won three in a row which started with his biggest win to date when he scored a ten round majority decision over then number-one ranked Hank Lundy in Lundy’s backyard of Atlantic City. He followed that up with a ten round unanimous decision over former world title challenger Ji-Hoon Kim.
In his next bout, Beltran scored a ten round unanimous decision over Alejandro Rodriguez on April 27th in Austin, Texas.
Beltran trains out of the Wild Card Gym and has been a frequent sparring partner with eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao.
Beltran will be making his first attempt at a world title.
Boxing fans can enjoy this world championship card nationally on Verizon FiOS TV channel 169 and 669 in HD and AT&T U-Verse TV channels 470 and 1470 in HD, along with over 100 cable systems across the country. For those viewers that don’t receive WealthTV from their cable provider, on-line viewing is available on numerous connected devices and via www.wealthtv.com.

industry_corpus2: Sports


text:
I've been interested in resilience since I became a quadriplegic 30 years ago. When I went through rehab, many of us were depressed, but some went home and vegetated while others did whatever it took to reclaim their lives. I've long wondered about the difference between those who survive adversity, and even thrive, and those who don't.
I know one thing. It's not about strength or weakness. Frankly, I hate that measure as it implies that those who do well have a better character than those who don't. Not true.
Here's what is true. Resilience is partly about luck. In my case, I had a career to return to, a family and the kind of health insurance that afforded me the luxury of not worrying about paying for my equipment. Professor Ann Masten at the University of Minnesota found that children's success in several developmental tasks was related to resources they had in childhood — intelligence, parenting quality and socioeconomic status.
Now we know that overinvolved parenting contributes to making children less resilient. But that is only a small part of the story of resilience.
There is a far more important factor. Almost all studies of resilience have addressed the value of good relationships with caring adults either in the family or outside of it. This could happen through teachers, mentoring programs, religious groups or distant relatives but it is these relationships that are critical in fostering resilience.
Eighteen-year-old Dana Young was just 13 when her family was evicted from their apartment because her mother had been using drugs and couldn't pay the rent. Placed in a shelter in their old neighborhood, Dana felt humiliated after being teased relentlessly by her old friends.
She and her older brother Devlin helped one other endure these difficult times. Eventually her family became involved with Episcopal charities where Dana found her voice through poetry and music.
With the help of people who believed in her and her faith, she now plans to attend Shippensburg University next year and hopes to become a writer.
Having support in your life fosters resilience regardless of how old you are.
Linda Noble Topf was in her 30s and at the height of her career in 1981 when she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. She thought her life as a community leader and artist was over.
Although she had support at first, she ignored it and got lost in dark ideas about her future, turning to drugs and alcohol. Like most who have endured great suffering, she felt alone, unloved, unlovable and a burden to her family.
One night her husband Michael, exasperated, issued an ultimatum: "Choose your life or I am leaving." And, like so many others when given the choice, she chose life. And when she did, she found herself surrounded by people who cared about her.
Today, despite the progression of her illness, she runs workshops, coaches, consults with the MS Society and publishes many articles about living with adversity.
Andrea Collins Smith has been the subject of both this column and my radio show. In her 30s when she was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, she never lost her joy for life. She attributed her happiness to the love of her children and friends and her faith that she would be ok whether or not she survived this illness.
I spoke to her in April 2008 when friends took her and her children to the beach in Ocean City. She said that was the best day of her life.
Two months later, she died. Her ability to love until her last days was aided by people who cared for her and allowed her to care for them.
For many reasons, more of us are living with fewer intimate friends. And, with the help of technology, the younger generation believes relationships can be done through text messaging.
We might function well that way, but in the face of adversity, we need the loving care of our fellow humans. Years ago in these pages, I wrote about a visit to the majestic Redwoods in California with a friend who was a nature buff. She told me that such large trees had very shallow root systems. I wondered how these massive structures found their stability without deep roots.
"Redwoods grow in clusters," she explained "and their roots interlock. That's how they get their strength."


text:
What are you towing or trailering?
Practical Knowlege Test - What causes the most damage to RV's?
What is a good way to keep the receiver from sticking in the hitch?
Truck's getting some towing action!
How did I ever live without this?????
Towing, use overdrive or leave it off???
set up the taurus to tow.
Where do I get 5X4 wheels?
Care to lend your expertise?
Rotten eggs in water tank?


text:
SHORTLISTED FOR THE MILES FRANKLIN AWARD 2016 A stunning debut novel from the winner of the 2014 Commonwealth Short Story Prize (Pacific Region) and the 2013 Writing Australia Unpublished Manuscript Award.
A gripping and beautifully written novel in the tradition of Elizabeth is Missing and the work of Elizabeth Harrower. The winner of the Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction 2016.
In the bustling streets, overcrowded hospitals and glittering nightclubs of Colombo, five family members find their bonds stretched to breaking point in the aftermath of the Sri Lankan civil war.

industry_corpus2: Literature & Emotions


text:
Ellen visited today, she gives Storm free acting lessons – Ellen is one of Perth’s top acting coaches – she thinks Storm has star quality and just accepts the odd glass of Rosé as payment.
Storm brought her twin sister Summer over for a drink with Trace – Storm thinks Trace should write Summer into the script – Trace poured them a glass of Riesling (she’s run out of Rosé) then went inside and ignored the twins – I think Trace is still really mad about Storm, Kate and Reece drinking her @84wine French Rosé – holds a grudge does our Trace!
Big Al (Trace’s husband) is the producer of Storm in a DD Cup and today he has been auditioning young starlets for Storm’s role!
I don’t know what Trace is madder about – that Big Al has a private stash of Rosé or that he has been conducting auditions without telling her!
« Storm update 3 – will she be the star!

industry_corpus2: Film & Entertainment


text:
Today's song is more or less in honor of Lynneguist, whose blog I ran into today, via a link from Francis Strand's blog, a link which could have mentioned me in passing but didn't and which I mention in an attempt to shame Francis, though it will not.
But anyway. Last I knew, Lynne was a Leonard Cohen fan, and probably still is, and she was nice enough to say nice things about the very blog you are reading right now, so I thought a shout-out of some kind might be in order, positive feedback being rare. And also I hadn't posted in a while so I was due.
Was this babelpopping successful? Well, as with most of them, yes and no. There are certainly some strange moments. I cannot, for example, explain the insertion of the word "bowl" in the third line. I'm also a little unsure what a "triplex viol" might be. I picture a viol with three sets of strings, 120 degrees apart from one another, that has to be played by three performers at a time. And probably somebody should build one of those, despite the obvious safety hazards. But it could mean something else entirely.
In other news, I went on a long walk today with the husband, and now my head hurts. This is either some kind of heat / sunburn / exhaustion thing, or I'm having a reaction to the DEET that we sprayed on to protect us from mosquitoes. Or both.
The mosquitoes seem especially motivated this year. Both times we've been in foresty areas in the last week or two, they've just flown at us from all directions. This had particularly bad results for me the first time, hence the DEET today.
for trying the change system within myself.
my skin conducted me by this birthmark.
The weapons of mine are conducted by our beauty.
We take Manhattan firstly, then we take Berlin.
I told you, I told you, I told one of those about you.
Ah, you loved me as a loser, but now you're worried that I might've been made to win.
first, let my work start. How many of these night baths for me?
We'll take Manhattan, then we take Berlin.
and I don't love these drugs you keep: I'm not thin.
what happened to my sister.) Then we take Berlin.
now. I managed to exercise each night.
The weapons of mine are accompanied by our beauty.
Ah, remind me, for I used to live the music.
Remind me: I brought all your grocers in well.
will take Manhattan; then we take Berlin.
ALthough experience may tell you otherwise, I am actually very susceptible to shame and guilt, Jessi.


text:
There was a bug which disallowed the registration of T³ tournaments using the Internet Explorer (due to a bug in it).
The script is fixed now that IE can handle such simple things, too. Please excuse this issue.
A while ago we announced a team up with the developer of the free army creation tool WarFoundry. Although it's still in an early development stage it reached a first small milestone.
There is an initial stable version that supports the minimum needed to create an army. It doesn't validate armies yet, but any armies create under v0.1 should be able to be re-used and validated in later releases. Please take a look and drop some feedback here or on the offical website.
We just added Kings of War, which has become a hot topic of debate in the last weeks, to our system. Even if the rules are still in a beta stage, we're sure that we will hear more from it soon.
As previewed on Facebook our brand new ultimate Tournament List Image Creation Tool is available for public use. Everbody who'd like to have a list of our tournaments on his website and who had problems to use our RSS tournament feeds or API should take a look at our new page.
On the page everybody can create a link to a tournament list as an image with a couple of simple steps. You can then integrate the image on a website or in a forum easily.
Write a comment and show us where and how you're using the images.
We finally found our ETC Betting Master.
The ETC Betting Master 2010 is Jokaero, who got an overall rate of 84.17%. Congratulations on this good assessment of team strengths.
As the betting master was nominated over all ETC tournaments, we also want to mention the T³ users who had the best results for a single tournament: The best bet on Warhammer had jim with incredible 90.63%. On Warhammer 40K FenneQ got 87.08%.
Details on the calculation can be found on the ETC Betting Game page.
The ETC 2010 has ended and it really was a unique event. The atmosphere and spirit was amazing and the feedback overwhelming. Many thanks go to all the voluntary helpers who made this event possible.
Currently a lot of people are listed twice in the NTR. The error is known and will get fixed soon. The NTR will be updated again today.
Update: The rankings are fixed now.
it's time again: The biggest tabletop event in history is starting the next phase for the second time in Münster, Germany. The ETC is split up into two tournaments: The ESC as a single player tournament and the acutal ETC as a team tournament. The single tournament is taking place Thursday and Friday, because the event hall is simply full with over 50(!) participating teams and so there's no place for any side event.
Everybody who's interested in tabletop tournaments should try to visit this great event. There will be 8th Edition Welcome event for Warhammer in parallel to the ESC. Whoever is willing to participate can just come on Thursday before the tournament starts and sign up. There's enough place. The lists of registrations on T³ aren't representive, because lots of the international guests will sign up after arrival.
As a part of the T³ admin team is also at the ETC, answers to requests can take a while for the next days. Please be patient.
A fresh update just went online. Its main goal was to improve the gaming club pages. New features are available and the content shown on the pages got some facelift.
This is part 1 of the club improvements for now. We still have a couple of things on the wishlist, but this will come with a separate update later. One feature included will be a search function for the clubs, so that you can then search for a club in your surrounding, which is playing your favourite tabletop.
It'd be great, if everybody could take a look at his club page. If the club admin has changed inbetween and admin access is "lost", please contact an admin.
Do you like the new pages? Do you miss any feature?
The hybrid tabletop Ex Illis made by Bastion Studio is now supported by T³. As a unique combination of classic tabletop and video game it's always worth a look.
Show your skills and win big!
Winners get to choose between an iPad or a $1000 voucher.
Second places can choose an iPod Touch or a $500 voucher.
[All Vouchers to be spent on games and hobby products at Atlantis Games and Comics].
All players must be signed up in the tournament before July 26th.
Due to a bug all GoePP downloads have been set to German as the default language. This is fixed now and you'll get the GoePP set to your active T³-language or English, if there's no localized version yet.
We will offer localized versions in Polish and Dutch soon.
After all those sweet betting games for the FIFA World Cup you can have the same for your favorite hobby. T³ is hosting the ETC Betting Game 2010. Every T³-user can participate in this betting game for free. You have to guess the final top 10 for each tabletop hosted on the ETC. Based on how exact your guess is, you'll score points as soon as the final results are available. The user with the best overall result will win the exclusive T³-title ETC Betting Master 2010.
The betting game is just for fun. You don't have to pay for and you won't win any money or similiar.
Update: We're sorry, but we were missing a couple of teams. If anybody would like to change his given bet, just drop an admin a message.
T³ was almost not reachable due to a DoS attack in its network segment. The server host defended the attack as soon as it was noticed.
Due to a bug in a base function all inputs from text areas didn't made it into the database. Everything should work normally now again.
WarFoundry is a cross-platform, multi-game system, open-source army creation application. It's still in a very early development stage, but it really looks promising.
We've collected all the important bits of information on an overview page. The project page will give you more detailed view on it.
The developers appreciate any feedback. You can drop it here, send a message to a T³-admin or directly through their page. We'll keep you updated on its development.
For all T³ users who would like to get the newest information as soon as possible, T³ can now be found on Twitter, too. There you'll get our news feed and other kind of interesting stuff.
T³ now supports the new tabletop Freebooter's Fate made by Freebooter Miniatures from Germany. Like you can guess from the name, FF is taking place in a scenary of piracy and who doesn't like pirates?
FF can now be used for the player search and events.
It's Easter time again and it will get a bit settled on T³. Please be patient with us, if you don't get an answer to your request in the usual response time over the next days.
In addition Blackhawk is on vacation for the next week. Please contact any other admin on important issues.
All started with the request of the Polish gaming club Animosity Szczecin in February. The Polish players would like to have more players from Germany on their tournaments, as it's often easier to just hop over the border than driving cross whole Germany. There's a similar effect between the Netherlands and Germany... so why not on the other side too.
Less than two month later T³-Poland is online, which was made possible by the unresting translation work of our new Polish admin Krszysztof aka kajdan.
There are still some minor issues, but everything is working as intended. If you recognize an error, please drop kajdan (Polish) or Blackhawk (German/English) a message.
Now give all Polish players a warm welcome and let the international games begin.
There's currently a bug in the export function. We'll fix this in the next couple of hours, so that there will be no problems with the tournaments this weekend. Please be a bit patient.
Update: The error is fixed now.
A little bit late the results of the poll Game of the Year 2009 are now final.
7.1% of the T³-users voted Games Workshop's Warhammer with 33% of the votes as their Game of the Year 2009. This isn't that suprising as Warhammer is the most spread tabletop in general and so on T³. Therefore we'll check if we'll held the vote next year again and if yes, what we're going to change on the voting.
T³ was a couple of hours down, cause we changed the character encoding of the whole T³ system to the international Unicode (UTF-8).
If you encounter an error based on messed up special characters (like German umlauts or similar), please contact an admin immediately.
Update: There are still some minor differences between the data before and after the update. So players with special characters in their names may see some tournaments not listed correctly. This is a minor problem and we will take down the page tomorrow morning for a short while to convert all the old data.
we're into tabletops of any kind for years now on T³. There are the big tabletops from Games Workshop which have the widest spread, the "midfield" with established competitors and the big of the small and fine tabletops.
We know quite a lot about the distribution of the games, how they are rated, how many tournaments there are and much more. This year we would like to know from you, what your personal top game in the year 2009. One of the big tabletops or perhaps one of the great newcomers?
To find this out, we're running a poll for the next 2 weeks: What was your Game of the Year 2009?
A bit later than planned we just awarded the best tournaments 2009. Like the last years we have up to 7 awards per country. You can find an overview on the tournaments here.
We congratulate all winners on their great tournaments!
With starting today the Netherlands got the full support of T³ and becomes the 7th supported country. In addition to that T³ is also available in Dutch now. This should also improve the usability for Belgium with their tournament scenes being strongly connected.
We're working on getting the awards done, which should happen soon. We'll post a separate annoucement for them.
After we were looking into the feedback after the annoucement about the future of T³ for the last weeks, we'll evaluate it and then make a decision in the next weeks.
* Eden - A postapocalyptic tabletop made by Taban Miniatures with really crazy stuff from France.
* Warcanto - A Fantasy skirmish tabletop made by Dwarf Tales Miniatures from Poland with a first class design.
* Nemesis - Also a fantasy skirmish tabletop, also really nice miniatures, but this time from Spain made by Zenit Miniatures.
* Operation World War Two - A historical accurate WWII tabletop from Italy made by Alzozero Games.

industry_corpus2: Gaming


text:
If you’re hesitant to start a budget because you think it means you can’t have any fun, think again. A budget is simply a tool to help you decide how to spend and save your hard-earned money. And that includes budgeting for fun stuff, such as dining out, going to the movies and seeing live concerts and shows. Here are five things you should include when planning your entertainment budget, along with ideas for how to make the most of those funds.
Preparing your own food at home is one of the best ways to save money, but everyone deserves to take a break now and then. Planning in your entertainment budget for having a special meal out—or ordering takeout from your favorite place—can help you stay on track because you’ll know you have a special treat coming up. Use gift cards, coupons or choose to dine on a day when the restaurant is having a special to stretch your funds.
The average cost of a movie ticket in the US has climbed to almost $9 and it’s much higher in large cities. When you add in the cost of drinks and snacks, a movie night for two could approach $50 and trying to take the whole family could easily reach $100. When budgeting for the movies, plan on going to matinee shows, sneaking in your own snacks and choosing your movies wisely. You don’t want to waste your money on bomb, after all.
Whether you want to see your favorite artist live or attend a road show of Hamilton or another Broadway hit, budgeting for live entertainment takes some planning. Even the “cheap seats” aren’t so cheap when you factor in service fees and venue parking. Fortunately, you usually have enough notice that you can plan ahead and save money over time to buy tickets to big events. And don’t forget to keep an eye on Groupon or Living Social. If you’re willing to wait, you can often find discounts or 2-for-1 deals for certain shows.
Much like attending a concert or a show, buying tickets to a professional sporting event will take some advance planning. Review your favorite team’s schedule when it’s first released, choose the game you’d most like to attend, and start saving. Sign up for the team’s mailing list to be alerted of any package specials (game/parking/concessions) or last-minute deals for undersold games. It might not be your first choice, but it can save you a lot of money. And if you just like the excitement of live sports, check out local college basketball or baseball games. Tickets are usually really affordable and it can be a fun activity for the whole family.
A few dollars here or there might not seem like a big deal, but they can really add up. If you regularly buy lottery tickets, play games on your phone, or purchase music, movies or TV shows, account for those in your entertainment budget. These small expenses won’t make or break your finances. But putting a cap on that spending can be helpful when you’re tempted to buy ‘just one more’ set of extra lives in Candy Crush.


text:
50-112. Officers and employees; salaries; how fixed.
There shall be paid to each of the several officers, except the speaker, named in section 50-111 for their official services such salaries as shall be fixed by the Executive Board of the Legislative Council, unless otherwise directed by the Legislature.
Source:Laws 1867, § 3, p. 85; R.S.1913, § 3754; Laws 1919, c. 118, § 1, p. 283; C.S.1922, § 3147; C.S.1929, § 50-113; Laws 1937, c. 116, § 1, p. 418; C.S.Supp.,1941, § 50-113; R.S.1943, § 50-112; Laws 1945, c. 120, § 1, p. 396; Laws 1947, c. 346, § 1, p. 1091; Laws 1951, c. 338, § 1, p. 1116; Laws 1953, c. 358, § 1, p. 1136; Laws 1955, c. 198, § 1, p. 563; Laws 1957, c. 220, § 1, p. 759; Laws 1959, c. 241, § 1, p. 829; Laws 1959, c. 425, § 2, p. 1428; Laws 1963, c. 304, § 2, p. 900; Laws 1967, c. 328, § 7, p. 871; Laws 1973, LB 82, § 1; Laws 1973, LB 485, § 2.
If additional employees of Legislature are desired, statute must be so framed as to authorize their employment. State ex rel. Squires v. Wallichs, 14 Neb. 439, 16 N.W. 481 (1883).

industry_corpus2: Law & Justice


text:
On Monday July the 10th Scritti played at Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms. This whole set was captured in audio.
Lineage; Sony ECM-717>Sony MD MZ-N710>Phillips CD Recorder>Soundforge>dBPoweramp No eq used.
Recorded 10 foot away from the stage right PA stack.
New UK, Ireland tourdates (& 1 US) as announced by the Double G mailing list.
Trick or treat comes a few days early this year with the tour of our favorite artist, Green Gartside and his new band mates that make up the new Scritti Politti! Less than a year ago, we would have called this notion impossible. But things change. Miracles happen. All I can say is godspeed to Scritti Politti. The journey is the reward.
Last thursday Scritti Politti played a packed Club Quattro in Shibuya, Tokyo, a medium size venue with a capacity of a 1000 people. A new song She told me today was played. You can see the whole setlist, which was send to us by Kazuko (Thanks!).
Mitsuo was there as well, and recorded the whole gig! It’s a big file, 67 mb. You can listen inline, but you might be better of when you donwload the mp3 and play it in your favourite player.
Update (by Marco): Bob Gaulke has send us a photo to go with the download.
When teawithtufty.blogspot.com told me he had recorded Woodbeez and BoomBoomBap at yesterday’s Liquid Rooms gig, I had to check them out of course.
Enjoy them! And don’t forget to read what keyboard-player Rhodri has to say about the gig.
We got a new clip from the Oxford Zodiac gig last week, and it’s a complete capture of Woodbeez this time! As usual, it’s done with a simple camera, which really does make the sound suffer, but still, it’s unique. Would love to see it done right (hint) one time.


text:
Source: Forest products journal. Vol. 56, nos. 7/8 (July/Aug. 2006): pages 26-28.
Heat sterilization is used to kill insects and fungi in wood being traded internationally. Determining the time required to reach the kill temperature is difficult considering the many variables that can affect it, such as heating temperature, target center temperature, initial wood temperature, wood configuration dimensions, specific gravity, and moisture content. In this study, the time required to heat the center of round, square, and rectangular wood members in saturated steam was calculated by using heat conduction equations for a number of combinations of these variables. The resulting heating times were then fit to multiple regression models, resulting in regression equations that provided a calculation method that is easier and more convenient to use than the heat conduction equations, especially considering the many combinations of the independent variables that might be of interest in heat sterilization treatments for killing insects and pathogens. Deviations between the times calculated by regression and those calculated by the heat conduction equations averaged less than 10 percent. The regression models appear to offer sufficiently good estimates of heating times to be useful in planning heat sterilization activities.
Simpson, William T. 2006. Estimating heating times of wood boards, square timbers, and logs in saturated steam by multiple regression. Forest products journal. Vol. 56, nos. 7/8 (July/Aug. 2006): pages 26-28.

industry_corpus2: Agriculture & Fisheries


text:
The typical high school curriculum covers a tremendous breadth of information on a wide range of topics, yet personal finance is rarely among them.
Considering many high school students will soon be college students, ready to take on student loans, open bank accounts and learn how credit cards work, perhaps it’s time that money management takes on a more prominent role in high school classes.
If you’d like to incorporate personal finance into your lesson plans, here are seven free resources to help get you started.
It’s no secret that students learn more effectively when they’re excited and engaged with a lesson, and the Practical Money Skills website tries to boost engagement by wrapping its lessons into slick, interactive games that cater to students of all ages. All the basic skills of financial literacy are covered, from simple money management to good debt practices, and the site also features additional educational materials and resources. Grade-appropriate lesson plans are also available for teachers.
The brainchild of Brian Page, a nationally-recognized personal finance and economics teacher from Ohio, FinEdChat is an effort to boost engagement and encourage financial literacy education. The centerpiece of this effort is the FinEdChat blog, which features an abundance of useful information and resources for teachers interested in incorporating financial education into their lesson plans. Page also operates the informative FinEdChat Twitter account, and the “#FinEdChat” hashtag makes it easy to keep track of the latest developments in financial education at the high school level.
Sponsored by the Federal Trade Commission, OnGuardOnline offers a powerful toolkit aimed at educating students on how to protect themselves and their sensitive information online. Students can play games that teach them how to recognize phishing attacks, how to respond to a hacking attempt and how to differentiate between what information is and isn’t safe to share. The site also provides educators with a variety of games, lesson plans and other tools to use in the classroom and share with parents and the community at large.
Few things are more important to a child’s financial future than learning how to create and manage a budget. As an educator, you can use budget simulators to teach the importance of creating a budget, balancing a checkbook and handling other important duties in a fun and engaging way. Budget Challenge offers a comprehensive simulation that accomplishes just that, and it even includes a mobile app so students can stay engaged on the go.
Created by a group of financial experts at Money Management International, Financial Literacy Month is a 30-day program intended to give people of all ages the tools needed to lead a successful financial life. Although Financial Literacy Month officially begins on April 1, the 30-step program can be incorporated into a curriculum at any time of the year to serve as a roadmap to financial literacy. The initiative also includes an assortment of worksheets, educational materials and even a personalized certificate to keep students motivated.
Though originally created by the Utah State Board of Education, Finance in the Classroom is a versatile resource for teachers, students and parents across the country. The website provides an assortment of course outlines, activities, lesson plans and other resources for teachers as well as interactive games and other tools for students from kindergarten through grade 12. For teachers in Utah, the platform also includes professional development tools, boot camps and other activities.
Surveys have shown that more than 91 percent of children play video games, making games an exceptionally useful platform for reaching students and engaging them directly with their lessons. Personal finance games like those from Commonwealth, Gen i Revolution and Practical Money Skills turn games into powerful teaching tools to educate students on everything from basic accounting and budgeting to investment and retirement savings.
Though an increasing number of states are beginning to require some form of personal finance education at the high school level, many high schoolers still graduate without having obtained the skills necessary to manage their finances. Educators are in a great position to make an impact and teach financial literacy, but they need the tools to do it effectively. The free resources above provide exactly that, offering games, activities, plans and other information that will engage students and leave them far better equipped to handle the world that awaits after graduation.


text: NOTE: If you need help with the Online giving process, please use the CONTACT FORM. We would love to give you a hand!. Thanks.


text:
On the fateful Friday of April 14th, the student body of Bainbridge High School selected, to govern itself, four ASB officers from the class of 2018. Surviving a grilling from a select panel and the ceaseless ring of an unforgiving gong, YuYu Madigan as President, Ben Cibula as Vice President, Max Weber as Treasurer, and Michael Greenwood as Secretary, successfully emerged from the election into their respective positions.
In the upcoming year the officers all hope to truly represent each student’s opinion and work toward their benefit, but each also had a unique idea for a collective vision for the 2017-2018 school year.
“I want everyone at the school to be able to find something they have in common with other students other than the fact that they go to the same school,” said Greenwood about his aspirations for the upcoming year. The treasurer suggested that club and sport participation as well as attendance at school-wide events would help facilitate this.
Along somewhat the same lines, Cibula plans to “work to build a better sense of community throughout the school,” specifically one that transcends grade level, and Madigan hopes that students of all ages and social spheres will be able to find a friend in her.
But before they can make any changes, the officers must undergo an adjustment period for their new responsibilities.
“I definitely think there will be a learning curve, but I feel confident that with the support of the students and staff of BHS and with the great team we have for ASB, it will be an awesome year,” said Madigan. The other three officers displayed a similar feeling of confidence in themselves and each other, and trust in support from the school community.
“They were very spirited and involved in the school, which I think is good for a ASB officer,” said Madigan of the 2014-2015 ASB.
The officers plan to bring everything they have to make 2018 a memorable year for not only their senior class, but for the whole school. “We all have our own special abilities that we bring to the table, and I am confident that with a little teaching from the current ASB officers we can pick up where they left off and continue on to do bigger and better things,” said Greenwood.
Gisella Gonzalez is a life-long islander in her junior year at BHS. Gisella has been dancing in varying styles since the age of 4, and started playing lacrosse her freshman year. In her second year on the Spartan Standard staff, she has enjoyed serving as editor of the features section and writing a broad range of articles—in particular, features and opinions articles. She focuses on writing local and school-central articles, because of the connections she is able to make throughout the community through interviews and meetings as well as the close to home influence of an article that turns our lenses inward.


text:
It is already a given fact that a wedding could totally make a woman turn into a monster. Undoubtedly, brides are obsessed about being the most radiant, most beautiful and most desirable bride but because of stress the opposite could just happen. Stress is a part of the wedding, stress define the effort that one has placed into making an event at par. But are brides left without a choice? Are brides bound to become the monsters that others have always perceived them to become? The answer is no. in a place where Nova Scotia, brides could have the best wedding without being bothered by stressed.
When it comes to venues, Nova Scotia has all of the perfect wedding venues for brides and grooms to choose from. Romantic venues such as gardens, resorts and establishments offer more than just a venue to saying your “I do” but a complete package of amenities for that hassle-free day.
Vendors are also available conveniently for your wedding detail needs. From invites, favors, food, music, gowns, flowers and photography needs are within your reach. So the moment that your man asks you to walk through the aisle with him, you could tap these people already and slowly perfect your wedding.
The key to being a stress-free bride is to forget about juggling a lot of things. Learn to prioritize and to get the details one at a time. Remember to set ample time aside as well so that you could perfect your wedding.
Since most of the Nova Scotia wedding venues are held in beaches, brides and grooms have more time to relax and bask in the sun before and after the wedding day. The beach helps a lot in calming the senses and to take the stressed out into a relaxing journey just before the big day. In Nova Scotia, there are no brides that are stressed out indeed.

industry_corpus2: Travel & Geography


text:
This is a short review of the Palm Pixi Plus for Verizon Wireless. It shares many features with the Palm Pixi for Sprint, which has a more in-depth review that can be viewed here.
Along with their release of the Palm Pre Plus this week, Verizon is also introducing the Palm Pixi Plus, but unlike the Pre Plus which has more memory and RAM over the original Sprint model, the Palm Pixi Plus only adds Wi-Fi connectivity. Because of this, both Pixi models on Sprint and Verizon are basically identical in terms of design and usability.
There’s no way around it – the Pixi Plus is small. It is slightly taller than the Pre Plus (when closed) but isn’t nearly at thick and also weights less. The device fits comfortably in the hand with the soft-touch coating on the back, though it doesn’t feel as oval as the Pre Plus, and its slim design means it can be tucked away in your pants’ pocket without even being noticed.
The display on the Palm Pixi Plus remains at 2.63-inch diagonal with 320x400 resolution and 262K color support. Naturally, images on it don’t look as large or sharp as ones from the Palm Pre Plus, HTC DROID ERIS, or Motorola DROID, but it is still sufficient for a smartphone of this size. As you can guess, the QWERTY keyboard is also compact, with the buttons being smaller and closer together than the keyboard on the Pre Plus. It is still useable and provides good feedback when pressed, but people with larger hands will most likely have a difficult time with it and may want to look elsewhere. Along the sides are the volume rocker, power/lock button, 3.5mm headset jack, microUSB port, and phone silence switch. The external speaker, 2MP camera and LED Flash are on the back. Internality there is 8GB of memory for you to store files and 256MB of system RAM; the same amount as on Sprint’s Pixi. You can also purchase the optional touchstone charger and battery case.
You can compare the Palm Pixi Plus with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.
Since the Palm Pixi Plus uses the webOS 1.3.5.1 operating system (which is also found on the Pre Plus), we won’t go into great detail covering it here; as launching apps, such as the web browser, email, messaging, phonebook, calendar, and connectivity are all the same. Needless to say, they work quite well together, as it integrates your personal contacts with ones from Google Talk, AIM, and Facebook. However, we started to notice some lag once we had 10 cards open on the homescreen, while the Pre Plus handled 30 cards without problem. The Pixi Plus includes Google Maps, VZ Navigator, Doc Viewer and PDF Viewer; all of which are also found on the Pre Plus. Furthermore, you can turn the Pixi Plus into your personal 3G Mobile Hotpot, with up to 5 Wi-Fi devices connected to it at once, but it will cost you $40 per month on-top of your voice & data plan.
The Palm Pixi Plus includes a 2MP camera, which is a step-down from the 3MP camera on the Pre Plus, though both share the same simple interface. Images taken outside with the Pixi Plus also look worse, due to poor color representation and inaccurate exposure, which makes them darker and “muddy” looking. Indoor images don’t come out great either, and the flash might as well not even be there.
Call quality was good, almost as clear as on the Pre Plus, but there was some distortion if the earpiece volume was turned all the way up, though it was only minor. Reception also matched that of the Pre Plus with 2-3 bars showing during calls and 5 bars of EV showing while using data.
The Palm Pixi Plus is a nice smartphone overall and is ideal for people who want a small device without sacrificing features – not to mention that webOS is easy to use. What could have made it even better is if it came with more memory and RAM, matching that of the Pre Plus, but it’s okay the way it is.
Why 0.8 points *off* the score of a phone released 2 months ago that had it's critical missing feature (wi-fi) added in the revision? I can understand a backlash from all of the palm love of 09, but still. The score is simply a reminder of the fickle nature of cell phone reviewers.

industry_corpus2: Computing & Telecommunications


text:
Come on everyone interested in IMO,IOI,etc. Contribute!!!
IF YOU FEEL THAT ANY ANSWER IS WRONG, THEN ADD A COMMENT ON THIS TALK SECTION ABOUT YOUR LOGIC AND THE EDIT DONE; AND CHANGE IT ABOVE.
This page was last edited on 17 March 2016, at 17:27.


text:
a dynamic, lifelong relationship with God.
One of the first things that drew me to St. Peter’s in the Woods was the Choir ministry. I saw a place where I could worship, contribute and learn musically. There is so much shared talent. Also, I was impressed with the clergy. The level of knowledge, compassion, communication skills and leadership. As a result, I find much joy in our spiritual community.
St. Peters in the Woods is a growing and vibrant Espiscopal church. We have been worshipping here for almost three years and were made to feel like we were part of the church family from the moment we walked in the door. The messages are engaging and easy to understand, and the ministry is reaching more people every week. St. Peters in the Woods is an exciting place to worship!
After attending and visiting several churches in the area, we were still looking for the best fit for our family. One visit to St. Peter’s and we knew we had found what we were looking for. St. Peter’s is a warm and welcoming community that offers a diverse array of programs and services for all ages.
One thing that struck us at St. Peter’s was how friendly and welcoming everyone was. Whether it is your first time visiting or you have been attending services there for years, you are made to feel welcome and leave each week wanting to return. The St. Peter’s community is just that – a true community comprised of people from different walks of life all coming together to serve God and our neighbors. It’s also a place where you can get involved at a level that meets your needs and desires.
A little over a year ago a friend of mine recommended St. Peter’s in the Woods to me, so I decided to visit a few services. The sermons were so inspiring and the music was so uplifting that I initially felt it was a good fit for me. This past year my family has enjoyed the special activities and programs for kids, like Sunday School, Youth Group, Fall Festival, and Vacation Bible School, and I have especially loved participating in the Music Ministry.
A year later I feel like I couldn’t have made a better choice. The welcoming atmosphere and sense of real community are just a few of the things that have kept me coming back. There are so many opportunities for fellowship and ways to serve that I recommend it to all my friends. I am happy to say that St. Peter’s in the Woods is my parish home.
After retiring from a military career, we were simply unable to find a church in which we felt the sense of community, reverence, and joy we had so often experienced in our military parishes. We had reluctantly abandoned the search by the time we moved to Fairfax Station a couple of years ago. The wonderful owners of the home we purchased introduced us to St. Peter’s in the Woods and we were welcomed, prayed over, and enveloped in a genuine Christian embrace. We are home again.