Sunday - Jul 22, 2018

The most poisonous spider in Britain?

According to an article by BT in September 2014, the most poisonous spider found in Britain is the false widow spider. This species originates from the balmy Canary Islands but has been discovered in numerous locations in England, chiefly on the south and east coast.

Rarely dangerous

Bites can quickly result in severe flu-like symptoms and swelling, although, fortunately, according to John Tweddle of the life sciences department of London’s Natural History Museum, these spiders rarely bite and are not instinctively aggressive towards people. Indeed, according to Mark Champion of the Wildlife Trust, the false widow spider bite is no more severe than a wasp sting.

Huntsman spider

In August 2014, the seven inch long Huntsman spider was discovered near the historic port of Hastings on the English south coast. The species, which is a common site in Australia, was found at a distribution site in a crate from the Far East and is noted for its eight eyes, commonly residing in dark locations such as beneath rocks. However, the Huntsman spider often bites other insects and is unlikely to attack humans.

Brazilian wandering spider

In November 2013, a mother from London discovered dozens of deadly Brazilian wandering spiders on a banana she had bought from Sainsbury’s, prompting her to contact a pest control company.

The Brazilian wandering spider, which is also nicknamed the ‘banana spider’ releases a special type of venom that can quickly cause paralysis and even asphyxiation in some cases. The family, which did receive an apology from Sainsbury’s, had to stay in a hotel while their home was fumigated. The supermarket paid for the cleaning and the hotel.

Black widow spider

One of the most dangerous venomous spiders in the world, the black widow was uncovered in containers at a company in Norfolk as staff were unloading tyres that had arrived from the US state of Arizona, where the species is well known. The spiders, which were spotted between November 2012 and January 2013, somehow managed to find their way into containers as they were being loaded in the Arizona desert, although, like many other species, they typically bite only when they perceive a threat.

Wasp spider

Another new arrival to the UK is the wasp spider, whose bite can cause severe pain in the groin area. However, the species is typically only present between June and September and has rarely been spotted in the UK.

A rare sight on UK territory

In September 2013, the wasp spider was found at a nature reserve in East Anglia, one of just five sightings of the species between 2006 and 2013. However, the spider actually arrived in the UK shortly after the First World War, when it was probably transported from southern Europe.

If you don’t attack them, they won’t attack you

If you ever come across any of these spiders, do not act like an aggressor; keep calm and do not disturb them. If you have an infestation in your home or business, contact your local pest control as soon as possible.

Mark Stanford is the Area Manager for one of London’s most trusted and cost-effective pest control firms – Empire Pest Control.


We had been looking forward to the Dice, Board and Card Game, Kingsport Festival, since we first heard about it in 2014. We had thought the combination of Kingsburg and the Cthulhu Mythos would make a great game. What did we think? Listen to find out.

2-5 players. 60-90 minutes. Ages 13 and up.


Wednesday, October 7, 2015

About the artist

Fragmented Emotions -- Photography of Cozue Takagi and Shu Ikeda

Artists’ biographies

Sunday, December 19, 2010

New Ink - Mixed Interpretations

(Hong Kong Gallery Guide  Dec/Jan 2010)

The New Ink Movement is becoming a popular term among those who are interested in the art form, as ink painting evolves in contemporary art in mainland China. Born out of the country’s post-revolutionary art, the New Ink marks a departure from the traditional aesthetics of landscape painting (‘shan shui’ in Chinese) and the limits of the medium.

New Ink Exhibition Part 1: New Landscape at Galerie Ora-Ora features three graduates from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, and the young artists have strikingly different styles that point to new possibilities in ink. The work of Li Pang seems to bear a more traditional imprint, though he instills a sense of conflict and pressure into his paintings by incorporating motifs of contemporary life, as in the series ‘Untitled Chinese Landscape’. Most of the paintings present a distortion or intersection of perspectives—the viewers are lured into the illusion of aerial view of a quiet farm, or the cinematic depiction of cars on a highway, heading towards the far end of the landscape. ‘Utopia’, a surprising rendition of the Great Wall, embodies the subtle irony in Li’s craft. The subject is devoid of its grandeur and revealed through the shadows of ink, a black-and-white ambivalence seeping on paper.

On the other end of the spectrum is Huang Haifei, who paints her interiority in her compositions. The landscapes take on the guise of old, yellow maps, on which Huang re-creates classical icons such as trees, plants and animals with whimsical stamps. 'Ego Dimension' is a clear statement on the breakdown of boundaries: the artist's scattered self splits and spreads, all over the territory, which portrays Huang's inner world and forsakes any external realm. Larger scale works such as ‘World’s Edge’ and ‘Mirror Sight Overlap’ show a progression of metaphors of traditional landscape while suggesting a new definition of the genre. The drifting scenery, homes and creatures seem to be floating away to the world's edge, while ink wash in Huang's work embodies the feeling of painting in mixed media on rice paper.

Japanese artist Kuchima Maki brings varied perspectives on ink painting with her use of diverse techniques, materials and cultural motifs. In the same vein as most of her work, ‘Study’ features densely patterned landscapes created with elements of Chinese paper-cutting and traditional Japanese prints. The composition and its greyish, earthy tone carry a distinctly contemporary expression; the landscape appears fiery in its strange symmetry, as if it was transcending its own boundaries. Her 'Landscape' series, painted on aluminum foil on silk, is another display of muted transgression. The scenery she depicts seems almost conventional at the first glance, but the landscapes waver between contemplative and playful—they are imaginary lands, fantastical realms where the artist communicates her feelings about society and traditions.

Li Pang captures this play between the classical and its contemporary guise perfectly in his 'Before Me' series. The two paintings narrate the artist's journey—drifting on a boat, flowing through time under the pale moon—in traditional landscape ink painting. The imagery alludes to the transition of time and traditions, and the artist's personal response to the changing art form.

The Lost Homeland

(Hong Kong Gallery Guide  Dec/Jan 2010)

The image of China recedes at an accelerating pace in the works of the new generation of mainland artists. Old landscapes fade and blur into the illusion of prosperity; exiled souls go on a relentless search for their identities around the cities. Young Chinese painter Liu Weijian encapsulates this sense of loss in his compositions, which carry a profound sorrow that is far beyond his years.

Farewell My Country is a somewhat limited though thoughtful retrospective on Liu’s works, as it features some of his lesser-known paintings since 2003. Liu’s paintings are often visual narratives in which the protagonists are unseen or anonymous figures, while their despair is revealed with a quietly cinematic touch. In the stand-out piece of the show, ‘Dusk’, the misty blue world carries an ambivalent longing for respite. Yet the blue sky of varying shades and brightness only highlights the factory as the emotional focus in the picture, a world in which the day’s end promises more dreariness to come. Such contrast between hope and pain adds a subtle irony to Liu’s paintings like ‘Ideal in the garden’. The faceless statues feel like an absurd surprise against the dark backdrop, and the ideal they represent wear off like a disappointment.

Liu’s paintings from his earlier years present a more visceral side to his expression. The paintings play with the conflict between the inside and the outside: images of abandoned homes stand in the snow or at the end of the landscapes, with traces of passers-by who have left the places forever. These paintings speak of nostaglia and solitude, as much as the impossibility of connection. In ‘Late autumn’, human figures appear in deliberately odd and random relations to one another, and their presence accentuates rather than fills the void. In Liu’s world, the light shines on a painful reality and his feelings for a homeland that is fading away--once he has left a dwelling, a locale or a city, it changes and becomes an image from the past, an unreal entity.

In the same vein as other post-80’s Chinese artists, Liu delivers a personal, emotive take on the social issues phenomena in mainland China today. While Liu forsakes the abstract treatment that is popular among his contemporaries, his works strike an intriguing balance between realism and an intense subjectivism. His ‘comic books’--works on sketch books--are a remarkable example. ‘Two stories’ depict the monotonous lives of factory workers who migrate to the city from their hometowns. The drawings of these faceless characters spell imbalance and desperation--they have no way out of the nightmarish universes that stem from the artist’s vision. The sense of pressure, of a surreal existence gives poignancy to Liu’s interpretation of the subject, since it brings the audience very close to his feelings.

Farewell My Country gives some scattered and unsettling glimpses into a country that eludes the grip of her people, and Liu’s works are at times disturbing for their mix of cold and dark colors and melancholy subjects. ‘Crow’s moving castle (part)’, an installation of painting on boxes, may seem like a surprise amid the paintings of gloom and anonymity. The cardboard boxes--ones used for containing bottled mineral water--give a false sense of movement, yet the images speak sorrow and despair. The recycle signs interfere with images of anguished characters, demolished realms, ruined nature and crows flying like messengers of death around a lighthouse with a Chinese flag. For the receptive audience, Liu’s debut solo exhibition in Hong Kong may feel like a brief preview, but it is certainly a good introduction to the artist’s repertoire and sensibility.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

The Poetics of Mockery

(HK Gallery Guide  October 2010)

Acclaimed Chinese photographers Maleonn and Jiang Pengyi transform the classical into a surreal present of fantasy and loss in A Departure From Reality III: The Tender Truth. Nicolette Wong speaks to the two artists about the fusion of classical Chinese culture and its new guises, contemporary art in China and the transcendence of selves in their art.

Nicolette Wong: In both of your works there is often a bizarre mix of traditional Chinese culture and its present landscape, as if you are inviting the audience to lament of the loss of the classical in today’s China. For Jiang Pengyi, there is a Zen feeling in some of your works like All Back To Dust. Do you intend to create this chemistry for the audience to experience, when you are creating your art?
Jiang Pengyi: What a question! No journalist has asked me this before, not even in China.
Nicolette Wong: That is because most audience may feel the Zen streak in your work without being able to articulate their impression.
Jiang Pengyi: It is indeed something I have in mind when I am working on my art. From ‘All Back to Dust’ to ‘Unregistered City’, my idea was very simple: to put classical Chinese motifs and icons such as Guan Yin, which express the essence of humanity at hidden corners of the cityscape. The representation itself is an opening for the audience to discover—in the end, both the question and answer come from them.
Nicolette Wong: What a Zen answer. What about Maleonn?
Maleonn: My use of classical Chinese motifs, especially those from literature, is very deliberate because they were an essential part of my growing up. In today’s China, our younger generations have a very shallow understanding of traditions. The society is growing increasingly absurd; young people have little exposure to the classics and the spirit—the purity—is very hard for them to grasp.
Nicolette Wong: But there is an inevitable gap between the real and the mimic in your work too, like ‘Second Hand Tang Poems’.
Maleonn: That is where the joke is. As an artist I can only create second-hand interpretation of the real. It is not an attempt to inspire any answer, but rather mockery of the loss or an entry point to the subject.
Nicolette Wong: Janet Fong (curator of the exhibition) and I had a conversation about contemporary Chinese art, a term that sometimes carries a Westernized and limited perspective on what defines today’s Chinese artists, in terms of popularity and auction prices. Do you worry about being labeled in this light, as your works are getting wider recognition in the West?
Maleonn: It is hard not to be labeled and I have made conscious efforts to stay away from it. In my early days as an artist, I was aware that the Western audience might pay more attention to certain important icons of Chinese culture and it affected our artists’ creative expression. My subjects are China and her culture too, but my choice of motifs and treatment is different. I am resistant to the outsider’s perception.
Nicolette Wong: Because contemporary art in China is not exactly the same thing as contemporary Chinese art.
Jiang Pengyi: It is not, but even in China the debate is not so clear-cut. In Beijing where I am based now, audience, critics and even artists can be caught up in confusion and misinterpretation—the perspectives can be quite clouded. As for me, I simply do not think about how others see my work. I do not care what the local or foreign audience says.
Nicolette Wong: What about your relationship with your work? You said your earlier photos of skyscrapers stemmed from an unnamable fear of the city, and you have moved away from shooting skyscrapers. Does it mean you have overcome your fear?
Jiang Pengyi: In a way, yes. I understand that fear now that I have re-created it, time and again, over the years. I have switched to shooting other subjects for my new work while my relationship with buildings is still revealing itself. I have been using model buildings as a different mode of exploration of my feelings, and it has not yielded itself to complete clarity yet. I see it as a question that will get more difficult in the days to come.
Nicolette Wong: Both of your works are expressions of your selves in rather polarized manners. For Maleonn, your persona has metamorphosed throughout your staged photography. Has it not reached its peak by now?
Maleonn: No, because the persona never stops changing as the creator goes on his quest. As I mature as a person and an artist, I am still discovering new ways to channel my thoughts and feelings. I think it is the same with the audience too; they never experience the same chemistry twice as they chance upon an artwork. Art is mirrors and windows: you see yourself in it, and you see yourself in relation to the outside world.
Jiang Pengyi: And you must know what my answer is.
Nicolette Wong: You are going for nothingness.
Jiang Pengyi: Yes, I am trying to obliterate any sense of self in my work.
Nicolette Wong: That is a tough task. Even as you try to cast your self away from the pictures, the audience will naturally get a feeling of your temperament or mindset from your work.
Jiang Pengyi: That is true, but the absence of self has been at the heart of my work for quite some time now and I am developing along that direction. For my upcoming work I am shooting totally random or irrelevant subjects and I will see where it takes me. It is not the same as objectivism in photography because works of that genre carry specific goals or purpose. Mine is going to have no purpose. It is a long and difficult process but I will get there.

Friday, September 17, 2010

The Paradox of Photography

(HK Gallery Guide  September 2010)


Oxandrolone mechanism of action

In addition to the endogenous steroid metabolites highlighted in Figure 15-1 , there are also a variety of drugs with androgenic activity. These include anabolic steroids, such as nonaromatizable oxandrolone , that bind and activate AR (albeit with lower affinity than testosterone [ 43 ]) and a class of drugs under extensive development referred to as selective AR modulators (SARMs), which demonstrate tissue-specific agonist or antagonist activities with respect to AR transactivation [ 44 ]. These orally active nonsteroidal, nonaromatizable SARMS are being developed to target androgen action in bone, muscle, and fat and to influence libido but to not exacerbate prostate growth, hirsutism, and acne. Several have been identified with beneficial effects on bone mass [ 45–47 ] and provide a new alternative to androgen replacement therapy.

Oxandrolone mechanism of action

oxandrolone mechanism of action

oxandrolone mechanism of actionoxandrolone mechanism of actionoxandrolone mechanism of actionoxandrolone mechanism of actionoxandrolone mechanism of action


This object exists primarily or exclusively within the Sonic Underground continuity.

Sonic Tonic is an object that appears in the Sonic Underground television series. It is a serum created by Dr. Robotnik which grants super speed.

The side-effects of the Sonic Tonic.

The Sonic Tonic is a green liquid created from the essence of the Velocitree. When poured onto one’s feet, it has the power to give the user supersonic speed that can rival that of Sonic's, although a side effect of this liquid causes the user’s feet to eventually grow extremely large, preventing them from walking. This can be remedied by simply sweating out the Sonic Tonic from one’s skin.[1]


A Clinical Risk Case Study- Failure to Treat a Hand Injury Appropriately

Co-written by The TMLEP Clinical Risk and Patient Safety Publishing Group and Dr Stephen Metcalf MB BS BSc (Hons) FRCP FCEM, Consultant in Accident and Emergency Medicine

The Scene

The Patient attended Accident and Emergency in the early hours of the morning, two days after sustaining an injury to the left hand, suffering cuts to both the index and middle finger.

The FY2 A&E doctor noted a large oozing cut at the side of the main knuckle joint and index finger, with reduced movement. X-rays identified a non-displaced, intra-articular fracture of the head of the middle finger metacarpal.

The A&E doctor discussed the fracture with the on call orthopaedic team (FY2) who advised if the fracture was 'closed' to undertake conservative treatment. The A&E doctor diagnosed the Patient with a closed fracture and proceeded to close the wound with glue, instead of sutures. The doctor did not assess nerve or tendon function, did not undertake any exploration or washout of the wound nor administer antibiotics.

At the Patient's follow up consultation 3 days later, he was diagnosed with an open fracture and was advised that he would require surgical extensor tendon repair, a washout of the wound and intravenous antibiotics.

TMLEP's Independent Clinical Findings

The TMLEP Independent Review identified that the care provided by the FY2 A&E doctor to the Patient was substandard and the diagnosis and subsequent treatment was incorrect, resulting in unnecessary harm to the patient.

When wounds to the hand are over joints, concerns should be raised, as any rupture to the joint capsule can allow pathogen entry, which can result in the joint being damaged rapidly. Therefore, it is standard practice for such an injury to be carefully examined, explored, cleaned and irrigated and antibiotics administered if appropriate. In addition, 'open fractures' should always be seen by the specialist team at the time of presentation.

TMLEP's Independent Review identified that in this case, the doctor's examination was inadequate. They did not carry out the appropriate exploration and washout to identify that there was an open fracture beneath the laceration and at the joint, and therefore failed to diagnose an open fracture rather than a closed one. Had the open fracture been identified the Patient would have most likely been admitted under the care of an orthopaedic expert, antibiotics would have been administered and they would have been sent to theatre.

The review raised further concerns due to the fact that the Patient had sustained the injury two days prior to attending A&E without receiving treatment. The likelihood of the infection developing in this time is extremely high, especially as the treating clinician did not administer antibiotics and closed the wound using glue, which was highly inappropriate given the fact that the wound was old and would almost certainly lead to infection. This demonstrates further substandard care.

Recommendations to Prevent Incident Recurrence and Improve Patient Safety

Hand trauma management is generally poor within the 'urgent care' setting. Capsule, tendon, nerve and joint injuries are often missed. To ensure that substandard care is prevented in the future, clinicians and healthcare providers need to ensure the following:

  1. There is sufficient middle grade supervision in A&E 24/7 for associated Urgent Care Centre's to seek advice from.
  2. On call FY2s should not be giving telephone advice and should be physically present to examine the patient.
  3. Wounds to the hand over a joint should always be cleaned and irrigated and antibiotics administered, especially if the wound is old and/or an open fracture is diagnosed.
  4. Open or old wounds should not be closed with glue, even if preferred by the patient given the risk of infection. Stitches are the most appropriate way to close a wound of this type but only by an experienced clinician.
  5. Awareness should be given to the fact that the longer you leave an open wound, the higher the chance of infection. Dirty and contaminated wounds do better when treated early.
  6. Lacerations to the flexor surface of the hand should always be examined by an experienced doctor. A tendon and nerve injury should always be assumed until proven otherwise. Partial tendon injuries are easily missed.

To Conclude

This case is a prime example of substandard care and how this can be prevented in the future. When the Patient attended A&E initially he should have either been admitted under the care of the orthopaedic team who would have elevated the hand, administered intravenous antibiotics and sent the Patient to theatre for exploration and washout. Alternatively,  the Patient could have been discharged from A&E with the wound cleaned and dressed, his hand elevated in a high sling,  and with antibiotics. Arrangements would then be made to the local hand service the following day, with the anticipation of going to theatre.

The TMLEP Clinical Risk and Patient Safety Publishing Group and Dr Stephen Metcalf MB BS BSc (Hons) FRCP FCEM, Consultant in Accident and Emergency Medicine. (2018). A Clinical Risk Case Study- Failure to Treat a Hand Injury Appropriately. TMLEP Clinical Risk Case Studies. 1 (6), 1.


Mobile :0086 13971118161
Tel: 0086 27 88167291
Fax: 0086 27 84733947

North America Branch
Tel:001 647 3390 606 (Canada)

India Branch (Delhi)
Mr.Nalin Gupta
Mobile:0091 9312211970

Rotary bench riveting machine1

JM12T-HZT(Rotary bench riveting machine)

    This machine purpose is for  special component's process.And the equipment mainly composed of JM12 radial riveting machine power head, control system,NC rotary table,positioning tooling and frame,etc. and is controlled by PLC programmable.

    a.Riveting machine technical parameters:

       Max.Pressure20Kn, Max.processing ability diameter 12mm, Max.stroke

       30mm,riveting too length 50mm.

       Riveting head position by the grating system control, the location accuracy of ≤ 0.05

       Single-point riveting feed action: When the position reaches the set value (that is,

      when the set riveting value is reached), the control solenoid valve is actuated so

      that the working cylinder is return ,after return to positon that limit switch to send

      singnal to  PLC programmable control .

   b. CNC Rotary work-bench:

       The working bench is controlled by servo system, the rotaton speed and pause

       time can be set freely.The working bench dividing(processing points) can be set

       freely, and positioning accuracy is 0.1mm and repeatability is 0.05mm.

       Frame as the whole installation of the various parts of the foundation,need to have

       good rigidity and stability. The program uses square steel and steel plate welding,

       and the stability of the necessary treatment to meet the disign requirements.

     d. Positioning tooling:

         Positioning tooling based on simple,reliable,practical principles applicable to the

         design of different riveting pieces, the replacement of different tools can riveting

         different parts.

   CNC riveting machine

2. Control system:

      The system controlled by PLC programmable controller and controlling mainly

    including followings:

   a.Work flow and sequence of equipmen.

   b.the value of riveting tool have down.

   c.The equipmet hydraulic system with the function of first speed and second speed.

   d.Safety system.

   e.Electronic control system data input through LCD touch scren.

3.Safety measures:

    1.Double-head switch and emergency button.

     2.Each movement is equipped with a zero switch, in order to ensure the consistency

       of equipment.

     3.Peripheral installation of plexiglass protective cover.

rotary bench riveting machine

4.Equipment Workflow：

   a.In operating positon the operator places the assembly 1 on the station.

    b.Start he machine, the numerical control work bench rotates 120° and automatically

       feeds the postion No.1 and the component 1 to the process positon and precisely

    c.Riveting tool fast-foward descent, reaching the set position deceleration, second

       speed to riveting process(down distance can be set), at the same time sation No.2

       placement components 2.

    d.When riveting tool reached set position to finish single point process.

    e.Control riveting cylincer action,return.

    f.CNC rotary bench rotation 120°, station No2 to assembly components 1and 2,

      while riveting components 2.

   g.CNC rotary bench rotas 120°,takes finished component1 and fix new again.

   h.NC bench rotation120°, take way finished component 2 and assembly new, while

      riveting process components 1.

   i.CNC bench rotation 120°, take away finished components 1 and assembly

     new,while riveting process componenets 2, so this cycle of proceduring takes time

     15 seconds.

5. The video of machine working:


Modi-Hasina release Hindi translation of Mujib’s autobiography

Views: 45

New Delhi, April 8 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina on Saturday jointly released the Hindi translation of ‘Bangbandhu’ Sheikh Mujibur Rehman’s autobiography, “Unfinished Memories”.

Rehman was the founding leader of Bangladesh and father of Hasina.

The book was released after bilateral talks between the two leaders.

ALSO READ:   Hardline Islamic groups contesting Pakistan's general elections
Comments: 0


Why we must protect Beddington Farmlands Part 1

Beddington Farmlands is being developed into a 400 acre nature reserve within the coreland (over 1000 acres) of the wider Wandle Valley Regional Park. The Nature Reserve and the Regional Park is the single most important part of the green infrastructure within South London and has the potential to enhance the lives of millions of Londoners by providing an opportunity to connect people to nature through bird and nature watching, photography, walking, running, fitness and cycling, education, other multi-functional ways and also for employment.

The South London Nature Reserve at Beddington Farmlands can address the serious issue of ‘nature deficiency disorder’ (which is probably even more serious in the challenging social environments of South London) and in doing so enhancing the lives of the 1.6 million children and people of the immediate surrounding area.

Educating city folk in the importance of nature being an essential part of a healthy human environment is so important anywhere and possibly even more so in London-a city whose people and ideas influences the whole world. Beddington Farmlands is set to become one of the largest urban nature reserves of any city- a flagship to people and nature coexisting.

View looking north over Beddington Farmlands towards central London

The WWT London Wetland Centre at Barnes- Beddington Farmlands is 4 times the size of the London Wetland Centre and was the joint lead contender for the main London Wetland Centre. Barnes was chosen due to it’s more central location and also because Beddington Farmlands was already being developed as a reserve as part of planning conditions by Viridor.

Category: Beddington Farmlands

← Why we must protect Beddington Farmlands Part 1


Download photo button

(Steve) #1

I have a photo gallery and I want to create a button to give
the user the option to download a photo.
How do you create a link to the photo?

(𝕄𝕚𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕖𝕝 𝔾𝕒𝕣𝕠𝕗𝕒𝕝𝕠) #2
Link Text

(Steve) #3

Thanks Michael.
I appreciate your help.
I will give this a try, though I am not so good at coding at the moment.


May, the Memories Last

KBFF has had even more fun floorball action since the last update.

The second quarter of the KB Kids TGIFloorball sessions commenced in April and will conclude with our 2nd Kids TGIFloorball Open during the June holidays. More details soon!

A major highlight of the month and possibly the year! was the team’s trip to Manila to play a weekend of friendlies with the Philippines national team.

The girls had such a wonderful time there. The PHI national team and coach were superb hosts. The atmosphere of the arena was even reminiscent of WFC.

Major kudos! to the KBFF organising committee for making the first team overseas trip smooth and memorable! KBfaf!

In the midst of all this, preparation for the Singapore Community Games (SCG) Floorball Sequel on 13 May got into full swing mode.

KBFF volunteered to co-organise this with the guidance of the friendly folks from PA Community Sports.

It was the first time floorball would be featured at the SCG and the stringent registration criteria (you gotta be neighbours to form a team) was daunting.

Despite initial doubts about whether the games could go on, floorball proved its popularity with more than 40 teams participating! Represent!

Our KB kids got to form teams for the U12 Mixed Open that day too. We are very proud of them!

The First #TGIFloorball Kids 3v3 Open

January 2018

Community Engagement

#TGIFloorball for Kids

Promising times indeed!

Throwback Thursday

When we first set out to form a second team, our main goal was to give more girls an opportunity to play. Little did we know that we were opening the doors to something greater than that.

Today, #KBFFOrcas is a stellar squad made up of passionate ladies who teach us the meaning of hard work and perseverance. A team strengthened by the vigour of our junior players and the poise of the seniors.

As they gear up for their third season in Division 3, we would like to thank Coach Sonia Teo without whom, this progress would not have been possible.

The league fixtures for Division 3 are now available at the Singapore Floorball Association website .

Part 2: All interviews were done separately but more than mere coincidence, their answers raised similar experiences.

Rachel, 19

1. What makes you feel proud to be a woman?

Women have aced multitasking – dealing with family & children as well as juggling work life. Freedom too because women now are allowed to speak about their opinions and play a crucial role in society unlike long ago where women were seen as “housewives” and “slaves to their husbands”.

2. Are there any challenges you face, just because you’re female?

Women can be physically stronger and withstand pain better than men like during childbirth. However, it is just nature that men are more physically powerful than women. Being a woman, for example, travelling alone is possible, of course, but women have to weigh the consequences. Men rarely do.

What makes you proud to be a woman?

I think, as a woman, we tend to be more emotional and sensitive. As such we break down easily. However, despite it, we have better control over our emotions. We are able to channel our emotions into positive things better.

The idea of being versatile makes me proud to be a woman. Generally women are better at multitasking many roles. For example, a student, a daughter, a mother and a colleague. Each role has a purpose attached to it and woman are better at executing each role. This makes us women powerful!

The ability to break away from stereotypes and notions which has the ability to put us down makes us strong. We do not allow any kind of oppression determine our future. We are willing to stand and fight for what we believe in and help others to achieve their goals.

Are there any challenges you face, just because you’re a female?

The notion of beauty is one issue that never fails to make its appearance. Women being compared to another on their feminine characteristics and physique. For example, the idea that all women should look like Gal Gadot. This tends to affect the confidence of women because it causes self-doubt and lowers their self-esteem. Instead of pitting women against each other, we should learn how to compliment one another.

The idea that women should be home by a certain time and cannot travel is another issue that I still face as a woman. Due to the increase in threat to women’s safety, it is hard to convince parents to allow you to stay out. Although we are capable of taking care of ourselves, parents will always harbour that fear.

In a largely patriarchal society where men are pretty much the main character, it is very hard to climb the ladder and be equals to men no matter what we do.

Nurul, 25

1. What makes you feel proud to be a woman?

Many reasons why I’m proud to be a woman- we are able to multi task, are emotionally stronger, compassionate and we are able to have babies! 😍.

2. Are there any challenges you face, just because you’re a female?

Having to compete with other women and pay more for things like clothes, cosmetics, cannot travel alone and having to look appealing all the time. Life may be such but being a women is wonderful.

Marissa, 27

Well, there are many reasons why I am so grateful and proud to be a woman. There are so many beautiful and powerful female figures today doing amazing things and changing the world! They make me feel like women do really run the world and keep me inspired. We are generally passionate and emotional beings so being in a team full of women, there are a lot of heart to heart talks. So we are really a closely-knit and organised team. Plus, we have an infinite amount of fashion choices! (Hehe)

I do admit that sometimes as a professional woman, I do face some challenges in my daily life because of my gender. However, I understand that this is often due to societal’s expectation of how women should be like. Thankfully, this problem is not as pronounced here in Singapore and so far, I have plenty of opportunities and freedom to do the things that I love (like floorball!).

[Marissa & Nurul are wearing teal jerseys by KBFFxDribble]

Our Take post IFF’s GOGIRLS! Floorball Project

In October as well, the International Floorball Federation also touched on how to get more girls to play floorball.

From their website, “The IFF aims to provide guidance on the different challenges faced by girls in obtaining access to participation in sport, and to help break down those barriers within the international Floorball family.”

Singapore floorball is the best in Southeast Asia. Surely one cannot point to discrimination in and out of the floorball court here!

However, sometimes, the discrimination lies in the little things.

For instance, are we allowed the same level of physicality as men when we play? Or is one push too many?

Do our girls have the choice to wear skirts instead of shorts for floorball? Or is that discrimination?

Will there one day be goalie equipment suitable for women?

A long way to go.

1v1 time!

We asked the youngest player to have joined KBFF years ago, Yun Xuan, what makes her feel proud to be a woman and what challenges she faced because of it.

In her words:

I am proud to be a woman because i get to change other people’s perspectives on what it means to be a woman.

Growing up with a mother that had a traditional mindset, it was not easy being the only daughter. When i was younger, my mother used to make me wear preppy dresses along with outrageous hair styles whenever we went out (I was basically a human doll for her). I hated the clothes she bought so much that i hid them away and refused to tell my mother where they all were. Needless to say my mother and I had countless arguments over our differences in fashion styles.

My two older brothers were my role models; I wanted to be just like them. We would challenge each other to wrestling fights, sprints and many other activities that was deemed too “violent” for a girl, according to my mother.

Even though I did not fit into the cookie cutter version of what my mother had initially envisioned, she has learned to be more accepting of me over the years. Nowadays, she does not mind me playing floorball all the time, going for trainings etc (of which she used to nag at me all the time for).

Thus, i am proud to be a woman who does not conform to gender stereotypes, because I get to break these stereotypes and change the people around me, instead of changing myself to suit the needs of other people.

Well said, yx!

To be continued.

[Yun Xuan’s jersey by KBFFxDribble]


Customer service is part of your product

Customer service and support is often a function that is overlooked from a product management perspective. There are debates as to whether it falls under sales, account management, product, community or marketing.

It’s my opinion that customer service and support should fall heavily under product. If it is not influenced by the product team then it needs to be heavily ingrained throughout all areas of the company and in every employee. Some of the most successful companies make customer service a huge part of their product experience. Great examples of this are Zappos, Uber, Mailbox, Airbnb and Soundcloud.

What do I mean by making it part of the product experience?  I mean that customer service should be a central feature that integrates with your product. Users should quickly and easily be able to find out how to contact you with questions or if they need support. Also, making it a visible component of your product gives users and customers a feeling of comfort. This comfort level is critical for products that use, store or integrate with a users personal information.

One other thing that you should do is have an informal, internal “SLA” (service level agreement) whereby you implement a process where you get back to any customer service request within minutes. Most users and customers are not used to great customer service and you can blow users away by getting back to them within minutes of the point of contact. Even if you don’t have an answer for them right away you should at least acknowledge you or your team are on top of it.

One great tool that I am a big fan of is Olark. It allows you to install a real-time chat widget on your site giving you the ability to chat with customers, answer their questions and put it in offline mode where users can still contact you via email. Other great tools for managing service are Twitter (obviously), UserVoice and Zendesk.

If you have any suggestions on other great customer service examples or tools drop them in the comments.


When it comes to driving social progress, good intentions and a big heart are not enough to guide good decisions. Moving the needle requires skilled professionals who have experience creating social change. Unfortunately, our research shows that when it comes to impact investing, financiers don’t value such expertise and wisdom as much as they should.

Earlier this year, our team at the Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business examined the hiring preferences of impact funds to help business students identify pathways to impact investing careers. As we dug deeper, it became clear that hiring managers under-appreciate the social impact experience of prospective employees. Many fund managers assume that people can learn about social impact quickly but that accumulating investing experience takes years. The result? Eighty percent of the impact investors we studied had a background in finance prior to landing an impact investing job while only 45 percent had experience in social impact.

The rationale for prioritizing prospective employees’ experience with investing capital goes like this: New investors make costly mistakes. Experience helps them avoid those mistakes. The more a person works with entrepreneurs, the more they develop a sixth sense for whether a venture is going to be successful or not. Over time, experienced investors can engage in explicit or implicit pattern matching to inform their decisions.

The most widely accepted framework for exploring the impact potential of an intervention, program, long-standing organization, or nascent venture is the theory of change. An organization’s theory of change relies on a logic model that describes how inputs (such as programming time and computers) transform into outputs (such as a crowdfunding platform), and then traces those outputs to social or environmental outcomes (such as the funding of classroom needs), and finally long-term impact (such as improved learning). Simple, right?

Not really. In fact, evaluating the social impact potential of investments requires hard-earned wisdom that comes only after years of practice. Some social ventures have no impact; others cause harm. Some have the potential to serve millions; others have no viable model for scaling. Investing in the wrong kind of impact intervention can be as costly as investing in financially unsustainable ventures.

This holds true even when no financial returns are at stake. Mark Zuckerberg learned this the hard way through the gift he made to Newark Unified School District in 2009. While Newark’s graduation rates are now higher, more high-quality charter schools serve more poor students, and principals receive better professional development, the reform process was devoid of community consultation and turned into a political nightmare that greatly limited the potential impact of the grant. Experienced philanthropists and investors know how important it is to involve local communities in social work. Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg's next investment in educational support, this time in local Bay Area, included a commitment to a community engagement and consultation process, and partnership with education professionals (led by tri-sector expert Jim Shelton).

Social impact professionals develop their own venture-gauging compass over time, which powers the same kind of pattern-matching expertise financiers have. As part of our research, we tried to capture some of what happens in the head of a social impact professional when she evaluates a venture’s potential impact without the benefit of quantitative studies such as randomized control trials. We also reviewed the extensive literature about and existing practices in impact evaluation. Based on our observations, we created a framework called the Impact Compass, which identifies six primary interdependent dimensions that come into play for pattern matching. We hope the Impact Compass creates a common language, and supports greater structure and clarity for discussions of social impact among professionals of all backgrounds interested in social impact.

While social impact professionals eager to bring the power of markets to bear on social and environmental issues may find that their social impact expertise is undervalued, there are still plausible pathways to impact investing:

1. Go to “the dark side.” Embrace the traditional investing world for a few years to develop an investing track record, then move to a social impact fund. This may not even require a move; most investment banks, private equity firms, and venture capital groups will move into the impact investing space in the next few years. Many traditional banks know they need a presence in the impact space but don’t yet realize they don’t have the right in-house talent for it. Well-meaning employees with a desire to contribute or give back generally drive current efforts, taking on social and environmental impact as a side project. After gaining a few years of experience, you could volunteer to take on impact investing as a project, and happen to have both the passion and impact expertise for the job. Be the change agent from within.

2. Seek a job with an “impact-first” fund. Most foundations that have added the impact investing model to their grant model perfectly understand the value of social impact expertise. They are generally ready to accept concessionary returns but won’t tolerate poor impact results. Examples of impact-first funds include Emerson Collective, Acumen Fund, USAID Impact Fund, New Schools Venture Fund, and Reach Capital.

3. Look into larger institutions that have the luxury to specialize. The smallest funds will hire someone who has a long list of skills: expertise in both finance and social impact; familiarity with the entrepreneurial process; the ability to provide strategic consulting to the fund’s portfolio; superb interpersonal skills; perspective on the future of a relevant industry; and a vision for the field of impact investing that will translate into thought leadership, public speaking, and writing. All this in one person! Instead, look for larger, structured funds that open portfolio management, talent development, and/or impact assessment positions. Examples include organizations such as Omidyar Network and Acumen Fund.

4. Participate in the growing economy of impact investing services. As more and more money looks for investments that have a social and environmental impact, more and more new entrants realize they are playing in unknown territory without the proper expertise and ask for guidance. This trend is giving rise to impact investing services such as landscape scanning, deal flow consolidation, investment due diligence, impact measurement, and impact education. For example, social scientists have a lot to contribute in the area of impact measurement, and industry experts have a role to play in educating investors in what works and what doesn’t. Examples include Purpose Capital in Canada, Arabella Advisors, Toniic, Investors Circle, Cambridge Associates, Tideline, and the Threshold Group.

5. Reinvent the partnership model and launch your own impact fund. If you are a true social impact veteran, consider partnering with someone who has a robust financial investment track record and launching your own fund. If you don’t have friends and family money to start a fund, your philanthropic connections can help you raise a small $1-5 million demonstration portfolio—a minimum viable product with which you can prove your model and approach before raising a fund from investors. The Impact Compass can help you explain impact to inexperienced, prospective limited partners and why your expertise is so important to the team. This was the path of Carl Palmer, who successively created three impact ventures after graduating from the Stanford MBA Program in 2003. His advice today? “Impact investing is still in the early days of its evolution as a field, and there are lots of niches yet to be filled, so [there is] lots of room for entrepreneurial initiative. There’s a wealth of opportunity out there now for folks who are motivated to create a place for themselves in the field.”

Management in impact funds today constitutes only a few hundred billions of dollars while traditional investing funds are in the trillions. But the new wave of successful tech entrepreneurs has more belief in the virtues of business to address social problems than the previous generation of tycoons-turned-philanthropists, and is making impact investing more relevant to traditional financial institutions. As Chris Cozzone, vice president of Bain Capital Double Impact, put it, “[Impact investing] is going to be the new normal of private equity over our lifetimes.” The corporate world is meanwhile launching impact investment funds such as Salesforce Ventures and Twilio.org, and diversity-focused funds such as Comcast Ventures. Impact expertise is crucial to ensuring that large institutions like these don’t dilute the impact part of impact investing. It’s time to prime the demand for it.

Tracker Pixel for Entry


Vladimir Putin expects US-Russia relations to improve

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday he expects Russian-US cooperation will improve.

Putin made the statement a day after the two Presidents met in Hamburg, their first face-to-face meeting. Putin said he was positive about partially re-establishing US-Russia cooperation adding that some basis for this has already been created.

Putin said that in particular the US appeared to be less rigid on the war on Syria, where Moscow backs President Bashar al-Assad and Washington has sided with insurgent groups. The Russian President said that the US position on Syria has become more pragmatic, adding that if they join efforts, they can achieve many things.

Regarding allegations that Russia meddled in the US presidential election in 2016, Putin said that Trump, in their meeting, had accepted Russia’s denials.

Source: VOV5

[related_post themes="text" id="16383"]


When Not Just Any Law Firm Will Do

How domestic violence affects child custody in Tennessee

Every couple and family in Tennessee has disagreements and fights from time to time. This is common, but how people handle the fights vary from family to family. Some shut down and take time before they resolve it and some may attack the problem head on and resolve it right away. However, unfortunately some people resort to physical violence to resolve the fights. This is obviously not the right way to resolve the fight.

Domestic violence can have a very detrimental effect on the victims and these effects can last for a very long period of time. It is also illegal and can lead to criminal charges. Children who are either abused or witness abuse may also repeat the behavior as they grow older, and it can be very harmful for their upbringing. Due to this fact, domestic violence affects child custody determinations in a divorce as well.

Courts cannot give a parent custody who poses a substantial risk to the safety of the child. Also, while generally if one parent moves to keep a child away from another parent, it can be detrimental for that parent’s ability to get custody, if the parent moves to escape domestic violence it cannot be used against that parent.

Domestic violence can also affect the abusive parent’s ability to see their children. Before the court can grant visitation to an abusive parent, certain protections must be in place. One is that the visitation must be supervised by another adult or agency; the abuser must complete counseling prior to visitation; overnights are prohibited until the safety of the child is ensured and other conditions to keep the children safe.

Unfortunately domestic abuse occurs in many families in Tennessee. This can cause long-term negative consequences for the children involved. The courts also have a strong interest in keeping children in these situations safe, and therefore they will try to ensure the child’s safety when making visitation and custody determinations. Attorneys understand how domestic violence affects custody determinations and may be able to guide one through it.

Source: FindLaw, “Tennessee Domestic Violence in Family Law Matters” accessed on Nov. 28, 2017

Knoxville Family Law Attorney


Question details

Develop and outline a comprehensive Functional Behavioral Assessment Report.
$ 40.00

Project Expectations:

  3.  Identifying information (e.g., name, age, school/agency, date of report).
  4.  Reason for referral.
  5.  Assessment procedures.
  6.  Description of assessment procedures.
  7.  Assessment results.
  8.  Identification of interfering behaviors.
  9.  Description of interfering behaviors.
  10.  Current level of occurrence of interfering behaviors.
  11.  Identification of antecedent variables (SD, UMO, and/or CMO).
  12.  Identification of individual variables.
  13.  Identification of consequence variables.
  14.  Parameters of reinforcement.
  15.  Hypothesized function(s) of interfering behaviors.
  16.  Examples that illustrate how antecedent, individual, and consequence variables influence the occurrence of interfering behaviors.
  17.  Evidence- and function-based interventions.

Assignment Guidelines:

  1. 2500 words minimum

  2. APA Format

  5. DO NOT focus on the use of diagnoses or labels

Available solutions
  • Develop and outline a comprehensive Functional Behavioral Assessment Report.

    Functional Behavioral Assessment Report Name College Course Tutor Date   Introduction The functional behavioral assessment report relates to FBA’s as presented in the course. It is related to the case study of choice and the scenarios are: the parents of a four year old seek help for control of their child’s behavior. Their child consistently throws temper tantrums while at home and out in the community. The behavior of concern has become so frequent and intense such that the child is often left to do what he or she wants. The fears experiencing the tantrums while out in public. That has made the family remain at home most of the time. In the other scenario, a 35 year old resident who stays in a group home for adults with disabilities has in

    Submitted on: 02 Oct, 2015 07:26:48 This tutorial has not been purchased yet .


Leverage definition

See all glossary trading terms

Leverage is a concept that can enable you to multiply your exposure to a financial market without committing extra investment capital.

In investing, the amount needed to open and maintain a leveraged trade is called the margin. Trading using leverage is sometimes referred to as margin trading.

Leverage is available on several financial products, CFDs and forex trades. When trading using leverage, the provider will only ask for a fraction of the total value of your position: the rest is effectively lent to you by the provider.

Profits and losses are based on the total size of the position, so the end result of a trade can be much larger than the initial outlay. Losses can end up exceeding the initial deposit.

Leverage example

You want to open a position on AstraZeneca. With IG, you will be margined on the total consideration of the trade.

If the stock is margined at 5%, shares are valued at £45 and you want to trade 500 shares, your margin will be £1125. This is because margin is calculated as

Number of shares x share price x margin percentage

So 500 shares x £45 per share x 5% = 1125.

Therefore, when trading on leverage, in order to obtain an exposure equal to 500 shares in AstraZeneca, you only need to hold a deposit of £1125 instead of buying £22,500 worth of shares in the underlying market.

Visit our education section

Find more about leverage in our education section.

Contact us

010 344 0053

You can also email helpdesk.za@ig.com


Adult entertainment company Perfect 10, Inc. sued an online file storage company for copyright and trademark infringement after users uploaded certain Perfect 10 content to the defendant’s service without authorization. The defendant moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing that it cannot be held liable for direct infringement because it is merely a passive conduit, and cannot be liable for contributory infringement because Perfect 10 failed to allege that the defendant had specific knowledge of the infringement. In denying the motion to dismiss, the District Court for the Southern District of California found that the defendant was more than a passive conduit or “file storage” company because it created distinct websites “in an effort to streamline” users’ access to different types of media, offered Rewards Programs that pays users to upload popular media, disseminated URLs for files throughout the internet, and was “plausibly aware of the online, rampant infringement taking place on its websites.” The court concluded that, in light of these facts, Perfect 10 adequately alleged that the defendant engaged in volitional conduct sufficient to hold it liable for direct infringement. In addition, the court found that Perfect 10 pleaded specific knowledge of contributory infringement, in part, because even if the defendant lacked knowledge of the infringing activity, Perfect 10’s “allegations suggest such a lack of knowledge is willful.” The court did dismiss Perfect 10’s vicarious copyright infringement claim without prejudice because Perfect 10 did not allege that the defendant has the right and ability to supervise the infringing conduct as required to state a claim for vicarious copyright infringement.

TIP:   It is high risk to offer incentives to users to upload copyrighted content to online storage sites.


For two months, the night sky will also be an art museum. The Nevada Museum of Art and artist Trevor Paglen will be launching a 100-foot-long satellite into space in mid-2018, and people around the world will be able to see it for themselves whether they have a telescope or not. The heavens-bound artwork will launch on a rocket owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company.

The sculpture, called “Orbital Reflector,” is expected to orbit the Earth about once every 90 minutes. “At least in North America, we know that we’ll be able to see it about four times in a night,” Nevada Museum of Art communications director Amanda Horn told Newsweek. It will only be visible when the sun reflects off the balloon-like diamond for a few hours immediately after dusk and before dawn.

Eventually, the satellite, which is made by Global Western, will fall out of orbit and burn up in the atmosphere.

The most enduring legacy of the installation is likely to be found here on Earth—in the form of paperwork. The planet’s orbit is cluttered with machinery, and Paglen had to make sure his work wouldn’t conflict with communications satellites, for example. “Humans have created a ring of stuff around the Earth, not unlike the rings of Saturn, which is basically now a permanent part of the planet,” he said. He also needed to get insurance policies and a North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) tracking number—yes, the agency that “tracks Santa” every Christmas now tracks orbiting art.

If you don’t feel like squinting at the sky for a few hours each night to look for its reflection, there’s an app for that. Thanks to that NORAD tracking number, a free smartphone application, Star Walk 2, will be able to tell people when to look for the satellite passing. This is Paglen’s second celestial installation, but the first one that’s meant to be ephemeral. Previously, he launched “The Last Pictures,” a collection of 100 pictures intended to represent human history, on a geostationary satellite in 2012.

Paglen compared his project to the artistic traditions of Tibetan mandalas—which are often sandpainting sculptures meant to be destroyed after they are completed—and earthworks sculptures, or art made from the land itself.

“It’s a certain kind of public art,” he said.


Employee Or Independent Contractor?

The contractor has ceased to function attributable to bankruptcy or liquidation, or has terminated its operations. However, responsibly working with unbiased contractors is a serious headache for many organizations. Check with the Better Business Bureau to make sure there have been no complaints in opposition to the contractor. Don’t let a low credit score rating maintain you from getting the contractor bonding you want.

Another issue to think about when hiring a landscaping contractor is to take a look at their general high quality. A discovering of non-compliance would outcome in the contractor’s title being placed on the FCP Limited Eligibility to Bid List and the contractor would lose the proper to bid on federal government goods and services contracts, standing gives or provide preparations of any value.

The contractor establishes long-time period goals to close gaps within the representation of designated group members that aren’t expected to be closed in the short time period. A discover of customers’ rights underneath the Florida Homeowners’ Construction Recovery Fund for contracts involving basic, residential and building contractors. By buying contractor license bonds, development professionals agree to work based on certain rules, thus defending government businesses and customers from potential monetary loss. The HMRC have warned contractors not to depend on schemes they have developed to get around IR35, as they could crumble when examined.

If the contractors are all reputable and they are proposing to complete the job in basically the identical way with the same high quality of supplies, their bids needs to be relatively close in value. You are not an unbiased contractor in case you carry out providers that may be controlled by an employer (what might be done and how it will be accomplished). Do It Yourself – Without the expertise, a do it yourselfer is sure to take more time than a contractor to complete the same job. A written contractor contract for flipping houses or any written contract for that matter is legally binding.contractor

  • Partner links


Assessing attentional control of breathing by reaction time.

The reaction time (RT) to an auditory stimulus was measured in 27 subjects during spontaneous breathing and during controlled breathing, which consisted of maintaining a set inspiratory duration. During spontaneous breathing, reaction times were unrelated to the time the stimulus was delivered during the breathing cycle. During controlled breathing… CONTINUE READING


Study on Multilocus Interactions for Hypertension by an Information Theoretic Method ∗

Hypertension, among diabetes, obesity and others, is one of the common human diseases that is genetically expressed as complex traits to which genetic, environmental, and demographic factors contribute interactively. Identifying the underlying genes and examining their interactions, a crucial step in understanding the molecular pathogenesis of complex… CONTINUE READING


Surgical stress and accelerated tumor growth.

BACKGROUND Delay in the initiation of radiotherapy after surgery is associated with an increase in local regional recurrence. A possible mechanism might be that remaining tumor cells proliferate significantly faster as a result of induced angiogenic cytokines. The growth rate of tumors arising from the inoculation of L44 tumor cells in the wound bed after… CONTINUE READING


Back For Seconds: Cooking Tips No One Can Resist

Cooking is an activity that just about anyone can have fun with. Can you purchase ingredients and read and follow a recipe? Does your kitchen have the basic necessities? If so, then there is no reason why you cannot cook! If you’d like to expand your skills in the kitchen, read the helpful tips below that will show you how you can make easy, delicious dishes for your loved ones.

Always keep your spices away from light in a cool place. Shelf life can be significantly decreased for those spices which have been exposed to too much light, dampness and heat. Always keep your spices in a dark and cool location to extend their longevity. If you use fresh spices, your food will taste better.

Did you ever feel badly for throwing moldy fruit in the garbage? Should you cut of the rotten part to save the rest? Unfortunately, there is no healthy way of saving half rotten fruit. Mold grows deeper than on the surface, and because it can make you sick, you should throw away any partially rotten fruit.

Even if you have screwed up in this way, there is a fix that will still let you use it right away. Put a small amount of corn starch in a bowl and mix thoroughly with two tablespoons of water to add to your sauce. Stir this solution into your simmering thin sauce until it thickens. When adding, do so gradually and continue to stir so as to avoid making your sauce too thick.

Poultry seasoning is very versatile and can be used in a variety of ways not just with poultry. Sprinkle on popcorn for a tasty movie-night snack, or add a bit to fried rice to spice it up nicely. It is a simple addition, but the burst of flavor it gives will have everyone raving.

Nutritional Value

To maintain a vegetable’s quality, cook it quickly. Using slow cooking methods can rob vegetable of their taste and nutritional value. These methods usually create healthier vegetables. Only cook vegetables as much as you have to, in order to preserve their taste and nutritional value.

Always make sure to read labels on any ingredients you are purchasing for a recipe. Lots of common supplies used for cooking contain unhealthy ingredients that you didn’t even know were there. Check the sugar and sodium levels in the ingredient, as over consumption of these items can cause health problems in certain people.

After you have prepared some sauce, freeze the leftovers in ice cube trays. All you need to do next time you want to use it, is reheat in a saucepan. Freezing the sauce into cubes in the trays is safe and convenient!

If you use herbs and spices when cooking, be sure to retain the flavor and freshness by keeping them in an area of the kitchen that is cool and dark. If spices are stored above a stove or other warm area there is a good chance that they will lose their flavor very quickly.

In a lot of cases, burgers will become stuck on the grill, and forcibly removing them will make them all misshapen. You should brush a thin layer of vegetable oil over the grill before you begin cooking. This will keep the food from becoming stuck to the grill surface.

By staying organized while cooking you can avoid making mistakes, such as burning your food. A well-organized cooking area is conducive to great results. Being unorganized can cause you to lose ingredients or tools that you need when you are cooking. This can cause a meal to be ruined which will put the money you spent on ingredients to waste.

Think about making your own stock for more flavor. If you make huge amounts of stock at once, you can put the excess in the freezer using resealable bags. Doing so will provide you with an abundance of custom, home-produced stock, readily available for creating soups and other dishes. If you prepare your own, homemade stock, you will be cutting out all of the preservatives of canned versions.

Prior to cooking ground meat, blot it with a paper towel. It is always wise to blot any moisture that is present on ground meat. If you just let the moisture sit, it will affect how the meat cooks. This will cause it to sizzle. The meat is likely to steam, rather than sear as it is supposed to.

It will be very helpful to have all cooking supplies nicely organized. Supplies and staples kept in disarray will have you scrambling when trying to find a needed utensil or ingredient. Keep certain similar tools in one area. As an example, parsley and basil are spices, so they should be stored in a cabinet together with all of the other spices.

When cooking, be creative. The instructions for a recipe aren’t set in stone. With a little resourcefulness in adding extra ingredients, reducing or altering the amount of spices, or substituting one type of meat or vegetable for another, you can often create a meal that tastes far superior to the original. Then you can consider yourself a real cook!

Cutting Board

If you’d like to boost the flavors in your pasta sauce, it’s important to save the water you use to cook the pasta itself. Measure out one quarter cup of water, and put it to the side. When you mix the pasta with this sauce, add the water as well. The pasta water contains starch, which will infuse your concoction with the thickness and body you are looking for.

Many vegetables and herbs emit aromas that remain in the cutting board, regardless of how many times you clean it. Mark one end, or side, of each cutting board so that you know which is which.

Run cold water over the onions after you cut them, if you plan to make salsa and keep it more than half an hour. Then use a towel to get the water off the onions. The freshly-diced onions give off a sulfurous gas. The gas they release can ruin the salsa. By rinsing the onions and blotting away the excess water, the gas is removed.

Place unripened fruits in a plastic bag that is perforated right after you buy them. When fruits ripen, they produce ethylene gas. By placing them in a plastic bag with holes, air will circulate in the bag, making sure that ethylene gas is retained, and the fruit keeps its great taste.

When sauteing food, avoid over-filling the pan. If there is too much, there will be extra moisture, and the foods will steam instead of sauteing. You will lose crispness. Do not raise the temperature too much.

To improve the flavor of your dishes, mix your own broth and other stock. Store extra stock in bags in the freezer that are resealable. This ensures that tasty, homemade stock is always available when the time comes to prepare soups and other recipes. When you create the stock that will be used in your food, you can ensure the quality and avoid unnecessary additives and preservatives.

When preparing a meal, make it part of your routine to wash dishes as you use them. Fill one side of your sink with hot soapy water and the other with clean rinse water. Utensils that have been used recently, will be easier to clean if you leave them in this water.

Being responsible for a meal that will feed a large number of guests can be extremely stressful. Prep work can be done up to 24 hours before you start cooking. For example, you could measure our all ingredients, chop veggies or start on marinades.

If you are cooking with nonstick cookware, you need to makes sure that your spatulas and spoons are made out of silicone, nylon or rubber. Metal and wood will cause scratching that may loosen flakes of the coating that may end up in your food. This is both unappealing and unsafe.

A cooling rack that can stack should be used. It is common to have your complete workspace overtaken as things like muffins and cookies finish cooling. Stackable racks help make the most of your cooking area. Instead of taking up horizontal space on your countertop, the cooking racks use vertical space and stay out of your way.

Cooking can be a hobby, a skill, and a profession. Because food can be prepares be made in so many ways, it is crucial that you follow the advice of experts. When you next cook, use the advice from this article.

Rub your hands on stainless steel prior to washing them to eliminate odors of onions, garlic, fish and other strong ingredients. This strips the odors off your hands so that you don’t contaminate other ingredients. There are purpose-built steel “soap bars” for this, but the sides of your sink or your spoons will work just as well.

Food festival


History Pub Quiz Questions and Answers

Quiz 149 – Round 3 – History

1. Which two of Henry VIII’s wives were executed?

Anne Boleyn and Kathryn Howard

2. Queen Elizabeth II is Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, followed by Queen Victoria – but who comes third in the list?

George III

3. Which English city was once known as Duroliponte?

Cambridge (Roman name)

4. What was the first name of the man after whom the Geiger counter was named?

5. What were the exact first words spoken by Neil Armstrong, shortly after he stepped onto the moon for the first time?

That’s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind (Neil Armstrong insisted he said ‘a’ but it was inaudible in recordings. Accept answers with or without)

6. In which city was RMS Titanic constructed?

Thomas Farriner (or Farynor)

9. In which year was the Munich air disaster, when British European Airways flight 609 crashed while carrying the Manchester United football team?

10. In 1970, Venera 7 became the first spacecraft to successfully land on another planet and transmit data back to Earth. Which planet did it land on?

History Pub Quiz Questions and Answers

Quiz 145 – Round 3 – History

1. Who was the first wife of Henry VIII?

Catherine of Aragon

2. Who became the first President of the Republic of Ireland in June 1938?

Douglas Hyde

3. The USSR dissolved into how may independent countries in 1991?

Fifteen (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Russia)

4. The Belgian revolution of 1830-1831 led to their independence from which country?

5. Approximately how many thousand years ago was Stonehenge erected?

5000 (erected around 2500BC )

6. A surprise attack by the Japanese on which naval base led to the US entering World War II?

Pearl Harbor

7. The Battle of Bosworth Field was the last significant battle of which series of civil wars?

Wars of the Roses

8. Which famous first was achieved by Constance Markievicz on 14th December 1918?

She was the first woman to be elected to the British House of Commons (She did not, however, take her seat – Nancy Astor was the first to do so in 1919)

9. On which date did Euro coins and bank notes first enter general circulation?

1st January 2002

10. How many British monarchs were crowned during the twentieth century?

Four (Edward VII, George V, George VI and Elizabeth II – Edward VIII was never crowned)

History Pub Quiz Questions and Answers

Quiz 141 – Round 5 – History

1. In which year was Korea divided into North Korea and South Korea?

2. Who was the wife of King George V?

Mary (of Teck)

3. In which war was the Battle of Shiloh fought?

American Civil War

4. The British Women’s Institute was founded, photos were required in UK passports for the first time and the British nurse Edith Cavell was executed by German firing squad – All of these events happened in which year of the 20th century?

5. In which year did Abraham Lincoln deliver the Gettysburg Address?

6. In which century did Richard the Lionheart rule England?

12th century (1189-1199)

7. Which two of Henry VIII’s wives were executed?

Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard

8. Who is the only Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to have been assassinated?

Spencer Perceval

9. Whose famous last words in 1999 reportedly were, “I finally get to see Marilyn”?

Joe DiMaggio

10. Vietnam claimed independence from which country in 1945?

History Trivia

Quiz 138 – Round 3 – History

History Trivia

1. Which King of England, born in 1452, was the son of Richard, 3rd Duke of York and Cecily Neville?

Richard III

2. Which Russian word, literally meaning ‘publicity’ or ‘openness’, was made popular by Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s when it became the name of the Soviet policy of open discussion of political and social issues?

3. In which war did the battle of Tel-el-Kebir take place?

Anglo-Egyptian War (1882)

4. Who was assassinated by Nathuram Godse on the 30th January 1948?

Mahatma Gandhi

5. How many children did Queen Victoria have?

9 (Victoria (Princess Royal), Edward VII, Alice, Alfred (Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha), Helena, Louise, Arthur (Duke of Connaught and Strathearn), Leopold (Duke of Albany) and Beatrice)

6. Robert Walpole, William Pitt the Elder and George Grenville were all leaders of which political party?

7. Which Scottish King died at the Battle of Flodden in 1513?

James IV of Scotland

8. Who was married both to Louis VII of France and to Henry II of England and was therefore Queen consort of both countries?

Eleanor of Aquitaine

9. Which Conservative Home Secretary, who later became Prime Minister, is responsible for introduction of the Metropolitan Police Act of 1829?

Sir Robert Peel

10. Malcolm Fraser, Sir Robert Menzies and Joseph Lyons were all 20th century Prime Ministers of which country?

To download the history trivia quiz as a PDF contestant question paper, with printed questions plus spaces for contestant answers, please click on the grey box below:

History Pub Quiz Questions and Answers

Quiz 136 – Round 6 – History

Three events from a year

1. Clement Attlee became Prime Minister, V-E Day was celebrated and George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’ was published.

2. The first episode of ‘EastEnders’ was broadcast, Comic Relief was launched and the first UK heart-lung transplant was carried out in Middlesex.

3. Queen Victoria died at Osborne House, Alexandra Palace opened to the public and a national census was conducted.

4. The BBC was formed, Andrew Bonar Law became Prime Minister and the entrance to King Tutankhamen’s Tomb in the Valley of the Kings was discovered.

5. Fleetwood Mac’s album ‘Rumours’ was released, Red Rum won the Grand National for the third time and Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her Silver Jubilee.

6. Old Trafford, the largest football stadium in England, was opened, Dr. Crippen was hanged in Pentonville prison and the Terra Nova set sail for the Antarctic in Robert Falcon Scott’s last expedition.

7. Concorde was unveiled in France, the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act made pirate radio illegal and Milton Keynes was formally designated a ‘new town’.

8. Winston Churchill resigned from his post as Prime Minister due to ill health, Ruth Ellis was the last woman to be hanged in the UK and Stirling Moss became the first English winner of the British Grand Prix.

9. George VI became the first reigning monarch to visit Canada, petrol rationing and identity cards were introduced and registration for national service for men aged between 20 and 23 began.

10. Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her Ruby Jubilee, the Duke and Duchess of York separated and Betty Boothroyd became the first female Speaker of the House of Commons.

History Pub Quiz Questions and Answers

Quiz 133 – Round 5 – History

1. Boudicca was queen of which historic tribe of eastern Britain?

Iceni (or Eceni)

2. D-Day and the Normandy landings took place on which date?

June 6th 1944

3. Which war was ended by the Treaty of Paris in 1783?

American revolutionary War

4. In which year did the United Nations officially come into existence?

5. Who succeeded Charles II as King of England after his death in 1685?

James II (of England and VII of Scotland)

6. What was the first name of the doctor who invented the Heimlich manoeuvre?

7. Who was the first British monarch to visit India?

George V (1911)

8. In which century did Joan of Arc live?

15th Century (Lived from 1412 until 1431)

9. Which battle was the final confrontation in the Jacobite rising of 1745?

Battle of Culloden

10. Aquae Sulis was the Roman name for which English city?

History Pub Quiz Questions and Answers

Quiz 126 – Round 5 – History

History Pub Quiz Questions and Answers

1. The ‘Gettysburg Address’ was delivered by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, but can you quote the first six words of this famous speech?

Four score and seven years ago…

2. Which of Henry VIII’s wives is buried alongside him in St. George’s chapel in Windsor Castle?

Jane Seymour (Henry was buried alongside her at his request)

3. Who became the first woman to sit as an MP in the House of Commons in 1919?

Nancy Astor (Viscountess Astor)

4. Who was the first leader of the Liberal Democrat party, having led the Liberal Party until it merged with the Social Democratic Party in 1988?

David Steel

5. Who was President of the United States when Neil Armstrong first set foot upon the moon?

Richard Nixon (He famously made a telephone call to Armstrong and Aldrin)

6. Name five of the seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Five of: Colossus of Rhodes, Great Pyramid of Giza, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Lighthouse of Alexandria, Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, Statue of Zeus at Olympia and the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

7. According to the book of Genesis, Adam and Eve had a number of children, but only three are named. What were the names of these three?

Cain, Abel and Seth

8. The Battle of Goose Green was fought during which war?

The Falklands War

9. Which South American country declared independence from Portugal on September 7th 1822?

10. Which English monarch was the father of Richard I?

Henry II

To download the History Pub Quiz questions as a PDF contestant question paper, with questions only plus spaces for contestant answers, please click on the link below:

History Pub Quiz Questions and Answers

Quiz 123 – Round 5 – History

1. The Royal Pavilion in Brighton was built as a seaside palace for which king?

King George IV

2. Britain joined the EEC on the 1st January in which year?

3. Canaan Banana was the first ever president of which country?

Zimbabwe (1980-1987)

4. In which battle was Richard III killed?

Battle of Bosworth Field

5. How many kings of England have been named Edmund?

6. What was the name of the Baker in whose bakery the Great Fire of London is said to have started?

Thomas Farriner (or Farynor)

7. Why did 83-year-old Spanish pensioner Cecilia Giménez hit the headlines in 2012?

She decided to ‘restore’ the ‘Ecce Homo’ fresco of Jesus in a church near Zaragoza – see before and after pictures here.

8. How many popes have been named Pius?

9. In which century was the Statue of Liberty dedicated to the United States as a gift from France?

19th Century/1800s (1886)

10. Who or what, according to legend, is the ‘Flying Dutchman’?

A ghost ship/the captain of this ship (some stories say it is the name of the ship, others say it is a name for the captain)

History Pub Quiz Questions and Answers

Quiz 120 – Round 5 – History

History Pub Quiz Questions

1. Who was the first person to complete a solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean?

Charles A. Lindbergh (1927)

2. Who was the first monarch of the House of Windsor?

George V (He was responsible for changing the name from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to Windsor)

3. How many shillings were formerly equivalent to one crown?

4. Which American battle is sometimes referred to as ‘Custer’s Last Stand’?

Battle of the Little Bighorn

5. Which is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World to still be standing?

The Great Pyramid at Giza

6. ‘Eboracum’ was the Roman name for which English city?

7. In which year was Abraham Lincoln assassinated?

8. The ‘Estampie’ was a medieval form of what?

Dance/musical form

9. Who was the first President of India?

Rajendra Prased (Held the post from 1950 to 1962)

10. In which U.S. city did Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his famous ‘I Have A Dream’ speech in 1963?

Washington D.C.

History Quiz

Quiz 117 – Round 3 – History

1. King George V and Queen Mary had how many children?

6 (George VI, Edward VIII, Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, Prince George, Duke of Kent and Prince John)

2. In which year was the Gunpowder Plot?

3. Which of Adolf Hitler’s cabinet held the post of ‘Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda’?

Joseph Goebbels

4. Who resigned as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 22nd May 1923 due to ill health?

Andrew Bonar Law

5. Which American political protest took place on December 16th 1773?

Boston Tea Party

6. Who did Ronald Reagan succeed as President of the USA?

Jimmy Carter

7. Which former British colony gained independence on 15th August 1947?

8. Which Scottish monarch was convicted of treason and was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire on the 8th February 1587?

Mary I (of Scotland)/Mary Queen of Scots

9. On which date was Queen Elizabeth II born?

21st April 1926

10. What was the name of the galleon in which Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe between 1577 and 1580?

The Golden Hind

history quiz questions

Quiz 115 – Round 3 – History

John Adams

Charles II

19th century (1845-1852)

Great Sioux War of 1876/Black Hills War

South Africa (Cape Town)

George II  (Born in Hanover)

8. What was the name of Lord Nelson’s flagship?

HMS Victory

9. How was New York known prior to 1664?

New Amsterdam

Battle of Bosworth Field

History Quiz

Quiz 105 – Round 6 – History

Manfred, Baron von Richthofen (The Red Baron)

Mongol Empire

George Bradshaw

Golda Meir

7. Which is the oldest university in Scotland?

University of St Andrews

Dame Joan Sutherland

9. In which year was Nelson Mandela released from prison?

Henry VII

History Quiz

Quiz 98 – Round 3 – History

Ronald Reagan

Queen Victoria

3. Who was the first leader of the Soviet Union?

Vladimir Lenin

Taj Mahal

Thirty Years War

House of Normandy

8. Who commissioned the Arc de Triomphe?

Napoleon I

Washington D.C.

Pearl Harbor

History Quiz

Quiz 94 – Round 6 – History

This week’s history quiz is very simple. We will give you a famous event from history and you need to give us the year in which it happened.

1. The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand.

2. Boston Tea Party

3. Martin Luther King Jr. made his “I have a dream” speech.

4. Anne Boleyn was beheaded.

5. Battle of Waterloo.

6. The sinking of the Titanic.

7. Battle of Bannockburn

8. Coronation of Queen Elizabeth I.

9. Hillsborough Disaster.

10. Sir Edmund Hillary reached the summit of Mount Everest.

History Quiz

Quiz 93 – Round 3 – History

1. Henry VII was born in which Welsh castle?

Pembroke Castle

2. The Battle of Marston Moor took place during which conflict?

The English Civil War

3. The last confirmed sighting of which bird species occurred in 1844, when two birds were shot off the coast of Iceland and the species was then declared extinct?

Great auk

4. Which Emperor ruled Rome at the beginning of year 1 AD?

5. In which year was Marie Antoinette executed by guillotine?

6. From which country did Algeria gain its independence in 1962?

7. In which year did American athlete Jesse Owens win four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics?

8. Which famous sea captain and politician was born in Tavistock, Devon in around 1540?

Sir Francis Drake

9. Who was the longest-reigning Tudor monarch?

Elizabeth I

10. Which is the oldest university in England?

History Quiz

Quiz 92 – Round 3 – History

1. Moshe Dayan was a military leader and politician in which country?

2. In which year was  Queen Victoria crowned?

3. Who was god of the sun in Ancient Egyptian mythology?

4. Anne of Cleves, the fourth wife of Henry VIII, was born in which modern day country?

Germany (Düsseldorf)

5. Who was the longest serving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom?

Sir Robert Walpole

6. How many United Stated presidents have resigned from office?

One (Richard Nixon in 1974)

7. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was the first woman in the UK to qualify and work as what?

Doctor (physician and surgeon)

8. The ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’ took part during which war?

Crimean War

9. In which year did Princess Diana die in a car crash in Paris?

10. The ‘Khmer Rouge’ was a name for the Communist regime which ruled which country between 1975 and 1979?

To download the quiz as a PDF question papers for contestants, please click on the grey box below:

Christmas History

Christmas Quiz 3 – Round 6 – Christmas History

Paul McCartney (to Jane Asher)

3. Which King of England was crowned on Christmas Day?

William the Conqueror (1066)

South Korea/Republic of Korea (Seoul)

The Wolf of Wall Street

Annie Lennox

7. Who became Emperor of Japan on Christmas Day 1926?

Emperor Hirohito

Beagle 2

Eartha Kitt

history quiz questions

Quiz 88 – Round 5 – History

1. The Battle of Naseby was a decisive battle in which war?

English Civil War

2. Which English king was nicknamed the ‘Merry Monarch’?

Charles II

3. Which U.S. political party did President Richard Nixon represent?

4. The Treaty of Nanking was signed on 29th August 1842 and marked the end of which war?

The (First) Opium War/ Anglo-Chinese War

5. By what name was the American William Frederick Cody better known?

Buffalo Bill

6. Which term was commonly used for the series of disagreements from the 50s onwards between the UK and Iceland over fishing rights in the North Atlantic?

Cod Wars

7. Of which British tribe was Boudicca queen?

8. King Hussein bin Talal was king of which country between 1952 and 1999?

9. What relation is Queen Elizabeth II to Queen Victoria?

10. Who was the first British Prime Minister to be born in the 20th Century?

Sir Alec Douglas-Home

To download the history quiz questions as a contestant question paper, please click on the grey box below:

History Quiz

Quiz 85 – Round 5 – History

Alexander II

3. Of which French King was Marie Antoinette the wife?

Louis XVI

4. Which battle is depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry?

Battle of Hastings

5. In which year did the Falklands Conflict begin?

Jesse James

Captain Lawrence Oates

Crossing the English Channel in a hot-air balloon

History Quiz

Quiz 83 – Round 3 – History

1. In which city was Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated in 1914?

2. To which island was Napoleon Bonaparte exiled after he was forced to abdicate in 1814?

3. Of which country was Alexander III the penultimate Emperor, between 1881 and 1894?

4. Who became President of the United States in 1865 because he was serving as Vice President at the time of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination?

Andrew Johnson

5. The city of Pompeii was almost entirely destroyed in 79 AD due to the eruption of which volcano?

Mount Vesuvius

6. Which Dutch explorer and navigator is credited with the discoveries of Tasmania, New Zealand, Tonga and the Fiji Islands?

Abel Tasman

7. Which country became the first to allow women the vote?

New Zealand (1893)

8. What was the name of Lord Robert Baden-Powell’s wife?

9. In ancient Egyptian mythology, which God had the head of a jackal and was associated with embalming and funeral rites?

10. The Domesday Book was compiled under the order of which King?

William the Conqueror

History Quiz Question Sheet:


Generational Sin: Episode 474

podcast header image

Generational Sin: Episode 474

Mar 02, 2017
Guests: Ashley Mazelin, Jake Roberson, Brandon Wilson, Christi Straub and Joshua Straub

[47:58] -

Why your parents' sin doesn't define you, plus Josh and Christi Straub explain emotional safety, and a listener accepts her single status.

Comment on this week's show

Featured musical artist: Mosaic MSC

Your Parents' Sin Isn't Yours

Guests: Ashley Mazelin, Jake Roberson and Brandon Wilson

[20:23] -

It's true that generational sin has its consequences, but too many people define themselves by the sin in their family trees. Whether divorce, abuse, addiction or something else, you can break the cycle of whatever you were delivered by your family. Our panelists share from their own stories to help us apply this truth.

Emotional Safety

Guests: Christi Straub and Joshua Straub

[21:01] -

What does it mean to be emotionally safe? And how do you know if you are? How do you find and cultivate relationships with emotionally safe people? What are the benefits of doing so? Josh and Christi Straub are counselors and the minds behind Safe House. They share the principles of emotional safety in this interview.

Secure in Singleness

[4:25] -

She's long wanted to be married, and has done everything in her power to make it happen. But she thinks God's changing her heart, making her much more content in — even grateful for — her single status. What does this mean, and how does she move forward confidently whatever the future holds? Lisa Anderson offers advice.


As a place not many people know. The Galapagos became a sailing venue for everyone. Many people choose to sail there because of its natural beauty that can not be denied. Sailing tours are activities you can do when you are there and will go there. There are many animals and plants that you can only meet there and make you amazed but also aware that many of God’s creations are very beautiful.

Selian sailing with a sailboat is amazing, there are some other activities you can do there.

1. Visit the Giant Turtles Breeding at the Charles Darwin Research Station
Galapagos is famous as the home of the giant tortoise. There is a conservation location for this animal. It’s located in Puerto Ayora, a Charles Darwin research station that runs a captive procurement program and conservation efforts of the giant sack. There are more than 200 scientists involved in the project. there, there is also an informative museum featuring English and Spanish video. Giant tortoises Galapagos is a rare and endangered species. At this station, only 11 turtles remain.

2. Meet Iguana Ground on South Plaza Island
The unique animals on this island that you can find are iguanas. This place is one of the smallest islands in the Galapagos which has the largest population of land iguanas. The right place to see this species is the cactus forest. Biasnaya, on the land iguana, will be seen sunbathing or eating fruit. Not only iguanas, the island also houses lions and dogs.

3. See the Sea Iguana
If the usual iguana lives on land, then this iguana has its own uniqueness, that is in the sea. The iguanas live in the sea and can only be found in the Galapagos alone. The island is the habitat of Humedales. This animal has a unique ability to live and melt food in a marine environment. In fact, they are able to swallow at a depth of more than 9 meters.


Part Nine: Awakening Through Gratitude

A friend sent this excellent video from a site called Soul Biographies and it was about gratitude.  Gratitude and appreciation are really powerful for shaping a person’s experience of life.  As I have mentioned before, Oprah has stated that her gratitude journal has been the key to her success.  So gratitude can bring success and it can also help us to become more conscious human beings.

Gratitude brings you present, in the moment everything is possible including awakening.  In gratitude you replace whatever occupied your mind with a thought of appreciation, of hope that life can continue in such a rich and rewarding way.  These moments of gratitude brighten the rest of your day.

How do you develop a practice of gratitude?

First make it a priority each day to note what you are grateful for, this is best done towards the end of your day when you can review all that went well and felt good.  Just taking a few minutes to appreciate what you are grateful for sends out an energy that will bring more to appreciate.  The more you look for things to be grateful for, the more you find them.

Second in this moment as you read this look around or tune in and see what you appreciate right now.  This being present throughout your day to tune in and feel grateful will enrich how you experience everything.  The negatives of the world seem to drop into the background when you are fully present to what you appreciate.

You are invited to start a journal, do a before sleep gratitude review or throughout your day note often what you feel gratitude for and all that you appreciate.  This will awaken you to how wonderful life can be and make you a happy and understanding human being.


Chronic Thyroid Problem

Do you have thyroid problems, but despite being treated you still don’t feel right?  You may have one of the most commonly missed diagnoses today: Hashimoto’s Disease.  This is a very common cause of low thyroid function.  Hashimoto’s disease is caused by an immune system attack on the patient’s very own thyroid.  The attack ultimately results in destruction of the thyroid and consequently a deficiency of thyroid hormone. This brings about the characteristic symptoms of low thyroid function (fatigue, weight gain, constipation, dry skin, hair loss, and dozens of others) which usually prompts a visit to a physician.  Blood testing usually reveals low thyroid hormone and a prescription for thyroid replacement is given (as it should be).  However, the underlying cause of the low thyroid is often not addressed or not discovered at all.  Sometimes the patient responds very well to the hormone replacement (synthroid, levothroid, armour thyroid, etc.), but sometimes symptoms persist.  The underlying immune attack is usually the culprit for ongoing symptoms.  The immune molecules and the inflammation they cause interfere with the effects of the replacement hormone, even though there is adequate prescription replacement hormone.  So, unfortunately, the patient’s blood tests are “normal” but they sure don’t feel like it.  This can be extremely frustrating for the doctor and the patient.  The answer for this is to address the underlying immune attack (referred to as “autoimmunity”:  auto = “self”).  It is only when the immune system is dealt with that these patients begin feeling better.  There are 8 common causes of the autoimmunity in Hashimoto’s patients.  We have seen very good success when addressing those 8 causes, as well as other important issues in these patients.  For more information, see the book written by my mentor in this area, Dr. Datis Kharazian by going to


US has no objection over China aircraft carrier drill

Taiwan's Defense Ministry reported Monday that the aircraft carrier and five warships sailed 90 nautical miles south of Taiwan, a self-governing island claimed by China. Beijing says it is a routine training exercise.

China has previously accused U.S. warships of making provocative passes through the South China Sea.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Tuesday the U.S. recognizes lawful uses of the sea, and the same rights apply to the U.S., China and other nations.

He said, "as we often make the case with our own naval vessels sailing ... in those same waters, it's freedom of navigation."

Earlier this month, a Chinese navy vessel seized an U.S. Navy underwater glider that the U.S. said was conducting oceanic research in international waters off the Philippines.

The U.S. called the seizure illegal and made a diplomatic protest. China returned the glider five days later.

Beijing claims most of the South China Sea. Five other Asian governments also claim ownership of islands and reefs there.