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__label__cc	0.728037	0.271963	Majuli – The river island of India Posted: April 6, 2018 at 6:26 am / by Administrator / comments (0) Majuli or Majoli is a river island in the Brahmaputra river, in the Indian state of Assam. Majuli is often erroneously cited as the largest river island in the world by the Indian media, but in fact it is merely the largest freshwater island in South Asia. Majuli occupies an area of about 577 km², having lost significant area due to erosion. The island is about 200 kilometres east from the state’s largest city — Guwahati, and is accessible by ferries from the town of Jorhat. The island was formed due to course changes by the river Brahmaputra and its tributaries, mainly the Lohit. Majoli is also the abode of the Assamese neo-Vaisnavite culture. 1 Majuli: Island in the Sun 1.1 Fair & Festival 1.2 PLACES OF INTEREST :- 1.3 Majuli Festival Majuli: Island in the Sun Majuli, the largest river island in the world, is a civil sub-division of Jorhat District. It is located 20 km. off Jorhat town (Asom, India). It is a pollution free fresh water island. Total area of the island was 1250 sq.km., now it is about 650 sq.km. Its length from east to west is about 90 km. & width from north to south is avg. 16 km. Majuli is a natural & cultural heritage site. With water bodies covering most of the areas , Majuli attracts plenty of birds both local & migratory. About 25—26 Satras are remaining now in Majuli of which the Satras of Kamalabari, Auniati & Garmur are worth mentioning. These Satras are propagating the religious ideology of great Assamese medieval Vaisnavite Saint Sankardeva & Madhavdeva, preaching Satria culture. Fair & Festival Majuli, is famous as the world’s biggest river island, nestles in the lap of the mighty Brahmaputra. Her face uplifted to the limitless frontiers of the blue sky. Her feet perpetually caressed by the lapping waters of the holy Brahmaputra, her vision stretched to the distant hills of the Himalayan and other than the master craftsman who moulded the universe – God himself. No wonder then that the sublime and the serene atmosphere of the island – the intimate companionship of the soul with the elements and the river-provided the backdrop for the historic ” Moni Kanchan Sanjog” between Assam’s pioneer Vaishnavite Saints Shankardeva and his disciple Madhabdeva in the 15the Century. Ever since that meeting of the great minds and the subsequent establishment of “Satras” that followed, Majuli emerged as the crowning glory of Vaishnavite culture in Assam. Multifaceted in its attractions. Majuli, unfolds a vanity of interest to the tourist rare migratory birds, traditional handicraft and pottery; ethnic culture and dance forms; water sports etc. PLACES OF INTEREST :- Vaishnava Satras founded by Sandardeva, the father of Assamese culture. In fifteen century Shankardeva took shelter in Majuli and spent a couple of months at Beloguri (in west Majuli) which was a place of glory for the historic and auspicious; Manikanchan Sanjog’ between Shankardeva and Mahavdeval. This was the first “Satra” in Majuli. From “Manikanchan Sanjog” there had been sixty five “Satras growing up for propagation of ethics and socio-cultural ideals. But at present there are only twenty two satras in Majuli. The other had to be shifted to other safer places due to devastation of flood and erosion. Among those the main existing satras are :- Dakhinpat Satra, Garamurh Satra, Auniati Satra, Kamalabari Satra, Bengenaati Satra and Samaguri Satra. These Satra are the treasure house of “Borgeet”. Matiakhara. Jumora dance. Chali Dance, Notua Dance, Nande Vringee, Sutradhar, Ozapali, Apsara Dance, Satria Krishna Dance, Dasavater Dance etc. which were contributed by Shri Shankardeva. Dakhinpat Satra Dakhinpat Satra was founded by Banamalidev, an exponent of Raasleela, which is now observed as one of the State festivals of Assam. Garamurh Satra This Satra was founded by Lakshmikantdeva. During Autumn end traditional Raasleela is performed with great enthusiasm. Some ancient weapons are also preserved here. Auniati Satra Founded by Niranjan Pathakdeva, this satra is famous for ‘Paalnaam’ and Apsara dance and it also has considerable collection of old Assamese utensils, jewellery and handicrafts. Kamalabari Satra Kamalabari Satra founded by Bedulapadma Ata, is a center of art, culture, literature and classical studies. Its branch Uttar Kamalabari Satra has performed cultural programme of satria art in several states of India and abroad. Bengenaati Satra It is a store house of culturally important antiques and an advanced center of performing arts. Muraridev, the grand son of Shankaradeva’s step mother, had founded the SSwargadeoatra. The royal robes belong to the Ahom king Swargadeo Gadadhar Singha, made of Gold and an umbrella which is also made of gold, are preserved here. (i) The entire plain tribes also possess a colourful and resourceful cultural entity. (ii) Various species of rare migratory birds like Pelican are found Majuli. (iii) Festival like ALI-AI-LVIGANG of the Mising tribe is also celebrated here during the first Wednesday of the month GINMUR POLO. (February – March) (iv) The pottery making centre is situated at Upper Majuli. (v) Many suitable places are there for viewing the full sunset during winter. (vi) The PAL NAAM at Auniati Satra is a huge mela, helds at the end of Autumn. (viii) Another Festival performed by the Sonowal Kacharis tribe is “Bathow Puja” where Lord Shiva is workshiped with high veneration. Majuli Festival There will be a lot of scopes to fit yourself as a part of this festival . Special events are being organized during the festivals days round the clock. Cultural programmes will continue with the participation of various traditional and classical cultural troupes of Assam and troupes from rest of the country, in addition to rich cultural heritage of Majuli. Exhibition will also be there with the demostration of various Assamese products specially designed and prepared by experts artistes highlighting traditional glory of Majuli too. Assamese and tribal dishes of Majuli will also be made available, and food festival will also be organized during this time. The festival will include a number of attractive allied activities covering various aspects. Leading exponents from wide spectrum of activities are being approached to make the occasion a remarkable one. Seminars are also being organized on different topics. Therefore the festival will definitely make you reach a desired destination for adventure and spiritual tourism. The assemblage and assimilation of all ethnic groups under the same sky, retaining their respective individual and traditional cultural entities is a very striking phenomenon that easily attracts the visitors to this island. With the glories history of five hundred years of Satriya living cultural tradition, the rich and colourful tribal cultural elements and the natural beauty with a unique assemblage of flora and fauna; Majuli has the charm to beckon the tourists unraveling itself as paradise on the earth. Extinct species of various migratory birds are found in Majuli which creates an environment of bird sanctuary. Location of the Festival On the bank of river Luit which is located in a backdrop of immense scenic beauty. This is only 1.5 km of distance from the Garamur, i.e. sub divisional head quarter of Majuli. Climate during Festival During the festival time coolest period will run, when average temperature is 100 to 150c . in this season different cultural activities encourage Majulian to engage themselves in creative activities. So that the ideal time for festival of this nature. in other hand, Majuli has its environment still protected from pollution in all climatic conditions. Date of Festival The climate conditions as well as road communication facilities in Majuli, winter is presumed to be the suitable time for holding the festival. Therefore it is proposed to hold Majuli festival, 2002 in the month of November 21 st to 24th. About StartURTrip StartURTrip is the website designed so that one could get each and every information about the tourist attractions in India and tourist spots in India so that you can easily select your destination and book for the required tour package. Copyright 2019 Developed by TeslaThemes, Supported by Imagely LLC	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1334980
__label__cc	0.604138	0.395862	Register? • Username: Password: \| Log me on automatically each visit Are you new to 'Souls? Welcome! We recommend starting here. Plot · Rules · Joining · Game Statistics Procedures · Area · RP Guide · Search Pack Twitters (News) Active Pack Summary Pack Relationships Active Characters Forum Accounts 'Souls Wiki IC History Help and Questions Game Staff Recent News Older 1 January: Welcome to 2020!! Look over our January newspost, check out the finished 2019 Yearbook, sign up for SoSuWriMo, and be sure to read about our upcoming board-wide blizzard, as it will affect all in-game areas! Our Spotlights this month are Remy Dubois (SS) and veldt (SoL). Congratulations! 1 December: It's time for your December newspost, full of contest winners and other things! Congrats to Athras Eryn (SS), veldt (SoL), and all our wonderful staff (CS) this month as well! @SoulsRPG Older 'Souls RPG » Archived Memories » Dead Topics Forum locked [J] I've been hoping ethereal eclipse side of the borders It was probably time to settle down; though Ceridwen thought the term was a bit extreme, the approach of winter made her anxious. She was young, and without strong connections in the area. A winter alone could be detrimental to her health, and a possible death sentence for any unprepared loner. Brow furrowed, she glanced upwards, noting that she still had a significant portion of the day left to make her decision. She had managed to figure out that there were two packs in the area, though their members were elusive and difficult to track down. There seemed to be little conflict between them, or at least in the area, from what Ceridwen determined. It was otherwise, she supposed, a decision best left to fate. Wherever the wind may take her, like a seed carried off by a spring breeze, was where she would travel. Eventually, she found herself on a hunting path, a well worn route etched into the earth, trampled down by many paws over the span of many moons. It was comforting, in a way, to know that somewhere out there was order and law. Perhaps it was something she sought subconsciously, drawn to the things she lacked. As the scent of ownership became potent, the young hybrid could feel her feet grow heavy, shuffling along the dirt path. Without her family, she did not know where she belonged. With them, it was easy enough to tag along; there was no need to figure things out or establish rules and boundaries. Their connection was just as much a commitment and labor of love as it was familial obligation. Nearing the borders, Ceridwen stopped walking, but continued to fidget restlessly. She shifted her weight from heel to toes, tail quivering anxiously near her hocks. Already feeling self-conscious, she ran a hand through her hair, tousling the ivory strands to ensure that they fell with careless ease over the left side of her face. It mattered little how she looked, but the vagabond knew she would have to select her words with the utmost care. There was really no one to vouch for her, and at her age, she had not yet lived long enough to accomplish anything exceptional, nor did she consider herself a prodigy of any sort. Sighing deeply in frustration, she muttered unintelligibly to herself, obviously trying to play out the upcoming scenario before it commenced. A haggard looking traveler, she looked in rough shape standing awkwardly half a kilometer from the pack borders. The only sense of fear she might have aroused was the fear that she was crazy, arguing with herself in broad daylight. This was not how she had intended to portray herself, much less introduce herself, but she had not yet managed to summon the courage to take the plunge. Ceridwen Armistice I hate rewriting posts soooo much Kalypso began her patrols again, once her body had mostly healed and only the worst motions set her to aching. Why it took her so long to recover was a mystery, but she was sure it had something to do with nature trying to discourage her from pregnancy. No need to cause such misery, she thought. The entire process had been more deterrent than she needed to ensure she did not quickly get pregnant again. Though, heat cycles were not forthcoming, so she had to even wonder if her theory had any merit. Those walks gradually got longer and brisker as time went by and her strength returned in full. But she was not unaccompanied by any means. Chaska walked with her as the only person she was comfortable demanding company from consistently and frequently. He did not protest, though she knew that he was hardly a spry, young thing at his age. Not one word of denial ever passed his lips, for which she was thankful. He never seemed too bothered by the walks, either, especially since she had explicitly said they were for patrol purposes only. Considering their arrangement over her children, she was contented with the somewhat professional relationship they maintained. Kalypso was Queen and it had to remain a situation of ruler to subject and nothing more. She had insisted and she would not change her mind. The Reine was so lost in thought that she visibly twitched when a heavy hand descended upon her shoulder, forcing her to stop and turn slightly. She peered up at Chaska briefly, then to the direction in which his other hand gestured. She narrowed her eyes in a slight squint before she realized the ratty figure in the distance was a person standing near their borders, looking in. Brows furrowed and lips frowning, Kalypso strode toward the pitiful figure, not impressed by what she saw. They had not called for her and the scent was not familiar. A loner, a ruffian, a thief. Whatever the descriptor, the female seemed to be on the bad side of luck if appearances were reflective of her state of existence. You're awfully close to our borders. What is your purpose here? she called out, regally, feeling Chaska's looming presence behind her. Silent. As always. KALYPSO SAVOY If I knew you were a sellout. A thief. Use me up - I would have never let you near me. Player Wiki • Character Wiki † ♥ SANG DE LA MER ♥ † the power that you crave ◄taste, what a bittersweet► Never mind presenting herself; Ceridwen had not yet even considered how she would summon anyone. What sort of tone should she use? How should she go about it? She continued to fret, only vaguely aware that her hands had become balled into fists, and her ears pressed back into the soft waves of her hair. There was no turning back now. She was too close to the distinct line of the borders that leaving would only arouse suspicion. However, if she did not make her move soon, a patrol would likely come across her, taking away what little power she had over the situation. The red merle woman was still calculating scenarios and opportunities when movement in the distance caught her eye. Her whirring mind going silent, she watched as two figures approached, and realized despairingly that she had waited too long to make her move. When they were within earshot, she dropped to one knee, falling into a pose of submission. Simultaneously, she drew her makeshift sack from her shoulder, carefully rolling it out before her to display the contents. Carefully bundled plants were delicately arranged on the material for all to view. She might have had very little experience in joining packs, but she had done her best to ensure that she was considered non-threatening by appearance alone, short of returning to Lupus appearance. When the regal sovereign addressed her, Ceridwen had given her undivided attention. Now that it was her turn to speak, however, she averted her gaze, forcing it to drop to somewhere between the woman's knees and toes. "My name is Ceridwen Armistice, a traveler in search of a home. I offer to the pack the medicinal plants I have gathered as a sign of good faith. It is not much to give, but I hope my knowledge in botany and medicines will benefit the pack." It was a well versed introduction, clearly thought out in contrast to her initial impression. She did not know who the individuals before her were, nor could she even begin to imagine what would come next, but now that she had explained herself, her confidence no longer wavered. Kalypso failed to hide the shock in her eyes as the woman fell to her knee. No one had really displayed such a demonstration of fealty to her before. There was a smug pride in her chest as she peered down to the woman who refused to look up to meet her eyes. She could feel Chaska’s eyes on her, waiting to see for her reaction. Why did that gaze burn so much, though? There was a pile of herbs at the woman’s feet, most of which she did not recognize but she was not about to pretend to be skilled and knowledgeable about them. The Reine took a moment, a few beats, just to make the woman wait. It was her favorite game at that moment, a pleasure she should not have been so happy to take. Finally, the Queen tilted her head. We can find a place for someone with your skillset. We have a handful of herbalists already but extra knowledge is never unwelcome. She looked at Chaska but he was unreadable as ever, though he seemed to have softened his glance. Turning back to the woman, she gave a heavy sigh. Stand up, Miss Armistice. Kneeling is a bit excessive, she said dismissively. It was not that she did not appreciate the gesture, but knew that it was hardly appropriate for her to ask for such a thing. That and it smacked strongly of Mistral, something that the Reine desperately wanted to avoid. Was it tyrannical to ask for such a genuflection? She did not know but better to err on the side of caution and avoid it entirely. Welcome to Cour des Miracles! MAINTENANCE WIKI RANKS TWITTER CONTACT Welcome to the Court of Miracles, where the misfits come to play and the nobles rise above the rabble, united beneath the banner of their royal leadership. As a new member, there are a few things you should check out before getting started! Make sure to check out our website for detailed information on the ranks, professions, and pack game. While you're at it, go ahead and claim a residence. Need help getting started in on the plotting? Consider joining our pack chat to talk to current members for ideas! If you have questions or concerns, don't hesitate to contact us for help. Cour des Miracles OOC Account Gen & Rat Breath caught on her tongue, Ceridwen waited anxiously, eyes down but ears tilted forward. The response, to her surprise, was swift. There seemed to be no further former process; no interrogation or test. She considered this could be a different culture, but felt slightly unnerved all the same. To shake off the feeling, she gathered her goods once more and rose to full height. Before the woman and her looming companion, Ceridwen felt oddly small. She suspected that the stranger was of high rank, simply from the energy she exuded. She said nothing as she stood, watching the legs of the pair impassively. Most would have felt their sense of pride waver at this point, but Ceridwen was thankful to simply have overcome another obstacle. Her self preservation was her number one priority. "If that's the case, I am not interested in adding to an oversaturated group of herbalists." There was a tone to her voice that indicated she felt confident, and perhaps a little judgemental of her competition. "Consider me to be an alchemist of sorts. My knowledge is not limited to healing and medicines... Though I was certain that was what a pack would want to have in their ranks." The last part was muttered somewhat bitterly, and mostly to herself. Even after all her calculations, she continued to fall short. "These other herbalists, what do they provide for the pack?" This was the first time that she looked up shrewedly at the crowned queen. Young as she was, the red merle woman was talented, with a thirst for setting herself apart from others. Tipping her head delicately, she indicated that she would follow the pair, opening an avenue for them to make efficent use of their time. Her lips threatened to tighten as the woman countered. For a brief moment, Kalypso wondered if the stranger was going to rise and leave considering the quantity of herbalist in the pack already. It seemed foolish to think in such a way rather than acknowledging the fact that many herbalists meant they would never go without. And shining above others was always a point of pride for anyone who managed to grow in such a way. The woman did not, though, and the Reine felt relief in her bones. More bodies for the Court, more souls to bolster their strength. It was as she wanted. I never said it was not wanted, for your kind is most welcome. How could we say no to someone skilled in such a way? she countered carefully, wondering who on earth would choose to reject such a valuable creature. She was in need of good meals, but that was easily rectified by a pack more than capable of hunting for meals. Galilee would have been more than able to provide the stranger a few meals on her own. But that was the benefit of a pack. Warm home, plenty of meals, and a secure place to blossom. You would have to ask them specifically. They are skilled more in remedies, I think, but it's not something I know well. The girl finally looked up at her, and Kalypso raised a brow. Can you provide something different? Something more sinister? Useful in a different way? The Queen looked expectantly as she gestured for Chaska to lead so that she might walk beside the new Seigneur. "You misunderstand," Ceridwen responded curtly, though not with impatience. She was not gentle with others by nature, and struggled with the kindness that was required when dealing with strangers. "I simply seek to create diversity. If there are many healers, then my knowledge can be put to other uses." It would have worked in her favour had she explained this initially, but Ceridwen worked at her own pace. She shot Kalypso a quizzical look, wondering if there was, perhaps, underlying intentions to her question. Instead of answering directly, she opted to work around the question, momentarily looking down at her toes as she walked along. "I come from a long line of rulers and druids; our family knowledge has been passed down for generations, but we have also evolved over time. I have studied under my parents and grandmother to learn which plants cause illness, and which plants cure them. They have taught me how to find plants, as well as how to grow the ones that can be domesticated. I can deconstruct organic matter, and combine components to make something new. I have learned potions and spells, as well as how to craft out of stone, wood, and bone." Joining a pack was hardly a matter of what Ceridwen wanted. The fiery furred canine could and would do whatever she pleased, but to remain in the pack, she would have to appeal to higher powers, which she suspected belonged to the woman she walked alongside. "If you are not want for healers, what else do you need?" Surely this pack lacked something that their leader sought so ardently that she was willing to allow a stranger in without much interrogation. "Don't get me wrong, I am willing to help if needed. It is a useful skill, and one that is needed within every pack, but healing others is not my life calling. If there is an opportunity to specialize in another field, I would prefer that." This time, she was a bit more forward, hoping that Kalypso would provide more insight. After all, Ceridwen knew next to nothing of the culture or residents. Kalypso nodded along with the woman, taking no offense to the tone. In fact, the Reine appreciated it more than she ought to have. Curt, to-the-point people were exactly the sort that she often liked the best. They said what they had to and it was easy to know where one stood with them. Though, Kalypso did enjoy the game of politicking when she had to play it. It was just easier when it was not even an option to partake in. But the woman was interesting. It was not a casual interest, either. Kalypso felt something drawn out of her chest, something darker than had been felt in a while. The Court was wholly too innocent at times that any soul with a moral compass that skewed would have found almost stifling. The Reine smiled at the woman’s candor. Not your life calling? Well, perhaps we can find out exactly what that may be, then. She grinned, but it was somehow tainted by a more sinister sensation in her chest. You speak of plants that cause illness. Can you utilize this? Poisons, the like? I’m sure that would be a most useful thing to pursue. Though quietly. Her mind’s eye locked in on an figure of her memory. Someone who had been meant to serve the Court but served himself instead. She cleared her throat, forcing her mind to clear from such a shadowy place. But if there is something else you’d like to provide us, there is likely a place for it. Bone, wood crafting is useful and needed. Harrison was their mason and carpenter, but he was not known for pretty things. He was functional at best. Despite the casual conversation, Ceridwen could tell that it was leading to something more serious. She did her best to keep her breathing even as Kalypso began to inquire about her knowledge of plants - those that made Luperci ill, or worse. "If you would be so kind, perhaps we can talk about such matters in a more private setting" The young canine interjected, a faltering smile momentarily crossing her maw. Her gaze shifted briefly to the queen's male escort. She was certain that the words exchanged would be maintained in confidence, but it did nothing to resolve the issue of being out in the open. "Give me a day or two to learn the lay of the land, and the individuals. I'm sure we can come to an arrangement that benefits everyone." Her lips turned upwards to hint at a smirk; the prospect of clandestine operations was thrilling. "Rest assured that I will find myself more to do than concoct potions all day; I like to keep busy." While Ceridwen was honest, she left out the bit where she was most interested in serving her own needs and whims. It did not suite her to be at the beck and call of another, though admittedly she had never been put in such a position. "But first thing's first, perhaps I should partake in the grand tour, and find a place to call home." Her tone became falsely chipper, as she forced herself to try and be excited about these mundane, but completely necessary features. Once those were out of the way, the real fun could begin. Dead Topics · Page 1 of 2 · 1, 2 Jump to: Select a forum ------------------ Out of Character Roleplay Information Joining News Questions & Help Requests & Suggestions Roleplay Aids Pack News Pack Maintenance Thread Requests & Plotting Wiki Collaboration Absences & Player Updates Post & Graphic Logs OOC Garbage 'Souls-related Thread Games Talents Art Help and Discussion Studios and Shops Requests Templates Claimed Territories Salsola Casa di Cavalieri Mistfell Vale Del Cenere Gang New Caledonia Neutral Territories Western Forefront Northern Tides Sticks and Stones Eastern Realms Seabreeze Brink Special Forums LASKY Canon Non-Canon Test-Drive Archive Archived Memories Dead Topics Dead Joiners Dead Profiles Dead OOC Dead Contests Dead Pack News Dead IPB Dead Ezboard Advertisements Advertisements Delete all board cookies · All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ] 'Souls RPG © 2001–2020 The 'Souls Assemblage	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1334982
__label__wiki	0.659088	0.659088	frnt.pge With competition season approaching, DGS varsity cheer tumbles into the weight room Jack Blazevich, Freelance WriterDecember 4, 2019Leave a Comment More stories from Jack Blazevich DGS referendum construction is ‘more than on time’ DGS senior Kyle Vogt ready for his last ride with the 2019-2020 Mustangs DGS varsity cheer team practicing stunting for their upcoming competition season. Jack Blazevich Flying, running and tumbling all in a compact three minutes, the DGS cheer team has been preparing physically and mentally for its upcoming cheer competitions with the Midwest Fitness Club (MFC) and is aiming to win the West Suburban Gold Conference (WSGC) for the second year in a row. The varsity cheer team has been working with MFC for three seasons to help with training, make progress in the weight room and hopefully increase its chances of winning cheer competitions. MFC specializes in strength and conditioning for athletes of all ages, and its goal is to help boost performance by training specific muscles geared toward a particular sport. Head varsity cheer coach Shannon Lahey explains what they have been doing so far to prepare for this upcoming competition season and what obstacles they have had to overcome. “We have been doing a lot of mental preparation. Unfortunately, we have had a lot of individuals that have been out for various reasons and illnesses, so we have not had a full squad since homecoming. As a result, it has been very difficult to prepare skill-wise, … but we have been training in many other ways such as MFC and switching people with different spots, such as flyer to base or base to back spot. We have been doing a lot of that kind of preparation,” Lahey said. Lahey believes in hard work and determination, which motivated her to bring in MFC. She believes that they will help strengthen her cheerleaders by training specific muscles, which may result in better performance and an overall better score. “MFC has helped us tremendously. They have taught us not only how to workout but what [the cheerleaders] can do for the muscles that they need for the sport of cheerleading. They really have enlightened us in terms of weight training in general,” Lahey said. Junior Brynn Dvoracek and sophomore Hailey Lloyd are both returning cheerleaders and believe that MFC has helped them tremendously and will give them that extra edge over their opponents during competition season. “I believe it has helped us extremely. I have had other people tell me that we look stronger, and we have seen each other progress since day one,” Dvoracek said. “[MFC] has helped us build endurance and strength for our stunting. It has also helped us with our team chemistry because when you work out together, you create a bond with your teammates, and it really helps us understand what we are made of,” Lloyd said. The first cheer competition date for the Mustangs is Dec. 16, followed by the WSG conference cheer competition on Jan. 20. Sectionals will be the first weekend in February. Timeline: My wisdom teeth horror story Think Globally, Act Locally: DGS’s philanthropy project Robert Major works to pin down DGS wrestling record Top ten worst dates to go on during winter Living the nightmare: Sleep paralysis affects DGS students Girls varsity basketball fights to 53-51 win over Addison Trail Girls track and field gears up for 2020 season Girls lacrosse becomes an officially funded sport Charging on the court, into the minds of two varsity Mustangs DG Village Council discusses Civil Rights Day, zoning, Project Dandelion Why post-winter break is the worst time of year	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1334985
__label__wiki	0.548023	0.548023	Earth's Zero Hour The manuscript for this novel is under revision. Publishing date has been moved to Q4 2018. Another Long Day Admiral Joshua Striker left his fourth meeting this morning tired and hungry. As he walked the halls of Bastion Alpha, he returned the salutes of military personnel as they passed by and said hi to the civilian workers that made eye contact. He stopped at the entrance to the Promenade to decide on where to eat when a young Lieutenant approached him. She saluted and said, “Lieutenant Virginia Matson reporting for duty Admiral.” Striker was tall at 6’ 3” and looked down at the 5’ 7” lieutenant. He did not recognize the lieutenant or remember any scheduled arrival for today. He looked down and to the right to activate his glasses facial recognition scanner. Lieutenant Virginia Matson just arrived on the Bastion Alpha less than ten minutes ago. She was wearing the standard issue glasses, but they were not yet transmitting her identity and job classification. He then brought up the main menu and checked his calendar with a few blinks of his eye. He had no meeting scheduled today with a new lieutenant. Striker said, “Welcome to Bastion Alpha Lieutenant Matson. I didn’t have anything scheduled. Are you arriving early?” “Yes Admiral,” Matson said. “The nano-rails were scheduled for repairs but one finished early and I was able to catch an early transfer.” Striker scanned his calendar and found a meeting scheduled with Lieutenant Matson in two days. He deleted the meeting with two blinks. “You’re two days early. Is this your first position in space?” “Yes Admiral,” Matson said. “I’ve hardly slept at night. I’m so excited to be here.” Striker thought about pawning her off on someone else, but he couldn’t do it now. He remembered how excited he was on his first assignment in space. “I have a very busy day scheduled, but I was just going to lunch. Would you care to join me?” “Oh, I’d love too.” “Excellent!” Striker said. “I was just deciding on where to go but you make the choice easy. Follow me.” They walked across the crowded Promenade to a doorway with a neon sign over it that said, Café Anywhere. They walked past a line of people to the hostess podium. Striker said, “Table for two please.” The hostess replied, “Right away Admiral.” A waiter stepped up holding a tablet and said, “Hello. My name is Jason and I’ll be your waiter. Follow me please.” They walked through dark, narrow corridors with doors every 10 to 15 feet. The waiter stepped into one of the rooms and motioned them to sit at the small table for two in a dimly lit room. Then the waiter asked, “What theme would you like today?” “I’d like the Nile cruise ending at the Aswan Dam temple. Make it fifty minutes long please,” Striker said. Matson had no clue what the Admiral was talking about and didn’t like what appeared to be a romantic setting in a cheap restaurant. She was about to say something when the walls of the room came alive. The wall panels made the illusion of a bright sunny day in the desert. Their room became a small, covered patio on the side of a river boat floating down a river through bright yellow desert sands. There was a slight warm wind in the room. She saw water buffalo on the river bank and could even hear people speaking Arabic in the distance. “Oh my,” was all Matson could say at first. “This is so beautiful. I actually feel like we are floating down a river.” “The Nile river to be exact,” Striker said with a smile. He always loved to see a newbie’s reaction to Café Anywhere. The waiter said, “I’m glad you like it. Have you decided on something to eat or should I come back in a few minutes?” “I’ll have the Mediterranean Lamb Lunch,” Striker said as he sat down. When the waiter looked at Matson she said, “Oh, I have no menu.” “Sure, you do,” Striker said. “Check the menu on your glasses. Bring up the main menu and blink twice on Café Anywhere.” “Wow,” Matson said. “That is convenient. It was right there at the top.” “The glasses are context sensitive,” Striker said. “They know where you are and what you’re doing. They bring up the most likely menu item to the top of the list.” “I’ll have the sliders and a coke,” Matson said. “I’m sorry but we only serve water or coffee to military personnel on duty. We don’t have soft drinks.” “It’s expensive to transport liquids into orbit,” Striker said. “You can buy flavor packets or tea bags if you don’t like water.” “Water will be fine. Thank you.” “You’re really going to have beef sliders when you’re in the Egyptian desert?” “The menu is so big.” “Try the Greek salad. You’re from California. You should love it.” “Alright, then I’ll have the Greek Salad and water.” “If you need anything, let me know by tapping this button.” The waiter pointed to a button on the edge of the table nearest the door. “I’ll return with water and then your meal.” When he left the room, Striker said, “I’ve been reviewing your record. Graduated in the top five percent of your class at UC Santa Barbara on a military scholarship. Boot camp in the California desert.” Striker looked at the desert drifting by them and said, “Sorry if this brings back bad memories.” “Oh no, not at all.” “Good scores in combat training, marksmanship, gunnery, starship systems maintenance, intelligence, mathematics, and just about everything short of flight school. Tell me, why would a person with your skills sign up for a logistics officer role? That is why you’re here, correct?” The waiter returned with their water. After he left the room, Matson said, “I was working toward a billet on a fleet ship but there were hundreds of people in front of me. I really wanted to get into space quickly, so I started looking for the shortest path to a job in space. Logistics officers were in high demand with low applications.” Striker frowned and said, “Logistics is the life blood of our mission in space. Without moving hundreds of tons every day we cannot hope to defend Earth.” “I promise you, I will do an excellent job. I’m not here for the minimum shift and ready to bounce. I’ve been studying logistics and I’m excited to do this job.” “Tell me what you have studied.” “When I found out I was assigned to Bastion Alpha, I started studying everything I could about station logistics. For instance, you have 125 Mark 1 Starfire Fighters and 75 Mark 2s plus 100 Starfire Ship Killers all Mark 1.” “Why does that matter,” Striker asked. “The Mark 1s are a heavier design with more armor, heavier weapons, and physical ammo. The Mark 2s are lighter and faster. A Mark 1 consumes a ton of ammo for every 5 minutes of heavy fighting. The Mark 2s use energy weapons and plasma bolts so they use almost no ammo, but they use more fuel and need parts replaced after 10,000 shots fired. The logistics requirements are completely different for those two fighters and we need to plan replenishment based on battle plans.” Striker lost his frown halfway through Matson’s description, and said, “Very impressive.” “Thank you, sir. And thank you for the opportunity to be here. I really want to be here, and I’ll do whatever it takes to get the job done. You can count on me for anything.” “Be careful what you ask for Lieutenant. You may get it.” “Ok, that’s a little scary but the offer still stands.” “Noted. Remember, this conversation is being recorded.” “It is? How?” Matson said as she looked around. “Bastion sees and hears everything you see and hear. Every action you take on your glasses is recorded.” “What if I’m taking a shower?” “Take off the glasses first.” “Ha, right. And point them the other way I guess.” “Or leave them in another room. Just remember there are bio sensors in the ear pieces that not only uniquely identify you, they track your vital signs. If you take the glasses off for too long and don’t tell anyone, we’ll send a rescue party.” “Oh, so if I sleep with them off I need to tell someone?” “Their context sensitive. You’re an officer so you have a private room. If you take them off in your room, no one will care unless you don’t report to your next shift. If you’re in a space suit repairing something let’s say, and we lose your signal, someone will come much faster.” “Wow, that’s amazing.” “The fact we are here at all is amazing.” “I don’t understand why I didn’t receive training on these glasses before I shipped out.” “They are top secret along with half the tech on these battle stations. If you shipped out on schedule, someone would have met you at the airlock and taken you through training.” Then the waiter came and delivered their meals. When Matson tried the Greek Salad she said, “This salad is excellent!” “All the food here is top shelf.” “It looks like we’re coming to a dam with a huge lake behind it.” “That’s the Aswan Dam. Watch what happens here are we approach the dam.” The scenery around them faded slightly. When it returned they we in the lake sailing near the shore. A large temple was visible in the distance. “That was weird.” “That part always makes me laugh. I’ve been on the Nile and sailed to the Aswan Dam. They skip a lot of laborious work getting from one boat on the Nile to another in the Lake.” “Why were you in Egypt?” “We had some joint maneuvers with the Egyptians. Pre Zullies. “Zullies?” “It’s what we call the Zalthurians.” “Zullies. Got it.” “Anyway, I took some time off to see Cairo, the Valley of the Kings and Queens, the Nile. Archeology is a hobby of mine. Hobby might even be overstating it.” “That temple is beautiful. Do you know what it is?” “Yes, it’s Abu Simbel. It was much lower, near the river. When they built the dam, they moved the temple to this location stone by stone.” After enjoying their food for a few minutes, Matson asked, “So why are you here Admiral?” “The answer to that is a very long story. The short answer is I am a lot like you.” Curious, Matson said, “How so?” “I was in the Air Force when the coup happened is Washington. My superiors wanted me to commit treason and I said no. They threw me in jail. After the Zullies left, I met Jeff Smith and was inspired by his story. Like you, I always wanted to go into space. I also wanted to deliver some payback for what the Zullies did, so here I am.” “My dad was in the Marines in Okinawa. He met Jeff and Amber there. I was ten when the coup happened in Washington DC. I never knew about it until after the Zalthurians left. We were all duped.” “And here we are, 800 miles above the Earth, preparing for an alien attack.” “I’m ready to fight Admiral, and I swear I will not let you down.” “I believe you Lieutenant. I truly hope I never have to place you in harm’s way, but if it comes to that, I think I can count on you.” “Thank you Admiral.” “I need to get to my next meeting soon. You’ll need to report to the Warden of the Dock. They control all shipping and lead the logistics department. There are four Wardens that rotate shifts 24 by 7. They will define your role, assign you to a work shift, and assign quarters. They’ll also assign you a buddy to help you learn about life on this Bastion.” “Thank you for taking the time to meet with me Admiral.” “Thank you for your service to humanity.” “Don’t we need to pay the waiter?” Striker touched his glasses with one finger and said, “We already did.” A Hard Pill Admiral Striker surveyed the busy command deck of Bastion Alpha, Earth’s most powerful orbital fortification and the command center for Earth’s space defenses. All three of Earth’s Bastions were always a beehive of activity. Alpha was the largest with extra armor, communications, and command staff. Omega and Centauri Bastions were of equal size and outfitted with weapons systems similar to Alpha, but Alpha always received the latest upgrades first before replicating them to the other two. The three Bastions along with thousands of defense satellites form the last line of defense in space against the anticipated alien attack. The first line of defense is the Fast Cruiser Fleet commanded by Admiral Xiao Li. Admiral Li is small. Only 5’ 1” but she has piercing eyes and a commanding presence. The crews on her 22 ships would fly straight through the gates of hell if she asked them too. Next in line is the main battle fleet commanded by Admiral James Goodwin. Admiral Goodwin is very charismatic and a capable leader. The crews of his 43 ships know they are the pride of the entire planet. They fight to protect the human race from a horrible fate should they their mission fail. The crews of these fleets are the finest on Earth. They have the latest technologies and most advanced weapons systems. No expense is spared in outfitting these ships. They are constantly being upgraded with the lasted advancements as our scientists analyze the alien technologies left by the Zalthurian’s hasty departure from our moon. All these high-tech ships and infrastructure were created for Earth’s Zero Hour. The point in time Cain warned that the Zalthurians would attack Earth. Admiral Striker left the command deck and walked into his briefing room. As he entered, a lieutenant called out, “Attention.” Everyone stood. He said, “At ease. Please be seated. Fleet Admiral Mendez will join us shortly on the view screen. The room was large by spaceship standards with twelve seats, a large table, and view screen three feet from the table. Only the three Admirals were in the room with a junior lieutenant guarding the door. He activated the local signal reader on his glasses and saw a list of names. Randy Jones was the guard’s name. Admiral Li and Admiral Goodwin continued debating the merits of a recent fire control upgrade. Li said in a thick Chinese accent, “I would much rather fire twice with less accuracy than fire once.” Goodwin replied with an English accent, “I’d rather hit once than miss twice.” “My ships are smaller. We don’t have your energy reserves so we close range before firing. We almost never miss. I think we should change the standards between our fleets to optimize on the best systems for our battle style vs standardizing everything between us.” “That makes sense to me. I’ll support you on that,” Goodwin said as he nodded his head. Then the main view screen lit up with the words ‘Video Request: Fleet Admiral Xavier Mendez.’ Striker accepted the request and Xavier Mendez appeared on the view screen. Everyone stood at attention. “At ease,” Mendez said. “Please take a seat. Thank you for coming on short notice. This transmission is on a secure tight beam channel. Is the room secure?” “Lieutenant Jones,” Striker said. “Leave the room and ensure we are not disturbed. Security Protocol Delta.” “Yes sir,” The Lieutenant said with a crisp salute before leaving the room. “As you know, the tenth anniversary of Cain’s warning is only a few weeks away. What do you make of the increased number of Zalthurian Scout sightings?” Mendez asked. “We’ve analyzed the sightings for patterns,” Li said. “We have dropped sensors on every planet, moon, and big rock with no luck finding a base of operations. At every sighting, whenever we approach they leave and then drop off our radar.” “But the number of sighting have increased,” Mendez said. “They’re getting closer to our defenses. Do you think they are about to attack?” “We have no way of knowing for sure sir,” Striker said. “We are at the end of the time window Cain shared with us of 7 to 10 years until they attack. They must know that waiting only makes us stronger.” “I’ve discussed this with the Commonwealth’s Security Council,” Mendez said. “The member nations want the fleet deployed and all defenses placed on high alert. Do you agree with their assessment?” “I do not sir,” Goodwin said. “My ship’s crews can only stay on high alert for so long. If we start too soon we risk having our crews worn out and demoralized before the battle even begins.” “I agree sir,” Li said. “The crews need rest and rotation on a regular basis. If we go to a lower alert level, we can maintain crew moral and readiness for years if needed.” Mendez thought a moment, then said, “Very well. You are ordered to alert level Yellow Two. I want daily updates on the Scout sightings and your analysis so far.” All three Admirals said, “Yes sir!” “Thank you Admiral Li and Admiral Goodwin,” Mendez said. “I need a private word with Admiral Striker.” “Yes sir,” Admiral Li said as the admirals left the room. Once they were outside, Mendez said, “One more thing. Every analysis of our battle plans leads to the same result, we lose all our space forces to the Zullies after a long battle of attrition. Their technology advantages are too big for us to overwhelm.” “We will find a way to defeat them sir.” “I admire your spirit, but that won’t be enough. They won’t use biological or chemical weapons, and they won’t bombard us into the stone age. They don’t want our planet. They want our people. That means they have to come down to Earth to get us. The only chance we have to make every step of their assault cost them so much that they lose the will to invade.” “What are you saying Admiral?” “I am saying that we need to fight back hard at every stage of their invasion. I am ordering you to fight to last man at every engagement.” “Is there any flexibility in that order Admiral?” “No. Striker, we need to break their spirit. Break their resolve. The psychologists believe that if we put enough blood on their hands, they’ll back off. It is our only hope.” “Surely there must be another way?” “Are you listening to me man? It’s the only way.” “Are you telling me that if I find myself or my forces at a strategic disadvantage that I cannot retreat?” “Yes, that is what I am telling you Striker. Fight to the last man, the last ship. The last bullet, the last erg of energy.” “I am a soldier. I am ready to die for a just cause. I am ready to put people in harms way, but only if there is the slightest chance of success. I won’t waste people’s lives on senseless actions. You’ve got to give me the flexibility to conduct this war in a way that inflicts the maximum damage on the enemy!” Striker said in an increasingly loud voice. “That is exactly the outcome I want, but you cannot run. If we run from the Zullies they’ll follow to wherever we go and kill everyone there until they have 5 billion people to murder in their factories.” “I know what we are fighting to prevent, but I cannot follow that order.” “Don’t do anything hasty. I’ll send you some secure files. Review them, then decide. You’re the best person alive for this job Striker. I know what I’m asking is a hard pill to swallow. I’m not doing this on a whim. Please! For me, review the information I’m sending you and think about.” “I doubt it will change my mind sir, but I’ll take a look at it and get back to you tomorrow.” “Thank you. Be sure to set aside about two hours to read through the briefings and really think it through. Mendez out.” Infrastructure and Logistics Admiral Striker is in charge of all Earth’s defensive forces in near Earth orbit. By rank Goodwin and Li are peers, but while in Earth’s orbit, Admiral Striker is their commanding officer. Striker is also in charge of the Fleet’s Space Docks, Orbital Manufacturing Facilities, and Orbital Research Labs. While Admiral Striker is not responsible for the day to day operations of these other facilities, he is their Commander in Chief. It is his responsibility to defend them, keep them secure, and stock them with the basics like air, water, and food. His command staff is a huge logistical team that works 24 x 7 to keep all the space stations supplied. The Space Stations are connected to Earth by a dozen nano-rails, hundreds of freighters, and three Bean Stalks. Each technology is a marvel in and of itself. The nano-rails are made from carbon nanofiber ribbons, reverse engineered from Zalthurian iron nanites. Each ribbon is connected to the orbital ring hastily created around Earth to simplify moving material into space. Up to on ton of people in space suits or cargo rides in a lift that climbs up twin carbon nanofiber ribbons to a platform on the orbital ring. The lift is unloaded into a shuttle that transports people and cargo to their destination. The lift returns to Earth either with passengers, cargo, or empty. This transportation method is expensive to build but cheap to operate. With nano-rails, a VIP can travel to space, complete their mission and return to Earth in one day. The can take off near Denver and land in Russia, China, or India. Freighters, much like the Space Shuttle of old, were the back bone of all logistics until the orbital ring, nano-nails and Bean Stalks were built. All new freighters are simple space planes launched by 120-mile-long mass drivers on a magnetic track sealed in a vacuum tube and propelled at 4 Gs. Their engines ignite as they leave the plasma sealed tube. They climb until they link up with a solar powered rotating hooks whose momentum lifts the freighter into higher orbit. Upon arrival, freighters deliver their cargo, then glide back to Earth to be refit and sent up again. Now they primarily move high value cargo. Bean Stalks are the next generation system for moving bulk cargo from Earth’s surface into orbit. The design uses a platform made of Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, and Hydrogen organized into a matrix that is light and strong. Cargo sits on top. The platform is surrounded by an electromagnetic shell forming a cylinder that extends upward into the atmosphere. An electromagnetic bubble is formed under the platform that propels it upward a few 100 feet. Hot gases are pumped into the cylinder and ignited by two beams of energy. The wave length of the energy beams passes through the electromagnetic cylinder without disturbing it, but where the beams cross, there is destructive interference that ignites the gasses inside. These gasses heat up and push the cargo platform upward. The rate of ascent is governed by the volume and composition of the gases injected into the cylinder. When the platform reaches 100 miles high, the cylinder is turned off. The hot gasses blow away in the breeze and the platform is captured by a Space Plane that delivers the platform to a rotating hook. The platform and all the packing materials for the cargo are recycled by space manufacturing facilities into whatever the logistical office requires that day. Hundreds of tons of cargo are moved into space each day where 3,000 people staff Earth’s orbital infrastructure. An additional 500 people operate Earth’s Fleets and Space Dock. Another thousand civilians staff the privately funded space manufacturing and research centers. An additional 400 tons of cargo are ingested each day from mines on asteroids or the Moon. The Space Dock is separated into a civilian section and a larger Military section. Private enterprises have begun exploring the inner solar system. Today a group of scientists are heading to Mars to further look for signs of life. A group of academics are heading to Earth’s Orbital Research facility and some miners are returning from exploring asteroids for minerals. There is always something going on in Strikers scope of command. After meeting with Admiral Mendez, Striker had to meet with his senior staff to raise the alert status to Yellow Two. This alert level restricts the travel of all non-essential personnel, increases internal security, and requires each space platform to stock up to one week of essential supplies locally in case of an attack that disrupts regular deliveries. Striker’s logistics team will be working overtime to meet these demands in addition to the Fleet’s resupply. As he reviewed the status of various critical systems with a group of Lieutenants, the Warden of the Dock sent an urgent message to Striker marked ‘For your eyes only!’ The message only said, ‘Call immediately’. Intrigued, Striker excused himself from the current meeting and went to his briefing room. After typing in the code to connect to the Space Dock, his screen flashed ‘Calling: Warden of the Dock’. After a few seconds the Warden appeared with a concerned look on his face. “Admiral, several miners have returned from the asteroid belt. They had three ships running on autopilot. They were all pretty shot up. There is only one survivor. He says they were attacked by Zullies.” “Can you get a plot on where they came from and when they were attacked?” “Yes sir. I have someone working on it right now. They were exploring asteroids near Ceres.” “Ten minutes.” Striker punched in the code for Admiral Li. She appeared on the view screen next to the Warden. “Admiral Li, we have mining ships returning from near Ceres. The sole survivor claims they were attacked by Zullies. Can you prepare your fleet and depart immediately?” “Yes,” Li said with enthusiasm. Then she noticed the look on Strikers face and said, “I am sorry about your miners, but this could be the break we’ve been waiting for.” She then left the camera’s field of view as she gave orders. When she returned, she said, “We can be underway in five minutes. When can you give me more information?” “In about 10 minutes.” “Call me when you have something. Li out.” The screen flickered, and the Warden’s image now filled the screen. The Admiral started tapping the desk in front of him. They waited in awkward silence a few minutes until a young Lieutenant entered the field of view. “Admiral Striker!” The Lieutenant said. “Sir, we have the coordinates of the rocks they explored and where the attack happened.” “Send all the information to my command channel now,” Striker said. As he spoke he typed a text to his staff with instructions to forward this information to admiral Li immediately. “Good work Lieutenant,” Striker said. “How is the last miner doing?” “He just passed away on the operating table sir. As soon as they opened his suit …” “I understand. Striker out.” What Striker understood was that modern space suits were excellent at preserving human life, but once the suit was opened, the marvelous technology that held a person together could then spill a person’s guts all over the operating table. Sometimes the suit was all that kept the person alive. Striker still had nightmares about a man he tried to save after an accident on a Cruiser he commanded. After setting aside that bad memory, he communicated the new information to Admiral Goodwin and called him on the video phone. As the picture appeared on the view screen he said, “Admiral Goodwin. I am raising our alert status to Yellow One.” “Why?” Goodwin asked. “Twenty percent of my ships are in space dock right now. Does this have to do with Admiral Li leaving in a hurry.” Alert level Yellow One required ninety percent of available ships be ready for action. With twenty percent of his ships still in space dock being resupplied, Goodwin could not meet the new requirements. “Yes, it does. Three mining vessels just returned to space dock with heavy damage. The crew were dead except for one miner. He said they were attacked by Zullies. Comply with Yellow One as soon as feasible.” “Do you think we found the alien base?” “Maybe, but I’m more worried it’s a trap.” “The Zalthurian’s seem pretty unimaginative when it comes to strategy and tactics.” “I hope your right. Striker out.” Buy in Q4 2019	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335006
__label__cc	0.680292	0.319708	CAMERON POTTER Cameron Hoard Potter January 29, 1961 - October 4, 2019 OKLAHOMA CITY Cameron Hoard Potter was born on January 29, 1961 in Oklahoma City. The daughter of Lois and John Hoard, she grew up in Ard-more, OK, alongside older brother, Garth. An intellectu-ally curious child, she loved reading science fiction and fantasy and arrowhead hunting with her family. She graduated from Ardmore High School in 1979 and the University of Oklahoma in 1983, where she earned a Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry and was a member of Kappa Delta Sorority. While at OU during a Kappa Delta study hall, she met Greg Potter, whom she soon fell in love with and later married on Oct. 1, 1983. After graduation, her multifaceted interests led her to become a chemist, Girl Scout leader, archery instructor, Latin teacher, black belt in Tae Kwon Do and award-winning quilter. Her passion for quilting inspired her to start her own business called Over the Top!, where she spent many hours producing hundreds of handmade pieces of art. Her other favorite activities included traveling all over the world, skiing, golf, tennis, camping, Contra and English Country Dancing, and most of all, spending time with her three loving children. Cameron is survived by her half-brother Chase, and her son, Keegan (33), and her daughters, Kelsey (30) and Kira (24), and her husband of 36 years, Greg Potter. The White Rose Bouquet The White Rose Bouquet - 36 Stems - VASE INCLUDED The White Rose Bouquet - VASE INCLUDED ftd-E8-4812E ftd-E8-4812P ftd-E8-4812D ftd-E8-4812S 36 Stems Lavish and Grand $145.00 24 Stems Bountiful Blooms $110.00 18 Stems Full and Lush $90.00 12 Stems Simple and Sweet $75.00 The beauty of white roses is unchallenged. Representing innocence, their versatility makes them a favorite gift to offer congratulations for graduation, engagements, bridal showers, new baby, or even a gift of sympathy. EXQUISITE bouquet is approximately 25"H x 22"W. Sku: ftd-E8-4812E Premium bouquet is approximately 22"H x 18"W. Sku: ftd-E8-4812P Deluxe bouquet is approximately 21"H x 17"W. Sku: ftd-E8-4812D Standard bouquet is approximately 19"H x 15". Sku: ftd-E8-4812S	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335016
__label__wiki	0.873125	0.873125	Pentagon: Trump Consulted With US Defense Secretary Over Turkish Military Action in Syria © CC BY-SA 2.0 / Rudi Riet / The Pentagon https://sputniknews.com/us/201910081076991408-pentagon-trump-consulted-with-us-defense-secretary-over-turkish-military-action-in-syria/ US President Donald Trump consulted with both US Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley "over the last several days" regarding the potential Turkish military action in Syria, Pentagon spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman revealed Tuesday. "Unfortunately, Turkey has chosen to act unilaterally," reads Hoffman's statement. "As a result we have moved the US forces in northern Syria out of the path of potential Turkish incursion to ensure their safety." "We have made no changes to our force presence in Syria at this time," it added. Hoffman's latest remarks come just a day after Syrian media reported that Turkish jets had struck military bases used by the Syrian Democratic Forces near the city of al-Malikiya in the Hasakah province. Late Monday, reports also surfaced that Turkish officials had conducted airstrikes at the Samalka checkpoint on the Syrian-Iraqi border, where two bridges were reportedly destroyed. However, hours after reports first surfaced, a senior US official revealed during a conference call with the media that US officials hadn't been able to confirm any signs that the Turkish military had in fact carried out any military actions within war-torn Syria. The American official also noted that the Pentagon has not initiated a troop withdrawal from Syria, and that some 50 US soldiers are only being transported across the northern parts of the country. "We're talking about a small number of troops that will move to other bases within Syria. That orderly withdrawal is taking place now," the official said during the call, before adding that the "Turks are seriously considering or intent on a military operation in the region." The Turkish Defense Ministry has indicated that all preparations for said military action have been completed, stating in a release that the establishment of a safe zone is of utmost importance in order to create "stability and peace of our region." US Forces Will Not Support Turkey’s Operation in Northern Syria, White House Says Pompeo, UK Counterpart Raab Discuss Turkey's Planned Operation in Syria - State Dept Trump Vows to Stand By Kurds, Appeases Turkey Ahead of Ankara's Offensive in Syria Turkey’s Parliament Extends By One Year Permission to Use Troops in Syria, Iraq Turkey Draws Up Special Forces On Syrian Border military action, Syria, Turkey, Mark Milley, Mark Esper, Pentagon	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335022
__label__cc	0.665777	0.334223	Solutions Support portal and knowledge base Questionnaire Designer Questionnaire Components Questionnaire hyperlinks Survey Solutions questionnaires may include hyperlinks to permit the interviewer to jump to a particular question or section in the questionnaire. A typical use of the hyperlinks is in the error messages to allow the interviewer to jump to an earlier question in the questionnaire, the answer to which may conflict with the current question being validated. For example, when we validate the age versus the date of birth. Hence the error message may be something like “Error! The entered age does not agree with the date of birth specified earlier for this person. Please check both answers!”. In this case we would want to let the interviewer jump to this date of birth question. We do it by marking the hyperlink in the error message using the markdown style: "Error! The entered age does not agree with the [date of birth](dob) specified earlier for this person. Please check both answers!” Here dob is the variable name for the date of birth question. The words ‘date of birth’ will appear as a hyperlink for the interviewer and by clicking it he/she will be transferred to the part of the interview where that question was asked. Note that the variable link text is enclosed in square brackets (i.e., ()), while the variable is enclosed in curved brakets (i.e., []) One can jump to the rosters, sections and subsections by mentioning their identifiers instead of the question variable name. Survey Solutions 20.01 What's new in version 20.01 © 2016-2020 The World Bank Group. All rights Reserved. Legal	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335023
__label__cc	0.649022	0.350978	NetDocuments for Web Undelete a Document Deleting and Purging Documents Rollback (Restore) a Document Workspace Overview Move/Copy a Document Delete a Document Updated: July 18, 2019 13:17 A user must have "A" (Administer) rights to delete a document. When a document is deleted, it remains in the cabinet, but is flagged as deleted. Generally, based on a Cabinet Administration setting, only Cabinet Administrators can permanently delete (purge) a document from the cabinet. To delete a document: From your Recent Docs list, Saved Search, search result, folder, or a ShareSpace, select the item(s) you want to delete. From the More Options menu, click Delete. Choose OK to confirm. NOTE: When a document is deleted, access to it is removed for ALL users except the person who deletes the document (that person had to have "A" Administrator rights to the document to delete it). This deletion is recorded in the History of the document. If the document is then subsequently undeleted, the rights are not restored and its previous location in any folders is not restored. NOTE: If you delete a document with several versions, all versions will be marked as Deleted. If you delete a single version of a document, that version will be listed as a separate deleted document, and its original access list will be retained. Searching for Deleted Items A user can perform a search of deleted items using the Advanced Search page to view them or to undelete them. Enter the search criteria and then check the "Deleted items only" field at the bottom of the Advanced Search page. The option to Undelete is under the More Options menu. NOTE: If you delete an item that was previously filed in a folder, the undelete option does not refile that item in the folder. Instead, it simply restores it to the Cabinet, wherein it can be searched. You will need to choose to file the item(s) in a folder again as it is undeleted. Also, when a document is undeleted, no access rights are changed. The original rights for that document will need to be reset manually by the person who deleted it and still has rights to the document. Undeleting Items From the Advanced Search page, and depending on the settings of your account, you can select any number of deleted items and click Undelete from the Options menu. A user has the option to restore the items to the Cabinet, unfiled, or choose to file the items in a specific folder. Learn more about Undeleting Documents. To permanently remove (purge) documents from the Cabinet: (This feature can be set so only Cabinet Administrators can permanently delete documents from the Cabinet). We recommend that this flag be set so only Cabinet Administrators can permanently delete documents. Use the Advanced Search to locate the deleted items by checking the Deleted Items box and adding any other selection criteria you choose. Select the items to be permanently removed. From the More Options menu, click Delete Once an item is permanently deleted (purged) from the Cabinet, it is not retrievable from anywhere. NOTE: If you have added a Home Page shortcut to an item that is later deleted, the shortcut will be removed also. The item will also be removed from all user's Recent Documents lists. Restoring or rolling back a document In some cases, a document version can be restored to a previous date by your Cabinet Administrator using the Rollback a Document feature. Always have your Administrator check the Deleted Items for the document before attempting to have it restored.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335024
__label__cc	0.691719	0.308281	Difference between revisions of "Contact us" Apt8 (Talk \| contribs) Saturday                       10:00am to 8:00 pm <br> Sunday                         1:00pm to 12:00 am <br> </b> <!--<b> Winter Break Hours of Operation</b> Note: The Hours below are for The University of Akron's MAIN CAMPUS. For Wayne Campus, Click Here For after-hour calls to 330-972-6888 press one to leave a message. Fall and Spring Semester Hours Monday - Thursday 8:00am to 12:00am Saturday 10:00am to 8:00 pm Sunday 1:00pm to 12:00 am The Zip Support Center will be closed or have modified hours the following days during the 2014-2015 school year: January 1, 2014 CLOSED March 24-30, 2014 Spring Break, hours 8am to 5pm May 26, 2014 Memorial Day - CLOSED July 4, 2014 Independence Day - CLOSED September 1, 2014 Labor Day - CLOSED November 27-28, 2014 Thanksgiving - CLOSED December 15-19, 2014 8am - 5pm December 20-22, 2014 - CLOSED December 25 -26, 2014 Christmas Holiday - CLOSED January 1, 2015, News Day - CLOSED Contact Us by Phone or Web Powered By: Crafty Syntax Submit A Support Request Online Submit A PeopleSoft Support Request Online Send a Support Request Email for Main and Wayne Campus to supportdesk@uakron.edu Retrieved from "https://support.uakron.edu/wiki/index.php?title=Contact_us&oldid=18286"	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335025
__label__cc	0.501009	0.498991	New Chocolate, Ingredients from Barry Callebaut Utilize Whole Cacao Fruit Image: Barry Callebaut ‘Cacaofruit Experience’ eliminates 70% of waste in cacao processing while addressing consumer demand for tasty, nutritious, whole foods; WholeFruit chocolate is a fresh, fruity chocolate made from 100% pure cacao fruit, is available for chefs and artisans. Barry Callebaut AG, a leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products, today unveiled Cacaofruit Experience — a range of new products that celebrates the fresh, fruity taste and natural richness of the whole cacao fruit (or as the company is calling it, “cacaofruit”); and marks the creation of a next-gen food and drink category. As part of Cacaofruit Experience, the company also launched WholeFruit chocolate — made from 100% pure cacao fruit — for the chef and artisan market. Whereas normally 70 percent of the cacao fruit is discarded as waste, with ‘Cacaofruit Experience,’ Barry Callebaut makes use of the entire fruit — its beans, its nutrient-dense peel, and its fresh and fruity pulp and juice — creating a range of ingredients that can be used in everything from juices, smoothies, frozen desserts, bakery and pastry products, and snacks, all the way to chocolate. “Our goal in R&D is to develop innovations that are on trend, satisfy unmet consumer needs and also taste great. WholeFruit chocolate scores on all three points,” says Pablo Perversi, Barry Callebaut’s Chief Innovation, Sustainability & Quality Officer. “It will respond to the need of millennials and centennials for ‘healthy indulgence’; just like our Ruby chocolate, launched in 2017, meets the need for ‘hedonistic indulgence.’ Moreover, by using more of the cacaofruit and wasting less, we are also having a positive impact on the planet and its people.” More and more consumers have expressed a desire to live happy, healthy lives, in symbiosis with the world around them. They want food and drinks that are tasty and nutritious for them, and also good for the planet and its people. Cacaofruit Experience is Barry Callebaut’s response to this need: Along with their fresh and fruity taste, the products are rich in nutrients such as fibers, protein and magnesium; while being better for the planet and its people because the entire cacao fruit is utilized. “Innovation is one of the pillars of our growth strategy. Our unparalleled knowledge has enabled us to break new ground, unleashing the full power of the cacaofruit, which the Mayans cherished as ‘food of the gods’,” said Barry Callebaut CEO Antoine de Saint-Affrique. “Today, we have again unveiled a world-first with ‘Cacaofruit Experience.’ We are looking forward to starting a new journey with our customers, and discovering the completely new range of applications that ‘Cacaofruit Experience’ and WholeFruit chocolate will make possible.” Cacaofruit Experience kicked off by Mondelēz International Image credit: CaPao SnackFutures, the innovation and venture hub of Mondelēz International — the world’s largest snack food company — is the first company to introduce Cacaofruit Experience in a consumer product under its new CaPao brand. CaPao is piloting two cacao fruit snack products – Smoothie Balls and cacao fruit Jerky Strips– with select retailers in Los Angeles, California. WholeFruit chocolate for chefs & artisans For the chef and artisan market is WholeFruit chocolate, a fresh, fruity chocolate made from 100 percent pure cacaofruit. Starting in May 2020, WholeFruit chocolate will be available in two variants: the punchy WholeFruit Bold and the smooth, luscious WholeFruit Velvety (which has added milk). Today’s launch event in San Francisco marked the start of a co-development journey with 30 top chocolatiers and pastry chefs, giving them the opportunity to discover the full palette of flavor and aroma, and to explore the limitless applications of WholeFruit chocolate. Published Sep 27, 2019 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST Sustainable Brands Staff	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335029
__label__wiki	0.666384	0.666384	«I Have Never Said That» How people are tried for espionage and high treason in the Krasnodar Territory, Russia Катя Алалыкина 06.12.2016 For 2013 — 2016, at least ten people were convicted for high treason and espionage in the Krasnodar Territory; this is almost a quarter of the total number of sentences of that kind over the whole Russia. We do not know, and possible are not able to learn, all names and circumstances of arrest. Court hearings are held in a basement-level room, then a convicted person is taken to an undisclosed location and nobody expresses any interest to him or her. The Team 29 journalists have tried to learn what has happened with these people. «She should be doing a time about a year to straighten her brains out» In March 2016, Oksana Sevastidi was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment in a penal colony for SMS messages sent in 2008. Her defending attorney missed all terms for appealing or cassation. Now, Ivan Pavlov and Evgeny Smirnov, legal attorneys of the Team 29, will defend her. Oksana was detained in January 2015. She spent a year and three months in the pre-trial detention center of the Krasnodar Territory, having been waiting for court proceedings. No media have covered her case. Oksana and her mother came to Sochi in 1994 from Abkhazia, not able to bear war ruin and pillaging. In Abkhazia and Georgia there were their friends Oksana often visited and a flat she was trying to sell. Sevastidi worked in Sochi as a saleswoman in a market. In 2005, being in Tbilisi, she get acquainted with Timur Buskadze from Sukhum. After that, they have never met again but exchanged SMS messages with each other. In April 2008, three months before military actions began, Buskadze asked Sevastidi in a SMS whether she had seen any military machinery in Sochi. Seeing a train with military equipment moving in the direction towards Abkhazia, Oksana sent him a SMS about that. According to the investigation, Buskadze was a reconnoiter. In the case file there is a certification on his belonging to Georgian intelligence services, issued by Abkhazian security bodies. Ivan Pavlov, Sevastidi’s attorney, says: «When there is a war between two countries, they shall accuse each other. In the opinion of the Abkhazians, all Georgians are intelligence service people, and vice versa. In my opinion, it is unwise to trust fully a certification from security bodies of an unrecognized state». On August 8 — 12, 2008, an armed conflict involving Russia and Georgia took place in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. According to the version of the Russia side, their military troops entered the region in order to protect civilians and peacemakers. After the five days of war, Russia recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states so that diplomatic relations between Russia and Georgia were broken off. FSB officers detained Oksana in January 2015 and never let her free after the very first questioning. As she says, they «have said nothing specific» at the beginning. «The head of the investigation told my Mom about me: she should be doing a time about a year to straighten her brains out and to lose some weight, too, and then she will go home». Oksana’s mother, Svetlana Panchenko, tells that FSB summoned her daughters’ friends for questioning and threatened then that they would «find themselves in the same place Sevastidi is». In March 2016, Sevastidi was sentenced to seven years of freedom deprivation and sent to a penal colony in the Ivanovo Region. Panchenko says: «I could not collect myself for a whole month. That investigator wrote there [in the indictment] as if that she had really worked for them. What could she know, working in a market?!» «I do not agree with so severe punishment. Even if I am guilty then not so much to give seven years in a penal colony. Murderers and drug dealers get such imprisonment terms. Also, they sent me to serve sentence so far from my home», Sevastidi says. Her 70-year-old mother is waiting for her at home. Oksana’s grandmother died when the court proceedings were taking place. «Yesterday, I felt so badly that was to call for ambulance», Sevastidi’s mother says. «I did not know what to think. I wrote to the Federal Penitentiary Service, asking to move her to the Krasnodar Territory. It is too far and too expensive for me to go to the Ivanovo Region. Today, they answered to me. They refuse.» Oksana Sevastidi has got seven years in a penal colony for two SMS messages «Charges of high treason for a SMS are absurd» Oksana Sevastidi was sentenced by Judge Vladimir Kobzev. In November 2014, he sentenced Ekaterina Kharebava, a citizen of Georgia, for six years of prison for espionage. Her case is similar to Sevastidi’s one: she, too, sent a SMS to a Georgian acquaintance in April 2008, and several years after, she was arrested and a defending attorney assigned by the state advised her to admit her guilt. «First, local FSB officers in Sochi visited her and asked whom she had contacted, phoned, or sent SMS. She gave it to them straight and signed everything since she did not see any hidden catch. And they appeared to be collecting materials in order to initiate criminal case», says Leonid Yerchenko, a legal attorney invited by Kharebava’s family instead of the one assigned by the state. Citing Kharebava herself, he explains: «Having learnt how she had given evidence, I asked her: you did confess that you knew [that you had committed an act of high treason].And she exclaimed: what? I have never said that. I have never had anything of that kind in my thoughts, I could not so that». Ekaterina herself told the same to the Team 29 journalists. When her attorney showed her printed SMS messages allegedly sent by her, she could not believe that she was whenever able to have written them: «I cannot write in that manner, and I would not count the number of machines,» her attorney cites her. Kharebava was sentenced for high treason in a form of espionage, i.e. for collection and transfer of secret information though there had been no information of that kind in her case. «In April [when Kharebava wrote her SMS] all military equipment was mowing openly, without any camouflage,» Yerchenko says. «Moreover. documents accompanying that train had no secrecy stamps. When we questioned the commander in court, he told that the operation, the military traffic, had been not secret. All documents withdrawn by the investigator have no secrecy stamp; those were common technical documents». Kharebava was sentenced to six years in a penal colony though according to the Criminal Code of Russia, minimal punishment term for espionage is 12 years. In 2016, she was released within the Russian-Georgian agreement on mutual release of citizens, and went to Tbilisi. Her release was rather unexpected: her elder daughter and defending attorney applied to Georgian authorities and made them to pay attention to Ekaterina’s fate. She says that two more Georgian citizens convicted for espionage were released at the same time. Some years before, Georgian authorities released four Russians imprisoned for espionage in Georgia. Zurab Abashidze (who then was Special Representative of the Georgian Prime Minister for settlement of relations with the Russian Federation) stated: «Showing our good will, we released four Russian citizens without any pre-conditions. After a little while, Russia answered in the same way, also showing good will». In the opinion of the Krasnodar Territorial Court, to inform on movement of troops that anybody could see means to perform high treason Ekaterina Kharebava could not tell the Team 29 names of the two persons released at the same time with her; she said that those were two women. They were convicted in similar circumstances. According to Kharebava, both of them sent to some friends or acquaintances to Georgia messages about what happened in Sochi. Ivan Pavlov, Sevastidi’s attorney, considers such accusations preposterous: «The very accusation of high treason for a SMS is absurd: how can a short message include any state secret of a nuclear superpower? Trains with military equipment were moving openly, visible not only for those women but for everyone in Sochi. Anyone of them neither was a state secret carrier nor took any efforts to get access to it. If that movement of troops was state secret that it should be protected better, not moving the machinery openly; if so, those who allowed that should be accused. Unfortunately, we live in a time and in a country considering the whole of its encirclement hostile. Against the background of militaristic discourse, the state will seek for high traitors, look for some «accomplices» of the women we speak of, question their relatives and friends». Kharebava told of Inga Tutisani, a cellmate of hers who was also sentenced for high treason by the Krasnodar Territorial Court in June 2014. Kharebava told that Inga had sent a SMS to a Georgian citizen among other correspondence and several years later, security officers had come for her. Tutisani was sent to serve her sentence to a penal colony for women in Vologda where she is probably now. Earlier, only her surname, Tutisani, was mentioned in judicial documents; neither gender nor name of the convicted person were known, neither were circumstances of the case. Kharebava also says that Marina Dzhandzhgava convicted to 12 years of imprisonment for high treason was placed to another cell. Also, in June 2014, Manana Kapanadze was sentenced within the same article. The penal colony for women in Vologda. Possibly, Inga Tutisani is there. There is almost no information on what circumstanced those women were convicted within and what happened with them later. No information can be found at courts’ websites due to restrictions related to personal data protection. The only information is that told by Kharebava and Sevastidi. The latter says: «In Sochi, there are many such people [as myself] convicted for data transfer», adding that she knows about «one Armenian woman and some Georgian women». According to Leonid Yerchenko, Kharebava’s attorney, she is not the only person tried for SMS: «FSB needed performance indices on work with spies. If so, they make it easily, requesting information from mobile operators. Katerina was not the only person imprisoned for the same: someone saw some ships, someone else saw something else. If one knows that there have been such correspondence, it is a matter of skills how to use it. They submit a request for information stored at severs for a long time, indentify people approximately (I think that is practically possible, I myself have dealt with this though not in those structures), and then they write and correct those very words they need». «Neither surname, nor signature, simply printed text» It is a mystery why security services waited for such a long time before bringing Sevastidi and Kharebava to liability. Leonid Yerchenko says that he was surprised: «It was 2014 and the case was initiated in 2013. Viewing the criminal case, I found come document with the billhead of the Krasnodar Territorial Court permitting to withdraw information from the mobile communication operator. The document was not certified anyway by anyone: there was no judge’s surname, no date, and no signature». When the defending attorney asked the investigator about lawfulness of such a permission the latter answered: «I don’t know, they gave me what they did». It is also unclear how investigators managed to read SMSs sent seven years before initiation of criminal cases. According to the Statement of the Russian Government actual for 2008, communication operators were obliged to store for three years only metadata of mobile calls and SMSs, i.e. mobile numbers and users’ names but not contents of conversations or messages. It is unknown what Georgian citizens were released in June 2016. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs answered to the RosOtvet service request that Moscow has not transferred to Tbilisi anyone convicted for espionage during the last eight years. Only two persons convicted within other charges were delivered to Georgia; no information on those two people can be provided due to the legislation on personal data. The website of the Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs informs on a meeting of its officials with Zurab Abashidze where «joint efforts resulted in an agreement on mutual release of a number of two countries’ citizens now imprisoned». Moscow and Tbilisi seem to be trying for years now to agree on delivery of Georgians convicted for espionage but both parties do not share information on negotiation results. The war in Abkhazia (1992 — 1994) made Sevastidi and Kharebava to escape to Russia Ekaterina Kharebava told the Team 29 that after release, she was transferred to Moscow by some secret transport. Then she flied to Tbilisi together with one more young woman, also released. The third woman released at the same time with them decided to stay in Russia. Now, Ekaterina lives in Tbilisi. She is still afraid of Russian security services and bewares from coming to Russia though there has been no official prohibition for her to enter the country. Oksana Sevastidi is in a penal colony in the Ivanovo Region. Her legal attorney (invited by her mother instead of the one assigned by the state) has missed terms for appeal and stated that was «the fault of FSB». The Team 29 legal attorneys who defend Sevastidi now plan to restore terms for appealing. Sevastidi has filed a complaint against her ex-attorney to the lawyers’ chamber. «Defense is in fact impossible» Only cases examined in Moscow or St.-Petersburg attract attention of media. A rare exception is the case of Petr Parpulov who worked in the Sochi airport and was sentenced for 12 years for state secret disclosure. Even in the indictment, the investigation did not concretize the accusations, but Parpulov’s attorney found that it had been some conversation between Parpulov and his relations during his visit to Georgia that had served as a reason. According to him, all information in question was already published online, e.g. at the website of the Krasnaya zvezda («Red Star»), a media resource of the Ministry for Defense. The case became known a year after Parpulov’s detachment when his attorney advised his daughter to contact media. Up to then, the family had been afraid to attract any attention since the security officers have hinted that that could damage the defendant. According to Oleg Yeliseev, Parpulov’s attorney, in the indictment «there is no list of information comprising the secret. As a result. defense is in fact impossible». Today, Parpulov is in a penal colony. Despite of his poor health, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation refused to reduce his imprisonment term. In May, Yeliseev filed an application to the European Court for Human Rights. Media response to Parpulov’s case is a rarity for the Krasnodar Territory: there is almost nothing known on most of local «spies» and «high traitors». In 2013, Judge Kobzev sentenced for espionage and high treason two persons whose surnames are Pataraya and Khurtsilava; besides the surnames, no other information of them is available for open access. In August 2015, the same judge sentenced for imprisonment a man from Sochi whose surname is Kesyan; no circumstances of his case are known. In 2014, one more case was returned to the public prosecution for additional investigation; even the defendant’s surname is unknown. The Olympic Games in Sochi became a reason for a new series of proceedings on espionage and high treason in the Krasnodar Territorial Court We know quite little about other cases on high treason and espionage examined by the Krasnodar Territorial Court. Since 2013, 10 sentences are issued. We identified surnames of all convicted persons and some first names: G. Pataraya, G. Khurtsilava, Levan Latariya, Marina Dzhandzhgavaand Inga Tutisani (two cellmates of Ekaterina Kharebava), Manana Kapanadze, Kesyan, and those we know more about — Kharebava, Parpulov and Sevastidi. Pataraya and Khurtsilava were defendants in one case initiated in 2013. They were sentenced by Judge Kobzev. He also examined the cases of Marina Dzhandzhava and of Kesyan. We do not know where all of them are now. Inga Tutisani is possibly serving her sentence in the penal colony in Vologda; Kharebava says that Tutisani was not there among women released together with herself, and asks to help her. Tutisani was sentenced by Judge Alexey Ivanov, the same one who sentenced Petr Parpulov. The media connect Kesyan’s arrest with the Olympic Games in Sochi but there are no official proof. More detachments in the same city before the Games also were reported but no proof has been found either in judicial statistical data or at courts’ websites. Usually, cases on high treason and espionage follow one scenario. A person is detained in the early morning and brought to an investigator where a defending attorney assigned by the state is waiting for the detainee. Questioned for the very first time, the detainee gives evidence, believing that everything will be clarified and considering the whole situation absurd. Then, charges are brought and pledges of secrecy is taken from the detainee’s relatives. Security services insist that the family should not contact press and media and the defending attorney assigned by the state advises to give confessionary evidence in order to reduce punishment. Ivan Pavlov says that in cases of high treason and state secret abuse, everything depends on the defendants’ families.»It was so both in the case of Svetlana Davydova and in that of Gennady Kravtsov. The families were advised to keep silence and not to contact anyone. And most of them will be silent. Security bodies promised to Sevastidi’s mother that everything would end well and her daughter would be free in about a year but the case appeared to result in a different way. Nobody is responsible for their promises. Thus, people must not keep silence. They should be kicking just as the fabular frog in the milk pail who managed to make butter from milk. People should contact legal attorneys since much depends on the defending attorney. «In Sevastidi’s case, the attorney behaved in a strange manner. We do not know his reasons but now they will be studied by the relevant unit of the lawyers’ chamber a complaint is filed to. We have filed a motion for restoration of appeal period since the terms have been missed due to reasonable excuse: Sevastidi trusted her attorney and it was his duty to file an appeal in due time. He neither did so nor explained the reasons. It is not Sevastidi’s fault that the term has been missed». Since 2010, 87 persons were sentenced in Russia within the Criminal Code Articles 275 (high treason) and 276 (espionage) so that many of them may be still serving their sentences. 13 of them were imprisoned in the first half of 2016. We cannot identify about a half of convicted persons. In Krasnodar, court hearings of cases on espionage and high treason take place behind heavy iron doors, in a basement-level room of the administrative building next to that of the territorial court. We do not know who can be tried there now. We probably will learn his or her name only when he or she leaves to a penal colony. Authors: Katya Arenina, Nikolay Ovchinnikov	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335032
__label__wiki	0.894702	0.894702	Today in OpenGov: Probing questions by Sunlight Foundation Dec 6, 2017 7:01 am In today's edition, we focus on the importance of community building for data innovation, President Trump's allies send mixed messages, foreign influence is big, nonpartisan business in Washington, and much more. Diverse ideas and perspectives from residents are the most powerful opportunities for data innovation. Above: participants at Civic Hack Night in Miami, Florida. Photo via The New Tropic. On U.S. Data Innovation Day, we celebrate the importance of community building. Sunlight's Open Cities team explained that what they're "most excited about in data innovation, however, isn’t a new feature or device. We’re most excited about an idea that’s been around for a long time: bringing open government data to the people. That doesn’t necessarily require new infrastructure or connecting more devices to the Internet. Truly open government requires the hard, ongoing work of building trust, communications, and transparency between government staff and the residents they serve." (The Sunlight Foundation) New portal aims to improve access to information in New Jersey. OPRAmachine, the first implementation of the Alaveteli platform, to operate purely at the state and local level, "allows citizens to request information from state and local governmental agencies in New Jersey, under the Open Public Records Act (OPRA)." (mySociety) Elsewhere in New Jersey, transit authority denies documents to safety probe by state legislature. "New Jersey Transit is suppressing internal documents subpoenaed by state legislators investigating how the once-model commuter system fell into a safety and financial crisis." (Bloomberg) Investigation finds state lawmakers regularly blurring the lines between public and personal. "State lawmakers around the country have introduced and supported policies that directly and indirectly help their own businesses, their employers and sometimes their personal finances, according to an analysis of disclosure forms and legislative votes by the Center for Public Integrity and The Associated Press." (Center for Public Integrity) Following successful tax push, a Trump-tied nonprofit advocacy group will run ads in support of his biggest GOP critics. "A nonprofit advocacy group loyal to Donald Trump is spending money to praise two of the president’s most prominent Republican adversaries: Jeff Flake and John McCain. America First Policies will air TV ads to thank the two Arizona senators, and Maine Sen. Susan Collins, for supporting the tax overhaul bill that cleared the Senate last week." (BuzzFeed) Critics of Mueller Russia probe use newly released documents to push their argument. One member of Robert Mueller's investigative team was dismissed over the summer after sending anti-Trump text messages. Another praised acting Attorney General Sally Yates for standing up to the President in newly released emails. Critics of Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election are using both revelations to forward their arguments that the probe is nothing more than a fishing trip compromised by Democrats. POLITICO and The Hill have the full story and analysis. Commercial real estate industry stands to gain big from tax reform. While many industries received special attention in the Senate and House tax reform bills, "perhaps the biggest winner is the industry where President Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, made their millions: commercial real estate," report Patricia Cohen and Jesse Drucker. (New York Times) Trump's nominee for Ambassador to Singapore frozen over Russia probe questions. "A Trump ambassador nomination appeared to be in jeopardy after lawmakers on both sides publicly questioned whether she told the truth to a Senate committee about former Trump aide Michael Flynn’s contacts with a Russian official." K.T. McFarland was nominated for the post after serving as a national security advisor during President Trump's transition and in the White House. (Wall Street Journal) Trump's "voter fraud" commission wants to build a national voter database. Security experts don't think that's a very good idea. "More than a half-dozen technology experts and former national security officials filed an amicus brief Tuesday urging a federal court to halt the collection of voter information for a planned government database." (Washington Post) Cash from foreign lobbyists flowed freely to candidates from both parties. Foreign influence is a big, open, bipartisan business in Washington. "Since Donald Trump won the presidency, concerns about whether Russia played a hidden role in the 2016 election have simmered, and lawmakers have warned about the prospect of stealth foreign influence over American politics. But data compiled by International Business Times and MapLight show that foreign influence is hardly confined to the shadows. It’s a big, open, bipartisan business, with foreign government lobbyists delivering millions of dollars of campaign cash to elected officials in Washington." (International Business Times) Chief Data Officers aren't just tech geeks. "Some chief data officers are working with management issues and people more than they're working with information technology, which gives them important ties to both worlds, according to experts." (Federal Computer Week) Lack of data sharing between military and civilian justice systems is a widespread problem. "The military justice system's failure to share critical information with civilian law enforcement agencies is far more rampant than initially believed, the Pentagon's independent watchdog has found — in some cases nearly a third of the time." (POLITICO) How big data technology is changing gerrymandering. "Politicians have been redrawing districts to benefit their own political parties—a tactic known as Gerrymandering—since the 1970s. But recently, technology has enabled politicians to choose their voters more strategically than ever before." Learn more in this video from The Atlantic. Tired of your boss/friend/intern/uncle forwarding you this email every morning? You can sign up here and have it delivered direct to your inbox! Please send questions, comments, tips, and concerns to todayinopengov@sunlightfoundation.com. We would love your feedback! Tags: today in opengov	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335039
__label__cc	0.688898	0.311102	Tag Archives: Neuropsychologia Super-recognizers, superrecognisers, superrecognition, super-recognisers, superrecognizers, super-recognition, whatever: a collection of studies, reading, viewing and tests Published and Unpublished Research About Super-recognizers Russell R, Duchaine B, Nakayama K Super-recognizers: people with extraordinary face recognition ability. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review. 2009 Apr;16(2):252-7. http://pbr.psychonomic-journals.org/content/16/2/252.full.pdf This is the study that launched the concept of the super-recognizer in 2009. One of the researchers who wrote this paper has the opposite neurological condition – prosopagnosia. Russell, Richard, Yue, Xiaomin, Nakayama, Ken and Tootell, Roger B. H. Neural differences between developmental prosopagnosics and super-recognizers. Journal of Vision. August 6, 2010 vol. 10 no. 7 article 582 doi: 10.1167/10.7.582 http://www.journalofvision.org/content/10/7/582.short Abstract only available. Prosopagnosics had smaller fusiform face areas than the super-recognizers. Davis, J.P., Lander, K., Evans, R. and Neville, M. (2012) Facial identification from CCTV: investigating predictors of exceptional performance amongst police officers. In: European Association of Psychology and Law 2012, 10-13 Apr 2012, Nicosia, Cyprus. (Unpublished) http://gala.gre.ac.uk/8462/ This paper was presented at a conference, with authors apparently including Dr Josh Davis and Detective Chief Inspector Mick Neville. A lengthy and interesting abstract is openly available but the full paper has restricted access. I have not read full paper. See also below. Davis, J.P., Lander, K. & Evans, R. (2013). Facial identification from CCTV: Investigating predictors of exceptional face recognition performance amongst police officers. Manuscript submitted for publication. This citation was taken from the list of reference in a 2013 article in The Psychologist. Richard Russell, Garga Chatterjee, Ken Nakayama Developmental prosopagnosia and super-recognition: No special role for surface reflectance processing. Neuropsychologia 50 (2012) 334– 340. http://public.gettysburg.edu/~rrussell/Russell_etal_2012.pdf Hoflinger, Laura Hirnforschung – Superhelden aus dem Museum. Der Spiegel. Volume 11 2012 p.129-131. Article in German, an English translation can be downloaded free in PDF form from Superrecognizers website: http://superrecognizers.squarespace.com/ This article in a popular German magazine reports on the 2011-2012 study of super-recognizers done by Dr Ashok Jansari and his team at UEL, recruiting study subjects from visitors the the Science museum in London. This study has not yet been published in a science journal, but according to a 2013 article by Jansari and other researchers it is being perpared for publication. Davis, J.P., Lander, K., and Jansari, A. I never forget a face. Psychologist. October 2013. 26(10), 726-729. http://www.thepsychologist.org.uk/archive/archive_home.cfm?volumeID=26&editionID=231&ArticleID=2347 Essential reading on the subject of super-recognizers. Covers the history of the concept of the super-recognizer, use of supers in UK police and summarizes studies of supers including the original 2009 study and studies by Davis and by Jansari which have yet to be published as journal papers. Lots of interesting info from unpublished and published studies, speculation about what causes super-recognition, the prevalence of super-recognition and whether the ability is generalised to higher ability in other types of visual identification, and discussion of the definition of super-recognition and potential for effective and deliberate use of supers in working roles. This article/paper is in an edition of this professional journal titled “The age of the superhuman” which has other material in it about superrecognition and memory superiority.) Bobak, Anna, Bate, Sarah and Parris, Ben Group differences in the scanning of faces: Insights from ‘super-recognizers’, developmental prosopagnosia and individuals with typical face memory. CogDev 2013: Joint Annual Conference of the BPS Cognitive and Developmental Sections, University of Reading, 4-6 Sept 2013. p.77-78. http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/FILES/pcls/COGDEV2013FINAL.pdf “The current work investigates the eye-movement patterns during face study and recognition in super-recognizers, individuals with developmental prosopagnosia and matched control participants.” The researchers reportedly found a clear relationship between superiority in face recognition ability (as expressed by membership of either of the three categories of subjects) and looking at the eyes relatively more of the time than looking at the mouth, during learning and also in recognition phases of the task. Russell, Richard ???? An article about super-recognizers by Caroline Williams published in 2012 in New Scientist magazine claimed that Russell and his research team have done an fMRI study of super-recognizers and the paper was due for publication in late 2012. Assistant Prof. Russell was quoted as saying that supers “seem to be using their brains somewhat differently”. Can’t wait to read this paper. “Sparrow 2010” ????? This study is mentioned in a discussion of super-recognizers at the web page of the face-recognition research team at the University of East London “The first research in the UK to address this phenomenon was undertaken as part of an MSc project at UEL producing very promising corroborative findings (Sparrow, 2010). ” http://www.uel.ac.uk/psychology/research/face-recognition/ I have not been able to find publication details of this study and I think it remains unpublished. A researcher by the name S. S. Sparrow has had other papers published in the area of autism and face perception. Dr Ashok Jansari was quoted in a 2013 article in The Psychologist in a piece about super-recognizer Moira Jones in the Digest section that “I set up an MSc project to look for super-recognisers in 2010 and have been exploring the phenomenon ever since.” Tests Which Can be Used to Identify Super-recognizers Duchaine, Brad & Nakayama, Ken The Cambridge Face Memory Test: Results for neurologically intact individuals and an investigation of its validity using inverted face stimuli and prosopagnosic participants. Neuropsychologia 44 (2006) 576–585. http://visionlab.harvard.edu/members/ken/Ken%20papers%20for%20web%20page/137neuropsychologiaDuchaine2006.pdf This is the study that validated the test of face memory that has become the “gold standard”, and which is used to identify super-recognizers Are you ready to find out if you may be a super recogniser? https://greenwichuniversity.eu.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_9ZVm6G3McDma37D A three-minute test from Dr Josh Davis, the University of Greenwich and Qualtrics. Are you a “super-recognizer”? Take a test. 60 Minutes. CBS News. March 18, 2012.http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7402555n&tag=segementExtraScroller;housing Television News and Current Affairs Reports About Super-recognizers and Face Recognition London police using crime-fighting “super recognizers” official. Reporter Mark Phillips. CBS News. Dailymotion. Publication date November 12th 2013. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x173o5e_london-police-using-crime-fighting-super-recognizers_news An American report on the use of super-recognizers in London policing. Detective Chief Inspector Mick Neville explains how inadequate computer facial recognition was found to be compared with results from police supers. PC Gary Collins and researcher Dr Josh Davis are also interviewed, and super-recognizer police doing identification work are shown. It is revealed that tests are being developed for recruiting super-recognizers into a police force in London. Comments on: Are you a “super-recognizer”? Take a test. http://www.cbsnews.com/8601-504803_162-57399111.html?assetTypeId=41&blogId=10391709&tag=postComments;commentWrapper Face Blindness. Reporter – Lesley Stahl, Producer – Shari Finkelstein, 60 Minutes, CBS News, Broadcast March 18th 2012. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57399118/face-blindness-when-everyone-is-a-stranger/?tag=contentMain;contentBody Super-recognisers (The One Show, BBC 1 Scotland): Dr Josh P Davis…. YouTube. Broadcast on BBC1 on 9th April 2013. Uploaded by Dr Josh P. Davis, copyright owned by BBC1 Scotland. http://youtu.be/PuPfQ8UZTGQ In this clip from The One Show Dr Michael Mosley interviews super-recognizer policeman Gary Collins and super-recognition researcher Dr Josh Davis. Police super-recognisers. reporter Sharon Thomas London Tonight. London Regional News. ITV. Tue Feb 28 2012 http://www.itnsource.com/en/jp/shotlist/ITN/2012/02/28/T28021245/?v=0&a=1 See it on YouTube: http://youtu.be/7QA4ih5u-vk PC Gary Collins from the Metropolitan Police and researcher Dr Josh Davis were interviewed. Super-Recognisers on Planetopia (German TV) featuring Dr Josh P Davis…. YouTube Published October 2012. http://youtu.be/F3NhZUTWPno Also published here: http://youtu.be/7KxqnaTZCOo An interesting video of a special report about super-recognizers on a German TV show in German. Dr Josh P. Davis http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3rErlc6ayyZb1ROLvPQPtA?feature=watch YouTube channel of this researcher. Radio Stories About Super-recognizers Hammond, Claudia Super recognizers. BBC Radio 4. first broadcast 25 Jan 2010 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00q3fbv Super-recognizer Researchers’ Web Pages and Websites Superrecognizers. http://superrecognizers.squarespace.com/ A website of Dr Ashok Jansari and his team at the University of East London Face-Recognition Research Team, UEL School of Psychology http://www.uel.ac.uk/psychology/research/face-recognition/ Dr Jansari is the team leader http://www.joshpdavis.org.uk/#!news/mainPage news page at website of Dr Josh P. Davis of the University of Greenwich Social Perception Lab, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College http://www.faceblind.org/social_perception/index.html Superrecognition authority and prosopagnosia researcher Assoc. Prof. Brad Duchaine is the PI at this lab. Richard Russell http://public.gettysburg.edu/~rrussell/index.html Website of face perception researcher Richard Russell Assistant Professor of Psychology Gettysburg College Psychology Department Academic Book Chapter About Super-recognizers Scheduled for publication in 2014: Valentine, T., & Davis, J.P. (Editors). Forensic Facial Identification. Wiley Blackwell. (Authors will be Dr Josh P Davis from University of Greenwich and Professor Tim Valentine from Goldsmiths, University of London) Popular non-fiction book apparently written by a British super-recognizer police officer: Officer “A” The Crime Factory: The Shocking True Story of a Front-Line CID Detective. Mainstream Publishing, 5 April 2012. This book was published under a nom de plume or pen name, but some sources give Andy Jennings as the author’s name. This is a quite sensationalist account of a now-retired UK police undercover detective’s career experiences while working in Australia for the WA Police Force (WAPOL). This book includes many descriptions of blunders and inadequacies of WAPOL. There has been debate among readers about how much of this book is fiction. A passage on page 12 suggests that the author is a super-recognizer and there is discussion on page 53 of what it is like to have a “photographic memory”. I have written about this book here. Reddit discussion about a super-recognizer and a prosopagnosic who are in a relationship MyNameIs BrookeToo I am a faceblind girl dating a super-recognizer. AUsA. Reddit. Discussion started March 25th 2012. http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/rcgh8/i_am_a_faceblind_girl_dating_a_superrecognizer/ A fascinating and long discussion in which a prosopagnosic lady using the name MyNameIs BrookeToo and her super-recognizer boyfriend using the name Shandog answer many questions. Science Journal, Magazine, Science News and Press Articles About Super-recognizers Rutherford, Pam Never forgetting a face. BBC News. January 25th 2010 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8474827.stm Grimston, Jack Eagle-Eye of the Yard can spot rioters by their ears. Sunday Times, The, 20.11.2011, p12,13-12,13, 1; Language: EN Section: News Edition: 01. EBSCOhost Accession number 7EH53940939 http://www.faceblind.org/social_perception/papers/Supers.pdf A substantial article but not easy to obtain in full text Hoflinger, Laura Hirnforschung – Superhelden aus dem Museum. Der Spiegel. Volume 11 2012 p.129-131. Article in German, an English translation can be downloaded free in PDF form from Superrecognizers website: http://superrecognizers.squarespace.com/ This article in a popular German magazine reports on the 2011-2012 study of super-recognizers done by Dr Ashok Jansari and his team at UEL, a study which to my knowledge has not yet been published in a science journal.) Williams, Caroline Face savers. New Scientist. 15 September 2012 no.2882 pages 36-39. online title: ‘Super-recognisers’ have amazing memory for faces. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21528821.500-superrecognisers-have-amazing-memory-for-faces.html Worth a read. Caroline Williams has also written an article about prosopagnosia for this magazine. I have found one letter by Maryse Palemans in response to the above article, published in October 2012 in the magazine, in which Maryse recounted how a super-recognizer father surprised a policeman met 20 years earlier by recognizing him, an amusing reversal of the usual theme of police super-recognizers identifying members of the public. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21628861.200-ello-ello-ello.html How to recognise the super-recognisers. British Psychological Society. August 30th 2012. http://www.bps.org.uk/news/how-recognise-super-recognisers (a short discussion of research by Davis, Lander and Evans.) Davis, J.P. Super-recognisers in the police: Exceptional at face recognition, highly meticulous or viewing the right CCTV footage at the wrong time – for the criminal? University of Kent Research Seminar Series. February 2013. http://media.wix.com/ugd/81aef3_e5f728b80964b0a3e805181574b2b248.pdf (an abstract of a seminar which apparently was not presented) Storr, Will Human image banks: meet the Met’s ‘Super recognisers’. Telegraph. March 26th 2013. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/9942759/Human-image-banks-meet-the-Mets-Super-recognisers.html (A substantial article about the work of police super-recognizer Idris Bada and other police supers. DCI Mick Neville interviewed. PC Martin Lotriet also identified as a police super. Dr Josh Davis interviewed, and his surname misspelt.) ‘Super recognisers’ turn gaze on Carnival. Metropolitan Police: Total Policing. August 21st 2013. http://content.met.police.uk/News/Super-recognisers-turn-gaze-on-Carnival/1400019306715/1257246745756 (A brief article in a police publication. Number of identified supers in the Metropolitan Police given as 180. Includes the interesting claim that super police officers can remember not only faces but also names, birth dates and other details of offenders, which highlights the fact that memory is based in the initial encoding of information, which may be limited or detailed.) Gaidos, Susan Familiar faces. Science News. Web edition August 23rd 2013, Print edition September 7th 2013. Volume 184 Number 5 p.16. http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/352687/description/Familiar_faces (Science News is the “Magazine of the Society for Science & the Public”. A substantial article. Julian Lim, Carrie Shanafelt and Ajay Jansari (brother of super-recognizer researcher Dr Ashok Jansari) identified as super-recognizers. Researchers interviewed include Bradley Duchaine, Ashok Jansari, Irving Biederman, Nancy Kanwisher, Josh P. Davis and Joe DeGutis. Interesting info about possible directions of future research.) Taylor, Matthew Police ‘super recognisers’ to keep watch over Notting Hill carnival. Guardian. August 24th 2013. http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/aug/23/police-super-recognisers-notting-hill-carnival (An article about plans for the huge upcoming Notting Hill Carnival in England, including the planned first ever significant use of (police) super-recognizers to monitor a live event. Chief Superintendent Mick Johnson from the Metropolitan Police interviewed. Police super Patrick O’Riordan interviewed.) Perry, Susan ‘Super recognizers’: People who never forget a face. MinnPost. August 29th 2013. http://www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2013/08/super-recognizers-people-who-never-forget-face (Science News article by Gaidos summarized. Use of supers by UK police discussed. Research by Dr Isabel Gauthier on use of face recognition brain areas for specialist visual ID of classes of objects is discussed.) Buckland, Danny Police officers’ superhuman ability to recognise faces is being used to fight crime. Express. September 1st 2013. http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/426014/Police-officers-superhuman-ability-to-recognise-faces-is-being-used-to-fight-crime (includes photo of Metropolitan Police super-recognizers Paul Hyland, Kieran Grant and Patrick O’Riordan. The use of supers by The Met during the Notting Hill Carnival described. Police supers and super-recognition researcher Dr Ashok Jansari interviewed and asserts the superiority of humans over technology in face recognition.) Cheng, Maria, Keaten, Jamey, Associated Press Don’t I know you? If London police’s super recognizers have met you before, the answer is yes. Canada.com September 27th 2013. http://www.canada.com/health/Dont+know+London+polices+super+recognizers+have+before+answer/8965531/story.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+canwest%2FF67+(canada.com+Body+and+Health) (“Associated Press Writer Jamey Keaten contributed to this report from Paris.” Police super-recognizer Paul Hyland discussed. Use of Met police supers at Notting Hill Carnival described. Detective Chief Inspector Mick Neville gives figures for achievements of police super-recognizers versus a facial recognition program showing vast inferiority of the technology. Opinions from legal experts about use of supers as expert witnesses is recounted, critical view from privacy advocate recounted, and use of supers in obtaining search warrants discussed. Major super-recognition researchers interviewed. Dr Josh Davis discusses plans for more research and a new test. Dr Brad Duchaine claims supers are superior to technology.) AP/Cheng, Maria London Police Use Super Recognizers to Fight Crime. Time. September 27th 2013. http://world.time.com/2013/09/27/london-police-use-super-recognizers-to-fight-crime/#ixzz2hkafR9rC (same as above) Cheng, Maria / AP Super Recognizers Used By London Police To Fight Crime. Huffington Post. September 27th 2013. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/27/super-recognizers_n_4002839.html Jaslow, Ryan London police using 200 super-recognizers: What makes them “super”?. CBS News. September 27th 2013. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57605067/london-police-using-200-super-recognizers-what-makes-them-super/ (Superrecognition researcher Prof. Richard Russell interviewed, estimates super-recognizers are 1 in 1,000.) Camber, Rebecca The man who NEVER forgets the face: How Scotland Yard’s elite squad of 200 ‘super recognisers’ can spot a suspect in a crowd. MailOnline. Daily Mail. September 27th 2013. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2435043/Scotland-Yards-elite-squad-200-super-recognisers-forget-face.html#ixzz2gFQzxiVF (similar to the AP article but shorter and with interesting photos.) AP London police use super recognizers to fight crime. Times of India. September 28th 2013. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/London-police-use-super-recognizers-to-fight-crime/articleshow/23191190.cms (Same article as one by Cheng, Keaten and AP) Cheng, Maria, Associated Press Super recognisers help Scotland Yard fight crime. National. September 27th 2013. http://www.thenational.ae/world/europe/super-recognisers-help-scotland-yard-fight-crime (similar to other articles) AP London police use super recognisers to fight crime. Gulf News. September 27th 2013. http://gulfnews.com/news/world/london-police-use-super-recognisers-to-fight-crime-1.1236204 Cheng, Maria, Associated Press Don’t I know you? London police squad of elite super recognizers a new concept. Windsor Star. September 28th 2013. http://www.windsorstar.com/know+London+police+squad+elite+super+recognizers+concept/8971850/story.html (appears to be an edited version of AP story) McFarland, Sam Digest: We meet people who have or research ‘super’ abilities. Psychologist. Volume 26 Part 10 October 2013. p.716-717. http://www.thepsychologist.org.uk/archive/archive_home.cfm?volumeID=26&editionID=231&ArticleID=2345 (Interesting brief piece of autobiographical writing by super-recognizer Moira Jones about her ability and how it has been useful in her past work in retail. Also comments by researcher Dr Ashok Jansari summarizing the span of his research on supers which includes recruiting Jones as a study subject. Also in the same issue a substantial article about super-recognizers. ) Davis, J.P., Lander, K., and Jansari, A. I never forget a face. Psychologist. October 2013. 26(10), 726-729. http://www.thepsychologist.org.uk/archive/archive_home.cfm?volumeID=26&editionID=231&ArticleID=2347 (Essential reading on the subject of super-recognizers. Covers the history of the concept of the super-recognizer, use of supers in UK police and summarizes studies of supers including the original 2009 study and studies by Davis and by Jansari which have yet to be published as journal papers. Lots of interesting info from unpublished and published studies, speculation about what causes super-recognition, the prevalence of super-recognition and whether the ability is generalised to higher ability in other types of visual identification, and discussion of the definition of super-recognition and potential for effective and deliberate use of supers in working roles. This article/paper is in an edition of this professional journal titled “The age of the superhuman” which has other material in it about superrecognition and memory superiority.) Bremer, Bruce Some London police are “super-recognizers”. Law Enforcement Today. October 5th 2013. http://lawenforcementtoday.com/2013/10/05/some-london-police-are-%E2%80%9Csuper-recognizers%E2%80%9D/ (A brief article from a US police publication confirming that the use of supers by the police force in London is currently unique in the world. Also see the detailed clarifying comment by Mick Neville.) Jarrett, Christian Day 2 of Digest super Week: meet a super-recogniser. BPS Research Digest. October 8th 2013. http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/day-2-of-digest-super-week-meet-super.html (appears to be the same as the piece in The Psychologist by Sam McFarland about Moira Jones) If you know of any substantial item that should be in this list but isn’t, please let me know in a comment. By greenearrings \| Posted in Uncategorized \| Also tagged 60 Minutes, 60 Minutes Overtime Staff, Ajay Jansari, Andy Jennings, Anna Bobak, Ashok Jansari, BBC, Ben Parris, Brad Duchaine, Bradley Duchaine, Caroline Williams, Carrie Shanafelt, CBS, CBS News, CCTV, Claudia Hammond, CogDev, Der Spiegel, European Association of Psychology and the Law, Face Recognition, Face Recognition Tests, fMRI Studies, Garga Chatterjee, Gary Collins, German-language resources, Idris Bada, Jack Grimston, Jennifer, Jennifer Jarett, Josh Davis, Journal of Vision, Julian Lim, Ken Nakayama, Kieran Grant, Laura Hoflinger, Lesley Stahl, London Tonight, Mark Phillips, Martin Lotriet, Metropolitan Police, Michael Mosley, Mick Neville, Moira Jones, New Scientist, Officer A, Pam Rutherford, Patrick O’Riordan, Paul Hyland, Police, Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, Reddit, Richard Russell, Roger B. H. Tootell, Sarah Bate, Shari Finkelstein, Sharon Thomas, Sunday Times (UK), Super-recognizers, Super-recognizers - studies, Super-recognizers - unpublished studies, The One Show, Tim Valentine, University of East London, University of Reading, Unpublished research, Xiaomin Yue \| Comments (1) New journal paper about super-recognizers and developmental prosopagnosics Developmental prosopagnosia and super-recognition: No special role for surface reflectance processing. Richard Russell, Garga Chatterjee, Ken Nakayama Neuropsychologia 50 (2012) 334– 340 http://public.gettysburg.edu/~rrussell/Russell_etal_2012.pdf By greenearrings \| Posted in Uncategorized \| Also tagged Developmental Prosopagnosia, Face Recognition, Garga Chatterjee, Ken Nakayama, Prosopagnosia, Richard Russell, Super-recognizers \| Comments (0) Memory enthusiasts discuss improving performance on the CFMT – a tip for prosopagnosia researchers? I’ve just happened across a very short but interesting discussion thread at an online forum for people who are interested in memory techniques. I guess this might include people who take part in formal memory competitions and who employ memory techniques such as the Method of Loci. Two members have discussed the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT). They both claim to have attained very good scores (like myself) and both employed non-cheating memory strategies to at least some degree in their attempts at the test. I find this interesting for a couple of reasons. The strategy that they both apparently independently hit upon, the idea of giving imaginary names to the faces that had to be memorized could possibly be seen as a technique of adding personification or personality traits to their memories of the faces of complete stranges with neutral expressions. One of the memory enthusiasts gave the faces silly made-up names, which I would assume would be references to imagined personality characteristics, ideas that are possibly based on impressionistic, almost instant emotional interpretations of the appearance of the faces. If this is the technique used by these memory enthusiasts that would be interesting, because that is pretty much what I naturally did when I first did that test, but without giving names ot the faces, and I got a perfect score on the test. I believe this has something to do with the ordinal-linguistic personification synaesthesia (OLP) that I have experienced for as long as I can remember. My guess is that these memory enthusiasts employed this type of strategy because it has some elements in common with the ancient and proven method of loci memory technique. In this technique memory performance in memorizing a large set of meaningless data is enhanced by converting the information to be memorized into a more emotionally striking or interesting visual format and these elements to be memorized are then mentally placed into a previously memorized visual-spatial context. A part of this strategy involves converting the emotionally neutral and monotonous information to be rememberd into a more memorable format. I would argue that personifiying a large set of bland faces of strangers by ascribing imaginary names or personality traits to each of them is doing pretty much the same thing. I have argued in a previous post in this blog that the technique successfully and consciously employed by a prosopagnosic that enhanced his performance in the CFMT in a formal study is similar to my spontaneously-employed personification of the faces when I did the same test. This reportedly face-blind study subject, who was given the anonymous name of M57, figured out his own method of adding an emotional dimension to the faces to be memorized, after having done a number of face recognition tests previously. Is this an example of a super-recognizer with OLP, a prosopagnosic and two memory buffs independently employing similar techiques to enhance performance on the same test? That would be interesting. Mnemotechnics.org Cambridge Face Memory Test http://mnemotechnics.org/x/forums/cambridge-face-memory-test-740.html Reflections on The Strange Phenomenon, how I gunned the CFMT, letter personification in advertising and clue to a possible cure for some cases of prosopagnosia after reading an old journal paper. https://superrecognizer.wordpress.com/2011/08/04/reflections-on-the-strange-phenomenon-gunning-the-cfmt-letter-personification-in-advertising-and-clue-to-a-possible-cure-for-some-cases-of-prosopagnosia-after-reading-an-old-journal-paper/ Duchaine, Brad & Nakayama, Ken The Cambridge Face Memory Test: Results for neurologically intact individuals and an investigation of its validity using inverted face stimuli and prosopagnosic participants. Neuropsychologia 44 (2006) 576–585. http://visionlab.harvard.edu/members/ken/Ken%20papers%20for%20web%20page/137neuropsychologiaDuchaine2006.pdf By greenearrings \| Posted in Uncategorized \| Also tagged Brad Duchaine, Bradley Duchaine, Cambridge Face Memory Test, CFMT, Face Memory, Face Recognition, Face Recognition Tests, Josh Cohen, Ken Nakayama, M57 (study subject), Memory, Memory Palace, Method of Loci, Mnemotechnics.org, Names (personal), OLP, Ordinal linguistic personification synaesthesia, Personification, Tests \| Comments (0) Reflections on The Strange Phenomenon, how I gunned the CFMT, letter personification in advertising and clue to a possible cure for some cases of prosopagnosia after reading an old journal paper August 4, 2011 – 1:15 pm (this article added to on August 10th 2011) I thought that I’d read pretty much everything that there was available to read about face recognition testing, but I had overlooked the 2006 journal paper by Duchaine and Nakayama published in the journal Neuropsychologia which validated the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT). This short paper has been well worth a look. I’ve found quite a few things in this paper that have provoked much thought and added to my understanding of The Strange Phenomenon, including some most fascinating information about one of the study subjects, a male who was supposedly a prosopagnosic but who employed an interesting trick that enabled him to get a score in the normal range in the CFMT. The Strange Phenomenon is a type of synesthesia that involves face recognition which I have experienced in the past. I have fully described this phenomenon in the first posting in this blog “A Most Peculiar Experience”. In the introduction to the paper there is a reminder of why the CFMT is such a good test of an ability as it is used in everyday life, and a reminder of the processes that give rise to face recognition. “Because the test will measure face memory, performance on the test will depend on both perceptual mechanisms and memory.” “However, face memory, not face perception, is the ability that determines our success in identity recognition in everyday life, and so it is especially important to measure it.” So, memory is an essential element of this ability. Given that there is a general belief that synaesthesia is somehow linked with superior memory, we perhaps should not be surprised to find a connection between synaesthesia and superior face memory ability, as is measured in with CFMT. The fact that memory is an element of face recognition perhaps explains the clunky, abrupt nature of The Strange Phenomenon. Like other types of synaesthesia, there is a definite moment when it “kicks in”, and you can never be sure exactly when it will “kick in” till it does, even though one knows what conditions trigger it. Memory works like this too. Memories can be retrieved in an unpredictable, triggered, abrupt and uncontrollable or hard-to-control process. Similarities between some types of synaesthesia, memory and The Strange Phenomenon are obvious. I believe that these are all “threshold phenomena”. On page 582 I’ve discovered a detail which was discovered in the study that is written up in this paper which possibly helps to explain one of the requisite characteristics of the trigger of The Strange Phenomenon. The Strange Phenomenon violates what is possibly a universal feature of face recognition that is found in prosopagnosics, normal controls viewing upright faces and also normal controls viewing inverted faces. This feature is a slightly better performance at identifying faces from front views compared to side views. In contrast, The Strange Phenomenon generally requires a side view (from around a 45 degree angle) as the trigger for the automatic recognition of the apparent facial similarity between John* and Jean. I take this as evidence pointing towards probable reasons why The Strange Phenomenon requires a side view – that it is the only view in which the two adults of different genders, John and Jean, look similar, and/or that a side view is the only view that gives an integrated visual understanding of John’s, (and maybe Jean’s), distinctive flat face. It appears a general superiority of a 45 degree view of faces for the purpose of recognition is not the reason why The Strange Phenomenon requires a view from this angle. I find this surprising, but I can still think of a possible reason why a full-face view is best for face recognition – because it is the view that gives the greatest “feel” of social interaction, and a “feeling” of social interaction enhances or gives rise to face recognition. Which brings me to the most interesting find in this paper….. Reading through the paper one gets the impression that the CFMT is a better test of real-life face recognition ability than the older tests that it is compared to. In general the CFMT appears to prevent prosopagnosics from getting a score that falsely indicates normal ability by using strategies that don’t involve actual face recognition, but out of the eight prosopagnosics in the study there is still the problem that two prosopagnosics, (given the anonymous names of F41 and M57 in this study, the letter denoting gender and the number denoting age at time of testing) scored within two standard deviations of the mean, which is judged to be within the normal range. F41’s score was pretty low, but prosopagnosic M57’s score really required an explanation because it was only just below the mean score for the normal control subjects. How did M57 do it? M57 was asked. His cool trick was a deliberate strategy, but not really a cheat. He explained that he “…intentionally attempted to “lust” after the faces rather than simply memorize them.” This is rather amusing considering that M57 is a male and all of the faces in the CFMT are of men’s faces. This strategy wasn’t just some wild idea that M57 dreamed up – he was a veteran of face recognition testing, and M57 was testing a theory that he had formulated about his own performance in such tests. His theory is apparently supported by evidence that attractive faces are better remembered than unattractive faces. M57’s deliberate attempts to add emotional content to the plain colourless pictures of faces during the encoding/memorizing of these images appears to have been very effective. I guess in employing this strategy he was recruiting parts of the brain to the task that wouldn’t have otherwise been drawn into the job of memorizing faces. Was M57 using a simple type of emotional arousal to boost the connectivity of his brain during this testing? Did this temporary enhancement of brain connectivity bridge his impoverished connections between brain regions that normally make face recognition difficult for him by isolating the various parts of the brain that need to work together during successful face recognition? This theory sounds like the opposite of synaesthesia, and there is evidence that many agnosias, including some but not all cases of prosopagnosia, are caused by under-connected brains. It is a well-accepted observation that there is an association between emotion and synaesthesia. Music is an experience that appears to be a particularly powerful trigger for both emotions and synaesthesia. According to what I’ve read there appears to be evidence that there are generally two different types of problem that give rise to prosopagnosia – some prosopagnosics simply have damage to a specific part of the brain that “does” face recognition (the fusiform face area I guess), while for possibly most prosopagnosics the problem lies in poor connections between different parts of the brain, resulting in faces being recognized unconsciously, with clues that can be detected by researchers, but the person is not conscious of the recognition because their under-connected brain fails to relay this information to the parts of the brain that “do” conscious thought. When I read about M57’s effective strategy I was fascinated because it seems to have a lot in common with my own naturally-employed strategy for success in the CFMT, in which I have gotten perfect scores more than once. When I did the CFMT test I would very quickly imagine a character or personality based on the appearance of the face when I encoded the face, dreaming up a different character for each face. I would wildly interpret individual features of the face, and the overall mood and character of the face. Plumpness in the cheeks interpreted as evidence of an impulsive character. Large eyes with an anxious-looking mouth was taken as evidence of a sensitive and intellectual personality. I knew this was fanciful, but it worked very effectively. Using this personification strategy made it easy to tell the difference between faces that I had previously seen and newly-presented faces, because I felt that I “knew” some of the people pictured while others were still strangers to me. There is a simple explanation of why the use of personification in the encoding the memories of faces/personalities is such an easy and natural process for me. Ordinal linguistic personification (OLP) is one of the many different types of synaesthesia that I have. OLP is a type of synaesthesia in which individual items in ordered sequences such as letters, numbers or days of the week are associated with individual personalities. Like grapheme->colour synaesthesia it has its origins in early childhood and the associations are pretty much fixed for life. Perhaps you are thinking that ordinal linguistic personification sounds like pretty crazy stuff that seems so irrational that it surely couldn’t be useful and couldn’t be associated with useful abilities. I would argue that a brain that can “do” OLP is a brain that is richly connected to cultural, personal and linguistic associations by virtue of the fact that it is physically very inter-connected. It is possibly a brain that has a natural talent for learning languages and learning to read (two talents that are found in my family). Do you believe that the letters of the alphabet are nothing more than graphemes (basic written language symbols) that are associated with phonemes (a most basic unit of sound in a language)? Is your thinking really as limited as that? The letters of the alphabet and other graphemes such as numbers, Oriental characters and punctuation marks can have many types of properties. They clearly have shapes and sounds. In some minds they can also have colours, genders, ages, personalities and physical orientations (facing left, right or to the front). Some graphemes resemble faces, and many of them look like stick figures in different poses, poses which can be highly expressive of emotion or personality. Can’t you see the letter E’s big smile as he faces toward the right? Don’t you think the letters K and Y look so happy waving their arms about? The letter H is a bit of a frump with her square body and legs that are rather far apart, wouldn’t you say? I’ve always thought Mr S was a bit of a snake, while letter M and number 1 stand straight and resolute. Have you ever seen the 1940s cult classic movie The Curse of the Cat People? It isn’t as bad as the title suggests, in fact it could be described as a perceptive exploration of hidden and forgotten aspects of an introverted childhood, a world of imaginary friends and playing among nature and personification synaesthesia. When the ghostly Irena teaches young Amy how to write the numbers 1 and 2, she personifies them by making reference to the resemblance of the graphemes’ shapes to human figures “One is like a tall princess. A princess? Of course! And two is the prince who kneels before her on one knee. Yes? Yes! The prince! That’s right. This is more fun than just numbers. Of course!” (Irena hugs Amy). Personification is a funny little brain trick that makes learning how to write and recognize graphemes more fun, and it also appears to be an aid to learning how to recognize faces. Letters of the alphabet can have associations with the names of people who have a first name that begins with that letter. In my own ordinal linguistic personification all of the letters that are the first letter of a close family member’s name have genders and personalities that are the same or similar to the family member. The first letter of my own name is pretty much a reflection of my own (possibly inaccurate) self-concept when I was a young girl. Letters of the alphabet can also have associations with words that start with that letter, and the phonemes that are linked with graphemes can have sound symbolism. In my OLP the letter M is a motherly type of personality. She is a “Mum’s lipstick” type of colour. I don’t think there is yet any scientific consensus as to why the word for “mother” has a “ma” or “mam” sound in so many different languages, but sound symbolism is often offered as an explanation. A recent article about sound symbolism in language in New Scientist magazine explicitly linked sound symbolism with synaesthesia and the “bouba-kiki effect”. Sound symbolism in language is possibly a universal and innate feature of human psychology. Research indicates that sound symbolism patterns are recognised by young children and adults across cultures, but more research needs to be done to confirm this. I do not think it is a stretch to propose that there is a connection between my mother-personality OLP synaesthesia for the letter M and a universal sound symbolism in language that is somehow based on synaesthesia. In my mind the letters K, R and Y all have vital, positive, outgoing, young adult, powerful personifications (two male and one female) and have grapheme->colour associations with bright colours. I believe this is because these letters have physical shapes that resemble human stick figures in dynamic poses, with K and R standing with legs apart and K with her arms raised, as are the letter Y’s arms. Does the letter R have one hand on one hip? He certainly has tickets on himself, don’t you think? In my mind the letter Y is a man in his prime of life who has a cheerful personality and is associated with an obnoxiously bright yellow colour. I find it easy to imagine him as an Indian Bhangra dancer with his arms joyously raised to the skies, leaping about in a manful manner. Contrast these dynamic letters with the letter C. It seems to be no coincidence that the words “curled” and “caring” both start with letter C, with all of the associated connotations of passivity, gentleness and introversion. In my mind the letter C is a quiet, caring and young female personality and the associated colour is a pale mauvey-pink. Do you still believe that letters are nothing more than graphemes which are associated with phonemes? There has got to be something seriously wrong with your brain if you do! Tell me, which letters out of C, K, R and Y would you consider hiring to help you to move house, if they were people? I’d only hire the letter C to help pack fragile items and comfort the pets, and I’d be wary of the letter Y being distracted by chatter and dancing and not getting on with the work. I believe it is no coincidence that the letter R is the only letter that I have seen personified in an advertising logo for a removalist company’s logo (see links below). I have also seen some most dynamic letters K and Y personified in advertising items such as a movie poster and a company logo. Ordinal-linguistic personification synaesthesia cannot be dismissed as crazy stuff. I believe all capable advertising professionals must have a good working understanding of personification and other types of synaesthesia, either conscious or unconscious, as explicit synaesthetes or as “normal people” with well-connected minds and well-developed cultural-sensory sensitivities. I also believe that personification is the trick that was used by myself (a mutliple synaesthete who naturally personifies letters) and possibly also by the male prosopagnosic study subject M57 to enhance our performances in the CFMT to unexpected levels (M57 into the normal range and me into the super-recognizer range). I believe such personification recruits parts of the brain that are normally used for social functioning to the simple task of face recognition, and this somehow enhances performance. I believe that another personality-related type of synaesthesia can give some clues about solving the mystery of The Strange Phenomenon. I’ve recently been reading some personal first-hand accounts of coloured personality synaesthesias – synaesthesia experiences which can look like coloured “auras” around people’s faces or bodies. I have also read about one very interesting case of coloured facial expression synaesthesia in chapter three of the book The Tell-Tale Brain by V. S. Ramachandran. I find this stuff most interesting for many reasons. We are reminded that the trigger or stimuli or “inducer” in this type of synaesthesia does not fit the usual stereotypes of synaesthesia, because the trigger is not simple and is not purely sensory, but is highly psychological and highly social and highly personal. Clearly non-sensory parts of the brain are involved. The trigger is the expressed personality of another person, or to be completely correct, the synaesthete’s perception of the personality of another person. First-hand accounts of coloured personality synaesthesia make it clear that it is the synaesthete’s beliefs about the personalities of others that are the triggers. For example, some coloured personality synaesthetes report that they experience simple correspondences between personality traits and single colours in people that they don’t know very well, but for people whom they know very well no colours are experienced. It has been theorized that the lack of colouration of personalities that are well known is the result of over-complexity or too much knowledge of a person’s personality. When we first meet a person, only the most dominant or obvious personality traits might be clearly perceived, while the many-faceted personality of a person who is well-known might look like a mess of colours if all the personality traits have a colour, or perhaps the colours might cancel each other out to nothing. What does this have to do with The Strange Phenomenon? I think this stuff serves as a reminder that there could be more to this phenomenon than simple visual (face) processing and memory with synaesthesia connections, in the trigger or in the experience triggered. I’m sure that the fusiform face area is involved in this phenomenon, but I can only guess what other parts of my brain might be involved with this trick. Coloured personality synaesthesia reminds us that things as complex and as social as personality traits and perceptions of personality traits can be involved with synaesthesia. In The Strange Phenomenon it most certainly felt to me as though the experience triggered was not just a picture of Jean’s face, but was a memory of Jean’s embodied and voiced personality. I still do not understand why this near-stranger, this face-in-the-crowd should be so memorable to me. I have many theories, but this mystery is unlikely to ever be solved. Coloured personality synaesthesia is also a reminder of how subjective synaesthesia can be. Whether or not another person is coloured can depend on how well known they are to the synaesthete. The synaesthete’s social understanding can clearly have a big influence upon this type of synaesthesia. It is perfectly possible that my perceptions of the personalities involved in The Strange Phenomenon could play a major part in this phenomenon. Once again, I have theories about this, but no real understanding. Perhaps this is what is so interesting about Jean. There is nothing more fascinating than a mystery. not their real names Ramachandran, V. S. The tell-tale brain: unlocking the mystery of human nature. William Heinemann, 2011. Robson, David Kiki or bouba? In search of language’s missing link. New Scientist. Issue 2821 19 July 2011. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21128211.600-kiki-or-bouba-in-search-of-languages-missing-link.html Letter personification links: Wikipedia contributors Ordinal linguistic personification. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ordinal_linguistic_personification&oldid=411966125 Web page showing the logo for the Kambo’s company which includes a physically dynamic personification of the letter K: http://boldbranding.com.au/Logo-Design Web page showing the logo for the Removal Man company which includes a physically dynamic personification of the letter R: http://www.removalists-perth.com.au/ Web page showing a poster for a movie with a title that starts with the letter Y which includes a physically dynamic and joyful pose of a man in the shape of the letter Y: http://www.impawards.com/2008/yes_man.html Web page showing a photo of a colourfully-dressed male Bhangra dancer in a typically joyful and physically dynamic letter Y pose: http://www.cilco.co.uk/stock-photos/respect-2006/bhangra-dancer-red.htm By greenearrings \| Posted in Uncategorized \| Also tagged Brad Duchaine, Bradley Duchaine, Cambridge Face Memory Test, CFMT, Coloured Aura Synaesthesia, David Robson, Face Recognition, Face Recognition Tests, Facial Expressions, Ken Nakayama, M57 (study subject), Mysteries, New Scientist, OLP, Ordinal linguistic personification synaesthesia, Ordinal linguistic personification synaesthesia in advertising, Ordinal linguistic personification synaesthesia in cinema, Personality->colour synaesthesia, Personality-related Synaesthesia, Personification, Personification in Advertising, Prosopagnosia, Sound Symbolism, Synaesthesia, Synaesthesia in Advertising, Synaesthesia involving face perception, Synesthesia, The Curse of the Cat People, The Strange Phenomenon, The Tell-Tale Brain, V. S. Ramachandran \| Comments (1)	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335041
__label__cc	0.642724	0.357276	Got Influence? Better Figure Out Who’s Who in the Zoo First Keys to Communicating with Different Styles It seems to me that each of us struggles with at least one communication style in the workplace. Do you struggle with the person who provides lots of detail and won’t get to the point? Do you struggle with someone who is so direct it hurts? No matter your communication style, it’s likely you have encountered someone whose communication style confounds you. A quote often attributed to the author George Bernard Shaw says, “England and America are two countries separated by the same language!” Are you working on a team whose members are separated by a common language? I believe that within companies, and even on teams, we are often separated by the same language. I’ve seen this at play so many times over the years that I am not only alert for it, and but I almost expect it. Here’s an example. While coaching the executive team of a rapidly growing medical software-development company, we discovered that the communication styles of Jeffrey, the COO, and Thomas, the CFO, were vastly different. Both were amazed to discover that each was hearing the other’s comments through their own filter. The effect of that filter was similar to how a prism refracts light—the light bends and changes direction dramatically. When Jeffrey said, “I am thinking about implementing a new way of onboarding new clients,” Thomas heard that the decision was made and implementation was underway. Jeffrey was hesitant to make the changes without feedback and deliberation. Thomas wondered why Jeffrey hadn’t made the move. Conversely, when Thomas said, “I am considering changing banks because our bank doesn’t have robust enough Treasury offerings,” Jeffrey heard that more input was needed before a decision could be reached. Meanwhile, Thomas had already been to the new bank and paperwork was underway. Jeffrey wondered why he wasn’t consulted first. This example illustrates several important differences: 1. Priorities and focus within the company 2. Pace and decision-making speed 3. Filters for hearing and processing information 4. Levels of information required before making a decision 5. Levels of assertiveness Most importantly, there is an underlying assumption (which all of us make from time to time) that others think just as we do. When Jeffrey and Thomas uncovered these differences, they were both thunderstruck. The next part of the conversation included statements that began like this: “But I thought you meant . . .” Yes, they were separated by a common language. It’s as though we need a “secret decoder ring” to translate what these other personality types are saying. Four Concepts to Guide You Here are a few guidelines to identify who’s who in the zoo. If you can keep just four basic concepts in mind about the individuals you are working with, it will provide you with invaluable insight into their style. If you are willing to make reasonable adaptations to their style, your communication will be more effective. Misunderstandings and conflict will likely be diminished. 1. What is their pace? Are they brisk, blunt, and bottom-line oriented? Are they thoughtful, receptive, and require time to think before responding? 2. What is their energy? Are they harmonious and accepting, or analytical and precise? Do they come across expressive and warm, or more focused on results? Do they enjoy working with teams, or prefer solo work? 3. What is important to them? Are relationships and ideas more important than facts and results, or is the reverse true? 4. How do they address conflict? Are they conflict averse? Or do they struggle to consider how their blunt words may have a negative impact? Do they approach conflicts with diplomacy and tact? By answering these four questions, you will understand more about the preferred communication style of your team members and can adapt more readily. Perhaps that blunt person or the detailed communicator won’t confound you so much. In time, knowing who’s who in the zoo and influencing will become second nature. How to Know: Should I Stay or Should I Go? This is What Happens When You Have Values-Based Leadership How to Know If Your Current Culture is a Fit 4 Smart, Brave Things First-Time Leaders Do 3 Risks of Not Developing New Leaders 501 S Cherry St, #1100,	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335044
__label__wiki	0.878169	0.878169	Live Nation presents Straight Ahead Tour Metropolis Fremantle (Fremantle, WA) Sunday, 16 February 2020 8:00 PM 18+ General Admission {{ requestedInventory['6d6f7038-0b26-497a-9ea0-fdffa0fdd90c'] }} 18+ VIP Merch Package Straight Ahead 20th Anniversary VIP Package One general admission ticket Early entry into the venue Collectible tour lithograph, signed by Pennywise Pennywise branded cinch bag Limited edition Australian tour badge Straight Ahead 20th Anniversary playing cards Official Anniversary VIP laminate Early merchandise shopping opportunity before general doors VIP merchandise items will be avaliable for collection at the show. If you have any questions concerning your VIP merch package, please contact INFO@FUTURE-BEAT.COM {{ requestedInventory['8dd4d997-6810-471a-9963-a9051bf9dacf'] }} Hermosa Beach legends PENNYWISE have today announced an Australian tour, where for the first time ever the So Cal punk rock band will be performing their album ‘Straight Ahead’ in its entirety plus fan favourites. To celebrate the album’s 20th anniversary Pennywise will be performing all songs from the album and bringing with them long-time touring partners from California, STRUNG OUT and Swedish punk rockers NO FUN AT ALL, giving their Australian fans what will no doubt be the punk rock tour of the year. Tickets for all shows go on sale at 11am Friday, October 4. Fans can secure tickets first during the artist pre-sale beginning 10am Wednesday, October 2. My Live Nation members can secure tickets first during the My Live Nation pre-sale beginning 11am Thursday, October 3 until 10am Friday, October 4. Formed in the South Bay of Los Angeles, a neighbourhood with a rich punk rock history, Pennywise began in 1988. The band would go on to amass an international following through relentless touring and a melodic high energy sound merging melodic surf punk, blistering hardcore and the classic punk of their youth. The group has solidified their place in punk history with songs like the raging ‘Fuck Authority’, ‘Alien’, and the band’s legendary ode to brotherhood and departed friends ‘Bro Hymn’. If you listened to “Songs Of Armour And Devotion”, the new album from punk rock band Strung Out, you probably wouldn’t guess that the California band has been together for almost 30 years – such is the intensity and fresh energy of these 13 songs. Produced by Cameron Webb, who was behind the helm of 2009’s “Agents Of The Underground”, it’s a record that brims with the same ferocious fire the band had at the very start of its career when frontman Jason Cruz was still a teenager, but which also demonstrates how far the California five-piece have evolved as songwriters, musicians and people. Since the debut release of “Vision” in 1993, Sweden’s premier hardcore pop-punkers No Fun At All have grown into a tight, intensive and frantic mean killing machine. Something which has been proven on hard-exercised tours all across the globe. The band paved the way for Swedish punk and hardcore while being hailed, praised and ‘adopted’ in Southern California – the #1 stronghold for melodic punk. For complete tour and ticket information, visit: livenation.com.au.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335049
__label__wiki	0.850469	0.850469	Tignis Predictive and Proactive Support Solutions Why Tignis Tignis was founded by proven leaders of a $1.2B data center management software business Founded by a former CTO and operational leaders of a successful Fortune 100 data center management software company, Tignis’ product and service team is addressing the challenges of today’s connected mechanical systems. We’re proud of our track record of delivering end-to-end solutions and advanced capabilities that will truly make a difference to our customers. Jon Herlocker Jon is a deep technologist and experienced executive in both on-premises enterprise software and consumer SaaS businesses. In his prior leadership roles, he was Vice President and CTO of VMware’s Cloud Management Business Unit, which generated $1.2B/year for VMware. Other positions include CTO of Mozy, and CTO of EMC’s Cloud Services division. As a co-founder of Tignis, Jon is an experienced entrepreneur, having founded two other startup companies. He sold his last startup, Smart Desktop, to Pi Corporation in 2006. Jon is a former tenured professor of Computer Science at Oregon State University, and his highly-cited academic research work was awarded the prestigious 2010 ACM Software System Award for contributions to the field of recommendation systems. Jon holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota, and a B.S. in Mathematics and Computer Science from Lewis and Clark College. Matt McLaughlin Chief Operating Officer, VP of Engineering Matt is a seasoned execution-oriented leader with experience in SaaS and enterprise on-premises software. He has held substantial leadership roles in both large enterprises and startups. Before co-founding Tignis, Matt led global engineering teams for VMware as Director of Engineering. Matt brought VMware’s analytics product Log Insight from alpha stage to v4, and established the company’s Ops SaaS team. His earlier entrepreneurial roles include VP of Engineering at Digital Scirocco and CTO at Red Rover. He also founded Strands, a product recommendation technology company. Matt specializes in building strong company cultures and managing highly productive engineering teams that deliver high quality software products on time. Matt holds an M.S. and B.S. in Computer Science from Oregon State University, with a focus on Machine Learning. Harel Kodesh Operating Partner Silver Lake Partners Paul Maritz Former CEO Janis Machala Paladin Partners Russ Stockdale Former VP & GM Data Protection Cloud, Ashmeet Sidana Engineering Capital Chris Rust Clear Ventures 999 3rd Avenue, Suite 700 Tignis © 2020. All rights reserved.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335050
__label__wiki	0.87302	0.87302	Trust to help Telugu film directors financially TNN \| Jul 26, 2019, 04.25 AM IST HYDERABAD: Telugu film directors have formed a trust to provide financial assistance to directors and their family. The help will be extended for medical expenditure and children’s education. Veteran director K Raghavendra Rao, who proposed this idea, is the chairman of the Telugu Film Directors Trust. Well-known director N Shankar, the managing trustee,said the registration formalities have been completed. There are nearly 2,000 directors, assistant directors and associate directors in Tollywood, who are members of this trust. The trust will also take up programmes to help directors enhance their technical knowledge. “These technologies will help make better films and more producers will come forward to invest in the films. When a film performs well, the director will certainly contribute to the trust,” Shankar told TOI. ‘Baahubali’ director SS Rajamouli pledged Rs 50 lakh for the trust and actor Chiranjeevi will contribute Rs 25 lakh. The trust aims to raise Rs 5 crore in next one year. There have been cases of directors seeking help from CM relief fund or from MLAs during medical emergency.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335052
__label__wiki	0.754817	0.754817	The V weapon attacks on Enfield The V1 and V2 Weapons Date: February 4, 2014 Author: mailfromthesky ← Information & Education pack Defence through intelligence → The V1 Flying Bomb The V1 flying bomb being prepared for launch: Original image: Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1975-117-26 / Lysiak / CC-BY-SA The flying bomb was a predecessor of the modern cruise missile. Developed by the German air force the bomb’s jet engine gave a distinct buzzin g sound, which later gave rise to several nicknames such as Buzz Bomb and Doodlebug. The engine, which would often cut out just before hitting its target, added to the fear of the weapon amongst civilians V-1 flew at an average speed of 400 mph (640 km/ph), which was faster than most propeller aircraft of the day. Around a third of the aircrafts weight was the explosive warhead. The missiles were launched from concrete and metal catapult ramps at sites in occupied France and Holland – taking around thirty minutes to reach London. Some flying bombs were also air-launched from converted German bombers. During the campaign approximately 2419 flying bombs got through to impact on London. Forty one V1 flying bombs fell on Enfield. The V2 ballistic missile Original image: V2 rocket at launch Bundesarchiv, Bild 141-1880 / CC-BY-SA The V-2 was the world’s first long-range ballistic missile. Developed purely as a combat weapon its birth provided the foundation of all modern missiles and rockets – including the Saturn V moon rocket. Commissioned before the war by the German army the V2 used technology that was far ahead of its’ time. Its potential as a strategic weapon was largely overshadowed by Hitler’s desire to simply hit back against Allied bombing. Standing fourteen metres tall the V2’s warhead was a 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) of explosive. The rocket would blast off and continue under power for just over a minute before the engines would cut out. From here it continued on a curved trajectory touching the edge of space before falling back down on to earth and its target. Crashing down faster than the speed of sound the V2 took approximately five and half minutes from launch in occupied Holland to impact on London. The V2 was impossible to intercept in flight and it was launched from mobile road transporters which made it virtually impossible to locate and attack on the ground. During the V weapon campaign approximately 1358 V2 rockets got through reached London. Twenty six V2 rockets fell on Enfield. The Diagram below shows the size of the V1 and V2 compared with a modern double decker bus.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335060
__label__cc	0.69227	0.30773	Video Of Houston Police Beating Of Chad Holley Needed To Be Seen It is good that after many months the video of some Houston police officers beating up Chad Holley has finally been released. (Update 2/8/11—The Houston NAACP will be holding a community meeting on this subject on 2/8 at the Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church at 3015 North MacGregor Way in Houston. The meeting begins at 7:00 PM.) (Update 5/17-12—My reaction to the innocent verdict in the first Holley beating trial.) The people of Houston have the right to see this video. (Above–Frame from video of Chad Holley beating.) Here is the link to the video. Also at this link is the reaction of Houston Mayor Annise Parker to the showing of the tape. Mayor Parker had not wanted the video to be released. Mr. Holley, who was 15 at the time, has since the beating been convicted of burglary. Mr. Holley had clearly surrendered to police when he was violently punched and kicked by Houston police officers. Here is what Mayor Parker said after the video was shown for the first time on Houston television station KTRK— “…. In fact, it will probably go worldwide. it is not reflective of the men and women who serve the city of Houston, that we took action to remove those officers immediately from the Houston Police Department and we will fight to keep those officers from ever coming back to the Houston Police Department” Well…Maybe the tape does not reflect Houston police conduct. But there do seem to be a number of officers in the tape who were willing to behave in an unnecessarily violent fashion. Here is a KTRK report on how police officers are disciplined in Houston. From that report—- “Seven of the Houston police officers on the tape seen beating Chad Holley were fired for what the police chief saw… But in Houston, firing a police officer doesn’t always mean they stay fired…” Most Houston police officers are good people and dedicated public servants. People owe police officers every measure of respect. At the same time, citizens have the right to know when public employees are not doing the job they are paid to do in a correct fashion. Mayor Parker was wrong from the start to oppose release of the tape. The video may “go worldwide” as the Mayor says she fears, but she has had every opportunity since she became Mayor in 2009 to address the underlying social and economic conditions in Houston that help propel young people in our city towards crime. To my recollection, the Mayor has never taken up that subject. Let people see the facts as they are in Houston. February 5, 2011 Posted by Neil Aquino \| Uncategorized \| Annise Parker, Chad Holley, Houston Police Department, KTRK, Violence \| 9 Comments	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335061
__label__wiki	0.778229	0.778229	You need to be logged in to access this function. If your company is not registered with us yet, click here to fill in a form. My servicing New feature films Les Rendez-Vous de Paris Line Up All recent films TV Movies/Series Kids/Teens/Family Home > New feature films How To Be A French Lover FEATURE FILM 94' Dumped for a younger man by his 80- year old lady friend, an aging gigolo enlists his pre-teen nephew to help find his next millionaire. Olivier Baroux and Kad Merad Olivier Baroux (The Tuche 1, 2 & 3) Kad Merad (Republican Gangsters, Captain Marleau, Welcome to the Sticks, Little Nicolas, Winner of the 2007 César Award for Best Supporting Actor in Don’t Worry, I’m Fine) Anne Charrier (The Crows, Crime Squad) Léopold Moati Pascal Elbé (No Second Chance) Thierry Lhermitte (The Closet, The Dinner Game) Anny Duperey (A Wonderful Family) Lionel Abelanski (Edmond, On the Other Side of the Tracks) Guy Lecluyse (La Ch'tite Famille, The Tuches) Richard Grandpierre – Eskwad (The Tuche Family, Beauty and the Beast) & Dimitri Rassam - Chapter II (Divorce French Style, The Little Prince, What's in a name?) Delivery: April 17th, 2019 2019 / Original language: French / Color / 2.39 / 5.1 / available in hd & 2k After 25 years of a golden life as gigolo to an older millionaire lady, 46-year-old Alex is dumped for a younger man and left to face reality without a penny. Homeless, he turns to his estranged, hard-working younger sister Sarah and her geeky son Hugo, and begs them to let him move in. After a disastrous attempt at finding a real job, Alex makes it his mission to return to a life of luxury, and honor his lifelong promise to “be rich without working.” Having found his next mark in the fabulously wealthy and very widowed grandmother of Hugo’s school crush Eva, Alex teaches his nephew a few of his smooth lady-magnet moves. The plan is to get Hugo invited to Eva’s birthday party, so that Uncle Alex can work his magic. A seemingly perfect opportunity that could end up ruining Alex’s budding relationship with his family. Is Alex just a gigolo, after all? © TF1 Droits Audiovisuels 2014 - All Rights Reserved - About us - TF1 Group - Legal Notices - Terms of use - Privacy Policy - Help	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335062
__label__wiki	0.81878	0.81878	Motorcyclist injury severity in angle crashes at T-junctions: Identifying significant factors and analysing what made motorists fail to yield to motorcycles Chih Wei Pai Evidence in literature suggested that motorists' failure to give way to motorcycles at junctions is the main contributory factor to motorcycle-car accidents that involve gap acceptance (i.e., approach-turn and angle crashes). This paper attempts to examine how motorist's failure to give way affects motorcyclist injury severity in angle crashes at T-junctions, while controlling for other factors (demographic, vehicle, crash, and environmental factors). Binary logistic models of motorcyclist injury severity were estimated using the data extracted from the Stats19 accident injury database (1991-2004). Angle collisions were classified into several sub-crashes based on the manoeuvres motorcycles and cars were making prior to the accidents. The modelling results showed that injuries were greatest when a travelling-straight motorcycle on the main road crashed into a right-turn car from the minor road, particularly at stop-/yield-controlled junctions. Such crash pattern was assumed to be an accident involving right-of-way violation. Using binary logistic models, factors determining the likelihood of motorist's failure to yield to motorcycles were also examined. The implications of the research findings of this present study were provided. Safety Science https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2008.12.007 demographic factors Angle crash at T-junction Motorcyclist injury severity Right-of-way violation Pai, C. W. (2009). Motorcyclist injury severity in angle crashes at T-junctions: Identifying significant factors and analysing what made motorists fail to yield to motorcycles. Safety Science, 47(8), 1097-1106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2008.12.007 Motorcyclist injury severity in angle crashes at T-junctions : Identifying significant factors and analysing what made motorists fail to yield to motorcycles. / Pai, Chih Wei. In: Safety Science, Vol. 47, No. 8, 10.2009, p. 1097-1106. Pai, CW 2009, 'Motorcyclist injury severity in angle crashes at T-junctions: Identifying significant factors and analysing what made motorists fail to yield to motorcycles', Safety Science, vol. 47, no. 8, pp. 1097-1106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2008.12.007 Pai CW. Motorcyclist injury severity in angle crashes at T-junctions: Identifying significant factors and analysing what made motorists fail to yield to motorcycles. Safety Science. 2009 Oct;47(8):1097-1106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2008.12.007 Pai, Chih Wei. / Motorcyclist injury severity in angle crashes at T-junctions : Identifying significant factors and analysing what made motorists fail to yield to motorcycles. In: Safety Science. 2009 ; Vol. 47, No. 8. pp. 1097-1106. @article{5d0be646b3c94ef5979e657183fcc54b, title = "Motorcyclist injury severity in angle crashes at T-junctions: Identifying significant factors and analysing what made motorists fail to yield to motorcycles", abstract = "Evidence in literature suggested that motorists' failure to give way to motorcycles at junctions is the main contributory factor to motorcycle-car accidents that involve gap acceptance (i.e., approach-turn and angle crashes). This paper attempts to examine how motorist's failure to give way affects motorcyclist injury severity in angle crashes at T-junctions, while controlling for other factors (demographic, vehicle, crash, and environmental factors). Binary logistic models of motorcyclist injury severity were estimated using the data extracted from the Stats19 accident injury database (1991-2004). Angle collisions were classified into several sub-crashes based on the manoeuvres motorcycles and cars were making prior to the accidents. The modelling results showed that injuries were greatest when a travelling-straight motorcycle on the main road crashed into a right-turn car from the minor road, particularly at stop-/yield-controlled junctions. Such crash pattern was assumed to be an accident involving right-of-way violation. Using binary logistic models, factors determining the likelihood of motorist's failure to yield to motorcycles were also examined. The implications of the research findings of this present study were provided.", keywords = "Angle crash at T-junction, Motorcyclist injury severity, Right-of-way violation", author = "Pai, {Chih Wei}", doi = "10.1016/j.ssci.2008.12.007", journal = "Safety Science", T1 - Motorcyclist injury severity in angle crashes at T-junctions T2 - Identifying significant factors and analysing what made motorists fail to yield to motorcycles AU - Pai, Chih Wei N2 - Evidence in literature suggested that motorists' failure to give way to motorcycles at junctions is the main contributory factor to motorcycle-car accidents that involve gap acceptance (i.e., approach-turn and angle crashes). This paper attempts to examine how motorist's failure to give way affects motorcyclist injury severity in angle crashes at T-junctions, while controlling for other factors (demographic, vehicle, crash, and environmental factors). Binary logistic models of motorcyclist injury severity were estimated using the data extracted from the Stats19 accident injury database (1991-2004). Angle collisions were classified into several sub-crashes based on the manoeuvres motorcycles and cars were making prior to the accidents. The modelling results showed that injuries were greatest when a travelling-straight motorcycle on the main road crashed into a right-turn car from the minor road, particularly at stop-/yield-controlled junctions. Such crash pattern was assumed to be an accident involving right-of-way violation. Using binary logistic models, factors determining the likelihood of motorist's failure to yield to motorcycles were also examined. The implications of the research findings of this present study were provided. AB - Evidence in literature suggested that motorists' failure to give way to motorcycles at junctions is the main contributory factor to motorcycle-car accidents that involve gap acceptance (i.e., approach-turn and angle crashes). This paper attempts to examine how motorist's failure to give way affects motorcyclist injury severity in angle crashes at T-junctions, while controlling for other factors (demographic, vehicle, crash, and environmental factors). Binary logistic models of motorcyclist injury severity were estimated using the data extracted from the Stats19 accident injury database (1991-2004). Angle collisions were classified into several sub-crashes based on the manoeuvres motorcycles and cars were making prior to the accidents. The modelling results showed that injuries were greatest when a travelling-straight motorcycle on the main road crashed into a right-turn car from the minor road, particularly at stop-/yield-controlled junctions. Such crash pattern was assumed to be an accident involving right-of-way violation. Using binary logistic models, factors determining the likelihood of motorist's failure to yield to motorcycles were also examined. The implications of the research findings of this present study were provided. KW - Angle crash at T-junction KW - Motorcyclist injury severity KW - Right-of-way violation U2 - 10.1016/j.ssci.2008.12.007 DO - 10.1016/j.ssci.2008.12.007 JO - Safety Science JF - Safety Science 10.1016/j.ssci.2008.12.007	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335063
__label__cc	0.598859	0.401141	Neurotrauma research in Taiwan Jia Wei Lin, Chien Min Lin, Jo Ting Tsai, Kuo Sheng Hung, Ching Chang Hung, Wen Ta Chiu Graduate Institute of Injury Prevention and Control TMU Neuroscience Research Center - TBI TMU Research Center of Cancer Translational Medicine Because of the rapid industrial and economic growth, Taiwan and other developing countries have faced an enormous increase in the number of motorcycles, which has subsequently caused a rapid increase of the motorcycle-related traumatic brain injuries (TBI). In order to tackle this serious problem, stepwise approaches for TBI were implemented in Taiwan from 1991 to 2007. Step 1 was to do a nationwide TBI registry in order to identify the risk factors and determinants. We found that the major cause of TBI in Taiwan was motorcycle-related injury, and very few motorcyclists wore a helmet. Step 2 was to launch the implementation of the helmet use law on June 1, 1997. A rapid decline of TBI hospitalizations and deaths was demonstrated soon thereafter. Step 3 was to enroll into international collaborations with the Global Spine and Head Injury Prevention Project (Global SHIP Project) groups for TBI. The comparative results thus obtained could be used to develop prevention strategies for developing countries. Step 4 was to implement clinical researches for TBI, which included a Propofol study, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), brain parenchymal oxygen (PbtO2) monitoring, etc. Step 5 was to develop guidelines for the management of severe TBI in Taiwan. Through a 2-year period of review, discussion, and integration, a 9-chapter guideline was published in June 2007. In summary, our experience and process for management of TBI in Taiwan can be used as a reference for other developing countries. Acta Neurochirurgica, Supplementum https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-211-78205-7-19 Head Protective Devices Hyperbaric Oxygenation Craniocerebral Trauma helmet use law motorcycle injury Lin, J. W., Lin, C. M., Tsai, J. T., Hung, K. S., Hung, C. C., & Chiu, W. T. (2008). Neurotrauma research in Taiwan. Acta Neurochirurgica, Supplementum, (101), 113-117. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-211-78205-7-19 Neurotrauma research in Taiwan. / Lin, Jia Wei; Lin, Chien Min; Tsai, Jo Ting; Hung, Kuo Sheng; Hung, Ching Chang; Chiu, Wen Ta. In: Acta Neurochirurgica, Supplementum, No. 101, 2008, p. 113-117. Lin, JW, Lin, CM, Tsai, JT, Hung, KS, Hung, CC & Chiu, WT 2008, 'Neurotrauma research in Taiwan', Acta Neurochirurgica, Supplementum, no. 101, pp. 113-117. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-211-78205-7-19 Lin JW, Lin CM, Tsai JT, Hung KS, Hung CC, Chiu WT. Neurotrauma research in Taiwan. Acta Neurochirurgica, Supplementum. 2008;(101):113-117. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-211-78205-7-19 Lin, Jia Wei ; Lin, Chien Min ; Tsai, Jo Ting ; Hung, Kuo Sheng ; Hung, Ching Chang ; Chiu, Wen Ta. / Neurotrauma research in Taiwan. In: Acta Neurochirurgica, Supplementum. 2008 ; No. 101. pp. 113-117. @article{dc8c13ce940545ae8099769895d6a984, title = "Neurotrauma research in Taiwan", abstract = "Because of the rapid industrial and economic growth, Taiwan and other developing countries have faced an enormous increase in the number of motorcycles, which has subsequently caused a rapid increase of the motorcycle-related traumatic brain injuries (TBI). In order to tackle this serious problem, stepwise approaches for TBI were implemented in Taiwan from 1991 to 2007. Step 1 was to do a nationwide TBI registry in order to identify the risk factors and determinants. We found that the major cause of TBI in Taiwan was motorcycle-related injury, and very few motorcyclists wore a helmet. Step 2 was to launch the implementation of the helmet use law on June 1, 1997. A rapid decline of TBI hospitalizations and deaths was demonstrated soon thereafter. Step 3 was to enroll into international collaborations with the Global Spine and Head Injury Prevention Project (Global SHIP Project) groups for TBI. The comparative results thus obtained could be used to develop prevention strategies for developing countries. Step 4 was to implement clinical researches for TBI, which included a Propofol study, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), brain parenchymal oxygen (PbtO2) monitoring, etc. Step 5 was to develop guidelines for the management of severe TBI in Taiwan. Through a 2-year period of review, discussion, and integration, a 9-chapter guideline was published in June 2007. In summary, our experience and process for management of TBI in Taiwan can be used as a reference for other developing countries.", keywords = "helmet use law, injury prevention, motorcycle injury, Traumatic brain injuries", author = "Lin, {Jia Wei} and Lin, {Chien Min} and Tsai, {Jo Ting} and Hung, {Kuo Sheng} and Hung, {Ching Chang} and Chiu, {Wen Ta}", doi = "10.1007/978-3-211-78205-7-19", journal = "Acta Neurochirurgica, Supplement", T1 - Neurotrauma research in Taiwan AU - Lin, Jia Wei AU - Lin, Chien Min AU - Tsai, Jo Ting AU - Hung, Kuo Sheng AU - Hung, Ching Chang AU - Chiu, Wen Ta N2 - Because of the rapid industrial and economic growth, Taiwan and other developing countries have faced an enormous increase in the number of motorcycles, which has subsequently caused a rapid increase of the motorcycle-related traumatic brain injuries (TBI). In order to tackle this serious problem, stepwise approaches for TBI were implemented in Taiwan from 1991 to 2007. Step 1 was to do a nationwide TBI registry in order to identify the risk factors and determinants. We found that the major cause of TBI in Taiwan was motorcycle-related injury, and very few motorcyclists wore a helmet. Step 2 was to launch the implementation of the helmet use law on June 1, 1997. A rapid decline of TBI hospitalizations and deaths was demonstrated soon thereafter. Step 3 was to enroll into international collaborations with the Global Spine and Head Injury Prevention Project (Global SHIP Project) groups for TBI. The comparative results thus obtained could be used to develop prevention strategies for developing countries. Step 4 was to implement clinical researches for TBI, which included a Propofol study, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), brain parenchymal oxygen (PbtO2) monitoring, etc. Step 5 was to develop guidelines for the management of severe TBI in Taiwan. Through a 2-year period of review, discussion, and integration, a 9-chapter guideline was published in June 2007. In summary, our experience and process for management of TBI in Taiwan can be used as a reference for other developing countries. AB - Because of the rapid industrial and economic growth, Taiwan and other developing countries have faced an enormous increase in the number of motorcycles, which has subsequently caused a rapid increase of the motorcycle-related traumatic brain injuries (TBI). In order to tackle this serious problem, stepwise approaches for TBI were implemented in Taiwan from 1991 to 2007. Step 1 was to do a nationwide TBI registry in order to identify the risk factors and determinants. We found that the major cause of TBI in Taiwan was motorcycle-related injury, and very few motorcyclists wore a helmet. Step 2 was to launch the implementation of the helmet use law on June 1, 1997. A rapid decline of TBI hospitalizations and deaths was demonstrated soon thereafter. Step 3 was to enroll into international collaborations with the Global Spine and Head Injury Prevention Project (Global SHIP Project) groups for TBI. The comparative results thus obtained could be used to develop prevention strategies for developing countries. Step 4 was to implement clinical researches for TBI, which included a Propofol study, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), brain parenchymal oxygen (PbtO2) monitoring, etc. Step 5 was to develop guidelines for the management of severe TBI in Taiwan. Through a 2-year period of review, discussion, and integration, a 9-chapter guideline was published in June 2007. In summary, our experience and process for management of TBI in Taiwan can be used as a reference for other developing countries. KW - helmet use law KW - injury prevention KW - motorcycle injury KW - Traumatic brain injuries U2 - 10.1007/978-3-211-78205-7-19 DO - 10.1007/978-3-211-78205-7-19 JO - Acta Neurochirurgica, Supplement JF - Acta Neurochirurgica, Supplement 10.1007/978-3-211-78205-7-19	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335064
__label__wiki	0.695902	0.695902	TV ReviewsComedy Bang! Bang!Season 3 Comedy Bang! Bang!: “Dane Cook Wears A Black Blazer And Tailored Pants” David Kallison Comedy Bang! Bang!Season 3 Dane Cook Wears A Black Blazer And Tailored Pants If Millersville, the fake popular, fake show anchoring this episode, was real, I have a feeling the A.V. Club would cover it en masse. Easily the best skit of an uneven episode, Millersville is rich in both breadth and depth. The crowds, the shirts, the slogan, the spoilers, it felt very much like a hybrid of Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, and Lost-style fandom, thrown into a ridiculous blender. For the Millersville skit, the actors of the fictional show come out holding awards and give a perfect parody of those boring Entertainment Tonight panel interviews. “Where’s the key?” is “Not Penny’s boat,” or whichever teasing catchphrase fans latch on to and assign too much meaning to. The magazine covers are aped directly from Rolling Stone and the clip is bombastically and hilariously bad. Dane Cook fanboying out just sitting next to the crew is a particularly nice touch. The button on the skit is the fact that, even in the fictional Comedy Bang! Bang! world, the show does not exist. A cheeky response to the bandwagoners of critically-acclaimed, but low-rated shows (Mad Men says hello), Scott, Reggie, and Dane all reveal that they have never seen the show. The creators then reveal that they are actually the Garrison Valley Grifter Gang, a “trash reality show,” they trash talked a few minutes before. It is done so note-perfect, especially showing the final scene of the series where they give the fans exactly what they want, only to be accosted with cries of spoilers! Also, I really want that Millersville t-shirt. I am part of the problem. The rest of the episode is hit or miss, which is unfortunate because the ideas are all there but suffer from a lack of quality execution—a rarity for this show. “Dane Cook Wears a Black Blazer and Tailored Pants” starts with a nowhere bit involving a circle of imaginary friends. None of these land solidly even if “Let’s go back to filming an empty chair and keyboard for 30 minutes,” is a funny line. The skit feels like an idea that looked good on paper but doesn’t translate. The loose theme of the episode are these circular revelations, from the TV show being a different show, to the infomercial, to the string of imaginary friends having imaginary friends. Again, it just does not hit for me. I wouldn’t mind seeing Big Squirrel again though (he’s nuts!). For his reputation as loud and…loud, Dane Cook is disappointingly low-key, playing against his stage persona to the detriment of the skits. Stand-ups never seem to do as well playing off Aukerman, whose energy is odd even with other improv actors. The characters of Planes versus amateur porn star game was funny, but the punch is obvious. It feels another guest could have really run with it while Cook walks slowly. The script-reading skit is also tame, disappointingly so. I wanted Cook to get into it, to play it up, but he is so low-key, it borders on boring. The puns are there, as they often are on Comedy Bang! Bang!, but the delivery kills the entire skit for me. The dead weight of that skit rolls into some video game character impressions, and finally to Cook’s saving grace in this episode, a single line: “You look more like a bird and not like a man.” Ackerman does look like a bird and I giggled mercilessly as he flapped his arms. Vintage Bang! Bang! in its level of puerile absurdity, Aukerman sells it. And he seriously looks like a bird. Save Millersville, the best skit of the night belongs to Watts, whose infomercials are genius, especially for anyone who grew up watching late-night television. First he’s an actor in an ITT Tech-esque infomercial, then he’s running a school for actors for ITT Tech informercials, then he’s a midnight lawyer for anyone who has an informercial acting business go under. It is hard to say enough about Watts as a comedian, but more than anything, he always picks the perfect tone for the situation. His physical comedy too, just the way he moves his body, works so well for these type of skits. Watts nails the absurdity and the undercurrent of gross mercantilism in those technical college commercials that still litter the airwaves. He teaches skills like having a conversation while walking down a hallway and using the mouse with one hand while stroking your chin with the other. Watts proves in “Dane Cook Wears a Black Blazer and Tailored Pants” that he is an integral key to Bang! Bang!’s success. If anyone wants to write the pilot for Millersville, I have some great ideas I’m kicking around. I think it could be big. Scott Aukerman is appropriately Binge Watcherman. “I need you to be a little more monotone and I need to barely be able to understand what you’re saying.” -Good advice all around. “Not the precise location of the key we’ve searching for this entire time?” Fat Dong Sex Slave seems like it came from a Wu-Tang name generator. “I guess I always wanted to be an arsonman.”	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335074
__label__cc	0.513384	0.486616	TV ReviewsInsecureSeason 1 Issa and Molly block their blessings in a heartbreaking Insecure Ashley Ray-Harris InsecureSeason 1 Real As Fuck It was only a matter of time before Lawrence found out about Daniel and Insecure nails the reveal in “Real As Fuck.” The episode bridges Issa’s relationships with her job, coworkers, Daniel, Lawrence and Molly while highlighting the successes and failures of each with a realistic and urgent tone. At the beginning of the episode, Issa declares she’s no longer “Ms. Gives No Fucks,” but is now “Ms. Gives All The Fucks.” The declaration seems true as she takes charge at work, tries to support Lawrence before his interview and finally comes to terms with what really led to her affair with Daniel. When the truth of her betrayal comes out in the episode’s final scene, Issa Rae and Jay Ellis beautifully sell the pain of the moment. While it’s not nearly as bad as the violent freakout Issa envisioned last week, Lawrence does flip a table and immediately storms out. Even with Issa blocking the door, it’s clear that Lawrence isn’t likely to forgive her for this or hear her out. Like Molly says, Issa cheated on Lawrence while he was trying to ”get his shit together” for her. Throughout the season, Issa hasn’t been particularly upfront about her issues with Lawrence. In the pilot, she vaguely suggests it’s because he isn’t motivated before vaguely breaking up with him. Lawrence almost seems equally betrayed by how off course their relationship apparently was without his knowledge. He thought they were in this and valued his relationship with Issa so much he worked at a Best Buy and put his app on hold to take a dream job that Issa wanted for him more than he did. While Issa’s relationship lethargy and interest in Daniel seemed legitimate in early episodes, her heartbreaking conversation with Daniel confirms the season’s underlying suspicion––Daniel was just an itch she had to scratch. He wasn’t really her “what if” guy, he was just a way for her to live some faux-gives-no-fucks persona that she recognizes was a mistake. Issa is imperfect and she recognizes that she really did make a mistake, but it was a mistake that could’ve been avoided if she had just talked to Lawrence about her concerns. I don’t believe Issa and Lawrence would’ve lived happily ever after even if he hadn’t found out about Daniel, which only makes the way their relationship inevitably ends even more painful. It’s great that Issa’s relationship failures are contrasted with her apparent new passion at work. Issa takes charge of We Got Y’all’s fundraising event and isn’t sitting on the sidelines as she did with Beach Day. She openly asks her coworkers not to question her authority while handing out orders. Yet even when the kids make sure to give Issa the credit she deserves, she doesn’t seem entirely convinced that the work was worth it. Of course, she just had a fight with Molly, but she doesn’t seem to take joy in her coworkers’ jealous stares or the recognition she receives from her boss. She still doesn’t know where she sees herself in a year, except in the same position. It doesn’t seem as though the event has been a catalyst for Issa to plan her career out. I like that “Real As Fuck” doesn’t try to excuse any of Issa’s imperfections or failures; it simply puts them on display in a way that’s relatable and makes Issa a wonderfully unreliable narrator. Was Daniel really just an itch she had to scratch or is she just telling herself that now? Are Issa’s complaints about Molly really based in genuine concern or is she just lashing out? Insecure is great at unveiling its characters motivations just as the characters seem to figure it out themselves. This is particularly true with Molly, whose story this week completely makes up for last week’s rushed exit of Jared. I was disappointed in that episode because it didn’t seem like a fair send-off for a character who’s been around since the pilot. It felt like having Molly end the relationship off-screen for incredibly problematic reasons didn’t treat Jared with the concern it deserved. It also didn’t seem as though the show was seeing Molly’s biphobia as an actual problem and thought it was no different than her breaking up with a guy for being too needy or distant. “Real As Fuck” corrects this as Issa completely calls Molly out for being the actual problem in her failed relationships and making it clear that she needs to get help. Molly can’t be pleased and if it hadn’t been Jared’s sexual fluidity, it would’ve been something else that ended their relationship. Molly seems to finally realize she is the problem, but not before heading back over to Jared’s house to put him through more of her bullshit. I’ve never been so happy to see a door closed in someone’s face. The fact that Molly thinks she could show up at Jared’s with an insulting non-apology to get him back does hint at a larger issue. Molly seems completely unaware of her own imperfections and therapy would help with this. It’s not surprising that Molly holds negative opinions about therapy; access to mental healthcare isn’t common in black communities and we rarely grow up with therapists as a commonality. Molly thinks it’s oversharing when her friend even mentions therapy, but it could help with the negativity and defensiveness on display this episode. Even though Molly’s friend never says she recommends therapy for everyone, Molly can’t help but see it as a personal attack. When Issa says maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea, it sends her spiraling for the rest of the night as she complains about smog, a lack of bartenders and unattractive men. Even when Justin, Issa’s hot coworker, offers to get her a drink, she coldly pushes him away. Molly and Issa have been blocking their blessings all season, but “Real As Fuck” makes it clear that there’s more on the line for both of them than we thought. Molly isn’t just an unlucky-in-love single girl; she’s internalized some harmful relationship ideals that leave her constantly unfulfilled and alone. Issa isn’t just an insecure, imperfect fuck-up; she wants to “give all the fucks,” support her man and care about her career. It’ll be interesting to see how these two handle their realizations without the other’s support, but it should make for an amazing finale. “I had all these unrealistic expectations about relationships and when it came to us, I should’ve just lowered my standards” MOLLY, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?? Just let that beautiful man rest; he’s tired. Loved Issa’s second freak out on her coworkers over gentrifying the neighborhood. “This drawer is just extra batteries!” “Jackie Chan is too thirsty. ‘Or do you object?’ Way to make it weird, bro.” It’s a testament to Yvonne Orji’s talent that I don’t constantly want to strangle Molly. “Don’t cash that shit til’ next month. I’mma be homeless. Seriously.” Natasha Rothwell has been killing all of her bits this season and it’s great that she’ll be a series regular when the show returns! “Patricia, you know where they go.” ”Don’t question my authority, thanks!” I wish we could’ve seen more of this take-charge-at-work Issa in the episodes leading to this, but I’m happy with these developments. “This bitch lookin’ like a black Ariel.” I don’t see Lawrence taking Issa back. He’s had his suspicions confirmed and knows there are more supportive options (Tasha) out there. This week’s playlist:	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335075
__label__cc	0.669368	0.330632	Best Marriott Hotels in Arizona As Marriott International's flagship brand, Marriott Hotels cater to business travelers who are on... READ MORE As Marriott International's flagship brand, Marriott Hotels cater to business travelers who are on the go and in need of no-frills meeting facilities and business centers. Along with guest-focused customer service, Marriott properties include fully equipped fitness centers, authentic local cuisine, swimming pools and concierge services. With more than 560 hotels and resorts in 59 countries, it's no surprise that many of these sophisticated properties are included on our Best Hotels in the USA, Best Hotels in Mexico, Best Hotels in Europe and Best Hotels in Canada rankings (U.S. News-ranked hotels are listed below). Plus, as a member of the Marriott family, guests can earn and redeem Marriott Rewards points at any Marriott hotel. Best Marriott Hotels by Destination Free BreakfastFree Breakfast Meeting RoomsMeeting Rooms Fitness CenterFitness Center Scottsdale Marriott at McDowell Mountains TripAdvisor (604) 1 critic awards » Sitting alongside the McDowell Mountain Range in North Scottsdale, this Marriott family member makes a great home base for Valley of the Sun visitors in search of a golf getaway. The resort neighbors the Tournament Players Club (TPC) Scottsdale—36 professional-level holes that host numerous PGA events annually—and is less than a 15-minute drive from the Palmer Signature Course at the Wildfire Golf Club. But for those who aren't keen on the green, the Marriott at McDowell Mountains features a heated outdoor pool and is close to scenic hiking and biking trails. Guests love the resort's quiet, relaxed atmosphere, praising the guestrooms on their bright décor and ample space and acknowledging the hotel staff members on their friendly and helpful demeanors. The in-house restaurant, Agave Southwest Bar & Grill also earns a thumbs-up for its flavorful cuisine and outdoor patio. However, if you're in town to do some sightseeing, you may want to book a room closer to downtown Phoenix. Tucson Marriott University Park The guest rooms and suites in the Tucson Marriott University Park come equipped with Wi-Fi access (for a fee), minifridges, coffee makers and flat-screen TVs. On-site amenities include fitness equipment, an outdoor pool and a hot tub. For dining, the hotel offers Saguaro Grill, a casual American spot open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Recent guests appreciated the property’s proximity to the University of Arizona and Main Gate Square, as well as a host of restaurants, shops and sites in downtown Tucson, Arizona. Because this is a Marriott property, members of the Marriott Rewards program can earn and redeem points here; though, some recent loyalty members were dissatisfied with the level of service and amenities. Marriott's Canyon Villas at Desert Ridge You won't be starved for entertainment at Marriott's Canyon Villas at Desert Ridge: Along with multiple outdoor pools, this Marriott property also boasts a hiking trail and access to two 18-hole golf courses at the Wildfire Golf Club (located about 2 miles away from the resort). Care to venture off the resort? The villas are located a little more than a mile north of the Desert Ridge Marketplace, an open-air mall. The Canyon Villas don't offer much in the way of fine dining, but you can mosey on over to the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa to experience that property's various restaurants and bars; stick around the JW Marriott if you're in the mood for a rejuvenating treatment at the spa. Meanwhile, guest rooms at the Canyon Villas feature minifridges and private balconies or patios, while one- and two-bedroom villas boast full kitchens and separate living and dining areas. Past visitors suggest asking for a room with a view of the garden or golf course to avoid the noise that often drifts from the pool area. If you're a Marriott Rewards member, you can earn or use points here for perks like complimentary nights. MOXY by Marriott Phoenix Tempe MOXY by Marriott Phoenix Tempe is a 3.5 star hotel located at 1333 S Rural Road in Phoenix. It has a 4.0 overall guest rating based on 293 reviews. Phoenix Airport Marriott Phoenix Airport Marriott is a 3.5 star hotel located at 1101 N 44th St in Phoenix. It has a 4.0 overall guest rating based on 471 reviews. Phoenix Marriott Tempe at The Buttes Phoenix Marriott Tempe at The Buttes is a 3.5 star hotel located at 2000 W Westcourt Way in Phoenix. It has a 4.0 overall guest rating based on 1453 reviews. Residence Inn by Marriott Phoenix Chandler Fashion Center Residence Inn by Marriott Phoenix Chandler Fashion Center is a 3.5 star hotel located at 200 N Federal St in Phoenix. It has a 4.0 overall guest rating based on 10 reviews. Scottsdale Marriott Suites Old Town Scottsdale Marriott Suites Old Town is a 3.5 star hotel located at 7325 E 3rd Ave in Phoenix. It has a 4.0 overall guest rating based on 488 reviews. Courtyard by Marriott Phoenix West/Avondale Courtyard by Marriott Phoenix West/Avondale is a 3 star hotel located at 1650 N 95th Lane in Phoenix. It has a 4.5 overall guest rating based on 182 reviews. Courtyard by Marriott Scottsdale Old Town Courtyard by Marriott Scottsdale Old Town is a 3 star hotel located at 3311 N Scottsdale Rd in Phoenix. It has a 4.5 overall guest rating based on 161 reviews. Courtyard Phoenix North by Marriott Courtyard Phoenix North by Marriott is a 3 star hotel located at 9631 N Black Canyon Hwy in Phoenix. It has a 4.5 overall guest rating based on 138 reviews. Courtyard Tucson Williams Centre Celebrated by recent guests for its modern amenities and well-kept rooms, Courtyard Tucson Williams Centre is a popular choice among travelers looking for a stress-free stay. This Arizona hotel is within walking distance of local shopping and splits the gap between downtown Tucson and Saguaro National Park. For sun-seekers, the Marriott property offers an outdoor pool and whirlpool, while travelers who are looking to get a workout in can use the on-site fitness center. Additional amenities include a modern lobby with high-tech features and a guest laundry room with coin-operated machines. When it is time to refuel, the hotel offers a casual, on-site restaurant with breakfast and dinner service, as well as a market with to-go items. The contemporary rooms feature flat-screen TVs, minifridges, coffee makers, work desks and complimentary Wi-Fi access (some guests note that air-conditioning units can be loud). Some rooms also offer balconies, and suites have extra living space. What’s more, Marriott Rewards members can earn and receive points during their stays here. Residence Inn by Marriott Glendale Residence Inn by Marriott Glendale is a 3 star hotel located at 7350 N Zanjero Blvd in Phoenix. It has a 4.5 overall guest rating based on 148 reviews. Residence Inn by Marriott North Scottsdale Residence Inn by Marriott North Scottsdale is a 3 star hotel located at 17011 N Scottsdale Rd in Phoenix. It has a 4.5 overall guest rating based on 180 reviews. Residence Inn by Marriott Phoenix Residence Inn by Marriott Phoenix is a 3 star hotel located at 8242 N Black Canyon Hwy in Phoenix. It has a 4.5 overall guest rating based on 448 reviews.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335079
__label__wiki	0.610619	0.610619	Guest op-ed: Gerry McCusker on calls to label media-release-based editorial Gerry McCusker, author of Talespin, (read review and interview) has put to pen to paper and contributed this piece on the latest PR deception story: "Once again, PR smoke-and-mirror-meisters are accused of trying to pass off a Video News Release as genuine news material. This time, it’s Arnie Shwarzz, Shwarezzn…The Terminator-turned-Governor’s people who’re allegedly at it. According to salon.com, “ the Los Angeles Times (subscription required, also covered here) says that Arnie’s admin has circulated a videotape package masquerading as a news report on the governor's proposal to roll back labor regulations that require employers to give their employees half-hour lunch breaks within the first five hours of their shifts. Several California TV stations ran the report as news, offering their viewers a one-sided, government-financed view of Schwarzenegger's proposal. Schwarzenegger's spokesman says the video package is "just like any other press release, only it's on video." But as the LA Times reports, the tape "looks like a news report and is narrated by a former television reporter who now works for the state." As highlighted in my book of PR disasters ‘Talespin’ (p.277) and discussed on many blogs, this isn’t a new – or completely ethical – practice. Former news anchorwoman-cum-PR gal Karen Ryan got rumbled when accused of attempting a similar subterfuge with a piece of US government legislation a few years back. Now I don’t know whether it’s the 35degree heat in Melbourne today, but I’m wondering what the latest fuss is really all about. In practice, don’t press agents and publicists (who still account for a ton of PR’s global output and income) just love it best when their client’s ‘pitch’ or ‘angle’ is represented as real news? Even when strategic PR practitioners handle media relations, don’t they love it, too? But they’ve all got to be worried about where the calls for transparency will end. Basically, more and more people are becoming concerned about media transparency and, of more pressing interest to folks like us, PR’s possible role in obscuring that view. As the USA’s Government Accountability Office again goes on the warpath about pre-packaged news stories that do not clearly identify their governmental source, will their concerns extend to other ‘official bodies’ and, in turn, all media release materials? Can we see the day (would most PR’s really like to see the day?) when all media editorial has to be clearly labelled as emanating from an organisation’s press office or PR representative? And I don’t mean when it’s sent out - I mean when it’s broadcast or printed. Talk round it as we may, but a lot of PR’s (press relations) appeal for client organizations lies in the very way that it manages to slip “under the radar” (Talespin p.315), being re-presented as genuine (and journalistically-endorsed) editorial. Don’t get me wrong; I’m all for transparency and playing fair, but a lot of PR’s still get paid for ‘under the radar’ message communication. And a lot of newsrooms rely on PR briefings and backgrounders to help them shape the stories they put out. But if VNR’s merit such clear labelling, why not press releases? Looking back, some of the proudest moments in my early PR career were when my media release materials got used virtually verbatim. Clients saw that as proof of exerting real influence! Real influence for PR today, however, is ensuring that it gets a seat at the boardroom table." Even on blogs: content is still king Link: Joel Cere on Reputation Protection And Brand Promotion In The Blog Era. While they may purposely downplay the value of network over content to emphasize their point, I would argue that good content is still key to create a good network. Making corporations aware of the ecosystem surrounding them is an excellent thing and many executives will be fascinated to see how messages are relayed and amplified in the blogosphere. The question is what role these corporations want to play in this ecosystem? It obviously depends on their communication needs but most companies are looking to benefit from the... The Ten Most Important Elements of a Corporate Web Site Link: Phenix Rising: Steven Phenix's Blog: The Ten Most Important Elements of a Corporate Web Site. As we public relations people blithely enter this brave new world of corporate blogging and podcasting, perhaps this would be a good time to re-emphasize some basic ground rules regarding corporate communcations and the Internet. Having a corporate web site is now as common as owning a copier or a fax machine. But despite the widespread employment of company sites, the common mistakes I see are, well uh, unfortunately way too common.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335083
__label__wiki	0.525854	0.525854	How to help Rabina Khan’s campaign Posted in Uncategorized, tagged rabina khan on May 21, 2015\| 89 Comments » I thought I’d do my public duty and share the Rabina4Mayor canvassing campaign diary that has been sent to me. The Limhouse ward organising meeting at 7pm tomorrow in the “Limehouse portakabin” sounds fun. If any other candidate would like this service, do get in touch. Thanks. (For comedy, see update at the end of this post). Hello everyone on Glyns list, Sybil has kindly put together this list of activity. – Thanks for helping with Rabina’s campaign. As ever, if you no longer want to receive these emails please let Jackie know. Here is a list of things you can join in with. Leafleting Primary Schools in the mornings and at the end of school is a very good way of talking to people about the issues. At ward level there are meetings in some areas to get the canvassing organised. These are listed below. This weekend: Meet on SATURDAY May 23rd AT 11AM at Chicksand St, London E1 5LD for canvassing in SPITALFIELDS Meet on SUNDAY May 24th AT 11AM for canvassing in STEPNEY (reply to this email for more information) Saturday at 1pm Whitechapel Ideas Store – Defy Austerity demo – bring Banners to protest at Tory Austerity and in defence of Local Democracy. Here are details of Primary Schools and Tube stations to be leafletted. Morning Primary Schools (8.30-9 am) Thursday 21st May Bangabhandu and Stewart Headlam (BG) Friday 22nd May Ben Johnson and Stebon (STE) Tuesday 26th May Blue Gate Fields (SW) AND Marion Richardson (SNY) Weds 27th May Bonner (BG) AND Mayflower (POP) Thurs 28th May Bygrove (POP) AND Old Ford (BOW) Friday 29th May Canon Barnett (Aldgate) AND Olga (ME) Afternoon Primary schools – (3pm – 3.30 pm) Thursday 21st May Chisenhale (Vic Park) AND Thomas Buxton (BG) Friday 22nd May Halley (ME) AND Guardian Angels RC (ME) Tuesday 26th May Columbia (BG) AND Christ Church (BL) Weds 27th May Cubitt Town (POP/isle of dogs) AND Mowlem (BG) AND Wellington (BOW) Thurs 28th May Culloden (POP) AND Old Palace (BOW) Fri 29th May Cyril Jackson AND Osmani AND William Davis Leafleting Tube stations: 5-7 pm Thursday 21st May Bethnal Green Friday 22nd May Mile End Tuesday 26th May Aldgate East Weds 27th May Wapping Thurs 28th May Stepney Green Friday 29th May Poplar Below are Ward organising meetings for these areas Thursday 21st May Venue: Calders Wharf Community Centre E14 3AE Time: 7pm Limehouse portakabin Bromley N & S Time: 6pm Kingsley hall, E3 3HJ Spitalfields and banglatown 28 may at 7pm Montefiore centre, E1 If you would like to help with door to door leafletting and canvassing in your ward or near where you work please email: rabinaformayor@gmail.com to be added to our mailing list. Uh oh…just had this Tweet: The word brewery springs to mind. Two videos of Rabina Khan Posted in Uncategorized, tagged aaron bastani, east london lines, john biggs, lutfur rahman, rabina khan, rushanara aliu on May 20, 2015\| 60 Comments » This extraordinary ‘interview’ with Rabina Khan has been published on YouTube and is being actively promoted on social media by her supporters. The interviewer, Aaron Bastani, is not a journalist but some kind of political activist who runs a media company called Novara Media. The video is six minutes long and worth watching if only for the fun factor. When I watched it I got the impression that even Rabina was a little embarrassed by the softball questioning. “What does it say about Labour that the ‘fightback’ begins against a Left-wing anti-austerity woman?” is Aaron’s penetrating opening gambit. I’ll let you count how many times he asks about the Election Court trial and corruption. Toe-curling. In fact, it took Rabina herself to raise the issue of Lutfur Rahman. “He has his issues, I have my own way of going forward,” she tells Aaron. Aaron, possibly unaware of the careers of Pola Uddin or Rushanara Ali, for example, or that Rabina was the only female councillor in Lutfur’s team, also suggests that Labour has a problem with “Muslim women” who want to progress from being mere “footsoldiers” for the party to becoming leaders in positions of power. Does he have a point? From my many years of following Tower Hamlets politics, I think it’s more to do with a lack of talent to be honest. Male and female. Of all faiths and none. And on that point, I think Rabina would have been cleverer to decline such a fawning interview. Her supporters in the Bengali media are promoting it but I think it just insults the intelligence of the viewer. A second video of Rabina was also published today on eastlondonlines.co.uk, the site run by student journalists at Goldsmiths College. I’m going to be nice to them because they do much good work. And in any case, they don’t pretend it’s an interview. Here it is. In other developments, as predicted, John Biggs has announced he would appoint three deputy mayors: Rachael Saunders, Sirajul Islam and Shiria Khatun. Various people who have been out campaigning tell me that they detect less of a buzz on the doorstep about Rabina compared with Lutfur, but that John will still find it difficult to attract Lutfur voters anyway. I’m also told that many in the Bengali media believe that had Labour selected a Bangladeshi candidate this time, they’d far surer of a win. Tower Hamlets, eh. Guest post by Andy Erlam: ‘This is an opportunity in our lifetime to create outstanding local government in Tower Hamlets’ Posted in Uncategorized, tagged andy erlam, lutfur rahman, red flag anti corruption party, tower hamlets, tower hamlets mayor on May 19, 2015\| 53 Comments » This is a guest post by Andy Erlam, who initiated the election petition that brought down Lutfur Rahman. He is a former Labour ministerial adviser who lives in Bow and who is now standing on behalf of the Red Flag Anti-Corruption Party for the Tower Hamlets mayor election on June 11. By Andy Erlam, ‘the man who makes it happen’ Tower Hamlets has been through a very difficult period, when its local government machine has been in absolute crisis. A local council should simply be a source of help to individuals and the local communities, not a source of irritation, controversy, injustice and sheer dysfunctionality. The problems are not new. “Divide and rule” is the oldest form of repression. The Election Petition High Court judgement, especially the order for new mayoral election, provide a unique opportunity for Tower Hamlets: to build a new high-quality local government machine worthy of the people and controlled by the people. This is an opportunity in our lifetimes to create outstanding local government here in Tower Hamlets. It’s not rocket science but it is very important and it will take many people working together to achieve a transformation of the Council, under a new form of leadership – leadership from the front, co-operative and collaborative leadership and leadership with a clear vision and determination to achieve major results. I am standing for election as not only the mayor of Tower Hamlets but as a new kind of mayor. The people of Tower Hamlets must get back in control of their local council and stay in control. I am making these resolutions now as a benchmark of what will be achieved. I will: Ensure that team-working is adopted universally in council business, in the same way as my cross-party team brought about the defeat of the previous mayor in the High Court in April. When people work together co-operatively so much can be achieved. I will ensure that factional in-fighting is minimised. Ensure that my considerable experience of working in national and international government and in grass-roots community work over many years is applied in the most useful way to our local government, working, of course, as a full-time mayor, with no big political party interfering with my actions. Ensure that the new permanent Chief Executive is encouraged to act under political direction but without political interference, so making the town hall a happy place to work. Ensure that the views of all citizens are recognised, making the maximum possible use of direct democracy and respecting the traditions of the British constitution. Ensure continuous interaction with all councillors, guaranteeing their position as the first point of contact for their supporters. All councillors should be brought into the decision-making processes. Ensure that new forums for the widest range of interest groups and communities must be formed to keep the Council in touch between elections. Ensure that the Cabinet is cross-party made up of councillors from all the political parties and that Cabinet and Council decisions comply with the highest standards of transparency and integrity. Power will be delegated. Ensure that new checks and balances introduced to ensure that the elected mayor is accountable to the Cabinet, the Council and the public. These are needed to ensure good decision-making in the interests of the whole community. Power should be shared with the Cabinet, the whole Council and the whole community. Some believe that the elected mayoral system places too much power in one pair of hands. The arrangements can be modified and Tower Hamlets can return to a more shared system of leadership. All these things need careful review and reform. Ensure, in particular, that the Oversight and Scrutiny Committee of the Council is treated with respect and that the mayor attends regularly and provides as much information and asssitance as possible. With the right relationships, everyone benefits. Ensure that the Council recruits staff from the widest range of people, so as to reflect the communities in a balanced way, including the recruitment of disabled people. Ensure that subsidised public housing is not used as a source of private income or otherwise abused. New systems of accountability to tenants and leaseholders are needed. The role of local social housing providers must be reviewed. Problems and shortcomings must be exposed and dealt with. Ensure a continuing improvement in education by strengthening systems of support and recognising the central role of school governors. Education is about helping children and young people finding their niche in life. Ensure a fresh tradition of trust between the council, the police and the community. The Metropolitan Police have given priority to improving policing in the Borough. The police service should be equally good for all local people. The new local senior police officers are open to reform and improvement. Ensure social cohesion by the strict adoption of a one language policy in all official business, with no sector of society taking preference over any other. Ensure religious independence by removing all political involvement. Ensure that the Borough’s reputation as having on the one hand the second highest average income in the country and on the other, pockets of severe poverty, is reflected by reinvestment in the community, such as supporting more children’s nurseries. Ensure that sensible, focused and appropriate business policies are introduced to foster dialogue with local big employers (e.g. at Canary Wharf) and small and medium-sized companies which have a key role of play in generating wealth and wellbeing. If we are serious about reviving ‘the high street’, then we must put a stop to victimising the customers of local shops through excessively punitive Tower Hamets council parking policies. Ensure the provision of impartial and useful information on council business to all Council taxpayers and stakeholders. Ensure that the government Commissioners, (paid by us), are encouraged to make the most useful contribution to a brand new system of government, especially in the management of grants. Ensure that a confidential “hotline” is established direct through to the mayor for anyone to raise concerns. Ensure that Tower Hamlets Council is transformed with the aim of it becoming known as the most effective and admired local authority in the country. Biggs and mosques, Rabina leaflet trouble, and the return of Rob Hoveman Posted in Uncategorized, tagged giles fraser, john biggs, love wapping, lutfur rahman, mark baynes, rabina khan, rob hoveman on May 17, 2015\| 59 Comments » Three issues. 1. Undue spiritual influence, mosques and John Biggs Tower Hamlets First (I’ll use this name for ease of reference for the time being although they’re banned from using it and in any case it may well be more appropriate to call them the party named in point 3 below) are trying to whip up a frenzy over a visit by John Biggs to a mosque in Roman Road, Bow, on Friday. It was caught on video here: In it you can see Shibbir Choudhury, the mosque’s secretary, welcoming John and informing people that he had committed to make Sirajul Islam his deputy mayor if he wins on June 11. Choudhury appears pleased about this and remarks that John was also responsible way back when for helping the East London Mosque get planning permission. This, he says, was a good thing. For that reason he says “we need to support him”. John says immediately that he doesn’t think “it’s right for anybody to be invited to support a particular candidate in a mosque”. He says, “I’m a Labour candidate and I want you to look into your hearts and vote for whoever you think is the right candidate”. THF have leapt on this to yell “double standards”, a cry that is fast becoming the new “racist/Islamophobia” tag of this particular campaign. In this they have perhaps been egged on by Giles Fraser, a former official of St Paul’s Cathedral who a few years ago wrote a nice piece about the borough while sipping a glass of red wine in a pub across the way from the East London Mosque, and then landed a job from Lutfur as the chair of the Tower Hamlets Fairness Commission. Since then he has been one of Lutfur’s most high profile supporters. In the few weeks since the Election Court judgment he has uttered not a word about six of the guilty verdicts but written hundreds about the other one: undue spiritual influence. I suppose as a priest that’s his area of specialism, although it’s perhaps sadly doubtful in this day and age that he would ever experience that himself. His arguments on this subject have included it’s his human right to express political views. I’m not a lawyer, but I think Richard Mawrey QC’s judgment was more subtle and more complex than that. Bluntly, Mawrey concluded Lutfur had enlisted the chair of the Tower Hamlets Council of Mosques, Shamsul Haque (an unreliable witness, according to the judge) to secure a letter of support from 101 imams. This letter, Mawrey said, came amid a “substantial body of credible evidence that the Imams’ message that it was the duty of faithful Muslims to vote for Mr Rahman”. Mawrey conceded that his judgment would be controversial, and it is. And I’m sure it’s also confusing to those who can’t be bothered or who are unable to comprehend it in full and understand the context. In short, Biggs’s visit and the words of the mosque secretary do not in any way compare with the Election Court example. That said, the THF people will be free to challenge it in an election petition should Biggs win on June 11. However, the episode was enlightening. It shows how politicians do feel the need to visit the mosques to secure votes. I wonder if any ever visit churches on Sundays for their campaigning? As a result of Friday’s incident, Biggs has decided to cancel all further visits to mosques at times of worship. Here’s a statement he sent me yesterday: “Tower Hamlets First are a party devoid of principles and morals – this was well established in the court case. Although they now have to describe themselves as ‘independents’ it looks like nothing has changed. Once again they [have] tried to smear me after I visited a mosque before Friday prayers. It adds to the importance, if any more reason were needed, for the borough to move on from this sort of abuse and I hope we will on June 11. “After yesterday’s attempted smear by THF I have also decided that I will not accept invitations to speak in any of the borough’s mosques or other places of worship at times of worship between now and June 11. This is both to avoid any misrepresentation of me and also to avoid any of our places of worship being dragged into the election campaign. They should always have an independence and dignity separate from daily politics. I have always respected this but clearly my opponents do not. “I would of course be happy to meet with representatives from places of worship who, quite rightly, may want to hear from me as the election approaches on issues of interest to them and their members.” 2. Leafletgate Mark Baynes, who runs the Love Wapping blog, has done some excellent, good old-fashioned on-the-ground reporting. This account of his here is a must read. Mark lives on the Green Bank estate in Wapping and noticed yesterday that a man was distributing Tower Hamlets Homes leaflets. It’s assumed this man was acting for Tower Hamlets Homes, which is the council’s arms-length housing body on which Rabina Khan’s election agent Ghulam Robbani sits as a board director. But it wasn’t just THH leaflets he was delivering to people’s homes: he was giving lucky residents a Brucie Bonus in the form of Rabina4Mayor leaflets as well. Clearly, this has the potential to be a serious issue and a possible breach of election law. Mark quickly got out his iPhone and recorded the guy at work. Here’s his video: And here are Mark’s stills of the leafleter. Mark quite rightly reported it to the police immediately and they told him they are looking into it. The man has not yet been identified, but Mark has preserved many of the leaflets for forensics. Both Rabina Khan and Oliur Rahman took to Twitter to say they’ve been “framed”, that it is all a stitch-up and the result of dirty tricks. They also have informed the police. They have not yet said who they think is responsible but one can only assume they think it’s their political opponents. I have no knowledge of leaflet situation and suspect a stitch-up; my team haven’t canvassed Wapping yet @LoveWapping@TedJeory — Rabina Khan (@RabinaKhan) May 17, 2015 @LoveWapping @TedJeory team have absolutely no knowledge of who this alleged canvasser is, in fact we have yet to canvass Wapping. 1of2 — Oliur Rahman (@CllrOliurRahman) May 16, 2015 @LoveWapping@TedJeory We can only assume this is an absurd attempt at a frame-up.We have reported this to police and returning officer 2of2 The police are sure to get to the bottom of it, but I must say, even by Tower Hamlets’ standards it really would be a very thick dirty tricks campaign: Mark Baynes has been known to photograph questionable Tower Hamlets Homes leafleters there before. Richard Mawrey in his judgment made some important points about who were Lutfur’s agents in the wider legal sense in the 2014 campaign. If this leafleter is a Rabina supporter, her team would have to show he was rogue and acting alone. Both he and they would have to explain how he got hold of hundreds of her leaflets. This could be a significant issue. If anyone recognises the leafleter, please email me (please do not name him in any comments on this blog). 3. The return of Rob Hoveman Rob, the man in the middle (a rare place for him), has been George Galloway’s very left leaning right hand man for a decade. Between 2005 and 2010, he ran Galloway’s constituency office in Club Row and then moved up to Bradford, where he had a holiday home, when George found another seat for a while. He’s a phenomonally good operator and loathes Labour with the same passion that he has for classical music and Hornby trains. Following the collapse of the Bradford Spring last month, Rob, who lives in Bethnal Green, might well be in search of a new job. He knows his way around the town hall, having once been Respect’s part-time political adviser at Mulberry Place. I wonder whether he could be the next Murziline Parchment as a possible head of Mayor Rabina’s office. If so, watch this space for Abjol Miah, the only Respect councillor he had any real time for. The Mystery of Rabina Khan’s Wikipedia page and Mela trouble for Shiraj Haque Posted in Uncategorized, tagged aminur khan, boishakhi mela, john biggs, lutfur rahman, martin smith, rabina khan, robin wales, shiraj Haque, stephen halsey on May 16, 2015\| 52 Comments » Firstly, thank you to the new wind blowing through East End Life (and to the reader who spotted it) for providing me with a new banner photo for this blog. Historic. Secondly, good luck to all the candidates for the bust-up on June 11. Peter Golds was selected as the Tory candidate on Monday after a hustings at the Bow Belles pub in Bow Road. He secured 33 votes against seven for the only other candidate Ahmed Hussain. Ahmed’s pitch was that the Tory party needed to show more that it can and does reach out to the Bengali community. It’s worth noting that he’s taken much flak from people he had considered friends for siding with the Conservatives and he has played an important role in recent events over at the Royal Courts of Justice. Fortune favours the brave. This is the full list of candidates as per the close of nominations on Thursday afternoon: The candidates in the post-Alibor Choudhury Stepney Green by-election are: [Abu Chowdhury is the neo-Tower Hamlets First candidate. His LinkedIn profile is here. He used to be a caseworker in Lutfur’s office, his dad is a boss at the notorious London Bangla ‘newspaper’ , and worst of all he appears to be a Chelsea supporter. Anyway, good luck to him.] Thirdly, over the coming days, Andy Erlam, John Biggs and Rabina Khan will be writing articles here explaining why they’re standing and what improvements they’d like to make to the way the council is run in the wake of the Lutfur Rahman eviction. Rabina’s article will hopefully explain why she’s insisting she’s not a “puppet” of Lutfur Rahman and very much her own woman, yet at the same time plastering his face all over her election leaflets (and engaging the dodgy invoice writer Cllr Ghulam Rabbani as her election agent, and appearing to fail to disclose who is promoting her leaflets and her campaign website): Fourthly, there seems to be something of an edit war going on over Rabina Khan’s Wikipedia page. It’s had an awful lot of attention this month and as a result, it has this warning at the top: There is a discussion about this among the Wikipedia editors here. One editor has questioned whether she, as a mere councillor, is actually “notable” enough to have a Wiki page. The neutrality warning works both ways of course: it can apply as a warning to her or her supporters, for example, or to her enemies. Either way, over the past two weeks entries that have been critical of her have been added and removed several times. The edit warring has been taking place, not surprisingly, over the section ‘Political career’. As of Saturday morning (today), this is how it stood: Electoral corruption In April 2015 following the discharging of office of the former Mayor of Tower Hamlets Lutfur Rahman, Khan along with the remaining 17 Tower Hamlets First councillors were all named by Commissioner Richard Mawrey QC as being elected to Tower Hamlets Council as a result of corrupt and illegal practices. At various other times references to her husband Cllr Aminur Khan’s association with the IFE have been added and deleted. The same also applies to the taxi bills that Rabina racked up and which were later reported here on this blog. The following sentence has made its way on to the Wiki page, only to be deleted repeatedly within hours: In February 2013 Khan was widely critized for her use of taxi’s at taxpayer’s expense whilst apparently undertaking duties as a councilor. On one occasion Khan billed the taxpayer for £120 for a journey of just 1.5 miles.[20] The reference number 20 at the end of that sentence is to the piece I wrote on this blog in 2013. Despite those figures coming directly from council papers, a Wikipedia editor stated that wasn’t a strong enough source and deleted the entry. All this can be seen in the Revision History of Rabina’s wiki page here. In total, there have been 65 edits since April 25 when it was clear that Rabina would become Lutfur’s nomination. So who’s been behind all these edits? The revision history gives us a few IP addresses. One, which has been adding in some of the critical stuff, ie 91.213.110.4, is Tower Hamlets council IP address. So this is someone who works there. This IP address also matches an account called A Wikia Contributor at the London Birders Club. And on Wikipedia, this IP address has also been responsible for deleting information from the Wikipedia page of Labour councillor Shiria Khatun. I don’t know who this is and the IP address has never left a comment on this blog. A couple of the other IP addresses listed on the revision history as having added in critical sections about Rabina also match IP addresses that have left comments on this blog before. Again, I don’t know the real names behind these people. One of the most active critics has been a Wiki user called OneTowerHamlets, whose IP address details do not appear. Perhaps someone can help me with that. Those who have been deleting the critical comments on Wikipedia fall into two categories: responsible Wiki editors who are trying to determine what’s accurate or not, e.g. PatGallacher; and those who have only a very recent Wikipedia editing account. One of those falling into the latter category complained that the taxi fares were being cited from a blog. They suggested this was against Wikipedia rules. Seems a silly rule to me. This same user was warned by another Wikipedia regular that their IP address appeared to be “very close to the individual in question”, ie Rabina. The mystery of it all, eh? Politicos seem obsessed with editing Wikipedia. Such strange people. Interestingly, of the challengers from the two other main parties in Tower Hamlets, only John Biggs has a Wikipedia entry. It’s small and straightforward (could make a Biggs campaign logo that possibly…). Peter Golds, meanwhile, appears in another person’s Wiki entry – that of Norma Major. Here: I wonder if Peter could persuade Sir John Major to bring his soap box for a bit of campaigning. Meanwhile, tomorrow it’s the Boishakhi Mela in Victoria Park. Le merde could be about to hit the fan on the running of that event…again. The Commissioners at a public meeting at the town hall this week decided to reject a £75,000 request for a council grant/subsidy because they were unhappy that fully audited accounts had not yet been provided for previous years and because of concerns the Mela was becoming too much of a commercial venture. The man behind the Mela of course is our old friend, Shiraj Haque…Lutfur Rahman’s backer. He lost control of it in 2007 following a damning audit report commissioned by then council chief executive Martin Smith (would he ever return??) and then leader Denise Jones. After Lutfur became Mayor, Shiraj was able to take charge again (with the blessing of Stephen Halsey). In the past couple of years, the trust/charity that runs the Mela (let’s see if the Charity Commission have a closer look at that arrangement) had more luck with its grant applications. In 2012, Lutfur gave it £180,000, in 2013 £170,000 and last year £100,000. The latter two amounts came from the infamous £954k slush fund identified by the PwC auditors last year. The Commissioners will no doubt be blamed by some if as a result the Mela trust falls into the red, but good for them for being tough. Senior officers should have had more balls in the past. The Mela is a great event and it’s right that it’s given the use of Victoria Park for free (a cost worth £25,000). The problem is with the people running it. I’m sure it’s not just me who’d like to see a full forensic audit carried out. Perhaps the council should just run it entirely again. After all, Sir Robin Wales runs a successful Mayor’s Day in Newham every year. Meanwhile, the council continues to deflect any questions over scrutiny. Here’s a Freedom of Information request that I asked on this earlier this year. FOI 11843 Boishakhi Mela Please supply all documentation, but primarily third party invoices, provided by the trust responsible for the Boishakhi Mela to support /justify its receipt of council money. I’d also like to see the trust’s detailed accounts. This request relates to four years: 2011-14. For example, in the case of the security company used for Mela, I’d like to see all invoices submitted by the hired contractor. I’d like to see the results of any council post-audit of its grants to the mela for each of those years. In 2011 the Mela was run by the council and there is therefore no trust involved or information falling under the scope of this request. For 2012 and 2013, invoices are held by externally commissioned auditors and we have asked for these to be provided to us. I will contact you once they are received. The invoices for 2014 are not yet collected. The audit report for 2012 has been completed and is held by the Council However the Council is of the view that this is exempt from disclosure under section 41 of the FOI Act 2000, as information provided in confidence. The audit report disclosure would constitute a breach of confidence actionable by the author of that information. The Terms of Business under which the report was commissioned stipulate that that the report is confidential and for the exclusive use [of the Council] and must be used solely, for the purpose described in the Engagement Letter. Disclosure of the audit report would, therefore, constitute an actionable breach of confidence and the Council could be subject to claim for breach of contract as such. Section 41 is an absolute exemption. It is also considered that section 40(2) would also be applicable to parts of the audit report as it contains personal data. The requested information is (or contains) the personal data of other people. Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act sets out an exemption for third party data if disclosure of the information to a member of the public otherwise than under FOIA would contravene any of the data protection principles. The first data protection principles states that we can only disclose the personal data if to do so would be fair, lawful and meet one of the conditions in Schedule 2 of the DPA. This means that, if the disclosure would not be fair, the information must not be disclosed. It is considered that the provision of this information would not be fair as the person it relates to would not expect the information to be released in this way. This is an absolute exemption and the information cannot be provided to you. Furthermore, the Council is of the view that it’s disclose is also exempt under Section 43 as its disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of the Trust, auditors and the Council. This is because the report contains detailed information relating to the governance structure and accounting/banking arrangements of the Trust. It could, in our opinion, be prejudicial to the Trust’s commercial interests if this information was disclosed to a third party. Appendix 2 to the Report contains the Auditors Engagement Letter and thus sets out the confidential terms on which they agreed to perform the services for the Council. It contains details of the fee, engagement team and other terms of engagement. Such information is commercially sensitive and in the hands of a competitor is likely to cause prejudice in terms of tendering for future work. This is a qualified exemption, and in considering the Public Interest the Council has weighed up the factor in favour of disclosure which are: • further the understanding of, and participation in the debate of issues of the day; • facilitate the accountability and transparency of public authorities for decisions taken by them; • allow individuals to understand decisions made by public authorities affecting their lives and, in some cases, assist individuals in challenging those decisions; On the other hand, the council has considered * the impact on the commercial interest of Trust, auditors and the Council * the need to obtain value for money which is likely to be compromised by disclosure * the audit offers scrutiny and accountability to the process in accordance with the contract I am sorry but based on these three exemptions we are unable to disclose the information requested The 2013 audit is yet to be completed and the 2014 audit has not yet commenced. The Trusts detailed accounts are not held by the Council and are the property of the Trust. You can access their published accounts at Companies House	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335084
__label__wiki	0.97866	0.97866	The Express Tribune > Pakistan > Sindh MQM-P’s demand for a new province in Sindh is a conspiracy, says Kamal PSP leader reminds party's leaders that two-thirds majority is required to pass a bill in the assembly By Our Correspondent PSP leader reminds party's leaders that two-thirds majority is required to pass a bill in the assembly. PHOTO: FILE HYDERABAD: The Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) Chairperson Syed Mustafa Kamal has said that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan’s (MQM-P) demand for a new province in Sindh is a conspiracy to incite a clash between the Sindhis and Urdu-speaking people in the province. “But the PSP won’t let this conspiracy materialise,” he asserted while speaking at an Iftar dinner in Hyderabad on Sunday night. He said the people of Sindh welcomed and embraced the Urdu speaking people after the migration like the Ansar of Madina had welcomed the people of Makkah. Mocking the MQM-P, he said that a party which often complained that its mayor in Karachi even lacked the authority to clean drains and dispose of solid waste is talking about creating a new province. Kamal reminded the party’s leaders that two-thirds majority in the assembly is required to pass a bill in this regard. MQM-P to table bill in NA for new province “They couldn’t even resolve the problem of Martin Quarters which only requires the signature of Prime Minister Imran Khan.” Similarly, he added, the MQM-P banged the drums against the population census of 2017 but while sitting as coalition partner in the federal government, it has apparently forsaken the issue. Kamal said that the MQM-P’s threat of quitting the coalition is also a shallow warning. Commenting on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government, he said that the present system had failed to deliver. “Like a computer is rebooted if it gets hanged, the system also needs a reboot.” He lamented that hundreds of thousands of people have become redundant in the first eight months of the PTI’s government while the household expenditures have spiralled up exponentially. “The previous governments are blamed for the existing situation. The previous rulers were bad but you [Khan] had come to bring the change then why couldn’t you rectify the things in the country?” he questioned the PM. Kamal also advised Khan to rise above the political differences with Pakistan Peoples Party’s Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah as the latter says without his cooperation the centre cannot execute development projects in the province. “Khan should demonstrate magnanimity and talk to the Sindh CM for the sake of the province.” The PSP chairperson also advised National Accountability Bureau Chairperson justice (r) Javed Iqbal to step down and allow an impartial probe over his conversation with a woman which surfaced in a video on the social media. Kamal proposed that Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad be developed as model cities of Pakistan especially by giving them an autonomous administrative system. The PSP’s President Anis Qaimkhani, Shabbir Qaimkhani, Ashfaq Mangi and other leaders were also present. Published in The Express Tribune, May 28th, 2019. Read more: Latest , Mustafa Kamal , new province Mustafa Kamal wants govt to finalise PFC alongside the NFC PSP chief says 18th Amendment has failed to benefit the masses NAB to file referrence against Mustafa Kamal SHC informed that Kamal and 11 others had illegally alloted 5,000 square feet of coast land PSP to commemorate foundation day Pak Sarzameen Party will mark its third founding day in Hyderabad on March 23 More in Sindh Peshawari and Balochi footwear trending this Eid	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335085
__label__wiki	0.505305	0.505305	Youtube Facebook-f Linkedin The Australian Business Executive Magazine Higgins Coatings: Seventy years young Australia’s premier painting solution provider, family-run company Higgins Coatings has been servicing a broad range of industries for Admedus (ASX:AHZ): The small-cap medical company disrupting aortic heart valve technology Since taking the helm of Admedus Ltd. in 2017, CEO, Wayne Paterson has steered the ASX small-cap company Vaughan Constructions: Building customers for life For over 60 years, Vaughan Constructions have been pioneers of Australia’s ever-developing architectural landscape, and have grown to Network Pacific Strata Management: Value-added services In operation since 1994, Network Pacific Strata Management is one of Australia’s largest and most successful strata management Newstart Homes and Chapcon Design & Construct: Covering residential and commercial construction Chapcon Design & Construct prides itself on delivering quality outcomes and value for its clients. 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__label__cc	0.628256	0.371744	Book Review: Vengeance by Sloane Kennedy Posted on October 11, 2016 by thebloggergirls Title: Vengeance Author: Sloane Kennedy Series: The Protectors #5 Heroes: Memphis/Brennan/Tristan Genre: MMM Contemporary Publisher: Sloane Kennedy Blurb: Memphis At thirty-four years old, ex-DEA agent Memphis Wheland has lived, loved and lost…everything. The ultimate betrayal by the man he gave everything to has left Memphis with no family, no career and a bone deep bitterness that refuses to release him from its icy grip. His work with an underground vigilante organization is the only light in his otherwise bleak existence. That and the occasional no-strings hookup with men whose only focus in that moment, and for as long as Memphis wants them, is him and only him. No clingy exes, no unrequited love, no relationship drama. Period. Because Memphis has one rule that he won’t break for anyone or anything. He doesn’t share. Now if only someone had told that to the young man who would come into his life in the most unexpected way… With his entire life ahead of him, graduate student Brennan Devereaux wasn’t expecting it to change in the blink of an eye. But when a case of mistaken identity nearly costs Brennan his life, it isn’t just his future that’s about to change, but his past too. Because for years he’s been in love with a young man who only sees him as a friend and nothing more. And while he was content to love Tristan Barretti from afar, he hadn’t expected to be drawn to the mysterious stranger who saved his life and changed it with a simple promise. I’m not letting you go. They were words spoken in the heat of the moment as the darkness of death had threatened to claim him, but even as Brennan’s love for Tristan refuses to wane, his need for the intriguing Memphis Wheland continues to grow. But any relationship with Memphis means he has to let go of the one thing in his life he’s always valued above everything else… At nineteen, Tristan Barretti should have had the world at his feet. His musical gifts have garnered him prestige as well as admission to the famed Julliard School in New York and he has a family that most people would kill for. But the protective bubble his fathers have kept him in has burst and he’s discovered that life outside his unconditionally loving family isn’t as accepting of a kid born with HIV. A poor decision to find answers to questions better left unasked, along with the complications of living with his disease, have Tristan returning to Seattle and the solace of his family. And to the young man he’s wanted from the time he was barely old enough to even understand what that meant. But with an uncertain future that leaves him nothing to offer the gorgeous and successful Brennan Devereaux, Tristan knows the best he can hope for is to keep building on the friendship they’ve shared for years and not get his hopes up that Brennan will be the one man who sees him and not his disease. Except all bets are off when danger follows him home… Even though a physical relationship with Brennan was supposed to be just that, Memphis finds himself unable to refuse his young lover’s request to help put a stop to the threat against Tristan. Even knowing full well that Brennan’s heart lies with the man he claims is nothing more than a friend, Memphis accepts the challenge of ensuring Tristan’s safety. But when the quiet music student stops being a “job” and starts being something much more, Memphis is torn between his growing feelings for both young men and the fear that he’ll be facing an even greater betrayal that he’ll never be able to come back from. Except none of that matters when the threat that Memphis never saw coming puts Brennan and Tristan in the crosshairs. And the cost of the vengeance he once craved suddenly comes at too high a price… Review: This is a great series that all basically carry the same theme – damaged and jaded alpha male falls for damaged younger guy(s). This installment is similar but with a few added elements that change the story up a bit. They are all really enjoyable, though this was my least favorite of the series so far. It could be read on its own, but the characters are all connected, so there is definitely some backstory you’d miss by doing so. Memphis is the tough-as-nails mercenary who saved Brennan in the previous book. Brennan is friends with Eli, who was the actual target when Brennan was shot. This story takes place not long after that took place. Brennan is healed now and finds he has an even bigger interest in Memphis after meeting him again under different circumstances. Memphis is extremely jaded after his last relationship and is not looking to enter into another one. But, Brennan is persistent and it pays off. The two carry on a sex-only (one of Memphis’ many rules) relationship, but little by little, it grows into more. In the meantime, Brennan’s friend Tristan moves back to share an apartment with him. Tristan is the adopted son of Dom and Logan who was born HIV positive. He and Brennan have been friends for ages, though Brennan has had a crush on him for much of that time. Brennan pretty much gave up any idea of them being more believing Tristan to be straight. Such is not the case though, and when Brennan finds out Tristan is gay, it puts a bit of a wrench in things since Brennan realizes he is in love with Memphis as well. Memphis and Tristan start bonding after Brennan brings Tristan to Memphis after he is attacked by thugs after his bio-dad. There is a bit of drama and excitement surrounding that, and quite a bit more when Memphis’ evil ex returns causing trouble. That part felt a bit over the top and unnecessary to me, but it was that event which set things in motion for them to all really come together. There were a few things that gave me some trouble with this book. First and foremost was the age issue. Tristan is only 19, Dom is 34, and Brennan is somewhere in between though closer to Tristan’s age. I don’t mind May/December relationships, but one of the MCs being that young was hard for me. Surprisingly enough, Tristan was more often the most mature of the three. It was hard not to feel for his character, having been dealt a really crappy card right from birth, followed by a more crappy upbringing and an even crappier father. Thankfully, he was adopted by two amazing dads who did everything in their power to make Tristan’s life better. I think a side effect of the age gap issue made it difficult for me to really feel the connection between Memphis and Tristan. One minute, Tristan is a naive young man, the next, he’s in love with someone he barely knows. It isn’t until late in the story that Memphis finally opens up more to them about his life. Brennan is definitely the solid center of this sandwich with a strong connection to Memphis and Tristan. As with the previous books, it is well written and easy to read. It keeps you engaged until the end and leaves you excited for the next book. Speaking of, boy does the next one look exciting. Dante and Magnus are up, and both are a little older, both alpha males, and if the sneak peak at the end of Vengeance is anything to go by, it looks like it will be full of hot and steamy, dirty talking goodness. I can’t wait! Overall Impression: I liked it I received a copy of this book from the author in return for a fair and honest review. Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2016 \| Tags: Age Gap, Anxiety, Contemporary, Damaged Characters, Evil Ex, First-Time, Friends to Lovers, Guilt, HIV positive character, Hurt/Comfort, injury/recovery, kidnapped, M/M/M, May/December, Men with pets, Menage, Mercenary, Musician, Panic Attacks, Rape, Series - The Protectors, Sloane Kennedy, The Blogger Girls, Vengeance \| Leave a comment	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335096
__label__wiki	0.50374	0.50374	Tags: PlayStation, playstation plus, PS, ps plus, ps4, sony Here’s What Is Coming To PS Plus In May 2019 For USA and Europe Ali Haider May 1, 2019 PS Plus users can enjoy these two new free games that will be available on their subscription service starting in May 2019. This is a completely different games lineup from PS Plus Asia and Japan, where the two games are Metal Gear Survive, Darksiders: Warmastered Edition, and The Witness. For those who have a PS Plus subscription either in the United States or Europe, they will have to make do with Overcooked! and What Remains of Edith Finch. Both of these games are quite excellent in their own right. Read More: PlayStation Hungary Is Teasing Some Special News Coming Soon For PS Plus Subscribers Overcooked! is a fun co-op puzzle game that involves cooking but without all the tedious preparation that comes with it. What Remains of Edith Finch is a narrative-focused first-person story game that tells the tragic story of the Finch family. Both of these are quite solid games on their own for PlayStation Plus subscribers. If you have bought PS+ subscription recently, Sony actually reduced the number of games by removing the free offer for PS3 and PS Vita, so instead of six games every month, now PS+ subscribers can only get two of them for their PS4. Sony still hasn’t managed to improve the quality of their PlayStation Plus free games lineup despite reducing the number of games, but most will say that quality is subjective. All of these games will be available on the PS Plus subscription service beginning on May 6th. You can grab them either through the official PlayStation Store or by purchasing them directly from the PlayStation 4. Source (PlayStation) Ali Haider Ali Haider loves to dabble in multimedia projects. He has a passion for editing and managing YouTube videos and loves writing in his spare time. Days Gone Update 1.07 Hotfix Removes Auto-Save Changes Crash Team Racing Nitro Re-Fueled File Size Confirmed For Xbox One PlayStation 4 Will Reportedly Support DualShock 5 Controller Ali Haider January 17, 2020 Get Free PS4 Avatar and Theme Along With Yearly 2019 Stats Salal Awan January 14, 2020 Sony PlayStation Decides To Pull Out of E3 Again This Year PS4 Sales Pass 106 Million Worldwide, Reach New Milestone Salal Awan January 7, 2020 Monster Hunter World CPU Utilization Issue Fixed With An Update Gaming, News Dreams ESRB Rating Includes Description of Playable Demos Nintendo Switch To Get New 2D Metroid and Paper Mario This Year – Rumor Days Gone Is The Only PS4 Exclusive Best Selling Game In 2019 According To NPD TwistedVoxel Copyright © 2018 All Rights Reserved	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335102
__label__cc	0.504415	0.495585	Tales from the Marvel Lake House: August 8th, 2018 Posted by Jeffrey Ketcham \| Feb 25, 2019 \| Features, Tales from the Marvel Lake House \| 0 \| Reporting from the shores of a subterranean lake in a neighboring chamber to the Ziggurat, it’s your weekly Tales from the Marvel Lake House: August 8th, 2018! So this week, everyone’s favorite conservative Ken doll, Mike Pence launched space force, because apparently immigrants come from space too. Rumors are circulating that Idris Elba could be our next 007, and a man stole a jetliner from Seattle Int’l Airport. So I hope things are calmer 6 months from now. In this week’s batch of books from the House of Ideas, it seems that secret identities coming to life are all the rage. Daredevil #606 Phil Noto cover Daredevil #606 Published: August 8th, 2018 Writer: Charles Soule Penciler: Phil Noto Cover Artist: Phil Noto Your Solicit: Spinning out of the events of THE HUNT FOR WOLVERINE: WEAPON LOST, a nightmare Matt Murdock never knew he’d have has come true — MIKE MURDOCK IS FLESH AND BLOOD IN THE MARVEL UNIVERSE! Now, there’s someone running around with Matt Murdock’s face, which can only spell trouble for the Mayor Without Fear! Spinning out of the vestigial organ of an event that was the Hunt for Wolverine, this is actually a pretty good little back-to-basics story. If it weren’t for the last page reveal, I was almost hoping this could be a return to form for the book. Phil Noto’s art was next level and reminded me of a blend of great DD artists of the past with a little something new thrown in. The hook with Hammerhead trying to make his heist as noisy and noticeable as possible was an interesting twist. The inclusion of McGee and Reader from the Inhumans was interesting, though I do wish the meeting of DD and a fellow blind character wasn’t marred by the whole secret identity retcon thing. Speaking of secret identities, the final page reveal that Matt’s other alter-ego Mike Murdock is a completely separate living person was interesting, if not a little stuntish. It’ll be somewhat interesting to see where Soule takes it, though if his track record is anything to go by with this arc, the first 2/3rds of this book are the closest we’re going to get to a return to form. I hope in the future we get a reboot with someone like Kelly Sue DeConnick, or hell, let’s see if Marvel can answer DC for the Bendis steal and poach Tom Taylor for a run on ol’ Horn Head. Buy it for the first 2/3rds of the book, Leave it for the final reveal. Amazing Spider-Man #3 Ryan Ottley cover The Amazing Spider-Man (2018) #3 Writer: Nick Spencer Penciler: Ryan Ottley Cover Artist: Ryan Ottley Your Solicit: Things are crazy for Spider-Man. His personal life in turmoil AND the giant TRI-SENTINEL has returned to attack NYC! My screenwriting teacher in college used to say of stories with too much lead-up, “Man, that house has a long front porch.” While we’re only three issues into Spencer’s run, I’m starting to wonder if we’re ever going to see the house. There’s the strangely reminiscent reveal of Spidey and Peter being separated. I feel like though we get some detail on how they were separated, Spencer’s weird use of flashback and flash-forward, coupled with some strange non-sequitur panels by Ottley and crew, make the story muddled. I know many were worried about Spencer taking on the character. I was hopeful, as I was a fan of the Deadly Foes book and this arc being titled Back to Basics was a sign we were getting more of that kind of thing. However, this stunt of separating Spidey and Peter feels stuntish and frankly, for Spidey, old hat. Couple that with the Mike Murdock reveal in DD and I’m just left scratching my head. Usually, I’m a fan of occasionally siloing the ground level heroes to deal with their own things, but I really feel like Spencer and Soule could’ve talked to each other here. Overall, Nick Spencer has given us a more familiar Spidey with the return of the Parker Luck, but more cloning shenanigans may be just more of the same. Even the hope of Ottley coming off of his run on Invincable has felt lackluster here. Skim It. Champions #23 RB Silva cover Champions (2016) #23 Writer: Jim Zub Penciler: Francesco Manna, Kevin Libranda Cover Artist: R.B. Silva Your Solicit: While Ironheart and Amadeus Cho take major steps forward in their super hero journeys, Nova takes a step back. As the team faces a complicated and dangerous threat, Sam Alexander wonders: is there a future for him with the Champions? I usually like to have at least one book that I enjoyed to talk about, and this book has yet to disappoint. Jim Zub has an excellent feel for these characters. He’s done an excellent job of giving them a unique purpose beyond being the ‘Kid-Avengers’ or some other B-team. Their focus and aim are different than the other teams mostly due to Ms. Marvel’s influence. Zub’s inclusion of the Inuit character Snowguard gives a good magic counterpoint to the science-heavy team members like Amadeus, Nadia, and Riri. The inclusion of Man-thing in this issue is a clever way to approach Viv Vision’s issues with emotion, something that definitely seems to run in her family. The art from Manna and Libranda is dynamic and delightfully messy, giving a chaotic feel in the actions scenes while still being clear in the storytelling. In a time when there seems to be a dearth of fun books from Marvel, Zub and Co. on Champions never disappoint. Buy it. Jeffrey Ketcham is a writer of imaginative fiction in comics and prose. Otherwise, he’s been a professional musician, barista, bartender, and musical instrument repairman. He’s an unabashed geek and aficionado of all things comic books, dogs, genre fiction, good coffee, and Irish whiskey. PreviousSharkey the Bounty Hunter #1 Review NextHigh Level #1 Review Thank God It’s Wednesday 12/18/19 + Pressing Matters #3 Tales from the Marvel Lake House: April 5th, 2017 Tales from the Marvel Lake House: September 5th-12th, 2018 THN Road Trip: Big City Suburbs — Chicago	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335103
__label__wiki	0.689619	0.689619	Tyson Adams Blog Topic Too Serious Sciency Mythtaken Tag: Luther TV that entertained me in 2014 The small screen has continued to gain ground on the big screen in 2014, producing entertainment that is better written, produced, acted and engaging. Sorry, is it still a small screen at 50 inches? Living hours away from the nearest cinema, TV, or at least the streaming version via my internet, is my go to pass time outside of reading. And like my lists of movies and music that have entertained me this year, TV has had a stella year. It is easy to forget how cool 24 was, especially with later seasons feeling a bit too recycled. But this shorter season was a return to form for Jack Bauer, reminding people why this show was such a success. Plus, I don’t think we have enough people being tortured on TV these days. Suffered from the Firefly syndrome. Another sci-fi show on Fox that had episodes shown out of order, wasn’t given a proper time slot, and was cancelled before really finding its footing. I’ve written before about Almost Human and what it could have been. Pity. There aren’t too many successful cartoon shows for adults that haven’t tried to be a Simpsons clone. Archer blasted into the world with a different style, especially in the humour department. So it was a pity that the Archer Vice season wasn’t up to the normal standard. There was plenty of humour, but not own it on Blu-Ray like the previous 4 seasons. After following this show for the first two seasons I was looking forward to more action-drama from Arrow. Oh, and abs, CW is the abs network after all. Two episodes into season 3 and I’ve decided to not bother anymore. The second season of Banshee had a high bar to jump over after such a fantastic first season. Things have only become more complicated, more violent and more naked. Awesome. Season 2 did have a slower pace, but the payoff was there every time. Can’t wait for season 3 in a few weeks. Meh. Actually I’ll elaborate: David S Goyer should be kept away from comic book adaptations (still love Blade 1-3). I have enjoyed this series as it managed to steer clear of a number of sci-fi and time travel pitfalls. The third season continued to entertain but started to make leaps in the story that seemed too convenient. With a fourth and final season announced, whilst the creators were planning 7 to 10 seasons, it is clear that they curtailed a few arcs. Sometimes when a series is cancelled after one season you have committed an atrocity against television, such as Firefly. Other times you can see why it happened. Crisis was interesting enough a premise, had good enough performances, but too much of the show felt bland and lifeless. Also, much like Legends, there were too many lazy film-making moments, such as the exposition scenes that are only there for the audience and completely unnatural for the characters. Still, kept me entertained when my toddler refused to let me hold a book in front of my face that wasn’t Hairy Maclary. By any measure this show should suck. Aliens on Earth, post-apocalypse civilisation, CGI that doesn’t rival some of the stuff on YouTube, and a home on SyFy. Yet Grant Bowler, Tony Curren, Jamie Murray and Julie “Darla” Benz head up a cast that make this show work. The writers keep a nice balance of wit, action, intrigue and drama flowing, without letting things become cheesy. All in all, an enjoyable show. This show is a sequel to the terrible movie Legion. But it stars Anthony Stewart “Giles” Head and received a lot of promos during Defiance, so I gave it a go. Dominion has a more interesting premise than Defiance, but has less interesting characters, less impressive performances – bordering on wooden at times – and a plot that creates pointless conflicts. SyFy fans will probably love this one. I have to admit that I DVR’d Fargo and only really watched the first few episodes. That speaks more to my time spent watching recorded or live TV as opposed to streaming shows than it does about Fargo. At some point I will be bothered enough to flick through all of those menus to retrieve the recorded shows and watch what struck me as a cool show. In the meantime, streaming is awesome. Immortals, zombies, biological warfare, remote Arctic location, and scientists with really terrible autopipette technique: this show has it all. Jack Irish: Dead Point The third in the Peter Temple series of TV movies starring Guy Pierce was another winner. Peter Temple is one of Australia’s finest authors, so it is no surprise that his books are being turned into movies. I really enjoyed this series. There are few shows that can claim to have impressed their audience so much that the author of the source material decides he needs to join the writing team. Justified is filled with great writing, great performances, and witty banter, enough to make Elmore Leonard proud. The new and final season arrives in January and I will be watching. John Oliver made the successful transition from The Daily Show to swearing friendly HBO. You’d have to have been living under a rock (in internet terms) to have missed seeing one of John’s fantastic segments this year. There was no subject too hard nor too grim for the Last Week Tonight team to cover. As a result another comedy show has handed out a lesson in how journalism can and should be done (hint: it starts with doing some bloody research!!). Sean Bean doesn’t die in this show. Which is a shame. Legends is an annoying show as it flits between moments of greatness, such as Sean’s performance as an undercover operative who takes on different personalities for investigations, and then moments of sheer inept laziness. This could have been so much better. Shaun Micallef is as close to Jon Stewart as we have in Australia. Mad As Hell is his ongoing satire of the week in news and 2014 has probably been his best yet. Off the wall and often forgoing the obvious jokes, this show deserves a bigger audience. An offbeat Aussie crime drama, Old School didn’t quite wow me. Sam Neill and Bryan Brown work well together, the premise is good, if unoriginal, and the producers didn’t try to drag it out for too many episodes in the season. But it really didn’t rise above average entertainment. A friend introduced me to this fabulous show late this year. I cannot say enough good things about it. Cillian Murphy and Sam Neill are fantastic actors, but unlike some shows, the entire cast are great as well. Cillian may well establish himself with this role, not to mention Tom Hardy’s performance in the second season. I’m a fan of Cillian Murphy’s work, even going so far as to watch the terrible In Time. I could cite The Wind That Shakes the Barley as an obvious display of his acting chops, but instead I’m going to say that it was the film Red Eye with Rachel McAdams that won me over. Red Eye shouldn’t have been more than a B-grade thriller, but Cillian and Rachel make the material rise way beyond potential. Now imagine what he’s doing with excellent material and more than one amazing co-star. I mentioned in my 2014 in Movies article that I could watch Eva Green stare at the camera and find it entertaining. Well, she grabs the script and the scenery and chews them to pieces in this show. Much like Peaky Blinders, this is another well acted period drama, with no bad performances. But I want to like this show more. It suffers from a very slow pace of story telling, so much so that you almost thinking you are watching a soapie. Oh, and it has vampires in it. And they don’t sparkle. Boo-ya! Despite the modern setting, this is one of those classic TV shows. We’ve seen this “help someone each week” formula in show after show, but it never becomes boring. Whether it be The Littlest Hobo or MacGyver, shows about helping people in need always have a soft spot for me. Especially if they shoot people regularly like Jim Caviezel. Rake – the Aussie version Ignore the US version and check out Richard Roxburgh as a smarmy lawyer who defends any and everyone, whilst corruption and politics surround him. A classic show that doesn’t seem to have translated in the US version. The third season of Sherlock was a bit of a let down. A few people described the season as suffering from a severe case of smug. Definitely not as good as the first two seasons. I’ve drifted in and out of South Park. Much like The Family Guy, I still enjoy watching South Park, but don’t find myself compelled to watch every week/episode. That said, Trey and Matt have continued to skewer every topic with bravado. This show has grown on me. At first I didn’t think much of it, too forced and episodic. But then James Spader won me over with his charm. I’m sure there are other people on the show as well, possibly even writers and directors. With Stephen Colbert leaving The Report to take over from David Letterman, it feels like we are losing a satirical show that has been without equal. Whilst I’m actually more of a fan of The Daily Show and the new Last Week Tonight, The Report has held up a mirror to those blowhards in the media and screamed at them to take a good hard look at themselves. With the rise of Last Week Tonight and the end of The Colbert Report, it is easy to forget the show that launched them. Still the original and the best US news comedy show. Watched the first two episodes and can sum the show up as: meh. As a huge fan of Leverage I was excited to hear about the new Dean Devlin series, The Librarians. But then I realised that The Librarians sounded similar to a movie that made me want to cut myself. I was torn, watch a new show with Christian Kane in it and try to forget the horror that was The Librarian movies, or ignore potential awesome from the team that made Leverage. Well, a few episodes in and The Librarians looks like a lot of fun, much like Leverage was. Admittedly, the cheesiness that made The Librarian movies suck so badly is still present, but the fun factor is amped up. Did I mention Bruce Campbell makes a guest appearance? Oh, and Aussie actor John Kim is in the cast, and he keeps his accent, unlike many other Aussies and New Zealanders (e.g. the star of Banshee) cast in US shows. The Roast One of the common complaints about Aussie TV is the lack of an equivalent to The Daily Show or Colbert Report. The problem with this complaint was that we did have one: The Roast. Unfortunately it didn’t garner the attention it richly deserved and with ABC budget cuts no-one was going to support a show that took a (satirical) razor to politics and media. I think the 10 minute format was ideal for a daily comedy show, roughly matching the amount of original content their US counterparts produce daily, sans interviews. Vale. http://www.indiewire.com/article/the-most-disappointing-tv-shows-of-2014-20141220 https://tysonadams.com/2014/02/08/entertaining-tv-of-2013/ December 24, 2014 2014 in TV, 24 Live Another Day, Almost Human, Archer, Arrow, Banshee, Cillian Murphy, Constantine, Continuum, Crisis, David Letterman, David S Goyer, Defiance, Dominion, Fargo, Helix, Idris Elba, Jack Bauer, Jack Irish, John Oliver, Justified, Last Week Tonight, Legends, live TV, Luther, Mad As Hell, Old School, Peaky Blinders, Penny Dreadful, Person of Interest, Rake, Review, Reviews, Right What You No, Sean Bean, Sherlock, South Park, Stephen Colbert, The Blacklist, The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, The Flash, The Librarians, The Roast, TV reviews, TV shows, Tyson AdamsLeave a comment Entertaining TV of 2013 With many of my favourite shows now back on air for 2014, except the ones that were cancelled, I thought it was a good time to recap what kept me entertained on the small screen in 2013. Many people have noted the rise of decent TV, leaving behind the days of formulaic plots (e.g. CSI whatever), sit coms that lack the comedy (e.g. Two and A Half Men), dramas that lack plot (e.g. Lost), lame reality TV shows (e.g. Duck Dynasty), and the cancellation of a Joss Whedon show before it got a chance to be awesome (e.g. every show he’s ever made). This is at the same time as movies have failed to produce anything particularly memorable or interesting in quite some time. I actually have a theory (by theory I mean hypothesis) about why there are fewer and fewer decent movies. It comes down to this little figure: Let’s leave aside the gross disparity between the highest paid actor vs. actress discussion, instead let’s focus on those paychecks. You stick just one of those stars in a movie, just one, and you are going to have a really expensive movie that is going to battle make its money back at the box office. Movie studios know this, so they spend up big on special effects, production values, promotion, etc, to lure people into the cinema. But in an effort to attract as large an audience as possible to make up for this huge spend, they make the movies as bland as possible in order to accommodate a wide audience from around the world. The reason that movie sucks isn’t because it is aimed at 12 year olds, its aimed at 12 year olds who probably don’t understand idioms due to being in a different country/culture. And this is why we get a list of gems on the small screen, because the writers, directors, and quite a few actors, have realised that in order to tell good stories, they can’t spend huge dollars (unless it is on prime time crap). Possibly my favourite show of the past few years. This is not only well written, the entire cast and crew seem to have this knack for creating great TV. Plus, last season featured Patton Oswalt. I love this show for its wit, humour, modernising of the classic Sherlock Holmes stories, and the casting. Some have accused it of being smug, but I see that as central to Sherlock’s character, thus welcome in the show. I read the prequel novel by series writer Neil Cross and it was every bit as good as the TV show. Idris Elba took a break from fighting monsters in giant robot suits in order to make another season of this fantastic crime drama. When I describe this show to friends, they always come away thinking that I’ve described a violent, b-grade, action movie with plenty of nudity. Just another throw back to the pulp novel trash that I also have occasion to read. Well, yes. The problem being? The best new show on TV in 2013, hands down! I really enjoyed the first season of Person of Interest. The second season was more of the same but brought more of the very interesting character portrayed by Amy Acker. Season 3 was off to a good start before the non-ratings break. Now that I’ve raised that point, why do we even have a non-ratings period any more? TV watching habits have changed, the networks better change with the times or lose out to the internet… oh wait, they are. I discovered this sci-fi gem by accident. One of the problems I’ve always had with time travel in books, TV and movies is that they don’t deal with the paradox very well. Even in Back to the Future it is almost played for a joke. This series is well written and actually has the paradox central to its story structure. It also helps that Rachel Nichols does a good job of holding the series together. Another post-apocalyptic story, ho-hum. This series has an interesting take on what would be society’s downfall and what would subsequently happen. There is a lot to like about this show, especially Billy Burke as a bad-ass. Although, after the first season, I didn’t see much point in having a second season and won’t be following it. This is one of the few mainstream shows I find watchable. It is pretty much down to the fact that they have some good fights, an interesting premise culled from the source material, and that the actors have done the hard yards physically for the show (especially Stephen Amell and Manu Bennett). Makes me want to build a salmon ladder in my backyard. Not often that a web series could attract a big name director like Bryan Singer (of the decent X-Men movies fame) to make a series of short scene sci-fi. I’d characterise the series as essentially 48 vignettes with overlapped characters and story, as most episodes can stand alone to some extent, despite being part of a larger narrative. Quite simply, this show is the funniest thing on TV. In the proud tradition of cartoon comedies, it is able to do things that other TV shows and comedies can’t, due to financial, legal or ethical constraints. This series is also one of the few with DVD extras that you would actually want to watch. One of the best is when Archer has an accident and is transformed into a character much more like his voice actor, with ensuing gags around this. This Aussie comedy-drama has been a consistently witty and interesting tale about a self-destructive Sydney barrister. Normally Aussie humour doesn’t translate well to other parts of the world, but Rake has been adapted for the USA, with Greg Kinnear replacing Richard Roxburgh. Tried but lost interest: Almost Human – promising sci-fi that didn’t really capture my attention The Walking Dead – so sick of that fucking farm! Marvel’s Agents of Shield – this should have been good, but was meh. The Booth At The End – interesting premise but didn’t grab me. The Following – I can honestly say that this series squandered such a great premise with derivative and clichéd story. The Blacklist – this was interesting only because of James Spader. Needed more than that. Vikings – interesting but too slow moving. Hannibal – this was fantastic. I don’t know why I haven’t watched more, but I just haven’t. What!?! You don’t watch…. The Game of Thrones – after watching the first season I had had enough. You only have to watch this far to see Sean Bean die, so game over. Breaking Bad – I’ve dropped in and out on this series, watching episodes throughout. I’ve really enjoyed it, but not something I’ve made time to watch all of. Arrested Development – yeah, I know. I should be a rabid fan. The Killing – both the US and the Danish Forbrydelsen are slow boil crime shows that I’ve started watching and not continued. No particular reason for stopping, just haven’t gotten to the rest of the episodes yet. Borgen – have heard great things, but just haven’t gotten to it yet. February 8, 2014 February 25, 2014 Almost Human, Archer, Arrested Development, Arrow, Banshee, Best of 2013, Borgen, Breaking Bad, Continuum, decent TV, Enjoy, Forbrydelsen, Game of Thrones, Greg Kinnear, h, Hannibal, Idris Elba, Joss Whedon, Justified, Luther, Marvel's Agents of Shield, Movies, opinion, Person of Interest, Rake, Reality TV, Revolution, Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes, The Blacklist, The Booth At The End, The Following, The Killing, The Walking Dead, TV, TV shows, Tyson Adams, Vikings8 Comments TV Shows From Around the World I was viewing the new series of Sherlock, written by the fantastic Steven Moffat (Coupling, Dr Who, Jekyl), when a thought occurred to me; would the deli be open to sell me an ice cream at this hour? Sadly it wasn’t, which gave me plenty of time to think about how various countries differ in the way they do TV shows and movies. I present my musings and gross generalities about TV shows around the world. UK – Talkies. The best Dr Who – Tom Baker a close second. When I think of UK TV in general I think very little action but a lot of dialogue. Not much happens in any one episode of UK TV, but all the characters have a lot to say. The best shows – often written by the aforementioned Steven Moffat et al. – are also witty and intelligent. A great example of this is Dr Who, the David Tennant version. The Doctor is stuck in a life or death situation – lets say its Darleks about to shoot him – and yet he talks his way out of it. Any other country would have him ducking for cover. Another example is the crime drama Luther. This is more an exploration of the main character and his strained relationships and his commitment to solving crimes. Example: Sherlock, Luther. Outlier: The Bill (cookie cutter). USA – Explosions and cookie cutter formats. Cookie-Cutter was a term invented for this franchise. The Americans are terrific at doing formulaic shows. Their crime shows follow the same patterns each episode, the dramas have a list of top topics – also used for identifying when they have jumped the shark – and all their comedies gradually morph into dramas. They also do gun fights and explosions. More bullets are fired in one episode of US TV than in the entire year of all TV shows from the UK and Australia (NB: made up statistic that is possibly true but I’d have no idea). As a result they can attract audiences in large numbers to watch things go bang. The longer the show runs the less ideas are used in any one episode as the formulae takes over. In fairness, compared to UK TV, series in the US produce a lot more episodes, so writers would have a harder time coming up with fresh material. Example: CSI whatever. Outlier: Justified, The Wire. Australia – Soapies. Neighbours, the long running steaming pile of dog droppings. Aussies can’t produce a TV show that isn’t a soapie. We have tried many times, failing miserably to make the show not morph into a soapie. Sometimes we start off with a great premise and even a few episodes that show promise, but it doesn’t take long before we have just another soapie. I don’t watch Aussie TV any more. Example: We don’t do anything other than soapies. Outlier: The little watched Good Guys, Bad Guys. Western Europe – Gritty and noir. Unit One making you squirm. Americans have recently started (re)making European shows with more explosions. They have realised that there are so many well written shows there that they just had to copy them. Since Americans can’t handle accents and subtitles they need to redo the lot. Of course the Americans are then surprised when there is something lacking in their version. I don’t know why, but gritty seems like a default position in every drama produced in Europe (Inspector Rex doesn’t count). As a result shows can become very dark, but at the same time are generally more substantive. Example: The Elephant, The Killing, Unit One. Outlier: All the same soaps and reality TV that they produce like every other country/region. Canada – USA shows We’re in Canada Scully; it’s a conspiracy! If it is a US TV show, it is likely to be made in Vancouver. My theory for this phenomenon is that American actors and stuntmen on TV shows generally aren’t making enough money to afford decent health care. As a result they like to locate themselves in a country that has proper health care available. Just a theory. One of the ways to spot an Canadian TV show versus an American TV show is how much shooting and explosions occur during any one episode. At one end you have American shows, at the other end you have Canadian shows, and right in the middle are the Canadian produced American shows. Example: Stargate, Supernatural. Outlier: Any show that looks kinda American but hasn’t got people shooting someone every 2 minutes. Eastern Europe, South America & Asia I’d like to know more as Australians don’t have many of them on our screens. NB: I’ve tried to be as intentionally insulting to the various countries with my observations as possible. There is a lot of great TV out there, Australia makes virtually none of it, so I’m bitter, resentful and ultimately jealous. January 9, 2012 February 19, 2012 Canada, Comment, Crime, CSI, Dr Who, Europe, Humor, Justified, Luther, Neighbours, Right What You No, Sherlock, Supernatural, The Wire, Thriller, TV, Tyson Adams, UK, USA, VancouverLeave a comment Follow Tyson Adams on WordPress.com Tyson Adams on Facebook Define Irony Do people in Australia ride kangaroos? Book vs Movie: BlacKkKlansman - What's the Difference? Book vs Movie: Casino Royale - What's the Difference? Book vs Movie: The Bourne Identity - What's The Difference? Tyson has read 1 book toward his goal of 60 books. Tyson has read 72 books toward his goal of 60 books. Tyson's books Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook by Mark Bray Is it okay to punch Nazis? What if I told you that is only one of the tactics for dealing with Nazis? The Anti-Fascist Handbook aims to summarise the history of fascism and its opponents, the rise of more recent fascist groups, the less... Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman Being prophetic is really easy when you make a "kids these days" argument. Amusing Ourselves to Death is Neil Postman's ode to the "good old days" before television when entertainment wasn't ruining everything. TV bad, reading good! I ... Hogfather by Terry Pratchett Believe in something. Anything. No, not that. No, best not that either. It's Hogswatch, the time of year for carol singing, presents, warm alcoholic drinks, and giant department stores to sell lots of stuff. But some "people" have hire... by Alan W. Watts When you sit, sit. When you browse Twitter, browse Twitter... Maybe there's a reason social media causes stress. The Way of Zen by Alan Watts is an introduction to Zen Buddism and its roots in Taoism and Mahayana Buddhism. It was one of... Star Wars: Vader Down by Jason Aaron I wasn't aware of the new Marvel Star Wars comics until I stumbled on this series. A pretty cool take on Star Wars and better than many of the other (no longer canon) comics. But Vader is given a pretty major power upgrade and much of th... Share book reviews and ratings with Tyson, and even join a book club on Goodreads. The cause of Australia’s bushfires – what the SCIENCE says youtu.be/t0x46-enxsA #climatechange #climatecrisis 5 hours ago @RonniSalt If politicians had any sense of decency, they'd be ashamed by this. They'd have set up an ICAC with teet… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 2 days ago RT @lenoretaylor: On and on and on ..... Hundreds of thousands of fish dead in NSW as bushfire ash washed into river theguardian.com/world/2020/jan… 2 days ago @jenmapleson @Jess_Gately https://t.co/k3EuhMwwxC 2 days ago @jenmapleson @V8Sheppard @ConnLoraine @JessSFrankel @W_Angels_Wings @AuthorPearlTate @KZ_Howell @farmersway… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 2 days ago	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335105
__label__wiki	0.873018	0.873018	FBI — Victims Home • Hate Crime • 2017 • Topic Pages • Victims Incidents and Offenses Hate Crime by Jurisdiction About Hate Crime Statistics In the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, the victim of a hate crime may be an individual, a business/financial institution, a government entity, a religious organization, or society/public as a whole. In 2017, the nation’s law enforcement agencies reported that there were 8,828 victims of hate crimes. Of these victims, 335 were victimized in separate multiple-bias incidents. The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, 18 U.S.C. §249 required the FBI to collect data concerning hate crimes committed by or directed against juveniles. Beginning in 2013, law enforcement began reporting the number of victims who are 18 years of age or older, the number of victims under the age of 18, and the number of individual victims. Of the 5,803 individuals for which victim age data were reported in 2017, 5,125 hate crime victims were adults, and 678 hate crime victims were juveniles. In 2013, the national UCR Program began collecting revised race and ethnicity data in accordance with a directive from the U.S. Government’s Office of Management and Budget. The race categories were expanded from four (White, Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Asian or Other Pacific Islander) to five (White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander). The ethnicity categories changed from “Hispanic” and “Non-Hispanic” to “Hispanic or Latino” and “Not Hispanic or Latino.” (See the Methodology for more information about this program change as well as others.) By bias motivation (Based on Table 1.) An analysis of data for victims of single-bias hate crime incidents showed that: 59.6 percent of the victims were targeted because of the offenders’ bias against race/ethnicity/ancestry. 20.6 percent were victimized because of bias against religion. 15.8 percent were targeted because of bias against sexual orientation. 1.9 percent were targeted because of bias against disability. 1.6 percent were victims of gender-identity bias. 0.6 percent (54 individuals) were victims of gender bias. Further examination of these bias categories showed the following details: Racial/ethnicity/ancestry bias (Based on Table 1.) Among single-bias hate crime incidents in 2017, there were 5,060 victims of race/ethnicity/ancestry motivated hate crime. 48.6 percent were victims of crimes motivated by their offenders’ anti-Black or African American bias. 17.1 percent were victims of anti-White bias. 10.9 percent were victims of anti-Hispanic or Latino bias. 6.3 percent were victims of anti-American Indian or Alaska Native bias. 4.5 percent were victims of bias against a group of individuals in which more than one race was represented (anti-multiple races, group). 3.3 percent were victims of anti-Asian bias. 2.6 percent were victims of anti-Arab bias. 0.4 percent (18 individuals) were victims of anti-Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander bias. 6.4 percent were victims of anti-Other Race/Ethnicity/Ancestry bias. Religious bias (Based on Table 1.) Of the 1,749 victims of anti-religious hate crimes: 58.1 percent were victims of crimes motivated by their offenders’ anti-Jewish bias. 18.6 percent were victims of anti-Islamic (Muslim) bias. 4.3 percent were victims of anti-Catholic bias. 3.3 percent were victims of bias against groups of individuals of varying religions (anti-multiple religions, group). 2.3 percent were victims of anti-Protestant bias. 1.8 percent were victims of anti-Other Christian bias. 1.5 percent were victims of anti-Eastern Orthodox (Russian, Greek, Other) bias. 1.5 percent were victims of anti-Sikh bias. 0.9 percent (15 individuals) were victims of anti-Hindu bias. 0.9 percent (15 individuals) were victims of anti-Mormon bias. 0.7 percent (13 individuals) were victims of anti-Jehovah’s Witness bias. 0.7 percent (12 individuals) were victims of anti-Buddhist bias. 0.5 percent (8 individuals) were victims of anti-Atheist/Agnostic bias. 4.9 percent were victims of bias against other religions (anti-other religion). Sexual-orientation bias (Based on Table 1.) Of the 1,338 victims targeted due to sexual-orientation bias: 57.8 percent were victims of crimes motivated by their offenders’ anti-gay (male) bias. 24.9 percent were victims of anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (mixed group) bias. 12.3 percent were victims of anti-lesbian bias. 2.8 percent were victims of anti-heterosexual bias. 2.2 percent were victims of anti-bisexual bias. Disability bias (See Table 1.) Of the 160 victims of hate crimes due to the offenders’ biases against disabilities: 123 were targets of anti-mental disability bias. 37 were victims of anti-physical disability bias. Gender-identity bias (See Table 1.) Of the 132 victims of gender-identity bias: 119 were victims of anti-transgender bias. 13 were victims of anti-gender non-conforming bias. Gender bias (See Table 1.) Of the 54 victims of hate crime motivated by offenders’ biases toward gender: 28 were categorized as anti-female. 26 were anti-male. By crime category (Based on Table 2.) Of the 8,828 victims of hate crime, 57.6 percent were victims of crimes against persons, and 39.7 percent were victims of crimes against property. The remaining 2.7 percent were victims of crimes against society. By offense type Crimes against persons (Based on Table 2.) In 2017, 5,084 victims of hate crimes were victims of crimes against persons. Regarding these victims and the crimes committed against them: 44.9 percent of the victims were intimidated. 34.3 percent were victims of simple assault. 19.5 percent were victims of aggravated assault. 0.5 percent (23) were victims of rape. 0.3 percent (15) were murdered. 1 individual was a victim of human trafficking, commercial sex acts. 0.5 percent (27) were victims of other types of offenses, which are collected only in the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). Crimes against property (Based on Table 2.) In 2017, 3,506 victims of hate crimes were victims of crimes against property. Of these: 73.7 percent were victims of destruction/damage/vandalism. 10.8 percent were victims of larceny-theft. 5.3 percent were victims of burglary. 4.9 percent were victims of robbery. 1.7 percent were victims of arson. 1.3 percent (44) were victims of motor vehicle theft. 2.4 percent were victims of other types of hate crime offenses, which are collected only in NIBRS. Crimes against society (See Table 2.) There were 238 victims of hate crimes categorized as crimes against society. Crimes against society (e.g., weapon law violations, drug/narcotic offenses, gambling offenses) represent society’s prohibition against engaging in certain types of activity; they are typically victimless crimes in which property is not the object. Hate Crime Statistics Act UCR Statistics: Their Proper Use Tables by Title About UCR FBI UCR Contacts State UCR Contacts Participation Table	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335108
__label__wiki	0.971392	0.971392	Top 10 Most Guarded Places On Earth Top 10 Bizarre Hairstyles Top 10 Reasons for Reincarnation Top 10 Costliest Diamonds in the World Top 10 Ancient Gadgets 10 Cool Unique Commands You can Teach Your Dog Top 10 Record Shattering alien Planets Top Ten Dangerous Herbivores Education, Featured Top 10 facts about Fidel Castro Top 10 Oldest Universities of World Top 10 Surprising Facts about Contraception Top 12 Reasons to Learn French 10 Diseases that have No Cure Health, Health & Lifestyle, News & Politics, People, People & Blogs 10 Things Mothers Selflessly Do for their Children 10 Experiments to Lessen Your Faith in Humanity Top 10 Outdated Medical Treatments Top 10 Costliest Music Videos Entertainment, Featured 10 War Movies that are a must watch Top 10 Bizarre Halloween Costumes Top 10 Box Office Animation Films Top 10 Most Fun Festivals In the World Top 10 Most Watched Sitcoms Top 10 Most Beautiful American Women Top 10 Most Expensive Hotels Featured, Travel Top 10 Active Volcanoes in the World 10 Most Beautiful Natural Lakes of the World Top 10 Longest American Bridges Top 10 Ways to Enjoy School Holidays Top 10 Civilizations that might have beaten Columbus to America Top 10 Awesome Skywalks in the World Top 10 Advantages of Milk for Health Featured, Health How to Make your Nose Look Smaller: 10 Simple Tips Top 10 Summer Beauty Kit Essentials Top 10 Things You Never Knew About The Biology Of Sex Top 10 Ways to Beat Heat Top 10 Highest Workforce Companies in the World Business, Featured Top 10 Items Sold Online Top 10 Extravagant Hotels in the World Top 10 Largest Coffee Chains in the World Top 10 Qualities Every Company CEO Must Have Top 10 Reasons to Love Corporate Life Top 10 Successful Entrepreneurs of India Top 10 Ways To Land a Job Using Social Media Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Fruits and Vegetables Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Cookies Top 10 Best Air Conditioner Brands in the World Top Ten Rugby Teams in the World Featured, Sports Biggest Sport Misplays of 2014 Top 10 Maria Sharapova Life Facts Top 10 World’s Most Loved Sports Top 10 Legendary Sports Personalities in the World Top 10 Most Loved Sports in the World Top 10 Exercise to Increase Stamina Submit Top 10 Lists Top 10 Linkin Park’s Songs Linkin Park is one of the best bands in the US. They have a huge fan base, four studio albums, many successful singles and have had successful tours. Linkin Park is not a band that will fade off. Their music is so unique that it will be there for generations to hear. Linkin Park experiment with their music and is a nu metal and rap metal band. 1. Numb Numb is Linkin Parks most famous song ever from Linkin Parks second album “Meteora”. This nu metal song is a brilliant song which topped the charts for 12 whole weeks, which makes it the most successful and only song that stood on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart for 2 years. Numb was also included in the top 100 track of the decade in Rhapsodys list. 2. Papercut Written and composed by Linkin Park, Papercut is the first single from Linkin Park in their first ever album Hybrid Theory. Papercut was a song that was written by Chester from experience of his childhood drug abuse and constant fighting. It’s a song about a strong individual who looks out for himself, who is haunted by paranoia. Papercut is of metal genre mixed with rap. Chesters voice is like an angel touch to this song. Overall, its a great song from LP which includes strong emotions. 3. In The End Linkin Park had a great start with its first album named “Hybrid Theory”. Experiment with their music and the inclusion of a mixer with a rapper is what gave them the reputation they have today. In the End was another great song from their first album. The song was written to show persons failure and telling people that in the end all will be alright. In the End featured #2 in the billboard hot 100 and have reached charts like The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born. This song features great performance from Mike Shinoda, Chester, the bass guitarist and the lead guitarist. The drummer has had more success in other songs than in this. 4. The Catalyst The Catalyst is the 14th single from Linkin Parks latest album “A Thousand Suns”. In this experimental album, Linkin Park got great reviews from the critics and had topped the US billboard Rock Song chart and got #20 spot in Billboard Hot Digital Songs. The Catalyst changes its tune from electronic medium to fist pumping rock complemented with great lyrics and backing vocals. The song is like an anthem to destroy evil, before it destroys us. The music video of this song is just very impressive in its smoke and water medium featured with slow motion videography. 5. What I’ve Done I’m sure all of you must have seen the Transformers movie! Linkin Park provided the theme song for it, giving it some extra advertisement to the already great song. What Ive Done is Linkin Parks first single from their third album “Minutes To Midnight”. In the music video, LP shows the rising prices of commodities, pollution caused by industries, killing of animals, increasing poverty and hunger, terrorism, religion, eventually creating a mess of the world we live in. This song helps you regret doing all the bad things we do that could affect other things. With a good display of music and brilliant singing from Chester, What Ive Done is overall a great song from LP. 6. Waiting For The End “Waiting For The End” is Linkin Parks 8th single from the latest album “A Thousand Suns”. This song was also experimental which turned out to be a success. This song is now a downloadable content for the game “Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock”. This song did well in the charts ranking #1 in the US billboard Alternative Songs and #2 in the US Billboard Rock Songs. The music video of this song is the most impressive ever and so is the song which starts off smooth, then the rap by Mike followed by Chesters angelic voice. Then starts a fist bumping rock music. The music ends with a brilliant performance from the lead guitar, DJ and the drummer. 7. New Divide “New Divide” was released as a single specifically for Michael Bays film “Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen”. New Divide was the films theme song and was one of the very few that was included in the Rock songs, hot mainstream rock and modern rock at the same time. New Divide became a run away success after the film was launched. The song perfectly fit into Transformers scifi genre. Its heavy, its catchy and is futuristic. The Drummer and the lead vocalist did an amazing job in this song. 8. Faint “Faint” was a single from LP in their second studio album “Meteora”. Mike Shinoda has a main role in this song. It is a mixture of heavy music with rap and Chesters heavy vocals. The drummer gives an exhilarating performance in this song. Faint is the bands third single to hit the #1 chart and reached #1 in the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks and #2 in mainstream Rock Tracks. 9. Somewhere I Belong The first single from Linkin Parks album “Meteora”, is the song “Somewhere I Belong”. This song entered most of the top 10 charts that were available in the US and other countries. This song starts off slow with some DJ mixes. The pace kicks up slowly and hits the metal range. The guitarists do a great job in this song. Overall, its a great song to listen to. 10. Crawling “Crawling” is the fifth track from the album “Hybrid Theory”. It was this song that had got them the Grammy award for the Best hard rock Performance. Its a song composed by Linkin park in which the person is suffering from some brain damage and cannot blend in. This song featured #3 and #4 in the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks and Modern Rock Tracks respectively. Crawling was received well from the fans. best 10best 10 listbest tenEntertainmentlinkin parkMusicsongstop 10top ten list annie April 27, 2011 Totally wrong info check out the song by linkin park “LEAVE OUT ALL THE REST” fr twilight that has to be no 1 song damn July 15, 2011 annie…go listen music…leave out all the rest was good song, but not the best of LP but crawling in 10? that is hard to believe, i think it was the music that made them to the success Chuk July 20, 2011 They forgot One step closer, Dont stay and Breaking the Habit pugeh July 22, 2011 i don’t care which song should be the first…the important is which band will be the first….!!! where is iridescent?????? Harshita August 12, 2011 i think likin park is the best band n my favorite too sandeep s parashar September 9, 2011 Numb deserves 1st place, no question in tat… Guys try to sing along… james mclane October 31, 2011 this is my favourite band ever!!! https://goo.gl/maps/zmpV6nMETPk April 10, 2019 boekhouding zzp © 2014 Top-10-List.com. All Rights Reserved.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335109
__label__cc	0.74246	0.25754	Shiso Tree Cafe 3160 Steeles Ave East (1 light East of 404/Woodbine) Date of Visit: 2013-03-16 I’d seen the Shiso Tree Cafe a few years ago, next door to ramen restaurant Niwatei at J-Town, a small collection of Japanese shops and restaurants near Steeles & 404. I found out over the past half year (via reviews from BlogTO, Amy’s Food Adventures, Food In The City TO) that they featured Japanese-style Italian food ~ i.e. Italian food localized for Japanese palates. I find these cultural interpretations interesting, especially when it evolves into an entire cuisine in itself, like Hakka-Indian food (Hakka Chinese food localized to Indian palates), or Hong Kong “Cha Chan Tang” Western Food (Hong Kong’s interpretation of Western cuisine). Mind you, I don’t share the same enthusiasm for “exotified” or higher-end asian fusion. It just feels a lot more forced/shoehorned, and a lot less organic, in terms of the development of the cuisine. I haven’t had Japanese-Italian before, and figured I should at least sample the cuisine to have a baseline for comparison when I go to Japan in a few weeks. The blog reviews already highlighted a bunch of must-haves, specifically the Nori Fries, Okonomiyaki Fries, and Black Sesame Creme Brulee. The layout is unusually elaborate for a suburban resto-cafe. There’s a private tatami room with a recessed floor under the table (horigotatsu-style seating). There are two areas that are elevated, each with a handful of tables. I suspect this improves the view on evenings where live bands are playing, as there was a drum set on the restaurant floor. There’s capacity for 8-10 tables of 4, amply spaced out. The menu is partition into Appetizers and Pastas, with Pasta further categorized as “Wafu”, Cream sauces, and Non-Cream sauces. “Wafu” (和風) translates to “Japanese-style”, and refers to the Japanese-style spaghetti dishes like Sukiyaki Beef Spaghetti, or Shoyu Mushroom Spaghetti. All pasta orders are accompanied by a small salad and garlic toast. The salad is light, cool, crisp, drizzled with wafu dressing featuring soy sauce and sesame oil as its main components. The concept of raw cool greens with soy sauce was a very foreign combination, having been accustomed to either creamy or tart vinaigrettes, but it works. A welcome departure from the typical ginger-citrus-soy salad dressings of sushi restaurants around town. We ordered both the Okonomiyaki Fries ($8) and Nori Fries ($6), but we warned that it may be a lot of food. Fortunately, we scaled back and ordered just the Okonomiyaki Fries, as their warning was well-justified — it’s a very big plate of very crispy fries, drizzled with Japanese mayonnaise (tangy mayo, smoothed out with a bit of sweetness) and okonomiyaki/otakufu sauce (a mellow, sweeter teriyaki sauce with a mild tang & more dashi/umami). A confetti of nori (roasted seaweed) flakes, green onions, and dancing bonito flakes add both visual and flavour impact, but are never overpowering. A blend of sweet, salty, tangy, crispy, creamy, and several sources & varieties of umami, there are just so many flavours blending together. This dish really does taste like okonomiyaki, substituting fries for the original dish’s pancake. As much as I want to try the Nori Fries next time, it’s very hard to resist ordering this dish again. The Sukiyaki Beef Pasta ($15) was perfectly firm, al dente spaghetti, dressed in a sweet soy sukiyaki sauce, flavoured to add just enough saltiness to the pasta. The copious nori flakes completely overhaul the dish, turning “sweet soy sauce pasta” into something far more complex, adding an earthy, moss-like aroma. A sparse few chiffonades of shiso leaf (“Japanese mint”) burst with refreshing floral notes, but are far and few in between bites as to not be overpowering. The beef and mushroom were fine, but neither added nor took away from the dish, aside from beef slices being the meat traditionally associated with sukiyaki. The Carbonara Pasta ($11) was competent, with generous portions of bacon and fresh cracked pepper. You could taste the egg yolk binding the carbonara sauce, which clung firm to the firm, al dente spaghetti. The cheese (if any) wasn’t particularly intense, nor could I identify the binding oil (didn’t taste butter nor the milkiness of cream). Seeing as this was not a “Wafu” dish, but rather, their proper attempt at an Italian dish, there was nothing wrong with it. I’m glad, then, that they were able to execute it properly, though nothing made me say “wow”. I think allowing the customer to mix the yolk may have given the dish some more pizazz. Both pasta dishes came with a wedge of garlic toast. The toasts were thick-cut, and almost had a pan-fried quality to their crispness (though I’d wager they were over-baked). The crispness went a third of the way into the bread on both sides, with a fluffy, light third in the center. Every review was unanimous about the Black Sesame Creme Brulee ($7). This was yet another fantastic dish in balanced flavours. The thin layer burnt sugar crackled away to expose a layer of black sesame creme, with a thin layer of black sesame sunk to the bottom. The creme was smooth, not too sweet, served lightly chilled. The burnt sugar with its contrasting bitterness and sweetness, was expected. The black sesame layer, with its nuttiness and slight bitterness, complemented the burnt sugar extremely well. The pair of ingredients, smoothly bound and rounded out by the creme, was a harmonious exercise in a gentle, just-sweet-enough dessert. I’ve heard that the Japanese-Italian food in Japan far exceeds that of Toronto, and I’m very excited. I may later decide that, in comparison Shiso Tree doesn’t compare, but until then, I’ll happily enjoy the Okonomiyaki Fries and Black Sesame Creme Brulee here. ← T.O. Ceviche Bar (at Voulez-Vous Café) Night It Up! Night Market 2013 → 2 thoughts on “Shiso Tree Cafe” Jenny on April 1, 2013 at 7:40 pm said: I had the Okonomiyaki Fries last time I was there and i hated it. The fries were OVERcooked and it was sooo dry, blah! I can’t rmb what pasta I ordered but it was way too salty for my taste =( I wont be going back here again. mooken on April 2, 2013 at 11:26 am said: Aww noes.. Sorry to hear that Jenny! Tummy space is too valuable to waste on 2nd chances. Hmm I’m wondering if there’s any place that ended up better on the second try, and I can’t think of a single one right now.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335110
__label__cc	0.689837	0.310163	Serviced Office Space Mong Kok Argyle Street, Mong Kok, Ideally situated for business in the heart of Mong Kok, these serviced offices in Hong Kong are the perfect place to do business for any company large or small. The business centre is consid... We believe a convenient and prestigious office location, with advanced facilities and competent business support, is able to create a professional corporate image and improve efficiency. Bes... From HK$1600 Nathan Road, Mong Kok, The Business Center is located in Mong Kok and newly renovated. Convenient transportation: 1) MTR Subway Line: Mongkok Station Exit E2 and Yau Ma Tei Station Exit A2. MTR Eas... Prince Edward Road West, Kowloon, This modern business centre is situated in the heart of Kowloon, above the Mong Kok East metro station and close to range of local amenities and transport links. Offices are located on the 1... Nathan Road, Kowloon, Offerings such as high speed wifi, business-class printing, 24-hour security, coffee, tea, and light refreshments, access to meeting rooms, and curated cultural event programming. Our me... Tak Hing Street, Jordan, The center is good for various business activities, e.g. palmistry, beauty, education, consultancy, office and etc, with free access and air-conditioning supply at 24 hours (including holida... Austin Road, Kowloon, The business center is located in Austin Road and newly renovated. Convenient transportation: Hong Kong Rail subway lines: Jordan Station Exit D2, 100 meters. MTR East Rail Line: clos... Austin Road West, Kowloon, Executive office space in Hong Kong's tallest building and the third tallest in the world; this office space in Austin Road West, Hong Kong sits in a unique development integrating cutting-e... This business centre is on the 10th floor this skyscraper, located in bustling Tsim Sha Tsui at the heart of the commercial and entertainment hub of the Kowloon Peninsula. The Miramar Sh... Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 of 14 Jason Soffer /asia-pacific/office-space/office-ref-17480.html Nearest locations to Mong Kok Offices in Yau Tsim Mong 0.5 miles Offices in Kowloon 0.5 miles Offices in Sham Shui Po 0.8 miles Offices in Jordan 1.0 miles Offices in West Kowloon 1.1 miles Offices in Kowloon City 1.6 miles Offices in Tsim Sha Tsui 1.7 miles Offices in Wong Tai Sin 2.1 miles Offices in North Point 2.5 miles	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335116
__label__wiki	0.668096	0.668096	News from the Blue The place for all the latest news from the UK Alumni Association UK Alumni Homepage 191011LTJLunch446 Mr. and Ms. Black UK pageant on October 11, 2019. Photo by Pete Comparoni \| UKphoto by ukalumniblog About ukalumniblog Official news page of the UK Alumni Association, which has been keeping alumni and friends connected to UK since 1889. ukalumniblog.wordpress.com 0 comments on “191011LTJLunch446” Since its inception in 1889, the UK Alumni Association is a self-governed, nonprofit membership organization that serves the University of Kentucky and its many alumni, students, parents and friends. The UK Alumni Association is your Wildcat connection and provides benefits, communications, programs, services, records management and legislative advocacy to support our university and to keep us connected to the University of Kentucky and to each other.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335117
__label__cc	0.692648	0.307352	Promoting fair and accurate coverage of Israel UK Media Watch Editors and Contributors Editors’ Code of Practice Ali Abunimah Ben White Tony Greenstein More evidence that Glenn Greenwald is not a serious journalist By Adam Levick on July 2, 2013 • ( 26 Comments ) As we reported yesterday, on June 27th Glenn Greenwald addressed, via Skype, the annual U.S. ‘Socialism Conference’, a speech which was characteristically loaded with sophomoric platitudes, contemptuous diatribes directed at the U.S. government, and smears of his critics. While you can view the entire video yourself to glimpse Greenwald’s triumphalism over his partnership with Edward Snowden, the following quote from his talk is especially worth exploring as it reveals much about his highly skewed understanding of what it means to be a journalist. At roughly the 15 minute mark, Greenwald makes the following claim: David Halberstam defined the measurement of good journalism as how much you anger the people in power that you’re covering…while most establishment journalists measure it by how much you please the people in power that you’re covering. And, for me, if you are pleasing the people in power with the things that you’re disclosing you may be very good at your job, but your job is not journalism. Is that really the job of professional journalists? Should reporters at the Guardian and other news sites measure their effectiveness by the degree to which they “anger the people in power”? I’m sure most people working in the profession could easily refute such a facile and appallingly juvenile understanding of what it means to be a journalist, but a good answer to Greenwald’s hackneyed cliché was recently provided by a commenter beneath the line at a blog friendly to Greenwald. Here’s what the commenter wrote: Glenn Greenwald is really full of himself these days. Good journalism is not measured by “how angry you make the people your covering.” That is a conceit that only Greenwald could come up with. Good journalism is measured by how deeply, accurately, and objectively one covers a story or event. In doing so, a good journalist may indeed anger those he is covering. But not necessarily so. If Greenwald thinks that good journalism is only that which angers those being covered, he has a very narrow, pinched view of what constitutes journalism. If Glenn Greenwald wants to be a political activist that is of course his right. However, those who read and fancy his commentaries at ‘Comment is Free’ must at least disabuse themselves from the increasingly absurd notion that what he’s engaged in at the Guardian even remotely resembles professional journalism. Glenn Greenwald, at Marxism conference, defends Anwar al-Awaki, calls 9/11 minor in scope (cifwatch.com) Categories: Guardian Tagged as: David Halberstam, Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald, Greenwald, Journalism, Journalist, Juan Cole, National Security Agency, Skype Antony Loewenstein meditates, ‘as a Jew’, on whether religion causes conflict CiF Watch exclusive: Yet another modest proposal for a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign ItsikDeWembley says: GG confuses journalism with being in the British oposition. Labenal says: What a dickhead GG is. Sorry, no other way to put it! Rosco Burns says: “contemptuous diatribes directed at the U.S. government, ” At present the US govt seems hilariously inept having been caught spying on her allies and those she is about to do a gigantic business deal with. A little contempt is surely to be expected. I don’t wish to overpraise Greenwald as he lacks humour and takes himself too seriously but again I find myself siding with him. Angering the mobsters that have been running our countries’ continuous war mongering and their further enriching of stupendously rich people at the expense of the poor? I really don’t see the problem. May I refer you to Adam’s last paragraph. No problem if GG wants to be a political activist. No problem if SOME journalism upsets the ruling elite. But BIG problem if a “journalist” sees the latter as his main job. That’s not a journalist’s job. That’s a satirist’s job or an opinion hack. I wonder (by the way) if GG would believe that to be his job in the unlikely event that the US of A became a Marxist state? Would he still see it as his role to “anger the people in power”? If so, I don’t think he’d live very long! “if GG would believe that to be his job in the unlikely event that the US of A became a Marxist state? ” As we speak the Americans are losing young firefighters by the dozen whilst tens of thousands of fit young soldiers guard Germany, one of the least attacked countries in the world. A Marxist leadership could well invite army volunteers to go home and save their country from real attack . Ze'ev says: “…tens of thousands of fit young soldiers guard Germany”…..oh dear Rosco. Tell us more about the world you live in. “A Marxist leadership could well invite army volunteers to go home and save their country from real attack .” You must be young. SerJew says: Nah, rascal burnout is an old fart. Fritz Wunderlich says: “Angering the mobsters that have been running our countries’ continuous war mongering and their further enriching of stupendously rich people at the expense of the poor?” bearing in mind the Royals. Following this trait´the queen must be something like the overlord of mobsters which I would never have suspected till you came along. Shimon says: As Dr Martin Hirst (http://theconversation.com/profiles/martin-hirst-5419/profile_bio) told me once: “All journalism is agitprop.” Mind you, Dr Hirst still maintains that “the real world conforms to the rules of Marxist political economy – the labour theory of value”. http://theconversation.com/class-warfare-in-australia-we-should-be-so-lucky-6970#comment_38454 Clap Hammer says: ‘And, for me, if you are pleasing the people in power with the things that you’re disclosing you may be very good at your job, but your job is not journalism.’ This actually gives an insight into the perverted mind of Greenwald. For him, journalism is all about the people in power. And he is not ‘in power’. Like medicine is all about sex and lawyers is all about money. (Ooooops! Oh dear. That may be true.) But journalism is about presenting various aspects of a subject to readers/listeners. No direct link to do with ‘the powers that be’. It’s all in his (sad little) mind. “journalism is about presenting various aspects of a subject to readers/listeners.” They say if journalists had been as mushy in the 60s as they are now the US would still be bombing the jungles. I don’t know what happened to US journalism it seems to have been neutered successfully. Maybe that is why Greenwald seems such a breath of fresh air, he is one of a mere handful who seem to give a damn.. ” the perverted mind ” On a site dedicated to the accuracy of the Guardian it seems ironic that wild sneering is not more harshly judged . The USSR used to do exactly the same only on a giant scale. How many thousands were locked up as psychotic ? We already know that you are in desperate love with Greenwald, but why do you publish your private problems here? “you are in desperate love with Greenwald” No I think he can be humourless and I prefer the style of William Blum the other US writer that’s not some right wing joke. ” why do you publish your private problems here? ” Have you visited CIF recently ? It hopeless. I actually cannot follow it. Posts seem to be stacked in a way that I am unable to decipher. Its more relaxed here less moderation and drifting off topic is not punished. I see the real troubles concerning your relationship with Greenwald, both of you are lying creeps, like to boast and are imposters, one of you two is too much. “both of you .. like to boast ” We can all see why Greenwald might like to boast as he gets a larger and larger audience and seems to survive any encounter with panache unlike those who are whacked out enough to think they can debate him. But I know of no such incidents ..he maybe is a little forceful . Forceful to you? Don`t tell me more, I don`t need any details external says: Should reporters at the Guardian and other news sites measure their effectiveness by the degree to which they “anger the people in power”? So how does CifWatch measure its effectiveness ?? By the degree to which they please the people at the Guardian … ? OyiaBrown says: censorship is free says: Pretty much proof that his journalism doesn’t primarily involve reporting facts. Oh,and Glenn,you are one of the people in power. Obviously the British customs is taken over by antisemitic Muslims http://www.kcjc.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1979:local-man-refused-entry-into-uk&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=27 http://hurryupharry.org/2013/07/02/israel-friends-and-enemies/ sackcloth and ashes says: ‘David Halberstam defined the measurement of good journalism as how much you anger the people in power that you’re covering’. Russian journalists who have pissed off the siloviki at home have been assassinated for their pains. Iranian journalists who have done the same have been tortured in the Evin prison. Chinese journalists know full well how foolish it can be to depart from the party line. tiffster says: Give me a break here. Why do people have to be so mean and critical? I for one like Greenwald/Journalist with Guardian. And I’ve spread the word about the book deal on Snowden. He rocks. This is the best right way to do it. I feel its safer for Snowden and Russia situation. This way its done professionally and with honesty and integrity. This is a very unique story and must be done by the right person.and neither Snowden or Greenwald are dummies. And I happen to like greenwalds covering of the Snowden story. He deserves it. Other journalists and news reporters and tabloids are just envious because its not them writing. Go find another story and leave Greenwald alone. Its basic jelousy.ive told everyone to read his reporting on Snowden with the guardian news. cba says: leave Greenwald alone I am reminded of this video: What’s so funny about Saeb Erekat’s call for “peace”, “rights” and “international law”? January 19, 2020 The Times erases the ethnic cleansing of Egypt’s Jews January 14, 2020 Guardian corrects: deletes claim Arab Israelis have no political representation January 12, 2020 Independent corrects false claim over Netanyahu Facebook post January 9, 2020 Telegraph corrects article that omitted ICC’s plans to investigate Hamas January 8, 2020 Independent Arabia profiles a ‘good Jew’: an anti-Zionist and convert to Islam January 6, 2020 Our top 10 favourite posts of the decade January 2, 2020 Unpacking the Indy’s latest tale of ‘Israeli cruelty’ January 1, 2020 Guardian describes 1991 antisemitic Crown Heights riots as two communities “clashing” December 30, 2019 Sky News Arabia blames Israel for Jewish exodus from Arab lands December 26, 2019 koufaxmitzvah on What’s so funny about Sa… Richard Turnbull on What’s so funny about Sa… Restoring synagogues… on The Times erases the ethnic cl… Richard Turnbull on The Times erases the ethnic cl… Bataween on The Times erases the ethnic cl… CiF Watch Posts and Comments Please click here to view our Fair Use Notice. 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__label__cc	0.676537	0.323463	FeaturesPricingHelp Start free discovery Data locations The information that is required for operating the service is distributed globally. Pseudonymized visitor data is stored separately. At Unless, we keep data in two different databases. To ensure the speed of the live service anywhere in the world, all customer account data that is required for segmentation and personalization of websites is served from DynamoDb, the giant data store of Amazon Web Services. This database is optimized for performance and reliability. It is used to support our live operation only - this means that it contains data surrounding the audiences of a website and its personalized content. By default, these data points are distributed to Europe and the West of the US, as well as an additional cluster in the East of the US. Pseudonymized visitor data Visitor data is kept in Europe only, using Redshift, a data warehouse cluster. By default, the data is pseudonymized. This means that there are no recognizable elements that could lead to your identity directly. Visitor identifiers Sometimes, a customer (owning a website) uses the Unless service to cater to identified visitors - for example to show relevant content to users who are logged in or who submit their email address voluntarily. If this results in visitor to be identified in Unless as well, identifiable data points (email address and name, if applicable) are stored in a separate DynamoDb table that is located in Europe only. Data processing addendum Data and locations © 2017-2020 Unless, all rights reserved.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335121
__label__cc	0.640301	0.359699	Stories About Lawrence Video & Photo Assets Facts About Us Famous Basketball Sites Supernatural Lawrence Block-by-Block Historic Sites of Douglas County Historic Trails Lawrence Pioneers Native American Heritage The Struggle for Freedom Unmistakable Events Local Fav’s Visitor Fav’s Social Lounge Explore Mass Street KU Campus West Lawrence East Lawrence South Lawrence Historic Sites of Quantrill’s Raid Why Lawrence? Special Events & Banquet Facilities Yes, Lawrence When it comes to sports, Lawrence goes all out. We love sports and we usually make it in to a party, while we’re at it. Throughout the year, the Lawrence calendar is full of sporting events. The eXplore Lawrence non-profit subsidiary, Lawrence Sports Corporation is responsible for bringing exciting events to Lawrence while fueling the city’s love of competition. The range of sporting events we organize is certainly diverse. Check out just a few of the events on our list. Tour of Lawrence Dates: July 15, 16 and 17, 2016 This annual three-day cycling event, presented by U.S. Bank, has quickly turned into an outstanding regional USA Cycling-sanctioned race, featuring a Friday night 200 meter street sprint, a circuit race on Haskell Indian Nation University’s campus on Saturday and a Downtown Criterium on Sunday. Community events during the Tour of Lawrence consist of live music and a Kids’ Zone on Friday and the free Kids’ Bike Race on Sunday. For more details or to register go to: Tour of Lawrence Midwest USSSA National Championships Dates: July 20 – 26, 2015 United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) Girls Fastpitch National Championships will bring 60 teams from ten states to Lawrence beginning July 20. The week-long agenda of games will culminate in the Championship game on Saturday, July 25. The girls (ages 14 and under) and their family members will mean about 2200 people will be visiting Lawrence for this event. The national championship games draw teams from Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, Illinois, Oklahoma, Minnesota, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin and Kansas. AAU national Qualifier Track & Field Dates: TBD Bike MS: Kansas City Ride Dates: September 19-20, 2015 Bike MS is a two-day bicycling fundraiser for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Thousands of cyclists join in for a beautiful ride through Kansas countryside and to help fight multiple sclerosis. They’ve collected millions of dollars for the cause. The ride offers a choice of two start lines: Garmin’s HQ in Olathe, Kansas, and Shawnee Heights Middle School in Topeka, Kansas. Both start lines have route options of approximately 38, 73 and 101 miles on day one, finishing in Lawrence at South Park for the day. South Park is converted into a cycling village with numerous corporate hospitality tents, live entertainment and food and beverages. Riders get up early Sunday morning, enjoy a breakfast of Chris Cakes, and return home. 360 Cup Cross Dates: October 3-4, 2015 360 Cup Cross features two days of cyclocross racing at Centennial Park in Lawrence. The event is hosted by 360 Race Club and eXplore Lawrence. Centennial Park is located at 9th and Iowa (2198 W 9th Street). It’s a huge park with varying terrain, plus a large pavilion and a jungle gym for the kids. The course begins on a 200 meter paved start/finish area. It transitions to grass with several 180 degree turns and wide, long stretches to string out the field. The course then flows around the natural contours of the park, featuring several off-camber sections and some fairly strenuous inclines. Lawrence Downtown Men’s Olympic Shot Put Dates: April, in conjunction with the KU Relays True to our Unmistakably Lawrence nature, Lawrence will convert the intersection of 8th and New Hampshire Streets by hauling in 7 tons of crushed limestone to build-out a shot put venue for this one-day competition. In turn, a world class field of throwers will compete in front of thousands of spectators. This year’s field includes Reese Hoffa, Christian Cantwell, Ryan Whiting and Kurt Roberts–five of the Top 10 world-ranked shot put athletes. Live music follows the competition while the crowd and athletes still around to make it a celebration. Read reviews and plan your trip on Restaurants Hotels Bed and Breakfast Attractions Vacation Packages Vacation Rentals Advertise/List Your Business eXplore Lawrence represents the travel and tourism for Lawrence and Douglas County, Kansas. We are dedicated to creating economic development by attracting visitors, conventions and events to our city. eXplore LawrencePO Box 526 Lawrence, Kansas 66044 P: 785.856.5282 Unmistakably Lawrence Local Fav's Visitor Fav's Historic Sites of Quantrill's Raid	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335122
__label__cc	0.745417	0.254583	Opt Out Toolbox Complete 2019 Opt Out Guide 2019 Opt Out Pocket Guide Third Grade Opt Out Toolbox Opt Out Letters VIDEO: How to Opt Out Of Computer Test What Does This Bully Letter Really Mean? Find Your Opt Out Group in FL THE OPT OUT FLORIDA NETWORK Tag Archives: real learning What Is A TRUE Portfolio?…and how do I get one? Posted by The Opt Out Florida Network in FSA, High-stakes Testing, Parent Action, Portfolio, Promotion, Retention & Remediation, The Opt Out Florida Network, Opt Out movement, Third grade, Third Grade, Third Grade Retention #180DaysCount, alternative assessment, authentic classrooms, Good Cause Exemptions, High stakes testing, Portfolio, Portfolio assessment, real learning, real teaching, Third grade, Third Grade Promotion When a third grade student in Florida fails the FSA, or opts out of the FSA, they will need a Good Cause Exemption to be promoted to the fourth grade. Parents will need to work with their child’s school to make that happen. The Alternative Assessments allowed by the State for a Good Cause Exemption can be another test, but it can also be a portfolio; a TRUE portfolio, not a battery of secret mini-tests from Florida’s Item Bank and Test Platform. Kevin Foster is a Lake County father and Administrator for Opt Out Lake County, who opts his child out of the FSA. As a result of advocating for Lake County to include a true portfolio in the district’s Student Progression Plan (SPP), the Lake County SPP now includes language (just one phrase) that supports the use of a true portfolio, for a Good Cause Exemption. A TRUE portfolio is a collection of your child’s work throughout the school year. Some districts already include this language in their SPP, but some do not. Some districts, which have true portfolio language (which comes directly from Florida Statute) in their SPP, do not comply with that SPP. Only parents can hold their feet to the fire. Here’s what Kevin shared: After several unproductive meetings with various Lake County School District administrative officials, my wife and I were invited by Superintendent Kornegay to sit down for a discussion regarding the Portfolio option as a Good Cause Exemption from 3rd Grade Mandatory Retention. We discussed a wide range of topics including participating, but minimally, in the FSA, DOE Rule 6A-1.094221, and the results of the (then recently decided) lawsuit by 3rd Grade parents against the State and several school districts. We explained our view that opting out, or minimal participation (signing the test and pushing it away without answering any questions), satisfied the statutory requirement that all students participate in FSA testing. We also pointed out that there was a key part of Rule 6A-1.094221 that was seemingly being ignored by everyone, which stated that, “chapter and unit tests from the district’s/school’s adopted core reading curriculum could be used as part of the portfolio.” We also explained our view, that it was a waste of precious instructional time to remove a child from the classroom in order to give them a battery of mini-tests from Florida’s Item Bank and Test Platform. And, we pointed out that the (then) recent Appeals Court ruling against parents answered a key question about who has the final say on promotion to 4th grade. The Court said it was the Superintendent (not the FLDOE). We explained that this meant that the process was intended to be a bottom-up thing, rather than a top-down thing, and that teachers and principals should be allowed to make a recommendation for promotion if they believe the student deserves to be promoted. At the end of that meeting, Supt. Kornegay asked me directly, “What do you want me to do?” I replied, “I want you to put this specific language about the portfolio from FLDOE Rule 6A-1.094221 into the Lake County 3rd Grade Progression Plan.” It said (referring to the portfolio Good Cause Exemption), “Such evidence could be selected from… chapter and unit tests from the district’s/schools’s adopted core reading curriculum.” This may seem like a small thing, but it’s not. The very next time that the Progression Plan was up for a vote before the School Board, that language was included in the draft version, and the Board voted to approve it. It’s been there ever since. (You can find it on Page 36 of the Lake County Progression Plan which can be downloaded here. You can also find it on pages 2-3 of the FLDOE Promotion to Grade 4 Technical Assistance Paper Well… the Chapter and Unit Tests are the work that your child does throughout the school year. It’s a true portfolio. If your child does well on those chapter and unit tests throughout the year, there should be no (or very little) need to remove them from class to create a portfolio based on the Florida Item Bank and Test Platform. Some of those Item Bank mini-tests may still be necessary in order to round out your child’s portfolio if they don’t have all 3 examples of each of the 22 standards. (Also, keep in mind that they must score at least a 70 for each of those to count as a valid example.) What if your school insists that they will not start a portfolio for your child until AFTER the FSA has been administered? As I see it, you have two options. You can either educate yourself about the standards and attempt to collect the portfolio items yourself as they come home from school with your child, or… you could lean on this specific note from the top of Page 37 in the Progression Plan. It’s also in the FLDOE TAP with Rule 6A-1.094221 and Florida Statute cited. “Note: A parent of a student in grade 3 who is identified anytime during the year as being at risk of retention may request that the school immediately begin the portfolio assessment process.” If you write a letter to your school principal announcing your intention to opt-out/minimally participate in the FSA, that act alone should immediately “identify” your child as “being at risk of retention,” since retention is mandatory without a passing grade on the FSA. I cannot guarantee that this part of the process will work, but if you think about it, it makes a certain amount of sense. Be prepared to fight for that “at risk” identification. The sooner you write that letter, the better. If your child’s teacher agrees to develop a portfolio, you should request to examine it from time to time to make sure it’s being maintained. Parents in other districts have been told that a portfolio would be developed, only to find at the end of the year that it was not. You do not want to get to the end of the year and not have that portfolio documenting your child’s proficiency of the standards. You should also be prepared to compile the portfolio yourself. If you find yourself in this position, you’ll need to make sure that every “chapter and unit test” which is graded gets sent home to you for your collection. Every one of those “chapter and unit tests” should include a notation regarding which standards are being assessed. Note also that a single question may provide for more than one example, and for more than one standard. (Remember, 3 examples of each of the 22 standards are required.) The sooner you get started compiling the portfolio, the better. One final reminder: I cannot guarantee that this will work. But, it is the process that I envisioned when I asked Supt. Kornegay to add that specific language to our progression plan. Remember that opting out is an act of civil disobedience intended to challenge/change the current system. It requires courage and tenacity, but…. if successful, you will have blazed a trail for others to follow. “The statewide, standardized English Language Arts assessment is not the sole determiner of promotion and that additional evaluations, portfolio reviews, and assessments are available to the child to assist parents and the school district in knowing when a child is reading at or above grade level and ready for grade promotion.” (Section 1008.25(5)(c)6, F.S.) – Sample Letter to Request a 3rd Grade Portfolio – Statutory Third Grade Portfolio Checklist – Student Portfolio Puts Assessment Where It Belongs… With Teachers – Third Grade Portfolio Checklist – Working Document (updated 8/22/18) – Third Grade Portfolio Instructions – Special Opt Out group for Third Grade Parents – for help, peer support and strategies to find fair and useful assessment for promotion Courage Is Not Required for Seminole Board To Do The Right Thing Posted by theoofnetwork in 3rd grade lawsuit, Third Grade Lawsuit, parents sue FLDOE, 180 days, 180 days count, report cards, National News, Parents Organize, Portfolio, School Board, SCPS, Third Grade lawsuit, Third grade lawsuit, Third Grade, Third Grade Retention #180DaysCount, alternative assessment, authentic classrooms, bullying, developmentally Appropriate Practice, FLDOE, Florida legislature, FSA, FSA Opt Out Movement, Good Cause Exemptions, harmful educational practices, High stakes testing, intimidation, promotion by report card, real learning, real teaching, Third grade, Third Grade FSA, Third Grade Promotion by Sandy Stenoff At the last Seminole County School Board meeting, parents and teachers provided input about the Third Grade lawsuit, involving Seminole County students. After Jodi Parham read for Rhonda Nickerson (at 58:00), the board stated (at 1:01:35) that they would typically not accept public comments about pending litigation. The attorney for SCPS provided a brief update on the lawsuit to the board (at 1:02:05). My speech was cut short (Video from 1:04:15 to 1:06:58). The next day, I sent my complete address, with references, to the board to be entered into the record: Dear Drs. Calderone and Griffin, Thank you for the opportunity to address you yesterday evening. Had I been permitted to complete my statement, this is what I would have shared with you. While I do understand that the district may not be able to comment publicly on pending litigation, I would put forth, respectfully, that the public certainly has the right to provide comment – of course, with no expectation that the board would respond publicly. I sincerely hope that you will give this serious consideration. Other districts have successfully worked with parents in the lawsuit. I appreciate that this will be added to the record of yesterday’s meeting. Thank you for your consideration. Sandy Stenoff I’m here today, because of two proficient children from Seminole in the lawsuit, who are still officially retained in the third grade simply because they have no test score, against the Judge’s order and against Florida education statutes. The parents requested early in the school year to have a portfolio compiled, as the law allows. The state statute as well as numerous publications from the DOE state: “A parent of a student in grade 3 who is identified anytime during the school year as being at risk of retention may request that the school immediately begin collecting evidence for the portfolio.” They were denied. I believe there must be a disconnect in the district’s understanding of what a portfolio is. State statute, FLDOE TAP reports and Just Read Florida state that “Portfolio Evidence is to include multiple choice items.” Nowhere does it say that a portfolio must be made up exclusively of multiple choice test items. A real portfolio, which meets the state guidelines, as Sarina Nickerson’s portfolio does, is without question, a more through and rigorous measure of her teacher’s and this district’s accountability than any single test. It should be held up as an example for all. Instead, it is dismissed, as was this student’s educational rights. Currently, Sarina must be homeschooled for her own protection from the actions of this district. Fortunately for her, her family is able to do this. Camryn Weaver is not so lucky. She is gifted, and reads above the 6th grade level. She is in 4th grade math, but 3rd grade for everything else. The law dictates strict parameters for how a retained student must be remediated. If that were happening for Camryn Weaver, she would not be repeating third grade work right now. That she is in 4th grade math tells me that the district has the authority to be flexible. It was also the district’s legal option to place her in a 4th grade class, pending a mid year promotion, but that is not happening either (See References – Attached is an e-mail excerpt from the FLDOE to Senator Darren Soto attesting that this is an acceptable course of action). Her mother tells me that Camryn now says things like, “I’m just stupid.” (I did not state this at the meeting, as Camryn was in the audience, but it is what she now says, where she never did before.)What have we become when children need protection from public education? I have watched every minute of the 9-hour evidentiary hearing and I have read Judge Gievers’ 53-page ruling numerous times. In a nutshell, the judge’s ruling overwhelmingly found for the plaintiffs – the main points being: – That they had the right to request a teacher-compiled portfolio over one based on tests – Page 19 Item 32 * – Promotion is not to be based solely on a test or tests. Page 13, Item 18 – Districts are ordered to stop refusing to allow a portfolio Page 14, Item 19 * And finally, regarding the automatic stay as a result of the district appealing the venue, from the Tampa Bay Times – Sept 13: Judge Gievers: “To the extent that the evidence and law warranted the provision of injunctive relief as to the State Education Defendants and the School Board of Hernando County, the automatic stay of the order as to the challenged injunctive relief does not authorize the Defendants to ignore the mandatory provisions of the statutes in question.” Research consistently shows that students are better off being promoted and provided the intervention and support they need. The short term gains in improved test scores in the 4th grade, are outstripped by the long-term harm of retention. I ask you to consider this for each child as you go forward. By law, retention decisions are never supposed to be made on the sole basis of a test score, but that is exactly what has happened to these children. Parents are supposed to be included in these decisions. If the children are simply collateral damage, please ask yourselves, To what end? I have met with some of you personally and I believe you when you say that, as a district, you put children and teachers first. You have said that your hands were tied because you were obligated to follow the law. The Judge’s court order has untied them now. Just a year and a half ago, when the law about minimal participation was unclear, you led the way with your courageous decisions to treat children ethically and with respect (here and here). Districts across the state followed your lead. The law is clear now. Courage is not required, only the will to do right by these children. Please restore our trust that this district puts children first. It isn’t part of the educator’s creed to “First do no harm”, but it should be. I will leave you with this quote from over 2,400 years ago by Aristotle: “What it lies in our power to do, it lies in our power not to do.” 10/22/16 – Ft Lauderdale Sun Times Broward promotes twins who opted out of state test 08/11/16 Sarsota Herald Tribune Sarasota School District relents, advances 3rd grade student Judge Gievers’ 53-page ruling from Aug 26 2016: http://goo.gl/aeFvOL * Page 19, Item 32 The Plaintiff may pursue administrative proceedings regarding her preference for a teacher-compiled portfolio based on school work completed in the year to one based on standards assessment testing, if she wishes. Page 13, Item 18 The School Board and State Education Defendants had no right to ignore the legislatively adopted portfolio option. No statute limits promotion to grade 4 solely to tests; the Legislature has made clear that the portfolio option is an alternate option that is still available to all of Florida’s children. Section 1008.25(5}, Florida Statutes. * Page 14, Item 19 Accordingly, the Hernando County School Board is ORDERED to immediately refrain from further actions contrary to the availability of the portfolio option, and is ORDERED to immediately provide the portfolio option, at minimum, to any parent who has requested one or who requests one going forward. Pages 5-6: http://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/7539/urlt/2013thirdgradeprogressiontap.pdf STUDENT PORTFOLIOS FOR THIRD-GRADE STUDENTS B-1. Why would a teacher use a student portfolio? Section 1008.25(6)(b)4., F.S., states that a student who scores a Level 1 on the grade 3 statewide FSA-ELA may be promoted to fourth grade if the student demonstrates through a student portfolio that the student is performing at least at Level 2 on the statewide standardized assessment. B-2. When should the teacher and students begin the third-grade student portfolio? B-3. Are there guidelines provided by the state for the third-grade student portfolio? Yes. As provided in the updated Rule 6A-1.094221, F.A.C., to be accepted as meeting the portfolio option for demonstrating mastery of the required reading skills, the student portfolio must: •Be selected by the student’s teacher; •Be an accurate picture of the student’s ability and only include student work that has been independently produced in the classroom; •Include evidence that the standards assessed by the grade 3 statewide English Language Arts assessment have been met. Evidence is to include multiple choice items and passages that are approximately 60 percent literary text and 40 percent information text that are between 100-700 words with an average of 500 words. Such evidence could include chapter or unit tests from the district’s/school’s adopted core reading curriculum that are aligned with the Language Arts Florida Standards or teacher-prepared assessments; •Be an organized collection of evidence of the student’s mastery of the Language Arts Florida Standards that are assessed by the grade 3 statewide English Language Arts assessment. For each standard, there must be at least three examples of mastery as demonstrated by a grade of 70 percent or above on each example; and •Be signed by the teacher and the principal as an accurate assessment of the required reading skills. Additionally, note that the Just Read, Florida! Office has begun creating an updated Third- Grade State Portfolio. B-4. Do the same portfolio guidelines apply to ESE students? Yes. The state portfolio guidelines apply to all students, including ESE students. B-5. Is the student portfolio the only tool used for good cause exemption and/or promoting a third-grade student to fourth grade in the middle of the year? No. The student portfolio and an alternative assessment are the two state-approved options for good cause exemption and mid-year promotion. The student must be offered both options. However, the student must only demonstrate proficiency on one of the options in order to receive a good cause exemption or be promoted midyear. B-6. If a teacher is monitoring the progress of a student, is a portfolio needed? Yes. A portfolio provides ongoing information on how a student is performing on tested benchmarks. There are specific requirements of necessary elements that must be included in a portfolio used for promotion (please refer to question B-3 of this document for the requirements). If a teacher chooses to follow the rigor of the state portfolio requirements, a portfolio may be used for progress monitoring as well as promotion. Excerpt of e-mail from Suzan Shaw at FLDOE to Senator Darren Soto – July 12, 2016 asserting that 4th grade placement with mid-year promotion is an allowable option. Page 10: http://www.fldoe.org/core/fileparse.php/7539/urlt/2013thirdgradeprogressiontap.pdf E-3. Can a third-grade student, potentially eligible for mid-year promotion, be placed in a fourth-grade classroom and then promoted after demonstrating proficiency on the portfolio or an alternative assessment? Yes. Districts need to meet the individual needs of students. This can be achieved through implementing creative multi-age grouping or a transitional-classroom setting. E-4. Why would a decision be made about a student’s placement during the first semester of the academic year? Students should be promoted midyear or as soon as possible so they receive essential fourth- grade instruction. For example, if a student has attended a Summer Reading Camp and demonstrated mastery of all benchmarks but one, the student could show proficiency in the deficit benchmark and then be promoted to fourth grade. Any student meeting specified state requirements may be promoted midyear. E-5. How many samples of proficiency are required for each benchmark in order for a student to be promoted midyear? In any given school year, a student must have three examples of each benchmark successfully completed on the third-grade level, with a score of 70 percent or above on each example, in order to be promoted midyear. Rule 6A-1.094222, F.A.C. Failing to implement a mid-year promotion, will the district adhere to the letter of the law here (below), as it pertains to students retained without any documented reading deficiency? And – Is this happening for ALL students who have been retained? F.S. 1008.25(7) (7) SUCCESSFUL PROGRESSION FOR RETAINED THIRD GRADE STUDENTS. — (a) Students retained under the provisions of paragraph (5)(b) must be provided intensive interventions in reading to ameliorate the student’s specific reading deficiency, as identified by a valid and reliable diagnostic assessment. This intensive intervention must include effective instructional strategies, participation in the school district’s summer reading camp, and appropriate teaching methodologies necessary to assist those students in becoming successful readers, able to read at or above grade level, and ready for promotion to the next grade. (Camryn Weaver has no reading deficiency. Wekiva Elementary has already demonstarted that she reads at near 7th grade level) (b) Each school district shall: 1. Provide third grade students who are retained under the provisions of paragraph (5)(b) with intensive instructional services and supports to remediate the identified areas of reading deficiency, including participation in the school district’s summer reading camp as required under paragraph (a) and a minimum of 90 minutes of daily, uninterrupted, scientifically research-based reading instruction which includes phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension and other strategies prescribed by the school district, which may include, but are not limited to: a. Integration of science and social studies content within the 90-minute block. b. Small group instruction. c. Reduced teacher-student ratios. d. More frequent progress monitoring. e. Tutoring or mentoring. f. Transition classes containing 3rd and 4th grade students. g. Extended school day, week, or year. 2. Provide written notification to the parent of a student who is retained under the provisions of paragraph (5)(b) that his or her child has not met the proficiency level required for promotion and the reasons the child is not eligible for a good cause exemption as provided in paragraph (6)(b). The notification must comply with the provisions of s. 1002.20(15) and must include a description of proposed interventions and supports that will be provided to the child to remediate the identified areas of reading deficiency. 3. Implement a policy for the midyear promotion of a student retained under the provisions of paragraph (5)(b) who can demonstrate that he or she is a successful and independent reader and performing at or above grade level in reading or, upon implementation of English Language Arts assessments, performing at or above grade level in English Language Arts. Tools that school districts may use in reevaluating a student retained may include subsequent assessments, alternative assessments, and portfolio reviews, in accordance with rules of the State Board of Education. Students promoted during the school year after November 1 must demonstrate proficiency levels in reading equivalent to the level necessary for the beginning of grade 4. The rules adopted by the State Board of Education must include standards that provide a reasonable expectation that the student’s progress is sufficient to master appropriate grade 4 level reading skills. 4. Provide students who are retained under the provisions of paragraph (5)(b) with a highly effective teacher as determined by the teacher’s performance evaluation under s. 1012.34. 5. Establish at each school, when applicable, an Intensive Acceleration Class for retained grade 3 students who subsequently score Level 1 on the required statewide, standardized assessment identified in s. 1008.22. The focus of the Intensive Acceleration Class shall be to increase a child’s reading and English Language Arts skill level at least two grade levels in 1 school year. (In order to be in compliance, the district would have to expect Camryn Weaver to achieve reading at the 8th grade level by year end.) The Intensive Acceleration Class shall: a. Be provided to a student in grade 3 who scores Level 1 on the statewide, standardized English Language Arts assessment and who was retained in grade 3 the prior year because of scoring Level 1. b. Have a reduced teacher-student ratio. c. Provide uninterrupted reading instruction for the majority of student contact time each day and incorporate opportunities to master the grade 4 Next Generation Sunshine State Standards in other core subject areas. d. Use a reading program that is scientifically research-based and has proven results in accelerating student reading achievement within the same school year. e. Provide intensive language and vocabulary instruction using a scientifically research-based program, including use of a speech-language therapist. SCPS FSA Q & A 022515 (2014-2015) State portfolio guidelines are clearly outlined here as well. 9/04 UPDATE – 3rd Grade Lawsuit Posted by The Opt Out Florida Network in Florida News, FSA (Florida Standards Assessment), High-stakes Testing, Laws & Legislation, Lawsuit, National News, Opting Out, Parents Organize, Portfolio, Retention & Remediation, Social Justice, Third Grade lawsuit, Third Grade, Third Grade Retention #180DaysCount, Accountability, alternative assessment, authentic classrooms, developmentally Appropriate Practice, FLDOE, Florida legislature, FSA, Good Cause Exemptions, High stakes testing, K-12, Opt Out, opt out movement, promotion by report card, real learning, state bullying, The Opt Out Florida Network, Third grade, Third Grade FSA, Third Grade lawsuit Since last week Friday, August 26, when Judge Gievers ruled most favorably for the plaintiffs in the third grade lawsuit, it feels like we’ve been on a rollercoaster. As soon as the judge’s ruling was made public, Orange County filed their prepared appeal, to which OCPS legal counsel referred many times during the course of the nine hour hearing at the beginning of that week. Soon after, Hernando, Broward and Seminole Counties followed suit. In effect, these districts are opting out of following the judge’s ruling and court order. The public may want to know who is funding these appeals, which have disappointed many, but surprised few. Parent, Jinia Parker wrote a stinging and stellar open letter to Florida school boards, “I will not accept “our hands are tied” ever again. Throughout history, “I was following orders” has been the excuse of cowards and those who lack honor. I’m not asking for anything extraordinary. I am asking that school boards in Florida do the right thing.” Last week, three of the children in the suit from Hernando County, who had their rights upheld by the Court, showed up eager to start school in the fourth grade, as Judge Gievers had ordered. In a brazen and cruel move, Chocachatti Elementary School told the children they could go to the fourth grade, just not there. Details are spelled out here, here and in the Tampa Bay Times editorial below, but suffice it to say that if the school had followed the law in the first place, the children would have been promoted in June and there would be no reason for them to file a lawsuit. Their parents would not have had to protect them from the emotional abuse of repeating a grade, out of which they had earned their way the year before. The two Seminole County families were directed by the judge, to first seek administrative relief with their district. Seminole County Public Schools told the parents that their children would be promoted IF they take and pass the same test items to make up a portfolio or the IOWA, both of which they had refused before… Stalemate. So did the judge say they could go to the fourth grade or not? There has been some confusion surrounding the Third Grade families’ lawsuit and the attached motion for injunctive relief. First, this case is not over. The motion for relief was just the first step, that had to be addressed before the suit can get under way. The families are challenging the Florida Statutes and how the FLDOE and school boards are applying the statutes to disadvantage the children and children across Florida. The State is failing to apply the exemptions provided in the statutes. They are retaining children just for non-performance on testing in violation of State law. The Court ruled favorably to the families on many of these issues and if you have read the ruling, you know what they are. So why doesn’t it feel like the children are winning? Why are the children still in 3rd grade? The children ARE winning… but the process takes time. Attorney Mogenson asked for emergency relief on behalf of each child. Judge Gievers granted relief only to some, in spite of the request. This may not have been clear, because the judge did not allow for closing arguments. The emergency relief sought is promotion to the 4th grade, based on report cards. The judge, while favorable to our point of view, felt that the LAW limited her as far as EMERGENCY relief. So she gave some relief (but not all that was asked for) to some of the children. These issues will also be addressed in the trial ahead. Her ruling stated clearly, however, that she saw violations of the law, for which relief cannot yet be granted. Second, one problem for the families is that the order that is in place right now is not yet enforceable. While districts could voluntarily comply, since it has been pointed out to them what the law is, the decision to enter the order is the subject of an appeal which stays (or puts on hold) the enforcement of the order and additional proceedings. Mogensen has petitioned the trial court to lift this stay and the court’s decision about this is currently pending. The judge will either lift the stay and the order will become effective, or the families will have to wait for the end of the appeal and our hope is that the families would prevail on appeal. Assuming that one of those things happens, the order would then become immediately effective. And finally, this battle is far from over, but it is a battle. And it will be a costly one.Public support will be crucial to keep it going. Remember that only the request for emergency relief has been ruled on. The lawsuit, as a whole, has not even been presented in court as yet. The amount of work for this case is enormous, because there are so many families, so many facts, and so many different district responses – layers of laws that are not being followed. In addition, there are multiple lawyers for each defendant on the other side, who are all spending hours (and public resources) filing challenges to everything. Many of the challenges have been of an emergency nature, which has required emergency responses. The court of public opinion seems, overwhelmingly, to be in our favor. We are all anxious to see results for the children and for decisions that will have far-reaching implications. We encourage everyone to remain patient and remain supportive as this unfolds. The families and attorneys are doing important work that could benefit all children. They are committed to seeing this through and are in it for the long haul. The Court seems inclined to agree with our point of view. Public awareness of the lawsuit is growing, both statewide and nationally. Social groups and news networks are picking it up. Parents are discussing it in grocery lines and on the soccer sidelines. This victory with the motion granted and the judge’s stern rebuke of the state and districts’ utter manipulation of the law to their own ends has been a thing to see. Many parents have shared with us that, because of this lawsuit, they now believe there is more reason than ever to push for change. We are steadily chipping away at madness that has been high stakes standardized testing. We have received so much feedback from the public about the lawsuit. We wanted to share this in particular, from a retired lawyer to the plaintiffs: “I am a “mommy-retired” lawyer, and this sort of “bury them with motions” crap makes me ill. Good luck with everything. Don’t let them push you all around. Opposing counsel are about winning, which is the name of the game in law (and they are doing their jobs, sadly); however, the DOE is failing to consider the optics here. How does it look to the parents of this state that the department our tax dollars support is playing hard ball with third/fourth graders and their parents?? Bad, bad move, DOE. Thank you all so very much for taking this on for the rest of the state. Seriously. Thank you. We are indebted to you for the heartaches of your children, the headaches of the legal process, the money, the time, etc. Please know that there are people watching this with gratitude and prayers for a positive outcome for all.” The response from one of the plaintiff families: “I have to tell you this made me cry. Because of everything we have gone through with this fight, I have questioned my decision to fight nearly by the hour. I am trying to teach our child…we can do hard things…we can face challenges with poise and dignity by always doing what we believe is right and just, even when it’s hard…even when there are bullies. Thank you for your support.” Media coverage has consistently reported the public’s frustration with the DOE (even school districts’ own frustration with them) and about our outrage over how some of the plaintiff children continue to be mistreated by their school districts and their schools, even after the judge’s ruling. We all rely on the press to hold our government agencies accountable to us, the public. It is reassuring to see the press holding the districts’ and the FLDOE’s feet to the fire.Yesterday alone, the lawsuit garnered two editorials: From the Tampa Bay Times: Editorial: Hernando school district loses lawsuit, punishes kids “Reason flew the coop in Hernando County, to be replaced by cruelty… Florida’s high-stakes testing system is bound for a reckoning. Too many parents don’t trust the tests or don’t agree with the philosophy behind accountability. The opt-out movement is getting louder, and more lawmakers are listening. District officials look like bullies who, unable to defy a judge, picked a weaker target: fourth-graders.” From Steve Sabato, Director of Community Engagement for ABC7, Sarasota: “Civil disobedience is democracy’s way of saying enough is enough.” We couldn’t agree more. Please donate to support the legal fund: https://www.gofundme.com/StopGr3Retention On behalf of the families, thank you for your continued generosity and encouragement. “Retained? You can go to 4th grade… sort of…maybe.” Posted by The Opt Out Florida Network in Actions, Alternative Assessments, Florida News, FSA (Florida Standards Assessment), High-stakes Testing, Laws & Legislation, National News, Retention & Remediation, Third Grade, Third Grade Retention Accountability, alternative assessment, Good Cause Exemptions, harmful educational practices, High stakes testing, intimidation, Making kids cry, opt out movement, Orange County Public Schools, promotion by report card, Promotion to 4th grade, real learning, real teaching, Retention, Third grade, Third Grade FSA, Zone of Proximal Development WE CANNOT STRESS THIS STRONGLY ENOUGH: Children with no documented reading deficiency should NOT be subjected to retention simply because school districts are not providing effective leadership to principals on how best to serve THE CHILDREN. If the schools and districts are unable or unwilling to seek out and find the best solutions, that are WITHIN THE LAW, for each child, it will be up to parents to be informed enough that they can effectively advocate for their child. Many, MANY parents have done this. You CAN too. Since the filing of the lawsuit by the parents of retained Third Grade students this week, The Opt Out Florida Network has been contacted by more parents of retained Third Grade students. School began today in many Florida districts and more will begin on Monday. Parents who have been notified of third grade retention – for various reasons, are contacting us for help and information. Does anyone wonder why parents aren’t contacting their districts for help? I will hazard a guess and say that if districts were receiving the appropriate guidance from the state, there would be no lawsuit. But since that is clearly not the case… Districts face a dilemma for how to meet the needs of the students who demonstrate NO reading deficiency, but who also did not meet the state’s testing criteria for promotion. The young students’ educational needs dictate that they must be provided with an appropriate fourth grade education, yet they are not allowed to be placed, officially, in the fourth grade. What can parents expect from their principals? What options are available to these families that will meet the children’s needs? In a number of districts, proficient third grade students, who failed the FSA, are being placed provisionally, in a fourth grade classroom, based on satisfactory report cards, which document that they are capable of moving to the next level in the fourth grade. This is being done with the understanding that the children are working toward mid-year promotion, as the law allows. But, wait… there’s more. While this is better than retention, this would be a lateral promotion, as opposed to a literal one, without the official title of “Fourth Grade student.” In the workforce, a “lateral promotion” is often seen as a promotion in name only – no perks, no bennies, no raise. A non-promotion promotion. Everyone knows what it means. Just the meaningless title and maybe some extra responsibility to go along with being appeased with a non-promotion “promotion.” In this case, the meaningless title would be “provisionally promoted,” or something that has the word promoted in it, but which clearly denotes “temporary” status. A “promotion” with air quotes. With such a placement, the child would remain vulnerable to having his non-promotion promotion stripped. Even if your child is placed in a fourth grade class, pending approval of a mid-year promotion, the threat of retention would remain. He can still be sent back to the third grade, even though he met the standards for promotion, which his report card proves. From the August 9, 2016 Tampa Bay Times, Florida school districts remind principals about mid-year promotion for retained third graders “As retained Florida third graders return to school this week and next, district leaders are reminding principals and teachers that the children still may move up to fourth grade after classes resume.” Certain districts have, in fact, been practicing placement of retained children in a 4th grade instructional setting (4th grade classroom), contingent on the student meeting the state’s criteria for mid-year promotion. This is really just a “work around” for the districts, it helps them to meet the students’ educational needs, while the district is also able to say that the students are not yet promoted. It’s semantics. Which is the very reason for the lawsuit. These children should not be retained in the first place, on paper, or otherwise. From Just Read Florida: WHAT IS THE MEANING AND PURPOSE OF RETENTION? Retention does not mean that the child has failed. It does not mean that teachers or parents are not working hard enough. It does mean that the child needs more instructional time and help to catch up and reach reading proficiency. The purpose of retention is to give children who have substantial reading deficiencies more time and the intensive instruction they need to catch up in reading. Additionally, here is an e-mail excerpt from the FLDOE to State Senator Darren Soto (D-14) confirming that this is a permissible course of action: Specifically, as it concerns children, who are retained, but who lack a documented reading deficiency: The state has the duty to provide appropriate education, therefore the forced repeating of third grade curriculum would be educationally inappropriate. If the students are actually placed in a 3rd grade class, while they are supposed to be working towards mid-year promotion, they will need to be exposed to 4th grade standards as well. If they were not, that would be inappropriate educational instruction, for these children. From the FL DOE Technical Assistance Paper Third-Grade Student Progression – Oct. 24, 2013 (Page 10) Districts need to meet the individual needs of students. This can be achieved through implementing creative multi-age grouping or a transitional-classroom setting. Failing that, will the districts adhere to the letter of the law here, as it pertains to students retained without any documented reading deficiency? Title XLVIII – K-20 EDUCATION CODE Chapter 1008 – ASSESSMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY (a) Students retained under the provisions of paragraph (5)(b) must be provided intensive interventions in reading to ameliorate the student’s specific reading deficiency, as identified by a valid and reliable diagnostic assessment. This intensive intervention must include effective instructional strategies, participation in the school district’s summer reading camp, and appropriate teaching methodologies necessary to assist those students in becoming successful readers, able to read at or above grade level, and ready for promotion to the next grade. 3. Implement a policy for the midyear promotion of a student retained under the provisions of paragraph (5)(b) who can demonstrate that he or she is a successful and independent reader and performing at or above grade level in reading or, upon implementation of English Language Arts assessments, performing at or above grade level in English Language Arts. Tools that school districts may use in reevaluating a student retained may include subsequent assessments, alternative assessments, and portfolio reviews, in accordance with rules of the State Board of Education. Students promoted during the school year after November 1 must demonstrate proficiency levels in reading equivalent to the level necessary for the beginning of grade 4. The rules adopted by the State Board of Education must include standards that provide a reasonable expectation that the student’s progress is sufficient to master appropriate grade 4 level reading skills. Provide students who are retained under the provisions of paragraph (5)(b) with a highly effective teacher as determined by the teacher’s performance evaluation under s. 1012.34. 5. Establish at each school, when applicable, an Intensive Acceleration Class for retained grade 3 students who subsequently score Level 1 on the required statewide, standardized assessment identified in s. 1008.22. The focus of the Intensive Acceleration Class shall be to increase a child’s reading and English Language Arts skill level at least two grade levels in 1 school year. The Intensive Acceleration Class shall: a. Be provided to a student in grade 3 who scores Level 1 on the statewide, standardized English Language Arts assessment, and who was retained in grade 3 the prior year, because of scoring Level 1. REPEATING: Parents seeking guidance about these alternative pathways to promotion are urged to contact their principals and District Superintendents to see how their child may access this established path to the Fourth Grade. It is a temporary fix, at best, a band-aid. But it would allow the children to get their basic educational needs met, while the adults work toward a permanent solution. Contact information for all District Superintendents may be found here: http://www.fldoe.org/accountability/data-sys/school-dis-data/superintendents.stml Lawsuit to Make #180DaysCount is Filed Posted by The Opt Out Florida Network in Actions, Alternative Assessments, Florida News, FSA (Florida Standards Assessment), High-stakes Testing, Laws & Legislation, National News, Opting Out, Parents Organize, Retention & Remediation, Third Grade, Third Grade Retention Accountability, alternative assessment, authentic classrooms, FLDOE, Florida legislature, FSA, FSA Opt Out Movement, Good Cause Exemptions, harmful educational practices, K-12, opt out movement, promotion by report card, real learning, real teaching, Retention, state bullying, Third Grade FSA Today, in districts across Florida, the school year began and children are moving on up to the next grade. But many proficient children, who proved their skills for 180 days in the Third Grade last year, are not joining their friends in the Fourth Grade. In response to the districts that say their hands are tied, courageous parents of retained third grade students have taken their fight to a Court of Law. It’s officially on the books in Tallahassee now, folks and lawmakers are on notice. This suit is an indictment of test and punish accountability systems everywhere. A positive outcome from this case will have repercussions nationally – for the benefit of ALL children in public schools. The families’ legal fund still needs $2,270 to meet their goal of $17,000. Please show your support for these families by donating now: https://www.gofundme.com/StopGr3Retention The direct link to the Court Records: Case # 2016-CA-1794: Verified Emergency Motion for Temporary Injunction (143 pages) Final Complaint – Case # 2016-CA-1794 (152 pages) The emergency motion for indicative relief seeks immediate relief for students currently retained in the third grade, who are without a documented reading deficiency. Parents of students who received report cards with passing grades—some of whom were honor roll students—seek emergency declaratory and injunctive relief alleging that, because they opted out of standardized testing for their child, defendants arbitrarily and capriciously interpreted statutes and rules in a manner that requires retention, rather than promotion, of third grade students. The result is that students with no reading deficiency are retained in the third grade solely because they opt-out of standardized testing. Defendants’ policy means that a third- grader who takes standardized tests and scores poorly—whether intentionally or not—can still be promoted. Yet, an outstanding student who regularly produces proficient school work in the classroom for which they receive passing grades will be retained simply for not taking a standardized test that they are permitted to opt of under the Florida Statutes. Because the receipt of federal dollars is at stake unless 95 percent of students participate in standardized testing, test participation is treated as more important than actual performance. These actions produce an arbitrary and capricious result that violates the Equal Protection Clause and the Due Process Clause. Nature of the Emergency Emergency relief is warranted because Honor Roll students with no reading deficiency who earned passing grades will be retained in the third grade for the school year beginning in mid-August 2016. Plaintiffs did not receive notice that their child would be retained under the mandatory retention provision until late in the school year or after the school year had concluded. School districts across the state concede that they dropped the ball on the portfolio exemption because the Department of Education gave inconsistent guidance throughout the school year on what is required under the student portfolio exemption, which is provided for in Fla. Admin. Code Ann. r. 6A-1.094221 and Fla. Stat., § 1008.25(6). The irreparable injury caused by such actions warrants emergency injunctive relief because similarly situated students are treated quite differently without any rational basis or legitimate governmental objective. Absent emergency relief, the Plaintiffs will suffer irreparable harm by having to repeat the third grade, which will cause devastating effects to students with no reading deficiencies who actually earned passing grades. Any and all questions pertaining to this case should be directed to: The Law Office of Andrea Flynn Mogensen, P.A. 200 South Washington Boulevard, Suite 7 Media Coverage and Updates Aug 11 – Curmudgucation: FL: Test Fetish on Trial WPTV: Lawsuit challenges holding back students over Florida’s standardized tests Please complete attached WPTV survey Bradenton Herald: Parents suing over Florida’s FSA reading retention law TB Times: Romano: Once again, education officials fail a commonsense test in Florida Deutsch29: Florida Parents Sue State and Districts for Retaining Students Who Opted Out Tampa Bay Times: Florida parents sue state over Jeb Bush-era testing rule Tallahassee Democrat: Parents take on state’s third-grade retention rule Orlando Sentinel: Parents sue state to challenge Florida’s third-grade retention law Hernando Families Persevere to Make #180DaysCount Posted by The Opt Out Florida Network in Alternative Assessments, Florida News, FSA (Florida Standards Assessment), High-stakes Testing, Laws & Legislation, National News, Opting Out, Parents Organize, Retention & Remediation, Third Grade, Third Grade Retention Accountability, alternative assessment, developmentally Appropriate Practice, FLDOE, Florida legislature, FSA, FSA Opt Out Movement, Good Cause Exemptions, harmful educational practices, High stakes testing, intimidation, K-12, Opt Out, opt out movement, promotion by report card, real learning, real teaching, Retention, state bullying, test prep, testing, The Opt Out Florida Network, Third grade, Third Grade FSA Meet the courageous families from Hernando County, fighting mandatory Third Grade retention. We have less than $5,000 to raise! Show these families that you appreciate their commitment and click here to donate to the legal fund to make #180DaysCount for ALL kids! The Everett Family – Hailey, Pam (Mom) “We are here because our school system has failed my honor roll student. Thanks to Maria Schultz for pointing me to the Opt Out direction. Hailey is paving the way for her brother who is entering the 3rd grade.” The Hohman Family – Maddison, Melinda (Mom) & Jason (Dad) “Maddison has been a proficient honor roll student for every quarter in the 2015-2016 school year. We believe she should be promoted based on her grades for the 180 days of the school year. Hernando County School District would like to retain her due to not having an FSA score. We feel strongly that all students’ records for the 180 days shows whether they are proficient or not. We are apart of this lawsuit because of our beliefs in 180 days work to count more than one test score. We also have a son going into second grade this upcoming school year, who we are hoping will not have to feel the stress or anxiety caused by the FSA.” Posted by The Opt Out Florida Network in Actions, Alternative Assessments, Florida News, FSA (Florida Standards Assessment), High-stakes Testing, Laws & Legislation, National News, Opting Out, Parents Organize, Retention & Remediation, Teachers Speak Out, Third Grade, Third Grade Retention 3rd grade lawsuit, Accountability, alternative assessment, authentic classrooms, FLDOE, Florida legislature, FSA, FSA Opt Out Movement, Good Cause Exemptions, High stakes testing, just let me teach, K-12, opt out movement, Parent Action, real learning, real leraning, Retention, Teachers Speak Out, test prep, testing, The Opt Out Florida Network, Third grade, Third Grade lawsuit Thank you to everyone donating to this effort. We are making steady progress. Support is wonderful from parents and educators alike. Tally: Up to $5,075 and counting! In the words of Sarasota parent, Paula Drew, “It is our duty to help! Let’s put our money where our mouth is! If everyone donates a few bucks, we can win this battle, which will have implications for ALL children.” Support is coming in from all over the country! Opt Out Manatee’s car wash raised $500! Manatee kids aren’t being retained, but their community knows this lawsuit has positive implications for ALL children and they’re doing their part to help. The giving is growing! The creator of the award-winning documentary “NaturePlay – Take Childhood Back” is offering a Free Screening License with a donation of $300 or more. Donate to this GoFundMe campaign and then contact them to confirm your screening. If you have donated $300+, click HERE for Nature Play contact info. You can organize a community screening Community screenings of “Nature Play” can be used to create fundraisers for the legal fund! If you would like to use your Free Screening License as a fundraiser, limitations, rules and regulations apply and are provided by Nature Play. Opt Out T-Shirt Fundraiser! $3 (25%) from each shirt will go to this fund. To order yours, click HERE. Are you in Duval County? Please support this fundraiser! On July 26, The Yum Yum Tree will donate net profits from 5:00-8:00 PM! The regular menu will be available and all profits from 5:00-8:00 PM will be donated to the lawsuit. For more info, you can visit: TheYumYumTree.com and Facebook page. Educators support this effort! Teachers have donated their A+ Bonus money. From Teacher Donna Mace, in Clay County, “Best place to rid myself of $ “earned” from student test scores!” Challenge your friends! Every dollar counts! Share why you are donating to this cause. Challenge your friends to match your gift. School board members from Hernando, Manatee and Osceola Counties have now contributed to the fund. Nothing like putting your money where your mouth is to show you understand the issues clearly. July 19 – Orlando Sentinel: Schools held back far fewer 3rd-graders in 2015 “School administrators said that without the late-arriving third-grade test scores, they made retention decisions by reviewing class work, local test scores and teacher recommendations. And they decided some students would do best moving onto fourth grade and getting extra help there rather than redoing third grade.” July 18 – Sarasota Herald Tribune: 3RD GRADE RETENTIONS: Parents readying lawsuit against Ed Dept over testing “Sarasota attorney Andrea Mogensen is representing Chastain and 13 other parents from Hernando, Seminole, Broward, Orange, St. Lucie and Osceola counties. She said because retention will affect the students in August, she may seek an injunction so they can progress to the fourth grade. “Because of the time-sensitive nature, the parents have a very small period of time to respond,” Mogensen said. “They found out in mid-June that their child will be retained, which will have an effect in August, so yes, we will seek injunctive relief.”” Parents raise money to fight Florida’s third-grade retention law “These “courageous parents” are “demanding that their children be promoted based on the work they did all year long, evidenced by satisfactory report cards or actual portfolios of their children’s work – a more authentic assessment than any single test could possibly be,” the opt out group said.” July 13 – Tampa Bay Times: “Group seeks support to fight Florida’s third-grade retention law“ “If successful, their effort could have widespread effect. Florida’s third-grade retention law has been replicated throughout the country as other states seek to hold schools accountable for student learning.” Student Portfolio Puts Assessment Where It Belongs… With Teachers Accountability, alternative assessment, authentic classrooms, Charlotte County Schools, classrooms, developmentally Appropriate Practice, FLDOE, Florida legislature, FSA, FSA Opt Out Movement, Good Cause Exemptions, harmful educational practices, High stakes testing, Joshua Katz, just let me teach, Just Read Florida, K-12, Nancy Robbinson, OCPS, Opt Out, Orange County Public Schools, Pasco County Schools, Portfolio, Portfolio assessment, real learning, real teaching, SCPS, Student Portfolio, Teachers, The Opt Out Florida Network, Third grade, Third Grade FSA, Third Grade Promotion In Just Read Florida’s Read to Learn, the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) is clear: “The purpose of retention is to give children who have substantial reading deficiencies more time and the intensive instruction they need to catch up in reading.” There are decades of solid research and scholarly articles about why third grade retention is not only not beneficial for students, but is, in fact, harmful. Therefore, if a student has no documented reading deficiency, it is even more obvious that no one is served by retaining a child simply because they are lacking a single test score. Not teachers, not schools, and most importantly, not the student. The opt out movement seeks permanent change for all children, with research-based decisions. Third Grade retention goes against all accepted scientific research about the best practices in education. Florida law is clear: FS 1008.25(5)(c)6. 6. That the statewide, standardized English Language Arts assessment is not the sole determiner of promotion and that additional evaluations, portfolio reviews, and assessments are available to the child to assist parents and the school district in knowing when a child is reading at or above grade level and ready for grade promotion. From a practical as well as an educational standpoint, Pasco Supt. Browning stated, on June 2, 2016: “As superintendent of Pasco County Schools, I want to make it clear that I have no desire to retain third graders who clearly demonstrate that they have mastered state standards. Retaining students not only has questionable long-term benefits for the retained student, it also adds to the cost of educating them.” And yet, as the school year has ended and satisfactory report cards have been sent home, many third grade students across Florida, whose report cards proved them proficient, but whose parents opted them out of testing, have been either retained (here, here and here), scheduled for summer school or further testing (SAT10, IOWA) before their districts will promote them. These children minimally participated in the FSA by sitting for the test, but did not complete the test and received no test score. Throughout this post, I will refer to “portfolio tests” and “student portfolios.” This is an important distinction. The state has seen fit to “help us” by creating a bank of test items, which they call a “portfolio” (don’t forget the air quotes). That is not a portfolio. It is a series of tests (in some cases as few as 15 in Seminole or as many as 42 in orange), which cover the requirements to meet the required standards. Some districts have promoted students without test scores (see here), confident that the children’s (satisfactory to excellent) report cards are evidence that they met the required standards to prove their mastery of third grade. Some children are in retention limbo, waiting for their districts to make final decisions to promote them or to continue this farce of retaining proficient children. Other districts, having foreseen this exact predicament, administered the state’s portfolio tests, some from the beginning of the school year, and were able to satisfy the good cause exemption from retention. Still other districts administered the SAT10 or the IOWA, post-FSA, both with and without parental knowledge, and promoted some of the children. Parents, who opted out of the Third Grade FSA are testing the system and have also refused all manner of standardized testing. They are demanding that the districts promote their children based on their work, done throughout the school year. These courageous parents are not afraid of tests. A portfolio may contain many different kinds of tests and assessments done throughout the year. They object to the standardized tests which are used, not in service of their children’s education, but for the data used to rank and sort their children, teachers and schools, adding to the culture of incessant test prep which eats up valuable instruction time all year long. They object to promoting (or retaining) their children by a single test score, which denies teachers’ professional integrity and their children’s hard work. Reliance on a single test score denies the worth of a year of teaching and learning in the classroom. Children with no FSA scores and NO reading deficiency are STILL at risk of retention. Many of us in the opt out movement believe strongly, that without evidence of a documented reading deficiency, a report card should suffice to promote a child from the third to the fourth grade. Most school districts either don’t agree, disbelieve this or they dismiss it. From our perspective, the only acceptable alternative assessment is the assessment of a student portfolio – a collection of a student’s independently completed work from the classroom, done throughout the school year. In the May 27, 2015 Tampa Bay Times – Florida education rules permit portfolios for promotion to fourth grade: “…nowhere in the state law does it say that a child with a poor score, or no score, must take an alternate test to the Florida Standard Assessment before seeking a portfolio option. In fact, the law offers a portfolio as an equal good cause exemption to an alternate assessment…” In the absence of an FSA score, and in spite of having administered the IOWA twice in the year, Seminole County remains adamant about using only the SAT10 or the state’s portfolio tests for good cause exemption, instead of an actual portfolio of independently completed work, which, if the standards have been taught in this stellar district (7th out of 67 districts), all students should have. There should be no reason why the work would not match the standards. In Seminole County, third grade students are among the most heavily tested in the state and are subjected to: FSA – March through May IOWA – October and April/May Trimester exams – every 12 weeks Progress monitoring Assessments – 3 times/year Scholastic Reading Inventory – 4 times/year This is in addition to Accelerated Reader, used to derive Lexile scores and all of the computer adaptive competency-based online tests, such as iReady and SuccessMaker, among others. Why insist on the portfolio tests, which is really just MORE testing, about which teachers have said repeatedly that very few third graders can pass because they are above grade level? If schools are teaching the standards, a student portfolio would be proof that required standards are met. What reason then, could a district have for not using such a portfolio? If a teacher is not meeting the statutory requirements from their unit assignments or chapter tests, this begs the question: Why not? If a teacher does not have at least three pieces of evidence of students’ mastery for each standard, what is the teacher doing? If a teacher is concerned that the assignments they give through the year may not satisfy this requirement, that’s another question entirely. If a teacher says: “This is too hard” or “This is more than what I’m doing”, we can respond by asking: “Then, what exactly, ARE you doing?” Remember, our teachers are teaching the standards. And if they are not, that is where the Principal comes in. That’s a conversation to be had with the Principal and the Teacher. The assessment of a student portfolio is, without question, the best test of a teacher’s and a district’s accountability, which is what the opt out movement supports. The student portfolio is the best evidence of a child’s work, on good days and bad, under the guidance and direction of a trained professional for all 180 days in school. When parents opt out of allowing the FSA to be the sole determiner of their child’s fitness for promotion, they entrust the authority of assessment where it belongs: in the teacher’s hands. In the June 16 Charlotte Sun, Jill MacIsaac, Administrator for Opt Out Charlotte stated, “What’s happening in third grade and throughout the state is we’re devaluing our teachers in third grade by saying it really doesn’t matter what you think, it doesn’t really matter what you say if they fail this test,” MacIsaac said. The opt out movement is the strongest grassroots advocacy movement supporting teachers’ professional autonomy and authority, stronger than the PTA (where’s the T?), stronger than the two national teachers’ unions (NEA and AFT), which, in the past, have repeatedly avoided partnership opportunities to defend their own teachers’ classroom authority. Many teachers don’t even realize that this movement supports them, nor do they clearly understand how we do so. This is a reminder that the Florida Education Association has posted informational resources from The Opt Out Florida Network on the FEA website for teachers (also here). Florida statutes and the Oct 24 2014 Student Progression Technical Assistance Paper both state that parents can choose a student portfolio as an alternative assessment and that a student need only pass ONE assessment to be promoted to the fourth grade. Nothing in Florida statute or the Student Progression Plan states that parents may/shall/must be denied the option to use a student portfolio as a good cause exemption – for any reason. AND the FLDOE has said there is no hierarchy of good cause exemptions, therefore, none is more or less valid than any other. The FSA validity report said that the FSA does not fully align with all the required standards. (The DOE did counter by saying that almost every question did match a standard… just not necessarily the one it was claimed to match.) Since the requirements for a student portfolio do match the standards, a satisfactory student portfolio actually exceeds the standards tested by the FSA. A student portfolio is superior evidence of a student having mastered third grade requirements. A portfolio is not simply a collection of a students work. A satisfactory portfolio must meet State requirements, and the requirements are not a breeze. The FL DOE clearly details the requirements for a student portfolio here: Be selected by the student’s teacher; Be an accurate picture of the student’s ability and only include student work that has been independently produced in the classroom; Include evidence that the standards assessed by the grade 3 statewide English Language Arts assessment have been met. Evidence is to include multiple choice items and passages that are approximately 60 percent literary text and 40 percent information text that are between 100-700 words with an average of 500 words. Such evidence could include chapter or unit tests from the district’s/school’s adopted core reading curriculum that are aligned with the Language Arts Florida Standards or teacher-prepared assessments; Be an organized collection of evidence of the student’s mastery of the Language Arts Florida Standards that are assessed by the grade 3 statewide English Language Arts assessment. For each standard, there must be at least three examples of mastery as demonstrated by a grade of 70 percent or above on each example; and Be signed by the teacher and the principal as an accurate assessment of the required reading skills. Additionally, note that the Just Read, Florida! Office has begun creating an updated Third-Grade State Portfolio. B-8. Can grade 3 English Language Arts items from the Florida’s Item Bank and Test Platform be used as part of a student’s third-grade portfolio for good cause exemption or mid-year promotion? Yes. Items used in a student portfolio must meet the specifications stated in question B-3 Rule 6A-1.094221, F.A.C. NOTE: B-8: “…part of a student’s third-grade portfolio…” School districts have mistakenly turned Florida’s Item Bank and Test Platform (a series of tests) into the entire “portfolio.” This is a mistake, it’s lazy and parents should not accept this. A student portfolio and portfolio test items are not interchangeable, nor were they intended to be. There is nothing in the state statutes, which supports having to use the state’s portfolio tests over a student portfolio. AND – Parents have the right to request it. No district can legally deny that option to parents, if it is requested. There is even more detailed guidance from the FL DOE on Third Grade portfolios.: Florida Department of Education 2015 Third-Grade Portfolio – District Guidance The student portfolio may consist of some or all of the following resources: State-developed Third-Grade Student Portfolio – located in the Florida Interim Assessment Item Bank and Test Platform (IBTP) through the Single Sign-On (SSO); Adopted Core Reading Program – consists of end of chapter or unit tests; and Teacher, school or district-prepared assessment examples. NOWHERE does it say that a portfolio must utilize ANY content from the IBTP. At the June 14 Orange County Public Schools board meeting, Vice Chair, Nancy Robbinson provided a strong statement of support for the use of an authentic portfolio to promote children who have no test score. (Watch from 2:07:39) Nancy Robbinson stated: “At our last board meeting, several weeks ago, there were some comments made that implied that… parents were harming their children by having them minimally participate and not take the FSA. And I just have to defend those families. It’s their choice to send their child to public school to begin with; their choice to have their child participate in all the different things we offer. I understand that in the Third Grade, state requirements says that they have to take the FSA, but there are other options. If you read the statute, there’s are other options. There’s a portfolio statute, that you can start at the beginning of the year. Up until recently, it used to be that the portfolio was really there for teachers, for students that they felt wouldn’t be promoted, because they might not pass the test. But through this little bit of crisis we went through, going back and forth like Mr Katz said, where the DOE threw the school boards, the districts under the bus, through that, I think we’ve all determined, if you really read the statute for what it really says, and it’s very clear – The teachers CAN choose the portfolio items that they want their students to have. And we’ve found that some of the teachers did a really great job of providing the proper work. When several of those families came in (I didn’t work with every family. I only worked with 8 that came to me. There were some that already been worked with through the same dept.) They came in and their work was so phenomenal that they just went tick, tick, tick, tick and met all the standards. It was really phenomenal. So that led me to think – Why can’t we use the statute that the DOE is saying is our prerogative to do and be a little more proactive, now that we know this is available, rather than having to be reactive and scramble at the last minute? Why don’t we put out the information at the beginning of the school year – to the third grade parents, to the third grade teachers, to the principals, to the reading coaches and explain the statute – explain what their options are and explain what it looks like?” Some schools have said that they are not allowing the use of a student portfolio (not portfolio tests) because it is too time-consuming for the teachers. Some have said that the work alone does not show clear evidence of having met the standards. If the standards are what are being taught, then this should not be possible and that is not a problem solved by more testing. Numerous teachers, including my children’s teachers from years ago, have stated that creating a portfolio as the work is done, is really just a matter of marking the standards required and assessed in school and saving the work in a simple folder. Social Studies and Science can be used to cover the informational text requirements. Compiling a portfolio is not new and it is not rocket science. This doesn’t have to be a complicated process. Parents need only request early on in the school year, that a portfolio be maintained because there is a risk that their child may be retained, and they need to request to examine the portfolio from time to time. This is necessary because in numerous instances, parents have been told that a portfolio was being maintained at their request, and then too late, found that it was not the case. Parent and high school teacher, Joshua Katz spoke compellingly at the same board meeting and addressed the fact that his daughter, Abigail was promoted to the fourth grade without a test score by using a portfolio as her good cause exemption. Wouldn’t a portfolio be a far more authentic, effective and informative assessment of a student’s progress than a one day snapshot? It would certainly provide immediate feedback for teachers and students – and it is there for immediate reference. Three years ago, when my son was in the Third Grade in Orange County, I quietly asked my son’s teacher at the start of the school year, to maintain a portfolio because I would not be allowing him to take the FCAT. She said that it was no problem as she had already started a portfolio for a few students in the class, who she felt might be at risk. She was kind enough to ask if there were any other tests I wanted him not to take. I opted him out of iReady, AR and benchmark testing. I remember being concerned that there might not be enough “data” to promote him. A veteran Third Grade Teacher reassured me that there wasn’t any “data” that could be gotten from the online assessments, benchmark tests, etc. that my son’s teacher wasn’t able to get in the course of the day. She further reassured me that the data the teacher would get would be higher quality data, with which to immediately inform her instruction of my child. My son was promoted without incident. There was ample evidence of his mastery. Because his teacher knew that he would not be taking “the test,” she was free to really teach him outside of the test prep box… and he was free to really learn. Resources and Support: Opt Out Florida Third Grade 06/13/16: Charlotte parents speak out against high-stakes tests 06/01/16: Manatee super blames FL education officials for shifting stance on retention 05/31/16: Manatee Supt Greene to allow all 3rd-grade students good-cause promotions 05/27/16: Florida education rules permit portfolios for promotion to fourth grade 05/26/16: Students who opted out of testing could be retained 04/18/14: FCAT reading and third grade: Alert parents to portfolio option, lawmakers say HIGHLY SUGGESTED READING: Statement on 3rd Grade Retention by Superintendent Browning Critical Information For Parents Of 3rd Graders Florida Department of Education 2015 Third-Grade Portfolio – Teacher Guidance Florida Department of Education 2015 Third-Grade Portfolio – District Guidance Technical Assistance Paper Third-Grade Student Progression Authentic Assessment Toolbox Jon Mueller. Professor of Psychology, North Central College, Naperville, IL. What is a Portfolio? – Pinellas County Public Schools Portfolio Assessment – NC Public Schools – Assessment, Articulation and Accountability Portfolio – Definition from The Glossary of Ed Reform. Seriously, take a look. Promoted to 4th Grade… Without a Test Score. Posted by The Opt Out Florida Network in Actions, Alternative Assessments, Florida News, FSA (Florida Standards Assessment), High-stakes Testing, Laws & Legislation, National News, Opting Out, Parents Organize, Retention & Remediation Accountability, alternative assessment, authentic classrooms, Authentic portfolio, Bully Letters, bullying, classrooms, developmentally Appropriate Practice, FLDOE, Florida legislature, FSA, Good Cause Exemptions, harmful educational practices, High stakes testing, intimidation, K-12, legislation, Making kids cry, Opt Out, real learning, real teaching, Retention, state bullying, Teachers, test prep, testing, The Opt Out Florida Network, Third grade, Third Grade FSA Many parents and teachers believe that Florida Statute says that without a documented reading deficiency, a satisfactory report card should suffice for promotion from third grade to fourth. Retention is (supposed to be) a remedy for a reading deficiency (not punishment for opting out). Although it shouldn’t be, promotion to the Fourth Grade in Florida can be a mysterious thing. If there must be an assessment used to promote a child, then a portfolio is the assessment of choice. At yesterday’s Orange County Public Schools board meeting, Joshua Katz addressed the successful promotion of his daughter to the Fourth Grade – without a test score. That’s right. A third grader in Orange County, Florida was promoted to the 4th grade based, not on any standardized test score, but on a portfolio. This video is confirmation that Third Graders CAN be promoted, WITH an authentic portfolio. TO BE CLEAR – by portfolio, I mean a portfolio in the true definition of the word – a collection of a student’s actual work, representing 180 days of real teaching and real learning. This is confirmation that students CAN be promoted WITHOUT a test score and WITHOUT the series of 42 separate mini-FSA tests the DOE calls a “portfolio.” A real portfolio, however… that’s officially a thing. A good thing. Here is the full text of Joshua Katz’ address: I come to you tonight as a parent and only a parent in OCPS. Two of my three children are enrolled in elementary school. I have two rules for my children when it comes to school – Rule #1: LEARN Rule #2: HAVE FUN. This started two years ago when I asked Abigail, “How was your day at school?” She said, “I was on green.” Her entire day at school was dependent upon an adult’s subjective assessment of her behavior. It tore me up. So, I sought to protect my children from school in order to ensure that they had an education, and I made up my “Two Rules.” I would then allow everything that is good and right in education to work, and I would fight against anything wrong in education. Abigail just completed her Third Grade year with a straight A average (and straight O’s too). She knows full well what we all know: that the Florida Standardized Assessment Program has no place in this process we were born with: to learn and have fun doing it. On the evening of the last day of school on June 8, after several attempts for closure at an earlier time, I received the phone call and the e-mail that Abigail was to be retained in the Third Grade. And I was ready. Over the past three years, I have been one of many parents who have attempted to fight what is wrong in education. Many parents have spoken to you about this fight. Many parents have invited you to join this fight. Over the past three years we have heard the same argument: that is state law, that we must fight Tallahassee, that it’s not up to you, and that as some of you have said repeatedly “that we cannot interpret state statute (go to 7:10 on video link).” And then, two weeks ago, the Florida Department of Education (as they threw the school districts under the bus) made it crystal clear that we, the parents who have been fighting for the past three years, were not the ones interpreting state statue. The parents that have addressed you over the past few years, and especially over the past few weeks, have NOT INTERPRETED state statute. We simply READ them. They are CLEAR to us. It has been the DOE, it has been the districts, and it has been the schools that were INTERPRETING the state statutes all along, NOT US. For example, I had tried unsuccessfully all year to convince the teacher and principal that a “teacher-created portfolio” actually existed. The district even discounted this truth until the DOE reaffirmed it recently. And even though the statute clearly says it is signed off by the teacher and the principal (see page 6, B-3, 5th bullet point), I was still communicating with upper level district administrators regarding Abigail’s classwork for the year. Even to the very end, it was not me interpreting statute. I simply read it. It is clear. And now, because of the hard work of her teacher, the patience of her principal, a few special people here tonight, and because of our commitment to Justice (just read any e-mail I send), Abigail, my Straight A Student, who LOVES LEARNING, and fights for what is right in education, is to be promoted to the 4th Grade. It took a lot of back and forth, it took far too much stubbornness on my part, but we did it. This fight has enabled me to give my children something that not many of my colleagues, leaders, or other adults have: COURAGE; the courage to fight for something that is right. I will continue to fight for what is right in education, protecting a student’s love of learning, protecting the teacher’s professionalism and authority, and I am extremely proud that my children are fighting alongside of me. Joshua A. Katz Joshua Katz is a parent, a high school math teacher and a vocal advocate for public education. He blogs about education at Greater When Heard and you can see more of his advocacy work in these videos: The Best Thing… Ever TedX talk: The Toxic Culture of Education My Child Failed The FSA. Now what? Opt Out Gets NR2, Not a Test Score How To Opt Out Of Computer-Based FSA Teacher: “Please send note to school if you’re opting out” Follow The OOF Network Blog Tweet much? 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__label__cc	0.700611	0.299389	ThePalmieriReport On The Frontlines Taking America Back PR Sports Jacob Palmieri Illegal Alien crime Intelligence Agencies In 47 of 50 Cities, Obamacare Coverage Will Be ‘Unaffordable’ in 2018 By Law’s Own Definition Published on : September 28, 2017 Published by : Jacob Palmieri BY: Ali Meyer In 47 of 50 cities in 2018, the cost of Obamacare’s lowest-priced plan would be deemed “unaffordable” by the Affordable Care Act’s own definition, according to a study from eHealth, Inc. Under the Affordable Care Act, health insurance becomes unaffordable when the lowest-cost plan costs more than 8.16 percent of a household’s gross income. Usually people who fall in this category can get an exemption from paying Obamacare’s individual mandate. “Government subsidies are available to people earning up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level, but middle-income households earning 401 percent or more of the federal poverty level are not eligible for subsidy assistance,” eHealth explains. The study evaluated families with two adults and one child in 50 cities who were paying the lowest-price plan in 2017. The study then applied a 10 percent increase to premiums to project the rates seen in 2018 and found that in 47 of those cities, coverage would be unaffordable. The increase that the study projected was moderate, since many have estimated that premiums could increase by as much as 20 percent next year. In addition, these families would need to incur an extra $28,939 before the plan became affordable. On average, a family of three would have to earn a six-figure salary—or $110,823.32—for coverage to be affordable. Some cities have higher costs than others. For example, in Charlotte, N.C., a family of three would have to earn an extra $102,244.68 from what they are earning now or a total of $184,128.68 a year to afford an Obamacare plan. There were only three cities—Detroit, Albuquerque, and Pittsburgh—where there was no affordability gap with the rate increases expected in 2018. “Coverage under the Affordable Care Act is becoming seriously unaffordable for many families, even by Obamacare’s own rules,” said eHealth CEO Scott Flanders. “I find it hard to believe that the framers of the law ever intended the cost of family health insurance to rival that of a second mortgage. Without the introduction of lower-cost options into the market or expanded government subsidies, many middle-income Americans are in danger of being priced out of the health insurance market entirely.” Tagged in : Barack Obama Obamacare Categorized in : Politics Home Depot Founder calls Bernie Sanders the Anti-Christ WAR! Dems add FAR-LEFT progressives to House Oversight Committee BOOM: GOP Tax Plan eliminates Tax Payer subsidizing of kneeling NFL’s stadiums Report: Trump Administration sets Refugee limit at 45,000 HAHA: Bar uses Kaepernick jersey as doormat Join the Rebellion! The Palmieri Report was founded by Jacob Palmieri a 21 year old Journalism Student interested in restoring America to the values it was founded upon. Iran threatens to expose western diplomats who took bribes to create the Iran Deal WOW: Packed House for Michelle Malkin event in NY Minnesota Teacher of the Year kneels during Anthem before National Championship game Investigators with ICE and FBI looking into Ilhan Omar's marital history NBC: Trump appointee didn't respect "pronouns" of Child Porn watcher Brooks: Intel Officials may have withheld Iran info from Congress fearing leaks China banning words "God", "Bible", and, "Christ" from textbooks Twitter joke claiming mom kept aborted babies gets 40k likes Polls show 34% black approval for President Trump	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335128
__label__wiki	0.787593	0.787593	In Defence Of... Wild Sting: In Defence Of Dune Andrew Stimpson , January 30th, 2012 11:26 In the game of folly versus lolly David Lynch's version of the Frank Herbert science fiction novel Dune played and lost. Now revived as part of a BFI Southbank retrospective on the director, it is often regarded as a patchy, incomprehensible failure. Andrew Stimpson challenges this consensus In a strange case of synchronicity, the Quietus asked me to say something about the sci-fi opus Dune - screening twice this month as part of the BFI season David Lynch: A Reputation Precedes... (full preview here) - on the very day I ordered the Blu-ray from the USA. I've been waiting a long time for a high quality release and, sadly, I'll be waiting a lot longer for a super-duper director's cut, packed with documentaries explaining the numerous mysteries surrounding the first complete production based upon Frank Herbert's densely plotted masterpiece. Veering from grandly beautiful to plain bloody ugly, sporting some genuinely crappy (and in some places unfinished) special effects and featuring a weird cross section of acting (and hamming) talent, Dune stands unique among the pantheon of godlike cinematic science fiction presences. In a strictly monotheistic environment where Star Wars rules there is no place for a film like Dune, a distinct irony considering that Frank Herbert, upon seeing George Lucas's smorgasbord, claimed to have identified no fewer than 37 points of direct comparison between the blockbuster and his, as yet unfilmed novel. Thanks in part to Lucas - before he had curled out a number of gigantic turds over his own doorstep - the appetite for the genre was rapacious: the likes of Alien, Blade Runner, Metalstorm: The Destruction Of Jared-Syn and, by 1984, Dune were all getting made. The daunting, outlandish and challenging scope of Frank Herbert's brick of a book takes on an added dimension when the previous attempts to adapt it are considered. The first substantial effort was undertaken by Alejandro Jodorowsky, the man behind El Topo and The Holy Mountain. The maverick Chilean engaged the unique artistic talents of H.R. Giger, Christopher Foss and Jean Giraud aka Moebius to start pre-production on designing the film, with Gong, Tangerine Dream and Pink Floyd lined up to compose music. The sheer cliff face of bonkers was then scaled when he approached Salvador Dali to play the Emperor of the Known Universe. After demanding $100,000 per day and a toilet-throne made of dolphins, Dali agreed. Perhaps predictably, affairs rapidly spiralled into utter madness and scatology to the point where collaborator Dan O'Bannon was admitted to a psychiatric hospital and the Hollywood backers withdrew their support. For more about the Dune you'll only ever dream of read Lee Arizuno's extensive tQ feature. Lynch's effort may seem vanilla by comparison, but by normal genre standards it is certainly an eccentric piece of work. Even after forgiving Kyle MacLachlan's patently bizarre chin and the giant sandworms which look like they were knocked up by Blue Peter presenter Lesley Judd in a Japanese POW camp, one cannot fail to notice the colossal flaws in executing the story of a feudalistic, far-flung future. It commits the cardinal sin of the adaptation: if you haven't read the book it makes no bloody sense whatsoever. Dune is populated by human computers, drug-addled mutants, scheming assassins plus a host of dysfunctional families and cabals vying for power, wealth and above all Spice - the key to longevity and prescience. Lynch takes some liberties with the fundamentals of the plot, alarmingly so in the case of the ending, but changes had to be imposed to mitigate the fact that George Lucas had already nabbed a number of key features previously unique to Dune. (Danny Cannon and company would have a similar problem many years later with their Judge Dredd adaptation, after RoboCop had plundered the comic's signature characteristics.) Herbert's hugely intricate and meticulously detailed plot compounded the issue. So much so that John Harrison's TV miniseries, first broadcast in 2000, spanned almost five hours despite having compressed or omitted a number of elements. Cinema is certainly not new to shorthand versions of epic novels, but some of the methods employed by Lynch can be particularly jarring at first - the chief example being his decision to allow the audience to overhear characters' thoughts as lines of dialogue. Thanks to the accompanying shots of the thinkers in question looking at best vaguely pensive and, at worst, utterly vacant, the results range from diffident to bizarre. The average viewer can only be distanced further by the chewiness of Lynch's dialogue and the cast's wildly diverse response in their delivery choices. Some achieve masterful results, most notably Kenneth McMillan (Baron Harkonnen) and Brad Dourif (the Baron's sidekick Piter De Vries), whose every utterance is thoroughly invested with glee and dripping with spite. Undoubtedly as actors they just get it. Sadly, some plainly do not and their efforts, even to an avowed Dune fan, threaten to blow the whole mood. Kind of like your mam and dad coming round during a particularly hilarious, Butthole Surfers-accompanied mushroom trip and telling you the dog is dead. Dune's closest analogue is John Boorman's Excalibur. At the time of its 1981 release a US critic, while denigrating the film as a whole, noted that "the images have a crazy integrity". It was, in effect, a greatest hits collection of Mallory's Le Morte d'Arthur: an artfully visualised series of key scenes and epic occurrences that lacked a uniting flow. The same could be said of Lynch's picture and its source novel. Despite these shortcomings, Dune still manages to scale brilliant heights. Sting is awful, that's a given, but according to one of the many rumours surrounding the film he was already cast and forced on Lynch as part of the deal. Toto composed music for the soundtrack - music that actually made it into the film - yet it sounds fantastic thanks largely to Brian Eno's input on the signature theme. Across the board, there is always a saviour at hand. For every Sting there is a Brad Dourif; for every Button Moon-esque miniature shot there is a hand-crafted set of sumptuous detail and virtuosity; and for every clunky sandworm a gloriously immersive matt painting by genius industry artisan Syd Dutton. Ultimately the big saviour, in the face of an impossibly convoluted script devoid of all comprehensibility to the casual cinema goer, is David Lynch himself. He may have largely disowned and generally declined to talk about it, but his fingerprints are all over this film. Furthermore, thanks to the essence of the original story, the looming production pesence of the De Laurentiis family and the eclectic international cast, it has a slightly seedy, nasty European sensibility quite unlike any other mainstream blockbuster (with the possible exception of Flash Gordon, another glorious De Laurentiis failure from four years prior). David Lynch's Dune is not Star Wars (although it could have been: George Lucas approached Lynch to helm Return Of The Jedi before hiring Richard Marquand). There are no sassy robots, no laconic heroes, no aliens and no dogfights in space. There are, however, lots of very unpleasant people trying to screw each other over on a grand stage, set against a complex backdrop of subplots and themes involving power politics, bloodline manipulation, messianic tendencies, cultural conflict, ecological flux and greed. The 140-minute theatrical cut struggles to knit them into a cohesive whole and this undoubtedly contributed to the poor reception it received in 1984, although it did intrigue enough viewers for the De Laurentiis Company to re-edit and release a three hour version for television. A number of the more unpleasant and suggestive scenes were removed, ensuring that the extended cut is a frustratingly less complete experience. Lynch himself objected strongly enough to withdraw his directorial credit on this version, resulting in it carrying the Alan Smithee seal of disapproval. Undoubtedly there is an appetite for a Lynch-supervised restoration but it will probably never happen, so we have what we have: a flawed but ingenious slice of Lynchian weirdness wrapped up in a juicy ball of vivid imagery, perverse villainy and gloriously left-field performances. I see no reason whatsoever why Dune should be enjoyed any less than the director's other, even more unfathomable but still outlandishly brilliant works. As a Lynch fan it affords a heaven-sent opportunity to see him grapple with massive sociological themes, shoot futuristic visuals on 70mm and coordinate the talents of cinematographer Freddie Francis on altogether grander vistas than the tightly focused and claustrophobic The Elephant Man. For the discerning viewer, one unconcerned with mainstream appeal and hungry for sensation, David Lynch's Dune is a glimmering, idiosyncratic success. And Jack Nance is in it. Dune screens on Saturday February 4 and Friday February 17 at BFI Southbank. Tickets can be purchased here. David Lynch: BFI Season Preview » WATCH: David Lynch Music Video » Jodorowsky’s Dune And The Greatest Films Never Made » Multiple Nightmares: The Haunted Legacy Of Lynch's Eraserhead Soundtrack » Lost Highway: Jack Nance Remembered By David Lynch & Others » MORE FROM ANDREW STIMPSON Get In The Ring! Andrew Stimpson Goes Wrestling With VICE » Don't Weave Me This Way: The Basket Case Trilogy Revisited » Hammer Time! A Vintage Horror Blu-ray Bonanza » 25 Years On: Street Trash Revisited » Vicious Yet Deeply Human Writing: Sven Hassel RIP » MORE: IN DEFENCE OF... In Defence Of Perry Como, By David Keenan » Don't Talk! In Defence Of Queen's Hot Space » Cracked Actor: In Defence Of Oliver Reed » Wild Sting: In Defence Of Dune » Reaper Rebuttal: In Defence Of Neil Marshall's Doomsday »	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335136
__label__wiki	0.855937	0.855937	Junk Shop Classical Junk Shop Classical On Schubert: Music Stories Told £1 Record By £1 Record Phil Hebblethwaite , June 14th, 2017 08:28 For his second column on a single classical record bought for a quid in a charity shop, Phil Hebblethwaite unpicks a devastating twofer – the Alban Berg Quartett playing a pair of late Schubert pieces in which this most cultish of composers dares to contemplate his sentence of death by sexually transmitted disease Put yourself in the offices of the German wing of EMI records in 1985. A leading group, the Alban Berg Quartett – named after the famous modernist composer from their home country of Austria – has just filed their startling new recordings of two disturbing Schubert string quartets and you’re on the hunt for a cover image to suit the album. You give an illustrator called William Beurge a call and suggest he depicts the better-known of the two pieces, Der Tod Und Das Mädchen (Death And The Maiden), written in 1824. He comes up with something that’s a bit Pre-Raphaelite, and also voguishly dystopian. The maiden looks upwards, eyes closed. Death is represented by the skeletal, metallic-looking fingers resting on her right shoulder. Creepy, isn’t it? And now, very quickly, a boring story: a couple of years ago, a friend and newcomer to classical music, like me, came round to eat. Noticing a box of records, he said in mock pomposity: “Ah, Beethoven, shall we try the 7th or the 3rd?” He meant the symphonies, and I thought: “Why do we so often think of symphonies first when we think of classical music?” We don’t always – for many, classical music means opera, or ballet, and some of the most popular pieces in the repertoire are piano and violin concertos. But they’re all large-scale, orchestral works, and if you’re coming to classical music from a rock/pop background, they may not be the best place to start. We know bands; we know what it’s like to hear a group of, say, four musicians play together and what’s possible when they do – great things. To jump from that to trying to wrap your ears around an orchestra isn’t exactly easy and that’s why this second Junk Shop Classical column is about two string quartets. But don’t get me wrong here: just because string quartets are employed for decorative reasons in the wedding scenes of countless Hollywood movies, and at actual weddings, there’s nothing to say that music written for four instruments is lighter, or less probing, than an orchestral work. In fact, since Haydn developed the form in the 1750s, composers have often turned to the string quartet – nearly always two violins, a viola and cello – to make their most emotional and philosophical statements. It’s as critic Bernard Jacobson writes in the liner notes to a 1984 Alban Berg Quartett boxset of Beethoven’s late string quartets: “They’re most naturally suited to the activity of ‘logical disputation’ or ‘inquiry into truth’… Given four parts to play with, a composer working in anything like the classical key system has enough to fashion a full argument, but none spare for padding… The writer must concentrate on the bones of musical logic.” Put another way, they can be very lean and very mean, and it’s no surprise that when Schubert realised in 1823 that he was ill with syphilis – not only a social stigma but a death sentence at the time that would indeed kill him five years later, aged just 31 – one form he turned to was the string quartet, writing the two chilling, minor-key pieces that we’ll get to in a second. In the spirit of music journalists grossly over-simplifying enormous periods of very complex history, here’s where Schubert fits in the run, by birth date, of the Big Guns of Broadly Germanic Music: Bach > Haydn > Mozart > Beethoven > Schubert > Mendelssohn > Schumann > Liszt > Wagner > Bruckner > Brahms > Mahler > Strauss > Schoenberg > Weill > Kraftwerk. I’m not kidding about sticking Kraftwerk on the end there (they make a fun nod to music history with the song ‘Franz Schubert’ on Trans-Europe Express) and a similar run of the major players in Italian, French and Russian music would look just as impressive. Schubert was born a parish schoolmaster’s son in Vienna in 1797 and grew up in humble circumstances to reach the inconsiderable height of 4’11”. He was chubby, too, wore thick glasses and was nicknamed ‘Schwammerl’ (‘Little Mushroom’) by his friends. In his lifetime, he was largely unknown outside of Vienna and constantly struggled to make a living. Unlike Mozart (who died young in Vienna before Schubert was born) and Beethoven (older than Schubert but living in Vienna at the same time), he had no rich patrons. And without an audience, swathes of his work were either written to make easy money – selling songs, not unlike a Tin Pan Alley songwriter in later decades – or to please his friends, a close-knit, sometimes-wild group of bohemians and intellectuals brave enough to think freely in a Vienna then ruled by an oppressive regime and secret police. What makes Schubert exceptional is the sheer, absurd amount of music he wrote and its extraordinary quality – some thousand works in 17 years, comprised of over 600 Lieder (art songs, for which he’s best-known), nine symphonies (two uncompleted), masses, piano pieces, opera overtures and small-scale chamber works. To put that in perspective, if Beethoven had died when he was 31, he would have left a single symphony and a sprinkling of piano sonatas; Verdi just one opera of note, Nabucco. Schubert was a torchbearer at Beethoven’s funeral in 1827 (only a year before his own death), but the sources on whether they actually met are shaky and that’s a constant issue with this most mysterious of composers; of all the greats listed above, he’s the one we can be least sure about (his illness is assumed, not proven) and that’s affected how we think about him today, and romanticise him. He’s a true cult figure in the history of classical music and, since he died, he’s been chucked around from pillar to post – dismissed by some for composing music that was considered “feminine” (after Schumann wrote about it as such, but only in comparison to Beethoven); claimed, when appropriate, by Austrian nationalists, but also by German ones, too; and he’s had his sexuality continually discussed, leading a music biographer, Maynard Solomon, to sensationally out him in 1989 (a claim subsequently questioned, and so it goes on). Who was he? In a chapter in his book Listen To This, New Yorker critic Alex Ross has a go at defining his character: “He was friendly, up to a point; rude, when pressed; very shy or very arrogant, or probably both at once. He was colossally ambitious. He made a career and religion of music; he was a voracious reader who constantly tested the musical capabilities of texts. He could not grovel in front of potential patrons, yet he worked tolerably hard at self-promotion. His leisure hours were often drunkenly aimless. He formed intense friendships with men; he worshipped women but from afar. He theorised love more than he experienced it. He was prone both to euphoria and to paralysing melancholy, but he steadied himself with work. He was more a watcher of life than a participant in it: he had little time for anything unrelated to his art. There were no limits whatsoever to his musical imagination.” It became fashionable in the 20th century to think of Schubert of having something of a split personality – a joyful and romantic sort with a brutally dark side – and that’s unquestionably backed up by the tunes, and one scrap of hard evidence in particular. Long after Schubert died, a childhood friend called Joseph Kenner made this remarkable statement: “His body, strong as it was, succumbed to the cleavage in his souls, as I would put it, of which one pressed heaven-wards and the other bathed in slime. Anyone who knew Schubert knows how he was made of two natures, foreign to each other; how powerful the craving for pleasure dragged his soul down to the slough of moral degradation.” Did his bleaker side emerge after he contracted syphilis, most likely from a prostitute, or was it already there? That’s harder to define, but it’s after he got ill that he began to write his most crushing works. His Piano Sonata In A Minor from 1823 – a year in which he was hospitalised and flat broke – is almost unbearably tragic. (“It feels like your hands are turning to ice when you play it,” Radio 3’s Tom Service said in a recent broadcast about Schubert’s dark side. “It’s a musical gallows that this music traces in the air.”) Then, in 1824, just as Beethoven was signing off his epic ninth symphony for its May premiere, he wrote the Rosamunde quartet and Death And The Maiden – his 13th and 14th string quartets, and the two that are played so dramatically on this brilliant record by the Alban Berg Quartett. We do have a significant clue to Schubert’s state of mind when he was composing these two pieces. In March 1824, he wrote to his friend, the artist Leopold Kupelwieser: “I feel myself the most unhappy and wretched creature in the world. Imagine a man whose health will never be right again and who, in sheer despair, just makes things worse and worse instead of better. Imagine a man, I say, whose most brilliant hopes have perished; to whom the happiness of love and friendship have nothing to offer but pain at best; whose enthusiasm, at least of the stimulating kind, for all things beautiful threatens to disappear and I ask you, ‘Is he not a miserable unhappy being?’” Both Death And The Maiden and the Rosamunde are classic four-movement string quartets with the slow movement coming second. And, in both examples, the slow movements are built upon previous music Schubert had written – a 1817 song called ‘Death And The Maiden’ (itself based on a poem by Matthias Claudius of the same name) and incidental music he’d composed the year before for a play called Rosamunde, Princes Of Cyprus by Helmina von Chézy. But they have different characters: Death And The Maiden is monumental, the Rosamunde more brooding; the former beginning with a slash of terror as all four bows slice across the strings in unison, the latter with a ghostly theme that was used to devastating effect in Dance With A Serial Killer, a disturbing 2008 documentary about a French detective’s pursuit of the so-called ‘Criminal Backpacker’, multi-murderer Francis Heaulme. The film’s producers picked this exact recording of the Rosamunde, and that’s barely surprising – on this album, and many others (especially the Beethoven late string quartets mentioned earlier), the Alban Berg Quartett play with a sharpness that’s so lethal they occasionally sound vicious. But they couple their precision with a phenomenal clarity of purpose and deep empathy with the music. The final movement of Death And The Maiden is a tarantella – a fast, Italian dance often interpreted to be Schubert’s dance of death, or an attempt to ward off madness. And it’s there, in that fury and chaos, that you truly sense his pain – his battle with illness, and the inevitability of his demise. But there was so much more incredible music that Schubert would go on to write before passing away four years later, especially his sublimely melancholy song cycle Winterreise (Winter Journey). We’ll leave that to a future column and finish this one with a note for travellers: If you ever find yourself in Vienna, save half a day to get out to the Central Cemetery – Zentralfriedhof – on the outskirts of the city, a vast and beautiful place. There, in one small circle, around a cenotaph honouring Mozart, are the final resting places of Beethoven, Schubert, Johann ‘The Waltz King’ Strauss II and Brahms. Nearby, Schoenberg and the brilliant Hungarian composer György Ligeti are buried, complete with stunning, modernist gravestones. Find a bench and begin reading, as everyone should in Vienna, Graham Green’s The Third Man as. The action starts right there in the cemetery! Jun 14, 2017 3:32pm Thanks for this piece Phil. I very much enjoyed reading it. I will need to check out the ABQ version - from a quick listen to the Youtube version above it sounds fantastic. The version with which I'm most familiar and favour is the Quartetto Italiao's - it's less precise, messier, all blood and guts. I think that Schubert's late string quartets are the most visceral music I've ever heard. Reply to this Admin Fantastic. Great entry in the series. Thank you. Inspiration never dies. Jun 15, 2017 10:30am This is a phenomenal recording which I'd never heard! Thank you so much - and I have to thank Google too for bringing your article to my attention. It strikes me that there's a point beyond which playing music written by someone else transcends mere interpretation. In the case of the Alban Berg Quartet, their technical mastery, both of their own instruments and of their ensemble, coupled with their supreme musicality, shows them to be true creators of music in the most profound sense. Phil, I love this new column and look forward to reading it for many months to come. What have you read that has inspired/educated you on your way to becoming a classical fan? What books and critics have been your favorites? Phil Hebblethwaite In reply to Will: Thanks Will. Really enjoyed both of Alex Ross's books, and I'm a big fan on the three Norman Lebrecht ones that I've read so far. The best cross-history primers I've tried are The Story of Music by Howard Goodall and Nicolas Cook's Music: A Very Short Introduction. Also listen to tonnes of Radio 3 docs/podcasts and I'm lucky in that respect - I work at the BBC, so I get to access a lot of stuff that isn't online. Anything you'd recommend? In reply to Gordon: Cheers Gordon. Love Quartetto Italiano's Beethoven quartets, will definitely try them on these Schuberts. In reply to Phil Hebblethwaite: Thanks, I'll check those out! John Eliot Gardiner's Music in the Castle of Heaven has been my favorite so far. I had this idea this winter that I'd start learning about classical music with a book about Bach and then move forward in time, but I ended up spending months just listening to Bach and his contemporaries thanks to Gardiner's book. I'm eager to read/listen more widely, though, so thanks for the recs! Jul 8, 2017 12:37pm I love this series. Thanks for writing it, looking forward to the next one! New Classical-Specialist Streaming Service Launched » Junk Shop Classical On Brahms: Music Stories Told £1 LP By £1 LP » Tour De France: Jonathan Meades Selects 13 Exercise Bike Classics » MORE FROM PHIL HEBBLETHWAITE Junk Shop Classical on Henryk Górecki: Music Stories Told £1 LP By £1 LP » Junk Shop Classical on Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Music Stories Told £1 LP By £1 LP » Junk Shop Classical on George Antheil: Music Stories Told £1 LP By £1 LP » Junk Shop Classical on Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge: Music Stories Told £1 LP By £1 LP » Junk Shop Classical on Albinoni’s Adagio: Music Stories Told £1 LP By £1 LP » MORE: JUNK SHOP CLASSICAL Junk Shop Classical on Mstislav Rostropovich: Music Stories Told £1 LP By £1 LP »	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335137
__label__wiki	0.627971	0.627971	Learn More About The Roosevelt. Q: How far is the Roosevelt hotel from Times Square? A: The Roosevelt hotel is just a half mile away from Times Square Q: Is parking available at the hotel? A: The Roosevelt Hotel NYC offers 24-hour valet parking. Sedans are $72 per night and over-sized vehicles/vans are $82 per night. Our valets park your vehicle in a secure garage just three blocks away on 46th Street. Guests can also self-park if they choose. Q: Does the Roosevelt Hotel have free Wi-Fi? A: The Roosevelt Hotel charges a facility Fee of $35 + tax which includes: 10% Discount on food purchases in all outlets except Room Service (no Alcohol) Premium High-speed internet Access Unlimited access to fitness center Q: What is the history of The Roosevelt Hotel NYC? A: The historic Roosevelt Hotel transports you back to the classic setting of New York City in the Roaring Twenties. Opened in 1924 and renovated to its original grandeur, the “Grand Dame of Madison Avenue” is an iconic NYC landmark that has remained a quintessential part of the cultural fabric of America. In 1929, Guy Lombardo and his orchestra performed their first show at the Roosevelt Grill. And the hotel has appeared in many major motion pictures, including Wall Street, Quiz Show, Malcolm X, The French Connection, Maid in Manhattan, Man on a Ledge, Men in Black 3 and The Dictator. Q: Can I host a wedding at The Roosevelt? A: The Roosevelt Hotel is an enchanting destination for wedding ceremonies and receptions. The magnificent Grand Ballroom and Foyer, with Tiffany chandeliers, gold-gilded ceilings, iron-laced balconies and arched windows, is a glamorous setting for storybook weddings in NYC. Overlooking 45th Street, the Terrace Ballroom is a romantic space with crystal chandeliers and a sky-mural ceiling, and the Palm Room is a chic venue for cocktail parties before the reception. The Roosevelt Hotel offers sumptuous catering and cuisine and expert wedding planners. Q: Does The Roosevelt Hotel have a rooftop bar? A: We sure do. If you want to sip cocktails with Manhattan’s sexiest crowd, head up to our chic rooftop bar and lounge. Immersed in the Manhattan skyline, mad46 is a rooftop oasis and the coolest place to sip and sup after work or well into the evening. Enjoy signature drinks like the mad Mojito and playful share fare like tasso ham and lump crab arancini or short rib sliders with cucumber wasabi sauce. Experience the high-style ambiance of mad46, from April through October.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335143
__label__cc	0.684534	0.315466	DG Manktelow, Cafe Racer \|In Art + Design [Words: Paul d’Orléans. Photos: D.G. Manktelow] D.G. Manktelow needed a few college credits, and had an interest in photography, so took a photography class in East Sussex, England, in 1960. He documented his friends in the the British Rocker scene from 1960-65. Be careful what you study as an afterthought in college – it’s likely to become your career after graduation, as happened with D.G., who became a professional photographer. His son Adrian Manktelow has kindly consented to show some of D.G.’s photos on The Vintagent, as a tribute to his father’s skill, and the unique period he documented. Many of the riders remain family friends, although a few didn’t pass the trial by fire of the Rocker years... a pair of Norton Atlas 750s, with ‘ace’ bars and a dustbin fairing, in front of a ‘typical Rocker car covered in Bondo – an Austin Atlantic)’ And all the classic Rocker gear is represented; the Goldies, Bonnies, Dommis, dustbin fairings, even a Norvin, and at the end, a couple of Japanese lightweights…. There was always a bit of real racing to inspire the ‘go faster’ look of the Rocker boys; these shots (above and below) of a racing Dominator 88 were taken at Mallory Park. A very tasty machine indeed, and worthy of imitation. Pre-unit Triumph Bonneville with full cafe racer gear, and a BSA DBD34 Gold Star in standard Clubman trim with a Lyta aluminum racing tank There was always a bit of real racing to inspire the ‘go faster’ look of the Rocker boys; these shots of a racing Norton Dominator 88 were taken at Mallory Park. A very tasty machine indeed, and worthy of imitation. The other side of the racing Dominator, having a little fettle before its next track outing Nothing will make your Norton Dominator 99 go faster than a leopard seat cover and Goldie muffler! The two-in-one exhaust was an optional extra from Norton, and the flat ‘bars are standard. It was sporty to begin with… you can tell it’s an early ’60/’61 model by the two-tone paint job (standard) and the Norton ‘button’ on the timing cover – of course it’s a Slimline Featherbed frame as well. Another Norton -complete with a Peel fairing- that’s being used to its cornering limits, as the fiberglass will shortly be ground away on the tarmac, or, if you’re really unlucky… …it will find a bump in the road and lift the rear wheel off the deck, pitching itself and the rider off the road completely. This machine is an early Wideline Norton, can’t tell if it’s a single or twin-cylinder, but it has the ’58/’59 type chrome panel on the petrol tank; the ‘ace’ bars have Doherty alloy levers, very racy, and the rear valanced mudguard has had the removeable rear section… removed! Much of it would have needed repair after this getoff, but it seems the rider never had to bother, as the notation says “he survived this spill but wasnt’ so luckly later when he died on his way back from London on this bike…”. Not all Nortons were Dominators, Atlases, or Internationals; this is the only photo I’ve ever seen of a café racer Norton Navigator! The 350cc little twin was never a great performer, and certainly didn’t live up to the hotrod reputation of it’s bigger brothers. I’ve owned four of them (don’t ask), and the timing chest sounded like a cast iron stove being run over cobblestones… not Norton’s best effort. But, they are compact and tidy looking, and share forks and wheels with the big twins. Not all Rocker-worthy machines were British, either; this NSU Supermax 250cc single is a rare cafe racer, although plenty of road racers were built in imitation of their rare Sportmax production racer. Here’s a before-and-after study… …of an attempt to lighten and sportify what was already a very good machine. The pukka racing NSU Sportmax is one of most beautiful motorcycles of all time, but this impecunious young owner could only manage to lose the front mudguard and add ‘ace’ handlebars… improvement or desecration? Regarding clip-ons; for the seriously racy crouch, the rule was, ‘the lower the better’ – just above the lower fork clamp seems to have been the goal. Inspired by racing practice, it became Fashion, and actual utility was left out of the equation…no racer had clip-ons that low! The fellow on the second machine has inverted some fairly high handlebars to really get down to it. This Triumph Tiger 90 with ‘bikini’ rear enclosure, ca.’62-’64, has met its cornering limit fairly quickly – the centerstand and footrests are being shaved away by tarmac. This bike is very standard though – rearsets would be useful for such scratching! Undoubtedly, the rider needed the bike to take him to work or school the next day, so practicality ruled the hour… Here’s another rarity; a Royal Enfield Super 5, their sportiest 250 in 1962/3, with short leading-link forks, 5 speeds, and a 20hp engine, giving about 84mph top whack. This is a ’62 model with deeply valanced front mudguard – amazingly the bike is completely standard, with ‘ace’ bars as per catalogue spec. R.E. had a clue; in 1964 they introduced a factory-built café racer – the Continental GT. Another classic cafe racer on the right; a Norvin, the immortal combination of a Vincent 1000cc v-twin in a Norton Featherbed chassis, which according to the notes ‘had only three speeds’, but still went like stink! This machine falls into the Barely Legal category, with no head or taillamp in the this photo, but later on… … it was completed, and our lad can be seen ‘hanging off’ at the notorious bend which ate the Norton in the earlier photo.. Note the spectators lurking on the outside of the bend – the Rockers must have been the best thing going on a sunny weekend day, and this was the corner worth watching! Another corner worth watching; here a BSA Gold Star tears around the bend, while the fellow in the plaid jacket records the proceedings on his portable tape player! I can hear it now – the classic Gold Star muffler has been replaced with a short megaphone (actually a factory racing item), and it was LOUD. The rider is very well tucked away and leaning a lá Phil Read into the bend. Nice technique. Another shot of our B.S.A. Gold Star hotrod, with clip-ons a bit lower than the Factory set them…the tank is patterned on the ‘Lyta’ large-capacity racing item, although this looks like a fiberglass copy – much cheaper, and money was certainly tight in the 1960’s. Phil Read had only recently introduced the ‘knee hang’ on GP circuits; it would be many years before racers would hang completely off the seat. The lad had great style – what a terrific shot! “Into every ride a little Trouble must fall”… and if you’ve ditched your center stand for more ground clearance, a kerb is a handy thing. Even a Learner could ride a hot Royal Enfield Clipper 250cc, as this fellow has, while waiting for his pal on the Norton with Peel fairing to sort out his issue. Note the four-wheeled competition driving away; truly, motorcycles ruled the road in the 1960s in England. That little Hillman saloon would be hard pressed to make 70mph, and certainly wouldn’t get there quickly. And if you’ve got a bike, and your mate’s is down, give the lad a ride…no holding onto the rider though! A very nice Norton Domi 88 or 99, with optional tachometer, but driven from where? Perhaps it’s just for show – I only see one cable – or maybe it’s an 8-day clock! And then, the Trojan horses appeared…so unassuming in thes early days, and so small. While the 125cc SOHC Honda CB92 Benly had tremendous performance for its capacity, it was still only a 125… and if the rider was a big bloke, it would take a while to achieve the 70mph max – no passing Hillmans then. Note the fellow’s ’59’ Club patch; Father ‘Bill’ Shergold’s club for motorcyclists, and you had to visit his church in Hackney Wick, London, to get a patch. It was the largest motorcycle club in the world during the 1960s. By the time this Yamaha YDS1 250cc two-stroke twin appeared, all bets were off, and Honda had already won a string of TT victories. Yamaha and Suzuki were pressing hard on the Isle of Man as well as on the GP circuits, scoring victories over their exotic DOHC counterparts from Italy and Germany. Britain had long before given up a credible threat in GP racing. Cue ‘The End’ by the Doors please, as this was the smoky perspective soon to be seen by all the leaky, unreliable, cobbled-up, badge-engineered, head-in-the-sand British café racers in the very near future. More’s the pity… Art/Artist Events People Places Jean-Marie Guivarc’h Those Ace Cafe Days Coyote Man October 21st 2017, 3:28 pm Very nice pics, the navigator racer superb, ans also Norton 88 and 99, my actual racing bike! Many thanks for this fabulous post! Great post, Paul. I’d like to see even more of the “lifestyle” and people shots that Manktelow did. It’s always as interesting as the machinery! BTW, my first bike was one of those Yam YDS’s. Mine was a ’65 YDS-3, 305cc , a Calif.-only model. In ’68-’69 people were surprised how quick the little things were. When I saw the last pic on this post, I could almost smell the smoke and hear that particular “Ring-a-Ding”sound ! Beyond excellent!! R Dress Wow as always great photos! I think it’s worth mentioning that in 1961, Honda shall we say “broke on through to the other side” with Englishman Mike Hailwood at the helm taking first in the 125, 250, 350, and 500 cc Isle of Man. It must have been a chilling and sobering message to the British motorcycle empire. Below is a link to hear the venomous sound of a Honda 250/6. God Speed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBrb93O_Xg0 Jim Abbot Wonderful photographs by D. G. Mankletow on ’60s cafe racers. To wit, no one else seems to have picked up on your challenge to name the two other factory-produced variants, after the RE Continental, and take you up on your prize (?). This is tricky, as presumably you’ve excluded, by including in the story, the DBD34 Gold Star, the Clubman’s edition which would technically qualify. So what’s left? Of course, my beloved Velo Thruxton. But after that, if we’re sticking with English product? Hard to say, depending on how you define “factory.” Some might claim the Rocket Gold Star hits the mark, others the late series AMC CSRs (especially with the Atlas engine). If you don’t confine things to “Made in England,” how about Honda’s delicious GB 500 TT, though it’s really intended as a 7R homage more than anything else. Or, sticking with things British, how about the G50CSR, aka the Matchless Golden Eagle, even if only a handful were produced and all, apparently, were sent to the States? Am I missing something you’re thinking of on the Triumph end (Meriden, not Hinckley)? Lots of friends turned their Daytonas and Bonnies over to cafe-racer specs, but those, I suspect, don’t qualify. So, please, come clean, after the Conti and the Thruxton, what are you thinking of? Paul d’Orléans Jim, I didn’t exclude the Gold Star just because it was in the post – so that and the Velo Thruxton are in my humble opinion the only other proper Cafe Racers produced for general sale, with the Connie GT – clip-ons, rearsets, alloy rims, big GP carb, fast, mildly anti-social, totally desireable then and now. You win! Other bikes came close, but didn’t have all the right bits, even if you could add/order them. Dave Innola I was thinking about defining the average cafe racer, and why so many late comers and overseas people misunderstand the genre. Here’s my first guess, it was about education. At the time mid-Fifties to late Sixties, if you failed or passed the eleven plus exams more or less decided your career, class, steam for life, taken at eleven years of age. It put you in one of two streams – fail secondary modern, pass grammar school; second mod meant you were factory fodder, pass you went to grammar school – a direct lead into university , but here’s the catch – secondary modern means you could get an apprenticeship, five years. At the time part of the apprenticeship was one week a month at a technical college on full pay – thank you Labour Party – so when you came out of the apprenticeship tunnel, you had four years of work and one of technical college. The grammar school grads were driving BMWs, but could not fix them! What a unique set of high quality photographs. Wouldn’t it be great if they were issued in book form. Is Mr. Manktelow still with us? Could you tell us some more about his life? Street Squirrel Outstanding photos! (Just wondering if that Norton ‘Naviracer’ was the one I towed home, back in ’65?) That Goldie with the alloy tank, looks very similar to the one owned by ‘Mad Johnny’ (John Davine). I was a member of the Johnson’s Motorcycle Club- out by Brands Hatch, from ’65-’67, and had many friends among the guys who hung out there! Thanks again, for taking me back! Tony Duffield January 4th 2018, 7:08 am Your father’s photos are some of the greatest capturing fully an element of life from that now bygone era. He must be truly applauded for his skill and quality of his photos for that time. Thank you so much for sharing them. Leave a Reply to Street Squirrel Cancel reply	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335146
__label__wiki	0.827088	0.827088	LCD Soundsystem to release two new songs today; promise vinyl is on the way LCD Soundsystem announces live 5xLP vinyl box set of final concert James Murphy & 2ManyDJs bring vinyl-only Despacio soundsystem to London this week James Murphy’s Steve Reich-inflected remix of David Bowie set for limited white vinyl release James Murphy & 2ManyDJs to bring 50,000-watt vinyl-only soundsystem to London The vinyl-only Despacio soundsystem: James Murphy and 2ManyDJs talk sound, club culture and being uncool Speaker science: Despacio engineer John Klett explains James Murphy and 2ManyDJs’ vinyl-only soundsystem The 50,000-watt Despacio: James Murphy and 2ManyDJs discuss their vinyl-only soundsystem, the art of DJing and being uncool DJs by day: Glow-in-the-dark portraits reveal the dual life of the disc jockey DFA Records dig up lost copies of LCD Soundsystem’s 2009 RSD limited edition LCD Soundsystem and DFA Records mastermind James Murphy building a real vinyl-only sound system	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335147
__label__cc	0.748189	0.251811	Matoma Nyumba Kumi Sand Dam Project What We Built Project Type: Sand Dam Regional Program: Southeastern Kenya WaSH Program Southeastern Kenya WaSH Program The Water Project’s WaSH program in Southeast Kenya aims to restore water access for communities living in a semi-arid environment through the construction of sand dams, shallow hand dug wells, and 104,000 liter rainwater catchment systems. Explore projects in this region to learn about (how you can be involved in) innovative farming, education, hygiene and sanitation training, and reliable access to clean drinking water. Impact: 400 Served Project Phase: In Service - Sep 2016 Functionality Status: Functional Functionality Data Install Date: 09/01/2016 Current Status: Functional Last Checkup: 10/16/2019 Checkup History: 12/06/2016 — Functional Project Features Sand Dam Seasonal streams (and the sand they carry) are trapped by dams, replenishing the water table and allowing for adjacent hand-dug wells. Almost completely led by community-supplied sweat and materials, and under the supervision of engineers, dams are strategically placed within those dry river-beds. The next time it rains, flood-waters are trapped. With a sand dam, this trapped sand begins to hold millions of gallons of rainwater. Soon enough, sand reaches the top of the dam, allowing water to continue downstream – where it meets the next dam. The result? A regional water table is restored. Rehabilitation is not just fixing a pump - it’s total community re-engagement. There’s only one thing we can think of that might be worse than not having safe water: having safe water, and then losing it because a project fell into disrepair. Rehabilitation often proves to be a big challenge, as many wells have sit idle for years and there is typically little information about the specifics of the well. A borehole and dug well rehabilitation involves quite a bit of discovery. First, our teams work to discover as much as they can about the initial project. What materials were used? Was the borehole/hand-dug well properly constructed? Many of these questions can only be answered by diving in, and doing “the work” which makes up a rehabilitation. Once our teams have found the problem, they find the solution. Then, they reconstruct the well and install a hand pump. Engagement and training with communities takes into account rehabilitation was needed and alters the program to suit the needs of the community. After all - engaging with this community in the same way which led to the initial, failed project will not bring new results. Our teams work to understand the social and support reasons leading to initial failure, and make those areas a focus of our ongoing engagement with communities. Local leadership is a lasting investment Sustainable water projects only occur through the presence of local leaders. The Water Project identifies, develops, supports, and partners with local organizations who share our vision of reliable and verifiable clean water. Together, we build water programs that include responsible community development, lasting local solutions and ongoing monitoring and resolution. Community engagement is at every step of a water project. Our engagement is rooted in relationship and includes involving the community in implementation and ongoing support, setting expectations for water point management and ongoing costs, etc. All of this happens before a water project is installed. We use a term called ABCD: “Asset Based Community Development”. This means the community gets a leading seat at the table. Before we seek to bring anything into the community, we first seek to understand and utilize the assets that already exist within the community. Agricultural Assistance Climate smart farming training leads to food security, larger yields and a thriving community. All sand dam and dug well programs in Southeastern Kenya include climate-smart agricultural training. Sand dams restore a water table robbed by climate change and create the opportunity for the addition of dug wells. Water is now available, but the community’s livelihood depends on their ability to adjust to new farming techniques. This support provides thousands of drought tolerant seeds and trees, also equipping farming with the necessary tools for new farming techniques. This allows farmers to do what they do best - grow food! And, it all starts with water. Hygiene and Sanitation Training Community education and self-discovery about hygiene and sanitation concepts lead to improved health. Improved health is always the goal. This is why all our projects include hygiene and sanitation training. We utilize many different methods for this training, depending on the community/institution, program and country. Training topics include disease transmission, personal hygiene and cleanliness, proper disposal of waste and proper water storage methods. Monitoring and Resolution Water isn’t a pump. Water is a service. And, it must be reliable. The known benefits of water are ONLY true if water can be counted on, over time. We love celebrating when a project is complete and a community has access to clean, safe water. However, the ongoing service of water - making water reliable - is how we know our true impact. The Water Project continues to monitor our water projects, and we provide continued support to make sure water service continues for communities. Past water projects and the communities they serve are just as important to us as anything else we might be doing in the future. To learn more about how you can help with ongoing monitoring, evaluation and resolution, read about our awesome monthly members. Project Timeline FAQ We’re working hard to make sure your gifts result in a lasting water project for the community it serves. Our engagement with a community begins many months before construction and lasts years after construction. The timeline here is focused on the physical construction of the water project. There is also training and engagement work that has already started. Water project construction in the developing world is hard work. A lot of things can and do cause delays - which are normal. We attempt to make our best judgment of when construction will be complete, but the circumstances surrounding actual "in the field" conditions are far from our control. Weather, supply availability, government paperwork, and progress of community involvement are just a few of the variables that can delay (and sometimes speed up) a project's completion. We will always tell you if anything changes. And, if you get a notice like this – it’s actually further proof your gifts are being carefully used towards a water project that lasts. Click icons to learn about each feature. This project is a part of our shared program with Africa Sand Dam Foundation. Our team is pleased to directly share the below report (edited for clarity, as needed). The members of Matoma Nyumbi Kumi Self-Help Group came together to find a solution to their water problems by sharing resources and constructing new water points. Matoma Nyumbi Kumi means “10 jerrycans” in Swahili. They constructed a sand dam in 2014, though without knowledge on how to do so properly. The group members want to control soil erosion in the area, and have started doing so by building terraces on their farms. They are all farmers who either keep livestock or cultivate fruits and vegetables, with the majority growing fruit trees. These farmers then sell the fruit tree saplings. Without water, the farmers’ opportunities are suppressed and income is lowered. They have a merry-go-round project (a local fund-sharing program) which encourages them to meet frequently. In the case a member is not feeling well, they help each other in catering for medical expenses. Mumbuni Village is home to 400 people. Water Situation This sand dam will be the second that this group is implementing with us. The first official sand dam was completed in the beginning of 2015, and is still maturing. A hand-dug well was also built in order to give locals an even safer water point (the water will grow clearer as the dam matures by building up more sand). The sand dam has proven a huge asset to agriculture in this area. Just last year, the group was able to plant 800 fruit tress! However, the first sand dam and hand-dug well are too far (over 1.5 km) for some of the community members, and so they will implement the new sand dam further along the river. With just one sand dam, long lines are the norm. A second dam will reduce the crowds at the water points and provide a sustainable supply of water for everyone in the community. Some families can’t even afford a reservoir tank for water storage, so they have no choice but to fetch water on a daily basis. Sanitation Situation 100% of households have a pit latrine. The conditions of these latrines vary according to a family’s income level. Families that have more money invest in a deeper pit, while families that don’t have much cannot. Most of the pits we saw during our visit were almost full. Most women had a dish rack and clothesline to dry their families’ things, but we only counted eight hand-washing stations. This certainly isn’t enough for 400 people! Each household has a designated compost pit where they dispose of their waste. The compost is then used to increase soil fertility on farms. The group is in their second year of working with ASDF, and in the first year, the group was trained on hygiene and sanitation to increase awareness on waste disposal, hand-washing, personal hygiene and water treatment. With the availability of water, the community is able to practice some of the learnt concepts. Farmer and mother Ann Muia says “With water close to our homes we have improved cleanliness. Our children bathe daily and go to school in clean uniforms. More training on how to treat water is needed…” Plans: Hygiene and Sanitation Training This group of people is made up of many elderly members, so a serious refresher training is planned. We are planning to invite more young people than last time, so that they can learn and remind their parents and grandparents about good health practices. Training will take two days, and will focus on water treatment. Plans: Sand Dam Community members are doing a great job taking care of their current sand dam, as can be seen in the pictures. The sand dam raised the water table within good access of the hand-dug well, so water will be available year round. This second dam will bring a sustainable source of water to people further away in this community. Another hand-dug well will also be built adjacent to the new dam (click here to see!). Farmer Veronica Mutungar says that “The first sand dam we built last year has helped in providing us with water. We still are going to construct more sand dams to have more water for all our needs.” The sand dam is projected to be 22.1 meters long and 4.4 meters high. The community will be involved in all phases of project management and will be consulted in the planning stage to identify the sand dam site most convenient for all. The community will also be involved in the implementation and monitoring stage, the collection of local materials and provision of labor during construction. The community will also help along the legal processes for registration of the projects through signing agreements with landowners. The community will be able to participate in the maintenance of the project, always ensuring that the sand dam is functional. 12/20/2017: A Year Later: Matoma Nyumba Kumi Sand Dam A year ago, generous donors helped build a sand dam for the Matoma Nyumba Kumi Self-Help Group in Kenya. Because of these gifts and our monthly donors, partners are able to visit project sites throughout the year, strengthening relationships with communities and evaluating the actual water project. These consistent visits allow us to learn vital lessons and hear amazing stories – we’re excited to share this one from our partners Boniface Mavindu and Titus Mbithi with you. A Year Later: Matoma Nyumba Kumi Sand Dam The water from the sand dam has enabled me to make bricks for constructing my house, and I sold 500 at eight shillings each and I got a total of 4,000 shillings. I used the money to pay for my school fees. Keeping The Water Promise There's an incredible community of monthly donors who have come alongside you in supporting clean water in Matoma Nyumba Kumi Sand Dam Project. This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Matoma Nyumba Kumi Sand Dam Project maintain access to safe, reliable water. Together, they keep The Water Promise. We’re confident you'll love joining this world-changing group committed to sustainability! People used to walk four kilometers for two hours to find water. Once there, they’d spend up to three hours lined up to draw water. There has been such a significant change since the sand dam brought water near. Time that was initially wasted in search of water is now used for other economic activities like terracing farms. Community members can now plant trees and know that they will survive the dry season. For every five trees planted, no more than one would survive. Currently, four out of five trees survive the dry season thanks to water from the sand dam. A group member stands by the plants he’s been watering with water from the sand dam. Agnes Kyengo is the treasurer for her self-help group, which means she also oversees any money raised for sand dam and well maintenance. She met with us at the dam to talk about how it’s changed her life. “Since this project was completed, people have been asking to join our group because of the benefits they have seen: they’ve seen water brought closer to home, and the various trainings and exchange visits that we have been exposed to are things they’d love to take part in. Fruit production has increased in the community because we have been in a position to water our fruit trees. Some have borne fruits while others are almost getting to the stage of bearing fruits, and we have been trained on grafting; soon we will be the leading suppliers of fruits in the region. Our income has increased as a result of practicing vegetable farming because we water the kale, spinach, and onions at our kitchen gardens using the water from the dam. We sell some of these vegetables to get money to pay school fees, buy clothes for our children and other needs. These vegetables are consumed by our families too, which helps improve our health. The meals have increased from two meals a day to three,” she shared. Ngei Muthoka We met 17-year-old Ngei Muthoka to hear his perspective. He said, “Since the project completion, my tree nursery has increased in production due to water availability. Of the 50 trees I planted, 45 have survived. I am grateful for this project, and I hope in the near future I will be earning income once I am out of school. The water from the sand dam has enabled me to make bricks for constructing my house, and I sold 500 at eight shillings each and I got a total of 4,000 shillings. I used the money to pay for my school fees. My parents were happy because the money they were to pay for my school fees they used to meet other needs such as clothing my siblings.” But he continued by saying, “The water availability… is periodic, and at times we are forced to travel… to fetch water for both household use and watering tree nurseries.” This young sand dam will continue to mature through the rainy seasons, building up sand and storing even more clean water, which will make the environment greener and lives healthier. Most of our other southeastern Kenya projects are like this too; they are systems that need time to mature in order to provide clean, reliable water throughout drought. We look forward to this happening here, and are excited to monitor the transformation! The Water Project and our partners are committed to consistent monitoring of each water source. Our monitoring and evaluation program, made possible by monthly donors, allows us to visit communities up to four times a year. Read more about our program and how you can help. Navigating through intense dry spells, performing preventative maintenance, conducting quality repairs when needed and continuing to assist community leaders to manage water points are all normal parts of keeping projects sustainable. The Water Promise community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Matoma Nyumba Kumi Sand Dam Project maintain access to safe, reliable water. We’d love for you to join this world-changing group committed to sustainability. The most impactful way to continue your support of Matoma Nyumba Kumi Sand Dam Project – and hundreds of other places just like this – is by joining our community of monthly givers. Your monthly giving will help provide clean water, every month... keeping The Water Promise! Alan and Lesley Pedersen Mark Eisenschenk & Janet Hommerding Rica Systems, Inc. Sleep Specialists, Inc./Urban Mattress The Developing Virtue Girls School Horseshoe Bend School/Mrs. East 6th Grade Class Ward family K and H's Lots of Tots Babysitting Desert Dwellers Saint John Bosco Homeschool Co-op #Filter Bray Innovations Status Church Isi Donnelly's Bar Mitzvah Project Water to Africa Fundraising Page Avon Old Farms School Water Project Maya Hollister's Fundraising Page Essential Oil Distributors Making a Difference - Sparkle Naturally Bath Fundraising Page Pison Stream Solutions Ms. Corkers ACA 9th graders Campaign for Water 3,000 to 1 Raise your glass and celebrate the gift of water with UReserv. 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__label__cc	0.596082	0.403918	Up To 70% Off – Shop The Designer Sale Free Shipping and Returns on All Domestic Orders Bound By Bond-Eye One All Every Designers A - Z SHOP ALYX SHOP ROSA DE LA CRUZ SHOP GUCCI Shop LHD Party Dressing /high tops sk8-hi cap sneakers Sorry this item is currently out of stock USUS Men 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 USUS Women 4.5 5.5 6.5 7.5 8.5 9.5 10.5 11.5 12.5 13.5 14.5 15.5 16.5 17.5 UKUK Men 2.5 3.5 4.5 5.5 6.5 7.5 8.5 9.5 10.5 11.5 12.5 13.5 14.5 15.5 GUCCI Men 3.5 4.5 5.5 6.5 7.5 8.5 9.5 10.5 11.5 12.5 13.5 14.5 15.5 16.5 EUROEU Men 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 FRANCEFR Men 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 WAIST (INCHES) 28 29 30-31 32-33 34-35 36 38 40 42 FRANCEFR 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 EUR/ITALYIT 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 NUMERICALNUM 0-0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 XXS XS S M L XL XXL XXXL XXXXL XXXXL EUROEU 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 UK/USUSA 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 JAP/NUMERICALNUM 0-0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 COLLAR (CM) 36 37 38 39-40 41 42 43 44 45 46 COLLAR (IN) 14 14.5 15 15.5 16 16.5 17 17.5 18 18.5 CM 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 INCHES 22 22 3/8 22 3/4 23 1/8 23 1/2 23 7/8 24 1/4 24 5/8 25 HAT SIZE 7 7 1/8 7 1/4 7 3/8 7 1/2 7 5/8 7 3/4 7 7/8 8 US/UKUSA 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 EUROEU 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 Need help finding the right size ? Scroll for more sizes View All sneakers View All high tops The Vans Sk8-Hi “Cut and Paste” was released as part of a special collection that delivers a deconstructed aesthetic to the renowned skate shoe. Decked out in mostly pony hair, the moody-hued sneaker features leather detailing and Vans' signature checkerboard pattern. Black and grey colors cover the upper while a white sole and red “cut and paste” Off The Wall rubber tag provide contrast. The Vans Sk8-Hi is finished with a side zipper for easy entry. These styles are supplied by a premium sneaker and street wear marketplace. Stocking only the most sought-after footwear and clothing, they source and curate some of the most hard-to-find items from around the world. Dimensions: Fits true to size Composition: Outer: 100% pony fur, 100% suede ,Lining: 100% leather, Sole: 100% rubber Brand Style: VN0A3TKMVSN SS19 We are pleased to offer complimentary ground shipping, via FedEx on all U.S. domestic orders. Complimentary express shipping via FedEx is offered on orders above $1,000. Ground and Express orders are delivered in 1-5 business days, delivery service is offered Monday-Friday. Please note: All online orders placed by 1pm EST are eligible for same day shipment. Processing times may vary during sale periods. International shipping is also available at checkout, and is subject to a charge of $25 or $30 depending on the country. Returns are accepted within 28 days from your receipt of delivery, you may initiate a return for qualified merchandise. Items must be returned unworn, unwashed, undamaged and unused with their original tags/boxes. Footwear and accessories must be returned in the original boxes provided and inside a protective shipping box. Returns on swimwear and lingerie will not be accepted if the hygienic strip has been removed, or if the items show signs of wear. Beauty products that have been opened are not eligible for return. Items purchased at a discount greater than 50% are final sale and are not eligible for return. Please note that home products and fine jewelry are also considered final sale. shop@thewebster.us ABOUT THE WEBSTER ABOUT THE STORES This is Required Field By signing up you agree with our privacy policy and terms & conditions. Copyright 2019 The Webster, 1220 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, Florida, US. All rights reserved.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335150
__label__wiki	0.89064	0.89064	B.C. No. 1 province for hospitalization caused solely by alcohol abuse: federal report B.C. had nearly 15,000 hospital admissions in 2015-16 due to alcohol abuse, making it No. 1 among the provinces in that category, according to a new federal report released early Thursday. Pamela Fayerman The Canadian Institute for Health Information report says that on average provinces spend $8,100 every time someone is hospitalized for an average of 11 days because of the ravages of heavy drinking. Arlen Redekop / PNG Files B.C. had nearly 15,000 hospital admissions in 2015-16 due to alcohol abuse, making it No. 1 among the provinces in that category, according to a new federal report. High volumes of alcohol sales and heavy drinking are related to high hospitalization rates. While the national age-standardized rate for hospital admissions entirely caused by alcohol was 239 per 100,000 population, in B.C. it was 349. (The three territories had higher rates than the provinces.) Although the opioid addiction crisis has garnered all the attention, hospitalizations caused entirely by alcohol are 16 times greater than those for opioids, the report shows. Alcohol abuse is a leading risk factor for death and disability, not to mention the cause of many social harms like accidents. The report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) shows that on average, provinces spend $8,100 every time someone is hospitalized for an average of 11 days because of the ravages of heavy drinking. That’s longer and costlier than the $5,800 spent on most other hospital stays. The number of admissions would be even higher but short visits to the emergency department for problems like alcohol poisoning were not included in the data, only admissions to medical wards for several nights. Across Canada, hospitalizations entirely caused by alcohol (77,000) exceeded those caused by heart attacks (75,000). Most hospital admissions caused by alcohol related to mental health and behavioural disorders including chronic use disorder, withdrawal, alcohol poisoning or delirium, liver disease, pancreatitis and hepatitis. Within provinces, there are regional variations such that rural and remote areas had higher hospitalization rates than urban areas. In B.C., the Northern Health region has a hospitalization rate of 532 per 100,000 compared to Vancouver Coastal Health’s rate of 262 per 100,000. The explanation for high hospital admission rates in rural and remote areas is poor access to alternatives for treatment outside of hospitals. Hospitalizations caused by alcohol are more common in low-income neighbourhoods than high-income neighbourhoods, yet the study points out there is a known “alcohol harm paradox” since previous research has shown that low-income groups typically drink less than wealthy individuals. The paradox relates to greater susceptibility to the consequences associated with living on a lower income: More stress, fewer social supports, less resources to cope, more binge drinking and poor diets. Geoff Hynes, manager of population health at CIHI, said the B.C. data showing hospitalizations being significantly higher here than the Canadian average are indeed surprising. “B.C. was average in terms of (Statistics Canada) self reports of heavy drinking, but B.C. had higher sales than the Canadian average and higher per capita consumption (8.7 litres) compared to the Canadian average of 8.1 litres per capita,” he said. The report shows B.C. residents may be in denial about the extent of their drinking habits and potential harms. When polled, only 15.8 per cent reported heavy drinking (more than five drinks per day at least once per month) yet per capita consumption of alcohol is, as Hynes points out, among the highest of the provinces (slightly behind Newfoundland and Alberta). Dr. Perry Kendall, provincial health officer, said B.C.’s high per capita alcohol consumption levels are related to hospitalizations and other deleterious effects. “The consultation led by John Yap on modernizing B.C.’s liquor laws and regulations ended up making alcohol more accessible,” said Kendall. “More is being consumed as there are now more opportunities to do so. “As consumption goes up, however, so do harms,” he added, noting he’s in the midst of preparing an evaluation of recent changes made by the provincial government to alcohol policies. Kendall said public health and law enforcement experts issued warnings about the negative consequences of increasing access to alcohol and he published two reports on alcohol policy and its impact. He also made recommendations on access and pricing. Asked if he felt his recommendations fell on deaf ears, Kendall said: “I wouldn’t say that. The renewal of the alcohol policy framework did include a number of public health supported initiatives and recommendations. However as it turns out, these did not offset the impact of increasing access and consumption.” Hynes said just as raising tobacco prices has been effective at reducing smoking rates, raising liquor prices has been proven to curtail alcohol consumption and is a policy B.C. could consider pursuing, especially for liquor with the highest alcohol content. Tim Stockwell, a University of Victoria professor and director of the Centre for Addictions Research of B.C., said the evidence shows that price increases of at least 10 per cent cause reductions in hospitalizations for chronic alcohol-related diseases. “Consumption of alcohol in B.C. has been increasing about three times faster than in the rest of Canada in recent years, coinciding with liquor reforms,” said Stockwell. “Alcohol-related hospitalizations now surpass hospitalizations caused by tobacco in most parts of the province and are substantially higher than hospitalizations caused by illicit drugs. But deaths from opioids get more attention because they appear to be more visible and more dramatic.” pfayerman@postmedia.com Twitter.com/medicinematters Overdose fears as B.C. grad season approaches Overcoming the stigma around addiction and treatment facilities in B.C. Medicine Matters coverage, with Pamela Fayerman  Premier Christy Clark more popular nationally than at home: poll Daphne Bramham: Housing crisis eating away at heart of Metro Vancouver REAL SCOOP: Police hunt for Ricky Korasak in 2015 stabbings \| Vancouver Sun	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335156
__label__wiki	0.567801	0.567801	Environment Canada strikes potential death blow to port's $2b container expansion at Roberts Bank Larry Pynn A western sandpiper is seen on Brunswick Point in Delta. John Lehmann / Postmedia Wire Environment officials have struck a potential death blow to the Port of Vancouver’s $2-billion container expansion in South Delta, saying the risks to a significant migratory population of western sandpipers are simply too great for the project to proceed. A written response from Environment and Climate Change Canada to the Canadian Environment Assessment Agency (CEAA) describes the predicted impact of the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project on hundreds of thousands of sandpipers as “potentially high in magnitude, permanent, irreversible, and, continuous.” The response is signed by Jeff Corkum, acting director-general of the Environmental Protection Operations Directorate, and is addressed to Jocelyne Beaudet, CEAA review panel chair for the Roberts Bank project. Concerns centre on the biofilm that the sandpipers consume on the tidal flats at Roberts Bank during their spring migration. The biofilm is a thin, sticky coating secreted predominantly by diatoms to prevent them from being swept away with the tides. Diatoms are at the bottom of a food chain and benefit a host of marine species such as oolichan, sand lance, salmon and crabs. Researchers say that a perfect alchemy of reduced salinity, along with nutrients from the Fraser River, low tides, warmer temperatures and longer daylight hours, cause the diatoms to bulk-up on omega-3 fatty acids. The bloom occurs in late April to early May, just as the sandpipers are migrating from as far south as Peru to breeding grounds in the Arctic, and needing fuel to continue their journey. If the container expansion altered the production of biofilm, it could have serious implications for the sandpipers to continue their northward migration. A total of 23 species of wildlife listed under the federal Species at Risk Act, or by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, are known to exist within the project area and related marine-shipping area. Other species include the barn owl, barn swallow, black swift, common night hawk, little brown myotis (bat), marbled murrelet, pink-footed shearwater, red knot and short-tailed albatross. Cliff Stewart, vice-president of infrastructure for the port, said in a written statement Tuesday that he welcomed Environment Canada’s comments and looked forward to working together on issues raised. “We are confident in the years of scientific study done in preparation for the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project, and many of those studies are ongoing,” he said. “We also have full confidence in the federal-panel process to assess that science and make its recommendation.” The proposed expansion of the Roberts Bank super-port. The map shows major features of the new artificial island and the surrounding area. Hemmera / PNG Roger Emsley, a representative with B.C. Nature and the community group, Against Port Expansion, asserted in response that Environment Canada’s “damning” response should be enough to kill the project. “If it were a torpedo, I’d say the … port has been holed below the water line,” he said. “We clearly have an environment at Roberts Bank that is fragile, that cannot withstand any more port development, and, finally, Environment Canada has come out with a definitive statement that should stop this project in its tracks.” Emsley added that the environment department “is basically saying that were the project to go ahead the impacts would be immediately irreversible and cannot be mitigated. How can the panel do anything other than recommend that the project be turned down?” He estimated the CEAA will be opening its environmental review to submissions at public hearings in a few months. The federal environment response states that the project poses unmitigated risks to a larger area than the predicted permanent loss of 55.6 hectares of intertidal habitat: “Currently, as there are no accepted techniques to remediate for biofilm on intertidal mudflats, mitigation for this habitat loss is not possible.” The agency’s response warns of “the potential for large declines in food availability for shorebirds during the critical breeding-migration period” should the project proceed. The agency “maintains that there is insufficient, science-based information to support the proponent’s finding that the project would not adversely impact intertidal biofilm and, consequently, migratory shorebirds in general, and the western sandpiper species in particular.” The agency adds that “the project may result in adverse environmental effects to migratory birds because marine shipping may disturb or result in collisions with migratory birds. There is also a potential for adverse environmental effects to migratory birds as a result of accidental heavy-fuel spills.” For coastal birds, the port suggested that with the implementation of mitigation measures, residual effects to coastal-bird productivity won’t be significant. The environment response notes that the environmental impact statement for the project predicts that once capacity at the terminal reaches 2.3 million, 20-foot-equivalent container units by 2030, total daily port-related truck movements are expected to increase by 100 per cent and train movements by 38 per cent. The new terminal would be next to the existing Deltaport and Westshore Terminals. lpynn@postmedia.com Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com.</p  B.C. Budget 2018: How the budget will affect you Sechelt man pleads guilty to second-degree murder of his mother YVR on alert for deadly coronavirus spreading from China \| Vancouver Sun	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335157
__label__cc	0.701715	0.298285	The Best Cafés in Poltava, Ukraine Kick back at a café in Poltava \| © Lernestorod / Pixabay The cafés in Poltava are famous for their unique allure and local colour that can’t really be found anywhere else in Ukraine. Therefore, don’t miss a chance to discover the best cafés in the city and their extremely delicious regional delicacies, fascinating interiors and surprisingly reasonable prices. Cafe, European, $$$ Komora is the originator of the regional dish halushka (a kind of dumpling) in Poltava. It is a quick, casual spot that offers a combination of authentic Ukrainian dishes and the world’s best recipes. The highlight of the café is its open kitchen and the fresh preparation of every order. In addition to traditional halushkas, one can also find modern variations of the dish. Whether plain, sweet or filled with foie gras, your taste buds are definitely in for a treat. 29 Pylypa Orlyka Street, Oktyabrs'kyi district Poltava, 36000, Ukraine Meal service: All Day, Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner Traditional, Unusual, Secret, Open Kitchen Lvivska Kavyarnya The welcoming and romantic atmosphere of Lviv is embodied in the charming Lvivska Kavyarnya chain of cafés, making them popular across Ukraine. In the very centre of Poltava, you can try both European and local dishes, have a good breakfast, pop in for lunch during a work break or enjoy a light afternoon snack. Moreover, the café always has fresh and delicious home-made pastries. The beautiful and minimalist interior design will make you enjoy your time here even more. 21 Sobornosti Street, Poltava, 36020, Ukraine Cosy, Romantic, Family Friendly Chebu Bar Bar, Cafe, European, American, $$$ Chebu Bar is a café where you can find anything from burgers and fries to grilled dishes or even a cheburek (fried turnover). However, the signature dish here is pizza made in a Pompeiian wood-fired oven. The venue is open from the early hours to late at night. In the morning it is a nice spot for breakfast or brunch, while in the evening it transforms into a crowded bar with a rich selection of draft beers and branded infusions. 34 Sobornosti Street, Oktyabrs'kyi district Poltava, 36000, Ukraine All Day, Lunch, Dinner Casual, Fast Casual, Relaxed Galushka Galushka is a spot where you can find home-made cuisine and Ukraine’s mouthwatering speciality of the same name. There is a huge selection of different varieties of the dish with different fillings and toppings, as well as an abundance of other popular traditional food options like vareniki (filled dumplings) or borscht. Along with these, you can order a pint of beer to wash it all down. Yet, eating and drinking are not the only reasons to come to Galushka. The café also has a bright interior that is decorated in a traditional Ukrainian style. Traditional, Unusual, Family Friendly Cafe, Italian, European, $$$ Nothing can be better than lunch in Oliva and its home-made pizza or pasta. The café has a cosy interior with black-and-white photos on the walls and wooden furniture. There’s also a good wine list with options that will perfectly fit your dish. Oliva is also a coffee lover’s destination, with fragrant and freshly ground beans for your cappuccino or latte. 18 Kotlyarevs'koho Street, Oktyabrs'kyi district Poltava, 36000, Ukraine All Day, Brunch, Lunch, Dinner Cosy, Romantic, Traditional The CheeseCake Cafe, Dessert Shop, American, $$$ The CheeseCake isn’t just a dessert shop; it serves amazing steaks, tasty burgers and fresh salads. The café has a summer terrace and often hosts live music, making it a great venue for events and parties. During lunchtime, The CheeseCake has mix-and-match meal deals consisting of soup, salad and a main course, which it promises to serve in less than 10 minutes. 22 Hoholya Street, Oktyabrs'kyi district Poltava, 36000, Ukraine All Day, Breakfast, Brunch, Dinner, Lunch Arty, Stylish, Modern, Gourmet, Open Kitchen New York Street Pizza Cafe, Restaurant, European, Italian, $$$ The New York Street Pizza chain is known for delicious food at affordable prices. The place specialises in Italian cuisine, offering New York-style thin-crust pizza as well as lasagna and other popular European dishes. It is a stylish café with a spacious terrace and pleasant atmosphere. All Day, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch Stylish, Modern Vanil Vanil is a sweets shop and a café, ideal for some quality family time. Here, you can try freshly baked goods, desserts, ice cream, cakes and one of the most delicious syrniki (cottage cheese pancakes) in Poltava. Vanil looks much like a café in Provence, with the walls decorated in cosy pastel shades and furniture made of light wood dotted throughout. The brunch, in particular, is very goof. 9/17 Nebesnoi Sotni Street, Oktyabrs'kyi district Poltava, 36000, Ukraine All Day, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch Stylish, Family Friendly, Romantic Cafe, Coffee Shop, European, $$$ In Ukrainian, Kavun means watermelon. It’s no surprise then that this café’s signature drink is a watermelon raf. But that’s not all. There are also a variety of coffee drinks with different flavours and toppings, such as a matcha and ginger latte, a banana or lemon cappuccino and many others. 34 Komsomol's'ka Street, Oktyabrs'kyi district Poltava, 36000, Ukraine All Day, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Stylish, Modern, Relaxed These recommendations were updated on October 9, 2019 to keep your travel plans fresh.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335159
__label__cc	0.741376	0.258624	12 Things Tourists Must Never Do In New York New York City is one of the top travel destinations in the world. With a population of nearly 8.6 million who all seem to walk around like Speedy Gonzales. It can seem quite overwhelming to explore the five unique boroughs when you first arrive in the city that never sleeps. Things To Know About New York Before Visiting! There are so many articles on the things you must do, so this one focuses on what tourists should never do in the Big Apple. Hopefully helping you avoid some of the common tourist pitfalls and master the city like a pro! Don’t spend money at Chain restaurants Avoid big chain restaurants. You seriously didn’t travel that far to eat at Applebee’s, Mcdonalds, or the Olive Garden (the list is endless). New York is foodie central and home to some amazing restaurants and ethnic eats. Go forth and discover! For a scenic eat try the Loeb Boathouse in Central Park, the only venue on the Manhattan lake where you can dine al fresco. Beauty & Essex How about heading to Lower East Side to Beauty & Essex? A walk through a pawn shop reveals the most happening restaurant and lounge serving creative American fare & cocktails. Or step it up a notch or two with Michelin starred Junoon for the finest Indian cuisine in town. abcV Only in New York can you head to the most incredible vegetarian restaurant inside a carpet store. Jean Georges’ abcV serves up a delicious eclectic mix of brunch bowels, dosas, pancakes, juices and cocktails all day. And for the ultimate New York cheese fest (no, I’m not talking the dairy product) you have the multi-level 50s themed Ellen’s Stardust Diner. You’ll either love it or hate it. Ellen’s Stardust Diner Think singing waitstaff busting out broadway numbers and classic tunes all whilst you’re tucking into some typical American fayre. Honestly, don’t go looking for the best food, it’s more about the experience. Book Now: New York City Food Tour Don’t Travel Without Cash New York still has a real old-fashioned element. Many restaurants and bars operate a cash only policy, so put away that debit card and smart phone. Cash tips are required practically everywhere you go. Make sure you’re carrying some single dollars: they’ll come in very handy with doormen, waiters and cabbies. Don’t Limit Yourself to Manhattan Remember that Manhattan is but one borough, and you have four more to discover. New York City really does have more to offer than just Times Square and the Empire State Building. If your trip allows the outer borough, the Bronx, Queens, Staten Island and Brooklyn is where you truly experience New York. On limited time you can visit an area via a tour. A great one is the A Slice of Brooklyn Pizza Tour. What better way than to work your way around Brooklyn, brushing up on its history and famous movie location all whilst eating pizza. Skip queues for the famous coal fired brick oven Neapolitan pizza at Grimaldi’s and the deep Sicilian style pizzas at L & B Spumoni Gardens. Disclosure: I was gifted the tour and a guest on the Slice of Brooklyn Pizza tour. Don’t make plans all over New York without considering travel time Getting around New York can be time-consuming. Make days easy by planning things in the same neighbourhoods or the same side of town either West Side or East Side. Trust me your feet will thank you for it. Coney Island is somewhere I’d always wanted to visit. The tip of Manhattan is an iconic filming location and a summer hotspot with the beach and amusement park. It’s also included in the Slice of Brooklyn Pizza Tour. Makes sense to plan closeby locations together. Book Now: Coney Island All-Day Pass to Luna Park Don’t go shopping in Midtown or Soho Virtually all the shops you’ll come across in these areas are the same as in any other city – so why bother? Weekends can also be overly crowded making it a nightmare to move let alone shop. If shopping really is your thing, instead hunt down independent boutiques in Nolita, the West Village or Lower East Side. And if it’s a bargain you’re after head right out to Woodbury Common Premium Outlet, located in Central Valley, New York. Buy a return bus ticket and in an hour and a half you’ll be knee deep in bargains with up to 65% and more off in over 200 stores. Book Now: Woodbury Commons Outlet Mall Shopping Tour Don’t go to the top of the Empire State Building Why? Well think about it. If you’re stood on top of it, there is no way to capture the most iconic building of New York nestled amongst the other skyscrapers. For that classic shot you need to head to the Top of the Rock at the Rockefeller Plaza. Get there early to avoid the crowds. And I guarantee the views are great, in fact probably even better. Disclosure: I was gifted the New York CityPASS which helps gain free entry to over a 100 New York attractions. Book Now: New York – Top of the Rock and Sightseeing Walking Tour Don’t pay for a circle line sightseeing cruise If you really want to you can, but why when you can do something very similar for no cost at all. The Staten Island Ferry is a passenger ferry route operated by the New York City Department of Transportation. The ferry’s single route is 5.2 miles and takes you from Whitehall in Manhattan to St George on Staten Island in 25 minutes. Onboard enjoy a view of the Lower Manhattan skyline, Ellis Island, and the iconic Statue of Liberty. Best of all – It’s FREE! Book Now: New York Walking Tour & Staten Island Museum Entry Don’t miss Brooklyn Bridge It’s the most famous way to get across the East River. Missing it is not an option. Brooklyn Bridge connects the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, an icon of New York City it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964. Less than a mile long, it takes about 30 minutes cross. Well, that time does depend on how many times you stop for a photo op. If you head over at sunset you can view the Big Apple skyline transform into myriad twinkling lights. Book Now: 2-Hour Manhattan & Brooklyn Bridges Bike Tour Don’t eat only classic american fayre Bagels, pizza, hot dogs and cheesecake are synonymous with New York and obviously a must to savor on a visit. Although be sure to try out the international food scene and seek out the ethnic neighbourhoods. Eat pasta in Little Italy, get your biryani fix on Curry Hill, your fill of moussaka in Astoria and chow down in Chinatown. If in Chinatown visit Taiyaki NYC, a small ice cream parlour which serves up traditional Japanese fish-shaped cakes stuffed with soft serve ice cream. Choices of flavours range from vanilla, chocolate, matcha and black sesame with add ons of red bean, mochi and more. Get that camera out, before it melts! Book Now: Food Tour of Chinatown New York Don’t use your mobile in the 9/11 Museum The 9/11 Memorial and Museum is an important place for those who want to pay respect to the lives lost in the events of 9/11. From the moment you step out of the Oculus shopping centre and enter Ground Zero it’s sobering walking up to the Memorial. The twin reflecting pools, include names of nearly 3000 victims’ inscribed on surrounding bronze panels. The country’s largest man-made waterfalls cascade down the sides of the original site of the Twin Towers. Entry to the Memorial is open to the public with no charge. There is a fee for the Memorial Museum or purchase a CityPASS for free entry. Remember one rule though – Leave your phone in your bag! The museum’s policy explicitly states that the use of cell mobiles for talking is prohibited in the original footprint of the North Tower. Book Now: New York: 9/11 Memorial Tour and Museum Ticket Don’t Walk the High Line on A weekend The High line is a 1.45-mile-long elevated linear public park created on a historic disused railway track on Manhattan’s West side. It features lush horticulture, artworks, seasonal food vendors, and unique views of the Hudson River and New York City skyline. Running from Gansevoort Street to West 34th Street, between 10th and 12th Avenues, it’s popular with both New Yorkers and tourists. To avoid jostling the crowds, the best time to appreciate this urban delight is on a weekday as early as possible. Book Now: New York City High Line & Chelsea Market Walking Tour Don’t forget to book tickets for The Vessel New York City’s newest landmark created by British designer Thomas Heatherwick The Vessel is a sight to behold. The humongous copper beehive like structure sits proudly in the new neighbourhood development called Hudson Yards. The open series of staircases has been described by locals as a stairway to nowhere. Comprised of 154 interconnecting flights of stairs, 2,500 steps, and 80 landings, it offers views of the city and the Hudson River. Tickets are free but and the slots do get booked up. You can book tickets up to two weeks ahead of time—new tickets for the coming weeks are made available at 8 a.m. everyday. Book Now: High Line Hudson Yards and Vessel Guided Tour TRAVEL TOOLKIT TO HELP PLAN YOUR TRIP Check latest flight times & prices at Skyscanner Plan your trip to New York with these guidebooks Book accommodation in New York with Booking.com Explore New York with these easily bookable activities Don’t forget! Book your travel insurance Have you been to New York? Would love to know some of the things you think tourists should never do. Let me know in the comments box below. PIN AND SAVE FOR LATER Full Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links whereby I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps with the costs of running my blog so I can keep my content free for you. Thanks as always for your support! See my disclosure policy here. North America, Travel Strawberry Hill House: Exploring a Gothic Gem Weekend Guide to Nuremberg, Germany With Kids My USA bucket list: 5 places to visit in USA Mary Poppins Afternoon Tea at the Aqua Shard 108 Brasserie, Marylebone London: A Review Binny Shah-Patel 29th July 2019 at 7:40 am LOVE this take on a guide to New York!! the Curious Pixie 29th July 2019 at 9:02 am A lot of handy ‘Don’ts’, right? Dylan Jones 30th July 2019 at 5:14 pm This a great take on visiting NYC! So many great things not to do there. I love visiting NYC and on every visit I feel like less of a tourist the Curious Pixie 31st July 2019 at 4:11 pm Thanks so much Dylan, so pleased you enjoyed the read. I can’t wait to go back again! OurWorldforYou 4th August 2019 at 4:08 pm There are some good tips here, it’s been quite a while since I’ve been to NYC, I’d love to see The Vessel. the Curious Pixie 6th August 2019 at 11:42 am Thank you! New York is one of those places where there is always something new to see. michelle brown 22nd October 2019 at 2:28 am Thanks so much for your suggestions! I plan on looking into some of these places while I’m living in NYC for a few months. The free activities will really help since I’m not working right now. Michelle \| alittlebitofdoctorb.com Sima Sthanakiya 23rd October 2019 at 3:24 pm So glad you found it useful Michelle! An exciting move. Neha 29th December 2019 at 1:07 pm Love these Sima! Agree on the Top of the rock- much better. Also Woodbury Common- that brings back lots of shopping memories. Sima Sthanakiya 2nd January 2020 at 10:32 am We were so disappointed at the bar at the Top of the Rock – live and learn. I can’t wait to go back again!	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335160
__label__wiki	0.911211	0.911211	China Considers World’s Longest Underground Tunnel The proposed tunnel would run across two earthquake fault lines, sparking concerns over safety. By Angela Erika Kubo for The Diplomat Credit: Flickr via Zepfanman China is planning to build the world’s longest underground tunnel, running beneath the Bohai Sea, by 2026 for an estimated $26 billion, the state-run China Daily reports. The 123-kilometer tunnel would connect the port cities of Dalian in Liaoning Province and Yantai in Shandong Province with a rail line, knocking off 800 miles and cutting the travel time between the two places from eight hours to 40 minutes. Authorities hope that the plan will stimulate economic growth by connecting the north with the wealthy eastern coast. “Once approved, work could begin as early as 2015 or 2016,” said Wang Mengshu, a tunnel and railway expert at the Chinese Academy of Engineering who has been working on the plan since 2012. Although China has a history of large-scale engineering projects – from the Great Wall to the world’s largest high-speed railway network, several long bridges and tall skyscrapers – the underground tunnel will pose many challenges. Engineers would have to drill three tunnels for cars, trains, and maintenance through hard rock 100 feet below the sea bed. Some have expressed concerns over safety since the proposed tunnel would run across two earthquake fault lines. In 1976 a 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit the industrial city of Tangshan in Hebei province, which lies between Shandong and Liaoning. The official death toll was 242,000, but some estimates outside of China are as high as 655,000. A leading researcher on the tunnel at East Shandong University who asked not to be named told The Telegraph that the Chinese government “is being very cautious about the project.” “We set up a special group to study the Channel Tunnel. In fact, every undersea tunnel engineer in the world has learned from the Channel Tunnel because it is the best example in the world. We learned some construction techniques and also some ways of financing our tunnel,” the researcher added. Despite the reassurances, others have cast doubt on the safety of the project. “In general, though, one can say tunnels are not unsafe in earthquake areas, all depending on the geology, tunnel depth and other local conditions,” Matthias Loftsson, director of geology for Iceland’s Mann-vit, told the China Daily. The final decision of whether the tunnel will be built or not lies with the State Council, which will examine the blueprints in April. Angela Erika Kubo 1976 Tangshan earthquake Bohai Sea Channel Tunnel China State Council Chinese Academy of Engineering Dalian to Yantai World's longest tunnel Play The Diplomat’s Quiz: January 12, 2020, Edition China Mulls Nationwide Public Smoking Ban By J.T. Quigley But with 10 percent of government revenue from state-owned tobacco, is it even possible? Eggs from Endangered Sea Turtle Stolen from Thai Beach Outraged local residents donated 50,000 baht ($1,660) for a reward to catch the thieves. The Quest to Revive Tourism in Pakistan By Syed Hammad Mahmood Pakistan is a nature-lover's dream. Now, thanks to a better security situation and government efforts, the world is finally realizing that. The 2010s: Reflecting on a Decade of Change in Bollywood By Alexandra Delaney-Bhattacharya From digital streaming to the #MeToo movement, the last 10 years have left their mark on India’s film industry.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335162
__label__wiki	0.662881	0.662881	Treasury highlights ways to bolster financial tech companies By Sylvan Lane - 07/31/18 10:13 AM EDT © Greg Nash The Treasury Department said policymakers should give financial technology companies more regulatory flexibility to innovate while improving data security protections for U.S. consumers in a report released Tuesday. The Treasury suggested dozens of ways that regulators and Congress could bolster the growth of financial technology platforms, also called fintechs, while strengthening privacy safeguards amid cyber breaches. Fintechs such as online lenders, mortgage and loan servicers, banks and payments platforms make up a swiftly growing share of the financial services industry. The recent explosion of cryptocurrencies has also drawn more regulatory attention to fintechs and their broad implications for multiple industries. Fintech industry advocates insist they support strong regulation, but that companies need greater clarity to navigate overlapping and sometimes conflicting state and federal laws. “American innovation is a cornerstone of a healthy U.S. economy. Creating a regulatory environment that supports responsible innovation is crucial for economic growth and success, particularly in the financial sector,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Steven Terner MnuchinSecurity for Trump's Mar-a-Lago visits cost local taxpayers million On The Money — Presented by Wells Fargo — Senate approves Trump trade deal with Canada, Mexico \| Senate Dems launch probe into Trump tax law regulations \| Trump announces Fed nominees Senate Democrats launch investigation into Trump tax law regulations MORE said in a statement. “America is a leader in innovation. We must keep pace with industry changes and encourage financial ingenuity to foster the nation’s vibrant financial services and technology sectors.” The Treasury report proposes several ways to streamline the financial regulatory patchwork covering fintechs, and calls on policymakers to build a “sandbox” for startups to test new products without running afoul of the law. Policymakers have struggled to keep up with advancements in fintech and the ways they could impact financial services. The report calls for federal policymakers to work closely with companies and industry advocates to adapt current financial regulations to fintech platforms. Treasury also recommended that states work together to harmonize money transfer rules, which cover payment systems and cryptocurrency marketplaces, to help prevent unnecessary regulatory burdens. The report encourages the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to move forward with a special purpose charter that would give fintechs a license to operate nationally under the same standards as banks. Treasury said the charter could “provide a federal approach to reducing regulatory fragmentation and supporting beneficial business models.” Some advocates for banks and credit unions have been skeptical of a special banking charter for fintechs. Critics of that approach say such firms are better suited to partner with traditional financial institutions, not compete against them. Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting, a former bank president, has said he’s sensitive to those concerns and has not decided whether the charter will move forward. Otting also insisted that a special fintech charter would hold those companies to equivalent rules imposed on banks. Fintech critics have also cited concerns with potential data security issues facing companies with large amounts of personal financial information. The report calls on policymakers to work with industry leaders on implementing stronger online identity protections, developing a national data breach notification law and giving consumers more control over their personal information. The Treasury report also makes several broader recommendations meant to expand access to financial services. The department called for repealing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) payday loan rule, and supported the use of alternative data such as utility and rent payments to form credit reports for consumers with limited loan history. Banking and fintech industry advocates had high praise for the Treasury report and said it balanced concerns from all portions of the financial services sector. Financial Innovation Now (FIN), a tech industry coalition representing businesses such as Amazon, Apple and Google, said the report "is a strong step towards modernizing antiquated financial regulations." "We look forward to working with Congress and federal financial regulators on these necessary policy updates," said FIN executive director Brian Peters. Consumer Bankers Association President and CEO Richard Hunt said the report "hits all the right topics to promote innovation and empower consumers in a modern, increasingly digital banking system." “Consumer protections should not vary across institutions — regardless of size, location or business model," Hunt said. "Any fintech charter should require the same strict consumer protection and market safeguards already in place at banks in order to offer a level playing field." Groups supporting stricter financial regulations panned the Treasury report, particularly its call to repeal the CFPB payday loan rule. “This report calls for expanding debt traps and ripping up consumer protections at the state and federal levels," said Scott Astrada, a director for the Center for Responsible Lending. “Consumer protection laws are critical to safeguarding Americans’ wallets. They should be upheld, and this report should be roundly rejected.” Updated at 2:15 p.m. Tags Steven Mnuchin	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335170
__label__wiki	0.587277	0.587277	Expansion Plan: Projecting the Detroit Red Wings’ protection list for the 2021 expansion draft Last time, the youth was exempt and the Red Wings were able to keep their veterans in town. When Seattle arrives, though, Detroit will have to protect its young core and hope to shed an aging piece. Dylan Larkin\|Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images At the time of the 2017 expansion draft in Las Vegas, which came when the wounds of Detroit’s lengthy playoff streak coming to a close were still fresh, the Red Wings were icing one of the most veteran-laden clubs in the NHL. That led many to believe that Detroit would start a reset of sorts leading into Vegas, that they would expose some veteran talent and let the Golden Knights pluck one of those players from the roster. And while expose some veterans the Red Wings did – Niklas Kronwall, Jonathan Ericsson, Darren Helm and Drew Miller, for example – they also provided one of the most stunning exposures of the draft in netminder Petr Mrazek. At the time, Mrazek was considered an up-and-comer and the potential heir to the crease, the next in line behind Jimmy Howard even despite a shaky season. As it turned out, though, Mrazek was skipped over by Vegas, who instead selected Tomas Nosek, a winger who had, at the time, just 17 games NHL experience to his name and has since become a useful bottom-sixer for the NHL’s 31st franchise. Will there be any stunners the next time around? Given the youth that’s available and how important they are to the future of the franchise, it seems unlikely, but who knows what GM Steve Yzerman will have up his sleeve as he rebuilds the once-perennial post-season contending franchise. Anthony Mantha Andreas Athansiou Tyler Bertuzzi Michael Rasmussen Evgeny Svechnikov Dominic Turgeon Dennis Cholowski Filip Hronek Gustav Lindstrom Kaden Fulcher NOTABLE EXPOSURES: Frans Nielsen, Justin Abdelkader, Danny DeKeyser STRATEGY: Out with the old, in with (or hang on to) the new. Yzerman had his work cut out for him when he arrived in Detroit and replaced Ken Holland, the franchise’s longtime architect who has since departed for the Edmonton Oilers. One of Yzerman’s tasks is going to be sparking a full-on youth movement that centers around some of the bright young talent that has been compiled. That means protecting every piece of promising talent and leaving any veteran players who are available up for grabs. Given that’s the plan, that means any veteran under contract at the time of the draft has been left unprotected. Nielsen? Unprotected. Abdelkader? Unprotected. DeKeyser? Unprotected. Together, those three skaters account for $14.5 million against the cap through the expansion draft and that’s money the Red Wings will want to rid themselves of around the time Seattle is making its way into the league. THE NO BRAINER: Dylan Larkin isn’t just the offensive leader in Detroit, he’s a future captain and the centerpiece of the franchise. If there is one player on the roster today who can be built around, it’s Larkin, and as such he’s the safest bet for the Red Wings to use a protection slot on. Like a few others who’ve fallen into the no-brainer category throughout the Expansion Plan series, Larkin basically carries a no-movement clause without actually having the tag next to his name. That’s how important he is. THE TOUGH DECISION: Before he was replaced, Holland had compiled a few intriguing pieces on the blueline, so Yzerman’s most difficult choice will be deciding which of those are to be protected. Hronek and Cholowski seem definite yeses, but who gets the third spot? Hicketts and Bowey, though he’s new in town, haven’t quite proven their worth as NHL defenders, so Gustav Lindstrom and his considerable upside get the protection. LESSON LEARNED: Don’t make assumptions. Pre-draft projections saw Mrazek as a top Vegas target, but the Golden Knights scooped up Nosek instead. If there’s someone exposed as an enticement to avoid another player, it might not work out in the Red Wings’ favor. Up Next: Edmonton Oilers Previous: Anaheim Ducks \| Arizona Coyotes \| Boston Bruins \| Buffalo Sabres \| Calgary Flames \| Carolina Hurricanes \| Chicago Blackhawks \| Colorado Avalanche \| Columbus Blue Jackets \| Dallas Stars Tags: detroit red wings, expansion, expansion plan The Hockey News Prospect Podcast: Talking with Carter Savoie and Mavrik Bourque	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335171
__label__cc	0.600503	0.399497	Awakenings: Blake and the Buddha, by Mark S. Ferrara Posted on September 30, 2017 by Golgonooza Ch’an Buddhism and the Prophetic Poems of William Blake The similarities between William Blake’s philosophical system and that of Buddhism (particularly the Ch’an(a) or Zen School) are no less than astonishing. One is struck by a fundamental similitude underlying the teaching of the Ch’an school and that of Blake’s radical epistemology. The first English translation of the Bhagavad Gita, by Sir Charles Wilkins Scholars are aware that William Blake (1757-1827) knew the Bhagavad Gita in its first English translation by Sir Charles Wilkins (1785). Blake’s A Descriptive Catalogue of Pictures (1809) even has an entry for a piece called “The Bramins – A Drawing.” Moreover, Kathleen Raine suggests that Blake knew “some of the Proceedings off the Calcutta Society of Bengal promoted by Sir William Jones.” Further, Blake believed fundamentally that ‘All Religions are One’ (1788). He wrote, “As all men are alike (tho, infinitely various) So all Religions & as all similars have one source.” It was also his opinion that “The philosophy of the east taught the first principles of human perception.” Although the above constitute enough evidence to suggest Blake’s familiarity with the East (particularly Indian thinking as found in the Vedic tradition) they do not fully explain the strange parallelism of thought between the English poet-painter’s mythic philosophy and that of Mahayanna Buddhism. The Four Zoas A supremely important component of Blake’s prophetic mythological writings, especially Jerusalem (1804-20) and Milton (1804), is the concept of the Four Zoas. Briefly, these Four Zoas make up the unified psyche of Albion, the Universal Man. Each of the Four Zoas represents an aspect of the personality of Universal Map. Christine Gallant equates the Four Zoas with the four aspects of the personality in Jungian psychology: Thinking, Feeling, Sensation, and Intuition. Urizen is the Zoa that most broadly represents the intellectual faculties. Luvah is the emotional aspect of man. Tharmas is the essence of the bodily form of the universal Albion. Urthona is the Zoa most closely associated with the imagination, which Blake considers the seat of wisdom. In Blakean mythology, the harmonious integration of the Zoas is disrupted when Urizen (the intellectual principle) attempts, and succeeds, in usurping Urthona (the wisdom principle). Then the zoas begin to fight amongst themselves, as each tries to function as an autonomous principle apart from the others. And the Four Zoas clouded rage East & West & North & South They change their situations, in the Universal Man. Albion groans, he sees the Elements divide before his face … And Urizen assumes the East, Luvah assumes the South … And the Four Zoas who are the Four Eternal Senses of Man Became Four Elements separating from the Limbs of Albion “Urizen (the intellect) comes to domininate the psychic terrain, dividing reality into dualistic qualities” Urizen, whose original position is in the south, displaces Luvah in the east. Subsequently, Luvah assumes the southern position, thus fragmenting the original harmony of the four. Urizen (the intellect) comes to domininate the psychic terrain, dividing reality into dualistic qualities. The senses are darkened, as they are no longer able to perceive reality as a complex of unified psychic properties. Blake interprets the rise of Urizen to the fore of consciousness as the main cause of the loss of “The Divine Vision,” or the vision of the infinite in all things. This vision is the ability to perceive God, or the ground of existence, in everything and everywhere. “Urizen is the zoa who abstracts the creative principle and reduces it to a ratio” As a result of the loss of this vision, the intellect that now dominates perception sees only the ratio between things, for “He who sees the Infinite in all things sees God. He who sees the ratio only sees himself.” It is Los, the primary emanation of Urthona (the wisdom principle), that attempts to restore the dis-integrated psyche. A well known Blake scholar explains: Urizen is the zoa who abstracts the creative principle and reduces it to a ratio…Los is the creative principle that raises man’s fallen single vision into total vision of fourfoldness. He is the visionary process the visionary eye of a visionary body, the archetype of the artist prophet. Los acts against Urizen, whose sole purpose for existing is to constantly reduce man to the ratio of things known. (Abrahams, William Blake’s Fourfold Man) Although Blake’s mythic system differs from the Ch’an tradition, Buddhists generally recognize that the intellectual faculty in man is something that must be under-cut in order to properly apprehend the essence of the teaching. The assumption is not that the intellect is inherently evil, but that it simply does not know its proper place. For “Ch’an practice is not simply concerned with the removal of the discriminative processes of thought it also involves the positive reinforcement of wholesome qualities of the mind.” That is to say, rationality and intellection play essential roles in decision making, planning, environment assessment, and such considerations. However, if the intellect comes to dominate, the field of consciousness darkens. As D.T. Suzuki rhetorically asks: Are we not complete in ourselves and each in himself? Life as it is lived suffices. It is only when the disquieting intellect steps in and tries to murder it that we stop to live and imagine ourselves to be short of or in something. Let the intellect alone, it has its usefulness in its proper sphere, but let it not interfere with the life-stream. If you are at all tempted to look into it, do so while letting it flow. The fact of flowing must under no circumstances be arrested or meddled with, for the moment your hands are dipped into it, its transparency is disturbed, it ceases to reflect your image which you have had from the very beginning and will continue to have to the end of time. (Suzuki, Essays in Zen Buddhism) Here, Blake and Ch’an are in full agreement as to the nature of the intellect. Both see the intellect not as inherently evil, but as overly active in the normal psyche. “Let the intellect alone, it has its usefulness in its proper sphere, but let it not interfere with the life-stream” Ch’an, with its characteristic lack of all extraneous symbolism, points directly to the matter, while Blake employs a heavily symbolic mythology (perhaps more similar to the Tibetan tradition) to demonstrate the intellect’s aggressive dominance. Furthermore, both agree that the original nature of man is whole, and remains so if left alone by the meddling intellect. The Divine Vision, Blake maintains, is the original prelapsarian state of the integrated psyche in which all the zoas are harmoniously balanced. The Finite Mind and the Infinite Vision The Divine Vision is obscured from our everyday consciousness because the renegade intellect (Urizen) can see only the ratio, and not the infinity that lies just beneath it. “For man has closed himself up, till he sees all thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern.” When the psyche is re-integrated the experience of infinity is naturally restored; for “the Divine Vision remains Every-where Forever. ” Kathleen Raine amplifies this insight: ‘Everything that lives is holy’ because the divine spirit in man is the ground, is the place, is the nature of all existent things when truly understood. The holiness of life is not something predicated, as an attribute, but inherent in the divine nature of the ground … and [is] in its essence therefore both living and holy. Blake’s insistence on the originally integrated nature of the mind becomes particularly interesting when compared to the Ch’an conception of Buddha-nature. A well known koan asks the aspirant: ‘Does a dog have Buddha-nature?’ in hopes of awakening the monk to an awareness of the fundamental nature of reality. The function of the koan is to “blot out by sheer force of the will all the discursive traces of intellection whereby students of Zen prepare their consciousness to be the proper ground for intuitive knowledge to burst out.” Both terms, The Divine Vision and Buddha-nature, are synonyms for this ground that is eternal and abiding, although this ground is often not recognized as such by our minds. This is what the monk is asked to recognize, not intellectually, but intuitively: “The Buddha-nature is a spontaneous generation in the sense that it is not a product of intellection, nor of imagination.” “all things (dharmas) have Buddha nature” – or as Blake put it, “Everything is an attempt/To be human” Further, that this primal reality (Buddha-nature) is the ground from which all “things” spring, means that all things (dharmas) have Buddha nature. Reality is all-inclusive, there is nothing that can be outside of it. Because it is all inclusive, it is the fullness of things, not a content free abstraction, as the intellect is too frequently apt to make it. It is not a mere aggregate of individual objects, nor is it something other than the objects. It is not something that is imposed upon things stringing them together and holding them together from the outside. It is the principle of integration residing inside things and identical with them. The Emissary who thinks he’s the Master “the story of the Western world is one of increasing left-hemisphere domination” Why then, one might ask, is this primary reality not readily apparent in our everday life? Both Blakean philosophy and Buddhism lay the blame, once again, on the intellect. Blake points out that “reason usurps its place & governs the unwilling.” Ch’an Buddhism has it that: The intellect, forgetting its own nature and limitations, persuades itself into thinking there is an ‘I’ effecting union with a ‘not-I’ and proclaims this ‘union’ to be a mystic experience, the whole thing turns topsy-turvy and a ‘I’ with all its egocentric impulses comes to assert itself. In Blakean mythology, Urizen (the intellect) usurps the place of Urthona (the wisdom principle), thus creating a primary bifurcation in consciousness and obscuring the Divine Vision. For Blake, the loss of the Divine Vision is the root of all the woes of humankind. When humankind can awake from the dream of Urizen, we return to our original nature. The Dream of Urizen: “Urizen (the intellect) usurps the place of Urthona (the wisdom principle), thus creating a primary bifurcation in consciousness and obscuring the Divine Vision” This return is a kind of reversion back to a unified field of consciousness. Indeed, the restoration of the Divine Vision is the theme of Blake’s three greatest prophetic poems: Jerusalem, Milton, and The Four Zoas. Ch’an also suggests that a reversion (or revulsion) is needed in the deepest seat of consciousness in order to restore the mind to its original nature. Awakening from the Dream of Ratios Both Blake and Buddhism often employ the analogy of awakening as if from a dream to suggest this reversion in consciousness. That is to say, a re-orientation of consciousness relegates the intellect to its proper sphere, thus making possible the direct apprehension the most fundamental reality. D.T. Suzuki, in his Studies in the Lankavatara Sutra (an Indian text of major importance to the Ch’an school), describes this turning-about in the deepest recesses of consciousness as: the Lankavatara Sutra a revulsion toward true perception (paravritti) … [which] marks the culmination of the practical psychology of the Lankavatara, for it is through this fact that the realization of Pratyatmaryajnanagocara is possible, and this realization is the central theme of the discourse …The new orientation takes place when the ego-centric and evil-creating discrimination based upon the dualism of subject and object ceases by the realization that there is no external world besides what is perceived within the self; and this realization is effected by the cultivation of the intellect known as non-discriminative and transcendental … This sudden turning is in a sense re-turning, the Alaya or Tathagata-garbha returns by this to its original purity (suddha), happiness (sukha), and eternal nature which is above pravritti and nirvritti (rise and disappearance). There are two pertinent concepts in the above quotation from Suzuki that have correlates in Blakean philosophy. The first is the “revulsion toward a true perception.” ‘True perception’ as it is used here is synomous with Blake’s Divine Vision. The second pertinent concept is that this revulsion is in a sense a re-turning to the originally holistic and grounded nature of the mind. “the realization that there is no external world besides what is perceived within the self” For Blake also, the triumph of Urthona over Urizen marks a return to the fundamentally undivided ground of being. Let us take a closer look at the concept of the Divine Vision in Blakean Mythology. To recapitulate, the central discourse of Blake’s prophetic writings is the restoration of the Divine Vision, by means of the reinstatement of Urthona to his rightful place in the seat of consciousness. When Urthona is restored, reality is no longer perceived in ratio. No longer are the senses darkened and petrified against the infinite. William Blake and Ch’an Buddhism suggest that reality as it appears to our consciousness is, in some senses, a “reflection” of our psyche. That is, if the mind is fragmented it can only perceive in terms of ratio. “tho it appears Without it is Within” By contrast, the unified mind perceives a fundamental unity in multiplicity. In Ch’an thinking this is known as the doctrine of ‘mind-only.” In Blakean terms: Rivers Mountains Cities Villages, All are Human & when you enter into their Bosoms you walk In Heavens & Earths; as in your own Bosom you bear your Heaven And Earth, & all you behold, tho it appears Without it is Within In your Imagination of which this World of Mortality is but a Shadow. In slightly different terms we read that “If Perceptive Organs vary: Objects of Perception seem to vary: If the Perceptive Organs Close: Their Objects seem to close also.” This is why for Blake, “A fool sees not the same tree as the wise man sees.” Integrated Vision, Integrated Reality Los, the fiery prophet When perception is cleared of egoistic and intellectual obstructions, the infinite, that “which was hid,” is once again known. The restoration of the Divine Vision is equated to the re-unification of the Four Zoas. When Urizen usurps Urthona, the Zoas cease to operate in conjunction with each other. The result is the loss of the Divine Vision. The re-unification of the Zoas is tantamount to the recovery of this lost vision. It is Los, the emanation of the Urthona principle, who struggles to bring the rebellious Zoas back to their proper spheres. Los is the “fiery prophet” of the wisdom principle (Urthona) and the rightful seat of consciousness. Urthona is both wisdom and imagination, for Blake. Once one remembers his dual vocation as poet and painter, it is perfectly understandable that imagination should be equated with wisdom. However, Ch’an equates imagination with delusion, which arises out of the habit energy of the mind. Although Ch’an Buddhism’s use of the term imagination seems to be a contradiction of Blake’s use of the term, the problem is a difference in terminology, rather than philosophy. For Imagination is in Blakean philosophy the anti-thesis of delusion. He writes in his annotations to Wordsworth’s poems: “One Power alone makes a Poet. Imagination, The Divine Vision.” Thus Imagination and The Divine Vision are synonymous terms for the wisdom principle, rather than the opposition of truth and fancy. The Ch’an school of Buddhism recognizes Prajna as the wisdom principle. Thus both Blake and the Ch’an tradition recognize wisdom (Urthona and Prajna respectively) as the rightful seat of consciousness. Suzuki explains the Ch’an concept of Prajna in his Essays in Zen Buddhism: First Series: It was the presence in every individual of a faculty designated by the Mahayanist as Prajna. This was the first principle that made Enlightenment possible in us as well as in the Buddha. Without Prajna there could be no Enlightenment, which was the highest principle in our possession … Enlightenment consisted in personally realizing the truth, ultimate and absolute and capable of affirmation. Thus we are all Bodhisattvas now, beings of Enlightenment, if not in actuality, then potentially. Bodhisattvas are also Prajna-sattvas, as we are universally endowed with Prajna, when fully and truly operating, will realize in us Enlightenment. Here two truths are observed in the Buddhist tradition; the first is demonstrated in Suzuki’s correlation of Prajna with Enlightenment, and that it is an active principle capable of affirmation. The word ‘Enlightenment’ is an unfortunate mistranslation of the Sanskrit term ‘bodhi’ (hence ‘Buddha’) which means “to wake up” or “to recover consciousness”. Bodhi is not the result of an illumination, but of a path of realization, or coming to understanding: the term “enlightenment” is event-oriented whereas the term “awakening” is process-oriented The second important feature of this passage is the implication that all people possess the quality of ‘awakening’, but may not have actualized it. “Hence the Mahayana doctrine that all beings, sentient or nonsentient, are endowed with the Buddha-nature, and that our minds are the Buddha-mind.” Here is Prajna extended to its fullest potential. The question then naturally arises: If Prajna and The Divine Vision are the same principle of wisdom operating in two different systems, and Prajna facilitates the realization of Enlightenment, do these truths correlate The Divine Vision in Blakean philosophy with Enlightenment, as Buddhists use the term? In order to answer this question, let us take a closer look at each of these important concepts. The restoration of The Divine Vision is the concluding action of the three major Blakean prophecies: Milton, Jerusalem, and The Four Zoas. As such, we cannot underrate the importance of The Divine Vision. Blake equates it with awakening, affirmation, and the ability to perceive the infinite in all things. It has been said the The Divine Vision is restored when The Four Zoas are reintegrated. This means that Urthona (wisdom) once again becomes the governing principle of consciousness; and further, that the remaining three Zoas harmoniously follow the edicts of Urthona. “the ability to perceive the infinite in all things” Here there is a marked similarity with C. G. Jung’s psychology of Integration. According to Jung, ‘Integration … is an act of self-recollection, a gathering together of what is scattered, of all the things in us that have never been properly related, and coming to terms with oneself with a view of achieving full consciousness.” The re-unification (or ‘gathering together’) of the Four Zoas is also for Blake the means for achieving full consciousness. This re-unification awakens the sleeper from the cold dreams of Urizen, restores sensual perception, exposes the Infinite where there was only finiteness and ratio. “When the self thus stands in its native nakedness, it defies all description” Through the process of self-examination, Blake proposes that humankind can awaken to Enlightenment. All that can be annihilated must be annihilated … the Reasoning Power in Man: This is a false Body; an Incrustation over my immortal Spirit; a Selfhood, which must be put off & annihilated always, To cleanse the Face of my Spirit by Self-examination. Ch’an Buddhism also recognizes the necessity of self-examination as a means to the realization of enlightenment. Self examination culminates in the recovery of the Self’s native unlimitedness, which is then expressed on the field of perception. The essential discipline of Zen consists in emptying the self of all its psychological contents, in stripping the self of all those trappings, moral, philosophical, and spiritual, with which it has adorned itself ever since the first awakening of consciousness. When the self thus stands in its native nakedness, it defies all description. Further, “The self in its is-ness, pure and simple, is comparable to a circle without circumference and, therefore, with its centre nowhere – which is everywhere. Or it is like a zero that is equal to, or rather identical with, infinity.” This Zen analogy of the Self as identical with infinity is precisely the analogy that Blake uses to describe the effect of the restoration of The Divine Vision on consciousness. In a well known passage from Auguries of Innocence Blake illustrates this profound identification of Self with infinity: To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour It is no coincidence that D. T. Suzuki quotes the very same passage in his Essays in Zen Buddhism: First Series to demonstrate the fullness of Zen experience. The world is able to be perceived in a grain of sand because the self, having its center everywhere, can identify itself in the “Minute Particulars” of our world. Every encounter becomes a potential for enlightenment. The self no longer stands against the other, but rather becomes the other. That is why, for Blake, ‘The most sublime act is to set other before you.” Further, this experience (Prajna or The Divine Vision) makes possible an identification with the most ordinary of things. In Songs of Experience (1794) it is a common fly that Blake identifies with: Am not I A fly like thee? Or art not thou A man like me? In Ch’an Buddhism this identification plays a key role in shaping the philosophy of the Bodhisattva, and even develops into the Mahayana doctrine of “mind only” which is advocated by the Lankavatara Sutra. This sutra states that “When there takes place a revulsion at the seat of discrimination by realizing that external objects are appearances or manifestations of one’s own mind, then there is deliverance, which is not annihilation.” This revulsion has been described above as Enlightenment, a recognition of Prajna (The Divine Vision) in one’s own mind. Once external objects are viewed as manifestations of ones own mind, a profound identification can take place which unifies the once bifurcated experience that interprets only in terms of subject and object. Blake and Ch’an both realize this profound identification as the necessary ground of human experience. This realization is for the Mahayanist Enlightenment and for Blake The Divine Vision. In conclusion, then, we notice that even though Blakean and Ch’an philosophies differ, a strange parallelism emerges that defines a purely historical explanation. Although Blake employs an elaborate system of mythological figures to give flight to his thought, his primary concern is the restoration of The Divine Vision (Enlightenment). This is clearly the main thrust of his epic prophetic poems that were painstakingly engraved and illuminated. Ch’an Buddhism, although avoiding the use of heavy symbology, primarily emphasizes the realization of Enlightenment through the recognition of Prajna, or the wisdom principle. Ch’an points directly to the matter, being suspicious of both extraneous symbolism and language. On the other hand, Blake describes this realization in terms of the restoration of the Zoa Urthona (the wisdom principle) to the seat of consciousness. However, both agree that the intellect is the primary reason for the obscuring of the wisdom principle. For those readers who desire further explanation of these seeming strange parallelisms between Blakean and Ch’an, consider C. G. Jung’s comments as he attempts to explain the similitude he saw between the Eastern mind and the Western: [I]t must be pointed out that just as the human body shows a common anatomy over and above all racial differences, so, too, the psyche possesses a common substratum transcending all differences in culture and consciousness …This [collective] unconscious psyche, common to all mankind, does not consist merely of contents capable of becoming conscious, but of latent dispositions toward certain identical reactions … This explains the analogy, sometimes even identity, between various myth-motifs, and symbols, and the possibility of human beings making themselves mutually understood. The various lines of psychic development start from one common stock whose roots reach back into all the strata of the past. From here it is hardly a giant leap to suggest that Ch’an Enlightenment and Blake’s The Divine Vision are fundamental and omnipresent experiences (though often obscured) in the psyche of all human-kind (past and present). The concept of Awakening can be found in nearly every religious (and often philosophical) tradition, though it will be necessarily couched in the symbology and language of the culture through which the experience comes. Perhaps it is here that we may come most closely to an explanation of the similarities between Blakean and Ch’an Buddhist thought. It may be suggested, then, that Blake experienced Enlightenment (The Divine Vision) and expressed it in the symbols and language available to him from his Western cultural heritage, while Ch’an expresses Enlightenment in the terms made available in Eastern culture. This is an edited version of Ch’an Buddhism and the Prophetic Poems of William Blake by Mark S. Ferrara. To read the full article please click here. Awakening Bhagavad Gita Blake and the Buddha C. G. Jung Ch’an Buddhism and the Prophetic Poems of William Blake Enlightenment Mark S. Ferrara Prajna The Divine Vision The Four Zoas William Blake and the Red Dragon, by Rod Tweedy Team Human: Beyond the Machine, by Douglas Rushkoff	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335173
__label__cc	0.743439	0.256561	10 Most Inspiring Women Entrepreneurs of the World Gone are the days for the women to stay at home. So the society made them believe being an entrepreneur is not their forte. But, women of the 21st century are kicking things up the notch. Therefore, the women of today are entrepreneurs, leaders, astronauts, politicians and so on. To illustrate this, The Ideators brings you today the 10 most inspiring and influential women entrepreneurs. These influential women entrepreneurs to whom you can look up to in 2018: Edith Harbaugh Edith Harbaugh is the Founding CEO of LaunchDarkly. Her company is remarkable in the world of marketing. It provides more than 20 Billion features for deployment and feature management. Although, Edith also served in product and marketing at Business Bloom and Tripit for business. As a result, she generated about $1 Million profit in her business in a short time of eighteen months. Kelechi Anyadiegwu Kelechi is a well-known and inspiring name in the fashion industry of Africa. She is the founder and CEO of Zuvaa. She launched Zuvaa in 2014, which is now one of the biggest fashion design marketplaces in Africa. Since, its launch, Zuvaa is featured in Forbes, The New York Times, Essense and Fast Company. Kelechi is also featured in Forbes 30 under 30 lists. Leslie Feinzaig Leslie Feinzaig is one of a kind entrepreneur. She is also famous for making an army of women entrepreneurs. She is the founding CEO of Female Founders Alliance. FFA is the breakthrough platform for women founded growth startups. Leslie is among the top women entrepreneurs in 2018. She got featured in Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women in America. She holds Bachelors from London School of Economics & MBA from Harvard Business School. Lauren Washington Lauren is an entrepreneur, and also a social activist for black women empowerment. She has founded two amazing ventures, KeepUp and Black Women Talk Tech. KeepUp is an app made for tracking and doing your social media activities with an ease. Black Women Talk Tech is another brilliant platform for helping black women. It empowers talented black women to build billion-dollar companies on their own. Silvina Moschini Silvina is another inspiring woman entrepreneur who is known as MissInternet. She is not a serial entrepreneur but a digital innovation expert & technopreneur. Silvina is also a keynote motivational speaker and trainer. She founded these great startups; Transparent Business: To increase productivity, reduce budgets and enhance monitoring in freelancing platforms. Yandiki: Another powerful platform to connect great talent with great companies. It is regarded as one of the most innovative and powerful talent management tools. & the best one! She Works: She Works is among the top ventures founded by the women. It helps connect enterprises like Cisco, Google, SAP to the women remote workforce. This is with the help of powered cloud technology. Not only remote jobs, but it is also a great platform for online learning. Ugwem Eneyo Along technology, women are also breaking barriers in energy and power, even in Africa. Ugwem Eneyo is a rising star in the field of Solar energy and resources. She founded one of the companies called Solstice. Solstice is a startup to connect distributed energy resources. They do this all by using the state-of-art Internet of Things (IoT) technology. What makes her inspiring is that she is a graduate student from Stanford University. For this reason, she is also considered as one of the sharpest minded students. Sadia Basheer Sadia Basheer is another name of inspiration from Pakistan. She made her name in the Forbes 30 under 30. Sadia founded PixelArt, a new generation game development company. She is also a keynote speaker at TEDx, GameLab, and Game Developers Conference. Sadia has a passion for video games. Her such passion made her overcome all the obstacles in her path towards success. Natasia Malaihollo Natasia Malaihollo, CEO and co-founder of the company Wyzerr. She is well-experienced in front-end development & founded two successful startups in a short span of time. She, along with her team works on Artificial Intelligence. The data gathered helps to make decisions for better operations of the businesses. Samantha Snabes In the revolutionary world of recycling, Samantha’s name is a revolution. She has founded re3D, a startup built up for the makers of 3D instruments using recycled material. Samantha has a very dedicated and strong team of NASA scientists who aim to bring an environmental change. In recent, she has won the 2018 WeWork Creator Award Million Dollar Prize. In A Nutshell! So, now it is your turn to get inspiration from these leading entrepreneurs who fought all stereotypes. Don’t let excuses to come into your way. Be the entrepreneur you always wish to become and make your own path. Author: Sara Rehman Hello. I am Sara Rehman, a digital marketer and a passionate blogger who shares her expertise on various topics from food to movies, entertainment, lifestyle and what not. Do not forget to review my work and leave a comment on my posts to stay in touch. Previous article How Quotes by Oscar Wilde Made Me a Better Person Next article Fortnite breaks Records high 15 million Installs on Android More By Sara Rehman More In Entrepreneurship Why Being Single in Your Early 20’s is Awesome! Great business lessons to learn from Tony Stark (Iron Man) What’s Stopping You From not Getting Successful? Yes, It Is Your Comfort Zone! Comfo…	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335174
__label__cc	0.591691	0.408309	Heavenly Planets Temporary Happiness by Srila Prabhupada Bhagavad gita Chapter-9, Text-20-21 on 06th December 1966, New York Lecture by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). ISKCON is popularly known as the “Hare Krishna” movement, due to its members’ widespread practice of chanting the Hare Krishna mantra in public. Srila Prabhupada intended ISKCON to facilitate the association and education of bhakti-yoga practitioners, and his followers continue to spread that mission. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977) is widely regarded as the foremost Vedic scholar, translator, and teacher of the modern era. He is especially respected as the world’s most prominent contemporary authority on bhakti-yoga, devotional service to the Supreme Person, Krishna, as taught by the ancient Vedic writings of India. He is also the founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Srila Prabhupada, as he’s known to his followers, translated and commented on over eighty volumes of the Vedas’ most important sacred bhakti texts, including the Bhagavad-gita—a concise handbook for understanding the purpose and goal of human life—and the multi-volume Srimad-Bhagavatam—an epic biography of Krishna, Krishna’s avatars, and His many devotees throughout the history of the universe. [For more videos, visit – www.harekrishnatube.com] Category Srila Prabhupada Speaks Srila Prabhupada speaks-Chapter 3 Verses 21 Srila Prabhupada speaks Chapter 2 Verse 2 Srila Prabhupada, Bhagavat Gita As It Is Chapter 01 Verses 04-05 Bhakti Is Not a Business by Srila Prabhupada (Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-01, Chapter-02, Text-06) April 18, 1974, Hyderabad Bhagavad Gita 16.05 by Srila Prabhupada on January 31, 1975, Honolulu Yoga System – Yoga Ladder by Srila Prabhupada (Bhagavad Gita Chapter-06, Text-02-05) by Srila Prabhupada on February 14,1969, LosAngeles Produce Grain – No Goodyear Tires by Srila Prabhupada (Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-01, Chapter-07, Text-06) at Vrndavana, September 5, 1976 Ever Expanding Life With Krishna by Srila Prabhupada (Chaitanya Charitramrita Adi Lila 01.07) at Mayapur, March 31, 1975 Krishna Movement Can’t Be Killed by Srila Prabhupada – Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-05, Chapter-05, Text-32 at Vrndavana, November 19, 1976 Srila Prabhupada speaks Chapter 2 Verse 13 Bhagavad Gita 16.06 by Srila Prabhupada on October 18, 1975, Johannesburg Body isms Are All Nonsense by Srila Prabhupada (Srimad Bhagavtam Canto-01, Chapter-02, Text-06) May 24, 1974, Rome Sankirtana Movement Is Incarnation Of Krishna by Srila Prabhupada (Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-01, Chapter-03, Text-28) on Oct 3, 1972, LA The Callous Can’t Pass Test by Srila Prabhupada (Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-01, Chapter-07, Text-40) at Vrndavana, October 1, 1976 Refreshment for Parched Mind by Srila Prabhupada (Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-03, Chapter-26, Text-43), Bombay, January 18, 1975 Chant, Chant, Chant by Srila Prabhupada (Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-01, Chapter-08, Text-30) at Los Angeles, April 22, 1973 Duty…Or A Waste Of Time by Srila Prabhupada (Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-01, Chapter-02, Text-08) April 22, 1974, Hyderabad Everything Comes From God by Srila Prabhupada (Bhagavad gita Chapter-9, Text-15-18) on 02nd December 1966, New York Secret Of Supreme Satisfaction by Srila Prabhupada (Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-01, Chapter-05, Text-28) at Vrndavana, August 9, 1974 Don’t Wait For Another Life by Srila Prabhupada (Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-01, Chapter-07, Text-20-21) at Vrndavana, September 17, 1976 The Volturous And The Virtuous by Srila Prabhupada (Chaitanya Charitramrita Adi Lila 07.01) at Atlanta, March 1, 1975 Transcendental Goodness by Srila Prabhupada – Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-05, Chapter-05, Text-24 at Vrndavana, November 11, 1976 Srila Prabhupada speaks-Chapter 3 Verse 18 Prabhupada Nectar Srila Prabhupada Tells a Story 70, Diksha Mataji The Religion Above All Cheating by Srila Prabhupada (Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-01, Chapter-02, Text-05) October 9, 1976, Aligarh Bhagavad Gita Chapter-16, Text-04 by Srila Prabhupada on January 30, 1975, Honolulu You serve Krishna or Maya by Srila Prabhupada (Bhagavad Gita Chapter-06, Text-01-04) on September 05, 1966, New York Our Condition — Precarious by Srila Prabhupada (Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-01, Chapter-07, Text-08) at Vrndavana, September 7, 1976 Gold and Iron Girl Friends by Srila Prabhupada (Chaitanya Charitramrita Adi Lila 01.06) at Mayapur, March 30, 1975 Krishna Is Within the Atom by Srila Prabhupada – Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-05, Chapter-05, Text-26 at Vrndavana, November 13, 1976 Srila Prabhupada speaks-Chapter 1 Verses 24- Bhagavad Gita 16.07 by Srila Prabhupada on December 26, 1975, Sanand There Is No Religion Except KC by Srila Prabhupada (Srimad Bhagavtam Canto-01, Chapter-01, Text-03) on February 24, 1975, Caracas Offering Everything To Krishna by Srila Prabhupada (Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-01, Chapter-03, Text-19) on September 24, 1972, Los Angeles Husband, Wife And Happy Home by Srila Prabhupada (Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-01, Chapter-07, Text-43) at Vrndavana, October 3, 1976 Putting Krishna in His Place by Srila Prabhupada (Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-03, Chapter-26, Text-46), Bombay, January 21, 1975 Try To Satisfy Krishna by Srila Prabhupada (Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-01, Chapter-08, Text-29) at Los Angeles, April 21, 1973 No Industrial Development by Srila Prabhupada (Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-01, Chapter-02, Text-10) on October 21, 1972, Vrndavana Sravanam Kirtanam Vishnu by Srila Prabhupada (Bhagavad gita Chapter-9, Text-15) on 01st December 1966 New York Muni Extraordinaire by Srila Prabhupada Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-01, Chapter-05, Text-23 on August 4, 1974, Vrndavana ‘Democracy’ vs Divine Rule by Srila Prabhupada (Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-01, Chapter-08, Text-18) at Mayapur, September 28, 1974 Lord Caitanya – Giving Life by Srila Prabhupada (Chaitanya Charitramrita Adi Lila 07.01) at Mayapur, March 1, 1974 This World Is Hong Kong Flu by Srila Prabhupada – Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-05, Chapter-05, Text-04 at New Vrindavan, June 4, 1969 Don’t Be Carried Away By Maya by Srila Prabhupada (Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-01, Chapter-03, Text-15) September 20, 1972, Los Angeles Bhagavad Gita Chapter-16, Text-01-03 by Srila Prabhupada on January 29, 1975, Honolulu This World Is Darkness by Srila Prabhupada (Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-03, Chapter-25, Text-08) at Bombay, November 8, 1974 Hare Krishna Lord And Potency by Srila Prabhupada (Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-01, Chapter-07, Text-19) at Vrndavana, September 16, 1976 Science Of Supreme Pleasure by Srila Prabhupada (Chaitanya Charitramrita Adi Lila 01.05) at Mayapur, March 29, 1975 ‘Isms’ Are Sense Gratification by Srila Prabhupada – Srimad Bhagavatam Canto-05, Chapter-05, Text-01-08 at Stockholm, September 6, 1973 In Search of a Lost Love – Lessons from the Musk Deer Illustrated Story – Krishna’s Headache Varnashrama Series – 9.The Four Ashramas – Sannyasa SWOT Analysis of Brahmacarya and Grihastha Ashrama	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335182
__label__wiki	0.501545	0.501545	How One Brilliant Woman Mapped the Secrets of the Ocean Floor In the early part of the 20th century, German geophysicist Alfred Wegener proposed a revolutionary idea that made him the laughingstock of… more Ocean Floors In the early part of the 20th century, German geophysicist Alfred Wegener proposed a revolutionary idea that made him the laughingstock of his peers. His “continental displacement” theory suggested that the earth’s continents once formed a single land mass that had gradually drifted apart over time. Wegener was largely disregarded by the geoscientific community until 1953, when a young cartographer named Marie Tharp began charting ocean floor depth measurements. In partnership with geologist Bruce Heezen, Tharp’s detailed maps of the ocean floor revealed rifts and valleys that supported Wegener’s controversial theory. Initially dismissed as “girl talk,” Tharp and Heezen finally brought the concept of plate tectonics to the mainstream in 1968 when they published their ocean floor map in National Geographic Magazine. Cementing her place in history, Tharp was awarded the National Geographic Society’s Hubbard Medal in 1978 for her pioneering research. This animation by Rosanna Wan for the Royal Institution tells the fascinating story of Marie Tharp’s groundbreaking work to help prove Wegener’s theory. The Strange and Wonderful World of the 'Snail Wrangler' Watch This 'Flying Woman' Defy Death in a 600-Year-Old Ritual One Woman's Remarkable Journey to Protect Lions In a Dangerous Slum, She's Empowering 'Grandmothers' to Fight Back She Summited Everest. Now, She's Inspiring Others to Explore. Why Are Japanese Women Paying to Cry with a 'Handsome' Man? How One Maya Mother Survived Tragedy to Follow Her Dreams See Why This Roller Skating Girl Squad Is the First of Its Kind This Wrestling Mom Can Put You in a Chokehold This U.S. Fencer Is Named After a Warrior Queen—and It Shows Banned For Being a Woman: Boxer Doesn’t Stop Fighting Her Parents Made the Ultimate Sacrifice for Democracy—She Continues the Fight Imagine Making One Dress You’ll Wear Every Day for Life The Changing Face of Beauty in Northeast India For Afghanistan’s Women, Empowerment Comes on Two Wheels 'Four Women Prepare to Tackle a Wild River': Behind the Scenes Four Women Prepare to Tackle a Wild River A Huge Vintage Map Collection’s Unlikely Journey Could This Be the End of Female Circumcision? She Climbs Like a Girl—and It’s Awesome Meet a New Generation of Women in Kabul	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335184
__label__wiki	0.533381	0.533381	How Greek Mythology Inspires Us Death, Personified 10/25/2019 \| 8m 58s Food & Fiction: Memorable Meals in Literature The Beauty and Anguish of Les Misérables! Special \| 9m 7s It's Lit! It’s Lit! is a series of smart, funny video essays from PBS Digital Studios about our favorite books and why we love to read. Hosted by Lindsay Ellis, the series delves into topics like the evolution of YA, how science fiction mirrors our own anxieties, and why the book is sometimes just a _bit_ better than the movie. PBS Digital Studios brings you original web series exploring science, music, arts, culture, and beyond. Working with creators and producers from across the web, we showcase the best the internet has to offer, while celebrating the impact of public media. Look for new episodes weekly on YouTube, Facebook Watch, PBS.org as well as on PBS apps on OTT and mobile! See More Digital Studios ShowsRight	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335185
__label__cc	0.705421	0.294579	Brain Tumor BookList AMAZON.COM shopping Benefit! Whenever shopping on Amazon.com, come here first and click the Amazon banner below and we get 6.5% of your purchase to use for research, and it does not cost you anything extra! You can shop on any section of Amazon This is a list of some of the books that we have found useful. They are rated on a scale of 0 to 10 - with 10 the best - by you! If you have read one of the books on the list, please click on the VOTE link to cast your ballot for it! 1 = worst, 10 = best To buy the book, click on the title. This will bring you to the Amazon.com site, where the books are cheapest! It will show you details of the book and the price before you commit! We will get a commission on any books you buy if you enter the site from this page, so ALWAYS stop by here before going bookshopping! It doesn't cost you anything extra, but it helps us pay to maintain this website! If you know of a book that belongs here, click here to suggest it! Brain Tumor Guide For The Newly Diagnosed - This is our guide. You can read online or order a free printed copy! Frankly Speaking About Brain Tumors An excellent brain tumor guide from the National Brain Tumor Foundation and Cancer Support Community! Dying Can Change Your Life A FREE book about one man's experiance with a brain tumor. Looking Back, Walking Foward - by Jen Bernhards. A FREE booklet about Jen's thoughts on how a teenager can cope with a serious illness. "Sometimes Your Head" A FREE illustrated book for children dealing with brain tumors. Please click here to let us know how you like this book after you read it. (Note: the book is in .pdf format - which requires the free adobe reader, and it may take a few minutes to download.) Second Chance - A book about a brain tumor survivor. Can I Take My Panda Daddy? -(Written by his father), is a beautiful, sad and inspiring memoir about a four year old boy with a malignant brain stem tumor. Suggested Books - for purchase via Amazon.com If Amazon asks you to select a charity to support, please select "Musella Foundation For Brain Tumor Research & Information" Title / Author Average Score Votes Vote There’s Something Going On Upstairs elly Rodenberg 6.78 46 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 It's MY Crisis And I'll Cry If I Need To: EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge (Updated Edition) Yocheved Golani 6.17 112,301 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 100 Questions about brain tumors (New Edition 2010) Dr. Virginia Stark-Vance 5.83 117,794 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Living With Timmy Paul Korhonen 5.71 17,910 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 If You Love Me, Take Me Now Steve Cox 5.66 30,376 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Surviving and Thriving: A Brain Tumor Survivor's Story Time Ward 5.65 63,237 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life Lance Armstrong 5.59 109,554 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 The Complete Bedside Companion : A No-Nonsense Guide to Caring for the Seriously Ill Rodger McFarlane 5.57 111,465 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Guide to Complementary and Alternative Cancer Methods American Cancer Society 5.57 114,346 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Handbook of Brain Tumor Chemotherapy Herbert Newton 5.56 102,593 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 That's Unacceptable! Rebecca Libutti 5.54 115,698 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 It's All in Your Head Maria McCutchen 5.53 36,152 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 The Radiation Sonnets: For My Love, in Sickness and in Health Jane Yolen 5.53 110,175 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Magic Cancer Bullet: How a Tiny Orange Pill May Rewrite Medical History (The Story of Gleevec) Dan Vasella 5.52 108,598 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Living with a Brain Tumor: Dr. Peter Black`s Guide to Taking Control of Your Treatment Dr. Peter Black 5.51 97,830 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Brain Surgeon: A Doctor's Inspiring Encounters with Mortality and Miracles Keith Black 5.51 76,199 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Childhood Cancer Survivorship: Improving Care and Quality of Life Maria Hewitt 5.51 109,835 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 The Year of the Bird Susan Spangler 5.51 46,838 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pillow for people using the Novocure Device 5.51 41,310 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Brain Tumors: Finding the Ark. Meeting the Challenges of Treatment Choices, Side Effects, Childrens Issues, Healthcare Costs and Long Term Survival Dr. Paul Zeltzer 5.50 108,244 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Lemon SIzed Tumor Jenny Overton 5.50 35,729 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Neuroanatomy Made Easy and Simple S. David Gertz 5.50 109,027 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 When Cancer Entered Our Family: How We Lived, Laughed, Cried and Survived Moyra McDill 5.50 101,081 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Brain Tumors: Leaving the Garden of Eden, a Survival Guide to Diagnosis, Learning the Basics, Getting Organized, & Finding Your Medical Team Paul Zeltzer, MD 5.50 113,045 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 STEPPING OVER MYSELF: FINDING MY WAY AND MY LIFE AFTER A BRAIN TUMOR AYIS CAPERONIS 5.50 67,574 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Force a Miracle Darryl C. Didier 5.50 109,148 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Glioblastoma Multiforme James M. Markert, MD 5.49 118,534 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 What the Dying Teach Us: Lessons on Living Samuel Lee Oliver 5.49 105,653 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 The Emperor of All Maladies Mukherjee 5.49 45,537 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 The Comfort of Home: An Illustrated Step-by-Step Guide for Caregivers Maria M. Meyer 5.48 114,797 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Cancer As a Turning Point : A Handbook for People With Cancer, Their Families, and Health Professionals Lawrence LeShan 5.48 111,722 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 The Disability Experience: A Healing Journey Arthur Soissons-Segal,Ph.D. 5.47 118,110 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Reversal: When a Therapist Becomes a Patient Eric Anthony Galvez 5.47 94,345 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Navigating Through a Strange Land : A Book for Brain Tumor Patients and Their Families Tricia Ann Roloff 5.47 128,191 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Stella~s Story: Fighting for Life Against a Malignant Brain Tumor Kay Loveland 5.47 116,333 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Gregory White Smith 5.46 113,568 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 It's MY Crisis! And I'll Cry If I Need To: A Life Book That Helps You to Dry Your Tears and to Cope with a Medical Challenge Yocheved Golani 5.46 71,767 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 CNS Cancer Erwin G. Van Meir 5.46 81,943 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Dr. Folkmans War: Angiogenesis and the Struggle to Defeat Cancer Robert Cooke 5.46 113,586 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Surviving `Terminal Cancer`: Clinical Trials, Drug Cocktails, and Other Treatments Your Oncologist Won`t Tell You about Ben Williams, PhD 5.46 123,944 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Childhood Brain & Spinal Cord Tumors: A Guide for Families, Friends & Caregivers Tania Shiminski-Maher 5.45 111,617 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 I am a Kid living with Cancer Jenevieve Fisher 5.45 61,530 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 The Angel Letters: Lessons That Dying Can Teach us About Living Norman J. Fried 5.45 103,391 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Vista Point (CD) Not By Chance 5.45 116,539 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Alternating Electric Fields Therapy in Oncology Eric T Wong 5.45 9,258 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Dance When the Brain Says No Mary Kathleen Price 5.44 83,522 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Making the Radiation Therapy Decision David J. Brenner 5.44 123,492 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Not By Chance (CD) The Busy Peoples Guide To Low Fat Cookbook (Author is the spouse of a brain tumor patient - using this book as a fundraiser) Dawn Hall 5.43 113,934 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 That Thing On My Moms Brain Noe Santana 5.43 26,919 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Arthur Soissons-Segal, Ph.D. 5.43 111,803 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Clinical Neuroanatomy Made Ridiculously Simple Stephen Goldberg 5.43 114,337 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Sad but O.K. : My Daddy Died Today : A Childs View of Death Barbara Frisbie 5.42 113,782 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 The Gliomas Mitchel S. Berger MD 5.42 118,599 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Bryan Bishop 5.39 42,424 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Notes Left Behind: 135 Days with Elena Keith Desserich 5.39 96,610 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Brain Tumor Guide for the Newly Diagnosed Al Musella, DPM 5.38 71,003 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 The Practical Management of Low-Grade Primary Brain Tumors Jack P. Rock 5.37 132,983 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Brain Tumor Invasion : Biological, Clinical, and Therapeutic Considerations Tom Mikkelsen 5.35 119,921 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Principles and Practice of Neuro-oncology Minesh Mehta, MD 5.29 71,754 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Anticancer: A New Way of Life David Servan-Schreiber 5.28 44,793 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 The Death of Cancer: Vincent T. DeVita 5.18 26,746 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Damocles' Wife: The Inside Story of Cancer Caregiving & Long-Term Survival in the Midst of Motherhood, Marriage & Making Life Matter Shelly Francis 5.14 51,528 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Life's Mountains: What a Brain Tumor Survivor Learned Climbing a Mountain and Battling "Terminal" Cancer Cheryl L Broyles 5.14 46,307 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Natural Compounds in Cancer Therapy John C. Boik 5.04 129,762 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335186
__label__wiki	0.80462	0.80462	Unruly Continues Aggressive Growth In Northern Europe With New Norwegian Office 2013-09-12 Back to news Social video company now has 12 offices and 130 employees worldwide. Oslo, Stockholm, London – Thursday, September 12, 2013 – Video technology company Unruly today continues its global expansion and rapid growth by opening an office in Norway. Advertisers looking to activate Norwegian and pan-Nordic campaigns now have access to Unruly’s industry-leading solutions, which will help them create, distribute and measure their social videos. The new office in Oslo is the 12th across the world to be opened by Unruly. It will be managed by Nordic Managing Director, Lance Traore. The company has also appointed a team to ramp up revenue and run sales, media and operations to help advertisers take advantage of the explosion in video advertising. Christoffer Sebastian Groll, Key Account Manager for Unruly, joins from Filmweb, where he spent three years selling digital solutions. He has a decade’s experience in sales and will help manage relationships with media agencies. Unruly has also appointed Hans Christensen as Business Development Manager. Christensen joins from Kelkoo, where he managed strategic partnerships for the Nordics and will be responsible for building out Unruly’s media proposition. Traore said: “We have established a strong local footprint since opening our Swedish office in July 2011 and now collaborate with the biggest media agencies in the region. Unruly already has significant social video experience in Norway, having run over 100 campaigns through our local blogger activation team. This means we have a potential reach of 65.5% of the Norwegian internet population and 81% of the Nordic internet population (comScore). I look forward to executing more campaigns for leading brands and their agencies across the Nordics. “In addition, the campaigns we have run in Norway show that there’s a huge appetite for social video, with an average click-through-rate of 3.28% (25% higher than the global average of 2.64%). Online video advertising is the fastest growing category of ad spend in 2012, with 30% annual growth (Zenith Optimedia) and I’m pleased that we can now help Norwegian advertisers take advantage of this huge potential.” Johan Ydring, Digital Development Director at MindshareSweden, said: “We have been working with Unruly since 2011 and in that time we’ve seen them consistently deliver successful campaigns. Social video is a very interesting space and Unruly is really one of the best at this game.” Phil Townend, EMEA MD at Unruly, said: “Since inception, Unruly has been committed to helping brands activate their social video campaigns, whether they are based in Singapore, Paris or San Francisco. We’ve worked on award-winning campaigns, most recently Dove’s Real Beauty Sketches (the most shared ad of the year so far), and we feel we’re in a great position to help Norwegian brands crack the code on social video.” With advanced player technology and an audience of a billion unique users, Unruly enables brands to engage their audience and amplify their brand through engaging video content. Unruly’s proprietary data and technology is already used by two-thirds of the Interbrand 100 and their agencies. Key products across the full range of mobile, tablet and other second screen devices include: Unruly Labs™: Unruly ShareRank™ is a ground-breaking product, developed in collaboration with research institutions and leading academics to meet the seemingly impossible desire to predict a ‘viral’ hit; Unruly Activate™: Launched in 2007, Unruly’s proprietary Media Engagement & Measurement Engine (Unruly MEME™) is our real-time insight engine for campaign delivery which has delivered, tracked and audited 3.5 billion video views across 3,000 social video campaigns, reaching an audience of over a billion connected consumers; Unruly Analytics™: Brand managers and agencies can use our social analytics dashboard to benchmark their video content, spot which content gets consumers talking and access real-time insight into campaign performance in seconds to wow their CMOs. It provides real-time competitive benchmarks across 2.7 million data points. About Unruly Video technology company Unruly is the leading global platform for social video marketing and works with top brands and their agencies to predict the emotional impact of their videos and get them watched, tracked and shared across paid, owned and earned media. We use our proprietary technology to turn target audiences into engaged viewers and engaged viewers into customers and advocates. Our end-to-end solution cracks the code on social video sharing. Brands can predict shareability with Unruly Labs, engage their audience with Unruly Activate and prove social ROI with Unruly Analytics where we provide real-time competitive benchmarks across 2.7 million customizable data points. The Unruly Viral Video Chart has tracked 365 billion video views since 2006. With an engaged audience of over a billion consumers, across the full range of mobile, tablet and second screen devices, Unruly has delivered, tracked and audited 3.5 billion video views across 3,000+ social video campaigns for over 400 brands including Volkswagen, Dove, Coca-Cola, T-Mobile, Microsoft, Warner Bros and adidas. We’ve worked with 60% of Interbrand’s Top 100 Best Global Brand and our mission is to deliver the most awesome social video advertising campaigns on the planet. Founded in 2006, Unruly has 12 offices and employs over 130 people globally. In 2012, Unruly secured a $25 million Series A investment led by Amadeus, Van den Ende & Deitmers and Business Growth Fund – the largest ever for a private company in the social video space. The company has won over 15 awards including “Best Content Distribution Service” at the Braves Awards; “Digital Innovator of the Year” at the Sunday Times Hiscox Tech Track 100; “International Management Team of the Year” at the BVCA Awards 2013 and #14 on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA. To find out more visit www.unrulymedia.com. Unruly, Unruly Analytics, Unruly ShareRank, Unruly MEME, Unruly Labs, Unruly Activate and associated trademarks are trademarks and/or registered trademarks owned by Unruly Group Ltd. Other trademarks are owned by their respective owners. Unruly Names Former AOL Executive Kenneth Suh Senior Vice President of Global Business Development Unruly Expands Into Benelux With New Office In Amsterdam Unruly Partners With Nielsen To Offer Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings™ For Social Video Video Ad Tech Company Unruly Opens New Office In Australia Unruly Hires Exponential MD To Lead EMEA Team	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335187
__label__wiki	0.727944	0.727944	Kazakhstan maps I Am (Mary J. Blige song) "I AM" Activity Black Sea (book) Black Sea (disambiguation) Kazakhstan Geography/Kazakhstan Country... These Maps will change the way you see Kazakhstan... CENTRAL ASIA \|\| World Geography Mapping... Un pentagramme immense au Kazakhstan (Illuminati)... KAZAKHSTAN country political or physical map in hi... CENTRAL ASIA MAP \|\| Learn The Stans! \|\| World Geog... presentation for google maps from Kazakhstan... Maps Kazakhstan... ETS2 1.32 - Map of the Republic of Kazakhstan v0.8... Kazakhstan-Flag Map Speed Art... Huge Devil Pentagram in Kazakhstan on Google Maps!... New Kazakhstan Map [Kamaz] - ETS2 1.36... Ukraine Geography/Ukraine Country/Ukraine... What Are 'The Stans' and How Powerful Are They?... Hitomi Furuya (古谷仁美, Furuya Hitomi, born January 26, 1976), known mononymously as hitomi, is a Japanese singer-songwriter. She began her career as model, but after meeting Tetsuya Komuro he began managing her career as a pop singer. In 1998 she left the "Komuro Family" and started working with other musicians and producers, oriented to other musical genres such as pop rock, and more recently to electropop. Born Hitomi Furuya (古谷仁美, Furuya Hitomi) in Tochigi, Japan, Hitomi's family relocated to Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture when she was a child. Consequently, Hitomi always identified herself as a girl from Kanagawa. hitomi was an enthusiastic athlete throughout her childhood, playing baseball, soccer, and basketball, as well as an avid reader of manga. When hitomi was 16 years old, she was spotted and approached by a scout from a modelling agency. Hitomi signed a short modelling contract and began appearing in magazines while she was still in high school. In 1993, then 17 years old, Furuya was spotted by eminent Avex music producer Tetsuya Komuro at an audition. Komuro signed Furuya to Avex, put Furuya through vocal training, and decided that she should use an all-lowercase 'hitomi' as her stage name. The following year, in November 1994, hitomi released her debut single, "Let's Play Winter", through Avex Trax, to which she wrote the lyrics. Since then, Hitomi has been the lyricist for almost all of her songs. This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Hitomi "I Am" is a song taken from American R&B singer-songwriter Mary J. Blige's ninth studio album, Stronger with Each Tear. The song was written by Blige, Johntá Austin, Ester Dean, Tor Erik Hermansen, Mikkel Eriksen with musical production from Stargate and was released as the second single from the album. The song "I Am" confidently tells one's lover nobody can treat them better than the person they are with at the present time. A rough/early demo version of the song was circulated on the Internet featuring Austin's vocals on the hook. "I Am" was sent to urban radio in the week beginning November 10, 2009 and was released as a digital download on December 8, 2009. It debuted on the US Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart on November 19, 2009 at number 46 based on airplay alone. It debuted on the Japan Hot 100 chart at number 92, also debuting on the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 67. Blige performed "I Am" live for the first time at the 2009 American Music Awards on November 22, 2009. Blige also performed "I Am" on Lopez Tonight,So You Think You Can Dance,The Jay Leno Show,Jimmy Kimmel Live!, A&E Television's Private Sessions,The Today Show,The View,The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and on the Late Show with David Letterman. This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/I_Am_(Mary_J._Blige_song) The "I AM" Movement is the original Ascended Master Teachings religious movement founded in the early 1930s by Guy Ballard (1878–1939) and his wife Edna (1886–1971) in Chicago, Illinois. It is an offshoot of theosophy and a major precursor of several New Age religions including the Church Universal and Triumphant. The movement had up to a million followers in 1938 and is still active today on a smaller scale. According to the official website of the parent organization, the Saint Germain Foundation, its worldwide headquarters is located in Schaumburg, Illinois, and there are approximately 300 local groups worldwide under several variations of the names "I AM" Sanctuary, "I AM" Temple, and other similar titles. As of 2007, the organization states that its purpose is "spiritual, educational and practical," and that no admission fee is charged for their activities. The term "I AM" is a reference to the ancient Sanskrit mantra "So Ham", meaning "I Am that I Am". See also the entry "I Am that I Am". This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/"I_AM"_Activity Central Asia is the core region of the Asian continent and stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to China in the east and from Afghanistan in the south to Russia in the north. It is also sometimes referred to as Middle Asia, and, colloquially, "the 'stans" (as the six countries generally considered to be within the region all have names ending with the Persian suffix "-stan", meaning "land of") and is within the scope of the wider Eurasian continent. In modern contexts, all definitions of Central Asia include these five republics of the former Soviet Union: Kazakhstan (pop. 17 million), Kyrgyzstan (5.7 million), Tajikistan (8.0 million), Turkmenistan (5.2 million), and Uzbekistan (30 million), for a total population of about 66 million as of 2013–2014. Afghanistan (pop. 31.1 million) is also sometimes included. Various definitions of Central Asia's exact composition exist, and not one definition is universally accepted. Despite this uncertainty in defining borders, the region does have some important overall characteristics. For one, Central Asia has historically been closely tied to its nomadic peoples and the Silk Road. As a result, it has acted as a crossroads for the movement of people, goods, and ideas between Europe, Western Asia, South Asia, and East Asia. This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Central_Asia The Black Sea is a sea between Southeastern Europe and Western Asia. It is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, and drains through the Mediterranean into the Atlantic Ocean, via the Aegean Sea and various straits. The Bosphorus Strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the Strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean Sea region of the Mediterranean. These waters separate eastern Europe and western Asia. The Black Sea is also connected to the Sea of Azov by the Strait of Kerch. The Black Sea has an area of 436,400 km2 (168,500 sq mi) (not including the Sea of Azov), a maximum depth of 2,212 m (7,257 ft), and a volume of 547,000 km3 (131,000 cu mi). The Black Sea forms in an east-west trending elliptical depression which lies between Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. It is constrained by the Pontic Mountains to the south and by the Caucasus Mountains to the east, and features a wide shelf to the northwest. The longest east-west extent is about 1,175 km (730 mi). This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Black_Sea Black Sea is a non-fiction book of travel and history by the Scottish writer Neal Ascherson. Its subject is the Black Sea and its surrounding lands. On its publication in 1995, the book received high praise from critics such as Richard Bernstein, Timothy Garton Ash, Karl Miller and Noel Malcolm.Black Sea won the Saltire Award for Literature in 1995 and the Los Angeles Times Book Award for History in 1996. This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Black_Sea_(book) The Black Sea is an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor. Black Sea may also refer to: Black Sea (region), a region in Turkey Ann Street, Boston, US, colloquial known as Black Sea Black Sea (XTC album), 1980 Black Sea (Christian Fennesz album) Black Sea Studios, a Bulgarian video game developer Black Sea (book), a travel/history book by Neal Ascherson Black Sea (film), a 2014 British action-adventure film starring Jude Law MNG Airlines (call sign), a Turkish airline Battle of Mogadishu (1993), also known as the Battle of the Black sea This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Black_Sea_(disambiguation) Kazakhstan Geography/Kazakhstan Country Please watch: "Types of Clouds" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsH7QU7mKIc --~-- Support Kids Learning Tube by becoming a Patreon today at the link below! You can vote for the video of the week, get your name in the credits and supports something you believe in! https://www.patreon.com/kidslearningtube Learn about the country and geography of Kazakhstan and it's regions and capitals With this fun educational music video for children and parents. Brought to you by Kids Learning Tube I'd love to thank my Patreon supporters: Isla and Mia, Parker Templeton, Matthew Leache, Bennett Mancill, Jaxon Gish, Matt B, Maxwell Shapiro, Jesse Guzelyurt, Sajel Patel, Mauro Johnson, The Richards/Steele Family, Jake Milan. You all do so much to keep Kids Learning Tube alive! Facebook: https://www.fac... These Maps will change the way you see Kazakhstan Howdy! I’m an original content creator Zimbax and also the guy behind these educational geography series. I love creating my own maps, charts etc. and making videos about them in my way of editing. I hope you enjoy my videos and if so, be sure to leave a thumbs up! ✅Feel free to subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/c/ZimbaxTV?su... ---------------- 📸My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zimbaxyt 🔥My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/zimbax 😎My Discord: https://discord.gg/eevq7YJ 📈Boost me: https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/zimbax.html ---------------- 🎵Music: All songs I use in my videos are copyright free. I get my music from NCS, TheFatRat and other copyright-free music channels. If you want to know what music I used in this video, contact me on any social media above. ►Int... CENTRAL ASIA \|\| World Geography Mapping Follow Rohit Dagar sir on Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/rohitdagar08/ #Follow_Rohit_sir_on_Instagram_rohitdagar08 This is a Must Watch video for those who are preparing for any Entrance Exam. #UPSC #StatePSC #SSC Hit the like button and Subscribe if you enjoyed watching this Video. SUBSCRIBE to CivilCoursify's Youtube Channel. Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ7czAlpYL2ePjJpNxLuwxQ?sub_confirmation=1 Download the FREE CivilCoursify Android App from the Google PlayStore Now. Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.civilcoursify&hl=en You can Join various Courses at CivilCoursify to prepare for Entrance Exams for FREE. Join here: https://www.civilcoursify.in/all-courses/ Follow us on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/civilcoursify/ Join our Chan... Un pentagramme immense au Kazakhstan (Illuminati) The Creepy kazakhstan Pentagram ( Le Terrifiant Pentagramme Kazakhstan), un immense symbole maçonnique vu du ciel. Pour ceux qui ne le savent pas, la capital du Kazakhstan est la ville d'Astana (=Satana), une ville vouée au culte de satan, à cause du très grands nombre de ses symboles sataniques dispersés dans toute la ville. Plus d'infos: http://bit.ly/2xJ6Eml KAZAKHSTAN country political or physical map in hindi PAONE CENTRAL ASIA MAP \|\| Learn The Stans! \|\| World Geography for Kids Gabrielle and Elise make a map of the "Stans" -- a Map of Central Asia! They craft the most sparkly map of Central Asia ever! See and learn about Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Pakistan! We're two sisters having fun crafting unique, educational, and family friendly projects often out of clay. SEE MORE of Gabrielle & Elise at their GOOD TO GO SHOW channel where they try cool challenges and games, perform skits, and have all sorts of crazy adventures. They're always Good to Go when it comes to silly fun! Are you? Have you subscribed? It's FREE! Check out some of our most popular videos! COLLABORATION with MAGIC BOX TOYS COLLECTOR! https://youtu.be/NWmypnbHvng MY LITTLE PONY PLAY-DOH PUZZLE! https://youtu.be/YS6lCdMVvbg UNITED STATES MA... presentation for google maps from Kazakhstan How do you do? My name is Oleg Anikienko. I am half Russian, half Ukrainian. I was born and live in Kazakhstan, studied in Russia and Germany. I am a manager by occupation and the owner of a PVC windows making company. I am fond of travelling, phycology and the study of various peoples cultures which manifests itself in my books. Yes, I am a writer whose works are published in Moscow and write in prose and fantasy. My books haven’t been published in English yet but I am sure it will necessarily happen. In the sequel of my novel which is called «Deposed gods» the main character is going to modern America as in his opinion America is the land where Atlantis used to be in the antediluvian times. So I must necessarily visit the USA to ensure the trustworthiness of the book. I am also a local... Maps Kazakhstan ETS2 1.32 - Map of the Republic of Kazakhstan v0.8 Map of the Republic of Kazakhstan comes from the author of the well known map Great Steppe. Its a stand alone map of the same country but it is not a stand alone version of Great Steppe, its a completely different map. The map requires all four DLCs, a separate profile and ETS2 1.32 The map does not work with 1.31. Link to the map https://sharemods.com/xqlpc9u1cng7/Map_of_the_Republic_of_Kazakhstan_v_0.8_beta.zip.html https://sharemods.com/gmrogvge2nby/Map_of_the_Republic_of_Kazakhstan_v_0.8.7z.html Link to truck http://truck-sim.club/topic/34844-kraz-64431-132kh/ Donations are very much appreciated and help me create higher quality content. If you want to show your appriciation and contribute, please use this link https://paypal.me/wombattrucker or go to https://wombattrucker.blogspot.... Kazakhstan-Flag Map Speed Art Huge Devil Pentagram in Kazakhstan on Google Maps! Backup: http://google.com/maps New Kazakhstan Map [Kamaz] - ETS2 1.36 click SHOW MORE THE GREAT STEPPE PROJECT V1 3 Map Mod Link: =================================================== Part 1:https://sharemods.com/x79n5gywntd1/The_Great_Steppe_1.36.zip.001.html Part 2:https://sharemods.com/2np2yoeremgd/The_Great_Steppe_1.36.zip.002.html Part 3:https://sharemods.com/l2scalbmprbl/The_Great_Steppe_1.36.zip.003.html =================================================== Map: The Great Steppe - v 1.36 Euro Truck Simulator 2 Truck:Kamaz For any Copyright or Link Related Matters Please Comment Or Contact me at punjgaming@gmail.com Subscribe:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChqXXlGsXz7nN7ET501Xb-w Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/AfzallPixell-608327569581298/ Ukraine Geography/Ukraine Country/Ukraine Please watch: "Types of Clouds" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsH7QU7mKIc --~-- Learn about the 24 Oblasts and one special city in the Country of Ukraine. Crimea explains why it is currently under the control of the Russian Federation. Educate yourself about the 24 Oblasts Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Kiev, Kirovohrad, Luhansk, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odessa, Poltava, Rivne, Sumy, Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Volyn, Zakarpattia, Zaporizhia, Zhytomyr, Crimea with this fun and educational music video for parents and children. Brought to you by Kids Learning Tube! Don’t forget to sing along! https://www.patreon.com/kidslearningtube Support Kids Learning Tube by becoming a Patreon today at the link below! You can vote for ... What Are 'The Stans' and How Powerful Are They? What Are The Most Radioactive Places On Earth? http://bit.ly/1sanGo7 » Subscribe to NowThis World: http://go.nowth.is/World_Subscribe Central Asia is the birthplace of international relations and trade, but what do we know about the region's independent republics? Learn More: How much do you know about 'the Stans' of central Asia? http://www.theguardian.com/world/quiz/2015/jan/14/how-much-do-you-know-about-the-stans-central-asia-kyrzbekistan-quiz "After the New York Times mistakenly created the nation of Kyrzbekistan, we test your knowledge on central Asia. Do you know the difference between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan? And how about Uzbekistan?" The United States Just Closed Its Last Base in Central Asia http://thediplomat.com/2014/06/the-united-states-jus... Please watch: "Types of Clouds" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsH7QU7mKIc --~-- Support Kids Learning Tube by becoming a Patreon today at the link below! You... Please watch: "Types of Clouds" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsH7QU7mKIc --~-- Support Kids Learning Tube by becoming a Patreon today at the link below! You can vote for the video of the week, get your name in the credits and supports something you believe in! https://www.patreon.com/kidslearningtube Learn about the country and geography of Kazakhstan and it's regions and capitals With this fun educational music video for children and parents. Brought to you by Kids Learning Tube I'd love to thank my Patreon supporters: Isla and Mia, Parker Templeton, Matthew Leache, Bennett Mancill, Jaxon Gish, Matt B, Maxwell Shapiro, Jesse Guzelyurt, Sajel Patel, Mauro Johnson, The Richards/Steele Family, Jake Milan. You all do so much to keep Kids Learning Tube alive! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kidslearningtube Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/c/kidslearningtube Tweet Us: https://twitter.com/learningtube Instagram: https://instagram.com/kidslearningtube Add us on Google+: https://plus.google.com/+KidsLearningtube iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/album/id1192890817?ls=1&app=itunes Music: Copyright 2015, 2016, 2017 Kids Learning Tube Video: Copyright 2015, 2016, 2017 Kids Learning Tube Lyrics: We’re the Central Asian country of Kazakhstan Made up of that we’ll teach you And that’s the plan We’re the Central Asian country of Kazakhstan We’re the 9th largest country we hope you are a fan I am Akmola a centrally located Region Kokshetau is my capital I sing the best I can Aktobe my name A Kazakhstani region here Aktobe is my capital It’s where this star appeared I am Almaty A region in the Southeast Taldykorgan is my capital This is where it will be Atyrau is my name A southwestern region you see Atyrau is my capital And beautiful come to visit me East Kazakhstan Region Yes that is my name Oskemen is my capital to remember is the game We’re the Central Asian country of Kazakhstan Made up of 14 regions that we’ll teach you And that’s the plan We’re the Central Asian country of Kazakhstan We’re the 9th largest country we hope you are a fan I’m the Jambyl Region That's who I am Taraz is my capital this country is my jam I’m Karaganda Region In the center, you now know Karaganda is also the name of my capital I am Kostanay Region in northern Kazakhstan Kostanay is my capital And this is where it stands Kyzylorda Region Is how you pronounce me Kyzylorda is my capital Now you plainly see I’m Mangystau Region located in the Southwest Aktau is my capital And I wish you all the best We’re the Central Asian country of Kazakhstan Made up of 14 regions that we’ll teach you And that’s the plan We’re the Central Asian country of Kazakhstan We’re the 9th largest country we hope you are a fan I am North Kazakhstan I’m here to tell you My capital is Petropavl is on the scene too Pavlodar is my name I am in the Northeast Pavlodar is my capital You must come and see South Kazakhstan Region Located in the South Shymkent is my capital You learned this from my mouth West Kazakhstan Region located in the Northwest Orál is my capital To me, its the best I am Kazakhstan Thanks for learning about me Astana is my capital Now lets all sing in key We’re the Central Asian country of Kazakhstan Made up of 14 regions that we’ll teach you And that’s the plan We’re the Central Asian country of Kazakhstan We’re the 9th largest country we hope you are a fan https://wn.com/Kazakhstan_Geography_Kazakhstan_Country Howdy! I’m an original content creator Zimbax and also the guy behind these educational geography series. I love creating my own maps, charts etc. and making vi... Howdy! I’m an original content creator Zimbax and also the guy behind these educational geography series. I love creating my own maps, charts etc. and making videos about them in my way of editing. I hope you enjoy my videos and if so, be sure to leave a thumbs up! ✅Feel free to subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/c/ZimbaxTV?su... ---------------- 📸My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zimbaxyt 🔥My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/zimbax 😎My Discord: https://discord.gg/eevq7YJ 📈Boost me: https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/zimbax.html ---------------- 🎵Music: All songs I use in my videos are copyright free. I get my music from NCS, TheFatRat and other copyright-free music channels. If you want to know what music I used in this video, contact me on any social media above. ►Intro song: Bondax - Gold (Snakehips Remix) ►Outro Song: Psychic Type - Victory Road ---------------- ►Q: Where do you get so many maps and other interesting stuff? ►A: I usually create my own maps and charts. I also have an amazing community that helps me with my work. ►Q: How do you make these interesting maps and charts? ►A: I use a software called paint.net. ►Q: When did you start Youtube? ►A: I started in around 2014 with my first channel. In total, I’ve had over 10+ channels and my biggest dream has been to hit 100K subscribers. ►Q: Where are you from? ►A: I’m from Estonia ---------------- 😋If you're reading this, then you're AWESOME!!! ---------------- ►For copyright queries or general inquiries please get in touch: parkourteta@gmail.com https://wn.com/These_Maps_Will_Change_The_Way_You_See_Kazakhstan Follow Rohit Dagar sir on Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/rohitdagar08/ #Follow_Rohit_sir_on_Instagram_rohitdagar08 This is a Must Watch video for those... Follow Rohit Dagar sir on Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/rohitdagar08/ #Follow_Rohit_sir_on_Instagram_rohitdagar08 This is a Must Watch video for those who are preparing for any Entrance Exam. #UPSC #StatePSC #SSC Hit the like button and Subscribe if you enjoyed watching this Video. SUBSCRIBE to CivilCoursify's Youtube Channel. Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ7czAlpYL2ePjJpNxLuwxQ?sub_confirmation=1 Download the FREE CivilCoursify Android App from the Google PlayStore Now. Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.civilcoursify&hl=en You can Join various Courses at CivilCoursify to prepare for Entrance Exams for FREE. Join here: https://www.civilcoursify.in/all-courses/ Follow us on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/civilcoursify/ Join our Channel on Telegram: https://goo.gl/xREZnT https://wn.com/Central_Asia_\|\|_World_Geography_Mapping The Creepy kazakhstan Pentagram ( Le Terrifiant Pentagramme Kazakhstan), un immense symbole maçonnique vu du ciel. Pour ceux qui ne le savent pas, la capital du... https://wn.com/Un_Pentagramme_Immense_Au_Kazakhstan_(Illuminati) https://wn.com/Kazakhstan_Country_Political_Or_Physical_Map_In_Hindi_Paone Gabrielle and Elise make a map of the "Stans" -- a Map of Central Asia! They craft the most sparkly map of Central Asia ever! See and learn about Afghanistan, K... Gabrielle and Elise make a map of the "Stans" -- a Map of Central Asia! They craft the most sparkly map of Central Asia ever! See and learn about Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Pakistan! We're two sisters having fun crafting unique, educational, and family friendly projects often out of clay. SEE MORE of Gabrielle & Elise at their GOOD TO GO SHOW channel where they try cool challenges and games, perform skits, and have all sorts of crazy adventures. They're always Good to Go when it comes to silly fun! Are you? Have you subscribed? It's FREE! Check out some of our most popular videos! COLLABORATION with MAGIC BOX TOYS COLLECTOR! https://youtu.be/NWmypnbHvng MY LITTLE PONY PLAY-DOH PUZZLE! https://youtu.be/YS6lCdMVvbg UNITED STATES MAP FOR KIDS! https://youtu.be/EGJPvEOGNVM https://wn.com/Central_Asia_Map_\|\|_Learn_The_Stans_\|\|_World_Geography_For_Kids How do you do? My name is Oleg Anikienko. I am half Russian, half Ukrainian. I was born and live in Kazakhstan, studied in Russia and Germany. I am a manager by... How do you do? My name is Oleg Anikienko. I am half Russian, half Ukrainian. I was born and live in Kazakhstan, studied in Russia and Germany. I am a manager by occupation and the owner of a PVC windows making company. I am fond of travelling, phycology and the study of various peoples cultures which manifests itself in my books. Yes, I am a writer whose works are published in Moscow and write in prose and fantasy. My books haven’t been published in English yet but I am sure it will necessarily happen. In the sequel of my novel which is called «Deposed gods» the main character is going to modern America as in his opinion America is the land where Atlantis used to be in the antediluvian times. So I must necessarily visit the USA to ensure the trustworthiness of the book. I am also a local expert on the Google maps for more than 7 years, so the journey to the meeting will be a good incentive for a story about new places. Next winter I am planning to live in Thailand and will surely narrate about this fabulous country. I'm on Instagram anikienko_oleg https://wn.com/Presentation_For_Google_Maps_From_Kazakhstan https://wn.com/Maps_Kazakhstan Map of the Republic of Kazakhstan comes from the author of the well known map Great Steppe. Its a stand alone map of the same country but it is not a stand alon... Map of the Republic of Kazakhstan comes from the author of the well known map Great Steppe. Its a stand alone map of the same country but it is not a stand alone version of Great Steppe, its a completely different map. The map requires all four DLCs, a separate profile and ETS2 1.32 The map does not work with 1.31. Link to the map https://sharemods.com/xqlpc9u1cng7/Map_of_the_Republic_of_Kazakhstan_v_0.8_beta.zip.html https://sharemods.com/gmrogvge2nby/Map_of_the_Republic_of_Kazakhstan_v_0.8.7z.html Link to truck http://truck-sim.club/topic/34844-kraz-64431-132kh/ Donations are very much appreciated and help me create higher quality content. If you want to show your appriciation and contribute, please use this link https://paypal.me/wombattrucker or go to https://wombattrucker.blogspot.com/ and click Donate https://wn.com/Ets2_1.32_Map_Of_The_Republic_Of_Kazakhstan_V0.8 https://wn.com/Kazakhstan_Flag_Map_Speed_Art https://wn.com/Huge_Devil_Pentagram_In_Kazakhstan_On_Google_Maps click SHOW MORE THE GREAT STEPPE PROJECT V1 3 Map Mod Link: =================================================== Part 1:https://sharemods.com/x79n5g... https://wn.com/New_Kazakhstan_Map_Kamaz_Ets2_1.36 Please watch: "Types of Clouds" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsH7QU7mKIc --~-- Learn about the 24 Oblasts and one special city in the Country of Ukraine. Cr... Please watch: "Types of Clouds" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsH7QU7mKIc --~-- Learn about the 24 Oblasts and one special city in the Country of Ukraine. Crimea explains why it is currently under the control of the Russian Federation. Educate yourself about the 24 Oblasts Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Kiev, Kirovohrad, Luhansk, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odessa, Poltava, Rivne, Sumy, Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Volyn, Zakarpattia, Zaporizhia, Zhytomyr, Crimea with this fun and educational music video for parents and children. Brought to you by Kids Learning Tube! Don’t forget to sing along! https://www.patreon.com/kidslearningtube Support Kids Learning Tube by becoming a Patreon today at the link below! You can vote for the video of the week, get your name int he credits and supports something you believe in! I'd love to thank my Patreon supporters: Zara Geneva, Daniel Targonski, Robert L., Simon, Natalie, and Liam, Isaac Jackson McCain, Adam Gosztola, Tio Bio, Logan Miller,Isaac D, Hayden Brown, Sridhar Raamakrishnan, ILYASnYusuf Tunkara, Cody Stetson, Caleb Sedgwick, Jack Gilroy, Kawan Yates, Joanne Mazzarelli, Joseph Webb, Dylan Shaughnessy, Sydney and Jackson, Xavier Monarres, , Julius Caruso, Ava and Alex Savalli, Kannon Hoover, Eli Zatlin,Logan Varnell, Connor & Audrey Hsu, Trev Faulk Jr., Jonathan, Soren Whipple , Rocky, Hagen, Caston, and Ada, Steel Moscardini, Holden Sibary, Lincoln Cervantez, Jonah Baran, Akash Deshmukh, Brayden Ching, Philip Segal, Declan Ocean, Isla and Mia, Parker Templeton, Matthew Leache, Jaxon Gish, Matt B, Jesse Guzelyurt, Sajel Patel, Mauro Johnson, The Richards/Steele Family, Jake Milan. You all do so much to keep Kids Learning Tube alive! KLT Website: https://kidslearningtubeshop.com/ T-Shirts: https://kidslearningtubeshop.com/collections/featured-collection Music Downloads: https://kidslearningtubeshop.com/collections/music Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kidslearningtube Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/c/kidslearningtube Tweet Us: https://twitter.com/learningtube Instagram: https://instagram.com/kidslearningtube Add us on Google+: https://plus.google.com/+KidsLearningTube iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/album/id1192890817?ls=1&app=itunes Music: Copyright 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 Kids Learning Tube Video: Copyright 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 Kids Learning Tube Lyrics: Ukraine, Ukraine Please sing our country name Touching the Azov and the Black Sea To remember, use your brain. In Ukraine, Ukraine We’re the 24 Oblasts On the continent of Europe Here you’ll learn our names at last. Cherkasy Oblast Of Central Ukraine I am Chernihiv A northern Oblast you can say Chernivtsi touches Moldova And Romania Dnipropetrovsk in central Ukraine You just saw Donetsk Oblast touches the Azov Sea Ivano-Frankivsk Romania’s south of me Kharkiv Oblast Is in Eastern Ukraine Kherson touches Crimea to the south I claim Khmelnytskyi Oblast In Ukraine's West Kiev Oblast surrounds Ukraine's capital it’s the best Ukraine, Ukraine Please sing our country name Touching the Azov and the Black Sea To remember, use your brain. In Ukraine, Ukraine We’re the 24 Oblasts On the continent of Europe Here you’ll learn our names at last. Kirovohrad Oblast In Central Ukraine here Hi my names Luhansk The Oblast that just appeared Lviv Oblast Boarders Poland to the west Mykolaiv touches the Black Sea at best Odessa wraps around the East Of Moldova Poltava Oblast Will truly win you over Rivne Oblast Touches Belarus Sumy Oblast It touches the country of Russia I’m Ternopil Oblast It’s really nice to meet ya Vinnytsia Oblast Also touches Moldova I am Volyn I am in the West Zakarpattia touches Romania, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia I attest Zaporizhia Oblast Is my name Zhytomyr Oblast We’re sure glad you came Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014 But still thought to be a part of Ukraine By most of the countries of the world I am Ukraine A country in Europe you see Kiev is the name of my capital I wish you all peace Ukraine, Ukraine Please sing our country name Touching the Azov and the Black Sea To remember, use your brain. In Ukraine, Ukraine We’re the 24 Oblasts On the continent of Europe Here you’ll learn our names at last. https://wn.com/Ukraine_Geography_Ukraine_Country_Ukraine What Are The Most Radioactive Places On Earth? http://bit.ly/1sanGo7 » Subscribe to NowThis World: http://go.nowth.is/World_Subscribe Central Asia is the birth... What Are The Most Radioactive Places On Earth? http://bit.ly/1sanGo7 » Subscribe to NowThis World: http://go.nowth.is/World_Subscribe Central Asia is the birthplace of international relations and trade, but what do we know about the region's independent republics? Learn More: How much do you know about 'the Stans' of central Asia? http://www.theguardian.com/world/quiz/2015/jan/14/how-much-do-you-know-about-the-stans-central-asia-kyrzbekistan-quiz "After the New York Times mistakenly created the nation of Kyrzbekistan, we test your knowledge on central Asia. Do you know the difference between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan? And how about Uzbekistan?" The United States Just Closed Its Last Base in Central Asia http://thediplomat.com/2014/06/the-united-states-just-closed-its-last-base-in-central-asia/ "What the closure of Manas' Transit Center means for Central Asia's future." Stan'd if You Do, Stan'd if You Don't http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/10/17/stand-if-you-do-stand-if-you-dont/ "rom the seemingly endless violence in Afghanistan and Pakistan to the personality cult surrounding the late dictator of Turkmenistan, the seven countries that comprise "the Stans" are stuck with a lousy brand. But two of these countries, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, are looking for a makeover." Music Track Courtesy of APM Music: "Voyage" _ Special thanks to Lissette Padilla for hosting Seeker Daily! Check Lissette out on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lizzette https://wn.com/What_Are_'The_Stans'_And_How_Powerful_Are_They kazakhstanmaps.com kazakhstangirl.com vanuatumaps.com kazakhstannews.com mapsthessaloniki.com acehmaps.com milanomaps.com ancientgreekmaps.com mapstravel.com batammaps.com kazakhstanpress.com asiapacificmaps.com kazakhstantelecom.com kazakhstantv.com mapsofconsciousness.com tongamaps.com versaillesmaps.com kazakhstaninfo.com caymanmaps.com wallstreetmaps.com Please watch: "Types of Clouds" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsH7QU7mKIc --~-- Support... Howdy! I’m an original content creator Zimbax and also the guy behind these educational ge... Follow Rohit Dagar sir on Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/rohitdagar08/ #Follow_Roh... The Creepy kazakhstan Pentagram ( Le Terrifiant Pentagramme Kazakhstan), un immense symbol... Gabrielle and Elise make a map of the "Stans" -- a Map of Central Asia! They craft the mos... How do you do? My name is Oleg Anikienko. I am half Russian, half Ukrainian. I was born an... Map of the Republic of Kazakhstan comes from the author of the well known map Great Steppe... click SHOW MORE THE GREAT STEPPE PROJECT V1 3 Map Mod Link: =================... Please watch: "Types of Clouds" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsH7QU7mKIc --~-- Learn a... What Are The Most Radioactive Places On Earth? http://bit.ly/1sanGo7 » Subscribe to NowThi...	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335190
__label__cc	0.632553	0.367447	Prestige Property Best Talkers USDR Newsstand The Price of Business Show Audios Move to Raise Tobacco Use Age to 21 in Oregon Posted on July 30, 2017 by usdr in Healthy Living, Lifestyle, Politics // 0 Comments By Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation, Special for USDR The Oregon House of Representatives today ratified previous action by the Oregon Senate in passing an historic Tobacco 21 bill. The bill was amended in the House Rules Committee to remove any language prohibiting possession of tobacco products for those under 21. SB 754 will need to return to the Senate floor for a concurrence vote before heading to the Governor’s desk; the end of session in Oregon is July 9. Governor Kate Brown has indicated her support for the measure that will raise the legal minimum sales age for all nicotine and tobacco products to 21. After Senate concurrence, with her action, Oregon will become the third state, after Hawaii and California to join this life-saving addiction prevention effort. “95% of all smokers take up the habit before age 21, and raising the age has been shown to reduce high school smoking by half,” said Eric Brodell, Western Regional Director of the Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation. “In Oregon, alcohol and recreational marijuana sales are already set at age 21. Tobacco, which kills almost 500,000 Americans each year, is clearly more dangerous to kids. That’s why national polling shows 75% support for raising the age, including 70% of smokers.” Tobacco 21 has been a goal of the Oregon Legislature for the past three years. This session, Senator Elizabeth Steiner-Hayward and more than 15 co-sponsors pushed even harder and connected with a broad coalition of over 30 Oregon organizations representing physicians, nurses, hospitals, parents, teachers, students and service unions. “As a physician, I’m committed to passing legislation to improve the health and lives of Oregonians. That’s why I’m proud to be the chief sponsor of Senate Bill 754, which will prevent young people from a lifetime of tobacco and e-cigarette addiction,” said Senator Steiner Hayward. “If signed by the governor, this new law will go a long way to preventing cancer as well as heart and lung disease.” The Tobacco 21 for Oregon coalition and the Senator’s office worked closely together to develop campaign materials and create policy language that would be most effective for Oregonians. Additionally, testimony support was robust. Ranging from one of the world’s premier cancer doctors, Dr. Brian Druker, to high school students attempting to create a healthier future for them and their peers. Senate Bill 754 would go into effect on January 1, 2018. The delayed implementation date gives adequate time for Oregon residents, tobacco retailers, and current tobacco users under 21 to prepare for the policy change. SOURCE Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation All opinions expressed on USDR are those of the author and not necessarily those of US Daily Review. USDR does not collect data on its visitors. 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For more incformation, contact https://usdailyreview.com/national-news-sites-seeks-freelance-contributors/ The Price of Business Syndicated Show How to Advance Your Business Career Why You Should Hire A Commercial General Contractor for Your Next Project 5 Things to Consider Before Starting a Business From Home Why Maintaining A Good Business Reputation Is Key To Your Success Improving Your Company Image USA Business Radio Tech Focuses on the Environment at CES 2020 Yahoo Finance Anchor on How NYC Became a Tech Magnet How Do .CO Websites Perform for SEO iHeartRadio Creates Terror Among Media Personalities Everywhere Cody Willard: The Real Reasons Tesla’s Stock Value Continues to Blow UP USA Daily Chronicles Renewable Energy at the Core of CES 2020 The Story of the “Tin Man” and Your Business Host of Popular TV Show Discusses His Witnessing of #MeToo Moment with Iconic Actor Robert Conrad Leaders in House and Senate Discuss Senate Finance Committee Approval of USMCA A Look at the States and Minimum Wage Increases Not the Opinion of USDR No articles on this site should be construed as the opinion of USDR. Do your homework, get expert advice, before following the advice on this or any other site. Week of Jul 3 – 9 \| US Daily Review on Week of Jun 26 – Jul 2 It’s Time We Demystify Debt Solutions for Consumers \| US Daily Review on Loan Consolidation with Poor Credit Contact about articles articles@usabusinessradio.net Copyright © 2020 \| USDAILYREVIEW.COM - All Rights Reserved	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335193
__label__wiki	0.967064	0.967064	Used View El Paso Diablos drop three-game series in Saint Paul 2-1 by used view After a long seven game home stand by the El Paso Diablos, the Diablos headed out onto the road to Saint Paul, Minnesota after dropping the three game series to the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks two games to one. Approximately 4,118 fans packed into Midway Stadium to witness the Saints score 11 runs on 12 hits as Saint Paul defeated El Paso 11-3. Diablos Shortstop Maikol Gonzalez went 2-3, with two doubles and Left Fielder Brian Joynt went 2-4 with two doubles. Pitcher Ryan Bean (0-1) was struck with his first loss, after giving up eight runs, seven earned, on eight hits and seven walks in five innings. For the Saints, Second Baseman Dan Kaczrowski went 3-4 with a home run and an RBI. Designated Hitter Brad Boyer also homered, going 2-4 with four runs batted in. Pitcher Ryan Claggett (2-0) fanned seven Diablos thru six innings of work. In game two, the Diablos shifted the momentum over and defeated the Saints 7-4 after five runs were scored in the Top of the 5th. First Baseman Jonathan Cisneros went 3-4 with two doubles, a walk, and four runs batted in. Third Baseman Edgar Corcino hit his first home run of the season, finishing the day going 1-2, with two RBI’s. Former Los Angeles Dodgers Pitcher, Carlos Monasterios (Miranda, Venezuela) made his debut with the Diablos and pitched four innings allowing four runs on five hits, striking out two. Teammate Victor Ferrante (1-0) got the victory after one inning of one-hit baseball. Closer Mike Koons picked up his second save of the year after throwing a perfect inning of baseball. A big crowd of 5,493 fans attended the series finale. A close game until the end, both pitchers went the distance however the Saint Paul Saints would take game three 3-2 and the series 2-1. Durango, Mexico native David Casillas threw seven innings of four hit baseball allowing two runs and fanning seven. However, Adam Tollefson (1-1) took the loss after allowing one run on one hit in one inning of work. Meanwhile Saints Pitcher Mark Hamburger threw 7.1 innings fanning five and allowing seven hits. Matt Meyer (1-1) got the victory after throwing 1.2 innings of work allowing one hit and striking out two batters. Saints Third Baseman Joey Becker hit a two-run home run in the Bottom of the 1st, Becker finished the day at 1-4. Then, Left Fielder Willie Cabrera hit a sacrifice fly in the Bottom of the 8th to break the 2-2 tie and give the Saints the 3-2 victory. Cabrera went 0-3. Diablos Left Fielder Brian Joynt went 2-4 with a double and two RBI’s. The El Paso Diablos are now 3-7 and will head to Lincoln, Nebraska to begin a three-game series against the Lincoln Saltdogs. El Paso Diablos ride 8-game losing streak El Paso Diablos end 10-game losing streak El Paso Diablos swept by Amarillo Sox Diablos capture series against Laredo Lemurs Diablos split series with Grand Prairie Air Hogs Penguins drop game three in double overtime © 2020 Used View · Contact · Privacy	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335194
__label__wiki	0.613019	0.613019	VultureHound Magazine \| Entertainment & Wrestling SteelChair Magazine Gigs of the Week (London) 28/02/2011 editor gigs of the week, london, music Leave a comment Check out the best gigs around London this week. Want to recommend some? Add a comment at the bottom and Random Song of the Day: Don't Stop – The Stone Roses 27/02/2011 editor music, song of the day Leave a comment Check out the Random Song of the Day on Spotify by click the link – The Stone Roses – Don’t Stop Random Song of the Day: Robyn – Don't Fucking Tell Me What To Do Check out today’s song of the day on spotify by clicking the link-Robyn – Don’t Fucking Tell Me What To Random Song of the Day: I Wanna Go To Marz – John Grant John Grant – I Wanna Go To Marz Click on the link to hear the random song of the day The New Pornographers – 'Moves' Video 24/02/2011 editor music, video Leave a comment New video from The New Pornographers off their 2010 album ‘Together’ Not in Love – Crystal Castles Video 24/02/2011 editor art/design, music, video Leave a comment Video by Video Marsh and Cinematography and editing by Nic Brown Random Song of the Day: Slow Life – Super Furry Animals Click the link to listen to Slow Life by Super Furry Animals on spotify– Super Furry Animals – Slow Life Foo Fighters: 2 hour set at NME awards 24/02/2011 editor music Leave a comment The Foo Fighters played their entire new album as well as their greatest hits as Dave Grohl was awarded the "I'll Never Forget You, Kane... And Neither Will He" - The Friday Night SmackDown Review (17/1/2020) An impressive return to WWE for John Morrison and The Usos, a huge win for Lacey Evans, Kane reminds us that the Royal Rumble will always be HIS match and... Are Sounds of the Underground Nowhere To Be Found? (Interview) Is it finally time TV started showcasing alternative talent? I explored the issue with Portuguese post hardcore band, Nowhere To Be Found.We’ve seen them all. X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent,... Remembering Kazuo Sakurada Former Sumo, vaunted trainer and highly influential pro wrestler Kazuo Sakurada has passed away aged 71 years old. Best known in North America for his work in Stampede and WCW,... 2020 WWE Women's Division Predictions Two thousand and nineteen was another huge year for women’s wrestling in the WWE. From the first-ever women’s Wrestlemania main event to the historic first-ever women’s War Games match fans... Something Completely Different: Gake No Fuchi New Year Hardcore Match I love referencing Monty Python a lot when I write. This, however, this sums up what I think the phrase “and now for something completely different,” should mean. During Wrestle... Rock 'N' Roll Taking Care Of Strictly Business - NWA Powerrr - 14th January, 2020 Review Maybe it’s the focus on promos, storylines and characters rather than the moves in the ring, or it could possibly be the old school set up giving the show that... GCW “I Can’t Feel My Face” Review WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE AND STRONG VIOLENCE AHEAD! It’s time for the first GCW show of the year! They kicked 2020 off with a bang as they brought in all their top... ‘Nothing And No One Can Stop us’ – Monday Night RAW – 13/01/2020 Review There are four pre-advertised matches for tonight, or three and whatever the hell Seth Rollins & AOP versus Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe, & Big Show in a Fist Fight turns... Mercedes Martinez and Jake Atlas Among the 6 New WWE Performance Center Recruits Six new recruits have reported to the WWE Performance Center, joining the ranks of Superstars in training at the Orlando, Fla., facility. The class includes independent wrestlers, an acrobat and... AEW Stars Who Would Benefit From Mid Card Championship There really is no denying the impact AEW has made on the wrestling world only months into debuting on the scene. The stacked and diverse roster full of both up... British Wrestling Shows Support To Australia And Raises Money For Koalas As we all are very aware, devastating fires continue to rip through the Australian bush and although some rain has fallen in the last 48 hours in some areas, the... "Heroes Die in the End" - NXT Review (15/01/20) https://twitter.com/fakekinkade/status/1217250798129860608?s=20Hi, and welcome to Alex Shelley Presents: NXT. Last week, NXT had no Alex Shelleys and this week's episode has one so therefore, this is officially the best episode of... January Introducing: Solence All the way from the land of Ikea and ABBA, our first spotlight of the year is on Swedish quartet, Solence. Get to know them in their band profile below.Names: Markus Videsäter, Johan... He Was 'TakeOver' Worthy – NXT UK - 16/01/20 Review It’s a fallout episode or to steal a quote from Eddie Dennis, “A fall out of the ring” episode. NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II (which you can read the review... ‘Better to Suffer Injustice than to do it’ - A Hidden Life (Film Review) For a director once notorious for taking his sweet time between projects, the 2010s was uncharacteristically productive for Terrence Malick. While it was six years in between The New World... The Daily Wrestling News Update: NWA/ROH, MLW, TNA/Impact Wrestling (16/01/2020) Impact Wrestling announced today that they will bring back the name for a special event as they host a TNA-themed show for WrestleCon 2020, which takes place during WWE's WrestleMania... AEW News: Taz is All Elite, What Second Weekly Series Will Be https://twitter.com/AEWrestling/status/1217838923050881027Wrestling legend Taz has signed a new multi-year deal with AEW. As seen above, AEW released a video today of Taz, Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes, and Vice President of Business... © Copyright VultureHound Magazine	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335196
__label__cc	0.734825	0.265175	https://visitbelfast.com/partners/sunflower-public-house/ Sunflower Public House phoneCall Sunflower Public House emailEmail Sunflower Public House linkVisit the website for Sunflower Public House A simple corner pub free of gimmicks or themes, and music is very much part of its life. The Sunflower is instantly recognisable by the security cage on its front door, a relic from 1980's Belfast. While the cage is no longer needed for security reasons, it has been kept and preserved as part of the city’s social history. Sunflower Public House opened in December 2012 on the corner of Kent Street and Union Street, a site on which a public house has stood for over 100 years. Music is very much part of the pub's life: traditional, Appalachian and gypsy swing sessions feature weekly in the bar while folk and bluegrass are regularly featured upstairs. The upstairs room is also home to the monthly Sunflower Comedy Club which attracts big names from the Irish and UK comedy circuits. Hearty bowls of stew are served on Fridays and Saturdays with fresh wheaten bread, which go hand-in-hand with pints of locally brewed ale from Hilden Brewery. The pub's clientele is also a rich tapestry of Belfast life: arts students and professionals, backpackers and apartment dwellers, gay and straight, young and old. It is a melting pot of city centre life. Thursday: Gypsy swing sessions with Manouche from 5.30pm. Friday: Trad session with Lonesome George and Friends from 6pm. Saturday: Appalachian music session with Ragged and Rough from 8pm. Sunday: Trad session with Lonesome George and Friends from 7pm. BT1 2JG Great range of craft beers Folk Club every Thursday at 8pm Traditional music sessions every Saturday and Sunday 7pm Hearty Irish stew served Fridays and Saturdays Open mic night every Tuesday at 7pm email sunflowerbelfast@gmail.com link http://www.sunflowerbelfast.com Kaidi Tatham Kaidi Tatham’s ability to mix soul, jazz and dance all together harmoniously is legendary. Nestled along a narrow cobbled alleyway in the historic Half Bap area, the Duke offers a traditional Belfast… McHugh's Bar & Restaurant Located in the trendy Cathedral Quarter, McHughs is housed in one of Belfast's oldest buildings, dating back to… Revolucion De Cuba This is Revolución de Cuba, the ultimate Cuban food, cocktail and fiesta experience. Northern Whig Situated at the entrance to the Cathedral Quarter, The Northern Whig provides a memorable dining and drinking experience… Horatio Todd's Visiting East Belfast? Then you have to dine or have a drink in the award-winning Horatio Todd's Bar… Belfast Empire A converted church in the heart of Belfast, The Empire hosts regular Music Hall gigs and comedians from… Voodoo is well established as a Belfast hotspot, adding a bit of spice for those who like things… Cocktails, small plates and much more in the heart of Belfast. Open seven days a week.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335205
__label__cc	0.556346	0.443654	Business Guest No, the way Unroll.Me sold out users is NOT industry standard Florian Seroussi@florianseroussi May 1, 2017 3:15 PM A privacy scandal shook the tech industry last week: Unroll Me – a popular free service to quickly unsubscribe from newsletters – was allegedly selling data to third parties. The free service was exploiting user-granted email access to scrape inboxes for the sole purpose of data mining and reselling value. For example, the service would check for Lyft receipts to sell targeted data to Uber. The ordeal created a massive backlash towards Unroll Me but also raised an obvious question: Is this common practice? Perri Chase, a cofounder of Unroll Me who is no longer affiliated with the service, wrote a lengthy blogpost on Tuesday defending the current CEO. She claims that because the service is free, it HAD to sell data to make money. She insists it’s common practice for providers of free services like Gmail and Facebook. The analogy between Unroll Me and Google or Facebook is audacious. Not to say haughty. Facebook and Google are making billions selling ads to targeted audiences. But they don’t sell user data. Yes, they collect information about users gathered through emails, social networking habits, and location, and use that to attract advertisers, but the data stays in-house. Unroll Me and its mother company, Slice, on the other hand, were selling raw data to third parties. Large, seemingly data-hungry corporations have been scrutinized for years on the use of collected data. They disclose terms of services several times during the onboarding process, offer privacy settings, and ultimately as you are using the service you receive periodic updates on their policy. Their business model is selling ads, not selling data. Users gave Unroll Me their email credentials to perform a specific task — remove unwanted email subscriptions. Instead these credentials were exploited to mine and sell users’ private data. One user posted on an image on Twitter of disclosures made by Unroll Me during the onboarding process. It clearly says “We will never touch your personal stuff”, a claim which seems to be an outright lie. Unroll Me bills itself as a cool, helpful service but functions as invasive spyware. That is neither an industry standard, nor flagrantly misleading users about the privacy of their personal information. Storing data, exploiting data, selling raw data to third parties is the last thing you expect given the statement provided in Unroll Me’s onboarding. Jojo Hedaya, current CEO of Unroll Me, says he needs to do a better job on their privacy policy. He shouldn’t wait too long to do it. A class action lawsuit against Slice was filed on Wednesday in the Northern California District Court for failing to adequately disclose how the service allegedly harvests valuable data from its users’ accounts. The lawsuit accuses Unroll Me and Slice of violating the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and the Stored Communications Act due to a lack of disclosure during the signup process. As we all know in this industry, it’s very hard, if not impossible, to recover from such a fiasco. Regardless of the legal verdict, the company has already been found guilty in the eyes of the public. I can’t see any good coming from this lawsuit. Perri alleges that Unroll Me isn’t doing worse than other providers of free services. I personally refute that line of defense. “Others” won’t make your problem go away. “Others” didn’t get caught cheating, and those who did are no longer operating. Simple fact of life. Trust is earned in drops and lost in buckets. Although I admire Perri’s courage to stand by the company she founded, I can’t accept the explanation that users are fools for not reading the fine print. We don’t read fine print. We read the large print. “We will never touch your personal stuff” is the one sentence we all read, and it was placed in front of our eyes right above the larger button [ACCEPT] for a reason. Can one bad apple spoil the whole bunch? No. Unroll Me’s privacy faux pas does not represent an industry standard. Consumers aren’t likely to analyze a company’s potential pricing models when signing up for a free service, nor would we want them to. It’s a sad day when users have to assume that if a service is free, they can expect their personal information is being mined, stored, and auctioned off the the highest bidder. Perri makes a case that the companies who purchase personal data without regard to its source are at fault. She expressly names Uber for its willingness to pay for any information relating to its competition. Unroll Me and its parent company’s blatant blame shifting makes the ordeal doubly distasteful. As service providers, it’s increasingly important to align our actions with strong ethics. And as a user, I’m going to be more choosy about what services I allow to access my personal information. Florian Seroussi is cofounder and CEO of email intelligence software startup OMC. Prior to OMC, he cofounded Labotec and Global Roaming.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335211
__label__cc	0.535046	0.464954	“Nokia Pixel” and a couple other lower end Nokia devices leak on Geekbench Nokia’s return to the smartphone industry is expected to kick off in late February with an announcement at MWC 2017 in Barcelona. Some specs for Nokia’s new Android flagship leaked yesterday and now a certain Nokia Pixel has surfaced on Geekbench. The Nokia Pixel was apparently benchmarked earlier this month. That said, I’m pretty sure that will not be the official name of the device when it does come out. This Nokia Pixel looks to be a lower end device though as its specsheet suggests. Nokia’s new piece of hardware scored 404 on the single-core test and managed to achieve a 661 multi-core score. The Geekbench listing reveals that the device in question is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 system-on-chip which boasts a dual-core CPU clocked at 1.19 GHz complemented with the Adreno 302 GPU, as well as 1 GB of RAM. In other words, this is a low-end, entry-level Android phone, most likely designed for emerging markets. Despite that, the Nokia Pixel tested by Geekbench was running Android 7.0.1 Nougat. It’s also worth noting that the leaked phone boasts Quick Charge 3.0, seeing as the Snapdragon 200 was spotted onboard. These are not very high scores, but then again we are talking about an entry-level model. In September, a mid-range unit called the Nokia D1C was run through Geekbench multiple times. The highest single-core score was 682 (achieved twice) with a 3229 multi-core test. This model carries the Snapdragon 430 chipset with an octa-core 1.4GHz CPU and an Adreno 505 GPU inside. 3GB of RAM is aboard and Android 7.0 is pre-installed. Another device from Nokia is listed with name Nokia Ara at Geekbench that comes with similar specifications like the Nokia Pixel device but with the difference of the Android OS version. It is listed with the Android 5.1.1 OS pre-installed while the Nokia Pixel has a Nougat OS version. Other specs are same as Nokia Pixel like a 1.19 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 (MSM8610) processor with 1GB of RAM. It scored 400 points in single-core test and 664 points in the multi-core test. No other specs are listed in the Geekbench test. Nokia C2-00 PureView, runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow with 2.99GHz Intel Pentium G3220 single-core processor, along with 1.5GB of RAM. This handset scored 2523 points in the single-core test and 2428 points in the multi-core test. As you may have pretty much guessed by now if you ignored the title, all the devices spotted at Geekbench are possibly entry-level devices unless Nokia prices them like Sony. While entry-level devices probably won’t excite many people browsing Android tech sites, keep in mind that the these are probably just a small part of what HMD Global has in store for us next year. As the new Nokia owner also hired Mother, the largest independent marketing agency in the United Kingdom to market the upcoming Android smartphones, so we should expect to see a lot of Nokia-branded advertising next year. What do you think of Nokia’s lineup formed via these leaks? Were you expecting only flagships from Nokia? Via : PhoneArena Follow @verdict4u Android, Gadgets, News, Nokia, pixel, Smartphones Android, Geekbench, Leaks, News, Nokia, pixel 5 Tips for Shopping in the Black Friday Sale OnePlus team answers user questions in a Reddit AMA	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335212
__label__cc	0.549702	0.450298	HOME>Cement Plant In Andhra Pradesh Cement Plant In Andhra Pradesh Companywise Plant List - eaindustry.nic Bhavya Cement Ltd ANDHRA PRADESH 16. Birla Corporation Ltd 1. Birla Cement - Raebareli Cement Works UTTAR PRADESH ... Cement Plant ANDHRA PRADESH 114. Star Cement Limited 1. Star Cement Limited - Guwahati ASSAM ... Top 10 Cement companies in Andhra Pradesh 2019 Best Apr 14, 2017 Top 10 Cement companies in Andhra Pradesh 2019 India is second largest producer of Cement in the world. Andhra Pradesh is largest Cement producer state in the country. AP contributes 18% of total Cerement production of whole country. There are around 26 Cement manufacturing plants of different companies situated in AP. Andhra Pradesh - Cement industry news from Global Cement India: UltraTech Cement has received approval from the environment ministry for a US$360m project in Andhra Pradesh, in which it will set up a 6Mt/yr integrated cement plant at Petnikote village in Kurnool district. The plant will have a 60MW captive power plant and a 15MW waste heat recovery-based power unit. The company has already acquired 432 hectares of land for the project, which ... Andhra Cements Limited ANDHRA CEMENTS LIMITED, a Cement Manufacturing Company incorporated in the year 1936, one of the First Generation Cement Plant was established in the State of Andhra Pradesh and now, it is a part of JAYPEE GROUP, which is having a Brand viz, ’JAYPEE CEMENT’ is India’s leading Cement Brand. India: The state investment promotion board of Andhra Pradesh has approved proposals by Chettinad Cement and KCP to build cement plants in the state. Chettinad Cement plans to spend US$210m towards building a grinding plant in Vizag and a plant in Guntur, according to Andhara Cements Limited Durga Cement Works Sri Durgapuram, Srinagar (PO) Dachepalli – 522414 Guntur District Andhra Pradesh Ph: +91-8649-257413 Fax: +91-8649-257449 Website: andhracements E-mail: [email protected] CIN: L26942AP1936PLC002379. Secretarial Department: ... Andhra Cements Limited. Plants and Machinery Maha Cement MHIPL currently has two integrated cement plants located at Mellacheruvu in Suryapet District, Telangana and at Yanakandla Village in Kurnool District, Andhra Pradesh and one cement unit at Mulakalapalli village in Visakhapatnam District, Andhra Pradesh and in 2017 commissioned unit at Tuticorin District, Tamilnadu. cement-plant Jobs in Andhra Pradesh, - 29 Latest cement ... cement-plant Jobs in Andhra Pradesh , on WisdomJobs . Apply to 29 cement-plant Job Vacancies in Andhra Pradesh for freshers 04 August 2019 * cement-plant Openings in Andhra Pradesh for experienced in Top Companies . Latest cement-plant Jobs in Andhra Pradesh* Free Jobs Alerts ** Wisdomjobs Penna Cement The Best Quality Cement in India Penna Cement founded in 1991, Penna Cement has established itself as one that makes the best quality cement in India, with significant footprints in India. ... Cement manufactures products of the highest quality from its four state-of-the-art plants spread across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Know More. ... We have four plants, strategically ... Cement Plant Jayanthipuram Ramco Cement plant in ... Jayanthipuram Plant was also the first in the cement industry to install the online Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station (CAAQM) and to interlink/upload the online data with the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) website. Cemech Cement CEMECH Cement Corp is manufactured at three integrated cement plants: In Kurnool District of Andhra Pradesh and Thiruvallur District of Tamilnadu making the production of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC)-53 43 grade and another cement plant unit in Tumkur District of Karnataka making the production of Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) and ... greenfield cement manufacturing plant: Latest News ... Jul 28, 2019 UltraTech Cement gets green nod for Rs 2,500 crore project in Andhra Pradesh 10 Jun, 2019, 04.20PM IST. In a letter issued to the company, the ministry said it has given environment clearance to UltraTech Cement's proposed greenfield project in Andhra Pradesh with certain conditions. Cement Manufacturers - Andhra Pradesh Cement Manufacturers in Andhra Pradesh,Andhra Pradesh Cement Manufacturers, Andhra Cements Ltd, Anjani Portland Cement Ltd, Deccan Cements Ltd, J.K.Cement, Kakatiya Cement Sugar Power Industries Ltd, NCL Industries, Panyam Cements Mineral Industries Ltd, Ramco Cements to set up plant in Andhra - The Financial ... Dec 15, 2018 The company is targeting 20 MTPA by 2020 from the existing 12.50 MTPA and will be the largest cement producer in Andhra Pradesh with 10 MTPA capacity alone. ... This cement plant is expected to be ... Emami to set up cement plant in Andhra Pradesh - The Hindu Oct 24, 2016 Diversified FMCG Group Emami is planning to set up cement units in Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan as part of its plans to build a cement production capacity Andhra Pradesh - Cement Industry RINL plans cement plant at Gangavaram Details Category: AP Cement Projects. Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) is planning to set up a 3.0 million tpa cement plant in Andhra Pradesh. The company will make use of 6.0 lakh tonne of fly ash, a million tonne of slag generated from Vizag steel plant. Cement in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh Cement Price in ... Business listings of Cement manufacturers, suppliers and exporters in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh along with their contact details address. Find here Cement, suppliers, manufacturers, wholesalers, traders with Cement prices for buying. Ramco Cements to set up plant in Andhra Pradesh ... Jan 30, 2019 The Ramco Cements Ltd would set up a 3.15 MTPA green field cement plant in Andhra Pradesh. It would invest around Rs 15 billion in the new plant. It is also making another Rs 2.5 billion in its grinding capacity in the state. The plant will come at Kalavatala, Kolimigundla Mandal, Kurnool District at an investment of around Rs 15 billion. State-wsie List of Cement Companies - eaindustry.nic ANDHRA PRADESH 1. Bhavya Cement Limited 2. Hemadri Cement Ltd 3. Kakatiya Cement Sugar Industries Ltd ... NCL Industries Ltd, Simhapuri Cement Plant 9. Penna Cement Industries Ltd ... Emami Cement Limited, Integrated, Ultra Modern Cement ... The integrated plant at Chhattisgarh possesses a one of its kind Wastage Heat Recovery System for environment conservation and optimal energy consumption. Emami Cement Ltd. plans to have a national presence in the next 3-4 years by setting up plants in Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh The KCP Limited :: Businesses - Cement KCP’s Cement Business is over 60+ years with manufacturing plants in Macherla Mukthyala in the state Andhra Pradesh with captive supply of high grade limestone and producing a combined annual capacity of 2.2 million tons of the finest quality premium grade cement in India. Ramco Cements to set up a green field cement plant in ... The Ramco Cements Ltd would set up a 3.15 MTPA green field cement plant in Andhra Pradesh. The company would invest around Rs 15 billion in the new plant. The company is also making another Rs 2.5 billion in its grinding capacity in the state. Total capex, including these projects, would be around ... Welcome to Sagar Cements Sagar Cements is a prominent player in the field of cement in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh which has adopted progressive manufacturing practices, whether it relates to maintaining high standards of quality of its products or development of its highly valued human resources or the need to keep the pollution to the barest minimum. Dec 14, 2018 Chennai: The Ramco Cements Ltd would set up a 3.15 MTPA green field cement plant in Andhra Pradesh. The company would invest around Rs 15 billion in the new plant. The company is also making another Rs 2.5 billion in its grinding capacity in the state. Total capex, including these projects, would be around 34.30 billion by end of 2020, said company officials. Six Cement Corp plants up for sale - livemint The second DHI official said the original plan was to sell seven Cement Corp. plants, but the proposed sale of the Adilabad plant in Andhra Pradesh has been put on hold. “The plant is embroiled ... UltraTech Cement gets green nod for Rs 2,500 crore project ... Jun 10, 2019 UltraTech Cement gets green nod for Rs 2,500 crore project in Andhra Pradesh In a letter issued to the company, the ministry said it has given environment clearance to UltraTech Cement's proposed greenfield project in Andhra Pradesh with certain conditions. India: Ramco to set up new Andhra Pradesh plant Chennai-based Ramco Group is planning to establish a cement plant in Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh (AP). A Ramco delegation headed by company Vice Chairman, PR Venkata Ramaraja, met with AP Chief Minister N, Chanadrababu Naidu, and indicated an interest to set up the cement plant with an investment outlay of INR5bn. Ramco Cements to build a 3.15Mta plant in Andhra Pradesh India’s Ramco Cements has laid the foundation stone for a new 3.15Mta greenfield cement plant at Kalavatala, Kolimigundla Mandal, Andhra Pradesh. The environmental clearance has been received for the INR15bn (US$209.3m) project and the required mining lease is in place. Alongside the facility, the ... Penna Cement Plants - Blended Cement Portland Fly ... Penna Cement Plants in India are quite versatile that serve cement manufacturing process innovation for many types of cement like Fly ash cement, Portland Cement and 53 Grade Cement Penna is one of India's leading cement factories with plants installed across the country. Cement Plant Jobs in Andhra Pradesh - naukri Apply to 5 Cement Plant Jobs in Andhra Pradesh on Naukri, India's No.1 Job Portal. Explore Cement Plant job openings in Andhra Pradesh Now! Cement in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh Cement Price in ... Business listings of Cement manufacturers, suppliers and exporters in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh along with their contact details address. Find here Cement, suppliers, manufacturers, wholesalers, traders with Cement prices for buying. Jun 10, 2019 UltraTech Cement gets green nod for Rs 2,500 crore project in Andhra Pradesh Under the project, the company will set up an integrated cement plant at Petnikote village in Kurnool district with a clinker capacity of 4 million tonne per annum (MTPA), 6 MTPA of cement, 60 mega watt of captive power plant and 15 mega watt of waste heat recovery-based power unit. CHETTINAD – Dachepalli Cement Manufacturing Plant – Andhra ... Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd. (CHETTINAD) is planning to construct the Dachepalli Cement Manufacturing Plant project in Andhra Pradesh, India. The project involves the construction of a cement manufacturing facility with a capacity of 3.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) on a 263ha of land. Andhra Pradesh Cement Plant-Proposal 3D CAD Model ... The Computer-Aided Design ("CAD") files and all associated content posted to this website are created, uploaded, managed and owned by third party users. cements plants in andhra pradesh - biotime.co.za India: My Home Industries plans to build a 1.5Mt/yr cement plant at a cost of US$225m in Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh. The plant is intended to take advantage of demand for cement generated by construction at the new state capital of Amaravati, according to comments by S Sambasiva Rao, executive director of My Home Industries, made to Jaypee Balaji Cement Plant in Jaggayyapeta, Andhra Pradesh ... About Jaypee Balaji Cement Plant :-Registered in 2015 , Jaypee Balaji Cement Plant has made a name for itself in the list of top suppliers of in India. The supplier company is located in Jaggayyapeta, Andhra Pradesh and is one of the leading sellers of listed products. Cement plant job offers in andhra pradesh - Trovit 21 job vacancies available of cement plant in andhra pradesh to find the job offer you're seeking. The best job vacancies in Trovit. JSW Cement - Wikipedia JSW Cement Limited is a subsidiary,new diversification foray of the 13 billion dollars JSW Group based in Mumbai.The company has three Cement production units -two grinding units in Vijayanagara adjacent to JSW Steel plant near Bellary, Karnataka and Dolvi, Maharashtra.Integrated Cement plant in Nandyal Andhra Pradesh.The units have a combined capacity of 6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). UltraTech Cement gets green nod for Rs 2,500 cr project in ... UltraTech Cement has got environment ministry's nod for a Rs 2,500 crore project in Andhra Pradesh, as per an official document. Under the project, the company will set up an integrated cement ... CCI ::: Cement Corporation Of India Limited Cement Corporation of India Limited (CCI) was incorporated as a Company wholly owned by Government of India on 18th January 1965 with the principal objective of achieving self sufficiency in cement production. The authorised and paid-up capital of the company is Rs. 900 crores and Rs. 811.41 crores respectively. Jaypee Group Businesses Cement-Geographical Spread Jaypee Group is the 3rd largest cement producer in the country. The group produces special blend of Portland Pozzolana Cement under the brand name ‘Jaypee Cement’ (PPC). Its cement division currently operates modern, computerized process control cement plants About us - Rain cements - Priya Cement The Priya Cement name has evolved into one of the most reputed and beloved cement brands in India. Priya Cement enjoys prominent presence in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Maharashtra Goa. Best Superior Quality Cement in TamilnaduBest Cement ... Vicat Group is an international company operating business like Cement, Ready-Mixed Concrete, etc. The group has large number of team members across the globe striving towards giving a Superior Quality Cement, Best Superior Quality Cement in Hyderabad, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Karnataka. 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__label__cc	0.625235	0.374765	Tim Spelios: Scissors, Paper, Glue and Books I Can’t Cut Up / Solo Show at Studio 10, New York By Enrico on 12. March 2012 The first time we met Tim Spelios was when he performed at Alexis Hubshman’s legendary Grizzly Lodge at Scope New York 2007. The Cartoon Cover Band’s (Tim Spelios, David Weinstein, Matt Freeman) performance is one of VernissageTV’s all time favorites. So we didn’t want to miss Tim Spelios’ solo show at Studio 10 in Brooklyn. The gallery is located in Brooklyn’s Borgart Street. The show is titled “Scissors, Paper, Glue and Books I Can’t Cut Up” and that’s already a good description of what visitors get to see. Brookly-based artist Tim Spelios creates collages out of flyers, books, magazines, trade catalogs and manuals that he collects and mostly finds at flea markets, second hand book shops or on the street. In his work he creates strange and irrational connections. The collages he creates often seem to be abstract, with images becoming identifiable as the viewer has a closer look at the work. The exhibition at Studio 10 also includes an installation with books that he judged to be too special to be cut. Hit the jump for the complete press release. VernissageTV also filmed one of Tim Spelios’ performances as drummer of the band “Mr. Klopp” (Tim Spelios, Mark Deffenbaugh, John Sherman, Tony Maimone) on March 10, 2012. Another performance in association with the exhibition is going to take place on March 24, 2012, 7:30 – 10:00 pm. Tim Spelios: Scissors, Paper, Glue and Books I Can’t Cut Up / Solo Show at Studio 10, New York. Opening reception, March 2, 2012. Tim Spelios: Links \| Videos \| Images \| More Images > On YouTube: Spelios’s original source materials become the means to mine obscure connections and create irrational associations through juxtapositions of images and objects. The obsolete materials he collects include flyers, books, magazines, trade catalogs and manuals which are often found at flea markets, second hand book shops or on the street. Spelios has a particular wonderment in the printed matter with the covers torn, important pages removed or defaced. Wandering the city is integral to Spelios’s process as is working late at night, a time he finds conducive to getting lost in the photographic fragments of his experience. Much of his time is spent removing and obscuring the content of the source material in a palimpsest. He says, “when you’re lifting samples from well-known pop music, you don’t want recognition of the original tune getting in the way of creating something new.” Spelios works quickly and on multiple projects simultaneously. He feels that the speed and multiplicity of his method prevents the process from getting too comfortable, since the images are quickly used. He says, “fluctuation and unevenness are part of the mix, a sort of disjoint history lesson with hallucinogenic discord.” The glutton of material is cut and disassembled with scissors and razors then rearranged to create new associations. The hand cut photo collages wrestle with the tension between abstraction and identifiable images. Though each work is made entirely by hand, the precise execution belies the painstaking effort. In some cases, the collage is simply one image placed over another such as in the series “Defaced.” The content and context of the original painted and photographed portraits is obliterated by a single, curvilinear fragment cut from an unrelated source resulting in an irreverent dislocation. In other collages, dozens of fragments are layered, creating an intimate, ambiguous and cacophonous space. Also included in the exhibition is the installation Books I Can’t Cut Up, 2012 which consists of approximately seven wooden sawhorses of different heights with thin tabletops haphazardly placed on the horses. Books that are determined too special to be cut lie opened to random pages on the tabletops for viewers to thumb through. As chance plays a role in Spelios finding the printed matter, so it continues in creating peculiar relationships between the disparate elements associated in the collage. “It’s a visual stream of consciousness with a pinch of free jazz and blurry eyes… I like things organized so I try to keep my worktable as cluttered and chaotic as possible. Comfort can create problems,” he says. Spelios has exhibited at Exit Art, The Drawing Center, Sculpture Center, Smack Mellon Studios, Long Island University, Pierogi Gallery, and Parkers Box among others. Spelios teaches at Pratt Institute, and taught at The University of Illinois at the Phillips Collection in D.C. Caroline Cox and Tim Spelios, co-founded and ran Flipside Gallery from 1996-2001. Performances in association with the exhibition: March 10, 7:30 – 10:00 pm The band, Mr. Klopp, will play on both nights. The Kloppasonic sound is an unpredictable amalgam of Cajun, Blues, Country, Psychedelic and Free Jazz. Tim Spelios: drums Mark Deffenbaugh: guitar John Sherman: accordion Tony Maimone: bass Exhibition Dates: March 2, 2012 – March 26, 2012 Posted in: art, New York, no comment, VernissageTV Tagged with: Tim Spelios Music Performance Mr. Klopp / Tim Spelios at Studio 10, Brooklyn The Cartoon Cover Band / Scope NY 2007 / part 3/3 Interview with Noah Horowitz, Managing Director, The Armory Show Michael Riedel’s Site-Specific Installation at The Armory Show 2012	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335216
__label__cc	0.688391	0.311609	Tag: german artists The Alchemy of Anselm Kiefer Published on 18 February 2018 16 January 2019 by Via Estela2 Comments A few years ago I was asked to write an article on an Anselm Kiefer exhibition in Vienna. I approached the job and the artwork with great trepidation and uncertainty. Upon seeing the exhibition, I became immersed, enthralled and transfixed. I felt small, yet a part of everything. I felt connected: “It is utterly beyond our power to measure the changes of things by time… Time is an abstraction at which we arrive by means of the changes of things; made because we are not restricted to any one definite measure, all being interconnected.” – Ernst Mach Horlogium, Anselm Kiefer, 2003 (oil, emulsion, acrylic, and plaster plants on canvas) A dark and turbulent scene displays the power of nature in shades of grey and blue; sea and shore converge. The elements collide, blend and swirl in a transitory, impassioned dance. A leaden book attached to the canvas floats in a tempestuous sky, as a reservoir of achievements in knowledge or imagination. Memories to revisit, perhaps, that humanity has for so long elevated above nature, as if it can somehow be separate from what it is merely a part. The book open to a page that can never be read, never be understood. I encountered this striking painting from artist Anselm Kiefer at the Essl Museum, in a contemporary building located in a in a quiet little town just outside of Vienna, Austria. Even with the pleasant natural lighting of the gallery falling through the skylights, the works of art–grand in dimension, darkness and decay–command an overpowering presence. I wasn’t sure what to think of Anselm Kiefer’s work at first, although my first experience of his work was through viewing pieces on the internet. Not remotely in line with experiencing his work in person, physically…with senses. Upon first entry into the airy exhibition space, I was overwhelmed by the massive, contrasting presence of this piece, Nur mit Wind mit Zeit und mit Klang [Only with Wind with Time and with Sound], the title taken from the Ingeborg Bachmann poem, “Exil”. I felt tiny–just an element, helpless to nature’s kinetic mysteries and diversity. But I also felt a part, a part of nature, a part of the elements, a part of change; a part of the mysteries of life and art and time. Nur mit Wind mit Zeit und mit Klang, Anselm Kiefer, 2011 (oil, emulsion, acrylic, shellac, and lead on canvas) A patron viewing the piece in the Essl In his works Kiefer addresses the transience of memory, nature and civilisation along with diverse subjects, such as Norse mythology with TBC (Hödur) and the structure of the cosmos in Horlogium [Shooting Stars]. This latter piece leads my attention to the centre of the room and its accompaniment piece: Black tape on the floor squares off a section wherein lies fragments scattered around a stack of leaden books, Skulptur mit Sternen [Sculpture with Stars]. The books appear worn, their covers and pages abused with overuse, ready to exhale their restrained words into the aether. Detail from Anselm Kiefer’s TBC (Hödur), with reflection of the exhibition room. The art appears more natural than its human environment. (oil, emulsion, shellac, branches, mistletoe leaves and soil on board) I can understand why the museum’s founder, Karlheinz Essl, curated this exhibition on Anselm Kiefer himself. The pieces are all featured from his own personal collection and carefully presented “in order to make the power, radiance and spirituality of the works tangible and experienceable.” Kiefer also takes inspiration from religion, with Samson and Ich bin der ich bin [I am who I am], and literature, including 17th century scholar Robert Fludd and the poet Paul Celan. Literary references appear in the title of some pieces, such Tönend wie des Kalbs Haut die Erde [Ringing out, as on the calf’s hide, the earth] from a poem by Friedrich Hölderlin, and are handwritten directly on some works of art themselves. The words of the poet cycled through the mind of the artist, mixed with the gritty elements of nature, blended and painted onto the tensile canvas. Born in Donaueschingen, Germany on 8 March 1945, shortly before the end of World War II, Kiefer grew up amongst the ruins of the war, which ended up being his childhood playground as he used the rubble to construct little houses. This early influence in his life carried through in his artwork, such as his controversial use of themes relating to his country’s guilt and remembrance of World War II. The cycle of growth, destruction and renewal is evident in work such as The Fertile Crescent, also featured from Essl’s collection. The Fertile Crescent being the area in the Middle East considered formative in the development of human culture, wherein early human civilisations developed. Here in Kiefer’s painting, mixed media on a colossal canvas show monumental ruins—civilisation decayed. Perhaps these ruins are only in a moment of transition, as time plays itself out into unknown possibilities. “Ruins represent the future,” Kiefer states and then comments on his childhood: “The house next to our home was bombed to the ground. I never felt that the debris was something negative. This is just a state of transition, of change, of evolution. The postwar rubble and debris from the big cities cleared up by women, the so-called Trümmerfrauen [rubble women]—a term of almost mythological significance today—is what I employed to build houses. This debris has always been the starting point of something new being conceived.” The fragility of the organic materials Kiefer uses accompanies the themes of decay, transience and renewal, the physical future of the pieces being uncertain. Besides lead, materials Kiefer uses include oil, acrylic and charcoal as well as more unconventional media such as soil, plaster and mistletoe leaves. In some works, branches, objects and sculpture are affixed to the front of the canvas, providing dimension to the textural surface. Art and nature reach into the controlled space of the museum, as if at any time they could pull you into their world for a change. “In my pictures I tell stories to show what is behind the story. I open up a hole and I go through it.” – Anselm Kiefer Walking through the exhibition, winding through the rooms, I waver between observer and element—apart from, then a part of—as if we are all interconnected sculptures in transition, works by the greatest artist of the universe. Anselm Kiefer’s work would allegedly be contemporary art, but I find it to be of a timeless expression: The present in a dance with the effects of humanity and the past, the mysteries of mythology and the cosmos, and the uncertainty of decay and the future. Artwork that may not only cause one to question its meaning, but leave those questions never fully answered. Kiefer’s art presents an alchemical, elliptical system: One of civilisation, recollection and fantasy affected by the mysteries of time and transformation. Each work can be seen as an extract of this system—a moment caught as emotions and interpretations are released. The cycle of nature is endless; a work of art is but a glimpse of the eternal expressed. Portrait of Anselm Kiefer, above, and the artist in his Paris atelier (© Renate Graf) I am dead, a wanderer no longer registered anywhere unknown in the prefect’s domain of no use in the golden cities and the greening land long dispensed with and provided with no more than with wind with time and with sound I who cannot live among people with the German language this cloud around me which I hold as a house drifting through all languages Oh how it grows dark those dark sounds, only a few fall It will carry the dead into brighter regions translation via Project Muse This piece was adapted from an article I wrote for The Vienna Review All artwork in this post © Anselm Kiefer. Categories ARTicles, Via Vienna•Tags allegory in art, allegory of anselm kiefer, anselm kiefer, art, exhibit on anselm kiefer, german artists, interpretation of art, meaning in art, meaning of anselm kiefer, transformation in art, vienna	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335221
__label__cc	0.674559	0.325441	home > composers > Karmanov, Pavel 7 works in Donemus catalogue Past Perfect : for piano / Pavel Karmanov Genre: Chamber music Subgenre: Piano Instruments: pf Forellenquintet : (Trout-quintet) / Pavel Karmanov Genre: Electronical music Subgenre: Gemengd ensemble (2-12 spelers) met elektronica Instruments: 2vn vla vc pf tape Holland : for voice, piano and string quartet with tape / Pavel Karmanov Instruments: zang pf 2vn vla vc tape Shumanniana : for piano / Pavel Karmanov Genre: Unknown Karmanov, Pavel Pavel Karmanov was born in 1970 in the city of Bratsk, Irkutsk into a family of musicians. He began writing music in Novosibirsk at the age of 5. In 1988 he graduated from the Central Music School and in 1995 from Moscow Conservatory in 1995. At various times, he studied with Yu.Kholopov, A.Leman, A.Bykanov, G. Dmitriev and A. Nikolayev. During his secondary school and college years actively participated in Moscow concert, comprising in various styles. Since the early 90s he became very interested in aesthetic post-avant-garde, "new simplicity" and "minimalism". Today Karmanov’s music possesses inherent tonal certainty, impressionistic color, brevity of form, original refraction of post-avantgarde practices, use of various contemporary styles and various audio-visual effects in a concert performance. Since 1996, Karmanov is a member of Moscow Union of Composers. He is also a permanent member of various musical festivals, such as Moscow Autumn ('91, ‘96, ‘97, ‘98 , 2006), Alternative (‘96, ‘97, ‘98), Festival in memory of Oleg Kagan (Moscow, 1992), in memory of Anatoly Vedernikov Festival (1997) and the festival Sound Route 1999 Tokyo - Moscow (Japan 1999), Dialogue (Moscow 1996), the E.Denisov festival in Tomsk (2003), Warsaw Autumn (2005), and the Shostakovich festival in Seattle, USA (2006) . Karmanov’s compositions are currently performed in the Great, Small and Rachmaninov halls of the Moscow Conservatory, at the House of Composers, the Cultural Center DOM, the Grand and Small halls of St. Petersburg Philharmonic, and at concerts and festivals in different cities around the world. Karmanov's music is most frequently interpreted by pianist and harpsichordist Alexei Lyubimov, violist and conductor Yuri Bashmet, violinist, violist and conductor Nazar Kozhukharand his Pocket Symphony, violinist Tatiana Grindenko and "OPUSPOSTH", percussionist Mark Baking and his ensemble, pianists Alexey Goribol, Polina Ossetinskaya, Mikhail Dubov, violinists Marina Katarzhnova, Elena Revich, Vladislav Pessin and his The ONE Orchestra, violists Maxim Novikov and Mikhail Bereznitsky, the Moscow Ensemble of Contemporary Music (MACM), PADSEnsemble (Italy), the Seattle Chamber Players ensemble (USA), the Odeon Quartet (USA), the Youth Choir of the Philharmonic Society of Saint Petersburg under direction of Julia Khutoretskaya, historical instruments orchestra PRATUM INTEGRUM under direction of Pavel Serbin, the State Chamber Orchestra of Russia and oboist Alexei Utkin, the Ural Symphony Orchestra. Pavel Karmanov has also composed music for many feature and documentary films. Among these are Timur Bekmambetov’s Arena (Gladiatrix) and GAZ - Russian Cars, Andrei Proshkin’s Soldier Decameron, Mary Mozhar’s Enemies, Matvei Zhivov’s Letter, Eugene Pashkevich’s Gulfstream under the Iceberg and others. Karmanov created soundtracks for TV series, such as Nana Jorjadze’s Only You, Ali Khamrayev’s Place in the Sun and Artists, Oleg Fesenko’s Multiplying sorrow, as well as for the animated films of Ivan Maximov, The Flood and Bridge in the Right Direction, and documentary films of Alex Khanyutin including Music for Fireworks, Context, Evacuation and The Road. Since 1997, the music of Pavel Karmanov is constantly heard in many TV commercials, and various TV and radio promos. Among Pavel Karmanov’s many projects are "Vertep" at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall 2002 with participation of the spiritual music ensable Sirin, Academy of Ancient Music under direction of Tatiana Grindenko, rock-group The Polite refusal, percussion ensemble under direction of Mark Pekarski, Gnessin Vituosi orchestra, conductor Mikhail Khokhlov, projects "13 Karmanov " and "Birthday" at the Moscow Cultural Center DOM (2000-2006), authors evening in the Small Hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic (2004). A notable event was the premiere of the play Springtime in January at the Great Hall of the Conservatory for Yuri Bashmet, Alexei Lyubimov and New Russia Orchestra (2005). The play "Get in!!" closed the Moscow Autumn (2006) festival. In 2006 Nazar Kozhukhar and The Pocket Symphony recorded and released on DOM-records a chamber music debut CD. Since 2000, Pavel Karmanov is also a member of the Moscow rock group Vezhlivii Otkaz (Polite refusal) led by Roman Suslov. With it, he performs regularly as a pianist and flutist. Currently Pavel Karmanov lives and works in Moscow.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335223
__label__cc	0.747595	0.252405	Professional Pathway Melbourne Workshop Newport Beach Workshop Miami Workshop Eastbourne Workshop New York Workshop Cincinnati Workshop Naples Summit 2019 Past WTCA Events FREE Member Courses Baseline Certification Course Know Your Player Course Girls Strength Development Forehand Development Baseline Course Master Hand Feeding Course Tennis Fitness Courses Tennis Business WTCA coaching survey Academia Sanchez Casal Grace Park Hawthorn Club SBW Tennis Academy WTCA Team WTCA Advocates Female Speakers List Spirit of Coaching Award How Billie Jean King’s Eye Coach is Improving Sight Training for All Players Jun 4, 2019 \| Tennis Talk Lenny Schloss began playing at age 15 and since then has had a longstanding career within the world of tennis. Becoming one of the top 10 Americans on the Pro Tour, he learned the ‘ins and outs’ of the court very quickly. But even after Lenny’s successful career, he... Billie Jean King Joins WTCA Conference NYC 2019 Lineup May 7, 2019 \| Tennis Talk Since its formation in 2015, one of the main pillars of the WTCA has been to be an advocate for the sport of women’s tennis. Within the sport, there is perhaps no bigger advocate than Billie Jean King, who transformed women’s tennis throughout the course of her... The 5 R’s That Will Make You a Better Mover \| Dave Bailey Becoming an expert in any field takes thousands of hours of deliberate practice and study. Dave Bailey of Bailey Tennis Footwork has certainly devoted countless time and effort to becoming the leading professional in footwork training for tennis players, researching... Building Community, the Key to Educated Coaching \| Davor Dekaris Apr 25, 2019 \| Tennis Talk In every field and industry, continuous education and the sharing of knowledge is a crucial component to advancement. The same principles can be applied to tennis, yet many coaches are reluctant to share the methods behind their success for fear of giving away their... Why Teamwork Is Vital to Success in Tennis and Beyond \| Margot Carter Often times, teamwork is a foreign concept within the individualistic nature of the sport of tennis. Yet, the value of teamwork is undeniable, particularly when attempting to achieve a new goal or create a movement. Margot Carter first learned the importance of... The Best Ways to Recover After Injury \| Laura Legoupil Aside from those who are extremely lucky, injury is a hurdle the majority of tennis players will have to overcome at some point throughout their careers. However, the recovery process is far more complex than most athletes realize. Laura Legoupil, a physiotherapist... Using the ‘7 Tennis Movement Principles’ to Elevate Your Game \| Giselle Martin Apr 7, 2019 \| Tennis Talk Developing and maintaining proper footwork practices is vital to success on the tennis court. In fact, this aspect of the game is so important that Tennis Fitness founders Giselle and Nathan Martin have cultivated their own “7 Tennis Movement Principles” to help teach... Choosing the Right Drills for Success \| Jorge Capestany Jorge Capestany has made quite a name for himself in the tennis world. Just a few of his many accolades include Master Professional with the USPTA, International Master Professional with the PTR, six-time Michigan Pro of the Year, and USPTA Midwest Hall of Fame... Developing Junior Players Through Proper Coach Education \| Dr. Anne Pankhurst In February 2019, Dr. Anne Pankhurst made history as the first British subject to be honored as a PTR International Master Professional, also joining the elite group of 53 tennis professionals to ever be selected for the distinction. However, Dr. Pankhurst has been a... Collaborative Coaching \| Paul Annacone Mar 31, 2019 \| Tennis Talk Paul Annacone is no stranger to the grandest stage of tennis. As a player, he won a Grand Slam doubles title of his own. As a coach, he has worked with some of the greatest athletes in the game, including Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Tim Henman and Sloane Stephens. As... The WTCA – Past, Present, and Future Before the WTCA grew into a network of over 58,000 people from across the globe, it was a simple idea created during a casual conversation between two friends. When CEO Sarah Stone was on holiday in Australia, she and a close friend chatted about a noticeable... Fighting for Equality & Giving Back \| Judy Dalton While there is still a long way to go, there is no denying that women have made great strides towards equality within the sport of tennis. Of course, the turning point towards equality was the iconic moment when the ‘Original 9’ signed the one-dollar contracts with... Low-FODMAP Diets for Tennis Performance \| Dr. Rachel Pauls When it comes to match preparation, one of the most crucial, yet often neglected tools for peak performance is nutrition. Fortunately, we live in a day in age where nutritional science is readily available at our fingertips with the simple push of a button. However,... Embracing the Process and Performing Freely \| Kevin O’Neill With the rise of instant gratification in today’s day in age, a focus on quick rewards, high rankings and a magic number of wins is becoming increasingly prevalent in sports, particularly for Western society. However, if you ask tennis professional and coach of rising... Mastering the First Step \| Dr. Mark Kovacs Without a doubt, one of the most important movement on the tennis court is a player’s first step. In fact, the majority of movements a player will make encompass a range of less than five feet. According to performance physiologist and coach Dr. Mark Kovacs, in order... Join The Community for Free Get updates, event invites and notifications of new courses and content. The WTCA was founded in 2015. The Association is the first of its kind; currently being the only professional global organization formed solely in support of coaches working with female players. Coach Agent Get Fresh Content Delivered! Copyright © 2019 Women's Tennis Coaching Association \| Website by INTROMERICA	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335226
__label__wiki	0.533492	0.533492	Shardcast Coppermind Brandon Sanderson.com Mistborn RPG TWG Archive Pammie 146 Cobalt Guard About Pammie Slothspren NinjaAlligators Ookla the Fierce [OB] TOMORROW!!!!! Pammie replied to bdoble97's topic in Stormlight Archive Quick question for veterans, how spoilery will these forums be for the next few days? Like, will they're be spoilers in discussion titles? Will there be different discussions open for different sections of the book? Of course, Oathbringer would come out the week before Thanksgiving break, when professors are cramming in assignments, and on a Tuesday, which is one of the days where I really can't skip any classes. Weirdly, I kind of wish the book was coming out next week, so that I'd have all of Thanksgiving break to read it... That being said, I am 100% going to be at Books-a-million at opening and will cram in as much time as possible before classes start and although the good student in me will feel bad, there is no way I can be productive when there's a new Sanderson book sitting on my shelf [OB] "Read the Book. Unite them." - WoK or Oathbringer? Pammie replied to Xavien's topic in Stormlight Archive I'd say that we're fairly certain that Honor was talking about the The Way of Kings, mostly because of Gavilar's last words to Dalinar and Gavilar's own influence from Honor. But maybe you're right and he'll pick up Oathbringer in Oathbringer and discover more stuff about the Knights Radiance. [OB] Oathbringer chapters 16-18 Pammie replied to Mestiv's topic in Stormlight Archive If Dalinar remembers his past wife just to start forgetting Navani, I am going to fall over and die. Pleeeeease Dalinar, noooooooooooo @Knabepicer You're right! I misread. Although Elkohar is vowing to follow Dalinar's commands, Dalinar won't be the Highking of Alethkar but Urithiru. This still doesn't mean that he'll become Highking of Roshar, but does this mean he'll become the leader of the KR? It still seems strange to me, especially since we don't know anything yet about the KR infrastructure. Dalinar and Elkohar obviously don't either, but that's not stopping them. I guess we have to wait to find out. Whoa, Highking of Roshar? Maybe I read it wrong, but I thought that he wants to unite the nations in a let's-be-friends-and-fight-together way, not a let-me-lead-you way. There's way more to uniting than conquering or leading: he would have to convince the leaders to work together without being their Highking, which is much harder. There's no way all of the countries of Roshar would just bend the knee because Dalinar's a KR. And even if they did, then wouldn't that mean that the KR would basically become the ruling class? If Dalinar is Highking over all of Roshar and the leader of the KR, then they would become his own personal army/noblemen, which is NOT how I envisioned them. I assumed that the KR were a separate group from all of the countries, that they have no allegiance to a single country but would help whenever asked/needed. So Dalinar would be the Highking of Alethkar only and would try to get the nations to work together through diplomatic means only. Also, we don't have any evidence that Bondsmiths lead the KR. They might've been consulted and their opinions might've held a lot of weight, but it seems to me that every KR order was self-governing, although I love the idea of a KR council! That'd be awesome I think I agree. The problem with reading just a few chapters of Oathbringer weekly is that our perception of the timeline gets distorted and we can give too much attention to small details that aren't important, so this may be one of those issues. BUT it just feels strange that Dalinar and the other Knights Radiant haven't sat down and talked about what being a KR means and what their roles are. Ok, first of all, it does make sense that the few KR around Dalinar would automatically be subservient to him. Renarin, Shallan and Kaladin were already loyal and obeying Dalinar before the KR stuff started happening and Dalinar was the one who made it known that he was refounding the KR. Neither Shallan or Renarin have shown any eagerness to lead yet, and Kaladin has been serving in the army for years, working under his superior wouldn't seem strange at all. Even Mr. T's mysterious surgebinder will probably automatically follow Dalinar's command. But what happens when other surgebinders do being to show up? Some, like Lift, will probably not have allegiances to anyone and just want to stop the upcoming Desolation, but there will definitely be others who are loyal to their country. Others might want to stop the Desolation, but will see no reason to try and do it Dalinar's way (whatever that is.) And what if another Bondsmith appears who has different methods than Dalinar? Would Dalinar try to co-lead or would he decide that that Bondsmith is in the wrong and try to wrest power away? (I think he would.) I think that the real issue is that by being the 'Highking' of Alethkar AND refounding/leading the Knights Radiant, Dalinar is unintentionally setting up the Knights Radiant as an Alethi group, which will definitely create factions among the surgebinders. So, Dalinar has a few options: Dalinar can step down as the Alethi Highking to lead the Knights Radiant, or co-lead it with the other two Bondsmiths (if they show up.) Or Dalinar should realize that he was never supposed to lead the KR. (I like this idea better.) Each Order had their own Herald that they followed, so it seems strange to me that they would all look to the Bondsmith's Order specifically, especially since Windrunner's also have the leadership attributes. We know that all the Orders worked together, but that there was a good bit of infighting. Skybreakers acted as the KRPD (Knights Radiant Police Department), so other orders could have filled in similar roles, but I think each order was ultimately self-governing and followed their own specific goals. So Dalinar could continue to be Highking, but realize that he should treat the other KR's more as independent peers, no as subordinates. IF the second option is right, then I am really hoping that it's addressed in this book, since it's not only focused on Dalinar's bloodsoaked past, but it will also be dealing heavily with the rebuilding of the KR and Shallan's discoveries of the KR's history. Personally, I would love it if either Shallan or Renarin realize that they're not doing what they're supposed to be doing and break away from Dalinar. Obviously, since Dalinar was a warrior and is now the army commander/Hightking of an militaristic country, he will treat the KR as an army and will use the surgebinders around him as soldiers and pawns (which isn't necessarily a bad thing.) Wouldn't it be great if Renarin realizes that he's not supposed to be fighting any wars or leading the men, especially since Truthwatchers attributes are Learned/Giving and Creative/Honesty? This lines up perfectly with his character: he grew up the son of a Highprince in a country where being a soldier is considered divine, but he's so ill-suited for fighting that even his father has tried to convince him to become an ardent. His surges, Progression and Illumination won't be very handy in a fight, but for the first time in his life, he'll be good at something and will be needed, just not as a soldier. I'm crossing my fingers that he'll realize this, realize that as a Truthwatcher, he shouldn't be subservient to his father, and insist on doing his own thing, possibly discovering the 'truth' about the Recreance/Desolations/Spren/Shards while giving to those in need and instructing others how to prepare for the Desolation. The same can be said for Lift and maybe Shallan, but I really like the idea that every order will fight/save the world in different ways and Dalinar just hasn't realized it yet. [OB] A discussion of shardplate. Pammie replied to Steeldancer's topic in Stormlight Archive Not to mention that if shardplate is made up of dead spren, then live spren like Syl, should hate it just as much, or more, than shardblades. But the emphasis is only ever on Blades. Plus, you don't bond with shardplate, it just takes a while to get used to. Wow, I cannot believe that we already know the reason why the Knights Radiant turned their backs on mankind on the Day of Recreance. I'm crossing my fingers that Lift will just randomly pop up from the Oathgate, hopefully right in the middle of a really dramatic scene. Imagine: there's a bang, a flash of light and suddenly a barefoot, half-starved, beggar girl with no safehand is standing on the Oathgate, brandishing a ShardFork and threatening to eat somebody if they don't take her to Dalinar pronto. So Renarin hasn't told them yet that he has a blade? Even after his discussion with Adolin? I guess that these two POVs are probably happening simultaneously, but still, I can see now why people would be annoyed when Truthwatchers never told anybody anything. My gosh, just have a clear conversation with Shallan or Dalinar!!! Let us see your spren!!!! Seriously though, now that we've seen Renarin's blade and he has used one of the Truthwatcher's surges, it should be proof enough that he is actually a KR, but something still feels fishy. Why haven't we seen even a hint of Glys? Why haven't we gotten a POV from him? When he sent that pulse of stormlight through Adolin, Adolin saw "A version of himself that was somehow complete and whole, the man he could be." That's evidence enough for me that Renarin is a Truthwatcher, but what's up with all of this mystery surrounding him? Branderson obviously has big things planned for him (here's the most recent chapter of Way of Kings Prime that features Renarin pretty heavily). And all those RAFO's regarding Truthwatchers? That mystery hint he gave about Renarin? What about those Everstorm visions? Even though it's pretty obvious now that Renarin is a Truthwatcher, something funky is still going on. Sounds like Dalinar has possession of the honorblade and is hoping to keep it a secret. Oh Dalinar.............buddy...........no............ Could the Radiant that Mr. T is sending possibly be the Champion? I guess that it's possible that an actual Radiant has come to help her king, but what if she's an artificial Radiant? Maybe a spren was forced to bond? I don't see how sending an honest surgebinder to Dalinar would help Mr. T, unless it's just a move to gain Dalinar's trust. I'm psyched to meet this new surgebinder (if she is who she says she is)! Hopefully she's in an order that we haven't seen much of. [OB] Shallan full Knight Radiant Pammie replied to Watchcry's topic in Stormlight Archive This may be a dumb question, but is Shallan considered a full Knight Radiant yet? Will she ever be, unless she decides she's a KR or someone declares her a KR? Is it an arbitrary title or something directly linked to the Nahel bond/Spren? Throughout the books, we're constantly reminded that just being a surgebinder doesn't make one a Radiant, they have to say the oaths first. But we also know that each order have different oaths, there's a WoB that says that some orders only have one oath, some have multiples, and some, like Lightweavers, have none. They use truths to deepen their bond. So, I guess I'm asking, is there a different threshold for each order to become a KR? And, once they reach this threshold, are they considered a KR by their spren? Or is this just an arbitrary title given by the man-made order? Like, if a surgebinder reached the final oath, would their spren be like 'Yay, you're a Knight Radiant! Congrats, you're crazy powerful now!' Or would the leader of their order be like, 'Oh, you reached the fifth oath? Well, that's good enough, let me write you down on the Knight Radiant Membership List.' (Sorry if I'm asking something redundant, I haven't been able to find much info on it) [OB] Oathbringer chapters 7-9 @robardin @Khyrindor So I just released my inner stalker and did several google searches where I found this thread from August where he drops a few more hints, one being that it's a page where Renarin's name is NOT mentioned. Here's the link, it's in one of his comments further down on the page. I thought that these small chapter releases would help with the wait, but I was so wrong. We still have two whole months until Oathbringer and I am literally going to go insane. oathbringer Hmmm, you're right, the King used to consider Roshone a friend, which would explain why he would have a spanreed directly to the queen. That's kind of disappointing. Good catch though! [OB] Whodunnit Pammie replied to Hero-of-Pages's topic in Stormlight Archive I keep seeing people assume that either Ialai or the Ghostbloods are doing this because they know who the true culprit is, but why? Adolin and Sadeas were alone, in the dark, and based on Adolin's personality and alibi, it doesn't seem plausible that anyone would suspect him. I guess someone could've been spying behind the corner, but it seems more probable to me that Adolin committed the perfect crime, which makes this murder arc so much more interesting. If he never admitted to it, no one would know, but now someone is using his murder for some type of personal gain and he's supposed to find the murderer. What happens if he never comes up with a suspect? He could try to find the copycat, but is it right to blame them for the first murder also?	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335230
__label__wiki	0.543159	0.543159	Classical music: The future of Western classical music is in Asia – specifically China, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. Why is that? It’s not just about Lang Lang. The signs are everywhere. They were present at a recent piano recital by elementary school, middle school and high school students that The Ear attended. You see it at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music and at top music schools, including the Curtis Institute of Music, across the U.S. and Western Europe. And you see it in youth groups such as the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (below). Western classical music recording labels, such as Deutsche Grammophon and Sony Classical, are looking to develop new markets and so are signing more Asian musicians, such as the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and Shanghai String Quartet, and releasing more Asian performances. (Below is the Taiwanese-Australian, prize-winning violinist Ray Chen, who is also a master at using social media to build his meteoric career.) All these items point to the same conclusion: The future of Western classical music looks more and more likely to be found in Asian culture and in Asia – specifically in China, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. (Next season, prize-winning South Korean pianist Joyce Yang (below) returns to Madison, where she first gave a recital at the Wisconsin Union Theater, to solo with the Madison Symphony Orchestra.) Consider some of the following: There are, The Ear read somewhere, now more piano students in China than in all of Europe, North America and South America combined. And he is reading about more and more concert tours of China and other Asian countries by Western performers — even while in the U.S. the number of pianos in homes are on the decline. Increasingly the winners of major international competitions — such as the Chopin competition, the Van Cliburn competition, the Tchaikovsky competition, the Queen Elizabeth of Belgium competition and the Leeds competition – come from Asia or are Asian. (Below, in a photo by Simon Fowler, is American pianist George Li, who immigrated from China as a child and attended Harvard and the New England Conservatory before winning a silver medal at the Tchaikovsky Competition. His concert career is now blossoming fast.) In recent years, China has been building a lot of first-rate concert halls, opera houses and music schools. And the famed Juilliard School in New York City will open its second campus this fall in Tianjin, near Beijing. China has certainly come a long way from the days of the Cultural Revolution when people could be imprisoned for listening to Beethoven, who is now a cultural icon in China — as you can hear at the bottom in the YouTube video of Li Jing Zhan conducting the orchestra at the Chinese National Opera in Beethoven’s No. 7. (Below is the striking new National Center for the Performing Arts in China.) https://www.interlude.hk/front/culture-construction-chinas-new-concert-halls/ Nineteen of the 24 final competitors, ages 13-17, in the second Van Cliburn Junior Competition – which starts in Dallas, Texas, on May 31 and ends on June 8 – are Asian, Asian-American and Asian-Canadian, all with astonishingly impressive credentials and experience. It will be streamed live and free. Take a look and listen: https://www.cliburn.org/2019-cliburn-junior-competitors/ Why this Asian shift is happening remains somewhat of a mystery to The Ear, although he had been thinking about for a long time. Then he came across a op-ed column confirming the prevalence of Asian classical musicians. It was written by the American concert pianist and teacher Inna Faliks (below), who teaches at UCLA and who wrote convincingly about her recent concert experiences in China in The Washington Post. Read it and see what you think, and tell us whether you agree: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-future-of-classical-music-is-chinese/2019/03/22/2649e9dc-4cb5-11e9-93d0-64dbcf38ba41_story.html?utm_term=.7f149e0f8eb9 Why are Asians so interested in Western classical music and music education? And why do they respect it or even revere it so much? Does it have to do with the “tiger mom” phenomenon of strong parental pressure to succeed and achieve? Is it largely a function of population? Is it because of the collective teamwork required to make a lot of chamber music and orchestral music, or with the intense and instructive teacher-student relationship? Is it because the cultural depth and seriousness in Western music education – ing contrast to the increasingly pop culture of the West – that prepares students well for the training and intellectual discipline required in other educational fields and careers, including the STEM areas (science, technology, engineering and mathematics)? Is Asia simply fascinated by Western culture the same way that Western culture was fascinated by the exotic Asian cultures – especially in China and Japan — during the 19th century and earlier? Or is the West increasingly ignoring its own culture. (The Ear can’t recall any classical musicians performing at President Donald Trump’s White House. Can you?) How do you see the situation and react to it? And what do you think about the causes and effects? Please leave your reactions and thoughts in the COMMENT section. Tags: #BeijingChina, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #ChineseNationalOpera, #ChopinInternationalPianoCompetition, #ClassicalMusician, #ClassicalRecording, #ConcertHall, #ConcertTour, #CulturalRevolution, #CurtisInstitute, #DallasTexas, #DeutscheGrammphon, #ElementarySchool, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #GeorgeLi, #HarvardUniversity, #HighSchool, #HongKong, #HongKongChina, #InnaFaliks, #JoyceYang, #JuilliardSchool, #LangLang, #LeedsCompetition, #LiJingZhan, #LiveStreaming, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MiddleSchool, #MusicEducation, #MusicSchool, #NationalCenterforthePerformingArts, #NewEnglandConservatoryofMusic, #NewYorkCity, #NorthAmerica, #OperaHouse, #OperaMusic, #OrchestralMusic, #ParentalPressure, #People'sRepublicofChina, #PerformingArts, #PersonalRelationship, #PopCulture, #PresidentDonaldTrump, #Prize-Winning, #PrizeWinner, #QueenElizabeth, #QueenElizabethCompetition, #RayChen, #RecordingLabels, #RecordLabels, #ShangaiQuartet, #ShanghaiChina, #ShanghaiSymphonyOrchestra, #SilverMedal, #SocialMedia, #SonyClassical, #SouthAmerica, #SouthKorea, #SouthKorean, #StreamedLive, #StringQuartet, #TchaikovskyCompetition, #TheEar, #TheWashingtonPost, #TheWest, #TianjinChina, #TigerMom, #UnitedStates, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VanCliburn, #VanCliburnInternationalPianoCompetition, #WesternCulture, #WesternEurope, #WhiteHouse, #WisconsinUnionTheater, #WisconsinYouthSymphonyOrchestras, #YouTubevideo, American, Arts, Asia, asian, attend, audience, Australia, Australian, Beethoven, Beijing, Belgium, blog, building, Canadian, career, cause, Cello, Chamber music, Child, children, China, Chinese, Chinese National Opera, Chopin International Piano Competition, Classical music, classical musician, classicalmusic, collective, comment, Compact Disc, Competition, composer, Concert, concert hall, concert tour, conclusion, conduct, conductor, construction, credential, Cultural Revolution, culture, Curtis Institute of Music, Dallas, decline, depth, Deutsche Grammophon, discipline, Donald Trump, Education, effect, elementary school, engineering, Europe, exotic, experience, Facebook, first-rate, forward, free, function, future, George Li, group, Harvard, high school, Home, Hong Kong, icon, immigrant, immigrated, immigration, imprison, Inna Faliks, instruct, instructive, intense, International Tchaikovsky Competition, item, Jacob Stockinger, Japan, Japanese, Joyce Yang, Juilliard School, Juilliard School of Music, Korean, Lang Lang, Leeds Competition, Li Jing Zhan, like, link, listen, live, look, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, market, Master, mathematics, Mead Witter School of Music, medal, media, member, meteoric, Middle school, Music, Music education, music school, music schools, Musician, mystery, National Center for the Performing Arts, New England, New England Conservatory, New York City, North America, number, opera, Opera house, Orchestra, orchestral music, parental pressure, parents, People, People's Republic of China, performer, Performing arts, personal relationship, Pianist, Piano, pop, pop culture, population, President, President Donald Trump, pressure, prison, prize, public, Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elizabeth Competition, Ray Chen, reaction, recital, Record label, recording, relationship, respect, revere, rite, science, section, seriousness, Shanghai, share, silver, sing, social media, solo, Sony Classical, South America, South Korea, STEM, streamed, String quartet, Student, symphony, tag, Taiwan, Taiwanese, Teacher, teamwork, technology, Texas, The Ear, The Washington Post, The West, The White House, thought, Tianjin, tiger mom, tour, training, U.S., UCLA, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, Van Cliburn, Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Violin, violinist, Western Cuture, Western Europe, White House, winner, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Union Theater, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, wrote, Youth, YouTube Classical music: How did a reformation in religion and a revolution in printing change music? The 19th annual Madison Early Music Festival (MEMF) offers answers and samples this week. Part 2 of 2 Starting this Saturday and running through the following Saturday, the 19th annual Madison Early Music Festival will explore the profound effects that the Lutheran Reformation and the invention of printing had on Renaissance and Baroque music of the time. The festival is called “A Cabinet of Curiosities: A Journey to Lübeck.” For a complete listing of programs, lectures, concerts and workshops, with information about tickets, go to: https://memf.wisc.edu Soprano Cheryl Bensman Rowe — who directs the festival with UW Arts Institute’s Sarah Marty and her husband and UW-Madison baritone Paul Rowe — recently agreed to do a Q&A with The Ear about the upcoming festival. Here is Part 2 of 2. And, if you missed the beginning, here is a link to Part 1: How does early north German music differ from its counterparts in, say, Italy, France, Germany and England. What is the historical origin and aesthetic importance of the music from that era in that part of the world? One of the biggest changes during the Reformation in Germany began with sacred music and the far-reaching changes in the way it served the church. The music of mass, motet, psalm and hymn heard in the great urban cathedrals, cloistered chapels and royal palace churches of Catholicism represented the “otherness” of the divine, a God unreachable by the untutored masses. Written in an intellectual language which required years of rigorous training to learn and understand, it was only the disciplined, practiced choir boys and men who could perform this sacred polyphony in all its wonder and glory. Luther sought to traverse this divide. Though he held the existing music of sacred polyphony in high esteem, he felt that music could be used to even greater effect in furthering the education and religious commitment of the people. Luther (below) chose the hymn form as the principle means to his musical aims. A prolific hymnodist himself, he authored hymns such as the famous “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott” (“A Mighty Fortress Is Our God“) several settings of which begin the All-Festival concert, attempted to connect existing high art with folk music in a style that would appeal to all classes, clergy and laity, men, women and children. His texts were in the German vernacular in order to convey messages that would be understood by all in a way that the Latin of preexisting hymns were not. The culmination of those first 100 years of reformed musical development and the composers whose works will be performed throughout the week at MEMF, launched the reformed hymnody of Luther (below) and his followers into the stratosphere of such giants as Heinrich Schütz, Dietrich Buxtehude, Johann Sebastian Bach (all the Bachs for that matter) and on, a trail that continues to the present day. What music and composers of that era have been most neglected and least neglected by historians and performers? Does rediscovery of works and composers play a special role this year? Throughout the week we will be featuring compositions from the Choir Library from the Marienkirche in Lübeck (below) is a collection of music that Lübeck scholar and Buxtehude biographer Kerala Snyder catalogued and reconstructed. The collection ended up in Vienna in the 19th century, and is a comprehensive data base that includes compositions by German and Italian composers, including Heinrich Schütz, Hermann Schein, Palestrina – the list starts with Agazzari and ends with Zucchini. Besides the Choir Library compositions, audiences will have an opportunity to hear works of Buxtehude that have never been performed in Madison. Can you tell us about the program and performers for the All-Festival concert on Saturday, July 14? The All-Festival Concert (below) includes all of our workshop participants and faculty. We work together to prepare the concert all week and it is truly a MEMF community project. The music will be drawn from settings and compositions based on Lutheran chorales such as Ein Feste Burg and from the Choir Library of the Marienkirche. The concert concludes with Buxtehude’s Missa Brevis and concludes with his grand motet, Benedicam Dominum in omne tempore, written for six contrasting choirs, which Buxtehude surely composed to match the structural design of the Marienkirche. (You can hear the Kyrie from Buxtehude’s “Missa Brevis” in the YouTube video at the bottom.) Are there other sessions — guest lectures, certain performers, particular works — that you especially recommend for the general public? All the planning that goes into each festival leads me to encourage the general public to attend everything. The concert series, lectures and workshop have so much to offer. Special events include a dance with a live band drawn from the MEMF Faculty with dance instruction by Peggy Murray, Tanzen und Springen,at Memorial Union in the Grand Hall on Thursday night. The lecture series features some well-known Madison scholars — John W. Barker and J. Michael Allsen, plus Michael Alan Anderson (below top), director of Schola Antiqua and professor of musicology, and Jost Hermand (below bottom), Professor Emeritus at the UW-Madison. There will be a special exhibit created for MEMF in the lobby of Memorial Library by Jeanette Casey, the Head of the Mills Music Library and Lisa Wettleson of Special Collections at Memorial Library. This curated display reflects the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. The exhibit will be in the lobby of Memorial Library and open to the public through Thursday, July 19, 2018, with a special talk about the exhibit during the festival on Monday, July 9, at 11:30 a.m. This wonderful partnership allows the library to display rarely seen original and facsimile publications, some dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries within the context of the MEMF theme. Martin Luther, who was a great lover of music, said: “The riches of music are so excellent and so precious that words fail me whenever I attempt to discuss and describe them…. In summa, next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world. It controls our thoughts, minds, hearts, and spirits…” Join us to hear what Luther was talking about! Get your tickets for the concert series! Attend the lectures! Take some classes! You’ll find a link for all the information about MEMF at www.madisonearlymusic.org Tags: #AMightyFortressIsOurGod, #ArtsInstitute, #BaroqueMusic, #BritishMusic, #CabinetofCuriosities, #CatholicReligion, #ChoirBoy, #ChristianChurch, #ChristianMusic, #ChristianReligion, #DataBase, #DietrichBuxtehude, #EinFesteBurg, #EmeritusProfessor, #FrenchMusic, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GeorgPhilippTelemann, #GermanComposers, #GermanMusic, #GiovannidePalestrina, #GrandHall, #HeinrichSchütz, #HermannSchein, #ItalianComposers, #ItalianMusic, #J.MIchaelAllsen, #JesusChrist, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnW.Barker, #JostHermand, #KeralaSnyder, #LatinLanguage, #LübeckGermany, #LutheranReformation, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MadisonWisconsin, #MartinLuther, #MemorialLibrary, #MichaelAlanAnderson, #MillsMusicLibrary, #MissaBrevis, #MusicFestival, #PeggyMurray, #ProtestantReformation, #ProtestantReligion, #RareBooks, #RenaissanceMusic, #RomanCatholic, #RomanCatholicism, #RomanCatholicReligion, #SacredMusic, #ScholaAntiqua, #SecularMusic, #SpecialCollection, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ViennaAustria, #WesternCulture, #WesternMusic, #WesternReligion, #WordofGod, #YouTubevideo, aesthetic, Agazzari, anniversary, Arts, Bach, baritone, Baroque, base, beginning, biographer, biography, Book, books, cabinet, cathedral, Cello, Chamber music, chapel, children, Choir, choral music, church, class, classes, Classical music, composer, Composition, Concert, dance, data, data base, divien, Early music, earlymusic, Education, emeritus, England, era, esthetic, exhibit, festival, France, George Frideric Handel, German, Germany, God, Heinrich Schütz, historian, historical, History, hymn, invention, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, John W. Barker, Jost Hermand, journey, Kerala Snyder, Kyrie, laity, Latin, lecture, library, lover, Lubeck, Madison, Marienkirche, mass, masses, Memorial Library, men, Mills Music Library, motet, Music, musicology, palace, Palestrina, part, Peggy Murray, People, performer, polyphony, premiere, printing, professor, program, psalm, Religion, royal, Schien, Schola Antiqua, scholar, Sonata, soprano, St. Mary, time, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, urban, vernacular, video, Vienna, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Wisconsin, women, word, work, works, workshop, YouTube, Zucchini Classical music: This Saturday, the 19th annual Madison Early Music Festival (MEMF) starts a week-long exploration of how the Lutheran Reformation and the invention of printing changed Western music 500 years ago. Part 1 of 2 Starting this Saturday and running through the following Saturday, the 19th annual Madison Early Music Festival will explore the profound effects that the Lutheran Reformation had on Renaissance and Baroque music of the time. The festival, to be held at the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music, is called “A Cabinet of Curiosities: A Journey to Lübeck.” For a complete listing of programs, lectures, concerts and workshops, with information about tickets, go to the website: https://memf.wisc.edu Soprano Cheryl Bensman Rowe — who co-directs the festival with UW Arts Institute’s Sarah Marty and with her husband and UW-Madison baritone Paul Rowe — recently agreed to do a Q&A with The Ear about the upcoming festival. Here is Part 1 of 2. The second part will appear tomorrow. How successful is this year’s festival compared to others in terms of enrollment, budgets, performers, etc.? How does MEMF’s reach nationally or even internationally compare to previous years? Each year enrollment in the workshop averages 100 students. As of June 15, we have 110 students enrolled. MEMF attracts students of all ages, from 18–91, amateurs and professionals, from all over the country and Canada. What is new and what is the same in terms of format, students, faculty members and performers? The ensemble Quicksilver (below, in a photo by Ian Douglas, and located at quicksilverbaroque.com) is returning to Madison after several years to open the MEMF Concert Series. This will be an incredible virtuosic display of chamber music played at the highest level, and includes violinist Julie Andrijeski, sackbut player Greg Ingles and gambist Lisa Terry; harpsichordist Avi Stein and violinist Robert Mealy are on the faculty at the Juilliard 415 program, which is creating a fantastic opportunity for instrumentalists to study Baroque music with some of the finest early music professionals in the country. Piffaro, The Renaissance Band, will return to play a live concert of the CD they just released, Back to Bach. For more information, go to: piffaro.org The Tuesday concert is at Luther Memorial Church. Abendmusik (Evening Music) features organists John Chappell Stowe (below top, in a photo by Katrin Talbot), of the UW-Madison, and James Kennerley (below bottom) joined by the MEMF Faculty. Abendmusik, refers to a series of performances at the Marienkirche in Lübeck, Germany. In the 17th century through 1810, a series of concerts were paid for by local business owners to provide admission for the public. Organists Franz Tunder and his successor Dietrich Buxtehude, organized the Abendmusiken with performances of organ, instrumental and vocal music. For more, go to: https://www.jameskennerley.com/ New to MEMF, Schola Antiqua of Chicago — see schola-antiqua.org — will perform on Friday, July 13, at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall. They will sing musical treasures from a program prepared last fall for The Newberry Library’s exhibit “Religious Change 1450-1700” on the occasion of the quincentennial of the Lutheran Reformation. Printed musical artifacts from the multidisciplinary exhibit testify to a period filled with religious dynamism and struggle with both theological and musical traditions. Their director, Michael Alan Anderson, will give a pre-concert lecture at 6:30 p.m. with projections of the printed music from The Newberry Library. Why was the theme of “A Cabinet of Curiosities: Journey to Lübeck” chosen for the festival? What composers and works will be highlighted? We chose the 2018 theme to explore the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, and how the shifts in religion and 16th-century printed materials, including music, changed the world. The Marienkirche (St. Mary’s Church) in Lübeck was an important musical center at this time. Built with Catholic ritual in mind, it easily was turned into a Lutheran church in the early 16th century as Lübeck changed into a Protestant town due to the Reformation that was inspired by Martin Luther. The composer Dieterich Buxtehude (below) was the organist at the Marienkirche and was an improvisational genius. He attracted many musicians throughout Europe to come and visit, including Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Philipp Telemann and George Frideric Handel. Around this same time collectors were sorting their wide-ranging collections of objects into “cabinets of curiosities,” and sometimes the categorical boundaries were not defined. With new-found compositional freedom, 17th-century composers similarly created many musical wonders and curiosities, stretching the boundaries of musical conversation. We will be featuring works of Buxtehude, Tunder and Matthias Weckmann, and there will even be a bit of Bach on Sunday night’s concert by Piffaro. Tomorrow: Part 2 – How did a Reformation in religion and printing technology change music? Tags: #AmateurMusician, #ArtsInstitute, #BaroqueEra, #BaroqueMusic, #BusinessOwner, #CabinetofCuriosities, #ChamberMusic, #ChristianChurch, #ChristianMusic, #ChristianReligion, #ChurchMusic, #DietrichBuxtehude, #FacultyMember, #FranzTunder, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GeorgPhilippTelemann, #GermanMusic, #InstrumentalMusic, #JamesKennerley, #JohannSebastianBach, #Juilliard415, #JuilliardSchool, #LiveConcert, #LutheranReformation, #LutherMemorialChurch, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MartinLuther, #MatthiasWeckmann, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #NewberryLibrary, #OrganMusic, #PrintingTechnology, #ProfessionalMusician, #ProtestantReformation, #ProtestantReligion, #QuicksilverBaroque, #ReligiousChange, #RenaissanceBand, #RenaissanceMusic, #RomanCatholic, #SacredMusic, #ScholaAntiqua, #SecularMusic, #ThePublic, #TheReformation, #TheRenaissance, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VioladaGamba, #WesternCulture, #WesternMusic, #WesternReligion, admission, amateur, anniversary, Arts, Arts Institute, Bach, baritone, Baroque, blog, budget, Business, Canada, Catholic, Cello, Chamber music, Chicago, choral music, church, Classical music, Compact Disc, composer, Composition, Concert, country, Dietrich Buxtehude, director, Early music, earlymusic, enrollment, faculty, festival, Franz Tunder, free, freedom, genius, George Frideric Handel, Germany, Handel, harpsichord, improvisation, instrument, instrumental, international, invention, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, journey, lecture, live, Lubeck, Luther Memorial Church, Madison, Madison Early Music Festival, Marienkirche, Mead Witter School of Music, MEMF, Music, national, Newberry Library, Orchestra, organ, organist, Piffaro, player, printing, professional, program, public, Religion, Roman Catholic, sackbut, sacred, Schola Antiqua, secular, secular music, sing, singer, Sonata, song, soprano, Student, Sunday, technology, Telemann, theology, ticket, tradition, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Madison, Viola, viola da gamba, Violin, violinist, virtuosic, virtuoso, vocal music, Website, Weckmann, Wisconsin, workshop	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335235
__label__cc	0.516636	0.483364	Browse Definitions Fast references Spam: Glossary Directions: Click on each term to read our complete definition. We invite you to print out this page for your convenience. blackhole list - sometimes simply referred to as a blacklist, the publication of a group of ISP addresses known to be sources of spam. CAPTCHA - a test designed to differentiate humans from automated senders. challenge-response system - a program that replies to e-mail messages and subjects the sender to a test designed to differentiate humans from automated senders.br> clickthrough rate - the percentage of times that viewers click on a given banner ad or link, causing a request for the advertiser's Web site to be transmitted to the viewer. direct e-mail marketing - a format for e-mail-based campaigns in which standalone advertisements are sent to a targeted list of recipients. The messages, which may be text, HTML, or rich media, look like Web-based ads rather than typical e-mail messages. e-mail postage - proposed system that would involve charging a very small amount of money per e-mail sent. drive-by spamming - variation of drive-by hacking in which the perpetrators gain access to a vulnerable wireless network and use that access to send huge volumes of spam. e-mail spoofing - forgery of an e-mail header so that the message appears to have originated from someone or somewhere other than the actual source. e-mail virus - computer code sent to you as an e-mail note attachment which, if activated, will cause some unexpected and usually harmful effect false positive - a legitimate e-mail message mistakenly marked as spam by a spam filter. hash buster - program that generates a string of text for insertion in a spam message so that, to a spam filter, the e-mail appears to be a different message each time it is sent. Joe job - an e-mail spoofing exploit, often carried out as an act of revenge, in which someone sends out huge volumes of spam that appear to be from someone other than the actual source. list washing - removing an e-mail address from a mailing list when the recipient either requests removal or complains to the sender's ISP that he is being spammed. mail bomb - sending a massive amount of e-mail to a specific person or system. Murkogram - unsolicited commercial e-mail that includes a disclaimer to the effect that the message cannot be considered spam because it is in compliance with government regulations. open relay - e-mail server that allows third-party relay of e-mail messages. opt-in e-mail - marketing term for e-mail that recipients sign up to receive. phishing - scam where the perpetrator sends out legitimate-looking e-mails in an effort to fish for personal and financial information from the recipient. reverse DNS - method for changing an IP address into a domain name. self-sending spam - unsolicited e-mail that looks like you sent it to yourself. spam - unsolicited e-mail on the Internet. spamblock - text segment interjected into an e-mail address to foil a spambot. spambot - program designed to harvest e-mail addresses from the Internet in order to build mailing lists. spam filter - program that searches incoming e-mail messages for suspicious words or word patterns to identify UCE and prevent it from reaching the user's inbox. S4L - online chat acronyms for "spam for life," the possible result of subscribing to an online service or becoming anyone's customer or client. spamhaus - ISP that allows the distribution of spam. spam trap - software filter used to block spam. spim - spam delivered through instant messaging instead of the more familiar e-mail channel. teergrube - intentionally slow server set up to trap spammers using address harvesting programs. third-party mail relay - e-mail message sent through a mail server where neither the sender nor the recipient is a local user. UCE - legal term used to describe an electronic promotional message sent to a consumer without the consumer's prior request or consent. UBE - formal term for spam, defined as unsolicited bulk e-mail. This was last updated in March 2007 motor vehicle record (MVR) A motor vehicle record (MVR) is the documentation of a person’s driving history. The information in an MVR includes personally ... See complete definition Text message abbreviations and acronyms This handy fast reference will help you quickly understand hundreds of Text, Twitter and Chat abbreviations and acronyms that are... See complete definition United States Department of Energy (DOE) United States Department of Energy (DOE) is a federal cabinet agency that is tasked with overseeing the energy economy, energy ... See complete definition	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335238
__label__cc	0.542414	0.457586	Rednecks - Official South Park Studios Wiki \| South Park Studios Main Episodes Characters Locations Games Recent Changes READ EDIT Occupation Unemployed Voiced by Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Bill Hader First Appearance Goobacks 2 Notable Members 3 Memorable Quotes 4 Featured Episodes Lead by ex-construction worker Darryl Weathers, these conservative rednecks make up the town of South Park's working class... well, until they took 'er jobs anyway. Whether it's fancy machines, a bad economy, illegal immigrants, or the goddamn goobacks, it seems like every other week they're losing their jobs to somethin' or other. They spend a lot of time at Skeeter's Bar, smoke, drink a lot of Pabst Blue Ribbon and watch wrestlin' and NASCAR. They don't take too kindly to some types, especially those who don't exhibit racial tolerance. They also help organize events in the town like Cow Day festivals, political protests, gay sex piles, and the town's iconic drunken barn dances. Bill Denkins Darryl Weathers Jimbo Kern Ned Gerblansky Stuart McCormick "They took 'er jerbs!" "They Took his derg!" (W.T.F) "I'm white trash and I'm in trouble." (The Poor Kid) Goobacks (s08e06) With Apologies to Jesse Jackson (s11e01) Britney's New Look (s12e02) Margaritaville (s13e03) W.T.F. (s13e10) Poor and Stupid (s14e08) It's A Jersey Thing (s14e09) You're Getting Old (s15e07) 1% (s15e12) The Poor Kid (s15e14) Insecurity (s16e09) Let Go, Let Gov (s17e01) Handicar (s18e04) Cock Magic (s18e08) Though South Park's always been redneck, it wasn't until "Goobacks" we began seeing the redneck population in full force - and over thirty of them have a speaking role in "W.T.F."! Many of the redneck characters first featured in "W.T.F." have reappeared in later episodes in minor roles, like as a bar patron in "It's A Jersey Thing", as a farmer in "You're Getting Old", and as a Red Robin Customer in "1%".	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335241
__label__wiki	0.981414	0.981414	Reaction & Interviews Match Highlights presented by McDonald's McDonald's Mini Matches Goal Of The Round Save Of The Round E-League Hyundai A-League Season Where Heroes Are Made Our International Broadcasters Salary Cap System FFA Heat Policy Schools Resource Registration Rudan 'not happy' despite Western United fightback, provides Berisha update Western United boss Mark Rudan has lauded his side's resilience after another Hyundai A-League turnaround on Saturday night but says the new boys must find a solution to their slow starts. The Hyundai A-League newcomers went behind inside five minutes for the second week running after Mitch Duke gave the Wanderers an early lead. But just as they did against Melbourne Victory seven days earlier, United staged an impressive turnaround to secure a 2-1 victory which lifts the Melbourne club into second on the Hyundai A-League ladder. Andrew Durante restored parity on 12 minutes for United before Kwabena Appiah, deputising for the absent Besart Berisha, scored a second half match winner. "We certainly have to find a solution," Rudan told FOX Sports post-match. "I'm not happy with it, and we have to be better. "For the last three weeks we've been analysing it, speaking to players and staff about what we could do differently. "Without the ball I thought we were very lazy and lackadaisical and not good enough. "I am proud, the players showed really good resilience. They didn't panic and in the end I thought we thoroughly deserved it - unlike last week where we really had to suffer for it." Despite the teething problems facing United, there were tremendous positives for Rudan's side on a night the club secured their first home victory. One of which was the performance of Appiah, who led the line in place of Berisha on his first Hyundai A-League start since the 2017/18 season and scored an excellent match-winner. Rudan said that Berisha had been rested for the visit of Western Sydney, explaining that the league's all-time top scorer needed to be managed carefully after a short pre-season following his arrival shortly before the eve of the new campaign. "Besart will be back next week," he said. "He has come into the club only 10 days prior to the first game and we need to be really smart with him. "He's given a lot of himself in the first four games so it's about managing not just him but everyone else in the squad." Rudan also added he was unsure about the severity of Panagiotis Kone's injury, who left the pitch in the first half with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. "We're not sure about him. For him to come off tells you that there's something there, obviously." Ways to watch Hyundai A-League Download the MyFootball Live App now Sign up for Kayo Sports Get Foxtel in 2019/20 Fornaroli goal sees Glory edge Wanderers Perth Glory have recorded a club record sixth straight win after edging out a resurgent Western Sydney Wanderers 1-0 courtesy of an early strike from Bruno Fornaroli. Tony Popovic's men delivered a largely composed performance to shut-out the under-pressure Wanderers on their Diamanti injured as Berisha’s double ensures United sink the Mariners Besart Berisha scored a first-half double but Alessandro Diamanti limped off injured as Western United FC eased to a 3-0 win over Central Coast Mariners on Sunday. Berisha was at his predatory best as United turned on the style early on, scoring all three goals inside the firs Official Partners of the Hyundai A-League Macarthur FC	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335255
__label__cc	0.703087	0.296913	Biographical and Family Material, 1881-1989 Family Correspondence, 1896-1988 Personal Correspondence, 1908-1989 General Correspondence, 1922-1989 Personal Writings, 1919-1989 Notebooks, circa 1930s-1983 Memoirs, circa 1940s-1989 Fiction, circa 1929-1988 Writing by Others, circa 1920s-1989, undated Architectural Writings, 1908-1990 Books, 1908-1988 Exhibition Catalogs, circa 1942-1990 Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers, 1948-1989 Lectures, circa 1960-1988 Other Writings and Research Notes, 1937-1989, undated Projects, circa 1953-1988 Dodge House Preservation Campaign, circa 1953-1983 Grants, 1956-1985 Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), 1960-1980 L. A. Art Index, circa 1980 Preservation Projects, 1965-1980 Society of Architectural Historians (SAH), 1959-1982 UCLA, School of Architecture and Urban Planning, 1961-1988 Architect Files, 1912-1990 Printed Material, circa 1885-1990 Artwork, 1924-1967, undated Photographs and Slides, circa 1876-1989 Personal and Family Photographs, circa 1876-1989 Architects, circa 1898-1980s Case Study Houses, circa 1945-1962 Exhibition Photographs, circa 1952-1969 Research Photographs, circa 1915-1970s Slides, circa 1950s-1980s Audio and Video Recordings, 1930-1984 Esther McCoy papers, 1876-1990, bulk, 1938-1989 McCoy, Esther, 1904-1989 Photographer, Architectural historian This site provides access to the papers of Esther McCoy in the Archives of American Art that were digitized in 2010. The papers have been scanned in their entirety, and total 75,513 images. Funding for the preservation of the motion picture film "Dodge House" was provided by the Women's Film Preservation Fund of the New York Women in Film and Television. Funding for the processing and digitization of this collection was provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. Size: 44.4 linear feet. Summary: The papers of Southern California architectural historian, critic, and writer Esther McCoy measure 44.4 linear feet and date from 1876 to 1990 (bulk 1938-1989). The collection documents McCoy's career, as well as her family and personal life through biographical material, extensive correspondence, personal and professional writings, project files, Southern California architects' files, clippings and other printed material, a large collection of photographs and slides, and taped interviews of Southern California modern architects. There is an addition of 3 film reels donated in 2018 that include pre-print film elements for "Dodge House" film by Esther McCoy and Robert Snyder, including (A and B roll) and full magnetic soundtrack, 1965. Esther McCoy (1904-1989) is remembered best for her pioneering work as an architectural historian, critic, and proponent of Southern California modern architecture of the early to mid-twentieth century. The collection was given to the Archives of American Art by Esther McCoy in 1986. Before her death in 1989, McCoy assisted in the organization and identification of the papers. Pre-print elements and soundtrack for film Dodge House donated 2018 by the Academy Film Archive. Also in the Archives of American Art are eight sound cassettes of a transcribed interview with Esther McCoy conducted by Joseph Giovannini, June 8-November 14, 1987. Download Finding Aid A Finding Aid to the Esther McCoy papers, 1876-1990, bulk, 1938-1989 O'Gorman, Juan Shulman, Julius Neutra, Richard Joseph Rand, Marvin Soriano, Rafael Hollein, Hans Maybeck, Bernard R. Jones, A. Quincy (Archie Quincy), Schindler, Rudolph Michael Worlidge, T. (Thomas), Ain, Gregory Davidson, Julius Ralph Gill, Irving Grotz, Dorothy Rogers Dreiser, Theodore Watanabe, Makoto Historic American Buildings Survey Society of Architectural Historians University of California, Los Angeles.School of Architecture and Urban Planning Architecture, Domestic Slides (photographs) EAD XML View EAD XML	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335256
__label__wiki	0.923165	0.923165	Make The Most Out Of Sydney AFI Membership AACTA Membership Membership Program Streams AACTA Connect AACTA Awards Sydney AACTA International Awards Asia International Engagement Program AACTA Pitch #SocialShorts Longford Lyell Award Trailblazer Award Byron Kennedy Award AACTA TV Welcome to AACTA Film Fest From AFI \| AACTA CEO Damian Trewhella It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the 2018 AACTA Film Fest. With a record-breaking 38 feature films in competition - many of which you can't see anywhere else - this year's Festival is an all-inclusive look at Australian film. AACTA Film Fest provides the opportunity to view the outstanding Australian films from the past 12 months competing for our nation's highest screen accolades - the AACTA Awards. It's a fascinating time as the landscape of our industry continues to change; from the expansion of non-traditional distribution pathways and the availability of VOD and SVOD services to the role social media plays as a marketing platform, Australian films have more opportunities to find audiences than ever before. In particular, more and more great Australian independent films are making waves, telling diverse and unique stories that you can't find anywhere else. This year we're thrilled to recognise these films and the creative filmmakers behind them who are doing incredible things with small budgets via the AACTA Award for Best Indie Film. This year's competing films feature a dynamic mix of genres, including: thrillers such as 1% and CARGO; dramas including BREATH, WEST OF SUNSHINE and BOY ERASED; sci-fi films including UPGRADE and OCCUPATION; comedies such as BROTHERS' NEST, LADIES IN BLACK and THE MERGER; and family films PETER RABBIT™ and THE LEGO® NINJAGO MOVIE. There are also plenty of familiar faces on-screen, including award-winning home-grown talent such as Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Kylie Minogue, Joel Edgerton, Rose Byrne, Guy Pearce, Elizabeth Debicki, Jason Clarke, Magda Szubanski, Sam Neill and Simon Baker, among many others. We also enjoy performances from international actors including Helen Mirren, Rooney Mara, Martin Freeman, Julia Ormond and Lucas Hedges. Almost half of this year's films were made by first-time directors, who compete alongside some of Australia's leading directors including Bruce Beresford, Warwick Thornton, Nash Edgerton, Stephan Elliott and Garth Davis. I'm pleased to report that this year we've seen increased representation for women in Australian film. There are nine female directors in competition, over half the competing films feature prominent female leads or female-centric storylines, and seven films have females making up over half the awards candidates. We're also pleased to see a third of competing films with culturally and linguistically diverse themes and representation. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the industry for ensuring Australian film remains vibrant and dynamic through their tireless work, as well as our valued partners, new and continuing, for their generous support throughout the year. And finally, I thank our members. Your passion and support of our industry ensures it continues to flourish, as well as allow us to continue supporting, promoting and celebrating Australian screen productions, practitioners and performers. I encourage you all to participate in the largest conversation on Australian film and join us at the 2018 Film Fest in cinemas, online and on AACTA TV. I also hope you will take the time to join us at AACTA Shorts Fest in August and AACTA Docs Fest in October - either in cinema in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth or via AACTA TV. Enjoy the 2018 AACTA Film Fest! For your complete guide to the feature films competing for a nomination for the 2018 AACTA Awards presented by Foxtel, download the Film Fest Guide here (6MB). Download the Film Fest Program Notices & General Reports Employment & Volunteer AFI Research Collection Copyright 2020 by Australian Film Institute Enter your email address to proceed Please enter your email address to continue to delivery and payment. Password not working? You may need to reset your aacta.org password here. Looking for AACTA TV? LOGIN TO AACTA.TV	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335258
__label__wiki	0.966227	0.966227	Prime Minister Scott Morrison gives Winx biography to Queen Elizabeth II in first meeting By Jack Hawke in London Video: The Queen welcomes Scott and Jenny Morrison to Buckingham Palace (ABC News) Related Story: Morrison deflects US pressure to weigh in on China-Taiwan contest in the Pacific Related Story: Trump dines with Queen after blasting London Mayor as 'stone cold loser' Related Story: Why Brexit may see our 'special' relationship with the UK go up in flames Map: United Kingdom Prime Minister Scott Morrison gave the Queen a signed copy of the official biography of champion racehorse Winx during his first meeting with the monarch at Buckingham Palace. Mr and Mrs Morrison met with Prince Charles during first royal visit In a speech the PM honoured military sacrifice ahead of D-Day anniversary He said preventing violent extremism on the internet is a challenge for world leaders Her Majesty held an audience with Mr Morrison and wife Jenny in their first meeting since he was elected Prime Minister last month. Earlier, Mr and Mrs Morrison also met with Prince Charles at Clarence House, and the Prime Minister delivered a speech to the Australia-UK Chamber of Commerce. In his speech, he outlined the desire for Australia to form a free trade agreement with Britain following its delayed exit from the European Union. Mr Morrison bowed several times before shaking hands with the 93-year-old Queen as Mrs Morrison curtsied. Photo: Prince Charles also met with Mr Morrison. (Supplied) Theresa May's 'failed' legacy As she pointed out in her gracious resignation speech, she was Britain's second female Prime Minister, but unlike the Iron Lady, Mrs May's legacy will be far more understated, writes Samantha Hawley. The Prime Minister told the Queen the couple had just arrived from a stopover at Solomon Islands on the way over from Australia, before both of them joked that it "wasn't quite on the way". "It was an important visit to meet the new prime minister [of the Solomon Islands, Manasseh Sogavare]," Mr Morrison said, adding that they sent on their regards to the Queen. "Oh that's very kind of them," she replied, before inviting the couple to sit down with her. Mr Morrison also presented her with a copy of Winx: Greatest of All Racehorses, signed by author Andrew Rule as well as the owners of the thoroughbred. In his speech to the Australia-UK Chamber of Commerce, Mr Morrison urged other countries around the world to come together to combat violent extremism and prevent trade wars. External Link: Scott Morrison's speech to the UK Chamber of Commerce Mr Morrison is in Europe to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings on Wednesday, and is set to meet outgoing UK Prime Minister Theresa May, US President Donald Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a special event at Portsmouth, the port of departure for much of the invasion fleet. Topics: world-politics, business-economics-and-finance, foreign-affairs, united-kingdom, australia When will we know the UK election result and what does it mean for Brexit? The Brexit election is the Grinch of Christmas for UK voters Why is Jeremy Corbyn seen as so unelectable by so many British voters? The UK's toxic choice: a leader who won't show up or one who can't decide The weird traditions, exit polls and voting blocs that will determine the UK election What is first past the post voting and why does the UK use it? The 'Workington man' could decide Boris Johnson's fate. This is how These survivors are coming for MPs accused of misconduct Boris Johnson 'hides in fridge' on last day of UK election campaign Angered by Brexit, thousands march for Scottish independence	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335259
__label__cc	0.515314	0.484686	Search for accessible places to go Near to... Bearsden Lawn Tennis Court Jubilee Gardens, Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire, G61 2RT View Accessibility Symbols View on a map Show Easy Read Something changed? Search Access Guide Outside Access (Main Entrance) Level Change (Main Entrance) Outside Access (Accessible Entrance) Level Change (Accessible Entrance) Standard Changing Room (Male) Standard Toilet(s) You are on Location. Skip to the next section. The venue is situated outside the centre of the town or city. This venue is situated in Bearsden. The venue is not situated on a road which has a steep gradient. The nearest mainline station is Bearsden. You are on Opening Times. Skip to the next section. The venue has seasonal opening times and please contact the venue for details of opening times. You are on Parking. Skip to the next section. The venue does have its own car park. Venue Car Park View Parking is free for all users. The car park is located at the side of the tennis courts. The car park type is open air/surface. There is/are 0 Blue Badge parking bay(s) within the car park. The route from the car park to the entrance is accessible to a wheelchair user with assistance. Assistance may be required because there is/are slopes/ramps. The car park surface is tarmac. There is not a road to cross between the car park and the entrance. The car park does not have a height restriction barrier. Drop off Point View There is not a designated drop off point. You are on Outside Access (Main Entrance). Skip to the next section. This information is for the entrance located at the front of the building. There is not level access into the venue. The main door(s) open(s) away from you (push). The door(s) is / are single. The door(s) is / are heavy. The width of the door opening is 77cm (2ft 6in). You are on Level Change (Main Entrance). Skip to the next section. There is a ramp/slope to access this area/service. The ramp or slope is located on the path leading to the entrance. The ramp/slope gradient is slight. There is a/are step(s) to access this area/service. The step(s) is/are located in front of the entrance. There is/are 6 step(s) to the area/service. There is not tactile paving at the top and bottom of the steps. The step(s) is/are not clearly marked. The step(s) is/are medium height (11cm - 17cm). There is not a/are not handrail(s) at the step(s). The ramp/slope does not bypass the step(s). You are on Outside Access (Accessible Entrance). Skip to the next section. This information is for the entrance located to the rear of the building. The main door(s) open(s) by sliding. The width of the door opening is 86cm (2ft 10in). You are on Level Change (Accessible Entrance). Skip to the next section. The width of the ramp/slope is 120cm (3ft 11in). You are on Inside Access. Skip to the next section. There is level access to the service(s). There is not a hearing assistance system. This venue does not play background music. Motorised scooters are not allowed in public parts of the venue. The lighting levels are bright. You are on Tennis Courts. Skip to the next section. There is level access to the hard court from the rear of the car park (photograph 4). There is ramped access to the rear court beyond the building (photographs 5 and 6). There is a steep slope into the rear court from the hard court (photograph 7). There is level access to the front courts from the car park, or stepped access from the building (photographs 8 and 9). You are on Standard Changing Room (Male). Skip to the next section. There is a/are standard changing room(s) available. The standard changing room(s) is/are approximately 30m (32yd 2ft) from the accessible entrance. The standard changing room(s) surveyed is/are located to the rear as you enter. There is level access to the standard changing room(s). Shower facilities are available within the changing room(s). There is not level access to the shower facilities. The shower cubicle(s) / area is / are accessed via a deep step. Comments View There is a similar female changing room adjacent to this. You are on Standard Toilet(s). Skip to the next section. Availability and Location of Standard Toilets View Standard toilet facilities are available. Access to Standard Female Toilet(s) View The female toilet facilities that were surveyed are located within the changing rooms. The female toilet(s) is/are approximately 30m (32yd 2ft) from the accessible entrance. Inside the venue, there is level access to the female toilet(s). Lighting levels are bright. Access to Standard Male Toilet(s) View The male toilet facilities that were surveyed are located within the changing rooms. The male toilet(s) is/are approximately 30m (32yd 2ft) from the accessible entrance. Inside the venue, there is level access to the male toilet(s). You are on Additional Info. Skip to the next section. Staff do receive disability awareness / equality training. A bowl of water can be provided for an assistance dog. A member of staff trained in BSL skills is not normally on duty. If our guide needs updating - just let us know using this form. Please describe the change	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335261
__label__wiki	0.609321	0.609321	Decision Diagnostics Corp. Under the Symbol: DECN DECN Completes Its Genultimate! TBG System Meters, Adding to Final Brilliance After Receiving Development Consultation From Licensors and Big Box Company to Launch its GenUltimate! TBG And Genchoice! Products As Well As GenUltimate! Precis And GenUltimate! Sure in International Markets in January 2020 LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / November 7, 2019 / Decision Diagnostics Corp. (OTC PINK:DECN) is an 18-year old, diabetes-focused bio-technology development firm, manufacturer, quality plan administrator, FDA registered medical device customer support organization, and exclusive worldwide sales and regulatory process agent for the GenUltimate! ("Sunshine") diabetes test strip, the GenUltimate! Sure ("Feather") and GenUltimate! Precis ("HoneyBee") diabetes test strips for International markets, and its GenChoice! ("Ladybug") test strip now in FDA 510(k) prosecution. The company also markets its PetSure! test strip for the diabetic testing of dogs and cats, a diagnostic specifically designed to run on the market leading Zoetis Alpha Trak meter system and the GenUltimate! 4Pets Test strip and Avantage! meter a proprietary testing product for dogs, cats and horses, and the panacea GenUltimate! TBG ("Dragonfly") diabetes testing system and TBG Precise meter, now awaiting a clinical trial slot in Korea. DECN announces today that on October 31, 2019 the company completed advanced development of the two versions of its GenUltimate! TBG Precise meter, by identifying and securing the last two components needed to commercialize the meter, an impedance module and a low power Bluetooth chip. The specifications for the two meters have been transferred to our contract manufacturer for these medical devices, along with a 5,000 unit order. The meters will be manufactured in China after an exhaustive process that looked at Korean, Taiwanese, and North American organizations. Cost was not the major determining issue. First deliveries of the TBG Precise meter will be in mid-December 2019 and will be initially provided to two big box accounts and our licensing partner for their field trials. Keith Berman, CEO of DECN commented, "As many who follow DECN know, our TBG Precise meters complete the panacea GenUltimate! TBG system, and provide what our third party engineers and clinical chemists refer to as "the magic" of TGB. These meters, initially completed last July, were further developed in consultation with the leading candidate to be the worldwide licensor of our TBG products and technology. We also solicited advice from two big box accounts." The company's TBG system will give diabetics a choice of two meters, the first meter a handheld appliance for diabetics that will fit the company's business model where meters will be provided free to users. Some 85% of meters in the U.S. and Canada are provided free to diabetics by system manufacturers. Mr. Berman continued, "GenUltimate! TBG will be the most advanced, most precise, most accurate system on the market -- ever. TBG will be protected by two patents. We plan an international launch beginning January 6, 2020 in select markets. The International version of TBG will also be marketed to users of the venerable OneTouch Ultra meters, almost 2 million users worldwide. We plan a U.S. product launch just as soon as we receive 510K clearance from the U.S. FDA. We have secured a site for our TBG clinical trials at a prestigious Korean university medical center, and await approval of the clinical study from the Korean FDA." The company also discussed the second TBG meter which will be sold as a feature rich advanced meter, and will be directed to a special market that our Mr. Berman has researched for five years, now completing an affordable device for diabetes inflicted children. This second meter will contain features allowing for the direct connection to the Internet where the meter will be capable of relaying results directly from the diabetic user, who is expected to be at school, to the child's parent or guardian and/or doctor. DECN intends to charge nominally for this meter. This meter is expected to be completed in January 2020. An initial order for 2,000 meters is expected to be placed shortly. ABOUT DECISION DIAGNOSTICS CORP Decision Diagnostics Corp. is the leading manufacturer and worldwide distributor of diabetic test strips engineered to operate on legacy glucose meters. DECN's products are designed to operate efficiently and less expensively on certain glucose meters already in use by almost 7.5 million diabetics worldwide. With new inspired technology diabetic test strips already in the final stages of development, DECN products compete on a worldwide scale with legacy manufacturers currently selling to 71+ percent of a $15+ billion at-home testing market. The company's GenUltimate TBG product is not yet available for sale in the United States or Puerto Rico but is expected to go on sale in select International markets in January 2020. This release contains the company's forward-looking statements which are based on management's current expectations and assumptions as of November 6, 2019, regarding the company's business and performance, its prospects, current factors, the economy, and other future conditions and forecasts of future events, circumstances, and results. Keith Berman (805) 446-2973 www.genultimate.com www.genultimatetbg.com www.petsureteststrips.com www.pharmatechdirect.com SOURCE: Decision Diagnostics Corp.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335262
__label__cc	0.722031	0.277969	Sign up to access to our best deals every day! See them now! Search Top Deals Now RT OW 1 Traveler2 Travelers3 Travelers4 Travelers5 Travelers6 Travelers Send me great deals: Deals on this route, top deals from your home airport, and travel tips & news Please confirm the email address you entered is valid. Travel Inspiration - Fare Deals The Top 10 Airfare Deals We’ve Found Today Ricky Radka - July 3, 2019 Fireworks don’t have to be the only thing streaming across the sky this 4th of July week. Celebrate by booking another holiday week in the future and shoot off to a new destination with one of these top 10 fares. Today’s Top Fare Deals The following fares are all at prices below what we regularly see for that specific city pairing and destination. Some are part of ongoing sales, and some are unadvertised price drops that may only last for a limited time. If you're interested in any of these handpicked deals, we recommend you book ASAP to avoid missing out on a bargain buy. New York – Tel Aviv $609 Roundtrip on Royal Jordanian By JekLi / shutterstock.com Here’s a deal that’s hard to beat from Royal Jordanian’s Global Summer Sale we posted earlier this week. In case you missed it there are lots of great airfares to destinations in the Middle East and beyond that rarely go on sale, like this fare from New York-JFK to Tel Aviv for $609 roundtrip. Travel is valid from September 10 through March 20, 2020, with departures available on most weekdays. As an example, I found seats departing JFK on Tuesday, November 12, and returning from TLV on Thursday, November 21, 2019. Peak holiday travel dates blacked out. See all of our fares to Tel Aviv (TLV) from all over the U.S. and Canada. Chicago – Denver $122 Roundtrip on Southwest By Teri Virbickis / shutterstock.com Southwest’s latest nationwide sale has some great deals out there for late summer and fall travel. Take this one for example; fly nonstop from Chicago-Midway to Denver for $122 roundtrip through the middle of December. Since Southwest flights can only be purchased directly with the airline, I went to Southwest.com, to find this fantastic fare. Tickets at the listed price can be booked leaving MDW on Tuesday, September 3, with returns from DEN open on Tuesday, September 10, 2019. Other dates are widely available, but the sale ends this Thursday so you’ll need to start planning your Rocky Mountain high on the hurry. See all of our fares to Denver (DEN) from all over the U.S. and Canada. Phoenix – New Orleans $131 Roundtrip on American By Sean Pavone / shutterstock.com There’s never been a simpler way to visit the Big Easy from Phoenix with this new nonstop service from American. Fly from the carrier’s Sky Harbor hub to New Orleans for only $131 roundtrip this January or February. For the most part, flights leaving Phoenix will have to take place Tuesday, Wednesday with return flights from NOLA available Monday through Wednesday and Saturdays. As an example, I was able to secure tickets at this price leaving PHX on Wednesday, February 5, and returning from MSY on Monday, February 10, 2020. See all of our fares to New Orleans (MSY) from all over the U.S. and Canada. Boston – Dublin $346 Roundtrip on Aer Lingus By Lena Wurm / shutterstock.com Count yourself four-leaf lucky with this deal from Aer Lingus, fly nonstop from Boston to Dublin for only $346 roundtrip. Travel around the city enjoying the 12-pubs of Christmas this December with this fare that’s valid on select travel days starting in late November through December 15, 2019. As an example, I found seats at this price departing BOS on Thursday, December 5, and returning from DUB on Saturday, December 14, 2019. This price is for Aer Lingus's Saver fare, which only includes cabin baggage. If you require a checked bag, you can upgrade to the Smart fare category for $40 more each way. Travel dates in November available for about $20 more. See all of our fares to Dublin (DUB) from all over the U.S. and Canada. Baltimore – St. Thomas $299 Roundtrip on Delta By byvalet / shutterstock.com Travel from Baltimore to St. Thomas, USVI for $299 roundtrip on Delta Air Lines this winter. No passport needed! Flights to the tropical U.S. territory are available on scattered dates starting in January and February 2020. Travel is possible most days of the week, but you’ll need to play around with travel dates as some weeks are starting to sell out quickly. Searching Delta’s website, we were able to see departures from BWI on Thursday, January 23, with a return from STT on Monday, January 27, available. Making for a perfect long weekend winter getaway. See all of our fares to St. Thomas (STT) from all over the U.S. and Canada. Newark – Athens $560 Roundtrip on Emirates By Georgios Tsichlis / shutterstock.com In honor of the 4th of July, Emirates Airlines is having a sale to destinations across its global network, flights to Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia are all seeing some sweet price drops by the Dubai-based carrier. One of the best deals out of the bunch is this nonstop fare from Newark to Athens, Greece for $560 roundtrip. While other airlines are charging $60 each way for a bag to Europe, you’ll have one included when flying with Emirates making this a perfect choice for passengers looking to pick up some souvenirs on their trip. As an example, I found tickets at this price departing EWR on Sunday, September 29, and returning from ATH on Tuesday, October 8, 2019. Holiday travel blacked out. See all of our fares to Athens (ATH) from all over the U.S. and Canada. Seattle – Washington DC $237 Roundtrip on Alaska, Delta, or United By gary718 / shutterstock.com It might be a little late to spend Independence Day in the nation’s capital, but that doesn’t need to stop you from taking a trip there on the cheap later this year. Fly nonstop from Seattle to Washington DC-Dulles for $237 roundtrip this fall. You’ll have your pick from Alaska, Delta, or United on flights departing on Tuesday, Wednesday starting on September 4 through November 20, 2019. United still limits its carry-on baggage to a small personal item, so if given a chance pick Delta or Alaska as they allow for a full-sized cabin bag. Searching Alaska, I found seats at this price departing SEA on Wednesday, October 2, and returning from IAD on Tuesday, October 8, 2019. See all of our fares to Washington DC (IAD) from all over the U.S. and Canada. Philadelphia – Mumbai $759 Roundtrip on Qatar Airways Visit incredible India in style on the world’s best airline for 2019, Qatar Airways. To celebrate the 4th of July, Qatar is offering $50 off itineraries when applying promo code: FIREWORKS. Using the code, I was able to knock down the price on a route from Philadelphia to Mumbai to $759 roundtrip. Much cheaper than all other available options during that time frame. You’ll find this deal available on select Sundays through Thursdays starting in early September through late November. Searching Qatar’s site, I found flights leaving PHL on Monday, October 28 and returning from BOM on Tuesday, November 12, 2019. Only Qatar’s website will allow for the promo code deal so head on over there to book. See all of our fares to Mumbai (BOM) from all over the U.S. and Canada. Raleigh/Durham – Los Cabos $250 Roundtrip on American By emperorcosar / shutterstock.com Soak up some sun south of the border and visit San Jose del Cabo, Mexico for $250 roundtrip on American Airlines. This deal has a huge travel window with fares available starting in mid-August through early March 2020. Daily departures are available on most weeks with only the peak holiday period blacked out. On AA.com, I found tickets departing RDU on Sunday, September 15 and returning from SJD on Wednesday, September 25, 2019. See all of our fares to Los Cabos (SJD) from all over the U.S. and Canada. San Jose – Long Beach $97 Roundtrip on JetBlue By Lux Blue / shutterstock.com For all the Californians out there, fly nonstop from San Jose down the coast to Long Beach for just $97 roundtrip and avoid the traffic. On JetBlue, seats are available starting in late July through December 24, 2019, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. Looking on JetBlue's website, I was able to find tickets at this price leaving SJC on Tuesday, August 20, and returning from LGB on Saturday, August 24, 2019. One-way flights are also available for 49 dollars. See all of our fares to Long Beach (LGB) from all over the U.S. and Canada. Want more travel deals? Check out all of our fares from your city to see what's available from your neck of the woods. And have a look at our new explore feature to search for flight deals to whatever inspires you. Only able to travel on weekends? Make sure to check out our Weekender search tool. Featured image by Per Bengtsson / shutterstock.com More Stories You'll Love Loonie Seat Sale on Swoop from $50+ CAD Roundtrip JetBlue Adds New Country and Seasonal Service, Pares Back West Coast Operations The Top 5 Airfare Deals We Found for the Weekend JetBlue Hikes Checked Baggage Fees Again. Here's How to Avoid Paying Extra Explore the best flight and hotel deals for weekend travel Explore Deals Tips on how to fly, basically for free, with credit card rewards 7 Quick Tips to Help You Zen Out in the Middle Seat Roundtrip Oneway Send me great deals: Peter Thornton - January 17, 2020 Ricky Radka - January 17, 2020 Patricia Magaña - January 17, 2020 Tracy Stewart - January 16, 2020 Hawaiian Airlines Sale: Mainland Flights Starting at $278 Roundtrip, Interisland $78 RT Get Low Fares & See only the best flight deals we find each day Congratulations, you have successfully subscribed! <# } else if ( 'invalidId' === data ) { #> Unsupported Hotel Id. <# } else { #> {{data.displayPrice}} {{data.displayName}} See Deal <# } #> {{data.displayPrice}} →	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335269
__label__cc	0.746179	0.253821	Cheap Flights to Anchorage Cheap Flights to Kansas City Home Fares From A City New York City, NY New York City, NY (LGA) To Providence, RI (PVD) New York City, NY (LGA) to Providence, RI (PVD) You’ll now receive email alerts on fares from New York City, NY (LGA) to Providence, RI (PVD). New York City, NY (LGA) to Providence, RI (PVD) Weekend travel available! TRAVEL DATES Thu, Jun 18 - Mon, Jun 22 Expert verified flight deals from LGA to PVD. The largest selection of handpicked flight deals across all airlines from New York City, NY - LaGuardia Airport to Providence, RI - T. F. Green State Airport. See All Fares from New York City, NY (LGA) > Our Top Providence Hotels Omni Providence Hotel Hampton Inn & Suites Providence Downtown See All Providence Hotels >	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335270
__label__cc	0.539639	0.460361	Are they lying…flat? Last week, Air New Zealand announced in breathless language that they had finally solved the problem of sleeping in economy class. “Air New Zealand will transform international air travel later this year when it introduces revolutionary, Kiwi-designed lie-flat economy” seats, read a company press r… By Mike Klesius Last week, Air New Zealand announced in breathless language that they had finally solved the problem of sleeping in economy class. "Air New Zealand will transform international air travel later this year when it introduces revolutionary, Kiwi-designed lie-flat economy" seats, read a company press release. "For those who choose, the days of sitting in economy and yearning to lie down and sleep are gone," said CEO Rob Fyfe. "The dream is now a reality, one that you can even share with a travelling companion..." It's called the Skycouch. I pictured myself blissfully sleeping in a six-foot-long, lie-flat surface, either in a sleeper compartment or out in the open with other horizontal passengers. I scrolled, desperately hunting for a photo, or a link, or... Finally, I thought, an airline has taken the plunge with lie-flat in economy! This will be truly revolutionary! I scanned the email as confusion set in. Ah, two attachments! I opened the first one, but it was an annoying little thumbnail .jpg of the company's logo. The second one was a design element, sort of like the thingy they paint on the tail. I blinked at the screen a few more seconds. The wording in the press release didn't make it clear what this lie-flat seat looked like. I emailed the company, and a very cordial media relations woman responded the next day with a password to the web page where I could view pictures. Let's see...they should have added that the travelling companion should be "someone you're happy to spoon with in something the size of a compact car's trunk." Here's how it works: You know how you pull the side lever on a Barcalounger, and the leg rest swings up and rotates you to a reclining posture? Well this ain't that. It does have smaller, similar panels that rotate up from below the three economy seats between the aisle and window, filling the space to seatbacks in front of you. The arm rests rotate up between the seats—nothing new there. Your seatbacks recline a little. (The people in front of you can decide to do the same.) Then you lie down with your companion, your heads toward the window, in a space almost as wide as a twin bed. And a lot shorter. According to Air New Zealand, the three seats measure 1.56 meters from the aisle to the window, or five-feet-one-inch. I'm almost six feet tall. So "lie-flat" (the wording used in the press release) is good for pre-adolescents, hobbits, and the average woman from Bahrain. You and your companion each pay about $70 more than for an ordinary economy seat, and half a fare for the third seat. For a parent traveling with a toddler, it's probably worth the money; with two toddlers, the parent stays upright on the aisle while the toddlers lie and sleep. Still worth the money. But I'm left wondering when an airline will step forward—helped by regulatory agencies, Boeing, and Airbus—and fit an airplane with couchettes, as on European trains? Not the whole airplane. Just a few seats on some transoceanic flights, with beds about six feet or so. Just try it. Charge a premium and see who's willing to pay. I will. I would sleep on the blessed floor just to lie flat. Lufthansa has yet to move forward with a concept they were considering a couple years ago. Air New Zealand will offer the Skycouch in the first 11 rows of the economy cabin on a Boeing 777 starting this November. Snore. Vision Impaired The Price of Human Spaceflight	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335272
__label__cc	0.628154	0.371846	Archive for the ‘ Chapter 05 – Closer ’ Category (100) Boom. Author: MT Fierce If this had been a movie, there would have been a camera focus on the girl, a moment when out of courtesy for the death scene the Dragon would fail to lunge at me again, staying still so we could share our words of dialogue, our final farewells. Life comes at you fast. I heard the crunch as Doloise and Nellie both hurt each other, and I think I went crazy for a moment. I don’t remember if I was punching or slapping Nellie’s draconian face, I just know I went in and started yelling and hitting. “You stupid stupid Dragon! I didn’t want a fight! I just wanted my fairy back! You stupid selfish mythological creature! You fairytale monstrosity!” I was just ranting. I don’t remember exactly what I said, only that there were a lot of exclamation points, a lot of shouting, and no crying. I was too bleepin’ mad to cry, and it was a roar inside me that was getting out through words. I remember saying, “Stupid,” a lot, though. I know I was swearing. Something about Doloise was paining Nellie, and the Dragon thrashed, and roared, and when she lifted up her head to try to spit the Realm out, I just went in deeper, and now I was punching at the Dragon’s neck and belly and my knuckles were bleeding, and I didn’t feel them, I didn’t feel anything but the rushing in my head and ears and the absolute fury that I didn’t even know I had inside me. Lots of philosophers have said that it’s how you act in moments like these that show you your true self. A lot of smart philosophers have had moments like these. Well, actually, I really don’t think a lot of them have faced off bare-handed against a Dragon after their friends had been bitten by said Dragon, but maybe in a metaphorical sense. We all have our crosses to bear, our Twinkies of psychokinetic energy, our Dragons to face, and while maybe not all of them are 35 feet long and 9 feet high (just an estimate) they’re still our personal obstacles and while some of us prefer to slink around them, some of us take out our swords (or fists, or unlicensed nuclear accelerators) to slay them. That’s actually one of the reasons I’m a gamer; I want to put myself (or the characters I make) into that wringer to better know what and who I am (or they are) under more simulated pressure, yes, but before real life takes a swing at me. Doloise wasn’t screaming. She hadn’t made a noise. The bleepin’ Dragon hurt her so much that my fairy, my friend didn’t get to make a noise. Not even a last defiant squeak! I think I was screaming at this point, and kicking at the Dragon’s talons. I ducked as the Dragon brought her head swinging back down, trying to dislodge Doloise from her mouth. Actually, if I’d seen it in a movie it would have almost been comedic. It would have been the biting of something too hot to handle, and there would be steam coming out of the Dragon’s ears, and tears welling in her blue eyes. She was scrabbling with her claws and I backed away, tripping over Artur and then I think I squeaked and levitated for a moment as Artur winked at me, and I scrabbled backwards until I knocked my own breath out of me as I hit a wall. Or a stalagmite. Either one. That gave me a moment to focus my thoughts, and Nellie managed to get Doloise pulled out of her jaws. Doloise was bleeding flowers, daffodils and dandelions, yellow ashes like sulfur, a golden glow of light against the bronze darkness. They both bled gold. Neither of them were human – was I surprised? Doloise slapped against the ground with the sound of a wet slab of meat, but she wasn’t meat. She was from Beyond my reality, Beyond what I knew. She wasn’t my fairy, she was a shape for some magic and surveillance. A camera and a wand. I remembered who I was, and where I was. I remembered Artur opening the door. I stood up. I could do this. “Stop this,” I shouted at Nellie, who was still making whimpering noises. She spat in my direction, a mixture of slime and thorns and blood of a Realm. I dodged it, and moved in front of her. She said nothing, only leaned towards me with her slavering mouth and her mad blue eyes. I did not flinch, but I did close my eyes. I needed to find that place, that one spot inside where things got quiet. I reached out and inwards at the same time. I felt her breath, and it smelled like Doloise. “What did you just do?” the Dragon asked, quietly. I thought I had seen her angry, but that quiet question did scare me more than anything I had yet experienced. I did it again, and I could feel it closer. My one trick, magnified. “What did you just do?” the Dragon screamed, repeating herself, and I felt the blow first as pressure against my ribs, and then pressure inside. I kept my focus, trying to breathe. Something had broken, and I felt myself curling up in pain against the wishes of my brain. I did it again. The noise got quieter. And again. There were so many open doors, and I could close them all. “Stop it! Stop it!” I didn’t care how many places a Dragon existed in, because they were just doors to me. Doors I could pull, push, slam or kick shut. I felt her move towards me, and I opened my eyes. Artur lifted his sword, the forest not piercing Nellie, but getting in her way, vines pulling at her feet, trees crashing down as she moved towards me. Artur bled green blood, swamp, and sap, but he was only barely mortal. Nellie was not, Doloise was not. They had rules, and one of them was that they did not function well without connections to their place of origin, without open portals. And I was the Portal Doctor. Filed under: Chapter 05 - Closer (101) The Heat of the Night My lips taste of salt, like the breath of a breeze that caresses the surface of the ocean. The kiss of the coast, the mistress of sand and surf. My lips taste of blood. “-crzzzt- we have a fire” “-nack-nack- just laying here” “no identification” “Maggie said-” Do leaves feel like this, swept up by the wind, buffeted by nothing so common and yet so precious as air? “-snrack! FZZZZT!-” I cannot breathe. “-seriously, the same guy. Dairy Queen, remember?” “I was birthed in thorns, and buried in ashes.” No, that voice was just in my head. I felt myself being pulled up onto the gurney. I felt movement, and I felt pain, but I also felt disassociated. This wasn’t me – the real me was kicking closed doors until it was just me and a Dragon. “-fire under control-” “Started in the kitchens–” “It is one of the three ways I will assist.” That left one more, and I thought it would sound better if he said, “It is the second of the three ways I will assist,” but I didn’t argue it. I couldn’t move. I was strapped down again. I guess since the words were all in my head I could argue quietly. Were the words speaking to me or just memories of sound? I couldn’t hear anything. My head was made of fuzzy muffins. “No, small potatoes.” In a hashbrown world. I remembered grinning at that. My head was made of small potatoes. Was I good for baking, maybe a russet, or better for boiling, like a red nordland? “If soaking your head was boiling. Maybe a fingerling?” That was a response to my thought. Or maybe I said it aloud. Or maybe I answered myself. I am like a potato because to a Dragon I am crunchy and good with ketchup. And that’s pretty much the only time to eat ketchup. I am a french fry. A lost potato. Peter, Peter, potato eater, had a French maid but couldn’t keep her… put her in a ketchup bowl, and made up for all the time he stole. I might have been delirious. Someone up front was shouting numbers for a moment. I hoped they were good numbers. Maybe they were Jenny’s phone number. I hated that song. There were too many lights and too much sound and all I wanted was my friend back. She hadn’t been a very good friend, but that was alright, because she hadn’t had a lot of experience being a person. I can be forgiving in that case. “But did you love her?” Love her? What kind of question was that? That’s the kind of thing your id sneaks in when you’re not paying attention. It always wants the spotlight. It’s like little fantasies of being recognized by fame and/or people you admire. We all have them, and unless we’re some weird groupie type, we know they’re pretty dumb. It’s the kind of rational rationale that keeps us reasonable folk from showing too much enthusiasm. Goodness knows, we can’t like anything. That’d be bad for our too cool for school image. Love her? How do you answer that? I can’t. I can’t answer, “Yes,” because I wouldn’t have described it as love. The language doesn’t have the right word. I cared for her in all the meanings of the phrase, “cared for,” which might be a kind of love. I liked it when she laughed at the meerkats. I knew her favourite flavour (not that “anything chocolate” was hard to grasp) of ice cream. I knew she always scanned the crowd for dangers only she could detect. I knew she was an entity that did not belong fully in my world, and that she was a temporary thing, mine until her promise was fulfilled, and the whims of her makers could just as easily unmake what consciousness she had. Can a group be said to have a consciousness (or a conscience?) different than the make-up of its individuals? I think I had a headache. But did I love her? If I was going to go to bed with anyone soon, it was probably going to be Sylvia, provided she liked me without the influence of the incubus. Doloise was too different. You don’t go to bed with an entity without ending up owing it a favour. Someone told me that once. Or maybe I read it in a book. I recognized that voice. It was Maggie. She sounded like she’d been crying. Or arguing. Or both. I don’t get women. I wonder why they made Doloise a woman. I would have listened if it had been a man. Or a tree, apparently. I saw what Artur had done, trying to help me. I guess it takes two bites by a Dragon to get to the center of a lesyie pop. “Let me have a minute with him, alone, please?” She was talking to someone else. It was quieter here, but the lights were still too bright. My eyes weren’t working. Maybe I left them in the dark of the cavern. Maybe they were just resting. Yeah, I was just resting them. The screams of the Dragon still roared in my ears. It’s odd, not knowing where you are, what position you’re in, if you’re still alone in the dark of a cavern while a Dragon spits out thorns and curses you for closing off access to its power, or if you’re in a hospital bed far from home. Is that moss, or a tiny stream, or a cold IV dripping into your arm? Then the presence was gone, gone, and I was alone. Alone inside my head, where I was away from the pain. Alone away from my friends, the short fellow with the tree-like legs, and the tall one who smelled like dandelions, and the velvet bat, and the witches, and the smell of Ivan burning, and the wolves. Don’t leave me. There are wolves out there. “I’m not leaving. I’m here, E.” A cool hand against my forehead and I started to feel my body again. I curled up rather than scream. The wolves were inside me, weren’t they? “I’ll protect you from the wolves.” Who protects me from the Dragons? (78) Dandy Lions (Interlude: Doloise) Yellow. Do we use a changed child? He would not like a child, I think. He would not be ruled by the urge to mate, sensuously. I like curls. Yellow. Here, this art will do to clothe it. Her. A woman. Tall. Tall means to take attention. She should have a pretty voice. Do not give her the voice of a siren as it distracts from the message. I want green eyes. Take them, then, but she will wear all of ours, depending on which of us holds her hand. Skin of gold? Skin of fair, or Angharad will be jealous, but weave gold into her hair. I like curls. But does he? Amber. Saffron. The shield of yew. Are you sure he’s the one? The Shadow would fight a mage, and taste a mortal. This one walks between worlds. A man on the threshold, but not a trickster? He sees, but does not have to touch, he wants, but not too much. A trickster thirsts for change. Goldenrod. The ochre pelt of lions. I wonder if he likes the taste of daisies. Should she unfold, she can taste of cobwebs and the reddest stolen cherries. I would have her spin the moon into quiet dreams. She will smell of meadows and orchards, of wind, and rain, and coloured birds. But our lord’s tastes are for brimstone and leather, my love. Daffodil for the arts. Draw salt into her bones, and silver into her blood, silk to the touch, and gold unto her hood. Paint her pretty parts the pink of petals, and have her dance upon a pin, give her seldom laughter for it ill benefits a man. Lemons and mustard, maize and cream. Silly rhymer. Would you name her? No, to name her would be dolose. A heart of ice, a tongue of dirt? She is a force for this world, give her gifts in three times three. She shall be Guide once, to a land unafraid of steel. She will be Guardian twice, once to protect, once to guard the gate. She will be able to learn fear, but not have it attract or repel her. She will know the tongues of those she meets, and when told secrets, those she keeps. Canary. She should be able to dance and move like serpent and sparrow, ox and eagle, otter and silly-nilly porcupine. She will draw a lake from a drop of rain, and with swift glamour, back again. She should be able to ride the steeds of this world, though they be iron or black smoke, and swiftly, as if she had wings. She should learn quickly that which is taught in good faith. She should sit where and as a cat sits, and always spot our kind. I want her to have curls. Behave, fractious child! We have our three times three, our nine to the world and so it be. But in undoing her, how shall we weave? Perilous fate and dungeons for the overbold? Silence and the holly king’s yearly sacrifice, should she melt to flowers, or freeze to ice? A maiden shall she fall? Or to borrow our friend’s verses, not at all. She can go in battle, or by neglect. A breach in Hospitality? Sunglow. She’s a pretty poppet, and see her curls? A bit fairer than asked for, but that’s true of all girls. Speak for us, poppet, and give us your name. “I do not know my name.” Your troth in this? For we did not give her the gift of true speech. We could speak as her in need, but I fair like the idea of the challenge of her finding her own words. Find the healer, pretty thing. The one who sutures the worlds with silver string. Straw. Icterine. The doctor. They call him a doctor. “And when I find this man?” He is mortal, he will do. We have a Shadow at our gate, and he seeks souls for battle. I would tell you more but it is not mine to tattle. “What is he like?” What does it matter? He is mortal and he fits our diviners survey. He speaks no poetry, sings no songs, but has an edge of the light anyway. No stolen child, he. Our fair Thomas once spoke of him. Do not get weepy over tragic Thomas. We remember one mortal’s name why not another? Fulvous. “Am I to be with him?” Do not eat him. But mortal flesh has its own rewards, however you try it. Have you tried mince pies from youngling’s thighs? Mad mad Thomas, he would only ally with our Shadow thing, our Shadow King. Ecru. “Why will the doctor do what we ask?” Because we will kill him if he does not? The idea of incentive has reached the wild lands, so why do you insist that it is only on point of the knife that one should choose? Old pleasures die hard. We will gift him. No, we will give him a boon. Beware Peredur. The red of the gold goblet, the shadow at sun’s height. He wakens. “Is that my lord?” Apricot. His breath brought life to you, but it is made of thorn and ashes. Do not ask to be pricked upon the blackthorn’s tip, or for you who reminds him of his fair, you may lose more than your maidenhead. [much shared laughter] Shush. Hush like the blanket of clover. Our Realm here should be turned to the mortal’s world, tuned like an instrument to play its game like a tale. Isabelline, draw the Court’s eyes and see as our poppet sees. Gelsey, draw open the bridge. Oren, music to soothe our lord so he does not see the beauty in what we have wrought and desire it before it comes into its own. “But what is my name?” Ill luck to name you. You are no child born, no woman of real flesh. You are our tool, magnificent in gift until we have need of our component pieces. “Then ill luck I shall be named. Doloise Mallory.” Dandelion. (79) Seeds of Gold The rules of Hospitality are such that as much as I wanted to replay the loop of, “No, no, after you, I insist,” with Artur all would still know it as procrastination. So I took a step forward. Nikolai whined and pushed at my right leg with his nose. Another step, and I could feel the sound buzzing slightly. My synesthesia is not entirely metaphorical; after all, sound waves are physical, measurable items. A third step and I and Nikolai were through into the cold, thin air, falling perhaps half a meter in surprise between there and here. I said something unintelligible at the time, moving forward so Artur could come through and not crash into us. Nikolai found a place to heel beside me. I couldn’t speak for the dog, but I was getting pretty tired of all the travelling. I close these darn things, and at that, I thought portals short-lived and relatively rare. Now I find that they’re kind of the whoopie-cushion of wizards or some other practical joke. “Here, pull my finger, and I’ll open a gate to Stenchlandia!” “Pick a card, any card, and I’ll portkey you to Spadesville, Ace!” We were let out at a mountainside of amethyst and gold. The purple mountains’ majesty, if you must. I don’t know plants, but the colour was made of little flowers in yellows and violet, living symbiotically, or at least as good friends, on unnaturally shiny ground. Thick golden seeds went unharvested at the base of the petals, and their stalks seemed to sprout symmetrically from the same base. The flowers were kind of star shaped. Very desert twee. Nikolai moved to water the flowers as Artur came through. The gate’s exodus on this side was anchored by a bronze and indigo treefall that had been impeded by a large rock that looked made of pyrite or an exceptionally golden mica or something else. I was trotting out all the geological terms I knew, except for the cleavage jokes because there weren’t any girls here. Looking down (the direction we were pointed in) showed a yellow brick road in the distance. I couldn’t actually tell if it was brick, and it looked more like a pale mud than yellow, but I was feeling snarky. Of course, we’d already sung the, “We’re Off to Meet the Wizard” in the last pocket universe we visited. There were some other hills in the distance, some quite butte-iful. (I like big buttes, Sir Mixes-his-metaphors-a-lot?) “Which way lies the beast?” Artur asked. He hadn’t spent the last minute hopping and cursing his ankle. Of course, I had been far too suave to do that either, but I was kind of hoping. I sighed and started climbing up. “The Dragon can fly. Start remembering to look up.” “If you believe magical beings to be evolutionarily savvy,” he said, with no trace of an accent, “you’d know that’s highly unlikely for a creature born of the treetops.” “Born of the treetops?” I asked, without looking at him. I patted my stomach. “This here, was born of the muffin-tops.” “You’re awfully irreverent for a wizard.” “Must be why I haven’t gotten the union card.” “What would you call yourself then? A doctor?” He scoffed. “I call myself `me,’ just like in the song. What’s a lesiye anyway? Sounds like part of a zombie, but only if you add the ‘f’ in front of it.” “A…fleshy. That one’s good. Oh look, there.” We had reached a bit of summit, and he pointed across a large puddle of shimmery water. Well, I called it a puddle because from this height all I could do was guess how deep it was, so other than it being water I could splash in, it was a mystery. Plus, not being a cartographer, I didn’t know what the rules were to naming it a pond, lake, mere, loch, sea, or whatnot. (But I took a moment to make a note in my phone to look it up later. No, I didn’t have signal. It’s a market ready to happen, though, although I decided that looking up my service representative and suggesting it was not on my to-do list.) The lake (I took a wild guess) itself reflected gold and green, depending on the winds. On an island in the middle was a cave that, were this a videogame, practically screamed, “click on me to enter!” I made the appropriate motion with my index finger, and then smiled to myself. “When she was Naul, she was brown with the talons of an eagle, and wings of garnet and copper feathers,” Artur said, and it sounded like he was reciting a piece of scripture. “Eagles build their nests high, I thought,” I said. “Not on islands. But I thought she might actually be elementally connected to water, which would indicate the cave, maybe?” “Water eagles?” Artur asked, skeptically. “Sea eagles. Ospreys?” I shrugged. “The coat of arms for Russia has a double-headed eagle. And doesn’t it also have a dragon slayer?” “Point, although that’s within the last millenia.” “Full of relevant timely trivia, that’s me. I’m fun to have at parties.” I watched the skies, but except for occasional wisps of clouds, there was nothing about, and no noises to indicate invisible things flying about our heads. Unless they were inaudible, and, well, had no wind resistance either, in which case it could still be sylphs, but I think of having them as being just a little less likely than having a social disease. Which meant that I would have to have, you know, a social life. We picked our way down the mountain carefully, and quietly, which gave me time to ask myself the question I had been avoiding. Would I have gone this far for Maggie? I told myself I would have for any damsel in distress, and maybe even a couple good male friends. But I might have been lying to myself, I mean, how would I have ever known? (80) Earthly Delights Of course, it wasn’t my relationships that were the pressing issues right now, but exactly what bound Ivan and Nellie together, and what made up this little pocket universe we were in, presuming, of course, we weren’t somewhere in the so-called “real world.” I halfheartedly wished I had a way of telling, because not knowing the rules of a place meant you didn’t know what kind of Hospitality you could expect. On the other hand, after this little jaunt to face down a creature of real Power and ask nicely for my fairy back, I very much hoped to stay in the world that included my bed, my books, and my small attempts at keeping the barriers of the world intact from small intrusions. I would have kept the alliteration going, but “band-aided” didn’t sound quite right. Artur continued a fairly fast pace down the mountainside that left me always on the edge of having to catch up. Nikolai took it as a jaunt in the sunshine. It wasn’t too bad except for that constant nagging paranoia that said, “Any minute now, the earth is going to open up into a sarlacc pit, or we’re going to be dive-bombed by a previous invisible dragon that will eat our face. Either one, it’s going to happen.” (My little internal voices are quite specific about the risks I am likely to incur, which doesn’t make them accurate, just determined.) I think the difference between a phobia and a regular fear is the ability to think your way through it. A phobia doesn’t let you relax and say, “Hey, what are the odds that both Ivan and Nellie love Star Wars the way they love each other?” I am from the generation that has an irrational fear of the sarlacc, and, of course, lurkers above. Of course, the part of my brain that tries to look at the bright side suggests, “If they have that stuff, maybe they’ll have lightsabres, too!” We don’t listen to that part of our brain very much, because we suspect in our deep-down darkest selves, that we run faster on panic than with glee. So it’s much more likely that that shadow in the doorway is something that wants our pain with a side of flesh and blood than it is something waiting to ambush us and give us presents. Alas, poor Santa Claus, we believed in you well. So what was this place? The suffering romantic in me wanted to think it was a little love getaway for the Dragon and her death talker. It’s a lot less atmospheric (so to speak) than a graveyard and mounds of treasure, but why stereotype? After all, from my copious research on the topic, Dragons like knowledge, royal maidens, acquiring treasure, breathing fire, crunchy people with or without ketchup, strawberry ice cream, and long walks on the beach under the moonlight. Um, maybe not the last two, but I wouldn’t put it past them. “I’ve been thinking,” I said, breaking the silence. “A dishonest vocation,” retorted Artur. “But occasionally rewarding, and it holds great potential for amusement,” I suggested. “I had thoughts that might be relevant to our situation.” “Do you want to share them or brag about them?” If we survived this, I determined that I would introduce him to my ex-. It was only fair – neither of them credited me with the rudiments of intelligence, and if mocking me was at least one thing in common it’d be a better relationship than some I’d seen. “They’re ill-formed and only half-fitted without your input, of course.” I left off the, “Oh mighty fleshy lesiye one,” in hopes this conversation would get somewhere. “Let me start with a conjecture. Where are we?” Artur stopped. “The air is thinner, and less full of things I can breathe,” he said. “I presume it is a shard of a place significant to the both of them, and that we will need to find another portal, perhaps on that island, it being the only protected outlet, that will lead to where the beast makes its primary lair.” That made some sense. “How do you propose getting to the island?” He glanced at me. “I should make you swim.” I parsed it so that he wasn’t going to, which was good of him. Honestly, I can wade and paddle a bit, but I’m no real swimmer. I spent my summers at the pool with a less-than-subtle eye towards girls in bikinis and trying not to think about the huge gaping drains and the fear that fed them. For what it’s worth, ladies, I can hold my breath for a very long time. I learned that in the summers, too. “You know, every time you refer to `the beast, ‘ I keep thinking we need to stab it with our steely knives.” “That didn’t work in the song, either.” Artur grinned. I wondered what the “passage back to the place we were before,” was going to look like, and then quashed the thought quickly so as not to dwell on it. We reached the shore, and another artificial aspect of this place hit me – no matter how much people say water is tasteless and odorless, it isn’t. Water from all sorts of places has its own bouquet. This wasn’t so cold as to lack vegetation, which has its own smell in water, too. Except here. Not a gnat or other nasty no-see-‘um in sight – that’s another good sign you aren’t in the real world. I started to make a list while my battery held. Artur leaned down and touched the place where the water lapped at the earth, and said some words. I could feel the power radiate from his fingers a little. The waves became somehow thicker, more like a non-Newtonian fluid than, well, any liquid outside a milkshake I was likely to drink. He seemed to put some effort into it, although, for me, it was like something magical. I love watching wizards at work, really, because magic really is there to break the rules. “You’ll have to move quickly,” he said. “We’ll make it to the island, provided there aren’t any spell-eating vermin within the lake. There ought to be, because no portal should be left unguarded.” I hadn’t thought of that as a truism, but maybe I’ve just been lucky. (81) Over My Head When you’re worried about a comment someone has made, you ought to consider the one who is saying it. I considered the source, and, well, wizards think differently than other people. They’re not normal. I tried not to chortle at the understatement. Instead, I prepared myself for a run. I did a little stretching, although I was never sure if I was doing the right kind or how much to do to warm up. I did learn it in high school gym, and I’d never pulled a muscle (although I get enough stitches in my side to need a tailor.) He nodded. “Now” is like a magic word by itself – it signifies so much in the way of building pressure suddenly being relieved. It features in a lot of porn, but even beyond that, it takes the idea of being ready, being prepared, and suddenly overcoming an obstacle. In this case, it meant my running across with noises that weren’t quite splashes, and weren’t quite thuds. More flappy-slappy noises. I barred my mind from thinking of where I’d last heard similar sounds. I recommend ignorance. Ignorance is bleepin’ bliss. Artur did not so much stride across the surface of the water as act as if he were wearing some kind of snow shoes. I was moving too quickly to really see if he had accomplished this by fact of transformation of himself, or of another spell. I had assumed he would run with me, but maybe he was ready to feed me to the sharks. Sharks, of course, would be quite rare in freshwater ponds. The only sharks I tended to run across were warm and buttery, which doesn’t lend itself well to fear. It’s kind of hard to respect something of whom you can use the same words to describe a cinnamon roll. Nikolai just dove in after us, and paddled the way dogs are known to do. Kind of iconic, really. So, as I sailed blithely along with a kind of thuddy pace, it wasn’t until we were about a quarter of the way across that the first obstacle made itself known. It wasn’t a shark, I’m glad to tell you. I almost wish it had been. The thing rose up with tendrils across our path, invisible except for the sheer mass of water it moved with it. I couldn’t tell if it was a gelatin cousin of the Flying Spaghetti Monster or if it was just some sort of water weird. It lashed out and I managed to duck underneath, getting soaked. Nikolai barked, but was set on the whole swimming business. I paused and started to sink. At least it would be a slow, suffocating death, unless the elemental managed to pull me out of Artur’s spell to do whatever such a beast is raised to do. The arc of electric light that left ozone behind it came from Artur. Ah, wizards at play. I wished for a seat on shore and some popcorn, because this magic was better than any industrial light show. The creature, detecting something that was really a threat split in a kind of osmotic fashion, most of its bulk headed back towards Artur. I remembered what I had in my pockets. I was running faster as the creature dissolved in some agony, not unlike a slug when gifted with a shower of salt. I had never stopped moving, which is what kept me from the quicksand effect. It’s a lesson you can learn from video games, too, especially the dance kind. I was rapidly running…out of energy. Trust me, nothing inspires you to get to the gym like the release of a nifty gadget for tracking purposes or the wet sodden mass of a monster after you. They’re both kind of high up on the list. So I ran right into the second obstacle, and this one was brilliant. It was a ring of fire, and I wasn’t a Johnny Cash fan, however you describe it. It was like elemental lava, ignorant of the arguments water has had with fire. It flowed from the water, and flames danced across its surface. However, the designer of this obstacle had not anticipated Artur’s spell design. I leaped over it with a prayer for my continued lucky streak of uncharred manhood and kept going. This obstacle left Nikolai behind. So, two of my party down. I thought the rule was you only had to run faster than the halfling? If there was a third obstacle, I was in trouble. Of course there was a third obstacle. She was beautiful, about my height, and her skin was faintly transparent. She surfaced just like Venus from the clamshell. She looked at me and smiled a mouth full of beautiful shark-like teeth. I was ready for that, though. I kept moving toward her, like I was some sex-obsessed sailor. She wasn’t ready for the Doctor E punch. Hey, I’d used it on Sylvia, so apparently I have a track record for knocking the breath out of pretty girls. I don’t think I’d get away with it twice, but she was just solid enough, and I was just quick enough that I made it onto the island while she recovered. Which at least left firm ground beneath me, so the danger of drowning was at least delayed. The elemental was outmatched by Artur, but it was a close thing. I took a moment to watch Artur’s legs as they moved through the water. He had added bulk and height again, and his legs were more like two tree trunks, kind of ent-ish, really, as he moved through the lake. He picked up Nikolai (who had swam back and had gotten a few tentacles with his doggish teeth) and gently tossed the dog over the obstacle of fire. And then the naiad made landfall, on a gentle swell of water and I had to pay attention to my own problems. “There is no welcome for you here.” “So if I had a glossy, engraved invitation, you wouldn’t drown me?” Again, that toothy smile. I moved back a few steps. The rules of portals, the ones I had made at least, said that I would enter in a place not unlike the one I had just left. There’s a continuity. What was the continuity between the throne set up Ivan had made and the mountains? I felt the rumble as the so-called solid land beneath me began to awaken. (82) Economies of Scales If I put just enough swagger and move my eyebrows like a muppet I might be able to deliver the line, “I could tell you about big,” ignoring the kind of gravitas that the moment deserved. My eyebrows are distinctly unmuppet, at least in this stage of my evolution, and I’m not the swaggering type. Let me put it this way: I had been thinking small. Not so small that I could describe the naiad as some kind of lymphocyte small, but small in that the creature that represented Ivan in the gate transfer (Ivan wasn’t a small man, if you recall) could quite easily eat a me and my lost simulacrum for a snack and still want a couple dozen pizzas before its belly stopped complaining. And it worked for the gate requirement. I was happy about that – only Doloise has broken my personal rules, and she had a reason. I mean, I had wanted to mention that the mountains were far larger than molehills, but since I’m from Colorado I try not to brag. There’s only a few groups of people who understand why we stay in the state (and not just because we’re addled from the altitude) for the mountains. Going just about anywhere else, and you get, you know, hills. Soft rounded things that don’t have the presence our part of the range does. So I hadn’t been impressed with the shiny mountains and their purple flowers, but again, it’s all about how you describe the environs. Artur in the trollish form he showed in the kitchen of the restaurant was big, bigger than Ivan, but this thing (and I really wanted a name for it and an entry in some kind of Monster Manual to know its capabilities) put Artur and the lesiye’s ent-like ways to shame. I was feeling kind of small for a moment. And wet from splashback as the island creature (too human to dub it Krakoa) shook itself loose, catching me in a giant hand (oh, call it three quarters my size) before I fell back into the water. “Hmmmm?” it asked. I think it was hmmmming, at any rate. Its head still kind of looked like a cave, and the scales looked very much like living water. It had caught the naiad in its other hand, and seemed to ignore Artur and Nikolai completely. Apparently, the second obstacle was a necklace. You know, the usual kind of fire charm you’d give your sentient lake boyfriend. I really did not want to speculate on what that made the first obstacle. Alas, my brain does not always obey my every whim, but this time it kind of went crazy and suggested it was um, a familiar. Like a parrot on a pirate’s shoulder. I would like to state for the record that I did not pee my pants, but honestly, it would have been completely reasonable to do so. I did not mostly because my body had seized up in a fashion that decided any additional moisture would have to be Enemy. Air whooshed around me, and the roaring of a giant waterfall all but made the “Hmmmm?” sound like a cavern taking a deep breath. I was soaked now just from the ambient water in the air. I hate it when my socks get wet. But it’s not like you can go all over the universe in adequate footgear without life sometimes just handing you giant island men. Or women – but “humanoid” only goes so far, you know? And I’d like to say it saved me from having to take another shower as soon as I got home, but “ambient” only goes so far, too. I couldn’t find a way to ask for soap in “giant island thing language.” “It wants to know who and what you are,” the naiad shouted. Besides the necessary volume, she was looking completely relaxed in the thing’s hand. “It first!” I wanted to shout back, but my better sense actually blocked it. Of course, I wasn’t getting anything better prepared than, “I am me!” but that’s fine, because Artur showed up again, doing something to the hand of the creature like a special pressure point and having it release both of us. Falling wasn’t “fine,” by any means. I’m not afraid of heights (but I don’t test it, either) but falling, falling wasn’t getting me to my happy place. I had complete and total empathy for Bilbo Baggins and his wanting a good hot breakfast after a night’s rest in his own bed. Well, except for the part of me that was screaming, “We’re going to die!” Artur didn’t look worried. Oh, he was pulling a Kyra. It’s a “Dark Crystal” reference, and shouldn’t count as a spoiler anymore. Well, the flying squirrel version of showing he had wings. I didn’t know the limits of his transformations, but I was pretty impressed. And pretty worried. Why hadn’t he taken out Nellie? I know this wasn’t a matter of “needing mortal blood” or any such silly ruling. If she was more powerful than this son-of-a-lesiye, I better have something hidden like Zaphod in my brain and be able to pull out some kind of Heart of Gold improbability. Of course, I’d been sitting on my living room couch with something that could all but obliterate Artur without much effort, and she, too, had been snatched by a Dragon. See? I would like to take this moment to refute the common refrain. Size does matter. Scale is important. I wasn’t quite at the point that I cancelled my “I’m not dying from falling,” happy, but I was beginning to wonder if I could eat what we were biting off. This wasn’t even at more than I could chew stage, this was, bigger than my giant island thing’s head. When did I order the “mess with metaphysical things beyond my ken,” buffet? I will not eat green eggs and dragon, no matter the size of the wash-it-down flagon. (83) Breathe We landed. You know how I go on, so you’re probably surprised in that I really don’t want to talk about it. Maybe that says a lot about the way we landed. The words, “In the event of a water landing,” may now be triggering for me. On the other hand, I can now say with confidence that the lake being was pretty darn male, because there was at least five seconds (more than adequate time while gliding) of total crotch scenery. See? Now we can share some scars. Don’t go and get yourself tattoo’d with anything, but I’ve heard that shared pain is lessened. I feel so much better now knowing I can use the correct pronoun. Artur reverted to tree-thing as we ran down the hill. Nikolai made a yelp-like sound and joined us at a run. This pleased me, as I had worried about what had happened to the hound. I mentally added a monthly gym cost to my slim bank account. You know what would be cool? A gym set up kind of like the library. Um, I’m busy running so I can’t explain what I mean by that, but if they’re concerned about obesity in this country, they should make health a heck of a lot cheaper. [Without being political, of course. Practitioners have the regular run of political variety, but there was a symposium a few years ago I attended that considered why there were so few in public office (all jokes about pacts with the infernal aside.) I was unsurprised to find out that few cared about “mortal law,” and disappointed to see how few were registered to vote. Honestly, I don’t think we’re a big enough franchise to move numbers across the board, but politicians don’t really cater to our demographic. Besides, what kind of issues do we have that are specific to our needs? More troops to guard our metaphysical borders? A citizen can dream, can’t he?] “That was the throne. The entrance is directly across, just not in the same scale,” I managed. If that indicates I wasn’t running as fast as I could because I could spit words out, that had more to do with the fact that in text it looks a lot more like a coherent sentence. It was more of an exaggerated William-Shatner-reading-breathy-porn delivery. Although, really, that whole seven-league-step thing kind of made our adrenaline-hyped dash quite silly in retrospect. I think mostly it seemed like a good idea at the time. Artur grunted – he could make more distance in each stride, but I was pleased to point out that while it moved him quickly, my feet rose and fell more so we were fairly well matched. Nikolai was dashing, but he had four feet to ours, so as long as he had the stamina, we wouldn’t have to sacrifice him to whatever was following. Which was…nothing. Apparently the splashing we had heard was a matter of the lake king deciding to go back to sleep. Frankly, I didn’t know whether or not to be chuffed about it. I mean, he could have crushed us with tons and tons of water at any point, but I would have preferred all that running to have been for a reason. We slowed down after a few minutes and turned around. I decided to flop back on my back for a moment and just breathe loudly. Nikolai kept sniffing around. He actually moved away in order to shake off some of the water, so I was only hit by a fine mist. “In answer to your question,” Artur wheezed, “I thought the area between the cliffs was a good choice.” “Oh. So that’s why we,” hack, cough, wheeze, sit up, lay back down, “headed that way.” “And it was the only way out…” “Practical. What was that thing?” “I think it was a son of the Morskoi Tsar.” He translated for me. “The Water King.” “Oh.” I was ready to put the name into my phone, and then sat up with a curse. “I hope Prince Lake Monster didn’t just void the warranty with his shower,” I grumbled. I was soaked, but I had worn my jacket, and the phone seemed to be fine, and my pockets waterproof. Not bad for a thrift store find. I was getting kind of low on battery, but I expected that. “So. Not the way to the dragon.” I sighed. “Did Ivan lie?” “Pravda?” Artur laughed. I remembered the word from elementary social studies classes, so I followed his meaning. “He’s a sorceror. Therefore, he lies.” “Bigot,” I called him on it. “How many sorcerors have you known?” Artur asked. “Irrelevant, but I will agree that this hasn’t been a good example for the group.” I frowned. “I liked him.” “Of course you do. He is like Jack.” I caught myself before I said I didn’t know Jack. “Which Jack?” “All the Jacks. He is an Ivan, and Ivans are clever and likable. They are also butchers of friends. There should be a saying. `It is easier to be butcher of friends, for goats are more suspicious.'” I laughed until I coughed some more. “I will try to remember that and use it someday.” I finished coughing and stood back up. Artur had somehow rooted into the ground, and was looking fairly refreshed. “What are you, anyway? Some kind of ent?” He seemed put out. “I’ve lived in the U.S. most of my life. I watch at least four hours of television a day. But what do we talk about? The things that make me different. My father was not an elderberry bush.” “So your mother wasn’t a hamster. What, do you want to talk about sports?” “I’m a Broncos fan.” “Uh, football, right?” I grinned. “Now that I can breathe again, how about how we are going to find this dragon? I don’t suppose you know the Questor, do you?” “Oh, sure, but I have a better suggestion.” He sighed. “We’re going to have to talk with Vasilisa the Wise.” “Where can we find him?” Artur just chuckled. “That reminds me of a story…” (84) Invite the Right One “I am no gusli player,” Artur explained, “but let’s catch our breath here in the raskovnik, and I’ll see if I can tell you the story.” I sat up, ready to protest. “Do we have time for this?” Artur raised a bushy eyebrow. “Either she’s dragonchow, or she’s fine and Nellie is waiting for something else. A negotiation, because just biting down on someone else’s magic is likely to give you several different kinds of indigestion. I think she’s waiting for us. Ivan had to have told her somehow.” I didn’t like the idea but he had a point. Either we were too late, and we were just going to get et ourselves, or we were a pivot of sorts. Peredur had just about said it, so now that we had played with the Watcher on the Threshold, we had a few minutes. Of course, if I’d known that, I’d go catch a shower, maybe a last meal… listening to the lesiye boy in a field that if it had been in our world would have given me allergic reactions, while a spell that was turned into a dog came over to have its ears scritched…well, this wasn’t likely to be the most surreal thing that had or would happen to me. He seemed to take my consideration as assent. “So, once upon a time in a land, far, far away… or, to be more precise, about three years ago in New York City…” He had gone from the sing-song beat of tradition to something I knew to be a translation, but while there was still a trace of attitude, Artur was no longer “Sullen Boy” to me. I only hoped I had grown up a little in his eyes, too. I paid attention to the story. “Vasilisa the Wise was recently married to a young computer programmer we’ll name Kievan for the sake of the story, and, really, to kind of give him the benefit of the doubt. Kievan and his father are born to this country, but his mother was an immigrant and told him tales of Grandmother Yaga scary enough to make him kind to old women and suspicious of cabins where he can’t find the front door. Two important things to teach a young boy. “Vasilisa was going by the name Lisa this decade, and I forget what she does for money, but I think she supplements with writing advice columns on the internet. Still, she is a wizard, if not zduhaći,” he paused. “Hence `the wise,'” I nodded. “And it means her social group is similarly somewhat curbed.” He gave me a Look. “Yeah, I know what you mean,” I grumbled. I could meet normal people. I do, every day I go out and work, but maybe I need to rethink my bigotry when it comes to my attitude about the fey; even for me, non-practitioners do seem to fall into the background. I mean, some friends stand out, like Ed, who knows what I am, but for some of the echelons above me, telling people your little secrets about how you view the world poses its own risks. He nodded. “I really do have a girlfriend,” he said, defensively. I didn’t know what to say, but “I believe you,” sounded patronizing, and “I did,” sounded pathetic, so I didn’t say anything, and just nodded, instead. “When he wanted to hold a small reception for their friends, she had to tell Kievan something. She had learned from her time as a frog, another story about her, to be careful in advertising her relationships. Kievan, of course, expected her to have a great number of friends.” “I sense a geek social fallacy coming on,” I sighed. Artur didn’t seem to catch it, so I continued. “Sounds like a number four, `All my friends will be friends, too.'” “That’s…” he thought it over, “dangerous. Wisdom suggests otherwise,” he said, carefully. “It’s an easy thought, after all, they all have you in common, and you like them, so why wouldn’t they like each other? Of course, then you find out that your best friend slept with your other friend’s wife’s sister, and it’s been Word War Three ever since that patio party last summer… but anyway.” Artur grinned. “Except with wizards there are the occasional assassination attempts, and don’t forget the sacred quests.” “I can’t forget the sacred quests. Every time I go to the grocery store I feel geased to make sure I have bread, milk, butter, AND eggs.” He chortled, and continued his story. “So Kievan, not being given the nom de plume `the Wise,’ continues to push in the classic way fairytale spouses are known to do, until Vasilisa relents and agrees that she will invite some of her friends. She does, of course, have to avoid known eaters of mortals, and those who are not yet comfortable with this century.” “I thought I told you I watched a lot of television. It makes the transition easier. Anyway, so Vasilisa goes over the guest list a couple of times. It does not occur to her that she needs to cross the ones she doesn’t want sent out, or that her husband’s plan was to make it a bit of a surprise party.” “That’s some contact list,” I interjected. Artur looked confused. “I mean, don’t most wizards have, `Arachne, address: any silver spider web under the full moonlight,’ and `Troll, bridge over troubled waters,’ kind of in their personal Rolodex?” “How would you expect them to get their mail? They take the Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes very seriously in some places.” I looked for signs to see if Artur was joking, but he kept a straight face as he went on with the story. “She was wise, and many of the names were in code, but Kievan was not discouraged by the lack of contact and the many envelopes that came back returned. It had, however, gotten notice in a certain segment of those who share our knowings that there was a party to be held. You may have noticed in this day and age…” “That there’s a certain lack of balls… um, dancing and big parties with lots of unusual creatures… so to speak?” “That the festivities have gotten much tamer, yes.” Artur pinched his nose, trying not to laugh. I’d say his face went a bit wooden, but I’ve been trying to avoid the pun. “What about the thirteenth fairy?” I asked. “The…?” he shook his head. “Comes in and curses the maiden because her invite was lost? Briar Rose, Sleeping Beauty and all that?” “I always thought Malificent had it won if it weren’t for the stupid analogue of the Lancelot situation.” “Yeah, one asbestos shield didn’t a dragon-repellent make. I’m with you there, but good has to defeat evil, and all that.” “Well, she had some pretty incompetent hirelings, too. I did wonder what she was wearing under the robes, though.” “Nothing,” I said, quickly. “That makes her wicked, and she was certainly that.” He chuckled. “Agreed. And in this case, there were a few people who figured on stopping by, invite or not. After all, the wording was done by her husband, and he wanted it to be as open-ended as possible, wanted to meet her friends, and don’t tell her because it’s a surprise, well, you see the kind of disaster it started to be. “So, Vasilisa is wise, and not at all outside the loop entirely, but as wise as she is, she is still somewhat hampered by the fact that you have to deal with imperfect interpersonal relationships, and she really doesn’t feel she can confront her husband.” “I can imagine the conversations. `Um, honey, you remember that surprise party? Do you think it was a good surprise to invite both my blood sucking cousin Harry and your virgin sister?'” “It’s just not done, really. Some immortals are really the worst feminists.” Artur shrugged, and it sounded like wood creaking. “So she makes some plans to counteract all of it, and, day of the party, it’s working.” “Logistically speaking, that must have been one huge cups-and-ball trick.” “She’s a wizard, and that one is famous all over the world.” He pauses. “But then there’s a problem. There is an uninvited guest.” “A party crasher. Heard about it from a chatty sylph and thought he’d score some chicks, right? Brought some kegs of pilfered Vanir mead and a smile?” “Who’s telling the story?” it was a guffaw, this time. “Close enough. And he kept calling out for Vasilisa. The problem is, he kept refering to Vasilisa as the man of the house. Which, of course, gave her an idea…” (85) Vasily/Vasilisa part one [mostly as told by Artur] The laws of Hospitality are such that generally speaking, not having an invite to the party meant that the dwarf (for that is the word to best describe him in your mind) was no longer covered by the implied protection of the party’s hosts. While Vasilisa had split most of the outright carnivores to strut and clash in the upstairs loft, Kievan’s struggling if valiant friends were left mostly to admire the art in the living area downstairs. There was still some uncomfortable mingling around the dining room table. “Hi, I’m Claire, I’m a friend of Kievan’s.” Claire started talking to the tall woman with wet-looking, deep golden hair. Claire would have described herself first as a vegetarian, then as a young woman complete with cat, and maybe mention that she hoped to make it big as a graphic artist despite feeling that she didn’t have much in the way of natural talent. “I am Roo,” the woman said. She smiled and flashed what might have been rows of sharp, pointy teeth. She would have described herself as hungry. She fiddled with a gold comb in her hair, after selecting a small hors d’oeuvres. “Uh, hi. So you must know Lisa. I’m in the publications department where Kievan works. What is it that you do?” Claire was fascinated by something about the rusalka’s mouth; watching Roo nibble at a turkey roll was very disturbing. “I am a dancer,” Roo suggested. “Really? Are you with the ballet?” Claire tried. Roo put a lovely pale hand on Claire’s arm. “Would you like to see a performance?” she asked. Claire stared at the slightly damp hand on her arm. She noticed how it had an almost greenish tint, and at the same time, a translucency that reminded one no less of the water in a fish tank gone mostly to algae. She looked up at Roo’s fiery green eyes and backed away. In the back of her mind, Claire knew she would never go swimming again. Not all of the encounters were those between predator and prey, however. There were a group of sylph musicians who took on all requests. There’s nothing like listening to Tool being played on a sylphic viola, but you will have to trust that my tale of byliny is true. Such music can drive men mad. So there was drinking, and dancing, and general socializing continued until Vasilisa got tired of her little ploy to avoid the dwarf, and instead suggested they play a game. “We will split into two groups. I recommend you play with someone you haven’t met before, as this is the type of game where everyone wins, but especially those who meet someone new.” Her wisdom knew that couching it in the terms of a game, no matter how frivolous could mean it was a sacred rite, and thus those in the competition were protected from inadvertent hungers. Kievan’s friends moved quietly into the room and slowly two groups sorted themselves out. The dwarf unknowingly found himself on the other side from Vasilisa. This was a piece of her wisdom working. Some powers are driven by will, and some wrapped up in fate, or destiny if you would have it be so. She is what she is, but then, so are most wizards. I don’t claim to understand them, for to do so takes a wizard. I am the son of a lesiye, and that is enough for any one man to manage. The dwarf did find himself on the same side as Kievan. This was also on design, because while Vasilisa may be wise, that does not mean she is never a little petty. She considered it a good lesson against Kievan trying to surprise her again. “The rules of the game are simple. One of you has lost something, perhaps a purse, or a host,” she smiled directly at the dwarf, “or even a small piece of jewelry. It has not been stolen, but you must ask questions of the person you pair up with of its identity, and then each team needs negotiate its release with the other team, for someone on the other team may unknowingly have it on his or her person.” This had been easy enough to arrange, and may even have come up in conversation throughout the night. Now, those without the birthrights or sight are not concerned. Things lost are never lost forever, and things stolen would be an insult worth injury, so they did not complain. Those of the modern world are more attached to the things they think they must own, and there was some muttering as women went back down to the gallery to check their purses, and touch their ears where they wore jewelry, and men checked their back pockets for wallets and eyed their hosts a bit suspiciously. Of course there was no theft, and they quieted quickly, some being quite eager to play the game. Claire had chosen to be partnered with one of the sylph musicians. In her mind she tried not to finish the sentence with, “Anybody but Roo,” but it was still true. This was the sylph who played what looked to be a bass made of light, but which Claire thought must have been a very expensive and experimental new plastic. “I have brought only this,” her new friend Sadko said, referring to his instrument. “I have my purse,” Claire suggested, but a quick dive into the organized insides showed no loss. “I have my keys, my wallet, my earrings,” she touched her earlobes in a way that the sylph found amusing. She looked around. “But I have misplaced my drink,” she decided. View more posts »	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335273
__label__wiki	0.50553	0.50553	MONDAY - FRIDAY / 10:00pm - 12:00am Phil Brady, Simon Owens and the Nightline crew will keep you company throughout the night! 3AW Nightline with Phil and Simon Nightline with Phil and Simon LISTEN BACK: 3AW Nightline says farewell It was an emotional night at 3AW on Thursday, with Philip Brady and Simon Owens broadcasting Nightline for the final time. Click PLAY below to hear the final few minutes of Nightline You can listen back to the entire program below Nightline with Phil and Simon / 27/09/2019 The Haunting of 3AW. In 1971, 3AW lost one of it’s on air personalities who died suddenly at the station’s studios, then at 382 LaTrobe St. During the football broadcast, Jim Archer would control the broadcast, play the commercials and read the half-time news bulletin. Sadly, it was during the football broadcast that Jim died suddenly. It was only […] Simon and Philip / 14:41 / 10/05/2019 Abandoman amazes the Nightline cast and crew Every year the Melbourne International Comedy Festival attracts hundreds of comedians from around the world like moths to a flame. Rob Broderick AKA Abandoman is an Irish stand-up comic who has a unique act which caught the eye of 3AW’s Arts and Entertainment reporter Donna Demaio. Donna was so impressed she brought Rob in to […] Simon and Philip / 18/04/2019 Carols by Candlelight with Philip, Simon and Fiona. As a proud supporter of Carols by Candlelight each year, 3AW presents a six hour broadcast each Christmas eve live from the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. Philip Brady, Simon Owens and Fiona Byrne bring you the highlights of Carols by Candlelight as well as interviews from behind the scenes with the stars of this wondrous […] Nightline Special Event / 25/12/2018 Royal Australian Navy’s Landing Ship, HMAS Choules, docks in Melbourne for Open Day The Royal Australian Navy’s Landing Ship Dock, HMAS Choules will be entering Westernport today, to be ready for an Open Day on Sunday. It’ll then travel into Port Phillip tomorrow morning and dock at Station Pier where it’ll be open to the public on Sunday. Choules weights a massive 16,000 tonnes, is 176 metres long and 24 […] Muriel Cooper back at the 3AW microphone for one night only. In the 1980s 3AW reached number one in it’s “Personality Radio” years. Blackers and Unca, Hinch, Muriel Cooper, and Mark Day took the talkback radio format to number one. In this chat with Philip Brady and Simon Owens, Muriel Cooper kindly came in to reminisce about how, as six year old Scottish girl, she came […] Patti Newton on Bert’s gags “He’s done them a million times” Fresh back in Melbourne after the 2018 Logies, Patti Newton talks freely to Simon Owens and Andrew McLaren about the media coverage and social media coverage of Bert’s appearance. Patti Newton is heard each Monday night on 3AW Nightline 3AW Nightline / 03/07/2018 Bobby Fox in studio with Philip and Simon Bobby Fox has it all. Dashing good looks, world Irish dancing championship trophies, Frankie Valli’s approval to portray him on stage, and that voice and piercing blue eyes. Here, Bobby chats to Philip and Simon and adds humility, charm and a great sense of humour to his list of assets. Philip and Simon. Thu 12 Apr, 2018 In a packed program 00.00 Phil asks about “Natural Wows” 04.30 Playwrite Neil Cole on his latest project “Monash – In love and war” 30.15 Simon asks “What artist makes you switch off?” 36.00 Your calls 67.00 Bruce’s piece is “The Dentist” Loading map data	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335274
__label__wiki	0.749704	0.749704	OPTUS STADIUM ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY 2 MILLION FAN MILESTONE CAPS SUCCESSFUL FIRST YEAR FOR OPTUS STADIUM Optus Stadium has capped an outstanding first year of operations, attracting over 2 million fans including thousands of regional, interstate and international visitors, winning multiple awards and employing thousands of West Australians. More than two million fans have attended Optus Stadium in the first 12 months, attending 43 major events, as well as 420 Meetings and Special Events and 1,450 Stadium Tours. Once the 57,776 guests who have attended Meetings and Special Events and 31,550 who have enjoyed Stadium Tours have been added to the fans who attended major events, an amazing 2,068,109 have attended the iconic State venue in the 12 months up to and including the Scorchers versus Hurricanes clash on 18 January. Congratulations to Optus for the great year…check out their highlight reel below! EntertainmentLifestyle	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335276
__label__cc	0.708668	0.291332	‘USA Today’ Opening Up Its Super Bowl Ad Meter to Facebook Old focus groups will be secondary By David Griner USA Today is shifting the focus of its Super Bowl Ad Meter to Facebook, where users will be able to score the 2012 ads with a real-time app, according to a report by Mashable. Despite its clunky name, the USA Today-Facebook Super Bowl Ad Meter is definitely a leap into the social-media age for one of the ad industry's most storied annual events. Instead of being based on a few obscurely located focus groups, the app will let users everywhere view, rate and share Super Bowl ads. "Making the Ad Meter social brings it to an entirely new level, and we're proud to be a part of it," Facebook marketing executive Mike Hoefflinger tells Mashable. The Ad Meter has had more than its share of critics, including us. Baffled by the top scorers this year, we came up with our own rating system based on YouTube likes and dislikes. For the coming game, USA Today reportedly will keep its old-school Ad Meter focus groups to "supplement results of the application." So, what do you think? Does this unfairly weight the Ad Meter toward the opinions of the 50 percent of Americans who are on Facebook? And more important, what does this mean for the 0.3 percent of Americans who actually like GoDaddy ads? http://adweek.it/2jM3JSN Brand Editor	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335277
__label__cc	0.641786	0.358214	TUNISIA Maghreb Confidential dated 22/01/2015 EU still hounding Mohamed Trabelsi The European Union’s Council doesn’t seem ready to drop sanctions against Mohamed Trabelsi, a nephew by marriage to Zine el-Abidine [...] (153 words) All free articles ALGERIA 16/01/2020 Insurance boss Hassan Khelifati aims to bring down the FCE MOROCCO 09/01/2020 Saïd Alj sponsors Chakib Alj-Mehdi Tazi bid to head CGEM Kherbouche and Kayi warned over army club swimming pool delay Explore the free section TUNISIA 19/11/2015 EU drags feet over Trabelsi ruling Mohamed Trabelsi, nephew by marriage of former president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, has so far been unable to have lifted [...] Trabelsi’s villas up for sale, but what of rest? The sale of 21 residences belonging to persons close to Leila Ben Ali has begun. But the disposal of 514 other impounded assets could drag on indefinitely. [...] Mohamed Trabelsi wants EU to pay The nephew of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali by marriage, Mohamed [...] Spotlight TUNISIA 26/06/2014 Donors in no hurry to save public banks Summoned to the Ramada hotel in Gammarth by the governor of the Banque Centrale de Tunisie (BCT), Chedly Ayari, officials from the World Bank, European Investment Bank, the African Development Bank and the like were asked to contribute to a [. [...] SWITZERLAND LIBYA 12/06/2014 Swiss get moving on asset hunt Criticized since 2011 for taking its time to help recover the assets of regimes toppled in the Arab spring, Switzerland [...] NORTH AFRICA 05/06/2014 Zellweger to report on asset quest Head of the international law desk at Switzerland's foreign ministry, [...] Al Karama resumes asset sell-off Free The appointment of prime minister Medhi Jomaa's new government has had a galvanizing effect on Mohamed Ali Chekir. The boss [...] EU alters charges against Ben Ali On Jan. 30, the European Council modified the charges it [...] Get-together in Paris on ill-gotten gains The recovery of assets looted by former president Zine el-Abidine [...] A high-level rift over confiscated firms Long rather muffled, disagreement within the government over the sensitive issue of assets and companies confiscated after the fall of the Ben Ali regime has broken into the open. The two ministers primarily concerned by the issue staged two distinct [. [...] Afifa Tekari Mohamed Trabelsi Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335279
__label__wiki	0.969453	0.969453	Cameroon's main opposition SDF elects 49-year-old candidate to face Biya Abdur Rahman Alfa Shaban Joshua Osih, a 49-year-old lawmaker has been elected as flagbearer of Cameroon’s main opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF). An native of the country’s southwest region, Osih is an aviation expert. He was the overwhelming choice of delegates at the SDF congress polling 1,021 votes representing 88.4% as against 134 votes (12%) polled by his closest challenger, Forbi Nchinda. He, however, remains deputy chairperson of the party which is still led by Ni John Fru Ndi, 77, founder of the SDF. Joshua Osih, 49 becomes the Presidential candidate for the #SDF party. He was elected during the SDF Convention in #Bamenda pic.twitter.com/ZGxBhZ5h24 — CRTVweb (@CRTV_web) February 24, 2018 Ndi who was the party’s candidate in the last election said he was leaving the stage for younger politicians at the party’s congress held in capital of the northwest region of Bamenda. “I will not present my candidature for the Presidential election, I want you to chose who is best to be the flag bearer,” Ndii told delegates. Cameroon has a busy electoral year in which they are set to pick senators in late March, 2018. The elections will in effect mark the start of a busy electoral calender as it is set to be followed by council, legislative and presidential elections later this year. The respective dates are yet to be determined by the President. President Biya, 85, is expected to seek a mandate extension after over three decades in charge of the Central African country. His regime has faced secession threats in the predominantly Anglophone regions – northwest and southwest. @AlfaAllahguide Ethiopia's OPDO picks new chairman in bid to produce next Prime Minister 'Game Over,' U.S. Congressman jabs Ethiopia's TPLF Ethiopia's EPRDF accepts Desalegn's resignation, new PM in the offing Africa's richest woman could run for Angola presidency Ethiopia's activist turned politician raises 'red flag' over proposed poll date Ethiopia elections body sets Aug. 16 as tentative date for 2020 polls Mozambique president sworn in after contested re-election Algerian president reaches out to opposition [Morning Call]	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335280
__label__wiki	0.711879	0.711879	User Rewards Ancient Origins Membership Site Evolution & Human Origins Mysterious Phenomena Human Origins Ancient Writings All Artifacts -Ancient Technology -Ancient Writings -Other ArtifactsNews -General -History & Archaeology -Science & Space -Evolution & Human Origins -Mysterious PhenomenaHuman Origins -Science -Religions -FolkloreMyths & Legends -Europe -Asia -Americas -Australia -Africa -AntarcticaAncient Places -Europe -Asia -Americas -Australia & Oceania -Africa -AntarcticaUnexplained PhenomenaVideoOpinion -Guest Authors -Editorials -Letters to the Editor -Author ProfilesHistory -Ancient Traditions -Important Events -Famous People Sign Up for Premium Ads-FREE Content Aztec/Mayan people ever inhabit the United States? Incas, mystery of interlocking walls Native Americans in West Virginia artifact found unknown time frame Looking for book recommendations for Christian/Jewish/Kabbalah etc mythology 11 May, 2018 - 01:51 ancient-origins Study Reveals Hepatitis Virus has been Killing Humans Since the Stone Age An international team of scientists led by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History and the University of Kiel has successfully reconstructed genomes from Stone Age and Medieval European strains of the hepatitis B virus. This unprecedented recovery of ancient virus DNA indicates that hepatitis B was circulating in Europe at least 7000 years ago. While the ancient virus is similar to its modern counterparts, the strains represent a distinct lineage that has likely gone extinct and is most closely related to chimpanzee and gorilla viruses. The hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the most widespread human pathogens known today, affecting over 250 million people worldwide. However, its origin and evolutionary history remain unclear. Studying the evolution and history of the virus has to date been especially difficult, because until now viral DNA had not been successfully recovered from prehistoric samples. In the present study, which has been accepted for publication in the journal eLife and is due to be published on May 10, 2018, an international team of researchers led by the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History and the Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology at Kiel University, not only recovered ancient viral DNA from skeletons but also reconstructed the genomes of three strains of HBV. Neanderthals May have been Infected by Diseases carried out of Africa by Humans, say Researchers Diet of human brains helped Papua New Guinea tribe to resist disease Evolution of Genetic Health Improvements in Humans Stall over Last Millennium Skeletal remains of HBV positive individual from the Stone Age site of Karsdorf, Germany. The individual was a male with an age at death of around 25-30 years. Credit: Nicole Nicklisch The ancient history of hepatitis B For this study, the researchers analyzed samples from the teeth of 53 skeletons excavated from Neolithic and medieval sites in Germany. The remains dated from around 5000 BC to 1200 AD. The researchers screened all samples for viral pathogens and detected ancient HBV in three of the individuals. Full HBV genomes were recovered from these samples, two of which were from the Neolithic period, dating to about 7000 and 5000 years ago, and one from the medieval period. The Neolithic genomes represent the by far oldest virus genomes reconstructed to date. Interestingly, the ancient virus genomes appear to represent distinct lineages that have no close relatives today and possibly went extinct. The two Neolithic genomes, although recovered from individuals that lived 2000 years apart, were relatively similar to each other in comparison with modern strains, and were in fact more closely related to modern strains of HBV found in Chimpanzees and Gorillas. In contrast, the medieval HBV genome is more similar to modern strains, but still represents a separate lineage. This is the case even when it is compared to two previously published HBV genomes recovered from mummies dating to the 16th century. The HBV strains found in these mummies are closely related to modern strains, suggesting a surprising lack of change in the virus over the last 500 years. These findings point to a complicated history for the virus, which may have involved multiple cross-species transmission events. Unravelling the mystery of disease in ancient Mesopotamia Ancient mega-virus that does not resemble any virus on Earth is set to be revived An ancient retrovirus has been found in human DNA – and it might still be active Microscopy of Hepatitis virus digitally colorized. ( Public Domain ) Long and complicated evolution of one of today's most common viruses "Taken together, our results demonstrate that HBV already existed in Europeans 7000 years ago and that its genomic structure closely resembled that of modern hepatitis B viruses, despite the differences observed," explains first author Ben Krause-Kyora, of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History and Kiel University. "More ancient precursors, intermediates and modern strains of both human and non-human primate HBV strains need to be sequenced to disentangle the complex evolution of this virus," he adds. New tool for studying the evolution of blood-borne viruses Johannes Krause, senior author and director of the Department of Archaeogenetics at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, emphasizes the most important implication of the study: "Our results reveal the great potential of ancient DNA from human skeletons to allow us to study the evolution of blood-borne viruses. Previously, there was doubt as to whether we would ever be able to study these diseases directly in the past. We now have a powerful tool to explore the deep evolutionary history of viral diseases." Top image: Normal liver on the left, liver with cirrhosis on the right. ( CC BY-SA 4.0 ) The article, originally titled ‘ Stone Age hepatitis B virus decoded’ was originally published on Science Daily. Source: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. "Stone Age hepatitis B virus decoded: Study recovers oldest viral genomes, and shows the hepatitis B virus has been circulating in Europe for at least 7,000 years." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 10 May 2018. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180510081546.htm Ben Krause-Kyora, Julian Susat, Felix M. Key, Denise Kühnert, Esther Bosse, Alexander Immel, Christoph Rinne, Sabin-Christin Kornell, Diego Yepes, Sören Franzenburg, Henrike O. Heyne, Thomas Meier, Sandra Lösch, Harald Meller, Susanne Friederich, Nicole Nicklisch, Kurt Werner Alt9, Stefan Schreiber, Andreas Tholey, Alexander Herbig, Almut Nebel, Johannes Krause. Neolithic and Medieval virus genomes reveal complex evolution of Hepatitis B . eLife, 2018 DOI: 10.7554/eLife.36666 Ancient-Origins This is the Ancient Origins team, and here is our mission: “To inspire open-minded learning about our past for the betterment of our future through the sharing of research, education, and knowledge”. At Ancient Origins we believe that one of... Read More Login or Register in order to comment Related Articles on Ancient-Origins 1 January, 2020 - 22:25 ashley cowie Lungs of 2-Year-Old Reveal Ancient Origins of Measles Virus The world’s oldest known measles sample has been discovered in the lungs of a girl who died in 1912 and scientists now suggest the ancient virus jumped from animals to humans around 300 BC, making... Read more about Lungs of 2-Year-Old Reveal Ancient Origins of Measles Virus 5 December, 2019 - 17:34 Mark Miller The Justinianic Plague Wasn’t as Bad as Many Scholars Think Researchers say that claims of the Justinianic plague as a “mass killer” are wrong. It certainly had some impact, but they assert that plague outbreak, which began in the 6th century, didn’t bring... Read more about The Justinianic Plague Wasn’t as Bad as Many Scholars Think 23 March, 2018 - 00:57 ancient-origins Scientists Find DNA Evidence of the Bacteria that Almost Wiped out the Aztecs Architectural investigations of the Grand Plaza resulted in the unexpected discovery of a large epidemic cemetery associated with the 1545-1550 cocoliztli epidemic. The cemetery was found to contain... Read more about Scientists Find DNA Evidence of the Bacteria that Almost Wiped out the Aztecs 6 January, 2018 - 13:48 Alicia McDermott Child Mummy Unlocks a Secret by Unravelling 450 Years of the Hepatitis B Virus Scientists examining the mummy of a child who died in the 16th century have confirmed that the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been causing human health issues for centuries. Strangely enough, it seems... Read more about Child Mummy Unlocks a Secret by Unravelling 450 Years of the Hepatitis B Virus 5 December, 2017 - 18:55 Caleb Strom Viruses Sleeping in Mummies—Could Ancient Corpses Lead to Modern Epidemics? Mummies fascinate historians, archaeologists, and anyone with antiquarian leanings. Mummies allow scientists to learn more about the diets, clothing, appearance, genetics, and general lifestyle of... Read more about Viruses Sleeping in Mummies—Could Ancient Corpses Lead to Modern Epidemics? 4 October, 2017 - 02:02 Theodoros Karasavvas Our Ancestors Should Have Avoided Parathropus Boisei – They Gave Us Genital Herpes Scientists claim that they have identified the ancient hominin species that gave early humans genital herpes two million years ago. Parathropus boisei was a heavyset human-like species with a very... 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Secret Lives of Elves and Faeries: The True Story of Rev Robert Kirk The Real Story of Medusa: Protective Powers from a Snake-Haired Gorgon The Disturbing True Story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin The Egyptian Goddess Isis, Found in India Scota: Mother of Scotland and Daughter of a Pharaoh Taking a ‘Knapp’ With Our Ancient Ancestors - Stone Tools Through the Ages The process of creating lithic tools took our hominin species millions of years to perfect. However, we often dismiss stone tools as simplistic primitive technology. 150,000-Year-Old Pipes Baffle Scientists in China: Out of Place in Time? Ten amazing inventions from ancient times An Undersea Mystery: The Accidental Discovery of the Ghost Ship in the Baltic Sea Secrets Behind the Creepy Plague Doctor Mask and Costume The Lost Knowledge of the Ancients: Were Humans the First? Part 1 Charlie Lake Cave: A Gully of Buried Treasure 10,500 Years Old Although the vast majority of archaeologists agree that ‘Paleoindian’ cultures were well-established throughout the Americas dating to the end of the last glacial period (about 12000 BC), when their ancestors first arrived across the Bering Straits, is still debated. Deciphering The Newton Stone’s Mysterious “Unknown Script” Somalia: The Ancient Lost Kingdom of Punt is Finally Found? Niumatou Site: An Archaeological Preservation of Taiwan’s Lost Aborigines Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond: Waters that Reflect the History of South Korea The mysterious monoliths of Asuka Nara and the Rock Ship of Masuda Ancient Origins has been quoted by: Top New Stories Scholars have long been baffled by the coded runic message of the ‘Rök Runestone’ but a new interpretation claims it spells out a chilling Armageddon prophecy. Amerigo Vespucci: The Forgotten Explorer Who Named America Lei Gong and the Ministry of Thunder and Storms Those raised in the Judeo-Christian tradition may be surprised to learn that the god we were told was singularly sacred once had a wife. How do we know? Asherah figures prominently as the wife of El—... Rh-Negative Blood: An Exotic Bloodline or Random Mutation? The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts It Need Not Be Religion VS Science: Extra-Terrestrial Life and Religious Beliefs Combine The Secret Life of an Ancient Concubine The Nephilim: Giant Offspring of the Sons of God and the Daughters of Man? Who were the nephilim ? The word nephilim appears twice in the Old Testament of the Bible. They are first mentioned in chapter 6 of the book of Genesis and then again in Number 13:33. But their brief... Mount Shasta: Spirits and Danger on a Sacred California Mountain Mysterious Worlds: Travels to the Faerie and Shamanic Realms Pharaoh Akhenaten: An Alternative View of the Heretic King Changing Colors and Scampering Across the Night Sky: What Did the Ancients Say about Sirius? Cracking the Code to Discover Ancient Tarot Symbolism and Forgotten Universal Knowledge At Ancient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there exists countless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts that have yet to be discovered and explained. The goal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe. We’re the only Pop Archaeology site combining scientific research with out-of-the-box perspectives. By bringing together top experts and authors, this archaeology website explores lost civilizations, examines sacred writings, tours ancient places, investigates ancient discoveries and questions mysterious happenings. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings. Ancient Image Galleries Ancient Origins © 2013 - 2020 Disclaimer - Terms of Publication - Privacy Policy & Cookies - Advertising Policy - Submissions - We Give Back - Contact us A project of Stella Novus - Development and Customization by Novus Web Solutions	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335296
__label__wiki	0.990617	0.990617	Threats, raids and murders stalk Filipino environment activists From September to November 2019, four more environment workers across the country were killed. by Nick Aspinwall Palawan NGO Network Inc members have also been labelled as communist because of its environmental work [Nick Aspinwall/Al Jazeera] Palawan, Philippines - In the heart of the Philippines tourist hotspot of Palawan, Bobby Chan stood on a shaded porch outside his office and admired his spoils: decaying boats used for illegal fishing, sticks of dynamite seized from forest poachers, and a tower of chainsaws. "I lost count at 700," he said. Chan heads the Palawan NGO Network Inc (PNNI), which uses an obscure citizen's arrest law to deal with poachers threatening the western island's endangered and endemic species, seizing chainsaws, dynamite and fishing boats. Report reveals spike in killings of environmentalists Food giant Del Monte accused of complicity in Philippine attacks Palawan environmentalist murdered Chan and his "para-enforcers" are among those most at risk in a country recently named the world's deadliest for environmental defenders by the international watchdog, Global Witness. "Things have gotten worse under Duterte," said Ben Leather, senior campaigner for Global Witness, referring to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. "Now, anyone who wants to silence dissidents can be pretty sure they can get away with it." In 2018, Global Witness said at least 30 environmental and land defenders were killed in the country, many of whom are engaged in conflict with powerful business interests including the food giant Del Monte. The vast majority of cases remain unsolved, despite Duterte's initial promises to confront corrupt politicians and corporate conflicts of interest. Environmental activist deaths on the rise in the Philippines (2:26) In September this year, forest ranger Bienvenido Veguilla Jr, was hacked to death in El Nido, Palawan, after he and his team came across illegal logging activities in the area. In a span of three months, three other environment workers were also killed, including one environmental investigator, who was shot in late November in Mindanao. As environment campaigners arrived in Manila to present the findings of the report on the Philippines, local organisations that assisted in its preparation say they were monitored by police, threatened with raids, and branded as communist rebels. Karl Begnotea, of Kalikasan PNE, an environmental network which assisted Global Witness in data collection, told Al Jazeera that he was subject to police surveillance as the groups prepared to present the report's findings in Manila in late September. "The threat becomes real," Begnotea said, noting that authorities are also now targeting groups in Manila, whereas previously the majority of the raids happened in rural areas. Targeted in Paradise In Palawan, PNNI, the environmental NGO, is moving to a new location across town. The former headquarters sits next to a compound owned by Palawan's governor, Jose Alvarez. A onetime logging magnate, Alvarez and his family have significant investments in tourism and real estate on the island, including the luxurious Maremegmeg Beach Club in El Nido. According to Global Witness, it found evidence of illegal timber entering the site during construction. "The tourism we have now is uncontrolled," Chan said. Chan and Alvarez have been at odds ever since PNNI seized guns, which bore the governor's name in an anti-logging operation. In 2018, Global Witness said at least 30 environmental and land defenders were killed in the country [Nick Aspinwall/Al Jazeera] In 2015, Alvarez challenged Chan to a fistfight over his opposition to mining in old-growth forests. "The threats are more brazen now," Chan said. Chan and his colleagues regularly report being followed and threatened in Puerto Princesa, the provincial capital. Since PNNI began conducting enforcement operations in 2001, 12 members have been killed, including Ruben Arzaga, who died after he was shot in the head by illegal loggers in 2017. Most killings do not happen during operations. Instead, activists are targeted as they go about their daily lives, Chan said. He believes all 12 killings were premeditated. 'In the line of fire' PNNI members have also been "red-tagged," or labelled as members of the communist New People's Army, an armed fighting unit considered to be a terrorist organisation by the Philippine government. The tactic has been used throughout the country, including the southern island of Mindanao, which has been under martial law since 2017. On November 8, the international charity Oxfam was accused by authorities of being a communist front. "It's a deliberate smokescreen. There is no doubt these people were threatened because of their activism," Leather said. "It's so brazen that it would be laughable if it weren't so dangerous." "If you're vocal, they think you're seditious," added Chan, himself a frequent target of red-tagging. "If you're seditious, they think you're a rebel." PNNI enforcers operate unarmed, approaching loggers at a safe distance and forming a perimeter, then asking for identity documents and confiscating guns and chainsaws. Chan recruits citizens defending their own livelihoods: farmers, fishermen and Indigenous peoples threatened by illegal logging, mining, fishing and wildlife trafficking. Teofilo Tredez, a farmer who joined PNNI in 2005 and leads operations targeting illegal open-pit mines in the south of the island, said the work was "important to protecting farmland. The life of farmers comes from the water." Like all PNNI members, Tredez has his fair share of war stories. Once, a colleague grabbed a chainsaw by the blade, mistakenly switched it on and refused to let go as its owner fled the scene. His hand required 62 stitches, but the chainsaw was seized. "It's something you hope would be lauded," Leather said. "But they're put in the line of fire." Al Jazeera contacted Alvarez's office, as well as the Philippine National Police and Quezon City Police. None had responded to requests for comment on the allegations by the time of the publication. Threats of raid Days before Global Witness visited the Philippines for the September report launch, Kalikasan PNE employers received a tip-off that the police were planning a raid on their office. Outside, they noticed an officer recording a video of their activities on his smartphone. The staffers say they met a local official in early October, after another vehicle passed by the office. Gia Glarino said that her environmental group, Kalikasan PNE, was threatened with a raid in September this year [Nick Aspinwall/Al Jazeera] "They said that yes, there is a threat of a raid on your office," said Gia Glarino, a spokesperson for Kalikasan PNE. The network was accused of teaching "radical" ideology to Indigenous children from Mindanao who oppose plantations and mining. The group also hosts older Indigenous students studying at the University of the Philippines. Meanwhile, the Manila-based Center for Environmental Concerns (CEC) reported receiving threats of potential raids for hosting Indigenous students, research and advocacy coordinator Lia Alonzo told Al Jazeera. The group has led opposition to the China-backed Kaliwa Dam project in Luzon, which the government says is necessary to provide water to Manila. Indigenous residents living on the proposed dam site say they are being coerced into giving their consent to relinquish their lands, and the CEC has questioned the validity of the project's recently granted environmental compliance certificate. Police initially denied planning raids on Manila-based NGOs. But between October 31 and November 5, multiple police raids saw the arrests of 57 activists in Negros and six in Manila. Members of the environment group, Kalikasan, and other Manila NGOs vacated their offices. The series of incidents aligned not only with the Global Witness report, but with September's global climate strike and a series of key anniversaries of killings of land activists in Negros. Begnotea said the threats left Kalikasan focused not on its work, but on defending itself. "They don't need to declare actual martial law," he said. "They've already learned how to terrorise people."	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335301
__label__wiki	0.84558	0.84558	Australian Investment Council 2019 Award for Leadership in Diversity & Inclusion Nicole Connolly 2019-09-23T11:26:46+11:00 23-September-2019\| We are proud to announce that earlier this month Allegro was awarded the Australian Investment Council 2019 Award for Leadership in Diversity & Inclusion. The Leadership in Diversity and Inclusion Award recognises those private capital investment firms whose diverse range of people within their organisation includes a wide range of backgrounds that encompasses different skills, talents and perspectives. It also recognises those firms who celebrate inclusive workplace environments that promote individual differences, embrace team strengths and provide initiatives and opportunities for all team members to fulfil their potential. Allegro are proud to accept this award, which recognises how we, as a firm, celebrate diversity and inclusion in our workplace. We see the positive impact that such a diverse and inclusive culture has had on our own decision making, relationships, operations, financial performance and the experiences with our stakeholders. We value inclusiveness and diversity as we continue to strive to building better businesses, contribute to job creation and drive future growth. These are key values which reside not only within Allegro’s ethos, but also in how we approach investment opportunities, navigate rebuilding great businesses and developing specialised talent through transformational capital. We thank the Australian Investment Council for this award and congratulate the other outstanding firms across the private capital sector. Allegro partners with leading doctor-led Australian radiology practice Nicole Connolly 2019-07-26T15:50:57+11:00 26-July-2019\| Allegro Fund III has has agreed terms to make a significant investment in Western Australia’s largest diagnostic imaging provider, Perth Radiological Clinic (PRC), in partnership with the existing doctors. The partnership was established in 1948 and PRC is Australia’s largest private partner radiology business with more than 80 doctors (partners and employed associates). The business will continue to operate via the partnership and service entity that services hospitals (public and private), specialist centres and suburban clinics and will retain majority ownership by the doctors. Read more Allegro Fund III invests in leading industrial company Questas Group Nicole Connolly 2019-06-25T18:05:53+11:00 19-June-2019\| Allegro Fund III has finalised its latest investment by acquiring a stake in Australian industrial firm Questas, partnering with the company owner to jointly grow the business. Established in 1996, Questas comprises a group of associated companies operating through a national branch network to provide hydraulic, irrigation, pump and engine solutions to the mining, construction, agricultural and general industrial sectors. Read more Allegro’s Tenth Birthday Allegro turns ten this month. We couldn’t have done it without You! We’d like to acknowledge and thank the many supporters who have contributed over the past 10 years to our established position as transformational experts in the private equity space. Looking back over the decade there is plenty that we’re proud of. Allegro, launched in 2008, and Fund I was followed by our second fund in 2015, closing on $180 million of equity and making successful investments in nine companies in Australia and New Zealand. We closed Fund III in December 2017 and we’re currently investing approximately $400 million in committed capital from local and international investors. Allegro lives by its purpose – WE BELIEVE IN BETTER, consequently our focus remains on transformation and operational improvement. We have a unique hands on approach that has resulted in the successful management of more than $1 billion of FUM, maximising returns for our investors. Finally, we acknowledge and sincerely thank everyone who has contributed to our success, including our world-class investors, high-calibre employees (and their families!), operating partners, portfolio companies and trusted advisors. We look forward to many more years of continued growth and above average returns. Adrian and Chester – Allegro Funds Allegro portfolio company Carpet Court NZ acquires Curtain Studio Nicole Connolly 2018-06-01T12:27:20+11:00 8-May-2018\| Carpet Court NZ, majority owned by Australian private equity fund manager Allegro, has acquired Curtain Studio, a leading retailer of window furnishings in New Zealand. Curtain Studio has nine stores across New Zealand and when combined with the Carpet Court and The Floor Store network of 61 stores provides an excellent growth opportunity for Carpet Court. Read more Nicole Connolly speaks to AVCAL on their Diversity role model series for 2017 Nicole Connolly 2017-11-15T09:22:28+11:00 14-November-2017\| Having spent the majority of her career as an investor or a business owner, and now working as a Director of Investor Relations at Allegro Funds, Nicole Connolly has covered all sides of private equity. Working with a highly skilled team to transform businesses and generating strong returns for investors are some of the things that Nicole enjoys the most…read more Allegro Funds is licensed by ASIC AFSL 345995 \| Copyright © Allegro Funds. All Rights Reserved Contact \| Privacy Policy \| Disclaimer	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335302
__label__cc	0.688419	0.311581	Goodbye, 2018! It’s no secret that 2018 was a whirlwind of a year for ALLO. If we could sum it up in one word, it would probably be: Growth. Our teams put in extra hours, picked up extra work, and showed that ALLO is always willing to go the extra mile for our customers. 365 days seemed to slip by in a fiber flash as we neared the completion of building in Lincoln, established a new community in Colorado, and put in some work refining our service throughout the Midwest. With all of these changes, we thought we’d give you a glimpse of how team ALLO spent 2018. First and foremost, we stepped into our 15th year of connecting ALLO customers to a faster, more reliable fiber-optic network. We celebrated our 15th birthday alongside fiber fans in our communities and were able to keep our party hats on as we added two new fiberhoods to the ALLO line up. The future of connectivity for Fort Morgan and Hastings is bright, and we’re glad to be playing a role in the success of these communities. Crossing state lines from Nebraska to Colorado was a really GIG deal. Normally we build the fiber-optic network from the ground up in our communities. Fort Morgan was our first public-private partnership with a municipality and it was a great success. Thanks to the teamwork between ALLO and the hardworking folks in Fort Morgan, our first customer was lit up with fiber service just 90 days after we began construction and the buildout of the city was finished in just eight months. Don’t get us wrong, we love our new customers but we’d never leave our loyal fiber fans in the dark. Most service providers make a habit of rewarding only newbies with upgrades and new features. That’s not the ALLO way. We know that to keep a customer, you have to earn their business every single day. So when we had made the network improvements necessary to flex our fiber muscles, we went ahead and showed our strength with an eye-popping internet upgrade. Residential customers who previously had our 100Mbps internet speed jumped up to 300Mbps at no extra cost. No phone call required, no address verification needed, no runaround, all for the low, low price of $0. Who does that? We do. Why? Because we can. A year like 2018 really gets us pumped for what lies ahead. We’re aiming high in 2019 and keeping our customers top of mind. The internet is a pretty powerful place and one that we believe everyone should have access to so we’re focusing on closing the digital divide, amping up access, and future-proofing existing and new ALLO communities. We’ve spent the last year planting the seeds and doing the work for the long-term success of our communities, and we cannot wait to see how our fiberhoods will flourish in the years to come.	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335306
__label__wiki	0.726288	0.726288	Asakusa Station Asakusa Transportation Guide Asakusa Station Hotels Asakusa Stations Map Tobu Asakusa Station Orientation & Facilities Tobu Asakusa Station is a station on the Tobu Skytree Line located in Tokyo’s Asakusa district. This station has Tobu Skytree Line services bound for Tokyo Skytree, Higashi-Mukojima, Kita-Senju, and Tobu-Dobutsu-Koen. There are also limited express services bound for Nikko, Kinugawa Onsen, Aizu, and other destinations in Chiba, Gunma, and Tochigi prefectures. Tobu Asakusa Station is on the 1st and 2nd floors of the Ekimise building Tobu Asakusa Station is housed in an elegant Neo-Renaissance building located at the intersection of Umamichi-dori Street and Edo-dori Avenue. The station building also houses the Ekimise shopping complex. The station occupies part of the 1st floor at the front and back of the building and the entirety of the 2nd floor. There are four stations called “Asakusa Station” in Asakusa, but the Tobu station is the only one that is above ground. It is however, connected to the nearby Tokyo Metro, and Toei stations by underground passageways. TX Asakusa Station on the Tsukuba Express Line is located about 600 meters further west or an 8 minute walk away. Tobu Asakusa Station is also very convenient for Asakusa’s main sightseeing area and the Kaminarimon Gate is just a 3 minute walk away from the front of the station. The Station Layout Tobu Asakusa Station can be entered from the front or back of the Ekimise building. The Main Entrance is at the front of the building. Inside the Main Entrance you will find ticket machines, ticket counters, and stairs and escalators leading up to the Main Ticket Gates. Stairs and escalators leading to the Main Ticket Gate There are information screens over the stairs showing the latest train departure times. An information screen showing Limited Express departures This station has two sets of ticket gates. The Main Gate is on the 2nd floor and can be accessed from the front of the building. The Main Gate on the 2nd floor of Tobu Asakusa Station The North Gate is at the back of the building on the 1st floor. The North Gate at Tobu Asakusa Station There are automatic ticket machines beside each ticket gate, and also on the 1st floor inside the Main Entrance. Ticket machines There are also ticket counters on the 1st floor inside the Main Entrance. Entrance to the ticket sales area on the 1st floor at the front of the station Ticket counters Ticket machines are operated by touch screens and are easy to use. Press the blue language button at the top right to change the on screen language to English. A ticket machine touch screen with English guidance Fare tables above the ticket machines are written in Japanese and English. There are fare tables above the ticket machines Tobu Asakusa Station has five platforms. However, Platform 5 is currently not in use and is closed to entry. Platforms 1 and 2 Regular services on the Tobu Skytree Line depart from Platforms 1 and 2. These services include local trains, section semi express trains, semi express trains, section express trains, and express trains. A local train pulling in to Platform 2 Limited Express services depart from Platforms 3 and 4. There is a counter at the entrance to Platforms 3 and 4 where you should show your limited express ticket before entering the platform and boarding your train. The entrance to Platforms 3 and 4 The following Limited Express services depart from these platforms: Revaty Services for Nikko, Aizu, and Tatebayashi The Spacia Kegon and the Kirifuri for Nikko The Spacia Kinu for Tobu World Square & Kinugawa Onsen The Ryomo for Tatebayashi, Ota, Akagi, Kuzu, and Isesaki The Shimotsuke for Tobu Utsunomiya The Urban Park Liner for Omiya, Noda, and Unga The Skytree Liner for Tokyo Skytree and Kasukabe A Limited Express Spacia Kegon bound for Nikko at Tobu Asakusa Station Tobu Asakusa Station has a number of useful facilities for tourists and travelers. The Tobu Tourist Information Center Inside the Main Entrance on the 1st floor you will find a Tourist Information Center. Here you can pick up free tourist maps and brochures, ask for directions, and also ask about travel plans on the Tobu Railway network. The staff here speak Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean, and Thai. Because this information center is operated by the Tobu Railway company, the staff will be happy to offer assistance with the purchase of Tobu rail tickets, limited express tickets, and travel passes. They can also offer sightseeing advice on other Tobu Railway network destinations such as Tokyo Skytree Town, Nikko, and Kinugawa Onsen. The Tobu Tourist Information Center is open every day from 7.20 to 19.00. A 7-bank ATM in the ticket sales area There is a 7-bank ATM in the ticket sales area on the 1st floor at the front of the station building. 7-bank ATMs have English guidance and are easy to use. They accept Visa, Plus, MasterCard, Maestro, Cirrus, UnionPay, American Express, JCB, Discover, and Diners Club International. A currency exchange machine on the 1st floor of Ekimise Tobu passengers also have immediate access to the shopping, dining, and other facilities of the Ekimise shopping center. There is a currency exchange machine on the 1st floor of this shopping center, which can be found on the east side of the building by the East Central Exit. Restaurants can be found on the the 7th floor. More restaurants and shops can be found in the underground passageways that connect the Tobu and Tokyo Metro stations. Asakusa Police Station Hanakawado Police Box If you need help from the police, there is a police box which is a two minute walk from the front of the station on the east side of Edo-dori Avenue. Here is a map showing its location. Transferring from Tobu Asakusa Station to the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line is very simple. Inside the Tobu station building by the 1st floor front entrance there is an entrance leading directly to Tokyo Metro Asakusa Station. Simply go down the stairs, and follow the passage which will take you straight to the Ginza Line’s ticket gates. The entrance leading to Tokyo Metro Asakusa Station on the Ginza Line It is also possible to transfer to Toei Asakusa Station and the Asakusa Subway Line by underground passageways, but this is more complicated. It is probably easier to walk above ground to the A5 entrance of Toei Asakusa Station, which is just 200 meters away on the west side of Edo-dori Avenue. The A5 entrance to Toei Asakusa Station on the Asakusa Line is 200 meters to the south of the Tobu station There are no passageways connecting the Tobu station with TX Asakusa Station on the Tsukuba Express Line. To reach TX Asakusa Station walk west on Kaminarimon-dori Street and then north on Kokusai-dori Avenue. It should take around 8 minutes. The A1 entrance to TX Asakusa Station on the east side of Kokusai-dori Avenue Buses and Taxis There are taxi ranks outside Tobu Asakusa Station, and several useful bus services. There are bus stops for Megurin tourist buses on the east side of the station building. Some local Toei bus services run from stops on both the east and west sides of the station building. There are also some highway bus services that depart from a stop near the station’s north exit. For more detailed information about taxi and bus services in Asakusa please see our articles: Taxis in Asakusa and Tourist and City Bus Services in Asakusa. A Megurin tourist bus at Tobu Asakusa Station Lockers & Baggage Storage Tobu Asakusa Station has some coin lockers on the 2nd floor behind the main stairwell. There is also a baggage storage service on the 1st floor of the Ekimise shopping complex. For more details about baggage storage at this and the other Asakusa stations, please see our article: Lockers & Baggage Storage in Asakusa. Article and original photos by Michael Lambe. All rights reserved. Questions? Ask on our forum Asakusa Station NavigationAsakusa Station Navigation Station Navigation Tokyo Metro Ginza Line Toei Asakusa Subway Line Tsukuba Express (TX) Taxis in Asakusa Tourist and City Buses Tokyo River Cruise Asakusa Station Lockers Asakusa Hotel Deals of the Day Asakusa Hotels Hotels in Asakusa Tokyo Tours & Activities Japan Station on Facebook Japan Station Guides Yokohama Station Guide Ueno Station Guide Nikko Station Guide Sapporo Station Guide Shinjuku Station Guide Asakusa Station on Facebook Asakusa Station on Twitter Asakusa Station on Instagram Asakusa Station on Pinterest Japan Station Forum Copyright © 2020 · Asakusa Station Guide. Part of Japan Station Network. All rights reserved. \| Privacy Policy \| Terms of Use	cc/2020-05/en_middle_0087.json.gz/line1335310

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