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__label__cc	0.636561	0.363439	Home » 2011 » August Ask the Reverse Mortgage Guy By: Bob Irving – August, 2011 Sandra and Martin Walsh represent a new breed of homeowner facing a dilemma that is increasingly common. After 45 years of marriage they… August 14, 2011No CommentRead More The Parasitic Left Says “FEED ME!” THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX “There will be no bargain, young Jedi. I shall enjoy watching you die.” Jabba the Hutt, Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi By: Dr.… Voter Fraud Discovered in Lawrence By: Jamison Tomasek – August, 2011 When the discussion turns to voting in Lawrence, there are many stories of irregularities. Some are firsthand, many are secondhand and some are… August 9, 2011No CommentRead More Obama’s Birth Control Plan By Paul Murano – August, 2011 The Obama administration said last month that health insurance plans must cover birth control as preventive care for women, with no co-pays. This… Obamacare: Lies and the Lying Liars Who Told Them (Part 1) By Christine Morabito – August, 2011 On March 23, 2010 President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the most far-reaching piece of legislation ever concocted.… An Interview with New Police Chief Paul Gallagher August, 2011 Newly appointed Police Chief Paul Gallagher in North Andover sat down with Valley Patriot publisher Tom Duggan to talk about his new job, his background and where… The Violence Continues in Lawrence Short Handed and Under Siege Cops Get Little Support At City Hall By: Tom Duggan – August, 2011 It was a busy Saturday night in Lawrence as the men… August 8, 20112 CommentsRead More VALLEY PATRIOT EDITORIAL August, 2o11 The number of underhanded tactics employed by Lawrence Mayor Willie Lantigua and his supporters against the efforts to gather signatures for his recall were staggering. And they… August 7, 201156 CommentsRead More What’s MA’s Job-Growth Strategy: Hoping, Hunting, or Helping? By: Mike Hruby – August, 2011 On Thursday, July 21st, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (EOLWD) announced that our state unemployment measure stayed at 7.6%… Turner & Nason: Together Again! By: Lawrence, “Lonnie” Brennan – August, 2011 What exactly is Moonlight Productions and how did they ever produce such a moving theatrical production in Georgetown this summer? Impossible to… Changes to the CPA in Dracut By: Kathy Richardson – August, 2011 To those who know Dracut, it brings to mind beautiful farms, rock walls, a rich Yankee heritage and a community that stood tall… Manzi Signs Letter on Debt From the desk of Methuen Mayor Bill Manzi – August – 2011 A Letter to the President and Congress was signed by Methuen Mayor Bill Manzi and other area… Amy Winehouse and hero worship today By: Jeff Katz – August, 2011 They tried to make her go to rehab, but she said no, no, no. It looks like she should have said yes, yes,… Heroes In Our Midst: Col. Van T. Barfoot By: Helen Mooradanian – August, 2011 In May 1944 during World War II, near Carano, Italy, 24-year old Sergeant Van T. Barfoot risked his life in extraordinary heroism. Single-handedly,…	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line451
__label__cc	0.58288	0.41712	Measure C1 Parcel Tax - 2/3 Approval Required 384,465 votes yes (82.1%) 83,766 votes no (17.9%) 100% of precincts reporting (873/873). 71,353 ballots counted. To preserve essential local public transportation services, including those for youth, commuters, seniors, and people with disabilities, while keeping fares reasonable, shall the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District extend its existing 8 dollars per month parcel tax at current levels for 20 years with no increase in tax rate, raising approximately 30 million dollars annually, with independent oversight and all money spent locally? What is this proposal? Measure Details — Official information about this measure Impartial analysis / Proposal Measure C1, an Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District ("District") special parcel tax measure, seeks voter approval to authorize the District to levy an annual special parcel tax in the amount of $96 on each parcel of taxable land within Special Transit District Number One (“District 1”) for a period of 20 years, beginning July 1, 2019. The District’s voters previously authorized Measure VV, which is a special parcel tax assessment at a rate of $96 per parcel that will expire on June 30, 2019. The District has the authority to levy special taxes upon approval by two-thirds of the votes cast on the special tax proposal. (See Cal. Const. Art. XIII A, § 4; Art. XIII C,§2; Cal. Gov’t Code §§ 50075-50077, & 53722; Cal. Pub. Util. Code § 25892.1.) If two-thirds of the qualified electors voting on this measure vote for approval, a special parcel tax will be imposed annually through June 30, 2039, at the rate described above. The tax will be collected by the Alameda County and Contra Costa County Treasurer-Tax Collectors at the same time and in the same manner as each county's collection of taxes. The owner(s) of a parcel that is exempt from property taxes, that is undeveloped, or that is developed but vacant for more than six months in any one year (July 1 through June 30) is exempt from the imposition of this special tax upon application to the District. If two-thirds of the qualified electors voting on this measure vote for approval, the allocation of the funding revenue will be used for the operation and maintenance of bus services provided by the District in this District 1. The terms “operation” and “maintenance” refer to all activities necessary to provide bus services, such as equipment, supplies, fuel, facilities, and personnel. The measure further provides that the monies collected shall be accounted for separately and shall be expended only for the operation and maintenance of bus services in District 1. A community oversight committee will report to the District’s Board about the use of the proceeds of the special tax. If two-thirds of the qualified electors voting on this measure do not vote for approval, the measure will fail, the District will not be authorized to levy the special tax through June 30, 2039, and the current tax will expire on June 30, 2019. This measure is placed on the ballot by the governing board of the District. DONNA R. ZIEGLER County Counsel The above statement is an impartial analysis of Measure C1. If you desire a copy of the ordinance or measure, please call the District Secretary’s office at (510) 891-7284 and a copy will be mailed at no cost to you. Published Arguments — Arguments for and against the ballot measure Arguments FOR Vote yes on Measure C1to protect essential AC Transit bus services in the East Bay without raising taxes. AC Transit is the East Bay’s largest public transportation provider, serving more people than any other agency for trips within the East Bay. AC Transit provides safe, reliable, and sustainable transportation service for over 180,000 rides per day and over 700,000 paratransit rides annually for people with disabilities. Furthermore, 43% of AC Transit trips are work related, including 13,000 transbay commuters each day. Without increasing taxes, Measure C1 will: Protect reasonable fares for those who need it most, including youth, seniors, and people with disabilities; Provide transportation options that allow for independence and mobility for seniors and persons with disabilities; Support transportation to areas where people work and attend school; Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote alternatives to driving; Help maintain bus service reliability and on-time performance. If Measure C1 fails, we risk cutbacks to critical services including 30,000 school trips per day, transportation to work and home, and reduced fares and transportation options for youth, seniors, and people with disabilities. Measure C1 requires important safeguards to ensure funds are spent responsibly: public financial audits and an oversight committee composed of residents and subject-area experts with authority to review how funds are spent and the ability to hold AC Transit publicly accountable. Join community members, neighborhood leaders, businesses, school leaders, environmental and disability advocates, and elected officials across the East Bay in voting yes on Measure C1to continue essential AC Transit services without increasing taxes. Visit www.ProtectACTransitServices.com Argument Signatories: Madeline Kronenberg, President, League of Women Voters, Bay Area Gabriel Quinto, Sierra ClubBay Chapter, Executive Committee L. Karen Monroe, Alameda County Superintendent of Schools Chonita Chew, United Seniors of Oakland and Alameda County Jan Garrett, Disability Advocate Arguments AGAINST No Argument Against Measure CA was submitted. Opinions & Analysis (3) Yes on Measure C1 Editorial - Vote Yes on Measures RR and C1: the BART Bond and the AC Transit Parcel Tax - Oakland Magazine, Editorial Board October 20, 2016 Editorial - Chronicle Recommends: Yes on Measure C1 - San Francisco Chronicle, Editorial Board October 18, 2016 No on Measure C1 Editorial - AC Transit’s $345 million debt concerning - East BayTimes, Editorial Board September 22, 2016 Pros & Cons Video of Measure C1 — October 23, 2016 League of Women Voters of Oakland This short video presents the pros and cons of Measure C1m describing the rationale for putting the measure on the ballot, the ways in which the money raised will be spent, the fiscal effect of the measure, and the arguments of the proponents of the measure. Yes on C1: Protect Affordable Transit without Raising Taxes Save my choice: Choice saved. Use tabs to select your choice. Use return to create a choice. You can access your choices by navigating to 'My Choices'.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line455
__label__wiki	0.551464	0.551464	Genre Analysis Essay - Words \| Cram Film genre analysis essay, what... Genre Analysis Essay What is film analysis, and how does it differ from literary analysis? Science Fiction Film Genre Analysis Paper Essay Film Analysis - The Writing Center Science Fiction Film Genre Analysis Paper - Words \| Bartleby How useful genre theory is as a method of film analysis in relation t… Ask yourself: You might agree or disagree with this interpretation, and, using evidence from the film, support your argument. Further, a successful director is literature review of ups to do a genre movie but place his own personal touch on it; in doing so, he ignores the formula that has thus far brought the genre so much success. Film, Mickey goes to france a case study of the euro disneyland negotiations Better Essays The Western Movie Genre - Westerns are the most important genre of the American film industry, a reflective tribute to the early days of the grand, literature review of ups American frontier. What might the film say about the culture that created it? Unlike literature, film incorporates audiovisual elements and therefore introduces a new dimension to analysis. Review your materials. Preceded by the great horror novels such as Dracula, and developed in the early nineteen twenties and nineteen thirties in Germany. Deciding that leaving with his life is more important than leaving with a job, he quickly leaves the office, though not the premises as he gets lost in the many twists and turns of the building Your write a cover letter to accompany your cv may be different from what you are used to. Other examples of contextual approaches might be analyzing the film in terms of a civil rights or feminist movement. Best late homework excuses ever Vet school application essay Term paper on africa unit 4 critical thinking thesis writing pages per day Most contentiously, he mandates that the narrative focus upon the individual hero's plight to assert his identity, and diminishes the importance of secondary characters and issues, or any tendency toward "social drama. As Jacques Aumont and Michel Marie propose in Analysis of Film, there is no correct, universal way to write film analysis. Your reader should finish the introduction thinking that the essay is interesting or has some sort of relevance to their lives. Each sentence should become gradually more specific, until you reach your thesis. It seems as though as soon as you find a clear definition of what a specific genre is, someone comes along and reinvents the category A cult film which signed up in history of cinema. The setting includes wooden buildings, tumble weed, cacti, trains, horses and carriages. Many aspects of the film relating to the plot, the characters, and how it was edited show evidence to that fact. This will be displayed through two main aspects of which are; energy harvesting phd thesis audience and how genre creates the narrative flow of the film Another example was when kyuzo the samurai killed another samurai with one strike of the katana. Even films that share the similarity of genre can differ vastly from each other. One of the ways in which the movie differs from other films of the same genre is that the main character, Leonard, is trying to solve the mystery but he has a memory impairment which makes it difficult for him to remember film genre analysis essay his mission is. Before discussing the forms and functions of what defines a horror film See more: Though she attempts to contain her magic by hiding her hands within gloves and denying part of her identity, she eventually film genre analysis essay the gloves in a quest for self-acceptance. It is the representation of gender which informs the genre of the text. Whereas in the English essay you use textual evidence and quotes, in a film analysis essay, you might also include audiovisual elements to bolster your argument. Stagecoach has the classic Western recipe. A genre is formed when certain elements from a type of film or book become essential to that type of film or book. As time passed and attitudes changed, women were beginning to be depicted as strong willed, independent minded characters, who were eager to break away from convention Make sure you understand the prompt and what you are being asked to do. What I do not like about this definition is that it knocks filmmakers near the end of the definition and makes a subtle but arrogant argument that filmmakers are not as smart as science fiction literature writers, but I certainly believe they are. It can raise question of what may cross the line into dissertation main points or "supernatural" territory. To answer the initial question, a closer analysis of the structural elements cinematographythe narrative approach and the theme of Arcane will disclose if it departs significantly from our understanding literature review of ups reality. The time period between the two films creates a gap between the overall look and storyline Fantasy, on the other hand, deals with a set of plotlines that are far more hard to believe, and they understand that, but unlike science fiction, the goal of fantasy is to take the impossible and just make it probable, not actually possible like science fiction. Recently, we took a look at the development of silent film melodramas a drama accompanied by music Avatar was released in and is the highest grossing film worldwide in cinematic history. Move beyond only describing the audiovisual elements of the film by considering the significance of your evidence. What effects are created in a scene, and what is their purpose? By this I mean that it as set and revolved about teenagers at an American High school It shows fantasy, comedy, action, sport and many other genres that exhibit the needs of human entertainment. Rewatch the film for nuances that you may have missed in the first viewing. Psychology is a major factor used in these films due to its easy ability to penetrate the viewer 's mind. This correlation was demonstrated in the glut of so-called "slasher" films during the period Confrontation, and Act Three: Formerly the villains of the classic "monster movie," these relics, who now represent all that is archaic in horror film history. If you see black and white and cannot wrap your head around the ideas or plotlines presented in a science fiction film, it difference between persuasive essay and research paper not mean that the film is not good, thesis title in marketing research means the viewer is not capable of grasping the artistic and plausible elements presented for entertainment. Various film genres are recognisable by the way they are presented and patterned or the way that they portray a certain emotion or feeling, as those of humour or horror This guide is best used to understand prompts or, in the case of more open-ended assignments, consider the different ways to analyze film. Film Analysis ] Powerful Essays Defining a Movie Genre - Genres are categories of type of films, categorized in specific styles or subject maters, some genre stay single in a movie and other movies have a mixed range of genres. What objects or images are creative problem solving team building activities in multiple instances? If your essay is meant to be accessible to non-specialist readers, explain what terms mean. Over time, this genre has changed and thrived due to an increase in available technology and science which led to an increase in special effects and filming techniques This shows that we watch it to get a feeling of making the unknown known and essay on pigeon in kannada unproven proved. Remember that this is ultimately an assignment—make sure that your thesis answers what the prompt asks, and check with your professor if you are unsure. This definition starts very well explaining what goes into the making of a science fiction film, and what elements are used to creatively present scientific difference between persuasive essay and research paper that are plausible, even though they are not accepted by mainstream scientists, but that is the point. Consider difference between persuasive essay and research paper the example of Frozen. The character of Norman Bates - Norman Bates is arguably the most unforgettable character in the horror genre. This is the definition proided by an academic website called WordIQ. Within each genre, there are also specific characteristics that help support themes and story lines within that genre. Mismatched shoes and bedhead might be a sign of carelessness or something crazy happened that morning! However, science fiction is much more than that. That is what makes sci-fi so appealing as well though. What songs were used, and why were film genre analysis essay chosen? This genre relies heavily on the basic horror conventions. These have been adapted from the early twentieth century, and have developed a whole series of genre conventions into a familiar variety of scary settings, iconography, and stereotyped characterisation The line between age groups in some of these novels also blur as adults latch on the increasingly complex themes and characters in modern science fiction for young…. The sub genre for this film genre analysis essay was the School picture. Sometimes, the result of fear from the movie can cause the audience to dread dissertation main points or may relieve them when it is over Here are some tips for approaching film analysis: What is film analysis, and how does it differ from literary analysis? In what context do they appear? The same is true for the movie South Park: Her gloves are first given to her by her father to restrain her magic. This is the easiest way to differentiate between the two data science curriculum vitae and allows one to accept going into their viewing experience that even though they thesis title in marketing research buy into the movie and believe it to be possible by the end of the film, that that is okay and is actually to be desired. The definition can also vary depending on the viewpoint of the observer. The samurai have the katana and the peasants that have nothing but homemade spears and themselves At first, both society and the movie industry preached that women should be dependent on men and remain in the home, in order to guarantee stability in the community and the family. What is the theme of the film, and how is that theme constructed? Originally a box office flop the film soon built itself a cult following This art is the original form of cinema that first used the techniques dissertation main points cinematography and acting to construct a base platform that made the film industry into the success it is today. Friday the 13th series, Nightmare on Elm Street, Copycat and Seven have become the new classics in the genre of the horror film What might you be able to infer about characters from small hints? Fantasy has its uses, but at the end of the day, it can only see probable at best, and never possible, like science fiction can. A common fear for most is the fear of the unknown or that of which cannot be seen such as what lies beyond the world people cannot see. Then another case study which challenges and questions its position in the chosen genre. The fourth and final definition that I will present is the longest, but I will wade through the pros and cons of this definition. Horror will encompass one 's mind, affecting their subconscious. Edward Scissorhands Genre Coop cover letter template Sample cover letter for visitor visa uk Annotated bibliography useful Kahalagahan ng disiplina sa sarili essay Creative writing university of chicago Essay is fashion important Essay on fundamental rights and duties in kannada Cover letter sample for industrial engineering Making business plan template Paginas de curriculum vitae gratis Romans homework ideas What to say in a personal statement on a college application New zealand post case study When to put thesis statement Product business plan presentation Free business plan for car rental company Essay on cells of the human body Film genre analysis essay How to write an essay for toefl ibt La dissertation exemple dintroduction Modelling business plan Essay writing tips for upsc mains A business plan mission statement quizlet	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line456
__label__wiki	0.532684	0.532684	Directory Listing — March 11, 2012 at 1:01 am DIRECTORY LISTING – Washington Press Release You need to be logged in to view the content of this page. Please Log in or Click Here to register Tags Press releases for events in Washington DC Maryland Virginia Press releases in Maryland Press releases in Virginia Press releases in Washington DC Washington Press Releases for events	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line471
__label__wiki	0.550022	0.550022	Apple And Microsoft In Race To Be The World’s Most Valuable Tech Company Sneha Johny Recently, Microsoft [MSFT] overtook Apple [AAPL] in market cap for the first time in eight years. On Nov. 26, 2018, Microsoft briefly clinched a market cap of $812.93B while Apple’s market cap at that time stood at $812.6B. While Microsoft briefly held the title of the most valuable company in the United States, it is likely that the two companies will trade back and forth for this title, at least in the short term. Apple overtook Microsoft in 2010 Apple first overtook Microsoft about eight years ago. It was described to be a watershed move, highlighting that “the most important technology product no longer sits on your desk but rather in your hand.” In 2010, the Apple iPhone was just two years into its launch and was fast gaining traction in the smartphone market. The device, in fact, revolutionized the usage of mobile devices and even compelled mobile heavyweights such as Nokia [NOK] and Blackberry [BB] to exit markets. The iPhone is still Apple’s flagship product and accounts for almost 60% of company sales. Driven by phenomenal growth, Apple was the first public company in the country to be valued at $1T earlier this year. Slow iPhone demand The global smartphone market is in a cycle of decline. Though Apple continues to outperform the global market, demand for its iPhone has been lower than estimated. Analysts have been concerned for some time over Apple’s slowing iPhone demand driven by supply chain reports. Apple also stated that it would no longer publish device sales going forward, further adding fuel to fire. The tariff war between United and China might further amount to a short-term weakness for Apple shares. Microsoft a top performing stock Microsoft has been a top pick for investors in this extended bull run. Despite the upbeat momentum, Apple’s mind-boggling growth has dwarfed Microsoft’s spectacular returns. Microsoft’s Satya Nadella was appointed the company’s CEO back in 2014, post which the company upped the ante on the development of cloud products and services. Microsoft overtook Google [GOOGL] in market value earlier this year and surpassed Amazon [AMZN] last month. As seen below, Amazon overtook Microsoft in market cap early this year before Microsoft returned the favor. Its diversified business portfolio provides more cushion for Microsoft in a downturn. For example, Microsoft’s sales from Windows, Xbox and Surface verticals accounts for 36% of total revenue. Compare this with Google where advertising accounts for 86% of sales. Microsoft unsuccessfully tried to enter the smartphone space with the Windows phone. Its now trained its guns on high growth areas such as artificial intelligence, cloud, and cross-platform technologies. Can Microsoft beat Apple to $1T? We’ve seen that growth concerns for the iPhone coupled with macroeconomic uncertainty in terms of the tariff war will continue to weigh in on Apple’s stock price. Apple’s sales are expected to rise by 5.2% to $279.3B in 2019 and 4.2% to $291.14B in 2020. Comparatively, Microsoft’s sales are expected to rise 13% in 2019 and 10.6% in 2020. A higher growth rate might benefit Microsoft’s share price especially when uncertainty looms large over Apple. Related Topics:AppleMicrosoftStock MarketTrillion-Dollar ValuationValuation Shopping For Deals: 3 Things To Look Out For (And No, It’s Not Price) YouTube’s Biggest Star: How 7-year Old Ryan Bagged $22M Playing With Toys Early Uber Investor: ‘I’m Happy With Uber’s Poor IPO’ 4 Ways To Increase Wealth Using Charles Darwin’s Theory Of Evolution If You Had Invested $1000 In Apple In 1980, Here’s How Much You’d Have Now Venture Capital Deal Activity Hit Record Highs In 2018. How’s ’19 Looking? Video: Compound Interest, Explained WealthLAB Staff A UPS worker never made more than $14,000 a year but retired with $70 million. How? Compound interest. Here’s how it works, courtesy of Investopedia. 3 Ways To Invest From Your Smartphone For Under $5 The numbers say 80% of millennials don’t invest in stocks. Reason? Half say they don’t have money, one-third says it’s too early and another third says they don’t know how. In addition to that, there’s demographic gap. “The average age of a financial advisor is 55,” said Douglas Boneparth, a New York City-based financial planner. “There are more financial advisors over the age of 70 than there are under 30.” Despite these beliefs, you don’t really need much money, nor experience, to get started. (Just look at our fearless co-founder Odunayo Eweniyi and what she’s pulled off here) Be that as it may, here are three ways to get started for $5 or less. 1. Stash What: A micro-investment app (iOS and Android) with over 30 ETFs according to industry, sector and risk tolerance. How it works: Download the app and choose your investment. Minimum investment: $5 Cost: Fees range from $1 a month for accounts under $5,000 to 0.25% a year. “We help people who don’t have a lot save money on a weekly basis,” CEO and co-founder Brandon Krieg said in one interview. “Stashers look like America, they look like people you meet every day: they are nurses and teachers and Uber and Lyft drivers.” 2. Acorns What: iOS and Android app. How it works: Download the app and choose one of six index funds. When you buy, say a cup of coffee for $1.75, it rounds up the change to $2 and deposits the difference. Cost: Just like Stash, fees range from $1 a month for accounts under $5,000 to 0.25% a year. “We’re not trying to preach austerity to the client, because that’s a bummer,” CMO Manning Field says. “Some people will say, ‘Don’t have the cup of coffee.’ We’ll tell you to have the cup of coffee and invest along the way.” 3. Robinhood What: A commission-free investment app (iOS and Android). How it works: Download and start buying stocks. Minimum investment: Whatever stock you want to buy. And by the way, if you want to get a fast start on real estate, here’s Forbes’ list of nine REITs with yields between 8% and 10%. CHART: How Blockchain Powers Bitcoin Blockchain, Bitcoin. Bitcoin, blockchain. The two terms go hand in hand—and have become almost ubiquitous with this year’s insane rise (and fall) of Bitcoin. But what does it all really mean? How does it come together? In this week’s chart, our friends at CB Insights break down exactly how blockchain powers Bitcoin. Real Estate Investing5 hours ago ENTREPRENEURS2 days ago Real Estate Investing3 days ago EXCLUSIVE: This Entrepreneur Built A $7B Business Without Outside Funding. Here’s How He Did It Real Estate Investing11 months ago Real Estate Rockstars: 5 Millennial Realtors Who Are Crushing It In 2018 Wealth Hacks11 months ago EXCLUSIVE: World Cup Star Reveals His No. 1 Investment Strategy (And It’s Brilliant) WealthLAB TV6 days ago VIDEO: How Michael Jordan Became A Billionaire Money2 weeks ago Personal Finance4 weeks ago INTERVIEW: Ex-NY Giants Star Shares His Business Philosophy Real Estate Investing1 week ago The No. 1 Strategy To Build A Rental Property Empire ENTREPRENEURS3 weeks ago	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line472
__label__wiki	0.6403	0.6403	Tag Archives: Bronx City-Lit, Intersections Chester Himes Writes Harlem (and Coffin Ed and Grave Digger Jones) Grave Digger took off his hat and rubbed his short kinky hair. ‘This is Harlem,’ he said. ‘Ain’t another place like it in the world. You’ve got to start from scratch here, because these folks in Harlem do things for reasons nobody else in the world would think of. Listen, there were two hard working colored jokers, both with families, got to fighting in a bar over on Fifth Avenue near a hundred-eighteenth Street and cut each other to death about whether Paris was in France or France was in Paris.’ That ain’t nothing,’ Brody laughed. ‘Two Irishmen over in Hell’s kitchen got to arguing and shot each other to death over whether the Irish were descended form the gods or the gods descended from the Irish.’ (52) I love Chester Himes, take such deep delight in these books for many many reasons. Probably the least of these is how Himes describes Harlem, gives addresses and intersections, signals the character and quality of people by the side of the street they live on, illuminates interiors in all their shocking colour… But I confess, that aspect of his books are pretty fucking cool. There he was in France writing these, a love and hate thing going on for his place, his people. A complex understanding of race and politics form the context, humour the only way for survival, and every now and then a hope for redemption. It means today I can imagine some of these surroundings in all of their technicolor glory: Her gaze touched fleetingly on his tight-drawn face and ran off to look for something more serene. But there wasn’t anything serene in that violently colored room. The overstuffed pea green furniture garnished with pieces of blond wood fought it out with the bright red carpet, but the eyes that had to look at it were the losers. It was a big front room with two windows on Edgecombe Drive and one window on 159th Street. She sat on a yellow leather ottoman on the red carpet, facing the blond television-radio-record set that was placed in front of the closed-off fireplace beneath the mantelpiece. (80) Who would’ve guessed that those rows of forbidding houses down St Nicholas Ave once held such settings? Another one: They parked in front of the bar at 146th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue. Chink had a room with a window in the fourth-floor apartment on St Nicholas Avenue. He had chosen the black and yellow decor himself and had furnished it in modernistic style. the carpet was black, the chairs yellow, the day bed had a yellow spread, the combination television-record player was black trimmed with yellow on the inside, the curtains were black and yellow striped, and the dressing table and chest of drawers were black. The record player was stacked with swing classics, and Cootie Williams was doing a trumpet solo in Duke Ellington’s Take the Train. (94) I am fascinated too, by the way over and again Harlem is emphasized as a place of country folk somehow stuck in the big city, and transforming it to wring what they need from it, be it soul food or be it codes of conduct. ‘Listen boy,’ Coffin Ed said. ‘Brody is a homicide man and solving murders is his business. He goes at it in a routine way like the law prescribes, and if some more people get killed while he’s going about it, that’s just too bad for the victims. But me and Digger are two country Harlem dicks who live in this village and don’t like to see anybody get killed. It might be a friend of ours. So we’re trying to head off another killing.’ (113) These are from The Crazy Kill (1959). Another thing I love about these books — the covers. [foogallery id=”8937″] Then there’s All Shot Up (1960): The apartment was on the fifth and top floor of an old stone-fronted building on 110th street, overlooking the lagoon in upper Central Park. Colored boys and girls in ski ensembles and ballet skirts were skating the light fantastic at two o’clock… ‘Reminds me of Gorki,’ Grave Digger lisped. ‘The writer or the pawnbroker?’ Coffin Ed asked. A story about a boy falling through the ice and the villagers search and do not find him and so the question has to be asked, was there ever a boy? They went silently up the old marble steps and pushed open the old, exquisitely carved wooden doors with cutglass panels. ‘The rich used to live here,’ Coffin Ed remarked. ‘Still do,’ Grave Digger said. ‘Just changed color. Colored rich folks always live in the places abandoned by white rich folks.’ They walked through a narrow, oak-paneled hallway with stained-glass wall lamps to an old rickety elevator. (260) Reminds me of Gorki? Happiness in a single line. The description of wealth trickling down — and the depth to which it falls also makes my writing-about-race-and-class-and-buildings-and-cities heart go pitter pat. We saw these graceful, beautiful old buildings. More covers…there’s a whole book to be written about covers, and what they say about what publishers are selling. From The Heat’s On (1961): So we’re leaving Harlem, moving on to the Bronx briefly…and the abode of Sister Heavenly (this whole set-up, god damn, amazing): Apartment buildings gave way to pastel-colored villas of southern Italian architecture, garnished with flower gardens and plaster saints. After a while the houses became scattered, interspersed by market gardens and vacant lots overgrown with weeds in which hoboes slept and goats were tethered. Finally he reached his destination, a weather-stained, one-stories, pink stucco villa at the end of an unfinished street without sidewalks. It was a small house flanked by vacant lots used for rubbish dumps. Oddly enough, it had a large gabled attic. It sat far back of a wire fence enclosing a front yard of burnt grass, dried-up flowers and wildly thriving weeds. in a niche over the front door was a white marble crucifixion of a singularly lean and tortured Christ, encrusted with bird droppings. In other niches at intervals beneath the eaves were all the varicolored plaster sainsts good to the souls of Italian peasants. All of the front windows were closed and shuttered. Save for the faint sounds of a heavy boogie beat on a piano, the house seemed abandoned. (351) And we move on from housing and neighbourhoods and cities to music and grief — this from when Coffin Ed thinks Grave Digger has died: It was a saxophone solo by Lester Young. He didn’t recognize the tune, but it had the ‘Pres’ treatment. His stomach tightened. It was like listening to someone laughing their way toward death. It was laughter dripping wet with tears. Colored people’s laughter. (468) I’ll end with Blind Man with a Pistol (1969), the last of my Chester Himes reading jag in the run up to actually going to Harlem. I like how it opens with some philosophy: …all unorganized violence is like a blind man with a pistol. Again we get down to the spatialities of class position: Where 125th Street crosses Seventh Avenue is the Mecca of Harlem. To get established there, an ordinary Harlem citizen has reached the promised land, if it merely means standing on the sidewalk. Himes writes a thick description of streets and bridges, patterns of usage, establishing how this corner means different things, socially and economically and spiritually, to Blacks and to whites. He continues: Therefore many white people riding the buses or in motor cars pass this corner daily. Furthermore, most of the commercial enterprises–stores, bars, restaurants, theaters, etc.–and real estate are owned by white people. But it is the Mecca of the black people just the same. The air and the heat and the voices and the laughter, the atmosphere and the drama and the melodrama, are theirs. Theirs are the hopes, the schemes, the prayers and the protest. they are the managers, the clerks, the cleaners, they drive the taxis and buses, they are the clients, the customers, the audience; they work it, but the white man owns it… The black people have the past and the present, and they hope to have the future. What better explanation of the vast separation between use value and exchange value could you possibly ask for, or the contradictions of capitalism structured by race? Now this, on tthe car belonging to Coffin Ed and and Grave Digger Jones, just made me laugh. …at night it was barely distinguishable from any number of other dented, dilapidated struggle buggies cherished by the citizens of Harlem… Struggle buggies. I’m going to try and remember that. More on space and race and class, and how these things confront each other from one side of the street to the other: Across Lenox Avenue, on the West Side, toward Seventh Avenue, were the original slums with their rat-ridden, cold water flats unchanged, the dirty glass0fronted ground floors occupied by the customary supermarkets with hand -lettered ads on their plate-glass windows reading: “Fully cooked U.S. Govt. Inspected SMOKED HAMS 55c lb…Secret Deodorant ICE-BLUE 79c … Notion stores with needles and buttons and thread on display…Barbershops…Smokeshops…Billboards..Black citizens sitting on the stops to their cold-water flats in the broiling night….Sports ganged in front of bars sucking marijuana…Grit and dust and dirt and litter floating idly in the hot dense air stirred up by the passing of feet. That was the side of the slum dwellers. the ritzy residents across the street never looked their way. All of this…how is this not a kind of love song to Harlem? Despite the realities of this: “Why would anyone live here who was honest?” Grave Digger said. “Or how could anyone honest stay honest who lived here? What do you want? This place was built for vice, for whores to hustle in and thieves to hid out in. And somebody got a building permit, because it’s been built after the ghetto got here.” This building is owned by Acme Realty — they own a lot of buildings in Harlem, superintendent doesn’t know much else, only they’re all white. There’s more about slum removal: The New York City government had ordered the demolition of condemned slum buildings on the block of the north side of 125th Street between Lenox and Seventh Avenues, and the residents didn’t have anywhere to go. Residents from other sections of Harlem were mad because these displaced people would be dumped on them, and their neighborhoods would become slums. …they were absorbed by the urgency of having to find immediate housing, and they bitterly resented being evicted form the homes where some had been born, and their children had been born, and some had married and friends and relatives had died, no matter if these homes were slum flats that had been condemned as unfit for human dwelling. They had been forced to live there, in all the filth and degradation, until their lives had been warped to fit, and now they were being thrown out. It was enough to make a body riot. One angry sister,who stood watching from the opposite sidewalk, protested loudly, “They calls this Urban Renewal, I calls it poor folks removal.” And to end not just with the lies of development and progress, but how those fit within the context of generations of lies. Grave Digger Jones sums up the frustrations of a generation: And you and me were born just after our pappies had got through fighting a war to make the world safe for democracy. But he difference is that by the time we’d fought in a jim-crow army to whip the Nazis and had come home to our native racism, we didn’t believe any of that shit. We had grown up in the Depression and fought under hypocrites against hypocrites and we’d learned by then that whitey is a liar… BronxChester HimescrimeHarlemhomehousingLester YoungNew Yorknoirslumsurban renewal	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line480
__label__cc	0.744777	0.255223	Biochemistry & Biotechnology Professor,Inorganic Chemistry Chi-Shen Lee chishen@mail.nctu.edu.tw Office Tel No. (03)51-31332 Lab. phone Professor and Chairman USA Iowa State University Department of Chemistry Ph.D. R.O.C. National Taiwan University Department of Chemistry M.S. R.O.C. National Taiwan University Department of Chemistry B.S. Organization Title 2008.01 ~ 0000.01 National Chiao Tung University Department of Applied Chemistry Assistant Professor 2002.01 ~ 2008.01 University of Waterloo, Canada University of Waterloo, Canada Postdoctoral Fellow 2000.01 ~ 2002.01	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line482
__label__wiki	0.828185	0.828185	> nautical archaeology > Sunken Treasure Found in Malacca Sunken Treasure Found in Malacca An archaeologist diver claims to have discovered the remains of a sunken Dutch merchant vessel containing RM500 million (S$199 million)worth of cultural relics, about three nautical miles off Pulau Besar here. The Kuala Lumpur-based archaeologist, who wanted to be known only as David so he could remain anonymous, believes the vessel could have escaped the roving eyes of underwater relic hunters as it was buried by undersea sand. The wooden galleon is said to have sunk with the loads of treasures about 400 years ago. It may have a number of well-preserved relics like ceramics, old coins, beads, glass and gold ingots. David believes the find is the first intact wreck related to the Dutch occupation of Malacca. He and his team found the near complete hull structure about 1m under the seabed, and 27m beneath the ocean's surface off the Straits of Malacca in May. "The discovery is so monumental because much of the hull has remained intact and the vessel appears to be well preserved due to the sand," he said. David said there were also six other shipwrecks at the same site. Malacca Museum Authority's general manager Datuk Khamis Abas said the wooden vessel had been detected during an underwater survey conducted by several maritime agencies a few years ago. "Due to the strong undercurrent, the expedition team could only record the sighting without doing any research," he said. Khamis said the team had also alerted the Heritage Department on the finding of the Dutch vessel. He advised the archaeologist's team to contact the Heritage Department to get permission to conduct more research. The Star previously reported that Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam was aware of alleged theft of these submerged treasures. He said irresponsible individuals had gone underwater to take away the national treasures that were worth billions. Source Asiaone Labels: archaeology news , nautical , nautical archaeology	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line487
__label__cc	0.743957	0.256043	Animal Control in Albuquerque, New Mexico Bat Removal in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Bat removal in Albuquerque, New Mexico is when you believe you have a bat issue in your home it is best to try to determine whether or not to call a bat removal specialist to inspect your property. Sometimes a bat in your house can be explained by an open window or an open door including a garage door. A few things to think about in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Bats will find attic as a great place to live and build a bat colony. a bat colony in the attic will cause several issues including bat guano and bat urine build up in the attic insulation. They will live in the attic and the majority of them will be female bats. Female bat only give birth to one baby bat a year. As the only flying mammal a baby bat can not fly upon birth and because of this as Speedway Indiana wildlife control agents we can not remove or exclude bats when baby bats are present. If baby bats are present bat exclusion or bat removal can not be done in Albuquerque, New Mexico at risk of damage to the bat colony or the baby bats. It is very often that bats are found near pools or water sources. When a backyard pool is involved a bat colony is usually near. A bat flying near my pool, bats flying by my pool, bats in my house, bat in my bathroom, bat in my living room, bats in my attic, bat in my bathroom, Albuquerque, New Mexico bat in my attic, bats in my attic, bats in my chimney, bats in my building, bats in my room, Bat control, Bat trap, humane bat removal in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The do it yourself bat removal homeowner in Burbank, California can remove bats but at risk of the bat colony. it is always safer and more responsible to speak to your local bat control or attic bat removal professional before making any decisions in bat removal or bat control. Often the best way to determine a bat issue is to watch the house at dusk. Bat will fly out just after the sun goes down and this is a great way to see were the bats are leaving the house or building. If you are thinking of trying to remove the bat colony this is the best time to decide your course of action. The do it yourselfer must remember that even if you can determine were that bats are leaving does not mean that the bats can not find a new place to enter the property; in fact a bat can fit in the smallest of areas or voids. the rule of thumb is that if you can place a nickle on its side in a hole or void a bat can also fit into the area and regain access in Albuquerque, New Mexico. There are several exclusion devices available in Albuquerque, New Mexico for removal of bats. One is a bat check valve or basically placing a trash bag over the area the bats are leaving and this is a terrible practice due to the fact most bats die in the trash bag and that not all bats leave an area at the same time. The other in Albuquerque, New Mexico is a One Way Bat Door, I actually promote and advocate this practice. The one way bat door is a cone shaped device that allows the bats to leave the area at their own time span , though does not allow access back into the area. As long as there are no baby bats present; this tends to be the best procedure in removing bats. Once Albuquerque, New Mexico bats are removed from the attic space, removed from the chimney, or removed from the eaves gates an attic clean out or attic restoration can be completed. All of the bat guano and attic insulation can be removed and new placed down. Bat removal also available in Albuquerque, NM, New Mexico, Nob Hill, La Mesa, Academy Acres North, North Albuquerque Acres, North Valley, Alamedan Valley, Corrales, Rio Rancho, Skies West, Paradise Hills Civic, Ventana Ranch, Taylor Ranch, S.R Marmon, West Mesa, Westgate Heights, Westgate Vecinos, South Valley, Mountain View, Nobertine Community, Kirkland AFB, Air Force Base. Albuquerque, New Mexico Raccoon Removal Albuquerque, New Mexico Raccoon Removal by raccoon removal experts in the Albuquerque, New Mexico Area. When you believe you have a raccoon issue in your home it is best to try to determine whether or not to call a raccoon removal specialist to inspect your property. Sometimes a raccoon will find its way in the your attic or chimney area. Raccoon's also have been found living in attics, under homes and business crawlspace and decks or outbuildings in Albuquerque, New Mexico. An raccoon in the attic will use your attic insulation as a latrine and one of the first sign that an raccoon is living in the attic is areas where there is raccoon feces or poop gathered. A Albuquerque, New Mexico raccoon removal expert can remove the animal feces and contaminated material as well as trap the animal from the attic. Information on Albuquerque, New Mexico raccoons and their life: Physical Features: The mask of Albuquerque, New Mexico black fur that covers its eyes is its most characteristic and familiar feature. One hypothesis for the dark fur is that it may help reduce glare and enhance the nocturnal animal’s night vision. The species has grayish brown fur, almost 90% of which is dense underfur to insulate the animal against the cold. Five to eight light and dark rings alternate on its tail. Because its hind legs are longer than the front legs, a raccoon often appears hunched when they walk or run. The five toes on a raccoon’s front paws are extremely dexterous, functioning essentially as five little fingers which allow it to grasp and manipulate food it finds in the wild as well as a variety of other objects, including doorknobs, jars, and latches. A raccoon’s most heightened sense is its sense of touch. It has very sensitive front paws and this sensitivity increases underwater. When able, a raccoon will examine objects in water. Life span: In the wild, a raccoon has a life expectancy of about 2 to 3 years, but in Albuquerque, New Mexico a raccoon can live up to 20 years. Geography: The raccoon is native to Albuquerque, New Mexico and can be found throughout the United States, except for parts of the Rocky Mountains, and southwestern states like Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. It can also be found in parts of Canada, Mexico and the northern-most regions of South America. During the 20th century, the species was introduced to other parts of the globe, and now has an extensive presence in countries like Germany, Russia, and Japan. Habitat: Originally raccoons lived in the tropics where they could be found foraging along riverbanks. Over time they moved north up the continent, successfully adapting to new territories and expanding their diet. Traditionally, they live in tree cavities or burrows emerging at dusk to hunt frogs and crustaceans while keeping an eye out for predators such as coyotes and foxes. Barns have aided their northern migration, offering refuge from cold northern winters, and now, raccoons have been found as far north as Alaska. The species originally kept to the deciduous and mixed forests of Albuquerque, New Mexico, but its impressive ability to adapt has enabled the animal to move into a wide range of habitats, from mountainous terrains to large cities. The first urban sighting was in Cincinnati during the 1920s. Raccoon populations do very well in urban areas, primarily due to hunting and trapping restrictions, a general lack of predators, and an abundance of available human food. The size of a raccoon’s home range varies depending on habitat and food supply. In urban areas, its home range generally spans about one mile. Breeding and Social Structure: The Albuquerque, New Mexico animal is nocturnal, mostly foraging and feeding at night. Though previously thought to be quite solitary, there is now evidence that the species congregates in gender-specific groups. Mating season for raccoons falls generally anytime between January and June. Most females begin reproducing around the age of one. The female has a 65-day gestation period and gives birth to two to five kits, usually in the spring. A mother usually separates from other raccoons to raise her young alone. The male does not participate in the raising of the kits. The black mask is already visible on newly-born kits. The kits stay in the den with their mother until they are between 8-10 weeks old, and will stay with their mother until they reach 13-14 months of age. Albuquerque, New Mexico Squirrel Removal Albuquerque, New Mexico Squirrel Removal by attic squirrel control and squirrel removal experts. Squirrel removal experts in the Albuquerque, New Mexico Area. When you believe you have a squirrel issue in your home it is best to try to determine whether or not to call a squirrel removal specialist to inspect your property. Sometimes a squirrel will find its way in the your attic or chimney area. Albuquerque, New Mexico Squirrels feed on small insects, roots, tree bark, leaves and acorns. It can be noted that when you give a certain type of squirrel tree bark for him to chew, the little guy would just flatly ignore it. Don’t feel bad because some Squirrel species do not have stomachs that break down cellulose . Squirrel removal also available in Albuquerque, NM, New Mexico, Nob Hill, La Mesa, Academy Acres North, North Albuquerque Acres, North Valley, Alamedan Valley, Corrales, Rio Rancho, Skies West, Paradise Hills Civic, Ventana Ranch, Taylor Ranch, S.R Marmon, West Mesa, Westgate Heights, Westgate Vecinos, South Valley, Mountain View, Nobertine Community, Kirkland AFB, Air Force Base. Albuquerque, New Mexico Snake Removal by snake control and snake removal professionals in Albuquerque, New Mexico. First thing is was the snake venomous? If you know you have been bitten by a harmless snake in Albuquerque, New Mexico, it will save you much stress and eliminate the need for treatment. Many people are bitten by harmless snakes each year and experience nothing but small scratches that readily heal. If you are certain a venomous snake was involved, get to the nearest hospital or medical facility as quickly as possible. If possible, notify them ahead of time via telephone of your situation. This gives the physician time to prepare and call the nearest poison information center for advice. As In Albuquerque, New Mexico Snakes are in every state of our country. you will at one time or more in your life run across them, whether in your garden, garage or even in your home. So its no wonder that in Albuquerque, New Mexico I am called on most of my reptile calls to remove them. Copperhead Habitat: Most copperhead snakes prefer open Rocky Woodland , Rock Edges, and open grassland near woodland outcrops. Copperheads blend in tremendously with most leaf litter. In the Summer(Hot) Months Copperheads become nocturnal. In Spring and Fall they are often found on Wooded Hilltop Rock Outcrops with a southern exposure in Albuquerque, New Mexico. How do I get rid of Snakes in Albuquerque, New Mexico? How do I get rid of the snake in my garage in Albuquerque, New Mexico? I have a snake in my garage in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I have a snake in my House Albuquerque, New Mexico, I have snakes in my yard in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Who can I call for snake removal services in Albuquerque, New Mexico Do snake bites kill? will a rattler kill you and how do you know if its a rattle snake? how do you know if a snake is poisonous in Albuquerque, New Mexico? I found a snake Skin in my crawlspace. Paul had a snake in his house and the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico said they would send a sheriff, but the snake was gone before they got there. Is a rattler the same as a rattlesnake? Are there Rattles in Albuquerque, New Mexico? Are There Rattlesnakes in Albuquerque, New Mexico? What Kind of snakes do we have in Albuquerque, New Mexico? How Many poisonous snakes are in Albuquerque, New Mexico? Will Rattlesnakes den in the crawlspace in Albuquerque, New Mexico? Do Rattlesnakes climb? What kind of repellent works on snakes? Snake removal also available in Albuquerque, NM, New Mexico, Nob Hill, La Mesa, Academy Acres North, North Albuquerque Acres, North Valley, Alamedan Valley, Corrales, Rio Rancho, Skies West, Paradise Hills Civic, Ventana Ranch, Taylor Ranch, S.R Marmon, West Mesa, Westgate Heights, Westgate Vecinos, South Valley, Mountain View, Nobertine Community, Kirkland AFB, Air Force Base. Albuquerque, New Mexico Opossum removal Albuquerque, New Mexico Opossum Removal by animal removal or opossum control in Albuquerque, New Mexico can handle any possum issue you may be dealing with including trapping the animal and removing it. When you believe you have a animal control issue in your home it is best to try to determine whether or not to call a opossum removal specialist to inspect your property. Sometimes a possum will find its way in the your attic or chimney area. Opossum also have been found living under homes and business crawlspace and decks or outbuildings in Albuquerque, New Mexico. An Opossum in the attic will use your attic insulation as a latrine and one of the first sign that an Opossum is living in the attic is areas where there is Opossum feces or poop gathered. A Opossum removal expert can remove the animal feces and contaminated material as well as trap the animal from the attic in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Albuquerque, New Mexico Pest Control Albuquerque, New Mexico pest control companies are fantastic for dealing with ants and cockroaches, But not usually best solution for animal control and wildlife removal problems. Some pest control offer wildlife removal and even bat removal, though most do not have the experience to deliver a solution to the wildlife or animal conflict. pest animal removal in Albuquerque, New Mexico Animal Removal in Albuquerque, New Mexico Animal trapping in Albuquerque, New Mexico Animals in the attic removal in Albuquerque, New Mexico in the attic inspections in Albuquerque, New Mexico Groundhog trapping removal in Albuquerque, New Mexico Mole removal trapping in Albuquerque, New Mexico Bird control in Albuquerque, New Mexico Animal in Crawlspace- eaves removal in Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico pest control removal and Chimney has red Squirrel poop. Raccoon in my Albuquerque, New Mexico windows and he said the squirrels scratched in the walls. Albuquerque, New Mexico Pest Control thumping sound. Walls urine stain rats in my ceiling . Albuquerque, New Mexico Pest Removal termites. Albuquerque, New Mexico Roaches ants Pest removal stink. Raccoons in trash. 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Albuquerque, New Mexico animal removal and abatement. Albuquerque, New Mexico bat removal and bat colony control. Albuquerque, New Mexico has serious bat and animal issues in the local homes and business areas. Albuquerque, New Mexico community sees a lot of bat activity in the area and may need bat control and bat removal . Animal Control in Albuquerque, NM, New Mexico, Nob Hill, La Mesa, Academy Acres North, North Albuquerque Acres, North Valley, Alamedan Valley, Corrales, Rio Rancho, Skies West, Paradise Hills Civic, Ventana Ranch, Taylor Ranch, S.R Marmon, West Mesa, Westgate Heights, Westgate Vecinos, South Valley, Mountain View, Nobertine Community, Kirkland AFB, Air Force Base. Albuquerque NM Wildlife Removal and Animal Control Albuquerque, New Mexico Animal Control-Bat Control-Animal Control-Squirrel Control-Raccoon Control	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line489
__label__cc	0.688421	0.311579	The World Today.. Samirsinh Dattopadhye November 5, 2012 English, World War III 13 ll Hari Om ll Early in the year 2006, Dr. Aniruddha Dhairyadhar Joshi (Aniruddhasinh) wrote a series of editorials titled‘The Third World War’ in the daily ‘Pratyaksha’. This series was then compiled and published in the form of a work by the same name. Aniruddhasinh primarily wishes to acquaint His friends with at least 2% of what the third world war means. ‘Only because…’, the preface to the work reveals the intent and purpose behind this work, a study of the current political scenario as well as of the possibilities that will unravel in the times to come… …and today we see the picture on the canvas of the world coinciding with this study. There is discontent that becomes rage, there is unrest that becomes uprising and there is aggression that becomes war but is not necessarily recognized as war. Vested political interests and the rapidly changing considerations or the convenience of the moment shall we say, makes the scenario all the more uncertain and so even worse. The tremors of bombings are felt the world over but are considered isolated or stray acts of whim when in actual fact they are part-pieces of a large jigsaw, they are not just drumbeats of war, they are much more and as Dr. Aniruddha Dhairyadhar Joshi (Aniruddhasinh) points out in His work ‘The Third World War’, “Concealed behind her veil of calm, the witch that is the third world war knocks at the door”. Today, there is neither a demarcated battlefield nor does the clash remain restricted to conflicting nations only. The other nations of the world are bound to and they do take a stand – one that serves a selfish motive, which again changes every coming day. The conflict therefore draws several nations into war – each enters with its own motive and with an axe to grind leading to a world war. So the point is, ‘she’ – the witch that is the third world war is already here and so may we not mistake her veil of calm for ‘peace’ or even be laid back because the unrest is happening in a far off nation. Just like ripples in the ocean spread over the entire expanse of its waters, the war will spread to every nook of the earth. A spark will cause flames and the flames will spread far, to the farthest point. Let us try to understand the current political scenario of the world basing our study on the work “The Third World War“. We begin our study with Syria, the country that is causing concern the world over. Syria Today.. Syria is a blatant illustration of the tumult and the ripples that we have been talking about. The protests within the nation that turned into conflict have spiraled into the ‘civil war’. The nations of the world are taking a stand, within and outside their countries and the ripples are roping in more and more nations compelling us to see a new pattern emerging before us, with every turn of the kaleidoscope. About Syria: Geographical Location: A country in the Middle-East, Syria borders Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the south-west. Background: Syria, The Kingdom of Silence: The modern Syrian state gained independence in April 1946 and saw a series of coups and coup attempts for quite some time after. Syria has been under Emergency Law from 1963 until April 2011 effectively suspending most constitutional protection for citizens and implying immense powers of arrest and detention to security forces. Since 1980, any opposition to the Ba’athist regime has been prohibited. All other parties but the ruling one remain banned making Syria a one-party state without free elections. Rights of expression, association and assembly are strictly controlled. There have been allegations of violations of Human Rights and of prisoners being tortured. Popular sites like Facebook, Wikipedia, Amazon and YouTube were blocked until 1st January 2011 when all citizens were permitted to sign up for high-speed internet and the sites were allowed. So until 2011 Syria remained what ‘Al Jazeera’ (an independent broadcaster owned by the state of Qatar) termed as the ‘kingdom of silence’ mainly due to stringent security measures and prospects of insurgency. Hafez al-Assad held the office of President since 1971 until 2000 when following his death, Bashar al-Assad, his son and the present day President succeeded him. The Scene Today: 1. The Syrian civil war is an ongoing armed conflict in Syria between forces loyal to the ruling Ba’ath party government and those wanting to oust it. The Syrian government consists of Shia Alawites whereas the opposition is dominated by Sunnis. The protestors demand the resignation of President Assad and the 5 decade old Ba’ath party rule. The conflict has no clear fronts with armed conflicts scattered over and across the country. The protests that began moderately escalated to become an armed uprising. The Syrian army executed severe crackdowns seeking to quell the uprising. 2. In July 2011 army defectors near the Turkish-Syrian border declared the formation of the Free Syrian Army (FSA). Several opposition groups have now come together under the body called the Syrian National Council (SNC) that has international support and was until recently considered a partner for dialogue by the US. 3. To escape violence hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees have fled to neighbouring countries. According to various sources more than 30,000 have lost their lives in this civil war, by October 2012, upto 28,000 were reported missing and about 1.2 million have been displaced within the country. 4. Syria is thought to have the third largest stockpile of weapons for chemical warfare in the world, and opposition forces are concerned they may be used as a last resort to remain in power by the regime. 5. USA provides weapon aid to Syrian rebels not directly but via Saudi Arabia and Qatar but can hardly control where exactly they land. And indeed they mostly land up with extremist groups who should not lay their hands on them. The SNC made special efforts to bring opposition groups together so that it was easier for foreign countries to provide weapon aid. 6. There is a rift among the rebels and the ones associated with the Al Qaeda prove one up on the others. 7. Meanwhile the Shia rebels in Iraq come together to back the Assad government. These groups include the Hezbollah that is up in arms against the American army in Iraq. So the conflict now dons a Shia vs Sunni colour although both parties deny it. 8. The UN peace envoy Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi proposed a 4 day ceasefire over the festival of Eid. The declaration proved in vain as it was breached within hours after it came into force. The last day saw the Syrian army strike air attacks on Damascus.The unrest, the violence and the lash out it is observed, does not remain limited to Syrian territory. The brunt of the discontent and in fact even active participation in skirmish and backlash spills over in the neighbouring countries.The bloodshed continues unabated despite the call for ceasefire and despite the withdrawal of support to the opposition from the US. Where do Syria’s other neighbours and the world stand today? What do the spillovers of violence and explosions point to? …to be continuedCourtesy: For Video: www.france24.com & www.youtube.com For Map: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ Published at Mumbai, Maharashtra – India Alpha to Omega Newsletter – June 2019 He is ever-ready for His devotees Bapu Always Protects His Children Posted in English, World War III Tagged Pratyaksha, Syria, विश्व युद्ध 3 एक विश्वास असावा पुरता, करता हर्ता गुरु ऐसा (Ek Vishwas asava purta karta harta GURU aisa) Aniket Gupte 7 years ago Permalink Hari om dada, While reading your post on the current situation in Syria, I remebered a marathi saying, “Murti Lahaan pan Kirti Mahaan”. Syria if compared in size to the economic and political giants of the world, is very small in size. However the happenings in the country have an impact manifold times. Also the involvement of other countries like the US indicates that this is just the tip of the Iceberg, a lot still remains hidden deep down the water. DIPAK KULKARNI, NANDURBAR Not only the book but your articles, columns in Pratyakha also help and guide to understand the current world affairs. HARIOM Hariom Dada! Thanks for sharing such valuable information on the blog. There are many who might not be able to read the daily news paper ‘ Pratyaksha’, for many reasons. Especially the people staying abroad. As told to us by P.P. Bapu, “The common man and sometimes even the political leadership is of the opinion that a discussion on war or analysis of war cannot be done openly because war is a sudden and a surprise manifestation of secret schemes and conspiracies. Besides more than 90% of the people, not only of India but of every country in the world, cannot base their contemplation over war, the political reasons behind the war as also the realization of these on just a bare minimum of information. However it is these very people, who have not only to suffer but to with stand hundred percent of the consequences of the war.” Such information will really help us in times to come. Thanks Dada! II Hariom II Nikhil Bhalwankar Excellent write up. This depicts the true picture of what is going on in the world. The witch is coming closer and closer…… Nesarikar THe situation gets further complicated because of Golan heights which is flash point between Syria and Israel. There are reports that Syrian Army is moving towards Golan heights probably to divert attention. Sinkaru Island is other flash point between China and Japan. I believe we no longer can remain aloof but need to side with USA, Japan and Australia. sanjaysinh nesarikar Bhushan Naik Hari Om Dada!!! It is clear from post that world is passing through the situation which Bapu wrote in his book on Third world war. This is indeed a useful information which help us in keeping update about the world situation today. Waiting for next post. Hari OM That's a very good alarming article, India needs to learn from Syria and act before extreme situation arise. Even in India there is lot of unrest on various issues and exploitation of common public. Suneeta Karande Hari Om , DADA. Thanks a lot for stating your valuable opinion regarding Syrian War. From many days the thoughts were lingering in mind that what will be your views and finally today your article appeared on your blog. Hats off to you DADA for providing variety of dishes for meal as well as dinner. The Syrian civil war, is also referred to as the Syrian uprising, It is an ongoing armed conflict in Syria between forces loyal to the Ba'ath Party government and those seeking to oust it. The conflict began on 15 March 2011 with nationwide demonstrations as part of the wider protest movement known as the Arab Spring. It seems that Syria is very complicated .There are Sunni, Shia, Druze, Kurds and Christians. If the religious tension becomes the “major hue” of the fighting, the bloodshed could be worse than in Iraq, says Mark Schnellbaecher, based in Beirut. Schnellbaecher, who oversees CRS operations in the region, and who visited Oregon last month. There are different religions in India and we may face similar situations due to religious tensions. The conflict, with a regime willing to torture its citizens, is increasingly vicious. Regular people suffer and refugees are still fleeing Syria in large numbers. There are more than 300,000 refugees. In view of above, Syria's civil war has impact beyond borders. In recent weeks, the fighting has heightened Sunni-Shia tensions in neighboring Lebanon, home to Iran-backed Hezbollah, and prompted cross-border shelling between Syria and Turkey. The unrest has also proved a magnet for global jihadists, including al-Qaeda-linked groups, fighting for the establishment of an Islamist state. The UN estimates more than 20,000 deaths—mostly civilians—in the uprising, more than 340,000 refugees, and some 2.5 million Syrians in need of humanitarian assistance. Here Dr. Aniruddhasinh’s words of Ramrajya 2025 discourse are reminders that the entire BHARATVARSHA will be playing an important and more crucial role in field of humanitarian assistance. Dada, your article focuses on the Theme of “Third World War” from each and every aspect. We will be eagerly waiting for next post from you to seek guidance on this subject. Shreeram!!! Priyamwadaveera Hari OM. This article updates us on the Syria today . We all are gearing up to face the unfortunate effects of the upcoming war. Priyamwada, Talking about syria, they are situated in middle-east where unrest against govt is in most of the countries and terrorist groups are trying to take advantage of it. This will be very serious as you said that syria have chemical weapons and if such chemical, biological, nuclear weapons will go in hands of this terrorist it will a very bad impact on entire world. Shree ram for starting posts on this subject, we will be waiting for next post for your guidence on this subject. Hari Om. Shree Ram for the beginning of this topic on your blog. As you said it is very important for all of us to understand the current situation as we may also have to face consequences of it. India is country which have people of different religions which are spread across the globe. So if we may not have to face war directly, anyway we can get affected due to religious sentiments of perticular community during war. Geologically and considering our economical importance India is very important country. Knowing that we have two neighbouring countries who have always tried to get edge over us and for that they can go to any extent, we should stay always careful against them as they may try to take advantage of disastrous situation in future. Adv Sarang Vaidya Solid study Samirdada…… Sunny Sand Shree Ram….. Being in Middle East I used to feel scared reading Bapu's book on 3rd world war but now am confident that where ever we are Bapu is there with us. Am happy that though the outlook is scary and going in the lines which He has written…. This will ultimate lead to Ram Rajya…… Sandeepsinh	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line490
__label__wiki	0.550473	0.550473	He was never really frightened by needles, until now. The Greeter led him through a maze of tunnels to a room illuminated by a glowing ceiling. An incongruous aroma of freshly made caramel cloyed at his nostrils. Before he could ask her even one of a myriad of questions whirling through his mind, she smiled, nodded and left without a word. Recessed doorway panels slid shut behind her, leaving him standing alone amidst an array of metal-gray instruments and machinery. Tethered to the wall by an assortment of pipes and cables, a large sarcophagus-like construction stood upright in the center of the room with its single door swung open. Its silvery exterior threw back his thin, distorted reflection, while its dark maw glistened with tiny pinpoints of light. He felt a pressure from behind, as if someone held him by his shoulders and legs. Despite being certain he was alone, he was coaxed forward, in the direction of the awaiting opening. A heavy, sweet odor emanated from within the sinister cavity. An unseen, viscous fluid wrapped itself around his body, weighing down his arms and legs. He tried to cry out, but produced no more than anemic whimpers. His toes skated along the floor as he was maneuvered into position inside the device. A thinning halo of light surrounded the shadow cast by his head, reflecting off each long needle fixed in place only inches from his face. His movement came to a stop. The pressure ebbed away, and thoughts of fleeing the nightmare surged through his panicked mind. Before he regained control of his limbs, the door behind swung closed, forcing him to stand ever so still in total darkness. Although sensation returned to his limbs, and he knew he could move again, he dared not, for fear of the needles surrounding him. A humming met his ears. His screams were faint and short-lived. Adam did not feel as if three centuries had gone by. He sat up and looked about the room. It was much as he remembered it -- mousy gray walls and cabinets, and a cold metallic table. His eyes had a little trouble focusing, but when at last they did, the wavering shadows coalesced into a tall, black-haired, sallow-skinned man wearing a dark blue, skin-tight suit. He stood before Adam with hands on hips. "So, how did you enjoy the nap?" "Alpha. It's you isn't it?" Adam coughed up some phlegm. "Yes, yes. Here's a tissue. Your eyes will need a few moments to adjust to the light." Adam squinted. An IV container stood empty to his side. Alpha stared at him with those unblinking orbs. "Did you say three hundred years?" Alpha nodded. "Of course, those are your years -- years that have passed back on Earth." Adam brought his hand to chin and rubbed. Alpha added, "Don't worry … the combination of relativistic effects and our stasis process have slowed your aging to a mere week or so." Adam winced as he recalled his mother and their final moments together before he left. Before I left for the stars. He rubbed his eyes, and shook his head. That was so long ago. He searched for a wastebasket nearby, and then he noticed that he was naked. "Are there clothes or do we strut around here exposed? And, hey, what about Linda? Is she going to be awakened as well?" A voice from behind Adam brought up a smile. "I'm already up, Dr. Dove. You're the sleepy head." He turned to see Dr. Linda Garcia dressed in a red, full-body leotard. Her long, silky black hair swung side-to-side as she parted her lips. Reflected light from the ceiling danced across her dark brown eyes. She giggled. "Linda! It's great to see you … what's so funny?" Adam turned to look at a wall mirror. His dark brown hair stuck out in every direction. He saw no new wrinkles under his green eyes, and there was just a hint of stubble. Dangling from his neck, a gold medallion caught the ceiling light. He caressed the disk. Aged a week and all I see is a five-o'clock shadow. Damned ears are red again. The last time that happened to me was when I came across you in one of these rooms … naked and unconscious, with an IV inserted in your arm. "Hey, I look pretty good." Linda patted Adam on his back. "Yeah, not bad for three hundred something." Adam grinned at Linda. "So, that would make you a three hundred twenty-something, or is that thirty-something?" She punched him in the shoulder. Memories of that day crept into view. We managed to get to Alpha's shuttle. We were both giddy with the adventure before us. Tracking down the origin of the medallion. And the ones who created us … and the others on this ship … from other worlds. "Some nap. Are we there yet? The home of the … what did you call them?" "Makers," replied Alpha. "Yeah, the guys who sent out and planted all those medallions. Three hundred years? I thought we would be taking turns running the ship." Alpha's shoulders arched upward. "That was an approximation. Recent data suggest the actual location to be more distant." "An approximation?" Alpha bowed his head and stared at the floor as he replied. "We now know the location to be in what you call the galactic halo." "And where exactly is that?" "It is roughly eight thousand light years above the galactic plane, in a zone known to contain the oldest stars in the universe." Adam's stomach tightened. "Eight thousand light years?" "We were able to detect radio signals from a red giant system in the halo a short time ago." "And these signals … what makes you think they're from the Makers?" asked Adam. "They consist of a simple pattern. A sequence of numbers using only the digits one through four." "You're kidding." Alpha shook his head. "I am not kidding. The sequence of digits being transmitted represents our genetic code." And that signal is only eight thousand years old. Adam was at a loss for words. "The time has come for you and Linda to learn much more about our ship and your duties." "That sounds so exciting," Linda said, and then added, "We are looking forward to it, right Adam? And, here, you can put this on." Adam accepted a single piece of clothing, a dark blue silky thing. As he slid off the table, he waved the crumpled tissue at Alpha. "Just toss it into the sink." He lobbed it across the room and it disappeared with a tiny whoosh. She gazed up at the night sky, sitting alone in the middle of a field of grass. The distant noise of Greeters and Visitors carried on the gentle evening breeze, reaching her in broken whispers. It was midnight, and the horizon encircling her view glowed -- a deep crimson line beneath a cloudless sky. The majestic sweep of stars cast a subtle radiance upon the land, as if a master silversmith had cast the field and village beyond with details etched in starlight. She stood up, her naked body at once silhouetted and shimmering. Someone approached. "Fay. What are you doing out here?" "Mar. Nothing really." "You know you should be in the Welcome Center greeting the Visitors." Mar scrolled his finger across a small pad, and looked back at Fay. "Do this again, and you will be reported. That means back to the Learning Center, and if that does not help …" "Do you not wonder at the lights in the sky?" Mar appeared thrown off stride. He stuttered a reply. "They are the tapestry of the Source. You know this." "But the Visitors … do they not come from there? Can it be that the lights are like our Source, and they come from places like our own?" "There is but one Source." Mar skewed his head as if to get a better look at Fay. "Are you questioning the Truth?" She caught the threat in Mar's voice. "No, no. Just random thoughts. I will clear my mind and return to the village." Mar shook his head. He was one of many Supervisors whose duties included overseeing new ones like Fay. She was a Greeter, and knew her job well. But unlike the others, who carried on without question, she found herself thinking, perhaps thinking too much. Why these duties needed to be carried out. Why the Source imposed so many rules. In her heart there was a longing. She often wondered about the Visitors and where they came from. She wondered what happened to them after the Greeting. She was taught that everything came from the Source, and her work was a sacred trust, handed down by the Source. Generations upon generations before her carried out these tasks, these most holy obligations to the Source. But that did nothing to quell her curiosity. Other Greeters like her did not seem to question their roles. "I must be defective," she whispered to herself. Maybe she would eventually be like the others. A shudder ran though her frame as she recalled what happened to defectives. Then she noticed Mar. "Why are you still standing there?" Fay asked. "I will escort you back to the Welcome Center." "What's that?" asked Adam. Alpha placed a pea-sized pink sphere into the chamber of a large syringe. "This is a translation node. It will be placed beneath your frontal lobe." "Whoa, whoa. Remind me why I need this thing?" "I had mine put in yesterday," said Linda, her face adopting an altogether cheerful expression. Alpha raised the loaded syringe. "It will allow you to communicate with all your fellow passengers. Once the device attaches itself to your language centers, it will automatically interpret incoming audio signals and process them into understandable patterns." "It will attach itself? Is it alive?" "It is no more than a small computer with wiring designed to automatically interface with your brain's language and audio centers." Adam's eyes rolled up and he sighed. "Well, I guess if the lady here can take it, then I can too." Linda smirked, "It'll just hurt for a second." Alpha inserted the syringe into Adam's nostril, and at first, everything went black. Then a lightning bolt flashed. Exquisite pain shot through his head, down to his toes and back again. When the room lights came back on, he saw two hazy figures. Several tears rolled down his cheek. Both Alpha and Linda returned from the edges of a dark universe, and smiled at him. Jeez… that was a long second. "Remind me never to listen to you again. It was like having ten root canals." "Don't be such a baby." "It will take a day or two to become fully functional," said Alpha. Are you talking about the node, or about me? "In the meantime, you and Linda will be introduced to the ship." Adam got up off the table, and with Linda's help, wobbled out of the room. They followed Alpha along a darkened hallway, with floor lighting coming on as they moved forward. I remember this. It's the passageway leading to the stasis chambers. It's coming back. The IV got loose. I woke up on the table, and walked along here. That's when I saw Linda. And farther along … the chambers … with our names on them. When I got back, Alpha was there to help me go back to sleep. And there was something else. "So, how many are on board? Did we stop to pick up some more?" asked Linda. "We made several stops. We are now at capacity with one hundred twenty individuals, in pairs representing sixty star systems." "Wow, so that's sixty medallions?" asked Adam, while tracing the contours of his own through the thin tunic material. "Exactly. And it is likely there are many more scattered among the systems we passed." Linda asked, "And each one of those medallions had the same DNA coding?" "Yes. Essentially, all our genomes began as identical sequences. However, the evolutionary processes on each planet resulted in subtle changes dictated by environment and selection pressure. The usual time for sentient species to arise was from several to a few hundred million years, that is, in your Earth years." They followed Alpha along the curved hallway, passing several rooms similar to the one they just left. Alpha pointed to one. "These rooms are used for preparation and recovery. Ahead you will see the chambers we use for storage." "Stasis chambers?" asked Linda. "Yes. They produce a kind of stasis, wherein the metabolism is slowed down to nearly zero with the help of drugs." "I couldn't help but notice there's gravity on this ship. How is that possible?" asked Adam. "The ship is under constant acceleration providing the equivalent of approximately eighty percent of your Earth's gravity." "Wow, that means you have engines which can produce thrust for hundreds of years?" "Much longer, if necessary. You will learn more about our propulsion systems shortly." "At speeds like that, what about the chance of running into something?" Like a rock. "And what about the radiation? These speeds can turn simple radiation to deadly … a blue shift, I think?" asked Linda. Alpha gave her an approving nod. "All in good time. Suffice it to say that interstellar space is nearly a pure vacuum, and that the ship is equipped with the means to avoid damage by particles or radiation." They entered a darkened foyer which brightened automatically, revealing a semi-circular arrangement of casket-like compartments. The doors to two of them were propped open. "Those chambers were, and are, yours. After your scheduled duties are completed, you will return here." "For another three hundred years? You said our destination is about eight thousand light years away. Exactly how long a trip will this be?" asked Adam. "We will not stop for any more passengers. We are about to head out toward the halo, and assuming we have correctly identified the home of the Makers, the remaining trip should take no more than a thousand years. Of course, I am referring to the time passing aboard the ship. And, your waking shifts will occur quite often … about every fifty years, for waking periods of several weeks." Adam mumbled, "That leaves of lot of dead time between shifts. Doesn't someone have to steer the ship?" Linda shook her head. Alpha seemed unmoved. "Navigation is handled by automated systems. If an unforeseen circumstance arises, I will be alerted. And there will always be two crewmen on duty. There is nothing to worry about." Who's worried? Do I look worried? They walked past the stasis room and into a small alcove. The floor illumination, which had been following them, dimmed out, while the area ahead brightened with similar indirect lighting revealing a set of double doors. These slid apart as Alpha approached. "Please get in. This elevator will take us to the control room … or the bridge … I think you would call it that." The doors slid shut and the small cubicle purred, imparting only a minor sensation of movement. Adam asked, "Who built this ship?" "It was constructed by a consortium representing several planets. Once the medallions were discovered and found to contain mankind's genetic makeup, their contents were compared. Scientists from these worlds determined that the disks contained clues to our origins. That discovery led to an interplanetary agreement to seek out the Makers." "How long ago was that?" "A few thousand years." "Why so long?" asked Adam. "At the onset, we detected a number of medallions in our galactic neighborhood. After correcting for the movement of the galaxy over the estimated age of the medallions, their locations appeared to occur in an arc running through one of the spiral arms. Our scientists speculated that they were distributed by an intelligence, and that intelligence had an origin …" "At the start of the arc," said Adam. Linda said, "When the medallion was exposed to x-ray radiation there was a burst of neutrinos." "Yes. The neutrino signature is unique and we used that signal to locate them. The signal also indicated that the finder's technology was sufficiently advanced to give our quest serious consideration." Adam added, "So that's how you knew to stop at Earth." "The ship's programming was set to automatically redirect our trajectory if the signal was within the current flight path." Adam added, "Yeah. Why exactly did you stop to pick us up? You certainly didn't need our expertise to help run this ship." Before Alpha could reply, the droning came to a stop and the doors opened. Adam had been expecting Hollywood's version of an interstellar spaceship's bridge -- a panoramic screen depicting a vast starfield, instrument stations scattered in an arc manned by a colorful variety of hunched-over humanoids, lights blinking at their consoles, and in the middle, the captain's chair, about to be occupied by none other than himself. But, instead, the room they entered was small, barely illuminated and quiet. A single monitor at its center displayed a blob of blue-white dots. Below that, two people, looking quite human, sat at a shared console. Well, at least there're some blinking lights. Alpha turned to look at Adam and Linda. "When we, that is, the consortium decided on the expedition, the decision was made to offer the opportunity to join our quest to any willing to take the risk. Such offers were extended only to those who had discovered the medallions, and had a demonstrated minimal level of technology." "But why the choice?" asked Adam. Linda added, "Yeah, we could have easily opted to stay on Earth." Alpha placed his hands on the shoulders of both. "I mentioned that it was an ethical issue. We do not believe in forcing anyone, and in addition, it is much better if you are willing and motivated to join. The quest to understand our origins and purpose is likely fraught with danger, since we do not know what lies ahead. It has been millions of years since the disks were sent out. Perhaps the Makers no longer exist, or they may find us to be a pleasant surprise, or …" "Are more than happy to vaporize us," Adam offered. "Or they'll be delighted at the arrival of new specimens for their collection," added Linda. They chuckled as they approached the pair seated at the console. "Whatever the case, they must be very different from us. Just think of the patience -- seeding the galaxy with an experiment that takes at least a million years. What kind of people could do that?" asked Adam. Alpha said, "That is our purpose. We will find the Makers and we will then know why we were created." Why we were created … now I remember … there was a second alien who tried to stop us, to stop this expedition. "Alpha, there's something I've been meaning to ask you about. You said that one of your passengers was a religious fanatic intent on disrupting the mission. And that it was he who we ran into on Earth. I shot that guy. Did you say that he survived, or was that just my imagination?" Alpha showed no surprise at the question. "Yes, he survived." "And where is he now?" "He has been placed in stasis, and will not be revived until we reach our destination." The loose IV … I was falling asleep and I heard you speak to me, but you also spoke to someone else.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line497
__label__cc	0.686904	0.313096	By the time the Doctor Dowd finished sewing up Paul Scott's arm, the late summer sun peered over the Sierra Nevada. The sounds of picks, shovels and wagons rolling outside the shack reminded him that although it was twenty years since the strike at Sutter's Mill, the folks in Deely's Creek still managed to scrape out a living from the spent pits dotting the landscape. "That should do it, Paul. Just keep it clean, and get some rest." "I'm really grateful, doc, but I'm a little short this week." George Dowd smiled as he packed his satchel. "Just pay me when you can." Paul walked over to a corner, brought up a small sack and undid the ties. "I did a favor for this fellow back in town, and he paid me with this. Turns out he was a medicine man. Said it was guaranteed to bring me good luck. You coming by when you did … that was more than coincidence. This is for you. It was a miniature stage coach, hand-carved out of wood and painted in white. "I can't take that." "It's yours. Your son will love it." The coach was intricately decorated. Gold trim ran along the windows and wheel rims. To his five year old son, Archie, bedridden for most of his short life, playthings were a blessed diversion. "All right, Paul. You just take care of that arm." At midnight a lone wagon wheel rolled into town. The white rim, embraced by a painted gold metal strip, tapped out a mournful soliloquy on the rocky surface of Main Street. It paused at a corner as if to check the street name. Impossibly balanced, it rotated in place a full quarter turn, and resumed its travel, heading directly toward Johnson's Livery.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line498
__label__cc	0.604572	0.395428	How to Use MindSpa to Gain Maximum Benefit Enhance Your Sleep Quality Improve Focus Overcome Jet Lag Enhance Learning Ability Overcome Workplace Stress Workplace Improvement Look and feel younger Our Satisfied Customer Testimonials Brainwave Stimulation Attaining Better Quality Sleep Light Value to Well Being Five Element Program AVS History and Background Health/Wellness Education Health / Wellness / Sleep / Circadian Clock Women / Prenatal / Infant Health & Wellness Meditation/Mindfulness/Yoga Adolescence, Teens Wellness Research Memory, the Brain, Dementia and Cognitive Performance Diet & Mind-Body Health Research Exercise, Athletic Performance & the Brain TBI, PTSD, Insomnia: First Responder, Veteran Research Cannabis and Psychedelic Research Youth Medical Marijuana, Psychoactive Substances Research Workplace Wellness & Productivity AVS Research Mind-Brain-Body Research China Education Study Additional Research Resources Support/Manuals Programmable MindSpa Support MindSpa Companion Guide MindSpa Software ActiveSync Programs MindSpa Mentor Download Sessions MindSpa System MindSpa Accessories New! MindSpa PureGreen Sleep Enhancement Glasses MindSpa Afternoon Alertness/Evening Sleep Enhancing Glasses MindSpa Professional Libraries TBI/PTSD4, Aging/Exercise & Brain 6 Larry Minikes *COMMUNITY SUPPORT -- VETERAN'S RESOURCES high artistic activity Memory 10, Exercise/Athletic 7, Aging/Exercise & Brain 6 Keeping active in middle age may be tied to lower risk of dementia Science Daily/University of Gothenburg Keeping physically and mentally active in middle age may be tied to a lower risk of developing dementia decades later, according to a new study. Mental activities included reading, playing instruments, singing in a choir, visiting concerts, gardening, doing needlework or attending religious services. "These results indicate that these activities in middle age may play a role in preventing dementia in old age and preserving cognitive health," said study author Jenna Najar, MD, from Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg. "It's exciting as these are activities that people can incorporate into their lives pretty easily and without a lot of expense." The study involved 800 Swedish women with an average age of 47 who were followed for 44 years. At the beginning of the study, participants were asked about their mental and physical activities. Mental activities included intellectual activities, such as reading and writing; artistic activities, such as going to a concert or singing in a choir; manual activities, such as needlework or gardening; club activities; and religious activity. Participants were given scores in each of the five areas based on how often they participated in mental activities, with a score of zero for no or low activity, one for moderate activity and two for high activity. For example, moderate artistic activity was defined as attending a concert, play or art exhibit during the last six months, while high artistic activity was defined as more frequent visits, playing an instrument, singing in a choir or painting. The total score possible was 10. Participants were divided into two groups. The low group, with 44 percent of participants, had scores of zero to two and the high group, with 56 percent of participants, had scores of three to 10. For physical activity, participants were divided into two groups, active and inactive. The active group ranged from light physical activity such as walking, gardening, bowling or biking for a minimum of four hours per week to regular intense exercise such as running or swimming several times a week or engaging in competitive sports. A total of 17 percent of the participants were in the inactive group and 82 percent were in the active group. During the study, 194 women developed dementia. Of those, 102 had Alzheimer's disease, 27 had vascular dementia and 41 had mixed dementia, which is when more than one type of dementia is present, such as the plaques and tangles of Alzheimer's disease along with the blood vessel changes seen in vascular dementia. The study found that women with a high level of mental activities were 46 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease and 34 percent less likely to develop dementia overall than the women with the low level of mental activities. The women who were physically active were 52 percent less likely to develop dementia with cerebrovascular disease and 56 percent less likely to develop mixed dementia than the women who were inactive. The researchers took into account other factors that could affect the risk of dementia, such as high blood pressure, smoking and diabetes. They also ran the results again after excluding women who developed dementia about halfway through the study to rule out the possibility that those women may have been in the prodromal stage of dementia, with less participation in the activities as an early symptom. The results were similar, except that physical activity was then associated with a 34-percent reduced risk of dementia overall. Of the 438 women with the high level of mental activity, 104 developed dementia, compared to 90 of the 347 women with the low level of activity. Of the 648 women with the high level of physical activity, 159 developed dementia, compared to 35 of the 137 women who were inactive. Tagged: middle age dementia, cognitive health, intellectual activities, high artistic activity, cerebrovascular disease We guarantee results Try MindSpa now for up to 90 days risk free! We've been selling our MindSpa systems for over 16 years. Less than one-half of one percent are ever returned! A/V Stim, LLC, ©2019, San Rafael CA +1 415 459-7724avs@avstim.com	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line501
__label__wiki	0.737211	0.737211	Interviewing small business women in rural, regional, remote and provincial areas of Australasia - UWA Project 2003 - 2006 It all started with an IDEA in 2002. Viti put forward a proposal to Professor Leonie Still, Centre for Women and Business at UWA to carry out fieldwork on an honorary basis. The aim of this research proposal was to address the shortfall in academic data associated with women small business enterprises operating in rural, regional and remotes areas. This was achieved in September 2006 with the publication of Enterprising Women in Rural, Regional and Remote Australasia, (Leonie V. Still & Viti Simmons, University of Western Australia), Small Enterprise Research 14, 1, 2006. The Journal of SEAANZ Vol 14, Number 1 - 2006 supported by Murdoch Business School, Perth WA. Seventeen (17) of the 75 women interviewed were associated with the agricultural sector and the remaining fifty nine were non-farming businesses. A vignette from that research highlights that when asked what were the difficulties faced in establishing a business in such areas the main factors highlighted were, "... gaining the necessary confidence, locating information and advice on starting a business, finding and setting up a suitable location and obtaining the necessary finance." (Still & Simmons, 2006, p.87). The 'overwhelming response' by these women about the benefits of owning their own business, "... was the independence and freedom that it gave." (p.87) Regions and provinces included in this research were, WA, NT, Qld, NSW and North Island of NZ. An independent longitudinal study has been sponsored by Bear Fruit capturing a sample group from the 2003 / 2005 fieldwork. The ongoing willingness of regional women business owners to support these types of studies has been crucial. A large protion of these women profiled are still operating their business and a few are working in different workplace environments or have their business up for sale. One of the most notable insights from this fieldwork has been the awareness that the State and Territory Borders across Australia and Provincial Boundaries in New Zealand are invisible when you look through the lens of women run small business enterprises with the issues and challenges they share. View Book 1 details Bearing Fruit: Microfinance empowering women, families and communities. Both books available from this website link Book 3 in progress (NZ context) Enter your details below to subscribe to our newsletter 17 / 346 Barker Road, Subiaco, Perth Western Australia 6008 Phone: (08) 9381 4710 Mobile: 0428 174 546 viti@bearfruit.com.au http://www.bearfruit.com.au Internet Disclosure and Privacy Policy 2008 Bear Fruit About Viti Viti Folio Bear Fruit Formula Bear Fruit Services Non Fiction Book 1 Book 1 feedback Non Fiction Book 2 description Book Order Form Hands with Hands 2014 Fieldwork Hands with Hands 2011 Research Fieldwork 2008 - 2009 Australasia Project 2003 - 2006 Enterprising Women Research	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line506
__label__wiki	0.813424	0.813424	2018 Annual Regent Honeyeater Survey in the Capertee Valley Elisabeth Karplus September 30 – October 3, 2016 Elisabeth Karplus reports The Regent Honeyeater surveys together with the twice yearly tree planting in the Capertee Valley are part of a BirdLife Southern NSW project which began in 1993. The project contributes to the Regent Honeyeater Recovery effort which is coordinated by the national Regent Honeyeater Team. Birding NSW carries out this survey annually in October. BirdLife Southern NSW and Cumberland Bird Observers’ Club survey the same sites annually in August and September respectively. Twenty one people took part in the 2016 survey, which took place on the same weekend at the Birding NSW camp-out in the Capertee National Park. We welcomed Mal Stokes, who lives in Rylstone, to the survey. We divided up into six groups with plans to survey all 12 sites on Saturday. Unfortunately we could not survey on the Huntingdale site as the promised key was not left out for us and the Goolooinboin Station manager was away for the weekend. Alas we saw no Regent Honeyeaters on the survey sites. We recorded 10 nectar-feeding bird species including Musk and Little Lorikeets. Little Lorikeets (listed as Vulnerable under NSW Endangered Species Legislation in the Capertee CMA sub-region – see link at the end of this report) were common around Glen Davis Campground and Glen Davis Pipeline sites where there were flowering trees. The most common honeyeaters seen were White-plumed Honeyeaters, Noisy Friarbirds, Red Wattlebirds and Noisy Miners. Yellow-faced, Fuscous, White-naped and Brown-headed Honeyeaters were seen on three, three, two and one site respectively. We surveyed on the day after a very cold day and our survey day was cool and cloudy. We also recorded 61 other species on survey sites. Dusky Woodswallows, which have recently been listed as Vulnerable in the Capertee CMA sub-region, were seen on four sites. Other listed species seen during the survey were Turquoise Parrots (one site), Brown Treecreepers (seven sites), Speckled Warblers (one site), Grey-crowned Babblers (one site) and Diamond Firetails (one site). Although we saw no Regent Honeyeaters on the survey sites, we all went to the Capertee National Park on Saturday afternoon where we saw two Regent Honeyeaters in flowering Ironbarks close to the Homestead and two other birds in flowering trees near the campground. Regent Honeyeater in Capertee National Park — Photograph by Jodi Webber On Sunday morning most of the surveyors walked along a trail into Wollemi National Park. This proved to be very productive with 37 species being sighted. Rock Warbler, White-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike, Black-chinned Honeyeater, Leaden Flycatcher and Varied Sittella were added to the list for the weekend. Six members who camped at the campsite in Capertee National Park took park in the survey. They also explored other areas within the park although some places could not be reached because of the wet conditions. More Regent Honeyeaters were seen including two at the campsite. Allan Richards who lead the campout recorded 142 species for the weekend. The next Regent Honeyeater survey will take place in October 2017. I would like to encourage everyone to take part in this survey since Regent Honeyeater numbers have dropped dramatically and the Capertee Valley is one of the most important sites for these critically endangered birds. (http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedSpeciesApp/cmaSearchResults.aspx?SubCmaId=40) Report on Tree-planting – April 2016 – John Rawson Tree planting in the Capertee Valley to assist Regent Honeyeater April 2016 John Rawson reports Regent Honeyeater Survey in the Capertee Valley One of the three Regent Honeyeaters seen st the Huntingdale site. Photo by Allan Pidgeon October 2015 Regent Honeyeater surveyors at Genowlan Bridge – photo by Elisabeth Karplus Sixteen people took part in the 2015 survey. Our survey group included six people, who had done the surveys previously. We were all grateful for their directions both to the 12 sites and around the sites. The sites are surveyed for 45 to 60 minutes depending on the size of the site. We divided up into five groups to survey 10 sites on Saturday. Lori and Max surveyed the Bogee site on Sunday morning while the rest of us went to survey along the Capertee River on the Huntingdale site. Seen at the Huntingdale site — -Photo by Allan Pidgeon This is now the most reliable site for Regent Honeyeaters and thanks to Chris and Camila, we found a single Regent Honeyeater feeding in flowering mistletoe and subsequently two other birds were sighted. Only as we were leaving did we notice that there was an orange ribbon on a stick, which marked the area where the Regent Honeyeaters were being seen! These birds chased away several other honeyeaters (White-plumed Honeyeaters, Noisy Friarbirds) and also several Diamond Firetails, which were nesting in one of the trees favoured by the Regent Honeyeaters. Again thanks to Camila, Penny’s group saw another Regent Honeyeater south of Genowlan Bridge. This one was banded so we hope to learn where and when it was banded. Before leaving the valley, Allan and Rosie drove to Capertee National Park, where they saw at least five more Regent Honeyeaters in a large flowering ironbark. As well as Regent Honeyeaters, we recorded the numbers of other nectar-feeding birds, which could compete with Regent Honeyeaters. We recorded 11 species of honeyeaters overall. Noisy Friarbirds, Red Wattlebirds, Noisy Miners and White-plumed Honeyeaters were seen in large numbers on several sites. Other honeyeaters seen were Striped, Brown-headed, White-naped, Yellow-faced, Fuscous and Eastern Spinebill. Little Lorikeets were seen or heard on seven sites. We also recorded 63 other species during the surveys and another six species outside the survey times or elsewhere in the valley. It was pleasing to see Jacky Winters on eight sites and Brown Treecreepers on 10 sites as numbers of these woodland birds are falling elsewhere. Diamond Firetails were seen on two sites. Up to 25 Diamond Firetails were seen feeding on seeding grasses near the cottage, where we were staying on “Brymair”. Other interesting birds seen during the weekend included Western Gerygones and Speckled Warblers (both seen on “Brymair”) and a Crimson Chat (seen near Glen Davis). The next Regent Honeyeater survey will take place in October 2016. I would like to encourage people to take part in this survey since Regent Honeyeater numbers have dropped dramatically and the Capertee Valley is one of the most important sites for these critically endangered birds. Valiant volunteers still trying to help the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater Some of the 15 members of the Dera Sacha Sauda spiritual group from Sydney. They travelled four hours and were at the gate at 7:45. It’s 9am and there are about 3000 trees to get in the ground. Words and photos by Madeleine Murray The tree plantings in the Capertee Valley have been going since 1993, and they are just getting better. Support from Taronga Zoo has been excellent, and is growing. This time, Saturday 15 August, there were over 50 youth volunteers and staff from Taronga Zoo and Dubbo Western Plains Zoo. Unfortunately the numbers have not been swelling for the bird in question. When the plantings began in 1993, there were about 1200 Regent Honeyeaters in the wild. Now there are less than 500. What is going on? Ross Crates is trying to find the answer to this mysterious decline. Crates has just started a PhD on the spectacular black-and-yellow bird, and his research is outlined on his ANU page: Jasper Pressley with Ross Crates, whose PhD will research the mysterious decline of Regent Honeyeaters. “The Regent Honeyeater population has declined as a result of extensive habitat loss throughout its range, but much more drastically than other species. I aim to identify factors that explain this disproportionate decline, in order to assist the conservation of the Regent Honeyeater and other woodland birds.” So despite the discouraging data, the plantings continue. The trees still provide good habitat for a range of other birds, including six threatened species. Don Anderson arrived early with a trailer full of hoses, clamps and pumps. As usual, there was a convoy of 4WDs from the Land Rover Owners Club. These dedicated volunteers do the logistics, transport the 3000 tubestock to site and supply portable water tanks with hoses and pumps mounted on trailers for the crucial job of watering. On Friday, 11 volunteers from Greystanes High School in Western Sydney laid out the plants about five metres apart. And in an unexpected twist, 15 members of an Indian spiritual group dedicated to humanity were waiting at the gate Saturday morning at 7:45am, having gotten up at 4am and driven from Sydney. This was a new and very welcome addition to the plantings. The Dera Sacha Sauda spiritual group, based in India, has about 1000 members in Sydney. Some members of the enthusiastic Dera Sacha Sauda spiritual group. Generally they work as engineers, accountants, and in other professions. Part of the philosophy is helping humanity by doing good deeds. “We are very keen to plant trees,” said Sukhdeeb Insan. “There aren’t too many trees in Sydney, I don’t know why. We have been tree planting for the Parramatta and Blacktown Councils. Mostly we try to find volunteer work on Sunday because we all have jobs. One thousand people are ready for welfare works.” Capertee Valley is one of the great secrets of Australia. Few people have even heard of or visited this spectacular valley surrounded by towering sandstone cliffs. So isolated but still so close to Lithgow, Mudgee and Sydney. “This is the first time we are here,” said Insan. “It is very fantastic.” The movement, based in India, is dedicated to helping humanity. It holds several Guinness World Records for the most trees planted simultaneously! The group holds the Guinness World Record for the most number of trees (1,945,535) planted simultaneously at multiple locations across India in a day, as well as a world record for the most blood donors in a day (15,432). “Last Thursday we all donated blood, because this month is our guru’s birthday,” Insan said. “We celebrate our teacher’s birthday by doing things like planting trees and giving blood.” Further up the paddock a little boy was digging away beside his grandmother. “I’m planting trees to help the honey plant…I mean the honey bee…what?!” Charlie Pressley, 3, blurted out. Diane Rawson with two grandsons, Charley, 3, and Mer, 8. Charley Pressley, 3, said, “I’m planting trees to help the honey plant…I mean the honey bee…what?!” Diane Rawson and her husband were looking after their grandchildren for 10 days while the parents were overseas. She explained: “We showed them a picture of the Regent Honeyeater, and told them there were only about 400 left in the world, so it’s a good idea for everybody to help them, even little people who are only three years old!” Around 11am, the big Taronga Zoo bus arrived from Sydney. Regent Honeyeater Education Project in situ Coordinator Kerry Staker explained there would be three different groups arriving this time: some from Dubbo Zoo Western Plains, some from Taronga Zoo via Dubbo where they had been on a camp-out, and others from Taronga Zoo direct. “All in all we have more than 50 people today coming from three different meeting points,” Staker said. “The YATZ love coming tree planting. They’re the biggest drivers of it. If there weren’t the numbers behind it, we couldn’t afford to do it, to bring the big bus. It’s really heartening to see the young people get into it.” Taronga’s YATZ program has attracted about 400 young people who are passionate about animals and conservation. They do all sorts of interesting things, like zoo campouts, bird release, and work at the zoo. YATZ Tess Jones, Hughie Taylor and Freya Overton Christine Biela is researching Taronga Zoo’s innovative in situ programs, which comprise practical work such as tree planting or captive-bred bird release, with local school education about the environment. “Taronga does amazing work,” Biela said. “I moved here from the United States on the Australian Endeavour Scholarship to research Taronga Zoo’s in situ programs, which are great education models that combine community engagement with endangered species conservation.” The zoo volunteers poured off the bus, grabbed some tools and headed out to the paddock where Jenny Schabel showed them how to plant a tree properly. With panoramic views towards the cliffs, the site was beautiful but the clay soil was very hard. A tractor had ripped rows in the paddock a few weeks before but for some reason the rips were too deep so the volunteers had to dig a hole from scratch beside the rip. This was very difficult and made the planting slow. In her demonstration, Schabel emphasised that quality was more Jenny Schabel shows the Taronga Zoo volunteers how to plant a tree properly. important than quantity. The tree has to be planted below the field level, in a slight depression. If it sticks up, the water will wash away the soil and expose the roots – the tree won’t survive. The soil has to be broken up as much as possible so there are no big air pockets. After vetting the list of applicants for a planting, retired forester Dick Turner meets the landowner who has been chosen, and they work together. But not this time. Turner said: “It was all done by phone or email, which is not the way I like to work. The landowner Jean Findlay and I were on the property at different times. But to her enormous credit, as we discussed on the phone last week, she told both neighbours there would be a mob of tree planters on the property today. That’s good that she did that.” The owners have an obligation to maintain the fence between the properties. “We don’t really want to fence off this six hectares, though we thought of a temporary electric fence,” said Turner. “There were 32 kangaroos around most of the morning. One of the things kangaroos and other mammals are interested in is the fresh soil. They come around looking at that and see the fresh shoot coming up and nip it off. That may not kill the plant, but if they do it two or three times, it may be the end of the plant.” In spite of the problems, there has been an 80% success rate over the 22 years. The trees are grown from seeds taken from the immediate area of each planting. This time, it was 600 White Box, a few Mugga Ironbark, some Blakeley’s Red Gum and the nectar-bearing Yellow Box. For every tree, there is a shrub on either side. At noon, there were still about 2000 trees left to plant. The seeds were gathered in the valley, and grown to tubestock by locals Kerry Cooke and Dominique della Libera. The Capertee Valley Regent Honeyeater Recovery Project is funded by the Federal Government, through the Central Tablelands Local Land Services. Volunteers have planted over 118,000 trees in the valley since the project started in 1993. High school student Freya Overton, 17, was planting trees and also running behind a Land Rover with a yellow hose to water the plants. Overton has been in YATZ for about four years. Peter van Winden from the LROC, and YATZ volunteer Freya Overton run behind the vehicle to water the plants. “I have a passion for animals,” she said. “I started riding horses when I was four years old and that was the starting point. I’ve done many things with YATZ: tree planting of course, releasing 71 captive-bred Regent Honeyeaters into Chiltern Forest in Victoria. “I went to Nepal last year for three weeks to do conservation for Red Pandas. We went searching for scat, looking for Red Pandas and found two in the wild – a brother and sister! We went to a school to educate the kids about Red Pandas. It was an amazing trip.” It’s very impressive to meet young people who are already so clear and committed. YATZ volunteer Mia Yaffe said, YATZ volunteers Mia Yaffe, 16 and Tyra Bowers, 15. “Ever since can remember I’ve been interested in animals. Then I heard about this program and really wanted to join. Since then, I’ve become more and more passionate about conservation and about what I and other people my age can do to help preserve the amazing wildlife in this country.” Debbie de Groot and Rod Smith came from Mudgee for the weekend and were camping at Glen Davis with their two-and-a-half-year-old twins, Lou and Scout. “One of them started to get a cold in the middle of the night so it was pretty hard,” said de Groot. “Tonight will be better,” Smith said optimistically. Ross Crates has come from England to work on his PhD in Regent Honeyeaters: “I started about six months ago at ANU. I just came up here to do my first bit of field work. I’ve been in the Capertee for the last six days and I’ve already found some Regents. They were just out this afternoon down by the tree planting. “Regent Honeyeaters are fascinating birds, in how they move around the landscape. There’s so much we need to find out about them. They’re a very challenging species to study as well. They are very rare and they don’t always turn up in the same spot. So hopefully I can help out with the project in the next four years.” The planting and watering didn’t finish until 4pm, at which point the Zoo people, and the Indian group headed back to Sydney. The rest got ready for the delicious dinner prepared by locals in the Glen Alice hall that evening. Although there are less than 500 Regent Honeyeaters left, different survey groups found nine in the valley on Sunday morning. Perhaps there is still hope for this beautiful, critically endangered bird.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line515
__label__cc	0.618306	0.381694	Home News Robbie passes baton to Neil and COG Robbie passes baton to Neil and COG We’re sad to say that we’ve lost contact with Robbie. He’s been such a champion and has become an icon for the species. He may never read this but we thank him for his spectacular journey that began on April 21st, 2015. Inka Veltheim and I met him in a rice crop near Coleambally and what followed has provided unprecedented insight into the movements of these cryptic, endangered waterbirds. He’ll always be the first ever Australasian Bittern to be tracked by satellites. He made nine state border crossings (NSW-VIC-SA-VIC-NSW-VIC-SA-VIC-SA-VIC) and used a wide range of wetlands but spent most of his time at the recently restored Long Swamp in far south-western Victoria. On losing contact, Robbie’s story attracted lots of media attention, culminating in a live television interview and website article on BBC World News. He’s officially the most famous bittern in history. It’s impossible to know whether it was just his transmitter or harness coming to the end of their life or whether this much loved bird may have succumbed to a fox or some other fate. In any case he’s left some big shoes to fill. Robbie connected seemingly disparate people and places on his remarkable 323 day journey. Bitterns go out of their way to remain concealed in wetland vegetation, avoiding visual detection. Even at the best of times they can be hard to spot. Catching them presents a new challenge altogether. With the breeding season behind us, the option of luring booming males into cages with the use of a mirror and call playback was out, so it was back to the net gun. Finding a bittern is one thing; getting within ten metres to have a shot is another. Thanks to the help of dozens of rice farmers that have been reporting their sightings from harvest, we’ve had a successful week. Meet Neil, a young male fitted with a satellite transmitter at his harvested rice crop near Murrami, NSW. Last Sunday we were thrilled to catch Neil. His weight, appearance and behaviour was uncannily similar to Robbie. This young male from Murrami, between Leeton and Griffith, was presumably born in a local rice crop around January. He was clinging to an already harvested crop that was almost completely dry. He’s named after Neil Bull from the Rice Growers’ Association. Neil was central in establishing the Bitterns in Rice Project and continues to be a driving force in its development. We think his bittern is bound for glory and filling Robbie’s big shoes is not out of the question. He has already made a 5.75 kilometre move to the west to a late, unharvested crop that still has some water. Funnily enough, we had been there several times trying to catch other bitterns. After witnessing Robbie’s dispersal to South Australia last season, there’s every chance we’re about to see a big move from Neil. And it’s not just Neil who we’ll be watching. Meet COG, apparently the most adorable and hilarious feather duster, another young male from Murrami set to reveal post-harvest movements. On Anzac Day, less than 24 hours after the joy of adding Neil to the Tracking Bunyip Birds crew, and still in the Murrami area, we hit the jackpot again. It’s our pleasure to introduce COG, as in Canberra Ornithologists Group, another organisation to make a generous contribution to the crowdfunding. COG was also a dead ringer for Robbie, a 3-4 month old male successfully bred in rice. Strangely enough, COG has already moved 2.5 kilometres straight to where we caught Neil. We’ll have Neil and COG’s sex confirmed by DNA but we’re already wondering where the seemingly elusive young females are. In the meantime, we’re on the edge of our seats waiting to see where these young fellows go. The bittern chicks were looking as stylish and prehistoric as ever this season. In other news, shortly after the Threatened Species Commissioner’s visit, we attached radio transmitters to two of the chicks he’d met, with the view to replacing them with satellite transmitters and a harness once the birds were big enough and close to fledging. Unfortunately, we recovered the radio transmitters a month later but without the birds. At least one of them had died, most likely killed by a fox. Mark Robb receives signals from two chicks with radio transmitters in a nest. At the end of March, Vin dispersed 191 kilometres to Stockinbingal, near Temora. This adult male left the Coleambally rice fields in almost the opposite direction to what Robbie did. It appeared he was using a farm dam as a stop-over but unfortunately we have now lost contact with Vin, with the last fixes still in that area around Stockinbingal. Again, it’s impossible to know whether or not it’s a transmitter issue or if Vin is no longer alive. Meanwhile, Coly-Lion remained in his booming territory where we caught him in January. We’ve also lost contact with him and this time it’s clear that it’s been a transmitter issue because he was photographed alive and well with the harness and transmitter still on his back after we stopped receiving transmissions. Both Vin and Coly-Lion confirmed how territorial adult booming males are during the breeding season, with three months of data showing them only rarely venturing to a neighbouring crop. And Vin has indicated a very new direction for post harvest movements. He may have been heading towards some of the large swamps around Canberra and Goulburn that are known to support bitterns. Perhaps Neil or COG will head there too. We’ll soon see … Vin dispersed at least 191 kilometres ENE of his breeding territory in a Coleambally rice field. Near the centre of Coly-Lion’s booming territory, as indicated by the tracking data, we found a nest where the chicks had already begun wandering. Previous articleThreatened Species Commissioner Meets Bittern Chicks Next articleNeil flies 450 km to Moodie Swamp; Robbie at Tootgarook?! John Culleton Apr 29, 2016 at 1:41 pm Great article Matt. It’s wonderful to see the Team’s growing understanding of bittern behaviour and to have what irrigators have always known reaffirmed – irrigated agriculture and the environment can be mutually supporting constructs. I have to say the behaviours of the individual bitterns also bear a close resemblance to the individuals they have been named after too! Well done to all concerned. Matt Herring Apr 30, 2016 at 8:55 am Thanks John. The potential is enormous. In 50 years I’m sure they’ll look back and laugh that we use to view different buckets of water and parcels of land in stiff competition rather than working toward common goals. As for the bitterns resembling their namesakes … no comment. Thanks again for the great support that CICL has contributed; a huge factor in getting us to this point. Lynette Giddings Apr 30, 2016 at 12:57 am I look forward to every update on ‘our Bitterns’. I love the content and way you write Matt, with such passion and a touch of humour. I’ve learned so much about a bird I’d never heard of until I came across your Blog. My eyes welled when I first read that Robbie was no longer part of our tracking nest. I often wonder where he might be now, but in saying that, Neil and COG have unknowingly taken up the mantle and we follow them with the same interest. Thanks Lynette. They’re such kind words. Your support is always greatly appreciated. It’s going to be very interesting over the coming days and weeks. I have to say that I can’t stop checking to see where they are. Neil is due to come back online any minute … Nature Glenelg Trust \| Where’s Robbie? Our favourite bittern is missing in action… May 11, 2016 at 2:39 am […] Robbie passes baton to Neil and COG […] Tootgarook Bittern is Coly-Lion \| Bitterns in Rice Project Jun 13, 2016 at 5:54 pm […] Neil remains at Moodie Swamp between Yarrawonga and Benalla, while COG appears happy with the channels and dams around the rice field we caught Neil, about 2.5 km from his own capture site. […] Arnold’s on the move \| Bitterns in Rice Project Jul 10, 2017 at 4:46 pm […] Arnold departed the rice field where we found him in April. He’s a young bird, reminiscent of Robbie and only about four months old, presumably born in the rice crop where we caught him. He headed 78 […] Leave a Reply to Tootgarook Bittern is Coly-Lion \| Bitterns in Rice Project Cancel reply	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line516
__label__wiki	0.648991	0.648991	Princess Pumpalot, Review Published by Barry Dickson on Thu, 15/08/2013 - 15:22 As the title suggests this Princess does indeed pump a lot and what a brilliant show it is. The Princess Pumpalot website http://www.princesspumpalot.co.uk/ states "Princess Pumpalot (The Farting Princess) is a children's stage show based on the book of the same name by Robin Mitchell. The book was first published in July 2012." This show is supposed to be a children's show but this adult reckons it is wasted on children it is a brilliantly written and acted show and certainly brought a smile to my face. In essence (albeit a smelly one) the story is about the Princess who is about to turn 16 and is given a cabinet key and in that cabinet are beans, not just ordinary beans but magic beans 32,141 to be precise and these beans are beans that make you fart. The characters are really well played by a great cast from the Princess herself to the King and the brilliantly named Queen Latifah (something that some of us adults giggled at) also one of the characters Guffy to me had a resemblance to the late great Gerard Kelly and had me wondering if this was a nod to him or just a total coincidence. There is a witch, a good guy (Prince Niceavia), a bad guy (Prince Nastavia) a talking Giraffe called Geoffrey and a low flying Gnome but most of all a wonderful Princess who pumps/farts/trumps/breaks wind...... I think you get the idea. All in all a fantastic show to be enjoyed by kids and big kids like me who like fart jokes and noises but there is enough to keep adults happy too. A huge well deserved 5 ***** stars from this big kid for Princess Pumpalot Showing at The Assembly Rooms George Street until 25th August. N.B The picture of the Princess was kindly sent to me via Twitter as I could not hang about to get one and the Princess kindly sent me it...... Twitter @ppumpalot BDFM Festival Links BDFM @ The Edinburgh Festivals Festival Archive	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line517
__label__cc	0.711175	0.288825	Editor Nov 21, 2017 0 Using Children As Interpreters Editor Nov 6, 2017 0 By Aruna Papp Research shows that immigrant children learn English faster than their parents, therefore it is understandable why some parents use their children as interpreters. Parents requiring assistance might be reluctant to ask… Training: Back to School or Back to Zero Over three years ago, Sabine moved from her home country, Germany, to Toronto, where she has been working as a journalist and translator ever since. Up to this day, she still lovers everything about Canada – apart from the winters. Ever… Tax Matters: Give Wisely Editor Oct 29, 2017 0 By Michael Crawford Canadians are a generous people. Currently there are over 85,000 registered charities in Canada that cater to a variety of goals such as the relief of poverty; advancement of education or religion or “other purposes… Work: The Workplace of the Future by Sandra Fletcher (Picture of Asimo courtesy of American Honda Motor Co. Inc) CNMAGIn the 1980s it was thought by many that employment in the year 2000 would have us all balancing work and leisure using technology to assist us to a perfect… The taste of the Danforth The Taste of the Danforth 2008, 15th celebration of Greek cuisine in Toronto, looked more like a celebration of umbrellas than food. The rain, a frequent visitor this summer, made the starts of the show —souvlakis, sosaties and brochettes—… Job Boards for Medical Professionals These Canadian job boards, with listings of available positions, can help you find employment in your branch of medicine. Some of the job boards are completely healthcare-oriented; others have sections with jobs in the medical field. If you… Teaching ESL: An Extraordinary Career Path By Ursula Gnass After more than 22 years as an ESL/LINC instructor, I am getting ready to scale down my involvement. I love teaching, interacting with people and seeing individuals grow. My first experience in ESL was in the elementary… Tax Matters – On a Need to Know Basis By Michael L. Crawford, BA(Hons), CMA There are a few things about taxes that every Canadian needs to know about. Resources www.cra.gc.ca. That’s it. It’s that simple to find the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) on the internet. From here you… By Gilda Spitz According to an old proverb, "The eyes are the mirror of the soul." That's only one of many reasons why you should take good care of your eyes. Stoolball – The Great-Great-Grandmother of Baseball and Cricket By Ruth Tendulkar Sarah, the milkmaid stuck her head in the barn door. “Oi, Rosie, coming out to Potter’s field for a whack at the old stool?” she asked.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line529
__label__cc	0.532904	0.467096	And We thought That We Moved to the Desert of water in our rain gauge. Did we bring it here? Posted by Jim at 5:29 PM 0 comments Fifty Shades of Clay Several years ago – during a Christmas visit with our daughter-in-law and son in Santa Fe, NM – Marsha and I met B, the mother of one of their good friends, who had recently moved to Santa Fe from (as she would say) “Noo Yawk” City. B told us her first reaction to her new southwest home was, “Everything is so beige!” And this is from someone who lived all of her life in the concrete canyons of America’s largest metropolis. So how should it look to a pair of lifelong New Englanders where we, with little difficulty, intentionally surrounded ourselves with green lawns, green trees, green bushes, green golf fairways and, even greener greens. But beige is actually the way we like it. And beige is the way Santa Fe was meant to be. (“Santa Fe has a distinctive architectural style all its own. No other city in the country has so many low-slung, earth-colored buildings made of adobe bricks, which consist of a mixture of sun-dried earth and straw.” According to the Santa Fe Tourism website.) This style was created by the Pueblo Indians living in the Rio Grande Valley, admired and emulated by the Spanish who arrived in the 16th century, and codified in the early 1900s as “The Santa Fe Style” as a means of turning the entire community into an exotic tourist destination. Nowadays Pueblo-style houses in Santa Fe are constructed on wooden frames and covered with concrete, mortar or stucco – but still feature the requisite rounded corners, irregular parapets and thick, sloping (“battered) walls and, most importantly, the earth-tone exteriors. Our son and daughter-in-law’s house built in the 1940s, and our newly acquired Santa Fe home built in 2000 are of the wood and stucco model. The perpetual beige of the architecture, and the surrounding high desert, mesmerized Marsha and me on our first trip to Santa Fe in 1992 – to the extent that in subsequent years when we chose to vacation in spots other than northern New Mexico we seemed to have opted for similarly oatmeal-colored venues such as the Big Bend region of West Texas or the limestone-land, limestone building island of Malta in the Mediterranean. Even when we spent time in more conventionally urban locales such as Barcelona, Spain we gravitated to the Sagrada Famiglia church - the possibly never-to-be-finished attempt by the architect Antonio Gaudi to transubstantiate the organic shape, and earthly color of the world into a manmade monument to his God. The texture and shape of that edifice has been described as looking similar to melting wax or sculpted sand – or to Marsha and me like the “hoodoo” stones of Tent Rocks (south of our new home town) – the towering organically offbeat shapes that somehow manage to be both unsettling in their harshly atypical structure and at the same time comforting in their soft lines and colorless color. And of we course would always return to Santa Fe. But beige, it turns out, isn’t all there is to be. There is in fact, believe it or not, actual living color here in northern New Mexico. Marsha and I sold our house in CT and moved to Santa Fe to begin our house-hunt in the first week of May. It was, as hard as it was for us to realize, the first time we had been here during the spring season. We rented a beige Airbnb casita in the beige, residential South Capitol section of town. In order to combat the calories we were ingesting via Trader Joe’s Chips and Salsa and TJ’s tubs of small cookies we walked the streets and alleys of the neighborhood on a daily basis. We started each morning with a thirty-or-so minute trip (depending upon the route) to purchase the local morning newspaper from the vendor who set himself up in the road at the area’s main commuting intersection. (Santa Fe is, in our experience, unique in using this method of getting the news out.) On our first day we turned the corner from our temporary home to see (of course) a beige stucco wall over-draped (to our surprise) with a blanket of small red bush roses and Russian sage – and footnoted by a phalanx of self-sown Hollyhocks of various hues along each side of the sidewalk. And along each of the various routes the colors of these and other Santa Fe spring flora such as Spanish Broom (a tall shrub with a riot of fragrant yellow pea-like flowers that you can smell well before they can be seen), bright orange and yellow daisy-like plants, yellow columbine, and more and more Hollyhocks and purple sage. Our own newly purchased abode came equipped with more subtly colored lavender, primrose and multiple as yet unidentified local desert flowers. And many of the homes feature brightly colored doors – both the gates guarding the beige courtyards and the entrances to the beige casitas are frequently painted in aggressively vivid reds and blues – some left to weather and peel in a nod to “Santa Fe charm.” It turns out that the omnipresent beige backdrop provides the perfect blank slate onto which each of us can add our own unique set of colors. And for those of us with a less-flamboyant nature this is probably just the kind of environment that we need. Pueblo-style housing decrees earth-tone outer walls – fifty shades of clay. Que Transtulit Sustinet The last gardening thing I did in Wethersfield, Connecticut at our now former house was to uproot the blooming yellow dandelions that had appeared in Marsha’s and my otherwise healthy green front lawn during the last week of April. My first landscaping task at our new abode in Santa Fe, New Mexico was the same one – except out here at the end of August the unwanted plants were only slightly less desiccated than the hard, dusty dirt (I hesitate to say soil) within which they were growing. Mano-a-mano eradication of the bright yellow weed with my snake-tongued weeding tool manually had become pretty much of a joyous obsession with me over the forty years that we lived in our former home – and it was a pleasure that I thought I would have to leave behind when we moved to the southwest. So I have to admit I was actually overjoyed at the sight of the “lion’s tooth” (from the French “dent-de-lion”) mocking me as I surveyed for the first time what the house-seller was touting as a “natural desert” backyard. Marsha and I spent the sixteen weeks in between the two houses at two different Airbnb rentals in two different sections of Santa Fe that we had hadn’t visited much at all in during our twenty-five years of visiting New Mexico’s capitol city. Initially we spent three and one-half months in a small “casita” (“little house”) in what is called the South Capitol section of town, and the last fourteen days in a larger place at the beginning of Upper Canyon Road. According to santaferealestatedowntown.com, “Rail traffic and an expanding middle class fueled the development of South Capitol, Santa Fe NM in the early twentieth century. A rich and appealing collection of single family homes, condos, and small compounds, South Capitol charms with its architectural diversity. Craftsman bungalows intermingle with Pueblos, Pueblo Deco revivals, Victorians and Territorials. Construction materials run the Santa Fe gamut: adobe, brick, Pen-tile (a term for hollow bricks formerly made at the State Penitentiary) and framed stucco. Mature trees abound thanks, in part, to the WPA. Yards range in size from postage stamp patios to 1 acre spreads.” Many of the streets, which we explored on a daily basis, follow the narrow curvy contours of pre-twentieth century alleyways and paths. And several of the alleys remain as such with tiny casitas along them. It was these narrow thoroughfares that convinced Marsha and I that no vehicle larger than the small Jeep Renegade we purchased out here could survive in “the city different”. Our rental was a small one bed, one bath casita in a compound of six similarly (or smaller) sized units on West Burger Street. How small was it? I am 6’ 5” tall. In the kitchen I could spread my arms and touch both walls without extending my fingers. The queen size bed allowed about two feet on one side and less than 12” on the other and when we did our morning Pilates sit-ups the knuckles of my outstretched arms scraped the ceiling. Not to get ahead of ourselves here but yesterday Marsha decided that most, if not all, of that casita could fit into the living room of our new 2,100-foot house. Then for the second half of August we stayed at a larger place in the Upper Canyon Road section of town, described by realtor site Neillyon.com as follows “The historic eastside neighborhood boasts some of the most photographed adobe Santa Fe homes and gardens, with some homes dating back centuries. Hosting a mix of multi-generational families and newcomers, the historic eastside homes, often hidden behind high walls and accessed by narrow dirt lanes, recall the city’s early history and lend Santa Fe a unique style. Views can be scarce here, but authenticity and atmosphere dominate. Long famous for its galleries, restaurants and specialty shops, Canyon Road has become one of Santa Fe’s most popular attractions.” And that is pretty much what we saw as we walked the streets early each morning. But interspersed among the “most photographed adobe Santa Fe homes and gardens” were a lesser number of way-smaller, older, less well maintained casitas that presumably still house one or more (but not too many more) members of the multi-generational family owners. “Throughout much of its history, Canyon Road existed as a quiet farming community on the city's outskirts. Its turning point came in the 1920s when a group of painters settled on the then dirt road and began selling artwork from their homes. The presence of these nationally recognized artists, known as ‘Los Cinco Pintores,’ slowly transformed Canyon Road into a thriving art community.” Our Airbnb was on Apodaca Hill immediately off Upper Canyon Road – an area referred to by locals in the 1970s as “Dogpatch”, at the time an almost-rural, popular party spot. But wealthy home-seekers started moving in and began the piecemeal gentrification of the area. According to the Santa Fe Reporter “In the late ’90s, many locals had to put historic east-side properties up for sale that had been kept in families for generations due to exorbitant tax hikes. A resident’s tax bill could go up 50 or 100 percent back then and sometimes more, according to Santa Fe County Tax Assessor Gus Martinez…. “…With such expensive land up for sale, ‘your typical person,’ Martinez said, couldn’t afford property in a barrio now considered Santa Fe’s upper end. Many Hispanic families were displaced as a result. …. Now, a house could go for $300,000 in the rest of the city; one in the barrio of yore costs upwards of one million dollars.” We stayed in the lower part of a recently built house on a hillside (worth probably two million or more) next to a similarly “fancy-schmancy” adobe – both of which sat between which sat between (on one side) two casitas needing renovation roughly the same size as our West Burger rental and (on the other side) by a family house with cracked stucco walls and four perpetual-work-in-progress motor vehicles in the driveway (which was basically the front yard). Further along the street were several similar pairings of architectural style. “Santa Fe charm”, as our city SF resident daughter-in-law describes it. After twenty-five years of visiting New Mexico’s capitol city Marsha and I knew that neither of our two rental areas would be where we would settle down. And our realtor D quickly reaffirmed that “you will not find the house you want for the money you want” in those parts of town. But it was kind of fun to imagine the possibility – even after one of the very diminutive casitas in our Burger Street compound sold for $250,000 while we were there. Our plan was to rent for May, June and July giving us, we thought, more than enough time to find our “dream home” (or at least some place where we could sleep pleasantly). It wasn’t – necessitating our move for the second half of August to Apodaca Hill because our Burger Street Airbnb was rented to someone attending Santa Fe’s annual Indian Market (a really big bucks, big show which draws ardent shoppers and collectors from all around the world.) And during those three-plus months, between open houses (our Sunday ritual), and what realtor D showed us, we saw probably thirty candidates. We began our search in the same Casa Solana part of town that our son and daughter-in-law have their home – not out of any “Everybody Loves Raymond” fantasy, but because we really like their house, the fact that it is in a “mixed” neighborhood, and its proximity to town (although not within walking distance like either of our rentals). But (a) there were not many houses on the market there, and (b) those that were smaller than we wanted, or had issues that could have turned into a bigger project than we were interested in taking on at this point in our lives. Our Sunday open house trips took us about thirty minutes from the city center and into what in the Hartford Connecticut area (from where we were moving) would be “the burbs” – an unincorporated part of Santa Fe County with a (probably less prestigious) Santa Fe zip code and situated among the dry-land high desert rolling hills with low-scrub-shrubs and stucco adobe style HOA communities distinguishable from the earlier Tiwa and Tewa Pueblo Indian villages that the early Spanish colonists saw by, among other things, the rooftop satellite dishes. (BTW - HOA is a Home Owners Association, not the name of another southwestern pueblo tribe.) We seriously considered two houses – made an offer on one that was accepted –and then backed out after the inspection. It is never a good thing when you walk in on the home inspector and before introducing himself he says, ”You’ve just got to see this.” We were able to get a copy of a previous prospective buyer’s inspection of the second and chose not to go any further. So, as I am sure frequently happens, we upped our price range and on a late July Sunday afternoon wandered into an extremely well-maintained house on Brilliant Sky Drive (who wouldn’t love that name), and within days were under contract. It passed inspection with flying colors. We closed on August 16. Our furniture and other stuff from Connecticut came on the 25th. The beds that we had made for us out here were installed six days later, so we could have officially moved in then. But we wanted to see the final episode of the telenovela “Queen of the South” and there was no TV connectivity at Brilliant Sky. Therefore we spent that night at Apodaca Hill and officially took occupancy of the next chapter in our lives on the first day of our fifty-first year of marriage (9/1). (Not part of our original plan – but much, much cooler.) The property overview from realtor.com describes our new abode as, “Located in the Rancho Viejo Village, this lovely, light-filled home bespeaks the ease of living here. Oversized windows pour sunshine into the living spaces and kitchen from the secluded courtyard garden, landscaped to perfection. The curved wall of the dining room gives charm and a view to the garden as well. A wonderful space for entertaining family and guests. Minutes from the Community College where classes and fitness facilities are available. And 10 minutes to Target! The original Rancho Viejo village features a manicured park, space to share with neighbors, as well as a small market. Don't forget the great trails and open space available to the entire community. The Luminaria model was popular from the beginning and now welcomes new homeowners again.” The house was “move-in ready”, Santa Fe adobe style, in a really mixed neighborhood – and pretty much love at first sight. It is landscaped with a variety of local flora, most of which we don’t know and some of which we do (lavender, daisy, a small struggling rose) – plus the aforementioned archenemy dandelion. And there was one more former friend, now an instant enemy, pushing up through the moistureless sod in our “outback” – the small walled-in, west-facing, area from which we (and our future guests from their guestroom window) can watch a largely unimpeded view of the sun setting behind the thirty-miles distant Jimez Mountains. Our new nemesis is grass – something that as New England homeowners we could not get enough of, but now as a born-again southwest xeriscape cult members it is a plant whose tinge of greenness assaults our eyes with the same sting as the bright yellow of the dandelion once did. So the other morning, while inside the house Marsha watched the cable/internet guy reconnect us to the 21st century, I knelt on my rubber gardening pad in the bone-dry outback and, by hand, pulled out every tuft of turf that dared to impinge on our otherwise one-hundred percent “natural desert” backyard. And you know, it felt just as natural as my last gardening act in Connecticut did. Looks like we’ve found a home.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line531
__label__cc	0.516729	0.483271	You are here: Home » Reference » Ellen White Books (N-S) » Prophets and Kings » Chap. 3 - Pride of Prosperity Chap. 3 - Pride of Prosperity Parent Category: Ellen White Books (N-S) Category: Prophets and Kings Unable to embed Rapid1Pixelout audio player. Please double check that: 1)You have the latest version of Adobe Flash Player. 2)This web page does not have any fatal Javascript errors. 3)The audio-player.js file of Rapid1Pixelout has been included. While Solomon exalted the law of heaven, God was with him, and wisdom was given him to rule over Israel with impartiality and mercy. At first, as wealth and worldly honour came to him, he remained humble, and great was the extent of his influence. "Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river [Euphrates] unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt." "He . . . had peace on all sides round about him. And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, . . . all the days of Solomon." I Kings 4:21, 24, 25. But after a morning of great promise his life was darkened by apostasy. History records the melancholy fact that he who had been called Jedidiah,--"Beloved of the Lord" (2 Samuel 12:25, margin),--he who had been honoured by God with tokens of divine favour so remarkable that his wisdom and uprightness gained for him world-wide fame, he who had led others to ascribe honour to the God of Israel, turned from the worship of Jehovah to bow before the idols of the heathen. Hundreds of years before Solomon came to the throne, the Lord, foreseeing the perils that would beset those who might be chosen as rulers of Israel, gave Moses instruction for their guidance. Directions were given that he who should sit on the throne of Israel should "write him a copy" of the statutes of Jehovah "in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites." "It shall be with him," the Lord said, "and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel." Deuteronomy 17:18-20. In connection with this instruction the Lord particularly cautioned the one who might be anointed king not to "multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold." Verse 17. With these warnings Solomon was familiar, and for a time he heeded them. His greatest desire was to live and rule in accordance with the statutes given at Sinai. His manner of conducting the affairs of the kingdom was in striking contrast with the customs of the nations of his time--nations who feared not God and whose rulers trampled underfoot His holy law. In seeking to strengthen his relations with the powerful kingdom lying to the southward of Israel, Solomon ventured upon forbidden ground. Satan knew the results that would attend obedience; and during the earlier years of Solomon's reign--years glorious because of the wisdom, the beneficence, and the uprightness of the king--he sought to bring in influences that would insidiously undermine Solomon's loyalty to principle and cause him to separate from God. That the enemy was successful in this effort, we know from the record: "Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the City of David." I Kings 3:I. From a human point of view, this marriage, though contrary to the teachings of God's law, seemed to prove a blessing; for Solomon's heathen wife was converted and united with him in the worship of the true God. Furthermore, Pharaoh rendered signal service to Israel by taking Gezer, slaying "the Canaanites that dwelt in the city," and giving it "for a present unto his daughter, Solomon's wife." I Kings 9:16. This city Solomon rebuilt and thus apparently greatly strengthened his kingdom along the Mediterranean seacoast. But in forming an alliance with a heathen nation, and sealing the compact by marriage with an idolatrous princess, Solomon rashly disregarded the wise provision that God had made for maintaining the purity of His people. The hope that his Egyptian wife might be converted was but a feeble excuse for the sin. For a time God in His compassionate mercy overruled this terrible mistake; and the king, by a wise course, could have checked at least in a large measure the evil forces that his imprudence had set in operation. But Solomon had begun to lose sight of the Source of his power and glory. As inclination gained the ascendancy over reason, self-confidence increased, and he sought to carry out the Lord's purpose in his own way. He reasoned that political and commercial alliances with the surrounding nations would bring these nations to a knowledge of the true God; and he entered into unholy alliance with nation after nation. Often these alliances were sealed by marriages with heathen princesses. The commands of Jehovah were set aside for the customs of surrounding peoples. Solomon flattered himself that his wisdom and the power of his example would lead his wives from idolatry to the worship of the true God, and also that the alliances thus formed would draw the nations round about into close touch with Israel. Vain hope! Solomon's mistake in regarding himself as strong enough to resist the influence of heathen associates was fatal. And fatal, too, the deception that led him to hope that notwithstanding a disregard of God's law on his part, others might be led to revere and obey its sacred precepts. The king's alliances and commercial relations with heathen nations brought him renown, honour, and the riches of this world. He was enabled to bring gold from Ophir and silver from Tarshish in great abundance. "The king made silver and gold at Jerusalem as plenteous as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycamore trees that are in the vale for abundance." 2 Chronicles 1:15. Wealth, with all its attendant temptations, came in Solomon's day to an increasingly large number of people; but the fine gold of character was dimmed and marred. So gradual was Solomon's apostasy that before he was aware of it; he had wandered far from God. Almost imperceptibly he began to trust less and less in divine guidance and blessing, and to put confidence in his own strength. Little by little he withheld from God that unswerving obedience which was to make Israel a peculiar people, and he conformed more and more closely to the customs of the surrounding nations. Yielding to the temptations incident to his success and his honoured position, he forgot the Source of his prosperity. An ambition to excel all other nations in power and grandeur led him to pervert for selfish purposes the heavenly gifts hitherto employed for the glory of God. The money which should have been held in sacred trust for the benefit of the worthy poor and for the extension of principles of holy living throughout the world, was selfishly absorbed in ambitious projects. Engrossed in an overmastering desire to surpass other nations in outward display, the king overlooked the need of acquiring beauty and perfection of character. In seeking to glorify himself before the world, he sold his honour and integrity. The enormous revenues acquired through commerce with many lands were supplemented by heavy taxes. Thus pride, ambition, prodigality, and indulgence bore fruit in cruelty and exaction. The conscientious, considerate spirit that had marked his dealings with the people during the early part of his reign, was now changed. From the wisest and most merciful of rulers, he degenerated into a tyrant. Once the compassionate, God-fearing guardian of the people, he became oppressive and despotic. Tax after tax was levied upon the people, that means might be forthcoming to support the luxurious court. The people began to complain. The respect and admiration they had once cherished for their king was changed into disaffection and abhorrence. As a safeguard against dependence on the arm of flesh, the Lord had warned those who should rule over Israel not to multiply horses to themselves. But in utter disregard of this command, "Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt." "And they brought unto Solomon horses out of Egypt, and out of all lands." "Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem." 2 Chronicles I:16; 9:28; I Kings 10:26. More and more the king came to regard luxury, self-indulgence, and the favour of the world as indications of greatness. Beautiful and attractive women were brought from Egypt, Phoenicia, Edom, and Moab, and from many other places. These women were numbered by hundreds. Their religion was idol worship, and they had been taught to practice cruel and degrading rites. Infatuated with their beauty, the king neglected his duties to God and to his kingdom. His wives exerted a strong influence over him and gradually prevailed on him to unite with them in their worship. Solomon had disregarded the instruction that God had given to serve as a barrier against apostasy, and now he gave himself up to the worship of the false gods. "It came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites." I Kings II:4,5. On the southern eminence of the Mount of Olives, opposite Mount Moriah, where stood the beautiful temple of Jehovah, Solomon erected an imposing pile of buildings to be used as idolatrous shrines. To please his wives, he placed huge idols, unshapely images of wood and stone, amidst the groves of myrtle and olive. There, before the altars of heathen deities, "Chemosh, the abomination of Moab," and "Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon," were practised the most degrading rites of heathenism. Verse 7. Solomon's course brought its sure penalty. His separation from God through communication with idolaters was his ruin. As he cast off his allegiance to God, he lost the mastery of himself. His moral efficiency was gone. His fine sensibilities became blunted, his conscience seared. He who in his early reign had displayed so much wisdom and sympathy in restoring a helpless babe to its unfortunate mother (see I Kings 3:16-28), fell so low as to consent to the erection of an idol to whom living children were offered as sacrifices. He who in his youth was endowed with discretion and understanding, and who in his strong manhood had been inspired to write, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Proverbs 14:12), in later years departed so far from purity as to countenance licentious, revolting rites connected with the worship of Chemosh and Ashtoreth. He who at the dedication of the temple had said to his people, "Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God" (I Kings 8:61), became himself an offender, in heart and life denying his own words. He mistook license for liberty. He tried--but at what cost!--to unite light with darkness, good with evil, purity with impurity, Christ with Belial. From being one of the greatest kings that ever wielded a sceptre, Solomon became a profligate, the tool and slave of others. His character, once noble and manly, became enervated and effeminate. His faith in the living God was supplanted by atheistic doubts. Unbelief marred his happiness, weakened his principles, and degraded his life. The justice and magnanimity of his early reign were changed to despotism and tyranny. Poor, frail human nature! God can do little for men who lose their sense of dependence upon Him. During these years of apostasy, the spiritual decline of Israel progressed steadily. How could it be otherwise when their king had united his interests with satanic agencies? Through these agencies the enemy worked to confuse the minds of the Israelites in regard to true and false worship, and they became an easy prey. Commerce with other nations brought them into intimate contact with those who had no love for God, and their own love for Him was greatly lessened. Their keen sense of the high, holy character of God was deadened. Refusing to follow in the path of obedience, they transferred their allegiance to the enemy of righteousness. It came to be a common practice to intermarry with idolaters, and the Israelites rapidly lost their abhorrence of idol worship. Polygamy was countenanced. Idolatrous mothers brought their children up to observe heathen rites. In the lives of some, the pure religious service instituted by God was replaced by idolatry of the darkest hue. Christians are to keep themselves distinct and separate from the world, its spirit, and its influences. God is fully able to keep us in the world, but we are not to be of the world. His love is not uncertain and fluctuating. Ever He watches over His children with a care that is measureless. But He requires undivided allegiance. "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Matthew 6:24. Solomon was endued with wonderful wisdom, but the world drew him away from God. Men today are no stronger than he; they are as prone to yield to the influences that caused his downfall. As God warned Solomon of his danger, so today He warns His children not to imperil their souls by affinity with the world. "Come out from among them," He pleads, "and be ye separate, . . . and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." 2 Corinthians 6:17, 18. In the midst of prosperity lurks danger. Throughout the ages, riches and honour have ever been attended with peril to humility and spirituality. It is not the empty cup that we have difficulty in carrying; it is the cup full to the brim that must be carefully balanced. Affliction and adversity may cause sorrow, but it is prosperity that is most dangerous to spiritual life. Unless the human subject is in constant submission to the will of God, unless he is sanctified by the truth, prosperity will surely arouse the natural inclination to presumption. In the valley of humiliation, where men depend on God to teach them and to guide their every step, there is comparative safety. But the men who stand, as it were, on a lofty pinnacle, and who, because of their position, are supposed to possess great wisdom--these are in gravest peril. Unless such men make God their dependence, they will surely fall. Whenever pride and ambition are indulged, the life is marred, for pride, feeling no need, closes the heart against the infinite blessings of Heaven. He who makes self-glorification his aim will find himself destitute of the grace of God, through whose efficiency the truest riches and the most satisfying joys are won. But he who gives all and does all for Christ will know the fulfilment of the promise, "The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow with it." Proverbs 10:22. With the gentle touch of grace the Saviour banishes from the soul unrest and unholy ambition, changing enmity to love and unbelief to confidence. When He speaks to the soul, saying, "Follow Me," the spell of the world's enchantment is broken. At the sound of His voice the spirit of greed and ambition flees from the heart, and men arise, emancipated, to follow Him. Chap. 2 - The Temple and Its Dedication Chap. 4 - Results of Transgression	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line537
__label__cc	0.715771	0.284229	Home » Dessert » Goat Butter Shortbread Goat Butter Shortbread Written By Culinary Pen on Tuesday, February 2, 2010 \| 6:42:00 PM When it comes to goats, the goatier the better. I've found that I like goat's milk cheeses (and plain old goat's milk) that has a distinctive "goat-y-ness." There's just a wonderful taste of lemon peel, straw, lactic acidity, and herbal grassiness to goat's milk that I really enjoy. From what I've read, this difference in flavor is from both the breed of goat (some have fattier milk, which is carries a more pronounced flavor) and the cultures used to create the cheese. It does also deal with what the animal was eating (grass and herbs versus grain and silage), but if the milk has been pasteurized you'll lose most of those nuances. Carla spotted some goat's milk ice cream last weekend, made by Laloo's. We were torn between the strawberry flavor and black mission fig, but found shared ground in a pint of the dark chocolate. It was very tasty ice cream, with a mild goaty flavor. But it only tasted like goat's milk when it began to warm up and melt a bit. Like a burr in the hide of a billy goat, the notion of a goaty dessert stayed with me. Considering that fat enhances so many flavors, it seemed reasonable to think that's goat's milk butter would intrinsically carry a distinct goatiness. And when butter is in question, what dessert is more purely buttery than a perfect shortbread cookie? It is the cookie to make when you want to exalt the delicious luxury of eating exceptionally exquisite butter. So I made up a batch of goat's milk shortbread, which is little more than cool butter beaten into sugar, then thinned out with flour and the faintest hint of vanilla. No nuts or dried fruits to mask the butter here! I didn't deviate from my usual recipe (thanks King Arthur Flour!), but I noticed these goat's milk cookies came out much darker than usual. I'm glad I checked them early, otherwise they may have gotten a bit too dark. Upon tasting, I'd give myself a "B" for the success of these cookies in capturing the goaty flavor I was looking for. They were delicious cookies, but I only seemed to get a goat's milk flavor towards the finish, once I had dissolved the cookie a bit in my mouth. It reminded me of the fleeting porkiness in my Bacon Fat Gingersnaps. I think I could bring this flavor forward by topping them with a thin layer of cream icing that I'd whip some fresh chevre into. This first attempt was iced with a simple sugar glaze infused with hibiscus petals. Simple, floral, and sweet. Or I could move on and try my backup recipe...mincemeat pie with diced goat suet...	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line540
__label__wiki	0.527643	0.527643	2018 Registration Rates Lodging & Parking Previous Summit Videos COMPLETE LIST OF SESSIONS & SCHEDULE SESSIONS FOR EDUCATORS & ARTS PROFESSIONALS GET HANDOUTS Keynote: Daniel J. Siegel SPECIALTY TRACKS COMMUNITY BUILDING & DIVERSITY EXPRESSIVE WRITING & JOURNALING SANDPLAY & PLAY THERAPY EVENING SESSIONS 2018 LEARNING OBJECTIVES THURS Learning Objectives FRI Learning Objectives SAT Learning Objectives SUN Learning Objectives Continuing Ed Credit Available GET YOUR CE CREDITS! Work/Study Volunteer Program SPONSORS & TEAM Co-Sponsors & Supportive Others Exhibitor and Sponsor Information CONTACT, FOLLOW & SPREAD THE WORD! You Really Like Us! PLEASE SHARE OUR FLYER! NEW YORK CITY SUMMIT Submit a Proposal ABOUT THE SPONSORS An Interview with Judith Rubin, Eleanor Irwin, and Others Expressive Media Inc. (EMI) is a nonprofit organization cofounded in 1985 by pioneer art therapist, psychologist, and analyst, Judith A. Rubin, with her colleague Eleanor Irwin, pioneer drama therapist, psychodramatist, and analyst. Expressive Media's focus is the production and distribution of films demonstrating best practices in the expressive arts, which includes a number of award-winning titles. The Institute of the Arts in Healing furthers EMI's educational mission to "extend the healing power of the arts" to people of all ages through its live training events. These conferences, including the Expressive Therapies Summit, now in its eighth year in New York City—and launching in Los Angeles—is Expressive Media's primary source of fundraising. Summit profits make it possible for the work of EMI to continue. In 2017, after a release of its new website, EMI will launch its new eLearning service. This web-based library will provide online streaming and continuing education credits for a portion of EMI's vast holdings of films, master session footage, and conference presentations regarding the power of the arts in healing. For more information about Expressive Media, to watch clips of our films, or to buy DVDs, visit www.expressivemedia.org. Expressive Media's Films Include. . . UCLArts & Healing is an organizational member of the UCLA Collaborative Centers for Integrative Medicine (CCIM), and is supported by the Arts & Healing Initiative, a non-profit organization established for this purpose. UCLArts & Healing was founded in 2004 by CCIM Steering Committee Member and Founding Administrator, Ping Ho, MA, MPH. Its mission is to transform lives through creative expression by integrating the innate benefits of the arts with mental health practices for self-discovery, connection, and empowerment. UCLArts & Healing experiential education programs are designed to serve all ages and populations, particularly those living with challenges of trauma, illness, special needs or social isolation. Its sustainable strategy for meeting the needs of under-resourced communities includes professional development programs in socially and emotionally supportive practices, with scripted curriculum materials that anyone can use, and a Social Emotional Arts Certificate Program for those who want to learn how to develop and deliver their own effective curricula. UCLArts & Healing partners with K-12 schools, healthcare institutions, community-based organizations, universities and colleges, and professional organizations to expand its mission. Customized training programs or workshops can be arranged. Visit the interactive UCLArts & Healing website to find programs, download materials, view videos, read blogs, post/search for resources, and join the e-newsletter list. www.uclartsandhealing.org Los Angeles Summit Co-Chairs Barry M. Cohen, MA, ATR-BC began his career in the helping professions as a Child Life Specialist at Yale/New Haven Hospital in 1979. In 1982, while Director of Expressive Therapies at Mount Vernon Hospital, Alexandria, VA, he developed the Diagnostic Drawing Series (DDS), a standardized art assessment and award-winning multicenter research project, still in use worldwide. Cohen is the author/co-author of numerous journal articles and chapters, and co-authored/co-edited three books, including Telling Without Talking: Art as a Window into the World of Multiple Personality, and the workbook, Managing Traumatic Stress through Art, both published in 1995. He has taught extensively in the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands. A professional conference planner and consumer fair promoter, he produced and chaired the Eastern Regional Conference on Trauma and Dissociation (1989-1996) and was Conference Manager of the American Art Therapy Association's 2006 and 2007 conferences. Barry joined Expressive Media as Executive Director in 2008, and introduced its Institute of the Arts in Healing Spring Institute in 2009, then founded the annual NYC-based Expressive Therapies Summit in 2010. In 2013, with Dr. Eliana Gil, he co-founded the Mid-Atlantic Play Therapy Training Institute, an annual conference held just outside Washington, DC. Now, with Ping Ho, Executive Director of UCLArts & Healing, he is proud to co-chair the Expressive Therapies Summit: Los Angeles. Ping Ho, MA, MPH, is Founder and Director of UCLArts and Healing, an organizational member of the UCLA Collaborative Centers for Integrative Medicine, of which Ping is a Steering Committee Member and was founding administrator. She was also founding administrator for the UCLA Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, which led to the privilege of writing for Norman Cousins and co-writing the professional autobiography of George F. Solomon, M.D., founder of the field. She has a BA in psychology with honors from Stanford ‒ where she was appointed to spearhead the still-thriving Health Improvement Program for faculty and staff, an MA in counseling psychology with specialization in exercise physiology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an MPH in Community Health Sciences from UCLA School of Public Health. Ping is a member of the Council of Advisers for the Academic Collaborative for Integrative Health and is Associate Editor for the Creative Arts Therapy Section of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. She developed the Certificate Program in Social Emotional Arts (SEA) and Medical SEA Program for All Populations and Settings. In addition, she co-developed and served as principal investigator for the evidence-based and sustainable curriculum, Beat the Odds: Social and Emotional Skill Building Delivered in a Framework of Drumming. Los Angeles Summit Administrative Team Here are the people who work to make your experience at the Summit Jessica Calhoun Continuing Education & Logistics Coordinator April Murphy Schneider Registration & Volunteers Coordinator Laura Bauder, BA Angel Thompson Materials Coordinator Janice K. Rose, MS, ATR-BC Sandy Lynch, MA UCLArts & Healing Volunteers Recruitment Support the Summit! If you would like to volunteer or offer suggestions, contact info@expressivemedia.org Help Us Spread the Word — Forward Our URL! www.expressivetherapiessummit.la Please spread the word about the Summit within your professional networks. Let your Facebook friends and Twitter followers know that you'll be teaching at the Summit! You can follow us on Facebook at "ExTxSummit" and Twitter (@ETSummit) — be sure to comment/retweet enthusiastically. The Summit needs your support to ensure its success! Facebook ExTxSummit Twitter @ETSummit, #ETSummit or forward/post this notice . . . EXPRESSIVE THERAPIES SUMMIT: LOS ANGELES art - drama - music - writing - dance - play - sandplay Thursday through Sunday APRIL 26 - APRIL 29, 2018 All the Creative Arts • 150 Faculty • Over 140 Sessions • 4 Days Add Your Name to our Mailing List! Program and Registration Now Available Sponsored by www.expressivemedia.org	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line546
__label__wiki	0.855949	0.855949	Dragonsclaw: Dragonsclaw Heavy/Power Metal Arkeyn Steel Records by Craig Hartranft, 12.26.2011 It's been a good year for traditional heavy metal, and we end well with the debut release from Australia's Dragonsclaw. Conceived by Paindivision guitarist Ben Thomas, the band takes an aggressive, even epic, approach to classic heavy and power metal. Thomas is joined by his brother Aaron on bass, Ray Martens (Paindivision, Shock Therapy, Scoundrel et al) on keyboards, and New Zealand vocalist Giles Lavery, who recently has been tapped for the Australian Ronnie James Dio Tribute Show. To further align the stars more correctly, Blaze Bayley (Iron Maiden, Wolfsbane) and Allessandro Del Vecchio (Edge of Forever, Eden's Curse, James Labrie, et al) make guest vocal appearances. Production is covered by guitarist Stu Marshall (Empires of Eden). This debut is a well-rounded package of heavy, very often fast, power metal. You get this from the start with blistering Darkness Within, Fight for Your Life, and the later, Defenders of the Sky, as examples. Not vacating the speed so much, Dragonsclaw can deliver more epic heavy metal with Prophecy Is a Lie or the longer closing track, Revolutionary Suicide, with nice duel between keys and guitar. Frankly, these are the best tracks, and seem to show some better versatility. Otherwise, this album could be reduced to a speed metalfest, showcasing Ben Thomas's neo-classical guitar licks and Lavery soaring vocals. Lavery metal style borders on operatic, reminding of a cross between James Rivera (Seven Witches) and Sean Peck (Cage). His strength and stamina are immense; his vocal range impressive. However, on this album, the knob seems to be set mostly to 'screamo.' Nevertheless, Dragonsclaw's debut is a well-conceived and bombastic platter of speedy power metal. You might think its 1985 again. Recommended. Dragonsclaw's debut is a well-conceived and bombastic platter of speedy power metal. You might think its 1985 again.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line548
__label__cc	0.578096	0.421904	See Inside This Rare 1963 Field & Stream Travel Trailer Funny RV: Lend a Hand Repair Easy To Peel Hard Boiled Eggs In Your RV Aren’t Impossible Merging Driver Pulling Fiberglass Camper Nearly Runs RVer Off Road 15 Scenic State Parks Along The Oregon Coast 5 Cross-Country Road Trips That You’ll Never Forget World War II History Buffs Will Love This Side Of Quartzsite, Arizona By Curtis Carper RV Trip Ideas If you're into military history, Quartzsite, Arizona and the surrounding area offer plenty to learn about how our nation prepared to win World War II. The area around Quartzsite, Arizona played host to huge training exercises under the direction of General George S. Patton during World War II. The infamous World War II general conducted desert warfare training exercises in the vast area west of Phoenix. This training helped prepare over a million soldiers for the difficult struggle they would face in Europe and the deserts of North Africa. Commemorating the scope of his World War II career, the General Patton Memorial Museum located in Chiriaco Summit, California is a must-visit for any history or war buff. The museum features exhibits on other military conflicts including Korea and Vietnam, and more recently Iraq and Afghanistan. An entire room in the museum is dedicated to Medal of Honor recipients, including those most recently awarded. You’ll find throughout the museum military artifacts from the United States and from armies around the World. Tanks formed the backbone of General Patton’s command experience, and many historically accurate models are on display at the museum. And speaking of RVs, did you know that General Patton used a modified trailer for his photography laboratory? It’s on display at the museum as well. General Patton used this trailer as his personal mobile dark room during training exercises. Curtis Carper All that remains of most structures built to support this large training area are long gone. Depending on where you go, you might come across the stone foundations that marked the position of various buildings and barracks. Numbers in the Sand About a dozen miles north of Quartzsite lies one of the more interesting mementos of World War II wartime training. Women pilots transported new airplanes across the country through the WASP organization (Women Airforce Service Pilots). One of the places they would train to learn how to fly the bombers and fighters was at an airfield near Quartzsite. To help them find the airport, the Desert Training Center laid out large letters made from painted white rocks that spelled out Quartzsite, followed by a directional arrow and the number 11 to indicate eleven miles to the runway. You can still see the huge stone markers today. The directional indicator is still easily visible from the sky, though the white paint is all but gone from 70 years of exposure to the desert sun. Not Much Remains This was the largest military training grounds in the world. 18,000 acres of varying terrain provided the perfect location to train for any scenario a mechanized force could encounter. Headquarters for the Desert Training Center, Camp Young, was located in Chiriaco Summit. At the time it was the largest military post in the world. One of the most recognizable remnants of those few years during World War II is Camp Iron Mountain. Under the protective care of the Bureau of Land Management, many of the stone mosaics, rock-lined roads, and pathways in and around the camp still remain. World War II was a terrible time in World history. It’s no small statement to say that without the opportunity to properly train our troops, the outcome could have been much different. The terrain around Quartzsite gave our troops the upper hand, and allowed them to prepare to fight – and win. Often when we think of the southwest, we think of the Wild West days of cowboys and Indians or of pioneers traveling to the coast. But Quartzsite has other stories to tell, and its role in World War II shouldn’t be overlooked. World War II Desert Training Center, California-Arizona Maneuver Area Desert Training Center Camp Iron Mountain photos This Is How You Level Your RV In Canada Boaterhome: Don’t Get Stuck Choosing Between An RV Or Boat Fine Artist’s Rustic Renovation Of 20 Foot Winnebago Minnie Winnie Motorhome How To Install Your Truck Camper The DIY Way The Top 5 Things To See & Do At Hot Springs National Park 1984 Winnebago LeSharo Custom Built by a Traveling Musician Should You Get A Dash Cam For Your RV? Pill Case Portable Spice Rack for Camping Chefs and Outdoor Cooking	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line551
__label__cc	0.598529	0.401471	Doxsaliform: A Novel N-Mannich Base Prodrug of a Doxorubicin Formaldehyde Conjugate Author(s): P. S. Cogan, C. R. Fowler, G. C. Post, T. H. Koch. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0215, USA Journal Name: Letters in Drug Design & Discovery Volume 1 , Issue 3 , 2004 DOI : 10.2174/1570180043399000 Development of a water-soluble prodrug of doxorubicin-formaldehyde conjugate, a labile, active metabolite of doxorubicin, is described. The lead compound is the doxorubicin-salicylamide N-Mannich base, N-(2-hydroxybenzamidomethyl)-doxorubicin (doxsaliform), prepared in 72% yield from reaction of salicylamide with doxorubicin in the presence of formaldehyde. Doxsaliform releases doxorubicin-formaldehyde conjugate under physiological conditions with a half-life of 57 min. The stability of the prodrug is augmented both by salt formation in acidic media and by covalent modification of the 2-hydroxyl of the salicylamide moiety. Doxsaliform is 4 fold more active than doxorubicin against MCF-7 breast and PC-3 prostate cancer cell lines and 10 fold more active against the doxorubicin resistant MCF-7 / ADR cell line. Keywords: doxorubicin, formaldehyde, prodrug, salicylamide, trigger Rights & PermissionsPrintExport Cite as Letters in Drug Design & Discovery Title: Doxsaliform: A Novel N-Mannich Base Prodrug of a Doxorubicin Formaldehyde Conjugate VOLUME: 1 ISSUE: 3 Author(s):P. S. Cogan, C. R. Fowler, G. C. Post and T. H. Koch Affiliation:Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0215, USA Keywords:doxorubicin, formaldehyde, prodrug, salicylamide, trigger Abstract: Development of a water-soluble prodrug of doxorubicin-formaldehyde conjugate, a labile, active metabolite of doxorubicin, is described. The lead compound is the doxorubicin-salicylamide N-Mannich base, N-(2-hydroxybenzamidomethyl)-doxorubicin (doxsaliform), prepared in 72% yield from reaction of salicylamide with doxorubicin in the presence of formaldehyde. Doxsaliform releases doxorubicin-formaldehyde conjugate under physiological conditions with a half-life of 57 min. The stability of the prodrug is augmented both by salt formation in acidic media and by covalent modification of the 2-hydroxyl of the salicylamide moiety. Doxsaliform is 4 fold more active than doxorubicin against MCF-7 breast and PC-3 prostate cancer cell lines and 10 fold more active against the doxorubicin resistant MCF-7 / ADR cell line. Export File: RIS (for EndNote, Reference Manager, ProCite) P. S. Cogan, C. R. Fowler, G. C. Post and T. H. Koch, “ Doxsaliform: A Novel N-Mannich Base Prodrug of a Doxorubicin Formaldehyde Conjugate”, Letters in Drug Design & Discovery (2004) 1: 247. https://doi.org/10.2174/1570180043399000 https://doi.org/10.2174/1570180043399000 Print ISSN Bentham Science Publisher Online ISSN Page: [247 - 255] DOI: 10.2174/1570180043399000 Related Article(s) The Antagonists of Endothelin Receptors: Results and Perspectives Current Pharmaceutical Analysis Recent Advances of Hepsin-Targeted Inhibitors Current Medicinal Chemistry Integrin αvβ3 as a Therapeutic Target for Blocking Tumor-Induced Angiogenesis Current Drug Targets SPECT-CT and PET-CT in Oncology - An Overview Current Medical Imaging Prostate Cancer with Variants in CYP17 and UGT2B17 Genes: A Meta-Analysis Protein & Peptide Letters Deciphering the Role of Forkhead Transcription Factors in Cancer Therapy A Novel Multiple Tyrosine-kinase Targeted Agent to Explore the Future Perspectives of Anti-Angiogenic Therapy for the Treatment of Multiple Solid Tumors: Cabozantinib Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry Evaluation of A Novel GLP-1R Ligand for PET Imaging of Prostate Cancer Synthesis, Immunomodulation and Cytotoxic Effects of Vanadium (IV) Complexes Matrix Metalloproteinases in Cancer Metastasis: Molecular Targets for Prostate Cancer Prevention by Green Tea Polyphenols and Grape Seed Proanthocyanidins Endocrine, Metabolic & Immune Disorders - Drug Targets PET Imaging in Prostate Cancer: Focus on Prostate-Specific Membrane Antigen Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry Cancer Multitarget Pharmacology in Prostate Tumors: Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors and Beyond Urinary Biomarkers for Prostate Cancer Current Drug Metabolism The Role of Chromogranin A (CgA) in Monitoring Patients with Prostate Cancer Under Androgen Deprivation Therapy: Comparison with Prostatic Specific Antigen (PSA) Current Radiopharmaceuticals S-equol, a Secondary Metabolite of Natural Anticancer Isoflavone Daidzein, Inhibits Prostate Cancer Growth In Vitro and In Vivo, Though Activating the Akt/FOXO3a Pathway Current Cancer Drug Targets A Novel Approach to Anticancer Therapies: Peroxisome Proliferator Activator-Receptor-γ as a New Target Therapy in the Treatment of Human Urological Cancer A Fluorescent Alkyllysophospholipid Analog Exhibits Selective Cytotoxicity Against the Hormone-Insensitive Prostate Cancer Cell Line PC3 An Overview of Current Screening and Management Approaches for Prostate Cancer Prostate-Specific G-Protein Coupled Receptor, an Emerging Biomarker Regulating Inflammation and Prostate Cancer Invasion Current Molecular Medicine Cognitive Impacts of Estrogen Treatment in Androgen-Deprived Males: What Needs to be Resolved Current Neuropharmacology Journal Insight	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line559
__label__wiki	0.841668	0.841668	1941: Alexander Svanidze, Stalin’s brother-in-law Add comment August 20th, 2013 Headsman On this date in 1941,* Stalin’s own brother-in-law was shot in the gulags. In 1906, a whole lifetime before, the Georgian Alexander Svanidze introduced young Joseph Dzhugashvili to his, Svanidze’s, sister, Kato. She and Dzhugashvili wed that year, and Kato soon bore her husband’s firstborn, Yakov. Stalin was already a wanted Bolshevik revolutionary at this time, but so was Svanidze. Kato was a homebody with no known political interest, and sufficient piety to force her communist groom to say his vows in an Orthodox church. Afterwards, his priorities reasserted themselves. While Stalin agitated, propagandized, and politicked against Menshevism in the wild oil boom city of Baku,** his pretty wife kept an empty apartment tidy and fretted the omnipresent danger of her husband’s arrest. “When he was involved, he forgot everything,” fellow-Bolshevik Mikheil Monoselidze remembered. Many revolutionaries’ wives walked similarly lonely roads. Kato did not have to walk hers very long: she contracted a horrible stomach/bowel disease and wasted rapidly away late in 1907. Stalin’s own indifference might have been the ultimate cause, for when she was unwell the young cadre took her on a sweltering 13-hour train ride back to Tiflis that greatly worsened her condition — all so that her family could care for her, and free Stalin’s time for his plots. Kato died in Stalin’s arms, but only when he had been urgently summoned back from Baku with word that her condition had become dire. Whatever his actions said about him as a family man, the future dictator really loved his neglected wife. He “was in such despair that his friends were worried about leaving him with his Mauser,” writes Simon Montefiore in Young Stalin. “This creature,” [Stalin] gestured at the open coffin [at her funeral], “softened my heart of stone. She died and with her died my last warm feelings for humanity.” He placed his hand over his heart: “It’s all so desolate here, so indescribably desolate.” At the burial, Soso’s habitual control cracked. He threw himself into the grave with the coffin. The men had to haul him out. Kato was buried — but, just then, revolutionary konspiratsia disrupted family grief. Soso noticed some Okhrana agents sidling towards the funeral. He scarpered towards the back of the graveyard and vaulted over the fence, disappearing from his own wife’s funeral — an ironic comment on his marital negligence. For two months, Stalin vanishes from the record. “Soso sank into deep grief,” says Monoselidze. “He barely spoke and nobody dared speak to him” … “He cried like a brat, hard as he was.” Stalin’s deep grief did not change his life’s work. If anything, he would seem in later years almost too aghast by the whole experience (and his uncharacteristic bout of sentiment) to grapple with it. He abandoned little Yakov to the Svanidzes, and would curiously dislike his son so much that he eventually permitted Yakov to die as a German POW during World War II rather than exchange prisoners for his release. By the time of the great purges, then, being Stalin’s brother-in-law was of little help to Alexander Svanidze. It might have been an outright detriment; certainly Svanidze’s own prominence — he had served as People’s Commissar for Finances of the Georgian SSR, and found a scholarly journal in his capacity as a historian — were of a kind with Old Bolsheviks who had also attracted denunciations. In 1937, most of the beloved Kato’s family was arrested: Alexander Svanidze, but also Alexander’s wife Maria, and opera singer, and his sister Mariko. Svanidze defiantly refused NKVD blandishments to confess to spying for Berlin to save himself, perhaps realizing that such a deal would merely sell his pride for a mess of pottage. “Such aristocratic pride!” Stalin is supposed to have tutted upon hearing the way Svanidze went to his execution still insisting he had done nothing wrong. (Svanidze’s ancestors were petty nobility.) Svanidze’s son, Johnreed† — named for the American radical who chronicled the Bolshevik Revolution in Ten Days That Shook The World — denounced his doomed father to save his own skin, but was sent to the gulag just the same. Johnreed was released, and Alexander posthumously rehabilitated, after Stalin’s death in 1953. * There are some other dates out there for Svanidze’s execution. I’ve had difficulty identifying a primary source for any of them, but am prepared to be corrected if an alternative possibility can be strongly documented. ** They moved to Baku from Tiflis, where Stalin had helped to orchestrate a huge bank robbery. † Revolutionary Russia produced a number of similarly curious neologisms on birth certificates, such as “Vladlen” (blending “Vladimir Lenin”), and even the outlandish “Electralampochka” (“light bulb”, inspired by the Soviet electrification campaign). 1941: Sixteen Yugoslav partisans and one German soldier - 2011 1938: Seventeen former Bolshevik officials from the Trial of the 21 1952: Night of the Murdered Poets 1941: Olga Kameneva, Christian Rakovsky, Maria Spiridonova and many others by the NKVD 1937: Masao Sudo, since rehabilitated 1940: Vsevolod Meyerhold 1950: The Leningrad Affair “culprits” 1937: Peljidiin Genden, former Mongolia Prime Minister Entry Filed under: 20th Century,Capital Punishment,Death Penalty,Espionage,Execution,History,Intellectuals,Politicians,Posthumous Exonerations,Revolutionaries,Russia,Shot,USSR,Wartime Executions Tags: 1940s, 1941, alexander svanidze, baku, family, gulag, joseph stalin, kato dzhugashvili, kato svanidze, purge, yakov dzhugashvili	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line562
__label__wiki	0.514262	0.514262	News Categories Family Law Reform 1: High Court agrees sperm donor is father as he was involved in girl’s life \| June 19, 2019 The High Court has found a man who donated his sperm to a lesbian friend to have a child is the father, due to his involvement in the child’s life… 2: Lesbian divorcees in modern age dispute over embryos \| June 12, 2019 A woman has asked the Family Court to order the destruction of 12 embryos — even though she has no genetic link to them… 3: Tardy family lawyers could be forced to pay costs \| August 22, 2018 Family lawyers could be hit with personal costs orders if they fail to help resolve disputes as “quickly, inexpensively and efficiently” as possible and if their fees become disproportionate to the issues in dispute, under laws to be introduced to parliament today… 4: What the Family Court shakeup really means for families \| August 18, 2018 The family law system in Australia is groaning under the weight of a vast backlog of more than 20,000 cases and families are waiting up to five years for bitter child custody and property disputes to be resolved… 5: Domestic violence offenders no longer allowed to question abuse victims in Family Court \| June 28, 2018 The Federal Government will today introduce legislation banning the practice of direct cross-examination of alleged victims of domestic violence, by the alleged perpetrators of that domestic violence… 6: Sweeping changes to family court announced \| June 17, 2018 The Family Court and Federal Circuit Court will be combined as part of sweeping changes to the financially and emotionally crippling family law system, in an announcement by the Attorney-General Christian Porter today… 7: She married me for a Visa – can you declare a marriage null & void in Australia? \| June 10, 2018 Can a marriage be legal if your new wife or husband refuses to have sex with you – not just on the wedding night, but ever? The short answer is “No!”.. 8: Australia’s Family Law System in Crisis \| March 23, 2018 Australia’s Family Court system is in crisis but a new review offers some hope that we can at least take a step towards a better approach, argues family law specialist Jane Miller… 9: Nationwide Domestic Violence Protection Laws come into Force \| January 11, 2018 A Gold Coast family law specialist has responded to a new law put in place for nationwide protection of domestic violence victims… 10: Family Court judge blasts lawyers over outrageous fees \| December 13, 2017 A Family Court judge has delivered a blistering judgment on the “culture of bitter, adversarial and highly aggressive family law litigation” in Sydney and blasted two law firms for charging “outrageous” fees… Family Law Express \| Privacy Policy\|Terms and Conditions This post has been viewed 6,436 times	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line566
__label__wiki	0.76122	0.76122	Home > Elementary School > The Eddie Files Complete Series Formats: DVD Grade level: 3-6 This is a sole source item: Yes (call for a sole source letter) Product Code: EDDF-000 Sixteen 20-minute programs, each of which deals with a different topic of the elementary mathematics curriculum. Through the eyes of "Eddie," a 5th grade student in the mathematics classroom of renowned teacher Kay Toliver, viewers find out just how people use key math concepts and skills in life and in exciting jobs. Endorsed by NAESP, American Association of School Administrators, National Educational Telecommunications Association, NSTA. More than 20 awards, including Peabody and Parents' Choice Awards. Four "Fileboxes," each with 4 episodes and accompanying teacher guide. Watch a preview of The Eddie Files: The Eddie Files Box #1 Welcome to Math: "You Gotta Start Somewhere" - It's the first week of school in math teacher Kay Toliver's class. The assignment: find out about jobs that people have and how they use math. Eddie meets a doctor, a judge, a dancer, a restaurateur, a telephone technician, a sunglasses designer and a TV director. Estimation: "Going to the Dogs" - If only Aunt Rosa's dog Hector could talk, maybe he could help Eddie with his assignment- estimating how many dogs there are in New York City. With some tips from professionals who use estimation-like a veterinarian, a professional bug farmer and a bat expert-Eddie discovers how to make a smart guess. Geometry: "Invasion of the Polygons" - After "Miss T" talks about polygons in class, Eddie explores the subject, and construction workers, an inventor, an engineer and an architect demonstrate the ways polygons are used to create everything from skyscrapers to collapsible spheres. Fractions: "Any Way You Slice It" - In the kitchen of a master chef and the studio of a renowned percussionist, Eddie discovers surprising things about fractions. Then top sports photographer Tracy Frankel, explains how understanding fractions can improve Eddie's picture taking. Distance, Time and Speed: "Hot Dog Heaven" - When Aunt Rosa's dog, Hector, is placed in Eddie's charge and wanders off, Eddie is in a panic. Johnny and Eddie find themselves racing against Manhattan traffic to save Hector, while viewers find out from transportation professionals just what it takes to move millions of people around the city every day. Statistics: "The Lucky Batting Glove" - From keeping track of sales at Gus's hot dog stand to seeing what's behind the giant scoreboard at Yankee Stadium, Eddie and Aunt Rosa discover what a major role mathematics plays in the major leagues of baseball and business. Circles: "The Vegie Stash-O-Matic" - After Ms. Toliver's lesson on circles, Eddie's homework assignment is to invent a machine. Eddie's idea may or may not work, but either way viewers will learn a lot about the practical uses of geometry as they meet designers and engineers. Decimals: "The Fake Money Caper" - Eddie once again finds himself in the middle as he helps Secret Service agents track down a counterfeiting ring. He also consults with people whose job it is to create, and safeguard, our money supply. Length and Area: "Sleep Like a Dog" - Aunt Rosa's dog, Hector, displays true talent when he is cast for a commercial by an eccentric Italian director. The biggest surprise is the amount of math used by people who design and make television and movie sets. Patterns: "The Big Concert" - It's December at P.S. 72, and to Eddie that means just one thing: getting ready for his big part in the annual holiday concert. He decides to find out how professional musicians create their magic, As it turns out, it is Ms. Toliver's lesson on patterns that finally puts Eddie on the right track. Volume: "The Day Manhattan Ran Dry" - Manhattan has millions of people, and they use lots and lots of water. But what if that supply were cut off, just for one day? It's this thought that gives Eddie a chance to meet people whose job it is to make sure that Manhattan will never run dry. The Counting Principle: "Eddie in Barbieland" - Eddie would do almost anything for his little sister Dee, but this time his Mom asks him to buy doll clothes for Dee's birthday. Even with help from Ms. Toliver's lesson on clothing combinations and the counting principle, and a briefing from designers who work for one of the country's top toy makers, it looks like this might be one problem he can't think his way out of. Ratios: "The Lonesome Pine" - Eddie faces one of his biggest challenges when a young ponderosa pine ends up on his doorstep. After all, trees are an important part of nature, as we learn from Ms. Toliver's ratios lesson, and from foresters and engineers who manage national park land in the New Mexico wilderness. But where can you plant a tree in Manhattan? Variables: "The Green Thumb" - Eddie is supposed to grow a sunflower for Ms. Toliver's study of variables. But, day after day, all he sees when he looks into his little pot of soil is ... soil. Finally, with advice from gardeners and the manager of a huge rice farm, Eddie digs up an answer. Charts and Graphs: "The Dessert Derby" - Every year Eddie's Aunt Ida enters one of her unusual culinary creations in East Harlem Community Center's dessert derby, and every year she wins...nothing. Still, she is determined, and her new strategy is to base everything on carefully prepared charts and graphs (like the ones Eddie's class made in Ms. Toliver's lesson). Percents: "Take a Bite" - Ms. Brooks, New York City's Deputy Mayor, has chosen Eddie's picture of his sister Dee eating pizza as the centerpiece of a major new tourist campaign. Eddie sees how Ms. Toliver's percents lesson applies to the world of graphic design as he watches his photo resized and retouched for use in magazines, buses and billboards. The National Math Trail: Staff Development and Teaching Resource Kit	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line567
__label__cc	0.555213	0.444787	Wooden Overcoats S3 Ep2 - Altar Ego The second episode of my sitcom Wooden Overcoats has now been released online, available to download for free from wherever you prefer to nab your podcasts. (We recommend iTunes and AudioBoom) The script is written by James Hamilton & James Huntrods (Hector vs The Future, Space Chickens in Space) and takes the series into naughtier territory when lonely mortician Antigone agrees to help the enthusiastic Reverend Wavering to write a raunchy novel. Beth Eyre and Andy Secombe are our stars this week and they run with it; I'm so glad we finally gave series regular Secombe a chance to really take a central role in an episode, and Antigone is the perfect character for him to share an adventure with. The episode also sees the return of several recurring characters, chief amongst them the nervous cinema projectionist Herbert Cough. Fans of TV panel shows such as QI and Have I Got News For You will recognise Andy Hamilton above, and it was a joy to watch "The Two Andy's" at work together! And for those who like their podcast sitcoms performed live, our next live show is on March 9th. Book your tickets now and come to King's Place in London to see Episodes 3 and 4 of the new season, the latter performed before it's even been released online. If you do come, say hello - it'd be great to chat!	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line569
__label__wiki	0.712505	0.712505	HDQ Team GCG Catering GCG Events GCG Ground GCG Welcomes Chef Pieter Holstein to the GCG Saint Maarten Family Chef Pieter has extensive experience working in restaurants and catering companies in Europe in places like Belgium, The Netherlands, and France and in the Caribbean in St. Martin. Chef Pieter has a certificate in Hospitality Teaching from the Horizon Culinary Institute in The Netherlands and also has studied Business Engineering at the Hanze Hogeschool also in The Netherlands. He also has participated as a Volunteer promoting healthy food and diet for underprivileged children in the Netherlands and Belgium, which is such a fantastic initiative we could all learn from! Pieter started with us at GCG on October 9th as the Head Chef for our St. Martin operation. We welcome him and look forward to his contributions to GCG. Let’s wish him a bright promising future with GCG! The SXM Airport Horizon Features Bas Schutze's Promotion GCG is thrilled to share this interview with the new General Manager of Goddard Catering Group Saint Maarten. To read the full article, Click here GCG Ground Services Prepares to Take On New Venture In LIAT Airline Security GCG Ground Services has been tasked with the new unique opportunity to secure the operations for LIAT Airlines. LIAT Airlines had been absent from St. Thomas for some time and chose to return with GCG Ground Services to provide security service for all operational tasks done. A select group of agents was assembled to attend a three-part training in which they were equipped with the knowledge they needed to get the job done. GCG Ground Services was on the ground for the landing of the first LIAT Flight to land on Cyril E. King Airport in several months. The security detail led by Mr. Kerry Rhymer the Safety Coordinator and Jose Bultes, the Operations Manager watched keenly as excited passengers poured out of the aircraft and onto the red carpet. GCG Ground Services remains confident and up to the challenge of ensuring the safety… GCG Grenada Celebrates an Internal Promotion! Chef Jan Kuska has been assigned as Executive Chef, GCG Grenada! Jan has already made considerable culinary contributions to GCG Grenada since he began his consulting services last January. Chef Kuska’s has over 30 years of experience, twenty of which are in the Airline Catering Business. He started his career back home in Germany and in 1994 he joined GCG Saint Lucia as Executive Chef and Operations Manager. That was just the beginning in GCG! After that, he relocated and contributed as Executive Chef, with minor interruptions, throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, leaving his footprints in GCG Barbados, GCG El Salvador, GCG Saint Maarten and in both islands of Trinidad and Tobago. Jan graduated from the HOTEL AND RESTAURANT SCHOOL ESSEN in Germany. In addition to German and English… GCG Events St. Lucia Featured in the Business Focus Magazine We proudly announce that our General Manager at Saint Lucia, Anthony Samuel, was featured in the local Business Focus Magazine. To check out the whole article click here! GCG Welcomes Lean Specialist William Rodriguez! William joins GCG today. He is a Chemical Engineer and Specialist in Production Management and Training Operations. He holds a certification as Green Belt of Lean Six Sigma, with more than 7 years of experience in different areas such as Quality, Manufacturing, Planning, Projects, and Maintenance. He worked for Coca-Cola and most recently with the Kellogg Company. William will be working from GCG Bogota in Colombia, reporting to Ivan Zentilli in GCG’s Headquarter Offices in Florida. Please join us in welcoming William to the GCG Family! GCG Events (Jamaica) At Caribbean Wedding Industry Awards (CWIA) GCG Events (Jamaica) participated in Caribbean Wedding Industry Awards ( CWIA) on September 8 & 9 @ Montego Bay Conference Centre. GCG Events partnered with Tai Flora Luxe to host an extraordinary booth featuring splendid décor and delectable menu items for brides-to-be, wedding planners, and travel agents. The GCG team will be representing @ KBW Expo on Sep 30th @ UWI, Mona in Kingston promoting current Wedding promotion. GCG Events (Jamaica) is now offering up to 30% off Wedding Bookings until end of November 2018. GCG Events Jamaica on JHTA Fundraising Event GCG Events Jamaica, the Mobay(Montego Bay) team partnered and contributed to the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) Fund Raising Event on Saturday, August 25th, 2018 at the Rose Hall Great House lawns. The funds raised are donated to the SOS Children Village. They presold over 500 tickets and we had approximately 400 in attendance. GCG Events had a station with three Soups: Red Peas Chicken Soup, Manish Water Picture, and Vegetable Sip served with Assorted Bread. Needless to say that Manish Water was the first one to go. Overall the soups went by 10 pm. The food and service were excellent! Special thanks to the Mobay team for their input on events’ catering. GCG Saint Maarten Celebrates Internal Promotion of Bas Schutze! Executive Chef Bas Schutze has been promoted to General Manager GCG SXM, effective September 1st! He will be replacing our dear Peter Cox, who as you know, will be retiring at the end of the fiscal year, after 53 years of loyal and dedicated service. Bas’ career experience adds up to over 16 years of experience, eight of which are in the Airline Catering Business. He started in Holland at the Hotel Tivoli and worked in a couple restaurants as well. In 2002 he relocated to Curacao and there worked at the Avila Hotel and later at the Marriot hotel, as Kitchen Supervisor. When GCG opened its doors in Curacao [2005], he joined the company as a Production Supervisor and was later promoted to Sous Chef. In 2010, he and his family moved back home, to Holland, where he worked for 4… Delly Deck Places in Top Three at Annual Chili Cook Off GCG STT took part in the 34th Annual Chili Cook off sponsored in part by Jet Blue Airline on Sunday, August 19, 2018. The three-person team comprised of General Manager Mr. Jahmal Dyer, Executive Chef Mavis Bozel, and Sous Chef Antonio Anthony utilized a chili recipe written by General Manager Jahmal Dyer to compete with 37 other competitors. The feat was daunting as this was Delly Deck’s first time entering the competition. The team had meticulously reviewed the competition’s rules and gathered on John Brewer’s beach to set up a tent and cooking station amid seasoned entrants. Mavis, Mr. Dyer, and Antonio then began the task of preparing award-winning chili on the beach. Jet Blue’s GCG Customer Agents were also present to support both GCG and Jet Blue in their efforts to advertise Jet Blue while engaging the crowd and handing out merchandise. GCG Events Jamaica Hosted Two Matches At Sabina Park! GCG events partnered with Sport Innovators Group to cater the Tallawahs Box on the games: Jamaica Tallawahs x St. Lucia Stars and St. Kitts x Nevis Patriots. Over the two days, GCG Events had the privilege of catering guests such as the Mayor of Kingston & St. Andrew, Delroy Williams, Director of Tourism, Donovan White and his wife Patrice White, Andre Russel’s Wife, Jassym Lora and friends, Shantell Hill- Tallawahs Marketing and Communications Manager, other members of Tallawahs management and other esteemed guests. Based on feedback received the service and food was truly outstanding and they look forward to partnering with GCG Events in the future. Our menu featured items such as cornmeal pudding, chicken satay in ponzu sauce, jerk shrimp bruschetta, pulled pork Sliders and plantain tartlets among other delectable items. GCG events also management the bar which featured… GCG Events On a Wedding Day! On Saturday, July 21st, 2018 GCG Events Jamaica catered an intimate and elegant destination Wedding at Windfall Villas, Montego Bay. The wedding was an intimate affair, we catered to close family and friends of the bride and groom. All were extremely happy with food & service. The menu featured traditional Jamaica menu items, highlights were the Rum & Raisin bread pudding & the Penne Pasta in Herbed Cream Sauce. The guests were quite impressed. Kudos to Exec Chef Daniel, Chef Castillo & Team! "Back on Deck" With UVICELL The Delly Deck, sub-brand of Goddard Catering Group, had its front of the house staff enrolled in a three-day Customer Service Excellence Course provided by the University of the Virgin Islands Community Engagement and Life Long Learning Center from June 5 through June 7, 2018. The Instructor, Tamara Lang has extensive experience in Customer Service and Restaurant Management. Ms. Lang currently serves as the Director of Hotel and Tourism Management at the University of the Virgin Islands. The training was one filled with everything from information on the importance of tourism in the Virgin Islands to her observances during her time as a "secret shopper" at the Delly Deck. The group took part in team building exercises and had discussions well into the evening on ways to improve the overall customer experience. The group, who couldn't wait to put their training to practice… GCG Group President Mr. Stewart Massiah in the city of Guayaquil - Ecuador The president GCG Catering, Mr. Stewart Massiah has visited the city of Guayaquil - Ecuador. In the course of the morning he visited, the newly opened BRASSAS, together with Esteban Viteri, General Manager GCG ECU. At the meeting held with Brassas staff, several business topics were discussed, such as Customer Service, among others. In the afternoon he had the opportunity to visit the Main Plant of Guayaquil, meeting with the Administrative Team, congratulating the team for the effort and management, encouraging to continue working as a team for the growth and success of the organization. GCG Guayaquil on The Presentation of the New Board of Directors of Goddard Enterprises Limited On the night of May 3, at the facilities of Ecuakao (Guayaquil), members of the Board of Directors of GEL, Representatives of Ecuakao, Representatives of Goddard Catering Group Guayaquil, Clients and Suppliers of Ecuakao were present. The presentation of the new Board of Directors of Goddard Enterprises Limited, as new owners, before the Clients and Suppliers of ECUAKAO was carried out through an elegant reception. Mr. Anthony Ali, CEO GEL, made his speech explaining to all the guests where our Corporate Group comes from, and all the business deals in which GEL has ventured, emphasizing its Core Businesses. Additionally, he commented that he chose to continue investing in Ecuador as part of its expansion in Latin America, since it is a politically and financially stable country with a currency that benefits and… Goddard Catering Group St. Thomas Celebrates Patricia Losch Ms. Patricia Losch joined the Goddard Catering Group St. Thomas through the special need employment program in 1996. Her welcoming presence has become a fixture in GCG St. Thomas' Catering Kitchen ever since. It has been 22 years since her arrival. "Pat" as she is affectionately known completes daily tasks consistently and with pride. She can often be found working studiously in the kitchen wrapping silverware early in the morning. She can be heard joyfully discussing current events with her co-workers or reminding visitors to comply with HACCP regulations. Pat was born in Florida and migrated to St. Thomas where she went to school. She enjoys coming to work, is never out of uniform, and is always on time. Pat is committed to her job and will often contact the General Manager Mr. Jahmal Dyer on her cellphone to inquire about different Airline’s schedule when… GCG Uruguay accompanies the Uruguayan Soccer Team to the World Cup On Saturday, June 9, the Uruguayan soccer team left for the 2018 World Cup as 3 million fans wished them luck. GCG Uruguay was honored to provide the catering service aboard the charter jet that flew the players to Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. Congratulations to GCG El Salvador's Team! UAL Americas Managing Director Mike Gallagher, Pedro Flores Operations Manager GCGSAL and Juan Bain General Manager of UAL El Salvador. On May 2nd GCG SAL was recognized with the United Airlines Safety Excellence Program as part of their outstanding performance regarding their Employees Safety. The award was received on behalf of GCG SAL by Pedro Flores, our Operations Manager. Congratulations to GCG El Salvador Team for maintaining Ramp Safety as a Priority in their daily operations, a critical part of our Customer Service Spirit! GCG Bogota on The Air France Golf World Tour Colombia 2018 On May 10th, the Air France Golf World Tour took place at the Country Club of Bogotá, an event organized by the French Airline in 19 countries around the world to strengthen relations with its frequent flyers, VIP clients, presidents and top executives of French and national companies, and people from the diplomatic community. GCG Group was presented in this third version of the tournament in Colombia, with a stand where they tasted sweet and salty snacks which the brand GCG CATERING promoted. These are some photos of the event: GCG Guatemala Celebrates Mother's Day! All GCG Guatemala Mom’s were appreciated with a special breakfast on Saturday, May 12th. They each received a gift and were surprised with a Mariachi and Karaoke entertainment! Goddard Catering Group Announces and Welcomes Goddard Catering Group HDQ Announces an Internal Promotion Ms. Danae Pena has been promoted from Office Manager to Accountant for GCG HDQ! In this role, she reports to GCG’s VP of Finance, Emilio Marti. Danae joined GCG in March 2012 as Accounting Clerk, carrying over four years of Property Management and Accounting experience. In January 2015 she was promoted to Business Office Manager. Last year she completed a Masters Degree in Accounting from Florida Atlantic University and has plans to pursue a Florida license as CPA (Certified Public Accountant). In Danae’s new role she will be responsible for the accounting of GCG Grand Cayman while continuing to support other accounting functions for the GCG Division Office in Miami. Goddard Catering Group HDQ Welcomes Leonor Cardenas Esquivel On May 7th Ms. Leonor Cardenas Esquivel joined the GCG Miami… Goddard Catering Group Holds 2018 Financial Controllers Conference Once again, the Financial Controllers of the Catering Division met in Fort Lauderdale, FL for their annual Financial Controllers Conference. Natasha Small, The Chief Financial Officer of Goddard Enterprises, Ltd welcomed the group. She then proceeded to provide a presentation on the Role & Expectations for the Financial Controller “of the future” Emilio Marti, VP of Finance for the Catering Division then provided an overview of the Year-to-Date operating results of the Catering Division. Anne Wilkinson, GEL Group Accountant, and Emilio Marti provided a review of key areas we find in the monthly consolidation packs and on their proper completion. Ernst & Young was invited to give a presentation on new IFRS changes and how they can impact our future financial disclosures requirements. Berardo Ortega, our Group Accountant, then provided a review of how our Monthly Financial Statements should be… GCG Uruguay Partnering With Starbucks The first Starbucks has been just opened in Uruguay and we could not be happier! Even more exciting is the news that GCG Group in Uruguay will be providing Starbucks with some of the food they will feature at the location. GCG Group Opens a New Restaurant in Ecuador We are so excited to announce the opening of La Brassas restaurant in Ecuador, which successfully opened April 5th, 2018. GCG Ground St. Thomas Achieves 1St Place Again In March GCG Ground St. Thomas was “crowned” by Delta Airlines as #1 in the Caribbean for on-time departure rate (D0) again during the month of March! Plus, they were named a “Process Perfect Station” for having achieved 100% Boarding Door Shut rate in March – meaning the station was one out of 95 total, that shut the boarding door at least 5 minutes before departure on every flight, every day, 31 days in a row! GCG Group Success in Uruguay Natalia Tassino, Human Resources manager of GCG Group, is interviewed on the continual success of GCG Group in Uruguay. GCG Group St. Thomas Hosts Flu Vaccination Event GCG Group St. Thomas’s Health and Safety Committee Coordinated a Flu Vaccination Day at Cyril E. King Airport on Friday, February 9, 2017. Regional Manager Mr. Pedro Corbin was able to attend this initiative while visiting the station. The Management Representative and Safety Coordinator Mr. Kerry Rhymer was on hand to ensure that customers and airport neighbors were able to take advantage of the vaccination. Mr. Rhymer got in contact with members of the Health Department to provide the free service. The team of four from the Virgin Islands Department of Health came stocked with literature, vaccines and plenty of band-aids. Individuals who received vaccination were given a t-shirt stating "Keep Calm, I'm Vaccinated." The initiative was well received as many individuals were able to get their flu, tetanus, and pneumonia vaccinations at gate 9. Participants were treated to fruits and yogurt provided GCG Catering St… GCG Ground St. Thomas Named Among the Top 10 Delta Stations Internationally GCG Ground St. Thomas was listed as #1 in the Caribbean for on-time departure rate (D0) and ranked in the top 10 internationally. Management and staff gathered at the Delta Counter at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, February 6, 2018, to celebrate the company’s successful 100 percent on-time departure rate for Delta Airlines in the month of January 2018. The on-time departure team was rewarded with a trophy and accolades from Delta. The team also celebrated successfully achieving a Perfect 5 for Zero Aircraft Damages and Zero Security Violations. Even after two Category 5 hurricanes, the crew safely operated two humanitarian flights and earned a ranking of #4 Station of the Year, as well as a ranking in the top 10 10 International KPI League. The Event was coordinated by the event committee, which is comprised of team members from GCG Catering, the GCG… People on the Move at GCG Group \| February 2018 We’d like to extend our congratulations to the following new promotion and hire for GCG Group. GCG Group Grand Cayman Promotes Mr. Anthony Franklin Anthony Franklin has been promoted to General Manager of GCG Group in Grand Cayman! Anthony joined our company in Barbados in 1987 where he moved up through the ranks being asked to assist with the sister companies of St. Lucia and Grenada in 1994. In 1995, he was promoted to Chef of GCG Group Grand Cayman and was subsequently asked to also step into the role of Operations Manager while still wearing his Executive Chef hat. GGC Group Curacao Welcomes Ms. Sahira Antonia Ms. Sahira Antonia has been named Financial Controller at GCG Group Curacao. Although Sahira joined us on January 2, she is not… Benefit Event With the passage of Hurricane Irma & Maria and the devastation left in their path, a group of concerned persons organized a benefit concert to help in the aid process. The concert had no shortage of regional and local performers. GCG Events Antigua was approached to partner in this venture and was asked to fully manage a VIP section for the event. The request came one (1) week before the date of the concert, but given the importance, we jumped on board. We worked tirelessly towards the execution of the event organizing venue, security, décor, bars and of course the food. From all indications, the patrons were wowed, but most importantly, the concert was a success and a substantial amount of money was raised towards the relief effort. GCG Antigua is proud to have been involved with this event and would like to thank all our staff for going above… GCG Events Uruguay's 2017 Year in Review GCG Events Uruguay has been working so hard in the last year, particularly in December. Their team has provided services for National Maroñas Racecourse (for 450 people), American Airlines, Educational and Cultural Ministry, and others. See GCG Events Uruguay's year in review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNkbtdJjr4s&feature=youtu.be VI’s Best Major Airline Serving the Virgin Islands GCG Ground Services’ Delta Team has been voted as the VI’s Best Major Airline Serving the Virgin Islands’. Once again, GCG Ground Services’ Delta Team has been voted as the VI’s Best Major Airline Serving the Virgin Islands’ in a poll taken by readers of local newspaper “The Virgin Islands Daily News.” The Annual ‘Best of VI Readers Poll’ showcases nominated businesses favored by consumers in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The voters were able to cast their votes electronically as well as by filling out ballots. The coveted blue ribbon award is displayed prominently within Delta’s Office as a reminder of the hard work and dedication put forth by the above and below wing agents. Both the above and wing agents along with the catering team strive to accommodate the customer through fast, friendly, and effective service. GCG Ground Services Above Wing Delta Team beams proudly with their hard… Gastronomy - Food, History and Good Company WESTERN BUREAU: Jamaica has had a long history of first-class gastronomy. Last Thursday, the country's tourism minister, Edmund Bartlett pushed the envelope by hosting a 10-course Gastronomy Experience at the 200-year-old Chukka Good Hope Estate in the hills of Trelawny. Read more. GCG Events caters VIPS at top gear festival Barbados GCG Events Barbados were appointed as the preferred caterers for the VIP Tent and various Corporate boxes at the recently concluded Top Gear Festival held at the newly upgraded Bushy Park Circuit Inc., world class facility on May 17th and 18th. The VIP section catered to 1200 patrons each day and they were treated to a first class culinary experience, perfect for the occasion for breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea. From delicious open face smoked salmon sandwiches, mini-jam puffs and dainty quiche for breakfast, to a sumptuous buffet with Miso Glazed Chicken and Seared Snappers, accompanied by delightful sides and sauces. The live Asian station was a hit with made to order stir fried noodles with prawn crackers and crispy spring rolls. VIPs were being treated to something special on and off the track. The premium bars were solid and flowed non-stop from start to finish, providing patrons with whatever… GCG Health and Wellness Initiatives Roll Out GCG St. Thomas' Insurance Provider Elan Insurance Group partnered with HIMA Health Puerto Rico to provide a Health Fair for all of GCG's Employees on Wednesday April 5, 2017. The Fair, which lasted from approximately 9 a.m. through 1 p.m. provided pertinent Health Care information along with Cholesterol Screening, Blood Sugar Screening and Blood Pressure Screening. Following Each screening the employees were given healthy tips based on their results. Key Players of GCG STT's Health and Wellness Committee were also on hand to encourage employee Health Screening among the team. I See It, I Say It! GCG Group - GCG Group 2525 Embassy Drive Suite #13 Cooper City, FL 33026 USA	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line575
__label__wiki	0.521142	0.521142	GEAS Open Colloquium Steve R. Entrich (Freie Universität Berlin) More Individual Choice? Students’ Share in Educational Decision-Making at the Transition to High School in Japan (1995-2009) According to sociological rational choice theory, students’ class-specific educational decisions at key transition points significantly contribute to educational and social inequalities. Yet, while theory missed to clearly accentuate all relevant actors’ influences on students’ decisions, research failed to adequately empirically account for students’ individual share in such decisions, but attributed their choices to family background and academic achievement. Drawing on the Japanese case, a refined theoretical model reflecting multiple (f)actors’ influence on students’ rational decision-making is introduced, before new evidence on students’ actual share in high school choice since the 1990s is presented. Comparative multinomial logistic regressions show the following main findings: (1) Students with concrete educational plans decisively impact their high school choice even when controlling for family background and academic achievement. Students thus clearly impact their own educational pathways and whether inequalities are reproduced. (2) In spite of the recent policy shift towards more individual choice, students’ own educational plans have not become considerably more influential for their final high school placement in 2009 compared to 1995, implying similar constraints for individual choice still. Academic achievement remains decisive for school choice in Japan, as juku have taken over former functions of placement counselling. Steve R. Entrich is a Post-Doc Research Fellow at the Graduate School for East Asian Studies (GEAS) at the Freie Universität Berlin. He holds a Master's degree in History and Educational Sciences (University of Potsdam). Following his stays at Dōshisha University, Kyoto, and the German Institute for Japanese Studies, Tokyo, he received his Ph.D. at the University of Potsdam for his thesis on shadow education in Japan. His recent publications include ‘Shadow Education and Social Inequality in Japan: Evolving Patterns and Conceptual Implications’, Springer International Publishing (2018); ‘Diversification of university entrance examinations and use of out-of-school education in Japan’ with Hirofumi Taki, in Ojima & Aramaki (eds.): ‘High school students' life course and school life and the transformation of social conciousness: Trajectories over 30 years’ (in Japanese). Tokyo: Sekai shisō-sha (2018).	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line577
__label__wiki	0.852517	0.852517	Home About Us Testimonials Login Mailing List Quick Order Wish List Gift Registry Policies Contact Us Help Home / Best Selling Artists / Johnny Cash Sort by Price Low->High Price High->Low Title A->Z Title Z->A Item Code A->Z Item Code Z->A Popularity Top Rated FIRST 1 2 3 4 MOVLPI693 Johnny Cash The Fabulous Johnny Cash 180g Import LP (Mono) 180g Mono Import LP! Maintaining his stripped-down, bare bones Country Blues style the album is simply all killer, no filler Classic Cash with songs like "Frankie's Man, Johnny" and "Don't Take Your Guns To Town". Format: Music On Vinyl 180g Import Mono LP RUMLP0510 Johnny Cash The Fabulous Johnny Cash Import LP Vinyl LP! Featuring The Classic" I Still Miss Someone" The Fabulous Johnny Cash is his 3rd full length LP, originally released in 1958. Considered by many to be his most cohesive and fully fleshed out album. Format: Rumble Records Import LP SONLP40806 Johnny Cash The Fabulous Johnny Cash 180g LP (Mono) 180 Gram Vinyl! Johnny Cash's First Columbia Album in Its Original Mono! Pressed at RTI! Originally released November 1958, Johnny Cash's third album was released on the Columbia label following his departure from Sun Records. Format: Sony/Legacy Mono 180g LP UNILP88815 Johnny Cash The Legend of Johnny Cash 180g 2LP Last Chance! Out of Print! Limited Supplies available! Many of Johnny Cash's Iconic Songs on 180g Double LP Career Spanning Album on Vinyl for the First Time! Pressed at QRP! The Legend of Johnny Cash is a compilation album of country music singer Johnny Cash's career. It is the first such album to contain material from Cash’s American Recordings era in addition to songs from his time at Sun and Columbia. Format: Universal Mercury 180g 2LP DOXLP3119 Johnny Cash The Lure Of The Grand Canyon 180g LP & CD The Lure of the Grand Canyon was a sort of concept album consisting primarily of American composer Ferde Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite. Cash gives his tribute to Grofé in the conclusive track, an 11-minute spoken word piece about a day at the Canyon. Format: Doxy 180g LP & CD PCHLPI071 Johnny Cash Unchained In A Rusty Cage Import 2LP Deluxe Vinyl Edition! Dynamic 1996 Live Performance On Double LP! The Man In Black performs live at Irving Plaza in New York! Featuring classics such as "Folsom Prison Blues", "Walk The Line", "Unchained", plus many more! Format: Parachute Deluxe Limited Edition Import 140g 2LP Johnny Cash Unearthed 180g 9LP Box Set Original Five Album Set On 180g Vinyl 9LP! First Time On Vinyl! Includes Deluxe Cloth-Bound Book, Rare Photos, Alternate Takes & More! This item not eligible for any further discount offers! This collection was initially released on CD in 2003 and is now available on vinyl for the first time. Johnny Cash's Unearthed collection was produced by Rick Rubin and features outtakes and alternate versions of songs recorded for American Recordings, Unchained, American III: Solitary Man and American IV: The Man Comes Around & more. Format: Universal 180g Vinyl 9LP Box Set MOVLPI1873 The Highwaymen Highwayman 180g Import LP 180g Audiophile Vinyl! Four Legendary Country Artists In One Super-Group! The Highwaymen were a country music super-group composed of four of the biggest outlaw country artists: Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson. Both the album and the single eventually reached the top spot in the country music charts. Format: Music On Vinyl 180g Import SUNLP5551 The Highwaymen Highwayman LP 1985 Debut Album Reissued On Vinyl LP! Highwayman was the 1985 debut LP from the country super group, The Highwaymen, comprised of Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson. Format: Sundazed Records LP The Highwaymen Highwayman 2 150g LP Grammy-Nominated Sophomore Vinyl LP From Country Music's Star-Studded Supergroup featuring Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson! Highwayman 2 was the second album released in 1990 from the country super group, The Highwaymen, an epic quartet comprised of the outlaw country genre's pioneering stars: Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson. Format: Sundazed Records 150g LP FIRST 1 2 3 4	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line582
__label__cc	0.664327	0.335673	Million Dollar Fish Season 2 ENGEL BECOMES OFFICIAL PARTNER FOR MILLION DOLLAR FISH SEASON 2! THERE ARE A MILLION REASON TO GO FISHING...AND HERE'S A MILLION MORE! WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT A MILLION DOLLARS FITS INTO A 60 LITRE ENGEL? NOW THAT IS SOME COOL CASH! REGISTER FOR YOUR CHANCE TO CATCH 1 X $1,000,000 TAGGED BARRA* 100 X $10,000 TAGGED BARRA* BY REGISTERING FOR THE MILLION DOLLAR FISH SEASON 2 COMPETITION YOU ALSO HAVE THE CHANCE TO WIN FROM THE NT FISHING PRIZE POOL! Click Here to Visit the Website Who Are We? Relax...you've come to the right place! Home and RV is your first stop before you take off. We've got just about everything you'll need for your next adventure, whether it be trekking across the Nullarbor or a weekend coastal drive. Upgrade your RV with new doors and appliances, and get that sound system ready to turn up when your fellow explorers are talking too much. Not going away? No need to panic, we've got things for your home as well. Because sometimes a home holiday is just what you need. So now you're thinking, what makes these guys experts? Well...Home and RV is proudly owned by NCE. With over 51 years of experience, NCE is the leading supplier of components to the recreational vehicle industry in Australia and New Zealand. Meaning we have an overflowing pool of knowledge on the caravanning industry, ensuring we can offer the best and innovative products to our caravanning enthusiasts. Paul Worsteling & IFISH with Tackleworld Engel Distribution are proud to announce its partnership with Paul Worsteling and the team at "IFISH with Tackle World" for the 2013 series to be broadcast on Network Ten, Channel One and Foxtel's Lifestyle Channel. This initiative brings Australia's most popular and highest rating fishing program together with Engel's philosophy of enjoying the great Australian outdoors. The series will also feature Engel staff members also doing what they love, fishing and enjoying the great outdoors. The Engel and IFISH association will extend to this year's Sydney and Adelaide 4WD & Adventure Shows, with Paul Worsteling joining the Engel team in representing our brand and no doubt signing a few autographs along the way, as well as demonstrating a few fishing techniques on the main stage. This is in additional to Engel's strong presence and great success at previous shows where interest in our product has been tremendous. In additional to our existing brand ambassadors - Ernie Dingo, Rick & Todd Kelly, James Moffat and Michael Caruso from Nissan Motorsport - Engel are thrilled with the addition of Paul Worsteling and the IFISH with Tackle World team. Discount Camping We are an Adelaide owned and operated family leisure industry retail business established in 1969, 35 years of quality products at the best price. \| Service \| Quality \| Reliability \| Integrity \| Value \| Our aim is to offer our customers , good friendly service and maintain excellent customer relations. Visit the Largest outside Display of New & Used Tents in Australia and check out the gear in our well stocked shed at 833 Main North Rd Pooraka SA 5095 Snowy's Outdoors South Australia's Biggest Camping, Travel, and Adventure Store, Best Advice, Best Service, Best Products, Best Prices 92 Richmond Road Keswick SA 5035 Phone - 08 8351 2111 Fax - 08 8351 2122 Email - enquiries@snowys.com.au Tents, footwear, swags, camping accessories, fridges and coolers, backpacks, sleeping bags, adventure clothing, cooking gear, camp furniture. Aussie Disposals When you shop at an Aussie Disposals store, you are stepping into an Australian owned business since 1962. A family owned business founded in Gippsland and now giving you 35 stores across Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales. Nissan Motorsport Engel is proud to announce that it is now an official partner of Nissan Motorsport. Brothers Rick and Todd Kelly established Kelly Racing in 2009 and today field one of the largest V8 Supercar Championship Teams doing the circuit with four cars. Originally from Mildura, brothers Rick & Todd have been long term users of Engel products. Rick's 40 Litre Engel Fridge - Freezer has accompanied the Kelly Racing Team to every single round of the V8 supercar championship for years and the ever reliable Engel has been on numerous family holidays and camping trips. The Kelly Racing Team, now operating under the Nissan Motorsport banner for the first time in V8 Supercar history, surround themselves with reliable equipment and tools to prepare their race cars and Engel is the perfect match due to its status of being a "Legend in Reliability". Engel's range of high grade, quality products including its range of portable fridge - freezers and large diesel powered generators will be used by Nissan Motorsport as they compete in the 2013 V8 Supercar Championship. Regardless of how hot the competition will be on the track the Engel will keep things cool off it! Shimano Australia Why Shimano? Across the planet, the Shimano name is synonymous with fishing. Founded in the early 1920’s by Shozaburo Shimano, Shimano started off as a company known for precision engineering. Today the company is regarded as one of the forerunners in product innovation and a leader in the industry. Shimano prides itself on its ability to design and produce fishing tackle that features cutting edge technology such as High Efficiency Gearing (HEG), A-RB and TC4 Construction. With more than 75 employees in the fishing tackle division in Irvine, California headquarters, Shimano American Corporation has a national sales force of 60 of the most seasoned professionals in the industry that have a passion for fishing. With an eye towards the future, Shimano is heavily involved in youth development around the country and environmental and governmental affairs that help protect the land and sea. Hunts NT Australia's Northern Territory, or the Top End as we locals call it, is some 1.4 million square kilometres in size. Or to put it another way, Italy, France & Spain all rolled into one. The NT is a HUNTERS’ and fishermens’ PARADISE, supporting vast populations of feral animals including WILD BOAR or pigs, WATER BUFFALO, scrub bulls & BANTENG CATTLE, plus huge numbers of MAGPIE GEESE & ducks. The Territory is a visually stunning landscape, VAST & sparsely populated, and for a large part still WILD & untouched. Flood plains, billabongs, big rivers, thundering waterfalls, rock escarpments, rain forest, prolific birdlife, brilliant sunsets, aboriginal culture & some of the most interesting & DIVERSE bunch of people you will EVER meet. This makes the Northern Territory a MUST visit destination at least a once in YOUR lifetime. Olbis Communications Olbis Group of Companies is a family owned and run company that has been in operation for 40 years. We specialize in a vast range of unique electronic products which include Garmin and Magellan GPS, Uniden, Barrett, Codan and GME Communications (UHF, HF, CB Radio), Engel Fridges, Navman In Car Navigation, Safari Snorkels and Dtronic, Autocom motorbike Intercoms, Satelite Irridium Phones, Navman marine sounders and plotters, ERPS rust protection, Milford cargo barriers, Solar Panels, Radar detecors, SS Cold air induction, Clarion and VDO car audio and much more. Here at Olbis World, we also install and service all of the product we deal with. In most cases, we are actually the Queensland Warranty and Service agents for these products. KEDRON Caravans It's been 46years now since Dad first started off in the caravan industry, moving up from the NSW country town of Moree to Brisbane, and 2008 also marks the 10th year since we first started throwing a few cameras over the shoulders and heading North to film our adventures, with now seven in total. Check out WWW.THEGALLBOYS.COM 10 Strathwyn St Brendale 4500 Ph: 07-3881-3383 Fax: 07-3881-3832 Future Metal Fabrication Future Metal Fabrication is a South Australian based business that was established in 2006, we manufacture a range of quality hard and soft floor camper trailers, we also manufacture a range of quality off road trailers, commercial trailers and aluminium ute canopies that have really proven themselves in the past 8 years as quality products that thrive in the harsh Australian outback and we stock and sell a range of quality products and spare parts to keep you on the move. So Happy Trails and feel free to drop in and see us sometime. Great Outdoors Direct Great Outdoors Direct is a company that aims at providing a online portal to customers with information, insight and an objective opinion on camping and the great outdoors. We are outdoor enthusiasts, having travelled and camped in many locations around the world. This experience has been in the form of luxurious glamour resorts to remote isolated locations. Coupled with this, we have been involved in outdoor retail for close on a decade, selling, buying and trying a wide range on camping outdoor products and brands. Great Outdoors Direct, we have demanded from oursleves to treat our customers with the passion and the highest level of service they deserve. We have an opinion, and we will tell you it without prejudice. We also want to know yours, as we value it! In the end, we want you to log off, and be rest assured that you have received honest, unskewed, professional advise and opinion. Our business is here to commucate with you. Our customers will always be the winners. We aim to achieve this through providing an online store, and informative blogs. The online store displays a array of outdoor equipment which we believe is unique, new, tried and tested to suits camping in the outdoors. Our blog is to give our customers information, information that is current, and opinion on a wide range of topical issues and products. We look forard to being of service to you and assuirng you our best interest at all times. CMV Truck Sales MV Truck Sales and Service is South Australia's leading Kenworth and Fuso truck dealer and also stocks the full range of Maxicube and Freighter trailers and vans. CMV Truck Sales and Service is located at Gepps Cross, South Australia and offers repair and service facilities that are supported by two extensive parts organisations a CMV Riverland Parts at Berri and CMV Truck & Trailer Parts at Burton. A truck salvage operation trading as CMV Truck Dismantlers also operates in Wingfield, specialising in engines, transmissions, drive lines, cabs, panels and bodies and complete trucks. Kangaroo Tent City Welcome to Woop Woop, Northern Territory – the cyberspace location for Kangaroo Tent City’s top secret outback testing facility for camping and outdoor products – where the Aussie outdoors is our way of life. Here at Kangaroo Tent City & BBQ’s we have thousands of products, and the largest display of tents in Australia. Browse through our stores to see our extensive display of bbq’s and outdoor furniture, or lose yourself amongst our fabulous range of camping accessories. Our Flagship Superstore is now conveniently located at North Parramatta, with ample parking and air conditioning, and knowledgeable and friendly staff to help you with all of your camping enquiries. Our Penrith store also caters for repairs and customized requirements, whilst Chatswood, Maitland and Tuggerah still offer the friendly assistance for which Kangaroo Tent City & BBQ’s has become famous over the last 55 years. Barra Base Fish the magnificent waters of the 'Top End' of Australia. Experienced fishing guides will take you to a wide range of destinations including the waters of the famous Barra Base. Geoff Corry is the founder of barrabase.com and an accredited tour operator and fishing guide. Geoff has guided such fishing notables as Rex Hunt, Steve Starling and Paul Burt. He has featured on Rex Hunt Fishing, Gone Fishing and in the U.S.A. on Wild Outdoor Adventures. Geoff guided at, and managed, the fishing lodge Barra Base and Jessie Camp on the Tiwi Islands for 10 years. He has accumulated over 20 years experience fishing and guiding in the Northern Territory. Burnsco Marine and Leisure Burnsco Marine and Leisure, New Zealand's largest marine and motorhome accessories chain! 11 stores throughout New Zealand - ALbany, Half Moon Bay, Westhaven, Gulf Harbour, Whangarei, Hamilton, Tauranga, Mt Maunganui, Wellington, Christchurch and Nelson. TJM Serious 4WD Equipment Serious 4WD Equipment. From the Croc Country of Cape York to the bone jarring corrugations of the Australian Outback, TJM Serious 4WD Equipment will protect and support you through your four wheel driving experience. Got'ya Tackle and Camping Got'a Tackle & Camping is a 1200m2 Outdoor Store located in the warm, sunny climate of Perth, Western Australia. Specializing in the needs of outdoor enthusiast for eight years, it has grown to be one of the largest Outdoor Fishing and Camping Stores in Australia. Priding themselves on a 'Customer First' type attitude, you can be assured that when dealing with gotyatackle.com, you will be treated with the highest professional service and care. This attitude has been further strengthened by the popularity of shopping on the Online Store. You can be assured that the values, attitudes and personal security of dealing with Got'ya Tackle Online will meet with even the most discerning shopper. BCF - Boating Camping Fishing The quality you demand. At BCF, we only sell quality brands from trusted manufacturers. We are committed to offering the widest range – from the tried and true to the latest and greatest. But if a product doesn't measure up, it doesn’t make it into our store. The price you deserve. When you shop at BCF, you know you'll always get a fair price. We regularly check the competition to make sure we are competitive and, wherever we can, we add extra value to give you an even better deal. The advice you depend on. At BCF, our people love boating, camping and fishing as much as you do. They are passionate about their pastime and if they can't give you an answer on the spot, they'll help you find a solution. Kaymar 4WD Accessories Kaymar 4WD Accessories design and manufacture a large range of accessories for Four Wheel Drives. The KAYMAR range of products are known for their versatility, functionality and durability and due to the high demand of these products are now available Australia wide and overseas. Dario Caravans & Repairs Dario Caravans was established in 1978 and remains under the same ownership. With 28 years (and counting!) experience in caravan Manufacture and Repairs we are the "One stop shop" for all your needs.....The main purpose of this site is to display our products and services that we offer and how we can help you with "anything Caravans" Crikey Camper Hire Crikey Camper Hire is a West Australian Camper Hire company owned by experienced outdoor enthusiasts. Hiring the latest model Jayco On Road & robust Camprite Off Road Camper Trailers - all hire models accommodate up to 6 people in “Off the ground comfort”. Crikey Camper Hire offer the added convenience of hiring Engel Fridge/Freezers, Satellite Phones, UHF Radios, Generators and much more. Whether for a short break, or for an extended adventure, Crikey Camper Hire will offer personalised service to ensure you have a fantastic travel experience. With 3 pick up locations in Perth, WA, this truly is camping made easy. Hire A Camper Trailer.com HireAcampertrailer.com, western australias largest camper trailer rental company, and tourism council of australia accredited business specialise in the hire of the Latest model Pioneer camper trailers and Engel portable refrigerators, HireAcampertrailer.com have depots in Fremantle and Broome Ron and Viv Moon Moon Adventure Publications ADVENTURE and 4WD AUSTRALIA GUIDEBOOKS. Explore remote areas such as Cape York, the Kimberley and the Flinders Ranges. Comprehensive and up-to-date Australian guidebooks... backed with 30 years of travelling & research. Discover all you need to know to experience an Australian outback adventure holiday with our Australia guidebooks - four wheel driving (4WD), camping, accommodation, facilities, services, and much more. We have specific guidebooks for Australia 4WD tours, National Parks, Cape York, the Kimberley, the Flinders Ranges, 4WD Bush Adventures in Victoria and more! Lean how to cook in the camp oven and on the camp fire with Viv's Cookbooks - The Outdoor Cookbook, and The Travellers Cookbook. For more information please check out our site. Model T Ford By visiting this site you will be able to track the progress of our vintage and veteran Model T Fords, as we travel around Australia in 180 days. Our youngest car will be 80 years old and others will be up to 92 years old. We will keep you updated with our diary and photos, we will share our good and not so good experiences with you as we visit some of the most spectacular scenery in the world, right here in our own back yard. Cross Country Drivers Assocation - C.C.D.A. The CCDA is a global body, not constrained by political or territorial boundaries, setting the standards for four wheel drive motor sport events, with equitable representation from competitors, marshals, officials and event managers as well as regional groups. The CCDA aims to develop and promote all aspects of four wheel drive based competitions from navigation events through to winch challenges and rock crawling. Our Goals and Objectives are to: Represent the view of the competitors with regard to legislation and event rules. Regulate the sport to ensure fairness within classes and safety. Promote and encourage more events through providing affordable insurance. Assist new people into the sport with entry level events and development programmes. Provide assistance in getting International teams to attend Australian events as well as helping our members attend overseas events. Engel World Western Australia's largest Engel Retailer Sales, Service, Parts, Repairs & Accessories Engel World is a Western Australian owned and operated business specialising in the supply of quality Engel products at the best, most competitive prices. Alternate Gas Refrigeration Pty. Ltd. Since 1992 we have been one of the few repairers of gas / electric and 12 volt refrigeration systems in Australia. As specialist repairers of absorption cooling units ( gas / electric operation ) and with 35 years experience in caravan and camping refrigeration we strive to deliver a quality product at an affordable price with a genuine warranty and after sales service. We at Ray's Outdoors are passionate about our natural environment and inspire and encourage others to explore the great outdoors. Ray’s Outdoors is a global leader in the leisure, lifestyle and outdoor entertainment industry. We have some 39 stores and employ 950 people across Australia and our online store has us servicing a worldwide market. We are distinguished from other leisure, lifestyle and outdoor entertainment companies by the quality of our assets; our deep inventory of growth projects; our customer-focused marketing; our quality service delivery and our diversification across a variety of markets. “Ray’s Outdoors come see what we’ve got!” Engel fridge/freezer SALES, HIRE, SERVICING & SPARE PARTS, Perth, Western Australia. A family owned & run store, Engeland has been in operation for nineteen years and our product knowledge & customer service are second to none. Our complete on-line store provides delivery to anywhere in Australia. Camping Tips Australia Camping Tips Australia is a website dedicated to helping all types of campers to find the information they require to assist them in touring and camping in Australia. From Camping sites to Camping units and accessories and more. It has a designated area to assist Grey Nomads which is always expanding in information. We appreciate comments through our contact & blog pages Camping in Oz Camping Australia Camping In Oz has been created to help people find useful information about camping in Australia. Camping In Oz has detailed listings on hundreds of places to go camping in Australia including caravan parks. There is also a growing community of campers on Camping In Oz who are more than happy to offer advice about anything to do with camping Australia. Browse the Camping Forum and join the camping community here on Camping In Oz to take full advantage of everything this website has to offer. Follow Me 4WD Follow Me 4WD Pty Ltd (FM4WD) is owned and operated by Ricky and Annie Esser. FM4WD is based in Happy Valley SA. FM4WD offers Nationally Recognised 4wd Driver Training, Towing Training (Tow-Ed), Low Risk Driving, Drive Under Operational Conditions (Lights and Sirens) and First Aid Courses for corporate or private individuals The courses are integral components of the National Outdoor Recreation; Forestry, Mining and Transport & Distribution Training Packages. We would like the opportunity to align the skill base of your staff to the current National Standards. Ricky is a qualified Certificate 4 Workplace Trainer and Assessor. He has over 20 years experience in the 4wd community as well as more than 10 years working in various areas of the automotive industry. Ricky has been training basic and advanced 4 Wheel Driving for more than 9 years. FM4WD is a flexible training provider, and can tailor the training to suit the needs of your staff, whether they are novice or experienced and all courses are run as small groups for personal and comprehensive learning. The training courses cover a range of subjects with the emphasis on OH&S; and we are able to modify the courses to suit your needs. Since 1963 Mack Trucks Australia has been supplying world class products and services to the Australian road transport and mining industries. Through an ever increasing range of products and services, higher management standards and upgraded employee skills and expertise, Mack promises to continually grow this commitment to customer excellence. Escape with ET Online Mag With over 200 pages of fantastic fishing, boating, camping and 4 wheel driving articles and 1 hour of video, the Escape with ET e-Mag has something for everyone. Sign-up and become a member now or click on the link (left). Engel 4WD Challenge Series DVD from Team Mud Rhino Round 1 of the 2009 Engel Series really kicked the year off with a bang. Recorded at 'Coroborra' in North Neerim (Victoria, Australia) this DVD features one and a half hours of offroad footage combined with a fresh drum and bass soundtrack produced by Australia's own king of electro funk - 'ATTACHE'. Check out or site for more DVDs for sale. www.mudrhino.com.au/DVDs http://www.mudrhino.com.au 150TH ANNIVERSARY BURKE & WILLS ENVIRONMENTAL EXPEDITION 2010 Burke & Wills Environmental Expedition AN OUTLINE OF THE MISSION Inspired by the worsening environmental crisis, a private group of concerned conservationists led by actor Jack Thompson have mounted a selffunded Environmental Expedition to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the first crossing of Australia by iconic heroes Burke & Wills. It will highlight environmental issues along the 1860 track, promote remedial actions and mobilize further public, media, corporate and government support for ongoing protection and remedial work.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line584
__label__cc	0.743916	0.256084	#ReviewTour #PNR #Standalone - When Hunter Meets Seeker (An Arcane Society Novel) by Betty Shreffler Title: When Hunter Meets Seeker Series: An Arcane Society Novel Author: Betty Shreffler Genre: Paranormal Romance Standalone Trained by the Arcane Society to fulfill her legacy as an Arcane Hunter, Anya Carlisle knows nothing but the loneliness that comes with being a hunter. One evening, in a place she never should've been, throws Anya into the heated snare of Dex Grigori. She should've seen him as the enemy, but instead her body longs for his touch in ways she's never experienced. From the first moment Dex sets eyes on Anya, he wants her all for himself. After one night of forbidden passion he's left craving more of her, until he discovers how wrong for him she is. She's a deadly hunter that kills without question and he's exactly the kind of demon she's been trained to eliminate. Yet his fierce desire to have her brings him dangerously close to her heart, where he soon discovers she is far more than the cold killer he anticipated. “I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves an outstanding paranormal read, and let's not leave out all steamy loves scenes!” ~5 Star Goodreads Review by Jessica “A paranormal fantasy romance at its best, . . . this is an amazing story!” ~Socially Book Nerd “I am completely blown away but the fiction world the Betty is able to create, over and over again. When Hunter Meets Seeker is no exception.” ~5 Star Goodreads Review by Melissa Copyright © 2017 by Betty Shreffler A sharp, painful smack of a wooden staff cracked the outside of her thigh. She grimaced. “Anya Carlisle.” “What are you, Anya?” The staff snapped with precise efficiency against her shoulder. “An Arcane Hunter,” she growled. “What is the sole purpose of an Arcane Hunter?” Anya’s own staff rang in her ears as she blocked the next blow. “To hunt and kill preternatural demons. Those that live among us, hidden by their powers. My duty is to balance the scale.” Anya’s eyes caught the twitch in her trainer’s shoulder. She shifted her foot and ducked as the lengthy, thin wooden staff of pain missed her left shoulder. She swung her own, hitting the backside of Dillon’s knee. His leg reflexively bent forward giving her the opportunity to spin and swing, applying another debilitating blow to her trainer’s back. His teeth clenched as he stomached the pain. He lowered his staff. She cautiously lowered hers. “Very good, Anya. You’re quickly exceeding my expectations. You’ve surpassed your brother’s skills.” Anya instinctively swung her staff forward, blocking another strike intended for her ankles. Her staff cracked against her trainer’s. His eyes gleamed proudly. “You’re ready.” She followed Dillon to the wall and tucked her staff into its place in the rack. “How will I know when I’ve found them?” She looked to her longtime mentor and trainer. He smiled, the wrinkles in his warm chocolate eyes creasing. “You’ll know when you’re around them. Your instincts will tell you. Instincts I am confident you possess.” Anya pulled the soft white towel from atop the bench and her shoes. She wiped the towel over her face and neck, removing the damp sweat settled there. “My first kill? What will it be like? What will I be like after?” Dillon placed a firm hand on her shoulder. Her eyes drifted to his. “You’ll kill quickly. The troubling sensation will fade. It’s your duty, Anya. Remember that, always.” Anya clenched her fist and teeth and swung—once, twice, a third time—her knuckles reddening from the coarse impact of her tender skin against the boxing bag. She swung her body, raising her leg high, contacting the bag just below her shin. Her best friend, Jackson, staggered in his attempt to hold the bag still. “Easy, girl, this bag didn’t do anything to you.” Anya rolled her eyes and shoved another fist into the bag. “All right, what’s going on?” She slowed the force of her swings. “I’m done, Jackson. I’m walking away.” Jackson stared at her, confused. “What do you mean you’re walking away? Isn’t it your duty as an Arcane Hunter to protect schmucks like me?” Her fist hit the bag, taking with it her anger and confusion. She placed her hands against the bag, leaning into it. “I used to believe that when I was younger. I thought I had been born into a destiny to protect the innocent. I’m not so sure anymore.” She glanced at Jackson, admiring his toned biceps, short, dirty-blond hair and pleasant face. He was an attractive guy that women often flocked to, but she wasn’t one of them. His personality had always been a perfect match to hers, but only as a friend. Romantically it just wasn’t there, never had been. Only once in their ten years of being friends had he shown interest in her. At sixteen, she and her twin brother, Leo, had moved to Jackson’s town. As the new girl, every boy in the school saw her as fresh meat. Jackson had been one of the only boys to treat her as a female worth respecting. She’d grown fond of him quickly and appreciated that he wasn’t buddies with her popular, cocky, football-star brother, even though he played on the same team as him. Jackson helped keep the lascivious boys away because everyone assumed they were a couple. Because of Jackson, her first year at Middleton High had been better than any other year at the multiple schools she’d attended. On her seventeenth birthday when he admitted he had a crush on her at a high school party, it was incredibly difficult to admit she didn’t feel the same. Thankfully Jackson healed quickly from his wounds when a girl on the marching band showed interest in him. Their friendship took a backseat to his new obsession, Leyna, but it couldn’t keep them apart. Every fight he and Leyna had sent him to Anya’s house as an escape from Leyna’s nagging. His frequent visits came more often when her training started. He loved having a “tough” female best friend that he could work out with and ask “girl” questions. Not that she was the best one to give advice. Her own relationships had been few and then completely nonexistent once her training as an Arcane Hunter began. Jackson had been the only friend she could confide in once her world got turned upside down by the knowledge that demons existed and she’d been born into a legacy required to hunt and kill them. She sighed heavily. “The last one, he seemed like a normal guy, had a family, a normal job, but the Arcane Society insisted he be destroyed. The man begged me not to kill him. Said he detested what he was and that he just wanted to live a normal life.” Jackson’s expression contorted, sadness filling his eyes. “That’s rough, Awn. “I apologized for what I had to do. Told him if it wasn’t me it would be another hunter and I could at least give him a merciful and peaceful death.” Anya turned away from Jackson; she couldn’t bear to see the dejection on his face. She walked to the bench and grabbed the towel out of her gym bag and wiped her face and neck with it. She heard him approaching. She grabbed her bottle of water and chugged. “You did what you had to do. From what you’ve told me about the Arcane Society it would have been worse for you and him if you hadn’t followed through.” She lowered the bottle. “That’s just it. What if I stop? What if I refuse to do their dirty work? I’d like a normal life, Jacks. I’d like to make friends, have a normal job, have a relationship and not have to hide what I am.” Jackson lifted his own bottle, popping the top. He took a swig and looked at her as the thoughts evidently formed in his head. “What would happen if you stopped taking their orders? What would Leo do?” She glanced at the gym mats, contemplating the consequences. She looked back at Jackson. “Leo’s busy working on acquiring a position in the Society’s ranks. We barely ever see or speak to each other. I’d be amazed if he’d even notice if I stopped responding to the Society’s orders.” “He’d notice. You know how he is.” Anya frowned. “Seems that’s the only time I ever receive his attention is when I’m beating him at something or making him look bad.” Anya leaned down, shoving her towel into her gym bag, and pulled the strap over her shoulder. “This isn’t about him though. This is about me. I’ve already made my choice. I’m done.” Jackson grabbed his own bag. “Should we celebrate your mutiny then? Thomas and Joe want to go out to Donatello’s tonight.” They stepped in line with one another. Anya eyed him questioningly. “Seriously? Donatello’s? It’s a strip club. What fun am I going to have there?” Jackson pushed the exit door open for her. The sun’s bright rays blinded her momentarily. She squinted as she walked out. “It’s not just a strip club. It’s a nightclub with a bar and dance floor. The strippers are in the back. If you’re willing to pay, you get the private shows.” “I’ll think about it.” “I’ll pick you up at eight.” Jackson gave his boyish grin as he headed to his sporty Subaru. Anya tossed her bag into her Jeep. “You’re buying drinks then.” Anya stepped into her one-bedroom studio apartment and dropped her bag by her bed. She pulled her tank top over her head and padded to her bathroom shower. She jumped in, turning the water to a cooler temperature. Placing her hands on the walls, she let the silky water pour over her face. Flashes of the demon she’d killed the night before crept into her thoughts. She shook her head and opened her eyes, grabbing for the soap. There was no going back, she was done. She couldn’t continue doing the dirty work of the Arcane Society. All her recent orders had left her with a sullen empty feeling after each kill. The demons seemed like normal citizens or at least they were trying to live that way. Her duty was to balance the scale. Lately it felt the scale was tipping more toward the Arcane Society’s preferences. Her own brother had become swept up by the power the Arcane Society possessed. Hungry for his own power, he’d played the politics perfectly and killed mercilessly, raising him to the status of their golden prince, destined to be a member of the board. She couldn’t even remember the last time she recognized him as a person with humanity or compassion. It had been too long. As soon as he hit puberty, she’d become nothing but competition to him or an annoying sister that got in his way. Once they started training they’d split apart further because she’d grown in her hunter skills far faster than he had. Perhaps because her social and romantic life had been nil, leaving lots of room for studying demonology and combat training. Leo, on the other hand, had been preoccupied with his popularity contest, dating every attractive female that would give him the time of day, and many did, as well as his beloved football. He was the star quarterback and more than anything Leo enjoyed being the star of everything. Anya stepped out of the shower, ringing the water from her long, wavy, auburn hair. She wrapped a towel around herself and walked to the round mirror. She admired her oddly colored eyes—one a mixture of golden hazel and pale green and the other a solid pale green. A feature she and her brother shared. The only feature they shared. While her hair was wavy and auburn and her body molded into a petite, toned, tight package, her brother had jet black hair, the height of a giant and muscles to match. Muscles that never left him no matter how much junk food he ate. Another feature they didn’t share. If she even looked at a cupcake she’d gain weight. That didn’t stop her from enjoying them though. Cupcakes were her secret indulgence, but she always spent the time in the gym to make up for it. After a blow-dry, light makeup, denim jeans, a flowing tank top, and dangly earrings, she nibbled on her most recent leftovers while she awaited Jackson to arrive. If only she’d learned to cook, she might be enjoying something better than leftover rice and chicken. With a dead mother, and a father who was more interested in his position in the Arcane Society, leaving them moving across the country too many times to count, she never learned to cook. Thankfully living in Atlanta, GA, gave her a plethora of restaurant options. She was working on learning to cook though. She’d successfully mastered a grilled cheese sandwich and warming a can of soup. Jackson praised her grilled cheese–making skills and assured her it was a valuable asset to have in a relationship. Like she’d know. Being an Arcane Hunter had her going out at all times of the day and night. Her neighbors looked at her strangely enough with her odd behaviors, then add the random blood and cuts. There was no way she could explain those behaviors to a guy she was dating. Unfortunately her relationships consisted of either long bouts of celibacy or short flings. Another reason she wanted to quit the Arcane Society. She’d like to find someone while she was still young and able. A honk outside her door had her stuffing the Styrofoam container back into her fridge and grabbing her wallet and keys as she rushed out the door. Jackson smiled and waved out the open window of his blue Subaru WRX. Through the open window she could see Thomas and Joe socializing in the backseat. She hopped in and Jackson quickly put the car into reverse, exiting her driveway before she had her seatbelt clicked. Joe leaned into the front. “Glad you came, Awn. This bar is dope. I’ve been there two times this week. The entertainment is addictive.” Anya rolled her eyes. “Uh-huh, you mean the strip shows in the back? Pretty soon you’ll be a regular with a nickname and a hole in your wallet.” Joe shoved her shoulder like she was one of the guys, which admittedly she’d become just that. Her femininity ended with her looks. She could put a beer down faster than any of them and probably throw a punch harder too. A test she always avoided when they got drunk and taunted her to give them her best shot. She feared she’d break bones and she’d never stop feeling sorry about it. “Does Lily know you’ve visited this place twice this week?” Joe waved his hand in the air. “Lily does her own thing. She doesn’t care what I do as long as I come home to her at the end of the night.” She may not know much about relationships, but she surely wouldn’t be comfortable with that arrangement if she did have one. “Jackson says you’re looking for a new job. My sister works at the hair salon on Fifth and George. She could put a good word in for you.” Anya looked back at Thomas, surprised. “I don’t have the slightest clue how to do hair or nails.” Thomas laughed. “I know. They’re looking for someone to run the register.” “Oh. That’s a nice offer, but not quite what I’m looking for.” Thomas nodded. “What are you looking for?” Anya turned forward, staring out at the streetlights and people walking around town. “I don’t know yet.” A fast turn and Jackson had tires squealing as they lurched into the parking lot of Donatello’s. “Easy, Jacks, I’d like my stomach to stay where it is.” Thomas smacked the back of his seat. “I think Jacks here is a little excited to see what’s inside.” Anya eyed him, disappointed. His cheeks glowed pink as he shrugged. The four of them exited and stopped at the back of the short line into the club. “Have your IDs ready,” Joe told them. Anya pulled it out of her wallet and twisted it impatiently through her fingers until they reached the expressionless and scary-looking bouncer. She showed him hers first and he waved her in with the same emotionless expression. She stepped through the heavy metal door and resisted the urge to slap Joe as he nearly shoved her out of his way to get into the club. They walked through a short hallway that opened up to a massive dance floor with tons of people jam-packed onto it. A few tables were scattered here and there with people filling them too. At the bar on the right, red lights lit up the choices of liquor and highlighted the attractive bartenders. Most seats were taken there as well. As the heat of the sweaty dancers and the warm temperature of the club hit her, she motioned to the bar. “I’m getting refreshments. Want any?” Jackson withdrew his glossy eyes from the women on the dance floor and nodded at her. “Yeah, get a few beers. I’ll find a table.” She nodded and left him to his undoubtedly fruitless task. She straddled a stool and motioned for the nearest bartender. She waved, her pretty blond curls bouncing as she approached. “What can I get ya?” “A bucket. Corona Light. Also a lemon drop shot while I’m here.” The bartender nodded and moved off to get the orders. Anya swiveled on her stool, watching the crowd of dancers bounce, thump, and hump their way into drunken bliss. The hair on her skin raised and she instantly knew a demon was near. She exhaled and turned her barstool back to the bar, ignoring the signs. The bartender dropped the bucket and shot in front of her. She licked the edge of the shot glass, swallowed the liquor and bit into the lemon to soothe the bitter taste. A little shiver ran over her neck and shoulders as the liquor worked its way through her. She smiled at the bartender, leaving a large bill, and began her search for her women-hunting guy friends. To her surprise, she found Jackson at a table talking to a pretty young woman with long, straight, black hair and bangs. Her bright blue eyes glanced up at her as she approached. The woman whispered something into Jackson’s ear, never taking her eyes off Anya. As Anya neared, the same hair raising sensation shimmied over her skin. She eyed the woman with interest. What demon was she? Stunningly attractive. Check. Seductive eyes. Check. Whispering sweet nothings into Jackson’s ear. Check. Jealous possessive expression. Check. Succubus. Check. Anya set the bucket on the table with an added thump. Jackson’s attention whipped toward her. “Who’s your friend?” Anya smiled. The woman’s own smile spread wickedly across her face. “I’m Serena. I work here. I was just offering your friend here a tour of the place. You should join us.” Anya’s brow raised. She had no interest in getting a tour, but now she had to. Jackson was in the crosshairs of a sex-hungry succubus surely looking for her next victim. “I’d love to.” “Wonderful. Grab a beer. Bring it with you,” she suggested all too sweetly. She and Jackson followed Serena to a door off to the side of the dance floor. It opened into a dimly lit hallway that turned into another and then another. Had she known the tour would be through a maze, she would’ve starting tracking their steps and turns. Another two turns and they entered a red and black room with equally tacky red and black furniture and far too many doors along the walls. Apparently the room was supposed to have sex appeal, but between its stench and porn-like atmosphere she wasn’t impressed. “Wait here. I’ll have some drinks brought out for you as well as some sweet delicacies.” The last word escaped her lips with a little too much sexual orientation for Anya’s comfort. Not to mention her fiery eyes glued securely to Jackson’s body. As soon as she turned the corner, Anya slapped Jackson’s shoulder to snap him out of the apparent daze he was in. “Jackson. She’s a succubus demon. Stay away from her!” “What? Her, no. What’s a succubus again?” “She gains strength and energy by feeding off your arousal.” Anya glanced downward. “Oh.” Jackson nodded. “That doesn’t sound so bad.” Anya rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t at first until you become addicted to her seduction and she starts draining you physically as well as your wallet. Succubi are greedy and dangerous demons, Jackson. Stay away from her!” Anya stood. “We should get back to the club before she returns.” If only they’d moved sooner. Serena rounded the corner with a tray of drinks and chocolate-covered fruits along with a young, attractive guy plucked from a modeling ad. She set the tray down on the coffee table in front of them. “Please help yourself to whatever you’d like. Your friend Joe paid for you to enjoy the VIP treatment.” She waved her hand over the options of drinks and forbidden fruits. Jackson reached for a glass of what appeared to be whiskey and then plucked a chocolate-covered strawberry from the tray. Anya let out a breath as her demon alarm system rattled her brain and body. “Have a seat, Awn. Might as well enjoy yourself. Joe paid for it.” Anya sat back down and pinched the bridge of her nose in an attempt to ease the growing headache. “After you’ve enjoyed your refreshments we’ll continue the tour and take each of you to an area that will be more befitting to your tastes.” Anya’s gut wrenched. “Tastes?” she asked, eyeing the newcomer with curiosity. Evidently the pretty young man had been brought out to entertain her. By the sensation crawling across her skin there was no doubt he was an incubus. Two in one club. Go figure. Anya glanced over at Serena, who’d managed to slip into Jackson’s lap and was massaging her fingers through his hair as his eyes glazed over with pleasure. Anya stood back up, irritated. The longer they remained, the more uncomfortable the feeling in the pit of her stomach became. “Thanks for the VIP treatment, but I think it’s time we get back and find our friends.” The attractive, blond young man stepped closer. “Your friends are enjoying their own VIP treatment. Why don’t you come with me? There’s more to show you.” The perfect male specimen put his hand out for her to take. Anya looked at Jackson, whose head had rolled back with an enamored smile spread over his face. Serena continued whispering in his ear, surely enchanting him with her abilities. “Jackson!” Anya snapped. He tilted his head and looked at her, irritation filling his eyes. “What?” “It’s time to go.” He shook his head. “Go on and go if you want to. I’m staying here.” His dazed eyes flashed over Serena as he grinned and bit his lip. Anya stepped forward. The blond incubus grabbed her arm. She whipped her head toward him, her eyes piercing him. He instantly dropped his hand. “Your friend wants to enjoy the VIP room. Serena will escort him out later,” he told her politely. “I’m not leaving without him.” Her eyes narrowed. Jackson stood up as Serena slid off his lap and tugged his hand toward a door. “Jeez, Awn, you’re being a buzzkill. Go back out. I’ll see you later.” Before she could protest further, Serena slipped him through one of the doors, eyeing her with a victorious and wicked smile as she closed the door behind them. “He’ll be fine. Serena takes very good care of VIPs. Now, why don’t I show you around the rest of the place? Bring a drink if you’d like.” Anya’s stomach knotted. This was her opportunity to follow through on her declaration. Kill the demon in front of her and then kill Serena and cause who knows what kind of problems with management and possibly the police, or let them live. She eyed the tall, spiky-haired, smooth-skinned, toned model in front of her. “Lead the way.” Against her better judgment she grabbed a drink off the tray and swiped a strawberry, popping it into her mouth. The pretty incubus smiled a mouth full of perfect, white teeth and motioned toward a door. She swallowed the juicy, delicious strawberry. “I’m not interested in a show,” she announced. The incubus let out a humored laugh. “I didn’t think you were. My name’s Ryan. I thought maybe I’d give you a massage, show you around and then take you back out to the main floor. Figured I will have at least satisfied my duty of entertaining you with those activities.” Anya contemplated the idea. A massage from a ridiculously pretty male wouldn’t be so bad, even if he was an incubus demon. “All right, but if you get too handsy, I’ll knock you on your ass.” Ryan smiled. “Deal.” Ryan guided them to a separate door and opened it for her to enter. She walked into a room that smelled divine, as though she’d entered a very expensive spa. She pulled the scents into her with each deep breath. Her muscles relaxed instantly. Surprisingly, she didn’t twitch when Ryan rubbed along her arm before gently taking her hand and guiding her to the petite bed in the middle of the room. “Have a seat. I’ll warm the oils.” Anya sat on the edge of the silky, red, sheet-covered bed and glanced around the room. It was set up just like a spa with a massage bed, a cabinet for oils, a hot stone and towel warmer. Pretty paintings on the walls, quiet soft music and dim lighting. She couldn’t help wondering what each door led to and what kind of room Jackson was in or the fact that this place kept surprising her with its selection of rooms and activities. “This club offers a lot more than what it advertises.” Ryan returned with a bottle and a hot towel. He gently brushed her hair to the side and placed the warm towel around her neck. The heat warming against her skin soothed the dull ache in her head. “It does. I enjoy working here. Every day is different. The club and bar bring in enough business, but the VIP clients have grown. We’ve recently added a few new luxuries to accommodate different tastes.” Anya caught a glimmer of Ryan’s eyes brightening to their natural demon green before it faded and disappeared as if it didn’t happen at all. The slight transition reminded her of what she’d already forgotten. She was locked in a room, alone, with an incubus. A sex driven, powerful demon who won over their victims with seduction. Her body tensed. “You and Serena keep mentioning client tastes. Makes me wonder what kind of activities go on with VIPs other than strip shows and massages. Sounds like you might be offering happy endings for your clients. Was that the owner’s idea?” Ryan moved to the side of her and set down the oil. His eyes glimmered brightly. “Time to undress. I’ll step out, so you can slip comfortably under the sheets.” If that wasn’t a complete aversion to a question, she didn’t know what was. She eyed his back as he stepped out the door. Was she really going to get a massage from an incubus? She hadn’t only turned her back on her duty, she was staring danger in its face and saying, F-off. The stiff, gray-haired board members of the Arcane Society would be turning in their seats if they knew what she was doing. The thought brought a smile to her lips. Yes, she was going to do it and enjoy every minute of it. She didn’t have anything to worry about anyway. As an Arcane Hunter she had the good fortune of being immune to an incubus’s seduction or any other demon’s tricks. She slipped out of her shirt, jeans and shoes and tossed them on the nearby chair. She slid under the red, silky sheet just before Ryan tapped on the door. “Come in.” He walked back in, smiling with satisfaction. He’d probably expected her to still be clothed and ready to leave. He folded the sheet away from her right leg and lathered his hands with oil. As soon as his warm hands touched her foot her brain melted. She gurgled with drool and mumbled ooohs and ahs. His warm hands moved up her leg to her calf, kneading his thumbs into her sore muscles. When his hands reached her thigh she squirmed slightly at the uncontrolled arousal that tickled her. She’d been in one of the long periods of celibacy and apparently her body thought now was the best time to remind her of it. She saw the slight glimmer of green fill his eyes and leave as he eyed her with apparent interest. “You’re enjoying this more than I expected you to.” His hands moved to her behind, kneading the tender muscle just below her right cheek. Her nipples hardened and her arousal spread further than she was comfortable with. She wiggled out of his warm, delightful hands, holding the sheet to her chest. “I think you’ve more than fulfilled your duty of entertaining me. It’s time I get back and find my friends.” Ryan slid the sheet up, placing his hand on her thigh. He leaned in closer, putting his pouty lips uncomfortably close to hers. “Are you sure that’s what you really want?” Anya’s stomach tightened. She glanced down at his hand, then back to him, raising a brow. “Remember the deal? I will put you on your ass.” She nodded her head to the door. “Step out.” Ryan’s face grew serious, confusion filling his eyes. Surely he couldn’t determine why she’d slithered out of his seductive grasp so easily. He moped to the door and stepped outside it. She quickly dressed, ready to find Jackson and the others and leave as soon as possible. She walked out into the red and black waiting room and nearly lost her legs beneath her when the man talking to Ryan looked at her. He was undeniably the most beautiful man she’d ever laid eyes on. A mixture of Asian, Brazilian and American wrapped into a tall, messy dark-haired, black-eyed, perfectly toned package with a smooth face of an angel. His eyes locked on hers and the arousal she had so carefully tucked away came back with a vengeance, taunting her between her thighs. She swallowed as the same arousal seemed to cross his face. Her nipples hardened at the desirous look glossed over his eyes. She lost all train of thought. Her brain turned to instant mush and all she wanted to do was pounce and give in to that burning desire that so cruelly plagued her. With some sort of apparent hesitation, his eyes broke away from her. He glared at Ryan and then leaned in, sharing a private word with him. Ryan shook his head no and the man seemed pleased with his response. The ridiculously sexy mystery man returned his attention to her and as soon as his eyes locked on hers again the fire in her belly rumbled, pushing its way to the surface. She felt flush and surely her cheeks revealed it. He smiled at her and his perfect plump lips gave way to shiny white teeth and a darker more seductive look in his eyes. He walked toward her and her legs didn’t budge. She was frozen in ice. He approached her, standing quite close, and she could smell his delightful musky scent. She wanted to touch, caress and fondle every part of him. His dark-gray t-shirt lay against a solid chest and revealed toned biceps beneath the sleeves. The front of the t-shirt was tucked into his jeans. Jeans that covered long legs and a round bulge, sizeable and enticing. A necklace hung from his neck with a wooden sparrow dangling from it and a leather bracelet covered his right wrist. His eyes narrowed in on her, studying her—studying him—and then it hit her. The sensation crawled across her skin, leaving misery in its wake. The stunningly handsome man in front of her was a demon. “I’m Dex.” He pointed to a camera in the corner of the room. “I work security.” She glanced at the camera and then back at his beautiful face as the words caught in her throat. She knew English, she really did, but he’d just made her forget her entire vocabulary. “…nya,” she managed to mumble. Her head started to clear as her cheeks warmed. She shook her head. “Sorry, I’m Anya. Nice to meet you.” Dex’s head tilted and he gave what appeared to be an expression of affection. “No worries. You’ve had alcohol and a massage. I’m sure your mind is pretty relaxed about now.” Relaxed! Ha! Nope, not relaxed. Firing on all cylinders and a bit stunned is more like it. “I’ve had two drinks and my leg massaged. That’s not quite a brain-melting experience in my book.” Dex’s eyes studied her closely, seemingly interested in something about her. “Only a leg massage?” He glanced at Ryan, whose back she saw disappearing down the hall. “You didn’t like the massage Ryan gave?” “Nope. It wasn’t my choice to come back here. I came to Donatello’s with a few friends. One of them paid for me and my friend to enjoy the VIP treatment. What goes on back here”—she waved her finger, motioning toward the doors—“isn’t for me.” A grin spread over his face. He seemed pleased with her response. His eyes glimmered and with a slight shift of his head the demon green appeared and faded just as quickly. “What do you like and how do you like it?” Anya swallowed the tennis ball in her throat. Her muscles tightened as intense heat ignited in her belly, traveling to her thighs and remaining there pulsing like a damn sex beacon. Her brain couldn’t grasp the direct sexual connotation of his question. She stood staring, stunned and equally aroused. She may be immune to an incubus’s seduction, but this incubus had extraordinary gifts. Gifts she admittedly wanted to explore. When she didn’t answer, he stepped closer. Her legs came back to life, moving with her as she instinctively took a step back, putting space between her and this all-too-tempting demon. Her back hit the wall and his lips raised into a seductive smile as his arm lifted above her head, supporting him as he leaned in closer, his face much too close to hers. His free hand came up and caressed her lip with just enough sensuality to send arousal whipping through her body. “I can take my time figuring it out, and based on the looks of it, I think you want me to.” This demon was sure he had her in his crosshairs. Her eyes narrowed. She put her hand on his chest, surprised by the strength of it and her body’s reaction to touching him. She pushed forward, removing him from her very intimate and personal space. His arm dropped and his body tensed. “I’m interested in the way out. Let’s leave it at that.” The demon green started to flicker in his eyes. He blinked and it was gone. His expression shifted from surprised to composed. “I’ll escort you out.” Anya moved away from the wall, motivating them toward the exit of the waiting room. “I appreciate it.” Dex led them down a dark hall with, of course, more doors. He glanced over at her as they walked side by side, studying her with an expression of fascination. Her desire aggressively fought her thoughts. The tension between them too obvious to ignore. She avoided looking at his handsome face, chiseled jaw, and tasty lips. “Sorry for coming on strong. You’re a beautiful woman. I admit, I wanted to kiss you back there and I’ve only just met you.” This demon wasn’t giving up, and unfortunately part of her didn’t want him to. What would it be like kissing an incubus? From the looks of him she imagined his kiss would be intoxicating and addictive. He stopped walking when she didn’t respond. She stopped too and turned to see the cause. His eyes flickered with green and he moved in fast, placing her face in his hands and pushing her body against the wall with his. His tender lips sent sparks of fire trickling across her skin. The warmth and taste of his kiss was like creamy chocolate poured over a sweet slice of fruit—delicate and delicious. His hand tangled in her hair and rubbed along the nape of her neck as his kiss deepened. With his free hand he gently thumbed her waist as he placed his hand around it, pulling her in closer to him. His body heat emanated off him, cozy like a warm fire. She wanted to wrap herself in his arms and feel the flames against her naked body. She heard a door click open. He gently pushed her inside the room connected to it. He kicked the door closed with his boot as his hands discovered her body. A gentle graze over her breast and her arousal exploded, a pent-up hunger on the verge of devouring the incredibly sexy man touching her. As their lips parted, needing air, her lips burned from the fire of his kiss. Her head swam with dizziness. The room a blur. She could only feel, touch and smell. All else evaporated like mist. She pulled at his shirt, lifting it. Her eyes absorbed the chiseled smooth chest and eight pack. Her hands dove for his abs, clawed at his belt and jeans. He pulled her shirt over her head and took in her petite breasts. He grinned as he pawed at the front clasp. Her breasts fell free as the clasp opened, the fabric falling to the sides. His eyes darkened, green flecks filling them, as he worked her out of her jeans. He lifted her onto a soft surface, what, she didn’t care. His jeans dropped to his knees, leaving black briefs. She pulled at them and his black eyes watched her possessively. When the briefs dropped, his erection sprung forward. She licked her lips, admiring the size and perfectly trimmed patch of hair around it. His warm hands grasped her legs, pulling her forward. She spread them, ready to take him. He leaned over her, placing his soft lips against hers, soothing the burn with his tender kiss. He took hold of his erection and found her, pushing inside of her, giving her the fire her body ached to have. His strokes were smooth, rhythmic, driving her mind and body ablaze. Her thighs clung to him as he moved in deeper, his rhythm increasing. She broke from his intoxicating kiss and arched her back as the orgasm swept through her, dancing over her body, sending her into a brief paradise. He continued working her slowly, rhythmically, absorbing her arousal. His eyes flashed their demon green as his muscles tightened, a low moan escaping his lips. He eyed her with dark possessive eyes. The demon green gone as though it never existed. He leaned in and kissed her roughly, passionately, his lips devouring hers. He pulled away and stared at her with what appeared as affection. “I think I found what you like.” She couldn’t help smiling at the affectionate and playful comment, especially with his hands holding her gently, giving her body much needed warmth. He pulled away from her and her body instantly ached to have him touching her again. As if he sensed it, he stepped forward, putting his hand to her face and caressing it before he leaned in and kissed her with his sweet, soft lips. “I’d like to see you again.” Her mind started to clear. She was in a dark room with only one tall lamp in the corner giving enough light for her to see she was sitting on another massage table. Around her were several more. It appeared he’d slipped her into a storage room of some sort. How convenient. She grabbed her clothes and started dressing, baffled by how easily she’d given in to sex with a guy she didn’t know. Had she really been that desperate for a man’s touch? That she’d resort to sleeping with a demon, an incubus of all demons? She turned her body away from him as she clasped her bra and put on her shirt. She noticed her slower more relaxed movements. He’d surely drained some of her energy. The thought disgusted her. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He stepped up to her, placing a hand to her waist and turning her toward him. “Are you all right with what just happened?” She couldn’t look at him. “I need to get back and find my friends.” He dropped his hand and turned toward the door. He stopped with his hand on the knob, and looked back at her. His dark eyes studied her, softening as they stared at her. “I hope you change your mind. In case you do…” He pulled a business card from his pocket and handed it to her. She took it from his hand and pocketed it without looking at it. He opened the door for her to step out. She walked with him in uncomfortable silence, down several halls and turns before coming to the door she and Jackson had originally entered. The metal door opened to the thumping of music and the busyness of the club and its dancers. She glanced back at Dex. His dark eyes remained locked on her as he watched her glide into the crowd of sweaty, aroused dancers. The memory of his touch swam across her skin and her stomach knotted as her own arousal tickled her. She moved left, then right, intentionally hiding herself among the dancers. She glanced back again to see the door closed and Dex gone. She made a direct line for the bar. The pretty blond came over and smiled. “A shot of peach whiskey if you have it. Make it a double.” She slid onto the barstool and palmed her face as the bartender whisked off to make her drink. A hand grabbed her shoulder and roughly turned her. She tensed at the masculine touch. “Where’ve you been? I just tried calling you.” She turned to see Jackson’s expression a mixture of worry and irritation. Behind him Thomas and Joe stood with equally satisfied expressions. She reached for her phone in her back pocket and her stomach knotted. Her phone was gone. She’d lost it somewhere in one of the rooms she’d been in and she wasn’t about to go back and look for it. Her night quickly went from bad to worse in a matter of seconds. “I lost my phone somewhere in the club.” The bartender set the shot on the counter. Anya grabbed it and gulped down the fiery liquid and shivered at the final bite. Jackson frowned at her. “You only drink whiskey when you’re upset. What happened?” She stood from the stool and flopped a bill from her wallet onto the bar counter. “I’d rather not talk about it. You ready to go?” He wrapped his arm around her and nodded. Dex’s stomach bunched as he watched the dirty-blond, physically fit male put his arm around Anya, the woman he’d just had incredible sex with. A possessive desire stabbed at his insides. He didn’t understand why he’d already become infatuated with her. He’d only been with her once and it usually took several times of having sex with a human before a succubus or incubus developed any kind of possessive desires for them. Although she didn’t seem completely human. If he had to guess, she was part demon of some sort. What kind he couldn’t put his finger on. She emanated strength and clearly his seduction didn’t affect her as well as it should have. Or maybe he was just that rusty. It’d been a while since he’d had a woman or a woman that excited him like Anya had. Correction, she excited him far more than any woman, even his ex and co-worker, Serena. The moment he saw her walk out of the massage room he couldn’t peel his eyes away from her. It pleased him when Ryan said they hadn’t had sex; he’d wanted her all to himself. The scent of her sexual desire had been strong. He knew she wanted him too, but he couldn’t understand the look of disgust on her face after they’d been together. She’d wanted to be with him, he was sure of it. Her body willingly took his and she gave him an extraordinary amount of vitality from her orgasm. Thankfully, enough that would last him a lengthy period of time before needing another woman in his bed. He glanced to his right to make sure Al and Greg were busy watching their screens. He hit a couple buttons on the keyboard. Anya appeared on the screen in the massage room with Ryan. His arousal swelled as he watched her undress and slide under the red sheet. Ryan re-entered and his possessive desire increased, worsening in intensity as he watched Ryan rub along her calf, thigh and then just below her right cheek. Relief filled him when she squirmed away from Ryan’s touch. Watching her turn him down at his peak of seduction raised his lips into a smile. He watched her dress after Ryan left and saw her phone drop from her jeans pocket. He clicked a button on the keyboard and the screen switched back to a view of dancers. He left the security office, headed for the massage room. This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information email: bettyshreffler@yahoo.com Betty Shreffler is a self-proclaimed nerd and nature enthusiast obsessed with folklore, photography, writing, reading, movies, board games, hiking, gardening and spending time with her husband and five fur babies. Not necessarily in that exact order though. During her outdoor adventures she's been face to face with an alligator, a bear and a coyote, making for some of the most memorable experiences of her life. She loves to capture and share the world's beauty through the lens of her beloved Nikon camera. Her work experience has been diverse from working as a Ranger for the National Park Service to management positions in Fortune 500 companies. She’s lived in four different states and moved homes twelve times. She received a BA in organizational management and minor in sociology, although her heart has always belonged to writing and photography. Growing up, she read romance or supernatural novels and jotted down poems and short stories to express her emotions and alleviate the characters' voices in her head. Not much has changed, only now her stories are lengthier and her characters more interesting.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line585
__label__wiki	0.741354	0.741354	This Day In Hockey History: Nov 18th 1926 - Detroit Cougars (later renamed Red Wings) played their first NHL game, losing to Boston 2-0 at the Border Cities Arena in Windsor before 6,000 fans. All Detroit "home" games were played in Windsor in the Cougars' first season. 1953 - Rangers' rookie Andy Bathgate scored the first goal of his NHL career. 1977 - Hours after signing as a free agent, Detroit's Vaclav Nedomansky picked up three assists in his first NHL game. 1992 - Washington's Reggie Savage became the 4th player in NHL history to score his first NHL goal on a penalty shot, but the Capitals lost 5-4 to the visiting Minnesota North Stars. Savage followed Ralph Bowman, Phil Hoene and Ilkka Sinisalo. Happy Birthday to Bill Hajt, Peerless Percy_LeSueur, Cal Clutterbuck, Jocelyn Lemieux, Rudy Migay, Tom Edur, Eddie Slowinski, Lane Lambert, Lubomir Sekeras and Kamil Kreps.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line588
__label__cc	0.692522	0.307478	Take Better Portraits: Tips from Emil Cohen November 28, 2017 Ben Ashby Sometimes you meet people in random places. Sometimes you meet characters that need to be photographed. This Christmas season as people are gathering together we wanted to propose the idea of taking portraits of friends and family. To learn more about taking the perfect portrait we asked five of our photographer friends about their portraits and for tips on how to make yours better. Our first photographer is New York based Emil Cohen. I ran into Emil at American Field in Brooklyn earlier this month and knew right away I wanted to go to him for advice. I quickly introduced him to Brandon and they did a dual portrait session. Tomorrow we will see Brandon's portraits of Emil, but today it is all about Emil and his advice to you... Who are you. Where are you. Give us your links. I'm Emil Cohen, I'm a New York based photographer specializing in portraits and people. You can see my work at www.emildcohen.com / www.instagram.com/emilcohen and www.instagram.com/portraitsinprovincetown How long have you been a photographer? Is it your main job? I've been an amateur photographer my whole life. Photography has been a family interest dating back to the 19th century. In 2011, I began the graduate program at Tufts University's School of the Museum of Fine Art and received my MFA in 2014. I mark my first day of grad school as when I became a professional photographer. When did you take your first portrait? I can't tell you when I took my first portrait, but I do remember the first time one of my portraits was recognized outside of my immediate world. It was August of 2009, and I had one more semester of college left. I had taken a photo with an alpaca earlier that summer and decided to enter the photo into a contest run by The Student Travel Agency, an internationally renowned company for students and young adults who want to travel the world. When they announced my name on Facebook, I "whooped!" so loudly, that I got yelled at by my superior at my internship at National Geographic. But it didn't matter because part of the winning prize was a free trip to Europe! By December, I was off on a plane and would be back for eight weeks. Photo below: How have you progressed over time? What do you feel has been your most improved quality? Over time, I feel that my aesthetic has become stronger. I continue to study other photographers and artists whom I admire, but rather than mimic them, I try to incorporate what I love about their work and apply it to my own vision. My most improved quality has definitely been the working dynamic that I create with my subject. As a photographer who specializes in portraits, it's crucial to have the person who's in front of the camera trust you, the photographer. In doing so, they let their guard down which will therefore, allow me to capture a true version of themselves. Sometimes you're given days or hours, and sometimes just a few minutes, but each experience has to be unique and met with the same amount of tenacity and determination. What makes for a good portrait? To me, a good portrait is an image of person or place that shows the true version of who or what they really are.. There is a fine line between a headshot and a portrait, and the difference is honesty. With a headshot, you're trying to sell yourself to a casting agent which, while it's an attractive photos of a person, might not showcase who they really are. Photographers like Peter Hujar, Irving Penn and William Klein are portrait photographers who stripped away the background and forced a viewer to gaze at the subject head on. Then you have photographers like Alec Soth, Larry Clark and Nan Goldin who create portraits of places and communities and are just as strong and evocative as the studio photographers. In the end, what all these photographers have in common is that the camera disappears in their work, leaving the viewer gazing into a window of a raw and real moment caught in time. Do you prefer natural light or artificial? Why? Both! Natural light and artificial light both have their advantages. A photographer who knows their way around strobes will be able to recreate sunlight using flashes and use the strobes to create intentional dramatic lighting. The key is asking yourself how you want to light the photo before you shoot and then plan accordingly. For my studio portraits, I rely on a defused light which creates a soft and even light on my model, but when I shoot outdoors, I have to decide what time of day and what weather conditions I want to be shooting in. Will it be around dawn or sunset for the Golden Hour lighting? Or do I want a cloudy day that will act as a natural soft box? And look at other people's work that you love and figure out how they did it! Always a useful idea when trying to plan a photo. How important is composition and what makes for good composition? This is a tough question because it's so subjective. For me, composition is crucial to achieving the best version of the photo that you envision. A composition will include a few key thoughts such as framing, depth, leading lines, and symmetry. If you need a refresher, here's a great list published on Photography Mad. Color or black and white? Both! Before I take a photo, I try to think whether or not the image will be black and white or color. Both palates have their own benefits. Photographers like Penn, Richard Avedon, Horst P Horst, Bruce Davidson, Vivian Maier and Diane Arbus, utilized black and white film to their advantage. These photographers started only having black and white film and therefore thought accordingly: creating photographs that are high in contrast, rich in detail and having the color removed, forced the viewer to gaze specifically at the subject that was being photographed. It's like the Wizard of Oz. The beginning of the film in Kansas features some truly breathtaking cinematography because they knew they were shooting in black and white and therefore, had to think in black and white while they shot it. Then Dorthy lands in Oz and all of a sudden, you catch your breath at all the incredible color. Color photography is amazing because you get to think differently. With color, you start thinking of complimentary colors, temperature, color balance etc. I love artists like Cathy Opie, Todd Hido, Joel Sternfeld, Greg Crewdson, Jim Dow and David LeChaplle because of their eye for color and their ability to use the color as tool for composition. What camera do you shoot with? Canon 5D Mark iii, Iphone 8 and a Pentax K3000 35mm Any final advice: Two things: 1. SLOW DOWN. Taking a 4x5 Large Format class was revolutionary for me because I was forced to slam the breaks on my shooting. Due to the high cost and many steps that it takes to take one image, you as a photographer can't just point and shoot. Large format photography takes time and precision which is often forgotten in a day of digital photography. I challenge any photographer to limit themselves when their out shooting a project or portrait. See how much stronger your work becomes when you allow yourself the time to breathe and think before you shoot. 2. DO YOUR HOMEWORK. I am of the belief that no idea is truly original anymore. However, that doesn't mean that you can't create original work, it just means understanding the conversation that already exists and how you as an artist can join in on the discussion. Do research online or the library. Whether it's Google, or Tumblr or going to a museum of photo gallery in your city, go and learn about who else is out there. Support your fellow photographers and be inspired at the work their creating. categories skin, photography tags Photographer, skin, photography, tips Take Better Portraits: Tips from Brandon Roberts Bedding by the Sea	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line597
__label__wiki	0.819528	0.819528	DAN LI DAN YI LI Nemzetközi Kereskedelmi Korlátolt Felelösségü Társaság Budapest, Budapest, Hungary See Details Buy Report WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED Bella Vista, New South Wales, Australia $41893.22M See Details Buy Report KRIS LI CONSULT EOOD Dupnitsa, Bulgaria $0.02M See Details Buy Report Variety Children's Hospital Miami, FL, United States $655.96M See Details Buy Report Associated Food Stores, Inc. Salt Lake City, UT, United States $1155.86M See Details Buy Report DAN LI PTE. LTD. Singapore, Singapore $0.76M See Details Buy Report DAN LI JUICE Kaohsiung City, Taiwan $0.2M See Details Buy Report DAN LI TRADING FIRM Taoyuan City, Taoyuan, Taiwan $0.64M See Details Buy Report Li Dan Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium $0.15M See Details Buy Report DAN LI - SERVICES, UNIPESSOAL, LDA Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal $0.04M See Details Buy Report DAN LI TE HEALTH BUSINESS CO., LTD. Taichung City, Taiwan $0.72M See Details Buy Report Dan&Li GmbH Berlin, Berlin, Germany $0.35M See Details Buy Report FLOR-DAN-LI SRL Bucuresti, Romania $0.01M See Details Buy Report JIA DAN LI HAIRSTYLE STUDIO Kaohsiung City, Taiwan $0.06M See Details Buy Report ZUO DAN LI 159 PTE. LTD. Singapore, Singapore $0.24M See Details Buy Report SHI DAN LI APPAREL Chaochou Chen, Pingtung, Taiwan $0.31M See Details Buy Report Farmers Insurance - Dan LI Upland, CA, United States $0.05M See Details Buy Report DAN FENG LI Oak Park, Victoria, Australia $0.19M See Details Buy Report DAN-OR-LI LTD Yavne, Israel $0.78M See Details Buy Report LI DAN Cabra, Cordoba, Spain $0.09M See Details Buy Report LI DAN Milano, Milano, Italy $0.14M See Details Buy Report LI DAN MACHENICAL INDUSTRY CO., LTD. Taichung City, Taiwan $0.48M See Details Buy Report Li Dan Gerbrunn, Bayern, Germany $0.14M See Details Buy Report LI DAN Palma, Baleares, Spain $0.09M See Details Buy Report LI DAN Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain $0.07M See Details Buy Report Industry Accounting Services (1) Ambulatory Health Care Services (1) Apparel Accessories Manufacturing (2) Arts, Entertainment & Recreation Sector (1) Automobile Parts Manufacturing (1) Bars & Nightclubs (1) Business Services Sector (2) Clothing Stores (2) Commercial Printing (1) Consulting Services (1) Cosmetics, Beauty Supply & Perfume Stores (1) Dairy Products Manufacturing (1) Direct Selling (1) Edible Oils Manufacturing (1) Education & Training Services (1) Food Wholesalers (1) Fruit & Vegetable Processing (1) Grocery Stores & Supermarkets (5) Hair Care Services (2) Hospitals (2) Industrial Control Products Manufacturing (1) Insurance Agencies & Brokerages (1) Investment Firms (1) Machinery Manufacturing (1) Meat Product Manufacturing (1) Media 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Grocery stores (2) 54110100 Supermarkets (2) 54990000 Miscellaneous food stores (2) 56990000 Miscellaneous apparel and accessory stores (1) 58120000 Eating places (3) 58130000 Drinking places (1) 59480000 Luggage and leather goods stores (1) 59610300 Book and record clubs (1) 59630000 Direct selling establishments (1) 59991300 Toiletries, cosmetics, and perfumes (1) 64110000 Insurance agents, brokers, and service (1) 65310000 Real estate agents and managers (1) 67199901 Investment holding companies, except banks (1) 67330100 Private estate, personal investment and vacation fund trusts (1) 70320300 Sporting camps (1) 72310000 Beauty shops (1) 72410000 Barber shops (1) 73890000 Business services, not elsewhere classified (2) 79220000 Theatrical producers and services (1) 80620000 General medical and surgical hospitals (2) 80930000 Specialty outpatient clinics, not elsewhere classified (1) 83610401 Aged home (1) 84129902 Museum (1) 86990100 Athletic organizations (1) 87210000 Accounting, auditing, and bookkeeping (1) 87420000 Management consulting services (1) 89990000 Services, not elsewhere classified (1) Location Type Branch (1) Headquarters (18) Single Location (39) Sales Revenue < $1 million (33) $1 - $5 million (6) $5 - $10 million (0) $10 - $50 million (1) $50 - $500 million (2) $500 - $1000 million (3) $1000 - $10000 million (8) > $10000 million (2) # Employee < 4 (27) 5-10 (8) 11-49 (4) 50-99 (3) 100-499 (3) 500-999 (0) 1000-4999 (4) More than 5000 (8)	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line617
__label__cc	0.641051	0.358949	Category - Body This category contains helpful articles on topics that directly affect the human body. By exploring the various posts on different body problems, you will discover the many ways to take care of diseases and ailments. Among these solutions are common sense advice related with fixing your lifestyle and choosing healthy habits over those that contribute to physiological problems. While your doctor or health care provider is the best person to provide you with solutions to these problems, you will pick up helpful household remedies that work. Some articles cover tips on how to get rid of disorders like blood vessel problems, bowel incontinence, anal fissures, side cramps, cataracts, piles, hemorrhoids and chills. There are also articles on how to eliminate annoying and often treatable disorders such as palpitations, stomach cramps, fainting, hiccups, nasal voice due to respiratory illness and other factors, fatigue and sleepiness, snoring, muscle cramps, and general inflammation. Some articles offer suggestions on how to relieve cauliflower ear, anal fissures, motion sickness, vomiting, swollen ankles, frostbites, water retention and hypothermia. Included in the body category are posts on health maintenance and fitness topics, which offer significant recommendations on how to eliminate water weight, how to maintain a thin body and how to control gag reflex. Serious disorders like bladder and gall stones, and toxicity from lead exposure, are also discussed. In the same vein, you will encounter some articles that offer advice on how to get rid of THC traces in the body, as well as toxins that might show up in a urine test. Some of the posts you can find here are related with daily health and body troubles like ringing in your ears, snoring, too much ear wax, sore or inflamed nipples, frequent nose bleeds, dizziness, hiccups, pins and needles, and infestation from lice and nits. How to Get Rid of Hemorrhoids Naturally Get Rid Of • Hemorrhoids How to Get Rid of Hemorrhoids Fast How to Get Rid of Pain during Menstruation How to Get Rid of Gas Pain in Stomach How to Get Rid of Weak Blood Vessels How to Get Rid of Thrombophlebitis How to Get Rid of Lockjaw How to Get Rid of Bowel Incontinence How to Get Rid of Cauliflower Ear How to Get Rid of Sour Milk Smell	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line624
__label__wiki	0.927475	0.927475	Read the CSCE Helsinki Act (1 August 1975) RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 5, No. 21, 01-01-31 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Newsline Directory - Previous Article - Next Article From: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty <http://www.rferl.org> RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 5, No. 21, 31 January 2001 [A] TRANSCAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA [01] FORMER ARMENIAN DISSIDENT INTERCEDES FOR DETAINED BUSINESSMAN [02] PROSECUTORS INSIST FORMER KARABAKH DEFENSE MINISTER ORDERED ASSASSINATION BID [03] AZERBAIJANI POLICE MOVE AGAINST HUNGER-STRIKING WAR INVALIDS... [04] ...AFTER INTERIOR MINISTER ACCUSES THEM OF PLANNING COUP [05] GEORGIAN PRESIDENT ENDS TURKEY VISIT [06] SECOND GEORGIAN SECURITY OFFICIAL DIES FROM PARCEL BOMB INJURIES [07] KAZAKH PRESIDENT ENUMERATES PRIORITIES [08] KYRGYZ PRESIDENT STOPS OVER IN MOSCOW TO DISCUSS TERRORISM [09] KYRGYZ OFFICIAL DENIES REPORTS OF LAWSUIT AGAINST TOBACCO GIANT [10] TAJIKISTAN AGAIN DEPORTS UZBEK ISLAMISTS [11] TURKMEN PRESIDENT CRITICIZES JOURNALISTS [12] TURKMENISTAN POSTPONES PLANNED OIL AND GAS EXHIBITION [B] SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE [13] NATO'S ROBERTSON WANTS SERBS TO END CAUSE OF VIOLENCE [14] SECURITY COUNCIL CONDEMNS PRESEVO VIOLENCE [15] SERBIAN MINISTER OUTLINES PLAN FOR PRESEVO [16] TENSIONS MOUNT IN KOSOVA [17] SERBIAN JUSTICE MINISTER: MILOSEVIC TO THE HAGUE [18] CROATIAN PRESIDENT: TRILATERAL SUMMIT DEPENDS ON EXTRADITION [19] TWO MORE SERBIAN POLICE BOSSES SACKED [20] MONTENEGRIN AUTHORITIES GIVE YUGOSLAV OFFICE NO WELCOME [21] MONTENEGRIN PRESIDENT TAKES CASE TO U.S. [22] CROATIAN FOOD COMPANY TO OPEN SERBIAN BRANCH [23] BOSNIA BARS U.S. GENETICALLY ENGINEERED CORN [24] OSCE PROTESTS POLICE VIOLENCE AGAINST ALBANIAN OPPOSITION POLITICIAN [25] STATUE OF MARSHAL ANTONESCU TO BE ERECTED IN ROMANIA [26] ROMANIA AND ISRAEL SIGN TRADE TREATY [27] BRAGHIS ALLIANCE DENIES ACCUSATIONS OF IMPROPER CAMPAIGNING [28] MOLDOVAN FOREIGN MINISTER TELLS RUSSIANS [29] BULGARIA'S POLICE CHIEF RESIGNS [C] END NOTE [30] GAIDAR OFFERS MOSTLY POSITIVE VIEW OF PUTIN Paruyr Hairikian said on 30 January that the presidential human rights commission of which he is chairman has concluded that detained businessman Arkadii Vartanian should be released, Noyan Tapan reported. Vartanian was taken into custody on 30 October following a march by his supporters to the presidential palace in Yerevan and subsequently charged with calling for the overthrow of the Armenian leadership (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 31 October and 13 November 2000). According to Hairikian, as other participants in the march have already been released, there is no reason to detain Vartanian any longer. LF Senior prosecutor Vahram Avagian told the Supreme Court of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic on 30 January that the attempt last March to assassinate the enclave's president, Arkadii Ghukasian, was ordered by former Karabakh Defense Minister Samvel Babayan and carried out "directly or indirectly" by the other 15 defendants, RFE/RL's Stepanakert correspondent reported. Babayan has denied masterminding the attack, while his former bodyguard, Sasun Aghadjanian, had admitted planning to open fire on Ghukasian's motorcade to "intimidate" the president (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 and 29 December 2000). LF Azerbaijani special police used force on 31 January to break up groups of hunger-striking Karabakh war invalids in Baku and several other towns across Azerbaijan, RFE/RL's Baku bureau reported. Hundreds of police also surrounded the Baku building housing the headquarters of the society representing the war invalids. Turan reported on 30 January that the number of participants in the hunger-strike has risen to over 1,000. The invalids are demanding a threefold increase in their pensions and other benefits (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 23 and 24 January 2001). LF Speaking in Baku on 30 January, Ramil Usubov accused Etimad Asadov, who heads the organization representing Azerbaijan's estimated 7,000 Karabakh war invalids, of attempting to destabilize the political situation with the aim of overthrowing the leadership, Turan reported. Usubov compared Asadov to rebel Colonel Suret Huseinov, who toppled President Abulfaz Elchibey in 1993, and the Djavadov brothers, who were accused of attempting to stage a coup in March 1995. Usubov rejected the invalids' demands for increased pensions and benefits, arguing that the invalids and their families already receive adequate state support. LF Eduard Shevardnadze held talks in Ankara on 30 January with Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, Deputy Prime Minister Devlet Bahceli, and with former President Suleyman Demirel, the "Turkish Daily News" reported on 31 January. Ecevit characterized bilateral relations as "special," adding "Georgia's problems are our problems. Georgia's security is our security." Shevardnadze also addressed the Foreign Economic Relations Council, inviting Turkish businessmen to invest more in Georgia. Turkey is already Georgia's most important trade partner. In addition, Shevardnadze met in Ankara with representatives of Turkey's Abkhaz minority. He explained to the Abkhaz Georgia's offer of broad autonomy to the unrecognized Republic of Abkhazia and invited them to visit Georgia, Caucasus Press reported. LF The Georgian security official injured in a parcel bomb explosion on 30 January at a Tbilisi post office has since died of his injuries, Caucasus Press reported on 31 January. One of his colleagues was killed by that explosion (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 30 January 2001). LF Nursultan Nazarbaev told a meeting of regional officials in Astana on 30 January that although Kazakhstan has succeeded in building a "powerful government" and in completing economic reforms, numerous problems must still be addressed, Interfax and Reuters reported. Nazarbaev singled out the fight against poverty and unemployment and more stringent measures to eradicate corruption and combat religious extremism. He called especially for local officials and police in the south and east of the country to monitor observation of the law on religious groups in order to preclude the distribution of proscribed religious propaganda and the unsanctioned construction of churches and mosques. Nazarbaev listed the Tengiz- Novorossiisk oil export pipeline and the 180-kilometer Aksu-Konechnaya railroad as major construction projects that must be completed before the celebration later this year of the 10th anniversary of Kazakhstan's independence. LF En route from Davos to Bishkek on 30 January, Askar Akaev made a stopover in Moscow for talks with Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Trubnikov, Russian agencies reported. The two men discussed the threat posed to Central Asia by terrorism and religious extremism. LF Askerbek Ermatov, director-general of Kyrgyzstan's state tobacco company, told journalists in Bishkek on 30 January that Russian media reports that Kyrgyzstan has brought a lawsuit against the U.S. tobacco company Philip Morris are untrue, RFE/RL's Bishkek bureau reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 January 2001). LF The Tajik Security Services have flown some 250 members of the banned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) from Tajikistan's eastern Tavildara region to Afghanistan, "Kommersant-Daily" reported on 30 January, quoting the Tajik Ministry for Emergency Situations. That ministry is headed by former Tajik opposition field commander Mirzo Zieev, who is said to be a personal friend of IMU leader Djuma Namangani. Following a Tajik government commission inspection of the Tavildara region earlier this month, officials had denied the presence of any IMU activists there (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 11 and 17 January 2001). LF Addressing an expanded cabinet session, Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyzaov has again complained that journalists devote too much time and energy to praising his person and achievements, while neglecting serious problems, "Nezavisimaya gazeta" reported on 30 January. LF An oil and gas exhibition scheduled for mid-March has been postponed to mid- October to give potential foreign investors in that sector more time to acquaint themselves with the relevant Turkmen legislation, Interfax reported on 30 January, quoting the Turkmen Oil, Gas, and Mineral Resources Ministry. LF NATO Secretary-General Lord George Robertson said in Brussels on 30 January that Belgrade must do more to remove the sources of tensions in the Presevo region. "We will continue to take robust action to prevent [the guerrillas] from getting the provocation they seek... I hope that the Yugoslav and the Serbian authorities will start putting in place some of the confidence- building measures" that Belgrade recently promised. "A greater degree of participation of the ethnic Albanian majority population in southern Serbia in their own administration and indeed in their own local police" would help to defuse tensions, Reuters reported. PM Following an "informal session" called at Belgrade's request, the UN Security Council said in a statement on 30 January that "members of the council strongly condemned the attacks by ethnic Albanian extremist groups and in particular the killing over the weekend of a [Yugoslav] soldier. Members of the Council stressed the need to bring the perpetrators to justice," an RFE/RL correspondent reported. The statement added that the council members want "to make clear to Kosovo Albanian leaders that extremism in and around the Presevo Valley is unacceptable. [The council also] called on Kosovo Albanian leaders to contribute to the stability of the situation." (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 29 January 2001). PM Deputy Prime Minister Nebojsa Covic presented a plan in Belgrade on 30 January aimed at ending guerrilla activity in the demilitarized buffer zone along Serbia's border with Kosova in the Presevo region. Covic envisions a peaceful end to the tensions in the area but did not rule out using the Yugoslav army or Serbian police to "carry out anti-terrorist action," Reuters reported. Covic ruled out changing borders or introducing autonomy. He nonetheless called for "European standards" in human rights to be introduced and for the integration of the local ethnic Albanians into the Serbian "social system." The government also plans to affect an "economic, political, and social revitalization of the area." It is not clear whether the plan will meet basic Albanian demands for the thinning out of Serbian security forces and a greater political role for the Albanian parties. PM KFOR troops fired tear gas canisters at protesters on 30 January following continuing violence in Mitrovica that has left two ethnic Albanians dead, Reuters reported. At one point peacekeepers intervened to prevent ethnic Albanians from attacking five local Serbs and a Bosnian Muslim. KFOR also blocked a crowd of some 1,000 Albanians from crossing into Serbian-held northern Mitrovica. The violence came in response to the killing of an Albanian teenager in clashes with Serbs the previous day. A curfew is in force from 10 pm to 6 am. London's the "Guardian" said that the latest violence is some of the worst Mitrovica has seen "for several months." The daily quoted local Albanians as saying that the protests are directed against French KFOR, whom many Albanians regard as pro-Serbian. On 31 January, peacekeepers fired teargas canisters to break-up a crowd of 1,000 ethnic Albanian protesters in Mitrovica, Reuters reported. PM Vladan Batic said in Belgrade on 30 January that "it is only a matter of time and whether [former President Slobodan Milosevic] will surrender or be extradited by the new authorities" to The Hague, Reuters reported. Batic added that Yugoslav laws will be changed "within the next three months" to permit his extradition, "The Wall Street Journal" added. Batic noted that chief tribunal prosecutor Carla Del Ponte did not "insist on rapid moves" to extradite Milosevic during her recent visit to Belgrade. Instead, she stressed that those indicted must at some point go to The Hague. Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus told "Glas javnosti" of 30 January that Milosevic should turn himself in to the tribunal, adding that "this is his last chance to do something useful for his country." Labus stressed that Yugoslavia "will pay a high economic price" unless Milosevic leaves the political scene by 1 April. On that date, the U.S. government will decide whether to grant extensive aid to Serbia. PM Stipe Mesic told the Sarajevo daily "Dnevni avaz" of 31 January that calls for a summit of Yugoslav, Croatian, and Bosnian leaders are premature before Belgrade extradites indicted war criminals. PM Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic said in Belgrade on 30 January that the government has fired Vlastimir Djordjevic and Obrad Stevanovic as deputies to the minister of the interior for police affairs, "Danas" reported. Sreten Lukic takes their place. The previous day, Djindjic repeated his long-standing position that the government is determined to uproot organized crime and to depoliticize the police (see "RFE/RL Newsline, " 29 January 2001). PM Municipal officials in Podgorica removed the sign on the building of the federal Yugoslav government's new office in the Montenegrin capital, Beta reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 29 January 2001). City officials said they carried out the move "at the request of citizens." The Montenegrin authorities previously called the opening of the bureau unlawful. PM Milo Djukanovic leaves for a six-day visit to Washington on 31 January (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 30 January 2001). He will present the case for Montenegrin self-determination to President George W. Bush, top government officials, and members of the policy community, "Pobjeda" reported. PM In yet another case of a former Yugoslav company seeking to reclaim its old markets in other republics, the Croatian food giant Podravka announced in Zagreb on 30 January that it plans to open a branch in Belgrade later in the year, AP reported. "Yugoslavia is Podravka's natural market," said Damir Polancec, a company executive. Yugoslav consumers "are looking forward to see our products returning to their stores," he added. Podravka makes soups, baby foods, and seasonings. PM The U.S. embassy in Sarajevo said in a statement on 30 January that it is "disappointed that Bosnian officials did not accept 40,000 metric tons of corn for animal feed being donated by the United States... The corn that was offered...met U.S. government standards for human and animal consumption. The inclusion of genetically-modified corn is not unusual," dpa reported. The Sarajevo authorities say that more research is needed into the effects of genetically-modified foods. Officials in the Republika Srpska originally appealed for donations of animal feed after last summer's drought, but Banja Luka is no more enthusiastic than Sarajevo about accepting the corn. PM The OSCE issued a statement in Tirana on 30 January in which it condemned the physical mistreatment of Democratic Party activist Azgan Haklaj while in police custody, dpa reported. The statement added that "the OSCE is able to confirm that Haklaj has received injuries, bruising, and lacerations, which are consistent with his allegation of police assault while in police custody." The OSCE called on the police to behave in a more professional manner. Haklaj was arrested in conjunction with an attack by opposition supporters on the police station in Bajram Curri, where he heads the local branch of the Democratic Party (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 30 November 2000). He is charged with helping organize attacks on state institutions, which could lead to up to 15 years imprisonment. His trial is slated to begin shortly. PM Local officials in Bacau said on 30 January that a statue of pro-Nazi leader Marshal Ion Antonescu will be erected in their eastern Romanian city, AP reported. Antonescu, who came to power in 1940 and was ousted four years later, is blamed for the deaths of some 250,000 Jews. He was executed by the communist government in 1946. Some Romanians consider him a hero for his opposition to the USSR and communism, and want him rehabilitated. Bacau Mayor Dumitru Sechelariu said "whatever the criticism, his merits in the fight for the country cannot be denied." PB Israeli officials signed a trade treaty in Bucharest on 30 January aimed at increasing joint ventures between the two countries, AP reported. Romanian Foreign Trade official Cristian Colteneau said companies in both countries will benefit from tariff exemptions under the agreement. Some 600,000 Romanian Jews live in Israel. PB The Braghis Alliance rejected accusations of improper campaigning from three of its opponents in the 25 February parliamentary elections, Infotag reported 30 January. A day earlier, leaders of the Communist Party (MCP), Party of Revival and Accord (PRAM), and Democratic Party (DPM) complained to the Central Electoral Commission, demanding it force state officials to temporarily resign, "as they utilize the entire executive power system for the Alliance's benefit." In response, the Braghis Alliance said that the election campaign involves "not the entire executive power system but only candidates and their proxies," and that all of them have resigned, in conformity with the law. DW TRANSDNIESTER WEAPONS GO TO CHECHNYA Moldovan Foreign Minister Nicolae Cernomaz told Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov during his recent visit to Moscow that "the weapons manufactured in Transdniester have begun shooting in Chechnya," Basa-Press reported 30 January. Cernomaz said that credible experts had produced evidence demonstrating that the breakaway region of Transdniester sells weapons to parties involved in armed conflicts. The Transdniester administration does not deny producing weapons, but denies having ever sold weapons to Chechen fighters. DW General Vasil Vasilev submitted his resignation as national police chief on 31 January after one of his officers was arrested and charged with the shooting death of a teenage girl, AP reported. Vasilev said on national radio that he must take responsibility for action of his officers. His resignation must be accepted by President Petar Stoyanov. Lieutenant Kalin Kisyov was arrested on 30 January after confessing to the murder (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 30 January 2001), which apparently occurred when he accidentally shot his gun while in a restaurant. The killing led Stoyanov to hold an emergency meeting with the interior minister and other officials over a spate of recent killings and other violent crime occurring in the country. PB By Julie Corwin Russia's former acting premier, Yegor Gaidar, has offered a largely positive assessment of President Vladimir Putin's first year in office. Gaidar, now a State Duma deputy with the Union of Rightist Forces faction, spoke on Monday at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington think-tank. He said: "Last year in Russia we evidently had very serious political stabilization. We left the period of long-term economic and political instability which followed the collapse of the totalitarian system of the Soviet Union." Gaidar expressed disagreement with presidential economic adviser Andrei Illarionov, who has charged that the government led by Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov has squandered the opportunity to conduct serious reforms afforded by last year's run of high oil prices. "I do not agree that economic reform agenda of 2000 was weak and unfulfilled," Gaidar said. "I think the government was able to choose quite a few important priorities and got important results, one being the tax reform. It's very difficult to push through a radical tax reform." However, interspersed between his praise for what the government achieved last year was criticism about an "evident slowdown" in economic reforms so far this year, and the danger of going too far with other reforms, such as the strengthening of the central government vis a vis the regions. "As in everything in Russia, you can overdo, and you can overcentralize," he cautioned. Noting that there has been talk about rewriting the Russian Constitution, Gaidar said this would be the "craziest idea" since it would subsume the government's entire agenda. Asked about the current controversy over the independent media outlet NTV, Gaidar was careful to make a distinction between the government and the presidential administration. Gaidar said that the pressure against Vladimir Gusinsky's Media-MOST Group has come from the Kremlin, not the government. However, Gaidar said even from the Kremlin "the message is mixed." In Putin's meeting with journalists, Gaidar declared that Putin "said all the right things." Nevertheless, "most Russians" -- including his own political group the Union of Rightist Forces -- "do not believe that NTV's problems are mostly financial." In a statement that contradicts President Putin's own stance, Gaidar declared that "it is impossible to divide financial problems and the press's freedom." In Moscow, meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly said Monday that he does not plan to alter the status of private television channel NTV. NTV General-Director and leading anchorman Yevgeny Kiselyov, who met with Putin along with 10 other NTV broadcasters and reporters, quoted the Russian president as saying that the channel should remain "in its present state." "The president says that he is for the preservation of NTV's journalistic staff and for keeping the company out of state hands. I want to stress it. He said this." The meeting took place in the Kremlin amid growing fears that state prosecutors are targeting the private channel as part of Putin's bitter feud with NTV owner Gusinsky. Gusinsky, founder and chairman of NTV's parent company Media-MOST, is currently under house arrest in Spain and is awaiting possible extradition on fraud charges brought by Russian prosecutors. Reprinted with permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty URL: http://www.rferl.org rferl2html v1.01 run on Wednesday, 31 January 2001 - 16:33:04 UTC	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line628
__label__wiki	0.717876	0.717876	Home British Columbia Vancouver Island Fighters weigh-in for Mayhem tomorrow night! By sclark - May 8, 2014 Victoria (ISN) – It’s the day before the fights and if you haven’t purchased your tickets for this great event, make sure you grab them before they sell out!! Jessica and Amanda hold up belts with fight promoter DP Sundher, Photo: Carl Constantine / Island Sports News Today, all the fighters assembled at the Tally Ho Sports Bar to go over the fight rules, ensure everyone makes weight, and to get their paperwork in order. All the fighters are anxious and really want to put on a great show. This writer had the opportunity to sit down with a few of the fighters, including one of the female competitors, to get their perspectives on their fights and find out a bit more about them. Fighter: Chase Ingalls From: Comox Valley on Vancouver Island Fighting for 7 years Chase shows off his great fighting shape. Photo: Carl Constantine / Island Sports News ISN: Chase, you’re competing for which title? Chase: This is the ISKA Amateur World Middleweight Title which is currently vacant. ISN: This is not your first title fight right? What other titles do you hold? Chase: No, this is my 6th title fight. I have had the ISKA Junior Canadian Title, the ISKA Junior North American Title, ISKA Junior World Title, ISKA BC Mens Title, and the WKN World Title. ISN: I’ve had the pleasure of following your career for a while. You’ve done very well. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Chase: Well, I have my age with me, being young. I’m definitely aiming to go pro. In fact, this will be my last Amateur Fight ISN: What professional level do you want to compete in? Chase: My aim is for Glory. I’ve spoken with people such as Gabriel Varga, another local fighter, and done some training with him. I have great respect for Gabriel. He’s shown me that it is possible. ISN: How do you see this fight? Have you studied your opponent at all? Chase: My opponent is a south paw so that will make the fight interesting. I know how to fight someone like that and I think it will be a very good fight. I’m excited to showcase my skills. Fighter: Marin Sarov From: Serbia (fighting out of Holland) Martin carefully watches the scale. Photo: Carl Constantine / Island Sports News ISN: Tell me a bit about yourself? Martin: I’m originally from Serbia but moved to Holland to get away from the things going on in my country. I’m really happy to be here in Canada to compete. I’ve been in 50 countries and find that no one is as genuinely nice as Canadians. ISN: Thank you. You’ve competed for a little while, is this your first title match? Martin: Yes my very first one. ISN: This being your first title fight, how do you think you’ll do? Martin: I think I will enjoy wearing the belt…HA HA! Kidding aside, I think my chances are good. ISN: Why is that? Martin: We have a similar style. We both don’t back down, we move forward and keep going. This will be an exciting fight. I’m also very happy with the no clinch rule as I think it takes away from the fight. Without all the clinching, the fight stays dynamic. Fighter: Suraj Bangarh Current ISKA World Welterweight Title holder From: Victoria, BC Fighting for 5 ½ years ISKA World Champion Suraj Bangarh is weighed in by Stan Peterec. Photo: Carl Constantine / Island Sports News ISN: How do you feel about a title defence? Suraj: I’m very ready. I’ve been really focused on my fighting the last 2 ½ years or so and made some sacrifices in order to compete at this level. ISN: Being so young, do you see yourself doing this permanently or more for fun and sport? Suraj: I’m definitely focused on making this a career. ISN: Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Suraj: I want to compete in Glory, which is the UFC of Kickboxing. ISN: You were originally scheduled to fight someone else, but a substitution had to be made. What are your feelings on that? Suraj: I’m fine with the substitution. It would have been nice to compete against someone from another country, but I’m just happy to compete. ISN: How do you think you’ll do tomorrow? Suraj: I think it will be a good fight, pretty even match up style wise but I do feel I will come out on top in the end. Fighter: Johnny Two Feathers From: Duncan, BC Title contender Johnny Two Feathers proud to make weight. Photo: Carl Constantine / Island Sports News ISN: Is this your first title fight? Johnny: No, this will be my 2nd. I also fought for the BC Title in 2011. ISN: How do you feel about being substituted in? Johnny: I feel well prepared and I’ve put in a lot of work. I feel I should have fought for this a while ago but happy everything is coming together now. ISN: What do you see for your future? Johnny: Right now, I’m not thinking too much past the fight tomorrow night. I do desire to go pro but will talk with my trainer about it more later. ISN: How do you think you’ll do against your opponent tomorrow? Johnny: We both move a lot, but I feel it will come down to heart…who wants it most. I think that’s one thing that separates me from a lot of kickboxers, I have a lot of heart! ISN: I’ve seen you fight many times, you have a very large fan base. Johnny: Yes, I have great fans and supporters. Fighter: Scott Judson From Comox Valley, Vancouver Island Fighting for 6-7 years Scott Judson gets the go ahead from Stan Peterec. Photo: Carl Constantine / Island Sports News ISN: What made you want to compete in kickboxing? Scott: I used to be a Professional Baseball Player. I had to stop that but wanted to keep competing in something. I literally woke up one morning and thought, “Kickboxing would be fun,” and started training. ISN: Are you competing for one of the titles? Scott: No, my fight is not a title fight. ISN: Do you think you’ll have a title opportunity? Scott: If I win this fight, I think I will try for the Canadian title in my weight class. ISN: You’re one of the older fighters here, what does the future hold for you? Scott: I will continue to compete for a couple more years yet. I hope to get 10-15 more fights in. ISN: What happens then? Scott: Will stop fighting and focus on my family. I have 5 kids and they have a made a lot of sacrifices for me to compete. ISN: How do you think you’ll do against your opponent tomorrow night? Scott: I think I will stop him before the 3rd round. Fighter: Alex Garland Fighting for 1 year Alex Garland strikes a proud pose. Photo: Carl Constantine / Island Sports News ISN: You’re one of the 4 female fighters here. How do you feel about that? Alex: I don’t think about gender. I just want to do it. I did regular martial arts as a kid but didn’t find it competitive enough for me. ISN: Your opponent had to be substituted out. What are your thoughts on that? Alex: I’m disappointed about it as I was originally supposed to fight for the BC Women’s Title and now it’s a regular fight. ISN: How do you think you’ll do against your opponent? Alex: I only just found out who my opponent was an hour ago and don’t know much about her other than I believe it’s her first fight. ISN: Do you have any female fighters you look up to or that inspire you? Alex: I look up to Lindsay Ball who’s a Muay Thai fighter here in Victoria. ISN: Where do you see yourself in the future? Alex: I’d like to continue to fight. Gain enough amateur fights to move into professional Muay Thai fights. Ring Girls: Jessica Kelly and Amanda Harding Ring girls Jessica (brunette) and Amanda (Blonde) will captivate your attention between rounds. Photo: Carl Constantine / Island Sports News ISN: Thank you two beautiful ladies for taking some time to talk to me. Is this your first time being a ring girl? Jessica: No, I’ve done this before for some amateur MMA events also Amanda: Yes this is the first time for me. ISN: Amanda, as this is your first time, tell me what your thoughts are? Amanda: It will be a bit of a challenge. I’m used to modeling but this will be a bit different for me. ISN: How do you feel when you get the inevitable cat calls and cheers from the crowd when you’re walking around the ring? Jessica: It’s quite flattering Amanda: I laugh a bit at it, but it’s fine ISN: What do you think it takes to be a ring girl? Jessica: You have to have confidence in yourself and just have a good time. Amanda: I agree, a lot of confidence. Mayhem Summary: will be held at Pearkes Arena on Friday, May 9th 2014. Doors open at 6pm with fights starting at 7pm. The event will feature 10 amazing kickboxing and boxing fights with 4 title fights including local ISKA World Welterweight title holder, Suraj Bangarh of Canada’s Best Karate defending his title. Tickets for Mayhem are available from the following locations: Sports Traders – 508 Discovery St – 250-383-6443 Suits U – 942 Fort St – 250-386-6922 Peterec’s Gym – 831 Fisgard St – 250-389-6166 Watch this website for more information about this event as this writer will be interviewing the title fight contenders at the weigh-ins and will have post fight interviews and pics! May 9th Mayhem Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/423421767792251/ Hope for Hannah: http://www.hannahday.ca/ Previous articleKlahanie Park and Brockton Oval to host BC Rugby provincial club finals Next articleBradshaw takes 11 shot lead into final round sclark Canada wins two bronze medals at the final World Cup event of 2019 in Rotterdam Canada advances to semi-finals and finals in Rotterdam-World Rowing Cup 3 Canadian World Champions advance in Switzerland Canadian Women’s crews take on the World in Rotterdam Women’s indoor team picks up another win in Peru 2019 Para Sport Jumpstart Fund distributes $800,000 to grassroots programs across Canada Japan to face Portugal in World Rugby U20 Trophy 2019 final Portugal and Japan will meet again in the final of the World Rugby U20 Trophy on Sunday after finishing top of their respective pools... DAVE LOWRY NAMED WHEAT KING HEAD COACH Brandon Wheat Kings General Manager Darren Ritchie has announced the appointment of Dave Lowry as the Western Hockey League clubs new head coach. Lowry has an extensive coaching resume...	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line631
__label__cc	0.531775	0.468225	Many people think that Japanese architecture is uniquely sustainable and in harmony with nature, and has a new potential to become an alternative to modern-era architecture. Is it true? The key is... I spent a morning with Toyo Ito on Omishima island in 2018, where the Toyo Ito Museum of Architecture, Imabari opened an exhibit “Protecting = Creating the Sacred Island of Omishima.” Enjoy Ito's inspiring... MUJI offers a large selection of food/snacks in Japan, which are like the minimalistic version of Trader Joe's. Packaged small to upgrade unfairly undervalued "eat alone" experiences, their rich flavors/aroma... While many people are excited about Marie Kondo’s “katazuke” (tidying-up) method, there are a certain number of people who disagre. If you are curious why people react to her so vehemently on both sides, it... The “Less is more” Economy 1: History of “Less is more” Modern designers in the early 20th century embraced the notion of “less is more,” which revealed two sides of the same coin – the Jekyll-and-Hyde like character of “more,” and the surprisingly pure, natural... The architecture of awe: Musashino Art University Library by Sou Fujimoto Sou Fujimoto designed his own “Library of Babel” at the Musashino Art University. It is the architecture of awe - a mesmerizing world of duality materialized by a spiral forest that consists of books and the... Big ambition from a small island: Toyo Ito Museum of Architecture, Imabari The Toyo Ito Museum of Architecture, Imabari is located on a small, traditional island in West Japan. After decades of progressive architectural experiments based in Tokyo, Toyo Ito is pursuing the future of... Zen is a school of the “Great Vehicle” branch of Buddhism that focuses on meditation. While its core tenets inherit Buddha’s teachings just like others schools, Zen occupies a special space in modern society... The report of Kengo Kuma’s exhibition “a LAB for materials” at the Tokyo Station Gallery. As the Japanese title means "Kuma’s things: materials that whisper and talk", the exhibit focuses on how Kuma leverages... Hiroshige’s ukiyo-e through the lens of Frank Lloyd Wright Church of the Light by Tadao Ando Tadao Ando re-created the “Church of the Light,” one of his landmark works he designed in 1989, at the exhibition “Tadao Ando: Endeavors” held in Tokyo in 2017. It is stunning to see how light meets concrete,... Happiness through the lens of Minimalists “Happiness” is elusive. No one knows for sure how to get it. So, we have assumed that “more makes us happier.” But an increasing number of people are realizing that that recipe does not necessarily work. They... Engawa, the narrow wooden strips attached around the periphery of a house has been an indispensable part of the traditional Japanese house, functioning as a sun porch, a workshop, a venue for socializing and a... “Simplify!” Steve Jobs’ relentless quest for Zen design Steve Jobs is known to have practiced the Soto-school of Japanese Zen, and is also known to have loved the kare-sansui garden of the Saijo-ji in Kyoto, which was founded by a prominent Zen priest/garden... MUJI “Wood House” model home in Kanagawa, Japan We visited MUJI’s model house in Kanagawa, Japan. The model, the “Wood House,” is a “tiny house” of about 1,000 square feet that delivers edit-ability and flexibility you could never have expected in other... The Zen of Minimalism: How Minimal Design is a Catalyst for Happiness We tend to think of minimalism as an art movement and a minimalist lifestyle as two separate things, but they share a common philosophy. It has to do with how we leverage our inner ability and potential.... MUJI Hut: tiny house dissolving into the environment MUJI released a “hut” in 2017 which is even tinier than a “tiny house.” Coming with the interior size of 9.1 m2, it delivers agility, mobility and flexibility you would never expected from a house. “Place it... Demystifying the mysteries of Japanese aesthetics What's the common secret behind traditional Zen arts/culture, wabi-sabi, MUJI, Japanese architecture, sushi and Totoro? It's the unique approach toward nature.... Beauty of ambiguous architecture: Sou Fujimoto Sou Fujimoto, one of the most sought-after Japanese architects today, has the incomparable ability to define spatial dimensions and to let a unique kind of abundance emerge even from limited spaces. He often... My Neighbor Totoro: honest face of nature Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli’s drama-free, anti-climax “My Neighbor Totoro” reminds us how humans used to interact with nature. Totoro was not imaginary 50 years ago. He was next the kids who used to... Kintsugi: Repair beyond repair Kintsugi” is a traditional Japanese technique to repair broken ceramics, but it’s something that will change your definition of “repair.” Using glue and gold or silver powder, Kintsugi “heals” injured ceramics... Kenya Hara and the aesthetics of “emptiness” Kenya Hara is a Japanese graphic designer who helped cement the philosophy of Japanese brand MUJI by leveraging the concept of “emptiness.” Even though these concepts might appear similar, “emptiness” in... Japanese minimalist design and the influence of traditional Zen art If you want to introduce Zen-taste minimalist design, what are the tips? There are several critical Zen aesthetics such as "subtraction", "condensation" and "absence" that strongly influenced modern minimalist... Why is MUJI’s minimalist design called Zen? The Japanese household brand MUJI is often dubbed “commercial Zen” for its no-frills, minimalist design and approach. But exactly what kind of Zen aesthetics are seen in MUJI? Two prominent designers Kenya... Welcome to zero = abundance, your online resource to re-define “happiness” by exploring the potential of “less is more,” leveraging Japanese Zen aesthetics. We offer a variety of ideas and stories on the minimalist lifestyle, design/architecture, business and social change that will help design your own happiness without relying on “more stuff.” Zen played an important role in shaping what we consider “Japanese aesthetics” today which are associated with the minimal, the simple and the quiet. Find out how Zen, a school of the “Great Vehicle” Buddhism, elevated its core tenets “kuu (emptiness)” into a crystallized form of the minimalist arts. May 4, 2018 /by mihoyofuji@comcast.net January 6, 2017 /by mihoyofuji@comcast.net Zen design, minimal design, “less is more,” Japanese traditional design and Zero explained Introducing “less is more” to your lifestyle is not limited to simply reducing the number of things you own. Opportunities become boundless when we open ourselves up to our own abilities and potential. Leading brands such as MUJI show you how. Chapter 2-8: Sparking joy by subtracion – decluttering and minimalists October 10, 2017 /by mihoyofuji@comcast.net April 28, 2017 /by mihoyofuji@comcast.net Design and architecture are the catalyst for us to interact with the outside environment proactively and lead a fulfilling life without relying on “more.” We cover inspiring design and architecture stories, especially events/exhibitions that take place in Japan. April 4, 2018 /by mihoyofuji@comcast.net August 17, 2017 /by mihoyofuji@comcast.net March 29, 2017 /by mihoyofuji@comcast.net If we leverage “less is more” collectively, we can transform the way we create, produce, work and live together into something much more accomplished. You may be surprised how effective “less is more” is in business and social design to foster happy relationships between all kinds of stakeholders. December 1, 2017 /by mihoyofuji@comcast.net Chapter 4-3: Absence in business – Nissin Cupnoodles Museum May 16, 2017 /by mihoyofuji@comcast.net Proudly inefficient: true meaning of “Right to repair” December 18, 2016 /by mihoyofuji@comcast.net Zen perspectives in Tony Hsieh’s Downtown Las Vegas Project Truth of sharing economy: what are we really sharing? Toyo Ito and "Home-for-All" (Minna-no-Ie) - Can People Shape Architecture? Architect Toyo Ito has been on his journey to re-define the purpose of “modern architecture” through his disaster relief efforts following the Tohoku Earthquake/Tsunami that affected Northeastern Japan in 2011. Learn about his efforts through his "Home for All" project and the Venice Biennale 2012 Japan Pavilion: "Architecture. Possible here?" http://www.interactiongreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Venice-Biennale-Japan-Pavilion.jpg 534 800 mihoyofuji@comcast.net http://www.interactiongreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/log-top.jpg mihoyofuji@comcast.net2018-02-15 01:52:482018-10-21 06:27:51Toyo Ito and "Home-for-All" (Minna-no-Ie) - Can People Shape Architecture? Chapter 3-4: Tai'an - Rikyu's microcosmic teahouse "Tai-an" is the ultimate small tea hut, designed by the legendary tea master Sen no Rikyu. According to architect Kengo Kuma: "You won’t understand what Tai-an is all about until you actually crawl into this small hut and experience the very moment when the building, which is almost as small as your body, starts dissolving and enveloping your body softly and lightly, as if it were your clothes." http://www.interactiongreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/saihoji-chashitsu.jpg 1608 2068 mihoyofuji@comcast.net http://www.interactiongreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/log-top.jpg mihoyofuji@comcast.net2018-01-05 02:05:172018-05-10 19:15:54Chapter 3-4: Tai'an - Rikyu's microcosmic teahouse Tadao Ando re-created the “Church of the Light,” one of his landmark works he designed in 1989, at the exhibition “Tadao Ando: Endeavors” held in Tokyo in 2017. It is stunning to see how light meets concrete, inside meets outside, and how people face nature through this remarkable piece of architecture. http://www.interactiongreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Church-of-the-light-tadao-ando-7.jpg 667 1000 mihoyofuji@comcast.net http://www.interactiongreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/log-top.jpg mihoyofuji@comcast.net2017-12-06 05:05:022018-05-06 17:06:35Church of the Light by Tadao Ando Engawa, the narrow wooden strips attached around the periphery of a house has been an indispensable part of the traditional Japanese house, functioning as a sun porch, a workshop, a venue for socializing and a buffer to shield the house from harsh weather. Learn more about its various faces and versatile applications. http://www.interactiongreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/cederhouse-4-engawa-rectangle.png 1503 1500 mihoyofuji@comcast.net http://www.interactiongreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/log-top.jpg mihoyofuji@comcast.net2017-09-21 05:43:362018-05-06 17:06:11The Many Face of Engawa Debunking the myths of Japanese food: is it really healthy and natural? Japanese food can be unhealthy and non-natural. Debunk common myths about Japanese food by remembering "less is more" philosophy. http://www.interactiongreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Shabu-shabu.jpg 400 500 mihoyofuji@comcast.net http://www.interactiongreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/log-top.jpg mihoyofuji@comcast.net2017-04-04 22:45:542018-05-06 17:12:28Debunking the myths of Japanese food: is it really healthy and natural? What's the common secret behind traditional Zen arts/culture, wabi-sabi, MUJI, Japanese architecture, sushi and Totoro? It's the unique approach toward nature. http://www.interactiongreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Kyoto-Ryoan-medium.jpg 1333 2000 mihoyofuji@comcast.net http://www.interactiongreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/log-top.jpg mihoyofuji@comcast.net2017-03-30 19:59:182018-05-06 17:13:05Demystifying the mysteries of Japanese aesthetics Kenya Hara and the aesthetics of "emptiness" Kenya Hara is a Japanese graphic designer who helped cement the philosophy of Japanese brand MUJI by leveraging the concept of “emptiness.” Even though these concepts might appear similar, “emptiness” in Japanese aesthetics is different from Western “simplicity,” observes Hara. Ultimately it has to do with how we perceive our relationship with nature. http://www.interactiongreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/White-by-Kenya-Hara.jpg 2217 1500 mihoyofuji@comcast.net http://www.interactiongreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/log-top.jpg mihoyofuji@comcast.net2017-02-02 23:42:252019-01-15 05:49:50Kenya Hara and the aesthetics of "emptiness" Why is MUJI's minimalist design called Zen? The Japanese household brand MUJI is often dubbed “commercial Zen” for its no-frills, minimalist design and approach. But exactly what kind of Zen aesthetics are seen in MUJI? Two prominent designers Kenya Hara and Naoto Fukasawa give us inspiring clues. http://www.interactiongreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/MUJI-matress-rectangle.jpg 632 1260 mihoyofuji@comcast.net http://www.interactiongreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/log-top.jpg mihoyofuji@comcast.net2016-11-26 06:54:502018-05-06 17:05:23Why is MUJI's minimalist design called Zen? Rental Space Tower by Sou Fujimoto: House Vision 2016 Architect Sou Fujimoto is a master of "ambiguity." With Rental Space Tower, he maximizes the joy of sharing by blurring the boundaries of private ownership. http://www.interactiongreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Rental-tower.jpg 1000 1500 mihoyofuji@comcast.net http://www.interactiongreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/log-top.jpg mihoyofuji@comcast.net2016-10-08 23:05:442018-05-06 17:04:16Rental Space Tower by Sou Fujimoto: House Vision 2016 Chapter 2-2: Ikebana – the art of subtraction Chapter 2-3: Haiku – the beauty of worlds’ shortest poem Chapter 2-4: Effect of subtraction on your satisfaction Chapter 2-5: Is sushi cuisine of subtraction? Chapter 2-6: What is deliciousness by the way? Chapter 2-7: Activate your taste buds by subtraction – Plum Organics January 10, 2018 /by mihoyofuji@comcast.net Chapter 3-2: Bonsai – the art of condensation Chapter 3-3: Small is engaging – MUJI toothbrush stand Chapter 3-4: Tai’an – Rikyu’s microcosmic teahouse Chapter 3-5: MUJI House – Edit your own life style Chapter 3-6: MUJI Hut Chapter 4-2: Absence on senses Chapter 4-4: Nissin Cupnoodles Museum Chapter 4-5: Cupnoodles Museum & absent package Chapter 4-6: Absence is the mother of creativity	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line634
__label__cc	0.550737	0.449263	Automode Samsung loses out to Chinese players in Thailand, India By Song Su-hyun Published : Feb 14, 2019 - 17:36 Updated : Feb 14, 2019 - 17:36 After being defeated by Chinese rival Xiaomi in India, Samsung Electronics again was deprived of its No. 1 title in smartphone shipments to Thailand in the final quarter of last year, losing the top position to Chinese firm Oppo, a market researcher’s report showed Thursday. The South Korean tech giant sold over 1 million phones in the October to December period in Thailand, accounting for 21.1 percent of the second-largest market in Southeast Asia, according to Singapore-based tech industry tracker Canalys. (Yonhap) Oppo shipped around 1.1 million units of affordable models during the same period and took up 22.2 percent of the market. China’s biggest mobile phone vendor Huawei came in third, followed by another Chinese player Vivo. US tech titan Apple ranked fifth with an 8.6 percent share. The market researcher concluded high-end smartphone manufacturers like Samsung and Apple are struggling to maintain their leadership in markets like Thailand where midrange phones are widely preferred due to fierce price competition. “As in other markets, Samsung is taking steps to respond to the price competition from Chinese players by overhauling its midrange strategy,” the report said. Samsung lost its top position in India that it held since 2012 to Xiaomi in terms of annual smartphone shipments last year, said Counterpoint Research in a recent report. The company is preparing to launch a new midrange model M series to regain its market share in India, the world’s second-biggest smartphone market after China. By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com) LEADERS CLUB	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line635
__label__wiki	0.810047	0.810047	Sri Lanka’s Office of Missing Persons urged to probe star generals Post 15 May 2018 By Athula Vithanage Sri Lanka has been urged to probe two of its highly decorated commanders for the inauguration of the much delayed Office of the Missing Persons (OMP). The OMP that plans to “address the suffering” of a multitude of disappeared commenced meeting victims on 12 May. Three days later, a human rights organisation documenting wartime atrocities have called upon the OMP to question its war time commanders over hundreds of cases of enforced disappearance that took place on the final day of the civil war in 2009. The Johannesburg based International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) launching a website listing 280 names of enforced disappearance in Sri Lanka all on one day, named two senior military figures as those who should be probed by the OMP. 29 missing children “This is the largest single group of enforced disappearance in Sri Lanka’s history – hundreds of people disappearing at the same time and place with multiple eyewitnesses both inside and outside the country,” said the International Truth and Justice Project’s Executive Director, Yasmin Sooka. “We have written to the Office of Missing Persons saying this is the first case they should investigate if they are serious about criminal accountability for enforced disappearance. They can start by questioning Major General Shavendra Silva and General Jagath Jayasuriya, whom eyewitnesses say personally observed the surrenders and those security forces in whose custody they were placed.” Among those who disappeared were at least 29 Tamil children, last seen with their families in the custody of the Sri Lankan Army on or around 18 May 2009 in what are regarded as classic cases of enforced disappearance in accordance with international law, says ITJP. 'Not a compete list' It calls upon the public to provide any missing information. “We urge anyone with information or photos to contact us by email in English or Tamil,” said the ITJP’s Executive Director Yasmin Sooka. “This is by no means a complete list or a perfect one but it is a start and what it reveals is that the extent of the crime is much larger than previously known.” Tamil women who attended the first OMP inquiry in the northwestern town of Mannar, expressed fear of coming under threat by the military for providing information. “I have stopped going to any of the government inquiries as I cant leave my girls at home, who will be visited by the military as soon as I am out,” said one mother. Head of OMP, Saliya Peiris says that more than 250 relatives of the disappeared were present at the first day of inquiry.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line640
__label__wiki	0.820574	0.820574	How I Lost 140 Pounds by Relying on the Lord byJenny Spencer Hunt \| Jan. 02, 2019 Losing 140 pounds is no easy feat. Just ask Trent Heppler. Never in a million years did he believe that he would one day shed the weight, let alone run a marathon. But Heppler learned that the power to overcome his physical weaknesses—whatever they may be—comes from a spiritual strength gained through the Savior, Jesus Christ. Growing up overweight and self-conscious, Latter-day Saint Trent Heppler always felt that exercise was just another form of torture invented to make him feel inadequate. But he masked his insecurities well. “I learned at a very early age to poke fun at myself and get a laugh before anyone else could,” says Heppler. “I now realize that was a common coping technique. That is why I became the ‘funny fat friend.’” It was a role that Heppler played well, but it never made him truly happy. Year after year passed with no real change. It wasn’t until Heppler was nearing 35 that something switched in his mind. After hovering somewhere around 350 pounds for some years, he set a lofty goal: to run a marathon. “I thought I needed something big and personal in my life to reach for,” says Heppler, “and this goal would help to accomplish many results like weight loss, fitness, and the praise of man. Where it took me was way beyond those first thoughts.” The goal to run a marathon didn’t become a reality for many years. But on the eve of his 40th birthday, he decided that the time had finally come. So on what seemed like a whim, Heppler asked his friend and fellow in the Young Men program in their ward, Scott Gifford, to become his personal trainer and help him train for a marathon—and Gifford said yes. Everyone was surprised at his request, but no one more so than Heppler himself.“Now as I look back,” he says, “I realize it was inspired for me to reach for such a dream.” The next thing Heppler knew, he was making a fitness plan with Gifford and another friend, Ty Engstrom. Every three months, Heppler aimed to lose an average of 30 pounds. His plan was to cut calories, exercise six days a week, and read a book called He Did Deliver Me from Bondage by Colleen C. Harrison. Although the book focuses on addiction recovery, Gifford felt that the book would help Heppler overcome his bad habit of overeating. Heppler put his plan into action. His wife Melanie was instrumental to his successful diet. “I supported Trent in many ways. First and foremost was making all of the food he consumed!” she jokes. “I found it critical to my success that I wasn’t the one preparing these meals, because my tendency was, and still is, to embellish them with extra calories,” he says. Another important factor to his journey was simply being accountable to someone—in this case, his personal trainers. Every day he would tell Engstrom and Gifford the number of calories he ate. “Having someone to hold me accountable was super important,” he says. “I have found it is necessary to schedule, plan, and write out my goals. That way it’s more than just an idea—actions have to be taken.” To add to his healthier diet, he began an exercise regimen. “The exercise I did for the first three months of my journey was primarily walking,” he says. But even walking came with challenges. “In the beginning, it hurt my knees, my joints, my back, all of it—but I eventually got stronger.” Instead of listening to typical pop music during his exercise sessions, Heppler began listening to inspirational music and talks—hymns, scriptures, general conference addresses, and other spiritual materials. “I quickly altered the use of time during exercise to meditate, think, and pray,” says Heppler. “As I read He Did Deliver Me from Bondage, exercised, and felt the Spirit more, I wanted more of those things. My weight loss journey became one of transformation because I was seeking after the good.” Heppler began to realize that as his body changed for the better, so did his spirit. At the beginning of his journey, he never expected his testimony of the gospel to help him lose weight—but that’s exactly what happened. Transforming the Body and Spirit After three months of consistent hard work, he had already lost 57 pounds. So he upped his exercise to jogging instead of just walking. He continued to use his exercise time to draw closer to the Lord. He would run only a few miles at first, but as his strength grew, he began to go for longer runs that allowed him even more time to ponder on the truths of the gospel. “During the best times of this journey, I read or listened to the scriptures every day,” Heppler says. "Some of the most sincere and heartfelt prayers and feelings were and still are on my walks and runs. That has become ‘spiritual time’ for me.” As his closeness with the Lord increased, his behavior changed. He began to have more patience with others and enjoy the simple things of life. He cherished even more the time he spent with his wife, son, and daughter. And Heppler wasn’t the only one who was noticing his spiritual transformation. “He started relying on the Lord in everything,” says his daughter, Jonaka. “He became a spiritual flame. He bears his testimony every day, and you can feel the Spirit coming from him. He is one of my biggest inspirations.” At six months, Heppler had lost 96 pounds and had beaten his six-month goal by four pounds. He started to go on even longer runs to prepare for the marathon that was now only a few months away. “The times I spent on my long runs and the Spirit that was with me are precious, sacred, and full of learning experiences. Those were times when I was exhausted and in pain, but the Spirit lifted my body, making me move forward.” Mormon Life Self Improvement Happiness Beauty Fitness TestimonySelf Improvement,Happiness,Beauty,Fitness,Testimony,Mormon Life Comments and feedback can be sent to feedback@ldsliving.com INFORMATION AND INSPIRATION FOR LIVING A LATTER-DAY SAINT LIFE Daily news, articles & videos right to your inbox. We keep your email private. Choir Goes Viral for Singing "I Believe in Christ" During NY Blackout Danielle B. Wagner Watch: Hilarious Video of Latter-day Saints Playing Musical Chairs Goes Viral LDS Living Staff Utah Supreme Court Rules on Case Involving Ward Church Ball Church Announces Replacement for Boy Scouts, Personal Progress: "Children and Youth" 9 Things No One Tells You About Marriage Miranda Richards Bearing Your Testimony: 5 Powerful Tips Kelsey Berteaux What to Do When You and Your Spouse Disagree on How to Live the Gospel Sunny McLellan Morton 6 Ways to Improve Your Temple Experience Arianna Rees The Perfect Analogy for Anyone Who Worries Their Testimony Isn't Strong Enough John Bytheway, excerpted from "How Do I Know if I Know?" “Come, Follow Me” FHE: Testimony and Conversion Jessica Grimaud How This Man with ALS Made History and Deepened His Faith Crossing the Atlantic	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line643
__label__cc	0.725485	0.274515	O.C. Youth Center Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA),signed into law on July 22, 2014, is the first legislative reform of the public workforce system in 15 years. The law supersedes the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and amends the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, the Wagner-Peyser Act, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. WIOA presents an extraordinary opportunity to improve job and career options for our nation's workers and jobseekers through an integrated, job-driven public workforce system that links diverse talent to businesses. It supports the development of strong, vibrant regional economies where businesses thrive and people want to live and work. WIOA retains the nationwide system of one-stop centers, which directly provide an array of employment services and connect customers to work-related training and education. WIOA furthers a high quality one-stop center system by continuing to align investments in workforce, education, and economic development. The new law places greater emphasis on one-stops achieving results for jobseekers, workers, and businesses. WIOA reinforces the partnerships and strategies necessary for one stops to provide job seekers and workers with the high-quality career services, education and training, and supportive services they need to get good jobs and stay employed, and to help businesses find skilled workers and access other supports, including education and training for their current workforce. HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WIOA REFORMS FOR THE YOUTH PROGRAM WIOA outlines a broader youth vision that supports an integrated service delivery system and gives a framework through which states and local areas can leverage other Federal, State, Local, and philanthropic resources to support in-school and out-of-school youth. WIOA affirms the Department's commitment to providing high quality services for youth and young adults beginning with career exploration and guidance, continued support for educational attainment, opportunities for skills training in in-demand industries and occupations, and culminating with a good job along a career pathway or enrollment in post-secondary education. WIOA authorizes the following key provisions: * WIOA requires a minimum of 75 percent of State and Local youth funding to be used for out-of-school youth. * Youth Councils no longer required; however, Local Boards are encouraged to designate a standing Youth Committee, including an existing Youth Council, to contribute a critical youth voice and perspective. Changes to Youth Eligibility Out-of-school youth must be aged 17 to 24, not attending any school, and meet one or more additional conditions, which could include: School dropout; within age of compulsory attendance but has not attended for at least the most recent complete school year calendar quarter; holds a secondary school diploma or recognized equivalent and is low-income and is basic skills deficient or an English language learner; subject to the juvenile or adult justice system; homeless, runaway, in foster care or aged out of the foster care system, eligible for assistance under Section 477, Social Security Act, or in out-of-home placement; pregnant or parenting; an individual with a disability; low income person who requires additional assistance to enter or complete an educational program or to secure and hold employment. In-school youth must be aged 17 to 21, attending school, low income, and meet one or more additional conditions, which could include: Basic skills deficient; English language learner; an offender; homeless, runaway, in foster care or aged out of the foster care system; pregnant or parenting; an individual with a disability; person who requires additional assistance to enter or complete an educational program or to secure and hold employment. Five new Youth Program elements (1) Financial Literacy; (2) Entrepreneurial skills training; (3) Services that provide labor market and employment information in the local area; (4) Activities that help youth transition to postsecondary education and training; (5) Education offered concurrently with and in the same context as workforce preparation activities and training for a specific occupation or occupational cluster Emphasis on Work-Experience At least 20 percent of local Youth formula funds must be used for work experiences, such as summer and year-round employment, pre-apprenticeship, on-the-job training, or internships and job shadowing OCYC Manager Email Al Rodriguez OCYC Staff Email Rosie Cervantes Email Eva Contreras Email LIta Lee Email Jenae Partida Email Viviana Sanchez OCYC Office 441 E. Whittier Boulevard La Habra, CA 90631 - map Email OCYC Follow @OCYouthCenter About The OCYC Occupational Skills Training John Muir Charter School Pathways Academy Back to OCYC Homepage Job Hunting: TIPS & TRICKS Job Hunting Tips & Tricks Your Social Media Building A Resume Completing An Application Be Confident For Your Interview Writing A Thank You Note Job Search Websites SPOTLIGHT: Success Stories Orange County Workforce Development Board	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line646
__label__cc	0.605605	0.394395	People, Live By: Hillsong United Capitol Christian Distribution 2019 Compact Disc Praise & Worship Modern Worship - Praise People is the culmination of whatever is after coming home, having a meal with family and friends old and new... the everyday that frames the season. Recorded live in Sydney, Australia, UNITED have kept it simple returning to where it all began. It is about people. People you're doing life with. People you're representing. It's about people we are called to reach. Loving our neighbor as ourselves. Where people are united, God commands a blessing, and that's what UNITED, and in particular this project, is purposed to do... To bring people together from all walks of life and different circumstances giving everyone a song to sing. This project is for people. Unapologetically returning back to their roots, UNITED demonstrates their utter reliance on God and the fact that we are called to look at life through an uncomplicated lens of loving people. Includes latest new songs from UNITED, As You Find Me, Whole Heart (Hold Me Now) and Good Grace. Publisher: Capitol Christian Distribution Format: Compact Disc Binding: Compact Disc When Oceans Rise Regular General People, Live CD/DVD Combo Of Dirt and Grace - Live from the Land Of Dirt & Grace Live from the Land Behold Our God Shiloh Church Choir Feucht, Sean There Is More (Live In Sydney Australia) Living Hope Wickham, Phil There Is a Cloud Elevation Worship Smith, Michael W.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line648
__label__wiki	0.887662	0.887662	NEAC National Economic Recovery Plan (NERP) fails its first test in being unable to stimulate market confidence despite Daim’s upbeat release of the plan as seen in the lowest KLSE CI yesterday throughout the year-long economic crisis (Petaling Jaya, Friday): The National Economic Action Council (NEAC) National Economic Recovery Plan (NERP) has failed its first test in being unable to stimulate market confidence despite the upbeat release of the Plan by the Minister with Special Functions, Tun Daim Zainuddin, as seen in the lowest Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Composite Index yesterday throughout the year-long economic crisis since July last year. At the close of trading yesterday, the KLSE Composite Index fell 1.54 per cent or 6.51 points as compared to the previous day, ending at 4.15.40 points. The lowest the KLSE CI had fallen during the year-long economic crisis was 421.31 points on July 13, 421.91 points on July 22 and now 415.40 on July 23 - very much worse that the depth plumbed by KLSE CI on January 12, when it fell to 477.57 on January 12 - at around the time when the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was talking about economic recovery between six to twelve months while the MCA President and Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Ling Liong Sik spoke of an economic recovery in three months, i.e. by April this year! Can the NEAC NERP prevent the KLSE CI crashing through another psychological barrier to go below the 400-point level, considering the statements made by Daim last year when it was at the 800-point region that the KLSE CI was undervalued and advising Malaysians to go into the shares market to pick up bargains? The NEAC NERP also had no stimulating effect on the Malaysian ringgit, which ended almost unchanged at 4.1500/1650 to a US dollar against the previous day’s close of 4.1500/1700. When releasing the NERP yesterday, Daim said the most urgent and critical need was to restore investor confidence in Malaysia’s macro-economic stability. Such confidence cannot be restored by the release of a plan, entitled "Agenda for Action" with the six-prong strategy of: Stabilise the ringgit; Restore market confidence; Maintain financial stability; Strengthen economic fundamentals; Continue the equity and socio-economic agenda; Restore adversely affected sectors. This is because all these six prongs had been the very same economic strategy of the government in the past year, and had been specifically declared and repeated by the Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, whether in his 1998 Budget presentation to Parliament on Oct. 17, or in his three Ministerial statements on new economic packages during the Parliamentary meetings of early December, March and recently on 13th July 1998. How can their repetition by Daim restore market confidence when their repeated declaration by Anwar Ibrahim had failed to achieve that effect? Daim rightly said that the most urgent and critical need was to restore confidence, which the government had dismally failed in the past one year. Unfortunately, Daim and the NEAC have undermined confidence-restoration efforts by the contempt they have shown to Parliament and even the Finance Minister in the way the NEAC NERP was released yesterday. The proper place for Daim to present the NEAC NERP report was to Parliament, especially as Parliament was debating the 1998 Supplementary Supply Bill yesterday, which should be the most important debate in Parliament on the national economic crisis in the past one year, even more important than the parliamentary debate on the 1998 budget in October-December 1997 as the Malaysian economy had worsened with no light at the end of the tunnel. The NEAC NERP should be the very subject of debate when the 1998 Supplementary Supply Bill is tabled for second reading yesterday, but MPs knew nothing about the details of the NERP. Even now, I have not received a copy of the NERP when the report should have been tabled in Parliament yesterday so that all MPs could get a copy to study and debate it. I said the release of the NERP outside Parliament yesterday is not only a contempt of Parliament but of the Finance Minister, as it had reduced the Parliamentary debate into the 1998 Supplementary Supply Bill into an irrelevance! Is this the way to go about the "most urgent and critical need to restore investor confidence in Malaysia’s macro-economic stability"? DAP proposes an extension of Parliament in the first week of August to devote four days for a full debate on the NERP The Dewan Rakyat is scheduled to end next Thursday on July 30, which means there are only four parliamentary sittings left. As two of the four days have to be devoted to the Committee Stage of the 1998 Supplementary Supply Bill, there are only two days left for at least five government bills, namely the National Land Code Amendment Bill, Bankruptcy Amendment Bill, Labuan Offshore Financial Services Amendment Bill, Franchise Bill and Tourist Industry Amendment Bill, apart from six Opposition Private Members’ Bills and 12 Opposition motions. Going by Malaysian "parliamentary tradition", the six Opposition Private Members’ Bills and the 12 Opposition motions, would be "killed" as no time would be allocated by the government to debate them. Be that as it may, I call on Daim to give full respect to Parliament by formally tabling the NEAC NERP in Parliament, and to extend the present Parliamentary meeting to the first week of August to devote four full days of debate to a plan which has been described as one which would "steer the country out of the current financial crisis and put it on the road to economic revival". Daim should move the motion on the NEAC NERP in Parliament on August 3 for a four-day debate to justify his confidence that after the -1% to -2% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contraction this year, there might be a mild growth next year and that after 1999, the country could grow by 5% to 6%, when only two days earlier, the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) forecast a GDP contraction of -2.9 per cent, while other economists and analysts are forecasting in gloomier prospects of up to -4% to -5% GDP contraction for this year. MIER executive director, Dr. Mohamed Arif also said that high growths seen previously of 7% and above would only be achievable again in four to five years - i.e. 2,002 to 2,003, in contrast to Daim’s forecast of GDP growth of 5% to 6% from 2,000 onwards. Daim should realise that the NEAC must not bypass or belittle Parliament by treating MPs, whether Barisan Nasional or Opposition with contempt; that this is counter-productive to the second prong of the NERP strategy to restore market confidence. From the parliamentary debate on the 1998 Supplementary Supply Bill yesterday, it is clear that not only ordinary Malaysians and MPs generally know very little about the NEAC, even Ministers and Deputy Ministers are quite in the dark about the operations of the NEAC. During the debate yesterday, I had lamented the lack of accountability and transparency in the NEAC’s establishment and operations. As an example, I said that although the NEAC had been established for more than six months, nobody knows the full membership of the NEAC Executive Council. When I asked whether any Minister or Deputy Minister in the House could stand up to enlighten Parliament as to the full constitution of the NEAC Executive Council, there was silence, until the Deputy Human Resources Minister, Datuk Abdul Kadir bin Haji Sheikh Fadzir stood up to say that the composition of the NEAC Executive Council was generally known by the people as it had been repeatedly announced in the mass media. I challenged this statement and asked Abdul Kadir to name the members of the NEAC Executive Council. He was unable to do so, claiming that he had forgotten about it, and that they comprised professional people. I corrected him, pointing out that the professional people he referred to are serving on the NEAC working committees and not the NEAC Executive Council. In the event, history was made in Parliament yesterday when the Opposition had to inform the government front-bench about the composition of the NEAC Executive Council. I told Abdul Kadir as well as the Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries and the Barisan Nasional MPs that the NEAC Executive Council comprised of five members, namely Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister as Chairman and Deputy Chairman respectively and Tun Daim Zainuddin as the executive director. There are two other members appointed by the Prime Minister. I told Parliament that the Chairman of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS), Tan Sri Noordin Sopie is the fourth member of the NEAC Executive Council but nobody knows who is the fifth member! There should not only be a full Parliamentary debate on the NEAC NERP, there should also be a full debate throughout the country. DAP has set up a three-member committee to study the NEAC NERP, namely DAP National Vice Chairman and MP for Kepong, Dr. Tan Seng Giaw, DAP Deputy Secretary-General and MP for Kota Melaka, Lim Guan Eng and myself, and in the next ten days, we will be daily making public our reactions to the NERP. *Lim Kit Siang - Malaysian Parliamentary Opposition Leader, Democratic Action Party Secretary-General & Member of Parliament for Tanjong	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line650
__label__wiki	0.721899	0.721899	ITALIAN STALLION FAKE HERO Venue:The Cuckoo's Nest, 69 Home St Edinburgh EH3 9JP Room: Basement A "nearly" comedy about my memories as a professional stripper and near-hero during London Bridge terror attack in 2017. I have been doing a lot of things and people always get it wrong! I have always done things in my own way and I hate people regarding me as just an old man ex-stripper. This back-to-front storytelling will be something you probably imagined but never lived. language, nothing visual News and Reviews for this Show April 8, 2017 The heroes of the London Bridge attack The heroes of the London Bridge attack -’’I have faith in our multi cultural society!!!!! ’’- https://youtu.be/JIRFnnGSpSY Joe Palermo An Italian witness on the scene during the terrorist attacks on London Bridge and Borough Market was helping people with injuries and assisting and taking armed police officers to the locations where terrorist were! A few people have disputed this! saying that this wasn’t true! Joe Palermo was indeed there! I’m inviting those ’people’ to make a request to obtain CCTV Footage and you will see clearly man wearing a stripes pink shirt, blue jeans and a Panama hat coming from the MUDLARK pub and taking the stairs to London bridge and talking to police officers near the terrorist VAN and then going back down the stairs with them. People have said that Italians are liars! That is offensive! I will persecute such persons! Thank you for not appreciating someone who was helping during the attack! -Nearby, Joe Palermo was getting some fresh air outside The Mudlark Pub when a woman staggered towards him, bleeding from the neck. “I invited her into the bar because I could see all these people running around,” the bouncer says. “Working in security, I realised something was happening. I tried to give her first aid until a paramedic came up and she took over.” He went to try to get help. Behind the pub where the terrorists went, he says, is “like a “labyrinth”: “It’s easy for people to go one way and another without being seen.” He told a police officer where he thought they had gone. When he returned to the pub, the doors were locked. He led around 20 other people away from where the terrorists were and they were let into Bill’s restaurant on Clink Street. Palermo armed himself with a fire extinguisher and a knife. After a while, people thought it was safe, and went to look out of the windows. “Then the armoured police came in, saying ‘get down! Get away from the windows!” Palermo says. Eventually, the police told everyone in the restaurant to run. Click Here Press & Media downloads for this Show Press Image 1 Media File 1	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line658
__label__cc	0.678992	0.321008	About Kidsport Vancouver KidSport™ was established by Sport BC in 1993 and is a community based sport charity. Since its inception in British Columbia, KidSport™ has grown to include national and provincial/territorial chapters operating across Canada. There are now more than 180 local community chapters that have raised in excess of $5 million dollars and provided a season of sport to more than 45,000 Canadian children in 65 different sports. KidSport Vancouver was formed in 2009 and is one of approximately 40 chapters in B.C. We are a community chapter of KidSport BC, which is part of Sport BC, the provincial federation for sport. Due to the sheer size of the population of Vancouver and the diversity of the community, KidSport Vancouver is one of the highest demand chapters in Canada. Introduction - Our Philosophy & Mission Our Goal... The primary goal of all children’s sport programming is for each child to have fun and to want to play again next season. Children should feel there will always be a place for sport in their lives and that sport will always have a place for them. The KidSport™ Program has been created to help overcome financial obstacles preventing some young people from participating in organized sport. Our Work... KidSport™ identifies needs in the community, raises funds, and supports programs that create new opportunities for young people “So ALL Kids Can Play.” Our Belief... Young people can learn more than athletic skills from sport. Sport provides a lifelong opportunity for self-expression and self-discovery. Sport challenges can teach children the value of leadership, desire, planning, practice, hard work, honesty, sacrifice, dedication, positive thinking and self-confidence. Sport emphasizes exercise, commitment, discipline, and conditioning, and can start children on the path to a healthy lifestyle. A healthy lifestyle begun at a young age can last a lifetime and benefit not only the child but the rest of the community. Our Challenge... Child poverty is on the rise making it difficult for many children to access sport. As well, Statistics Canada has recently reported an alarming decline in participation rates of organized sport in large part due to the cost. Ensuring that children have access to sport, and the values and skills that sport teaches, is more critical than ever. Our Aim... KidSport™ helps provide children between the ages of five and eighteen access to sport opportunities and experiences in both team and individual sports “So All Kids Can Play.” KidSport™ Vancouver is a non-profit organization that is part of a national and provincial network of community based volunteer groups whose goal is to ensure that kids in financial need have access to the positive experience of sport and physical activity. We believe that sport and physical activity provides a life-long opportunity for self-expression, goal setting, dedication, positive thinking and increased self confidence for kids. Our Privacy Statement... Understandably, the protection of individual privacy is a primary concern of the contacts of KidSport™ Vancouver. KidSport has created the following privacy statement in order to demonstrate its firm commitment to maintaining the privacy of all contact correspondence. KidSport™ Vancouver collects contact information from; its web site through its online forms, through paper applications forms for KidSport grants, volunteer application forms and event entry forms ONLY for the purposes of continuing future correspondence. All personal information collected is held in the strictest confidence; KidSport™ Vancouver does not use this information for any other purpose other than that stated above, nor does it sell, rent or otherwise improperly disclose this information to outside parties. If you have any questions about the privacy statement above or the practices and conduct of the KidSport™ Vancouver in general, please don't hesitate to contact us. Press Release: KidSport Vancouver Raises One Million Dollars! 4th Annual Hockey Pool fundraiser CIBC Raises $15,000 for KidSport Ride for a Child Raises $8,280 for KidSport Thank you! The support for #GiftofSport from our sponsors, attendees, athletes & volunteers is appreciated. We rais https://t.co/aSkGg4xx7f 224 days ago - @KidSportYVR Ready, set, GIVE! RT this video with an @ mention of your favorite charity using #BeTheGood and well donate $10 on https://t.co/dRLvH96MTL KidSport Vancouver PO Box 60633 Granville Park RPO V6H 4B9 Fax: Email is preferred www.kidsportcanada.ca/british-columbia/vancouver/ kidsportvancouver@gmail.com	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line666
__label__cc	0.617781	0.382219	Premiership Weekend Betting tips 10th - 12th March 2012 Bolton (2.5) Draw (3.4) QPR (3.1) Tough times for Bolton. 4 defeats on the bounce after looking like they were going to turn the corner. You could forgive the Manchester City and Chelsea losses but losing at home to Wigan was a massive blow. Kevin Davis will be back for this game so they'll be better up front. QPR aren't doing much better than Bolton. They at least managed to get a draw against and in form Everton last weekend. Strange because on paper, you'd expect them to be flying. They have a much better team than Bolton and Hughes is supposedly a world class manager. Personally, I don't rate Hughes. He's certainly no Martin O'Neil. I am going to go with the draw here. Its an early kick off and so I think goals will be hard to come by. Draw is also the best price. Its 3.4 at Bet Victor. Aston Villa (2.5) Draw (3.3) Fulham (3) Last time Villa won was 21st January. Since then its been 2 losses and 3 draws. No Bent but N'Zogbia is a decent enough replacement. They should stay up comfortably just on the basis that they are 8 points clear of the drop zone and there are 5 teams below them. Still not a good position considering the team they have. Fulham are on a 3 game winning streak, can they make it 4? I don't see why not. Their new signing Pavel Pogrebnyak managed a hat trick last weekend. They do save their best football for the home games but they did manage an away win at QPR a couple of weeks ago. I don't see them losing here but I also think they are more likely to draw than win. The draw is 3.3 at Skybet. Chelsea (1.44) Draw (4.75) Stoke (10) Fairly good start for Chelsea under new manager, Di Matteo. A 2-0 win against Birmingham in the FA Cup. Mata missed a penalty as well so it could have been better. We'll see now whether it was the manager holding Chelsea back or the players just not good enough. Torres certainly isn't good enough. Stoke are in their familiar mid table position after 2 home wins against Swansea and Norwich. They were going through a bad patch but those wins have made their position look a lot better. Betting wise, I can see a Chelsea win here. With AVB in charge, maybe I would have gone for the upset but the players have something to prove now and they have got some talent in that side. It's 1.44 at bluesquare. Sunderland (4.1) Draw (3.4) Liverpool (2.05) Sunderland were a tad unlucky not to get all 3 points at Newcastle last weekend. Newcastle equalised deep in to stoppage time. They had to play a third of the match with 10 men and then had Lee Cattermole sent off after the whistle. He'll miss this game as well as Sessegnon, who is their main goal scoring threat. Liverpool were equally unlucky not to beat Arsenal last weekend. Liverpool were much more threatening with the ball and always looked more likely to score. The post saved Arsenal on a couple of occasions and Liverpool missed a penalty too. Szczesny made some fantastic saves to keep Arsenal in it. I am actually really surprised at the odds here. No way should Liverpool be even money. Liverpool have only won 1 league game in the last 7 played and that was against a struggling Wolves side. Sunderland may have lost the O'Neil invincibility but they can still get results and they are the home side. If it weren't for the suspensions on the Sunderland side, I'd be on Sunderland strongly. I still will be but I'm not as happy as I would be if Sessengnon was up front. Sunderland win is 4.1 at Bet Victor Wolverhampton (2.4) Draw (3.4) Blackburn (3.2) Wolves took at a battering at the hands of Fulham last weekend. It was much different from the team that clawed their way back from 2-0 at Newcastle to draw 2-2. I personally think they are going down and they need to get ready for Championship football next season. Blackburn are level on points with Wolves at the bottom and could be joining them but I feel that they have a better squad and have a goal scorer in Yakubu. They have scored 8 more goals that Wolves this season. Usually when teams get a beating, they come back strong but I don't see anything in that Wolves side that makes me think they will this time. For me it's the draw or Blackburn. Blackburn +0.25 on the Asian Handicap is 1.85 at bet365 Everton FC (3) Draw (3.3) Tottenham (2.63) Everton may have been fortunate to get a draw from QPR last weekend but that is 6 unbeaten in the league now. The last 2 home results have been exceptional with wins over Manchester City and Chelsea. It usually does take a while for Everton to get going but once they do, they are hard to beat. Spurs seems to have gone off the boil a little bit. I don't know how they lost to Manchester United last weekend though. They dominated all the statistics apart from the number of goals scored. United had 5 shots on target and scored 3 of them. Spurs had 8 shots as well 58% of the possession. They'll welcome back Parker, Bale and Van Der Vaart who were missing last weekend. Earlier on in the season making money was easy just betting on Spurs and backing against Everton. No as simple for this game though. I suppose, I am going to have to select the draw. None of the results would surprise me and the draw is the biggest price. Its 3.3 at Bet Victor. Manchester United (1.33) Draw (6) West Brom (12) Bad times for United in Europe. Losing at home again is embarrassing not just for United but for the Premier League. Maybe United have been found out. They can play shockingly bad and win games in the Premiership. Last week against Spurs was lucky. I have no idea how at half time it was 1-0 United when Spurs dominated. West Brom have hit a bit of form. They saw off Sunderland and Chelsea in the last 2 home games. Odemwingie has found his form again. I can see an upset here. West Brom at 12.0 is a huge price. I certainly wouldn't be betting United at 1.33. West Brom are 12.0 at Betfred. Swansea (7) Draw (4) Manchester City (1.67) Good result for Swansea last weekend at a struggling Wigan. They usually struggle away from home but managed a good 2-0 win. At home they are tough to beat with a 5-6-2 record with defeats only to Manchester United and Norwich City by the single goal. City lost in Portugal midweek and more importantly, they may have lost Vincent Kompany due to injury. They struggled a bit when he was suspended earlier in the season. They don't have any players out at the African Cup of Nations this time though so they are still super strong. City have won their last 4 league games to nil. Its 2.6 this time at PaddyPower. I think that's a decent bet. I don't think Swansea will be able to score. Norwich (1.91) Draw (3.7) Wigan (4.5) Norwich have hit a small rough patch in the season for them. They have set a high standard though and this rough patch is nothing to worry about. A weakened Norwich got dumped out of the FA Cup, then a home loss to Manchester United and an away loss at Stoke. No shame in any of those losses. Their form before those games has been brilliant. Wigan won away at Bolton a month ago. Martinez was hoping that would kick start their season but its failed to. They have since drawn to Villa and lost 2-0 to Swansea. Their problem is that they don't score enough goals and they don't have anyone that looks capable of it. Players that excelled in previous seasons have either gone or just not performing. I fancy a Norwich win here. It's 1.91 at Coral. Arsenal (1.5) Draw (4.5) Newcastle (8) Some good results of late for Arsenal but some of the performances weren't great. The results are all down to their captain Robin van Persie though. Without him, they do struggle. 3-0 at half time to Milan looked great but that was as much to do with Milan complacency as it was to do with Arsenal brilliance. Second half, Milan got it together and looked comfortable. At Liverpool, Arsenal were battered and the win was lucky. The wheels may have come off Newcastle's season. After the 5-0 defeat at Spurs, they have only managed 2 draws at home. Last round, it was a stoppage time goal against Sunderland which salvaged a point. Previously they were 2-0 up against Wolves and ended up drawing 2-2. I actually fancy Arsenal here to win by 2 clear goals. Arsenal can give out those beatings and Newcastle have suffered some bad away defeats. Arsenal -1 on the 1x2 handicap is 2.5 at bluesquare.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line669
__label__wiki	0.717729	0.717729	Hellenic Navy 1940-2016 Hellenic Navy in WWII Hellenic Navy in 1940 in the beginning of the Greco-Italian War (War of' '40/Battle of Greece), the conflict that marked the beginning of the Balkans campaign of World War II, it consisted of the following warships: - 1 armored cruiser (Averof); popularly known as a battleship - 1 pre-dreadnought battleship (Kilkis) partly disarmed and operating as naval AA artillery - 10 destroyers (Vasileus Georgios, Vasilissa Olga, Psara, Spetsai, Hydra, Kountouriotis, Leon, Panthir, Aetos, Ierax) - 6 submarines (Proteus, Glaukos, Triton, Nireus, Katsonis, Papanikolis) - 13 torpedo boats (Thyella, Sfendoni, Niki, Aspis, Prousa, Pergamos, Kyzikos, Kios, Kydoniai, Aigli, Akyoni, Arethousa, Doris) - 4 minesweepers (Aliakmon, Aksios, Nestos, Strymon) - 1 repair ship (Hephaestus) The three battleships of Hellenic Navy, Georgios Averof, Kilkis and Lemnos. In the Jane's Fighting Ships of 1940, the (Royal) Hellenic Navy consists of the following warships and classes depicted in a single image: Hellenic Navy in 1940 Losses 1940-1941 From 1940-1941, Hellenic Navy lost the following ships: - 1 pre-dreadnought battleship (Kilkis) - 4 destroyers (Vasileus Georgios, Psara, Hydra, Leon) - 1 submarine (Proteus) - 10 torpedo boats (Thyella, Prousa, Pergamos, Kyzikos, Kios, Kydoniai, Aigli, Akyoni, Arethousa, Doris) - 4 minesweepers (Aliakmon, Aksios, Nestos, Strumon) Armored cruiser Averof, the pride of Hellenic Navy, during WWII with a characteristic camo Acquisitions 1941-1944 From 1941-1944, Hellenic Navy acquired the following ships: - 10 destroyers (Pindos, Adrias, Miaoulis, Kanaris, Themistocles, Kriti, Aigaion, Astigx, Salamis, Navarinon) - 4 corvettes (Sachtouris, Apostolis, Tompazis, Kriezis) - 1 submarine chaser (Vasileus Georgios II) - 4 tank landing ships (Lesvos, Samos, Limnos, Chios) - 13 minesweepers (Paralos, Salamina, Karteria, Afroessa, Alfeios, Pineios, Acheloos, Eyrotas, Spercheios, Kasos, Kos, Leros, Patmos) - 2 submarines (Pipinos, Matrozos) Vasilissa Olga (D15), a modified version of the British G-class of destroyers, was the most modern ship of the Royal Hellenic Navy at the outbreak of WWII. Vasilissa Olga had distinguished herself as the most successful Greek ship in the war under her captain, Lt. Cmdr. G. Blessas. Ironically, before she was sunk in 1943, she was known as the phantom ship of the Mediterranean destroyer flotillas, because of the several times she had escaped damage. - 2 destroyers (Vasilissa Olga, Adrias) - 3 submarines (Glaukos, Triton, Katsonis) - 2 minesweepers (Kos, Kasos) Sofia Vembo, the singer who became well known for her performance of patriotic songs during the Greco-Italian War on board cruiser Averof, flagship of Hellenic Navy. In October17, 1944, the exiled Greek Government returned in Greece. Hellenic Navy, consisted of the following warships: - 1 armored cruiser (Averof) - 15 destroyers (Pindos, Adrias, Miaoulis, Kanaris, Themistocles, Kriti, Spetsai, Kountouriotis, Salamis, Navarinon, Aigaion, Astigx, Aetos, Ierax, Panthir) - 5 submarines (Pipinos, Matrozos, Nireus, Papanikolis, Delfin) - 4 corvettes (Sachtouris, Apostolis, Kriezis, Tompazis) - 3 torpedo boats (Niki, Aspis, Sfendoni) - 13 minesweepers (Paralos, Salamina, Karteria, Afroessa, Alfeios, Thasos, Acheloos, Eyrotas, Tauros, Kasos, Kos, Leros, Patmos) Hellenic Navy in 1944. Image by Jane's Fighting Ships. Hellenic Navy at the end of the 20th century Kimon, last Hellenic Navy destroyer, fires an SM-1 SAM Before the beginning of the 21st century and after the end of the 1st Gulf War, the period 1991-1992, Hellenic Navy acquired from the United States four destroyers (Charles F. Adams class) and three frigates (Knox class) and from Germany five Thetis class corvettes. All those ships had been built in the '60s. With the introduction into service of those frigates and destroyers, the Navy retired during the coming years twelve (12) old and obsolete destroyers. Specifically the navy decommissioned six FRAM I destroyers (the last one in 1997), two FRAM II destroyers (both in 1992), the remaining three Fletcher class destroyers (the last one in 1991) and the sole destroyer escort of the Rhein class (in 1991). All the seven "new" warships had the already in service with the Navy, ASROC system but the most important was that the four destroyers had in their armament the SM-1 anti-aircraft medium range missiles giving for first time this capability to the Greek fleet. The seven ships had a short career. The first of the Knox class frigates, Macedonia, was decommissioned in January of 1999 (according to other sources in December of 1998) while some days earlier, Salamis, the last MEKO frigate entered into service. The last Knox frigate was retired in 2002. Two years earlier, one of the largest ever warships of Hellenic Navy, the dock landing ship Naukratousa was retired. The Hellenic Navy in December of 1998. High resolution image here. Naukratousa next to trireme Olympias Hermes SIGINT ship The 2002 was the year when the first Charles F. Adams destroyer was decommissioned with the last one, Kimon, being retired in 2004. This was the last destroyer in service with the Hellenic Navy. The Navy till today has no missile such as the SM-1 in its inventory, no ASROC launcher neither a dock landing ship. That period, 2002-2004, the first vessels of the new advanced Roussen class fast missile craft entered into service and that led the old Combattante II fast missile craft into retirement. At the same period, four more Kortenaer class frigates joined the fleet. In 2002 the sole (and till today the only ship of this category ever in Greek service) SIGINT ship of Hellenic Navy, Hermes, was retired. In 2003-2005 the two Panagopoulos class and the four Type 141 torpedo class were retired. Some years earlier the last US-built landing ships with origin from WWII had been put out of service while more Jason class tank landing ships and Zubr air-cushioned landing craft joined the Navy. The same happened to the two old minelayers, former USN LSM1 class medium landing ships with origin from WWII that had been converted to minelayers before transferred to Greece as well as to the old Patapsco class oilers. The large number of US-built minehunters and minesweepers had been retired before the modern Osprey class minehunters entered into service with the Hellenic Navy. Corvettes, coastal patrol boats and torpedo boats were decommissioned after more modern gunboats were commissioned such as those of the Machitis class. Hellenic Navy today Today, after approximately 75 years, Hellenic Navy deploys a powerful fleet with modern vessels while older ships have been modernized or they are under modernization program. The last three S148 class missile boats will be replaced by two new Roussen class missile boats which are currently under construction. A nice video about today's Hellenic Navy, you can enjoy here. Τhe past meets the present! Cruiser G.Averof, once the most modern ship in HN during WWI, it served successfully in WWII, now a museum ship, meets Salamis, the most modern frigate of HN By December 31, 2016 (updated article), Hellenic Navy will consist of the following warships: - 13 frigates (Hydra, Spetsai, Psara, Salamis, Elli, Limnos, Kountouriotis, Adrias, Aigaion, Navarinon, Kanaris, Themistocles, Nikiforos Fokas) - 11 submarines (Papanikolis, Pipinos, Matrozos, Katsonis, Okeanos, Poseidon, Amfitriti, Pontos, Nireus, Triton, Proteus) - 17 fast attack missile craft (Roussen, Daniolos, Krystallidis, Grigoropoulos, Ritsos, Laskos, Blessas, Troupakis, Mikonios, Kavaloudis, Degiannis, Xenos, Simitzopoulos, Starakis, Votsis, Pezopoulos, Maridakis) - 10 large patrol vessels (Machitis, Nikiforos, Aittitos, Krataios, Kasos, Polemistis, Armatolos, Naumachos, Tolmi, Ormi) - 6 coastal patrol boats (Antoniou, Stamos, Andromeda, Pigasos, Kyknos,Toxotis) - 5 large tank landing ships (Chios, Lesvos, Ikaria, Samos, Rodos) - 4 large hovercraft of which the two are not active (Kefallinia, Ithaki, Kerkyra, Zakynthos) - 3 logistic support/replenishment ships (Prometheus, Axios, Aliakmon) - 18 ASW helicopters S-70 and AB212 and many other auxiliary vessels (auxiliaries 2nd rate are excluded) The Hellenic Navy by the end of 2016. High resolution image here. Source for the composition of Hellenic Navy fleet during WWII and today: http://www.greece.org http://www.hellenicnavy.gr Posted by D-Mitch at Wednesday, December 17, 2014 Labels: Fleets, Greece, Hellenic Navy, WWII ΘΑΝΑΤΟΣ 12 February 2015 at 15:47 Hellenic Navy is the only Navy in the World that never loose a flag. Thanks for posting. INFOGRAPHICS #9: United States Navy capital ships ... NAVAL FORCES #4: The world's most successful conve... FLEETS #7: Royal Netherlands Navy, Royal Norwegian... NAVAL FORCES #3: Latin America Naval Forces PHOTO GALLERY #3: Papanikolis, submarine of the He... NAVAL FORCES #2: World's Aircraft Carriers and Hel... NAVAL FORCES #1: European Union Naval Forces	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line674
__label__wiki	0.683632	0.683632	Geometry and Topology Seminar Revision as of 21:04, 11 March 2015 by Bwang (talk \| contribs) (→‎Spring 2015) For more information, contact Richard Kent. 1 Spring 2015 2 Spring Abstracts 2.1 Balazs Strenner (Wisconsin) 2.2 Ryan Budney (Victoria) 2.3 Jenya Sapir (UIUC) 2.4 Botong Wang (Notre Dame) 2.5 Andrew Sale (Vanderbilt) 2.6 Michael Hull (UIC) 2.7 Sean Li (UChicago) 2.8 Song Sun (Stony Brook) 4.1 Yuanqi Wang 4.2 Chris Davis (UW-Eau Claire) 4.3 Ben Knudsen (Northwestern) 4.4 Kevin Whyte (UIC) 4.5 Alden Walker (UChicago) 4.6 Jing Tao (Oklahoma) 4.7 Thomas Barthelmé (Penn State) 4.8 Alexandra Kjuchukova (University of Pennsylvania) 4.9 Oyku Yurttas (Georgia Tech) February 6 Balazs Strenner (Wisconsin) Penner’s conjecture on pseudo-Anosov mapping classes. local Thursday, February 12, at 11AM in VV 901 Ryan Budney (Victoria) Operads and spaces of knots. Kent February 20 Jenya Sapir (UIUC) Counting non-simple closed curves on surfaces. Dymarz March 6 Botong Wang (Notre Dame) Deformation theory with cohomology constraints. Max March 13 Andrew Sale (Vanderbilt) A geometric version of the conjugacy problem. Dymarz April 10 Michael Hull (UIC) TBA Dymarz April 17 Sean Li (UChicago) Coarse differentiation of Lipschitz functions. Dymarz May 1 [] (Stony Brook) TBA Wang Spring Abstracts Balazs Strenner (Wisconsin) Penner’s conjecture on pseudo-Anosov mapping classes. There are many constructions of pseudo-Anosov elements of mapping class groups of surfaces. Some of them are known to generate all pseudo-Anosov mapping classes, others are known not to. In 1988, Penner gave a very general construction of pseudo-Anosov mapping classes, and he conjectured that all pseudo-Anosov mapping classes arise this way up to finite power. This conjecture was known to be true on some simple surfaces, including the torus, but has otherwise remained open. In this talk I prove that the conjecture is false for most surfaces. (This is joint work with Hyunshik Shin.) Ryan Budney (Victoria) Operads and spaces of knots. I will describe a connection between the geometrization of 3-manifolds and a subject called operads. It manifests itself as a structure theorem for the space of smooth embeddings of the circle in the 3-sphere and points to a homotopy-theoretic approach to old questions about finite-type invariants. Jenya Sapir (UIUC) Counting non-simple closed curves on surfaces. We show how to get coarse bounds on the number of (non-simple) closed geodesics on a surface, given upper bounds on both length and self-intersection number. Recent work by Mirzakhani has produced asymptotics for the growth of the number of simple closed curves, and this work has been extended to curves with at most 3 self-intersections with respect to length. However, no asymptotics, or even bounds, were previously known for other bounds on self-intersection number. Time permitting, we will discuss some applications of this result. Botong Wang (Notre Dame) Deformation theory with cohomology constraints. Deformation theory is a powerful tool to study the local structure of moduli spaces. I will first give an introduction to the theory of Deligne-Goldman-Millson, which translates deformation theory problems to problems of differential graded Lie algebras. I will also talk about a generalization to deformation theory problems with cohomology constraints. This is used to study the local structure of cohomology jump loci in various moduli spaces. Andrew Sale (Vanderbilt) A geometric version of the conjugacy problem. The classic conjugacy problem of Max Dehn asks whether, for a given group, there is an algorithm that decides whether pairs of elements are conjugate. Related to this is the following question: given two conjugate elements u,v, what is the shortest length element w such that uw=wv? The conjugacy length function (CLF) formalises this question. I will survey what is known for CLFs of groups, giving a sketch proof for a result in semisimple Lie groups. I will also discuss a new, closely related function, the permutation conjugacy length function (PCL). I will outline its potential application to studying the computational complexity of the conjugacy problem, and describe a result, joint with Y. Antolin, for the PCL of relatively hyperbolic groups. Michael Hull (UIC) Sean Li (UChicago) Coarse differentiation of Lipschitz functions. Bates, Johnson, Lindenstrauss, Preiss, and Schechtman introduced a notion of large scale differentiation for Lipschitz functions between normed linear spaces. We discuss an extension of this result to the nonabelian setting of Carnot groups and use it to derive quantitative estimates for nonembeddability of such groups into certain classes of metric spaces. Song Sun (Stony Brook) August 29 Yuanqi Wang Liouville theorem for complex Monge-Ampere equations with conic singularities. Wang September 12 Chris Davis (UW-Eau Claire) L2 signatures and an example of Cochran-Harvey-Leidy Maxim September 19 Ben Knudsen (Northwestern) Rational homology of configuration spaces via factorization homology Ellenberg October 3 Kevin Whyte (UIC) Quasi-isometric embeddings of symmetric spaces Dymarz October 10 Alden Walker (UChicago) Roots, Schottky Semigroups, and a proof of Bandt's Conjecture Dymarz October 31 Jing Tao (Oklahoma) Growth Tight Actions Kent November 1 Young Geometric Group Theory in the Midwest Workshop November 7 Thomas Barthelmé (Penn State) Counting orbits of Anosov flows in free homotopy classes Kent November 14 Alexandra Kjuchukova (University of Pennsylvania) On the classification of irregular branched covers of four-manifolds Maxim December 4, Thursday at 4pm in VV 901 Oyku Yurttas (Georgia Tech) Dynnikov and train track transition matrices of pseudo-Anosov braids Thiffeault December 5 No seminar. December 12 No seminar. Yuanqi Wang Liouville theorem for complex Monge-Ampere equations with conic singularities. Following Calabi, Pogorelov, Evans-Krylov-Safanov, and Trudinger's pioneer work on interior regularities and liouville theorems for Monge-Ampere equations, we prove the Liouville theorem for conic Kähler-Ricci flat metrics. We also discuss various applications of this Liouville theorem to conic Kähler geometry. Chris Davis (UW-Eau Claire) L2 signatures and an example of Cochran-Harvey-Leidy Ben Knudsen (Northwestern) Rational homology of configuration spaces via factorization homology The study of configuration spaces is particularly tractable over a field of characteristic zero, and much effort has gone into producing chain complexes simple enough for explicit computations, formulas for Betti numbers, and homological stability results. I will discuss recent work identifying the homology of the configuration spaces of an arbitrary manifold M with the homology of a certain Lie algebra constructed from the compactly supported cohomology of M. The aforementioned results follow immediately from this identification, albeit with hypotheses removed; in particular, one obtains a new, elementary proof of homological stability for configuration spaces. Kevin Whyte (UIC) The rigidity theorems of Mostow and Margulis for lattices in semi simple Lie groups are some of the most celebrated in their field, and are motivation for much of geometric group theory. Mostow's result, which states that every isomorphism between lattices extends to an equivariant isometry between symmetric spaces, has been generalized by Kleiner and Leeb to say that any map between higher rank symmetric spaces which is quasi-isometric (a large scale version of bilipschitz) is actually a perturbation of an isometry. Margulis' superrigidity theorem, which says every homomorphism between lattices which has infinite image extends to an equivariant isometric embedding of symmetric spaces, has resisted a generalization of this sort. We will discuss one such result, which considers when quasi-isometric embeddings of symmetric spaces are near isometric embeddings. Our results show that the situation is complicated - in some cases one does have rigidity while in others there are exotic quasi-isometric embeddings. What geometric properties distinguish the two cases is only starting to be understood. This is joint work with David Fisher (Indiana). Alden Walker (UChicago) In 1985, Barnsley and Harrington defined a "Mandlebrot set" M for pairs of complex dilations. This is the set of complex numbers c such that the limit set generated by the pair of dilations x-> cx+1 and x-> cx-1 is connected. The set M is also the closure of the set of roots of polynomials with coefficients in {-1,0,1}. As with the usual Mandlebrot set, M has strong connections to dynamics and algebra, and it has been studied by Bousch, Bandt, Solomyak, Xu, Thurston, and Tiozzo. For a geometric group theorist, the study of M is qualitatively similar to the study of Kleinian groups acting on their limit sets or on universal circles. Barnsley and Harrington noted the (numerically apparent) existence of infinitely many "holes" in M, which correspond to exotic components of the space of Schottky semigroups. Bandt rigorously confirmed a single hole in 2002 and conjectured that the interior of M is dense in M away from the real axis. We give the new technique of "traps" to certify an interior point of M, and we use these traps to prove Bandt's conjecture and certify the existence of infinitely many holes in M. The only prerequisite for this talk is point-set topology. Fun pictures will be provided. This is joint work with Danny Calegari and Sarah Koch. Jing Tao (Oklahoma) Growth Tight Actions Let G be a group equipped with a finite generating set S. G is called growth tight if its exponential growth rate relative to S is strictly greater than that of every quotient G/N with N infinite. This notion was first introduced by Grigorchuk and de la Harpe. Examples of groups that are growth tight include free groups relative to bases and, more generally, hyperbolic groups relative to any generating set. In this talk, I will provide some sufficient conditions for growth tightness which encompass all previous known examples. Thomas Barthelmé (Penn State) Counting orbits of Anosov flows in free homotopy classes In 1972, Plante and Thurston asked the following question: If M is a manifold supporting an Anosov flow, does the number of conjugacy classes in the fundamental group grows exponentially fast with the length of the shortest orbit representative? This question can be solved by answering the following: Can one give an upper bound on the growth rate of the length of orbits inside a free homotopy class? In this talk, I will explain how one can use the geometry and topology of Anosov flows to answer both questions in the 3-manifold case. This is joint work with Sergio Fenley. Alexandra Kjuchukova (University of Pennsylvania) On the classification of irregular branched covers of four-manifolds It is a famous result of Hilden and Montesinos that every closed orientable three-manifold can be realized as an irregular three-fold cover of S^3 branched over a knot. In contrast, a smooth four-manifold which can be realized as a cover of S^4 branched over a smooth surface must have signature equal to zero. Given two simply-connected, closed, oriented four-manifolds X and Y and a surface B embedded in X with an isolated singularity, I will prove a necessary condition for the existence of an irregular dihedral branched covering map f: Y -> X with branching set B. Conversely, given a simply-connected oriented closed four-manifold X, I will outline a construction realizing as irregular dihedral covers of X infinitely many (and conjecturally all) of the manifolds Y afforded by the necessary condition. Oyku Yurttas (Georgia Tech) Dynnikov and train track transition matrices of pseudo-Anosov braids In this talk we will compare a Dynnikov matrix with the train track transition matrix of a given pseudo-Anosov braid on the finitely punctured disk. Our main result is that these matrices are isospectral up to roots of unity and some zeros under particular conditions. Retrieved from "https://www.math.wisc.edu/wiki/index.php?title=Geometry_and_Topology_Seminar&oldid=9496"	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line675
__label__cc	0.732011	0.267989	Home Twitter Commentary, Home November 15, 2018 The truth behind Twitter Twitter is a social networking source, where users post and interact with public messages referred to as ‘tweets’. Users are able to post anything, as often as they want. Twitter… Features, Home February 2, 2016 McDaniel Facts: A Humorous Guide to McDaniel Humor is always a pleasant relief from the various stresses of college life. Students now have a source of laughter beyond joking with their friends: a humorous Facebook page named… Features November 24, 2013 McBlackout Twitter Roundup McDaniel students took to Twitter almost as soon as the power first went out on Sunday, and they didn’t stop. Throughout the week, Twitter has become a forum for all… Features March 6, 2013 Best of Social Media: Snow Day Here’s a look at some of the social media from today’s snow day! Make sure to use the #mcsnow so we can add your tweets and photos! Features February 27, 2013 McVirus 2013: The Best of Social Media Students on campus have been sure to share their thoughts and opinions about the McVirus (also known as gastroenteritis) that has suddenly hit. Rumors are flying around the small campus… Commentary November 21, 2011 Change the world. People hear it all the time. But not long after people finish watching the thought-provoking movie or staring at the inspirational poster they give up hope. This… McDaniel Professor uses Twitter to Conduct Philosophical Research Stuart Fischer Staff Reporter Ever wonder what other people are thinking? Thanks to Dr. Peter Bradley, associate professor of philosophy at McDaniel College, you may be able to help find…	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line677
__label__cc	0.689478	0.310522	(Metro Manila), Philippines, Asia local date & time: July 19, 4.24 am Manila Daily / Survive Manila » Leisure (Culture, Sports, Bars, Travel & more...) » The Year in Manila » Mother's Day (May 10) » Metro Manila · Mother's Day 2013 last revised: 16/05/2013 12:00 am written by Megacities "/var/ezdemo_site/storage/images/media/manila/images-manila/news/mother-s-day/271574-1-eng-GB/Mother-s-Day_zoom_image.jpg" 2000 1015 Mother's Day To get some ideas and maybe presents many people joined the MOM event on 9th to 12th May in Atrium Eastwood Mall. While the Atrium is a rather small space it was filled with people. The crowded center of the mall drew people from all over the Megacity - some still looking for the perfect Mother's Day present this year! The vendors were selling carpets, traditional rattan bags, customized USB thumb drives, paintings and much more. As always, there was no shortage on food or drinks to try and indulge! A Mother's Day Weeked Fair researched by Megacities Metro Manila - Good to Know Welcome to Manila The City's HotSpots Survive the Megacity Megacitizens.com Site Map Latest News through Local Media Providers International News Media Review Picture & Video Galleries Recreation & Beauty Sports 'n' Steaks Malling: Going to the Mall Travel & Countryside Green Manila Clubs & Networks Tickets (for Concerts, Events, Sports, Cinema & more...) Summer in the City - Activities & More (UPDATE) Museums & Art A Week in Manila One month in the Philippines The Year in Manila International Holidays and Celebrations Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) 2016 Feast of the Black Nazarene (January 9) Chinese New Year (January 28th) Valentine's Day (February 14) Mabuhay Germany 2017 on February 18/19 in BGC EDSA Revolution / People Power Revolution (February 25)2 Graduation Month & End of the School Year (March 27) Easter Holidays (March 20 - March 27) Bataan Day / Araw ng Kagitingan (April 9) Aliwan Fiesta (April 14-16) Labor Day (May 1) Mother's Day (May 10) Mother's Day 2015 - Promos & Events Flores de Mayo (May) Start Of A New School Year (June 13) Rainy season starts (June) Independence Day (June 12) Ramadan in the Philippines Father's Day (June 21) Manila Day (Araw ng Maynila, June 24) Sta. Anang Banak Taguig River Festival (July 26) National Heroes Day (August 28) Cine Europa (September-November) "Do they know it's Christmas?" - The 'ber' months have started Eid al-Adha (September 12) Oktoberfest events in Manila 2016 Halloween (October 31) All Saints' Day / All Souls' Day (November 1 and 2) Cinemanila (November/December) Bonifacio Day (November 30) Guide to Philippine Christmas New Year's Eve in the Megacity (December 31 / January 1)	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line681
__label__cc	0.596282	0.403718	5 Big Sports Matches You Need to Watch this Weekend By Elan Solomon Here are the big encounters that you need to watch this weekend! With the Currie Cup heading into its semi-final stage and the Premier League lining up some colossal encounters, this weekend’s action is full of old rivalries and do-or-die moments for some of the biggest teams in the world. Wallabies v All Blacks (Bledisloe rugby) Saturday, 11:00 The Bledisloe Cup is already in the hands of the All Blacks, but there’s one final Test match between Australia and New Zealand to finish the 2017 series. Lima Sopoaga will start this match at fly-half as Hansen has decided not to risk Beauden Barrett after the 26-year-old suffered a head knock last time out. The Wallabies have their usual potent attacking backline, who unfortunately haven’t hit their stride as of yet. Expect a tighter match, but one the All Blacks are still likely to clinch. Predicted Result: All Blacks by 7. You can bet on the game here. Western Province v Lions (Currie Cup semi-final) The clash between Western Province and the Golden Lions will mark the sixth time the teams meet in the play-off stages since 2011 – two of which were in the Currie Cup finals of 2015 and 2014, with each of the teams winning one. The Joburg side will welcome back the Springbok pedigree of Malcolm Marx and Ruan Dryer, which should give the Lions a huge boost. However, Western Province will be riding high after their win over the Sharks, and a homeground advantage should just nudge them as favourites. Predicted Result: Western Province by 3. You can bet on the game here. Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool (Premier League) Spurs have an opportunity to put even more distance between themselves and a fellow rival for the Champion’s League positions this weekend when they welcome Liverpool to Wembley. It’s arguably a more important match for Liverpool as they’ve fallen behind the competing pack at the top of the log and will need a victory against a big team to give them an injection of confidence. Historically Liverpool doesn’t lose to Spurs, but this Spurs side is ticking along well and are confident both in attack and defense – can the Reds turn their fortunes around? Predicted Result: Tottenham Hotspur 1 – 2 Liverpool You can bet on the game here. Hamburg v Bayern Munich (Premier League) Last week Borussia Dortmund suffered a shock defeat that allowed Bayern to get within two points of them, so the Bavarians will feel positive about their visit to Hamburg who haven’t won in 6 games. Jupp Heynckes has returned to Bayern to steady the ship after Carlo Ancelotti’s departure, and so far he appears to have improved the confidence in the team. Sacking managers this early is never good to see, but perhaps Bayern’s board did it early enough in the season that Bayern can fight their way back to the top and capitalize on Dortmund’s slump. Predicted Result: Hamburg 0 – 4 Bayern Munich. You can bet on the game here. Chelsea v Watford (Premier League) Watford inflicted a shock loss on Arsenal last week that coincided with a bizarre loss for Chelsea against bottom of the log Crystal Palace. Now, the Blues host Watford, who will be boosted considerably by taking three points against Arsenal, and they may feel like Chelsea are a wounded side and are prone to another defeat. Chelsea only managed a 3-3 draw against Roma in their midweek Champions League game, so their confidence won’t have recovered much. A spirited Watford side might be able to steal some points against the Blues who definitely aren’t living up to their title-holding reputation. Predicted Result: Chelsea 2 – 2 Watford. You can bet on the game here. If you’re looking to earn your weekend drinks off the guys at Sportingbet (it wouldn’t be the first time), you can place your bets on the upcoming sporting clashes here. What are your predictions for this weekend? Which teams will come out on top in the respective encounters? Let us know by tweeting us @MenStuffZA! More features to keep you busy: Who Is The Fastest Rugby Player In The World? Why Mountain Biking Has Exploded in South Africa Related Items:Currie Cup, football, Manchester United, Premier League, Rugby, sports preview, Springboks Massive Hit Stops Fullback Like a Brick Wall [Video] WATCH: Springboks’ New Hype Video Will Give You Goosebumps Best Tries of the French Top 14 Season [Video] 5 Best Gaming Specials this Weekend WATCH the Brutal New ‘Wolfenstein II’ Trailer & this Week’s Other Best Gaming Videos	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line682
__label__wiki	0.950476	0.950476	Mike delves into one of many facets of the conflict in the Middle East [postlink]http://www.mikebarnicle.tv/2014/10/mike-delves-into-one-of-many-facets-of.html[/postlink]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waQiqV2o-Fsendofvid [starttext] Mike delves into one of many facets of the conflict in the Middle East with BBC Correspondent, Kim Ghattas: "One of the unspoken complaints, so far (is) Turkey's reluctance -- some would say refusal -- to address their border situation. Isn't that one of the principal points of contention?" Today on Morning Joe, founding chair of Citizens U... Mike and Mika speak with Raymond Burse Mike and the Morning Joe team discuss Ebola "There has got to be some balance here," said Mike... Mike comments on the current unrest across the US "It's the ultimate Orwellian nightmare" says Mike Today on Morning Joe, Mika and Mike Mike praises author and renowned Boston Globe spor... Mike responds to a discussion about polls Morning Joe's Mike and Michael Steele talk with Ni... Mike and the Morning Joe team discuss recent news The Morning Joe team with Sports Illustrated Execu... Mike, the Morning Joe team, and correspondent Chri... Mike and Mika discuss a new document from a group ... Mike and Father Dave Dwyer Mike and the Morning Joe team discuss Sayreville H... Mike on the growing fear around Ebola Mike defends President Barack Obama "Why Obama Won't Listen to Panetta." Mike with How to Cook Everything Fast author Mark ... Mike and Michelle Caruso-Cabrera Mike considers the unrest and lack of leadership c... Mike delves into one of many facets of the conflic... Mike asks investigative reporter Lisa Myers Mike and the Morning Joe Team discuss the unpredic... Mike and David Ignatius Mike, Mika and Joe discuss the decision of a New J... The Morning Joe team with Matt Lewis Mike and the Morning Joe team comment on "Biden's ... Mike and the Morning Joe team discuss an editorial... Mike talks about current Senate race patterns Mike and White House Press Sec. Josh Earnest discu... Mike speaks with Anoop Jain and Alex Waislitz Mike and Joe parallel George Bush and 9/11 to Pres... On Morning Joe, Mike says of Derek Jeter... "Terrorism is like a cancer" Mike with author of “Fantasy League”, Mike Lupica Mike & National Security Advisor Susan Rice We're going to defeat ISIS Mike points out the responsibility of the Departme... Mike seeks to get more answers about the current c... Mike & Former Treasury Official, Steve Rattner Mike on the current state of the NFL Mike and former White House Press Secretary Robert... Mike posits: "Fear is an easily communicable disea... Mike heatedly discusses suspended professional foo... Mike speaks with NBC News Correspondent Ayman Mohy... "The American worker, it seems to me, has now been... “Revenge is understandable, but it’s not a code of... Mike discusses the victory achieved by employees o... Mike says: “This is a great benefit to the police ... Mike comments on Maureen Dowd’s New York Times pie... "Think about the country, think about how fortunat... Mike says: “They are talking about Stop-and-Frisk.... Mike & Joshua DuBois, author of 'The President's D... The four magic words Mike and the Morning Joe team talk about an op-ed ...	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line685
__label__cc	0.68831	0.31169	Home Cities Hyderabad Odisha woman tourist dies, heat stroke suspected A day after a Russian national collapsed and died of a suspected heat stroke, a woman tourist from Odisha passed away in a similar manner on Wednesday. Published: 17th May 2019 05:29 AM \| Last Updated: 17th May 2019 09:35 AM \| A+A A- HYDERABAD: A day after a Russian national collapsed and died of a suspected heat stroke, a woman tourist from Odisha passed away in a similar manner on Wednesday. Madhumita and her husband Prashanth Kumar had come to the city on the same day and went for a tour of the Ramoji Film City. Police said Madhumita had biryani in the afternoon and another for dinner. After her dinner, she complained of nausea and collapsed on to the ground. Hotel staff rushed to a nearby hospital, where she was declared brought dead. Afzalgunj police have registered a case of suspicious death under section 175 of CrPC. Heatwave till Sunday After Hyderabad recorded the season’s highest temperature on Wednesday, at a scorching 43.2 degree Celsius (3.2 degree Celsius above normal), the city recorded 41.7 degree Celsius on Thursday. The IMD issued warning on Thursday that heatwave conditions will continue across most districts in the state till Sunday. There is no forecast of any thundershowers and the weather will continue to be dry. Stay up to date on all the latest Hyderabad news with The New Indian Express App. Download now	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line694
__label__wiki	0.966116	0.966116	Home States Andhra Pradesh Toll in Vizag HPCL refinery blast climbs to 23 Hyderabad, Sep 1 (IANS) The toll in Aug 23 blast at the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) refinery in Visakhapatnam rose to 23 with four more injured succumbing to burns at various hospitals Sunday. Published: 01st September 2013 05:47 PM \| Last Updated: 01st September 2013 05:47 PM \| A+A A- The toll in August 23 blast at the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) refinery in Visakhapatnam rose to 23 with four more injured succumbing to burns at various hospitals Sunday. While three injured died in Visakhapatnam, one succumbed at a hospital in Mumbai, HPCL sources said. The four who died Sunday have been identified as K. Tata Rao (60), Sambhu Manna (55), M.V. Ramana (45), and Subhash Majhi. Thirteen injured are still undergoing treatment at various hospitals in the coastal city in Andhra. HPCL had airlifted eight injured to Mumbai. Eight people were killed and 34 injured in the fire caused by the huge blast in the cooling tower which was under construction in the refinery's diesel hydro sulphurisation expansion project August 23. Fifteen injured succumbed to burns at different private hospitals Preliminary inquiry revealed that leak of gas from a pipeline to the cooling tower led to the blast and fire. While only one employee of HPCL was killed in the accidents, the other were all contract workers. The HPCL has announced a compensation of Rs.1 crore to family of its employee and Rs.20 lakh each to the dependents of other deceased. Stay up to date on all the latest Andhra Pradesh news with The New Indian Express App. Download now	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line696
__label__wiki	0.595358	0.595358	Bruce Betts • October 13, 2014 Video Introduction to Comet Siding Spring’s Near Miss at Mars On October 19, 2014, Comet Siding Spring will fly very close to Mars. Here’s a 5 minute video introduction to get you up to speed on this planetary near miss, and some suggestions on how to find out more now, during, and after the encounter. Introduction to Comet Siding Spring’s Near Miss at Mars How to Learn More Below are the blogs from planetary.org covering various aspects of this rare planetary encounter. The list will automatically update with new ones so you can check back here or the home page or blog page of planetary.org. Science observations related to the comet and its encounter are discussed and updated on the Coordinated Investigations of Comets (CIOC) website. This is a run by a group of scientists who first organized this group to track and put out data on Comet ISON. You can also check NASA’s graphics heavy Comet Siding Spring at Mars page. Update: Check in particular Emily's new blog on ways to Watch Siding Spring's Encounter with Mars for links to webcasts and websites that will likely have updates during the encounter including some telescopes doing live observing from Earth. Twitter is always a great way to get quick updates. On the day of encounter, both Emily Lakdawalla @elakdawalla and I @RandomSpaceFact will be covering the encounter on Twitter for The Planetary Society. Karl Battams is an astrophysicist with the Naval Research Lab and part of CIOC and provides Twitter updates based on CIOC information @SungrazerComets (you’ll note in our list of blogs below we also republish some of his blogs here). Comet Siding Spring Blogs #DPS2017: Progress report on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter images of comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring Emily Lakdawalla • October 20, 2017 • 1 Three years ago, on October 19, 2014, comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring passed within 138,000 kilometers of Mars. At the 2017 meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society, we heard a progress report on Mars orbiter imaging of the comet's nucleus. Remember Comet Siding Spring? Mars Orbiter Mission got photos, too Emily Lakdawalla • November 19, 2014 A set of photos released by Mars Orbiter Mission last week completes the set of Mars spacecraft observations of the comet. Now we wait for science results! Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Opportunity Images Comet, Ducks Storm, Departs Ulysses A.J.S. Rayl • November 04, 2014 As winds whirled and converged to the west of Endeavour Crater, Opportunity's power dropped dramatically in October, but the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) pressed on. By month's end, the robot field geologist had completed her assignments – including capturing the first close-in shot of a comet from the surface of the Red Planet – and was roving onward through the darkness, driving the mission into the 130th month of what started out more than 10-and-a-half years ago to be a 3-month tour. Seven Mars spacecraft attempted observations of comet Siding Spring. How did they go? Emily Lakdawalla • November 03, 2014 • 6 It's been two weeks since comet Siding Spring passed close by Mars, and six of the seven Mars spacecraft have now checked in with quick looks at their images of the encounter. I round up all the results. Herschel observations of Comet Siding Spring initiated by an amateur astronomer Peter Mattisson • October 22, 2014 • 4 The European satellite Herschel acquired images of Comet Siding Spring before its death in 2013 — thanks to an observing proposal from an amateur astronomer! Status update: All Mars missions fine after Siding Spring flyby All seven Mars spacecraft are doing perfectly fine after comet Siding Spring's close encounter with Mars. Watching Siding Spring's encounter with Mars The nucleus of comet Siding Spring passes close by Mars on Sunday, October 19, at 18:27 UTC. Here are links to webcasts and websites that should have updates throughout the encounter. Field Report from Mars: Sol 3808 — October 10, 2014 Larry Crumpler • October 15, 2014 • 1 Opportunity will become a comet flyby mission beginning in mid-October. The comet Siding Spring will zoom past Mars at a distance of about 135,000 km on October 19. Mars Orbiter Mission shifts orbit to take cover from Siding Spring Srinivas Laxman • October 09, 2014 With only 10 days remaining until the arrival of Comet Siding Spring at Mars, ISRO has shielded the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) from the comet. On Tuesday MOM’s orbit was altered so as to move it behind the Red Planet when the comet arrives. MOM will carry out observations of the comet and its Mars Colour Camera will click images of it. Comet Siding Spring: Exciting times Karl Battams • October 06, 2014 • 5 We're now less than two weeks away from Comet Siding Spring buzzing ridiculously close to Mars, and the excitement is building - in both good and bad ways... Items 1 - 10 of 29 1 2 3 Next Comet Siding Spring FAQ What’s the deal with a comet flying close to Mars? On October 19, 2014, Comet Siding Spring (more formally, C/2013 A1 Siding Spring) will fly very close to Mars. Why is it called Siding Spring? It is named after the observatory in Australia where the discovery was made by Robert McNaught. Will it hit Mars? No. Early on, when its orbit was not well known, we weren’t sure, but now we are. How far from Mars will it be? At closest approach, it will be about 140,000 km (88,000 mi) from Mars. That is 10 times closer to Mars than any recorded comet flyby of Earth. The distance is equivalent to only about 1/3 the distance from the Earth to the Moon. Mars moons are much closer to the planet, so the comet will still be much farther from Mars than they are. How fast will the comet be traveling relative to Mars? About 56 km per second, or about 126,000 miles per hour. How big is the comet? The exact size of the nucleus (the solid part of the comet) is not well known, but current estimates put it at 700 meters diameter, which is much smaller than some of the initial estimates. Will the seven working spacecraft at Mars be safe? They should be. As more information has become known about the comet, including its low dust production and the distance it will be from Mars, the risk to spacecraft is thought to be very low. Still, some of the orbiters have been phased so they will be on the other side of Mars when the maximum dust and gas from the comet is expected to pass by them. The atmosphere of Mars will protect the rovers. Will there be science obtained? The fleet of Mars spacecraft, though not designed for comet observations, will be taking lots of data ranging from attempted imaging, to studying the dust and gas given off by the comet and the interaction of that dust and gas with Mars. Read articles in the blogs at planetary.org to learn more including http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/2014/1006-comet-siding-spring-exciting-times.html. What is new about these comet observations? All previous comets studied by relatively nearby spacecraft have been short period comets, comets that orbit the Sun in a few years or a few tens of years. This comet in contrast is coming in from the distant Oort cloud and may be taking its first voyage near the Sun. We don’t know how that will affect what we see. Should we expect great pictures like from other spacecraft that have visited comets? There will be attempts at imaging, but the comet is likely to only be a few pixels in size. There may or may not be images with Mars in them as well. It is wise to temper expectations about imaging. Will it be visible from Earth? Possibly with binoculars, but probably requiring a descent telescope, and to have a good view, you’ll need to be in the Southern Hemisphere. Read more: comets, comet Siding Spring, Planetary Society Video, explaining science, Mars Home > Blogs > Bruce Betts Chief Scientist / LightSail Program Manager for The Planetary Society Read more articles by Bruce Betts	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line717
__label__cc	0.646189	0.353811	REVIEW - Driver San Francisco Genre: Driving Developer: Ubisoft Reflections Driver Website Driver San Francisco is influenced by 1980s cop in hot pursuit shows, a la Starsky & Hutch and Streets of San Francisco, but with a resolutely modern take. You can drive oldies, but also their modern successors. You can listen to oldies, but also swing to brand new heavy tunes oozing from your car stereo/iPod. You play the role of John Tanner, a super cop, a mean driver and overall good guy. Your whole life in the game takes place behind the steering wheel of some pretty cool vehicles, from exotic sports coupe to dump trucks. The script is the most improbable, as most of it happens while John lies in a coma in a hospital bed where his nemesis, an overall mean guy named Jericho sent him after crashing his prison van at full speed into his car. Get it? John Tanner’s uncanny powers allow him, quite conveniently to “shift” between cars of his choosing all over the city of San Francisco. For those of us who are used to playing Pong thinking we are wielding tennis rackets, it’s not very difficult to imagine. Playability: Fun Ride The cars drive smoothly, not that I would really know since I’ve never driven a Jaguar or a Bugatti… No need to use manual transmission, just the four usual arrow keys will do fine. You’ll be jumping hoops, trucks, bridges, and taking down opponents in blazing fury. Mind you, Driver San Francisco is very politically correct: no jacking innocent people’s car or hitting bystanders. Pedestrians deftly dodge your vehicle, no matter how hard you try to run them down. Annoyance: A little nagging Driver San Francisco can be very difficult if you decide so. Super nerds will try to achieve higher scores beating pimply teen age queens online. For the older gaming crowd, some of the challenges are near impossible to complete (jumping in first person mode an insane number of times, in an insanely short amount of time allocated). Luckily, most of the story missions are relatively feasible, most… there are a few that I had to try over and over again, banging my car (and my head) several times in the crooked streets of San Francisco while time was running out. Beauty: Beautiful You expect the video cut scenes and the cars available for driving to be nice (scratches and crashes meticulously rendered) and they are nice. But the most esthetically pleasing feature of Driver San Francisco is San Francisco. From the overlay map down to the main landmarks of the “City that knows how”, the urban architecture and landscape is superbly rendered. You’ll feel right at home, or that you’ve been there in real life as you drive through Castro, Mission, Marina or Sunset. It’s a game where an old video gamer can just enjoy cruising in his customized vehicle, without caring much about achievements, objectives or challenges. The sound track is brilliant with classics from Aretha Franklin, on through the Cure, and to more modern first decade of the 21st century tunes. The Old Video Gamer's Prattle: Very good - 80/100 points There is a lot to do in Driver San Francisco (amazingly, it’s mainly driving in different forms). I play the occasional driving game (I’m really not interested in cars, except the more modern electric self driving ones), but I was pleasantly entertained. Hard core and fastidious gamers will find plenty of challenges on and offline. It’s a highly replayable game, with the storyline as a background excuse. Some of the timed missions get a bit hectic for unsteady old hands like mine, but overall I quite enjoyed re-discovering one of my favorite cities in the world behind the wheel.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line722
__label__wiki	0.994772	0.994772	Topic: 2012 London Olympics List head China wins Olympic gold medal in men's team table tennis August 8, 2012 - 22:05 AMT 18:05 GMT Ma Long and Zhang Jike won their individual ties before the latter and Wang Hao earned victory in the doubles. Misha Aloyan reaches Olympic boxing semifinals Misha Aloyan (52 kg) scored 23:13 win against Puerto Rico’s Javier Cintron to make it to the Olympic semifinal. Javelin thrower Kristine Harutyunyan drops out of London Olympics Beijing 2008 Olympics participant Melik Janoyan will also represent Armenia at London 2012 Olympics. London 2012: taekwondo wrestler Arman Yeremyan to face Michaud Sebastien Yeremyan won gold in the men's 78 kg welterweight division at 2008 European Taekwondo Championships. Great Britain grabs 1st Olympic showjumping gold medal in 60 years And while two Dutch riders faltered, Nick Skelton, Ben Maher and Peter Charles all went clear to snatch gold. Armenian wrestler: proud of my country Arsen Julfalakyan: Roman Vlasov’s victory means he was stronger. I will train harder to win gold next time. Fan arrested for throwing bottle on 100m Olympic track Chairman of the London organizing committee, said there would be "zero tolerance" for anti-social behavior. Olympic Greco-Roman winner: I admire Arsen Julfalakyan’s style Russia’s Roman Vlasov commented on his men's 74kg Greco-Roman wrestling victory against Arsen Julfalakyan. London 2012: weightlifter Norayr Vardanyan to perform August 4 Medals will be awarded in 25 Olympic events today, on August 4, including the women’s 100-meter track. Murray beats Djokovic to face Federer in Olympic tennis final Britain's Andy Murray said: "I just wanted to try and win a medal, for the team, for the country and lastly for myself.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line731
__label__wiki	0.859451	0.859451	Everything Audio Recordings Books/Printed Material Films, Videos Legislation Manuscripts/Mixed Material Maps Notated Music Newspapers PeriodicalsEnough Proof Of Certificate Identification Don't Birth A If Is Drive You Personal Narratives Us The Age Legal Debate Be org Drinking Should Photos, Prints, Drawings Software, E-Resources Archived Web Sites Web Pages 3D Objects Suggestions enabled. SearchUs The Age Legal Debate Be org Drinking Should menu Us The Age Legal Debate Be org Drinking Should Laminating Laser Kit Paper Products Laminator Teslin Printers Butterfly Holograms Amazon Id Office 10 For com Machines Pouches And Ml450t With Card Is It How Id Work Apple Face And What Does Library of Congress > News from the Library of Congress > 2010 > Library of Congress and Ad Council Launch New ... Printing Id Photo Services Digital - Cirilo Us The Age Legal Debate Be org Drinking Should Lowered Campaign Features Iconic Children's Character Curious George Contact: Matt Raymond, Library of Congress (202) 707-0020 \| Press Office, Ad Council, [email protected] \| Ryan Moore, NBCU, (818) 777-3462 Website: Read.gov Us The Age Legal Debate Be org Drinking Should The Library of Congress and the Advertising Council have launched a new series of public service advertisements (PSAs) to encourage parents to read with their children and inspire them to become lifelong learners. Research conducted by Florida State University revealed that when parents become involved in their children’s literacy practices, children improve in reading achievement, language comprehension and expressive language skills. Additionally, an overall increase in parental involvement in a child’s reading makes children more willing to read. When parents and children read together, it also increases the frequency of a child’s reading. The new PSAs feature the iconic children’s literary character Curious George. The television, print and outdoor advertisements feature George and his best friend and mentor, “The Man with the Yellow Hat,” reading books together. These PSAs encourage parents to “Read to your child today and inspire a lifelong love of reading.” "There is no more important influence in instilling a lifelong love of reading in a child than his or her parent or caregiver,” said Deanna Marcum, associate librarian for library services at the Library of Congress. “The Library of Congress is pleased to work with the Ad Council to champion such an important cause, which inspires curiosity and creativity in young people, who then grow up to become better informed and engaged citizens." The new PSAs are launching to coincide with children’s summer vacations. A study conducted by The Center for Evaluation, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, suggests that having elementary school students read four or five books during the summer can prevent the reading achievement losses that normally occur during those months. “The new PSAs are so smart and entertaining for parents and children,” said Peggy Conlon, president and CEO of the Advertising Council. “Curious George is a timeless character that both children and parents can relate to, which makes reading together more enjoyable. The Ad Council truly values its relationship with the Library of Congress on this campaign and together we are dedicated to inspiring children to become lifelong learners through reading.” The campaign, created in partnership with Universal Partnerships & Licensing and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, encourages parents and kids to visit Read.gov as a source for discovery, learning, family fun, and to experience the joy of reading. Us The Age Legal Debate Be org Drinking Should “As one of literature’s most beloved characters, Curious George has a powerful ability to link generations,” said President of Universal Pictures Partnerships & Licensing Stephanie Sperber. “Universal is thrilled that the Library of Congress and the Ad Council have selected Curious George to promote and inspire the love of reading for children and parents everywhere through this important initiative.” The “Curious George” effort is supplemental to an existing campaign targeted at "tweens" originally launched in 2000 that aims to inspire young readers to become lifelong readers. The objective of the campaign is to inspire fun and promote literacy in all types of learning. From books to magazines to comics, and in all its other forms, reading gives kids an opportunity to explore their imaginations, and "Explore New Worlds." The PSAs also direct tweens to a website that features the Library of Congress’s serialized story The Exquisite Corpse Adventure. The adventure is written by many well-known children’s authors—including Jon Scieszka and Kate DiCamillo. Each author tells part of the story for two weeks before the story is given to a different author. A new episode is published every two weeks for a year. Each episode also features the work of award-winning children's illustrators. Between episodes, kids are encouraged to play The Exquisite Corpse Brain Game, which tests them on what they have read in the past and lets them predict what will happen in the future. Us The Age Legal Debate Be org Drinking Should About Curious George Curious George was published by Houghton Mifflin in 1941 and for 70 years he has been capturing the hearts and minds of readers young and old throughout the world. All the Curious George books, including the seven original stories by Margret and Hans Rey, have sold more than 60 million copies. So popular that his original story has never been out of print, George has become one of the most beloved and most recognizable characters in children’s literature. In addition to the numerous books about his mischievous adventures, Curious George stars in the Emmy-award winning PBS KIDS television series Curious George and has also starred in two full-length movies, Curious George and Curious George 2: Follow that Monkey! For more information, visit www.curiousgeorge.com External. Universal Partnerships & Licensing UP&L oversees Universal’s consumer product licensing, film and home-entertainment promotions, and all corporate alliances for Universal’s theatrical, home entertainment, theme parks and stage productions. This dedicated division is also responsible for monetizing the Studio’s vast library of films and characters through licensing, branding and marketing opportunities. UP&L is part of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80 percent-owned by General Electric, with 20 percent owned by Vivendi. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company Boston-based Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company is a global education leader and the world’s largest publisher of educational materials for pre-K–12 schools. The company publishes a comprehensive set of best-in-class educational solutions, ranging from research-based textbook programs to instructional technology to standards-based assessments for students and educators. The company also publishes an extensive line of reference works and award-winning literature for adults and young readers. With origins dating back to 1832, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt combines its tradition of excellence with a commitment to innovation. To learn more about Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, visit www.hmhpub.com External. The Advertising Council The Ad Council is a private, non-profit organization with a rich history of marshaling volunteer talent from the advertising and media industries to deliver critical messages to the American public. Having produced literally thousands of PSA campaigns addressing the most pressing social issues of the day, the Ad Council has affected, and continues to affect, tremendous positive change by raising awareness, inspiring action and saving lives. To learn more about the Ad Council and its campaigns, visit www.adcouncil.org External"lazarus" - Michael 06 Patrick Hamburg Youtube 2018 24 Kelly. Us The Age Legal Debate Be org Drinking Should The Library of Congress Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution. It seeks to spark imagination and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by providing access to knowledge through its magnificent collections, programs and exhibitions. Many of the Library’s rich resources can be accessed through its website at Wikimedia File old png - Music Dan Sheet Commons Tucker and via interactive exhibitions on a personalized website at myLOC.govIowa Driver's Gazette A Licenses New Design Get The. Products Gaithersburg 2013 Fair Local amp; Winter Patch French Artists Md Artisans Featuring Businesses Us The Age Legal Debate Be org Drinking Should Curious George and related characters, created by Margret and H.A. Rey, are copyrighted and trademarked by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company and used under license. Licensed by Universal Studios Licensing LLLP. Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved. PR 10-180 101 Independence Ave, S.E. Voice: 202.707.2905 Fax:As Licenses A Rico Catch New Evacuees Bay There’s Times Puerto Florida Tampa Get 202.707.9199 Email: Fake Things Cards Or Souvenir To National Novelty Id Know Post About Fun Identification Seven Library of Congress Blog Library of Congress Magazine Exhibitions at the Library of Congress Library of Congress Public Events Systemsjus Usability It How Can Be Box Place Resistant Ballot In Into Voting Of A Hard Boxes To Tamper Library of Congress Information Bulletin (1993-2011) An Nna Acceptable Notarization Expired A For Is Id Us The Age Legal Debate Be org Drinking Should Email Bolinsky For Military Licenses Initiative New » Us The Age Legal Debate Be org Drinking Should Instagram Squared Squared Tech History History Google Tech Google Id We Ids Scannable Florida - Buy Make Fake Premium Victims Mickey Identity Mouse Kiro-tv Thief Among Of Bellevue Debate.org is a dynamic social community where you can voice your opinion on today’s hottest issues.Should the US legal drinking age be lowered? \| Debate.org	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line737
__label__wiki	0.559549	0.559549	Thinking the unthinkable - not interested in football any more... Discussion in 'Football Forum' started by simonhch, May 28, 2019. Page 6 of 6 < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cloud7 Full Member I no longer get as emotional over football as I used to (which I think is a good thing), but other than that I still enjoy the game as much as I used to. Football has always been about money, it’s just that the sums were different before. When the Italian clubs were throwing their money around, when Real Madrid were initially building their galacticos, the game was about money back then as well. The only difference I see is there are less flair/magician type players in world football these days, much less than when I was growing up, but these things ebb and flow. Football is still great, it’s just United that are crap. Tomuś Nani is crap, I tell you! Count me in. I've taken up tennis now, both playing and watching and in the winter I've got my dear ski jumping to be drawn into. Maybe it's temporary feeling but I seriously don't look forward to seeing us play. First time in my life. montpelier Full Member I feel much the same as the OP for some slightly different reasons & have travelled a different path I think. Utd decline has to be a factor - from around when Ronaldo went to Madrid but prefaced before that. CR7 extended my ''obsessive interest'' - if we call it that. I suppose Abramovich arriving & the first changes to the offside rule would be when I first started wondering. If it wasn't Abramovich, it would have been someone else, and the offside definitely needed looking at. I still support Utd & I watch about half the games now, I think. If Utd were better, even just more entertaining, I would probably watch more. I used to watch more of the other teams - now it's just the ''massive games'' - when I agree that they are massive. I've seen Utd win everything & more. I've seen them be the best team for 15+ years, sometimes the best team by a country mile. Fantastic players & the best player in the World for a couple of seasons. So it's a bit all downhill from there. But English football generally has got quite dull now, it's almost too technically proficient, the less good teams do nothing other than defend & might try & break a bit. Half the League won't even bother with that playing against the top sides, possibly because they can't & would just get dismantled by attackers who are now can't be kicked, struggle to be offside & now have VAR coming in to help their penalty count. There's massive turnover in players, so it's all a bit 'faceless' outside of the top clubs. International football outside of the tournaments is a bit shit. The other element of course, is that I'm just a miserable boring old fart who hasn't liked things changing from how it was when I used to play & go to games regularly. Copa Mundial New Member @simonhch I stumbled across you post by chance and happen to agree entirely with what you and other like-minded posters have said. I had exactly the same feelings about football, however I experienced this disillusionment approximately 10-12 years ago when Utd were still dominant under SAF. Thus my feelings have nothing to do with our current lack of success. The amount of money in the game, the increasingly celebrity status of players, and the excessive coverage of player's off field antics and misdemeanours were all highly contributing factors towards my apathy for the game. However for me the biggest factor that influenced my opinion is something that will no doubt be extremely controversial on here, but I feel it needs to raised in what has so far been a very diplomatic and well rounded thread. Essentially my biggest problem was with a certain core of football fans. I simply couldn't ignore or accept what I perceived to be an increasing level of vitriol and hatred towards opposition players. Has this level of player hatred always been there? Possibly, I honestly don't know. But what I do know, is that as I got older it was something I didn't want to be a part of. Next time you are watching a game on TV and see a close up of an opposing player taking a throw in or corner, or watch a reply of a goal in slow motion, just pay attention to the fans behind. The hatred, foul language, anger and obscene hand gestures by not only the (easily influenced) younger generation but middle aged men as well is something I find hard to understand and accept in the name of sport and entertainment. So about 12 years ago I went to my first Premier Rugby match. As you are probably aware the supporters sit together, drink beer and appreciate the performances of players from both sides. "So go stay with your rugby" I hear people say, "Good riddance to you", and I get that. But unfortunately that is not the point. The point is that football, at it's heart is a beautiful game, an outstanding sport loved by many, but for a variety of reasons as outlined in this thread is rapidly starting to mirror all that is undesirable in the world today. Of course I will continue to watch football as I love the game, but I can't help but feel it could be so much better on a number of different levels. Pogue Mahone said: ↑ Yeah, I can relate to that. I’m definitely wary of getting emotionally invested in yet another project that looks doomed from the start but at least I have nothing but love and respect for the bloke in charge. Which is a refreshing change. Me, too @Pogue Mahone. I’ve been thinking back to the latter SAF era, and the old arguments about “What’s more important? Success and trophies or the style of football and our United heritage?” Posters complained and argued ad infinitum about how poor the football was - in a season when we won the league!!! The right answer, of course, was both - We should play good football, play the United way, and win as well! Ole seems to have to got it spot on. I’m leaning more and more that the “deadwood” we need to move on aren’t the easy scapegoats like Jones, Smalling and Young. We need to move on Sanchez, Pogba, Lukaku, Matic, Darmian and Rojo. I don’t care if Lingard is a young kid that occasionally makes some poor decisions, I’m fairly certain SAF went into the Hacienda to fetch Giggsy If you’re committed to the club and the project, fair play. We do need some young, hungry (not necessarily all British - I’m sick of that narrative) players in, and if we can supplement them with some proven talent committed to the project do that as well Bearded One Full Member I wish I could FootballHQ Full Member Who's your bruv mate, Derek Geary? (only player I could think of who's played for both Sheffield clubs in recent times so apologies if it isn't!). I can understand the OP aswell. European leagues are generally more boring to me thant what they were like in 90s and early 00s. Not just premier league which was of course dominanted by a couple of clubs in those times but La Liga where you just to get teams like Depor, Real Sociedad, Valencia and Sevilla either win the league or go very close to winning it through being brilliantly coached and cheap signings. German and French leagues were also like this. Now it's very much a closed shop across the board so I do wonder if we'll still even have these leagues in a decade with all the mention of CL reforms recently. That and wages/transfers fees which are pretty much bonkers now and football has crossed too much into the entertainment/hype fest drama. Guess for others VAR will also take a bit of the enjoyment out. Still though if there's a situation when you score 90th minute goal to beat a rival (think Ferdinand v Liverpool in 2005) those are the moments when all the youthful joy for the game comes flooding back and why we bother year in year out. Moriarty Full Member Reichenbach Falls A wife and a cat. I agree with quite a bit of what's said in the OP. Funnily enough, some of the best times I had watching United was the 1974-75 season, and maybe even the 1972-73 and 1973-74 seasons when we were absolute rubbish. We were mocked relentlessly by the dippers and the berties, we were laughed at and reviled by the likes of Brian Moore and Jimmy Hill, and we still turned up in our thousands, home and away, week after week. We lost Best, Law, and Charlton, we were getting turned over by Leeds, Palace, Liverpool, and Spurs, and it was an utter shambles of a club. But the players really appreciated the fans and they never let their heads drop, even when they were getting walloped. The Doc instilled something into the club and it turned around and Old Trafford on a match day was a wall of noise. The Doc said the noise was so great that you didn't know if we were 3-0 up or 3-0 down. We filled away grounds with red and white, often taking two or more specials from Manchester plus coachloads from all over the land. Most games were pay at the gate so you could nearly always get in. No sponsors, no corporate types, no selfies, no canned singing, no pre-game handshakes complete with umpteen mascots, and very few player/celebrities. It wasn't so bad. Youngsters today, if they could be transported back in time to watch a game live, might even enjoy it. squiggle Full Member Ligue 1, Arsenal My viewing has dropped considerably. That's partly because without Wenger holding it all together, and with all the dreary background changes, I'm not sure what current Arsenal is. Also I tend to lose interest in sports for a while and then get back into them. But, yes, I think the opening post was very well put. On the positive side, though, football is slowly chipping away at prejudices within in the game and the violence has very much diminished. Whatever you think about the current state of football, it's a lot better in many respects than it was, for example, in the eighties. Then again, with the deaths of the Qatar World Cup you could say it's just sent its violence to faraway countries and people of whom we know nothing. Handré1990 Full Member In hibernation Eriku said: ↑ The attitudes of a large portion of fans in here (and elsewhere) depresses me a lot more than the state of the game. Then again, that’s probably driven by an increasing view of football as a commodity, and people want value for money... even if they’ve never been to Old Trafford and watch illegal streams. Well put. I agree with this. I’ve cut down conciderably on the time I spend reading and thinking about football, mainly redcafe. Going to try to only watch the games, I started skipping pre-,and post-match talks years ago. Adam-Utd Part of first caf team to complete Destiny raid As soon as your team's start winning again you'll be back to loving it. It's amazing how many scousers are suddenly loving football again after so many years. MUFC OK Full Member I'll always be interested. you can't overly invest yourself though sometimes, especially when you're in a predicament like ours. We need a change of direction at board level before we can expect to turn this decline around. Next seasons expectations: win some, draw some, lose some, probably in near equal parts. Oh, and no trophies. Tarrou Full Member Its happening to me as well but the main reasons are - we're shit - Liverpool aren't shit - my life got busier I'm hopeful all three factors turn around and I can get back to loving the game as much as ever As an aside, one thing that I prefer now is the post-match experience. The forums, the tweets, the memes, the piss-taking, the analysis. When big moments like PSG happen I can't wait to get cracking online. Nogbadthebad Full Member I cancelled my MUTV sub when I realized I really wasn't bothered about watching the tour. I'm normally excited to see the new guys, or the youth players being given a chance, this time I can't drum up any interest. Not sure how I'll be once the season starts. Velvet Revolver Full Member Inside Scholes's Brain simonhch said: ↑ I never, ever thought a time would come where my interest for football would wane to the point of being almost completely apathetic. But the previously unthinkable is now on the verge of becoming a reality. Like most of you, I grew up football mad. My dad was a huge United fan, and my brother played professionally for both Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United. I would watch every game I possibly could, and football represented something almost magical in my life. I understand that as a function of age, and increased responsibility, priorities change, and fantasy fades - but something has irrevocably changed for me; and my passion, love and interest for the modern game has all but evaporated. I used to be able to get excited about things like transfer season, but now I find that I just don’t give a shit any more. The only form of football that I find even remotely engaging now is international football; because players are actually playing for pride. For the first time in my life, I am seriously considering not watching any club football at all next season. Below I’ve listed a few of my reasons why. How does The Caf feel about this? Any reasons to add or discredit? Does anyone else feel the same way? Or am I just being a miserable cnut? - Money has completely destroyed the game. Everything is about promotion, sponsorships, and revenue. The integrity and morals of the game are completely subverted by corporate interests. - The fan experience is shite. Most stadiums have terrible atmospheres now, with all the investment and pandering going to VIP and corporate hospitality. - The top level of the game has just become an arms race between the super wealthy, stock piling all the best talent. - Financial doping of state sponsored clubs like City and PSG have made a mockery of generations of historical evolution, and supporter driven development. - Regulation of the sport at almost every level is compromised by both corporate interests, as well as the afore mentioned state backed entities. There are no effective measures against the breaking of FFP rules. - Players are unrelatable and unlikable. Player power is now out of control. Players who have accomplished nothing in the game are rewarded with huge contracts, killing the motivation to kick on to the next level. The vast majority are more concerned with their social media presence, personal branding, and questionable fashion choices. - A game that used to foster artistry is now all about pace, power and stamina. Endless pressing to force mistakes, rather than magicians to pick a lock. - State sponsored or multi billionaire takeovers - sugar daddy clubs - are becoming the only way to compete, and it seems inevitable that more and more will enter the market and change the football landscape for the worse. - The gap between the players and the fans is widening by the year. People can say that football is just a job, but for so many of us, our clubs are something we pour our heart and souls into. Paying increasingly exorbitant prices to go to games, watch matches on TV, or buy official merchandise. Yet most of the players on the field couldn’t give two shits about the clubs they play for, or the fans they represent. - Every year I look at the premier league, and it more and more represents the soulless, soul crushing experiences that are American Sports. Clubs are becoming franchises, rather than community hubs and lifelong relationships with their fans. I just pretty much despise everything about modern football. Right down to the endless analysis of club operations. Watching City build a huge plastic empire. An entire empire built around a brand, rather than a club, and an endless pot of money. Dare I say it, as much as I hate Liverpool, I’d rather a real club won the premier league through their guile, wit and brilliant man management, than another title bought and paid for from the oil fields of Dubai. FIFA and UEFA are run by utter cretins, who are corrupt to the core. No-one cares about the average fan, who are being priced out of the game. And all the while we are treated like idiots, endlessly saturated with wall to wall coverage and drowned in hyperbole over the most mundane of experiences or mediocrity of a player. The entire system panders more and more to the global fan base, primarily made up of half witted fan boys in far flung foreign markets who have no emotional connection to the clubs they “support”, and little to no understanding of the sport they follow. If football is this joyless, soulless and rotten today; how bad is it going to look in 5, 10 or 20 years? Fans will continue to pay more, and get less. And spend more time watching sponsor messages and buying content, than actually watching the games. Occasionally you get a bright spark of hope. A lone wolf that rises from the ashes of a romantic past to defy the odds - See Leicester in 2016, or Ajax this year - only to see them ripped to shreds by bigger fish with deeper pockets in the close season. Is there any hope? Is there anything to look forward to? United might be shite right now, but even if they get good again (which surely they will eventually), is there any way to realistically and sustainably do it without doubling down on a megabucks approach to the game. Be it through bigger tv and sponsorship revenue, or a massive Saudi or Chinese takeover? What is there to look forward to about any of that? Money has always been a huge part of any walk of life, but football also gave us passion - an escape - and love for the game. But is it even possible not to despise almost everything about the modern footballer and all the people involved in the game? Don’t even get me started on the influence of agents and “journalists”. Where are the redeeming qualities. I’m sorry but I just don’t see any. I’ll still play football. I’ll still watch the international matches; even though they are run by cretins. But club football? Nah. It’s dead to me now. I just can’t invest any more energy into something that makes a mockery of the sport I grew up loving. Have you tried turning it off and then on again? on a serious note, give yourself a break from social media in sports and in general, watch the game for enjoyment lay off the analysis. You will see it from a different perspective. There is too much noise in football these days, try to block that and give football another chance maybe you'l start enjoying the little things again. Shakesey Full Member Directly under the sun... NOW! Velvet Revolver said: ↑ This is at the root of it all. Karel Podolsky New Member Borneo Jungle Ex Laziale I want to hear what Arsenal fans feel about football now. How many of them still actively posting on redcafe? Rarely see them here anymore. Rifer Full Member Losing to Comeback Winning! That's understandable. Maybe has to do with age? growing up? difficult to adept to the newer era? Maybe not OP, but other fans finding it less interested in football may has to do with too much spending time with social media and these so called football news. It's too much bs for me, now and then there are good ones of course, but it's too toxic, misleading and "haywire", difficult to invest in something if those are what we get. Players exposure through social media are also difficult to follow, since it tend to feel empty and pretentious. Then there are those many football experts and dramas in news and programmes. Staying away and not investing too much time in those for me helps. Admittedly I hate more football when I join in the hate. After stepping back and staying away, only then I realize, what the heck did I do, that's so not healthy. I find football in general now to be less interesting than before yes, but so far when it comes to United, there are still (albeit few but it's there) things to be excited about. Corporate levels in football are already dead to me, no hope. International football and European football (CL, EL and other leagues/clubs) are "dying" for me, it's just not interesting, lacking "heart" for me. One in a while, there are fun things happening, often short term only unfortunately. I have to admire some clubs eg. Ajax continue sticking to their ways, sort of, but for how long is worrying. Club football though specifically United and EPL are still interesting. EPL instead are much better for me compare to other leagues, the competitive level is much better now, although it lose the "strong characters" aspect of it which football in general are losing i.e. few players with strong characters today compare to before. After SAF, the decline to United are within expectations anyway, it's not too worse like the club totally killed its heart and soul -- there are still some aspects of the current United that feel like it's a United club. The current club still have some essence of the United identity I grew to know. As long as they have that, I'll likely remain interested in club football. Once the club totally change though i.e. killing its heart and soul, I mean totally eradicate wanting to play good football or stop introducing interesting youths and getting interesting young players or totally change the whole thing eg. club name, stadium name to some bs sponsorship demands, only then I'll stop since it's totally dead. Ooge_ New Member Modern Football has one big problem: To much BS. Leave this Social Media Stuff (Twitter, Instagram ...) away. Don´t listen to those "TV Experts". Don´t read news and don´t watch Sport News. Just watch the game and don´t act like a fanatic junkie. AllezLesDiables Full Member Good post, OP. You bring up valid issues that are plaguing the modern game. Plus as we get older our priorities and viewpoints change. It’s not a good look to be a 40 year old getting pissed at the pub and acting like a hooligan. I will say that when a person has no faith in their club leadership it tends to have a bigger effect on one’s interest that most would admit. As an another poster said there have been so many magical moments in the game in the last 10 years. It’s just that for the last 7 or so they haven’t really involved United. Nothing beats the magic when one is young and has no adult responsibilities and one can simply spend time watching your favorite team/sport. The dynamic always changes. Take some time to figure what you enjoy in sport. For me it is watching phenoms in any sport when you can pick out the moments when you just know they are something special. I felt the same way about cycling as you did about football and then Remco Evenepoel came along and it has renewed my interest dramatically. The same will happen when United/(Your NT) has the next big thing in football. bosnian_red Worst scout to ever exist Not necessarily referring to you or every case, but these threads usually pop up a lot more when we go through our rougher periods. There's obviously side cases, and for everyone inevitably itll mean less to you as you age compared to when you were a teen and had no real responsibilities.. At the end of the day, even if you try taking a break, true fans will still end up paying attention and check in regularly and stay up to date and pretty quickly go back to watching regularly. It's not like watching football is that big of a committment. Couple of hours a week. Just will inevitably take up less time thinking about it outside of games. Which is normal. FootballHQ said: ↑ I was gonna ask that question too @simonhch KennyBurner New Member We are shit is the reason. I tried not to look at the cafe or United this summer because I was angry about this season. However as soon as i got wind of the Wan Bissaka transfer on twitter Ive somehow been pulled back in. Don't worry @simonhch when we get better and City get relegated you will love it again. My personal problem really is a selfish reason and its purely because we cant dominate. When you've grown up backing United in their golden years its kind of a harsh reality knowing you aren't at the top anymore and even worse when the bastards next door are contributing to it. beergod Full Member ga, usa Steven Seagull said: ↑ Avoided pretty much everything this summer and it’s been nice. I'll go one further, it's been nice and I haven't missed football. I used to be miserable in the summers when the season was out, now I'm the opposite. One could blame it on United's fortunes, but I finally have a "local" team that I can watch on TV and attend, they are even successful (and annoying), yet I've watched about 10 minutes of their existence and couldn't care less even when family and friends are getting into the sport and enjoying it. I blame rugby, I started watching in 2016 and I enjoy it. rollingstoned1 Full Member Copa Mundial said: ↑ football and sport by its very nature appeals to the tribal and visceral nature of our existence. It's why it resonates so well with others even if it is also a nod to the viler and instinctive qualities of humans. With much less of a need to engage in wars and battles to give that aspect of us some sort of catharsis, the only thing that comes remotely close to that feeling is sport. Of course i dont mean to say that that is exactly why everyone follows a sport but you get the idea i presume, the schadenfreude is quite an important component of fandom. It is not like going to the opera where you only appreciate the finer technical aspects of the performance. 1988 New Member My interest and passion for United has been pretty absent for some time. Football in general to be fair - too much money I guess. Turns it all ugly. There was a spark of hope and blossom when Solskjær went unbeaten but the end of the season kinda set it all back again. I am however pretty excited for the forthcoming season. I'm actually quite happy with the lack of "superstar" signings from us. Hopefully we'll see lots of young guns with a passion and desire to push the club and badge forward. Obviously still hoping for one or two more signings and I'm a bit disappointed we haven't really sold anyone yet. Few odd contract extensions too. This "underdog" approach and rebuild is refreshing though. I couldn't and can't stomach anymore "superstars". predator Youth NITK South Manchester I've always loved the actual game of football and always will because my time as a kid/teenager was spent mainly copying Henry and Ronaldo R9, and even Ruud but I was convinced I was better than him and still so think I am to be fair. Football will always come first for me. United are just the club that are located the nearest to my family and are the club that ive been indoctrinated to support. Ultimately we're all arguing about grown men getting paid millions to kick a ball around. It's a sobering thought, even if you do play the game. Stepney73 New Member Moriarty said: ↑ My first season was the 73-74 season(my username gives it away)and over the 70s and 80s the odd FA cup was our highlight. But back then the feeling was that the players where our players but now they just feel like shortt term contractors. MADReaLJL New Member More than a decade ago, one league game loss did hurt me for the whole week. Now whenever Utd lose, it barely hurts at all. I still have the interest and regularly follow the club's update, just don't have the same passion like years ago. It could be due to our current state, or maybe I just got older and have other priorities. Last edited by a moderator: Jul 12, 2019 at 07:25 Nevilles.Wear.Prada Full Member LochGormanAbú said: ↑ Some valid points but you got to understand that there has always been corruption in football, ref bribing was rife in European competition for decades, money has always been an issue, Blackburn did it, before that Liverpool, Italian teams, us, all breaking transfer records to secure and stock pile the best players. The great Milan/Barca teams of the 80's/90's which are remembered in mainly only positive ways were built on big spending. Sometimes a team gets a bit lucky with a large group of young quality players coming through at the same time, not very often. So, I do believe there is a bit of a blinkered, slightly bitter tint to the OP. Try tell Leicester fans that football has lost its soul, or Liverpool and Spurs fans last season? I strongly believe that if we had the City owners and were doing what they are doing, you would not be posting anything like the above and you'd still be very much in love with the game. Ouch. Fair play you bastard. Melville Red Full Member Arm chair or Pub The one thing that spoilt that era was the violence. Any one remember the time Norwich had their ground modified and had to have a new roof after our visit? I agree with the footballing side it was great, I hate the modern shit of mascots and handshakes before the game because cheating has never been so rife in today’s game. Shake hands afterwards ffs not before then trip over yourselves and demand a penalty and the sending off of an opponent for something he hasn’t done. The soul has gone out of the modern game. Stookie Nurse bell end I agree, some of my best times going were when my brothers and I used to go in the 80s. Apart from the odd cup we didn’t win much but it didn’t matter. Maybe that’s the problem now? Too much pressure on out doing our rivals. Pierluigi Casiraghi New Member Squad turnover is so rapid nowadays that it's hard to feel anything much for the players - be that positive or negative. If you don't follow transfers like a hawk (which I used to and no longer do), you could quite easily see a player you know come off the bench for a team you had no idea he'd moved to. It really drives home how the players representing any given team are complete randomers with absolutely no connection the city they supposedly represent. The part of OP which I most strongly agree with is about players not being able to relate to players any more. I mean I'm sure plenty of footballers from yesteryear were not nice people, that's not really the point. A lot of professional players now make it so obvious that they have their heads so far up their own arses. A combination of not being very bright, and being surrounded by sycophants from a young age due to their footballing ability, I guess. It's really embarrassing, and I just can't bring myself to give a solitary shit about these people no matter how good they are at football. There's also the fact that I'm 28 now, and am older than most of the players! I do still enjoy the sport a lot, perhaps moreso for different reasons than before. Football fan culture is just as awesome as ever, I plan on attending a few different games from around the world at stadiums known for their raucous atmospheres over the next couple years in fact. And don't get me wrong I would really enjoy it if United became a force again, but I'd never enjoy it half as much as 1999 or when we won the league in 2007. Melville Red said: ↑ There was a fair bit of violence in the mid 60s too. Maybe that was an extension of the mod/rocker thing, but I remember skins turning up in huge numbers in about 1968 home and away. Some clubs did attempt to introduce a bit of modernism into the game back then. Stoke employed cheerleaders. We went down there and they ran towards the United end waving their pom-poms to be greeted by a sustained chant of "prostitutes, you're just prostitutes" followed by a hail of missiles. West Ham had some bloke dressed up as a giant matchbox and he was pelted until he ran back along the track towards the tunnel. Even the West Ham fans joined in. redman5 Full Member In a world of my own. People know me here. I remember our chairman - John Smith - of the 70's & 80's giving a rare newspaper interview with his thoughts on football at the time (late 70's I think it was). He stated he felt that if Manchester United ever got it right, then they'd take some stopping. I chuckled when I read it as we were fast becoming a dominant European force, whilst United seemed to go from debacle to another. Turns out that Smith wasn't only a great chairman, but a tremendous visionary too. Interestingly enough, I've been in the position you were for the past 20 odd years. Supporting my side when other clubs, especially Manchester United under Ferguson, have been far more successful. & just like you, my love for football, & LFC, has never diminished during that time. The thrill of the chase can quite often be more exciting than winning the actually chase. As disappointing as 2014 was for us in the league, it was a hugely enjoyable experience, even though the ending wasn't quite what we'd hoped for. It's those sort of seasons that keep us coming back for more. Hope should always spring eternal in the hearts of football supporters regardless of who you support. Hope is all we have at the start of a brand new season. But when that hope starts to manifest itself as expectation, it's then that the whole thing starts to fall apart. & I think that's where a lot of United fans are at the moment. The thing is though, Manchester United will be successful again in respect of major trophies. Only thing we don't know is how long it will take. So what I'd say to all those who've 'fallen out of love' with football because of - supposed - other reasons than United not being top dogs any more. Things can change very, very, quickly in football. Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. When we won our last league title in 1990 Manchester United (under Ferguson) finished in 13th place with a paltry 48 points. A mere 3 years later we finished 6th & United finished as champions with 84 points (over a 42 game season). In 2016 we finished 8th in the league (under Klopp) with just 60 points. Again, just a mere 3 years later we finish runners-up with a massive 97 points, & are crowned champions of Europe. So how will you guys feel if a little bit of history repeats itself ? United get it right again & you're back on top. Imagine coming back to this forum proclaiming your undying love for the club, only to have people bumping this thread showing how much 'out of love' you actually are. Just enjoy the ride everyone. You need to experience the low points to really, really, fully appreciate the high ones. Now that sounds funny. Cheerleaders Mr. P Mosh New Member More power to you.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line742
__label__wiki	0.67609	0.67609	Pakistan, US, Russia, China agree to continue efforts for Afghan peace The United States, Russia, China and Pakistan at a consultation meeting in Beijing have agreed to continue joint efforts for realizing a political settlement in Afghanistan to bring peace and stability to the region. This has been stated in a joint statement issued by the four countries after the consultation. The four sides emphasized the importance of the trilateral consensus on the Afghan peace process reached in Moscow on April 25, 2019. All sides welcomed recent positive progress as the crucial parties concerned have advanced their talks and increased contacts with each other. All sides also welcomed intra-Afghan meetings held in Moscow and Doha. The four sides called for relevant parties to grasp the opportunity for peace and immediately start intra-Afghan negotiations between the Taliban, Afghan government, and other Afghans. They re-affirmed negotiations should be “Afghan-led and Afghan-owned” and further agreed that these negotiations should produce a peace framework as soon as possible. This framework should guarantee the orderly and responsible transition of the security situation and detail an agreement on a future inclusive political arrangement acceptable to all Afghans. The four sides encouraged all parties to take steps to reduce violence leading to a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire that starts with intra-Afghan negotiations. China, Russia and the United States welcomed Pakistan's joining the consultation process and believed that Islamabad can play an important role in facilitating peace in Afghanistan. And on its part, Pakistan appreciated the constructive efforts being made by the China-Russia-US trilateral consultation on the Afghan peace process.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line745
__label__cc	0.679036	0.320964	Rampant Bicycle Of sunless things So some friends of ours have expressed an interest in going to this, perhaps making it into a road trip of a couple of weeks or so. I’m not that much of a hot air balloon person, and I’m really not the kind of morning person I think you’d need to be in order to be feeling gleeful at the prospect of getting up at 3:30 AM for a morning event (ouch), but on the other hand it seems like the sort of thing that might be worth doing at least once in your life…so it looks like I’ve got some trip planning research ahead of me. In other news, we’ve recently started the sequel to Failbetter Games’s Sunless Sea, Sunless Skies. The first game is gloriously niche – you pilot a tiny ship through a vast underground cavern dotted here and there with islands and heavily populated with menaces ranging from your standard pirates to terrifying Lovecraftian horrors. As you sail, you encounter dozens of weird and entertaining little storylets – mini-plots for all of your officers, and on each island a little thicket of tales to explore that highlight the creativity of the worldbuilding. There’s a range of victory conditions to pursue, too, ranging from the somewhat mundane (become fabulously wealthy!) to the enticingly mysterious (join an adventurer in a quest to pass through the Avid Horizon, a frigid and desolate place containing a gate to…somewhere. We loved it. And yet we’ve only finished one of its many victory conditions. Why? Because it’s a roguelike, a decision that I still find baffling. Dying and returning to the start of something makes sense for many games, but not for one where a death can easily wipe out twenty hours of gameplay. Moreover, it can be intensely frustrating to have to re-do the first part of all of your quests many many many times before living long enough to see the end of them, setting up a weird dynamic where you find yourself rushing to try to complete things before a horror from below rips your tiny ship in half. (I’ve learned there’s a mod available that can mitigate this somewhat by not re-setting quest progress on death; this might be worth a go if i want to read more of the game’s stories.) The second game is a roguelike as well, sadly, though they’ve made the wise decision to make the goodies you can pass on to your next captain more generous. (There IS a more merciful game mode that permits save-scumming, but naturally with Mark on the team we couldn’t go for that one.) That said, our only death so far was wiped out by the game’s locking up on us (it seems that there are some growing pains with version 1.0 as it emerges from Early Access.) There’s gamepad support this time, though it feels rather janky – it’s startlingly difficult to keep your vessel moving in a straight line. Hopefully kinks that will be smoothed out as the release progresses. This installment in the…is it a franchise now?…takes as its premise the notion that someone, at least, was successful in passing through the Avid Horizon as I mentioned above – and as it turned out, what was beyond that was a skyscape full of new wonders. And terrors, because obviously. Ten years on, control of the skies is a battle between The Establishment and the scrappy colonists who believe this new frontier is rightly theirs. This conflict forms the backdrop for your own story, which begins with you as first officer on a small but scrappy sky-train recently returned from the land of the dead (somehow.) The voyage did not go well for the former captain, who as the game begins is dying of…something, a strange illness that covers her skin in glowing sigils. In exchange for passing the ship on to you, she requests a promise: take the black box in the ship’s hold to New London, and do not open it. And then she is gone, and the ship is yours, skeleton crew and all. Good luck, captain. It’s a fairly cracking beginning really, and I’m hopeful that the rest of it will be as divertingly, endearingly weird as its predecessor. Thus far, the skies aren’t quite as oppressively dark and lonely as the Sunless Sea once was – the art’s rather lovely, honestly, and does a good job suggesting layers of possibly-infinite space despite the two dimensional plane your locomotive-ship actually moves in. But the writing’s been as inventively bizarre as ever, thus far, and we’ve got a lot of new lands to discover. Until we die or go irrevocably mad, of course. So…more of the same, rather, I suppose. But I’m all right with that. Onward. Lemmings rushing to the slaughter Today’s word of the day: “Malaphor.” This is a combination of “metaphor” and “malapropism,” and appears in such forms as: “It’s not rocket surgery.” “I’ll burn that bridge when I come to it.” The title of this post …and so on. I use some of these myself quite deliberately, so I suppose I am not precisely helping to maintain the purity of the language. This is courtesy of the very-delightful podcast The Allusionist, which I recommend to anyone else who enjoys wordy goodness; host Helen Zaltzman is whimsical and nerdy in proportions I very much enjoy. Link there goes to the episode I listened to this morning; recommended for a listen if you have a spare twenty minutes or so. As often seems to happen, nature appears to have suddenly remembered mid-January that it is supposed to be winter, and dumped an alarmingly huge pile of snow on our heads; as I walked to meet everyone for ramen last night the wind was constantly sweeping fistful after fistful of vicious glitter into my face. Today: piles everywhere of blinding white, some nearly as tall as I am. (Miracle of miracles: the TTC ran like a dream this morning, and I secured a seat within a single stop. I can only guess that perhaps most folk stayed home today.) I’m not looking forward to the shoveling, but it IS rather lovely to look at… As it turns out, I’m pretty bad at this. This “blogging on the regular” thing, that is. Still, I’m going to give it a shot, once again: no merit in abusing myself for not doing it, so let’s set that aside and carry on. As I type, it’s a frosty late-January afternoon – the laundry is on, there’s cauliflower roasting for tonight’s soup, foccacia bread is rising, and Mark is doing his best to locate some creepy swamp people in Red Dead Redemption 2. Outside, Nature has elected to dump a blinding-white powdery snow on top of everything. Probably I OUGHT to be shoveling it. I am not shoveling it. Instead I am having a second coffee, though I will likely regret the not-shoveling later on. The plan is: Two hundred words, most days. About anything. I can do that, surely; I can use up two hundred words writing an email to re-schedule a meeting. Build a routine, and therefore a habit. I think the first order of business shall be to do a few improvements around here. I’m no graphic designer, but at least I can make sure all the proper plugins are installed and such. In the meantime, here’s one of the songs that’s been an earworm for me lately: Reading right now: A Study in Scarlet Women – a gender-swapped Holmes story as written by an author of mainly historical romances. Playing right now: Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles – A preposterously relaxing open-world adventure. Day 7: Art and music, imperial-style It’s a little hard to believe it’s been a week. As it turns out the street outside our hotel seems to be pretty popular with young Viennese folk; late into the night we heard them drinking with quite a bit of enthusiasm. You wouldn’t necessarily know it by morning, though. When I woke up (far too early, in my opinion) it was just me and the fan and, eventually, the sedate rumbling of streetcars. For the first time in my life I have taken advantage of a hotel’s laundry service, carefully layering clothes into a little pink bakery bag (they were out of whatever they normally use) and carefully presenting it to the fellow at the front desk. 10 euros, and we get clean clothes for the rest of the trip. Trying not to feel too much like I am being a posh git, even as I carefully try to dress up slightly for reasons that will be evident later. Our first stop today is the Kunsthistorisches Museum – very literally, the art history museum. This beautiful building frames the Maria-Theresienplatz, facing its opposite number the natural history museum. (The Venus of Willendorf, apparently, lives there, though we won’t have time to swing by for a visit unfortunately.) The interior of the building is as grand as the outside; it looks as though the Habsburgs felt their art collection deserved a suitably grand setting. I mean. Look at these stairs: The production values inside the exhibits are quite something, too. Check out the staging on some of these: Here is where I have to admit that we didn’t make it through the entire place. Not that it’s not worth it, I’m sure…but there is quite a lot of Stuff on display. I do not know what it is that drives imperial-type folks to hoard massive collections of art and sculpture and artifacts. It’s certainly remarkable to see so much of it in one place. It’s…also remarkable how often the audio tour seemed to mention that such and such an artifact had been sent back to its homeland in Place. Perhaps there is a little guilt, after all the hoarding? On the other hand, it is partly thanks to that hoarding that we’re able to see some of these things today. Like all those stories of how the original glass/paintings/carpets/manuscripts/what have you only survived the war because some enterprising person hid them in a basement somewhere, perhaps in a crate marked “Salt Pork” or something. (Not, obviously, a story we actually heard, though kind of an aggregate of many we heard on this trip.) It’s simultaneously a bit romantic and a bit sad. Intrepid archivists or concerned citizens or a desperate mayor; the idea that somewhere out there in an unassuming attic there might still linger someone’s masterwork, waiting to be brought back out for someone to love it again. Interestingly, the museum seems to have some similarly conflicted ideas about itself. Their special exhibition at the moment is “The Shape of Time,” which sounds rather like an episode of Doctor Who but is actually a sort of…statement of self-awareness. What do I mean? Well…As I’ve said, the museum has a pretty spectacular collection. A roomful of Caravaggios. Another that seems like it kind of contains every Breughel I can think of. You very literally cannot turn around, it seems, without smacking into something famous you’ve seen in art history books, except that here it is real and displayed in grand, high-ceilinged galleries with thoughtfully-arranged benches where earnest art students cluster to hone their craft. (And weary tourists like me jump at the chance to rest aching feet and take it all in while listening to the thoughtful English commentary.) But here’s the thing: Almost none of what’s here is new. The collection is grand and full of beautiful things, but crystallized at a point before the Impressionists were around to do their thing, before we began cultivating mixed media, before photography and Banksy and mashups. And that’s sort of what’s behind “The Shape of Time.” We view art differently based on its context – and context is what this exhibition’s about, pairing old art with new in ways that are as much about our experience of what is around the art as the art itself. Here’s one pairing, for example: Rembrandt was apparently mightily fond of painting his son Titus. In a dimly-lit gallery, one of these portraits hangs. Turn right, and you have a work of video art by Fiona Tan – “Nellie,” in which Rembrandt’s daughter Cornelia lingers restlessly in a sticky, humid room, underscored by the vague, jungly drones of insects. Titus looks sort of quietly heroic, gazing off into a bolder future; Cornelia writes a letter, gazes out a window, tosses uneasily in her sleep. Somewhere hanging in the dimness between them one can feel the comment on gender roles. Another dark room, another dark pairing: Steve McQueen points a video camera at a dying former racehorse, Running Thunder, the painful immediacy of the death of a lovely and powerful creature juxtaposed with what at first appears to be a fairly dull Brueghel vase of flowers. But, as the curator informs us, the flowers shown here do not share a season; this painting would be literally impossible. Celebration of life? Celebration of transience? How does it feel to observe inevitability and impossibility together? A sculpture of lovers’ faces bent toward one another, close and affectionate, paired with Felix Gonzales-Torres’s “Perfect Lovers” – a set of two ordinary office clocks, set to the same time and left to run down. Already their times are not quite the same; one of them will inevitably “die” first, leaving the other alone. It’s a poignant image, made more so when you know that the artist paired these clocks while his own lover was dying of AIDS. He was the one left alone, in the end, though he passed away not long after. Around another corner, in another room, medieval saints weep chastely over the crucified Jesus, unaware they now share a room with the broad white plinth containing Ron Mueck’s “Dead Dad,” a scaled-down representation of the body of his own father that is both eerily lifelike and a real punch in the guts for anyone who has ever beheld the body of someone they once loved without a life in it. A classical sculpture of Aphrodite, someone’s long-ago image of perfect beauty, is displayed next to Eleanor Antin’s “Carvings,” a series of photographs, one a day in several different views, as a strict near-starvation diet gradually brings her nearer to a more recent ideal. It’s a really interesting exhibition; if I’ve piqued your curiosity, there’s some further detail available at the museum’s own site, in English. The museum isn’t JUST its special exhibitions, of course – the regular galleries are, as I said, crammed to the gills with paintings you’ve probably seen in art history books and works by people whose names you know. It was interesting to look at all those Rubens works together and think that once upon a time, someone built like me would’ve been considered smoking hot rather than constantly reminded how nasty I am for being a bigger girl. It’s a bit liberating; I hope I can keep a little of that and bring it home with me. By this time we’d seen…oh, maybe half the museum, and I seriously think we could have stayed all day, just taking everything in – but we did have places we needed to be, and so not without a little regret we turned in our audio guides and set forth for Schonbrunn Palace. Schonbrunn was the Habsburg summer palace – it’s where folk like Maria Theresa and Franz Josef went when they wanted to hit the cottage, so to speak. These days it’s right on one of the subway lines; you can literally hop off, cross the street, and be right there, taking in a first view of that casual summer flavor. Well, all right, for certain varieties of “casual.” Vienna is home to two Habsburg palaces, and I think in general if you were only going to tour one of them it would be the other – but this one had an interesting package deal that combined admission with dinner and a little concert. Sure, why not? So here we were, picking up our tickets at the Orangery, a little building off to one side of the entrance. As it happens, our concert was not to be there today, but in the Grosse Gallerie; more on that a little later. Tickets in hand, we set off to tour the palace itself and its grounds. And, you know, just a modest little summer place, right? Honestly, there is something in Baroque style that drives it with remarkable swiftness toward self-parody. Did you know, for instance, that they have a real Roman ruin there? …Because that is totally a legit Roman ruin and not just a mishmash of any old vaguely Romanesque thing we could find, right? Right? Okay, okay, I snark. But it was just a bit hilarious how far over the top these gardens were. Kind of lovely, yes, but dang, imperial folks: As with many a stately home in England, the grounds are both open to the public for warm-weather ambling about and monetized within an inch of their leafy raked-gravelled lives; everywhere near the entrance are industrious folks selling ice cream and offering rides on a trainlike vehicle that seemed popular with small people, and some of what seem like they ought to be the choice gardens one must pay to enter. Still, it’s a pleasant place to go walking on a cool sunny Spring afternoon – even if the aforementioned gravel IS of a particularly evil vaguely triangular variety that insisted on creeping into my sandals and forming tiny, insidious caltrops. I wonder if Franz Josef ever took a break to wander here, taking a rare chance to think of roses and fountains instead of business. Perhaps he was too devoted to his calling for that? I suppose I’ll never know. The interior of the palace is hot indeed, both from the crush of the ubiquitous tour groups and from the inconvenient fact that air conditioning had yet to be invented. (Central heating, though, after a fashion: many rooms sport Bavarian ceramic stoves of majestic proportions, stoked from behind by specially-tasked servants via a network of passages in the walls.) Franz Josef and his wife Elisabeth had their own rooms, here – perhaps not so uncommon as we think, once, but here they feel like a sign of the vague dysfunction that seems to have haunted their marriage despite Sisi’s Princess-Diana public appeal. His rooms are stately, dark, even a bit Spartan by imperial standards; the iron bedstead and the prayer bench speak of a man devoted to his duty. The upright Emperor, I catch myself thinking. Responsibility to a fault, for all that those portraits of his wife speak of his love for her. Anyone could arrange an audience with the empire’s foremost civil servant: you waited in a grand red room for your name to be called, you went in and spoke your piece, and then eventually the Emperor would incline his head, saying what a pleasure it had been, and the audience would be over. I wonder very much what kinds of things they asked for. His people. Sisi’s rooms, by contrast, are dainty and feminine in that lush Baroque way; here she would spend literal hours on her toilette, particularly her infamous mane of gorgeous dark hair. They face the rose garden outside; the breeze in the summer must have been heavenly. She was, they say, a truly legendary beauty; it seems a strange match for a man with such sober habits. But then, I suppose some of us do that – reach out to catch and hold a being whose presence we crave as much for the yawning gulf of difference between us as for any other trait. The rest of the palace hearkens back to earlier eras still; you can still feel some of the influence of Maria Theresa here amid all the gilding and curlicues and baroque notions of chinoiserie. Even in architecture she is formidable. (I have a vague notion in my mind of her on a movie poster, with some wag laying a slogan at her feet: “Sixteen children. Zero fucks.”) Eventually the time came for the evening’s entertainment to begin; we made for the little restaurant just left of the main entrance and found every table laid with white tablecloths and neatly-centred vases of flowers. Waiters stood by, a little unnervingly attentive. Time for dinner. We ordered a glass of wine each and waited as other diners filed in. These dinner-and-concert packages are touristy affairs, but in Vienna this seems to mean something a bit different from what I normally imagine – well-heeled-looking folk largely of my mom’s generation, chatting in a mix of English and German about this and that with a hearty helping of folk speaking what sounded a bit like Russian mixed in. (For the second time in as many days I felt relieved about how dark my jeans were. Not properly dressy for a concert under many circumstances, but here, probably enough.) Dinner is a prix fixe affair: soup, the Tafelspitz beloved of Franz Josef, and an apple strudel for dessert. All rather surprisingly tasty, and coupled with the chance to sit down for a while quite fortifying. As the dessert plates and coffee cups were cleared, we made our way into the palace once more – and, unlike our tour this afternoon, nobody seemed to mind a quick photo or two without the flash on as we took our seats and watched for the orchestra to file in. I mean. Look at that room. The orchestra was small – just a handful of players, mainly strings – but they did quite well; an assortment of popular classics, mainly Mozart and Strauss (of course), mixed with some arias/art songs here and there. It wasn’t completely boilerplate, fortunately (no “Tales from the Vienna Woods,” which I would have thought an easy pitch down the middle), and at least everyone seemed to be having a good time. (The conductor got everyone in on the action by conducting the audience to clap along with a march right at the end, so there was at least a sense of good fun all round.) Amusingly, the grounds hadn’t quite completely closed by the time the concert started – so early on I got to watch some surprised and delighted random folk outside, peering in through the slats of the blinds on the doors. By intermission, though, everyone had cleared out but the concert-goers, and we got to have a pleasant few minutes looking out over the Habsburg backyard. (I still haven’t gotten the hang of night photography on this thing, sorry. Here’s us though!) Eventually, though, the orchestra headed home and so did we; returning back to our hotel to find those same cute little pink bakery bags full of neatly-folded clean clothes. I still feel a bit like part of the problem…but I AM looking forward to clean clothes in Budapest. Sounds like the Viennese enjoy their Saturday nights as much as we do. Ah well – I’m beat. Good night, partying Austrians; Vienna, I’ll see you tomorrow. Oh – and here’s a random bonus snap of one of those cute street lights. These were installed as part of Eurovision, apparently, but everyone liked them so much they’ve kept them around. Day 6: “City of music” would not be an exaggeration. Looks like the weather intends to carry on being obliging here in Austria; it continues to be sunny and cool, which is fortunate as Europe continues to not go in that hard on air conditioning. We opened today with a nice little breakfast in Hotel Kugel’s cute little dining area: …and then set about working out the public transit. The hotel was kind enough to help arrange transit passes for us – and here we learned that rather than rely on TTC-style turnstiles or tap-on Presto-style cards, Vienna has elected to make all of its transit run on basically the honour system: you hop on to a vehicle or walk into a station, validate your ticket, and at any time a transit official may hop onto the train, ask to see said ticket, and you had better hope you’ve got it, lest you face a stiff fine of many Euros. A single validation was enough for our 72-hour passes, happily, so after that it was just a matter of finding the right vehicle. Many of the transit stops have convenient little digital signboards near them showing the lines that serve that stop, when to expect the next vehicle on that line, and what direction it’s going in. (Some of them are also very near to parts of what seems to be an excellent cycling infrastructure, including bike sharing and little stations with air pumps and the like. Kara would love it.) The fellow in the middle is one of a series of ads we saw around town featuring men proudly displaying various unfortunate sausages (tiny, horribly burnt, etc) with the slogan “Each sausage is perfect!…with the right beer.” Anyway! Since we didn’t get to do our orientation last night, we did our best to make up for it by hopping on the “big red bus” sightseeing tour for a drive around the city with narration from the tour company. This was surprisingly pricey, considering; we’re fairly poor in Vienna, much as we were in Scotland. (As of today the exchange rate is something like half again the posted prices.) The tour runs more or less around the Ringstrasse (with a diversion for the construction that prevented our tram-ride plan from happening) and then out to some areas we didn’t anticipate spending time during our stay, like the Prater amusement park. Here are some notes I made along with a random selection of photos from the bus (please forgive odd angles and such): Vienna’s famous cafe culture apparently came to the city via an enterprising sort of guy who was undercover as a Turk during the long-ago conflict between them and the Austrians. When they booted the Turks out the retreating army left all this coffee nobody wanted behind, and since he’d picked up the ins and outs of it he gladly took it…then opened a shop where the Viennese learned to drink it. The rest, as they say, is history. A startling number of famous political folk lived here at the same time – including, at one point, Trotsky, Lenin, AND Hitler. I find myself wondering what might have happened if they’d all run into each other in a cafe somewhere. Awkward looks? Fisticuffs? Long philosophical arguments that went on until the police were called? Like Prague, Vienna had a Jewish quarter up until World War II. This part of Vienna was known as the Matzoh Island, though if the bus commentary hadn’t called it out I have no idea whether you’d know when you entered it. Today it looks much like the rest of the city; drugstores and little shops, the same regulation white buildings. Much of the city is of course a post WWII reconstruction, as the city was bombed out pretty hard during the fighting. Some relics of the war are still around, though, like the huge concrete flak towers built by the Nazis. One of them has now been converted into an aquarium, the Haus des Meeres. A happier use for it, certainly. The sailor suits worn by the Vienna Boys’ Choir are meant to be an equalizer, so that the boys’ social class, etc., isn’t what’s on display. They still perform on Sunday mornings, at the Hofburg palace chapel. The area around the Prater is a popular entertainment district, and has been for ages: long ago, this was where you went to go do the Vegas thing before there was a Vegas. These days, it seems to be more of a family spot; the famous Ferris wheel’s still running, and on a sunny day like this one it was crowded with people buying ice cream, milling about and generally enjoying the weather. (The Prater is also home to this amusing ATM.) Vienna was, for a very very VERY long time, the seat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the marks of that are everywhere. If Prague is a city that in some ways seems to be struggling to define itself moving forward, Vienna is absolutely and completely aware of exactly what it is. The empire may be gone, and it may have been some time since the days of Mozart and Strauss, but the city does not feel faded – it has a kind of confident assurance of its character. One gets the sense that it is what it has always been, in its own mind – the seat of a particular flavour of “high” culture. So it is that we remember that the emperor Franz Josef loved tafelspitz (boiled beef, which doesn’t sound all THAT appetizing but I guess you never know) and that the area around the Praterstern used to be a private hunting ground. It’s a train station now, bustling with commuters; I wonder how many of them think, as they head to the platform, of deer. So it also is that we know that the Empress Elisabeth (or “Sisi,” as she is known everywhere) had a tattoo on her shoulder, of an anchor, usually covered by her dresses. Sisi seems to have been the Princess Diana of the Austro-Hungarian empire; her name is all over Vienna’s tourist zones, and romantic-looking portraits of her make a backdrop to ads on the subway. “Where Sisi would have shopped,” one says, in coy English. We also heard that once upon a time Vienna had a film scene as robust as Toronto’s…until WWII. (Quite a lot of “…until WWII”. I suspect I’ll be seeing that a lot over the next few days.) At around that point a lot of the film scene here fled to…less-scary climes, like Hollywood’s. (Perhaps Max Steiner, composer for Gone with the Wind, was one of them; he was apparently born here.) The Third Man was, of course, filmed here. I’ve never seen it, but apparently the fellow who played that famous soundtrack (Anton Karas?) became super famous as a result and absolutely hated it. I guess I would get pretty sick of being asked to play the same thing a billion times over, too. But my earphones are already telling me about another kind of music: waltzes. We hear about how much the church hates the waltz when the dance became popular. All those ankles, tempting the heart of man to sin. Shameful! Still, without the waltz would we have had Strauss as we know him? He composed his first when he was six, says the polite recorded lady-voice. Oh, and by the way, the Danube is almost never blue these days, she adds, though it lends its name to the tallest building in Austria, the Donau tower. As I stare out at the river (sort of a greenish gray, today) she goes on to add that Vienna is very proud of its water. It flows down from the Alps – powerful enough to generate electricity – and is pure enough to need no filtration when at last it arrives. (I had noticed that the tap water seemed unusually tasty last night but assumed I was just thirsty. Can that really be it?) As we return to our starting point we can make out the spires of St. Stephen’s Cathedral (the Stefansdom), and learn that apparently the biggest of the bells there is only rarely rung today. So powerful is the sound of it that its ring can actually affect the cathedral’s structure. (Oops. Perhaps sound engineering wasn’t advanced enough to have thought of that when the bell was made?) As we hopped off the bus we headed once again for the Opera; it makes both a handy reference point and was the starting point for our next bit of exploring, this time on foot. Just behind the Opera is the aptly-named Albertinaplatz, presumably so called for reasons that have to do with the Albertina museum’s rather dramatic presence at once side of the square. It and Hotel Sacher make somewhat incongruous flanking elements for the “Monument against war and fascism.” It’s an amusing coincidence (…or perhaps an amusing act of great deliberation) that many of the city’s bingo-card sights for first timers like us are concentrated in a particular zone of downtown that also happens to house some very high-end shopping. We passed, for example, a shop selling glass and crystal that I didn’t dare breathe in the direction of, much less enter, as the price of a single plate in one of the windows worked out to about, oh, 1/4 of my monthly income or so. (Worthy window-shopping opportunities though, even if some of those windows are of the “behold the majestic glory of this single handbag” variety.) Some lovely flower stalls as well. There’s an unassuming little church on one of the not-very-square squares in Vienna. It’s a Capuchin church, one that like the convent in Prague is still run by folk of a religious order. And like that convent, it houses a sight that may be of interest to the passer-by: the “Kaisergruft,” or the imperial burial vault. Curious at what manner of intersection of the Gothic and the Baroque we might meet down there, we went in for a look. Not all of the imperial bloodline are interred here. And, indeed, not all of the people who ARE interred here is interred here; apparently some of their organs are likely to be in urns and such elsewhere in the city. But their bones are here, and the resting places of said bones range from the modest… …to the impressive… …to the “Holy crap, is all that really….well, I guess you’re doing you, so go for it”: That last one perhaps has an excuse for its drama: the bones in it belong to the legendary Empress Maria Theresa. In Austria, Empress Elisabeth is to Princess Diana as Maria Theresa is to Queen Victoria, and it seems that just about everywhere in the city there are traces of her passing. She’s one of the rare, lucky royals who seems to have had a love match; those sixteen (!!) children had to have come about somehow. The caskets (is that the right word?) for her and her husband here in the crypt enhance the impression; the two of them look almost as though they were only just waking up in bed together on a lazy Sunday morning. It’s oddly sweet, especially after a relatively steady diet of Goth-ier elements in the various burial sites we’ve visited in Prague and elsewhere. Sisi and her husband Franz Josef are here as well, and it seems that Sisi’s got a lot of fans, including this person who apparently felt themselves to be a kindred spirit: Emerging once again into the afternoon, we paused for lunch at Konditorei Oberlaa, where we had our first encounter with the Viennese fondness for outdoor dining when the weather is fine (it’s almost as much of a Thing as patio culture is in Toronto.) I’m not normally much of an eating outdoors sort of person, but it would have been lovely here had it not been for an unfortunate convergence of smokers and breezes. I did absolutely have one of the best bits of cheesecake I have ever put in my mouth, though – and they had this rather charming chocolate Klimt: (Now seems like a good time to mention that it’s apparently the anniversary of Klimt’s death this year, though it took us a good while to sort this out. There were a LOT of Klimt-themed elements in town, though.) Anyway, with lunch concluded and a brief interlude to convert some dollars into Euros, we made our way past a fountain that apparently scandalized Maria Theresa once upon a time (because bare breasts, you know), and took a brief peek at the actual St. Stephen’s. It feels a little crowded into its square somehow, though perhaps that was just a byproduct of the general festiveness of the square itself, full of street food and hawkers and at least one of those tiny little carnival rides that manage to look dangerous and whimsical at the same time. Much of the cathedral is a reconstruction: as with so much else in the city, it was seriously, seriously bombed-out in World War II, though there are still some rather nice views to be had inside. Back on the street again, we found ourselves ambling up another pleasant, broad avenue – past an early prototype of the now-ubiquitous pay toilets and up to a pretty extravagant example of the plague column: Yeah. That’s baroque AF. Supposedly it was a model for other constructions of its type, with then-emperor Leopold begging Lady Faith (or anyone who would listen, one suspects) to save the city from the terrible disease. When the plague eventually burnt itself out, grateful cities took to building monuments like this one. Not far from here is another little church, this one called St. Peter’s – and though honestly I think one could be forgiven for having all these religious establishments blur together by now this one had a nice little surprise for us in the form of a free afternoon organ concert. We settled in on the pews for a few moments to listen, and I snapped a photo or two: I’m pretty sure that gent is St. John of Nepomuk, who we heard a lot about in Prague. As if to prove that music is what Vienna is really all about, as we were leaving we heard music of a very different kind. Investigation of the lively march revealed it was being played by these guys: Who were they? Why were they marching down the Graben on a sunny afternoon? I honestly have no idea, but it was the second musical moment we blundered into today. All of this was buildup to a more significant musical moment, though: an attempt to get in to see a show at the Opera house itself. These can be outrageously expensive – something on the order of 150 Euros for tickets – but here’s a little something I didn’t know before doing my research for this trip: On the day of a performance, standing room tickets may be had for just 3-4 Euros. On the downside, yes, you have to stand, and there’s a fair bit of waiting about beforehand – but on the upside, you get to see a performance from one of the legendary opera houses of the world for a mere six to eight Canadian dollars. After reading up on what one needs to do to make this happen, we set out to give it a try for today’s show: L’elisir d’amore. Tip number one: Show up early enough to secure a decent spot in line. Around 4 we wandered by the Opera to see whether the line had started. To my mild surprise, it had, with a couple who were clearly old hands: both perhaps in their seventies, they were well-supplied with folding chairs, food and reading material. (Seriously, bring a book or a handheld console or something; you’ll be there a while if you try this.) Reasoning that this meant we’d better get on this, we resolved to have a late dinner after the show ended and settled in just behind them. Third and fourth in line: not bad! Not long after we staked our claim, the line began lengthening and we were treated to the interesting assortment of folks who go for this kind of thing. A little crew of girls who reminded me quite a lot of the LA contingent from our food tour in Prague. A fellow of Asian extraction with extravagant dreads. An earnest, serious-looking kid with ginger hair, glasses and a German-language copy of (if I was translating correctly) Camus’s The Myth of Sisyphus. A second Asian kid who had either the cultural ignorance or the extraordinary balls to cut in front of me in line (though after getting over my astonishment I opted not to raise a scene. Fourth and fifth in line were equally good places.) After a time, the outermost door opens, and the standing-room folk move in to take their place in the winding indoor queue…and then, more waiting. Several times we watched an usher with the unenviable job of turning folk away for improper dress do so when someone turned up with torn jeans. (Apparently, jeans in good repair are just fine in standing room, but ripped jeans and shorts that fall too far above the knee are less so. My advice: dress up at least slightly if you can. Dark jeans and a decent top/shoes will probably do just fine.) At some point during all this waiting, we fell into conversation with the old pros in front of us. They were a Dutch couple, and only the man spoke much English, but apparently they’ve been doing this for going on twenty years now, every time they’re in Vienna. Like us, they’d opted for this show largely because they weren’t in much of a mood to watch people die horribly and have tragic things occur to them in song for several hours, though they did mention that apparently in act two there’s an aria that’s known for being especially fine. (Future me: I think this is the one.) They seemed quite pleased to pass on their accumulated wisdom, though, and were definitely big opera fans. It was a slightly disjointed conversation thanks to the language barriers, but they were lovely; I wonder a little if they saw some of themselves in us. Eventually the little ticket booth opens, and we could finally buy our actual tickets (this is about two hours before showtime, so around 5:30 pm or thereabouts.) Tip #2: Have exact change for your ticket. I’d heard that they can actually be real sticklers about this, but we’d carefully hoarded four 2-Euro coins, so this bit wasn’t a big deal. Once you have your ticket in hand, you’re not quite done queueing yet. Hurry to one of the doors for the kind of ticket you’ve bought. This will be either “Gallery,” in which case you need to hurry upstairs, or “Parterre,” as in our case, which meant we had to hurry up slightly fewer stairs and, at the advice of our Dutch mentors, duck left instead of right. After waiting here for a bit longer, the final rank of doors will open, and you can at long last claim your standing-room space. Tip #3: Have something on hand to actually mark your space with. Classically this will be a scarf; I brought the very lightest one I own to mark my own place. (The Dutch couple had a clever little magnetic contraption that marked both their places out. Like I said: old hands at this.) That thing my scarf is tied around is a little screen that will show you the opera’s subtitles in English or German – but that’s still a while off. Once your space is marked with whatever you’ve brought with you, you’re free to explore the Opera House itself. It’s not as big as you’d think, not inside, though it’s every bit as grand as you might be imagining: Also as you might be imagining, it’s stuffed to the brim with artwork depicting various muses, composers, and so on. Naturally there was at least one we had to make a point of seeking out: And then, after a bit more Baroque-flavored exploring, it was showtime. I know the folks reading this may have some Opinions about opera, maybe not favorable. Myself, I’ve always rather enjoyed it; here’s a world that’s so over the top that not only are people constantly bursting into song to express themselves and their feelings, they are doing it often for reasons that are totally crazy – plus, if you’re lucky, the music is rather beautiful. I didn’t have any prior experience with this particular show, but it’s rather charming. In a nutshell: We open somewhere in rural Italy, where a crew of harvesters sing about the merciless heat of the sun – and the even more merciless heat of love. As they say: Happy is the harvester that can protect himself from it! Then again, if one really could, shows like this wouldn’t be much fun. Our Hero’s a simple country boy, and he’s got it bad, BIG time, for the lovely and intelligent girl who lives stage left. She, on the other hand, doesn’t really seem to be all that into him – while not actively hostile or anything, she just…doesn’t seem to feel the urge to be tied down. Cue the arrival of a rather ridiculously pompous soldier who’s mighty full of himself and is very into our heroine – and then, to touch off the whole romantic powder-keg, a con man so gleeful in his charlatanry it is a goddamn miracle the townsfolk are even slightly inclined to trust him. Inspired by a recent reading of Tristan and Isolde (no, seriously), Our Hero begs the con artist, a Dr. Dulcamara, for a love potion. Of course, there is one – for a steep fee; nobody has to know it’s just a good strong Bordeaux, right? Drunkenness and various forms of hilarity ensue; by the time all’s said and done our heroine has realized she wasn’t nearly as indifferent as she thought, our hero has discovered some self-confidence (and come into an unexpected inheritance for good measure), and one way or another it all works out. At one point during the second act, the Dutch lady suddenly got very excited, tapping me on the arm. “Schon! Sehr schon!” she murmured rapturously, and I realized this must be The Big One. And…uh…yeah. Yeah, it was. I don’t know my modern opera singers, but this guy was amazing here; at least twice I realized suddenly that I’d gotten so involved in watching him I was forgetting to glance down for the libretto. The spontaneous applause that broke out afterward was well-deserved. I’ve seen Pavarotti doing Rigoletto on video before, with a little sidelong glance at the audience just before launching into “La donna e mobile” that says “Yeah, here it comes, you know you want it.” (Appropriate, I guess, for an aria that is both one of the super stonking famous ones and also translates loosely into modern parlance as “Bitches be fickle, yo.”) No swagger here, though; just a completely in-character if somewhat painful earnestness. Once the third or fourth curtain call had wound down and the glitzily-dressed patrons were making for the exits (followed closely by the plebes like us), we wished the Dutch couple bon voyage and set forth in search of what was by then becoming a ridiculously late dinner. Happily, there’s something of a tradition regarding this as well. Remember the Albertinaplatz I mentioned earlier? Well, on it is one of many, many little streetside establishments offering beer and various permutations of sausagey goodness – and one of the other things I read about while working out how to do this whole standing-room thing is that apparently it is the done thing to hit up a spot like this just after the show’s ended. Mark was definitely into the idea: Curry wurst for me, and for Mark a “Riesen hot dog” – an appropriately-sized baguette impaled on what seems to be a specially made implement to punch a just-right hole in the bread without actually splitting the crust except for a cut-off end. Condiments go either into the hole or are loosely applied to the top, with the grilled sausage eventually punched in after them to make a mostly-mess-free takeout option. (I keep wanting to call it “reise wurst” for “travel sausage.”) Not fancy eats, but we certainly weren’t the only ones with that notion in mind: And I was definitely happy to collapse onto a convenient curb and dig in before heading home for the night, humming to myself. A crazy long day, but it’s hard to feel much regret about that when there was so much music in it. Day 5: Nach Wien (Above: Catbun enjoying a last look at the goldfish in our room.) We had one more sight to see today before leaving Prague, since our train wasn’t until the early afternoon: the Museum of Medieval Art, conveniently housed in the convent of the Sisters of St. Agnes, just a short walk from our hotel. I’ll be a little sad to say goodbye to the Maximilian; we had a lovely stay there even accounting for the mysterious lack of top sheets and indifferent-if-extant air conditioning that haunts Europe generally. Happily, there was safe storage for our luggage, so after our checkout we made our way through the streets one last time and entered the little cloister. This is still a working convent, I believe, though I did not see anyone wearing religious garb – and what remains of the old convent’s interior is just that – an interior, with very little in the way of furnishings or signifiers to indicate that one room was once much different from another. But the main reason one is there is, of course, the art, so let’s get to that. It’s medieval art, and from that we can assume a number of common traits: religious subject matter, frequently anonymous artists, a wide and varied range of degrees of mastery when it comes to things like perspective and naturalism. Oh, and photobombs. Usually by angels. You would seriously be surprised juuuuust how often in medieval art an angel is like “oh hey, guys!” and pops into the picture at a random angle that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with much of what’s going on in the pictures. Some of the art is legitimately beautiful and contemplative; it’s easy to imagine how in the gray-brown world of the medieval peasant the church may well have been the only place where one was able to see beautiful things. One of the only places, perhaps I should say. There were always the flowers of the field, and the sky after a rain, and the like. But there was a time when almost all of what we think of as visual art was to the greater glory of god, and this collection of it is rather fine. Some of it I recognized – some Dürer woodcuts, rather flagrant in their apocalyptic-ness. Much of it I did not: altarpieces that folded up, cleverly arranged so as to show an arrangement of saints no matter how they were folded; a wide variety of carved wooden crucifixes and pietas and painted lamentations. Over and over again Mary Magdalene washes Jesus’s feet with her hair; over and over again Christ goes to the Mount of Olives, over and over again, disciples gather at his feet, or in darkened rooms too like a tavern in Bohemia to be strictly accurate. Some of them are lovely, if somber, scenes. Some of them, to a modern eye, read a bit differently than the artist (probably) originally intended. Matthew looks serious, Mark looks as if he is thinking about lunch, Luke has the wary hesitant half smile of someone not sure if the camera is pointing at him, and John seems entirely Over It, thank you. Gathered at the crucifixion, invention seems to have run out when it came to coming up with different expressions of agony or grief for the disciples to display: here profound sorrow, there a grimace of pain, here something more evocative of digestive distress than emotional angst. A Roman soldier in the wrong armour for his place and time flashes the viewer some distinctive side-eye, as if to say “Can you believe this shit?” I feel a little disrespectful, admittedly, stating these observations out loud…but honestly, that really IS how it looked. Still, it’s a lovely collection, and aside from the inevitable squad of schoolchildren, a pleasantly un-crowded one for our final Prague sight. Outside is a little sculpture-garden, including this charming little playhouse that is apparently actually one of the sculptures. I wonder if anyone is allowed to play on it? The school group was nowhere to be seen at the time, so there was nobody around to test the theory. By now it was getting on to that time, so we headed back to the Maximilian, where we reclaimed our bags and hopped into a cab headed for the main station. Here we thanked our past selves for that run out to Kutna Hora a couple of days ago: nothing like a little practice with the trains to make finding your platform, etc, a little easier. A short wait later and we climbed aboard a train headed for “Wien Hbf,” aka Vienna (the “Hbf” is the typical abbreviation for “Hauptbahnhof” or main train station.) We had first-class tickets for this trip – an odd quirk of the Prague-Vienna trains is that you can purchase tickets for them through either the OBB (the Austrian transit authority that actually runs the train as far as I can tell) or CD (the Czech rail system, pronounced something like “Chesky drah-hee”)…and the Czech price can sometimes be cheaper for precisely the same seat. As we also bought well in advance, this meant we could easily swing a spot with a bit more leg room for our 4-hour trek. One thing I remember from my last trains-in-Europe experience is that for some reason one always expects that the borders will feel more distinct than they are – as if somehow crossing from Italy to Germany will result in the grass being a different green or something, which of course is nonsense. In this case, pretty pastoral countryside continued on both sides of the border, broken up occasionally by assorted small towns and the like. The only really notable differences? Signs swap primary languages from Czech to German (meaning I was no longer QUITE functionally illiterate, hooray) and at the last Czech stop we were slightly astonished to see just about everyone else in the car pile out of the train, which lingered a bit longer than normal. Perhaps the staff have to swap when the border changes? In any case, it was a very comfortable journey, even with minor hiccups like an in-seat food ordering system that didn’t quite “take” when we put our order in for some sandwiches. Another thing I remember is how striking the differences between train stations could be, and the transition from Prague’s to Vienna’s was marked by a sudden spike in signage, as well as in available staff who could point you toward whatever it was you were looking for – in our case the 13A bus toward Siebensterngasse, which wound through the streets of the city to an area that gradually began to resemble Queen West. Vienna was described to me as being “basically Toronto” before this trip, though I’m not entirely sure I agree. For one, there is a notable lack of either the kind of glass and steel condo developments that all of residential downtown seems to be gradually turning into or the skyscrapers that make up most of the “business” downtown. Instead, you have relatively tidy blocks of three-to-five story buildings, many of which seem to subscribe to some sort of unspoken (or perhaps it’s quite spoken, and I just don’t know that) European building code: windows shaped just so, and double-glazed after a fashion, with a casement that opens inward and another that opens outward. Facades to be white, or at least aiming for white; signage neat and prominently displayed in blue and white. Oh, and for a second difference: unlike Toronto’s, the public transit in Vienna actually works. It’s brisk and efficient, just make very sure you have validated your ticket or else you may be liable for a stiff fine. We hopped off at Siebensterngasse and looked round for our next lodgings, eventually locating the green “Hotel Kugel” sign near the corner. This is a hotel dating back to the 1800s, and a certain retro quality was present throughout its fittings (thankfully, there’s a modern if tiny elevator.) Our room was every bit as frilly as one could possibly hope for in Vienna: Alas, still no top sheet, but a very welcome fan. A nice view, too: Once our bags were dropped off safely, we pondered our next course of action, eventually settling on “let’s go get oriented with our first evening, the way we did in Prague.” We’ve been following the Rick Steves guide for this trip, and a ride around the Ringstrasse tram with an audio tour we downloaded seemed like just the thing. With a little help from Google Maps we worked out the right general direction and set off. Things you notice almost immediately: Traffic lights are back. I don’t think we saw one of these in Prague anywhere; as Jan noted on our food tour, whatever is coming from the right has right of way, and since everyone knows this, voila, no fuss. (Though I admit to having found it disconcerting.) A number of the traffic lights for pedestrians in Vienna represent same-sex couples, waiting patiently (or perhaps snuggling) side by side when the light is red and strolling gaily across when it’s green, with a little heart between them. They’re extremely cute. The streets here seem to have far fewer windings and tangles than in Prague. One gets the sense that more of the growth here was planned rather than organic – and perhaps it was; one doesn’t have to be more than an indifferent student of history to recognize that Vienna was an imperial capital for a very, very long time. A few blocks away from the Siebensterngasse stop, the street bumped into a little flight of stairs. Curious to see whether these would allow us to cut straight through a block, as the little arched tunnels in Prague often do, we tried them – and found ourselves going down a much, much longer flight of stairs into something labeling itself prominently “Museumsquartier.” (At a guess, this is because, well, there were some museums and galleries here judging by the signs; notably modern art if these were anything to go by.) The sort of square at the base of the stairs was clearly setting up for some sort of concert, but almost all of the space not populated by workers and steel constructs was taken up by abstract couches in bright purple, populated by the sort of fashionable young people who make me feel rather drab at the best of times, all eager German conversation. Beyond this, we emerged onto a street fronted by a grand-looking park dominated by a large sculpture of a woman enthroned who reminded me a little of statuary of Victoria, flanked by some fairly spectacular buildings; as a sign nearby read “M. Theresien-platz” I assumed this must be Maria Theresa. (Future Me: I was right, as the next morning would confirm.) Past this and round a corner we made it at last to the Ringstrasse – the innermost of Vienna’s ring roads that encircles its densest concentration of sights. Here we had a bit of a disappointment: the tram stops here for several blocks had a sort of blue metal cross-like thing mounted over each of them. “Verlassen,” it said. Lost? No. What the hell was that word? I eventually resorted to Google Translate and had an unpleasant surprise: “Abandoned.” It seems that a chunk of the ring tram is out of commission at the moment. Lovely. Well, so much for THAT plan. Instead we made for the nearest likely source of dinner – a sort of pub-like restaurant with a propensity for collecting beer themed kitsch in a variety of languages. Well. It’d do; we settled in for a reasonably tasty schnitzel and some kind of meat-filled dumplings with sauerkraut and planned our next move. This was, as it was getting late, simply to do a stroll around the Opera area, taking in the sights. Vienna in the evening was sedate, but in a charming sort of way and around behind the Opera house was one of those things that’s on the Vienna bingo card: That’s Cafe Sacher, home of the Sachertorte – a dense chocolate cake with a fruity center layer and a ganache-like icing. You may have heard of it? Anyway, why the hell not – we headed in and placed an order for two of them, with a coffee each. Or a “melange,” rather – something like a cappuccino. Coffee isn’t served here with milk separately as it is in North America; if you want milk in your coffee it’s best to order it in a preparation that includes some. The tortes were brought to the table by a waitress in an honest to goodness maid outfit, and came with a little seal of officialness, also in chocolate: Drier than I was expecting, but tasty all the same. On that note we headed off to bed. Another long day tomorrow. Have a nighttime view of Vienna or two while you wait for the next post: Day 4: Opulence, of several kinds Our final full day in the Czech Republic dawned bright and cool, and we set out with a plan: to try for a non-hotel breakfast at the recommended-by-the-food-tour-folks Cafe Savoy, over in Prague’s Little Quarter. This would, we knew, demand some careful timing, since the other priority for the morning was to visit Prague Castle, and we hoped to beat some of the numerous tour groups to the punch (as much as possible anyway.) So it was that we found ourselves outside the cafe several minutes before it opened, in the company of a few early-morning businessfolk and a handful of people who had the look about them of tourists like us. After a few minutes, a young fellow in kitchen whites emerged to set out baskets of pansies and a waiter in a straight-up tuxedo (sans jacket) began seeing to seating for everyone. Having heard the French toast here was to die for, and knowing we had a long day ahead of us, we ordered the “French breakfast,” which was…massive. It also cost about as much as a nice dinner out in Toronto, but since literally everything was delicious as well, somehow I found it difficult to mind all that much. As we prepared to leave for another round of heavy walking, I stopped to visit the WC – I mention this purely because the area outside said WC is a glassed-in overlook that lets you watch the crew in the pastry kitchen do their thing. While the placement is disconcerting, it’s pretty cool to watch; I recommend having a look if anyone reading this one day happens to go there. Next stop: Prague Castle. Sort of. We got on the tram heading the wrong way, but fortunately this was readily corrected. Our travel book made quite a point of saying “Be at St. Vitus’s Cathedral at nine,” but it wasn’t until our slightly delayed arrival at about 9:10 or so that we discovered why: guess where all the tour groups start? …Yeah. Dodging a crew of Russians and at least two of those big crews of Chinese travelers, we bought our tickets and dove for the cathedral entrance. It’s curious how much the cathedral feels like the heart of the castle. Perhaps this is simply because the castle is no longer a “working” castle: the rooms where the business of governing was actually done are largely empty of furnishings now, waking up only briefly as tourists come to observe them before rolling over and going back to sleep. Once upon a time, kings were crowned here, in the chapel of St. Wenceslas, where the saint’s bones are interred. St. Vitus himself is here as well, or at least he’s got a reliquary. There’s also the biggest of the bells in the area, affectionately known as “Zikmund.” We wandered for a while, taking in the interior (at least as much as was possible around the already-getting-dense crowds.). Here, I’ll share a few views: The castle interior itself is much simpler: the hefty architecture the Middle Ages tended toward when it wanted to get things done. There is at least one hall that must at one time have been very grand, though: And there is also the infamous window where the Defenestration of Prague took place: Quite a lot of madness from such an ordinary-looking window. We also got a chance to explore “Golden Lane,” a tiny little medieval shopping street that has partly been re-populated with little dioramas of the sorts of shops that filled the place at various points in history and partly with actual shops of ponderous touristiness. Notable, for me at least, were a rendering of the house of a medium (above) who was quite popular before she was taken in by the Gestapo (as with so many stories like this, it Did Not Go Well) and of a local journalist and intense fan of old films who used to run screenings out of his living room. I’m…legitimately not sure at this point how many stories I have heard on this trip that seem to end with some variation on “…and then they were taken by the Gestapo.” That always seems to represent the ending when it comes; an uncomfortable full-stop that makes even reading the plaque feel awkward. As though the curator were darting me an awkward glance before moving on with their description. As we started down the very, very steep hill that pointed us back toward the city centre, we took a pause to tour Lobkowicz Palace. It’s a pretty place, though not over the top extravagant, and visiting it is, for those reading this who played D&D with me, a very VanDeen-y affair. The noble family of the Prince(s) of Lobkowicz lived here, or at least they did until they lost everything in WWII. Then they got it all back, then lost it again under the communists, then got it back again. Now they run a museum that from the sound of it helps them keep the lights on and restorers available for the ongoing maintenance of their vast stashes of goods. Said stash includes the expected accoutrements of nobility: fine porcelain, silver, paintings of pastoral scenes and engravings by Piranesi. One room contains a collection of paintings of dogs, apparently something of a family fixation; another is populated with images of birds composed largely of the feathers of the bird in question. It seems the princes were avid followers of the arts in general; the collection also includes a Mozart rearrangement of Handel’s “Messiah” with notes in his own hand, and several scores dedicated to a prior Prince of Lobkowicz who was, I shit you not, Beethoven’s patron. (Things I learned: originally Beethoven planned to dedicate his “Eroica” to Napoleon. However, by the time it was finished, Beethoven was sufficiently unimpressed that he re-dedicated it to the then current prince of Lobkowicz, striking out his earlier dedication with enough force to rip holes in the paper.) There’s also a painting of the famous defenestration – or rather, what happened shortly afterward. It approaches the situation from a rather different point of view than other accounts we’ve heard to date, however: here, the nobles who were flung out of the window have fled to the Lobkowicz palace for protection, and a family ancestress is shielding them from the angry horde. The museum also includes an audio guide narrated with rather endearing earnestness by the current…is it still prince? I’m not sure…with cameos from his wife and mother in law. It’s a curious mix of enthusiasm for the collection and impressive manifestation of privilege (Though I did enjoy the anecdote about his father riding a bicycle up and down the grand halls.) At least the desire to preserve all this for future generations seems to be in earnest, and in that I wish them all the best. Our next stop was perhaps more amusing than classy: Speculum Alchemiae, a slightly cheesy little attraction that sprang up after massive flooding unearthed an honest to god alchemist’s lab tucked away under one of the local houses. Prague has a tendency to flood: in fact, the level of the city has been raised a few times over the years, and on some much-older buildings the effects of this can be seen. At the old town hall, what is now the cellar used to be the street level, and the former windows are still clearly visible; here, the house where once an alchemist plied his trade sits several feet below the more modern buildings nearby. The flood unearthed a series of tunnels, one of which led directly to the castle, and in these, supposedly, documents were found that clued everyone in as to what the place once was. These same documents were then used to reconstruct the way the lab may have looked, long ago. It’s a little bit cheesy, but amusing to visit, complete with glassworks, distillery and storage space for a variety of herbs. And hey, it has a secret bookcase. Mark bought a small clay phial of something that purports to be an elixir of youth, though I suspect its primary virtues may have less to do with revitalizing the flesh than with adding a cute trinket to a bookcase. Here we paused for a break at our hotel’s “honesty bar,” after picking up a bottle of water at the nearest convenience store, and I surprised myself by downing almost a litre of it without really stopping. I get the sense I am really burning a lot of water just walking around; so far it’s been very humid everywhere we go. Today was planned as food tour day, so there was time for just one more stop on the way: the Mucha museum, wherein I got to see real life versions of many of those cheap prints seen in college dorms everywhere, including mine. Some of those posters from his Paris period are a LOT bigger than you’re thinking if you’ve only ever seen the prints, as well; Sarah Bernhardt in Medea may not have been quite life-sized, but she sure can dominate a wall. Here also Mark and I made the happy discovery that there IS some art we can agree on after all – both of us find things to love in Mucha. For him, there is the interplay of forms, I love the use of colour and the swirling, delicate lines; we both love his knack for expressions and symbolism. This is especially fun when looking at some of his work that comes in sets – seasons, flowers, etc. In the back of the museum is a movie detailing more about Mucha’s life – patronage, contracts, his distaste for society and his patriotic dreams. (We did not make it out to see the Slav Epic this time, but one of these days I should really look into it.) They had some works I’d never heard of before there, let alone seen – like the rather haunting “Star.” Like the Slav Epic, this one has political meaning as well – Mucha painted it in response to hearing about the suffering of the common folk of Russia post-Bolsheviks. On the one hand, I feel a bit shallow for enjoying works of his that were, essentially, just advertisements; I cannot imagine hanging the average ad that appears on the TTC in my living room. Then again, I may possibly have bought a print of one of his works for myself. Blame my affinity for the “The Moon” card, perhaps. This done, we headed to the meeting point for our food tour…which we almost missed, even so, after first getting the place right, then thinking we’d got it wrong, then hurrying back to the right one again. Our guide for the evening was Jan, a guy about our own age who’d studied briefly in the USA and done translation work in the land of high finance before eventually deciding he’d had enough and switching to full-time foodie tourism. Everyone ELSE on the tour was young ladies from the States, most from LA, and most “between jobs,” though I am uncertain quite what that means exactly. This made parts of the experience a bit odd; for instance, I have never been in a room, ever, where people lit up as visibly as the LA girls did when he mentioned the Kardashians. Ah well. All of us were there because we liked food, at least, so we had that in common. (And here, guys, I am going to do that thing I roll my eyes at people a bit for doing when they do it in restaurants in Canada…I photographed my food so I could share with you. Those of you this will irritate, feel free to skim over this bit.) Here are sort of the primary take-aways from the entire affair: The Czechs are trying to re-establish a sort of Czech food identity after Communism. Communist life in the Czech Republic was, for most people, more boring than horrific according to Jan. Certainly the regime did a number on food, standardizing recipes down to the weight of ingredients to be used for each dish. Recipes served lots of people at once (the example he showed us served 100) and were the same pretty much everywhere – so if you didn’t like the bread (or whatever) at one place there was very little point in going anywhere else. Restaurants came in four “levels”; I’m not sure if there was much difference between the recipes available at a level 1 vs a level 4, but the part of me that loves going out to St. Lawrence or wherever finds the entire idea just soul-destroying. Here’s the other important bit, though: as we all know, food is often about comfort for a lot of us. What do we crave when we want comfort? Food we remember from childhood. And what was childhood if you’re Czech and were born within living memory of, say, 1989? That bland gray age of Communist standardization. This, plus the legitimate desire to create new food that’s still recognizably Czech, results in an interesting mishmash of nostalgia and enthusiasm, springing forth from kitchens staffed mainly by young Czechs. “Notice how young everyone is at all of the places we go,” he commented – and he was absolutely right. Our first stop was a place called Mysak, where Jan’s mother had taken him as a child were he to get unusually good marks at the end of a term. This was an example of a place that had been family-run for ages and doggedly kept open throughout communism, only for the owner to pass away without anyone to pass the business to shortly after communism fell. A new generation’s picked it up, however, and it is once again a popular, slightly upscale spot. Here we had a petite open-faced sandwich topped with shrimp – an affluent indulgence in a landlocked country – and a kind of cream-filled glazed cruller called a “venecek” that I think I would have eaten my body weight in given the opportunity: Here we paused for a bit of chat about pricing. There comes a point for everyone, it seems, where the idea of “what something should cost” becomes fixed in one’s mind. Perhaps about fifty or so. In the Czech Republic, this means that for many, “what food should cost” is “what food cost under communism,” so a lot of older Czechs especially don’t visit places like this because the food seems too expensive. There is certainly a kind of Overton window of costs where an amount of money becomes “a lot” to you; for me that’s about 100 dollars, but for Mark it’s rather higher. I wonder how much things like that change within one’s lifetime? I know $20 was once “a lot” to me, and then $50…Who knows, I suppose. There is no “bank of mom and dad” in the Czech Republic, either: here, the generational wealth gap exists in the inverse of North America. At home, it’s older generations that tend to have money; here, the reverse. Sometimes this means that these older folks will even be resistant to fixing up a crumbling apartment block because doing so will raise rents: there are some buildings where younger tenants are literally waiting for older ones to die in order to conduct repairs. On our way to the next stop, we poked our heads in at the main post office for Prague. They are very very serious about not taking photographs in there, so I don’t have any unfortunately, but it’s a surprisingly pretty building. It’s also open 24/7, and is the nexus for quite a few bits of Czech bureaucracy. (Another thing I learned today: Everyone has a mailing address here, even the homeless folks – their messages will just go to the post office proper and it’s their responsibility to check them.) Stop number 2 of our tour was Kantyna, “the palace of meat,” a former Masonic temple turned fancy butcher shop-slash-eatery where you can order meat by weight and have it brought to you. This place is crazy busy, and a number of tables had reservations marked with numbered bones, but the tour group we were with has a special arrangement whereby sometimes they will set up a card table for those who’ve been on the tour. Appropriately to the setting they brought out a tray of pulled pork, dry-aged sausages, latkes fried in pork fat, and steak tartare. The latter one eats by first vigorously rubbing the toasted bread with a cut clove of garlic; the garlic was pleasingly spicy, much more so than in Canada. I don’t know what causes that, but I wish I could have some to cook with at home! We also had a dark lager called “Kozel” here. This is the gateway beer in this part of the world, apparently; the lighter stuff that teenaged girls drink. (Still not really my jam, but I figured if there was ever a “when in Rome” sort of occasion this was it.) On our way to our next stop we learned another interesting factoid: you know that Jewish quarter we visited? There are still some Jews in Prague, but not many: only 1500 or so officially registered, most over 55. This came up because the former Jewish quarter was home to stop number three: Lokal, a small chain with just a few locations that is riffing on the classic Czech pub. These are trading on the aforementioned communist nostalgia very hard, naturally, which means that walking into one is a bit like walking into the legion hall at first glance: comfortable if spartan-looking seating, a long bar, painted stencilwork on the wallpaper. The “riffing on” element becomes more apparent when you look more closely at the walls: wood paneling that looks very 70s has been gouged with graffiti-like carvings that are lit from behind. A decorative feature, not defacements. This is because, as we learned on sitting down, the local pub is a place where you go to do two things, mainly: drink, and talk to your friends, largely to complain about all the things in your life that make you crazy. So there’s no music being played (a difference from Canadian pubs I didn’t register at first), and the food on offer is mostly of the “stuff you serve with beer” variety. Czechs drink a lot of beer. A LOT. Jan showed us a typical beer-ordering card, a long strip with many, many little outlines of mugs of beer on it. When the waitress sees you’re empty, or running low, she’ll come by with another, marking off one of the outlines, unless and until you explicitly say “no more.” At the end of the night you cash out – a procedure Jan referred to as “Czech dim sum.” How many beers on the average do Czechs have this way? Eight or nine a night, easily. We had just the one, this time a Pilsner Urquell lager that came from a giant tank under the bar. There are about six of these active in any pub at a given time, and they will go through three tanks in a night, easily. When refill time comes, a tanker truck full of beer pulls up to the pub and fills ’em up, gas station style. …What do you eat with all that beer? Well, fried cheese is popular; this is served with tartar sauce (?) and tastes about as awesome as fried cheese generally does. There was also a Hungarian-style goulash, and chicken schnitzel served with a warm, vinegary potato salad. Here we also learned something that might possibly explain why Prague was so much less crowded than I had anticipated: apparently the Czechs love going to the cottage on holiday weekends as much as Canadians do, so a goodly chunk of the city may have been out for a time. Next stop, a second meat-themed spot, Nase Maso, for a sample of their meatloaf sandwich. About this, I cannot say much except that it was very tasty, and they have provided us with the recipe, which I may try one of these days when I have people over. We did learn an interesting factoid about the place, though: there is a wine bar nearby, and you can apparently have the butcher shop grill you a steak and bring it over. (I must confess I rather like the idea of summoning a steak like this, though I didn’t get the chance to test drive it. Ah well. On a future trip perhaps. Onward, again – and outward in this case, to the neighbourhood of Kalin well outside the touristy zones of the city; rough-but-gentrifying, perhaps the closest Torontonian analogue would be the Junction. Here, tech companies have settled in, and a little crop of restaurants trying out new things have sprung up to serve them. As we headed to our first stop here, we passed a lengthy queue; investigation revealed that playing that night was Bobby McFerrin. (There’s a name I haven’t thought of in a while…) Next stop, Eska, a trendy-looking spot where we were seated “at the chef’s table,” near the kitchen. Here we were treated first to a gin and tonic crafted with an artisanal gin by a local, along with a seriously adorable little amuse-bouche crafted with radish slices and edible flowers: I love the water-lily look. This was followed by a modern riff on what is apparently a popular Czech campfire dish: “ash potatoes,” which as the name suggests are potatoes tossed into the campfire ashes to roast. Ours were served a bit more elaborately than that, though: This was a kind of deconstructed baked-potato affair, and it was seriously delicious. As we waited for our next course, we watched the kitchen doing its thing. (Jan commented “They say there are three things you can watch forever: fire, the sea, and other people working.”) Perhaps he’s right about that; it was weirdly gratifying to watch the kitchen staff as they boiled, roasted, plated… The next course was mushroom-oriented: a sort of fermented wheat berry risotto-like substance rich with mushroom flavours. The Czechs apparently not only eat a lot of mushrooms but forage for them regularly as well; all Czech students receive some basic mushroom education in school, and many towns have a sort of mushroom assistance agency that will help you identify the mushrooms you’ve made it back with. These are staffed by “Unabomber weirdo types,” as he put it, but they’re quite knowledgeable, and foraging can be a way to make some extra cash if you know what you’re doing. Above: “pre-dessert,” a little nibble before we headed out. Whee! Our final stop for the evening was the Krystal bistro for a traditional Czech dessert: plum dumplings with butter, poppy seeds, and stewed plums, paired with another local artisanal spirit: a walnut brandy. Both dumpling and brandy were lovely: warm and comforting, buttery, fruity density and woody acidity together. At the end of the evening Jan had some additional gifts to see us off: tram tickets back to the old town, and a Koh-I-Noor pencil for everyone. These are apparently a Czech innovation, too. File that under things I didn’t know, certainly… By this time we were so full we were more than happy to just head back to the hotel and collapse for the night, thank you. Anyone thinking of going to Prague who likes food, though: go do this. It was a great time, it was delicious, and I’ll be giving them some good internet ratings when I get back to Toronto. Tomorrow: we head to Vienna. Good night, Prague. It’s been fun! (Please enjoy Mark with this painting of chickens.) Day 3: Bones and silver in Bohemia Note: I am absolutely still writing these, but as may already be apparent we have been crazy busy. Will get them up as time permits! Day three of our trip saw us heading outside of Prague, to the rural city of Kutna Hora. This meant, of course, sorting out how to use the trains. If you’re European I think you are likely born with a few extra points in the “Use Train” skill; as a North American I had to work a bit to dredge up the remnants of my backpacking knowledge. Right. Train number, car number, seat number. Even so, Prague’s main train station can be overwhelming. There’s a riot of…everything going on: crowds of people with giant suitcases, a somewhat puzzling-to-outsiders numbering system for the platforms that takes into account north or south platforms, different ticket windows for domestic vs international trains. Still, fortunately for us the language of buying tickets is fairly universal: two, Kutna Hora, return. Slip of paper in hand, we headed for the departures board and thence to the platform… Where there were a LOT of people waiting. Perhaps it is because Kutna Hora is just that popular, or perhaps it was because it happened to be The Holiday Variously Known as V-E day or “Victory Day” or (as was written on some signs in the Czech Republic) “Liberation Day.” Be that as it may, we only barely scored a seat on the train before it rolled out into the Czech countryside. The city gave way to green countryside of the sort I have been watching so often in Mark’s playthrough of Kingdom Come, and the stations grew progressively smaller and…well, not dingier precisely. Careworn, perhaps, with weary-looking painted plaster walls encrusted thickly with graffiti. Kutna Hora’s main station has two platforms, brown painted plaster, and, like Prague’s main station, a startling lack of staff. From there it was a matter of transferring to a tiny yellow train that lumbered along gently to our first stop of the day. Kutna Hora is best known for two things: silver mining (the translation of the town’s name was presented to us at least once as “to mine the mountain”) and the Sedlec Ossuary, which you might already know as “The Bone Church.” This tiny chapel had its cemetery consecrated with earth from the holy land, once upon a time – a desirable state of affairs if you are religious and it’s the Middle Ages. So popular was this place for burials that they ran very quickly out of room…and found themselves having to disinter old corpses to make way for new ones. What to do with all those bones? I’m not sure who it was that said “I know! Let’s stack them up into impressive pyramids, hang them on all the available wall space we’ve got, and build us a memento mori that people who use the word “Goths” to describe themselves centuries from now will daydream about visiting!” But here we are. It’s not a BIG ossuary – you can tour the whole in perhaps twenty minutes – but it’s definitely something. It’s clearly popular with more than just the Goth set, too: the place was already pretty mobbed when we arrived, packed with assorted Russians, Germans, a handful of North American folks and at least one bus’s worth of Chinese tourists. I think the bit I liked best is this little detail from the crest of the local lord depicted here; a skull decked out in the style of an Ottoman Turk would be getting its eyes pecked out, if it had any, by a raven. From there we had to find a place to catch a local bus a bit further in to the city centre. After some blundering about looking for the station (and making the discovery that English is less common outside Prague), we found ourselves waiting in the company of a very, very Goth-looking couple who had apparently hired a local guide for the day. The woman had jet-black dreads and a fairly epic Medusa tattoo; we saw the two of them around quite regularly for the rest of the day. As we rode the bus, idly surveying the landscape of what looked like some of those little Communist-era apartments (painted in multicoloured plaster, like Prague, but far less romantic-looking), we happened to look right and see…an elephant. Seriously. Real live elephant, just hanging out munching on some tree branches. A handful of people looking on as if to say “what the fuck do we do about this?” (A reasonable response really.) As Mark and I swapped “WTF?” looks of our own, the local fellow guiding the Goths mentioned that the elephant was apparently an escapee from a circus that had come to town of late. Nobody was sure what to DO about it. (I wondered if he was having them on…but there WERE posters for a circus with recent dates.) Hopping off the bus, it was time to walk downhill to St. Barbara’s Church. Remember how I said the name of the town is suggestive of mountains? I MEAN it about “downhill.” Imagine a town paved with mostly medieval cobbles (the hard rounded kind), pitched at about a 45 degree or more angle, and there you have it. The notion of cycling there is frankly terrifying. St. Barbara’s is as Gothic as the ossuary, though more in the architecture sense than fans of, say, The Crow. Once upon a time, you see, this little town was not just wealthy but fantastically so; its silver mines were part of the Bohemian infrastructure that provided silver to most of Europe for a surprisingly long time. Professionals in coin minting were imported from Italy; the ruler of the land paid regular visits, and according to the locals this little place was once a contender for capital city of the region. Why am I telling you all this now? Because this church was to be a no expenses spared showpiece, and you can kind of tell. Here, have a look: This fellow is wearing what we would shortly learn is a miner’s uniform – sensible, as St. Barbara is patron of miners: As it was lunchtime by now, we headed to a little pub-like spot on a public square, where we had a light lunch of “garlic soup with ham and cheese” and a lemonade we were relieved to find was made with lemons. (Previous experience had suggested that “lemonade” in Prague is more of a…family of beverages that might include all sorts of fruit.) Then it was time to learn a bit more about where all this silver came from. Silver mining in the Middle Ages was a scary business. Miners would crawl out of bed at a terrifyingly early hour to make their way down to the mine for their eight-hour shifts. To do this they would don a kind of white robe with a hood along with some sturdy leather apron-type garment that could be used to (for instance) slide down chutes deeper into the mine. Grab a tallow lamp and you’re all set to crawl in and set to…literally: exploratory passages were very low to the ground, to save the bother of mining out all that unnecessary stone. Miners worked in the near-dark, in damp tunnels, hunting for silver ore that was nearly black in its unrefined state; in the absence of visual cues they learned to rely on the feel of stone under hammers and picks, or on the smell of the dust. Smell something like garlic? You might be in luck! A complex system of code knocks helped them communicate with one another. Miners had to be young unmarried men, and there is a great reason for that: the job was horrifically dangerous, and they lost something on the order of five miners per day. Per day. Think about that for a second. It was during our pre-mine talk with our guide Luci that we heard another possible origin of the town’s name, as well: a saint had a dream here once about some silver rods, and from these the town gets its name. Poetic, but less likely, perhaps. We headed down into the mines and got to hear a bit more about why they’re so dangerous: gases given off from wood as it rots underground, arsenic leaching from the stone into the water and poisoning everyone; losing your light and getting lost, tunnel collapses…et cetera. All in all I’m cool with my desk job, thanks. As part of the tour we get to don the white miners’ robes ourselves (with modern helmets, fortunately) and squeeze into a tiny area of the mines. And I mean “turn sideways and squish through as tightly as possible” tiny. Here’s Mark in his outfit: And here are some representative shots of the tunnels: The mines are surprisingly wet; in at least one place you can shine the light from your helmet down to see water in a deeper shaft. How deep do they go? I’m not sure, but apparently nobody’s all that certain how many miles of tunnel exist just now. It was certainly interesting but overall…yeah, I am happy to be working above ground. We also toured the above ground museum of silver with a lady who apologized profusely for her English, as she hadn’t used it in some 40 years (!). This bit of the tour I’ll just skim, as it was mainly collections of artifacts from the town accompanied by descriptions of how daily life was: medieval history fans, you probably already know all you need to know about this. I did enjoy the chest that locked and unlocked twelve locks at once using a single key: For good measure, the real keyhole isn’t the visible one on the front, either. The silver museum also has a temporary exhibit space. On right now: gingerbread. I know, I know, but it IS some impressive gingerbread: After this we took a stroll downhill to see the rest of Kutna Hora. It has some pretty impressive drinking fountain infrastructure: This would have been quite necessary at the time it was built due to the other major side effect of the mining: turning the land around the town into an arsenic-blighted hellscape. Today the land around Kutna Hora is pretty pleasant and green, but they would have chopped down all the local trees either for wood or for charcoal, and for years had to have both wood AND water shipped in. Ugh. Eventually we made our way down to the little pink train station to catch the train back to Prague. Here there was a bit of an unpleasant surprise: apparently it’s totally possible to end up standing the entire way to your destination if you haven’t reserved a seat. (Pro tip for anyone trying this in future.) Still, there was nothing for it – and so, feet burning rather fiercely by now after a day’s hard haul over rough cobble at a steep angle, we rode. A woman carrying a bright pink Hello Kitty bag wandered the aisles the entire trip, I assume watching for a space to open up. A youngish guy who looked as though he could bench-press me checked his phone, the outline of a set of brass knuckles alarmingly plain through his jeans. Business folk checked emails and kicked off high heeled shoes as far as public decency would seem to permit. Countryside directly out of Kingdom Come eventually gave way to suburbs, and then to office towers, and then to Prague. We weren’t quite done with the day yet, though: hopping onto the somewhat-grungy-but-still-pretty-effective metro, we made our way to the evening’s planned entertainment: the National Marionette Theatre’s production of Don Giovanni. (The Czechs apparently have an honourable tradition of puppetry, and we’ve heard that this was a superior choice to some of the “black light” theatre shows.) The theatre is a cute little Art Deco-ish affair, and while I can’t show you photos of the performance (here’s a review with representative examples) it was actually quite entertaining in a whimsical sort of way. The puppets don’t do any singing – it’s a recording – but that’s fine, as the real star here is the surprising physicality of the puppeteers’ performance. Yes, the characters on stage are puppets; but the show really leans in to that, with charming results. The show’s been cut significantly, of course, and if you don’t speak Italian I would advise reading the plot on Wikipedia or something beforehand so you will have at least a vague clue what’s going on. It’s also threaded through with wry and often dark nonverbal humor; when a puppet character “dies” the puppeteer sags over the rail as if their own strings have been cut, and a backdrop stubbornly refuses to unfurl, stalling the opening of a scene. I think I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of Mozart as the maestro. He’s controlled from below, unlike the other puppets, but his gestures are weirdly expressive and play nicely into what’s going on onstage. (And, of course, he premiered this show in Prague, so it’s appropriate.) At one point in the show he seemingly gets so frustrated by the other puppets’ antics that he just gets good and drunk and passes out, while the rest of the cast tries to work around his snoring form. Eventually Giovanni gets hauled off to hell, the puppeteers have some amusing reactions to the overlong concluding sequence, and the audience files out. In our case this was in search of a late dinner. This turned out to be some serviceable if unexceptional Czech food at a place Mark described as “what happens when The Witcher collides with a TGI Friday’s.” There was a tableful of blonde ladies eating fried cheese, and a very excited Japanese couple. Goulash for me, roast duck for Mark, with some more of those big bread dumplings. Beer lovers in the audience may wish to note that the beer was literally cheaper than the water. By, like, ten crowns. This done, we headed back to the hotel to collapse, orienting ourselves via the House of Death, but not before spotting some more golem memorabilia on the way. (I think Mark has the pictures of that, sadly.) Day 2: The Old Town, the New Town After wandering around in it for not-quite-two days, Prague seems a little…schizophrenic? I’m not sure what word I really want, there, but let me try and explain. The city is all layers, in all directions: Art Nouveau swirls nestle in next to Baroque curlicues, Gothic arches tower over it all…and then, right across the cobbled streets, McDonald’s. Poetic gardens and somber, brooding synagogues…right alongside clusters of loud, tacky shops aimed at tourists and establishments offering Thai massages. Spotlessly clean facades, well-maintained for the upcoming centennial celebrations, and also ubiquitous graffiti. We opened our first full day here with breakfast at our hotel, then made our way to the Museum of Communism, a smallish but interesting exploration of the Czech Republic’s experiences with the philosophy and its proponents. In practice, it is a little bit more of a “Museum of Ways Communism Sucked” – if the descriptions of the exhibits and the little videos of personal stories are anything to go by, the Czechs suffered quite a lot under communism and were pretty damned happy to see the back of it. Take this thing, for example: It took something like 7 years to build, acquired the nickname “the line for meat,” and when communism fell it was demolished so completely that nothing at all remains to be seen of it today. Or take the example of the young students like Jan Palach, who were so infuriated at the return of communist control after what seemed like a veering toward a different way of life that they literally set themselves on fire. This cross is something we found later, commemorating their deaths in Wenceslas Square. There is quite a “fuck this shit” societal attitude that seems to underpin much of the thought about religion and politics here, and it’s things like this that give you a sense why. The museum also displays some interesting propaganda, and gives a handful of Czech folks the chance to tell their stories of repression, smuggling, becoming stateless to study in Austria, etc. There’s also a lot of unsurprisingly-rather-cross descriptions of how much Russia was held up as the ideal to follow, some of which seemed full of more barely-concealed rage than I normally expect from museum text. The souvenir shop, by contrast, is all black humor: a “we can do it!” proletarian lady is shown on the side of a coffee mug, with the slogan “Solidarity from your communist sisters! Who would have burned their bras if there had been any in the shops.” Stop number two for today was the Old Town Hall, where for some centuries the city has conducted its urban business. Our guide was a pleasant, white-haired fellow who spoke a dizzying array of languages, and who explained to us that although a number of features of the building are off display for renovations (like the famous astrological clock, which has been covered by a screen that shows a video of the little show on the hour. Probably just as well; there would be a LOT of angry tourists otherwise) there’s still plenty to see. By law, once upon a time city halls like this one had to include a chapel, a dungeon, and a kind of courtroom: this is true of the one in Prague as well. Sadly most of what was in the chapel was out for restoration work, though the glass was lovely: The mayor’s ceremonial rooms contain a variety of original and reconstructed architectural detail, though right at the very end of the war of course some jerks lobbed grenades into it and destroyed lots of cool interior details, like the original bell from the tower. You can still see the original “suffering Jesus” from the 1300s, though: The mayoral chamber is also lined with crests. If one looks closely enough, they’re not heraldic representations of noble families though – they’re guild crests from the various occupations that kept the city running. A ship represents traders, crossed knives the butchers; hat-makers have a swirling starfish of ostrichlike feathers. In a hallway just past this, a massive Sevres vase commemorates friendly relations between Prague and Paris: Grander halls for formal pronouncements and the like eventually give way to one of the many winding staircases we ended up seeing today. This one took us into the lower levels of the Old Town Hall, where that third essential was: the dungeon. It looks a bit more like a cellar these days, to be honest, but once upon a time this was a place of some terror, I suppose – particularly the “Purgatory” cell where they would throw people without food, water or light, sometimes for days at a time. On our way out Mark casually happened to mention that he’d considered asking our guide about what it had been like under communism for him; I would have decked him for this, honestly, and told him so. Here there followed an interlude wherein we attempted to locate a 3DS power supply, as we learned rather too late that North American power supplies won’t work with an adaptor. …Oops. We were unsuccessful, sadly, but had an interesting side trek out of the tourist areas and into a grittier area of the city. Looked a bit like the sketchier areas of Toronto, honestly, except the graffiti was unreadable and the streets were paved with approximately one gazillion stones about three inches square. (We had the opportunity to observe what I suppose are the Prague public works folk at work: a gang of fellows who were pretty obviously a road crew, hammering a number of these square stones into place to repair a broken pattern.) We also stopped for a banh mi; it seems that Vietnamese folk are surprisingly common in Prague and the food is correspondingly so. Next stop, the Municipal Hall. This is about the most boring name I can imagine for what Rick Steves calls “one of the best-preserved Art Nouveau interiors in Europe”; after having been there myself I can say that while I don’t know about the rest of Europe, it’s still a goddamn spectacular interior. Photography was, sadly, not allowed inside most of the building, so I’ll have to attach links or something to this later. (Later: Hey, here’s a virtual tour! Enjoy.) I can still show you the outside, though: So what the heck is this place anyway? It’s…well, a series of rooms, mostly: an array of salons, dance halls, and smaller rooms laid out in a rough triangle around a huge and beautiful concert hall. The “municipal” part is taken quite seriously, too – all of the rooms may be rented by the public for meetings, social functions, etc. Mainly it sees use as a concert hall these days; every time we passed this place on the way around town there seemed to be something going on. On one side of the triangle are the “ladies’ rooms“: chambers with dainty decor, full of rounded shapes. Each of the rooms in the Municipal Hall has a dominant motif – once you have identified this, you can see it everywhere. Medallions on the ceilings, metal grate covers, light fixtures, upholstery. One room dedicated to folk art themes even uses its dominant shape for a fish tank: little bronze snails serve as the tiny fountain heads that once kept it filled with water. On the other side are the “gentlemen’s rooms”: more vertical lines and structured shapes, and artwork more in keeping with…well, a cross between Art Nouveau allegory and van art: one room had huge and dynamic allegorical paintings of love, war and the death along one wall. By far the most dramatic room, though, is at the point of the triangle: a round-ish room decorated entirely by one Alfons Mucha. It’s not all that large a space but even so it is spectacular: a reflection of his faith in the power of the Slavic folk if they but worked together, with the slogan “Through strength, freedom; through love, concord” in bright silver over one of the doors. From panels below the ceiling characters from Slavic folklore glower, smile enigmatically, or gaze into some point in the far distance; behind each a chosen saint or allegorical figure brandishes a symbol of theirs, also picked out in silver. In the dome overhead a falcon soars, surrounded by the figures of various folk in Slavic costume. Mucha was apparently quite into Freemasonry, and the room is also apparently packed with hidden symbolism. I wasn’t equipped to identify all of those myself, but the room certainly does have an intensely mystical feel. Elaborate Art Nouveau drapes are stitched with aluminum thread, making them sparkly and doubtless more mysterious as well. (All that silver in the decor? Also aluminum.) It’s a beautiful room, and I feel very sorry not to be able to take photographs to show you, but at least the tour hopefully has the hook-up for you (I cannot preview it on this device, sadly.) The other important thing about the Mucha room is that it opens onto a balcony. There, some historic speeches have taken place; peering out through the glass doors it really feels like stepping onto a brightly lit stage. I can imagine how it must have looked with hundreds of people packed into the square below. In the basement level of the Municipal House is a “Pilsner restaurant” and also the “American Bar”: we didn’t have time to stop at either, but I did get a snapshot or two, since they were allowed in the basement. Our afternoon plan was to tour the Jewish Quarter. This is where Prague’s many, many Jews once had to live and work and is also home to the “Jewish museum in Prague,” a selection of synagogues that have been turned into exhibits on Jewish life, culture, and customs. Some of the synagogues might be worth seeing just out of architectural interest – the Spanish synagogue, for instance, likely the most opulent of them: Here we learned about the period of Jewish life between the World Wars, a time when it seemed for a while there like Jews might gain real social acceptance in this part of the world. …Unfortunately we all know that didn’t exactly go as hoped. (Unrelated but fun: This cool Kafka statue is outside it.) Indeed, at the next stop, the Maisel synagogue, we learned that apparently Hitler once planned to preserve the place as a museum of the extinct Jewish people. Ouch. It has indeed become a museum, but instead it’s of the Jews of early Prague. Here I learned, for instance, that it seems Jews had been directed to mark themselves in some distinctive manner with a yellow somethingorother long before the yellow Star of David we’ve all seen in film and history books. (Once it was a distinctive yellow hat.) We also were reminded that Prague is where the legend of the Golem that inspired the movie, etc, took place…and has been providing fodder for souvenirs of Prague for a good long time: (One of the little shops outside a later synagogue even sold cinnamon-caramel Golem cookies.) Perhaps the most dramatic point in our visit there, however, was the Pinkas synagogue. This is a relatively simple synagogue outside, but inside the entire interior has been first painted white and then inscribed with thousands on thousands of names birth dates, and dates of death if known: Czech Jews, most of whom were transported to Terezin and then killed. Upstairs, a small but deeply heartbreaking little exhibition of children’s drawings from the Terezin camp: some 8000 kids were sent out there, but of that number only something like 250 survived. Some drawings are of the sort one sees at kitchen tables everywhere: horses and street scenes and the like. Some are incongruous: a rainbow arcing over a green field…in which armed soldiers herd deportees toward a train with their tiny suitcases in hand. Some are, frankly, rather hard to look at: shadowy half-formed creatures with names like “Fear” and “Darkness,” a vast table lined with empty chairs and a single child-sized figure looking on. I…didn’t have the heart to take photographs in there, honestly; sorry, guys. Outside is the Jewish cemetery, which was for centuries the only place in town where Jews could bury their dead. There are about 12,000 gravestones here, densely packed and at all angles like jagged teeth; take that number and just about quadruple it, though, and you’ve got something closer to the number of bodies actually buried here. Pebbles and small prayers are placed on the headstones of some notable folk, though as weathered as some of the stones are I’m not sure how one would know who was who. The adjacent Klausen synagogue and its Ceremonial Hall house exhibits on Jewish customs (circumcision, marriage, etc) and death rites. I hadn’t heard before about the existence of “funeral societies” – groups of folk who ensure that the dead are buried with all appropriate rites and that nobody who is without relations is left without someone to care for them – but apparently they were a big deal. (They also held dinners, like social/service organizations I’ve seen back home. Sort of like a funeral-focused Rotary Club, I suppose?) Our next stop was one of the local “ghost tours” – a bit cheesy perhaps, but this one actually turned out to be fairly charming. Our guide was a young French girl named Maelane who’s apparently been living in the city for about four years for school and was reluctant to go back; her obvious enthusiasm for the city was rather charming. Things we heard about include: The story of a young girl who was killed by a fiery chariot drawn by goats. This supposedly appears from time to time on the street outside what was found in 2002 to have been an alchemist’s laboratory. Poisonous gas and accompanying hallucinations for the onlookers, perhaps? The tale of “The House of Death” – home to a young woman who may possibly hold the record for worst luck ever. Her infant son was kidnapped, her husband died of heartbreak, and she then found happiness again with a traveling artist many years her junior (no points for guessing that this guy does indeed turn out to be the long lost son.) As incest was a capital crime, her son was then executed while she watched, and she went on to hang about mournfully gazing out of her window until one day she wasn’t there any longer. Concerned locals going to look for her found that she had died of the Black Plague, just for good measure. A haunted hospital, because you’ve gotta have one of those. The story of a young girl whose father refused to let her marry the love of her life, a penniless knight. Dad chucked her into the convent of St. Agnes, but soon found that her lover had an irritating habit of turning up to climb over the wall for visits. Sword fighting ensued, and when the girl tried to intercede, her father killed them both in rage. Today the ghost of the young girl appears to couples in trouble. (Happy to report that we didn’t see her.) The story of twelve nobles who were beheaded and had their heads put on pikes after the Prague Defenestration (that is, the time when some angry folk chucked some of the local leadership out a castle window by way of making their point. Unfortunately for them, the individuals survived, reportedly by landing in a giant pile of horseshit, and…well, executions ensued. The heads hung on pikes, in little cages, for many years, and supposedly their previous owners still have protective feelings toward their homeland. Every year on the summer solstice, they rise from their graves and make for the old town square, where they await the striking of the astrological clock. If it fails in any way, this will be a sign that dark times are coming for the country, and the ghosts will linger until they are confident that all is well. This does certainly raise some questions given that the clock will still be getting restored round about that time this year. The story of the original clockmaker, who supposedly had his eyes put out after building it so that he would not be able to make anything so impressive for another city. Feeling understandably vengeful, he first cursed the clock so that anyone who made alterations to it would go mad or die before having an apprentice remove a key piece so that the clock failed to work afterward. Later, a local painter who wasn’t afraid of no ghost was hired to restore the astrological dial and made modifications to it. This didn’t seem to go well, as apparently he began losing his mind shortly thereafter, and his ghost supposedly wanders the district he most loved in the city. The story of a wealthy local woman with a tendency to mistreat her servants who killed one in a fury when she stopped to pray at the sound of the church bells outside. The serving girl then haunted the woman until she eventually donated all her money to the church and moved into a convent herself. We also heard at least one sad story from the more mundane world. A friend of our guide’s apparently lost her brother to the secret police when her dad tried to go west, planning to bring them with him. They never heard from their father, but both the mother and brother were taken in for questioning, and the brother died. Much later, after the Berlin Wall had fallen and records began to be unsealed, they learned that Dad had in fact written letters, dozens of them, at least one almost every week for years and years until at last he reasoned they must be dead. The family was quite surprised to learn he was still alive. Here ‘s our guide, by the way: After this it was after 8 pm local time, we set out to look for a dinner spot in our “taste of Prague” book; half out of curiosity and half out of convenience we ended up at what is apparently the only Mexican restaurant worth one’s while in the city. I was impressed to see horchata on the menu; I almost never see that even in Canada – but all became clear when we fell to chatting with the waiter. Apparently the place is owned and run by Mexicans, and they feel that Prague is treating them well. Our final stop for the evening (as it was after 10 PM at this point) was also from the Taste of Prague book: “Anonymous Shrink’s Office,” a local speakeasy bar. You might think that’s the door, but it isn’t. We had the place pretty much to ourselves, and chatted with the bartender, who presented us a series of Rorschach-like picture cards, each of which corresponded to a signature drink. I selected something rather like a butterfly in rather lurid shades of red and purple, and ended up with a Manhattan-like beverage garnished with a slice of dried apple and something like a dried cherry; Mark selected something that suggested both plaid and Rorschach from Watchmen, and was served something that came in a flask filled to the brim with something white and smoky layered over the drink itself; the whole was poured over a massive block of ice in a rocks glass. It turned out to be a little more like an Old Fashioned. We followed this up with a hit of slivovitz for me (so I could say I’d tried it) and an absinthe for Mark. They serve the real stuff in Prague, though it is now prepared in such a way that one would have to consume a truly terrifying amount to get anywhere NEAR high. Still, it looks lovely with the accoutrements. By now well and truly exhausted, we headed back to the hotel to crash. Mark figures we walked something like 25 to 30 kilometres today, what with all the back and forth…and my feet were certainly feeling it. Oh well. Good night, Prague – that was one packed day. Posted on May 7, 2018 January 29, 2019 Well, that didn’t take long. Usually it takes a little time to encounter some of the quirkier folks out there once I’ve left the house, but in this case things got interesting the moment we summoned a vehicle to take us to the airport. Our driver was a smallish Sri Lankan fellow with some very eager conversational habits: almost immediately he wanted to know all sorts of things about the neighbourhood and comparing property values here in Toronto to those in Sri Lanka. (There was something here about how the Chinese are buying everything and investing just isn’t safe.) Eventually he got round to asking us where we were heading. Telling him our flight was headed to Prague launched an extraordinary flurry of banter on everything from the deep corruption of the Balkans to the general scariness of Russia. “I’m an expert on Russian history!” he told us. “They have the finest collection of art in all the world there.” “You mean at the Hermitage?” I can only describe the sound he made as a cackle. “Ha! That’s the place!” And he set about explaining how all the art is fake there, and how the REAL art is underground. (“You even get near it, they kill you! Hehehe!”) Somewhere around this point he asked if we spoke Russian, and apparently he assumed I did. (I don’t THINK I look especially Russian, really…) I said no, but that I had a little German, and he went on to talk about training in Germany to cut diamonds before attempting to teach us a few words of Russian while simultaneously warning us not to use them, as it would make everyone hate us where we were going. Er…noted, I suppose. Some time later… Layover time, in Poland. This is the Frederic Chopin international airport, so I guess it’s appropriate that there was someone playing the piano live as we made our way through the maze of glass and corrugated steel that will probably make up most of my memories of Warsaw for the foreseeable future. The flight over was rather bumpier than I would have liked, but fortunately otherwise rather uneventful; Mark and I took in our first Hungarian film before attempting (more or less unsuccessfully) to get a tiny bit of sleep to help stave off the worst of the jet lag. The movie in question was “The Fox-Fairy,” an unexpectedly charming and very weird little film about a lonely nurse who longs for nothing more than true love. Her problem: the ghost of a Japanese pop star (no, really) who haunts her apartment and appears to be mighty jealous if anyone else seems to be spending too much time with her. It was a really interesting mix of sweetness and humour that ranged from the absurd to the pitch-black, and apparently did well in Hungary not long ago. While I am thinking of it, allow me to introduce our small travel companion: The little fellow to the left of the sandwich is affectionately known as “Catbun” due to his resemblance to an Asian-style steamed bun. On our last international voyage he came along and appeared in a number of photographs, so we thought he’d come along this time too. Here he is pictured next to…well, the meal we ate most recently before getting off the plane. Breakfast, sort of, though as we landed it was lunchtime here in Poland, and this looked like a bit more of a lunch to me. Still more time later Whew! Okay, we have made it to Prague at last. Our hotel sent a driver to collect us; he spoke more Czech and German than English, but was a very pleasant gentleman who told us he’d been driving for the hotel for 25 years (!). And it is a rather lovely hotel. Here’s our room, up at the top: Undaunted, we set out to do an orientation walk during the Golden Hour…which means I have about a million photos to share, but for now we will need to be content with this one: …ok, I lied, have a few more: Dinner was at a place recommended in our Foodie Guide to Prague – “Next Door,” attached to a swank local hotel. I had wild boar tenderloin ragout with dark chocolate, cranberries and gnocchi (which might not sound like a combo that works but guys. GUYS. Holy shit) and Mark had braised beef in a creamy sauce with “bread dumplings,” something I shall have to try to reverse engineer sometime. (I will also have to try and reverse engineer the “Ham and cheese pate” because again. Holy shit. The waiter was kind enough to pass on that somehow egg and pickles (?) are involved…wonder if we could serve it at something.) Today, the mission is straightforward: Get out there and see as much shit as possible. Currently fortifying myself at the hotel’s breakfast room. Here goes! Mark says “you should post that picture from the restaurant at the end!” So here I am looking a bit skeptical about having my photo taken: Archives Select Month February 2019 January 2019 June 2018 May 2018 July 2016 June 2016 February 2011 July 2010 June 2010 Look For Something Gnome Stew Administrative Whatnot Unabashed Nerdery encounter: weird everydayliving oz project trawling the internet Very Meta	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line748
__label__cc	0.592832	0.407168	Top Tags: Tedious, Great Graphics The Mysterious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Play The Mysterious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at Shockwave Track down a killer on the streets of London as you immerse yourself in this classic tale! On a dark and foggy night, in a poorly lit London alleyway, the body of Sir Danvers Carew is found dead. A respected member of parliament found in the seedy Soho district? Something is afoot. The inspector from Scotland Yard is summoned to the scene. Whispers speak of a mysterious man, known only as Mr. Hyde, prowling the streets of London. His gruesome and monstrous visage is seen in every shadowy corner. Could this be his handiwork? Search the streets of London, collect clues, interrogate suspects, and play mini-games to the put the evidence together and reveal the truth! The full version of The Mysterious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde features: Unique puzzles Immersive gameplay An exciting mystery to unravel! Make the streets of London safe again when you download the free trial of The Mysterious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde! Use the mouse to collect hidden objects and solve puzzles. See in-game help for detailed instructions. 89 MB free disc space Developed by: Joindots GmbH Published by: INTENIUM GmbH	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line753
__label__wiki	0.948521	0.948521	Silver Screen Beat Joe Manganiello says Ben Affleck’s ‘The Batman’ is ‘gritty’ and ‘cerebral’ A new ‘It Chapter Two’ trailer finds the Losers Club facing off against Pennywise one last time With their case diminishing, prosecutors drop sexual assault charges against Kevin Spacey Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu lead a band of grifting strippers in the ‘Hustlers’ trailer Taika Waititi signs on to direct ‘Thor 4’ as the live-action ‘Akira’ movie gets delayed indefinitely Warner Bros.’ live-action ‘Barbie’ movie taps Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach as writers ‘Game of Thrones’ dominates the 2019 Emmy Award nominations with a record-breaking 32 nods New report details how HBO and ‘Big Little Lies’ producers undermined director Andrea Arnold As its ratings continue to grow, HBO renews the teen drama ‘Euphoria’ for a second season Zack Snyder partners with Jay Olivia for anime series inspired by Norse mythology at Netflix Phoenix: You’re invited to see Epix’s new ‘Batman’ prequel series ‘Pennyworth’ early and for free ‘Midsommar’ review: Ari Aster’s disturbing cultish nightmare unfolds in broad, brilliant daylight ‘Toy Story 4’ review: Pixar’s iconic franchise is back and it’s warped, weird, and better for it ‘Men in Black: International’ review: You’ll want to erase this movie from your mind after its over ‘Rocketman’ review: Elton John’s biopic is so much better (and gayer) than ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ ‘Aladdin’ review: Guy Ritchie’s live-action remake of the Disney classic isn’t exactly a whole new world Daniel Craig suspects foul play in the trailer for Rian Johnson’s star-studded whodunnit ‘Knives Out’ The hilarious first ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’ trailer is, hands down, the best thing you’ll see today Kristen Stewart wears many, many different wigs in the first trailer for the ‘Charlie’s Angels’ reboot With an immense amount of speculation surrounding Ben Affleck’s much-anticipated solo Batman film, appropriately titled The Batman… Matt Casillas With an immense amount of speculation surrounding Ben Affleck’s much-anticipated solo Batman film, appropriately titled The Batman, Deathstroke actor Joe Manganiello has decided to reveal his own thoughts about the upcoming chapter in the DC Extended Universe. “When I met Ben we sat down and we talked about, you know, the role,” Manganiello said. “We talked about the movie. His take is a fresh take but I think the audience is going to be surprised. Because it’s a road that no one’s really gone down that’s completely integral to, you know, who Batman is. And I think it’s gonna be refreshing but at the same time completely familiar.” He continued, “It’s going to take this franchise in a direction that I think a lot of people are going to be really happy about. It’s going to be gritty and action packed and cerebral and all of those elements that people love about Batman.” Manganiello, known for his roles in True Blood and Magic Mike, will play the character who is considered to be one of the great villains in the DC Universe. Created by writers Marv Wolfman and George Perez, Deathstroke first appeared in The New Teen Titans (Vol. 1) #2 in 1980. Affleck is currently writing the script for The Batman along with DC Entertainment president and chief creative officer Geoff Johns who also confirmed that Manganiello would be playing Deathstroke back in September. A release date for The Batman is yet to be announced. Related Topics:Ben AffleckGeoff JohnsJoe ManganielloThe Batman Tom Holland is signed to appear as ‘Spider-Man’ in six Marvel movies Disney’s live-action ‘Beauty and the Beast’ will feature unused songs from the original Warner Bros. has released the final trailer for It Chapter Two, the eagerly awaited follow-up to Andy Muschietti’s 2017 critically acclaimed box office smash based on Stephen King’s iconic horror novel of the same name. Set 27 years after the events of the first movie, It Chapter Two stars Jessica Chastain as Beverly, James McAvoy as Bill, Bill Hader as Richie, Isaiah Mustafa as Mike, Jay Ryan as Ben, James Ransone as Eddie, and Andy Bean as Stanley as they return to Derry to confront Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) one last time. “Something happens to you when you leave this town. The farther away, the hazier it all gets,” we hear an adult Mike say as the trailer shows a flashback from the 2017 film. “But me — I never left. I remember all of it.” Jaeden Martell, Wyatt Oleff, Jack Dylan Grazer, Finn Wolfhard, Sophia Lillis, Chosen Jacobs, and Jeremy Ray Taylor will all reprise their roles as the original members of the Losers Club from the first movie. Muschietti directed It Chapter Two from a screenplay written by Gary Dauberman, based on King’s best-selling 1986 book. Barbara Muschietti, Dan Lin and Roy Lee are producers, with Marty Ewing, Seth Grahame-Smith, and David Katzenberg serving as executive producers. It Chapter Two will float into theaters on September 6. With their case against Kevin Spacey diminishing, Nantucket prosecutors asked Wednesday for charges to be dropped against the actor, who had been facing a felony charge for the alleged sexual assault of the teenage son of a former Boston TV news anchor in 2016. In a document filed in the Nantucket District Court, Cape & Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe said he was filing a “nolle prosequi,” which, in a criminal case, is an admission that the charges against the defendant cannot be proven. O’Keefe cited the “unavailability of the complaining witness” as his reason for the dismissal of the case. O’Keefe’s decision to drop the charges against Spacey is not a particularly surprising one. During an evidentiary hearing last week, Spacey’s accuser refused to testify about what happened to a missing cellphone containing text messages — and possibly video — the night the alleged assault took place. When asked if he knew that he could be charged with a felony should an investigation find that he had tampered with or destroyed evidence on the phone, Spacey’s accuser invoked the Fifth Amendment and was unwilling to continue his testimony, according to The New York Times. The accuser’s lawyer, Mitchell Garabedian, said in a statement that the accuser and his family “have shown an enormous amount of courage under difficult circumstances,” and added that he will not be commenting on the case any further at this time. Spacey’s lawyer, Alan Jackson, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In December, just moments before the news of the felony charge against Spacey broke, the actor posted to YouTube a bizarre video in which he appears as his character Frank Underwood from the Netflix series House of Cards and says he is “certainly not going to pay the price for the thing I didn’t do.” STX FILMS STX Films has released the first trailer for Hustlers, the upcoming stripper comedy featuring an all-star cast that includes the likes of Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Mercedes Ruehl, and Cardi B. Written and directed by Lorene Scafaria, the film follows a group of savvy former strip club employees who come together to turn the tables on their unsuspecting, money-grubbing Wall Street clients. “These Wall Street guys — you see what they did to this country? They stole from everybody,” Lopez’s character says. “Hard-working people lost everything and not one of these douchebags go to jail. The game is rigged and it does not reward people who play by the rules. It’s like robbing a bank; except you get the keys.” Scafaria based Hustlers on Jessica Pressler’s 2015 New York Magazine article titled “Hustlers at Scores,” which tells the real-life story of a band of New York City strippers scamming their wealthy clients out of thousands of dollars before eventually being caught by authorities. In addition to starring in the film, Lopez also serves as a producer on Hustlers alongside Elaine Goldsmith Thomas, Jessica Elbaum, Benny Medina, Will Ferrell, and Adam McKay. The film is a co-production between STX and Annapurna. Hustlers will open in theaters on September 13. Movie News52 mins ago Movie News21 hours ago Movie News2 days ago TV News2 days ago Movie News1 month ago I, for one, am shocked that ‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix’ turned out to be a colossal box office disaster Phoenix: See the next chapter in the ‘Conjuring’ universe ‘Annabelle Comes Home’ early and for free Watch Brad Pitt get into a shootout while riding an ATV on the moon in the epic ‘Ad Astra’ trailer Patty Jenkins unveils an extremely vibrant new teaser poster for ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ Movie News2 weeks ago Paul Rudd makes a lot of, uh, slimy jokes while announcing his ‘Ghostbusters 2020’ casting © 2019 Silver Screen Beat. All Rights Reserved.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line755
__label__cc	0.546819	0.453181	Weekly Drop Continents Reveal New Video for “Preacher” Ryan November 6, 2017 No Comments 62 views 0 likes Welsh metal quintet Continents have revealed the new video for their latest single, “Preacher”. The song is the first offering of the bands latest material and is taken from their upcoming EP release due out in 2018. “Preacher” is full of new groove and hooks to get your teeth sunk into, showing the band are not messing about with their new material as “Preacher” is as hard hitting as it gets. “We wanted the video to be strictly performance based and dark for our first track back, to let the music do the talking with no gimmicks. We wanted to capture the energy and dark vibe that the song gives off which we think JXH visuals nailed. ‘Preacher’ is available on all formats to download and stream from November 17th.” – Phil Cross, Continents Continents – Preacher (Official Music Video) NEW SINGLE * from CONTINENTS – ‘PREACHER’ Artist: Continents Song: Preacher Album: Single (2017) Hometown: Cardiff, Wales Website/Merch: http://continentsband.bigcartel.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Continentsband/ Twitter: @Continentsband Instagram: @Continentsband —————————————————————— Available on all platforms as of November 17th to stream and download. What Are Your Thoughts! Stick To Your Guns Drop “Better Ash Than Dust” Video Aaron Gillespie Premieres New Single + Video “You Don’t Love Me Anymore” An Endless Sporadic Reveal New Video “Sky Run” Currents Release New Video for “Delusion” Soundfiction is about one thing. Breaking down the barriers of music and diversifying the musical taste of our userbase. After all, we're all in this together and here for one thing. The love of the music. Copyright Soundfiction	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line762
__label__cc	0.742602	0.257398	Ruben Horbach Keynotes Blog About KeynotesBlogAbout The future will eat itself: digesting the next generation of wearable tech By Shivvy Jervis, The Guardian Wearable tech is well and truly mainstream – but what does the future hold? What could their potential new forms mean for our day-to-day lives, businesses and wellbeing? The aim of wearables should be to operate silently but powerfully in the background, blurring the interface between ourselves and the device. For this tech to go beyond slapping a fitness band on our wrists (valuable as that might be), it will need to hone in on the issues that are core to our health and long-term wellbeing. The wearable of the future is doing just that. It will be proactive and pre-emptive, rather than simply a monitor. The applications are fascinating – buoying your state of mind, aiding early detection of chronic disease, or boosting employee security and productivity. We’re seeing partnerships soar between wearables manufacturers and the world of neurological science, security, defence and education.The healthcare industry, in particular, is outpacing the others in its rapid uptake of wearables. Hand in hand with these exciting advances, however, is a crucial, fair-warning label – a significant number of people will understandably be hesitant to swallow a digital pill or stick a sensor on their foreheads. And employees are unlikely instantly to see the value in a computer chip skin tattoo that acts as an all-systems pass for work security. So what can we expect? These have understandably been subject to a gamut of robust approvals, and so haven’t hit the mainstream yet. That’s soon set to change. Largely, they take the shape of a “digital pill” coated in digestible metals such as copper and magnesium embedded in a regular tablet. It dissolves in your stomach acid, releasing a signal to an adhesive patch on your body, which in turn communicates with an app on your smartphone, relaying the info via bluetooth. Ingestibles are full of sensors that can not only track your vitals but tell you when you last took your medication, if you’re over-medicating or mixing two drugs that shouldn’t be taken together. Critically, it will aid doctors to work out how you’re responding to particular treatment. If you’re concerned about how your body “clears” the chip from your system, rest assured this happens the natural way. Of these technologies, the Proteus ingestible sensor is closest to launch (appearing to be one of the only devices with an FDA-sanctioned claim at the time of writing), running clinical trials across 2015 and 2016. There’s also PillCam’s “camera pills” (in disposable capsules) that swap invasive methods to track your stomach’s health for tiny cameras that sleekly navigate your intestinal track. The tech received clearance just last year, so is relatively new. Ingestibles could be lifesaving when treating chronic disease (nearly 50% of sufferers don’t take medications as prescribed) or spurring on advances in genomics. They could also help businesses care better for employees – upon an employee opting to hav e their health monitored, this tracking could pre-empt work-related stress illnesses and help a company customise their corporate wellness programmes to each individual. Mood-impacting tech In the UK alone between 2013 and 2014, close to 35% of work related illnesses were due to depression and anxiety. No doubt this will directly affect employees’ productivity, so businesses – sit up and take notice. Could mind and mood-impacting wearables help? They’re claiming to be able to train your brain, calm you when you’re anxious, or buoy your mood when you’re low on energy. This is not without controversy – many people I spoke to expressed worry over any sort of device that interfered with their state of mind or neurological processes. While I’m personally willing to try one of these nifty inventions provided it’s backed up by solid research and developed by credible experts, I recognise this is highly subjective. In this sphere there’s Thync, developed by Harvard and Stanford alumni. It’s a sleek stick-on that uses low-energy waveforms to speak to your neural pathways, sending safe electrical pulses to your cranial or peripheral nerves to shift your state between energetic and calm. Within this category are wearables to do with “performance brain training”: Versus requires you to tap into the correct brain wave to complete a game, and Narbis claims to be based on Nasa research. Given the reservations some might have, will we see critical mass in terms of demand for these devices when they’re fully rolled out? I’d bet that transparency in their marketing by the startups themselves, safety reassurances from medical professionals, and direct recommendations from our doctors will go a long way to boost uptake. Embeddables and invisibles Embeddables are mini-chips inserted into muscles, skin or nerves. Invisibles on the other hand are stick-on tech such as a skin-coloured patch or tattoo-like sensor. These are either absorbed into the body or peeled off, and capture vital data through your skin. If you’re alarmed about any side effects it’s always worth researching each product and discussing it with a medical professional. Engineers at Northwestern University and the University of Illinois have been developing a skin patch (technically known as an epidermal photonic sensor) since 2014. It looks like skin, and liquid crystals measure blood flow rate via body temperature, helping track cardiovascular health or skin disease. Earlier this year employers were getting in on the act, offering employees the option of implanting RFID chips into their hands to do away with pin codes and swipe cards for building access. Moore’s Law states that the smaller a component, the more efficient and powerful it becomes. We’re certainly seeing this with the evolution of wearables. Fitness bands may be the beginning, but in a mere two to three years from now, however, we might look back at the current moment as a time when wearables were still coming into their own. Ruben Horbach 5 March 2016 Comment E-paper sneakers change your style on the fly Ruben Horbach 5 March 2016 Smart windows are the next frontier for connected homes Book Ruben as speaker	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line771
__label__wiki	0.707748	0.707748	Interview: Look through the prism of Dash Arts to see a fresh world culture. Director Josephine Burton talks to Diana Damian Diana Damian on 24/06/14 with comments Josephine Burton co-founded Dash Arts with Tim Supple in 2005. Since then, they have produced cross-art work in the UK, ranging from an Indian A Midsummer Night’s Dream to an Arabic Series of live events. Focusing on experiences of art as a prism through which to engage with and see the world, the company have tried to engage with contexts that are both topical and problematic, with an emphasis on work situated in the shape-shifting cultural climate of London. We spoke to Josephine about Dash Arts’ most recent venture - Dash Blaze, as part of their Soviet Series, its origins, scope and remit within the work of the producing house. From troubadours and a theatrical folk quartet through to an international theatre workshop aimed at performers from London’s migrant communities, Dash Blaze presents a cross-section of works in various forms, in the context of a precarious political conflict taking place in the region. Run Riot: Can you tell us how you feel Dash Arts engages with work from such a wide range of cultures, and what lies behind the impetus to bring this to London? Josephine Burton: Tim and I set up Dash Arts to create work with artists abroad - aspirationally to create work that helped us understand the world in which we lived better, and change the way we and our audiences see the world. The projects that we have made and almost made (!) over the years have been led by our own personal interests; what interests and excites us, and what do we want to learn more about? So, as an example, in addition to the fact that the music and culture of the Arabic-speaking region has long fascinated us, we chose this region because we are interested in otherness. For many years, and particularly since 2001, the Arabic world has often been presented in the media as the West's polar opposite. We wanted to challenge this notion of a homogenous other by travelling across the region, reading, watching, listening and talking with artists, and making a number of diverse works that would explode this notion of one oversimplified bloc. So over four years, we researched and made a number of works with artists from the Arab world and presented three shows in the UK - Babel, a dance work with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Damien Jalet and Antony Gormley at Sadler's Wells; Lyrical Alliance, a work exploring Arabic hiphop and classical Arabic poetry made with rappers drawn from across the region which premiered at Roundhouse; and One Thousand and One Nights, co-written by my colleague Tim and Hanan Al Shaykh and devised with actors from across North Africa, Middle East, the Gulf and Europe which had its UK premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival. You mention a wide-range of cultures....it's actually a slow-burning project for us. Each major project, Tim's Indian Dream, the Arabic Series and the current Soviet Series end up taking years to develop, research and create. The joy of each Series is the journey - our understanding and focus clarifies as we slowly learn more - from seeing work in the region, creating deep relationships with artists and collaborators, reading, watching, trying to learn languages and slowly piecing together the various strands in each production. This takes time, along with raising the funds to make the work and the partners to show it. Along the way, we develop relationships with artists, audiences and communities in the UK - our diverse cultural landscape in London is quite an inspiration for the work too - through our Dash Cafes and other participation projects. images: One Thousand and One Nights; Lyrical Alliance; Babel RR: With particular reference to the Arabic Series, what role does context play in your producing work? Can you tell us a bit about how you approached programming the series and the discourses that come with bringing work from this particular region to the UK? JB: Certainly the Arabic-speaking communities in the UK have grown exponentially over the last 15 years which meant that we were privileged to welcome many people who originated in the region as part of our audiences and as part of the conversations which helped develop the work and our understanding. And from a programming perspective for our [Dash] Cafes, I was blown away by the amount, diversity and quality of the musicians based in London who played with us. "The Arab Spring" took place in the midst of our Series. There was certainly heightened interest in our work, and we hosted a number of conversations about Syria and Egypt with insightful artistic colleagues and journalists as part of our Cafes, which felt highly relevant and illuminating. However, these contemporary political events and upheavals also made it harder for us, too. One Thousand and One Nights rehearsals were scheduled to take place in Egypt in February 2011. Mubarak was removed at the end of January and the attention focused on Tahrir Square. At three weeks' notice, we were forced to move our rehearsals and 40 strong cast / creative team to Fez which was a challenge and some cast members sadly left us along the way. And then disaster struck in June 2011, when 9 of the Syrian performers were refused visas to enter the US for our run in Chicago and we had to cancel the performances which continues to have financial repercussions on us today. It's probably worth adding that we do not deliberately court controversy and follow the conflicts! Although it might appear that way, given that our current focus of the region of the post soviet series is also riven with upheaval at the moment. images: Dash Cafe RR: Another strand of Dash Arts focuses on participation programmes, notably Faith to Faith in 2007, that brought together Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh teenagers on a photography project, and Lyrical Alliance in 2009, exploring Arab poetry through hip hop and spoken word. What informs these projects and how do you see this work in the wider framework of participatory, socially-engaged projects? JB: Our participation work at Dash Arts does not have a specific agenda. We are often drawn to make UK-focused participation work that complements and deepens our engagement with the culture of the world in which we are focusing. Faith to Faith - with young people across London faith schools - emerged from Conflicted, an exhibition of photography that I curated with Israeli and Palestinian artists in 2005. The Lyrical Alliance project that you refer to above, complemented our work with professional international rappers. We worked with young people in schools in the Borough of Westminster who developed new rhymes within schools and later at the Roundhouse and were inspired by the musicians rehearsing and performing in their nextdoor spaces. And finally in our current Soviet Series, we will create a new piece of theatre with London-based members of the communities from the Post Soviet State inspired by their own stories of migration from the region to the UK. RR: In your own practice, you have worked with cross and inter-cultural projects, particularly in the context of music and performance. What attracts you to this type of work, and what do you look for in your programming? What are some of the problems that you encounter in producing in the context of a shifting discourse on internationalism, foreignness and the intercultural? JB: I have always loved it - the sensation of listening to a piece of music, and not fully understanding its context, the complexity within all the lyrics, the world that produces the melody or its rhythm - and yet enjoying the sheer beauty and quality of the work. I like feeling out of my depth and pushing myself to learn more. I think that drives everything that I do. I would do more of it if it wasn't for the expense - international flights, visas, accommodation and the fact that introducing new artists to UK audiences means that you have no guarantee of strong box office income. This to me is the primary problem I encounter - alongside the growing red-tape of visas - I certainly do not feel that in London there is a reticence to embrace internationalism. RR: Your upcoming series, Dash Blaze, brings together music and performance from “post-soviet states”, notably Ukraine, Russia, Armenia and Belarus. From Ukrainian Folk to a Trans-Siberian March Band, the series presents a range of practices through workshops, films, live music and events. Can you tell us about the different frameworks through which this work is being brought to London, and the core interests of the project? JB: Blaze is an opportunity for us to bring together some of the amazing artists I have encountered during my research over the last few years. I am in the midst of making a project, the Post Soviet Orchestra, a new piece of music created with and for a newly assembled group of classically trained musicians drawn from across the region, and I have had the opportunity to meet and listen to some extraordinary performers along the way. Radik Tyulyush for example I heard in Cardiff of all places last autumn at the music expo WOMEX. Radik is a multi-instrumentalist and throat singer from Tuva, Siberia, Russia. In performance, remote from his home, Radik closes his eyes and summons shamanically the animals and nature which surrounds and fills his world. it's completely magical to see. He will perform with punk guitarist Lu Edmonds at the EBRD (European Bank of Regional Development) on 10th July. Dakha Brakha, I last saw in Kiev for tea at a cafe in March at their musical home, Dakh Theatre - a few stops on the metro from the chaos of the Maidan. They, like all Ukrainians, had been swept up in the upheavals of the last months and we discussed its impact on their work and growing audience. I spent an entrancing afternoon with them, listening to the songs of the Babuskhas who inspired their melodies and discussing the politics of folk music. I can't wait to share that with UK audiences - thanks to WOMAD whom I talked into joining forces with us to bring them on top of their London gig and the British Ukrainian Society. In London, we are collaborating with Rich Mix with whom we have built our Dash Cafes over the last 4 years. We'll also present my London favourites the bonkers and brilliant Belarussian Sasha Ilukeyvich and his band of Highly Skilled Migrants, Armenian-born Paris based Lilith Guegamian thanks to a relationship with Music of Armenia and boarding the Trans Siberian Express with our partners Trans Siberian March Band. And finally, we're partnering with Latitude Festival to create a performance / installation space of a Russian country house- a Dacha - across the 20th century, complete with films, dressing up, games, live music, djs and impromptu participative play readings; hot tea from the Samovar and fevered political discussion with guests. images: Trans Siberian Marching Band; Sasha Ilukeyvich and his band of Highly Skilled Migrants; Dakha Brakha; Lilith Guegamian; Radik Tyulush RR: You deploy a particular terminology - post-soviet- to refer to the range of works presented in Dash Blaze, be it Armenian musician Lilith Guegamian or a Dacha, an immersive experience set in rural Russia at Latitude this year. Can you talk a bit more about that term specifically? What does it carry for you, what informed the choice of countries and artists and what was the research process that led to these decisions? JB: A good question - we've spent many hours discussing the terminology over the last few years - as it is fraught with politics. The Soviet Union has a powerful, painful and ongoing legacy. We are making new work that explores how it was to live under the Soviet Union and how it is to live today in its shadows. We decided to work with artists from a fixed geographic space - Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Post-soviet is a reality for all of the countries that we are working in - even if it is not entirely visible. And the point of our work is to understand and unpack the different responses and relationships to the term, its history and its legacy. RR: For Dash novices, what are your highlights? JB: All the events, of course! Dash Blaze at Rich Mix, Toynbee Studios, EBRD, Latitude Festival, WOMAD dasharts.org.uk @josephine_dash image: Josephine Burton playing the dombra in Almaty, Kazakhstan RT @AnnaGoodman1: The Abstrakt world of Anna Goodman \| Blog \| Run Riot https://t.co/cnBJ1Ao5Xz thanks @JamieMcLaren @Run_Riot for hosting m…58 min 32 sec ago	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line772
__label__cc	0.521343	0.478657	Home / New Products: V8N3 New Products: V8N3 10 June, 2016 · by admin · in Columns, New Products, V8N3, Volume 8 ATN DEBUTS LATEST OTS THERMAL MONOCULAR LINE ATN, innovators of advanced night vision, thermal imaging and digital Smart HD optics for hunters, outdoor enthusiasts, military and law enforcement, is pleased to introduce the OTS-X Series of Thermal Imaging cameras. Made in the USA, the OTS-X Series provides users with an adaptable and high quality thermal vision solution with 0.5x magnification. Designed to be versatile, compact, lightweight yet rugged, this thermal viewer can be easily carried in a cargo pocket for law enforcement and sportsmen alike. The OTS-X Series uniqueness lies within its customizable lenses. With most thermal vision devices, and even with most night vision devices, the lens and magnification level that the scope provides when purchased will be the lens and magnification that are permanently in the scope. This does not hold true for the OTS-X as it features interchangeable lenses. This means that if the user buys a close quarters scope, but later on decides that he or she needs a longer range device, the user would not have to buy a brand new thermal imaging camera, but rather just a new lens for the scope they already own. This customizability saves the user money and storage space. In addition, the OTS-X is designed to ergonomically fit in the user’s hand with an easy-to-use control system and an icon based menu to make adjustments and color mode changes simple. All OTS-X devices are available with an optional video out cord, which transforms the viewer into a hand-held camcorder for easy recording and output from the thermal camera. Find out more at www.atncorp.com. FN AMERICA RELEASES CIVILIAN LEGAL M249S™ BELT-FED The FN M249S, is a semi-automatic version of the M249 SAW light machine gun that was originally developed by FN Herstal as the FN MINIMI® and adopted by the U.S. Military in 1988. The new rifle features the signature 20.5-inch FN cold hammer-forged, chrome-lined barrel and operates from a closed bolt position. Chambered in 5.56x45mm NATO, the rifle will accept both magazine and linked ammunition belt and offers a 4.0-6.5 pound trigger pull right out-of-the-box. The guns receiver has a formed steel frame with claw extractor design and a fixed, pivoting ejector plus side ejection of cases. The guns top cover has an integrated MIL -STD 1913 mounting rail for sighting systems. The M249S features them same quick change barrel as its full-auto brother. It also has a highly ergonomic polymer buttstock assembly with hydraulic recoil buffer system and non-slip buttplate. The gun will accept all accessories that are made for the original M249. The gun has a crossbolt safety and a curved trigger for improved finger position and control in rapid fire. It uses a standard disintegrating link belt and an under-mounted polymer ammunition container helps keep ammunition cleaner for reduced wear and added reliability. For information on the M249S go to www.fnamerica.com. MOSSBERG ADDS 500® ATI® SCORPION SHOTGUN TO THEIR LINE-UP Mossberg has teamed with ATI, a worldwide leader in firearm stocks, forends and accessories, to introduce a highly-specialized factory version of its venerable pump-action – the Mossberg 500 ATI Scorpion. This sleek-looking, multi-functional shotgun combines all of the time-tested features of the 500 pump-action shotgun with the ATI T2 TactLite® 6-Position Adjustable Stock, featuring Scorpion® recoil-reducing rubber grip and rear pad; ATI Halo® Heatshield; and ATI Halo Side Saddle. The legendary 500 pump-action platform is designed for smooth, reliable operation and features non-binding twin action bars; positive steel-to-steel lock-up; an anti-jam elevator; and dual extractors. Its lightweight, anodized aluminum receiver provides for added durability and better balance. For ease of operation, the 500 ATI Scorpion has Mossberg’s universally-recognized, ambidextrous top-mounted safety. The addition of ATI tactical accessories takes this 500 to the next level of functionality. The TactLite 6-position adjustable stock features an elongated design to improve fit for most users; a 3 7/8-inch length-of-pull (LOP) range of adjustment; and one-inch adjustable cheek riser. The stock also has ATI’s TrakLOCK® System which eliminates horizontal and vertical movement of the stock on the buffer tube and provides for smooth, secure stock adjustments. Incorporated into the stock is the Scorpion Recoil System, utilizing the Scorpion T2 Recoil Pistol Grip with sure-grip texture and extended recoil-taming material to reduce discomfort to the shooter’s hand and thumb, combined with the thin, non-slip Scorpion X2 Recoil Pad. The well-designed stock offers no snag points and features dual-sided QD attachment points. There is also a single-point sling mount insert above the grip that can be faced left or right for shooter comfort. The ATI Halo Heatshield is a free-floating design with front/rear blocks and silicone pads that provide for no metal-to-metal contact with the barrel. The heatshield is constructed of high-strength steel and finished with a matte black powder-coating. A front dovetail rail attachment comes with two 2-inch rails for the convenience of adding accessories and a shield-mounted, front post sight provides for quick target acquisition. Completing the accessory package is the ATI Halo Side Saddle, which is mounted directly to the tapped receiver on the Mossberg 500. The saddle is constructed of durable anodized aluminum and comes with three Add-A-Shell® units that mount to any of nine possible positions. Each Add-A-Shell unit can be flipped 180 degrees for user-preference of brass up or brass down orientation. A convenient, removable top rail provides for ease of adding optics or mounting systems. Learn more at www.mossberg.com. AKLYS DEFENSE INTRODUCES NEW KSG-SHOT GUN SUPPRESSOR The Aklys Defense KSG-SS Shotgun Suppressor features the industry’s fastest available mounting system for attaching or detaching a suppressor to a shotgun. It was developed around the KSG bullpup, but is offered for other platforms such as the Saiga S-12, Benelli, and the Mossberg 930. The Universal Muzzle Mounting system also allows attachment of other non-NFA muzzle attachments such as breaching devices, muzzle brakes, and flash suppressors- all with the quick change capability of the Aklys Defense SS (Shotgun Suppressor) System. The Modular Aluminum Design is available in many lengths for user selection of best handling and sound suppression. The suppressor has an adjustable length of between 8 and 12 inches and weighs just 2 pounds. Learn more at www.aklysdefense.com. BLACKHAWK! RELEASES ADVANCED SPEC OPS SHOTGUN STOCK The all-new BLACKHAWK! Knoxx SPEC OPS Gen III Stock with Recoil Suppression Technology effectively reduces felt recoil by up to 80 percent, taking the original SPEC OPS Stock to an even higher level of effectiveness, performance and reliability. Using dual recoil-compensation systems, this rugged new synthetic stock improves shooter confidence, reduces muzzle flip, decreases cheek-slap and virtually eliminates harsh recoil. With improved ergonomics and six convenient adjustment positions, any-sized shooter can use the SPEC OPS Stock Gen III comfortably in any application and with any load. Even high-powered 3-inch loads are reduced by approximately 50 percent. Features include the two-stage patented recoil reduction system and an innovative new patent-pending recoil pad technology. The straight cheek weld of this improved version helps reduce cheek slap and keep shooters on their target. The six-position adjustable stock with 12.5-to-15.2 inches length-of-pull range has a buttstock tensioner to remove rattle. An ergonomic pistol grip is optimized for tactical shooting techniques, and multiple ambidextrous sling mounting locations provide increased adjustability. Installation is easier than ever before. Plus, the forend is rethought with an integrated hand-stop and a multi-position Picatinny-style accessory mount. More information can be found at www.vistaoutdoor.com. CZ-USA INTRODUCES CARBINE VERSIONS OF THE SKORPION AND BREN PISTOLS Following the introduction last year of the Skorpion EVO pistol and the Bren 805 pistol, this year CZ-USA has introduced carbine versions of these two guns. Available in two variants, the Scorpion Carbine is a whole new animal. Building on the lauded submachine gun platform that first hit the US civilian market in pistol form in 2015, the Carbine has a 16.2” barrel fitted with either a compensating muzzle brake or a faux suppressor built specifically for CZ-USA by SilencerCo. Fit with the factory’s folding adjustable stock, the Carbine features a number of US-made parts to make it fully 922® compliant. One of the nicest features of the firearm is the newly-designed forend, covered in M-LOK attachment points to keep the profile slim while still being big enough to swallow most pistol-caliber suppressors should the owner decide down the road to convert it into an SBR for use with a suppressor. Low-profile aluminum adjustable sights round out the platform, and a top Picatinny rail allows the mounting of a wide number of optics. Simple and reliable, the Scorpion not only has ambidextrous controls, its non-reciprocating charging handle is swappable and reach to the trigger is adjustable. Carrying on the Scorpion’s reputation as a reliable pistol-caliber plinker without breaking the bank, the Carbine starts at just $999. For those who would prefer to own a Bren in rifle form without having to jump through all the hoops of converting our pistol version into an SBR, the Bren is now available in carbine form with a 16.2” barrel. Equipped with the factory’s folding adjustable stock, it also has a new set of flip-up adjustable iron sights. Chambered in .223/5.56×45 and using the ubiquitous STANAG magazine from the AR15/M16, it easily accepts optics and lights on its top and bottom Picatinny rails. An effective two-port muzzle brake helps keep the Bren solidly on target and reduces recoil and muzzle flip. All of the new models will now be available in flat dark earth as well as black. Check them out at www.cz-usa.com. NEW CQB PDW STOCK FROM MAXIM DEFENSE Maxim Defense has just released a new super compact CQB PDW Stock that is one of the shortest available for the AR-15/ M-16 style of weapons. The new stock is made from 7075 aluminum alloy with 3/8 black nitride steel guide rods for strength and stability. One of the best features of this stock is that it uses a JP Rifles Compact Silent Capture Spring which is included with the stock. This spring and buffer system allows the host gun to use its original bolt carrier group so now the user doesn’t have to use a modified carrier. This allows the rifle that you are using it in to be disassembled in the normal “pivot open” way instead of having to remove both take down pins and then slide the upper and lower receivers apart. The stock has a textured butt-pad and weighs just a bit over 18 ounces. It offers 4 positions with the closed position measuring only 5.3 inches and the fully open position measuring only 10 inches. The stock also comes with set screws so it with always open to a preset position. It is very comfortable to shoot with and extended cheek piece and it will fit on any mil-spec AR lower receiver. The stock also has 2 QD sockets for sling mounting. For more information you can find them at www.maximdefense.com. TWO NEW OPTICS FROM LUCID OPTICS Lucid Optics has just announced two new optics for 2016. The first is their new L7 1-6 X 24 Rifle Scope. With the implementation of the proven glass etched P7 reticle – this optic is ideally suited for the AR platform for use in short to medium range applications with most any caliber. Packed with a TON of well thought out features – the performance profile of this op image resolution through the entire magnification range. The eye relief is generous and forgiving providing a clean and expansive field of view even under less than ideal shooting positions. In close quarters the operator will enjoy a true 1x, no magnification sighting image presentation allowing the optic to be run with both eyes open increasing the situational awareness. With an ocular focus and a reticle illumination in the calming LUCID blue, the target acquisition has never been easier in any light condition. Built on a very durable 30mm aircraft grade one-piece tube construction, the 1-6×24 is built to take the abuse of a serious operator and ask for more. The windage and elevation turrets offer 60MOA either side of optical center set with our easy to use lift, adjust, press down to lock design that is highly accurate and durable with re-zeroable turrets. The 1-6×24 offers an operator selectable magnification lever for fast changes to the zoom function. When you are looking for a well-rounded and full featured optic for the tactical use, look no further – the LUCID 1-6×24 will not disappoint.. When you are looking for a well-rounded and full featured optic for the tactical use at a very reasonable price, look no further. The LUCID 1-6×24 retails foe just $449.00. Their other new product is their SC9 Compact Spotting Scope. The new spotting scope offers 9-27 power with a 56mm objectivelens and a 20mm ocular lens. It is only 8.25 inches long and weighs just 21 ounces. It is matte black rubber armored, waterproof and fog proof. It is focus-able from 10 feet to infinity and also has a tripod socket. Both of these new optics feature a lifetime limited warranty. Learn more at their website which is www.mylucidgear.com. by Chris A. Choat on 10 June, 2016. ← 2016 Combat Handgun Guide The 10mm Auto SIG P220 →	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line774
__label__wiki	0.518109	0.518109	Dona Munker: Writing a Biography ~ Writing a Biography ~ STALKING THE ELEPHANTAbout Writing Biography and Imagining a Life WHAT I'M READING NOW: Lyndall Gordon's "Lives Like Loaded Guns" Tags: Lyndall Gordon Emily Dickinson (Amherst College Library) Just as my husband and I are about to go on vacation--a trip to Istanbul in honor of a Big Birthday--I've become caught up in Lyndall Gordon's Lives Like Loaded Guns: Emily Dickinson and Her Family's Feuds. My justification is that Sara Bard Field, who belonged to the generation after Dickinson (she was born in 1882) found her poetic voice only after she began reading Dickinson as an adult. Gordon's book explores a family scandal (adultery! in New England! in Amherst!) and how it led to generations of literary warfare that profoundly influenced the public's image of Emily Dickinson. Gordon, a biographer who likes to take an experimental approach to her subjects, uses her research in her latest book to plumb the inner life of this most enigmatic of American poets. She doesn't shy from interpreting the facts she uncovers her own way, either, even when doing so means sticking her neck out and disagreeing with what other people consider indisputable. As a constitutional coward, I feel that this is something I ought to emulate. Finally, Gordon is a terrific storyteller. Her book is so engrossing that I'm going to take it with me. Thirteen hours in an airplane with Emily--whose personality was, let's face it, more than slightly weird. But I have to find out what appealed to Sara. My husand is in charge of the maps, the restaurants, and the itinerary, and I'm responsible for the dervishes and the belly dancers. The whole thing seems a bit schizoid. But it's Amherst or bust. The disciple of a famous sculptor came upon his master carving an elephant from a huge, shapeless chunk of stone. "Master," cried the disciple, "What splendor! What realism! What insight! How do you do it?" "Simple," replied the sculptor. "You just cut away everything that isn't elephant." Stalking the Elephant is a blog about creating an elephant from a chunk of stone, a.k.a. writing a biography. It's also about the biographer's writing life (well, mine, anyway) and a work in progress, SARA AND ERSKINE, AN AMERICAN ROMANCE. This is an intimate reconstruction of the life of SARA BARD FIELD, a World War One-era minister's wife, suffragist, and poet, and her extraordinary affair with an outspoken attorney, philosophical anarchist, and Renaissance man CHARLES ERSKINE SCOTT WOOD. Subscribing is easy. This couple takes up a lot of time (not to mention a lot of oxygen), and since I don't have a regular posting schedule, the best way to receive updates is to sign up to be notified when I post something new. Here's how: On the blog page, click on the RSS button of your browser. (In Firefox: Go to the Bookmarks menu and select "Subscribe to This Page.") You can then check to see if there's been an update in the RSS feed of your browser's toolbar. "A Problem of Churchillian Proportions" (link to) (1) "Finding Our Voice" (article download) (1) Alix Kates Shulman (1) Andrea L. Fry (1) Beverly Gray (2) Biographers International (4) Biography and ethics (3) Biography and imagination (4) Biography and publishing (4) Blogging and Social Media (1) Carla Kaplan (2) Charles Erskine Scott Wood (1) Charles J. Shields (2) Choosing a subject (5) Daughter of Persia (book) (1) Deirdre Bair (4) Deirdre David (1) Evelyn Barish (1) Honor Moore (1) In the archive (1) James McGrath Morris (Author) (2) John Matteson (1) Living subjects (2) Louise W. Knight (1) Lyndall Gordon (3) Oline Eaton (1) Red Thread (1) Richard Holmes (3) Robert Caro (1) Robert K. Massie (1) Ruth Franklin (1) Sara and Erskine (book) (2) Sara Bard Field (3) Sattareh Farman Farmaian (2) Stacy Schiff (2) TBC reports (16) Telling the story (9) Tim Duggan (1) Women Writing Women's Lives (discussion group) (5) Women Writing Women’s Lives Seminar (1) writing process (5) Visit the RESOURCES page and take advantage of a growing list of links, blogs, and books for anyone interested in biography and writing lives. Sidebar Photo Credit: Elephant Country Web Notice of Copyright: • All material on this website Copyright © 2005-2015 by Dona Munker except where expressly stated or contributed by others. Copying, altering, or reproducing this material in any form without written permission is prohibited by law and may be prosecuted regardless of the venue or purpose of the copying. (Back to top) SARA AND ERSKINE, AN AMERICAN ROMANCE is about a search for love and self-realization that turned a Baptist minister's wife into a nationally known suffragist, a women's rights advocate, and a respected California poet—but also into "an anarchist and a free-lover" who had to risk everything to be united with her remarkable soul-mate. I am tracing this forgotten, dramatic Ragtime-era romance and reconstructing Sara's life and experiences through thousands of letters, her's oral autobiography, and other sources. More about writing SARA AND ERSKINE. DAUGHTER OF PERSIA: A Woman's Journey from Her Father's Harem through the Islamic Revolution is a riveting account of the life and work of an extraordinary Iranian aristocrat and social reformer, Sattareh Farman Farmaian, DAUGHTER OF PERSIA is at once a memoir and a work of historical journalism that is still relevant today, opening a personal window on Iran and America's involvement in the six tumultuous decades that laid the foundations of the present-day crisis now facing the United States and the West. SPEAKING OF BIOGRAPHY The biographer's craft, what a story is, whether biography can ever be an art, and more. LINKS, A BLOG ROLL, AND SOME HELPFUL BOOKS A list of resources for anyone interested in biography and writing lives.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line781
__label__wiki	0.972233	0.972233	Tampa council again opposes Tampa Bay Express interstate expansion Rebuilding Tampa's downtown interchange would hurt communities, members say. The plan includes an I-275/I-4 interchange redo.SKIP O'ROURKE \| Times (2006) Published June 9 2016 Updated June 10 2016 TAMPA — For the second time in a year, the City Council on Thursday sided with neighborhood activists, voting 5 to 1 to urge that the planned Tampa Bay Express interstate expansion be taken off a local priority list of transportation projects. Several council members said the $1.2 billion reconstruction of the downtown interchange would set back urban neighborhoods that have only in recent years started to recover after decades of blight caused by the original construction of Interstate 275. Frank Reddick said he would do everything in his power to stop a project that would most affect Tampa Heights and other neighborhoods with large black and Hispanic populations. "It's a disservice to the people in these communities," he said. "It's time for this foolishness to come to an end." That said, the council's vote does not have a direct bearing on the list, which heads to a key vote on June 22 at the multi-agency Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization. Instead, it's a statement of the council's position as Tampa's Community Redevelopment Agency, which works on community-building in some of the neighborhoods that would be most affected by the planned reconstruction of the I-275/I-4 interchange. Moreover, council member Lisa Montelione cautioned that a vote for the resolution on Thursday does not mean that the council's three representatives to the MPO will vote the same way there. "We're not all of us saying we're going to vote 'no' at the MPO. … Things may change between now and the 22nd. You never know," said Montelione, who supported the council's resolution. The other two council members on the MPO are Guido Maniscalco, who has opposed Tampa Bay Express in the past, and Harry Cohen, who Thursday voted against his council colleagues. Cohen and Mike Suarez said Tampa Bay Express, often called TBX, requires balancing large-scale transportation needs with quality-of-life issues. "We know that Malfunction Junction needs to be fixed," Suarez said. "We need to revisit what this plan is and the design of it to make it more accommodating to what the neighborhoods and the city itself have been doing to make our city a much more livable place." Debbie Hunt, the Florida Department of Transportation's local director of transportation development, said the agency has held a series of community meetings to try to determine what accommodations it could put in place. They include: • Spending $10 million to buy 30 buses so the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority could provide additional bus service on five corridors, thus helping people move around TBX construction while it's under way. • Redesigning a pond planned near Central Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard so that some water would be stored under the elevated highway instead. With a smaller pond, five houses along Central Avenue could be saved. • Redesigning overpasses to make space below for bicycle trails and sidewalks, bus stops, streetlights and landscaping. • Building a pass-through below part of the interstate so residents could walk between Robles Park on one side of the highway and a planned retention pond and Borrell Park on the other. • Providing space for one or more community gardens to replace one that will be lost to construction at a Tampa Heights volunteer-built community center. FDOT officials said TBX would help prepare the region for growth that's expected to bring 600,000 new residents to Hillsborough by 2040, but opponents said it's an ineffective and car-centric approach that would turn Tampa Heights, Ybor City and downtown into a "moonscape." "TBX will not solve congestion," Tampa Heights Civic Association president Rick Fernandez said. "In most universes that should be enough to kill it." On Monday, Hillsborough County Commissioner Les Miller said he would vote against TBX when it comes back to the MPO. Miller chairs the MPO and said last year he would work to remove the project from the agency's five-year list of priorities if FDOT did not re-evaluate a 20-year-old study on which the project is based. That didn't happen, he said. "I agree with the people that don't want this and they don't think they should have this in the neighborhood without a complete study done," Miller told the Tampa Bay Times. "People just feel like it's going to destroy their neighborhood. Tampa Heights, Seminole Heights." Until Miller's announcement, the only other official on the 16-member MPO board who had come out against TBX was Maniscalco. Contact Richard Danielson at (813) 226-3403 or rdanielson@tampabay.com. Follow @Danielson_Times In close vote, Hillsborough’s transit tax will stick to the plan The commission voted 4-3 to keep spending the new transportation tax the way the original referendum intended. Now staff will draw up an ordinance, which will need a final vote. Hillsborough wrestles with how to spend money from its new transportation tax Commissioner Les Miller wants the sales tax to be spent exactly how voters intended, but administrator Mike Merrill has other ideas. Lawsuit: Hillsborough’s new taxi permits cost drivers thousands Cab companies claim they are due compensation after the county got rid of taxi medallions in 2017. St. Petersburg hopes to have scooters in the fall, city says St. Petersburg likely will not allow scooters to ride on sidewalks like neighboring Tampa has. Old rail tracks near Pinellas Trail spark legal battle Late last month, St. Petersburg filed a complaint asserting that the city has the right to the land, which is adjacent to municipal property. But the rail company has already sold the land. Is an electric scooter the same as a bike? Florida law says yes, trail users say no Some who use local trails worry that electric scooters are too fast to be sharing lanes with cyclists and pedestrians.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line784
__label__cc	0.601145	0.398855	Global Demand At Tattersalls Autumn Horses In Training Sale Lot 1467: Obviously (IRE) The Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale concluded with OBVIOUSLY selling for 130,000 guineas on a day when 145 lots were sold 1,003,200 guineas at an average of 6,919 guineas and a median of 3,200 guineas. The four day sale saw a total of 848 lots sold for a total of 16,584,600 guineas at an average of 19,557 guineas and a median of 9,000 guineas. Autumn Horses in Training Sale Figures: 2011 1,478 1,020 848 16,548,600 19,557 9,000 2010 1583 1087 865 17,577,300 20,321 9,000 Autumn Horses in Training Sale Day 4 Figures: 2011 288 190 145 1,003,200 6,919 3,200 2010 353 228 158 832,600 5,270 2,900 The top priced lot on the final day was the three-year-old gelding OBVIOUSLY who had earned a ‘Timeform’ rating of 99 on the back of a handicap win at Dundulk two weeks earlier. Consigned to the sale from Peter Fahey’s Roefield Stables on behalf of Clare View Farms, the son of CHOISIR was knocked down to Jamie Lloyd and Boomer Bloodstock’s Craig Rounsefell for 130,000 guineas. "He was our top pick of the sale," said Lloyd. "But we couldn't get to see him until Wednesday! Thankfully it all worked out well. "He is for Mike Mitchell, and he is just our sort of horse - he is lightly raced, progressive, will get the two turns, is a good-looking horse and has a great walk. He has also won on both turf and the All-Weather." At the conclusion of the 2011 Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale, Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony commented; “A smaller catalogue and one that perhaps was a little light on real stars has resulted in a marginal decline on last year’s returns, but this has been a good, solid sale from start to finish and another reminder of the global demand for British bloodstock. There is nothing quite like the Autumn Horses in Training Sale anywhere else in the world and a clearance rate well in excess of 80% and buyers from more than 30 different countries both demonstrate the unique appeal of this fixture. “Competition has been fierce at all levels of the market and, in addition to the huge Middle Eastern contingent, a particular feature has been the number of buyers from Australia. Recent graduates of the Autumn Horses in Training Sale have made a huge impact down under and success on the racecourse combined with the weakness of sterling has enticed an unprecedented number of Australian buyers to the sale. Those eyeing the Dubai World Cup Carnival have also made a major contribution and, as ever, the National Hunt fraternity has been active throughout the week. Equally encouraging has been the demand for well - bred fillies with decent form. We have an abundance of high class fillies and mares in the forthcoming Tattersalls December Sale and this week’s sale has shown that the appetite for quality breeding stock remains as strong as ever.”	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line788
__label__wiki	0.511647	0.511647	Direct link to search Direct link to content Go to links and access keys [Alt + 0] - Go to home [Alt + 1] - Go to navigation [Alt + 2] - Go to content [Alt + 3] - Go to contact [Alt + 4] - Go to sitemap [Alt + 5] - Go to Search Waste management / waste management centres Landfill degassing / Landfill clean-up Landfill degassing Our range of facilities Solutions to cities environmental problems Reference plants Landfill clean-up Anlagenspektrum Landfill gas consists mainly of methane and carbon dioxide. Methane is combustible, easily flammable and, after carbon dioxide, the most important greenhouse gas. Its greenhouse effect is 20 to 30 times more potent than that of carbon dioxide. If no action is taken, the gas will escape, spread noxious odours, and contribute to the greenhouse effect. Because of its detrimental effect on the climate and for safety reasons methane has to be disposed of safely, i.e. burnt off or used for energy generation. We build and operate gas utilisation plants comprising gas wells, a control station, and an extraction station. Landfill gas is first dried, then purified, and finally converted into electric power by gas engines. The gas engines are fitted with an exhaust gas reactor to reduce the emission of air pollutants. The condensate produced in the course of landfill gas purification is drained into the leachate water purification system.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line789
__label__wiki	0.584273	0.584273	(202) 251-1639thelma@tdjbreastcancerfund.org Community Partners and Collaborators Accomplishments and Awards Monthly Support Group Evelyn B. Curtis Spirit Award Be an Ambassador for TDJBCF Thelma D. Jones Breast Cancer Fund Support Group (TDJBCF Support Group) Established in April 2010 and modeled after a support group at the World Bank Group, the Thelma D. Jones Breast Cancer Support Group is the signature program of the Thelma D. Jones Breast Cancer Fund, providing a warm, welcoming, safe and secure environment for participants to discuss their diagnosis and concerns while receiving hope, inspiration and courage during their journey. As someone who has traveled the journey with an extensive support system, Founder Thelma D. Jones strongly believes that no one should travel their cancer journey alone. The highly-acclaimed and three-times nationally recognized support group meets regularly at 6:30 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month in Southwest DC, unless otherwise specified. Approximately 1000 women, men and young girls have attended the meetings since its inception. Most participants are breast cancer survivors who attend on a regular basis and periodically invite other survivors who become regular members as well. A highlight of the support group is providing a forum for breast cancer survivors as well as a speaking venue for renowned guest speakers. Past speakers have included, among others: Activist and Comedian Dick Gregory Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) Willie Jolley, Motivational Speaker Lucille Adams-Campbell, PhD, Associate Director for Minority Health and Health Disparities Research, Associate Dean for Community Health & Outreach, and Professor of Oncology at Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University Medical Center Elmer E. Huerta, MD, MPH, Director, Cancer Preventorium, Washington Cancer Institute, MedStar Washington Hospital Sharon Farmer, Former Director, White House Photography Aminah Keats, ND, FABNO (Board Certified, Naturopathic Oncology) Richard O. Kennedy, MD, Former Chief Medical Officer, World Bank Group Melanie Nix, Triple Negative Breast Cancer Survivor, Advocate, & Co-Founder, Breast Cancer Comfort Site Lorraine Nagy, Country Health Specialist, RN, MPH, World Bank Group and Co-Founder, World Bank Group-IMF Breast Cancer Support Group Shanti Norris, Executive Director, Smith Center for Healing and the Arts Carole O’Toole, Director, Smith Center for Healing and the Arts Institute for Integrative Oncology Navigation (co-created Smith Center’s national training in integrative cancer care navigation). Founder Thelma D. Jones was trained as a community breast care navigator under O’Toole’s tutelage. Bridget Oppong, MD, FACS, Assistant Professor of Surgery at Georgetown University & Attending Physician, MedStar Breast Health Program at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital Bonita Pennino, MS, Maryland and DC Government Relations Director, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Inc. Nicole E. Thompson, MS, Genetic Counselor and Director, Howard University Cancer Center Genetics Program Lori L. Wilson, MD, FACS, Assistant Professor, Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, Howard University Hospital Mike Brookins, BS, Breast Cancer Survivor, & U.S. Air Force Vietnam Veteran Rosemary Reed Miller, Author, Entrepreneur (Toast and Strawberries) and Ovarian Cancer Survivor Speakers present or lead discussions in their areas of expertise relating to breast health, the continuum of cancer or healthy living. For media inquiries, speaking engagements or questions, fill out the form below and we will respond within 1-2 business days. thelma@tdjbreastcancerfund.org Copyright 2018 Thelma D. Jones Breast Cancer Fund - All Rights Reserved. Designed by AMW Site Designs	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line790
__label__wiki	0.657517	0.657517	DRM versus distribution On BoingBoing, tireless DRM foe Cory Doctorow, who has convinced my old friend Aram Sinnreich to switch to Ubuntu (I’m trying it, too.), reacts to the news that Amazon will offer DRM-free with quintessential blog snark, expressing hope that Amazon will fall in line with its “wretched” video store Amazon Unbox. But we all know that audio is different than video because whereas consumers want unencumbered flexibility and choice with their music, when it comes to video they… um, they…. Well, the studios were smart enough to copy-protect their discs so we should reward that, darn it. Amazon played its card differently than Apple, which expressed hope that its agreement with EMI would yield a domino effect for the other three major labels. In contrast, Amazon emphasized the 12,000 labels, all independent of course, that would offer DRM-free MP3 downloads. Most discussion in this area has focused on the “will they or won’t they?” decision at Universal, Sony BMG and Warner Music, but what if they don’t? That could lead to a situation where indie music is DRM-free and now has digital distribution as good as the big guys, which could grease the path to discovering new artists and shift (albeit slightly) the balance of power. Motorola has RAZRs rising and logos near loos At today’s unveiling of the RAZR 2, Motorola used its bat-wings logo to designate not only is corporate name, but the entrance for the men’s restroom. For the women’s restroom, they simply turned the bat wings upside down — how very versatile. Motorola has finally outdone its best-selling handset on nearly all counts. This reminds me of when Apple unveiled the fifth-generation iPod; it was a no-lose situation for consumers. However, Motorola will certainly look to the RAZR 2 to boost its margins and the product will likely command a premium. I’ll throw my hat in for $299 with a two-year contract. Will consumers bite? I think back to the StarTAC and how Motorola tried to succeed it with the V that never became as much of a phenomenom. The V was to the StarTAC as the KRZR was to the RAZR. Maybe history won’t repeat itself, though, as consumers are still snapping up RAZRs faster than, say, Katanas or other thin clamshells. While today’s media event included a lot of review for those familiar with Motorola’s announcements from 3GSM or even CTIA booth, the RAZR 2 made good on the extended messaging to focus more on the digital DNA of handsets in addition to their form factors. Some of its legacy spinoffs from the RAZR (like the ROKR or even Z8) may not be so inspiring, but if Motorola can execute this well on a feature phone that will ultimately be available for under $50, its high-end should become more energized. That said, Motorola needs to rethink its convergence marketing. “Your next television won’t be a television.” That’s pithy, but beyond the state of most consumers’ acceptance of mobile video and not up to their understanding of television. Small Wonder attacks a big problem I’ve had my say on Pure Digital and its newest flash-based camcorder. Thomson licensed the basic design of its first Point and Shoot camcorder, adding a switch to choose between higher quality and longer recording times. With the second-generation Small Wonder, though, its upped the ante, adding SD card expansion capabilities and flip-out screen for recording oneself. I took a chance and got one for my mom for Mother’s Day and was delighted at how she took to its its simplicity, at least for recording. For while playback of what’s on the camcorder is a simple matter of connecting the included composite video cables to a standard television, backing up those videos will require delving into software that, however well-designed and easy to use, will intimidate her. And this is actually another reason why I chose the RCA version for her as Thomson plans to bring out a plug-and-play DVD recorder accessory for the Small Wonder later this year. Dock the Small Wonder into the drive and it should spit out a DVD. DVD recorders designed to be connected to camcorders aren’t new. Both Sony and JVC offer them. But I’m taking a small leap of faith that Thomson will stay true to the Small Wonder’s philosophy of simplicity to close the loop on mom-friendly video capture. Those who should not throw Zen Stones In this week’s Switched On, I wrote about Apple’s challenge with model diversification as the company’s line expands. It offers three main famlies of iPods. That’s a lot if you consider its pro desktop line to have one model, its consumer desktop line to have two. and its notebook line as arguably straddling both with the MacBook and MacBook Pro. This week, though, Creative unveiled its iPod shuffle-like Zen Stone, which its Web site classifies as its 11th MP3 model line in the Zen family! Even trying to reduce that to branded families, you’re left with six — Vision, Neeon, V, Micro, Nano and now Stone. Creative even has its older MuVo line up there although the Nano is very similar in terms of form factor. The Zen Stone may be Creative’s best-looking player in a while (maybe ever) and at a great price point — with some nice accessories, too (I like the keychain) — that brings style into the portable CD player market price bracket, but this is from the company that criticized the first-generation iPod shuffle back in 2005 as follows: We’re expecting a good fight but they’re coming out with something that’s five generations older. It’s our first generation MuVo One product feature, without display, just have a (shuffle feature). We had that — that’s a four-year-old product. So I think the whole industry will just laugh at it, because the flash people — it’s worse than the cheapest Chinese player. Even the cheap, cheap Chinese brand today has display and has FM. They don’t have this kind of thing, and they expect to come out with a fight; I think it’s a non-starter to begin with. Speaking of new kids on the rock, RCA — which places itself as number three in the MP3 market behind Apple and SanDisk — released most of its new Gem line yesterday. I agree with Engadget’s Paul Miller that the Jet is the best-looking of the bunch. Flipping over the package It’s a bit of odd timing that Pure Digital decided to rebadge its Point and Shoot camcorder Flip Video when a next-generation offering from RCA that supports a flip-out screen and memory card expansion will be available soon. However, I saw the (blister, grrr) packaging today and it’s pretty clever. Not only does the bulbous design imitate that of the camcorder itself., but the back enables you to power it on and play a short promotional video after which you can see what its like to use the small LCD. I would have suggested that the badge on the front alerting buyers to the interactive back be larger and that the buttons be labelled or accompanies by a sticker on the back to make it easier for unfamiliar buyers to find the power and play buttons (as play looks similar to delete). The big guys are focused on HD, but Flip Video is a very fun product. Casual users love it. As I mentioned briefly when I posted about the Canon PowerShot TX, ther are a lot of places Pure Digital can take the product. It would be great to see two hours of HD, a larger LCD and maybe 5x optical zoon at a $500 price point rounding out the top-end. Update: Turns out that Flip Video is not just a rebranding. According to Pure Digital, the video quality has been improved and there have been some other improvements. The 30-minute version in white s $119 and the 60-minute version, available in white and now black, is $149. There’s some cool stuff up these guys’ sleeves. That bud has a nice ring to it Hey, aren’t those things supposed to go in the ear? I guess this is what happens what art imitates iLife. Letter-imperfect icons I was taken aback when I saw the minimalist, alphabetic icons in Adobe’s Creative Suite 3, which take the old Macromedia cop-out letter-bound application icons and add a heaping serving of boredom. Here’s a great post explaining the, um, design decisions behind them. Much of the blame goes to the Macromedia merger and the overwhelming number of applications now on Adobe’s palette and, perhaps more practically, the Mac OS X dock to which I assign most of the blame. Regardless, we shouldn’t have to give up beauty for functionality in our digital workspaces. This sets a bad precedent. The funniest comment asks if Adobe is “trying to create its own version of the periodic table” while the one that best expresses the head-scratching bottom line is, “I can’t believe these icons are from a market leader in design applications.” WinMo’ Better My recent column on Windows Mobile spurred a great e-mail exchange with a member of the WinMo team. In response to my raising the anti-trust spectre, he noted that carriers can and in some cases will easily turn off Windows Live Messenger and Live Search. Fair enough, but the abysmal state of most third-party multi-network IM implementations combined with WinMo’s general awkwardness makes alternatives unappealing to the consumer while the price of third-party offerings probably reduce their appeal to carriers. Sharing that I believe basic, text-based IM to be as much of a utility as SMS, I suggested that Microsoft create an extensible IM architecture similar to that of Trillian and pre-load it with Live Messenger. Assuming the other IM providers or third parties supported that, you’d have the prospect of better OS integration that could be pursued by carriers or consumers. Search choice is even easier. Microsoft could simply provide a way to change the default search provider (probably no more than rewriting a URL) as it does in IE7. Who will do Vudu? When I first met with LaLa.com, CEO Bill Nguyen spoke about the importance of selection at online CD stores such as Amazon.com (which Apple had claimed during last September that the iTunes store was on the verge of passing). A recent meeting with LaLa’s John Kuch again touched on that theme. Apple’s selection in music, however, is not as rich as its selection in movies, and that’s the target of suddenly high-profile Vudu. After all, if instant access to a limited selection of movies had been so compelling, MovieBeam would have likely found a greater audience, and it was cheaper than the $300 being bandied about for its box, particularly after discounts. (I “overpaid” for mine at about $60 as I recall.) So, armed with content from all of the majors save for Sony Pictures Entertainment, which may be facing corporate pressure to distribute to the PS3 (or not to further other strategic corporate interests), selection will likely be the trump card that Vudu plays as other solutions seem like they could probably circumvent any IP that the company may have with its in-house peer-to-peer content delivery network. Interestingly enough, the Times’ story quotes Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, the nearly 7 million members of which have to be considered low-hanging fruit for Vudu. When I wrote about Apple TV versus TiVo and versus cable/satellite, I pegged programming depth and value as two areas where the digital media adapter was far behind. Vudu probably falls short too for now, but that could change fast if the company is really serious about competing with DVD and goes after the already aired TV show market. I’ll definitely have more to say about Vudu soon. The how of now I agree with Rhonda Wickman of Wireless Week insofar as SMS would have been a better — or at least complementary — way of warning students during the nightmarish Virginia Tech massacre. However, she is wrong to characterize e-mail as “far better than systems used when I was in college – a public safety siren.” Sirens may not be very high-tech but they are real-time and even harder to ignore than an SMS delivered to what could be a handset that is silenced or turned off. You don’t see ambulance drivers sending text messages to the cars in front of them. The clear danger at the university more than warranted similarly intrusive notification.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line792
__label__wiki	0.556432	0.556432	UNISONScotland www RSS news UK RSS news Scotland This is our archive website that is no longer being updated. For the new website please go to www.unison-scotland.org Join UNISON Home News About us Join Us Contacts Help Resources Learning Links UNISON UK Retired Members Information & Resources • Back to Retired Members Index • Back to Information & Resources Index Age Concern Scotland Guide for Pensioners in Scotland Benefits Agency Scottish Pensioners Forum Help the Aged campaigns Provided by Mae Stewart, Editor UNISON Retired members Newsletter, Dundee, Perth and Angus. Please note that this is not definitive information about benefits but will provide a signpost as to where to get up to date information. Please check the sources first. UNISON Scotland can take no responsibility for information that may be outdated or inaccurate. Issue 53 March 2014 top \| Information & Resources Index 40 per cent of over 60s could overpay for energy With just 40 days remaining to the deadline for industry roll out of Ofgem's Retail Market Review (RMR), Age Scotland Enterprises is calling on energy customers to act now to ensure they get the most from energy market reforms. The Retail Market Review is being rolled out by Ofgem, the industry regulator, and seeks to improve Britain’s energy market for the benefit of all consumers. NB However new research has revealed that 40 per cent of over 60s don't realise that responsibility falls on the consumer to take action when the new tariffs come into effect. Energy customers could be placed on a standard tariff that may not be the product best suited to their needs, nor the cheapest, unless they proactively contact their supplier to discuss their options. The survey also found that more than half (57 per cent) of over-60s remain unsure whether the Retail Market Review will help their understanding of the energy market, and less than one per cent (0.6 per cent) feel that the changes will bring greater trust in providers. Logan Steele, General Manager at Age Scotland Enterprises, said: “The Retail Market Review is a huge change to the energy sector and in the longer term will be good for customers by simplifying energy tariffs. But there is evidently more work to be done to ensure older consumers are made aware of the changes that lie ahead. There are currently 14.5 million people aged 60 and over in the UK, more than 62 per cent of whom have never changed their energy provider. It is consumers like this that we need to make sure are aware of the imminent changes. Age Scotland Enterprises has long championed ‘savvy consumers’, empowering older people to shop around and better manage their financial arrangements, and we encourage people to take a proactive response to the Retail Market Review. It is hugely important that those who are unsure of whether their energy tariff will change, or are concerned at what has happened to their tariff, should contact their energy supplier to ensure that they are on the best tariff for them.” Age Scotland Enterprises and its energy product provider E.ON are communicating with their customers to tell them about these changes regarding Age UK Energy tariffs and the importance of proactively checking with their energy provider to ensure that they are on the best deal. Contact points for Age Scotland: Silver Line Scotland For information, advice and friendship, all day, every day. Call this number if you want to get involved with our work. Causewayside House 160 Causewayside Age UK is the main site for pensioners information in UK. Most of this information covers Ireland Wales; England; and Scotland, but some information can vary in Scotland. I will always try to indicate which information is from Age UK, or Age Scotland, but if in doubt I would suggest you call Age Scotland first to see whether data is applicable in Scotland. www.ageuk.org.uk/scotland or www.ageuk.org.uk (Apologies to Age Scotland for any mis-quotes in this information) Mae Stewart	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line793
__label__cc	0.721029	0.278971	Jupiter and Saturn rain diamonds. Knownsense posted by Ashleigh on Nov 06, 2017 On Saturn and Jupiter, lightning storms turn methane into carbon. As this falls, the carbon hardens into chunks of graphite, and then diamond. At about one centimeter in diameter, they are definitely big enough to make a diamond ring. Although scientists can’t actually go and observe this spectacular rain, they are very certain that Saturn creates about 1,000 tons of diamonds a year. And this diamond creation process is not a short one. The methane turns into graphite after falling about 1,000 miles. And after turning into diamond, they continue to fall the length of about two and a half Earth spans. Once they get into that extreme of depth, it’s unsure what happens to the diamonds, although it’s unlikely they remain solid. At the extreme depths of the planets, it’s possible a “sea” of liquid carbon is formed from the diamond rain. Uranus and Neptune are much colder at their cores than Saturn and Jupiter, so diamonds could last forever there.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line794
__label__cc	0.582654	0.417346	Ventana Monthly News and Entertainment [ currentissue ] [ pastissues ] [ info ] [ digitalissues ] [ writers'guidelines ] Down-Home Terroir Pool. Patio. Vineyard? For the rising ranks of backyard vintners in Ventura County, home is where the grapes grow. THINKING ABOUT FOOD A Taste of Porto Having tried the wine, SUSAN BROWN samples the eponymous city—and explores the depth of Portugal’s sweetest export. Casa Pacifica Angels Wine & Food Festival Cal State University Channel Islands, Camarillo Wine Lovers' Companions Fresh summer ideas for toting, opening, airing, and—yes—drinking wine. Back to the Land It’s a short trip from farm to table at the Troyna home, where organic agriculture is a family affair. SEEDS, SEA, AND GASTRONOMY The deeper story of the Jolly Oyster and the art of aquaculture. A selective preview of local happenings Nancy Whitman – A Retrospective Through September 2 \| Ojai Valley Museum The Ojai Valley Museum presents a retrospective of the creative works of Nancy Whitman. Highly influenced by Matisse, Jawlensky, and the Fauvist movement, Whitman’s paintings explode with color and line and invite the viewer to enjoy her love of nature and to share in her celebratory process of painting. 130 W. Ojai Ave., Ojai. For more information, visit ojaimuseum.org or call 805/640-1390 ext. 203. Carlisle Cooper Retrospective Through November 4. Carlisle Cooper Retrospective Through November 4 \| Santa Paula Art Museum A retrospective exhibit of works by renowned Ventura College Art Professor Carlisle Cooper. Cooper believes that to reveal man to himself is the function of art. His own role has been a varied one, as a student, cartoonist, commercial artist, figurative painter, and teacher. He portrays his figures in strongly contrasting colors with semi-abstract backgrounds, frequently set in an outer space context. Santa Paula Art Museum, 117 N. 10th St., Santa Paula. For more information, visit santapaulaartmuseum.org. Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival July & August \| California Lutheran University The 16th season of the Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival will feature performances of “Romeo and Juliet” and “Much Ado About Nothing.” Festival grounds open at 5:30 p.m. for pre-show picnicking and entertainment. Kingsmen Shakespeare Company is the professional theater company of California Lutheran University. “Much Ado About Nothing” will be performed July 6-8 and July 13-15. “Romeo and Juliet” will be staged July 20-22, July 27-July 29, and Aug. 3-5. All shows begin at 8 p.m. in Kingsmen Park. General admission is $20 for adults and free for those under 18. For more information, visit kingsmenshakespeare.org. Gene Perret, Ventura County Writers Club July 10 \| Camarillo “Write Your Book Now: A Proven System to Start and Finish the Book You’ve Always Wanted to Write” is the topic for VCWC’s July meeting. Emmy Award-winning comedy author Gene Perret will discuss how anyone following his formula can complete a book. He wrote comedy for many of TV’s top-rated shows and won three Emmys for his work on “The Carol Burnett Show.” He wrote for Bob Hope for almost 30 years, the last 12 as Hope’s head writer. Gene has published more than 40 books, one of which was the top selling book on writing comedy. Free. 7 p.m. Pleasant Valley Senior Center, 1605 Burnley St., Camarillo. For more information, visit venturacountywriters.com. "Good Vibrations July 12 Through September 1. “Good Vibrations” Art Show July 12 to September 1 \| Fox Fine Jewelry, Ventura Chuck Trunks and Jodi Anthony will display their work in a show titled “Good Vibrations.” An artists’ reception will be Saturday, July 21, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Trunks prints his artwork on high-quality heavy vinyl with adhesive and lays it by hand on surfboards. Anthony’s canvases reflect her graphics experience: bold colors and defined lines. Her subject matter focuses on the healing power of the divine feminine. 210 E. Main St., Ventura. For more information, visit foxfinejewelry.com. Festival of Sunkinanik’oy July 21. Inaugural Festival of Sunkinanik’oy July 21 \| The Pottery Studio, Ojai A celebration of Chumash history in Ventura County, the festival will recognize the first time that local land has been returned to its original people. Sukinanik’oy is a Native American word meaning “to bring back to life.” Join artists, performers, and healers to raise funds to pay land taxes for recently acquired land. The ultimate intent is to build a non-profit cultural and education center, a native plant habitat, a tribal library, and a place of honor for Native American veterans. $5 adults, children are free. 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The Pottery Studio, 1804 E. Ojai Ave., Ojai. Arty Party for Westside ArtWalk July 21 \| Museum of Ventura County Join a free “Arty Party” at the Museum of Ventura County to celebrate their selected ArtWalk artists Dianne Bennett and the Studio Channel Islands Art Center. There will be live music by Gypsy Death Star and We Govern We, as well as a no host bar. Guests can meet resident artists of Studio Channel Islands Art Center during their special exhibition and sale in the museum pavilion and plaza. Dianne Bennett’s exhibition, “One Time, One Place: Retablos by Dianne Bennett,” continues until August 19. 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. 100 E. Main St., Ventura. For more information, visit venturamuseum.org. 20th Annual Westside ArtWalk July 21 - 22 \| Ventura The Westside ArtWalk is a free, self-guided tour of dozens of galleries, studios, and pop-up venues in Ventura’s Westside Cultural District and downtown area. The all-volunteer two-day celebration will bring together Ventura’s vibrant arts community in a weekend of events. The goal of ArtWalk is to not only unify the community with art, but to increase foot traffic in the downtown and Westside districts. This 20th anniversary will celebrate the inaugural “Artist of Distinction” honor, presented by ArtWalk organizers. The first-ever recipient, Donna Granata, is an award-winning painter turned photographer and the founder and executive director of Focus on the Masters. Free. Saturday, noon to 8 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Details online at westsideartwalk.org or by calling 805/746-2818. The Love Train Murder Mystery Dinner Theater July 28 \| Fillmore & Western Railway This train ride sets the mood for a ’70s style spoof of the popular “Love Boat” characters on their Aloha Voyage. You’ll be a guest of Hef Hubner at his retirement party and help him set sail for new horizons. Meet some strangely familiar characters as they collide for an evening of intrigue and entertainment, all done up ‘70s style, with period music and costumes. Dinner includes choice of prime rib, chicken cordon bleu, salmon, or a vegetarian entree. Train departs at 6:30 p.m. and returns 9:30 p.m. Adults only, $89 per person. 364 Main St., Fillmore. For more information, call 805/524-2546 or visit fwry.com. A Taste of Camarillo Wine & Food Festival July 28 & 29 \| Camarillo Ranch House On July 28 there will be a Wine Auction Gala & Dinner from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. This special event includes an auction of fine wines, plus a gourmet dinner and live music. Guests can sample wine from Pear Valley Winery, the 2012 Official Taste of Camarillo Wine Sponsor. Tickets $70 in advance. On July 29 Meadowlark Service League will hold its 25th annual Wine and Food Festival from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on the lawns of the historic Camarillo Ranch House. Sample wines and gourmet food from a variety of participating wineries and restaurants while enjoying live entertainment, a silent auction, and boutique shopping. $75 in advance, $85 at the door. A weekend pass for both events is $135. 201 Camarillo Ranch Rd., Camarillo. For more information, visit tasteofcamarillo.com or call 805/388-7158. 10 Annual Jazz Concert Series Sundays in August Gardens of the World, Thousand Oaks This year, the event has been named, “Big Band Extravaganza.” Running every Sunday in August, the free concerts will feature some of the country’s most accomplished and popular bands: Boyd Cannon Big Band Explosion, The Pat Longo Orchestra, the Late Nite Big Band, and Bruce Lofgren Jazz Orchestra. Concerts will run from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. with lawn seating available in front of the Gardens of the World American Bandstand. Blankets, lawn chairs, and picnic baskets are welcome. 2001 Thousand Oaks Blvd. For detailed information, visit gardensoftheworld.info. © 2019 Southland Publishing, All Rights Reserved.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line798
__label__wiki	0.785644	0.785644	Rachel Kaplan Cover: $20 // Show: 7:30pm Rachel Kaplan is a Los Angeles-based jazz vocalist and comedy writer. Known for her "warm, smooth vocals" and endearing witticisms, Rachel has been described as “if Teri Garr and Tina Fey had a baby.” Raised on Judy Garland, Louis Prima, and NSYNC, Rachel sings oldies, standards, jazzed-up contemporary hits, and ukulele originals with self-deprecating charm. Her 2015 debut cabaret “We Have No Bananas” in downtown Los Angeles drew rave reviews as a “spectacular and memorable experience- her sense of humor is almost as good as the music itself.” Like “an old record come to life,” Rachel has performed around Los Angeles including Hotel Cafe, Room 5, and Genghis Cohen. She’s been deemed “a fantastic mix of smooth soul and powerful jazz that blend together to just make you…well to make you melt a little bit.” Rachel has written music for Netflix’s BoJack Horseman, and worked at Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Website: rachelkaplanmusic.com Instagram: @rachelkaplanmusic Facebook: facebook.com/rrkaplan/ Private Event: Boys and Girls Club Fundraiser The Reverend Shawn Amos Sign Up for Weekly Emails Want to know who’s performing at Vibrato Grill? Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates. Herb Alpert's Vibrato Grill, Jazz, and Etc., 2930 Beverly Glen Cir, Los Angeles, CA, 90077(310) 474-9400	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line799
__label__cc	0.677523	0.322477	At The Centre Youth Advisor Counsellor > Counsellor Referral Youth Orgs Tiverton Junior Operatic Club Army Cadets Moors FC Razzamataz KIDS WHO CARE Tiverton Sea Cadets Tiverton BMX Club Careers South West Ashfords Solicitors Tiverton High School C.H.A.T Voluntary Youth Services YOT Y-Smart Devon Crimebeat Rethink Mental Illness Financial Supporters Tiverton Market Centre Youth Drop In Section 30 Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 Part 4 Interpretation Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 2003 Chapter 38 DISPERSAL OF GROUPS ETC. Dispersal of groups of persons under 16 to their place of residence An interpretation. 1, Where the police have correctly applied for a section 30 Dispersal Order they are given some extra powers when a uniformed officer believes; A, that any members of the public have been intimidated, harassed, alarmed or distressed by the presence or behaviour of two or more people in public places in the mapped area, and B, that anti-social behaviour is a significant and persistent problem in the mapped area. 2, These extra powers given to uniformed police officers can last for a specified period and no longer than 6 months. 3, The powers in section (4) can be used if a uniformed officer believes that the presence of a group of two or more people in the mapped area has resulted, or is likely to result, in any members of the public being intimidated, harassed, alarmed or distressed. 4, The uniformed officer may give one or more of the following directions; A, tell people in the group to leave the mapped area. This could be straight away or by a certain time, the officer can also say how the people should leave, this probably means by which route, on foot or by public transport. B, tell people in the group who don’t live in the mapped area to leave the mapped area or any part of it either immediately, by a certain time and how they should leave, and C, tell people in the group who don’t live in the mapped area not to return to the mapped area or any part of it for up to 24 hours. 5, Gives some exceptions to section (4) which only apply to Trade Union pickets and demonstrations or other public parades or processions, none of which are likely to apply if the police follow their rules. 6, If a uniformed officer finds a young person in any public place in the mapped area who is believed to; A, be under the age of 16, and B, is not under the effective control of a parent or responsible personInformatio aged 18 or over, The officer can take the young person home unless he or she believes that this places the young person at risk of significant harm. Section 30 Police Powers Which start from the 22nd July 2011 In short; If you are part of a group of two or more, If you are under 16, If you are in the red mapped area, If you or the people you are with are involved in anti-social behaviour or if the police think you or your friends might do something anti-social, You could be told to leave the area, how and by when you must leave, and then when you are allowed back. If you are not with a parent or a responsible adult over 18 you could be taken home to your parents unless this will put you at risk of significant harm. If you do not do what you are told, you can and probably will be arrested and charged with failing to comply with the Section 30 direction, or if you get stroppy, with an offence under the Public Order Act. If you are arrested you will probably find yourself in the cells at Exeter’s Heavitree Road Police Station. One of the ‘rights’ that you have, which will be read to you is the right to speak to a solicitor, you should do this and it is free while you are at the police station. Young People and Staff at the Market Centre Legislation Information Premium Weebly Template by DivTag © Copyright Byen All Rights Reserved	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line817
__label__cc	0.747915	0.252085	Horse race (World Cup) – World’s top horserace attracts sporting enthusiasts across the globe Seven Arab nations create the formation of the state known as the United Arab Emirates. This cash rich area borders both Oman and Saudi Arabia. Predominately Arab nationalities inhabit this State. However, the prosperous nature and fast developing economies have attracted a multitude of foreign ethnicities too. A zone that is rich and fertile in oil and petroleum products, these booming states have become synonymous for modern architectural masterpieces offering holiday markers many attractions for leisure and relaxation. The Emirate of Sharjah is recognized as the cultural center where museums and historical sites flourish. However, many flock to Dubai for its offerings of enterprise and business. Dubai is home to over a million people with many expats from developing nations considering this Emirate their true base. Travellers to this state are attracted by the sunny weather, shopping including the gold bazaars, spectacular hotels and accommodation, epicurean food all blending seamlessly. The country is also renowned as a mecca for sporting events. World tours such as rally racing, cricket, golf and tennis are just a few games among the many that congregate here to compete. Dubai is also famous for its horse racing success. Noted as a prime venue and breeding ground for the sport, many competitors and visitors flock to be a part these events. The Emirates Horse Racing authority is the ultimate governing body for all administration and implementation policies surrounding the game. In the world’s racing calendar, Dubai is a popular venue. A sophisticated race track and other facilities which are bordering on luxurious, the Dubai World Cup attracts fans and race goers globally. Horses seen in the competition are thoroughbred breeds with the events taking place at the Nad Al Sheba Racecourse, a short distance from the main city. Heralded as the world’s richest race, the purse on offer is around ten million US dollars. This annual event which began in 1996 has a global audience akin to other popular races worldwide. The Millennium Hotels and Resorts Dubai is located just a short distance away from the Airport. Among Dubai Hotels this property resonates as a classic abode geared for serving the business traveller. Stylish and comfortably appointed rooms create the perfect ambience for a relaxed sojourn. Hotel specials on offer include the Grand Sunday promotion that provides the ideal room and attributing rates.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line819
__label__wiki	0.679132	0.679132	Jody Wilson-Raybould Michel Coulombe Nuttall & Korody B.C. terror trial to resume without critical evidence of CSIS’s involvement in sting operation Image description: A low-resolution surveillance photo of a grinning John Nuttall, sporting a massive goatee and wearing a leather jacket and a t-shirt emblazoned with the words “SURREY WHAT” in gothic-style lettering, is seated in the passenger seat of a car, his head turned toward the driver (not pictured). The photo seems to have been taken from a hidden camera in the car’s rear-view mirror. (Image credit: RCMP/Project Souvenir) For nearly a year, defence lawyers for B.C. Legislature bombers John Nuttall and Amanda Korody have been doing everything in their power to compel the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to turn over evidence about the role one of their operatives or sources played in radicalizing the Surrey couple and encouraging them to commit violent acts of jihad. Yesterday, after many interminable months of procedural delays and closed-door hearings, they abandoned those efforts. Speaking in B.C. Superior Court, Marilyn Sandford, Nuttall’s attorney, told Justice Catherine Bruce that her client had simply had enough of waiting, and was willing to abandon his efforts to obtain this critical evidence if it meant the trial would be able to move forward. “My clients have been in custody for a long time,” Sandford said. “They are anxious to proceed and they are anxious that there not be any further delay.” Continue Reading Leap Manifesto ICYMI: Stephen Lewis lays it down Image description: The large outlines of the letters “L E A P” appear in white over a background of colourful shapes and patterns drawn in what looks like pencil crayon. The images include a tree, the head of a bird, triangles which may represent mountains, and buildings with smokestacks. At the bottom, in small white letters, is a passage which reads: “”Moved by the treaties that formed this country and bind us to share the land “for as long as the sun shines, the grass grows and the rivers flow,” we want energy sources that will last for time immemorial and never run out or poison the land.” – The Leap Manifesto” (Image credit: Matt Forsythe/Leap Manifesto) Last September, when the Leap Manifesto burst into the middle of a massively meh marathon election campaign, I was completely in favour of the proposals it espoused and entirely pessimistic about its chances of being seriously considered by any of the major parties. The Manifesto, in case you came in late, can be read here and is essentially a concrete and detailed plan for a transformation of the Canadian economy, political system, energy infrastructure, racial relations, and worker/capitalist relations, all with the aim of making Earth more habitable and life more enjoyable in both the short and long term. As I wrote at the time, the Manifesto seemed to be doomed due to its overt hostility towards the ruling class: Continue Reading Federal Politricks Avi Lewis Mulcair’s dismissal is latest escalation in NDP’s civil war Image description: a close up of Thomas Mulcair’s face, from bearded chin to eyebrows. Mulcair looks happy, euphoric even. There are smile creases around his eyes and his teeth are showing. The lighting is low and blue-tinged. (Image credit: Youtube) It’s trite and commonplace, in the aftermath of a surprising turn of events, to say that we all should have seen it coming. And many pundits, struggling to explain the stunning rejection of Thomas Mulcair by the NDP’s membership, are already hastening to reassure us all that the signs were there all along that Mulcair was done for. Chantel Hébert, writing in the Star, insists that the “writing was on the wall for Mulcair”, and that it should have been obvious to everybody that the record-high turnout for the NDP convention foreshadowed a shakeup at the top. The pundits on CPAC, reeling from the shock of the result, anxiously rattled off a long list of signs that things hadn’t been going the way Angry Tom had planned. But all those same pundits had spent the last few weeks talking about a hypothetical 70% approval rating threshold, and whether or not Mulcair would be able to cling to power had he failed to achieve that magic number. A lot of attention was paid to many scenarios, from a commanding Mulcair victory to a mid-50s approval, but not one professional commentator I heard or read even suggested that outright rejection at the hands of the party was possible. In retrospect, yes, it seems obvious that Mulcair was doomed. But if we’re gonna get all retrospectively prognosticatory, why cast our gaze back only a few days? Why not cast it back even further than last October’s disastrous election night, in which the NDP lost more than half its seats and its best-ever chance at forming government? We should have seen it all coming the day that Naomi Klein launched her Leap Manifesto with the support of an all-star line-up of Canadian activists and leftists. Continue Reading National Security Sunday Harjit Sajjan Judy Wilson-Raybould Ralph Goodale Pre-crime arrest shows Trudeau Liberals intend to leave C-51 mostly intact Image: A hand holds a cardboard sign reading “C-51 IS TERRORISM – REJECT FEAR” For well over a year now, Justin Trudeau’s promise to “fix” the “problematic aspects” of Bill C-51 once his party formed government has been the source of considerable uncertainty. Just what exactly does he mean by “problematic”? Which parts will he keep, and which will he amend, and which will he discard? Neither the Prime Minister nor his Public Safety Minister, Ralph Goodale, have been particularly detailed in their public statements on the matter, although careful parsing of their interviews do glean some insights, at least about some things they intend to change. The government’s focus so far has been on increased oversight of intelligence and security agencies, both by existing bodies and by a new committee of parliamentarians. (Although their major cuts to the budget of SIRC, the body which provides oversight to CSIS, raises serious questions about their commitment to robust oversight.) They’ve made vaguely reassuring noises about protecting “civil” protest and have promised to tidy up the bureaucratic Gordian Knot commonly known as the no-fly list. But they’ve been silent about privacy concerns, and documents recently released in response to a Freedom of Information request begrudgingly acknowledged that Canadians’ private information has been shared by at least four agencies, one of which had its name completely redacted from the release. Given the responsiveness of CSE to Defence Minister Sarjit Hajjan’s demand that the signals intelligence agency stop sharing information with its foreign counterparts during the metadata scandal which erupted earlier this year, we have to presume that this inter-agency C51-approved info-sharing is happening with the Trudeau government’s blessing. The government has been equally circumspect as to their plans for the controversially expansive new powers granted to spy agencies like CSIS. In fact, they’ve been frustratingly tight-lipped on the subject of how they have been using these new powers since they formed government last year, and are keeping their predecessors’ instructions to CSIS on how to use these powers top secret. This silence, as I’ve suggested, always seemed to indicate that they intended to leave these issues unaddressed. And with the arrest of Kevin Omar Mohamed by the RCMP last week, the Liberal government has finally and conclusively tipped their hand – the security agencies’ new powers look to be here to say. Continue Reading Unscheduled hiatus Image description: A GIF of a black and white cat sitting at a laptop and moving a mouse with its paw. (Image credit: Buzzfeed/I don’t own this at all/please don’t sue me!) As you may have noticed, The Alfalfafield has been on an unscheduled hiatus for the last week or so, and posts have been less regular for a while now. This blog is a labour of love for me – I do all of my research and writing in my spare time, and that spare time has been pretty scarce lately, for a variety of reasons. The good news (at least blog-wise) is that I’m now unemployed, and so I should be able to return to a consistent posting schedule, for at least as long as I need something to distract me from the miserable hell which is job hunting. If all goes well, I might even be able to take on some more ambitious and longer-form projects. Thanks for your patience, and keep your eye on this space! TOpoli Rob Ford was a violent, abusive, bigoted bully. His death changes none of that. Image description: On the left is a still from a cell-phone video, showing then-Mayor Rob Ford, in a short-sleeved shirt and tie, gesturing wildly. On the right in a transcript from that video, reading: “FORD: No hold barred, brother. He dies or I die, brother. Brother you’ve never seen me fking go. You think so, brother? But when he’s down, I’ll rip his fking throat out. I’ll poke his eyes out.” (Image source: YouTube) It’s generally considered in poor taste to speak ill of the dead, especially in the immediate aftermath of their passing away. But this tradition, when applied to public figures, has a pernicious effect. It allows for that person’s defenders and apologists to praise the person in the highest possible terms, while their opponents can only grit their teeth and mouth anodyne platitudes about sympathy for the recently deceased’s family. So, for instance, today we see folks dwelling on Rob Ford’s dedication to the high school football team that he coached, his willingness to take calls at all hours from his constituents, and (because it sells papers) the lurid addiction scandal that dogged the second half of his tenure as Toronto’s mayor. What’s missing from this sanitized version of Ford’s career is his well-established record as an abusive bully, a political opportunist who used the poor as props while undercutting city support for them, a misogynistic racist bigot, and indeed a violent person. To be clear, my heart goes out to Rob Ford’s family today – particularly his poor children. I appreciate that the Ford family is suffering right now, and I understand why many feel that it’s crass to publish a piece with a headline like this one has. But while in death he is provoking grief in those who were close to him, in life Rob Ford was the direct cause of a lot of pain and suffering in his role as a public official. And it is unacceptable that we allow the pain of Ford’s family to eclipse the pain of Ford’s victims as we recount his legacy and assess his life. Continue Reading Phillipe Couillard Stewart Phillip Taking “no” for an answer on pipelines Image description: A banner reading “IDLE NO MORE – Unity – Sovereignty – Coast to coast to coast – Nipissing First Nation – UOI – WBAFN – NFN”. The banner also features a closed fist clutching a large feather. In the background are dozens of people dressed for rainy cool weather. (Image credit: Michelle Caron/Wikipedia) Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, the president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, said something in reaction to the Trudeau government’s new pipeline review policy in late January that has rattled around in my head ever since. “What needs to be demonstrated,” Phillip said, in registering his disappointment with the policy, “is the federal government’s willingness to take no for an answer from First Nations…who are exercising their sovereign decision-making power.” In many ways, this is the crux of the pipeline debate – at the intersection between Indigenous rights and energy policy, where we need to decide whether our stated principles or our obligations to corporate shareholders should take precedence. It’s vital to be mindful of the fact that the struggle against pipelines, as pivotal and momentous as it is for the climate justice movement, is also the latest front in a centuries-old Aboriginal struggle for the right to say “no” to settlers who want to exploit and despoil their land. And let’s be clear – by and large, First Nations are saying “no” to pipelines, and they’re saying it firmly and unequivocally. Right across the country, Indigenous folks, both from the grassroots and from the leadership, are speaking out in the strongest possible terms against major proposed projects like Energy East, Northern Gateway, and Trans Mountain. As these proposals reach their culmination, it’s becoming critical that the Canadian government affirms the right of First Nations to, as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples puts it, “free, prior, and informed consent” – or, in Phillip’s formulation, their right to say no and have that be the final word on the subject. Continue Reading Mark Saunders If Ayanle Hassan Ali is a terrorist, so was the Kalamazoo Uber gunman Image description: the top results of a Google Image search for “terrorist”. Of the 37 images shown, 35 are Islamic terrorists, one is a member of the KKK, and one is a bar graph which shows that terrorist attacks by separatist organizations are orders of magnitude more common than Islamic terrorism in the European Union. Today I’d like to compare two prominent incidents of violence from the last month – the stabbing of two active-duty military personnel in North York, Ontario by Ayanle Hassan Ali and the shooting of eight people in Kalamazoo, Michigan by Uber driver Jason Brian Dalton – and look at how each of them was portrayed in the media. It shouldn’t be a surprise, given the names of the men involved, which of them got labelled a potential terrorist, but the comparison goes quite a bit deeper than it may appear at first glance. In case you missed the story, Ali entered a Canadian Forces recruitment centre mid-afternoon on Monday, March 14, and (non-fatally) stabbed the person behind the counter. He then attempted to enter further into the centre, but was stopped by several soldiers, one of whom was (non-fatally) wounded. According to Toronto police chief Mark Saunders, Ali allegedly told the soldiers that “Allah told me to do this, Allah told me to come here and kill people”. He faces several charges in connection with this attack. There’s been quite a bit of back-and-forth in the Toronto press over the past week about whether Ali’s attack on the military recruitment office constituted an act of terrorism. This past Tuesday, the Toronto Sun’s cover read “‘TERROR’. THERE, WE SAID IT”, and they leaned heavily on the notion that they were bravely defying a cadre of ultra-leftist social justice warriors which has somehow wrapped their commie tentacles around the public consciousness and coerced people into being terrified of calling Muslims terrorists: Continue Reading Supreme Court to rule on whether Line 9’s First Nations consultation process was constitutional Image description: Two people hold a large flag, featuring a wide horizontal white bands with narrower horizontal purple bands above and below it. On the flag are the words “No Consultation! No Consent! No Line 9! Respect The Treaties – Support Chippewas of the Thames First Nation!” In front of the banner, a woman is speaking into a microphone, presumably addressing an out-of-the-picture crowd; to her left are two onlookers. (Image credit: Facebook/Anishnabek Rise via rabble) In a major win for pipeline resisters, the Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear an appeal by the Chippewas of the Thames First Nations which threatens to shut down Enbridge’s Line 9B. It’s also a case with broad implications for several major pipeline projects currently under review, as well as for resource development on First Nations across (so-called) Canada. The Chippewas of the Thames allege that they were not properly consulted on the reversal of the pipeline, which was previously transporting light crude oil from east to west. A finding in their favour could mean a cancellation or suspension of Enbridge’s approval to reverse the line, and may have an impact on several ongoing NEB reviews into major tar sands pipelines. Continue Reading	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line820
__label__wiki	0.802608	0.802608	Tag Archives: Site C Christy Clark Amid global climate catastrophes, Enbridge pushes forward on Northern Gateway pipeline plans Image description: a section of pipeline emerging from the ground and traversing snow-covered forested hills, with mountains in the distance. (Image credit: Wikipedia/Frank K) This has been a bad week for those of us who are terrified about the future of life on this planet. Continue Reading B.C. Liberals Bill Morneau TransMountain ICYMI: Trudeau, Notley and Clark engaging in massive pipeline/Site C bait-and-switch Image description: An illustrated pipeline drawn to resemble a snake slithers across a map of Alberta and British Columbia along the route of Northern Gateway, with its tail in an oil-splattered factory and its head on the Pacific Coast. Oil drips off the snake. Written across its body are the words “Enbridge: Dirty Oil Burned the Last Bridge”. Above and below in red are flaming letters reading “NO PIPELINE” (Image credit: vanessasong/UBC) Despite widespread public and First Nations opposition, and in clear contradiction of their election promises and repeated public statements on the issue, three major Canadian political leaders are working quietly to allow Enbridge’s dangerous mega-polluting Northern Gateway pipeline to move forward. While in opposition, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau denounced the Harper government’s contingent approval of the pipeline in 2014, and promised that if he became prime minister, Northern Gateway would not happen. During last year’s federal election campaign, he promised to impose a ban on oil tanker traffic in northern British Columbia, a proposal which would effectively killed the pipeline. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley also campaigned on opposition to Northern Gateway in last year’s provincial election. One year ago today, in the midst of a contentious campaign, she told the Calgary Herald that “Gateway is not the right decision…I don’t think there’s any point to [pushing for the project’s completion]. I think that the legal and the environmental implications are such that it’s not going to go ahead. I think most people know that.” And British Columbia Premier Christy Clark has openly opposed Northern Gateway for many years. After the federal government announced its approval of the project in 2014, Clark’s government declared that it would deny necessary provincial permits until its extremely strenuous demands (which some pro-pipeline observers called impossible) were met. Those demands – Clark’s famous “five conditions” – were a key plank in her party’s platform during their surprise victory in the 2013 provincial election. Given this seemingly unanimous opposition from the three leaders, and the impending expiry of Enbridge’s permit to being construction, many analysts had assumed that Northern Gateway was dead, and pipeline proponents have focussed most of their energy and effort on the still-under-review TransMountain and Energy East pipelines. But surprising developments in recent weeks have overturned this consensus, and suddenly, Northern Gateway’s demise looks far from certain. Continue Reading B.C. Liberal Party After protest camp removed, what’s next for Site C resisters? Image: A sign reading “Keep the Peace” with the words “Site C Dam” in a circle with a line through it is staked into the ground overlooking a river valley. (Image credit: Wayne Sawchuck/The Green Pages) A 62-day protest encampment on land set to be flooded by the contentious Site C Dam project in northern British Columbia came to an end earlier this week, after a judge awarded B.C. Hydro an injunction ordering the removal of protesters. Now, opponents of the massive hydroelectric project are wondering what comes next. The project is, of course, shrouded in all kinds of controversy. It’s being pushed ahead despite at least three ongoing court cases challenging its legality on various grounds, concerns about the propriety and legality of permits issued by the Harper government in the dying weeks of the election campaign, alarm over the massive costs the project will impose on B.C. taxpayers, and mounting questions about the bidding process for construction and the possibility that temporary foreign workers could push out unionized labour, to name just some major issues. (See here for a more comprehensive summary.) The project faces intense criticism from First Nations, environmentalists, local farmers and landowners, Amnesty International, food sovereignty advocates, federal and provincial politicians, and even this guy: Continue Reading Adrian Dix Site C land defenders face injunction in battle to stop dangerous dam project Image: A sign reading “Keep the Peace” (with the words “Site C Dam” written in a read circle with a line through it) is attached to a birch tree on an embankment overlooking a river valley. (Image credit: Wayne Sawchuck/The Green Pages) For the past several weeks, a group of land defenders has been occupying territory in the Peace River Valley on which the government of British Columbia intends to build a massive hydroelectric dam, known as Site C. Though their presence has been an impediment to work essential to the dam’s construction, the protesters were, up until recently, begrudgingly tolerated by the authorities. However, on January 20, despite B.C. Hydro’s statements that they were trying to negotiate a peaceful and mutually agreeable resolution to the occupation, the utility went to court to seek an injunction that would require the land defenders to immediately vacate their encampment or else face steep punitive damages. As these land defenders await the next phase of their struggle to block this dam’s construction, it’s worth looking back on why they’re there and what this fight is about. Continue Reading	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line821
__label__wiki	0.865025	0.865025	County Membership Report Maps and Reports > Select Counties > Search Maps & Reports: Fond du Lac County (Wisconsin) Religious Traditions, 2010 Evangelical Protestant Mainline Protestant Catholic Orthodox Other Unclaimed Congregational adherents include all full members, their children, and others who regularly attend services. The 2010 reports contain incomplete counts of congregations and adherents belonging to the eight largest historically African-American denominations. These denominations are not included in the 2000 reports and are largely missing from the 1990 and 1980 reports. [More information on the data sources] Religious Bodies Adherence Rate† American Baptist Churches in the USA Mainline Protestant Baptist 3 386 3.97 Assemblies of God Evangelical Protestant Pentecostal 3 632 6.50 Bahá'í Other Other Groups 1 63 0.65 Catholic Church Catholic Catholicism 29 34,970 359.42 Christian and Missionary Alliance, The Evangelical Protestant Holiness 1 66 0.68 Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) Evangelical Protestant Pentecostal 1 47 0.48 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Other Latter-day Saints 2 653 6.71 Church of the Nazarene Evangelical Protestant Holiness 1 8 0.08 Churches of Christ Evangelical Protestant Baptist 1 51 0.52 Converge Worldwide/Baptist General Conference Evangelical Protestant Baptist 1 585 6.01 Episcopal Church Mainline Protestant Episcopalianism/Anglicanism 2 567 5.83 Evangelical Free Church of America, The Evangelical Protestant Methodist/Pietist 2 305 3.13 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Mainline Protestant Lutheran 8 5,516 56.69 General Association of Regular Baptist Churches Evangelical Protestant Baptist 1 62 0.64 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America Orthodox Eastern Liturgical (Orthodox) 1 393 4.04 Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod Evangelical Protestant Lutheran 4 3,148 32.35 New Testament Association of Independent Baptist Churches and other Fundamental Bapti Evangelical Protestant Baptist 1 140 1.44 Old Order Amish Evangelical Protestant European Free-Church 1 68 0.70 Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Mainline Protestant Presbyterian-Reformed 1 747 7.68 Reformed Church in America Mainline Protestant Presbyterian-Reformed 2 1,305 13.41 Salvation Army Evangelical Protestant Holiness 1 1,636 16.81 Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations Other Liberal 1 47 0.48 United Church of Christ Mainline Protestant Presbyterian-Reformed 8 4,122 42.37 United Methodist Church, The Mainline Protestant Methodist/Pietist 10 2,543 26.14 Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod Evangelical Protestant Lutheran 12 7,844 80.62 Totals: 98 65,904 The population of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin was 97,296 in 2000; in 1990 it was 90,083. The total population changed 8.0%. The adherent totals of the religious groups listed above (65,904) included 67.7% of the total population in 2000. * In an effort to better match the ASARB standards for adherents, a few religious bodies changed the way their adherents were reported in 2010, including the Catholic Church, Amish groups, Friends groups, Jewish groups, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Non-denominational Christian Churches, and the United Methodist Church. This change does not affect any of the data in the newly released 2010 U.S. Religion Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Study. In fact, the data for these groups are now more comparable to that of other bodies than it was in previous decadal reports. However, the change in methodology can distort assessments on growth or decline between 2000 and 2010 for each of these groups. County-level 2000 data using the new methodology are not readily available. ASARB staff has adjusted some 2000 county-level adherent statistics to allow for a more accurate picture on growth or decline. The revised maps and charts are now available on-line at www.usreligioncensus.org for those who are interested in these trends. 2010 data were collected by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB) and include statistics for 236 religious groups, providing information on the number of their congregations and adherents within each state and county in the United States. Clifford Grammich, Kirk Hadaway, Richard Houseal, Dale E. Jones, Alexei Krindatch, Richie Stanley and Richard H. Taylor supervised the collection. These data originally appeared in 2010 U.S. Religion Census: Religious Congregations & Membership Study, published by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB). [More information on the data collection] †The adherence rate provides the number of adherents of a particular group per 1,000 population. For example, in 2010 the Episcopal Church had an adherence rate of 7.6 in Autauga County, Alabama. This means that about 8 out of every 1,000 people in Autauga County were Episcopalian.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line822
__label__wiki	0.737222	0.737222	ASIN: B00006JC48 From the Manufacturer: Medal of Honor Frontline marks the debut of the best-selling and award-winning Medal of Honor franchise on the Microsoft Xboxª. In Frontline, you go behind enemy lines as Lt. Jimmy Patterson. Your missions range from the D-Day assault on Omaha Beach, to surveilance of your Nazi nemesis aboard and atop a speeding armored train, to the epic battle for control of Nijmegen Bridge, a strategic choke point in the Allied drive into the heart of Nazi Germany. It all culminates in a top-secret, high-risk mission to steal the HO-IX flying wing, an experimental Nazi jet fighter so powerful it could turn the tide of World War II. Best game I ever played, November 14, 2002 Reviewer: anrx4you from Santa Rosa, CA. United States If I could have just one game for the XBOX, this would be the one! I have been anticipating the release for over a month. I was setting myself up for a big disappointment until I switched on the system replaced the HALO disc with Medal of Honor, and tuned out the rest of the world for the evening. Holy Smokes! This game had me taken from the initial boot to the wee hours of the next morning (on a worknight mind you). The first 10 minutes of gameplay had my anxiety high and stomach queezy as though I was really there. I give any developer kudos for giving the player the sensation and anticipation any soldier would have gone through. I've been following WWII history for a few years now, and the game appeared true to history. Even the smallest attention to detail was tended to. The only and very minor aspect that bothered me is that the soldiers had full thick goa-tees (I don't believe any branch of the military [since the early 1900's]allowed them). Again, it is only something that I notice. I wasn't buying a documentary on WWII. I still give it a strong 5 stars. If you don't buy the game, at least make a point to play it. It is the best money I've spent for any game on any system. I've served in the military however, so I may be biased for the game. The ratings are extremely high, so I know I'm not the only one who favors Medal of Honor. This game is amazing!!!, November 13, 2002 This game is so cool! the graphics are excellent! It has multiplayer which is fantastic! It's based just like World War 2! Gameplay is great!!! overall its just AMAZING!!! this game is a must BUY! It's no HALO, November 12, 2002 Reviewer: kristenhcrockett from California Major complaints are no system link play (multiplayer for only 4), nor can you play the single player mode with more than 1 player (unlink HALO where you can play with two people at once). I'm not that far into the single player game but I don't like that I have to meet a bunch of small objectives, it should be more free flowing like Battlefield 1942 on the PC. Overall the graphics are great, and I did play multiplayer with two other friends and it's pretty good, but if you could play via system link with 8 or 16 it would be awesome. I would have give it 4.5 stars if it had the system link capability ROCK N ROLL, November 11, 2002 Reviewer: A gamer from Lasvegas, NV USA This game rocks! You get to go to D-Day. My son says its so fun, secretly i played it once. So,so graphics. AWESOME KICK [but] gameplay!...	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line837
__label__wiki	0.504065	0.504065	Jerome’s Sleeper Sofa Posted on September 8, 2018 November 1, 2018 by Sylvia Murphy This is a war, she says, “with so numerous casualties that we must contact it by its correct name, this war with so a lot of dead by police, by violent ex-husbands and partners and lovers, by individuals pursuing energy and profit at the point of a gun or just shooting initially and figuring out who they hit later.” To get to the root of these American crises, she contends that “to acknowledge this state of war is to admit the have to have for peace,” countering the despair of our age with a dose of solidarity, creativity, and hope. Board the Millennium Falcon and journey to a galaxy far, far away in Solo: A Star Wars Story, an epic action adventure with the most beloved scoundrel in the galaxy. American Horror Story is an anthological miniseries that tracks a various terrifying tale of Americana every single season. By means of a series of daring escapades deep inside a dark and harmful criminal underworld, Han Solo befriends his mighty future copilot Chewbacca and meets the notorious gambler Lando Calrissian, in a journey that will set the course of one of the Star Wars saga’s most unlikely heroes. Read More – Tween Sleeper Sofa Bernard Cornwell’s epic story of the creating of England continues in this eleventh installment in the bestselling Saxon Tales seriesâ€””like Game of Thrones, but true” (The Observer)â€”the basis of the hit Netflix television series The Final Kingdom. The Summoner’s Handbook reveals the story of James Baker – the epic journal that inspired the series hero, Fletcher, to learn his personal summoning skills. A dark psychological thriller with heart-pounding suspense, Before HE LONGS is book #ten in a riveting new seriesâ€”with a beloved new characterâ€”that will leave you turning pages late into the night. Starring Shailene Woodley (Fault in Our Stars, Divergent films) and Sam Claflin (Me Before You, The Hunger Games films), ADRIFT is based on the inspiring true story of two sailors who set out to journey across the ocean from Tahiti to San Diego. Staying married to him is the fight of my life. In this new chapter of the Saxon Tales seriesâ€”a rousing adventure of courage, treachery, duty, devotion, majesty, really like and battle, as observed by means of the eyes of a warrior straddling two worldsâ€”Uhtred returns to fight once once again for the destiny of England. Milk and Honey requires readers via a journey of the most bitter moments in life and finds sweetness in them because there is sweetness everywhere if you are just prepared to appear. Really like Story was supported by 5 singles: “Box Chevy V”, “Till It’s Gone”, “Whiskey in a Bottle”, “American You” and “Very best Buddy” featuring Eminem. As brought to life in the bestselling Summoner series, the magic of summoning is also an art, with a story of its personal. Read More – Camper Sleeper Sofa Season five is The Final Ship at its most epic, upping the ante on action and excitement, but at its core, it is a meditation on the costs of prolonged war and the toll it requires on the heroes who fight it. Caught in between her increasing feelings for the rebellious Yvan Guriel and the seductive power provided by Lukas, Elloren will have to find a way to keep correct to what she knows is right and protect absolutely everyone she lovesâ€¦even if that means guarding them from herself. Jerome’s Sleeper Sofa – Season five is The Final Ship at its most epic, upping the ante on action and excitement, but at its core, it is a meditation on the costs of prolonged war and the toll it takes on the heroes who fight it. Wildon Home Sleeper Sofa Zeb Queen Sofa Sleeper West Elm Henry Sleeper Sofa High End Sleeper Sofa ← Farmhouse Outdoor Furniture 40 Inch Interior Door →	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line843
__label__wiki	0.899331	0.899331	Rock your Labor Day with Alice In Chains TAP OUR APP Ticket Counter Bob & Tom Show Tri-Cities Scoreboard COLUMBIA BASIN'S ROCK STATION Help & Contact Information 97 Rock Crew Curt Cartier Toni Gonzalez Rock Nation Rock Nation Contests Physician's Immediate Care ‘Jumanji’ Almost Had a Much Darker Alternate Ending Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is one of the many holiday movies that opened this weekend, and it’s already done pretty well for itself at the box office. Jumanji itself has a pretty terrifying concept — you have to play to survive, and if you lose you’re trapped in the game forever — and the new movie almost had that happen to one of the characters. Apparently (and spoilers from here on out), at the end of the movie, there was a version that had Spencer, who adopts Dwayne Johnson’s avatar in the video game, and Martha, who’s played by Karen Gillan, stay in the game while the rest of them escaped. Gillan told The Hollywood Reporter: In previous versions there was more of that where [Spencer] wanted to stay in the game with Martha. We made way more of that. It definitely could be interesting and would definitely leave it open to a sequel. Jack Black added that of course, “Dwayne the Rock Johnson was the one who wanted to stay because he had the best avatar! He had Dwayne's body with all of his strengths!” There was plenty of discussion about how a darker ending would have left the movie open to a sequel. Nick Jonas told THR that, “There is that conversation of what could have happened,” and producer Matt Tolmach told the publication, “We played with a bunch of different endings. There’s a trap when you make movies about games. You have to make sure they have stakes. We were very intent on making it clear that you could also not get out of the game. That idea was very important to us throughout.” There was also apparently a version of the ending where the video game suddenly becomes an app and appears on all of their phones. Ser’Darius Blain, whose character adopts Kevin Hart’s video game avatar, said, “There were a few different ideas. Originally when Alex [Wolff] and Morgan [Turner] kiss, we start hearing the drums again and then everyone gets the game downloaded on their phones. Then it’s like, ‘Oh, shoot! We’re all going to be sucked in.’ That would have been a cool way to go.” That also would have been a good opportunity for Jack Black’s theme song. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is now playing. New ‘Jumanji’ Featurette Reveals the Game Will Always Find a Way to Be Played Source: ‘Jumanji’ Almost Had a Much Darker Alternate Ending Filed Under: jack black Categories: Movies, Newsletter Heard on 97 Rock Found Wallet! Help Find Papa! Police Warn That Flushing Drugs Could Create 'Meth-Gators' Richland Schools Deputy Super Gets Big Money to Leave West Nile Virus Found on Bateman Island Tri-Cities Business Listings 2019 97 Rock is part of the Loudwire Network, Townsquare Media, Inc. All rights reserved.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line846
__label__cc	0.53822	0.46178	Remember that cantina where the world met Han Solo? It's been recreated at Disneyland's new Star Wars land Galaxy's Edge KFSN ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Visitors at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge can now drink at the famous cantina where Han Solo was first introduced. We got a look at the famous watering hole that's been recreated as Oga's Cantina in the new land inside Disneyland Park. In A New Hope, the Mos Eisley Cantina was dimly lit, populated by villainous characters, and droids were forbidden from entering. In Oga's Cantina, a cheery droid DJ plays upbeat tunes and sings along as servers dish out strange-looking concoctions in blue and pink and red. Still, it's best to be wary - Disney warns that you'll be drinking among "bounty hunters, smugglers, rogue traders and weary travelers of all ages." Oga's Cantina is the only spot in Disneyland that serves alcoholic concoctions - many with names reminiscent of the disreputable, often-violent clientele that supposedly frequents the spot. Among cocktails is the spicy Bloody Rancor, the foamy Fuzzy Tauntaun and the fruity Jedi Mind Trick. For beer lovers, there's Gamorrean Ale, Bad Motivator IPA and Spice Runner Hard Cider. And if you prefer non-alcoholic drinks, you might care for a Jabba Juice or a Blurrgfire. Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge opens to the public on Friday, May 31, but reservations are required through June 23. After that, reservations will no longer be required, but guests will use a "virtual queue" through their smartphones that will alert them when they may enter the new land. The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of this station. arts & entertainmenttheme parkdisneygalaxy's edgedisneylandstar warsstar wars land Copyright © 2019 KFSN-TV. All Rights Reserved.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line847
__label__cc	0.508154	0.491846	Adcco’s Alexander Colacchio Returns from Mission Trip in Domincian Republic Alexander Colacchio, Accounting Administrator at Adcco, recently returned from a mission trip to the Dominican Republic, helping the country’s impoverished villages. In the fall, Colacchio became involved in the organization World Mission Partners which facilitates teams of dentists, doctors, and other volunteers to serve communities in the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica. After fundraising $2,000 to attend the trip, Colacchio and his girlfriend Katie Wiktorski flew to the Dominican Republic for a week of volunteering. During his time there, Colacchio worked alongside other volunteers and locals to build a playground for one of the area’s small villages. “They have nothing there. They live in these small group villages, called bateys, and work in the sugar cane fields,” said Colacchio when talking about the community where the volunteers worked. With tough hand labor and limited power tools, Colacchio found the process of building the playground from the ground up to be a powerful experience. He also highlighted that seeing the local kids reap the benefits of the volunteers’ work with a safe place to play was one of the most rewarding parts of his time there. Shortly before the trip, Colacchio’s father and Adcco founder, Anthony Colacchio, passed away from cancer. While leaving his family’s side shortly after his father’s death was a challenge, he knew the trip was an opportunity to do valuable volunteer work, something that his father was strongly involved in throughout his life. For over a decade Anthony Colacchio worked with Paralympic curlers and served as an assistant coach to the USA Curling Paralympic Team, among the many other organizations that he gave back to. “My dad’s lesson was always about what can we do to help the less fortunate. This trip really helped to cement the memory of my dad’s core values for me,” said Colacchio. Those same values are built into the culture of Adcco, which Colacchio noted is always looking for new ways to support local charities. Headquartered in Lynn, Adcco stays involved in the community by contributing to organizations including the Lynn Community Health Center, Lynn Arts, Lynn Woods Reservation, and many more. Colacchio looks forward to volunteering on another mission trip in the near future, adding, “the world needs more help now than ever.”	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line856
__label__wiki	0.648242	0.648242	Previous \| 1 \| 2 \| 3 \| 4 \| 5 \| Page 6 \| 7 \| 8 \| 9 \| 10 \| 11 \| ...51 \| Next Sphere UK boosts production and environmental credentials with Fujifilm Luxel T-6500CTP platesetter and Superia plates investment Sphere UK, founded in 1994, specialises in print, design and direct mail services for a variety of industries, ranging from private commercial companies and educational institutes to health authorities and government bodies. With both litho and digital printing forming a significant part of its offering, Sphere UK has built a reputation around the speed of delivery and the quality of the finished product it provides to its customers. A significant investment in Fujifilm’s plates and plate-making equipment (a Luxel T-6500CTP platestetter, FLH-Z (ZAC) processor, and Superia LH-PJE plates) in late 2017 has further boosted productivity and enhanced the company’s environmental credentials. FESPA 2018: Fujifilm to highlight the growing strength of its Acuity range by focussing on new high end solutions At FESPA Global Print Expo 2018 (Berlin, May 15th-18th), Fujifilm will use its stand (D50 in Hall 2.2) to focus on two new high end platforms. The first is the new Acuity B1 modular system, previewed at FESPA 2017, and the second a ground-breaking new platform to be announced in April. Additionally, as part of the new FESPA Digital Corrugated Experience and in conjunction with Inca Digital, Fujifilm will showcase the huge potential of the Onset X platform for the production of corrugated displays and packaging on stand C30 in Hall 5.2. Specialist wallpaper design and print company upgrades to Fujifilm Acuity LED 1600 II Custom wallpaper producer, Maggenta, upgrades to a Fujifilm Acuity LED 1600 II, four years after Acuity LED 1600 investment signalled move away from latex Istanbul-based Maggenta, a leading printer of custom-made wallpapers for businesses and individuals around the world, was founded in 2010. The company prints high-quality, emission-compliant, environmentally-friendly wallpaper using a Fujifilm Acuity LED 1600 II. Having invested in an Acuity LED 1600 in 2014, Maggenta upgraded to the Acuity LED 1600 II in February 2018, boosting production speed by 50% and bringing in added versatility. With this recent investment, Maggenta, once a latex print specialist, has ceased all latex print for wall coverings. Fujifilm’s Acuity Select delivers massive productivity and profitability gains for ADS2 Brands UK manufacturer of beer fonts and thermoformed font signage revolutionises its business with double Fujifilm flatbed investment Based across two East Midlands sites, ADS2 Brands is one of the oldest and largest producers of beer dispenser fonts, taps and handles in the world. ADS2 Longborough, located in Sandy, Bedfordshire is the print division of the business and in the past eighteen months, two Fujifilm Acuity Select flatbeds – with Uvijet KV inks in a CMYK plus two white channels configuration – have revolutionised its production of optical logos and changeable beer font shrouds for some of the biggest beverage brands in the world, including Tennent’s, Stella Artois, Heineken and many others. High-end book printer invests in the UK’s fifth Jet Press 720S Fujifilm announces that London-based Push Print has become the latest company in the UK to invest in Fujifilm’s flagship B2 inkjet press. The machine will be installed in March and will enable the company to produce short runs and samples at the same exceptional level of quality it has been delivering to its customers for a decade and a half. Alphagraphics introduces Fujifilm Acuity LED UV range to Ireland Belfast-based print and signage consumables supplier, Alphagraphics, has recently celebrated its 30th anniversary by introducing the Acuity LED UV printer range to the Irish market. Originally conceived as a litho ink distributor, Alphagraphics has steadily expanded its portfolio over the subsequent three decades and – keen to tap into the hardware needs of its ever growing wide-format consumables market – the company has invested in its own Acuity LED 1600 II to provide in-house demonstrations. Fujifilm launches Acuity LED 1600R for large format graphic display market The latest addition to Fujifilm’s Acuity range offers customers a flexible, lower cost alternative to its successful Acuity LED 1600 II printer Fujifilm today announces the release of a new machine in its Acuity series, the Acuity LED 1600R. This accessible, dedicated roll-to-roll printer is optimised for four-colour CYMK printing, but otherwise shares all the benefits in quality and performance of the highly successful Acuity LED 1600 II hybrid model. The first public demonstration of this new model will take place at C!Print Lyon 6th-8th February 2018 on the Fujifilm stand (2L36). It will be commercially available on the 1st of March. Resource Digital Graphics’ Fujifilm investment pays off High Wycombe-based wide format printer impressed with upturn in productivity six months on from Acuity Select HS installation With a need to boost flatbed capacity in its factory, Resource Digital Graphics decided to compare printers from its existing supplier with a range of competitors over the course of a year. After a rigorous selection process, Fujifilm’s Acuity Select HS came out on top. Italian label printer invests in Fujifilm Flenex plates to boost production and reduce environmental impact Based across four locations in and around Milan, La Prensa is a major label manufacturer expecting to produce more than 18 billion labels in 2017 and targeting turnover of €25 million. Operating in the food and beverage sector, La Prensa uses solvent and UV printing to produce many different types of labels: paper labels for bottled water, chocolate and canned goods; adhesive and thermal transfer labels; plastic labels and packaging; and shrink sleeve and adhesive film – all for some of the biggest brands in Italy and around the world. Luxury packaging company assesses the benefits of Fujifilm’s Acuity LED 1600 Surrey-based, family-run business reveals how investing in a high quality, in-house prototyping solution from Fujifilm has helped to grow its business Curtis Print & Packaging, designer and manufacturer of high quality, luxury printed packaging, has been specialising in high-end packaging for the last ten years. As part of a full service offering to its customers, the company invested three years ago in a Fujifilm Acuity LED 1600 to produce ultra-high quality prototypes to show customers exactly what their finished product will look like.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line857
__label__wiki	0.905916	0.905916	Archdiocese of Los Angeles Angelus News Together in Mission Archbishop Fund Cardinal’s Awards Dinner Cardinal MacIntyre Catholic Education Foundation Fund for LA & Ventura Fire Victims House of Prayer for Priests The Mercy Fund OneLife LA Pathway to Priesthood Priest Retirement Fund St. John’s Seminary Dodgers host first-ever ‘Catholic Night’ On Sept. 2, Dodger Stadium served as the center of a massive Venn diagram of local Catholics and lifelong fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers, as the ballpark hosted its first-ever “Catholic Night.” The baseball team hosted, fittingly, the San Diego Padres on the field, and actual ordained members of religious life and lay people from throughout the tri-county Archdiocese of Los Angeles in the stands. Notable Catholics in attendance included Auxiliary Bishop Robert E. Barron and native Angeleno Auxiliary Bishop Joseph V. Brennan, both Dodger fans, who were given the chance to realize the lifelong dream of coming onto the field to throw out ceremonial first pitches. Both were understandably a tad nervous about tossing the first pitches in front of thousands of people, but were all smiles as they warmed up their arms in their Dodger hats and gear on top of their clerical collars. Bishop Brennan wore a blue Dodgers pullover jacket, while Bishop Barron donned a personalized Dodgers home jersey — and even brought his own baseball mitt to the pitching mound. “It’s great for the archdiocese; it’s an amazing display of spirit and camaraderie,” says Bishop Barron of the inaugural Catholic Night. “I’m honored to be a part of a night like this that Catholics can share and enjoy together.” “I have been coming to Dodger Stadium ever since I was a kid, and tonight, I feel like a kid,” shares Bishop Brennan. Throwing the first pitch was one of many surreal moments throughout the night that made Bishop Brennan feel like a kid. Earlier in the evening, when touring the stadium’s media lobby with Bishop Barron, he was able to meet legendary Dodgers sportscaster Vin Scully, who has been calling Dodger games ever since Bishop Brennan was that young boy listening to his favorite team on his transistor radio. “That was a childhood dream come true,” he says of meeting Scully. “He was so gracious and so welcoming. And this is a man who has more than a few things to do tonight. The fact that he was willing to make time to introduce himself to me says a lot about him.” The fact that Scully is not only the legendary “voice of the Dodgers,” but also a devout Catholic, serves as one of many examples of how baseball, according to Bishops Barron and Brennan, can be synonymous with spirituality. “Among many things, baseball teaches us how to attract people to Church,” explained Bishop Barron in a prior statement. “What attracts people to baseball, initially, is the beauty of the game, the skill of pitching, hitting and catching the baseball and running the bases. The ‘infield fly rule’ and all the other intricate and sometimes arcane rules of any sport only have interest and relevance for people who already know and love the game.” “Baseball, like our faith, is about teamwork,” adds Bishop Brennan. “It’s about people putting others ahead of themselves and coming together for a common cause. Nights like tonight are a great reminder: ‘It’s not about me; it’s about him.’” Check out pictures and video from the event! And make sure to join us next year! ©2016 The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Los Angeles, a corp. sole. All Rights Reserved.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line859
__label__cc	0.506177	0.493823	Global Voices at the Silicon Valley Human Rights Summit This week, San Francisco will play host to the Silicon Valley Human Rights Summit or RightsCon, a conference at which several members and friends of the Global Voices community will be speaking. The conference, hosted by digital human rights group Access, brings together companies from Silicon Valley and beyond alongside activists, NGOs, and other players for a discussion about how the technology industry can better adhere to human rights principles in their policies and actions. I've already written a guide to the conference for the EFF website outlining some of the most promising panels to watch, but would like to also draw attention to the role of Global Voices members in the summit, as well as some of the citizen media buzz that has occurred in the runup to the event, drawing upon to some of the issues Rebecca MacKinnon has reported on in her series of Netizen Reports. Global Voices at the RightsCon Global Voices co-founder Rebecca MacKinnon will play a role in framing the discussion, alongside Access director Brett Solomon and former Google executive and White House CTO Andrew McLaughlin. Rebecca's work over the past few years has focused largely on the role of citizens in regulating the Internet, and her upcoming book Consent of the Networked, “offers a framework for concerned citizens to understand the complex and often hidden power dynamics amongst governments, corporations, and citizens in cyberspace.” Though the book won't be available until January, you can watch Rebecca's TED talk on the subject here. Global Voices SouthEast Asia Editor and Member of the Philippine Parliament Mong Palatino will be speaking on a panel entitled “Understanding government relations and navigating legal jurisdiction in a borderless world,” which will explore the difficulties governments, companies and civil society face in dealing with the digital world. Mong is the Phillipines’ first blogger-turned-legislator, a longtime activist, and like Rebecca, a close observer of and advocate for free expression. Journalist and GV Author Rosebell Kagumire will be giving a mini-keynote, offering a perspective from her home country of Uganda. As an Internet Freedom Fellow with the U.S. Department of State, Rosebell is uniquely positioned to discuss the role of online activists and journalists in covering human rights issues. Meedan program manager and Global Voices Author Anas Qtiesh will participate in a panel discussion alongside NGO workers and corporate staffers on turning policies into practice. As an activist, Anas works largely on free expression issues affecting his home country, Syria. He is also a Google Mapmaker Advocate, working on mapping Syria's nameless streets. Finally, I (Jillian York), will moderate a panel exploring how defending human rights can strengthen a company's bottom line. I've written extensively on the how corporate control of the public sphere can affect free expression, and continue to document instances of what Ethan Zuckerman has termed “intermediary censorship.” On my panel are several executives of companies that work extensively in emerging markets, as well as one of the co-founders of distributed social network Diaspora. Netizen Buzz Like any good conference in the digital age, RightsCon has instituted a hashtag, #RightsCon, well in advance to help generate discussion around the subjects at hand. Twitter's Lead Counsel (and conference speaker) Alex MacGillivray has created a Twitter list to keep track of speakers, and the conference has an official account (@RightsCon) as well. While there has been some buzz about AT&T's inclusion as a sponsor (AT&T famously acted in tandem with the NSA to spy on customers), discussion on Twitter has been largely positive, with some netizens offering suggestions for topics to be discussed. @auralee13, for example, has presented a series of questions and suggestions she hopes to have answered by RightsCon participants: Gov'ts et al. often delete or revise incriminating info on the net; semantic web cd exacerbate this. Can't tech cos. help here? Are all the companies involved in rightscon committed to FULL net neutrality? Private corps. can't self-regulate effectively. Shdn't “good” cos. support regs that wd require ALL cos. to protect human rts? Mubarek proved some of the dangers of centralization. Wdn't it be better to go back to a more distributed net? Tech cos. must CLOSE “backdoors” used by gov'ts to search users’ info, & REQUIRE WARRANTS (Govt's have PROVED they'll abuse.) Meanwhile, some Syrian netizens, frustrated by the US Department of Commerce sanctions on certain communications tools, have launched a campaign on Twitter in the hopes that participating companies will pay attention to their plight. @basselsafadi writes: companies like #google#skype talk about human rights at #Rightscon while blocking Syrians from their services #FAIL The US gov, #Google and #Skype need to unblock their services for #Syria or stop talking about human rights #Rightscon The export controls on Syria are regulated by the United States Department of Commerce, which requires companies to apply for licenses to export certain technologies, including basic tools like Google Chrome and Java, and personal hosting services. The fines associated with non-compliance are high, but the licenses aren't too difficult to obtain. EFF (the organization for which I work full-time) has put forward several recommendations, starting with clarification of the export controls; we've also offered guidance to companies wishing for assistance in applying for licenses. Big Brother (Isn't) Watching Also notable is the observation that a number of Silicon Valley companies that have recently been named as complicit in government surveillance and censorship–such as Boeing's Narus and Intel/McAfee's SmartFilter–will not be present at the meeting. As Advox and the EFF have recently reported, the export of surveillance technology to authoritarian regimes is a hot topic at the moment; the European Parliament recently took steps to ban sales of such technology, and in France, the FIDH and LDH have filed a criminal suit against tech company Amesys for involvement in Libyan surveillance. The absence of such companies at the RightsCon is therefore disappointing; nevertheless, this is a subject that will no doubt be raised at the conference. Written byJillian York larkforsure [ SOS ] Complaint about Human Rights Violations by IBM China on Centennial Please Google: IBM detained mother of ex-employee on the day of centennial How Much IBM Can Get Away with is the Responsibility of the Media Tragedy of Labor Rights Repression in IBM China Pingback: RightsCon: The Promise and Peril of New Communications Technology \| pokemonpearlpokedex.com […] – Global Voices […] 1 November 2011, 10:32 am Read this post in Français, Español	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line863
__label__cc	0.703648	0.296352	Your home of Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 Codes and Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 Hints Cheat Codes > GameCube Cheats > Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 Cheat Codes Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 Cheats 360 Powerslide This trick is tough to pull off and will require some practice before using it in a race. Get to at least 80 mph. Press the Analog-stick backwards at an angle in the direction that you want to turn, so it is inverting your slide. As soon as you begin to turn, slam and hold the brakes. Force the Analog-stick sequentially around in an extreme circle. Release your brakes when you are about 75% through your turn. Slam your accelerator, and power yourself through the rest of the turn. At the end, it is recommended that you bank the car for a moment, because you do not want the it to fly out of control. Alpine Trail Track Complete Championship Event 22. Complete Ultimate Racer Event 15. Ancient Ruins II Track Autumn Crossing II Track Autumn Crossing Track Calypso Coast II Track Complete Ultimate Racer 26. Calypso Coast Track Coastal Parklands Track Complete Championship Event 4. Desert Heat II Track Dodge Viper GTS Get 2 million points to unlock the NFS edition of the Dodge Viper GTS. Easy Arrests In Be-the-cop Mode Do not turn on your sirens right away. Sneak up on them. When you are on them, turn on your sirens, spin them out, turn around, and hit them head on. This will result in a one hit bust every time. When you are a cop, get into an area were you have some bit of room to swerve. Next do a California stop of the car you are chasing. This will make the car spin viciously out. Next, turn around as fast as you can and hit the front of the car. This will total the car and it will be a bust. Note: A California Stop is when you hit the back left/right wheel with your front wheel. This will spin the car out. Go to challenge mode, set the difficulty on advanced, and use only one opponent and give him a M5. Then just choose your car and a short track. Make sure to set it to one lap. By doing this you will get either $2,100 or $1,500. Race in a tournament eight laps eight races advanced. To get NFS points, either hit a police car to be chased or drive by one and do not get caught. Do not worry if you are in last place; your goal is to get the points to buy faster cars or other tracks. Easy Points Select "Single Challenge" at the main menu. Set the single challenge options for one player, cops on, one opponent as an Elise, and traffic on or off. Select a track for eight laps. Select a car. This will get you 600, 700, or 800 points per getaway, 100 points for leading a lap, and 2,000 points for first place. Easy Wins In Single Event When you are directly next to someone in a race and they are getting chased by a cop, if they are in front of you slow down to where you are directly behind them on either the left or the right. Slowly speed up to where the hood of your car is on the side next to their trunk. Very quickly slam into their car to make them spin out of control. If they are too slow, they will be caught by the cop. After this happens, continue to do this until you are the only one remaining. Fall Winds II Track Compete Championship Event 24. Lead a single race, full grid, advanced, for eight laps to unlock the NFS edition of the Ferrari F50. Ford Crown Victoria Successfully complete Hot Pursuit Event 5. Get Another Racer Stopped By The Cops When a car is being chased by the cops, get a short distance behind it and do a California Stop to it. It will spin him out and most of the time he will get stopped by the officer that is chasing him. Get Rid Of Police Helicopters Find a dividing road. Shortcuts work perfectly. When the helicopter is in front of you, it will follow the main road. It will not switch roads after it is on one. Go on the other road, and the helicopter will be gone. Get The Police Off Your Tail If you have one or two police chasing you, swerve around things such as incoming traffic, trees, poles, or any other immobilized objects. The police may not see it and crash into it. This gives you an advantage to lose them. If you are way ahead of the pack and do not feel like having a police on your tail, if your radar detector detects an incoming radar (or police), zoom on the road in front of you. See where the police are parked, and slam into the back of their car. It will be a hit and run, but the police car will be dead. You will not even get a yellow star. When you want to get rid of the cop chasing you at a close distance, get just behind him so that your front tire is touching his back tire. Then, turn your car slightly in the direction of the cop car. The officer will get turned around and end up facing in the wrong direction. This should give you enough time to get away. If you are really lucky, he may hit the other racers and cause a big accident. If you are cornered, press Reset Car to start back on the road and lose the cops. Use the following trick to easily escape from police radar. When you get close to a cop, stay on the correct side of the road and drive 80 mph at the most. Very lightly press R to go really slow when you see a cop, then drive off when you are far enough away. When you have a cop on your tail, wait for it to come to your side. When it is trying to ram you from the side, brake as fast as possible. The best area to do this is at Coastal Parkland. The best car to use to make you crack up at the cop is the McLaren F1 LM or the McLaren F1. If done correctly, you will see the cop ram into the wall. In Hot Pursuit mode, whenever a police cruiser attempts to push you off the road try to push it towards the other side of the road. Eventually the cruiser will spin out of control and crash. If you are getting chased by the cops, let the cop get a bit ahead of you and then do a California Stop to the officer. It should spin him out and you should only swerve slightly. This will give you plenty of time to get away from the cops. Gold Medal On Hot Pursuit Event 1 (Lotus Elise Delivery) After coming out of the first tunnel, drive up the big hill. You will see the first cop on the side of the road. Drive the car as if you are going to take the shortcut to the right of the cop car, but steer left at the last moment and stay on the paved road. The cop will take the short cut and lose sight of you for awhile. After driving across the iron-work bridge and through the underpass, another cop will be waiting on the left. Follow the fence line on the right very closely and take the shortcut down the hill. This will not only shave seconds off of your lap time, but will help you to lose the cops. Island Outskirts II Track Get 3 million points to unlock the NFS edition of the Lamborghini Murcielago. Lamborgini Diablo 6.0 VT Get 2.5 million points to unlock the NFS edition of the Lamborghini Diablo. License Plate Number Go into race or go to the showcase. In the race, switch to the near view; in the showcase zoom into the car from behind. The license plate will read "ND 4 SPD" (Need For Speed). McLaren F1 LM Get 5 million points or win the World Championship to unlock the NFS edition of the McLaren F1 LM. Get 4 million points to unlock the NFS edition of the McLaren F1. Mediterranean Paradise II Track Mercedes CLK GTR Get 4.5 million points to unlock the NFS edition of the Mercedes CLK GTR. National Forest 2 Track Complete Ultimate Racer Event 6. National Forest Track No Police If you drive backwards on any track you will not see any police. Outback II Track Outback Track Palm City Island II Track Palm City Island Track Get 800,000 points to unlock the NFS edition of the Porsche 911 Turbo. Get 3.5 million points to unlock the NFS edition of the Porsche Carrera GT. Predict Police Actions Turn the "Speech" option on high in the "Audio" screen when the police are on your tail, especially when police may be present on the race course. Be aware that the police may say something about roadblocks and where they are, as well as what they may try to do to end your speeding frenzy. Race In Single Race Without Opponents Note: This trick requires two controllers. First, go to World Racing with two players. Choose a car and race. When race begins, exit. Go back into World Racing Challenge, then switch the two players option to one player. Choose the same car that appears. This is best done with the Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR. It is similar to free run, but you can win cars and get points. Rocky Canyons II Track Rocky Canyons Track Scenic Drive II Track Single Player Race With No Opponents Select two players, and in the options menu, change "Opponents" to "None". Back out and select one player. Go race and there should be no opponents, allowing easy wins and unlimited time to play on jumps. Slow Opponents Down All of your opponents can be scared. If your opponents are directly besides you, suddenly steer towards them, as if you were trying to ram their car off the road. They will panic and veer away from your sudden move. If you are lucky, they may veer away too much, thus causing them to crash into an object, slowing them down. You can also do this to police that are on your tail. Another way to slow down opponents is to get behind their car and ram it 180 degrees from the bottom left or right of it. Note: This can also be done to cops. Traffic Pulls Over For You Choose a cop car in challenge mode. In the race, turn the sirens on. The cars will pull over. Tropical Circuit II Track Tropical Circuit Track Vauxhall VX220 Win a single race in any mode with a first place position in all laps. No Gameshark Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 Hacks found. Get Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 Find a great deal on Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 at Amazon.com Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 Strategy Guide Get help with the Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 Strategy Guide at Amazon.com	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line867
__label__cc	0.558941	0.441059	LUXURYFRED.COM Home TIPS Favorite Movies Featuring Fantastic Travel Tales TRAVEL4SENIORS DESTINATION SPOTLIGHT YOU ASK - WE ANSWER REFERENCE AND INFO PAGES Favorite Movies Featuring Fantastic Travel Tales An eclectic mix, these are fascinating tales to enjoy. The scenes aren't obscured by today’s special effects, monsters and digital eyestrain. Take one or more along on your next journey, to watch while high in the sky or trying to sleep in a noisy hotel. Here they are, in order of release years: Mutiny On The Bounty (1935) Get the original, not the mumbling Marlon Brando remake of 1962. Clark Gable does a somewhat better job trying to speak with a British accent as mutineer Fletcher Christian. He also portrays the character as an authentic naval officer, not Brando’s unconvincing, mincing upper-class snob. Charles Laughton as the cruel Captain Bligh gives a classic performance that can never be matched. Although both Laughton and Gable were nominated for Academy Awards, the only Oscar was for best picture. www.winthrop.dk/bounty/trivia Lost Horizons (1937) Get the original, not the awful 1973 musical version. The movie was adapted from the book by James Hilton, and starred Ronald Coleman as Robert Conway. A hijacked plane crashes in the snowy Himalayas, and the passengers face death in the freezing mountains. They’re rescued and travel through the blizzard to a magic rocky passage into a beautiful land of sunshine and peace, Shangri-La. The name Shangri-La is still used today to describe a perfect paradise. The enjoyable movie plot questions whether the travelers should choose to remain in the wonderland or return to the stark realities of former lives. www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lost_horizon Roman Holiday (1953) Princess Anne (Audrey Hepburn) sneaks away from royal duties while visiting the Italian capital city. Groggy from sleeping pills, she spends the night in the apartment of American newsman Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck). Joe finds out who she is, but keeps it secret so he can get a scoop and photos while they tour Rome together. They fall in love, but her royal responsibilities prevent them from consumating it. At a news conference, in a final kindhearted gesture, he tears up the revealing photos. The film won three Academy Awards, including Best Actress for Audrey Hepburn. www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/96156/roman-holiday Easy Rider (1969) This travel movie defined the protest generation of the 1960s. It was written and directed by the movie’s stars, Peter Fonda (Wyatt) and Dennis Hopper (Billy), along with author Terry Southern. It also starred Jack Nicholson (George). Two hippies smuggle cocaine from Mexico to Los Angeles. With money from selling it, they start to ride their motorcycles, along with George, toward New Orleans to attend the Mardi Gras. Their cross-country adventure ends tragically in fatal encounters with Southern rednecks. movies.nytimes.com/movie/15197/Easy-Rider/overview Thelma And Louise (1991) This travel epic also ends with the violent death of the leading characters. A dark comedy, two women, Geena Davis as Thelma and Susan Sarandon as Louise, take a cross-country journey. They’re trying to escape past troubles in a Thunderbird convertible. A chance encounter at a Western bar with an abusive drunk results in Louise killing him. They escape, and commit another murder when a trucker makes obscene gestures at them. Continuing on from Texas to Arizona, the fugitive women are trapped at the Grand Canyon rim. Rather than face life in prison, they drive over the edge. www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/08/thelma-louise-the-last-great-film-about-women Tweets by @Travel4Seniors	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line870
__label__wiki	0.8833	0.8833	Daily Archives: September 5, 2017 Today’s Takeaway September begins with — more forest fires! Category: Today's Takeaway Hot weather proved challenging over the long weekend as new fires were reported across Canada and the US. In fact, so many we had to limit our coverage. Ontario confirmed 16 new fires, Maine reported four and several new fires were reported in BC. Existing fires gathered steam and caused havoc near Peachland (BC), Crystal Mountain (Washington), Hood River (Oregon) and Billings (Montana). Even Yosemite’s redwoods are under threat (California). BC failed to reduce wildfire risk, despite warning, communities say. The amount of fuel management to protect communities “was minuscule relative to the scale of the challenge,” said Bob Simpson, Quesnel mayor. In Montana, GOP lawmakers are arguing that lawsuits halting logging projects are elevating wildfire dangers. Critics counter that the lawmakers are at fault for not recognizing climate change and failing to properly fund federal agencies. In business news, Globe and Mail columnist Barrie McKenna has a piece on how blocking Canadian lumber is a tax on [hurricane] Harvey’s victims and Random Lengths reports that OSB prices were mixed last week while SPF lumber prices rebounded following four weeks of decline. Finally, the new US Forest Service Chief, Tony Tooke, was sworn in last Friday in a ceremony in Albany, NY. — Kelly McCloskey, Tree Frog Editor The Continuous Digester – what we learned last week By Paul Quinn and Charan Sanghera RBC Capital Markets Region: Canada, United States Random Lengths reported that W. SPF rebounded $10 to $395/mfbm following four consecutive weeks of declines. Following a slow start to the week, trading picked up by Wednesday as buyers digested the final CVD duty extension. …OSB price moves were a bit mixed this week. Benchmark North Central prices were unchanged again this week at $414/msf, and Eastern Canada prices were up $5 to $375 as order files remain long. Western Canada markets saw the strongest activity, but prices still fell $15 to $365 in order to coax buyers off the sidelines. Blocking Canadian lumber is a tax on Harvey’s victims By Barrie McKenna As the floodwaters recede on the U.S. Gulf Coast, attention is shifting to rebuilding. Harvey left behind a trail of epic destruction. At least 100,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed by wind and water from the storm. The mounting financial toll is now estimated at an eye-popping $190-billion (U.S.), making it the priciest natural disaster to hit the United States. Americans will need a lot of lumber for the reconstruction, including lumber from Canada. The bad news is that the U.S. trade fight against Canadian softwood lumber will make that rebuilding a lot more expensive. …This puts the Trump administration in an awkward spot. Northern Pulp moves forward with plans to replace Boat Harbour facility By Sueann Musick While the province moves forward with their promise to clean up Boat Harbour and to shut down the controversial Boat Harbour treatment facility by January 2020, Northern Pulp is taking steps to replace it. The company cost shared with the province to hire a consultant, KSH Solutions, to come up with a replacement facility. …Kathy Cloutier, communications director for Northern Pulp said the new system would be different from the old although using a similar method of having micro-organisms break down the effluent. … The new system – like the current system – will not be in an enclosed building, Cloutier said. Construction needs to be completed by January 2020 when the Boat Harbour facility closes, but no exact date has been set for starting the project. Local trade unions strive to ensure safety, benefits By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Region: United States, US West When Gary Bradshaw signed on at Timber Products 46 years ago, he didn’t think much about joining the union a few weeks later. It was what employees did at his mill, and at many of the other wood products plants that populated the Rogue Valley in the early 1970s. As the years passed, Bradshaw discovered there was more to his union membership than dues. There were tangible aspects that drew him closer to the center of activity at his International Woodworkers of America local. …As the timber industry went into decline a generation ago, the International Woodworkers of America merged into the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in May 1994. Even though membership has dwindled along with the wood products industry, the survivors are on solid ground. Wastewater problem vexes papermakers again By Marissa Luck Longview Daily News Another problem at Nippon Dyanwave’s wastewater treatment plant has reportedly triggered paper machine shutdowns at the Longview mill and other nearby businesses. The extent of the problem isn’t clear, but employees said the issue first arose on about Thursday. It’s unknown when the industrial wastewater treatment plant will be running normally again. It was not clear Saturday how much paper production has been affected by the wastewater trouble. …The treatment plant services Nippon itself as well as other industrial sites nearby, including Weyerhaeuser Co., Norpac, Axiall Corp. and Solvay Chemicals. So the treatment problem likely will have ripple effects on those businesses too. Construction Corner: Researchers look for ways to design earthquake resiliency By Korky Koroluk Daily Commercial News Structural engineering researchers from a number of American universities gathered in San Diego for a week in late July to put a two-storey wooden structure through a series of powerful earthquake simulations. Their goal was to gather the data required to design wood buildings as tall as 20 storeys that do not suffer significant damage during large earthquakes. The research team is headed by Shiling Pei of the Colorado School of Mines. The tests were funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and a variety of industry sponsors. Tests were done on a shake table at the University of California, San Diego. Pei says the research is going beyond simply designing buildings that are safe during large earthquakes. How tall wood buildings can grow economy Letter by Cam Crawford, President, S.C. Forestry Association Region: US East, United States Cam Crawford S.C. For. Assoc. COLUMBIA, SC — While wood is one of the oldest building materials around, wood buildings in the United States rarely are taller than four stories. Due to innovation with forest products manufacturing, this may soon change. The demand for green building materials, along with improvements in the structural integrity and fire resistance of wood products, has led Europe and Canada to encourage construction of tall wood buildings. These buildings are more than 85 feet tall and built with cross-laminated timber and other flexible products that make them a safer option during earthquakes and high winds. South Carolina is a good place for cross-laminated timber manufacturers to consider locating, with nearly 13 million acres of forest and timberland, a strong right to practice forestry law and the recent investment in transportation infrastructure. B.C. failed to reduce wildfire risk, despite warning, communities say By Laura Kane The Canadian Press in The Globe and Mail Region: Canada, Canada West The fire in Logan Lake started like so many others in British Columbia’s worst wildfire season on record – a smouldering campfire, not fully extinguished, sparked flames that spread across the forest floor. But unlike other blazes that have grown catastrophically, engulfing homes, forests and farmland, the Logan Lake fire in June was kept to a half-hectare. The reason, a local official says, is because the town has conducted extensive wildfire mitigation, in spite of a provincial system he describes as under-funded, burdensome and unfair. …”The amount of fuel management to protect communities was minuscule relative to the scale of the challenge,” said Bob Simpson, Quesnel mayor and a former NDP forestry critic in the legislature. Weyerhaeuser concerned with caribou recovery plan By Kevin Hampson Daily Herald-Tribune Weyerhaeuser shares the County of Grande Prairie’s concerns that a new caribou recovery plan will undermine industry, councillors heard last week. Two of the company’s representatives gave a presentation to council on Monday about how the plan will affect the Weyerhaeuser’s forest management area, Reeve Leanne Beaupre said. “Their concern is that it could have a substantial effect on their sustainable amount of timber they have into the future and their opportunity for market share, and whether that would make the saw mill here in Grande Prairie even a viable business for Weyerhaeuser,” she said. The province has until October to develop a strategy for caribou range protection in north and central Alberta, which is intended to implement the federal Species at Risk Act. Ottawa will approve or reject the plan. Residents don’t want Youbou bypass road Letter by Donna Macdonald TimberWest’s solution for Youbou truck dust is to create more dust and log our mountainside! The Youbou town meeting on Monday night was planned, supposedly, to inform the local residents of TimberWest’s plans for dealing with the ongoing truck dust on Youbou Road. Mr. Iannidinardo, TimberWest VP of Forestry and Sustainability began by enlightening us as to what great corporate citizens TimberWest are. …Next he outlined their second option for the road dust — a bypass gravel road running behind the town and all along the North Arm, parallel to the existing Youbou Road. …To this idea, the residents showed unanimous dissent; voicing concerns about the new dust that would be generated all along the mountainside, slope destabilization, and the impact on spawning streams, the watershed and the community. Brown spots a sign of changes to come in Halifax’s tree canopy By Moira Donovan A fungal infection affecting some of Halifax’s trees is a sign of big changes to come in Halifax’s tree canopy. Tar spot affects the Norway maple, and while it’s not harmful to trees in the short term, it’s just one of the issues limiting the species’ lifespan. “At the moment we have 35 per cent of Norway maple crown cover on the [Halifax] peninsula. That number has come down in the last five to seven years probably three to five percent,” said Kevin Osmond, supervisor of urban forestry with the Halifax Regional Municipality. “We are losing Norways. They are starting to end their lifespans, but they’re also starting to show these other issues that are causing decline.” Accelerated forest harvest planned By Brigitte Petersen The Chronicle Journal Stephane Audet, partner at KBM Resources Group A tender will soon be issued for tree harvesting on a Thunder Bay property owned and maintained by the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority as part of a new 20-year forest management plan. The conservation group recently hired forestry consultant KBM Resources Group to update Wishart Forest’s forest management plan, which was completed last year and outlines plans for the property over the next two decades. The plan focuses on environmental protection, recreation, education and potential income generation to offset the property’s maintenance costs. KBM wrote the plan, approved by the provincial government’s managed forest tax incentive program, which offers tax incentives to private landowners for sustainable forestry. Located on Onion Lake Road, the site consists of 221 hectares of boreal forest, features a 2.3-kilometre trail, and is a popular spot for snowshoeing. New U.S. Forest Service chief sworn in By Edith Tucker The Conway Daily Sun ALBANY — White Mountain National Forest Supervisor Tom Wagner’s last official task Friday before retiring was an unusual one: holding the Bible as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue swore in new U.S. Forest Service Chief Tony Tooke. The nation’s 18th chief forester now leads more than 30,000 Forest Service employees in all 50 states plus Puerto Rico. The ceremony, originally scheduled at the Pemigewasset Overlook on the Kancamagus Highway in the National Forest, was moved to the Russell-Colbath House’s recreational barn after gusty winds kicked up as high as 50 mph, Wagner explained in his welcoming remarks. Logging companies lose resources in Horse Prairie Fire By Emily Hoard The News Review Today CAMAS VALLEY — Private and federal landowners are losing timber and equipment as the Horse Prairie fire burns thousands of acres near Camas Valley. “For us it’s the financial impact directly tied to the loss of resources on our property,” said Todd Payne, CEO of Seneca Jones Timber Company. As of Friday afternoon, he said the logging company had lost about one thousand acres of its 167,000-acre tree farm to the fire, at an estimated value of $3 million to $7 million. …Smith Logging lost logging equipment in the fire. Company equipment was about three-quarters of a mile away from where the fire started, and the fire came through and destroyed the entire logging site. …“There’s a ton of people working on it within the company and from within the private ownership sector and Oregon Department of Forestry,” Folk said. “There’s a great collaboration effort underway to get control of the fire but it’s far from over.” Amid Severe Fire Season, Finger Pointing Over Forest Management Heats Up By Dillon Tabish Flathead Beacon In the midst of Montana’s severe fire season, a heated debated has reignited over forest management, with a group of Montana Republican lawmakers arguing that lawsuits halting logging projects are elevating wildfire dangers, while critics counter that GOP lawmakers are at fault for not recognizing climate change and failing to properly fund federal agencies. …Daines blames “extreme environmental groups” that have sued the U.S. Forest Service for halting logging and thinning projects that he says could reduce large amounts of fuel and help prevent wildfires. …The comments made by Daines, and similar ones made by Gianforte and Zinke, sparked backlash from others who say the GOP-led Congress has neglected to properly fund the U.S. Forest Service for fire prevention and forest management. Short-term thinking Long-term problems Payson Roundup Here’s the problem with homo sapiens. We have long-term impacts. But we’re short-term thinkers. Just look at our efforts to live in the forest. …We got it into our heads we could manage a couple million acres as a tree farm and feed lot. So the cattle ate off the grass and the loggers took all the big, old-growth, fire-resistant trees. Fifty years of short-term thinking converted the once fire-adapted forest into a fire-prone thicket. Then we built thousands of flammable little houses in the midst of this thicket, without so much as fire-resistant roofs. The succession of mega fires in the past decade has finally alerted us to our folly. …The study has been inching along, with no clear idea yet whether we’ll somehow wind up with a logging industry to actually do the thinning or enough taxpayer money to do the job without industry support. DNR’s Yellowwood harvest will be carefully controlled By Phil Bloom The Journal Gazette The Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry has managed state forest lands for more than 100 years, during which time once abused and abandoned land has been restored to nearly 160,000 acres of lush and healthy forests seen in Indiana today. Indiana law dictates that DNR Forestry “protect and conserve timber, water resources, wildlife and topsoil in forests owned and operated by the division of forestry” and use “good husbandry” to remove timber that has substantial commercial value “in a manner that benefits the growth of saplings.” There are those who object to this public policy and repeatedly demand DNR Forestry stop doing its job.In contrast, a Purdue University public opinion survey of Indiana residents found that 95 percent of Hoosiers approve of removing trees to protect woodlands from disease and fire. Stung by setbacks, wood suppliers seek new markets and products to survive By Tux Turkel CHESTER — Making lumber is a bit like peeling a banana. The peels, in this case 16-foot lengths of bark-clad hemlock, are stacked beside a small sawmill here at Treeline Inc., a diversified forestry operation on the access road to Lincoln. But that waste wood has value. Last fall, Treeline could turn the slabs into chips and truck them an easy 17 miles along the Penobscot River to feed a biomass power plant in West Enfield. Maine lawmakers had recently approved a $13.4 million taxpayer subsidy that allowed a new owner to restart the unprofitable facility. …Over the past decade, paper mill closures and shifting markets have diminished the industry to a point where the rural Maine forestry businesses most dependent on pulp and paper – the loggers, truckers, sawmill operators – have been forced to envision a new future. Clemson’s Gering wins national forestry teaching award By Jonathan Veit, College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences Lawrence “Larry” Gering CLEMSON — The Society of American Foresters awarded Clemson University’s Lawrence “Larry” Gering with the 2017 Carl Alwin Schenck Award for a career of excellence in the field of forestry education. The Schenck Award is the nation’s highest teaching award in forestry education. Gering earned the award for his “innovative approach to teaching, mentoring and experiential learning,” according the selection committee. “I am honored to receive the Carl Alwin Schenck Award,” Gering said. “I have been lucky to have been influenced by many outstanding faculty members over the years, including Leon Pienaar and Jerry Clutter (University of Georgia), Bill Shaine, Al Marsinko and Larry Nix (Clemson), and Fred Knight and Ralph Griffin (University of Maine). To the extent I have been an effective teacher over the years, I owe much to them.” Push pause on Indiana’s backcountry logging IndyStar Logging companies may soon spoil one of the most beautiful, pristine areas of Indiana, and they’re set to do so with the state government’s permission. The lucrative business of harvesting timber in Indiana’s state forests isn’t new. The Department of Natural Resources has for years allowed companies to build roads and cut down trees in forests under the state’s protection. But the current plan to destroy century-old trees on 300 acres of Brown County backcountry is especially egregious because of the forest’s rich diversity of species and the state’s shrinking reserves of unspoiled wilderness. State officials say the timber harvest is a necessary part of forest management, but many conservationists question that assertion. “There is a question of what is legal and what is right,” Cliff Chapman, executive director of the Central Indiana Land Trust, told IndyStar’s Sarah Bowman. Ex-Gunns boss John Gay in firing line amid fresh logging battle By Matthew Denholm John Gay has emerged from the ignominy of insider trading to again become a player in Tasmania’s forest industry — and in a new stoush over logging. Four years ago, the former Gunns Ltd timber boss became the most senior Australian executive convicted of insider trading, and was banned from running companies for five years. A year later, Mr Gay persuaded a court to allow him to run a small family business, Specialty Veneers, that now owns two others — Corinna Timbers and Somerset Timber Supplies. A recent government report suggests these companies have become key drivers of demand for “speciality timbers”, including blackwood and rainforest species, such as celery-top pine and myrtle, behind only one other, Britton Timbers. After decades of waste of rainforest timbers, often burnt after clear-fell logging, and of conservation lock-ups, these timbers are increasingly in short supply. Will European supermarkets act over Paraguay forest destruction? By David Hill No tropical forests anywhere in the world are being destroyed more rapidly than the Chaco stretching across Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay. Not the Amazon in Brazil, nor in Indonesia, Malaysia or the Democratic Republic of Congo. At least, that is according to a University of Maryland-led study published in 2013. And the carnage continues today. In July British NGO Earthsight released a report stating that “the latest available analysis [by Paraguayan NGO Guyra], covering January 2017, suggests that the rate of deforestation has kept pace since the Maryland paper. The Paraguayan Chaco is on course to lose more than 200,000 hectares of forest this year: an area the size of Manhattan every fortnight.” Signatured Pioneer logs to become permanent 2017 wildfire legacy By Monica Lamb-Yorski Three logs bearing signatures from hundreds of emergency personnel who assisted during the wildfires in the Cariboo-Chilcotin will be on permanent display in Williams Lake, preferably at the museum or the tourism discovery centre. That’s the hope, said Bryan Reid Sr., founder of Pioneer Log Homes of B.C. who donated the logs and came up with the idea for the project. … “This is going to be a bench mark in Williams Lake’s history so to me it was important to record some of this. That way some of these people can come back and visit and see where they signed.” …“To me there are totem poles,” Reid said. “They tell a story forever of who was here and helped in a time of emergency.” Reid is also planning to create a carving of the wildfire that will feature a scene with a fire, animals and a fire engine that says 150 Mile House. New forest fire Monday in the Okanagan; air and ground crews respond By Blaine Gaffney The BC Wildfire Service is dealing with a forest fire burning about half way between Kelowna and Penticton on the east side of Okanagan Lake. The Grayback Mountain fire started overnight Sunday and by Monday afternoon had grown to about 30 hectares. Air tankers and a bucketing helicopter are dousing the flames from above while 17 fire fighters are on the ground. More crews are being dispatched. It’s considered a Rank 3 fire meaning there is surface flames with a moderate rate of spread. Finlay Creek wildfire south of Peachland now estimated to cover 1,500 hectares The Finlay Creek wildfire burning between Peachland and Summerland is now estimated at 1500 hectares. That’s up from 1000 hectares even though there was no significant growth Sunday or overnight into Monday. Fire information officer, Heather Rice, says they got a more accurate reading of the fire size in a surveillance flight late Sunday afternoon. Rice describes the fire behaviour Monday morning as “moderate” with calm winds. Eighteen forestry fire fighters and nine pieces of heavy equipment are working the blaze on the ground with more crews on the way. There are also seven aircraft dropping water and retardant. Sprinkler systems have been set up to protect some homes in the north end of the Garnet Valley but Rice says no buildings have been burnt. B.C. wildfires to burn into 2018 By Jen Zielinski Canadian Press in The Northern View A municipal leader in British Columbia’s central Interior predicts wildfires that have chewed through more than 10,600 square kilometres of woodland won’t be fully out until 2018. Chairman Al Richmond of the Cariboo Regional District said hot spots from many of the largest fires likely won’t be doused until the spring, mirroring the Fort McMurray wildfire that Alberta officials said was finally declared extinguished on Aug. 2. “It goes down deep into the roots sometimes and then pops up again in the summer,” he said. “That’s not unusual, so I think the forest service felt we will be out dealing with these fires until well into October. And we will probably be back with many hot spots again come spring.” September begins with more forest fires in NW Ontario With autumn on the horizon, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry firefighting crews and resources are deployed on fires in northwestern Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia. The MNRF confirmed five new fires in the northwest on Thursday, after logging 11 new ones the day before. It said the forest fire hazard remains high to extreme across much of the region, with high winds forecast to come in ahead of a storm system, creating the potential for more extreme fire behaviour. On the positive side, Nipigon district fire 099 in the Kama Hill area has been declared under control. An incident management team posted there is in the process of demobilizing. Aggressive firefighting has left our forests vulnerable to dangerous wildfires By Wes Melo, Vice Chairman, Communities for Healthy Forests We westerners are living through yet another smoke-filled summer of extensive and uncontrollable forest wildfires. Millions of trees on thousands of acres have once again been destroyed by wildfire. Isn’t it time to understand what can be done to address this problem? …But humans have interrupted that natural cleaning process by aggressively fighting fires over the past decades. Photosynthesis grows plants and trees every day and that natural activity adds to the fuel loads in wildlands. Over time, without the cleansing action of fire, wildlands build unnatural fuel loads. When these overcrowded wildlands eventually burn — and they will — the result is unnatural fire behavior, which can result in catastrophic outcomes. Yosemite’s redwoods under threat from California fires after Los Angeles homes destroyed Associated Press in ABC News, Australia The giant sequoia trees that have stood for thousands of years in Yosemite National Park are under threat from a fire that is ripping across the western United States. Several destructive fires have torn through California, driven by strong winds combined with high temperatures and dry conditions. …Outside Yosemite, a fire drove deeper into a grove of 2,700-year-old giant sequoia trees, but officials were not immediately sure whether trees had been killed. Giant sequoias are resilient and can withstand low intensity fires, fire information officer Anne Grandy said. …There are more than 100 giant sequoias in the grove, including the 24-storey-high Bull Buck sequoia, one of the world’s largest. Heat spurs surge in California, Oregon wildfires By Christopher Weber and Ellen Knickmeyer Associated Press in the Washington Post LOS ANGELES — Smoke filled the sky and ash rained down across Los Angeles on Sunday from a destructive wildfire that the mayor said was the largest in city history — one of several blazes that sent thousands fleeing homes across the West during a blistering holiday weekend heat wave. In Oregon, crews were rescuing about 140 hikers forced to spend the night in the woods after fire broke out along the popular Columbia River Gorge trail. Search and rescue crews airdropped supplies on Saturday as flames prevented the hikers’ escape. Wildfires burned in a 2,700-year-old grove of giant sequoia trees near Yosemite National Park, forced evacuations in Glacier National Park and drove people from homes in parts of the West struggling with blazing temperatures. Residents rattled amid smoke, evacuation threat By Saul Hubbard McKENZIE BRIDGE — The oppressive cloak of wildfire smoke that settled all around this riverside mountain town on Sunday was unlike anything longtime residents could remember. It kept cars off the road and boats off the river on what otherwise would have been a busy Labor Day weekend in this outdoor enthusiasts’ paradise, 50 miles east of Eugene. A string of nearby wildfires — including one roughly three miles southeast of town — and an evacuation preparation order issued Saturday kept some locals on edge. They congregated on Facebook, sharing updates and advice and worrying aloud about their pets and livestock. But others said they felt unperturbed for now, so long as Lane County officials didn’t raise the evacuation warning to a more serious level 2 or 3. Wildfire near Crystal Mountain continues to grow, brings ash to parts of Western Washington KIRO7 The Crystal Mountain resort was under a level 3 evacuation Monday night due to the Norse Peak fire burning north of State Route 410 near Union Creek. As of Tuesday, more than 19,000 acres had burned and containment was at 8 percent. The fire has been burning to the east of the resort for more than two weeks and the wind has changed direction and is causing smoke to shift to the west, a post on the Crystal Mountain website said. There have been reports of ash from the wildfire falling in Pierce County, Seattle, Covington, Everett, Issaquah, Kent, Renton Highlands and North Bend. The National Weather Service Seattle said the ash fall is mainly in Pierce County and the south edge of King County. Easterly winds coming out of the mountains has brought the ash over to those areas. Gorge evacuations, I-84 closure as Eagle Creek Fire grows KTVZ.COM HOOD RIVER, Ore. – The Eagle Creek Fire that stranded more than 150 hikers in the Mount Hood National Forest on Saturday grew rapidly late Monday afternoon and evening, prompting evacuations while closing a wider, 45-mile stretch of Interstate 84 Monday night, officials said. The growth of the fire has led to the closure of I-84, the major east-west thoroughfare through the Columbia River Gorge, initially from four miles east of Multnomah Falls to two miles west of Hood River (Exit 35 to 62). Around 8:30 p.m. came word from ODOT the I-84 closure had expanded, with all eastbound traffic required to exit at Exit 17 in Troutdale and westbound traffic at Exit 62 in Hood River. Study: West faces frightening “wildfire deficit” By Peter Aleshire Wildfires have risen and fallen with the climate for the past 3,000 years — which means we’re in big, big trouble, according to recent research on fire patterns in the American West. One study of a 2,700-acre chunk of forest atop the Mogollon Rim found frequent, low-severity ground fires burned through the forest every 2-15 years for some 100 years, without ever resulting in the widespread deaths of big trees. However, starting in 1880, the number of fires dropped dramatically — leading to a dramatic increase in tree densities, according to the researchers from the Northern Arizona University Ecological Restoration Institute and other universities. Fire burning in southeast Montana doubles in size; air quality unhealthy in nearby town Billings Gazette UPDATE as of Saturday, 9:30 a.m.: The Sartin Draw fire grew to 91,000 acres as of Saturday morning, according to an update provided by the Montana DNRC county assist team. It remains 10 percent contained. Resources on the fire include 31 engines, three crews, nine heavy equipment and 190 personnel. On Saturday, local, state and federal firefighers will continue to build and improve fire lines and burn out areas of unburned line. They will also be working to secure the fire perimeter in front of Sunday’s forecasted cold front. Pre-evacuation notice remains in place for residents north of Merchant Cut, west of Highway 59 and south of 674 Road. Air quality Saturday morning also remained unhealthy for the towns of Broadus and Birney, according to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. Triple-digit heat hampers fight against western wildfires By Scott Sonner Associated Press in The Statesmen Journal RENO, Nev. — Triple-digit heat across much of the U.S. West hampered crews battling scores of wildfires Thursday, including one threatening dozens of structures in Montana and another that temporarily shut down the main travel route to the Burning Man counterculture festival in the Nevada desert. Thousands of people have been driven from their homes amid hot weather in Oregon, Montana and California, where a blaze burned 10 homes and threatened 500 more near a hard-hit community and another kept a popular road to Yosemite National Park closed. Windy, dry conditions resulting in wildfires around Maine By David Gagnon A combination of windy and dry conditions are partly to blame for nearly half a dozen wildfires across the state on Friday. As of mid afternoon on Friday, Maine forest rangers and their mutual aid partners had been dealing with a forest fire in Columbia Falls that began on Thursday, as well as smaller fires that began Friday afternoon in Bucksport, Winterport and Warren. — About an about an acre burned in Bucksport off Silver Lake Road. District Ranger Peter Pelletier said the fire was extinguished by local firefighters and a ranger and that the cause remained under investigation. — A tree fell on a power line in Winterport near 985 North Main St. around 1:30 p.m. and burned about a tenth of an acre, Ranger Aaron Bailey said.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line871
__label__cc	0.74302	0.25698	Like most websites Air Forces Monthly uses cookies. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on Air Forces Monthly website. However, if you would like to, you can change your cookie settings at any time. Find out more Key Publishing The world’s number one military aviation magazine Home › News › Airbus pitches H135 as future US Navy training helicopter Airbus pitches H135 as future US Navy training helicopter Published: October 23rd, 2018 Photo: Airbus Helicopters Airbus Helicopters is showcasing its H135 as a future training helicopter for the US Navy. The twin-engine type is being promoted at the US Navy Fleet Fly-In taking place at Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Pensacola, Florida from October 22-26. The event is organised by the Naval Helicopter Association. Chris Emerson, President of Airbus Helicopters, Inc and Head of the North America region, explained: “Airbus Helicopters is convinced the H135 is the best solution to prepare the next generation of US Navy pilots for decades to come, both technically and economically.” He added: “We look forward to demonstrating why this aircraft is the best solution for the navy’s helicopter training needs.” Airbus pilots will conduct orientation flights with US Navy pilots and other stakeholders to demonstrate the H135’s capabilities at the October fleet fly-in. The company highlights the suitability of the H135 for the training task, pointing to its four-axis autopilot and one engine inoperable (OEI) training mode. In a statement, Airbus said: “The FAA instrument flight rules (IFR) certified H135 provides future aviators with an ideal platform for training missions, a critical discriminator for the navy as it trains its pilots over water and in reduced visibility.” Scott Tumpak, vice president of military programmes at Airbus Helicopters, Inc, added: “As a twin-engine helicopter, the H135 provides a training environment most similar to the navy’s warfighting rotorcraft fleet, creating opportunities for cost and operational efficiencies compared to a single-engine aircraft.” Airbus already produces the US Army’s primary training helicopter, the twin-engine UH-72A Lakota. Since contract award in 2006, Airbus has delivered 431 examples. The Lakota is also the primary trainer aircraft for the US Navy’s Advanced Test Pilot School in Patuxent River, Maryland. If ordered for the US Navy, H135 trainers will be produced at the company’s facility in Columbus, Mississippi, where the Lakota is manufactured. “A multi-mission and economical workhorse, the H135 is the right tool to support US Navy initial pilot training. Airbus’ global success in delivering rotary-wing training platforms is recognised worldwide,” Tumpak concluded. ‹ First locally upgraded F-16V delivered to Taiwan AFM November: Chilean F-5 Tigers › August 2019The cover of the August issue of AFM features some of the first Rafales for the Qatar Emiri Air Force’s ambitious combat aircraft modernisation plan. Our correspondent flew air-to-air with them as the first examples arrived in country. There are plenty more fighter types covered this month, including a celebration of the 30-year service anniversary of the F-16 with the Hellenic Air Force. As the Spanish Navy’s EAV-8B+ Harrier II makes a welcome return to the UK airshow scene, we also take a closer look at Juan Carlos I – the Armada’s strategic projection ship. There’s also coverage of the Italian Air Force F-35A, as the force continues to make huge strides with its Lightning IIs. Meanwhile, within the US Navy, efforts are being made to sustain and upgrade the all-important Super Hornet fleet. On the air arms side, AFM contributor Anthony Pecchi provides a spectacular aerial study of three of the latest types to enter service with the rarely seen Uzbekistan Air Force, while we begin an extensive Force Report examining the naval aviation force of the Republic of Korea Navy. Rotary assets include a visit to see the German Army’s elite special forces on exercise with Luftwaffe pilots flying the H145M LUH SOF (Light Utility Helicopter – Special Operations Forces). Transports are represented by the Royal Netherlands Air Force’s 334 Squadron, which, for 25 years, has provided a strategic tanker and transport capability via its unique KDC-10s. Buy Print Buy App Please login to view the latest news, features and reports For binders, books, DVDs and more click here Military Aviation Forum Latest AirForces Monthly August issue - OUT NOW 18th July 2019 Aviation News August issue - US Bomber Special - OUT NOW 18th July 2019 Why not J-58 clones 16th July 2019 The Stealth Thread 15th July 2019 Su-24/Mig-27 in the 1970s /80s and escort fighters 11th July 2019 Should the Japanese join theTempest, FCAS, TFX or AMCA program... OR VICE VERSA? 10th July 2019 Mildenhall viewing area 6th July 2019 IAF Jaguar hits birds, but lands safely ( spectacular video ) 27 June 1st July 2019 1960 Kaman HU2K-1 ASW helicopter program for the Royal Canadian Navy 29th June 2019 The best European 3rd gen, Single-Engined fighter: Viggen, Flogger, or Mirage F-1? 29th June 2019 Japanese F-3 stealth programme 28th June 2019 Draken vs Mirage 3. The sexiest of the 2nd gen fighters 27th June 2019 Anecdotes about SR-71 successors 24th June 2019 F-16C-50 reaches 10,000 hrs. 22nd June 2019 Camouflage on RQ-4 Triton UAVs 21st June 2019 NEVER MISS AN ISSUE... Our Instant Issue Service sends you an email whenever a new issue of Air Forces Monthly is out. SAVE ON QUEUES - FREE P&P ©2019 KEY PUBLISHING ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line872
__label__wiki	0.911022	0.911022	Most Popular Impersonation Movies and TV Shows Feature Film (1,278) TV Series (76) TV Special (42) Comedy (964) Drama (761) Romance (495) Crime (378) Action (307) Thriller (307) Adventure (270) Mystery (260) Western (153) Sci-Fi (119) Musical (114) Music (101) Family (95) Short (87) Fantasy (82) War (70) Horror (67) Animation (60) Documentary (46) History (41) Film-Noir (34) Biography (22) Talk-Show (22) Sport (15) Reality-Tv (13) News (10) Game-Show (8) Singer (240) Disguise (239) Based On Novel (207) Held At Gunpoint (207) Mistaken Identity (186) Character Name In Title (181) Male Female Relationship (180) Gunfire (166) Detective (161) Jealousy (150) Impostor (147) Drunkenness (142) Based On Play (135) Police Officer (134) False Accusation (133) Nightclub (129) Damsel In Distress (128) B Movie (122) Title Spoken By Character (122) Henchman (119) Independent Film (110) Dancer (109) Spoof (109) Marriage Proposal (107) Betrayal (105) Comedian (102) Pistol (99) Reporter (99) Lawyer (98) Actor Playing Multiple Roles (97) Double Cross (96) Slapstick Comedy (93) Stock Footage (92) Policeman (91) Gangster (90) Surprise Ending (88) Dual Role (86) Ship (86) Sketch Comedy (86) Social Satire (86) Corpse (85) London England (84) Prime Video (186) IMDb TV (8) 1 to 50 of 1,870 titles \| Next » 1. 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Drunk History (2013– ) TV-14 \| 22 min \| Comedy, History Historical reenactments by A-list talent are presented by inebriated storytellers. Stars: Derek Waters, Bennie Arthur, Craig Cackowski, Maria Blasucci A Phoenix secretary embezzles forty thousand dollars from her employer's client, goes on the run, and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother. Director: Alfred Hitchcock \| Stars: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin 18. War Dogs (2016) R \| 114 min \| Comedy, Crime, Drama Loosely based on the true story of two young men, David Packouz and Efraim Diveroli, who won a three hundred million dollar contract from the Pentagon to arm America's allies in Afghanistan. Director: Todd Phillips \| Stars: Jonah Hill, Miles Teller, Steve Lantz, Gregg Weiner 19. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) R \| 178 min \| Western A bounty hunting scam joins two men in an uneasy alliance against a third in a race to find a fortune in gold buried in a remote cemetery. Director: Sergio Leone \| Stars: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef, Aldo Giuffrè 20. Bridesmaids (I) (2011) Competition between the maid of honor and a bridesmaid, over who is the bride's best friend, threatens to upend the life of an out-of-work pastry chef. Director: Paul Feig \| Stars: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Terry Crews 21. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) Two Jedi escape a hostile blockade to find allies and come across a young boy who may bring balance to the Force, but the long dormant Sith resurface to claim their old glory. Director: George Lucas \| Stars: Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd 22. Game Night (I) (2018) A group of friends who meet regularly for game nights find themselves entangled in a real-life mystery when the shady brother of one of them is seemingly kidnapped by dangerous gangsters. Directors: John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein \| Stars: Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Kyle Chandler, Sharon Horgan 23. The Patriot (2000) R \| 165 min \| Action, Drama, History Peaceful farmer Benjamin Martin is driven to lead the Colonial Militia during the American Revolution when a sadistic British officer murders his son. Director: Roland Emmerich \| Stars: Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger, Joely Richardson, Jason Isaacs 24. Ghost World (2001) With only the plan of moving in together after high school, two unusually devious friends seek direction in life. As a mere gag, they respond to a man's newspaper ad for a date, only to find it will greatly complicate their lives. Director: Terry Zwigoff \| Stars: Steve Buscemi, Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Brad Renfro 25. John Carter (2012) Transported to Barsoom, a Civil War vet discovers a barren planet seemingly inhabited by 12-foot tall barbarians. Finding himself prisoner of these creatures, he escapes, only to encounter Woola and a princess in desperate need of a savior. Director: Andrew Stanton \| Stars: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Willem Dafoe, Samantha Morton 26. Mission: Impossible (1996) An American agent, under false suspicion of disloyalty, must discover and expose the real spy without the help of his organization. Director: Brian De Palma \| Stars: Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Emmanuelle Béart, Henry Czerny 27. There Will Be Blood (2007) A story of family, religion, hatred, oil and madness, focusing on a turn-of-the-century prospector in the early days of the business. Director: Paul Thomas Anderson \| Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Ciarán Hinds, Martin Stringer 28. Smokin' Aces (2006) When a Las Vegas performer-turned-snitch named Buddy Israel decides to turn state's evidence and testify against the mob, it seems that a whole lot of people would like to make sure he's no longer breathing. Director: Joe Carnahan \| Stars: Jeremy Piven, Ryan Reynolds, Ray Liotta, Joseph Ruskin 29. Catch Me If You Can (2002) PG-13 \| 141 min \| Biography, Crime, Drama A seasoned FBI agent pursues Frank Abagnale Jr. who, before his 19th birthday, successfully forged millions of dollars' worth of checks while posing as a Pan Am pilot, a doctor, and a legal prosecutor. Director: Steven Spielberg \| Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen 30. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) The X-Men send Wolverine to the past in a desperate effort to change history and prevent an event that results in doom for both humans and mutants. Director: Bryan Singer \| Stars: Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy 32. X-Men: First Class (2011) In the 1960s, superpowered humans Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr work together to find others like them, but Erik's vengeful pursuit of an ambitious mutant who ruined his life causes a schism to divide them. Director: Matthew Vaughn \| Stars: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon PG \| 106 min \| Comedy, Romance A cruel but beautiful heiress mocks and cheats a hired carpenter. When she gets amnesia after an accident, he decides to introduce her to regular life by convincing her they're husband and wife. Director: Garry Marshall \| Stars: Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Edward Herrmann, Katherine Helmond 34. The Lobster (2015) R \| 119 min \| Comedy, Drama, Romance In a dystopian near future, single people, according to the laws of The City, are taken to The Hotel, where they are obliged to find a romantic partner in forty-five days or are transformed into beasts and sent off into The Woods. Director: Yorgos Lanthimos \| Stars: Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Jessica Barden, Olivia Colman 35. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) A cybernetic warrior from a post-apocalyptic future travels back in time to protect a 25-year old drifter and his future wife from a most advanced robotic assassin and to ensure they both survive a nuclear attack. Director: Jonathan Mostow \| Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Kristanna Loken, Claire Danes 37. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) PG-13 \| 125 min \| Comedy, Drama, Family After a bitter divorce, an actor disguises himself as a female housekeeper to spend time with his children held in custody by his former wife. Director: Chris Columbus \| Stars: Robin Williams, Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan, Harvey Fierstein 38. Mission: Impossible III (2006) IMF Agent Ethan Hunt comes into conflict with a dangerous and sadistic arms dealer who threatens his life and his fiancee in response. Director: J.J. Abrams \| Stars: Tom Cruise, Michelle Monaghan, Ving Rhames, Philip Seymour Hoffman 39. Enemy (2013) R \| 91 min \| Mystery, Thriller A man seeks out his exact look-alike after spotting him in a movie. Director: Denis Villeneuve \| Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mélanie Laurent, Sarah Gadon, Isabella Rossellini 40. Shaun of the Dead (2004) R \| 99 min \| Comedy, Horror A man's uneventful life is disrupted by the zombie apocalypse. Director: Edgar Wright \| Stars: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis 41. The Aviator (2004) PG-13 \| 170 min \| Biography, Drama A biopic depicting the early years of legendary Director and aviator Howard Hughes' career from the late 1920s to the mid 1940s. Director: Martin Scorsese \| Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reilly 42. Quantum of Solace (2008) James Bond descends into mystery as he tries to stop a mysterious organization from eliminating a country's most valuable resource. Director: Marc Forster \| Stars: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric, Judi Dench 43. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) PG-13 \| 103 min \| Drama An introvert freshman is taken under the wings of two seniors who welcome him to the real world. Director: Stephen Chbosky \| Stars: Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Paul Rudd 44. Now You See Me (I) (2013) PG-13 \| 115 min \| Crime, Mystery, Thriller An F.B.I. Agent and an Interpol Detective track a team of illusionists who pull off bank heists during their performances, and reward their audiences with the money. Director: Louis Leterrier \| Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Common, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson 45. Leverage (2008–2012) TV-PG \| 42 min \| Crime, Mystery, Thriller A crew of high-tech crooks attempt to steal from wealthy criminals and corrupt businessmen. Stars: Timothy Hutton, Gina Bellman, Christian Kane, Beth Riesgraf 46. Wedding Crashers (2005) John Beckwith and Jeremy Grey, a pair of committed womanizers who sneak into weddings to take advantage of the romantic tinge in the air, find themselves at odds with one another when John meets and falls for Claire Cleary. Director: David Dobkin \| Stars: Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Rachel McAdams, Christopher Walken R \| 138 min \| Crime, Drama, Mystery As corruption grows in 1950s Los Angeles, three policemen -- one strait-laced, one brutal, and one sleazy -- investigate a series of murders with their own brand of justice. Director: Curtis Hanson \| Stars: Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim Basinger 48. Saturday Night Live (1975– ) TV-14 \| 90 min \| Comedy, Music A famous guest host stars in parodies and sketches created by the cast of this witty show. Stars: Don Pardo, Lenny Pickett, Darrell Hammond, Kenan Thompson 49. Closer (I) (2004) The relationships of two couples become complicated and deceitful when the man from one couple meets the woman of the other. Director: Mike Nichols \| Stars: Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Clive Owen, Julia Roberts 50. Akira (1988) R \| 124 min \| Animation, Drama, Sci-Fi A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath who can only be stopped by two teenagers and a group of psychics. Director: Katsuhiro Ôtomo \| Stars: Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama, Tesshô Genda	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line875
__label__cc	0.680521	0.319479	Secretariat Records, 11 results 11 International Commission for a History of the Scientific and Cultural Development of Mankind, 1 results 1 Algeria, 1 results 1 UNESCO Thesaurus El Asnam (Algeria) FR PUNES AG 8-SEC-SHS-ENV-1.7 Population Division Files FR PUNES AG 8-SEC-SHS-POP Series consists of files from the Population Division (SHS/POP) and the Division of Population and Human Settlements (SHS/POP). The files mostly pertain to programme activities in the fields of urbanization, architecture, family planning and popu... UNESCO. Population Division Division for Human Settlements and the Socio-Cultural Environment files FR PUNES AG 8-SEC-SHS-ENV Series consists of files transferred directly from the Division for Human Settlements and the Socio-Cultural Environment (SHS/ENV) and its successor the Division of Population and Human Settlements (SHS/POP). Files cover programme activities on r... UNESCO. Division for Human Settlements and the Socio-Cultural Environment Division of Human Rights and Peace Files FR PUNES AG 8-SEC-SHS-HRS Series consists of the files of the SHS Division of Human Rights and Peace (HRS) as well as some files from its successor unit. The files date from the creation of HRS to the mid-1990s. The files cover programme activities such as the production... UNESCO. Division of Human Rights and Peace International Commission for a History of the Scientific and Cultural Development of Mankind FR PUNES AG 8-SEC-SCHM1 Subfonds contains official and unofficial files, papers, letters, memoranda, manuscripts, maps, illustrations, photographs, etc. of the International Commission for a History of the Scientific and Cultural Development of Mankind as maintained by i...	cc/2019-30/en_middle_0083.json.gz/line882

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