As famous as the team is, it’s an open question whether Dallas Cowboys merchandise would have been as popular as they are without the equally famous Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. These ladies are not just any ol’ football cheerleading squad members, but make up a veritable franchise in themselves.

No less than two made-for-TV movies have appeared about them, not to mention any number of Dallas Cowboys merchandise bearing their likeness somewhere on the product! For when you think of Texas football, you think the Cowboys – and when you think Cowboys, you think of their cheerleaders.

Sure the die-hard fan may prefer his Dallas Cowboys clock “straight-up” but several others who aren’t so hard-core would probably welcome a shot of the cheerleaders illustrating their fan merchandise! No other collection of young ladies so epitomize the American woman: young, fun, and fit; spirited; glamorous; intelligent.

Yes, regardless of the voyeurism involved these beauties know how to comport themselves and market themselves. Team try-outs obviously focus on athleticism and physical attractiveness but as spokesmodels for the team a good amount of social savvy and hence intelligence is needed, too.

The only other set of females that have left such a deep impression on popular culture worldwide would have to be Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Bunnies. Interestingly, the Cowboys’ cheerleading squad in fact started out mixed, with both males and females, as was high school and collegiate football tradition.

And indeed, it was local high school students that really made up the squad back in the 1960s. In 1969, however a deliberate attempt was made to raise in-game attendance by offering only female cheerleaders whose routines were unlike those prevalent at school games. By 1972, all cheerleaders were over the age of eighteen as their moves became increasingly more like sexy dance routines.

Throughout today’s noisy world of constant distraction, very few people stop to consider the means through which they translate all of this audible stimuli: the ears; and a lot fewer still take the proper steps to shield their ears when they should, even using so simple as ear plugs. Of course ear plugs sound like a ridiculous, not entirely needed precaution in most situations – and in a lot of instances, they aren’t required – but understanding the significance of your ears is key to protecting them.

Ears are of course used for hearing and interpreting sound. Sound – which are waves of pressure traveling by means of a medium, whether it be air, water, or something else – is first “heard” when it is caught by the external ear (which is the seen part on either side of our head, and what we first think when we think of “ears”). These pressure waves, or sound, are then filtered through the outer parts of the ear until they interact with the ear drum and interior ear (those parts of the organ located inside of your skull), where they stimulate hair cells, sending nervous signals to the brain. These signals are then interpreted as sound. Yes protective supplies come in numerous forms.

Thanks to the physically miniscule and delicate nature of the ear, it is very susceptible to physically trauma, which can even be caused by the aggressive vibrations caused by excessive noise levels. Consider a speaker system or a subwoofer: the way the speaker cones vibrate as they discharge sound is similar to the way the small bones and tissues of the inner ear vibrate as they are stimulated by sound. And just like a subwoofer or speaker can break under the stress of these vibrations at high volume, so too can the components of the human ear. Sounds experienced at places like construction zones or rock concerts are very easily able to damage the ear over long durations of exposure. By simply blocking these sounds from entering the ear, ear plugs can prevent this.

Aside from protecting your actual capacity to hear, the protection offered by ear plugs also preserves another important function of the ears that is significantly less clear: one’s sense of balance. In fact, balance is one of the two main reasons that mammals generally have two ears (the other is that two ears permit us to locate the source of sounds by localizing them, equivalent to the way two working eyeballs enable depth perception). Deep inside the internal ear are the organs responsible for determining one’s orientation to gravity, and a sense of equilibrium.

Very small fluid loaded sacks send nerve signals to the brain that interprets these signals to build a sense of physical orientation against the background environment. Since the fluid inside these sacks is subject to the very same laws of gravity as the rest of the body, the brain can interpret their orientation the same way you may if you spotted a soda bottle half filled. Regardless of what angle you look at it, you can decide a sense of up and down by seeing in which direction gravity pulls the leftover fluid inside the bottle.

Stocking and providing medical office supplies has traditionally been one of the duties of a hospital dispensary, which is mainly dedicated to dispensing medication according to doctors’ prescriptions. These days, the term “dispensary” refers to a handful of different institutions around the world – or, even, within the country.

For instance, in California a dispensary is a specially designated store licensed to sell not medical office supplies but medicinal marijuana (which is also the case in the Canadian province of British Columbia), while in the states of Idaho and South Carolina a dispensary used to refer to the governmental agency that served as the only legal source of alcohol.

Also no source of medical office supplies is the Kenyan dispensary, a small outpatient health facility generally managed by a registered nurse. These nurses report to clinical officers at a health centre, which is also where patients are referred to for treatment in cases a lot more complicated than a common ailment like cold or malaria. Modeled on the British system, this sort of healthcare dispensary is no basic storehouse of supplies but what Americans would call a community clinic.

This kind of clinic or dispensary got its start up in London, England back in the 1700s, and is credited with aquainting doctors with the issues of the poor mainly because unlike the case with hospitals or a private practice, this dispensary service really brought doctors into their patients’ homes. Their social consciences shocked, thus were the first dispensaries set up – free healthcare for the poor.

Indeed, young aspiring doctors of the day were really eager to serve as honorary physicians to the dispensaries, though such an appointment was normally voluntary (with no more than a small honorarium at best) and not as prestigious as a hospital posting. It was nothing short of a medical revolution: for the first time since the Hippocratic Oath, altruistic motivations were the norm.

Data recovery is an essential part of our modern day world, with computer systems facilitating the vast majority of our lives on the internet and off. The loss of personal data and customer data would be catastrophic for any organization, and so data recovery software is a popular kind of insurance for many. But, more broadly speaking, data recovery or memory space itself has been a favorite subject of science fiction, with many plots revolving around the uncanny sensation that we are nothing more than our memories – which, in a perfectly digitized world, would be nothing but easily copied bits of data!

Interesting as these considerations are, for an even more explosive idea all you have to do is mix them with old-fashioned notions of clairvoyance and déjà vu. First coined by New Age spiritualist P.M.H. Atwater (née Phyllis Johnston), future memory is conceived of as the phenomenon whereby one can know the future.

With plain old prophetic foresight now repackaged in 21st Century techno-speak, science fiction writers are busy exploring the nexus between man and machine, self and other, reality and virtual reality. The gist of it all is pregnant with implication: if we are nothing but our memories; if our memories are but bits of information; if technology can record these bits the same way it manipulates all other information; then what does it mean to be oneself?

Philip K. Dick touched on these very questions in his short story “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” Adapted into a kind of futuristic movie noir under the title of Blade Runner, the topic focuses on just what it means to be human in a world where very humanlike androids can be made.

Another movie adapted from a Dick short is Total Recall, involving a federal agent’s created memories. More recently, the Leonardo Dicaprio vehicle Deception also explored the same what-if scenarios: what if thoughts could be planted? Never mind data recovery; seems like technologies will one day create the need for deliberate information loss! And indeed, there are any number of science fiction stories devoted to that topic, too…

Bronze sculpture is the most common form of cast metal sculptures because of a characteristic trait that is as unusual as it’s desirable. Commonly used bronze alloys will expand a little just before being set so that even the finest details of a mold are filled.

Bronze sculptures are also strong while ductile, or lacking in brittleness, allowing figures to be depicted in actions such as leaps and flights. Supports for bronze statues need smaller cross-sections due to such qualities, as can be seen in equestrian statues where only two hooves are on the base.

Today’s examples are usually created of ninety percent copper and ten percent tin, while in antiquity bronze works were occasionally created with other elements such as phosphorus, manganese, aluminum, or silicon. Interestingly, far more stone and ceramic works have come down to us through the ages than those made of bronze, as the metal was very precious and often melted down to produce new sculptures or weapons and armor in times of war.

Thus, very few big examples in bronze are available from ancient times, and of these most aren’t in good condition. Indeed, most works exhibited in museums, while still full of the evidence of wear and tear, have been painstakingly restored to a quality suitable for display.

Working successfully with bronze typically requires a high level of skill, and a number of distinct casting processes may need to be employed, such as lost-wax casting and also the related modern-day technique of investment casting. Other methods include sand casting and centrifugal casting.

After final polishing, corrosive materials might be applied to bronze works in order to form a patina or film produced by oxidation or some other chemical procedure and establish some control over the color and finish. As an example, reactive chemicals may be applied to produce a novel marble-like appearance.

Pressure Seal Forms are special papers used with machines that produce one-piece mailers where the document being sent serves as its own envelope, in effect. These machines take Pressure Seal Forms and fold them then bind them via the application of incredibly intense mechanical Pressure that physically forces the adhesives to bind to a single another for a crisp and clean seal. (Such adhesives, by the way, are more appropriately known as “cohesives” inside the industry, given that both surfaces need to be applied with glue.) Pressure Seal Forms are generally utilized for payroll checks, rebate Forms, customer invoices, and anything else requiring a degree of confidentiality when traveling by means of the postal system. Mainly because of these associations, direct mail marketing campaigns have now taken to creating such one-piece mailers for promotional materials that seem very official and crucial.

Pressure Seal Forms are not affected by any common variation is temperature – hot or cold – once manufactured if stowed properly in their original wrapping. Unfortunately, particular sub-par varieties of cohesive may possibly be rendered useless by abnormal freezing temperatures, destroying the adhesive quality of the glue thus wasting the whole form. But top quality control on the manufacturer’s end ought to prevent most such possibilities from arising, so it’s essential to purchase only from trusted and reliable businesses, such as QuickBooks. Correct storage will aid ensure that the necessary levels of humidity and moisture are maintained. It can be also suggested that Pressure Seal Forms undergo a period of acclimatization for at least two days at room temperature prior to use for the best results. After printing (or, to use the trade term, “imaging”), they ought to be weighted down to counteract any curling effects occasioned by passing by means of the printer. They ought to also be placed via Pressure sealing hardware the same day they are imaged, with leftover reams and sheets restored back inside their wrapping; Pressure Seal Forms that suffer exposure towards the air will undergo a swift disintegration of their cohesives. Otherwise, their shelf life could last for anywhere from six months to over a year.

Pressure Seal Forms aid immensely to optimize your enterprise in terms of time and funds when compared to the use of insertion machines to enclose components or, particularly, the old-fashioned technique of folding and packaging by hand – not to mention sealing by tongue, with the licking of pre-glued envelopes! Merely print from any inkjet or laser printer with your computer and send the output via Pressure sealing equipment and that’s all, without something else to worry about. Indeed, the use of Pressure sealing hardware and components almost totally eliminates any risk of clerical mistakes, like enclosing as well much or too little of whatever payload needs to become sent. Pressure Seal Forms could be a relatively small and seemingly moot addition to your arsenal of office equipment, but for their modest cost they can greatly increase the productivity of your enterprise and are more than able to earn back the money you’ll spend.

I had some online CPE courses to do the other day. As a lawyer, it really is mandatory that we take continuing professional education. Online CPE courses are great, because I normally get do attend on my own schedule. There are some courses which are available live only, almost the same as a normal class taken at a college except conducted over the internet, taking advantage of that medium’s exponentially greater reach but little else.

But these are quite the exception, and usually only available this way as a result of copyright concerns. I typically avoid these kinds of continuing professional education courses unless the lecturer happens to be some hot-shot lawyer or the material is especially interesting to me.

To me, the main benefit of online CPE courses is how it is possible to go at one’s own pace. And as a third-year associate at one of the largest corporate law firms in the world, believe me when I say how much I appreciate that convenience! I work sixty to seventy-hour weeks, including weekends of course, and that’s not even considering all the years of studying I’ve already gone through: by now I have twenty-some-odd years of schooling – considerably more than two whole thirds of my life!

So anything that lets me take it easy a little is most welcome, and being able to pursue continuing professional education over the worldwide web makes a bad situation a little better.

I mean, I actually do not want to do it – but it is a requirement for periodic relicensing as an attorney, and I’m not ready to quit the profession just yet, if ever – so being able to at least take my time with it takes some of the onerousness out of it all. Plus, sometimes it’s free if it’s a pilot course, an experimental course for which I receive free CPE credits in exchange for offering some feedback, making things even less onerous!

Investing in Washington, D.C. can raise many challenges specific to that locale. Industry veterans like Isaac Toussie recognize that, first of all, the property markets of our nation’s capital bears some very interesting characteristics. Even though the city’s real estate environment continues to be difficult due to still-disappearing gains, gains made during pre-2008 boom-times, new developments are happening that may indicate a turn-around.

Not everyone understands that home sales have fallen as credit’s dried up the way a pro like Isaac Toussie does, producing ripple effects like job insecurity and worse. In fact, suburban D.C. has even been through price drops of up to one hundred thousand dollars! But as is often the case in the world of business, there may be a silver lining in even this disaster. That’s because one man’s tragedy is another’s opportunity, to put it frankly. And thus the glut of foreclosed properties has come to set off a buying spree in many places, especially among the many first-time home buyers of Prince William County who finally found prices within their reach. It should also be mentioned that so-called “vulture investors” have swooped in as well to snap up distressed properties, which is generally considered to be a good reflection of the wider economic situation, as it is a strong sign of a certain confidence in the market, that market fundamentals remain solid. In fact, these two groups of buyers play a role akin to that of canaries in a mine, signaling trends and shifts.

The second matter that has occupied many a thoughtful observer of late concerns the rate of mortgage delinquency, which has actually declined a little, according to a recent industry survey just concluded. The rate at which mortgage payments have fallen behind has decreased slightly during the fourth quarter of 2009, which is surprising indeed considering that delinquency rates ordinarily rise during the last three months of the year, thanks to all heating expenses for winter and the holiday shopping season.

Surprised though market analysts may be, very few are puzzled because most take this development for nothing more than a statistical outlier, a coincidence. Most economists and other experts continue to believe that the situation remains extremely dangerous, as there are still record numbers of homeowners in financial straits, with the biggest trouble of all unresolved: that way too many have missed at least three payments, and these people are really the ones least helped by any relief program whatsoever, historically speaking; these are the very individuals who will be going into foreclosure rather soon.

One more thing to realize about D.C. property markets: the city was the nation’s murder capital throughout the 1990s, and still suffers from the effects of municipal mismanagement to this day. Of course, tony nabes like Georgetown exist, but for the most part D.C. is a place where real estate investors need to exercise due diligence when researching opportunities. The city has been slowly recovering, with gentrification helping pull some pockets of poverty and despair up and out into the modern 21st Century economy, but it’s not a sure bet that current commitment levels will endure.

Plastic water tanks are a far cry from the armored behemoths also known as tanks, but they do have a curious historical connection. Yes, that’s correct, modern plastics were developed after World War II, while tanks first made their debut in the waning years of the Great War, but there is something of a relationship.

Although not plastic water tanks, military tanks were first so named by their British inventors in an effort to conceal their research and development. It was hoped that by classifying these inventions simply as “tanks” on paper, any German spies who might have gotten a hold of the secret documents that referred to them could perhaps be mislead. As it turned out, the label stuck and tanks have been known as just that ever since.

In English, anyway. In German, and many other languages, they are known as only “armor,” a much more appropriate term that is a recognized synonym in the English-speaking world, particularly among military circles. A far cry from today’s plastic water tanks indeed, but the notion is never far away in the minds of military history buffs.

The connection is a little more than simply etymological, really, as the earliest designs did look like nothing more than simple water tanks to those who had the security clearance to see them. Tanks have dominated the battlefield for over sixty years, and even these days they form the core of most conventional land warfare tactics.

The introduction of attack helicopters and guided missiles have significantly decreased their striking power, and the asymmetrical warfare prevalent in conflicts nowadays render them ill-suited for most missions, but nothing on the horizon can match the tank in its useful combination of firepower, maneuverability, and defensive capacity. Though less used, the tank still figures eminently in assault tactics and grand strategy and should find a role for itself in the decades yet to come.

The right wedding favors can be difficult enough to find, seeing how they should reflect not only the occasion but the couple and all their guests, but for individuals in alternative~ lifestyles such as open marriages it can be extremely challenging. On the one hand, traditional wedding favors don’t seem to honor the most special aspect of this kind of a marriage – namely, that it’s open and the couple is not exactly shy about the fact – but on the other hand most people want to remember a marriage, not a social statement.

Of course, one may easily retort that marriage by definition is really a social statement to begin with – but the institution is so common and nearly universal that it is no “statement” at all, not in the sense of a declaration beyond the obvious.

Wedding favors are also statements, in effect, a kind of message from the couple to their guests. They represent what the couple wishes the guest to remember of the wedding, and also how the guest should view the couple. So how to go about selecting the right takeway gift, the right momento?

In the end, it depends on the couple, of course. The overwhelming vast majority would no doubt prefer innocous ceremonies and by extension sourvenirs – even private affairs that make the official proclamation of their marriage blend into the vast background of all marriages occurring in their culture. Hence the double difficulty encountered by those in alternative family arrangements where nothing seems to recognize, much less celebrate, their beliefs.

What to do, then? Fortunately, many such people, individuals who choose and also proudly proclaim their unusual unions, are really creative and eminently capable of designing their own distinctive parting gifts for their guests. But as modern society becomes ever more permissive, it’s only a matter of time before enterprising people begin catering to this niche market with specific items that not only recognize their particular flavor of marriage but even honor it.