UM Board of Curators approves tuition increase, remains focused on student affordability
Board approved a 2.1 percent increase but will only charge students 1 percent for next academic year
COLUMBIA, Mo. — The University of Missouri Board of Curators today approved a tuition increase for the 2018-19 academic year. While the board approved a 2.1 percent increase, the university will only charge students a 1 percent increase following an agreement with state legislators who did not cut the university’s budget.
“We are very aware of the financial burden that students and their families face, and our chancellors and their administrative teams have been working exceptionally hard to keep our tuition low over the past several years,” said David Steelman, chair of the Board of Curators. “We’re also extremely appreciative of efforts of our legislators. They worked diligently and did not cut our revenue despite a variety of budget pressures facing the state. Through the combination of our campus leaders and the legislators, we are able to keep tuition at four of the state’s premier universities very low.”
The curators approved a request to raise tuition by 2.1 percent, the amount allowed under current state law. However, under an agreement reached with the state, the campuses will only charge 1 percent more in exchange for protecting the university’s state appropriation. The budget bill that recently passed the legislature called for the core funding to remain at last year’s levels while also providing some funding for additional projects such as the Springfield medical campus and the joint pharmacy program.
“Together with the state legislators and our campus leaders, we are keeping higher education in Missouri very affordable,” UM System President Mun Choi said. “Even with this increase, our campuses have reduced other costs so that the overall cost to students remains low. Through cost-saving measures, such as our textbook affordability initiative and increases in need and merit-based scholarships, many students will see their total cost of attendance decline.”
During the past year, the UM System and each of its four campuses have introduced several affordability initiatives:
Missouri S&T professors embraced a textbook initiative encouraging Open Educational Resources in classes. For example, Associate Professor Cesar Mendoza switched textbooks in his Civil Engineering 3330 class from a book that cost $145 to another text that cost $35, saving students a total of about $23,000 annually.
University of Missouri-Columbia officials reduced the cost of MU’s most common housing and dining plans. This reduction allows students who elect economy living and dining plans the ability to live and eat on campus for approximately $1,000 per month.
The University of Missouri-Kansas City has partnered with KC Scholars to make college accessible to students in the Kansas City region through a new scholarship and college savings program launched in 2016. KC Scholars will provide the means—through scholarships, financial incentives and support services—for low- and modest-income students and adults to pursue a postsecondary credit-bearing credential or degree. Funding opportunities are available for traditional students and adult learners.
The University of Missouri-St. Louis increased its UMSL Grant by 25 percent to $2,000 for incoming Pell Grant eligible students for Fiscal Year 2018. The grant is an annual award for Pell Grant eligible students who maintain a 2.5 GPA. UMSL also has increased its Diversity Scholarships budget by $100,000 for Fiscal Year 2019.
“The University of Missouri has had one of the lowest rates of tuition increase in the U.S. during the past decade,” said Ryan Rapp, UM vice president for finance. “Every dollar we save, we put back toward our educational mission. Keeping tuition low is a key factor to achieving our mission of providing a high-quality, affordable education.”


OLYMPUS MOVEMENT PERFORMANCE TEAM
Dr. Annemarie Alf, DPT
Annemarie Alf, PT, DPT, CSCS is North County San Diego’s leading Doctor of Physical Therapy who specializes in returning athletes of all ages back to the sports and activities they love.
She founded OLYMPUS MOVEMENT PERFORMANCE because she wanted to create a space that focuses on the WHOLE person and athlete. After spending many years in her young professional career with youth and high school aged athletes, she has returned to those roots in the foundation of creating Olympus Movement Performance. Annemarie focuses on returning athletes of all ages from the rehab phase to the performance/ return to sport or activity phase. As an athlete herself, she has fully recovered from a full knee reconstruction of an ACL repair, MCL and medial/ lateral meniscal tears to all the sports she loves.
But Olympus doesn’t just focus on the young athlete. Annemarie has seen a huge void in the traditional medical and physical therapy settings in actually addressing the root causes of injuries and ‘diseases.’ For this reason she has created the Holistic/ Integrated approach that Functional Medicine/ Nutrition and Hormone Balancing allows for to assess and treat the WHOLE person.
ANNEMARIE graduated with a DOCTORATE IN PHYSICAL THERAPY from UNIVERSITY OF ST AUGUSTINE. She is certified as A STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING COACH and a Certified SFMA (Selective Functional Movement Assessment) provider.
Annemarie, an athlete herself, is a National Champion Waterski Jumper, CrossFit athlete, UltraRunner and IRONMAN Canada finisher.
She was the first American Physical Therapist to work with any Chinese Olympic Team at an Olympic Games. As the Performance Physical Therapist to the Men's and Women's Chinese Olympic Gymnastics Team she attended the 2012 London Olympic Games and provided daily evaluation and treatment of all gymnastics athletes. The Chinese Olympic Gymnastic team achieved eight total gymnastics medals, more than any other nation.
Currently, Annemarie is the Strength and Conditioning Coach and Physical Therapist to the San Diego Sockers.
Certifications/ Continuing Education:
Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
SFMA 1 & 2 Certified
DNS Running, Exercise II, III, Weightlifting; and 'A'
ASTYM certified
PRI Myokinematic Restoration, Postural Restoration
Dry Needling certified
Rocktape and Rockblades Certified
CrossFit Level 1 Trainer Certificate
Dr. Jessica Robinson, DPT
Jessica Robinson, DPT, graduated from the University of California, San Diego with her Bachelor’s of Science in 2009 then went on to receive her Doctorate of Physical Therapy from the University of Washington in 2016. She has been working in outpatient orthopedics for over 5 years with an emphasis in post-operative rehab. Her professional interests include general orthopedics, sports and dance medicine.
Jessica grew up as a gymnast and competitive dancer. She has taught dance and coached a competitive collegiate team and continues to enjoy working with this population. She became interested in athletic training and physical therapy after sustaining a knee injury in gymnastics and having to undergo several surgical repairs. This experience has given her a deeper understanding and empathy for those recovering from an injury/surgery. She is a strong believer that an individual is not defined by their injury or diagnosis and strives to return patients to their full functional capacity and achieve their individual goals.
She is certified in Blood Flow Restriction Rehabilitation and has M1 level Graston Technique training.
In her spare time, Jessica enjoys spending time with her family and friends, dancing, baking, hiking, and generally exploring throughout San Diego.
PERFORMANCE FITNESS COACHES
Coach Jamie
Coach Bri
Brianna has been a life-long fitness enthusiast who lives out her passion daily with her work as a coach and trainer. With over a decade spent in athletic training, she learned the importance of both health and wellness. In 2020 she graduated with a Bachelors in Kinesiology with an emphasis in exercise science and a minor in nutrition. While in school, Bri attained her CrossFit Level 1 certificate and competed in Olympic Weightlifting. In addition, she worked as a physical therapy aide, where she grew her knowledge in rehabilitation. Currently, she is studying to get her CSCS with the intention of pursuing a doctorate in physical therapy. Prioritizing strength, mobility, and health, Bri is committed to growing her skill set to better serve those around her.
Have An Urgent Need?


Martin Van Buren Hooks
A farmer in DeKalb County, he enlisted as Private, Company K, 22nd Georgia Infantry on 31 August 1861.
He was slightly wounded in the hip or back in action at Sharpsburg on 17 September 1862.
He was in a Richmond, VA hospital by 4 October and furloughed to Linthonia, GA on 28 October 1862. He was back on duty before August 1863 and was surrendered with his Company at Appomattox Court House, VA on 9 April 1865.
By 1870 he was a farmer in DeKalb County. He moved to Atlanta in 1894 and listed his occupation as house carpenter, but claimed "infirmity and poverty" and depended on his children for support.
His service from Henderson's Roster 1 and his Compiled Service Record (CSR) at the US National Archives, online via fold3. Personal details from his 1897-1907 pension applications, online from the Georgia Archives, and from family genealogists. The pointer to Hooks and further details thanks to Barry Truluck from his research in a casualty list in the Richmond Enquirer of 17 October 1862, family and cemetery records, the US Census for 1850-1910, his pension application, and the CSR.
He married Margaret A. C. "Carrie" Thomas (b. 1846) in November 1866 and they had at least 8 children.
10/01/1840; DeKalb County, GA
08/14/1914; Fulton County, GA
1 Henderson, Lilian, compiler, Roster of the Confederate Soldiers of Georgia, 1861-1865, 6 vols., Hapeville (GA): Longino & Porter, 1959-1964, Vol. II, pg. 1004 [AotW citation 26101]


Patriots Wire
Patriots set to host 2023 international game in Germany
Jordy McElroy
Pack your bags, ladies and gentlemen. The New England Patriots are heading to Germany in the 2023 season.
The NFL announced on Thursday that the Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs would be hosting games internationally in the 2023 season. With both teams set to host games in Germany, that would eliminate the Chiefs as the potential opponent for the Patriots.
This will be New England’s debut in the country as a designated team.
“We are thrilled to be selected to play in Germany this year,” Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft said in a statement, via the official team website. “We are undefeated in our three previous international games, thanks in part to the outstanding support from our fans. We know that some of our most passionate fans reside in Germany, and we look forward to finally playing a game there. We know the fans will create an amazing atmosphere. We are sure it will be a memorable experience and one of the highlights of the 2023 season.”
More details will come later in the year, particularly the destination and opponents in both international matchups.
All of the Patriots’ previous international games have ended in lopsided fashion, culminating in a 3-0 record. The last matchup overseas came in a trip to Mexico City back in 2017, when the Tom Brady-led Patriots handed the Oakland Raiders a 33-7 blowout loss.
We’ll see if tradition holds true in 2023.
10 biggest cap hits for Patriots heading into 2023 offseason
Story originally appeared on Patriots Wire


State Your Peace Tonight
Shuttered Room
The Fixx (1982)
The debut album by The Fixx was released in the UK 40 years old today. It includes the first single by the band, Stand Or Fall, which hit #7 on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks.
The album didn't come over to the United States for another five months, but I don't ever remember hearing any of the songs from it when I was growing up in the 80's. In fact, I didn't really know too much about The Fixx until I was in my 30's and found a recording of the KROQ Top 106 Songs of 1983. Someone taped the whole show on four cassette tapes from the radio back on New Years Eve and shared on archive.org. Three songs from the album were included on the countdown: Shuttered Room, Stand Or Fall, and a song that quickly became one of my favorite new wave songs of the 80's, Red Skies.


Varsity Volleyball Captain Jacelin Mckie
Rah-San Bailey
Isaac Ng, Reporter
Having played all four years on varsity for Venice, senior captain Jacelin McKie plays right side/opposite for the girls varsity volleyball team. Standing at 5’7, she holds a current California ranking of 422 and a national ranking of 4,481.
However, it wasn’t always easy for the 17-year-old, as she has dealt with injuries in the past that kept her sidelined for months. But here she is, enjoying her last year of high school and preparing to move on to college and pursue her dreams.
Describe how you started playing volleyball.
“Volleyball was a family sport, so I just naturally grew up into the sport. However, it was like a realization for me, because I also played other sports like basketball and track. But when I started playing volleyball, I realized that it was the only sport I wanted to play. And I started playing competitively when I was 7.”
What’s your mentality whenever you step on the court?
“Mostly, I am just focused on the team and ensuring that every single one of my teammates is involved and that we’re focused and doing our best every time.”
What’s your favorite part about playing volleyball?
“My favorite part is the fact that volleyball is truly a team sport. I love having to play and work to build relationships with my teammates in order to better our success together on the court.”
What’s your most memorable moment playing volleyball?
“My most memorable moment was winning our first state playoff game and advancing into the second round of states’. This is the farthest the volleyball program at Venice has gotten.”
Was there a time when you were prevented from playing?
“For the past two seasons in a row, I’ve sprained my ankle at the beginning of the season. But I try my best to not let that prevent me from playing. And it helped me focus on my impact on the team off the court.”
What expectations do you have for yourself?
“None really. I just want to enjoy my last year of high school volleyball with my girls.”
What do you enjoy doing outside of volleyball?
“I enjoy hanging out with my friends and baking.”
What are you planning on doing after graduating from high school?
“Since UC Santa Cruz is a D3 athletic university, it is my best option for playing collegiate sports and continue focussing on my education. There, I want to study psychology, hopefully play volleyball for their program, and enjoy my time there.”


Chapter 584: A Beauty's Misunderstanding
At the time that Xu Qingyan received Song Yanshu's phone call, she was in the middle of stuffing her face with food. After all, this food contained a lot of memories and was bought by Tang Jingxuan, so she especially cherished it.
"Hi, it's Song Yanshu. Let's meet."
Xu Qingyan pulled the phone away confusedly before returning it to her ear, "If you have something to say, then just say it. I don't want to see you."
"I'll meet you in the lobby of Glory Hotel. You have 30 minutes. It's regarding Jingxuan. If you don't come, you will regret it," Song Yanshu said as she looked at the watch on her wrist before she hung up.
Xu Qingyan sighed at Song Yanshu's arrogant and unreasonable attitude. It wasn't like she was a small assistant that followed her around. What right did she have to demand her to come and go as she pleased?
However, even though it made her uncomfortable, the mention of Tang Jingxuan's name left her with no choice but to put down the food in her hands. After tidying up a little and getting changed, she left her house and headed for the hotel.
In less than 20 minutes, Xu Qingyan was led into the hotel by a bellboy. As soon as she spotted Song Yanshu sitting by the window, elegantly sipping a cup of coffee, she immediately walked over and asked, "Whatever it is, speak!"
Song Yanshu lifted her head and looked at Xu Qingyan. She had a mysterious look in her eyes that made Xu Qingyan extremely uncomfortable.
Xu Qingyan looked questioningly into Song Yanshu's eyes. This was the first time that the two women had met in private.
"Have you seen today's news?" Song Yanshu already had her phone opened to an article as she handed it to Xu Qingyan.
Xu Qingyan took the phone from Song Yanshu's hands suspiciously. It didn't take long before she realized the main point, "This can't be possible, I just saw him not long ago."
"Anything is possible. I also saw him just before he came to see you. I was by his side the entire time," Song Yanshu smiled. "I can confirm that he just came out of surgery and his injuries are, in fact, quite serious."
"But, why..."
"This is why I am here to see you," Song Yanshu retrieved her phone and looked at Xu Qingyan in seriousness. In a slightly helpless and contemptuous voice, she continued, "Jingxuan and I have made up...I'm sorry that he used you all this time. His injury this time was all because of me, but this incident has allowed us to see how we feel about each other; we are truly in love."
"So, could I please ask you to keep your distance from now on?"
"I don't believe a single word that is coming out of your mouth," Xu Qingyan replied. "I am going to ask him to explain in person..."
"Go ahead. If it comes from his lips, it will be easier for you to accept," Song Yanshu smiled as she did a welcoming gesture.
Xu Qingyan turned around angrily as she headed for the exit. But, at this time, Song Yanshu suddenly held her back, "I was just joking..."
"What?" Xu Qingyan's mind was muddled up by Song Yanshu's confusing words.
"I said, I was just joking. You're well aware that I am already engaged, so there's no way I would turn back. But, Tang Jingxuan did indeed get hurt because of me."
This time, Xu Qingyan did not hesitate as she directly threw a slap across Song Yanshu's face, "Do you know how disgusting you look?"
"I've heard bits and pieces about you. You were once a great assistant by Tangning's side. But...what happened to you? Why have you changed so much? How are you really like as a person?"
"You are well aware of the pain that Jingxuan suffered because of you. To break away from the past, he gave up on the singing career that he loved and retreated from the entertainment industry. What else do you want from him?"
"Why do you think you are still standing here today? It's because Ning Jie is a grateful person; she remembers all that you have done for her. Otherwise, did you think that you could still survive in Beijing?"
"Song Yanshu, you should remain level-headed. Have you thought about the way that the Tang Family has treated you?"
"It's obvious that Jingxuan would never turn back, and even if he did, did you think you are doing the right thing by degrading someone that loves you wholeheartedly?"
Song Yanshu did not say a word. To be exact, Xu Qingyan had already read her mind. So, all she could do was smile.
"What about you? What are your feelings towards Jingxuan?"
"It's none of your business," Xu Qingyan growled. "Song Yanshu, I am not the one that should distance myself from Jingxuan, you are...No matter what you want to do, Jingxuan and I are not from the entertainment industry. We don't care if you want to create hype or do anything else. It has nothing to do with us!"
"If you want Ning Jie to still consider you as a friend, I think you know what to do."
After speaking, Xu Qingyan left the hotel without looking back. As she walked away, she anxiously contacted Tangning, "Ning Jie, where is Jingxuan right now?"
In reality, Xu Qingyan actually believed that Tang Jingxuan had gotten hurt because of Song Yanshu. After all, Tang Jingxuan was a righteous person that viewed relationships highly. But she wondered, didn't he feel that it wasn't worth it?
Even so, regardless of the reason for his injuries, the fact that Tang Jingxuan went so far to buy her food from their childhood, was proof enough that Tang Jingxuan was a silly idiot.
Not long after returning to the hospital, Tang Jingxuan fell into a deep sleep. After all, the weather was cold and he had just awoken from his surgery not long ago. So, when Xu Qingyan walked into the hospital room, he remained asleep in bed without a clue that she had arrived.
It turned out that the silly idiot had indeed traveled all the way to buy her food even though he was seriously injured...
"You..." As soon as Lu Che saw Xu Qingyan appear at the hospital, he was full of curiosity. Didn't Hai Rui have everything under wraps? Had their line of defense been broken?
"Song Yanshu came looking for me..." Xu Qingyan explained. "She told me that this idiot was injured."
"Would she really be that nice?" Lu Che's image of Song Yanshu had been completely ruined. To him, she was practically in the same category as Yang Xi and Ye Lan.
"I feel bad for this idiot. Why would he still risk his life for a woman like that?" Xu Qingyan looked at Tang Jingxuan disappointedly. She was so tempted to wake him up right at that moment.
Lu Che realized something wasn't right as he raised an eyebrow questioningly, "Is that what Song Yanshu told you?"
"Uh huh."
"And you believe her just like that?"
"If not, what other reason would he have? Anyhow, it doesn't matter. I already hit that woman. You can leave Jingxuan with me from now on, I'll take care of him. After all, he has helped me many times in the past."
Lu Che gently held his head with a helpless expression. It wasn't easy for Tang Jingxuan to be a hero, yet the beauty that he saved misunderstood him...
But, he was going to leave the explaining for Tang Jingxuan to do himself.
"Miss Xu, there are a few words that I would like to say to you. After all, I think of Jingxuan as family."
"He has made a lot of mistakes in love, I'm sure you've seen how badly he's been hurt. I hope he won't come across another woman that wants to play around with him while they have another man in their heart..."


Americans can sponsor refugees now directly under new program
Hundreds of migrants from Venezuela, Haiti, and Central America -formerly heading to the United States- wait in line to process their refugee status at the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR), in Tapachula, Chiapas state, Mexico on Nov 7, 2022. (STR / AFP)
WASHINGTON – Groups of Americans will be able to directly sponsor refugees for resettlement in the United States under a new program launching on Thursday, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters, a step that could bolster admissions and reduce government costs.
Under the pilot program, which will be called the Welcome Corps, groups of at least five people will be expected to raise a minimum of $2,275 per refugee assigned to them by the government, one of the people said. The sponsor groups will also be required to pass background checks and create a support plan.
Earlier this month, US President Joe Biden rolled out a humanitarian entry program that allows up to 30,000 migrants per month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter via "parole" if they have US sponsors and travel by air
The program will aim to find US sponsors for 5,000 refugees in fiscal year 2023, which ends on Sept 30, another of the sources said.
ALSO READ: Washington trampling on rights of immigrants
The individual sponsorship program for refugees – similar to a model used in Canada – is part of a broader effort by US President Joe Biden to provide opportunities for Americans to support foreigners seeking protection.
Earlier this month, Biden rolled out a humanitarian entry program that allows up to 30,000 migrants per month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter via "parole" if they have US sponsors and travel by air. The administration also used parole to admit Afghans and Ukrainians and piloted sponsor programs to support them in the United States.
The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Welcome Corps program will bring in refugees through the US Refugee Resettlement Program, which takes referrals from the United Nations and US embassies. Biden set a cap of 125,000 refugee admissions this fiscal year, which began on Oct 1, 2022, but only 6,750 arrived from October-December, according to program data.
ALSO READ: Action urged in US battle against racism
The United States greatly curtailed refugee entries under former president Donald Trump, who portrayed them as a security threat. Admissions have yet to rebound to pre-Trump levels.
Sasha Chanoff, founder of RefugePoint, which identifies people in need of resettlement, said the sponsorships could be one of the most significant developments for the US refugee program since it began in 1980.
"It invites Americans to get involved in new ways," he said.
Tagged program, resettlement, under, which, will
Nissin Foods (Hong Kong) Charity Fund Establishes Nissin Foods Scholarship at The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Ukraine appoints acting interior minister after helicopter crash


25th anniversary of Happy Land nightclub fire that killed 87
By Crimesider Staff
March 25, 2015 / 3:14 PM / CBS News
NEW YORK -- Twenty-five years ago Wednesday, 87 people died after a man who was reportedly angry with his ex-girlfriend set fire to a Bronx club, reports CBS New York.
The fire broke out just after 3 a.m. on March 25, 1990 at the Happy Land nightclub. Happy Land was operating illegally after having been ordered closed by the city for building and fire code violations, and a single staircase was the only point of egress.
The club was packed with young men and women - largely recent immigrants from Honduras, Ecuador and other Latin American countries, according to published reports.
Earlier that evening, Julio Gonzalez had been kicked out of the club by the bouncer after getting into an argument with his ex-girlfriend - nightclub ticket taker Lydia Feliciano, according to published reports. He walked to a gas station nearby and returned to the nightclub with a container full of gasoline, which he poured onto the staircase and ignited.
Feliciano survived the fire, but 87 people - 61 men and 26 women, did not. Most of them were reportedly under 25 years old.
Victims trying to escape the flames ended up piled up in a corner alongside the dance floor where they asphyxiated or burned to death, reports said.
Gonzalez was convicted of 87 counts each of murder and arson in 1991, and was sentenced to 25 years to life for every count.
Accounts at the time pointed out that the Happy Land fire was the deadliest blaze in New York City since the Triangle Shirtwaist fire 79 years earlier to the day. The Triangle Shirtwaist fire killed 146 people and helped galvanize the U.S. labor movement in 1911.
The building that housed the Triangle Shirtwaist factory is now owned by New York University.
The remains of the Happy Land club were demolished after the fire of March 25, 1990.
Woman, 29, arrested after enrolling at high school, posing as freshman
School board votes to remove superintendent after 6-year-old shoots teacher
Two Florida police officers charged for allegedly beating homeless man
First published on March 25, 2015 / 3:14 PM


Home » Cancer Stories » Dog And Beth Fight Of Their Lives
Dog And Beth Fight Of Their Lives
Alice Miles November 15, 2017 Cancer Stories
Dog and beth fight of their lives - Beth Chapman gives an update on her battle with throat cancer in new 'Dog and Beth' trailer. A and E network brings the most famous bounty hunter in the world, Dwayne "dog" Chapman and his wife Beth, back to the emotional two-hour special documenting Beth with throat cancer, was announced today by Elaine Frontain Bryant, Deputy Executive President and head of the network's programming, & e. with tears and emotion, the dog and Beth opened their hearts and lives of audiences like never before. The show "Dog and Beth: fight in your life" on November 27 at 9 p.m. et/fr.
"We are grateful to the family Dog and Beth Chapman over their courage to share their personal journeys with the audience for a very difficult time in their lives," said Frontain Bryant. Dog and beth fight of their lives - "We hope this can inspire an audience."
The audience will follow the Dog and Beth from diagnosis through surgery and the journey towards recovery. As they enter the biggest struggle in their lives, they will look for the prayers and support of family and friends, including Shannon Tweed Simmons and others.
"Dog The Bounty Hunter" was released in 2004 and aired for seven seasons in the 200 episodes. For running it, the series became one of the most successful franchises in the run scoring record with television through the demo key. "Dog and Beth: struggle in your life" is produced by the media and network Thinkfactory. Thinkfactory Media is the Executive producer Leslie Greif, Adam Reed, Adam Freeman and Mayen Ma. Executive producer A & E is Elaine Fronton Bryant Savitsky, Amy, and Brad Abramson.
Related: Dog And Beth Cancer
Beth Chapman, the co-star of reality show Dog the Bounty Hunter, was diagnosed with throat cancer in the second stage this autumn, and will soon find out about its fight for health in a two-hour special. People reported that Beth will talk about his struggle in dog health and Beth: the struggle of her life, which will be screened on November 27. The show will follow suit of the diagnosis in September through surgery and begin the road to recovery.
Special event Beth in hospitals, as well as spending time with family and friends. "When you start this fight, I don't see a lot of optimism," said Beth, in the video preview that was released by a & e. "they gave me the opportunity of 50 to 50." At the end of September, she had surgery to remove the cancerous tumor the size of a plum from the neck.
Her husband, Duan "dog" Chapman, also consider the fight with his wife's diagnosis. "[Doctors] said:" I'm sorry, dogs, "and immediately I understood," he said. Dog and beth fight of their lives - The dog is also shown in the video, ask Beth "what will happen if you leave us forever?"
After his diagnosis, Beth, reportedly wrote a letter to his friend, pledged to fight every step of the way, and it was clear that he was still determined to beat cancer. "I want my kids can see that their mothers struggle to tolerate," said Beth specials. "Cancer chose the wrong woman, "added the dog.
Dog and beth fight of their lives - "We thank Beth Chapman family, dogs and because of their courage to share my personal journey with the audience during a very difficult time in their lives," Elaine Fronteyn Bryant, head of programming for & E, says in a press release. "We hope that this feature can give inspiration to the audience." Recently, Beth steps back in the spotlight, appeared with dogs at a party for the series Hawaii five-0. [This is one of his first public appearances after cancer surgery.


Jack's blog
How Hearing Aids Might help
Now the third most common physical impairment right after arthritis and heart illness, hearing loss impacts almost 50 million Americans. That's about 20 percent with the U.S. population or one in each five people. Though congenital challenges are to blame in some cases, most people lose their hearing steadily as they age. In accordance with data in the National Institutes of Health (NIH), 47 percent of adults age 75 and older have an auditory impairment. The good news is that this situation can often be managed with hearing aids. Get far more details about Hearing Aid Know
Modest adequate to match inside or behind the ear, these electronic devices make some sounds louder, permitting customers to hear much better in most environments. Aids don't essentially increase auditory efficiency, but merely amplify sound. Most consist of a microphone, an amplifier, plus a receiver that delivers augmented sounds in to the ear. Batteries are usually required to power the device's electronics.
Who Uses Them?
As we described, about one in 5 people have some degree of auditory impairment, but not all of them can advantage from an help. These with conductive hearing loss, for instance, have structural difficulties that can only be corrected with surgery or medical treatment. Hearing aids are most successful for people who have suffered some damage for the inner ear or auditory nerve. Known as sensorineural loss, it truly is typically triggered by aging, noise damage, or illness. The only vibrant spot is that the problem will not typically rob an individual of their capability to hear entirely.
At final count, about 8 million Americans wore hearing aids. That may possibly look like many people, but it is only a fraction in the quantity that could benefit from their use. In accordance with audiologists, only about one in five people who should be wearing the device in fact does. Why is this? There are lots of motives, but the lack of info is mostly to blame. With that in thoughts, let us take a moment to discuss the two varieties of aids and how they're used.
For people with mild to moderate hearing loss, an analog model may be the most effective alternative. Affordable and easy to adjust, these devices convert sound waves into electrical signals which are then amplified and delivered towards the ear.
Far more versatile than the analog version, a digital device converts sounds waves in numerical codes, amplifies, and delivers them towards the ear. Due to the fact the numerical codes contain information and facts about loudness, path, and pitch, it is significantly simpler to adjust them primarily based wants of the user. As you might count on, these sophisticated aids are typically additional highly-priced than basic analog models. But like anything else, you get what you spend for. All sufferers who suffer from moderate to severe auditory loss must strongly consider digital over analog versions.
Hearing aids would be the most efficient technique to handle long-term auditory impairment in most sufferers.


Love, Family, and Purpose: How One Founder Discovered the Surprising Advantages of Entrepreneurship
By Peter Upton
Career paths aren’t always a straight line – Jace Thomas is proof of that.
After a decade of job hopping, Jace built a search engine optimization (SEO) marketing business called Hiperion Marketing. Today, he makes $25,000 in MRR, and he runs a global marketing team at age 30.
Jace didn’t take a fancy entrepreneurship course or even attend college. When he finished high school, he became a drummer for a band in Los Angeles, and when the band failed, he worked a nightmare sales job from age 19 to 24.
But the following year, Jace turned his life around. He left the job, quit drinking, fell in love, and had a child – all in the same year. Charged with the responsibilities of parenthood, Jace set up a new life (and home) for his family in Kansas City, ready to start a lifestyle business.
In 2018, he started a marketing agency. In 2020, he connected with his cofounder, Seth Kitchen, on Facebook, to create a web development business. That same year, they launched an SEO agency called Hiperion Marketing, outsourcing most of the work to contractors abroad.
Hiperion Marketing combines the classic SEO agency model with sprints – the Agile product development framework where you do tasks in short, snappy bursts. But Jace struggled to scale the business because he targeted everyone who came in the door – from barbecue wholesalers to gyms.
Today, Jace is closer to finding his niche as he works on a SaaS competitor to Google Analytics and becoming a philanthropist. Here’s his unlikely story from rancher’s son to one of Missouri’s top marketing minds.
It’s a Hard Knock Life
Jace is a people person. He thinks he inherited it from his father while growing up on a cattle farm: “When doing deals, he didn’t pay attention to specific numbers or details. He simply made sure he got them done.”
Jace has also cultivated an entrepreneurial streak. As a teenager, he opened a recording studio in his parents’ basement and operated it on nights and weekends to make extra cash.
Jace’s love of music drove him to graduate early to join a band signed to a major label in Los Angeles. Even today, as a thirty-year-old marketing professional, he maintains some of the counterculture look, sporting large ear gauges and a nose ring.
Jace’s music career fell to the roadside when the band broke up, forcing him back into the workforce without a degree. This led him to a five-year sales career selling phones and internet connections in what he describes as one of the most toxic work environments he’s seen.
“There were knife fights in the parking lot and drug dealing on the sales floor. I was drinking and partying to cope with the stress.”
“Let’s put it this way,” says Jace. “There were knife fights in the parking lot and drug dealing on the sales floor. I was drinking and partying to cope with the stress.”
At 22, Jace became a manager in charge of a team of sixty adults. This taught him leadership at a young age but under less-than-ideal conditions.
“There was a death cycle at the company. If you got tired of being an agent, they promoted you to manager in exchange for lower pay.”
Burned out and ready to do something else with his life, Jace left the call center and moved to Kansas City in 2016. The next year, his life changed completely.
“I became sober on August 1st, 2017. I met my girlfriend, Tiffany, a month later, and we had our first child shortly afterward. The trajectory into adulthood came pretty quick.”
After arriving in Kansas City, Jace built two failed businesses: a Shopify website for sending gifts called Gift Your Girl and a web development service that charged clients a dollar for a website and $99 per month for maintenance. Although neither side project succeeded, Jace leveraged the experience to land an SEO job with a local agency.
“In the interview, they said, ‘We teach you how to do everything. What’s stopping you from starting your own business?’ I’m pretty honest so I told them, ‘Nothing, absolutely nothing.’ Fortunately, they still hired me.”
Eleven months later, domestic stability made Jace act on his instincts. “I was always kind of a wantrepreneur. Then I realized there were people making thousands online and spending tons of time with their families. That’s what I wanted to do,” he says.
Jace quit the marketing agency and started his own SEO business. A year later, he met his future cofounder, Seth Kitchen, a recent Missouri University of Science and Technology graduate in a Facebook group.
Since Seth was a developer, he and Jace started Hiperion to build custom software for companies. They also worked on Jace’s project, Hiperion Marketing, for three years until Jace decided to split off the marketing division in 2020.
Applying Agile to SEO
Marketing appealed to Jace because it allowed him more control and shorter sales cycles (marketing objectives were faster to achieve than development ones). Jace adopted the idea of productized SEO from popular consultant, Ryan Stewart, owner of Webris and The Blueprint Training, and an acolyte of the SEO sprint to revitalize agencies.
“We use these sprints in place of a retainer and usually recommend a four-month contract period. Many choose to extend past that.”
“SEO sprints have a predefined scope, time, and outcome,” says Jace. “There are audit sprints, content sprints, and backlink sprints. We use these sprints in place of a retainer and usually recommend a four-month contract period. Many choose to extend past that.”
Jace won clientele for Hiperion Marketing the old-fashioned way: word of mouth. “One of our clients was a CTO I worked with at the accelerator downtown, others were through people we’d worked with before spreading the word. I’ve later added LinkedIn automation as well.”
Today Jace does few of the day-to-day tasks at his agency, instead ideating content topics and managing the SEO sprints through teams in the US, Turkey, and Pakistan. “I’m good at design and SEO. I have absolutely no dev skills so I have to use my ability to connect dots and make stuff happen,” he says.
Jace learned quality control the hard way. Hiperion lost clients early on by contracting subpar writers for content.
“Clients wanted writing at a level their investors expected. We went back to the drawing board, and now we do a bunch of things to understand the client more deeply. We make sure to fill out a content workbook, do buyer personas, and more. We also use talented local content writers instead of outsourcing overseas.”
With Hiperion Marketing running almost autonomously, Jace and Seth are working on their next bet for riches: a SaaS business competing with Google Analytics.
Switching to SaaS
In 2021, Jace decided to push Hiperion into the SaaS space after he saw how quickly it could scale first-hand.
While a member of the Facebook group Welcome to Springfield Missouri (he’d recently left Kansas City), Jace saw someone ask about building a website that could pick a local restaurant at random. Jace hopped over to his web builder and crafted an app called Pick My Restaurant in 30 minutes. Within days, 500 people used the platform.
“It’s generating no revenue currently, but we’ve got great user data,” he says. “We’ve surveyed a bunch of them and they said they would be willing to pay. That’s on the back burner for now, but it’s something that we want to validate and roll out to other area codes.”
Encouraged by Pick My Restaurant, Jace asked his clients what software might improve their marketing efforts. He settled on improving Google Analytics. “The people I spoke to hated Google analytics. I felt pretty confident we could solve that problem with some pretty graphs, big numbers, and action items.”
Jace enlisted help from an online internship program for developers and UI students called The Assembly.
“This group assigned me five UX students that researched and refined my preliminary design,” he says. “They did customer interviews and gained all this great data about what users care about and what they don’t.”
With so much data, Jace had little trouble getting Seth to buy into the idea and architect the project. Jace then hired developers to back him.
The new SaaS – called Hiperion Beta – is now a data visualization tool built on the back of Google Analytics. It lets agencies comment on client metrics and recommend actions they should take. Jace says three large agencies with a combined 15,000 clients are interested in signing up.
“That app is probably the future of our company,” he says.
The Hiperion Project
Even after creating a profitable marketing agency and what could be a successful SaaS, Jace still isn’t done. He wants to use his money to help others.
“My big push is for my future nonprofit, the Hiperion Project,” he says. “As a father, I’ve become a huge fan of child advocacy nonprofits. I want to do that or a project for the betterment of teens and adults. I’m trying to put my stamp on the world. I’m thirty now and my goal by age thirty-five is to have everything at Hiperion become self-sustaining and have the Hiperion Project as my daily venture.”
Jace advises other founders to find something they are passionate about and spend time early on figuring out who they want their business to help.
“I started at step three in my journey,” he says. “I defined the solution – SEO – and skipped identifying who I wanted to help. If I’d defined that I wanted to help SaaS businesses because of their scalability and explosive growth, Hiperion would probably be much bigger by now.”
Peter Upton
Peter is a copywriter and journalism graduate of Indiana University. He’s spent almost half a decade living and working in China and Vietnam and loves learning and writing about startups and other cultures. He’s written about fintech, edtech, logistics, and more. When he's not writing about founders he’s learning new languages, petting cats, and getting a pump in the gym.


Over the weekend at the Chicopee Complex, a group of Athens hackers gathered to crunch data and work collectively to solve civic issues.
These hackers didn't breach any security walls or steal any classified documents, though. These are civic hackers, interested in creating solutions and improving the quality of life.
"We're trying to reclaim or redefine the definition of hacking from the public's perspectives because it means coding, developing, contributing," Kelly Storm, co-creator of Hack for Athens, said. "You can hack a civic idea and it not involve code, and that's where civic hacking came from."
The hackers at Hack for Athens divided into teams to solve challenges such as how to deliver safe drinking water, creating a public database and free, ubiquitous Internet.
Baron Chandler and Chris Sparnicht, both members of the SafeWater Athens team, sifted through data from the Environmental Protection Agency pertaining to the cleanliness of public water.
"Safe drinking water is an abstract thing, but what does it mean to people," Chandler said. "How can we make it an impact that's different?"
Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the EPA regulates public water systems, but it does not regulate water from wells, but Chandler and Sparnicht hope they can come up with a solution to incorporate well water into regulations as well.
"The whole idea with most of these is to open up data within the government. We're trying to be the people who mine the data, so the people can read it and use it," Sparnicht said.
Another group at the event, the Hotdawgs, worked to compile data from multiple government sources into a single database.
"A lot of the information came from not only Athens-Clarke, but federal databases, censuses, statistics, so the information is out there, but we're pulling it all together, making it Athens-specific, so other people, whatever their initiative is, can use it," Amanda Newell said.
Glenn Stovall, also member of the Hotdawgs, said compiling data at the local level was where a difference could be made.
"We wanted to focus more on Athens-Clarke County because that way dealing with your local politicians has the biggest impact on your life directly," Stovall said, "and it's also where you can have a much bigger direct impact on the government."
Hack for Athens took place on Saturday and Sunday. The event was put on in conjunction with the National Day of Civic Hacking, a nationwide initiative to encourage problem-solving at the community level.
Guest speakers at the event included Secretary of State Brian P. Kemp, Area Director for the University of Georgia Carol McDonell and Jessica Kissinger from the Center for Tropical and Emerging Diseases at UGA.
Kissinger discussed the emerging ways data could be used to predict local and global trends, such as outbreaks, as well as the importance of creating and preserving data for future generations.
On Sunday a pitch meeting was held with local business leaders serving as judges. Each group was given 10 to 15 minutes to pitch their solutions and hear feedback from judges.
The result of Hack for Athens, as Storm, founder of Black Box Software, sees it, will be a way for civic hacking to be permanently incorporated into the community.
"As soon as we can figure out how to make this a lasting thing, it's not going to be an event, it's going to be an on-going thing," Storm said.
All documents and ideas created at Hack for Athens will be available as public record.


Union Gas partners Surbana Jurong to explore Singapore’s first Multi-Energy Filling Station
Parties to study the potential redevelopment of Union Gas’ existing fuel station at 50 Old Toh Tuck Road into a sustainable multi-fuels and energy facility.
Aims to jointly establish an efficient and scalable model that can be replicated in other locations locally and overseas
Union Gas’ existing facility at Old Toh Tuck Road (credit: Union Gas)
Singapore, 3 March 2021 – Union Gas Holdings Limited (优联燃气控股有限公司) (“Union Gas” or together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”), an established provider of fuel products in Singapore, has exclusively appointed Surbana Jurong Group (“Surbana Jurong”) as part of a collaboration to study and evaluate the potential redevelopment of the existing fuel station at 50 Old Toh Tuck Road (the “Site”) into Singapore’s first multi-fuels and energy facility.
The Site is the current location of Union Gas’ fuel station under its “Cnergy” brand, which offers both compressed natural gas and diesel primarily to natural gas vehicles and industrial customers for commercial use. With the lease for the Site expiring in December 2023, the Group is now exploring the feasibility of redeveloping and transforming it into an innovative, adaptable and sustainable multi-fuels and energy facility, which will support its ambitions to cater to the evolving energy requirements and challenges of the future as well as Singapore’s aspirations for cleaner energy options.
Surbana Jurong and the Group will work jointly on a business plan and model to assess the feasibility of adding various sustainable energy delivery and storage methods and solutions to the Site. These may include renewable solar and micro-wind energy solutions, battery storage systems and electric vehicles charging stations; and a natural gas-based power generation station supported by existing transmission pipeline and subsequent export to the power grid.
As part of the plan, the parties will also explore the feasibility of hosting alternative low carbon initiatives such as on-site production of hydrogen fuel through electrolysis and the corresponding dispensation of hydrogen fuel into hydrogen cell vehicles. This Site is also expected to be self-powered by solar and/or wind energy.
Concept for Multi-Fuel Filling Station
Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Teo Hark Piang (张学彬), said: “We are very pleased to have found a like-minded partner in Surbana Jurong to work on our shared goals. This collaboration is part of our strategic plan to diversify and enhance our existing business by keeping an eye on the future needs of our customers. In order to remain relevant and viable as a provider of fuel products and to create value for our stakeholders, it is imperative that we heed the call for cleaner and more sustainable energy sources and support the move towards vehicles that rely less and less on fossil fuels.”
In addition to Surbana Jurong, whose expertise is in urban, infrastructure and managed services consulting, the Group also intends to collaborate with local institutes of higher learning and other government agencies to study the potential of test-bedding hydrogen related infrastructure within the site and to develop and implement energy management software to streamline its resource management process and conduct real-time optimisation of energy delivery.
Surbana Jurong, Chief Executive Officer (ASEAN), Mr Yeo Choon Chong (杨俊聪), said: “Our collaboration with Union Gas demonstrates Surbana Jurong’s commitment to develop sustainable energy technologies and low carbon alternatives. This strategic collaboration is in line with Surbana Jurong’s vision to anchor sustainability in all our projects from design to execution; in this particular project, Surbana Jurong will sharpen its focus on low carbon energy systems and industrial infrastructure.”
Union Gas, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Mr Ng Yong Hwee (黄荣辉), said: “We envisage that the Multi-Energy Filling Station will be a game changer not only for our Group but also for the industry. It will be a blueprint for how energy stations will look in the future. Our goal is to make it scalable for easy implementation across the island and for it to also be a model that can be replicated overseas.”
Union Gas and Surbana Jurong are expected to conclude their study and assessment of the potential of the site and to make their conclusions and recommendations within the next six months. The Group will make the necessary announcements in due course.
About Union Gas
Union Gas Holdings Limited (优联燃气控股有限公司) (“Union Gas” or the “Company”, and together with its subsidiaries, the “Group”) is an established provider of fuel products in Singapore with over 40 years of operating track record. Its three key businesses comprise Retail Liquefied Petroleum Gas (“LPG”), Compressed Natural Gas (“CNG”), and Diesel.
Listed on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (the “SGX-ST”) on 21 July 2017 (SGX-ST stock code: 1F2), Union Gas is one of the leading suppliers of bottled LPG cylinders in Singapore under the established and trusted brand “Union”. The Group has a fleet of over 200 delivery vehicles serving more than 200,000 domestic households as well as commercial entities such as hawker centres, eating houses, coffee shops and commercial central kitchens island-wide. This extensive distribution capability is further supported by an in-house call centre that operates all year round with a customised customer relationship management system
Union Gas sells and distributes diesel to retail customers at its “Cnergy” fuel station in 50 Old Toh Tuck Road and transports, distributes and bulk sells diesel to commercial customers. The Group also produces, sells and distributes CNG at its fuel station and is one of the leading suppliers of CNG primarily to natural gas vehicles (NGVs) and industrial customers for their commercial use.
For more information, please visit www.uniongas.com.sg.
About Surbana Jurong Group
Surbana Jurong Group is a global urban, infrastructure and managed services consulting firm, with over 70 years of track record in successful project delivery. Headquartered in Singapore, the group has a global talent pool of over 16,000 across Surbana Jurong and our member companies AETOS, Atelier Ten, B+H, KTP, Prostruct, RBG, SAA, Sino-Sun and SMEC, based in more than 120 offices in over 40 countries. They include architects, designers, planners, engineers and other specialists driven by progressive thinking and creative ideas to shape a better future.
Our technical experts deliver sustainable solutions that cover the entire project life cycle from planning and design, through to delivery and management. We also provide a full suite of multi-disciplinary consultancy services across a diverse range of sectors including energy and resources, aviation, healthcare, hospitality, transport, water, environment, as well as services such as industrial solutions and parks management.
Surbana Jurong has built more than a million homes in Singapore, created master plans in more than 30 countries and developed over 100 industrial parks globally. Our tag line “Building Cities, Shaping Lives” expresses how every project or undertaking is, for the Group, an opportunity to fulfil aspirations and enrich lives. By designing and delivering quality housing, work spaces, roads, rail, hydropower, dams, underground and coastal protections and other critical infrastructure needed by our clients, we are redefining cities and transforming them into sustainable and liveable spaces where communities and businesses, present and future, can thrive.
For more information, please visit: www.surbanajurong.com.
For media queries, please contact:
Geraldine Cheong
Deputy Director, Group Communications & Branding
Surbana Jurong Group
Email: geraldine.cheongwl@surbanajurong.com


What is nano?
The University of Sydney Nano Institute
Studying Nano
Funding and scholarship opportunities
Learn about the world on a small scale
Nanoscience is the study of the structure and function of materials on the scale of nanometres, which is one billionth of a metre or roughly the size of about ten atoms in a row.
Under those conditions, light and matter behave in ways that differ significantly from those we are familiar with on everyday scales. These behaviours often defy the classical laws of physics and chemistry and can only be understood using the laws of quantum mechanics.
Nanoscience and nanotechnologies present a range of exciting opportunities for the world – exciting not just because of the remarkable material properties and device capabilities we have already seen, but because of the enormous potential for future discoveries and technologies of which we have only just begun to scratch the surface.
Our nanoscience and nanotechnology research is impacting a huge variety of areas including energy and the environment; health and medicine; and communications, computing and security.
News_
Live from the Lab
Musicians from the Conservatorium of Music have been working alongside scientists and engineers from the Sydney Nano Institute, composing new music inspired by their emotional response to the Grand Challenges; the flagship projects at Sydney Nano.
We aim to discover groundbreaking solutions to some of the big issues facing humanity today by incorporating expertise from disciplines across the University in a range of research programs.
Live From The Lab – on FBi Radio
Where science, art and music meet
Start a dialogue
Talk to our researchers
Associate Professor Alice Motion
Westpac Research Fellow, Sydney Nano and School of Chemistry
alice.motion@sydney.edu.au
356a School of Chemistry F11


"But the production's real strength is top flight cast led by the superb Sheridan Smith in the title role."
"The key performance in Mackmin's production, however, comes from Fenella Woolgar as Mrs Elvsted..."
Hedda Gabler Tickets
Olivier Award-winning actress Sheridan Smith stars in a major new production of Henrik Ibsen’s masterpiece Hedda Gabler, in a new adaptation by Irish playwright Brian Friel. Directed by Anna Mackmin, Hedda Gabler is the seminal play about the conflict between the requirements of society and those of the individual, which remains startlingly relevant to this day.
Played out over 24 hours, Ibsen’s classic follows the free-spirited Hedda Gabler who chooses to rally against a life of crippling convention. Spending her married life struggling between the boundaries of expectation and reality, Hedda is subjected to a life of missed opportunities, ending with an ultimate tragic climax. Exploring themes of gender expectations, Hedda Gabler remains as relevant as when it was first published in 1890.
Sheridan Smith has quickly become one of the country’s most beloved actresses, receiving both the Olivier and Evening Standard Best Actress Awards for her performance in Flare Path, as well as the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her acclaimed portrayal of Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. Beginning in the likes of Gavin & Stacey and Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Smith has since starred in Accused, Jonathan Creek and Mrs Biggs. Starring as the fated Hedda Gabler, Smith is joined by Buffy Davis as Bertha, Anne Reid as Juliana Tesman, Adrian Scarborough as George Tesman and Fenella Woolgar as Thea Elvsted, as well as Daniel Lapaine and Darrell D’Silva.
Hedda Gabler is directed by Anna Mackmin, who most recently directed Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing, as well as Di and Viv and Rose and Me and My Girl. Brian Friel’s adapted production features design by Lez Brotherston, sound design by Simon Baker, lighting by Mark Henderson and original compositions by Paul Englishby. Starring Sheridan Smith, this revamped version of a classic opens at London’s Old Vic Theatre for a limited season.
Performance dates: 05 Sep 2012 - 10 Nov 2012
Running time: 3 hours including an interval
Special notice: Not recommended for children, Hedda Gabler is suitable for those who enjoy gripping dramas. Fans of Sheridan Smith will delight in seeing her play a wholly serious role, quite unlike previous appearances! Those who enjoy the original text will find the adaptation does not stray far from the original!
Sorry this show closed 10 November 2012, we recommend these similar productions.
SeatPlan Recommends: Sit in the Stalls of the Old Vic Theatre for the best view of this intimate play. Be aware that restrictions are towards the rear of each section.
Nobody has added a seat view photo for Hedda Gabler at Old Vic Theatre yet, please be the first to share your experience.


Preventable Deaths Tracker
A platform to explore concerns raised by coroners to prevent future deaths
Preventable Deaths Database
Geographical variation
Responses to PFDs
Death categories
In August 2021, the WHO published the Global Patient Safety Action Plan (2021-2030) to eliminate avoidable harms in healthcare. In England and Wales, legislation is in place to capture information on preventable deaths. Yet little is being done to use this information to reduce premature deaths.
We have created the Preventable Deaths Tracker to collate this information and make it accessible for all. Our Tracker also shares systematic analyses of this information, to warn against repeat hazards and highlight important lessons, to improve public safety, reduce avoidable harms, and prevent premature deaths.
What’s in the Database?
As of 22 June 2022, the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary had uploaded 4001 Prevention of Future Deaths reports (PFDs). The graph below illustrates the number of PFDs published over time. You can see the latest individual data here.
Number of Prevention of Future Deaths reports (PFDs) published on the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary website from inception (July 2013) to 22nd June 2022.
Oxford physics student, Qingyang Zhang, reflects on her internship working on the Preventable Deaths programme of research.
Oxford medical student, Harrison France, wins several awards for his research on preventable deaths involving medicines, including 1st place for the national IUPHAR student poster competition published in the British Pharmacology Society & the 2022 Oxford Wronker Research Project Prize.
How to cite this resource:
Richards, GC. Preventable Deaths Tracker. 2022. https://preventabledeathstracker.net/
Prevention of Future Deaths reports.
On average, 1% of inquests are written as PFD reports every year (2014-2021), the lowest ratio in the whole pipeline.
An inquest is opened by a coroner, and is a fact-finding investigation used to determine when, where and how a person died. On average, inquests are opened on 53.8% of postmortems conducted every year (2014-2021).
A caveat to the pipeline is that inquests can be opened without a postmortem examination. From 2014 to 2021, 18.5% of inquests are opened without postmortems.
Inquests can be concluded (a cause of death is determined), adjourned (postponed), or left open (no conclusion is reached regarding the cause of death).
Postmortem examinations is an examination of the body to determine the cause of death.
On average, postmortem is conducted on 38.8% of all reported deaths every year (2014-2021).
In 2021, 33% of all deaths were reported to coroners.


Biological Weapons the Focus of China’s Military Research in the Last 20 Years
Japan Forward - By Dr. Monika Chansoria - Published March 25, 2020
Independent Chinese media outlet Caixin Global revealed that Chinese laboratories had in fact identified a mystery virus — later identified as COVID-19 — to be a highly infectious new pathogen by late December 2019. But they were ordered to stop further testing, destroy samples, and suppress the news to the fullest extent possible.
The regional health official in Wuhan City, the epicenter of the pandemic, demanded the destruction of the lab samples, which established the cause of an unexplained viral pneumonia since January 1, 2020. China didn’t acknowledge that there was human-to-human transmission until more than three weeks later.
Caixin Global provides the clearest evidence yet of the scale of this fatal cover-up in the very crucial early weeks, when the opportunity was lost to control the outbreak — a contagion that spread throughout the world thereafter, and has caused a global shutdown, literally.
Warfare Beyond Rules
It is only apposite to go back and trace the many notable military research writings that have advocated for more than two decades that China should prepare itself to wage warfare beyond rules put in place by the Western powers.
In 1996, two Chinese military officers (colonels in the People’s Liberation Air Force (PLAAF), Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui, took part in military exercises conducted by China for the purpose of coercing the island nation of Taiwan. This was the period when Taipei was getting ready for its presidential elections. Soon enough, East Asia witnessed the return of great power rivalry to the region when the United States dispatched two aircraft carrier groups to the area.
This became the backdrop in which these two colonels met in a small town in southeastern China’s Fujian province and began their research. The end product was a co-authored book, Chao Xian Zhan: Dui Quanqiu Hua Shidai Zhanzheng yu Zhanfa de Xiangding (Warfare Beyond Rules: Judgment of War and Methods of War in the Era of Globalization), published by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Art Press.
The central premise of Warfare Beyond Rules is that China should be prepared to conduct “warfare beyond all boundaries and limitations to defend itself.”
In the book, Qiao and Wang argue that the existing rules of war, international laws, and agreements were developed by the Western powers, and that the United States leads the race in new-age military technologies and weapon platforms. Writing more than two decades ago, Qiao and Wang stated that, because of higher costs, cutting-edge weapons’ platforms could trigger a national economic collapse.
A Revolution in Warfare By All Means
The book — termed Unrestricted Warfare in the English translated version — went on to state that geographical security is an outdated concept. Threats to national security may not come from cross-border invasion, but from non-military actions. Qiao and Wang articulated that definitions of security must include geographical, political, economic, resource, religious, cultural, data, environmental, and near-earth space security.
While commenting on the bans on chemical, biological weapons, and landmines, the authors argued that for a country to accept rules which regulate war depends on whether the laws and rules are favorable to its own national interests. They contended that powerful nations use the rules to control others, for instance “by banning chemical and biological weapons.”
The essence drawn out from these arguments is that China should freely decide and opt for the means of warfighting by disregarding agreements and codes of conduct developed over the past decades by the West. Basically, in theory, the book Warfare Beyond Rules highlights thinking out of the box.
Most significantly, with an aim to target the adversary’s vulnerable targets in unexpected ways, Warfare Beyond Rules underlined the concepts of “asymmetric warfare.” This included guerrilla war, terrorist actions, and cyber-attacks against data networks.
Qiao and Wang called for a “revolution in war,” which combines conventional with non-war actions, and military with non-military actions. In an alarming opinion, they stated that war may include a blend of stealth planes and cruise missiles, along with biochemical, financial, and terrorist attacks.
War for Biological Dominance
More than a decade later, a 2010 publication titled War for Biological Dominance (制生权战争) emphasized the impact of biology on future warfare.
The book, published by Xinhua Publishing House in October 2010, was authored by Guo Jiwei (郭继卫), a professor and chief physician at the Third Military Medical University, Army University. The book highlighted the decline of traditional military thinking and focused upon emerging trends in military thinking, the invisible battlefield, and unexpected changes.
Subsequently, in 2015, then-president of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences He Fuchu (贺福初) argued in an essay that biotechnology would assume the shape of a new strategic commanding height in national defense. These will range from biomaterials to “brain control” weapons.
He Fuchu went on to become the vice president of the PLA’s Academy of Military Sciences (中国人民解放军军事科学研究院 Zhōngguó Rénmín Jiěfàngjūn Jūnshì Kēxué Yánjiūyuàn) — the highest-level research institute of the PLA, headquartered in Beijing.
Chinese writings over the past two decades have amplified that cross integration of biotechnology, engineering, and information technology will become the new strategic doctrine for future military revolutions, as cited in the October 2015 edition of the Liberation Army Daily. These writings consistently put forth that weaponization of living organisms shall become a reality in the future, with non-traditional combat styles taking center stage.
Biology Among the 7 New Domains of Warfare
Foremost among the new-age defense high frontiers will be the biological frontier. Biodiversity and technology innovation will redefine biological military revolution. Since 2016, China’s Central Military Commission has been funding projects on military brain science, advanced bio-mimetic systems (that mimic biological systems), biological and biomimetic materials, and new-age biotechnology.
Further and more significantly, biology has been demarcated as “one of the seven new domains of warfare” in a 2017 book titled New Highland of War (National Defense University Press) authored by Zhang Shibo (张仕波). Zhang is a retired general and former president of China’s National Defense University. In the book, Zhang argues that modern biotechnological development is gradually showing strong signs characteristic of an offensive capability, including the possibility of employing “specific ethnic genetic attacks” (特定种族基因攻击).
More recently, the 2017 edition of Science of Military Strategy (战略学) — an authoritative textbook published by the PLA’s National Defense University — has introduced a new section on “biology as a domain of military struggle.” This section discusses new potential kinds of biological warfare, including “specific ethnic genetic attacks.”
Contemporary advances in biotechnology and genetic engineering hold worrying implications for military affairs. The Chinese military’s interest in these gets reflected through its strategic writings and research, which consistently have argued that advances in biology are contributing to changing the form or character (形态) of conflict.
China’s 13th Five-Year Plan
China’s national strategy of military-civil fusion (军民融合) has highlighted biology as a priority. As a result, as per the September 2017 Thirteenth Five-Year Special Plan for Military-Civilian Integration Development, the Party Central Committee, the State Council, and the Central Military Commission have put in motion the full implementation of the development strategy of military-civilian integration in the field of science and technology. This was done in accordance with the 13th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People’s Republic of China.
Among the key tasks of this 2017 plan are the implementation of key technology-military-civilian integration projects.
In accordance with the requirements of the key national research and development (R&D) plan for the design of the entire chain and implementation of integrated organizations, a number of deployments have been made. These include the fields of biology, among others, with dual-use features to accelerate the formation of new productivity and combat effectiveness in scientific and technological achievements.
The plan also aims to strengthen the capability of military and civilian science and technology collaborative innovation and coordinate the layout of basic research and cutting-edge technology research. Accordingly, a special fund for basic research military-civilian integration has been set up to focus on supporting basic national defense research projects and promote the transformation of the results of basic civil research into military applications — more specifically, in the fields of biological crossover and disruptive technologies.
Study of the Chinese military’s interest in biology as an emerging domain of warfare becomes increasingly relevant in the current COVID-19 context, particularly when viewed against the two-decade-old backdrop of emphasis on biological frontiers of warfare put forth by Chinese military thinkers.
It is well-established that Chinese military strategists have been arguing about potential “genetic weapons” and the possibility of a “bloodless victory.” The task becomes all the more challenging, owing to the lack of transparency and uncertainty of ethics in China’s research activities.
Thus, the research writings cited above defend China’s move, if it were to come to that, of not hesitating to use as many means of warfare as possible. Clearly, those include weapons that are “not permitted by international law and the rules of war,” such as chemical and biological weapons.
The dangerous recommendations of most of these writings raise alarm bells about China’s future commitment on banning chemical and biological weapons.
RELATED ARTICLE: Is China Producing Biological Weapons? Look At Its Capabilities and International Compliance
Author: Monika Chansoria
Dr. Monika Chansoria is a Senior Fellow at The Japan Institute of International Affairs in Tokyo and the author of five books on Asian security. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of The Japan Institute of International Affairs or any other organization with which the author is affiliated.
Shinzo Abe Vows to Share Coronavirus Vaccine to the World, As Japan Lifts State of Emergency
Dr. Monika Chansoria
Dr. Monika Chansoria is a Senior Fellow at The Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA) in Tokyo. Previously, she has held appointments at the Sandia National Laboratories (U.S.), Hokkaido University (Sapporo, Japan) and as Associate Director of Studies at the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (Paris). She specializes in contemporary Asian security and weapons’ proliferation issues, nuclear strategy, and, Great Power politics and strategy in the Indo-Pacific.
Dr. Chansoria has authored five books on Asia’s security affairs, including “China, Japan and Senkaku Islands: Conflict in the East China Sea Amid an American Shadow” (Routledge © 2018) and “Nuclear China: A Veiled Secret” (2014) among others. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of The Japan Institute of International Affairs or any other organization with which the author is affiliated. She tweets @MonikaChansoria
POLITICS & SECURITY
Waiting for the Day When Hong Kong is Liberated
On June 30, 2020, China’s national security law for Hong Kong took effect and overnight the freedom that the people of Hong Kong had previously enjoyed was snatched away from them.
Published 12 hours ago on March 15, 2021
By Kinya Fujimoto, Sankei Shimbun
“Eating human blood buns” is a rather disturbing Chinese expression.
It is derived from an old superstition that eating buns covered with human blood is effective in treating lung disease. For that reason, some people would even bribe executioners to allow them to dip buns they had brought to the execution site into the blood of a freshly executed prisoner.
Nowadays it is used as a figure of speech to describe someone who benefits from the sacrifices of others. In Hong Kong it is used in reference to individuals who have cleverly engaged in behavior designed to profit from the misery of the innumerable young people who have been arrested for participating in anti-government demonstrations.
When I heard the news that I had won the Vaughn-Uyeda Memorial Prize, the lurid expression “eating human blood buns” was what flashed through my mind.
RELATED: Sankei Shimbun Deputy Editor Kinya Fujimoto Wins Prestigious Vaughn Prize
Recently news about Hong Kong has been pushed from the front pages by the coup d’état in Myanmar and the ongoing protest demonstrations that have followed. Images of security forces firing on unarmed protestors and young people whose white shirts are covered with blood have been broadcast worldwide.
Interview with Democracy Activist Agnes Chow in Hong Kong.
The driving force behind the demonstrations in Myanmar are young people who had grown up in the heady atmosphere of freedom, after the transition to civilian rule in 2011, following decades of military dictatorship. They had stepped up to physically oppose the military regime’s stealing from them liberty and rights they had already come to consider their own.
In that respect they are similar to the young people in Hong Kong, who were in the forefront of the anti-government, anti-China demonstrations. Their generation was born around the time of the 1997 reversion of Hong Kong from Great Britain to China. In other words, the most stalwart supporters of the demonstrations hail from the generation that grew up in Hong Kong enjoying rights of free speech and assembly which were not recognized in China proper.
Leading members of the democracy movement, such as Joshua Wong (24) and Agnes Chow (24), belong to that generation.
A fundamental difference you can feel between their generation and preceding generations that were born during the British colonial period is that they consider Hong Kong their “homeland” that needs to be defended, and not just a temporary waystation in their life journeys.
I made many working trips to report on Hong Kong during 2019 and 2020.
I vividly recall what happened there on July 16, 2019, when I saw before my eyes a two-million-strong demonstration (according to the organizer’s estimate). Based on my experience I could not help but palpably feel the tragedy of Hong Kong.
You see, earlier I had been stationed in Beijing, the home base of the Xi Jinping regime, and had reported there on the crackdown against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang Province and other sensitive issues. I was therefore convinced that in the face of this strong rebuke of Beijing the “Xi leadership would not remain quiescent.”
Two days after the massive demonstration I had the opportunity to interview Anston Chan (81), who was formerly known as the “conscience of Hong Kong.” She had previously served as the number two official in the Hong Kong Government both under the British colonial rule and then for some time after reversion to China. And it so happened that at that time I was head of The Sankei Shimbun’s Hong Kong Bureau.
Since she had developed a reputation for not mincing words when dealing with the Chinese authorities, I asked her straight out for her honest impression of the demonstration.
“I think that demonstration reflected a feeling of hope,” she replied. “The burning love for their city displayed by the young people made me feel that there is no need to worry about Hong Kong’s future.”
Later, however, the peaceful demonstrations vanished, the city was enveloped in tear gas and the streets ran with blood. Then a little over one year after two million citizens of Hong Kong marched, the “invisible tanks” arrived to occupy the city.
The headline “Death of Hong Kong” July 1, 2020, in a black mourning band.
On June 30, 2020, China’s national security law for Hong Kong took effect. In response, I immediately wrote a story with the title “The Death of Hong Kong.” Overnight the freedom that the people of Hong Kong had previously enjoyed was snatched away from them.
RELATED: July 1, 2020 Marks the Death of Hong Kong
What has happened in Hong Kong since then?
Most democracy activists have been jailed, pro-democracy legislators have been stripped of their qualification to hold office, rights of free speech and assembly have been greatly curtailed, and “patriotic education” is being pushed in the schools…
Nearly all the democracy movement members I interviewed in the past have been arrested. Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow remain behind bars.
At the same time, there is another democracy movement activist I know who proposed marriage to his girlfriend on the very day that the new state security law took effect. The couple had vowed that they would go forward in life together come what may in the time of darkness for Hong Kong. That man still can be seen demonstrating on street corners.
“We must continue to live, to live, to survive.” There is another man I know, an advocate for Hong Kong independence, who is doing manual labor, keeping his mouth shut, waiting for the storm to pass.
Silence has descended upon the streets of Hong Kong. It is as if history has come to a standstill. But that does not mean that nothing is happening in the city. The day will surely come when the wheel of history again begins moving forward.
What is to follow the two-million-person march? Tragedy? Hope? History has not yet rendered its verdict.
Only when the day comes that I can write an article titled “Hong Kong Has Been Liberated” will I look with pleasure upon the award I have just received from my peers.
I refuse to eat buns soaked in the blood of the innocents.
(Read more of the author’s articles on Hong Kong and China in English at this link, and find this article in Japanese at here.)
Author: Kinya Fujimoto, Deputy Editor of The Sankei Shimbun
IMPERIAL JAPAN'S HUMAN EXPERIMENTS BEFORE AND DURING WWII TAKEN OVER BY THE CHINESE (book)
Copy & Paste lenken øverst for Yandex oversettelse til Norsk.
GHOST ARCHIVE - 06 DEC 2020
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Joel Streed
ESCP (Edie’s Spinal Cord Problem)
I don't even know how to begin to tell this story, but I know I have to write down what has happened in my life over the past few years. It has been a roller coaster ride with new situations and events like never before.
Edie and Noble
In April 2005, while camping with my husband Noble and our dog Sam and cat JoJo at Lincoln Rock State Park, I had a weird vertigo experience which passed quickly but then some slight dizziness reoccurred off and on for about a year. After seeing several doctors I was diagnosed with an inner ear virus which they said would go away and it did.
However, by May 2006, I was having trouble walking -- my legs would not work correctly, and it became progressively worse so that I had to quit playing tennis (3x a week) and jazzercise (4-5x a week). Finally, I could only get around with the help of a cane and Noble's arm.
I saw several doctors both here and in Seattle over the course of time between the summer of 2006 and January 2007, including four different neurologists. No one seemed to be able to diagnose my deteriorating condition. By now the fine motor coordination in my left hand was affected, at times my speech was slurred, and the stiffness in my legs made walking extremely tiring and difficult. I had a multitude of tests -- more than you'd care to hear about -- MRIs, CT mylograms, bone scans, blood tests, spinal tap,VEP, EMG, EEG, and on and on .... I had gone from a very healthy and physically active person to a very handicapped one. My whole life had changed.
Noble and I finally made up a name for my illness since the doctors couldn't seem to identify it. It became ESCP (Edie's Spinal Cord Problem) -- not exactly a medical term.
Along the way I'd been told by one neurologist I had primary progressive M.S. and then another neurologist in Seattle finally gave me a diagnosis of Devic's disease or NMO (neuromyelitis optica). He made his decision from a lesion on my thoracic spine seen in the MRIs. He sent a blood test specific for this disease away to the Mayo Clinic who were the authority on this disease, but he added even if it came back negative he still believed this was my problem. He started me on Imuran, an anti-inflammatory medicine.
The blood test came back negative for Devic's and the local neurologist didn't agree with this diagnosis but would not commit to anything else for certain. Noble picked up the phone and called Mayo in Rochester, MN. They were the most knowledgeable about Devic's disease from all the research he had done.
On March 19, 2007, we flew to Rochester for a week's evaluation in the neurology department. What an experience that was! Two doctors met with us initially and scheduled me for all the same tests I had already had over the past year and a half (plus some more) while trying to figure out what was wrong with me. At the end of the week of re-testing I was told for certain I did NOT have Devic's, I DID have a copper deficiency which could cause spinal cord problems, and there was a possibility of Primary Progressive MS which was NOT treatable. I was also told to stop the Imuran since I didn't have Devic's and to start on a copper supplement. The doctor then asked me to get one more blood test done
before leaving Rochester, which I did on Friday. On Monday morning I received a call from the Mayo doctor saying they had the results of that last blood test and were surprised at the results indicating I had a rare GAD65 antibody in the blood affecting the spinal cord and brain stem. Like the copper deficiency this, too, WAS treatable with IV steroids and Imuran long-term ... wow... what a blessing to have something treatable. They now believe Primary Progressive MS is unlikely. They said get back on the Imuran and begin IV steroid treatments immediately for five days in a row and then once a month for each of the next four months.
I have returned to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester for several visits since 2007. The most recent was this summer. My doctor (Dr. Pittock) said they had hoped only to stabilize me, but that I've made such good improvement that I don't need to return for 18 months to 2 years. We are so grateful for the excellent treatment and coordination between the doctors at the Mayo Clinic who were able to provide a successful treatment plan for me. Thank you Mayo Clinic from the bottom of our hearts.
The God things that have meant so much to me follow:
Noble had retired January 7, 2006 and had major back surgery on January 11, 2006. I was able to help him recover from that BEFORE my illness became a debilitating situation where he had to assist me in just getting around.
The Mayo doctor we were assigned JUST HAPPENED to be the author of a research paper newly published in 2006 on this GAD65 antibody marker test. The doctor in Seattle had given me the Imuran starting in January, so I was only off it for 3 or 4 days before Mayo told me to get back on it. The Devic's was OUT of the picture, and it was a horrible disease God removed that one. I now had a treatment plan for this rare illness as well as the copper deficiency.
There were several serendipities along the way. Just to mention a couple while at Mayo, one day we were sitting in a waiting room for an appointment and an attractive young woman got up and came over to us from across the room. She said she had noticed how lovingly we were treating each other and wondered if we were believers. She saw Noble's Promise Keepers logo on the front of his shirt and said she knew it when she got over to us. What a sweet serendipity and encouragement that was to us. I told her she should have seen us earlier that morning arguing over the way to get to the right office in the building!
And the nurse who did the spinal tap was open to my sharing about an estranged son of ours as she had some difficulties with a daughter and wrote down the book I recommended to her that helped me by Navigators Jerry and Mary White called "When Your Kids Aren't Kids Anymore.” I know she will get it as she very carefully wrote all the information down, and we had a wonderful talk. I don't think she was a Christian, and she will get good counsel from this book.
And there was the medical technician who seemed surprised when I told her what I had done to occupy my time during all those MRIs of the back and brain -- praying and singing "Amazing Grace" and reciting Phil.4:6-7 to myself. She said "Meditation is good."
There was a woman MD at Mayo who was dictating her notes about me while we were sitting there with her. I remembered another previous Seattle doctor's notes we had read that cheered me up as they said I was a "pleasant woman looking much younger than her years." So I said to her, you can add something like that in your notes and she did! We all got a laugh out of that one.
During the past year or so, I have had so many wonderful friends praying for me and with me ... some through small Monday night groups at church, some came to my house to pray over me, family members and other friends from all over the country have prayed, e-mailed, sent cards and words of encouragement and support , phone calls, etc... One friend even fasted on my behalf on a regular basis. I didn't realize the depth of care and concern they had for me. It has been humbling and such an example of love -- God's love. The elders of the church laid hands on me and anointed me with oil for the first time in my life. That was a huge encouragement to me.
I had a wonderful message from God last Monday night as I was talking to Him and reading a daily devotional book - I finally "got it" - and I am THANKFUL for this whole difficult experience as I have grown closer to Him, to Noble and to so many other wonderful friends in addition to gaining new empathy for the disabled/handicapped. I have a new appreciation for the love He has shown me through others. If I could take it away I wouldn't have changed anything for this experience. I was just living my life and then God had a detour for me to learn some new things and understand Him better. He has things to teach me through these hard times that I may not have learned any other way. I know now how to share His love with others going through similar problems. His love has been demonstrated to me over and over again through this situation. I knew much of this in my head but it finally broke into my heart, and I will be forever grateful for this illness and God's loving care for me through it. I would not trade anything for this whether I am healed or not. I have been truly blessed. EdieA
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Sweet as Honey Caitlyn Robertson
The first in the series is Sweet as Honey.
It features Dex Concannon, a small-town cop with a sexy smile and a dark past, and the vulnerable but warm-hearted Honey Summers.
Dex and Honey have decided to wait until their wedding night to sleep together, to give themselves time to prove they're serious about each other.
Dex's last girlfriend pretended she was pregnant to get him to marry her, but luckily he found out just hours before and left her at the altar. Waiting to sleep with Honey until after they're married means Dex doesn't have to worry about that happening again - not that he really thinks the sweet and gentle Honey would do the same as his mad ex.
Honey's last relationship was abusive, and she's relieved she doesn't have to think about the physical side of things for a while. Dex being willing to wait proves to her that he's serious, and it makes the wedding night an exciting prospect.
But events are gradually conspiring against them. Dex's ex-girlfriend arrives to stir up the past, and Honey goes to court and sits on the jury during a case that mirrors the events in her own life, bringing back all the old doubts.
The wedding is only a week away, but their big day hangs in the balance. Is their love strong enough to pull them through?
Sweet as Honey is the first book in the series of The Seven Sisters, where the seventh on is really the brother. I actually thought I'd jumped into the series in a middle of it, just seems that I had missed a lot of the previous story.
I liked the family dynamics in the book, the siblings, the Cafe, the compound where they lived, the caring, but grieving father. The small town living, stories from the cop's day, people hanging out in the Cafe, where the best in the story!
The tale includes the timeline of a week before Honey and Dex's awaited wedding. Both Honey and Dex are broken, raw, by their past experiences in life, giving them insecurities and doubts of being worthy. And just a week to the wedding, they both have to face their past, Honey in the form of a court case mirroring her past life, and Dex's crazy ex shows up somewhat unexpected.
Lot of the story is focused on the celibacy Honey and Dex decided to have before the wedding night. I liked how the father turned up to talk to Dex, I wished they would have had some couple's counseling or something like that, since they both were so very broken with the inner doubts, and needed help with communication with each other.
If you enjoy sweet family sagas, with big families in small town setting in exotic New Zealand, this might just be the series for you!
Three spoons!
I was provided this story by the publisher via NetGalley for honest and fair review.


The Guardian Reports On Unsealed
Gary Friday, June 17, 2016
The Guardian, the world's fifth largest newspaper online, and Britain's third largest printed paper, with 42.6 million worldwide readers, just reported on our website in regards to Zoltan Istvan Gyurko. Interesting, of course not necessarily in a very positive light:
The politician’s interest in biohacking has led to some wild accusations from his religious detractors. The radio-frequency identification chip he has implanted in his hand to unlock electronic devices? That’s the mark of the beast. When you count the letters in each of the words that make up his full name, Zoltan Istvan Gyurko, you end up with 666. Coincidence? The icing on the conspiracy theorist’s cake is Istvan’s resemblance to an actor who played the antichrist character Nicolae Carpathia in the apocalyptic Christian movie franchise Left Behind.
“Apparently because I’m of Hungarian descent, I also have the bloodline to be the antichrist,” jokes Istvan, who lives in Mill Valley, just north of San Francisco, with his wife and two children.
“It’s not that I’m against religion,” he adds, flagging his Catholic background. “I believe in quite a bit of spirituality.”
“I believe there are a trillion galaxies, each with hundreds of billions of stars and planets. I’m almost 100% positive that we’re not alone and there’s an advanced intelligence out there that’s far more intelligent than us,” he says.
I would note that we never said nor do we think that the RFID chip that Zoltan had implanted in his left hand was the Mark of the Beast. It is just that it is reminiscent of the Mark and may be the technology that is used once the Mark is implemented.
Here is our most recent article on Zoltan regarding a meeting between the man and officers from the United States Navy.
Topics Antichrist Candidates, Publicity, Spotlight, World news


George Bush and the Mushroom Congress
by Kevin Drum July 25, 2006 January 9, 2022
GEORGE BUSH AND THE MUSHROOM CONGRESS….When I first read Monday’s story about Pakistan building a new plutonium reactor, my first thought was that surely this wasn’t news to the U.S. government. And I was right. Today’s followup confirms that the Bush administration has “long known” about Pakistan’s plans.
Of course, the fact that the Bush administration knew about it doesn’t mean anyone else did:
Henry D. Sokolski, the Defense Department’s top nonproliferation official during the George H.W. Bush administration, said he was most surprised by the way news of the reactor in Pakistan became known.
“What is baffling is that this information ? which was surely information that our own intelligence agencies had ? was kept from Congress,” said Sokolski, now director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center. “We lack imagination if we think that this is no big deal.”
Indeed we do. We now have a president whose standard operating procedure is to keep Congress in the dark about anything that might cause him even the mildest inconvenience. Even if it’s something that Congress really ought to know about in order to do its job.
But that’s the whole point, isn’t it? If Congress ever started to do its job, George Bush would be in serious trouble.
A Foreign Policy Test
Marketing the War
Rolling Blunder
In "Magazine"


Shelley Hoffmann
Senior Director, Content Marketing and Video
Shelley Hoffmann is the Senior Director, Content Marketing and Video for Healthgrades. She is a three-time Emmy-nominated multiplatform executive producer with more than 20 years of experience developing and producing linear television, digital video, and sponsored editorial content at brands including ABC Television, A&E, Cooking Channel, Food Network, PBS, and Turner.
At Healthgrades, Shelley leads the team responsible for creating, developing, and implementing strategies to deliver high-quality, engaging, and market-competitive content for advertisers.
Shelley graduated from Rhodes College in Memphis, TN and studied independently at The Institute for American Universities in Aix-en-Provence, France, St. John’s College in Oxford, England, and completed an intensive cooking program at the French Culinary Institute. Shelley is committed to helping create and support women leaders in her industry and sits on the board of directors of Women in Cable Telecommunications as the Vice President for the Southeast chapter.
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