Alkaline Diet For Disease-Free Living!
You’ve read my inclination towards an alkaline based, raw foods diet. You’ve probably heard about the “alkaline diet” in the news, and perhaps – if you’re really, really trendy and on top of things – you even have an alkaline water filter in your home (you’ve forked out thousands for this, too, no doubt).
Trends aside, there’s a reason why an alkaline diet is such a no-brainer when it comes to maintaining our health – and preventing ailments and early-onset aging!
What is PH Balance and Alkaline State
All humans, when we are born, are perfectly PH balanced. This means that we are in an alkaline state – the opposite of which is an acidic state. The best example of an alkaline state is how a newborn smells: clean, fresh, almost sweet. Many elders smell sour: this is because their tissues are continually in an acidic state. In fact, acidity is the main cause of aging, and it can be significantly slowed down by maintaining our PH balance, or alkalizing, our tissues.
Why Alkaline State and PH Balance Is So Important
Think of our body as an electrical being. This means that our cells carry electrical charges, both positive and negative. In science, PH is measured on a sliding numeric scale, with PH balanced tissue resting at around 7.5. In a PH balanced body, blood cells are equally spaced apart, which allows them to travel throughout our capillaries and our bodies easily. When our PH balance becomes too acidic, meaning our tissues are closer to 3 on the PH scale, our blood cells clump together, blocking capillaries and disrupting proper flow. This contributes to creating acidic tissues in the body, and if PH is not balanced, disease occurs. Scientists who study cancer, for example, know that cancer grows in acidic tissue, while the surrounding alkaline tissue carries no cancer.
Our bodies are continually re-balancing our PH levels, though we live in a culture that is extremely acidic. Therefore, it is very difficult for the average human body, consuming the typical western diet, to stay alkaline. Many scientists and doctors believe that acidity is the leading cause of disease and premature aging.
Causes Of Acidity
From our alkaline, newborn state, we become gradually acidic. This is mostly because here in the west, we consume a very acidic diet. HERE’S AN AMAZING LINK (thanks, Angelfire!) that details acid forming foods, alkaline foods – it’s super detailed, so make sure you scroll down all the way! And here’s a basic list of alkaline and acidic foods:
Extremely Alkaline Lemons, watermelon.
Alkaline Forming Cantaloupe, cayenne celery, dates, figs, kelp, limes, mango, melons, papaya, parsley, seaweeds, seedless grapes (sweet), watercress. Asparagus, fruit juices, grapes (sweet), kiwifruit, passionfruit, pears (sweet), pineapple, raisins, umeboshi plums, and vegetable juices.
Moderately Alkaline Apples (sweet), alfalfa sprouts, apricots, avocados, bananas (ripe), currants, dates, figs (fresh), garlic, grapefruit, grapes (less sweet), guavas, herbs (leafy green), lettuce (leafy green), nectarine, peaches (sweet), pears (less sweet), peas (fresh, sweet), pumpkin (sweet), sea salt (vegetable). Apples (sour), beans (fresh, green), beets, bell peppers, broccoli, cabbage, carob, cauliflower, ginger (fresh), grapes (sour), lettuce (pale green), oranges, peaches (less sweet), peas (less sweet), potatoes (with skin), pumpkin (less sweet), raspberries, strawberries, squash, sweet Corn (fresh), turnip, vinegar (apple cider).
Slightly Alkaline Almonds, artichokes (jerusalem), brussel sprouts, cherries, coconut (fresh), cucumbers, eggplant, honey (raw), leeks, mushrooms, okra, olives (ripe), onions, pickles (homemade), radishes, sea salt, spices, tomatoes (sweet), vinegar (sweet brown rice). Chestnuts (dry, roasted), egg yolks (soft cooked), essene bread, goat’s milk and whey (raw), mayonnaise (homemade), olive oil, sesame seeds (whole), soy beans (dry), soy cheese, soy milk, sprouted grains, tofu, tomatoes (less sweet), and yeast (nutritional flakes).
Neutral Butter (fresh, unsalted), cream (fresh, raw), cow’s milk and whey (raw), margine, oils (except olive), and yogurt (plain).
Moderately Acidic Bananas (green), barley (rye), blueberries, bran, butter, cereals (unrefined), cheeses, crackers (unrefined rye, rice and wheat), cranberries, dried beans (mung, adzuki, pinto, kidney, garbanzo), dry coconut, egg whites, eggs whole (cooked hard), fructose, goat’s milk (homogenized), honey (pasteurized), ketchup, maple syrup (unprocessed), milk (homogenized). Molasses (unsulferd and organic), most nuts, mustard, oats (rye, organic), olives (pickled), pasta (whole grain), pastry (whole grain and honey), plums, popcorn (with salt and/or butter), potatoes, prunes, rice (basmati and brown), seeds (pumpkin, sunflower), soy sauce, and wheat bread (sprouted organic).
Extremely Acidic Artificial sweeteners, beef, beer, breads, brown sugar, carbonated soft drinks, cereals (refined), chocolate, cigarettes and tobacco, coffee, cream of wheat (unrefined), custard (with white sugar), deer, drugs, fish, flour (white, wheat), fruit juices with sugar, jams, jellies, lamb. Liquor, maple syrup (processed), molasses (sulphured), pasta (white), pastries and cakes from white flour, pickles (commercial), pork, poultry, seafood, sugar (white), table salt (refined and iodized), tea (black), white bread, white vinegar (processed), whole wheat foods, wine, and yogurt (sweetened).
How To Balance PH And Stay Alkaline
The best way to stay alkaline is to consume a mostly alkaline diet. According to many experts, we should enjoy about 60% alkaline forming foods, and 40% acidic foods. Eating fresh vegetables, low amounts of protein, and drinking citrus-infused water – yes, I know that citrus is acid, but it actually creates an alkaline ash in the urine! – will help keep the body in a PH balanced state. Couple that with a healthy lifestyle, avoiding toxins like cigarettes, household cleaners and environmental pollutants, can all keep acidity at bay.
A Sample Alkaline Meal Plan:
Here’s what I typically consume on any given day. I feel amazing, and I know that I am keeping myself balanced! And youthful, and healthy, and gorgeous.
Upon Rising: Glass of pure water with squeeze of sliced lime
Coffee: SUPER ACIDIC I know! This is my one indulgence. Forgive me please. At least I’m honest.
Breakfast: Raw Breakfast: Apple chunks, 1/4 avocado slices, grated fresh coconut, tsp flax seeds, tsp pumpkin seeds
Snack: Smoothie: 1 ounce almonds, 1/2 cup raw spinach, 1 tbs coconut oil, 1 pear – cored, 1/2 to 1 cup pure water. Blend – enjoy!
nch: Raw Salad: Mixed greens, heaps of sprouts (I sprout my own, and I love them mixed: like alfalfa, mung, lentil, chick pea), cucumber slices, chopped veggies: zucchini, carrots, celery, tomato, raw olives, chopped tofu, flax seeds, chopped fresh dill. Dressing: olive or grape seed oil, spray of Bragg’s non-fermented soy sauce. Occasionally I’ll add a sprinkling of Red Star nutritional yeast. Yum!
Snack: Seaweed rolls: Nori lined with lettuce leaf, tomato, cucumber, sprouts, green onion. Bragg’s sauce to dip.
Juice: My current fave: apple, cucumber, celery, kale, and a slice of ginger.
Dinner: Broiled wild salmon, mashed sweet potatos with garlic and olive oil, steamed chard.
My diet may seem a little extreme to those of you unfamiliar with raw foods. You needn’t be so hard-core – I really like to eat this way, but it’s not for everyone! What IS for everyone, though, is Incorporating more alkaline foods into your daily diet. I guarantee you that you will look, feel, and perform better than you can remember!
In health, Sage Photo


Sore Throat Home Remedy.
Unfortunately it’s cold and flu season, again! And one of the most common symptoms associated with a virus is a sore throat. Generally it is caused by Streptococcus; a common strain of bacteria that can live in your respiratory systems for months. Sore throats are irritating, bothersome, and just plain sore. So we would like to help you soothe that pain.
Here are 2 great home remedies to help ease your throat:
1. Good ol’ mom’s recipe. Boil up some hot water, and mix in a tablespoon of honey, and squeeze of lemon. The honey will help soothe your throat. Honey has not been proven to, but has been said that it contains substances that can help kill microorganism/viruses. At the very least it is soothing, and tastes good.
2. Try gargling with ½ tsp of Cayenne pepper mixed with a few ounces of water. We know it sounds uncomfortable, or like the possible enemy because most of think “hot” when we think of pepper. However; capsaicin the main ingredient in chilli helps to numb the throat, and ease the pain.
Give it a Try!


Lovie Smith has broken barriers in his career as a coach. He was the first African American coach for the Chicago Bears and made history when he and Tony Dungy coached the Super Bowl in 2006.
It was the first time the NFL's biggest game was coached by two African Americans.
During the season, he met up in a hotel lobby with Eddie Macon, another African American who broke barriers with Chicago. Macon was the first African American to play for the Bears, playing for George Halas in 1952. He was a running back and kick returner, and told the Chicago Bears website didn't have much trouble with other teams, except for one.
"The team that I really had problems with was the Detroit Lions. They beat me in the face, twisted my legs. When I got in a pile, I tried to come out of that pile because I knew what they were going to try to do.”
Macon met not just Smith, but another player who was remembered for his kick returns.
“It wasn’t just a thrill for me. It was a thrill for Devin, Charles and all of the guys who got a chance to meet the first African American player for the Chicago Bears. I always want our players to know about our history, and for us to get an opportunity to just not know about it but to see a guy that actually did it is something we won’t forget.”
The connection to Bears history is one that is important to Smith. Few other franchises in the NFL can take pride in the team's history like the Bears can. George Halas, the Papa Bear who founded the Bears, also founded the National Football League. The Bears have more Hall-of-Famers than any other team.
Check out Grizzly Detail: NBC Chicago's Bears blog features videos, photos, news, commentary and more. All the Grizzly Detail is right here.
Bear Down, Chicago.
Grizzly Detail on Twitter: @Grizzly_Detail


Telling the story of the world -- the history, the culture, the people -- is no small task. But what if you started with something small? Like say a grain of salt. Following in the footsteps of Mark Kurlansky, whose book Salt ravaged the best-seller lists in 2003, four writers who have similarly approached our vast, impenetrable history using one ingredient, one staple dish or even one bottle of wine, are gathering at the Housing Works Bookstore on Wednesday to talk about food, obsession, people, and especially people who are obsessed with food.
Anne Mendelson, who takes a critical look at the history of dairy in her 2008 book Milk -- beginning with the lives of goat herders in the Middle East some 6,000 years ago -- will be there to discuss how we ended up with such dairy-like abominations as strawberry-flavored Nesquik and Go-Gurts. If we're lucky, maybe she will share some hot tips from her book for making homemade yogurt.
How did a country that thrives on cheeseburgers and mashed potatoes become so obsessed with eating raw fish and rice? Trevor Corson, in The Story of Sushi, follows students at the California Sushi Academy while also providing a history of the Japanese staple, it's unlikely rise to stardom in the U.S. over the last decade and the biology of the scaley, slippery suckers themselves.
There's even something for oenophiles: Brooklyn-based journalist Benjamin Wallace goes all Da Vinci Code in The Billionaire’s Vinegar as he tracks the history of a bottle of wine that famously sold for over $150,000 in 1985, revealing the dark, deceptive and ultimately ridiculous side of high-price wine collecting.
Dangerously close to home, David Sax in Save the Deli chronicles his quest for pastrami on rye outside the confines of New York City and is surprised to find salami, cabbage rolls and chopped liver that is -- get ready for it -- better than New York City's finest. Feel free to take issue with his outrageous claims (psst, he's from Toronto -- easy target) during the Q&A.
This is the second panel in "Word of Mouth," a series to help raise money to renovate the not-for-profit Housing Works Bookstore's cafe so they can make even more fresh pies, quiches and cookies while ultimately helping out those who are homeless and living with HIV/AIDS in New York City.
Where: Housing Works Bookstore/Cafe
122 Crosby Street nr. Houston
When: Wednesday, April 14, 7:00 p.m.
Cost: Free (wine and beer $5)


Establishment of Districts.
§ 156-54. Jurisdiction to establish districts.
The clerk of the superior court of any county in the State of North Carolina shall have jurisdiction, power and authority to establish levee or drainage districts either wholly or partly located in his county, and which shall constitute a political subdivision of the State, and to locate and establish levees, drains or canals, and cause to be constructed, straightened, widened or deepened, any ditch, drain or watercourse, and to build levees or embankments and erect tidal gates and pumping plants for the purpose of draining and reclaiming wet, swamp or overflowed land; and it is hereby declared that the drainage of swamplands and the drainage of surface water from agricultural lands and the reclamation of tidal marshes shall be considered a public use and benefit and conducive to the public health, convenience and welfare, and that the districts heretofore and hereafter created under the law shall be and constitute political subdivisions of the State, with authority to provide by law to levy taxes and assessments for the construction and maintenance of said public works. (1909, c. 442, s. 1; C.S., s. 5312; 1921, c. 7.)


From March 2007 to February 2010
Project Leader(s): Professor Cam Donaldson, Dr Rachel Baker
Staff: Sue Bell, Helen Mason, Michael Jones-Lee, Emily Lancsar, John Wildman
Contact: Dr Rachel Baker
Sponsors: European Commission
A major issue in cost effectiveness analysis is that of the value to place on a quality adjusted life year (QALY), commonly used as a measure of health care effectiveness across Europe. This has come to the fore in several European countries, resulting from the creation of national health technology and pharmaceutical assessment agencies. Such agencies were established to make recommendations on technology adoption, addressing issues of affordability and sustainability of publicly-funded health care systems. Recommendations are most often made on the basis of QALYs produced relative to costs incurred. Methods of estimating cost per QALY, based on rigorous decision analytic models, are now very sophisticated. However, ‘threshold’ values adopted (such as £20-40,000 per QALY above or below which a new therapy will be rejected or recommended for adoption in England) are essentially arbitrary, with little or no economic foundation. This critical policy issue is reflected in the growing interest across Europe in development of more sound methods to elicit such a value.
The aim of this research would, therefore, be to develop robust methods to determine the monetary value of a QALY across a number of European Member States.
This would be addressed in two ways: through ‘modelling’ such a value based on values of statistical lives currently used (or implicit values from adoption decisions in various fields) across Member States; and through survey research to test two methods of deriving a societal willingness-to-pay (WTP) based monetary value of a QALY.
University of East Anglia
University of Aberdeen
University of Tromso
University of Southern Denmark
Swedish Institute of Health Economics, Lund
INSERM Research Unit 379 ‘Social Science Applied to Medicine’, Universitee de la Mediterranee Aix-Marseille
Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla
Erasmus University Rotterdam
Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków
Corvinus University Budapest
University of York


Acute hospitals grew up in the 19th century to provide safe settings for elective and emergency treatments requiring bed rest (The National Beds Inquiry, Department of Health, February 2000).
Many of the local authority hospitals were nineteenth-century poor law hospitals recently transferred to the local authorities under Neville Chamberlain's Local Government Act of 1929. They still had the grim aura of the workhouse (Paul Addison, Now the War is Over - A Social History of Britain 1945-51).
The aim should be to close the City General Hospital eventually (A Survey of the Hospital Services of the North Western Area HMSO 1945).
The development of the Cumberland Infirmary
The original Cumberland Infirmary was an imposing building funded, gradually extended and continually supported by subscription. Wealthier patients' contributions helped make possible treatment of the less well off by distinguished specialist doctors. All types of cases could be admitted as inpatients and up to thirty times as many again as outpatients.
The old City General Hospital opened on 2 April 1864 as a "Union" Workhouse, and provided accommodation and "relief" of the poor and an adjacent "Infirmary" for chronic cases. It became known as the City General Hospital from 1946.
Another voluntary hospital was established in 1820 for Infectious Diseases at Collier Lane on the site of the present day Citadel Station. In 1847 it transferred to Crozier Lodge, a large private house next to the Infirmary. After the last Smallpox epidemic in 1904, a new Isolation Hospital was opened on Moorhouse Road, a mile beyond the city limits, which was only disposed of in 1981 following the World Health Organisation's announcement of eradication. Further voluntary provision for chronic disability and illness was made from 1883 at the Border Home for the Incurables, later Strathclyde House, demolished in 1992 to make way for a supermarket.
Even before the formation of the National Health Service at midnight on 4/5 July 1948, the need to bring all Carlisle's hospital buildings together on one site had become the policy direction . In the event this would take more than half a century to achieve with the closure of the City Maternity and General Hospitals on 15 April 2000.
The development of West Cumberland Hospital
In West Cumbria a small voluntary and local authority managed hospital was inadequate to meet the needs of the population in an area with heavy industry and its associated morbidity. The Regional Hospital Board planned an all new District Hospital in Hensingham, Whitehaven, which opened in 1964 as the first such post war development in England. The old Whitehaven Hospital continued to be used for elderly care until closure following fire damage in 1988 whilst Workington Infirmary closed in 2005, in favour of the Private Finance Initiative Workington Community Hospital.
In 2009, the announcement was made that West Cumberland Hospital would be redeveloped and reburbished using capital funds and this work is progressing (see our deciated website Building Your Hospital in West Cumbria).
The development of our Trust
North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust was formed in 2001 when Carlisle Hospitals NHS Trust merged with West Cumbria Healthcare NHS Trust. The Trust became a University Hospital Trust in September 2008.
Our main commissioner is Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).


Research & Information
Research and Information assists the agriculture commissioner by providing research and analysis of issues facing agriculture and the rural community, such as federal farm policy, regulatory matters, trade, disaster assistance, crop insurance, value-added agriculture and renewable energy development.
Research and Information writes, edits and publishes most department publications, including press releases, informational pamphlets and brochures, newsletters and the biennial report. Publications are made available in hard copy and on NDDA’s website, www.nd.gov/ndda.
Research and Information serves as a liaison to agricultural organizations, councils and other government entities, and is also the point of contact for the news media and the general public in learning more about North Dakota agriculture and the department.


Ready for the 2010 FIFA World Cup
Even penguins at the Japanese Hakkeijima Sea Paradise Aquarium celebrate the second most important thing in the world - soccer. Three little penguins had a mini goal placed in their habitat; it didn't take them long to start kicking and passing the ball.
The match in which all of them were winners was perfectly timed: to celebrate the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, starting on June 11.
Keepers at the Aquarium usually teach animals different tricks. Beside the Ronaldo like penguins, they have taught two whales to balance oranges on their heads.


When you pack, make it the responsibility of one person, or make sure the divisions are absolutely clear - that way you won't arrive at your destination with six bikinis but no knickers!
It's a really good idea to keep a box to store all the small and essential items you take away with you - things such as calpol, spoon, toothbrushes and paste, toddler shampoo, thermometer etc.
It simplifies the packing process especially if it includes items that can't be packed until the last moment (i.e.toothbrushes).
- As soon as you've washed and ironed holiday clothes put them away in the suitcase so that the family can't get at them.
- Stuff all shoes with socks.
- Roll your clothes - they won't get so creased.
- If it's likely to be cold, think in terms of layers, rather than everyone having one thick coat or jacket.
- If you can, pack your swimming stuff in your hand luggage if you're going to a hotel. That way, you can go swimming if your rooms aren't ready without having to rummage through suitcases.
- Don't forget hot weather essentials, such as sunhats and sunglasses.
- For little ones and toddlers make sure you keep back a pair of pants to carry in hand luggage just in case of little accidents en route
Toiletries & medicines
- Hang on to those freebie hotel toiletries - very useful for short holidays. They'll save you a fair bit of money and space in the suitcase.
- Make sure you pack toiletries in a zip-up bag; the lids can pop off with the cabin pressure. Put your toiletries, perfume and bulk of your make-up in your suitcase as it may be confiscated if you put it in your hand baggage. Equally, sharp objects such as tweezers or nail scissors must be packed in your hold luggage.
- Some medicine essentials include: plasters; digital thermometer (more accurate in a hot climate); insect repellent; re-hydration salts and diarrhea medicines; antiseptic cream for insect bites; antiseptic wipes; calpol; paracetamol
Other useful bits & bobs
- Good quality sealable plastic bags. Useful if things spill or get dirty.
- Clothes pegs come in handy for all sorts of things, such as creating darker curtains if necessary.
- Some soap flakes or travel wash - useful if you run out of clean undies and you need to wash some in the sink!
- Nail clippers - nails grow much faster in a warm climate, and short nails make it harder to scratch insect bites.
- If you're hiring a car abroad, don't forget to take car sunshades and a child view mirror with you if you want one.
It might be easier to actually buy some things abroad rather than take them with you: cheap towels; inflatable boats; toiletries etc. Also, remember to check your hand baggage size before you go. Each passenger can take on one piece of hand baggage but it mustn't be any bigger than length of 56 cm, width of 45 cm and depth of 25 cm. Write your name and address on a sheet of paper and put it in your luggage. If the label comes off, it's a fail-safe.


Turtles, tortoises and terrapins are all members of the order Testudines. These reptiles all have a protective shell that has developed from their ribs. The top half of a turtle’s shell is called the carapace and the underside portion is called the plastron.
Contrary to cartoons and children’s media, turtles cannot leave their shells.
There are an estimated 300 species of Testudines. Typically, the term “turtle” is used to describe species that are associated with fresh or salt water. “Tortoise” is used for species that are strictly confined to the land. The term “terrapin” is used for only one species, the Diamondback Terrapin, which is associated with brackish water.
One Aquarium Way
Newport, KY 41071
© Copyright 2015. All Rights Reserved


McDONOUGH — For people age 70 and above, often a word is as good as a handshake.
“That’s why they’re so often the victim of scams,” said Dottie Callina, manager of communications at the Better Business Bureau. “They tend to be very trusting of what people say.”
Callina said many scammers these days are specifically targeting the senior citizen population.
“The worst is the grandparents scam,” she said. “People will call them and say their grandchildren are in need of urgent help. They may not think about it and just send money.”
In a recent Elder Fraud Survey done by Investor Protection Trust, one in five seniors fall victim to financial fraud.
“Typically, they are likely to have excellent credit and own their home,” the release said.
The BBB and FBI have released a list of scams and fraud schemes seniors should be award of. They are:
Health Care/Insurance Fraud: Scammers may pose as a Medicare representative to get seniors to give them their personal or financial information.
Door to Door Sales/Repairs: Scammers will often go door-to-door offering repair services or equipment sales.
Funeral/Cemetery Fraud: Scammers will attend the funeral service of a stranger to take advantage of the widower or other family member, claiming the deceased had an outstanding debt with them.
Counterfeit Prescription Drugs: Consumers can now refill prescriptions online, but an unauthorized site with the best price may send ineffective or harmful drugs.
Telemarketing Fraud: Telemarketing scams often involve calls and email offers of free prizes, low-cost vitamins or health care products.
Fraudulent “Anti-Aging” Products: Scammer-distributors will suggest bogus homeopathic remedies that do nothing or will use renegade labs to create versions of products which can have health consequences.
Internet Fraud: Pop-up browser windows simulating virus-scanning software will fool victims into downloading a fake program. In some cases a virus will be downloaded allowing scammers to steal personal and financial information.
Grandparent Scheme: Scammers will place a call to a senior posing as their grandchild or a relative in need of help or trapped in a foreign country. They will usually ask for cash to solve the problem and ask for payment through a money wiring service.
Investment Schemes: Because many seniors find themselves planning for retirement and managing their savings, investment schemes have been a successful way for scammers to take advantage of them.
Reverse Mortgage Scams: Scammers like to take advantage of the fact that many seniors own their homes and will send fraudulent letters on behalf of the county’s assessor’s office offering the homeowner to arrange a reassessment of their property for a fee.
The BBB has issued tips to help protect seniors from being defrauded. They recommend finding a business to trust, be aware of high pressure sales tactics and be wary of an unsolicited correspondence — this can include anything from government agencies, credit card companies and banks. Also, use secure payment methods, never send money via wire transfer and do not share any personal information — this includes social security number, bank account information, birth date or address.
“We try to talk to talk to as many senior citizens as we can to get the word out,” Callina said. “We have to do everything we can to protect them.”
To report a fraud contact the Better Business Bureau online at www.bbb.org or call 404-766-0875.


NSW & ACT
A BUSHFIRE has closed roads near Forster on the state's mid-north coast, as NSW faces a week of soaring temperatures and dry, windy weather.
The Lakes Way is currently closed in both directions between Sweet Pea Road and Green Point Drive, just south of Forster.
NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) crews are on the scene and have advised residents to stay in the area. No homes are currently under threat, according to the RFS.
Six aircraft are assisting firefighters to control the blaze.
The Transport Management Centre has advised motorists to use the Pacific Highway as an alternative route, while those travelling to Forster should use Failford Road via Tuncurry.
Emergency services are at the scene trying to put the fire out.
Penrith is now Sydney's hottest suburb, with a temperature of 35.2C at 4.05pm. Bankstown fell to 27.6C at 4.04pm, Camden was 31.8C and Campbelltown 31.1C, just after 4pm.
NSW Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers said there were 43 fires burning around the state and nine of those were not contained.
"We have got incidents happening all the time," Deputy Commissioner Rogers said.
These fires are located in areas ranging from Orange to Gloucester, Shoalhaven, Gundagai and Cobar.
A Skycrane has also been stationed in Wagga in preparation for the warm weather. The other Skycrane remains in Sydney.
"We are making sure we have got the resources where they are needed most,'' Deputy Commissioner Rogers said.
"We have also provided some aircraft assistance to South Australia and Victoria to help them."
A "superheated" air mass flowing from the deserts of central Australia will push temperatures well above 40C across huge areas of Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and the Northern Territory into next week.
A seven-day heatwave is set to hit parts of NSW today, with temperatures expected to soar as high as 44C in the state's west - prompting warnings from the fire services and health authorities.
Firefighters are warning NSW residents to prepare for more bushfires this weekend with windy and dry conditions tipped for much of the state, along with the hottest temperatures in four years.
Deputy Commissioner Rogers says firefighters are expecting tough conditions over the next few days as the heatwave intensifies across inland parts of the state.
"We're coming from a 10-year drought where there was no fuel particularly west of the ranges to a record year where it has dried off," Mr Rogers told AAP.
"The next week of really hot weather is going to make it drier and drier to the point that it'll take a single spark and we'll have fires to deal with."
Mr Rogers says winds are also predicted to strengthen, making the likelihood of fires even greater.
"So it's fair to say we're bracing for difficult conditions over the next few days," he said.
Temperatures are forecast to stay above 40C in the state's west until Tuesday next week, the Bureau of Meteorology advises.
However, sea breezes are tipped to keep temperatures cooler in Sydney and NSW coastal regions.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Chris Webb says areas west of Dubbo are likely to experience temperatures not recorded in the state for several years.
"It will be the hottest run since 2009," Mr Webb said.
"The extreme temperatures are going to be on the plain west of the ranges.
"It's not expected to be record-breaking but it's extremely unpleasant."
He said coastal parts of the state would be "saved from the worst of it".
A total fire ban is in place for NSW's southern Riverina on Friday.
It covers the Berrigan, Conargo, Corowa, Deniliquin, Jerilderie, Murray, Urana and Wakool council areas.
And while the highest temperature in the Sydney CBD over the next seven days will only reach a maximum of 30C, the mercury is expected to reach 39C in Penrith on Tuesday.
Other parts of western Sydney, such as Campbelltown and Liverpool, are tipped to hit 37C, while Broken Hill and Tibooburra are expecting 44C.
The heatwave is set to last until at least next Thursday.
Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Andrew Haigh said a large mass of hot air sitting over central Australia would push temperatures up in regional areas of the state for an extended period of time.
"We're expecting winds to be fairly light and this means a quite large and deep air mass will be sitting in the same place for a number of days," Mr Haigh said.
"The sun will heat up the land and there is nowhere for it to go. These conditions do occur from time to time where we get runs of extreme hot weather."
The highest maximum temperature ever recorded in NSW was 49.7C at Menindee, in the state's west, on January 10, 1939.


As the average consumer, you probably often hear about natural cosmetics and its benefits a lot lately. It is a growing trend to use this type of makeup due to the many benefits that are often associated with it, but some probably feel that using natural cosmetics is just all hype similar to other makeup products released on the market. However, the hype surrounding these makeup products is well deserved and will be around for a while due to its beneficial and healthy use.
So just what are organic cosmetics exactly and why should you use them? Well one of the main attractions to natural cosmetics is the 100% natural ingredients in comparison to other makeup products filled with chemicals giving the same effects desired by the consumer. These chemicals are extremely harmful to the skin and can ultimately upset allergies that the user was not aware they possessed, thus creating harmful effects on the body as well. Organic and natural ingredients give the consumer the purest of ingredients to create the look that they are trying to achieve. Since there are absolutely zero chemicals applied to the face, these natural cosmetics will also give the skin the most natural of glows as well as a completely natural look.
It is often not known that the skin actually takes in anything that is applied on it. These chemicals is mainstream cosmetics will pass into your skin every time that you apply it to your face, thus guiding these chemicals into your bloodstream. Immediate effects are often not seen by using these chemical filled cosmetics, but in the long run it could have very negative effects on the health of the body. Natural cosmetics will give you freedom not to worry about such things.
Other benefits of using these cosmetics in comparison to mainstream chemical cosmetics are the fewer allergies associated with its use as well as healthier skin. Many people have sensitive skin which after long-term use of chemical cosmetics can cause skin to look worse instead of better. Natural cosmetics will not have any negative long-term effects on the skin, giving the user a healthier and younger appearance in the long haul. Using these cosmetics will also prevent clogging of the pores that is often seen in aluminum based products, whereas natural makeup contains only natural ingredients so no potential for acne scars or long-term damage.
The price of these products tend to run a little more than typical drugstore cosmetics, but the benefits of using these natural cosmetics outweigh the price associated with them greatly. At the end of the day, your skin will look much healthier and younger with or without cosmetics in comparison to consumers who incorporate chemical induced cosmetics into their daily ritual. This will save you money by giving you fewer products to purchase in order to fix damage done by long-term use of chemical cosmetics, while also giving you lasting effects that will not have to be associated with guilt.
Mike Funes invites you to take a look at Ucell Corp.. As the average consumer, you probably often hear about Natural Cosmetics and its benefits a lot lately. It is a growing trend to use this type of makeup due to the many benefits that are often associated with it.


On Thursday, Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, explained his defense of a secret National Security Agency telephone surveillance program by revealing it was responsible for preventing at least one terrorist attack, the Hill r
“Within the last few years, this program was used to stop a terrorist attack in the United States,” Rogers said.
“We know that. It’s important. It fills in a little seam that we have, and it’s used to make sure that there is not an international nexus to any terrorism event that they may believe is ongoing in the United States.”
The Guardian revealed Wednesday it had come into the possession of a leaked secret court order, issued by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, requiring Verizon to hand over the phone records to the NSA of all of its customers, whether or not they are thought to be involved in any wrongdoing.
The order covers information known as “metadata” -- phone numbers, the time calls were made, the length of those calls and other identifying information but rules out the gathering of the contents of conversations or text messages.
Rogers let it be known that the House has been steadily informed regarding the information gathering and that the order must be reinstated by a judge every 90 days.
“It is legal,” Rogers said.
“It's been authorized by Congress and it has, again, judicial oversight and review.”
According to the Washington Post,
Rogers would not get into specifics when talking about the nature of the thwarted terrorist attack, saying only that efforts were underway to declassify the information, which would then be made public.
Later on Thursday, Rogers joined with the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., to release a joint statement praising the order.
“The collection described with yesterday’s disclosure of a purported court order is consistent with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) as passed by Congress, executed by the Executive Branch, and approved by a Federal Court,” the statement read.
“Understanding the necessity of the public’s trust in our intelligence activities, and out of an abundance of caution, the Committee will review this matter to ensure that it too complies with the laws established to protect the American people,” the congressmen wrote.
© 2015 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


A crows foot spanner is a tool that is used to apply torque to screws and bolts. It is a type of wrench that is made up of a handle and a socket. The socket is usually attached to the handle via a screw thread. The crows foot spanner is used to apply torque to screws and bolts by turning the handle. The socket is usually attached to the handle via a screw thread.
A crows foot spanner is a type of wrench that is used to turn bolts or nuts that are difficult to reach with a regular wrench. The crows foot spanner has a long, thin handle with a small, open-ended head that resembles a crow’s foot.
How do you use a crow’s foot on a torque wrench?
If you place the crowfoot wrench at an angle 90-degrees to the torque wrench handle, the amount of torque you’re applying doesn’t change. You can set the torque wrench to the fastener’s torque specification and continue to use the torque wrench normally. This is a great way to ensure that you’re applying the correct amount of torque to the fastener.
When you put an extension on a torque wrench, the torque applied to the fastener increases as the lever arm extends. The calculator will work out what value you should set into the wrench to achieve the required fastener torque.
How do you measure torque with a spanner
When tightening a bolt with a torque wrench, it is important to first place the wrench around the nut to hold it in place. Then, move the torque wrench back and forth until the bolt is tight. You will hear two distinct clicks to indicate the correct number of foot pounds of torque has been applied. Finally, lift up the torque wrench to release the bolt.
A torque wrench is a precision tool that helps ensure that screws and bolts are tightened to the correct level of tension. This is important in order to avoid problems with assembly or adjustment. The torque wrench allows the operator to set the level of torque that is applied to the fastener, so that it meets the requirements for the particular application. This ensures that all parts are properly tensioned and loaded.
Can you torque bolts with a crow’s foot?
When you’re using a torque wrench, it’s important to get the setting right. The setting will determine how much torque is applied to the bolt or nut that you’re tightening. Too much torque can damage the bolt or nut, and too little torque won’t secure it properly. Finding the right setting is important to ensure that your work is done properly.
As such, when using a torque wrench, it is important to first identify which direction the torque wrench is designed to operate in. For most torque wrenches, this will not be an issue, as they will work in either direction. However, for the “C” series of torque wrenches, it is important to note that they will only work in the clockwise direction. The exception to this rule is the C4D600F series of torque wrenches, which have a ratchet that can be flipped over to allow for counter-clockwise applications.
What happens if you torque too much?
If a technician uses too much force when tightening or loosening a threaded fastener, they can strip the threads or stretch the bolt beyond its limits. This can result in loose nuts, or the bolt may crack and break. It is important to use the correct amount of force when working with threaded fasteners, to avoid damaging them.
You should never, under any circumstances, use a “cheater bar” with a torque wrench. Not only is the accuracy adversely affected by cheater bar tools, but also serious bodily injury may result.
Does torque wrench prevent over tightening
A torque wrench is used to apply a specific level of torque to a fastener such as a nut or bolt. It is important to use a torque wrench to prevent over tightening, which can damage the fastener or the surrounding material. While a torque wrench can help to prevent over tightening, it is still possible to damage the fastener if the operator does not pay attention to the click sound indicating that the torque has been reached.
An adjustable spanner is a versatile hand tool that can be used to tighten or loosen a variety of different fasteners. To use one, simply identify the size of the fastener you wish to work with, turn the screw mechanism on the spanner to open or close the jaws (adjusting the width between them as necessary), and then place it over the nut or bolt you wish to tighten or loosen. Finally, tighten the thumb screw back up to the desired grip.
What is the easiest way to measure torque?
One relatively simple way to estimate torque on the output shaft of an electrical motor is to measure its electrical power input via an electrical power meter. The meter calculates the power input by measuring the current and voltage in the line driving the motor. This power input can be then used to estimate the torque by using the motor’s efficiency.
A torque wrench is a tool used to tighten nuts and bolts to a predetermined torque value. This instrument allows fasteners to be tightened to the proper tension, helping avoid damage from over tightening or joints coming apart from under tightening.
What are the three most commonly used torque wrenches
There are four basic types of torque wrenches, each with slightly different operating principles: beam or deflection, dial indicator, clicker, and digital.
Beam or deflection torque wrenches are the most basic type. They work by deflecting a beam of metal when a certain amount of torque is applied. Dial indicator torque wrenches are a bit more complex. They have a dial that indicates how much torque is being applied. Click torque wrenches make a clicking sound when a certain amount of torque is applied. Digital torque wrenches are the most advanced type. They use electronic sensors to measure the amount of torque being applied.
It is important to keep your torque wrench clean and stored properly in order to keep it in good condition. Micrometer adjustable type torque wrenches should always be stored at their lowest torque setting to prevent damage. Always remember to unwind the handle after each use. If a torque wrench is dropped, it should be re-calibrated before use. It is also important not to exceed the capacity of the torque wrench.
How do you find the right torque without a torque wrench?
A ratchet is a tool that is used to tighten or loosen a fastener. It is a very versatile tool and can be used in a variety of applications. A long ratchet will work best for this application, but any ratchet that is at least a foot long will suffice.
The crowfoot wrench is a handy tool to have around when you need to work in tight spaces. The ratcheting action of the socket handle locks in the direction the wrench is turned, providing the leverage needed to turn the bolt or nut.
A crows foot spanner is a type of wrench that is used to loosen or tighten bolts and nuts. It has a long, thin handle with a small, rounded head that looks like a crow’s foot.
A crows foot spanner is a wrench with a short, offset handle that is used to turn fasteners in tight spaces. The offset handle provides extra leverage, making it easier to loosen or tighten a fastener.


- The ignition of my gas hob keeps sparking during cooking
- All the burners on my hob ignite when I press one button
- Stuck ignition or clicking noise on the gas hob
- The spark ignition of my gas hob keeps ticking/clicking
- Electric spark ignition gives a short circuit after water boils over
- Why is my gas hob sparking constantly?
- Gas hobs
- Gas cookers
When any button on the gas hob is pressed, all the burners will spark. When the button is released when the burner is lit, the sparking will stop. This is the normal operation of a gas hob
If the spark ignition remains active after releasing the button, check the following:
- Check whether the hob has become wet due to water boiling over. Remove the plug from the socket or switch off the group in the fuse box to which the gas hob is connected and dry the plate as much as possible and check whether the sparking has stopped after the group has been switched on again or the plug has been placed in the socket.
- Check that the knob has not been accidentally left pressed by removing the knob from the hob and removing the rubber seal as instructed in the user manual.
- Clean the rubber mounted under the button with a damp cloth. Due to the use of oil and fats during cooking, the rubbers can become greasy, causing the knob to stick to the rubber.
- Replace the rubber seal, replace the knob, and check that the ignition returns to normal operation.
If the issue persists, please contact our Customer Care Team.
If the hob continues to tick, the plug can be removed from the socket and the hob can be used by igniting the burners with a match or table lighter. In this case approach the burner with a flame, turn the control knob counter-clockwise to the maximum gas supply position and push it down. Keep the control knob pushed for equal or less than 10 seconds to let the thermocouple warm up.


Severe Weather Coordination Message #2 – Friday 5/15/20 Severe Weather Potential
Hello to all…
..Severe Weather Risk has shifted a bit further north and west with Western and Northern Massachusetts into Southern New Hampshire, clipping parts of Northwest Connecticut as the key risk area but all areas should monitor similar to the previous coordination message particularly interior Southern New England..
..Scattered to Numerous Strong to Severe Thunderstorms are likely Friday particularly across Western and Central Massachusetts and Northern Connecticut but also possible in interior Northern Rhode Island through interior Northeast Massachusetts along and north and west of the Boston to Providence. Strong to damaging winds, hail, frequent lightning and heavy downpours resulting in urban and poor drainage flooding are the primary threats with the secondary threat for an isolated tornado particularly in Western New England..
..The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has shifted the enhanced risk area to focus on Western and Central Massachusetts as far east as North-Central Middlesex County Massachusetts clipping a portion of Northwest Connecticut. A slight risk of severe weather exists for the rest of Northern Connecticut, Rhode Island and interior Eastern Massachusetts up to the Boston to Providence corridor. East coastal and south coastal Massachusetts and Rhode Island remain in a marginal risk for severe weather..
..SKYWARN Self-Activation with Amateur Radio call-up nets are likely after 3 PM ET Friday Afternoon. The timeframe for severe weather is between 3-10 PM Friday Afternoon and Evening..
At 1110 AM, the warm front has shifted through Southern New England with clearing evident on visible satellite imagery across interior Southern New England across, Connecticut, Western, Central and Northeast Massachusetts from the Boston to Providence corridor north and west. Clearing is also starting in southeastern areas as well. Based on the timing of the cold front being a bit later, the focus for more widespread strong to severe thunderstorms is across Western and Northern Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire clipping Northwest Connecticut. Radar does show an area of showers over Southern Ontario Canada and lighter showers in South-Central New York where which may be an area that allow severe thunderstorms to develop in the earlier peak heating timeframe of 3-7 PM and will bear watching. The headlines depict the current thinking. Key factors include:
1.) Clearing allows for the expected heating and destabilization as modeled. This is progressing as expected.
2.) The position of the warm front verifies allowing most of Southern New England to be in the warm sector. This has progressed as expected.
3.) The position of and timing of the cold front is a bit later than previously forecasted which is why the enhanced risk for severe weather has shifted into Northwest Connecticut, Western and Central Massachusetts through North-Central Middlesex County Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire. The key item is whether the warm/cold frontal positions will allow for the triggering mechanism to be close enough for severe thunderstorms to develop ahead of the main line increasing the severe weather risk. The squall line of severe thunderstorms will arrive towards sunset where instability will be dropping but jet dynamics and forcing could allow the severe thunderstorms along the line or activity ahead of the line to maintain itself for 2-3 hours after sunset with the focus again in Northwest Connecticut, Western and Central Massachusetts through North-Central Middlesex County Mass and Southern New Hampshire. If the timing is later or jet dynamics do not compensate to maintain the squall line of activity or any activity ahead of the squall line, the severe weather potential would be more muted and/or isolated to scattered in nature. Regardless, the potential will have to be monitored closely.
SKYWARN Self-Activation with Amateur Radio call-up nets are likely after 3 PM ET Friday Afternoon. This will be the last coordination message as we shift into operations mode. Below is the NWS Boston/Norton Special Weather Statement on Severe Weather Potential, Hazardous Weather Outlook, Enhanced Hazardous Weather Outlook and SPC Day-1 Convective Outlook:
NWS Boston/Norton Special Weather Statement:
NWS Boston/Norton Hazardous Weather Outlook:
NWS Boston/Norton Enhanced Hazardous Weather Outlook:
SPC Day-1 Convective Outlook:
Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 508-346-2929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: firstname.lastname@example.org
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A Messiah for All People
Louis H Valbracht, St. John’s Lutheran Church
Ephesians 3: 2-12
Several years ago, a young woman strayed into our church. At nineteen years of age, she had been a prostitute, had borne an illegitimate child, been married and divorced, and was well on her way to alcoholism. She wanted, and desperately needed, the help of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She needed a Savior.
She had a beautiful singing voice, and I suggested that she begin her relationship with our congregation by joining the choir. After the first rehearsal and the first service at which this woman sang with the choir, I heard one of the elderly members of the choir say to a friend of hers: “And there she sat, right in the choir, along with the rest of us, just like she belonged there.” What a tragedy!
Another time, in another city, I heard a neighboring church referred to by one of its members as a “very exclusive church.” What a horrible contradiction! How could that organization, whatever it was, be a part of the church of Jesus Christ and be “exclusive?”
In another case, a church member told me one time about a family of prospective members whose names I had received from someone in the congregation. Those prospects happened to be the neighbors of the member who gave his estimate. He said to me: “Quite confidentially, Pastor, I don’t think you would want them as members of our church. They just are not our kind of people.”
And so it has gone, the terrible exclusiveness of part of the church of Jesus Christ, negating the message of the Gospel, which was meant for all people, the understanding of which first came about through the dynamic, untiring efforts of the Apostle Paul, who almost single-handedly carried that Gospel outside of the Jewish culture where some people, including St. Peter himself, sought to confine it.
The Twelfth Day
We like to sing about the “Twelve Days of Christmas.” We go through the whole song to the twelfth day of Christmas. But I venture to say that if I were to ask you what is the twelfth day of Christmas, there would be probably half of you that wouldn’t know. Usually, even though we sing about the twelve days of Christmas, we never make it. By that time, our trees are down, the decorations are all packed in their usual places for another year, the children are back in school, and the January White Sales have begun.
What is the twelfth day of Christmas? It is January 6th, the Epiphany of our Lord. Epiphany was the first Christmas, the most ancient celebration of Christmas in Christendom, and a lot more valid, incidentally, than December 25th. We put the festival of the birth of Christ on that date so that we could compete with the pagan festival of Saturnalia. Epiphany was the great celebration. That word coming from the two Greek words epi and phaino, means, “to show forth.” The glory of Christ was shown forth, for this is the day that we observe the visit of the Magi or the Wise Men to the child Jesus, and notice that I said “child,” not “infant.”
I am sure that you are well aware by this time that contrary to much of our Christmas art and imagery and Christmas cards, and even our creche out in front of the church, that the Magi did not arrive at the same time as the shepherds at the stable in Bethlehem. They arrived between one and two years after the birth of Christ. Mary and Joseph and the young Jesus was not living in a stable at that time. The Gospel clearly states that they were living in a home. And it doesn’t call Jesus an “infant,” it calls him a “young child.”
We sing “We three kings of Orient are.” But there are three things wrong with that song. In the first place, they weren’t kings. In the second place, they weren’t from what we consider the Orient. And, in the third place, there weren’t three of them. And yet, we sing that song as one of our Epiphany hymns.
Actually, these men came, not from what we call the Orient, but from the area of ancient Babylon, the Tigris-Euphrates valley. They were men who were much more respected than kings, because, in those days in the Middle East, kings were a dime a dozen. These were the representatives of the school of the Magi. They were the astronomers, the astrologers, the scientists, the physicians, the prophets, the religious seers of their day. At the height of their fame and influence, they were honored far above kings, because kings were not particularly notable for being wise men. Kings don’t travel somewhere to worship other kings. They usually are going out to kill them.
But here is the Epiphany, the “showing forth” of the glory of Christ. Here is the miracle of joy.
Here was a marvelous manifestation in the heavens – a star so new, so brilliant, so unusual that it stirred the school of the Magi into immediate contemplation and study, and finally action. What did the Magi see? What kind of star? Is it still in the heavens? Why did nobody else see it? Remember, they were Zoroastrians. They were astrologers, the chief astrologers of their day. They were the ones who believed – the way some people foolishly believe today – that the movement of stars had something to do with the behavior of people upon earth. And so, through calculations of astronomers and historians, we have determined that Christ was born, not in the year 1, but because of many changes and mistakes in our calendar, He was born in the year 6 or 7 B.C.
Now in the 17th Century, the astronomer Kepler found that something did occur in the year 7 B.C. that only occurred once every 805 years in the solar system. And so, obviously, the Magi could have known nothing about that. In 7 B.C., in the winter, there occurred a very close grouping – actually a juxtaposition – of the three planets Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, as they were viewed from the earth. They became, literally, one light in the sky, more brilliant, obviously, than anything else in the sky at that time. That grouping occurred under the sign of the Zodiac, Pisces, in the winter. Some of you have noted that in my regular clerical garb I sometimes wear a medallion with the figure of Pisces on it. That is not because I’m an astrologer or believe in astrology. It is a Christian symbol. It symbolizes the coming of Christ, and it was the first symbol of the early church, not just because I was born in that period of the year. The sign of the fish!
This portion of the sky in which this juxtaposition occurred was known as the House of the Hebrews. And so, it was perfectly readable to the Magi as they studied the stars as though planets came together in the grouping that had never before occurred in their experience, and it occurred in the House of the Hebrews. It was obvious that something important was happening to the Jews. And since they knew that the Jews expected the coming of a great king, it was obvious to them that he had apparently come. And so, they eventually started out on their caravan, and it was about sixteen months later, in the spring of 6 B.C., that something happened that only happens once every one hundred twenty-five years in the solar system. The planets of Jupiter and Saturn came together, and to the Wise Men looking at it from Jerusalem, it appeared right over Bethlehem. So it is explained why the Wise Men knew that Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
The Irony of Epiphany
This marvelous manifestation happened, and yet the shepherds of Bethlehem didn’t see it. You know, we send out Christmas cards showing the shepherds out in the fields and the star shining above them. Well, that’s ok, if you want to put the star in, but don’t show the shepherds looking at it, because they didn’t see it. The priests and Levites didn’t see it. The Romans didn’t see it. Herod didn’t see it. And here was the sad beginning of the fulfillment of the prophecy: “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.”
Here is the irony of God’s revelation of Himself to us. The first to fall down and worship Jesus Christ as divine king were not the ones who were supposedly waiting and watching for him, but the despised, the hated, the pagans, the heathen. They fell down and worshiped him. They came, as they told Herod, for the expressed purpose of worshiping him.
Everyone else was so preoccupied with the pettiness of life that they didn’t notice the coming of Christ. They were too busy even to notice that the King of kings had come. But that is typical, even in our day.
Back in the early 1950s, the world was all involved in what we called the cold war. Oh, we were fighting a nasty little was over in Korea, but that wasn’t really important. What was important was the cold war, in which the world was choosing up sides over the barbed wire of the Berlin wall. Everyone was wondering about the balance of terror between the Communist countries and the so-called Free World. Everyone was concerned about the arms race, the atomic race, the missile race. Everyone wondered when World War III would begin, and how. The old, moldy, empty minds among the military and political leaders on both sides in the cold war thought nothing else except the inevitability of a final, tragic confrontation between these two opposing sides, and so we were feverishly preparing for that.
Nothing that a generation of babies was being born throughout the world at that time, and those babies are now young adults or students. Today in every part of the world, those young adults are soundly rejecting the tired, old, stupid cliches of the tired, old, stupid, statesmen and militarists of the world. They no longer accept the inevitability of war. They no longer believe the scare warnings of the militarist. Thousands of them refused to take part in our war in Vietnam. They are well on their way to rejecting forever war as an instrument of international relationships. Yes, in the 1950s everybody was looking at the arms race. No one noticed that God was bringing to life a generation which might take a good look at all of this and get rid of both piles of that bloody junk their fathers had paid for!
Twenty years ago, the church was in its heyday. The heyday was popularity, and the church was feverishly building up the establishment. One denomination competed with another for numbers, wealth, power and prestige. The church moved to the suburbs to attract the more affluent. Left behind were the plaguing problems of the inner city – the poverty, the hunger, the unemployment. Left behind was the question of racial equality in the churches. The parishes sought refuge in the lily-white suburbs and neighborhoods where they deal with such problems by ignoring them. They didn’t kow that at the time they were raising their statistics of “success” in their own eyes, they were also raising a generation of young people who would reject this kind of “Establishment” church in all of its glory and strength and wealth. We were raising youth, both white and black and brown and yellow and red, who would ask” “But what is the church doing to carry out the mandates of the Gospel of Jesus Christ about these problems that we face today? How relevant is this organization? Does Christianity mean anything?” They are still asking that.
It’s up to Us
And so, history repeats itself. We are the people of God. We worship every week in His temple. We read the Scriptures. We know all about the promises about the Second Coming of Christ. And yet, we are so preoccupied with our own little projects that when Christ comes in Spirit in revolutionary power in our culture, we don’t recognize Him. In fact, we even resent and resist the upsetting influence the Gospel has when it interjects itself into our social and national and international lives. It threatens our position as the self-righteous policemen for the rest of the world.
Here, then, was the irony of the coming of the Magi. The ones to whom the Messiah was promised were too busy worrying about the preservation of the kingdom to know that the king had come. They saw no star. They experienced no light. But, lo, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and there came pagans, Gentiles, heathen, from the East who said: “We have seen his star and have come to worship.” What about you? Have you seen the star?
No, we don’t preach every Sunday that Christ is coming soon, that we know this by private knowledge or study of the Scriptures. That’s nonsense! There’s not a word in Scripture that tells us anything about when Christ is coming, and there will be no one, the Scripture tells us, who knows the day or hour of his coming.
No, we don’t know when he is coming, but we know he is coming, not alone to the Jews, or to the Americans, or to the civilized white people of the Western Hemisphere, but as a Messiah, a Savior for the whole world! As it says in blazing words in the Gospel: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.”


“Plank Pose – Step by Step Instructions” is a blog post that talks about Plank pose and what you need to do in order to achieve it. Planks are an essential exercise for those who want to work on their core strength, balance, and stability. The plank position also trains the abdominal muscles as well as your back muscles.
Plank is one of the most foundational poses in yoga for lots of good reasons. Each time you visit this grounding pose you’ll build abdominal strength and power in your arms and wrists.
You’ll also strengthen the muscles surrounding the spine, which improves posture. The increased strength and stamina you build in Plank will help you with more challenging postures like Boat Pose, Dolphin Pose, and Side Plank Pose.
The benefits of this posture aren’t just physical. Plank Pose also builds mental endurance and deep focus. Holding the pose when your arms start to shake is a powerful reminder that you can tackle challenges both on and off the mat.
Because Plank Pose is part of the Sun Salutation sequence, it’s easy to cruise through it during a vinyasa without focusing on your alignment. So make sure to dedicate some time in your practice exploring Plank on its own.
It can take some time to build up enough strength to hold Plank Pose for more than a breath or two. If you’re still building up the core and arm strength, drop to your knees. If the full expression of Plank Pose puts too much pressure on your wrists, the forearm version of the pose can reduce the strain.
Plank Pose: Step-by-Step Instructions
Plank is a basic yoga position that offers an excellent full-body stretch. Beginners should be aware of their breathing while easing into Plank Pose. For those who prefer video, see our Plank Pose video here.
Start in Downward Facing Dog. Then inhale and draw your torso forward until the arms are perpendicular to the floor and the shoulders directly over the wrists, torso parallel to the floor.
Press your outer arms inward and firm the bases of your index fingers into the floor. Firm your shoulder blades against your back then spread them away from the spine. Also, spread your collarbones away from the sternum.
Press your front thighs up toward the ceiling, but resist your tailbone toward the floor as you lengthen it toward the heels. Lift the base of the skull away from the back of the neck and look straight down at the floor, keeping the throat and eyes soft.
Plank Pose is one of the positions in the traditional Sun Salutation sequence. You can also perform this pose by itself and stay anywhere from 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Plank Pose Information
1 – Beginner
Contraindications and Cautions
Carpal tunnel syndrome
Plank Pose Modifications and Props
Do Downward Facing Dog with your index fingers and thumbs pressed against a wall. Inhale the torso forward, as above, and press the crown of your head against the wall. Use the pressure of the head on the wall to learn about the release of the shoulder blades down the back.
Deepen the Pose
Open the space between the shoulder blades. As you press the outer arms inward, push the inner borders of the shoulder blades into this resistance. Make sure you don’t narrow across the collar bones to do this. This is a useful action to learn for poses like Bakasana and Sirsasana.
- Downward Facing Dog
- Four-Limbed Staff Pose
- Downward Facing Dog
- Bakasana (Crane Pose)
- Four-Limbed Staff Pose
To help strengthen the arms in this pose, loop and secure a strap around your upper arms, just above the elbows. Push the inner arms out against this strap. Release the outer arms from the shoulders to the floor, and lift the inner arms from the bases of the index fingers to the shoulders.
Plank Pose Benefits
- Strengthens the arms, wrists, and spine
- Tones the abdomen
A partner can help you learn about the lift of the top thighs in this pose. While in the position, have your partner loop a strap around the topmost thighs, just where they join the pelvis, and lift up. Press your tailbone down, against this lift, and lengthen along your back thighs through your heels.
Just as Downward Facing Dog has a one-leg-lifted variation, so does Plank Pose. After coming into the position, inhale and lift one leg parallel to the floor. Press strongly through the raised heel and lengthen through the crown of your head, keeping the tailbone pressed towards the pubis. Hold for 10 to 30 seconds, exhale the foot to the floor, then repeat with the left leg for the same length of time.
Plank Pose offers an excellent full-body stretch and is a basic yoga position that beginners should be aware of their breathing while easing into. Plank pose can also be performed by itself and hold anywhere from 30 seconds to one minute.
Plank pose benefits include strengthening the arms, wrists, and spine as well as toning the abdomen. A partner can help you learn about lifting your top thighs in Plank Pose which will allow for deeper hip flexion through your back thighs leading towards stronger external rotation too!
Plank Pose has variations such as holding it with just one leg lifted parallel to the floor or performing this balancing variation on each side consecutively without losing form for maximum strength-building potentials.


Environmentally-friendly Management of Organic Fertilizers in Agriculture
Priority: P2 Sustainable use of common resources
Specific objective: Reduced nutrients, hazardous substances and toxins inflow into the Baltic Sea
The project GreenAgri aims at reducing nutrient losses from agriculture in Baltic States by introducing and testing environmentally-friendly management of organic fertilizers. As agriculture is one of the sources of nutrients eventually entering from surface waters to Baltic Sea the project’s idea is to amend the situation.
The project is a joint effort of farmers from Estonia and Latvia contributing to the improvement of eutrophication status of the Baltic Sea. During the project period 20 farmers from Estonian and Latvian pilot areas implement innovative technologies and methods in real life using their own financial resources. Experts and researchers gather and analyse nutrient runoff data and provide the farmers with information about the efficiency of different solutions demonstrating real results in reducing nutrient losses from farms. It’s the first time, when testing of different technologies in manor management will be arranged in wider area using financial resources and intellectual capital of Estonian/Latvian farmers, farmers organizations and research institutions.
Project main result is reduced nutrient inflows from 20 pilot farms from Estonia and Latvia to surface water entering the Baltic Sea. The sustainability is ensured through dissemination of new knowledge to approximately 300 farmers. The advisors, who receive knowledge and experience during the project implementation, are able to support farmers from both sides of the border. Additionally, the project results support achieving the HELCOM targets for reduction of phosphorus and nitrogen input in Gulf of Finland and Gulf of Riga, aiming at reaching good ecological and environmental status by 2021.
- The Estonian Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce
- NGO “Farmers Parliament”
Total budget: EUR 859 491.51
ERDF co-financing: EUR 730 567,78
Partners contribution’: EUR 128,923.73
- Silja Lehtpuu – Project Coordinator: firstname.lastname@example.org
- Roomet Sõrmus – Chairman of Estonian Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce: email@example.com
- Maira Dzelzkalēja-Burmistre, Deputy Chair of the Farmers’ Parliament: firstname.lastname@example.org
- Zanda Melnalksne – Project Manager of the Farmers’ Parliament: email@example.com
- Malle Lind, Communications Manager of the Estonian Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce: firstname.lastname@example.org
- Līva Norkārkle, PR off Union “Farmers’ Parliament”: email@example.com
Elīna Dūdiņa, Junior Project Manager of the Union “Farmers’ Parliament”: firstname.lastname@example.org
Project GreenAgri homepage: www.epkk.ee/en/green-agri/
21.09.2016. Rural day “Environmental requirements for organic fertilizer management” VIDEO
Union “Farmers’ Parliament” introduces organic fertilizer spreading technologies Report
Project number: CB272 GreenAgri
Project period: 09.2015.-08.2019.
The project GreenAgri is co-financed by the Central Baltic Programme 2014-2020.


It is very simple to accidentally erase your information records or have programming messes up that cause some harm. This information can be recuperated in the event that the media are not acquainted with charming field or things nor disabled unequivocally. The singular client, paying little cerebrum to the amusement or work appraisal of his PC, would by and large does not have the spending plan at the departure of a connection that has an IT structure. In this manner you need to track down subtle information recuperation decisions. There is a breathtaking fortune in information recuperation, I ought to state support we should simply say there is an affiliation whether fortress is a preventive measure. On the off chance that there is standard fortress of information records, by when information on your PC is wrecked, hurt, erased or basically lost to various causes, you have energetic permission to your information and can be less adroit while going with choices concerning reestablishing your gadget in case of setbacks, error or underhandedness.
I mean assuming your PC hard drive crashes or bear another sort of harm. Besides, getting the associations of specialists would cost equivalent to purchasing the most recent brand of PC that you outrageous or sometimes widely more. Assuming that you have every one of your information kept up with up, you might have to give yourself a treat and get that most recent piece of equipment instead of fixating on the old PC. Outside hard drives, USB streak drives DVD s and CD is in much the same way as online information empowering or support associations are choices to consider. You might have to consider having copy support media in like manner, in Data Recovery Secrets of the fact that even those media can be liable to hurt. Unpretentious information recuperation in the guaranteed sense is applied. Generally nowadays there are assorted information recuperation freeware and utilities open that you can go very much or buy to get your information reestablished.
These particularly in models where the information records are erased in mess up. In sorting out what is suitable you ought to think about the reason behind the information misfortune. In instances of standard or fire calamities or other underhandedness occasioned by crazy power floods, in the event that the harm the PC has continued does not cause uncommon center charming, utilitarian or actual destruction; you can research a gathering of programming and utilities to utilize. At any rate, you should be certain that the method you use will work and not wanted on additional underhandedness. There might be two or three instances of hard drive crash, programming breakdown or other naughtiness to your PC that would thoroughly require the associations of a subject matter expert. In that model, the information recuperation will not be unassuming. Such the information stockpiling blog organization reestablishes structures are delicate and unequivocal. An issue like mechanical naughtiness in a hard drive can cause over the top information debacle. The PC should be executed at that point.


A life. What color is it?
The word life initially carries the vibrations of a golden color - this is the embodiment of wisdom that is born from:
- kindness of pink
- passion of red
- calmness and inner silence of blue
- originality, optimism of yellow
But in front of you you see a stream of green color that was born from the combination of the calmness of blue and the optimism of yellow, which tells us about harmony and balance, showing that life is an all-encompassing integrity.


BREAST CANCER ACTION MANITOBA
Breast Cancer Action Manitoba (BCAM) is a grass roots organization which was started in the early 1990s by a small group of women living with breast cancer who met informally in a private living room to support each other and to share coping skills. After they attended the National Forum on Breast Cancer in 1993, they decided to form Breast Cancer Action Winnipeg to assist women who were recently diagnosed with breast cancer. By 1997 there were support groups throughout Manitoba and the name was changed to Breast Cancer Action Manitoba. The volunteer members of the BCAM Board are women living with breast cancer. In 1998 BCAM became a registered charitable organization (#87036 3462 RR0001). The original goal of BCAM was to provide support and education to women living with breast cancer.
- Monthly meetings were held to provide coping information and ongoing emotional support.
- Potluck suppers were held twice a year.
- Our telephone calling tree was used several times a year to inform members of upcoming events and to encourage members who could not attend meetings.
- Many of our members were involved in the CCMB-BCCH Peer Support Program and/or the Cancer Connection Program of the Canadian Cancer Society Manitoba Division.
- Frequently we invited guest speakers to our monthly meetings to inform us about various topics on interest to people living with breast cancer.
- For twelve years “News and Views”, the BCAM quarterly newsletter, was distributed province wide to breast cancer support groups, dragon boat teams, hospitals and clinics, women’s centres and BCAM members.
- Together Conferences provided information and emotional support to those living with breast cancer in Manitoba.
We set up displays to educate the public at the CIBC Run for the Cure, the Misericordia Health Centre and the Health Science Centre.
BCAM was represented on following committees:
- The Winnipeg Breast Cancer Information and Support Network
- The Manitoba Breast Cancer Information and Support Network
- The Run for the Cure Planning Committee
- The Canadian Breast Cancer Network Board of Directors.
- The Breast Cancer Centre of Hope’s Younger and Wiser Sessions for young women living with breast cancer
- The Manitoba Advocates for Breast Cancer Funding (now Helping Hands).
- The Board of the World Conference on Breast Cancer Foundation for two World Conferences
- The International Support Links Project formed at the WCBC in Victoria in 2002
- The CCMB Breast Cancer of Hope Younger and Wiser Planning Committee
- Assisted The Canadian Cancer Society Manitoba Division with two New Connections Conferences
- At the national level BCAM was involved with the formation of the Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control which evolved from 1999 to 2002 and its success at obtaining funding by the federal government to implement the strategy.
- Working with several volunteer cancer groups, BCAM participated in the drafting of the Breast Cancer Patient Charter which specified the standard of care expected and outlined the rights of people living with breast cancer. This document was launched at the Reasons for Hope Conference in 2006. It was ultimately used by the Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control to develop the Canadian Cancer Patient Charter.
We were involved in the drafting of the Victoria Declaration which advocated for the implementation of the precautionary principle to ensure a safe and healthy environment for the peoples of the world.
- BCAM made a presentation to the Manitoba Government on behalf of the Manitoba Advocates for Breast Cancer Funding (now Helping Hands) regarding the financial difficulties incurred by people living with breast cancer. The cost of prostheses and surgical bras are now covered in Manitoba.
BCAM continues to have representation on the following committees:
- The Canadian Cancer Action Network Manitoba
- The Breast Cancer Centre of Hope Peer Support Program
- Canadian Cancer Society Manitoba Division Volunteer Program
BCAM is currently a member of:
- Canadian Breast Cancer Network
- Canadian Cancer Action Network
- Manitoba Breast and Women’s Cancer Network
At a strategic planning meeting in 2011, the Board Members of BCAM decided to change our focus to include not only people living with breast cancer but also those at risk. We agreed on a new vision and mission statement which reflected the big picture of the current support and information available to those diagnosed with breast cancer in Manitoba.
Our commitment to promote awareness of the causes of cancer and educating people to make informed choices about the products they consume and use daily is based on our belief that although the number of breast cancer survivors is increasing, the number of people being diagnosed with breast cancer is NOT decreasing.
To achieve goals of our Mission Statement we have formed a Primary Cancer Prevention Committee composed of members of Breast Cancer Action Manitoba and non-members who have an interest in reducing the incidence of cancer.
A website committee was formed to develop a website to make people aware of the causes of cancer and to provide information on ways that they can reduce their risk of a cancer diagnosis or a recurrence by making informed choices.


O MOTHER CERES set her torch in a corner (where it kept burning all the while), and took up her abode in the palace of King Celeus, as nurse to the little Prince Demophon. She treated him as if he were her own child, and allowed neither the king nor the queen to say whether he should be bathed in warm or cold water, or what he should eat, or how often he should take the air, or when he should be put to bed. You would hardly believe me, if I were to tell how quickly the baby prince got rid of his ailments, and grew fat, and rosy, and strong, and how he had two rows of ivory teeth in less time than any other little fellow, before or since. Instead of the palest, and wretchedest, and puniest imp in the world (as his own mother confessed him to be when Ceres first took him in charge), he was now a strapping baby, crowing, laughing, kicking up his heels, and rolling from one end of the room to the other. All the good women of the neighbourhood crowded to the palace, and held up their hands, in unutterable amazement, at the beauty and wholesomeness of this darling little prince. Their wonder was the greater, because he was never seen to taste any food; not even so much as a cup of milk.
"Pray, nurse," the queen kept saying, "how is it that you make the child thrive so?"
"I was a mother once," Ceres always replied; "and having nursed my own child, I know what other children need."
But Queen Metanira, as was very natural, had a great curiosity to know precisely what the nurse did to her child. One night, therefore, she hid herself in the chamber where Ceres and the little prince were accustomed to sleep. There was a fire in the chimney, and it had now crumbled into great coals and embers, which lay glowing on the hearth, with a blaze flickering up now and then, and flinging a warm and ruddy light upon the walls. Ceres sat before the hearth with the child in her lap, and the fire-light making her shadow dance upon the ceiling overhead. She undressed the little prince, and bathed him all over with some fragrant liquid out of a vase. The next thing she did was to rake back the red embers, and make a hollow place among them, just where the backlog had been. At last, while the baby was crowing, and clapping its fat little hands, and laughing in the nurse's face (just as you may have seen your little brother or sister do before going into its warm bath), Ceres suddenly laid him, all naked as he was, in the hollow among the red-hot embers. She then raked the ashes over him, and turned quietly away.
You may imagine, if you can, how Queen Metanira shrieked, thinking nothing less than that her dear child would be burned to a cinder. She burst forth from her hiding place, and running to the hearth, raked open the fire, and snatched up poor little Prince Demophon out of his bed of live coals, one of which he was griping in each of his fists. He immediately set up a grievous cry, as babies are apt to do when rudely startled out of a sound sleep. To the queen's astonishment and joy, she could perceive no token of the child's being injured by the hot fire in which he had lain. She now turned to Mother Ceres, and asked her to explain the mystery.
"Foolish woman," answered Ceres, "did you not promise to intrust this poor infant entirely to me? You little know the mischief you have done him. Had you left him to my care, he would have grown up like a child of celestial birth, endowed with superhuman strength and intelligence, and would have lived forever. Do you imagine that earthly children are to become immortal without being tempered to it in the fiercest heat of the fire? But you have ruined your own son. For though he will be a strong man and a hero in his day, yet, on account of your folly, he will grow old, and finally die, like the sons of other women. The weak tenderness of his mother has cost the poor boy an immortality. Farewell."
Saying these words, she kissed the little Prince Demophon, and sighed to think what he had lost, and took her departure without heeding Queen Metanira, who entreated her to remain, and cover up the child among the hot embers as often as she pleased. Poor baby! He never slept so warmly again.
While she dwelt in the king's palace, Mother Ceres had been so continually occupied with taking care of the young prince that her heart was a little lightened of its grief for Proserpina. But now, having nothing else to busy herself about, she became just as wretched as before. At length, in her despair, she came to the dreadful resolution that not a stalk of grain, nor a blade of grass, not a potato, nor a turnip, nor any other vegetable that was good for man or beast to eat, should be suffered to grow until her daughter were restored. She even forbade the flowers to bloom, lest somebody's heart should be cheered by their beauty.
Now, as not so much as a head of asparagus ever presumed to poke itself out of the ground without the especial permission of Ceres, you may conceive what a terrible calamity had here fallen upon the earth. The husbandmen ploughed and planted as usual; but there lay the rich black furrows, all as barren as a desert of sand. The pastures looked as brown in the sweet month of June as ever they did in chill November. The rich man's broad acres and the cottager's small garden patch were equally blighted. Every little girl's flower bed showed nothing but dry stalks. The old people shook their white heads, and said that the earth had grown aged like themselves, and was no longer capable of wearing the warm smile of summer on its face. It was really piteous to see the poor, starving cattle and sheep, how they followed behind Ceres, lowing and bleating, as if their instinct taught them to expect help from her; and everybody that was acquainted with her power besought her to have mercy on the human race, and, at all events, to let the grass grow. But Mother Ceres, though naturally of an affectionate disposition, was now inexorable.
"Never," said she. "If the earth is ever again to see any verdure, it must first grow along the path which my daughter will tread in coming back to me."
Finally, as there seemed to be no other remedy, our old friend Quicksilver was sent post haste to King Pluto, in hopes that he might be persuaded to undo the mischief he had done, and to set everything right again by giving up Proserpina. Quicksilver accordingly made the best of his way to the great gate, took a flying leap right over the three-headed mastiff, and stood at the door of the palace in an inconceivably short time. The servants knew him both by his face and garb; for his short cloak, and his winged cap and shoes, and his snaky staff had often been seen thereabouts in times gone by. He requested to be shown immediately into the king's presence; and Pluto, who heard his voice from the top of the stairs, and who loved to recreate himself with Quicksilver's merry talk, called out to him to come up. And while they settle their business together, we must inquire what Proserpina has been doing ever since we saw her last.
The child had declared, as you may remember, that she would not taste a mouthful of food as long as she should be compelled to remain in King Pluto's palace. How she contrived to maintain her resolution, and at the same time to keep herself tolerably plump and rosy is more than I can explain; but some young ladies, I am given to understand, possess the faculty of living on air, and Proserpina seems to have possessed it too. At any rate, it was now six months since she left the outside of the earth; and not a morsel, so far as the attendants were able to testify, had yet passed between her teeth. This was the more creditable to Proserpina, inasmuch as King Pluto had caused her to be tempted day after day with all manner of sweetmeats, and richly preserved fruits, and delicacies of every sort, such as young people are generally most fond of. But her good mother had often told her of the hurtfulness of these things; and for that reason alone, if there had been no other, she would have resolutely refused to taste them.
All this time, being of a cheerful and active disposition, the little damsel was not quite so unhappy as you may have supposed. The immense palace had a thousand rooms, and was full of beautiful and wonderful objects. There was a never-ceasing gloom, it is true, which half hid itself among the innumerable pillars, gliding before the child as she wandered among them, and treading stealthily behind her in the echo of her footsteps. Neither was all the dazzle of the precious stones, which flamed with their own light, worth one gleam of natural sunshine; nor could the most brilliant of the many-coloured gems, which Proserpina had for playthings, vie with the simple beauty of the flowers she used to gather. But still, wherever the girl went, among those gilded halls and chambers, it seemed as if she carried nature and sunshine along with her, and as if she scattered dewy blossoms on her right hand and on her left. After Proserpina came, the palace was no longer the same abode of stately artifice and dismal magnificence that it had before been. The inhabitants all felt this, and King Pluto more than any of them.
"My own little Proserpina," he used to say, "I wish you could like me a little better. We gloomy and cloudy-natured persons have often as warm hearts at bottom as those of a more cheerful character. If you would only stay with me of your own accord, it would make me happier than the possession of a hundred such palaces as this."
"Ah," said Proserpina, "you should have tried to make me like you before carrying me off. And the best thing you can do now is to let me go again. Then I might remember you sometimes, and think that you were as kind as you knew how to be. Perhaps, too, one day or other, I might come back, and pay you a visit."
"No, no," answered Pluto, with his gloomy smile, "I will not trust you for that. You are too fond of living in the broad daylight, and gathering flowers. What an idle and childish taste that is! Are not these gems, which I have ordered to be dug for you, and which are richer than any in my crown--are they not prettier than a violet?"
"Not half so pretty," said Proserpina, snatching the gems from Pluto's hand, and flinging them to the other end of the hall. "Oh, my sweet violets, shall I never see you again?"
And then she burst into tears. But young people's tears have very little saltness or acidity in them, and do not inflame the eyes so much as those of grown persons; so that it is not to be wondered at if, a few moments afterward, Proserpina was sporting through the hall almost as merrily as she and the four sea nymphs had sported along the edge of the surf wave. King Pluto gazed after her, and wished that he, too, was a child. And little Proserpina, when she turned about and beheld this great king standing in his splendid hall, and looking so grand, and so melancholy, and so lonesome, was smitten with a kind of pity. She ran back to him, and, for the first time in all her life, put her small soft hand in his.
"I love you a little," whispered she, looking up in his face.
"Do you, indeed, my dear child?" cried Pluto, bending his dark face down to kiss her; but Proserpina shrank away from the kiss, for though his features were noble, they were very dusky and grim. "Well, I have not deserved it of you, after keeping you a prisoner for so many months, and starving you, besides. Are you not terribly hungry? Is there nothing which I can get you to eat?"


A few months ago, a colleague and I had a hot discussion on good styles of sorting methods in source code, and (of course) we also discussed the advantages of the newspaper-style as proposed by Robert C. Martin:
Have you ever chased your tail through a class, hopping from one function to the next, scrolling up and down the source file, trying to divine how the functions relate and operate, only to get lost in a rat’s nest of confusion? Have you ever hunted up the chain of inheritance for the definition of a variable or function? This is frustrating because you are trying to understand what the system does, but you are spending your time and mental energy on trying to locate and remember where the pieces are.
Concepts that are closely related should be kept vertically close to each other. We want to avoid forcing our readers to hop around through our source files and classes.
Robert C. Martin "Clean Code" pp. 80
Unfortunately, Eclipse doesn't support sorting members in "clean-code style". Thus, we decided to give away this idea to a pair of students as an Eclipse hand's-on training. This post is a follow-up of my post in May.
To get you started, here is a quick refresh of the problem:
Typically, there are two types of code ordering. Alphabetically (+ modifiers) or completely hand-crafted (which in many cases means "without any particular order"). But is it that complicated to let the IDE sort a class' members for you? Reducing the need to hop from top to the bottom of the file and thus minimizing scrolling and confusion?
The slide below gives you an example of how a well-sorted piece of code might look like. As you see the number of hops required to read the whole code is minimal since there is a clear ordering between the code:
How complicated can it be?
It's amazingly complex :) We had to learn that an optimal solution would be APX-hard to find (did you no that complexity class before? I didn't.) Anyways, we had quite tough discussions with our students and sometimes even bar room fights what might be the best solution. To make that part of the story short, Mateusz and Fabian came up with two solutions. One solution is already available for testing.
If you like the newspaper-style as described by Robert C. Martin, you should give it a try! Please check this wiki page for further information about the plug-in and installation instructions (it's not an official part of Code Recommenders yet).
To track the progress of this feature, add yourself to this bugzilla report.
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