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__label__cc | 0.501382 | 0.498618 | Talib Kweli And Yvette Nicole Brown Talk Donald Glover, Comic-Con, & Traps Of Fame
Louis C.K. And Pamela Adlon Use ‘Game Of Thrones’ To Create A Deceptively Hilarious Promo
by: Jeremy Gottlieb June 25, 2016
It feels a little easy to forget that we’re currently living in a world with no new episodes of Louie on the horizon. Louis CK has kind of been everywhere of late, from Horace and Pete to working on the Zach Galifianakis comedy Baskets to relatively frequent interviews and podcast appearances, he’s around enough that it’s tougher to miss his eponymous FX series, which is on an extended hiatus.
But fear not, CK-heads. We’re on the verge of what may be the next best thing. Another FX series, which he co-created with Louie co-star and friend Pamela Adlon called Better Things is coming this fall, and there’s video to prove it. The show will feature Adlon in a semi-autobiographical look at her life and career as a single parent who is also a working actress in Hollywood. And because both CK and Adlon are very, very funny, the well-placed Game of Thrones reference in the first teaser for Better Things works like a charm.
Whether or not CK appears on Better Things remains to be seen. There would be a strange but kind of fascinating symmetry with Louie if he’s to play a sometimes, on-again off-again, boyfriend of Adlon’s character. Actually, it would be cool to see him on the show at all, even as the barista at the coffee shop where Adlon is riffing on Cersei Lannister’s “Walk of Shame.” Anyway, Better Things premieres Sept. 8.
(via Vulture)
Topics: #LouieTags: better things, LOUIE, louis ck, PAMELA ADLON
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January 7, 2020 by: Carolyn Droke | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413185 |
__label__wiki | 0.82834 | 0.82834 | News, Trending
Post Malone Celebrates Billboard No. 1 By Smashing Guitar
by S. Leslie October 19, 2017
Post Malone and 21 Savage new single “Rockstar” is now No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The song is so big that it’s expected to return to the top of the chart next week and possibly the week after next. “Rockstar” ended Cardi B‘s reign on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with her mega hit single “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves).” Post Malone celebrated the success of the single by smashing his guitar on stage while performing said track on tour. This is the first number one song for Post and 21 Savage and both of them are basking in the glory.
It’s true, hip hop is now the number one genre of music in the world and in case you have any doubt, just look at the top five songs on the chart. The top three songs are rap singles, “Rockstar,” “Bodak Yellow,” and Logic’s “1-800-273-8255.” This also marks the fifth rap single this year to top the Hot 100 chart, an achievement that is usually dominated by pop songs. So far this year we’ve seen Migos topping the chart with “Bad and Boujee” topping the chart at the start of the year and Kendrick Lamar’s “HUMBLE” also gracing the top spot. DJ Khaled also climb to the top with his single “I’m The One.” Now Cardi B and Post Malone are battling for the top of the chart.
Post Malone was performing for his fans in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on Wednesday night when he got in the rockstar mode and smash his guitar. He then tried to ordered a hundred more guitars to smash but seems they would only sell him 10. “Help @Postmates I wanna order 100 guitars to smash on tour but it’s only letting me order 10!” he wrote on Twitter. Posty once said that he likes to break stuff and this song is the perfect opportunity for him to break some guitars.
help @Postmates I wanna order 100 guitars to smash on tour but it's only letting me order 10!
— Beerbongs & Bentleys (@PostMalone) October 17, 2017
#rockstar ?? @postmalone #forthlauderdale #postmalone #elitemusicent Credits: @thatdancer ?
A post shared by Elite Music Entertainment (@elitemusicent) on Oct 18, 2017 at 10:52am PDT
21 Savage, Post Malone
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21 Savage Says Young Thug & Future The Fathers Of New Wave Hip Hop | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413186 |
__label__cc | 0.514288 | 0.485712 | Label: Shakedown Records
Time Crypt
Toccata & Fugue in D Minor (Official Halloween Anthem)
What's Your Name (From the Movie "Halloween II")
The Boogie Man
Drac the Knife
Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater
Mr. Satan
1969 (Live) [From "Halloween"]
Shout at the Devil
Boris the Spider
The Raven (Poem by Edgar Allen Poe)
The Devil Went Down to Georgia
Prohibition Blues (Steampunk Remix)
Rockin' in the Graveyard
Who Put the Benzedrine in Mrs. Murphy's Ovaltine?
I'm the Wolf Man
Piano Sonata "Moonlight Sonata"
The Ghost Walk
She's My Witch
The Ghost of Ol' Man Mose
Open the Door, Richard
Piano Sonata in B-Flat Minor "Funeral March"
The Monster Twist
The Ghost of Smokey Joe
Frankie & Igor At a Rock 'n' Roll Party
I Put a Spell on You (Re-Recorded)
Turkish March
Morceaux de Fantaisies: Prélude in C-Sharp Minor
Asturias (Leyenda)
Tales from the Vienna Woods
In the Cold, Cold Night
Zu Zu Man
Ghost Town (Re-Recorded)
Theme from Psycho
Another Brick in the Wall, Pts. 1 & 2
Somebody's Watching Me
I Want Candy (Re-Recorded)
Bela Lugosi's Dead
Spooky (Re-Recorded)
Dead Man's Party
Little Demon
Season of the Witch (Re-Recorded)
Headless Horseman (From "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow")
This Is Halloween (From "The Nightmare Before Christmas")
Ghostbusters Theme
Casper the Friendly Ghost (Theme)
Thriller (This Is Thriller Night)
Oompa Loompa (From "Charlie & The Chocolate Factory")
Good Girls Go Bad
I Got That Poison (Poison on My Mind)
Scooby Doo (From "Scooby-Doo: Monsters Unleashed")
Love Potion No. 9
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Devil with a Blue Dress (Re-Recorded)
Skull Session
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Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor
Ride of the Valkyries
Witch Queen of New Orleans (Re-Recorded)
Down in Mexico (From the Movie "Grindhouse")
The Wobblin' Goblin
The Little Man Who Wasn't There
Witches' Ride
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Theme from Jaws
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Hedwig's Theme (From "Harry Potter & The Deathly Hollows")
In the Hall of the Mountain King | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413187 |
__label__cc | 0.559497 | 0.440503 | Mexico Living
Mazatlan Links
The Mazatlán Post
Home Mexico Living expat in mexico People turning 65 will not retire quietly into the background
People turning 65 will not retire quietly into the background
THE YEAR 2020 will mark the beginning of the decade of the yold, or the “young old”, as the Japanese call people aged between 65 and 75. The height of the baby boom, the period of high fertility in rich countries after the second world war, was 1955-60. The traditional retirement age is 65, and 2020-25 is 65 years later. One might, therefore, expect peak retirement for baby-boomers in the coming years—except that they are not retiring. By continuing to work, and staying socially engaged, the boomers, in their new guise as the young old, will change the world, as they have done several times before at different stages of their lives.
The yold are more numerous, healthier and wealthier than previous generations of seniors. There will be 134m 65- to 74-year-olds in rich countries in 2020 (11% of the population), up from 99m (8%) in 2000. That is the fastest rate of growth of any large age group. Health worsens with age, but the yold are resisting the decline better than most: of the 3.7 years of increased life expectancy in rich countries between 2000 and 2015, says the World Health Organisation, 3.2 years were enjoyed in good health. The yold are also better off: between 1989 and 2013, the median wealth of families headed by someone over 62 in America rose by 40% to $210,000, while the wealth of all other age groups declined.
The yold are busier, too. In 2016 just over a fifth of people aged 65-69 were in work in rich countries, a figure that is rising fast. Working is one of the factors that are helping people stay healthy longer. A German study found that people who remain at work after the normal retirement age manage to slow the cognitive decline associated with old age and have a cognitive capacity of someone a year and a half younger.
And miles to go before they sleep
In short, the yold are not just any group of old people. They are challenging the traditional expectations of the retired as people who wear slippers and look after their grandchildren. That will disrupt consumer, service and financial markets.
The over-60s are one of the fastest-growing groups of customers of the airline business. The yold are vital to the tourism industry because they spend much more when taking a foreign holiday, than younger adults. They are also changing education. Harvard has more students at its Division for Continuing Education (for mature and retired students) than it does at the university itself. And, because of the importance of pensions, the yold are transforming insurance companies from passive distributors of fixed annuities to financial-service providers for customers who want to manage their pension pots more actively.
The rise of the yold will be a boon to themselves, to economies and to societies. Many bosses and hr departments think productivity falls with age, but studies of truckmaking and insurance firms in Germany suggest older workers have, if anything, slightly above-average productivity—and that teams of workers from multiple generations are the most productive of all. Societies should be better off because public spending on health and pensions should be lower than expected, as people work longer and need less medical care.
Chuch and Jet Bolotin (www.bestmexicomovers.com)
But for all this to happen, three big things will have to change, under pressure from the yold themselves. The most important is public attitudes towards older people and in particular the expectation that 60-somethings ought to be putting their feet up and quietly retiring into the background. Many companies discriminate against older workers by offering training only to younger ones, or by limiting part-time employment and job-sharing. The yold will demand that companies become more age-friendly and, in the process, help change attitudes towards aging itself.
Government policies will have to change, too. The retirement age in many rich countries is still below the age to which many people want to work. The effective retirement age (the age at which people actually leave the workforce) is usually even lower. Public policy makes retirement a cliff edge when it should be a ramp.
Third, higher numbers of healthy yold people will require drastic changes in health spending. Most diseases of aging are best met with prevention and lifestyle changes. But only about 2-3% of most countries’ health-care spending goes on prevention. That will have to rise because although the yold will constitute a bulge of comparative health and activity over the next decade, by 2030 they will hit 75—and enter a long period of decline for which few rich countries are ready.
Source: John Parker: correspondent, The Economist
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__label__wiki | 0.554446 | 0.554446 | Archives for posts with tag: Carl Torgerson
Rosewater Performs Shotgun Wedding Benefit at 3rd and Lindsley
The Nashville Bridge – Darrell Marrier Interview
Darrell Marrier with Rosewater at 3rd & Lindsley, photo – Brad Hardisty
Rose water brought their conceptual Americana style Country – Rock hybrid Opera, Shotgun Wedding to Third and Lindsley in Nashville, Tennessee with a six piece band that featured duet vocals by lead singer Darrell Marrier and Jenika Marion that kicked off with a mock shotgun wedding with the “father” leading Darrell to the stage with gun pointed letting him know that he better marry his daughter after apparently taking things a little too far in a Romeo and Juliet type love affair.
Jenika Marion, Rosewater at 3rd & Lindsley, Nashville, TN, photo – Brad Hardisty
Jenika then comes onstage in a short wedding dress with a bouquet and begins singing duets with Darrell reminiscent of the Robert Plant / Allison Krauss project with a visual straight out of real American life in the 1930’s with music and a story line rooted in times gone by when the parents got involved to make things right and make sure the young man married the daughter after taking advantage of a situation as they saw it.
Through the songs and music, you can really tell these kids are in love and want to tell the story from their perspective. There are hints of everything from Johnny Cash and Tom Petty to reggae type inspiration in the actual orchestration.
Chancey Marrier, Rosewater at 3rd & Lindsley, Nashville, TN, photo – Brad Hardisty
Each song has its own tale but the production is strung together in kind of a Sergeant Pepper meets Tommy sort of way where Jenika finally tosses the bouquet to an audience that comes from today’s world where marriage is a big question mark that many don’t want to deal with.
Adam Box, Rosewater at 3rd & Lindsley, Nashville, TN, photo – Brad Hardisty
A shotgun wedding was a way to demand a young man show honor and respect and was usually answered in the affirmative. The concert itself was a benefit to Room In The Inn, transitional housing for homeless families and individuals. Attendees were requested to dress in 1930’s shotgun wedding attire and bring an item to donate to Room In The Inn.
Carl Torgerson, Rosewater at 3rd & Lindsley, Nashville, TN, photo – Brad Hardisty
Rosewater is a side project built out of song concepts that lead singer/ songwriter Darrell Marrier started formulating a few years ago and consist of members of the rock band Fragile, a band from Wisconsin and Minneapolis area with ties to Nashville.
Ryan Jasurda, Rosewater at 3rd & Lindsely, Nashville, TN, photo – Brad Hardisty
The Marrier Brothers, Darrell and Chauncey have worked with their parents and friends to build, restore or work on well over a hundred homes in the U.S. and Mexico through their 501c non-profit known as the Hands Foundation. They decided to turn their attention to the homeless Veterans this time around and their shows now feature a benefit aspect that give fans an opportunity to participate in giving. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the show in Nashville went to a local homeless transitional housing project, Room In The Inn.
Darrell Marrier, Rosewater at 3rd & Lindsley, Nashville, TN, photo – Brad Hardisty
The Nashville Bridge caught up with Lead singer and instigator of this new project Darrell Marrier backstage after the show.
Brad Hardisty / The Nashville Bridge: When you started writing this project, you were thinking about how Cash wrote?
Jenika Marion, Rosewater at 3rd & Lindsley, Nashviille, TN, photo – Brad Hardisty
Darrell Marrier / Rosewater: It started way back with a buddy of mine, Bret Spears, who’s here at the show and came all the way from Tulsa, Oklahoma tonight. He and I were involved in a shotgun wedding of sorts. We were involved in that situation and it stuck to us that day standing outside this little chapel [laughs] and we said to ourselves, “We need to start a band called Shotgun Wedding.” It was he and another buddy and I. I knew they were not really serious about it. It was just kind of joke. But, in my mind something clicked. So, from that day forward I started working on songs just here and there. I didn’t really know what I was going to do with it or if anything was going to come of it. I thought that just down the line I would just try it out. It was “roots” kind of music. As I developed it, the idea for the story came first of what these two people would go through, where they might be from, what might happen in the story then I started writing lyrics. It kind of developed from there.
TNB: Do you think that the Country Music aspect came out because of the storytelling?
Christopher Marion, Rosewater at 3rd & Lindsley, Nashville, TN, photo – Brad Hardisty
DM: It did. That is why I wanted to set it in that time period. We set it in the “30’s.” That was kind of the era we wanted to be in with this project. Now, the music doesn’t always sound like it’s from that time but that’s when the story takes place, during a time when a shotgun wedding would have happened with an actual shotgun. It was that idea that got me thinkin’. The first sound I wanted to reference on the project was Johnny Cash. It was those old simple “train” songs as you call them, I just wanted to go back to telling stories. I hadn’t heard enough of that, you know, recently in modern stuff. It [Modern Country Music] doesn’t tell enough stories. It’s more about being “poppy” and trying to come up with some new beat.
TNB: Like “Red Solo Cup.”
Matt Osowski, Rosewater at #rd & Lindsley, Nashville, TN, photo – Brad Hardisty
DM: Yeah. Exactly, a lot of this Pop Country is not doing anything. They are losing the “roots” you know. So, the thing is there are some people doing it [real storytelling] but in my mind I wasn’t hearing enough of it. So, Cash was the first thing that was on my mind and that’s the first few tracks. The first track that I wrote was “Shotgun.” It was based on that “train” beat.
TNB: The snare.
DM: Yeah, that shuffle with the Bass.
TNB: The only time outside of a Cash type thing that you hear that was probably on Sweet’s “Ballroom Blitz.”
Chauncey Marrier, Rosewater at 3rd & Lindsley, Nashville, TN, photo – Brad Hardisty
DM: [laugh] Exactly, that was the thing. So, that was the first song that I ever tried to put together. I was writing kind of wherever I could write. I would just try to demo songs out then one day..
TNB: You came here three years ago and you had no “Tennessee” in you.
TNB: It was good Rock and Roll very reminiscent of some Hard Rock bands from the “70’s.” Did you ever in your wildest dreams think you would have a connection with Tennessee?
DM: No. Not at all. At that point, three years ago we were doing that Rock thing. We had that record out with Fragile. It was just at that point that we took a break from that. It was not a hiatus or anything. All the bands use the hiatus thing, “We are on a hiatus” but, we just thought it was a natural break. You play for and try to push the thing as far as it can go and it comes to a stop and this time we had a longer break than usual. So, I was getting kind of restless and just sitting around and I decided it was time to try this thing outand demo some songs At first, I was just doing it for fun, to see if it would go anywhere. As it developed I decided it might be time to show it to some people. I showed it to the boys [from Fragile] to see what we could put together and that’s when it started. They all jumped on. I was lucky enough that they wanted to try this thing out with me. That’s how it happened. I pitched them five demos and then we got the band together and put a show together in our hometown at a local placed called Munson Bridge Winery, a nice outdoor show. As we developed the sound it became a theme and the record was going to be a concept record.
TNB: What is interesting about that is there are not a lot of Country concept records.
DM: Right.
TNB: I’m trying to think and it’s really hard to think of one.
Ryan Torgerson, Rosewater at 3rd & Lindsley, Nashville, TN, photo – Brad Hardisty
DM: Yeah, not right off the top of my head. I know concept records are not the most popular thing right now. Complete records are not very popular right now. Everybody wants a single and done.
TNB: But the whole thing is this project is very cohesive.
DM: Right, I knew it had to be that way. So, whether it was the popular thing to do or not, it doesn’t matter. It’s what is going to happen. It’s what the story is meant to be. So, I started writing in an “Arc,” which is not real easy because you have to fill in all the pieces of the music but not make it sound like it is just telling the one story. I wanted each song individually to be its own thing. So, I tried to do the best I could. It was really difficult but a great challenge. I was really excited about it and then it started coming together and I would just pick out a title from somewhere. I would pick out a title like we need a song about this and I would just write the song based on the song title. Once I got inside the story, you know, just inside the character, this wave of creativity just hit me and I couldn’t stop writing songs. I still can’t.
TNB: Do you feel like it is a path now?
Christopher Marion, Rosewater at 3rd and Lindsley, Nashville, TN, photo – Brad Hardisty
DM: It is. I think so. We haven’t stopped or quit the other band [Fragile] we are in, I just feel like we are all pretty committed to try this thing out because it just kind of blends everything together that we have always wanted to do and adds the storytelling element and the thread of the story that we are telling and it is pretty exciting to play. Also, adding some of these “roots” elements is exciting to us.
TNB: I still hear Rock influences, a little bit of Robert Plant…
DM: Oh yeah.
TNB: A little bit of reggae in there.
DM: Always Plant, another thing that was a big influence on me was the Robert Plant and Allison Krauss project Raising Sand.
TNB: How did you decide to do the duets?
DM: That was something right away that I figured out right after the story came to me. It was like when we’re doing live shows we gotta be able to play it out that way so I knew we would need a female singer and Jenika was the first choice.
TNB: Now you have Robert Plant & Allison Krauss going on.
Jenika Marion, Darrell Marrier, Rosewater at 3rd & Lindsley, Nashviille, TN, photo – Brad Hardisty
DM: Yeah, it was that early on during writing that that record [Raising Sand] was hitting me at the right time. All of that album is so good, you know and the way they blended that; he’s a rock and roll man and they blended his vocals with hers and that sweet bluegrass voice of hers is unbelievable and then of course, T Bone Burnett [producer, Raising Sand] is a mind blower on that. He set the foundation for all of that.
TNB: He has done that for a lot of Artists. I didn’t know if you knew that he is the Music Director for the Nashville TV series.
DM: I do. I have kind of followed him ever since. I mean I kind of knew about him before Raising Sand.
TNB: Oh Brother, Where Art Thou.
Matt Osowski, Carl Torgerson, Chauncey Marrier, Rosewater at 3rd & Lindsley, Nashville, TN, photo – Brad Hardisty
DM: Yes, that was another one that was on my radar but that Raising Sand was a big thing at that point and I started hearing the way the duet thing would work. It was perfect, that’s it.
TNB: It also had electric and the acoustic thing blended up.
DM: Exactly, it’s got all of it and that was what I was after and that was the perfect timing. I heard that record backwards [Raising Sand track listing]. My buddy imported that way by accident, which changes the whole record. I’ve heard it both ways but I like it better backwards opening with “Your Long Journey.” I’m not sure if it would have had the same impact if I’d had heard it in the right order.
TNB: Did you listen to the Band Of Joy album at all?
Jenika Marion, Darrell Marrier, Rosewater at 3rd & Lindsley, photo – Brad Hardisty
DM: I did. Another one I really liked.
TNB: Buddy Miller was the bandleader. Darrell Scott, who is a phenomenal songwriter, is like the Utility player.
DM: Carl, our lead guitar player is a huge fan of Buddy Miller.
TNB: Buddy Miller can do anything from Gospel to Rock.
DM: He’s one of those guys. So, I was listening to that and watching what was going on. It was with those kinds of things in mind that I started setting the tone of what I wanted this thing to sound like, definitely the duet vocals, the blend, the man and woman duet thing. You know, whatever was right. A lot of this record is going to have that.
TNB: Did you work with Chauncey [brother, guitarist] on the songwriting or instrumentation? Who did you work with?
DM: I did the songwriting on these tracks. I would put the demos together the best I could structurally and then send them to everyone. For instrumentation, I would go through Chauncey and Chris.
Chauncey Marrier, Rosewater at 3rd & Lindsley, Nashvillle, TN, photo – Brad Hardisty
TNB: You got your brother on the mandolin.
DM: That is when I started adding those guys. I said this is what I am after.
TNB: Do you think it’s interesting that your keyboardist / violinist, Christopher Marion, is living down here now?
DM: Yes, and so is his sister. Our drummer Adam Box that we have had since 2010, is from here as well. As quick as I could, I brought the demos to these guys and we basically had the trio with my brother who is always the guy I write with and Chris the Fiddle man.
TNB: That is the core of the songwriting right there.
Christopher Marion, Jenika Marion, Rosewater at 3rd & Lindsley, Nashville, TN, photo – Brad Hardisty
DM: That is the core. It is the orchestration. In the rock and roll project [Fragile] it’s the three of us. The project happened to be something that I was cooking up on the side. So, songwriting was done by me on this. But, as far as instrumentation and production goes, those are the guys you want. It’s hard to say enough about Chris and Chauncey, they are incredible players.
TNB: They [Jenika and Chris] are from up there, right?
Matt Osowski, Rosewater at 3rd & Lindsley, Nashville, TN, photo – Brad Hardisty
DM: They are from up North and they just moved here. Those were the two I immediately wanted for the project. In fact, all the people in the band are people I knew I wanted. It’s basically all the guys from Fragile with the addition of three more. I wanted Jenika to sing, no doubt about it, because she did some stuff with us in Fragile. When we were playing, she would come up on stage and we would cover that song, “As Long As I Can See The Light” and she would just blow everybody away, you know. We all kind of grew up together. I’m a bit older than they are but I grew up knowing Chris, Jenika, Ryan and Matt. Carl is part of my family. He married my wife’s cousin, you know what I mean? So, it’s just all a family thing.
TNB: You have great vocal range and are able to do a lot of things but what I notice that is different from Fragile is the challenge of the melodies, having enough distinction between songs. Do you feel the same way?
Ryan Torgerson, Rosewater at 3rd and Lindsley, Nashville, TN, photo – Brad Hardisty
DM: Oh, definitely. It was a welcome challenge to create those melodies like you are talking about. It was very important, because sometimes you are relying on the same kind of chord structure and they can come across as simpler sounds underneath. You’ve got to come up with a melody over the top of that thing to make it interesting.
TNB: How do you feel your songwriting process evolved through this project? Has it helped you improve your songwriting process?
DM: Yeah, big time. I got into more storytelling. Fragile was kind of the same way. There was some storytelling going on but not to this depth and type.
TNB: There was more of an esoteric poetry approach with Fragile.
BH: Yeah.
TNB: In other words, you would sit down with Fragile and think about what you were writing instead of this style, where you are actually telling an American story.
DM: That’s better than I can say it. Fragile was actually more abstract. That’s exactly right and this is meant to be things that you can relate to. Things you know immediately. You don’t have to hunt and fish around for what it means. It’s right there for you and that’s what I liked about it because it changes the whole way you write so it wasn’t only a challenge but it frees’ you up to just anything. So now, going forward, I think it’s definitely becomes easier. It’s like this: I got this musical section. I need a verse over it and click it just happens.
TNB: I could see that the way you are doing songwriting now that it is going to be easier to say” I’m thinking about this story,” and on you go. It is just a natural process, like; next year is another album of Rosewater.
DM: I’m thinking ahead already. In my mind, it kind of opened the floodgates. I am about an album and a half ahead. I have an EP planned. A side story. This story could go and go. So, in my mind it just keeps going on. So, I have an EP planned and a second record that I am already working on: A full length thing. I know full length things are not popular, but who knows about that. Who can explain how to release music or how to make it in music?
TNB: It’s like if it’s collectible vinyl it’s put out on Record Store Day, who knows. Things like that.
Ryan Jasurda, Rosewater at 3rd & Lindsley, Nashville, TN, photo – Brad Hardisty
DM: We are going to release this on vinyl. It will have the download thing with it but vinyl was what this was meant for so maybe we are going back where this probably isn’t the best thing to do in modern music.
TNB: Who cares?
DM: Exactly, this is what it is suppose to be. We don’t want people to lose the roots where are all this stuff came from and that’s what this project is about. You know, we put together a little family band and making the music that I think is really important; the history of music. The stuff that set up all the stuff that is happening now and we can’t just all forget that stuff. So that is what is important now.
TNB: Obviously you are from Wisconsin and the band has some Minneapolis roots and you have all of that support up there and you have this thing going on with Tennessee now for about three years and now you have a couple of band members down here …
DM: I know.
TNB: When are you guys moving down here?
Chauncey Marrier, Rosewater at 3rd & Lindsley, Nashviille, TN, photo – Brad Hardisty
DM: Little by little, man! Piece by piece, it seems like people just get drawn to Nashville. Our bassist, Matt Osowski is drawn here. He’s like “I don’t know, every time we come down here, it’s like, what are we doin’? Why don’t we just stay?” I don’t know. It’s very possible because this is a great town. We always have a great time when we are here. Amazing things happen when we are here. The people you run into. The people you meet.
TNB: I could really see you guys really fitting in down here with what you are doing now.
DM: Yeah.
TNB: It would work very well.
DM: We are going to try to be down here as much as we can. This is where we wanted to kind of send this thing.
TNB: I was talking to your Mom and I told her you need to get a Condo down here.
DM: [laughs] You talked to Mama?
TNB: Yeah, you need to move down here for at least a year.
DM: Yeah, no, I agree. I think to make this thing work we are going to really have to, we are going to push it and we are going to need to be down here a lot. That is definitely our target. This is the place for this sound to be at.
Tags Adam Box, Allison Krauss, Brad Hardisty, Carl Torgerson, Christopher Marion, Darrell Marrier, Jenika Marion, Johnny Cash, Matt Osowski, Nashville, Robert Plant, Rosewater, Ryan Jasurda, Third & Lindsley, TN
Categories Americana Music, Fragile, Music, Music City, Nashville, Rock Music, Uncategorized | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413198 |
__label__wiki | 0.691217 | 0.691217 | HomeHomeLiberty CEO apologizes
Liberty CEO apologizes
Sloan Smith
In a letter to Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis yesterday, Liberty Latin America CEO Balan Nair apologized to the prime minister and The Bahamas, for the remarks he made in a now viral video and for “the unintended consequences” as a result of those comments.
“The message I was trying to convey did not come across appropriately, have hurt many feelings and for that I am sorry,” Nair said.
“I meant no disrespect to the prime minister, his office, or the citizens of The Bahamas.
“I look forward to putting this incident behind us and building a better BTC for its employees and for The Bahamas.”
Nair was captured on videos, which have been circulated on social media, joking about the performance of the Bahamas-based subsidiary and a recent meeting he had with Minnis.
“It’s so funny. I’ll tell you a story,” Nair said as he addressed a crowd of Liberty’s Jamaican employees.
“Garry and I and a few others were meeting with the prime minister of The Bahamas on Monday, and you can see him standing there, his crown jewel BTC is ran by a Jamaican, who’s sitting right across from him. He brought up more than once, ‘We need more Bahamians’, and he’s not trying to make eye contact with Garry.”
The story was met with light laughter from the crowd.
Minnis informed Parliament yesterday that he had a “very cordial” meeting with the executives of BTC and Liberty last week, where he was very firm that the government would not tolerate Bahamians losing jobs.
He said following the circulation of the videos, he has since spoken to Nair and advised him that it would “be fair and wise” to send an official letter of apology to the Office of the Prime Minister and to the Bahamian people.
In his letter, Nair thanked the prime minister for meeting with him and his colleagues, adding that, “It was a pleasure to meet with you again and to constructively discuss many topics that impact our respective business, Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC).
“I emphasize that we are excited about the business prospects for BTC and are committed to the company.”
He continued, “As we discussed, we are also looking to invest in improving our networks across the region and we will certainly look at The Bahamas as one of those markets to enhance and extend our network. We believe in our employees, The Bahamas, and we know there is a bright future ahead.
“I appreciate the relationship we have developed and our collaboration with the board of directors of BTC has been constructive as we work together on recent initiatives.
“My sincere hope is that we can continue to work together in a meaningful way to ensure that BTC can reach its potential and meaningfully contribute to The Bahamas.”
Staff Reporter at The Nassau Guardian
Sloan covers national news for The Nassau Guardian. Sloan officially joined the news team in September 2016 but interned at The Nassau Guardian while studying journalism at the University of The Bahamas.
Education: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (University of Brussels), MA in Mass Communications
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BPL headquarters on Baillou Hill Road and Tucker Road.
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Emergency response personnel remove a body found in the rubble after the passing of Hurricane Dorian on Abaco back in September. FILE
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Deborah Deal.
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__label__wiki | 0.502463 | 0.502463 | Power Thread X ENVSN with Glynn Pogue
Meet Glynn Pogue from Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. She is an educator, writer, and journalist, who welcomes challenges and looks at them as opportunities to create. This story was submitted in collaboration with ENVSN.
What did you study in school and why?
I received a BA in Journalism, with a concentration in Public Relations from Howard University. I knew I wanted to write, but I was also interested in strategy, and thought PR would give me a nice balance. Plus Howard’s communication program is so esteemed. I later realized I wanted to tell my own stories in a more literary way, so I went back to school for a Masters in Creative Writing from The New School.
Where do you live today?
I’m still a Bed-Stuy girl, but I cheat on my city with Los Angeles.
What is your job/career?
I’ve got a lot of hustles. I’m an educator by day, but I’m a writer above all. I contribute cultural criticism, personal essays and travel pieces to a variety of publications including Vogue, National Geographic Traveler, and Essence. I’ve recently started extending my storytelling into branded travel and fashion content. I’m also a co-founder and co-host of the Black Girls Texting podcast.
What is a challenge you have faced or currently face and how are you overcoming it?
The past few years have been hard as hell, but also so damn encouraging. The steady grind of trying to pursue a dream without a blueprint can be emotionally and financially discouraging. I like to write longform and I don’t write quickly, so the work I produce takes time. Which means the checks take time to come. I often have to be practical and sacrifice my time to sit and write and experiment, so I can get up and teach—because ya girl got bills. That can be very crushing. I feel like I’m robbing myself, like I’m not fully living my truth. It’s a tricky balance, but I’ve found ways to make it work. I sincerely welcome challenges, and look at them as opportunities for me to get creative.
What does it mean for you to be powerful?
Confidence is power. I struggle with self-doubt often, but I feel so in-charge and in-power when I look at myself and genuinely believe that I’ve got this. I try to remind myself that I’m capable, and I’ve got a track record to prove it. For every moment I’ve thought yo, what are you even doing? I’ve had moments where I think Yo! You’re really doing it!
Do you have a favorite product or item you love that makes you feel great?
I’m obsessed with Noorface’s Skin Glass right now. It makes me GLOW.
What are your passions and hobbies?
I’m passionate about living, documenting and telling stories. I’m passionate about authentic human connection; I love cooking and entertaining and using my dinner table as a means to bring people together. I’m passionate about traveling, exploring and challenging myself to go beyond my limits. I’m passionate about Black folks, and inspired by the way we move, dress, talk, live, thrive. I’m really passionate about learning, and am curious about everything, so I move thoughtfully through the world, writing to figure things out.
Is there anything else you would like to share?
Check out my work at glynnpogue.com! And listen to Black Girls Texting podcast. We’re often talking about growing pains and hustling and making it work. Recording it every week has really brought me solace.
By Maria Gilfoyle|2019-11-22T14:58:30+00:00November 22nd, 2019|
Power Thread X ENVSN with Sade Parham
Power Thread X ENVSN with Natalie Edgar
All Rights Reserved. The Power Thread Inc. 2018
Design and Development Evelina Ro. Updated by Yuwei Pan.
Add some power to your inbox… | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413201 |
__label__cc | 0.51539 | 0.48461 | U is for… Unity
The Psychologist A to Z continues.
In his March 2018 interview, social psychologist Paul Stenner cited the German poet Rilke, who wrote about a life of ever-widening circles: ‘he was conveying a kind of optimism about such “worlds”, our spheres of activity which are bound together into one big circle that gives our life as a whole a kind of unity… as we get older, the limits of our “world” come to expand, qualitatively as well as quantitatively.’
In his 2011 ‘One on one’, Adrian Furnham highlighted the challenges of ‘coherence and unity’, saying that: ‘The tectonic plates seem to be moving and the archipelago of psychology drifting further apart. The first inaugural lecture I read was a man who in 1950 said he would probably be the last Professor of Psychology because all the signs were that the different parts would dissociate themselves from each other.’ Is our discipline just about managing to hold together? (We like to think The Psychologist has a part to play in that.)
Some astronauts and cosmonauts have reported transcendental experiences, religious insights, or a better sense of the unity of mankind as a result of viewing the Earth below and the cosmos beyond. Nick Kanas wrote about this in his October 2015 article.
Epic adventures in wilderness can spark a sense of unity: see ‘Psychology at the end of the world’ on our Research Digest (tinyurl.com/yamrkmqk).
Tweet your suggestions for any letter to @psychmag using the hashtag #PsychAtoZ or email the editor on [email protected]
- Our Psychologist A to Z so far is collected here.
Vol.31 (pp.80)
'The role is not about me, it's about the Society'
Supple bodies, healthy minds
‘I don’t want people to experience what I experienced' | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413203 |
__label__cc | 0.710448 | 0.289552 | Category: BBC News
My eclipsetography
By Brian Hughes on March 20, 2015 • ( Leave a comment )
As you are quite possibly aware, today was #eclipse2015 day. In fact, today’s was one of the “best solar eclipses in years“, according to BBC News. I’m sure the eclipse must be proud of itself — well done, eclipse!
I won’t bore you with explanations of what eclipses are or how to see them. Or that you shouldn’t look directly into the sun (as Alan Partridge might say: political correctness gone mad). Or that it was cloudy in Dublin.
Over here in Galway, on the west coast of Ireland, at the very edge of Europe, we had a reasonably good view of things. I did all the tricks, looking at the sun’s reflection on a blackened polished surface (in the style of Perseus staring at Medusa in his shield), getting my camera lense to ‘wear sunglasses’ in an effort to avoid whiteout, letting loose and staring at the sun anyway (#YOLO).
Not that I was immediately successful with my photography. Lots of my initial attempts looked like this:
Slowly, I got the hang of things and figured out a few workarounds. Such as adjusting the aperture and shutter speed to minimise the exposure. And other pro-tips too. Opening the window, for example (in lieu of washing it). And not shaking the camera. All the clever stuff…
Eventually I got something like this:
Which was okay, but not spectacular. So I kept at it and then, ultimately, it all came good and I got this baby….
Your next wallpaper. Well, *my* next wallpaper…
Way-hay-hay-hay-hay-haaaay! I have to say I’m quite pleased with that.
Then, struck by the thought that there isn’t a solar eclipse every day (and not another one until 2026), I set about recording other stuff, including several poor attempts to get a Vine of myself making crescent silhouettes with a colander. I also documented the eerie gloominess that the eclipse wreaked near my house:
Almost scary
Less scary
And in the end I had to pack it all in, in order to go to stupid work.
But it was all pretty cool I thought. By all accounts it looks as though the eclipse was as good in Galway as it was anywhere else in Ireland, which probably accounts for all the passers by I saw, dotted around streets and pavements, staring motionless at the sky as in some weird science fiction movie.
And then later it was all over. Everyone just went back to normal, oblivious to the fact that in past centuries such an event would have threatened the very fabric and order of human society itself.
Oh well. That’s it for another 11 years or so.
Here’s to #besteclipseofalltime2026!
Suarez: Nature or nurture? BBC expert unable to specify, quoted extensively nonetheless
By Brian Hughes on June 25, 2014 • ( 1 Comment )
Reasons why footballer-biting-other-footballer resulted from nature (i.e., the passing of traits from parent to offspring at a biological, or genetic, level):
“I would suggest he is hard-wired in this way. It’s not something that’s going to come out of his character with a few sessions with a psychologist…It’s in the man.”
That was “leading sports psychologist” Tom Fawcett, quoted by the BBC.
The implication is that interventions aimed at curbing such biting will prove to be futile because this guy is biologically pre-programmed (i.e., hard-wired) to do these things, and his behaviour is not accounted for by his experiences or environment. Thus, giving him new experiences ought not affect his behaviour.
Reasons why footballer-biting-other-footballer resulted from nurture (i.e., the emergence of traits in a person’s lifetime as the result of life experiences and environmental conditions):
“The formative years of people’s development do contribute to their personality. If you look at his history, Suarez had a fairly hard upbringing, which would have been fighting for survival – he was streetwise.”
Tom again. Continue reading “Suarez: Nature or nurture? BBC expert unable to specify, quoted extensively nonetheless”
Bandwagon latest: ‘Science news’ with tenuous World Cup relevance doing the rounds right now
By Brian Hughes on June 18, 2014 • ( Leave a comment )
1. Analyzing John Brooks’ Dream About Scoring the Winning Goal
Source: Time.com, ‘HEALTH’ section (17 June)
One-line summary: A US soccer player scored a goal and then says he previously had a dream about doing so. So then, can your dreams predict or influence your future? Scientists say maybe or maybe not. By which they mean: ‘Actually not.’
We know it’s on the bandwagon because they say: “So while it’s not exactly ‘scientific’…”
World Cup relevance: 4/5
Science relevance: 2/5
2. The Story Behind the Foam That World Cup Refs Use To Stop Cheating
Source: Gizmodo.com (17 June)
One-line summary: That vanishing spray, invented in 2002, is now on TV a lot. So without actually explaining how it works, here’s what a ‘free kick’ is.
We know it’s on the bandwagon because they say: Continue reading “Bandwagon latest: ‘Science news’ with tenuous World Cup relevance doing the rounds right now”
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__label__cc | 0.611161 | 0.388839 | Winter Snows
Robbie watched the first real snow of the season drift down onto the black waters of Long Lake. She was tired. Bone tired. The last few months had been hell. A non-stop merry-go-round of hospital visits for radiation treatment, working on the new scenes for the film, editing, dealing with the traumatic issues of radiation sickness and flying in that damn helicopter back and forth to catch time with Janet and Reb.
The worst was over now but she wasn’t sure their relationship had survived intact. Huh, what relationship! After the surgery, Janet would no longer let Robbie near her. Oh, they kissed and even hugged at times but they slept in separate beds. At first, it was because she needed time to recover from the surgery. ‘You understand Robbie, I’m really tender.’ Then it was; “I’m too sick and weak, please don’t” or else ” the radiation levels in my body liquids are too high!” When she started to lose her hair, Robbie was banned from the bedroom altogether. “I don’t want you to see me like this!”
Robbie placed her forehead against the cold windowpane. She felt guilty for feeling resentment. After all, Janet had gone through hell and had never complained. If she needed space, well, that was to be understood…but there was a growing worry in Robbie’s gut that the love they had shared, so briefly, was never going to be the same again.
She hadn’t seen Janet naked since before the surgery and it was beginning to look like she was never going to! Nor had she seen Janet without the series of scarves and hats that she had bought from the store that specialized in that sort of thing. Robbie sighed, I gotta be patient. Janet is too special a part of my life to give up on! Yet, tonight when she had arrived, she found that even Reb had been sent away. Reb was the only bright spot in her visits recently and now she wasn’t even here! The bleep of Robbie’s phone brought her out of her moody thoughts.
“Robbie.”
“Robbie,” came Gwen’s quiet voice, “There is a jet helicopter on its way for you. There’s been a serious accident in London. An explosion in the school lab. Ryan’s in a coma.” Robbie sank to a chair, her knees too weak to support her as a shock wave of fear ran through her. “Robbie?”
“I don’t know, Robbie,” came Gwen’s concerned voice. “Bad. The ‘copter will take you straight to the hospital. It should be there in about half an hour.”
“Thanks, Gwen.”
“Keep me posted, Robbie.”
“I will.” Robbie snapped the phone shut. Her world seemed to be crumbling around her.
Janet fussed with her short hair once more. It was still very short, a sandy fuzz really. Would Robbie hate it? Lots of women cut their hair short these days. Robbie’s was fairly short. Janet bit her lip. You can’t put this off any longer. She had discussed it at length with her councillor. Either Robbie was going to be able to handle the fact that Janet had only one breast or she was going to be really turned off by it.
It wasn’t fair to keep Robbie away. She had been such a rock. She’d been patient and kind and a second mom to Rebecca. Janet could see the hurt in her eyes each time she gently pushed Robbie away. It was so hard. Robbie was beautiful, vibrant and whole. She worked with people like Tracy Travelli. Why would she want to stay with Janet, now? There were even hints in the gossip columns that Travelli might be more than a friend of Robbie’s.
But tonight was going to be different. She had wonderful news to start with; the doctor had told her that there was every indication that they had got all the cancer. She’d made Robbie’s favourite meal and she’d asked Mrs. Chen to babysit so that they could have a special night together. She started out, then at the last minute put the Blue Jays baseball cap on that Robbie had bought her. Once they had talked a bit, when some of the tension that had developed between them had lessened, then she’d be ready.
“Hi, what are you looking at?” asked Janet coming up beside Robbie as she stared out at the gathering night.
“I’m looking for the helicopter. I’m leaving,” stated Robbie tensely.
“What! You only just got here!” exclaimed Janet, sounding more annoyed than she’d intended.
Robbie swung around her eyes flashing and her face tense with stress. “So what! You don’t give a damn if you see me or not!”
“That’s not true! Look Robbie, I don’t need…”
“Yeah, well, I’ve got some needs too!…”
Janet felt her own temper snap. “I think your needs were well taken care of by Tracy Travelli, or didn’t you think I’d heard the rumours?!” countered the smaller woman spitefully.
Robbie turned pale, started to speak and then stopped as the bug-shaped shadow appeared over the trees, bright yellow eyes searching for a landing spot. Without a word, Robbie pushed past Janet and slammed out of the house to catch her lift to London, a city west of Toronto.
Janet stood in shock at the window and watched her go. My God, the rumour was true! Robbie was having an affair with her lead lady! Janet turned and looked around the room, hearing in her memory the happy banter of the good times they had enjoyed together there. Now there was only the tick, tick of the mantel clock to break the silence. On weak legs, she walked over and sank into a chair. It was over just like that. Robbie had left her.
It had been almost three weeks. Some days the young teenager would move or her eye lids would flutter but Robbie knew now not to get up false hope. They were, as the doctor explained, spontaneous, involuntary movements.
Ryan had been mixing some sort of rocket fuel together without the knowledge or consent of the school and the accidental explosion had thrown the girl through a wall. The back of her skull had been cracked and there was considerable swelling of the brain. Tests indicated no brain damage but the girl was not coming out of the coma.
Robbie had worked with her every day. Exposing her to music, reading to her, having her smell different odours or rubbing different textures against her finger tips, anything she could think of to stimulate Ryan’s brain to unlock her consciousness. Nothing.
Robbie lifted the small hand. Ryan had long fingers like her own. They were strong, capable hands for a little girl. “I guess you’ve had to do it on your own, haven’t you, kid? I was never there for you. You see, I’m your mother. I was just, eighteen when I had you. I was pretty confused at the time, wild, ya know. I never meant to hurt you, Ryan! I thought I was protecting you from the stigma of who I was. I loved you, you see…” Robbie stammered to a halt, realizing that she’d been talking out loud like, she some times did with Reb.
She wished Reb and Janet were with her. She missed them and needed them. She wished she hadn’t yelled those things at Janet. Robbie blinked back tears as she looked at the still form of her daughter. She placed her head down on their clasped hands and tried to think of something that she had not yet tried to help her daughter. “Water,” came a faint, gravelly voice.
Robbie scrambled to her feet and ran to get a nurse.
It was late and the weather was nasty. Robbie drove like a maniac through the night, her mind trying to make sense of the warring emotions inside her. All she knew for sure was she hurt inside like hell and needed to be with Janet. How long had it been since she had walked out? Three weeks, maybe? She’d just left Janet to cope by herself. Damn it all to hell! What had she been thinking off!
The windshield wipers struggled to keep back the thick, wet snow. Icy ridges were forming on each side narrowing Robbie’s view with each sweep of the blades on the rented car. Just another kilometer and she should see Janet’s mailbox at the end of her lane! Suddenly, the lights caught the shape of something brown and huge on the road in front of her. Robbie slammed on the brakes, sending the car’s light rear end spinning around so that the wheels caught on the gravel shoulder. The car slid off the road and broadsided the hard packed snowbank left by the township plough, coming to an abrupt stop.
Janet stood at the window. There was nothing really to see. The outside lamp revealed a near white out. It was cold too, the wind howling through the trees. A true, Canadian snowstorm, Janet sighed. Fortunately, it was a weekend, so classes would not be too badly upset by the snow. Still, she would need to get in touch with the duty teachers and make sure everything was under control. Going back to her job full time had helped to fill the void in her life after Robbie had left. Her work allowed her to push back, for a little while, the loneliness and pain that were her constant companions now.
It had only been snowing an hour and already there was several inches on the ground. Janet checked again to make sure she had matches and candles handy and a good stock of wood for the fireplace in case the power went off. Then she wandered back to the window. Where was Robbie tonight? The possible answers to that question made her gut twist with pain.
Robbie leapt out of the car and checked on the snow covered road. No blood. Whatever, had loped across the road, she had managed to miss it. There was a movement to her right and she turned and gasped. Then she took a second look and laughed. There sitting by the side of the road was the biggest, scruffiest, ugliest dog that she had ever seen in her life!
It had long rusty hair which was knotted with burrs and clumps of mud and ice. It had long legs like a sloth and a face, what could be seen for hair, like a bull dog. One ear went down and one went up and its tail, when it stood up and wagged it, seemed to lean to one side. Robbie walked over to the beast in question. “You almost scared the hell out of me! You know that?” A tongue hung from a huge, smiling mouth.
The dog was skin and bones. Robbie remembered Janet telling her that the summer tourists often lost pets in the woods and simply went back to the city without them. “Well, that car isn’t going anywhere tonight.” She looked back at the dog. “You’d better come with me. I’ve walked out on too many lives already,” Robbie explained bitterly and took off the belt from her coat to make a makeshift collar and leash. Together, they trudged up the road to Janet’s lane and then waded through the snow to the cabin.
It was freezing and Robbie could barely see ahead of her. Now that she and the massive dog had turned down into Janet’s lane the snow was much deeper. She had to climb over a ridge of snow left by the plough at the end of the driveway and then wade through two foot drifts that ridged the driveway where the snow blew between the pines and built up. Had she wandered off the path? She should be able to see the lights of Janet’s cabin by now! She began to realize that her decision to leave the safety of the car and try to walk through the storm had been a poor one. All she wanted to do was lie down and go to sleep!
It was running into the back end of her own truck that alerted Robbie to the fact that she had found the cabin site. Carefully, she edged along to the front of the vehicle, walking blind in the heavy, wind wiped snow. Shit! No lights! Janet must be away. She followed the log wall around to the porch and tried to look in the front window. Nothing, the curtains were closed. Damn! She went around to the door, the big dog close at her side seeking warmth. The door was locked. Fishing into her pocket she hunted for the keys. Cold, numb fingers barely functioned. Had she left her keys in the ignition? The dog snorted in frustration and scratched at the door sensing the warmth inside. Maybe she could find something to break the window, she thought and turned to head for the wood pile just before the sharp crack of the rifle shot shattered the air around her.
Janet was just finishing putting some hot coffee into a thermos when the power went out. Well, that was good timing, she thought, tightening the lid into place. She felt her way across the room to where she had left the matches and candles. Then froze when she heard a thump and muffled footsteps outside. Oh boy! Janet lived alone in an isolated setting and although she loved the solitude of her private lake, she was aware that it left her rather vulnerable. She tip toed over to the phone. Dead.
Fear now grasped at her heart. Okay, don’t panic, Janet, she told herself as she heard someone trying to clear the ice and snow to see through the window. She ducked and crawled on her hands and knees over to where she kept her grandfather’s old twenty-two. With care, she pushed a number of cartridges in place and then quietly opened the back door to circle around behind the intruder. Through the heavy snow, she could just make out two large black figures trying to get in the door. One suddenly turned and came at her! She fired.
Robbie fell face down in the snow and the huge, big dog landed playfully on top of her. “Don’t fire,” she managed to yell above the wind. “I’m not armed!”
“Robbie?!”
“Janet?!”
“Oh my God!” Janet ran over and knelt by the body of the tall woman. “Are you all right?”
“I don’t know. Did you hit me?”
“Of course not! I shot in the air to try and scare the intruders off!”
“It worked,” muttered Robbie rolling over in the snow and sitting up. Janet brushed snow from Robbie. Then she looked up into a big, shaggy face that was sitting near by.
“What is that?!”
“Rufus, meet Janet. Rufus is my dog. I think it’s a mix of Tibetan Massif and Tree Sloth.”
“Your dog!? Come on, let me get you inside. I think the cold is affecting your reasoning.”
Robbie reached out and grabbed Janet’s arm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean those things! I…”
Janet reached down and gave the snowy, cold woman a quick hug. “I had it coming. Come on, you’re freezing!”
By the firelight, Janet could get a better look at Robbie and the massive dog. She was shocked by what she saw. Robbie was soaked through and the light jacket she had been wearing had been little protection against the harsh elements. She tugged the clinging coat from the woman’s shoulders and had her sit near the fire while she ran to get towels and blankets.
Returning, she gently stripped the clothes from the woman she loved, and replaced each item with tender kisses. Robbie moaned with pleasure and pulling Janet close she kissed her with desperate need. Her hands hesitantly moved across Janet’s back and pulled her sweatshirt up so that cold hands could stretch across warm flesh. Janet shivered with the touch and then pulled back to let Robbie watch her undress.
It looked… weird, Robbie concluded, to see a woman with one breast and only an angry red scar curved around where the other should be. Then Janet was back in her arms and the touch of her warm skin sent the waves of passion back through Robbie. “I’ll understand, Robbie, if you don’t want to,” Janet whispered emotionally into the actor’s ear.
For an answer, Robbie pulled Janet down with her to the rug and made slow, passionate love to her in the rich glow of the firelight. Later, they lay in each other’s arms too exhausted to continue but still touching, nuzzling and kissing with a desperate need to be close. “I’ve missed you. I tried phoning Gwen but she wouldn’t tell me where you were just that you’d been called out of town on an emergency. I was so worried, Oby! Is everything all right now?”
Silence, while Robbie tried to find some way to explain. “No. We need to talk but…not just yet, not tonight, okay?”
“Okay. Hmmmm, I need to get Reb. The house is starting to cool and she’ll get cold in the nursery. She’ll have to sleep here by the fire with us. Is that okay, Robbie?”
Robbie’s eyes lit up! “Yeah, go get the ankle biter!” she smiled eagerly.
Janet laughed and gave her lover a hug. “She’s missed you terribly.”
A sleepy bundle wrapped in a blanket was carried out by her mom. She took one look at her Oby sitting by the fire and launched herself from her surprised mother’s arms. “Oby, you come back!”
Robbie caught the diving child out of the air much to Janet’s relief and spun her to the ground. “Hi, Rebel. Want to see the dog I brought you?”
“What?!” gasped Janet, but it was too late. Robbie and Reb were all ready playing with the big lump of wet, smelly fur that was passing itself of as a domesticated dog. Janet sighed, bowed to the inevitable, and went to get a tinfoil dish of Cherrios and the left over end of a rump roast for the dog now that the canine mountain had rested and warmed itself by the fire. It would have to do until they could shop for some decent food for the poor animal.
The household routine was a complete washout. The power had come back on in the early hours and Reb, who had played with Oby and Rufus for hours, was put to bed at dawn near to exhaustion. Janet then insisted that Robbie have a shower because she smelt very much like a wet dog. Robbie in her turn insisted that she needed her back washed by her lover.
Janet ran slow, soapy fingers down Robbie’s back, curving their path back and forth across rippling muscles. She scooped Robbie’s cute butt in both hands and leaned forward to plant a nest of kisses between Robbie’s shoulder blades. Robbie turned around and stood looking down at Janet. What Janet saw made a pool of hot lust form low in her being. Robbie’s dark hair was soothed back off her face and pearly beads of water trickled over muscles of steel.. Robbie was simple breath taking. Eyes the colour of tropical seas traveled over Janet’s exposed body.
“I like your hair like this,” Robbie moaned softly, reaching a graceful hand up to play with a truant curl of dark gold. “You look like a pixie.”
“Are you comfortable with this?” asked Janet looking down at her scarred and flat right chest.
Robbie lowered her head and kissed along the red line that marked the incision. Then she looked up at Janet. “You are very beautiful, very exciting, and everything I have ever dreamed of having. I wish you hadn’t had to go through this but it makes no difference to us. What I love is far more than the package. It is the woman whose soul fits so perfectly with mine.”
Janet felt a ball of tension that she had been holding tightly in her heart unravel. She poured a liquid herbal soap on to her hands and painted it gently over Robbie’s body. Robbie returned the favour each woman teasing the other to new heights. It ended with them in bed loving each other way into the morning.
Janet lay in the crook of Robbie’s arm, her one arm running down Robbie’s body and her fingers gently playing in the soft hairs above the actor’s sex. Robbie’s arm was wrapped around Janet, stroking a flat, hard belly. “I had a child.” Robbie announced to the ceiling she was staring at.
Janet froze in shock and then rolled over to look at her lover. “A girl. I called her Ryan. She doesn’t know who I am, but I’ve supported her all these years.
“She was in a lab accident in school,” Robbie managed to continue, as tears dripped from the corners of her eyes.
Janet placed a gentle hand on Robbie’s chest. “Is she all right?”
“Yes, but she was in a coma for over three weeks. Her skull had been cracked.”
“Oh Robbie, I’m so sorry! You were emotionally not ready to take on yet another crisis. Oh my poor love!”
“It was hard. I felt guilty because I was part of Reb’s life, but I’d never been part of my daughter’s.”
“Why, Robbie? Why didn’t you raise your daughter?”
“After, after the really bad time in my life, I was really mixed up. I thought I’d be going to jail and I just went wild. I dropped out of university at seventeen and just lived; wild parties, wild times, anything. When I found I was pregnant, I just hid away. I didn’t want her to have to grow up with the stigma of being my daughter. I thought I was doing her a favour. It still haunts me now, what I did back then. That’s why I don’t feel I can offer you anything permanent. I’m always waiting to pay for what happened.”
Robbie’s body was stiff with tension and the effort it had taken her to tell Janet. “So what do you want to do now, Robbie?” Janet coaxed softly, as she painted patterns with a finger on Robbie’s chest.
“I…I…don’t know.”
Janet sighed inside. This was going to be harder than she thought. Robbie had these huge walls of defense, not to protect herself, but to protect others from her. “Robbie, you can’t keep beating yourself for things you did wrong as a child! How old are you?”
“Thirty-two.”
“So all this happened almost fifteen years ago. Let it pass, Robbie. It’s time to stop hiding and live again. Look at all you have accomplished since then! You have added so much to our world. Robbie, we love you and just like you stood by me, I would stand by you, no matter what, because I know what you are now. I am so impressed with what I see in your soul! Robbie, it is you that I would leave my daughter if I were to die.” Janet felt the spasm of fear run through Robbie. “Shhhh, it’s okay. My first check up was okay.”
Robbie wrapped Janet in her arms and rolled the smaller woman over her own body, holding her tight and burying her face in Janet’s soft hair. “I don’t deserve you,” she muttered.
“Hmmmm, yes, you do, my silly olive! So are we going to fetch Ryan home?”
“Yeah, I just don’t know how to do that.”
“We’ll work it out. Does she look like you?” asked Janet, trying to steer the tense woman into safer waters.
“No, well, she’s got my build but she’s got your colouring.”
“Mine!?”
“Yeah, dark green eyes and sandy hair. She’s kinda cute,” Robbie concluded, with a blush. “She’s smart as a whip too and a good athlete. My grandmother had that colouring; maybe she’s a throw back.”
“Who was the father?”
“My university professor.”
“Shit, Robbie! You were seventeen!” the teacher in Janet reacted with contempt.
Robbie shrugged, “He was killed a few years later in a car accident. He was drunk.”
“Good riddance!” Janet responded angrily.
Robbie rolled over and gave her a kiss, “Hey, you’re cute when you are defending my honour but I told you, I was wild.”
“I don’t care!” snorted Janet.
Robbie looked deep into Janet’s eyes. “She’s had a lot of …problems. She doesn’t get on too well with other kids and she’s always trying things she shouldn’t and getting in trouble. Are you sure you want to take on a kid like that?”
“Robbie, I’ve got a whole school of kids like that!” laughed Janet.
Ryan wiggled her toes, played piano with her fingers, touched her nose with her eyes closed and did all the other silly exercises the doctor insisted on. She had already told the specialist that her responses and reflexes were, as always, above norms. He now knew that to be true.
“You are an unusual girl, Ryan, with a particularly hard head!” laughed the doctor. Ryan didn’t laugh. It had nothing to do with hardness, she was just fortunate enough that the lambdoidal suture had opened to release the energy of the impact rather than her skull crushing in, which was by far the more common injury. Clearly her, sutures were not knitted as closely as one would expect for a girl of fourteen. She must ask to see the x-rays.
“Ryan?” asked a blond haired woman looking around the corner, “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were here, Doctor. I came to visit Ryan.”
“That’s okay, I’m just leaving,” responded the doctor. “I’ll sign your release papers for tomorrow, Ryan, and arrange with the nursing station to have someone pick you up.”
Ryan nodded. “Thank you, Doctor.”
The specialist continued his evening rounds and Janet entered Ryan’s room. “Hi, I’m Janet Williams.”
“Billy-the Kid’s widow. You’re the principal at Bartlett. I’d like to go there,” responded Ryan seriously. “Did my mother send you? I had assumed that the lab explosion might have been the last straw and I’d be asked to leave. This will be my third school. My mother tends to pick schools based on the strictness of their program rather than their academic excellence.”
Janet blinked. She was used to precocious children, but Ryan Williams was something else! “I have been sent by your mother, yes.”
“She usually sends the detective that works for her law firm. He hates me,” explained Ryan honestly.
Ryan considered this. “Well, I tend to treat him like a dork, and I’m not very co-operative. He tries to boss me around.”
“Your mother was very worried about you,” Janet said.
“My mother doesn’t give damn,” came the quick response, eyes cold and flashing.
So the girl wasn’t as immune to feelings as she let on. “That is a hypothesis that I don’t think would hold up to testing. You have fallen into the trap of making emotional assumptions rather than evaluating the evidence. You don’t know your mother,” responded Janet, fighting fire with fire.
The chin went up in anger but Ryan checked the retort, looking instead at the petite woman by her bed with some interest. “Do you know my mother?”
“Yes, very well.”
Ryan laughed. “Not as well as Tracy Travelli!” she giggled, tossing the Saturday scandal rag in front of Janet. The picture was of Robbie leaving the studio, after promoting her new movie, with her arm around Tracy. The headline read: First Celebrity Gay Wedding? The colour drained from Janet’s face. She picked up the paper and read: Reliable sources have told us that Tracy Travelli and Robbie Williams became more than just friends during the shooting of Williams’ new film about one of Napoleon’s mistresses. Was the leading lady getting personal coaching from the famous actor/director/ playwright?
“That bitch,” Janet muttered and then blushed as she realized that she had spoke out loud.
“Which one?” asked Ryan happily.
Robbie leaned over her desk in fury. “I want to know where this information came from!” she growled, slamming her fist on the gossip newspaper that lay on her desk.
“I might already know,” drawled Polenski, looking up at the angry face from where he sat in the visitor’s chair.
Robbie calmed immediately, and sat down. “Tell me,” she ordered in a quiet voice, edged with ice.
“There’s been a small town reporter by the name of Lucier asking a lot of questions about you. He’s even tried, unsuccessfully, to access files. We think he got wind of your …ahhh… relationship with Travelli and sold the gossip to the tabloid. Travelli was pretty vocal about you running out on her.”
Robbie sighed and rubbed her eyes. “This couldn’t have come at a worse time for the film and for me. Let’s see what we can do to put the wraps on this thing.” Robbie spun at her desk and punched a code into her phone. “Hassan? Robbie. Listen, I need some damage control. Get Travelli on some of the talk shows to deny that she is gay. She’s smart enough to know if she lets this one out of the bag her image as the Latin Bombshell just fizzled.” Robbie hung up and turned back to Polenski. “Get the law firm to talk about a lawsuit. We’ll try to put the scare into them.”
Polenski nodded and got up and left. Robbie was already on the phone to Travelli. “Have you seen the paper?” she asked angrily without bothering to introduce herself.
“We look cute together!” came the sassy response.
“Latin Bombshells don’t fuck gay women, Tracy,” Robbie told her coldly, tapping her pen angrily on her desk. “I’m arranging to get you on some talk shows to deny the story. Be good, your Oscar is riding on this performance. I also need you to be seen around town with a male. Pick up some sucker and promise him marriage, okay?”
“But Robbie! I meant no harm!”
“Just do as I say and maybe, just maybe, we can salvage your career and my film!” snapped Robbie, hanging up.
Robbie clipped off her private phone from her belt and pressed one. At the other end, at the Victoria Hospital in London, Janet took out her phone from her purse. “Hello.”
“This is Robbie. A scandal rag has just published an article about Tracy and me…”
“Yes, Ryan was just sharing it with me,” Janet cut in sarcastically, pulling a funny face at Ryan who had her hand over her mouth trying not to laugh.
“Shit. I never slept with her, Janet, after I got to know you,” clarified Robbie.
“Thank you for splitting those semantic hairs for me and letting me know in this manner,” responded Janet, with polite acidity.
Silence. Then a voice laced with pathetic insecurity muttered, “I love you.”
“We’ll discuss it,” was the response, as Janet hung up.
Ryan laughed merrily. “Wow! Did you toast her buns!”
“Let’s change the subject. How long have you known who your mother really was, and how did you find out?” demanded Janet, her foul mood sending her on the offensive. Ryan straightened, and prepared to tell all.
“For a long time, I didn’t care who she was. But last year, I began to wonder why my surname was Williams. Whoever was supporting me had money that was for sure. So I started with a list of possibilities, and the most obvious were the Williams sisters. Then I accessed birth certificates and bingo, mine turned up with Robbie Williams’ name on it. But that didn’t mean she was supporting me, so I snuck into the school office one night, and went through the files to see who was issuing my tuition cheques. It was a law firm that also represented Robbie Williams. So then I hacked into…”
“Don’t tell me any more,” Janet cut in dryly, holding up a hand. “There is no doubt that you are your mother’s daughter!”
Robbie paced around her apartment, picking up things and putting them down again. Maybe Janet had decided to go back to her cabin instead of coming here?! No, she wouldn’t leave Reb. Maybe she’d had an accident! The highway between London and Toronto was fast, busy and dangerous this time of year. A new knot formed in Robbie’s stomach. Then she heard the whoosh of her elevator and she walked over to wait nervously by the door.
The doors opened and Janet stepped out. Robbie shifted from one foot to the other, trying to think of something to say to make it better. “Ahhhh, hi,” was what she finally managed to get out.
Janet slipped out of her coat and dropped it on a chair and then turned and walked into Robbie’s arms. Robbie wrapped her in tightly, filled with emotional relief.
“That really hurt and embarrassed me, Robbie,” Janet said, her voice muffled and strained.
“Oh God, love, I’m so sorry!” groaned the actor.
“Come on, let’s sit down. You want to make me a cup of tea? I’m exhausted. Then I want to know the truth, okay?” Robbie nodded and kissed Janet’s brow gently.
“I’ll get the tea,” she whispered and disappeared down the hall. Janet watched her go with sad eyes. Was it too much to expect that Robbie Williams could settle down and live a family life?
“Ahhhh, I told you Tracy and I had a relationship years ago.”
“Well, after the funeral, I had a one night stand with her,” confessed Robbie uncomfortably.
“You’d made a pass at me that weekend,” Janet pointed out, dryly. “Were you going to service both of us?”
“No!” protested Robbie, looking up from the tea mug that had held her attention fixedly. “I’d struck out with you and…and I guess my ego was bruised,” she finished lamely. Janet said nothing. “It never happened again. I….I just sort of walked out on Tracy and came to you. She was pretty hot about it and did some talking and that damn reporter, Lucier, got wind of it, and sold the story to the tabloid. I’m really sorry, Janet.”
“Me too, Robbie,” responded Janet honestly. For a while there was an uncomfortable silence between them. When Janet thought that she had made her point, she continued with a sigh. “Your daughter, Robbie, is an olive out of the same bottle!”
Robbie looked up in shock, ” She’s fooling around?!!”
Janet laughed and shook her head, “No, at least not yet, but I’ve got to tell you, this child of yours is a hellion!” Janet settled back and Robbie listened intently to all Janet had to report. Then, they went on to discuss what they needed to do next.
“Okay, here is where we stand,” said Janet, brushing her fingers through her short hair and pacing back and forth across the living room. They had been discussing the issue for several hours now and were on their second pot of tea. “You will call a press conference and admit to having a daughter, explaining that it was a youthful indiscretion. You have recently learned that the father was killed and so you felt it was okay to recognize the daughter that you have been secretly supporting all these years.
In the mean time, I’ll slip Ryan away so that she does not get the opportunity to give a press interview herself because God only knows what that child would say! I’ll keep her under lock and key, figuratively not literally, at Bartlett until this thing blows over!”
“I’ve really fucked up, haven’t I?” Robbie sighed miserably from where she sat, elbows balanced on her knees, staring at the carpet.
“Well, one good thing about this whole mess is it will help to bury the story about your relationship with Travelli,” snorted Janet.
Robbie was on her feet, eyes flashing, “I did NOT have a relationship with Travelli! I love you, damn it!”
There was a moment of startled silence, and then Janet started to laugh, falling into Robbie’s welcoming arms. “You are such a charmer, you are!” she giggled.
Robbie squirmed awkwardly, “Well, I do love you,” she muttered defensively.
“Then I’m a very lucky woman,” sighed Janet, reaching up on tip toes to place a soft kiss on Robbie’s lips.
Robbie smiled, “No, I’m the lucky one. Want to go to bed?”
“Thought you’d never ask,” came the response as Janet buried her sleepy head into Robbie’s chest. Robbie picked the woman that she loved up, and carried her through to the master suite.
“Do you think it will be on Entertainment?” asked Ryan, looking up from the book she was reading, as Janet drove her up to Bartlett in Robbie’s truck the following Friday.
“What?” asked Janet, her own thoughts miles away with her partner.
“Do you think Robbie’s press conference where she announces she got knocked up as a teen will be on Entertainment?” repeated Ryan, patiently.
Janey gripped the wheel firmly and set her jaw. “Ryan, please do not resort to crudity as a means of defense. It is in poor taste. I can understand why you harbour some resentment towards your MOM, you don’t know her yet like I do. You need to understand that your mom is a very private person and today will be a real ordeal for her. Like you, she often hides her very gentle soul behind a tough facade.”
“I’m not like my…like Robbie!” snapped Ryan.
“You have her build and looks despite your colouring and you do seem to display a number of similar personality traits, although I’m sure in many ways you are very different.”
“I wish Elizabeth was my mom. She is a worthwhile person not a movie star,” Ryan said with contempt.
Janet laughed. “You’re mom is far more than just a beautiful face! You’ll see.” Ryan returned to her book. It was Stephen Hawking’s, Universe. Ryan was definitely not your ordinary fourteen year old.
Janet thought about the dinner that she had prepared for Elizabeth at Robbie’s apartment. The woman was so nervous that she had dropped her shoulder bag twice getting into the living room. With Robbie she had talked physics, Janet amazed at how readily her lover could keep pace with the complex maths and theories that Elizabeth was explaining. Janet had a good mind, but she only understood a general overview of what they were discussing.
With Janet, she was stilted and formal until she learned that Janet had a master’s degree in gifted education, then the academic had asked her one question after another, absorbing information like a sponge. By the end of the evening, the conversation had become almost relaxed and normal.
Robbie had declared the evening a roaring success, saying that Lizzy had really warmed to Janet and relaxed in her company. Janet had opened her eyes wide in disbelief, but Robbie had assured her that Elizabeth had been known not to speak at all at social gatherings and so the night had been a real success.
“Robbie, what happened to your sister? Why is she so introverted?”
Robbie had become distant immediately, “It’s part of the bad times. I don’t want to talk about it,” she had said stiffly and gone out to stand alone in the roof garden while Janet was left to finish the dishes.
Now here was another generation of Williams carrying scars! Janet looked over at the young girl. She was lean and tall for her age. Wearing blue jeans, and a green sweat shirt, under a waist length parka, she was every inch your average teen, a little conservative perhaps.
“When would you like to meet your mom?”
“Never,” came the response from behind the book.
“I think tomorrow would be a good time. It’s Saturday so I’ll make brunch for us all, and you can spend the day at the cabin getting to know each other. That will give you the rest of today to settle into Bartlett and give your mom time to recover from the press interview.”
Janet’s voice took on an authoritative tone. “Ryan, please don’t use that expression. It is not allowed at Bartlett. It carries with it a degree of bored insolence that is not an attitude that is tolerated at our school.”
Ryan looked at Janet ready to rebel, then hesitated. There was something about the no nonsense honesty that Janet had with her that she liked. The principal didn’t talk down to her. Besides, she wanted to go to Bartlett, and getting on the bad side of the principal was not the way to do it.
“Sorry,” she said, closing up the book and looking out the window. Time for a little role playing. “I guess I’m just nervous about meeting…mom. Ahhhh, she’s so beautiful and talented maybe she won’t like me,” sighed Ryan, dramatically.
To her surprise, Janet burst out laughing. “You are JUST like your mother, at times, girl!”
Robbie steeled herself and then walked into the room that had been set aside for the entertainment press. She walked to the front of the cluster of reporters and stood before the bunch of mikes. “I am happy and proud to finally announce the birth of my daughter, Ryan.” Flashbulbs went off in her face, blinding her for a second, the bored group expecting yet another promotional release, surged forward with interest.
“She was born fourteen years ago, and I have supported her secretly until this year. Learning of the death of her father, I was relieved to be able to recognize Ryan as my heir. Ryan recently, was involved in a serious accident that left her in a coma for three weeks. I have been with her during that time and am very relieved to announce that she has made a complete recovery and is now on her way to my home.”
“Ms. Williams, who was the father?”
“Was the child born out of wedlock?”
“Ms. Williams, how does Tracy Travelli feel about you bringing your daughter home?”
“I haven’t discussed the issue with Ms. Travelli. The rumour that she and I were involved in a serious relationship was simply not true.”
“In your father’s will, the first grandchild inherited a fortune. Ms. Williams, will you make a claim on Billy-the-Kid’s estate now that you have acknowledged that you had the first Williams’ grandchild.”
“No. Thank you for your time. No more comments.” Robbie turned and with relief made for the door followed by a barrage of questions. Thank God that was over!
She took the elevator back up to the administration floor and walked down the hall to her office. Gwen had a phone under one ear and another in her hand. E-mail was flicking up on her screen. “Start with line two, Robbie, it’s Alexandria. Then line one, it’s Brian. I need a raise.”
“I’ll build you a house in the country instead, on a lake. The kids will love it!” answered Robbie on her way through to her office. “Order the helicopter, I’m heading north.”
A house on a lake?! What was that crazy woman up to now?! Gwen thought, shaking her head and turning back to her phone console.
It was late afternoon. John Bartlett, the supercilious jackass, and used car salesman that chaired the Broad of Trustees, resettled himself in the chair across from Janet’s desk. He had been waiting when she got back from settling Ryan into the Maplewood Dormitory. “You understand that the Board does not want to interfere, Ms. Williams, in your personal life, especially at this time when you are still recovering from cancer surgery, and grieving the loss of a fine man such as your husband.”
Then why are you here? Janet thought sarcastically while maintaining a neutral expression on her face.
“But I’m sure you understand that as head of the school it is important that you set a high moral tone. We understand that your sister-in-law, Robbie Williams, has been staying at your place and well, she’s an actress! And well, there is talk that she is perverted. And now on the way here, I hear it announced on my car radio that she has an illegitimate child! Ms. Williams, do you feel this association is setting the right tone?”
Janet only just stopped herself from going over the desk and ripping the idiot’s throat out. She smiled. “My sister-in-law is well liked in this town, Mr. Bartlett. She is truly a talented and intelligent lady. I don’t know what would make you think she is perverted. She lives a very upstanding life…”
“Ms. Williams, she is gay! That is a disgusting sin!”
“Mr. Bartlett, this is the beginning of the twenty-first century. Here at Bartlett, we teach tolerance. Ten per cent of all populations, whether lions, seagulls or humans are homosexual. It is a natural variation. I do not object to your religious stand that such behaviour is a sin. But please, do not force your views on me, my school, or the students. And above all do not feel that you are in a position to judge other people’s life styles. I remind you that in Ontario discrimination against homosexuals is illegal and that this province now recognizes gay marriages, adoptions, and benefit rights.”
“Well, I don’t approve!”
Janet shrugged. “Actually, Ryan Williams has just been enrolled at Bartlett by my sister-in-law. I just picked Ryan up and brought her up to the school today. I think that can only do our school good. It is, to start with, good and free advertizing. And, looking at Ryan’s C.A.T. scores, we are dealing with a child that is in the top one per cent. She will do our school proud.”
“I…ugh…well, the Board will be monitoring the situation to see if there is any impact on the school’s image and our enrolment,” Bartlett finished stiffly, getting up. “Good day, Ms. Williams.”
“Good day,” Janet responded, standing but letting The Chair see himself out. Horse’s ass, she thought.
At the end of a hard day, Janet went to pick up Reb at day school and Rufus from his pen that Robbie had bought and had set up behind Janet’s office window. I’ve acquired more dependents lately than Rufus has fleas, she thought, as she strapped Reb into her car seat. Rufus jumped in beside Reb effectively filling up the back seat. When Janet got home, she almost cried with relief to see Robbie coming along the porch to meet her.
“Hi, love,” murmured Robbie into Janet’s ear, as she wrapped her in her arms. “You look tired. I’ve asked too much of you lately. You need rest; you’re still weak from all you’ve gone through. Are you eating properly?”
Janet snorted and poked Robbie in the ribs. “You, Williams, wouldn’t know a well balanced meal if one was put in front of you!”
“Hmmm, I just worry about you,” fretted Robbie. “You get in out of the cold, and I’ll bring in the rat and her pet rug.”
It was great to be sitting with Robbie in the peace and quiet of the cabin and to feel, for a change, really healthy. Tired, she conceded, she was, but it was a good sort of tired. “You nervous about meeting Ryan tomorrow?”
“Be patient, okay”
“I can do patient!” Robbie protested.
“No, you can’t. But try. She’s got a lot of resentment that has built up over the years.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“I need to talk to you professionally, principal to parent,” explained Janet, getting up and going over to her desk to slide out Ryan’s Canadian Achievement Test results.
“Oh boy, she couldn’t have got into trouble that quick! Do I have to sit at the desk?”
Janet pulled a face and came back and curled up again next to her lover. “Ryan tests off the scale in some areas, Robbie. Particularly in maths and logical thought.”
Robbie’s stomach contracted in worry. ” But she gets good marks at school!” she protested.
Janet looked at her with disbelief. “I meant, Ryan is very bright. She is actually testing in the top one per cent.”
“Maths and logic, huh? She’s going to be another egg-head like Lizzy.”
Janet rolled up the report and swatted Robbie playfully on the knee. “Robbie! That is just the sort of bigotry I have to fight every day, please don’t bring it into my home!”
“So what does this mean?” asked Robbie, taking the report and becoming serious.
Janet watched Robbie’s eyes moving as they scanned the data. When they stopped, Janet answered. “She certainly will need some enriched programs to challenge her mind. We’ll want to provide her with a lot of support. This is too good a mind to waste. Ryan has had a lot to face and has not had the security of a stable family life to fall back on. We’ll want to track her pretty closely.”
“I don’t want my kid labeled!” snapped Robbie, eyes flashing with rage.
Janet’s voice went cold. “We don’t label kids. We educate and encourage them to be good citizens. Trust me to do my job right, Robbie.”
Robbie sat forward, placing the report on the sled table and leaning her elbows on her knees. She balanced her chin on her hands and stared at the fire. “It’s hard not to try to over protect her. I want to be part of her life.”
Janet swung her feet to the ground and wrapped an arm around Robbie. “You’ve got to move slow, Robbie, or she will resent you even more than she already does. Trust the school to help her adjust, okay?”
“I trust you,” stated Robbie sincerely, kissing Janet softly. ” Hey, it’s time for bed, love. The doctor said you’ve got to get lots of sleep. ”
Janet laughed and pulled Robbie to her feet. “We can go to bed but we’re not sleeping! I’ve got a lot of nights to catch up on!”
Robbie kicked a piece of bacon around with her fork. “Ahhh, you like your room, okay?” she asked.
Ryan shrugged, “It’s okay.”
Robbie nodded and swallowed the bacon that had finally been captured by her fork. “Ahhh, you feel okay, not getting headaches or anything?”
Ryan put down her knife and fork neatly on her plate. “No, I’m fine. That was a great brunch Aunt Janet, thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Ryan,” responded Janet, as she scraped the last of the scramble egg out of the Winnie the Pooh bowl and fed it to Reb.
“I’ll go clean up Reb,” suggested Robbie, quickly getting to her feet at the possibility of escape.
Janet stayed her with an out stretched arm. “I’ve a better idea. I’d like to spend some time with Reb. While I was having treatments, I wasn’t always there for her. Why don’t you and Ryan get out the snowmobile from the shed and go over to the Lodge. You can show Ryan what you are doing over there. I think she’ll find it interesting.”
“Ahhh, okay,” said Robbie, looking trapped and awkward.
Janet gave her a push towards the back door. “You two have a good time and I’ll see you back here in a few hours,” suggested Janet, giving Robbie a meaningful look and then turning it on Ryan. Robbie smiled weakly. Ryan scowled. Oh boy, this is going to be a long day, thought Janet!
“Watch out for the wolves!” called Janet, as the mother and daughter waded reluctantly through the snow towards the tool shed. “Ted Potts saw a pack up the other side of Blackberry Rock just the other day. If you’re lucky you might see them!”
“Aunt Janet has a funny concept of good luck,” observed Ryan dryly, as she watched Robbie unlock the shed. “Can I drive?”
“Do you know how?” asked Robbie, entering the shed, and going over to unscrew the cap on the gas tank.
“Sure, the last school you dumped me in had winter survival classes.”
“Guess it paid off,” muttered Robbie tipping the contents of a plastic gas can down the funnel she had balance in the snowmobile tank. Snowmobiles were the winter work horses and recreational toys of Canada. They were small motorized vehicles that could carry two people, one sitting behind the other. The front of the snowmobile was mounted on short steering skis and the back on a tread for traction and power.
“If we met wolves, what would you do?” Ryan asked looking around the shed.
“Get the hell out of there,” responded Robbie tightening the gas cap back on and then checking the oil level.
“Wouldn’t you try to save me?
Robbie looked up to meet intelligent green eyes, suddenly realizing that she was on trial. “I guess I’d credit you with enough sense to be right there beside me as we headed for safety. You ready?”
“Yup!” responded Ryan, mounting the snowmobile and putting the key in the ignition. Robbie climbed on behind.
“Is it okay if I hold on?” Robbie asked.
There was a moment’s hesitation. “Sure.” Robbie held onto Ryan’s waist and they headed out. She was impressed with Ryan’s driving. She moved out of the shed and down the bank to the frozen lake with care and only opened the throttle on the flat, windswept lake. Even then, she kept close to the shoreline. The kid was no show off and used a good deal of common sense.
Half way down the south side of the lake, Robbie pointed up into a patch of thick pines. Ryan nodded, turning the vehicle around and slowing as they wound up between the trees to the lodge.
“What is this place?” asked Ryan, after she had turned off the engine, and waited for Robbie to swing off the snowmobile first.
“The lodge was built by Janet’s great grandfather over a hundred years ago. It’s been standing empty for the past forty years anyway. I bought all this land from a lumber company in the Fall and when I saw the lodge, I decide to restore it. We didn’t get too far before winter. Things were pretty wild what with Janet being ill.”
“She has cancer, right?”
“Yes,” muttered Robbie looking away.
“Is she dying?”
Robbie’s head snapped around in anger. “No! No, she isn’t going to die! Let’s go see inside.”
Ryan nodded and the two walked in silence through the deep snow to the door. Robbie got out the key to open the new hasp and lock that had been put on, Robbie having damaged the last one breaking in. “Are you gay?” Ryan asked, and Robbie’s hand hesitated on the lock.
What the hell do I say now, Robbie wondered? Well, she’s going to catch on sooner or later and Janet said it’s best to be as honest as you can. “Yes.”
“You’re in love with Aunt Janet, aren’t you?” observed Ryan, enjoying the blush that was raising in her mother’s face.
“Is it that obvious?” Robbie sighed, pushing the door open, and indicating that Ryan should go first.
“Oh yeah, a blind man could figure it out. You two give off vibes whenever you are close to each other!” snorted Ryan.
Robbie turned to look at her very mature fourteen year old daughter. “Does that bother you?”
Ryan met the look with hard, cold eyes. “I’ve been teased by the school girls all my life for being a bastard. Now I’ll be the bastard of the queer. I can deal with it. I always have,” concluded Ryan, her chin going up in defiance.
Robbie didn’t know what to say. The kid was right. She was paying for her mother’s actions. They headed up into the living room.
“Are you going to marry her?”
Robbie stopped and turned around. “I wish I could. But I decided a long time ago that I didn’t want anyone, you, a partner, anyone to have to share the consequences of …of things I did when I was young that were very wrong. Now, well, it’s been a long time and maybe I can afford to get closer to people, but I’m still hesitant to give them my name in case some day they are humiliated to know me. I’m speaking very openly here, Ryan. I hope you understand that I don’t want any of this talked about.”
Ryan nodded surprised by her mother’s candour. “You recognized me. You ought to marry her too. She’s okay. Do you think she’d have you?”
Robbie sighed impatiently to hide her own insecurity, and turned around, hands on hips, to look at her daughter again. “Cut me some slack here, okay!”
Ryan pulled a face, and clammed up, walking over to the impressive fireplace. Tracy and Doug had been made overseers of the reconstruction until such time as there was a real job to offer them. They had managed to open up and grade the road in, patch the holes in the roof and clean up the inside of debris before the heavy snows had come. “Hey, there’s been a fire in the fireplace! Look it’s still smouldering.
Robbie came over and looked. The remaining grey and scorched wood was still warm and smoking. “Someone must have broken in. Maybe snowmobilers or something.”
“Or something,” came a voice from behind them.
Turning, the two women saw a lean man in a coat way too big for him. The emblem on the sleeve was of a gasoline company. He was dirty and had at least a week’s growth of beard. In his hand was a revolver. The man laughed and sauntered forward. “Well, it looks like I’m going to have lots of warm female flesh to keep the cold out tonight, huh?” he joked stopping about three meters away.
“Stay behind me, Ryan,” Robbie ordered, pulling the stunned child by the arm.
“Eh, Ryan, you ever done it before?” teased the revolting man. Robbie felt her anger rising to a boil. Stay cool, Williams. Think! She could feel Ryan’s hand’s on her back. She reached behind and squeezed the cold hand reassuringly. Ryan latched on to her fingers tightly.
The man laughed again, looking them over from head to foot. “You’re a couple of hot bitches, that’s for sure!” he leered. “But I gotta run an errand before we can have fun so how about you two just step this way,” he ordered, gesturing with the gun barrel. Robbie wrapped a protective arm around Ryan, and pushed her on ahead. She followed close behind, walking half turned, keeping her eyes on the man. He led them across the room to a closet.
“Get inside and close the door,” he ordered. Robbie gave the closet a quick look. Realizing it would be safe, she gently pushed Ryan in and then followed, closing the door quickly after her. She heard a deadbolt pushed in place and the footsteps of the man retreating.
Beside her Ryan was trembling like a leaf. “Hey, it’s okay,” Robbie reassured her, taking her daughter by the arm.
Ryan wrapped herself around Robbie. “He’s going to rape and kill us, isn’t he, mom?!” she said, her voice shaking with emotion. Robbie wrapped her arms around her little girl and held her tight, kissing the top of her head tenderly. Inside, Robbie was terrified for them both but she knew she had to force herself to be calm.
“He thinks he is, Ryan, but trust me, it’s not going to happen. Listen to me, this is the plan. I want you to have the keys of the snowmobile ready in your hand. As soon as I get the chance, I’m going to jump him, and you are going to run like hell for that snowmobile and get help, okay?”
“I can’t leave you, mom. He’ll hurt you!” protested Ryan, showing a courage that impressed Robbie.
“Maybe, but I have a better chance of survival if I don’t have to worry about you too. You go and get help. Promise me!” Robbie demanded, rubbing Ryan’s head with her hand.
“Okay,” agreed Ryan reluctantly.
“Good. Now, worst case scenario. If I get shot and he comes after you, use the keys. Go for his eyes. Don’t think. Don’t be nice. Hurt him and get away! Okay?”
“Oh, mom!” sobbed Ryan, holding on tight.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. I love you. We’re going to get out of this!”
Then a realization exploded in her mind and sent her mad. There was only one errand that bastard could have way out here! He was going after Janet! She pushed a stunned Ryan aside, and started smashing at the door with her foot. Blow after blow. Finally, one of the boards cracked. “Help me Ryan! He’s going after Janet and Reb!” Now both Ryan and Robbie smashed against the giving door time and time again until finally the two scratched and bruised women were able to squeeze through the shattered panels.
They ran together down to the snowmobile. Robbie took the keys and yelled for Ryan to hold on. They sped across the lake at a breakneck speed. How long had they been in the closet? Fear gripped Robbie’s heart in an iron vise. She’d kill the bastard if he’d touched Janet or Reb!
Janet heard the snowmobile returning. Well, that hadn’t taken long. Clearly, that plan had not worked out very well. She heard footsteps on the porch, and lifting Reb from her chair, she went to open the door for Robbie.
“Well, that didn’t take…” Janet stopped mid-sentence. She was staring down a gun barrel, and behind the weapon was a very scary looking character.
“Hi, neighbour. Your pretty friends sent me over.” The man smiled, indicating with the gun that Janet should back up.
“Where are the others?” Janet asked, her heart pounding with fear for Robbie and Ryan, as she tried to think of something to do to save herself and Reb.
“They aren’t going nowhere for a long time,” the man sneered. “So I thought I’d just come over here and have an afternoon of fun. You know any real hot games, slut, huh?”
“Please, let me put my child somewhere safe,” Janet begged. “Over there in the playpen,” she rushed on, seeing the man was going to object. Slowly, she backed up and lowered Reb into the playpen and then dropped a kiss on her head. “Be quiet, Reb” she whispered, giving her a toy that she knew fascinated the child.
Then she stood up and backed to the other side of the room where Reb couldn’t see anything if things got ugly. “I’m expecting company,” Janet said. “That’s why I came to the door.”
The man snorted. “I know who you were expecting, and they’re not coming back. Now take your clothes off.”
“No,” Janet answered firmly, looking around for a weapon, any weapon. Stay calm!
“Do it!” the man yelled, taking a few steps closer. Janet circled putting the couch between them.
The man cursed, and quick as lightening, he reached over the back of the sofa and grabbed Janet’s sweatshirt. Janet gasped, and swung at him, catching him painfully on the bridge of the nose. He swore again and brought the gun down on the side of her head. Janet’s world exploded in pain and it took her a few seconds to focus. She felt her feet kicked out from under her and she went down heavily to the floor. He was on her in a second. Tearing at her clothes. Janet fought back in a panic.
Then this huge, moving fur ball came from nowhere and leapt on the man, growling and barking. The man crawled away, looking for the gun he had put down when he had pulled the woman to the ground. It was there on the couch cushion. His hand shot out and Rufus bit it. The man howled and pulled his hand back, holding it under his arm.
Then Robbie was there . Her foot caught the man under the chin and sent him flying back. She stepped over Janet and kicked again, catching the man in his kidney as he got to his feet. Then another blow smashed against his throat. The last one flattened his nose before he fell senseless to the floor.
Robbie looked back in fear. Ryan was holding a shocked and battered Janet in her lap. “She’s okay, mom. He didn’t,” she reassured the furious woman. Robbie nodded dully, too consumed with rage to speak coherently. She got the long rope that they used for Rufus’s leash and tied the man’s hands behind his back and his ankles together. Then she went to the phone. Her hands were shaking so badly that she dropped the receiver. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she dialed 911 for emergency help.
Robbie dropped down beside Janet and Ryan. She reached out a shaky hand to wipe the blood from the teacher’s face. You okay?” she asked, in a voice tight with emotion. Janet nodded.
“Here mom, you hold her. I’ll go get some warm water to help clean her up,” suggested Ryan practically. Robbie nodded obediently, too shocked and upset to think. She lifted Janet’s weak and shaking body into her lap and held onto her tightly while the woman released her emotion in deep sobs.
The O.P.P. (Ontario Provincial Police) had come and arrested the man and carried him off. The young officer in charge tried to convince the women that they should go into town and see the doctor, but Janet shook her head. She just wanted to be alone with her family.
Their attacker had escaped from Beaver Creek Penitentiary several days before by overpowering a guard and taking his gun. He’d robbed a gas station and stolen a car and the attendant’s clothes. When he’d run out of gas, he’d flagged down a passing snowmobiler and stolen his machine after wounding him.
The police found tracks behind Janet’s house. The man must have been snooping around the night before trying to see in the windows. Rufus had barked, that must have made the convict have second thoughts about breaking in then. The women had thought that the silly dog had just been barking at a deer or another winter animal. They had been lucky, and it had left them all badly shaken.
Later, Robbie sat in the middle of the couch. On one side was Janet, her head resting on Robbie’s chest and her arm wrapped possessively over Robbie’s stomach. Ryan was on Robbie’s other side, her hand holding tightly to her mother’s arm. Reb lay on her belly across the three of them, fast asleep, and Rufus, the hero of the night, lay on the floor by their feet.
Robbie stared at the flames of the fire. How had this happened? One minute, she was a single, lone woman, cold and aloof and the next she had a family who depended on her and loved her. It was the most scary and wonderful thing that Robbie had ever experienced.
Today, had been one of the worst days of her life. If anyone raped Janet or her girls, she didn’t think she could remain sane. Just thinking about that bastard’s hands on Janet made her white with rage. She kissed each head in turn and ruffled Rufous’s fur with her foot. She pushed the horror into the back of her mind and drew peace from the warmth of her family around her. Being here with them…it was like a magical story. “Hey, guys, I think we need sleep.”
“Not alone,” protested, Janet, clinging tightly. “All together!”
Robbie laughed gently. “Right, all together. I’ll bring in the cot for Ryan that I used when you were sick, and Reb can sleep between us, okay?”
“Okay,” agreed Janet, reaching up to kiss Robbie on the ear.
Ryan pulled her cot close to her mom’s side of the bed, and when everyone was settled, Robbie turned off the lights. After a few minutes, Ryan’s hand reached out and touched her mother’s arm. “You awake?”
“Aha. You okay?”
“I guess. You sure can kick butt. Where did you learn to do that?”
“I had to train in martial arts for a few of my earlier movies. Over the years, I’ve kept it up for exercise. I’ve never competed or anything.”
“You’re a weird mother to have,” Ryan pointed out honestly.
Robbie felt hurt. She had thought they had broken down some of the barriers between the two of them. “Yeah, I guess. I’ve never had any practice at it,” she admitted.
“That’s okay, you’re cool,” concluded Ryan, and settled down to sleep. On the other side of Robbie, Janet quietly squeezed Robbie’s hand. Robbie lay for a very long time just smiling into the darkness.
The next afternoon,found Robbie chopping wood and Ryan watching. Robbie’s anger at what had happened to Janet yesterday was being directed at the woodpile. A large pile of kindling was quickly forming. Her mom was awful strong for an old person, Ryan thought. Of course she was strong too. “I could stay here,” Ryan suddenly said.
Robbie stopped chopping and looked at her daughter. “What?”
“I think I should stay here instead of the dorm. You’re always away and Aunt Janet shouldn’t be left alone. Look what happened yesterday.”
“Good point,” Robbie responded, trying her best not to break out in a goofy grin. “You think you can handle two moms bossing you around?”
“You two can’t have anymore rules than your average girl’s dorm, believe me!” grumbled Robbie.
“Well, it’s not my house and it is getting crowded. I’ll talk to Janet and see what she says. I don’t know if she’d be allowed to do that with her being the principal of your school.”
Ryan looked exactly like a disappointed child who was trying to pretend she wasn’t. “Oh yeah, I forgot about that.”
“Janet has to go into Bartlett to get groceries. I thought I’d drop her off and then head down to George Drouillard’s, Small Motors. He sells snowmobiles down there. Seems to me, we could do with at least one more. You want to come along?”
“Yeah, that would be cool,” smiled Ryan.
“Good, we’ll go as soon as you have all this wood I chopped stacked,” announced Robbie, on her way to put the axe back in the shed.
“Ryan’s smile disappeared, but she climbed down off the porch and started stacking. Her mother was cool but she was also going to be a pain in the butt.
Janet looked up from behind a frozen package of peas. Robbie lifted the well used bag off, and looked at Janet’s face. Some of the morning swelling had gone down but she still had an ugly red scratch and a bruised jaw. “You okay,” she asked, gently, trying not to show how upset she felt.
“Mmmmm, fine. Thanks to you and Rufus, my heroes!” mumbled Janet, with her stiff jaw. She reached out to capture Robbie’s hand, needing her close.
Robbie shifted from foot to foot. Oh boy, what’s up, Janet thought. “I was just talking to Ryan. Ahhh, we’re getting on all right.”
“She thinks you are wonderful, and she would be right,” stated Janet, squeezing the hand. Robbie blushed.
“She asked if she could stay here instead of at the dorm,” revealed Robbie, awkwardly. “I told her that maybe you couldn’t because you are the principal and all.”
“Ryan is welcome to stay here, Robbie. She is your daughter.” Robbie smiled in relief and Janet went on. “I didn’t think she would adjust so quickly to having you as a mother but yesterday’s …events sort of pushed the issue. You understand, Robbie, that there are still going to be disagreements and when they occur, she is liable to bring out all the old hurts to use against you.”
Robbie sat down and looked at the floor. “Yeah, I guess we’ve got a long way to go. You sure you’re okay with this? Because I’ll be on the circuit promoting the film and will be away a lot?”
“Then Ryan will be good company,” grinned Janet.
“You are forgetting that she is an olive,” laughed Robbie.
“I happen to love olives,” responded Janet, leaning forward to kiss Robbie.
“Hey, I’m an impressionable kid, you know!” came a cheeky voice from behind them. “Are we going to town? Or did I get conned into stacking all that wood for nothing?!”
“You, Ryan Williams, are a pain in the butt!” growled Robbie playfully. “Janet said you can stay if you cook dinner each night, do the house work, including windows, make all the beds in the morning, and share the dog blanket with Rufus.”
Ryan’s eyes got big and she opened her mouth but nothing came out. Janet came to her rescue. “Don’t listen to her , Ryan, of course you can stay here if you feel comfortable in doing so, and we’ll discuss and come to some agreement on your household responsibilities. All right?”
Ryan’s face lit up, “Thanks, Aunt Janet. I’ll be good. I promise.”
“I’d get that in writing if I were you, Janet,” suggested Robbie, her arms crossed as she looked at her daughter with obvious affection.
It had been Robbie’s plan to drop Janet at Dave Pott’s grocery store, but the fear in Janet’s eyes at being left made her change her mind. They all piled out together. Rufus stood guard at the door, while the remaining Williams clan invaded. Ryan wheeled Reb around in her own cart, explaining to her about how neat snowmobiles were, while Robbie wheeled a cart for Janet.
They ended up buying twice as many groceries as they needed because Robbie kept throwing in junk food to supplement Janet’s well balanced meals. Janet, for her part bought extra treats and a squeaky rubber ball for her canine hero.
Word, of course, had got around town. The O.P.P. officer boarded at Greta Corry’s and she had set a new record in spreading the news of the attack and Robbie’s rescue all over town. Those fortunate enough to be in the store at the time came up to express their shock and to ask if there was anything they could do. Janet was obviously uncomfortable, and Robbie stayed close, putting a protective arm around her when anyone stopped to talk.
“It’s silly,” Janet confessed to Robbie, while Ryan was helping Reb decide which kids’ cereal had the best toy inside. “I see everyone now as a potential attacker!”
Robbie rubbed Janet’s back reassuringly. “Hey, you had a really scary experience yesterday! It’s going to take sometime to get over it.”
“The rest of you seem, okay,” confessed Janet sheepishly.
“Ryan hasn’t left my side all day. And…and, yeah, there’s things going on inside me. For one, I’m really having trouble controlling my anger. And….well, it’s made me think.”
Robbie looked up at her lover, wondering what was going on inside the complex woman. “Think about what?” she asked.
Robbie shrugged. “Just things.”
They paid for the groceries and talked to the villagers who were in line too. Robbie was now feeling like an old hand at grocery shopping. How quickly her life had changed over the last three months!
George Drouillard was a little taken aback with the Williams’ female invasion of his small motor shop. Mostly, it was men that came in to discuss clogged carburetors or snapped sheer pins. Occasionally, a woman would drop in with a lawn mower that just wouldn’t start or to pick out an outfit from his line of sports wear, but he couldn’t recall having a crowd of females in his workshop before.
Robbie sat on a snowmobile with Reb in her lap making vrooming noises, and left Ryan to give poor Drouillard the first degree on the pros and cons of each engine. She listened closely however, and was proud of Ryan’s astute questions and comments. Ryan, of course, was showing off for mom. Janet watched and shook her head in disbelief as her own little bottle of olives spilt out over the floor, and took over the machine shed. This visit was going to keep the town in gossip for a week!
“Well, Ryan, what do you think?” Robbie asked, looking up from trying a racing helmet on Reb.
Ryan considered. “The 400 series has the power and good performance but the 364 is the better deal because they’re selling off older stock. There is nothing wrong with the 364. I guess it depends whether or not we are going to compete in the Winter Carnival.”
“What?!” Janet exclaimed looking out from a rack of snowmobile suits. “Oh, no, you two.”
“Of course, we are,” grinned Robbie, and Ryan’s eyes lit up with pride and delight. Janet rolled her eyes and sighed. They’d have to talk.
“No!” Janet repeated again, looking back at the mean machine sitting on a flat trailer and attached with a temporary hitch to Robbie’s truck.
“Why not!” argued Robbie, keeping her eyes on the icy road , as they headed over to Maria’s Café for dinner.
“Mom’s sure to win!” supported Ryan loyally.
“Oby win! Oby win!” chanted Reb.
Janet rolled her eyes in frustration. “That’s just it! You will have to win or die trying. Robbie, this is a friendly, little village carnival not the Indy 500.”
“I can do little and friendly,” objected Robbie.
“No, you can’t! The Williams are competitors, and you, Robbie, are bad tempered and a poor sport.”
“I am not!” roared Robbie, startling everyone. “I just like to win,” she finished meekly.
Janet sighed. “Okay, but there will be no famous Williams’ temper tantrums, and you and Ryan have to take some lessons.”
“Reb too!” came a little indignant voice from the child’s seat.
“Oh boy!” groaned Janet.
Again the clan piled out of the truck and took over a corner of Maria’s Café. Rufus sat outside looking in the window forlornly. Janet waved to a small, wiry woman with dark hair pulled back in a bun. The woman waved back and picked up some menus to take over to the table. Janet leaned over, “Maria Enrico is the mother of Lou who runs the garage now his father is dead.”
“Lou, who is stepping out with Tracy?” asked Robbie, with a smile, making quotation marks with her fingers.
Janet nodded as her eyes lit up in greeting. “Hi, Maria. Let me introduce my sister-in-law, Robbie Williams and my niece Ryan.”
“Nice to meet you, Maria. I hear Lou is seeing Tracy, who works for me.”
“Yes, Tracy is a good girl. My Lou could do worse. I see your announcement on the T.V. You were such a proud mother!” Robbie blushed scarlet. Maria put her menus down on the table and took out a small camera. “It is okay if I take a picture? I will hang it in my café and it will be very good for business! The tourist will come hoping to see you!”
“My luck,” muttered Robbie under her breath. “Yes, I’d be delighted to have my picture taken but please, no pictures of my children. Janet, why don’t you take a picture of Maria and me together?” Robbie suggested.
Janet got up beaming, and Robbie stood with her arm over the shoulder of the little woman by the dessert counter while Janet took several pictures. Robbie had said MY children. That had sent a flood of warmth through Janet.
“So afraid to get your picture taken with the bastard?” asked Ryan, on their return. Robbie looked like she had been punched. I warned you, love, Janet thought, but said nothing.
Robbie sat down and looked Ryan in the eye. “I’m sorry. I’m so used to the pitfalls of being famous that I take it for granted that everyone understands. I should have explained. I had to explain to Janet too. I am a very rich woman, Ryan. That means all those people close to me are in danger of kidnap. I don’t want any of you to get your pictures in the paper or magazines because that means you can too easily be identified. If anything happened to you, or the others because of me, I’d go mad.”
The anger in Ryan’s eyes was replaced by confusion. “Is that why you ordered the alarm system and floodlights?” asked the teen.
“What alarm system?!” asked Janet in surprise.
“I’ve ordered a system for the cabin. If anyone tries to break in an alarm will go off, floodlights will come on outside, and an emergency signal will bleep at the police station.”
“It cost a bundle,” added Ryan, informatively. Robbie gave her a glare, which she blithely ignored.
“Robbie, that wasn’t necessary! I’ve lived there for years with no problems,” argued Janet gently, touched by her lover’s concern.
“That was before you knew me. Besides, I have to be away promoting the film and I want to know that my family is safe.” There it was again! Janet’s happy eyes met the sky blue of the actor’s. She smiled softly and Robbie winked.
“You two!” groaned Ryan, to hide her teen embarrassment.
They ordered pizza with the works and Ryan had them all in stitches trying to justify the list of school offences that Robbie listed gleefully one after the other.
“Hey. The kid had it coming. She’d been bullying the entire floor and when she picked on little Grace just because she had a stutter, I lost it! I was cool because I knew I was down to my last chance after the goldfish in the drinking fountain incident, so I just told her ever so nicely that if she took a swing at me, I’d knock her block off.”
Robbie smiled and shook her head. “And?” asked Janet.
“Well, I let her get three hits in so that I had some blood for evidence and then I decked her.”
Janet laughed. “Don’t laugh!” protested Robbie, “She broke the kid’s arm. I had to send Polenski up there to sort it out so she wasn’t charged or sued!”
“Ryan! You didn’t!” protested Janet.
“I didn’t mean too! She fell against the desk.”
“You sure you want her at Bartlett?” asked Robbie, watching Janet wiping tomato sauce of Reb’s face. Playing in pizza had been a real hit with the two year old. Rufus too had enjoyed the crusts that Ryan had delivered to her outside.
“Mom! I want to go to this school!”
They all laughed, and Robbie paid the bill, arguing that Janet had paid for the groceries.
Later, that night, with Ryan sharing a room with Reb, Robbie was able to have some private time with Janet. Janet ran a hand up Robbie’s naked chest and pulled her down for a kiss. “Mmmmm, I missed that last night” she whispered.
“Me too. I’m going to miss you terribly. Are you sure you are all right staying here?”
“I’m a little jumpy. But the security system that is being installed tomorrow will keep us all safe. Thank you, Robbie,” she answered honestly, kissing Robbie again.
“I’ll phone each night,” Robbie promised.
Janet didn’t answer; she had other more interesting ways to express her love to Robbie.
Ryan and Janet sat in the wing chairs watching the T.V. and sharing a bowl of popcorn that sat on a small end table between them. Ryan had been allowed to stay up late to see her mom on one of the late night interview shows. “And now, ladies and gentlemen, the beautiful and multi-talented, Robbie Williams!” There was much clapping and whistling, and Robbie walked in wearing an elegant, black pant suit.
The host stood and embraced Robbie, and they kissed the air beside each other’s head. “Keep your paws off my….my sister-in-law,” Janet muttered, and Ryan snorted and threw a piece of popcorn at her.
“Well, we are pleased to have you on the show tonight,” said the host once he had helped Robbie settle. “You don’t give interviews.”
“I don’t? Well, I’d better leave,” responded Robbie starting to stand. The audience laughed and the host pulled her back.
“No, I meant it is rare for you to agree to come on talk shows.”
“I’m very excited about my new movie, Desiree. It’s quite a departure in style for me and I think people are really going to enjoy it.” She turned to the audience. “Don’t forget to go see it!” The applause lights flashed over the stage and the audience dutifully whopped and cheered.
“It looks like mom, it talks like mom, but it isn’t mom,” Ryan observed with interest.
“It is Robbie, but it is another side of her. This is your mom at work, Ryan. It is all a marketing game. That’s what these shows are all about, infomercials for the entertainment trade.”
“Pretty mercenary,” Ryan said cynically.
“No, it’s no different than selling any product. Your mom has over five thousand people working for her in various companies. If she makes a film that doesn’t do well at the box office then that has repercussions right down the line. That’s a lot of responsibility and pressure that your mom is under.”
Back on the television screen the announcer brought up the subject the audience had been anticipating. “We had Tracy Travelli on here the other week, Robbie, and she was furious about the tabloid story that linked you and her romantically. I got to tell you, the men of America were very relieved to hear the two of you were still available! The laughter lights flashed and the audience giggled and clapped.
“Why how nice! What is your number? I’ll be sure to put you in my little black book!”
“Ugh” Ryan said, putting her finger in her mouth.
“Little black book! You’d better stop flirting with that man, Robbie Williams, or you are going to be sleeping in the snow when you get back!”
“So tell us about this daughter of yours, Robbie. Is she gorgeous like you?” asked the television host.
Robbie smiled softly, “She is good looking, but she has a lot more important things going for her. She is bright, funny, caring, and adventurous. I wish I could take credit for her but she got that way all by herself. I’m really proud of her.”
Ryan sat staring at the screen, a red blush creeping up her face. Janet reached over and gave her arm a squeeze. “That was nice, huh?”
Ryan scowled, “She didn’t mean it. It is like you said, just marketing.”
“No!” snapped Janet, startling Ryan. “She wouldn’t do that, not to people she cares about! Your mother plays hard but she plays fair.” Ryan didn’t respond, but Janet noticed that she wiped a tear from her eye when she thought Janet was not looking.
“So, Robbie we hear that just like Desiree, you are a real hero! What’s this my research department tells me that a criminal escaped from jail and broke into your sister-in-law’s house and you saved her!?”
Robbie went still and very serious. “Fortunately, it was the family dog that did the attacking. He bit the intruder, and I was able to subdue the criminal, and tie him up until the police got there. It was very scary, and it brings home again the need for women’s crisis centres. It is a cause I very much believe in. Abuse and violence towards women and their children has to be brought out in the open so that this sickness in our world communities can be dealt with.”
“I agree completely, Robbie. Folks, here’s a number you can call for more information or help if you are experiencing abuse in your life. And I understand, Robbie, that a portion of the profit from each ticket sale to your movie, Desiree, will go to support women’s crisis centres.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, Robbie Williams! Get out there and see her new movie, Desiree! The canned clapping and flashing lights prompted the audience. We’ll be right back after this commercial break!”
“Okay, Ryan, bedtime!” said Janet, getting up and turning off the T.V.
“Do you think she really has a little black book?” Ryan teased.
“Not if she knows what’s good for her!” growled Janet, playing along. They hugged good night and went to their rooms.
Gerald Lucier had watched the show too. He’d made a tidy little packet selling the tabloid the story about Tracy and Robbie and although they had denied it, they hadn’t sued. He’d also scooped the big papers with the story about the guy breaking into Janet’s cabin too. One of the big Toronto dailies had asked him to send in a resume.
But he wasn’t interested in a regular reporter’s job at his age. No way. He wanted his own by-line and he figured that he might just have the lead now that was going to put his name right up there! It was going to take some good investigative journalism, but digging for dirt he was good at! With a laugh he took a sip from his beer and lit another cigarette. Might as well watch the rest of the show, he thought.
It was just after three in the morning when the alarm went off and the floodlights came on. Janet jumped from her bed, heart pounding, and ran down to the girls’ room amid the wild barks of Rufus and the breaking of furniture.
A paddle, swinging at Janet’s head, was barely checked by Ryan. “What are you doing with that?” hissed Janet, slamming closed the door.
“Repelling intruders,” Ryan explained in a nervous whisper. “Do you have the rifle?
“No, it’s out there,” she whispered, jerking her head in the direction of the living room where the sounds of a massive fight seemed to be taking place.
“We’d better lock the door,” suggested Ryan, nervously gripping her paddle.
“The interior doors don’t have locks. We’ll have to barricade ourselves in here until the police arrive.” The two women looked around the room. One camp cot, a plastic crib and a diaper changing table were the main articles in the room.
There was certainly nothing to prevent an attacker from breaking through. Janet felt the sweat dripping down her back as goose bumps spread up her arms. Growls and barks came from the living room. “It’s an animal!” gasped Ryan.
Janet took a deep breath to calm herself. Animals, at least the four legged kind, she could handle. “Here, give me the paddle.”
Ryan did so, and slowly Janet opened the door. An animal, waiting in the hall, cast a menacing shadow on the wall. Janet gripped the paddle and looked around the corner. Rufus stood there alertly, ready to pounce. Seeing Janet instead of an intruder, she sat down happily and wagged her tail. Woof. Woof.
“Come, Rufus,” the dog obediently trotted down to the bedroom. “Okay, you stay here with Rufus, and I’ll go see what’s out there,” instructed Janet.
“Not likely! Mom would kill me if I let anything happen to you!”
“Someone has to protect Reb,” Janet pointed out, and Ryan nodded, recognizing the logic in this.
“Be careful!”
Janet nodded and headed down the hall. Ryan had to hold onto Rufus’s collar to stop him from running down the hall after her. Janet looked around the corner into the living room. It was a complete shambles. Then something jumped from the ledge above her head and she screamed. Rufus broke loose and charged down the hall, Reb woke up crying, the police arrived with sirens blaring, and Ryan tore down the hall, and knocked Janet flying. The intruder, a very frightened racoon, darted out the door with Rufus in pursuit as soon as the police smashed through with guns out.
Early the next morning, it was a sleepy Ryan that answered the phone. “Hi mom! Wow, did we have a night last night! We had another intruder. The police have just left. They smashed through the door with their guns out just like in one of your movies! The alarms worked really well. Rufus fought him, and you should see the livingroom, wow, what a mess!” At the other end of the conversation, Robbie’s heart started to pound with fear.
“No, Reb and I are fine but Aunt Janet has a broken nose and…” the phone was snatched from her hand.
“Janet! Sweetheart, are you all right?! My God! I’ll be home on the next plane!”
“Robbie, it was a racoon.”
There was silence at the other end for a minute while Robbie’s panic-stricken mind came to terms with this information. “What?”
“A raccoon. It fell down the chimney, and Rufus chased it around the living room.”
“How did you get a broken nose?”
“It’s not broken. It was just a nose bleed. Your daughter flattened me in the confusion.” Suddenly, Janet started to laugh, “Robbie it was like a French farce! Wait until I tell you!”
Robbie sat on the plane staring blankly at her video screen. A smile came to her lips as she replayed Janet’s tale of the Night of the Racoon through her mind again. She missed them. She missed them all terribly. “Where was she going to go from here? It was obvious that her relationship with Janet had gone much farther than a steady date. Hell, they were virtually living together! Janet was helping raise her daughter and she found herself thinking of Reb as her own.
Was Janet right? Was it time to let the ancient history of her youth go and have a real life? Or was Elizabeth right in reminding her, that for them, a commitment to anyone was exposing others to public humiliation or worse. Damn! I don’t know! I don’t want to hurt Janet or the girls but the truth is I can’t live without them!
What would be the difference really? She had long since crossed over the line. If someone did dig something up on her, Janet would be drawn into it. Okay, that’s it then, I love her and I’m going to ask her to marry me.
But what if she says no! Let’s face it, Williams, you are not easy to get along with. They’d had their fights. In fact, Janet hadn’t wanted to sleep with her because it might reflect negatively on her and Reb! So do you think she is going to marry you, idiot! A misery spread through Robbie’s soul and she looked out at the puffy, white clouds below as she blinked back tears. I love you so much, Janet!
She had been away almost six weeks now, and was very anxious to get home. Home. Funny I had never thought of my condo as home but Janet’s cabin is. Home to Janet and the girls and the furry mountain that might be a dog. Robbie smiled. When did all this happened to me?
Then the eyes turned dark and misty. Janet and the girls would be meeting her in T.O. Tomorrow was Janet’s check up. The first to see if they had got the cancer. What if they hadn’t? She felt sick at that thought. Janet had to live. She just had to. Five years the doctor had said, five years before they could be relatively sure that the cancer would not return. It was like a darkness always hovering behind them.
Robbie picked up her briefcase after putting on her sunglasses and hat. She walked to the open hatch of the plane where a representative from the airline, who handled V.I.P.s, met her and took her by motorized cart through the corridors to Customs. Here she was passed through quickly. A limo waited to take her to her office while the representative waited behind with her baggage claim tickets to collect and forward her bags after they were unloaded from the plane.
It took almost forty minutes to battle the Toronto traffic from the airport down to her office in the city core. Stepping out, she headed for the automatic doors, then turned away and walked down the street instead and opened the heavy brass doors to DeBeer’s.
She walked around looking at various displays. Then, getting her nerve up, she moved over to engagement rings. The selection was amazing. Robbie sat at a stool and a sales representative showed her various styles and qualities. Finally, her eye caught sight of the ring that she knew she had to have for Janet. It was three bands of plain gold joined as one and the centre band had six perfectly matched diamonds in a row. It was elegant and different and a quiet expression of her love. “I’ll take it,” she said.
With the small, plush box in her coat pocket, Robbie retraced her steps and took the elevator up to her administrative offices. She wasn’t sure that she would ever have the nerve to ask Janet to marry her, but somehow buying the ring was a symbol that she had at last broken with her dark past, and was stepping out into the warmth of the sun.
“Hello Gwen, I’m back. You’ve lost weight. I’ll need Brian on line one, and then get me Ernie on two,” Robbie ordered as she crossed the carpet of her secretary’s office and disappeared into her own. The voice continued a few seconds later on her intercom. “Also I want the balls of the fucking lawyer who is holding up merchandising in Britain.”
Gwen shook her head and closed her eyes. Then with a sigh she put through Brian’s call. She hadn’t seen sight or light of her boss in weeks and the woman walked in like she had been out of the office for five minutes! She wasn’t sure she was up to this!
Robbie leaned back in her chair. “Brian, it looks like Desiree is going to do well at the box office. I’ve got plans; I need to see you. Well, cancel your damn holiday. Why would you want to go to a tropical paradise like Trinidad and Tobago when it’s snowing and forty below outside? Here. Now. Bye.” Robbie hung up and clicked to line two, she had to watch her assistant director, sometimes he got ideas that he had a life of his own!
She smiled. “Hi Ernie, so are the backers happy?”
“Robbie, baby! We turned our first million the weekend it opened! I hear swords and ballroom dancing are all the rage in California!”
“There won’t be too many balls if they’re going to waltz with swords,” observed Robbie, practically. “I need you to put together a deal for me for the spring, Ernie. I’ve got some ideas.”
“What? Oh! Ideas! Now ideas I like! So when are you going to have something for me to sell?”
“Not before spring. I’m taking the winter off to write,” stated Robbie, turning to click through her mail box.
“Good, you write, in the spring, you give me something, and I sell it. I hear Brian is going to Trinidad and Tobago. I passed by on a cruise ship once. It looked lovely.”
“Brian has had a change of plans. I need a package put together before spring. Thirty million.”
“Thirty million! You want me to sell thirty million of nothing?! Am I the miracle worker?” came the excited voice through the line.
“Make it happen,” Robbie yawned, and hung up. Gwen was standing at her desk.
“Hello, Ms. Williams, I’m Gwen Smith, your long suffering and over worked secretary, who has been holding the fort around here for weeks,” Gwen opened, sarcastically. “I need at least two hours of your time, and I want it now. I’ve made an appointment for Brian to see you at two.”
Robbie swivelled back and forth on her chair excitedly. “Gwen, wait until I show you where your family is going to live…”
Janet passed her Bartlett School duffel bag up to Ryan in the back of the truck. She stowed it with the rest of the bags in the truck storage box and then jumped down. It was freezing cold, and snow was falling. It was a hell of a day to have to drive to Toronto, but there was no other choice; the ‘copter that Robbie told her to use couldn’t fly in this weather.
“Okay, let’s hit the road. We’ll drop Rufus off at Amanda Singh’s and then hope we can get through to Toronto. If we can get past the snow belt between Orillia and Barrie we should be alright.”
Ryan got in one side and Janet in the other. She looked back to make sure Reb was firmly fastened in her child’s seat and then turned on the wipers to clear the snow that had built up in the few minutes that they had taken to put the bags in the back. She put the truck in gear and they headed down the driveway that was quickly drifting in. Tonight she would see Robbie again if she had to get out and push this damn truck all the way to Toronto!
Three hours had gone by before Gwen had finished with Robbie. However, part of this time had been used up with Robbie swearing Gwen to secrecy and showing her the map of the land that she had bought. She had though Gwen would have to be bribed or even blackmailed if necessary, instead the woman had actually hugged Robbie, told her she was a God send, and promised to work for nothing on Christmas Day if necessary. Robbie had no idea that Gwen loved the north.
Brian had proven to be more difficult. He had quit. He announced bravely, that he was going to Trinidad and Tobago no matter what, and that he was not going to live any farther north than suburbs of Toronto. Robbie was forced to resort to blackmail and bribery before the man broke. He handed over his plane tickets to Gwen, when she told him that she was planning on moving north.
Robbie leaned back in her leather chair and smiled happily. Tonight she was going to see Janet and the girls again and as far as she was concerned that made life just about prefect!
You could barely see the lights of Toronto through the snow. Robbie looked at her watch again. Janet and the kids should have been here hours ago. She had arrived at her condo to find a message on her service saying that the ‘copter was grounded and that Janet and the kids would be making the trip by truck.
She had tried to get them on the cell phone but they had not answered. She’d called the police. The 400 had not been closed yet, but traffic was down to one lane in some parts. She paced around the room again, dread eating at her guts. If anything had happened to her family….the elevator started rising and Robbie was over there in an instant, nervously swaying from foot to foot.
The door opened and out piled her family. “Hi everyone!” Robbie called happily, picking Reb from Janet’s arms and giving the child a kiss and a fly over her head. She pulled an embarrassed Ryan close for a hug, after she had brought Reb in for a landing. Then she turned and let Janet, exhausted from a hellish drive, fall into her arms.
“Oh Robbie, I am so glad to see you! What a trip! You’ve lost weight, love,” Janet mumbled, hugging her lover close.
“I was getting really worried,” admitted Robbie, giving Janet a quick kiss on the cheek. “Are you guys okay?”
“Sure, Aunt Janet can handle anything!” bragged Ryan.
Janet gave Ryan an affectionate hug. “Ryan kept Reb amused for hours. If she hadn’t, I’d have probably left the ankle biter upside down in a snow drift, I was so tense!”
“Well, come in. I had sandwiches and soup sent up from the restaurant. I’ll heat the soup up again in the microwave,” said Robbie.
“Good, I’m starved. I’ll just see to getting Reb settled down. Ryan fed her in the truck. I’ll be back soon.” Janet trotted down the hall with a sleepy Reb over her shoulder, and Ryan followed Robbie to the kitchen.
She looked around at the magnificent, designer living room and the expensive kitchen. Over tired and grumpy, the wealth rubbed on old hurts. “So if you have so much money how come you couldn’t take care of me?” she asked sarcastically.
Robbie too was feeling over tired and stressed. She’d been on the move from city to city for six weeks trying to sell the critics and public on her new style of film. Before that, she’d had to deal with Ryan’s accident and Janet’s illness. “Get off my case, Ryan,” she muttered crankily, as she stuck a container of soup in the microwave.
“No! I want to know!” whined the young teen.
Robbie sighed and turned to face Ryan. “I was in a lot of trouble at the time. I didn’t want you growing up having to live down my past. I explained this to you before.”
Ryan pulled a face and rolled her eyes, “So what could be worse than getting knocked up with me. Were you turning tricks? Selling drugs? Did you murder your old man for his money?” she smart mouthed.
“I SAID DROP IT!!” yelled Robbie, heaving a bowl across the room. It smashed into pieces against the stone of the fireplace. Janet came running down the hall. Ryan had backed out of the kitchen looking extremely afraid.
“What’s going on?” she demanded looking between Ryan and Robbie.
“Stay out of this, Janet!” snarled Robbie her eyes flashing with anger. She’d gone through enough with out having to put up with Janet defending the rudeness of this brat of a kid.
“Okay. But before you discuss this matter with Ryan, could I just talk to you for a minute? Ryan, your room is the second on the right, hon. Why don’t you take your bags down there.” Ryan nodded and escaped. She had read that her mom had a violent temper. Now she had seen it, and it was pretty scary. It hadn’t been so much what her mom had said or done, it was the energy that she seemed to radiate, like a reactor having a melt down.
“Leave me alone,” snapped Robbie, banging things around noisily in the kitchen. Janet walked over to her and wrapped Robbie in her arms. The stiff body crumbled at the warm, gentle touch and she sobbed against Janet’s shoulder. Janet held her and let her get some of the tension out. Then she took a tea towel and backed up a step to wipe Robbie’s face.
Robbie took the towel from her and sniffed back the last of the tears as she dried her tears. “Damn,” she croaked out with a raw voice.
Janet smiled and rubbed Robbie’s back. “No, I don’t think it is quite that bad but you two sure pushed the envelope a bit. She was an over tired teenager, Robbie. I don’t know what happened in here, but I do know that teens have a Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality. We’ve been pretty lucky with Ryan so far. She has been really willing to except a lot on faith. There will be some bad times, Robbie. You have to expect that.”
Robbie nodded. “Yeah. I really love the kid, you know… I…I guess I’ve got a lot of guilt about not being there for her. She wanted to know, if I was so damn rich, why I couldn’t raise her.”
Janet looked at Robbie. “You’ve been away a long time. She was testing. What she really wanted to know was that you still wanted and loved her. Tell you what. You clean up the mess in the living room and I’ll go clean up the mess that’s your daughter. Then you two can talk it out, okay?”
Robbie nodded, looking strained and tired. Janet reached up on her toes and kissed Robbie tenderly. “I need you, too,” she whispered and left.
Ryan had her headphones on. That was a bad sign. Ryan only put her headphones on when she was escaping. They were her sign to the world that she had an attitude and to leave her alone. Janet sat on the bed and waited. It took about thirty seconds to wait Ryan out. “She’s a bitch.”
“Is she?” asked Janet in surprise.
Ryan took off the earphones. “Look at all this!” she exploded. “Why couldn’t she take care of me! She could have hired a nurse if she didn’t want to be bothered herself!”
“I don’t know, Ryan. All I know is that whatever happened back then impacted terribly on the whole family. Robbie won’t discuss it with me either. Whatever happened, your mom has never come to terms with it. She is still very much afraid that her past will come back to hurt us all.”
“So why has she taken me in now?” asked Ryan, playing nervously with the wire on her earphone.
“Because of the accident. She thought she was going to lose you. That made her realize that you were something very precious to her, and she had already lost too much time that she could have shared with you. I think too, that she realized that children could like her because Reb did. It gave her the courage to try to be a good mother to you.”
Ryan licked her lips. “I was pretty rude.”
“The nice thing about being close to someone is that you can say you are sorry, and if you really mean it, that person will always give you another chance. How about I go see to dinner, and I send your mom in here so the two of you can talk?”
Ryan nodded and Janet gave her a hug and left. Janet blinked the sleep from her eyes and forced her weary body down the hall. She found a sad looking director puttering hopelessly around the kitchen. “Okay, your turn. Try not to throw anything valuable,” twigged Janet, with a soft smile. Robbie hesitated. “Go on you big coward. You got yourself into this one, and now you are going to have to wade out.”
Robbie frowned and headed down the hall as if Janet had forced her to walk the plank. Janet watched her go with eyes filled with compassion and understanding.
“Ahh, hi,” said Robbie awkwardly, from the doorway.
“Ahh, hi,” responded Ryan nervously, as she sat on the edge of the bed.
“Ahh, can I come in?”
Ryan nodded and Robbie went in and sat on the bed beside her. She frowned. What do I say? I’d best just tell it like I see it, as I usually would. “I didn’t like that. I didn’t like fighting with you. I didn’t like being pushed about something I just can’t discuss. I didn’t like making an ass of myself by losing my temper and I didn’t like having to come in here and try to talk to you because I’m no good at words,” said Robbie, staring at the wall.
“You’re a famous playwright,” snorted Ryan, looking at the same wall.
“I guess, I could write you a play, every time we fight,” reasoned Robbie, with a weak laugh.
“Oh yeah, then you’d get to put words in my mouth!” objected Ryan good naturedly.
“I’m sorry. I wished I’d been a better mother. I wish…well, the only good that came out of that time in my life was you.”
“I’m sorry, I acted like a jerk,” confessed Ryan.
“It’s okay. I guess we both kind of dumped on each other. You hungry?” Robbie asked, finally getting up enough courage to look at Ryan.
Ryan fell into her mother’s arms. “Don’t send me away,” she sobbed.
Robbie’s heart stabbed with pain. “Oh, sweetheart, I’m never, never, going to do that!”
“Hey, anyone for soup?” Janet yelled from the kitchen, getting a little nervous by how long the two Williams had been locked up together.
Mother and daughter came down the hall together and Janet gave a sigh of relief. Robbie lit the gas fireplace, and they sat around with cups of lobster bisque with sherry soup and herb and salmon sandwiches.
Robbie and Ryan soon got into a heavy discussion on modifications they could make to their snowmobile and what Ryan had learned about snowmobile racing from her instructor, George Drouillard of Drouillard’s Small Motors fame.
They looked up some time later, to find Janet curled in a chair, fast asleep, her empty cup in her hands. “I think Aunt Janet has had it,” whispered Ryan.
“Yeah,” sighed Robbie. “I guess I kind of left her to handle things,” she admitted, belatedly feeling a sense of responsibility.
“Yeah, the drive took us almost eight hours, and Aunt Janet white knuckled it most of the way. It was really scary out there with the white-outs. And then I had to go throw a temper tantrum,” reviewed Ryan, starting to feel a rather rotten human being.
“You and me both,” agreed Robbie. The two Williams looked very guilty as they sat watching Janet sleep.
“And we didn’t include her in our conversation,” added Ryan, keeping a list of their crimes. “That was bad manners.”
Robbie frowned. “She looks awful pale.” Tomorrow was Janet’s test, and she wasn’t supposed to get over tired if she wanted to get well.
“Do you think she’ll kick us out?” Ryan asked insecurely. Tears welling again in her eyes.
Robbie managed a weak smile, and rubbed the back of her daughter’s neck with her hand. “No, it’s not that bad, but we’ll have to think of something to make it up to her. We sort of acted like Williams creeps.”
Ryan nodded. “You help her to bed, mom, and I’ll clean up dinner. Wait until I tell the kids at school that take-out at your place is lobster bisque in sherry and salmon with herbs! Usually we send out for pizza.”
Robbie pulled a funny face at her daughter and went to pick Janet up out of the chair. She murmured softly in her sleep but didn’t wake as her lover carried her down to their room. She gently lowered Janet to the bed and then carefully stripped her down. “I can do that!” protested a groggy voice.
Robbie leaned forward and kissed a soft, warm belly. “Mmmm, let me. I’ve missed you,” she murmured.
Janet smiled, her eyes still closed. “I missed you, too.” She was fast asleep again by the time Robbie tucked the sheets up around her. She kissed Janet tenderly on the cheek, and then went to help her daughter. I have to learn to be more thoughtful if I’m was going to have a family, she concluded as she walked back down the hall. I’ve got to stop thinking like a one.
There had been words the next morning too. Robbie wanted to take Janet to the hospital and wait with her. Janet pointed out that there had been a near riot the last time she had been recognized sitting in the waiting room. Ryan said she would go with Aunt Janet and that made Robbie sulk even more. They compromised with them all going, and the three Williams waiting out in the truck until Janet came out.
Janet took the hospital elevator down to the main floor, doing up her jacket as she went. Southern Ontario was in the gasp of a nasty cold front that had sent the temperature plummeting. She crossed the lobby and slipped through the automatic doors to be hit by a wall of cold air and blowing snow. Janet shivered and pulled her collar up around her neck to protect her face from the elements.
“There she is,” blurted Robbie, “Stay with Reb,” she ordered, getting out and hurrying to Janet’s side.
Janet looked up to see Robbie dodge two cars and hop a guard rail choked with snow as she bee lined to her. She is such a wonderful idiot, Janet thought as Robbie scooped Janet under her arm. “The doctor said everything looks fine. I’ll have to wait a few days for the test results to come back from the lab but the doctor seemed fairly confident that they have got the cancer.”
Janet felt more than saw the relief flow through her lover. Robbie didn’t say anything. She couldn’t. She just squeezed Janet close to her, protecting her from the wind as the two of them made their way back to the truck.
“Well?” asked an anxious Ryan, leaning over from the back seat.
“I’m fine!” Janet smiled, reaching up to pat Ryan’s face.
“Cool,” Ryan said confidently, as if it had been a given. “Let’s go celebrate!”
Robbie arrived late at her office the next day, as some of the private celebrating that she and Janet had done had continued again in bed that morning. The elevator doors slid open to chaos. Personnel from several departments crowded the hall and angry voices seemed to be emanating from her office. “Okay, everyone, back in your cages!” Robbie snapped, from behind the gawking group.
“Williams!” someone warned, and the group hastily retreated back to their desks.
Robbie strode down to her office. Two police were holding back two very angry men. Robbie recognized one of them as Brian. The other was hard to identify with the blood spurting from his nose and the swelling of his left eye but Robbie suspected that it might be Gwen’s husband. She had met him, she thought, at the staff Christmas party one year.
A security guard bent over Gwen, applying some ice wrapped in a paper towel to her jaw. “What the hell is going on in here?!” Robbie demanded, slamming her briefcase on Gwen’s desk, and coming around to kneel by her secretary.
She had a nasty bruise on her jaw. “You okay?” Robbie asked softly, seeing the shock in Gwen’s eyes. Her secretary nodded. Robbie stood up, radiating authority. “Okay, who suckered my secretary?!” she growled.
“He did! The bastard’s been cheating on her, and when she served him with divorce papers, he came in here and hit her!” yelled Brian, as the cop held him tight.
“I’m going to sue you, you hear! I think you broke my nose!” came a nasal voice from under the blood.
“Brian, did you hit him?” Robbie asked calmly, looking at her assistant director with new respect.
“Twice!” Brian bragged.
“Good. Remind me to give you a hefty raise,” Robbie commented, and then turned to the cop holding Smith. “Officer, I will be pressing charges against Mr. Joseph Smith for trespassing, and assaulting one of my employees. We will also want a restraining order filed against him.” Robbie walked over to Smith and looked him in the eye. “If you bring charges against my assistant for protecting my secretary, I will hire a battery of lawyers to see that you go to hell in a hand basket. Officer, please remove him from my office.”
The Toronto constable smiled, and led the man from the room. Robbie turned to the other officer. “I think it is safe to release my assistant now. He seems to have stopped frothing at the mouth.” The police officer laughed, and let Brian go. He went over to Gwen immediately. What the hell has been going on around here while I was away?!
It took most of the rest of the morning to fill out police reports and lay charges. Robbie called her lawyers to represent Gwen and Brian and the company nurse to see to Gwen. She now sat leaning back in her chair with her eyes closed. Brian sat across from her.
“Okay, Brian, I’m waiting, make it good.” She sighed, tapping a finger on the arm of her leather chair.
“I got here a little early for our meeting and found him manhandling her so I hit him. He got up, so I hit him again,” explained Brian with dignity.
Robbie nodded and lifted her hand to wave him on. Brian cleared his throat. “About five weeks ago, I found Gwen crying. She’d found out her husband had been cheating on her for some time. So naturally I offered her condolences.” The hand waved again. “And took her to lunch.”
An eyebrow arched up and Robbie looked at Brian through one blue eye. “Are you fooling around with me secretary?!” she snapped.
“No! She won’t let me,” responded Brian with heated annoyance. Robbie burst out laughing.
As her private elevator rose to the top floor, so did Robbie’s spirits. She was going home to her family, Janet was well, and Christmas was coming. Robbie hummed a Christmas carol as she rode up. The doors opened and Janet was there to meet her. She pulled Robbie back into the elevator and pressed down. Then she said hello properly in a long, probing kiss. On the way back up, they tried it again.
“Voom, voom,” came two children’s voices, one baby like and the other taking on the deeper tones of adulthood. “Foot out! Lean to the curve!” Robbie looked at Janet for an explanation.
“Ryan’s teaching Reb how to race a snowmobile on your exercise machine,” she giggled, and Robbie rolled her eyes.
“Hi, Oby! Hi, Oby! Peas fly me!” squealed a delighted two and a half year old, running to be scooped up and spun over Robbie’s head.
“Hi, Reb! Hi, Ryan!” Robbie laughed, looking over her shoulder at her daughter, as she came out of Robbie’s gym room.
“Boy this place is swell! It’s just like a mansion on stilts! Wait until you see what I did to your computer!”
Robbie paled and lowered Reb to the floor. “You were playing on my computer?” she asked weakly.
“It’s okay, mom, I saved and closed all your stuff. Boy, are you messy. So you’re into special effects huh?! What until you see mine,” Ryan bragged.
Janet put a restraining hand on Robbie who was about to say something she might regret. “Show us what you’ve been doing, Ryan!” Janet cut in.
“Come on, Reb!” she called, heading down the hall to the state of the art editing room that Robbie had set up.
“If I drop her from the twenty-fifth floor will she die before she hits the ground?” growled Robbie, under her breath, as she shed her coat and boots.
Janet grimaced. “It’s partly my fault. I didn’t see any harm in her using your computer to do her homework.”
“That is NOT a computer room! It is a two million dollar editing room that just happens to have a bank of computers in it!” explained Robbie, shaking her head in disbelief as she stomped down to the room. It could be worse, at least it’s between films, she consoled herself philosophically.
“Oh boy,” whispered Janet, and followed along in Robbie’s wake.
Ryan waited until they were grouped around the main computer. Then in a circus announcer’s voice she said, “Ladies! I present the X rated Rebryan Production of Bear Facts! Okay, Reb, press the key!”
Reb giggled and carefully pressed the key that Ryan had taught her. The screen saver flashed to video mode and the music to Teddy Bear’s Picnic started to play. Little yellow Winnie the Pooh bears in red shorts waddled across the screen. In their midst was a cartoon character looking remarkably like Reb. The character sneezed and all the bears lost their shorts.
Reb broke into gales of laughter. “Play again, Sam! Play again, Sam!” Reb squealed with delight. Janet and Robbie laughed until the tears rolled down their faces.
They laughed through dinner too, Robbie telling them the story of Brian’s gallantry and Ryan and Janet telling Robbie about their trip to the grocery store near by.
“We got a grocery store around here?!” Robbie asked in amazement.
The aunt and niece laughed. “Mom, you have to see this place! They’ve got the food locked up!”
“What?” asked Robbie blankly. I don’t recall any food locked up in Bartlett, although for what you had to pay for a good, thick steak it ought to be.
“They’ve got a locked cabinet with small rolls of truffles and pate for a hundred and fifty dollars! There was this container about the size of a bread roll of black carviar from Russian sturgeon for seven hundred dollars! They had live lobsters in tanks too. I wanted to have lobster for dinner, but Aunt Janet couldn’t bring herself to condemn one. So we bought dead lamb instead! We couldn’t find toilet bowl cleaner though, could we, Aunt Janet?!”
Robbie looked at Janet. “I’ve got a cleaning staff.”
“I wanted some to take back with us,” Janet explained, as she took Reb’s spoon from her, and helped her clean up the last of her dinner.
“The manager was impressed that you had live in staff,” Ryan giggled.
“What?!” Robbie laughed, simply because the other three were.
“The manager thought we were the maid service,” Janet explained, “because I asked for toilet cleaner.
“Boy, do you live in a snobby neighbourhood, mom!” teased Ryan holding her nose in the air.
“Don’t let it go to your head, kid. I’m leaving all my money to the Canadian Tax Department.”
Much later, Robbie lay in bed feeling just about as happy as a person could feel with out exploding with joy. Janet lay partly draped over her body fast asleep. She grinned. What I and Janet have together is just…great! She lifted her head to drop a kiss into soft hair. Life is great!
We’ll head back up to the cabin tomorrow early because we needed to take the truck back. It’s Sunday tomorrow, and Janet and Ryan need to be back at school on Monday. I think I’ll take a month off. Practise for the winter carnival that is coming up and then it will be Christmas.
Christmas! Robbie’s eyes popped open and sleep fled. Didn’t families buy presents and things?! Damn it! What the hell am I going to get them?!
Monday morning, six girls sat around Stacy Nona in the dining hall. It was there secret meeting place before classes started. “So I’m tell you, Robbie Williams is gay!”
“Why would she want to be gay?” asked Angela, who failed to see the logic in it, “She’s really feminine and good looking. I thought only ugly girls became gay because they couldn’t do any better?”
Taira blinked in disbelief. ” Angela, your talking nonsense. At one time homosexuality was thought to be caused by over possessive, dominating mothers. We now believe that it might be genetic. You are born gay.”
“Weird!”
“No, perverted and a mortal sin! We’ve got to do something. We don’t want their kind here! Ryan must be gay too, if it’s in the genes. She’s even got a guy’s name. I say we make her want to leave this school!”
“You’re just angry because she caught you taking her lab kit and made you give it back,” observed Debbie.
“I needed it. I lost stuff out of mine and she wasn’t using hers then, anyway! She’s a bitch! She’s been kicked out of other schools, you know!”
“What for?” Angela asked, loving a bit of gossip.
“What do you think. Like mother, like daughter if you ask me. And they’re staying up there with our principal. Makes you wonder!” stirred Stacy.
“Shhh, here she comes.”
Ryan saw the looks and steeled herself. She’d gone through enough hazings to know the signs. “Hi, guys! Some storm on Friday, huh?”
Stacy lifted her big bulk and stood in the doorway, blocking Ryan’s path. “We’ve been talking. We know what your mother is and we don’t want your kind around here.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way. I don’t know my mother very well yet, but she seems like a very nice person.”
“She’s a damn queer and so are you!” snarled Stacy, pushing Ryan back into the wall while the other girls crowded around to act as cover. “You’re going to leave here, got it! Leave! Leave! Leave!”
The blows fit on each word. Ryan could have fought back. At other schools she had but she wanted to stay here. She wanted to live with Aunt Janet and her mom, so she let the blows fall.
Robbie had just come in from doing her practice laps on the snowmobile, and had to pull off her boots and run for the phone. “Robbie.”
“Robbie,” came Janet’s professional voice, “There’s been a situation. I need you to come over to the school right away. There has been a fight. Ryan’s okay, but pretty battered around.”
“I’m on my way,” came the grim response.
Stacy and her mother were already in the office when Robbie walked in. “You gotta get her kind out of here!” Mrs. Nona was yelling. “She tried to beat up on my daughter! And Stacy said that Ryan’s the one who has been stealing all the stuff from the girls!”
Robbie saw her daughter sitting forlornly in the corner of the principal’s couch, her face bruised and her lip cut. A ball of ice filled her gut as she slid in beside her daughter and let the young girl snuggle into her. “You all right?” Robbie whispered into Ryan’s ear. Ryan nodded yes.
“I didn’t do anything. It was a hazing, mom. Stacy’s got them worked up that we are all gays.”
“Lying bitch!” Mrs. Nona yelled.
“That will do, Mrs. Norna!” snapped Janet, interrupting before Robbie lost her tamper. “We are here to work out what happened, not to yell insults at each other!”
“We know what happened, that girl attacked mine. There are witnesses! She’s been stealing too, and I want her out of this school! My husband pays good money to send Stacy to this school. We deserve better!”
“Mrs. Nona, the thefts at the school are indeed a concern, but they have been going on a lot longer than Ryan has been here. She is not involved in that issue. Stacy, have you any bruises, cuts or anything that need attending?”
“No, I fought the queer off, and taught her a lesson,” smirked the girl.
“Neither your language nor your tone, Stacy, are acceptable to me. If you wish to stay in the office, and participate in this discussion, then you will please talk politely or I will ask you to leave.”
“Hey, stop picking on my daughter! You’re just protecting your relatives. That’s not fair!”
A knock came on the door and Amanda Singh stuck her head in. “Sorry to disturb you, Mrs. Williams, but I have Debbie DeLuca out here and I think you should hear what she has to say.”
“Okay,” nodded Janet. Amanda walked in with a very scared looking student.
“Yes, Debbie, what is it you want to say?” asked Janet gently.
“Stacy told us if we didn’t support her story that she’d beat us up. But Mrs. Singh talked to us one day about what it is like to live with prejudice, and I don’t want to be part of that hate. Ryan didn’t do anything, Mrs.Williams! Ryan always tries to be nice. Stacy said we had to get rid of her because her mom’s gay!”
She stopped and blushed, turning to Robbie. “I’m sorry, Ms. Williams, I didn’t mean to call you a name.”
“That’s okay, Debbie, I don’t consider gay to be derogatory term. Go on.”
Debbie nodded. “Stacy has been the one stealing stuff. A lot of us knew but we were afraid to do anything in case she beat us up.”
“You’re lying! You sleep with Ryan!”
“Enough!” snapped Janet. “Mrs. Nona, some serious charges have been laid against your daughter. It would not be appropriate for me to investigate because I am related to the Williams. I’m going to suspend Stacy from school, and call a special meeting of the Trustees. They can evaluate the case and make some recommendation as to how to proceed. We’ll notify you as soon as we have set up a time for the meeting.”
“You’re going to take this kid’s word over my daughter’s?! My daughter was the one victimized here! Come on, Stacy. This damn school will be hearing from our lawyer!”
The Nonas stormed out, slamming the door behind them, leaving the room in a bubble of silence. Robbie stood, rigid with emotion. “Thank you, Debbie, for having the courage to live up to your convictions,” she said with feeling, offering Debbie her hand.
Debbie took it in a daze. “Thank you, Ms. Williams!”
Robbie turned first to Amanda and then to Janet. “And thank you for your assistance in this matter.” She reached down and helped her daughter up and left without another word.
Janet felt a massive headache forming. Was Robbie angry at her for doing her job? This was one hell of a mess and it was going to get worse, she knew. She became aware that Amanda had said something. “I’m sorry. What was that, Amanda?” she responded absently.
“Do you want to talk to Debbie? Or should I take her back to class?”
“No, leave Debbie here, I’ll need the names of the other students involved for the board. Thanks Mrs. Singh,” responded Janet, giving herself a mental shake and reminding herself that she had a job to do.
Robbie drove back to the cabin with a quiet Ryan at her side. She was having a melt down again, Ryan could see and she didn’t want to remind her mom that she was part of the cause. The truck came to a halt and Robbie slammed out, coming around, to Ryan’s surprise, to help Ryan from the truck. “Do you need a doctor?” asked Robbie, seriously.
“No, I’m okay, mom. I’m sorry.”
Robbie stopped and looked at her daughter with eyes as cold as the Arctic snow. “No, I’m sorry for exposing you to that sort of abuse.”
Ryan smiled and gave her mom a hug. “You are the greatest! Aunt Janet will work it out. We’re kind of a weird family but we are a family, aren’t we mom?”
Robbie held her brave daughter close. “Yeah, we are. Come on let’s get out of the cold.”
Mother and daughter sat drinking tea, their socked feet side by side on the coffee table and the fire blazing. “Ryan. There could be more days like today, you know.”
“Yeah, I know. I can handle it, mom. Don’t chicken out now, okay!” Ryan laughed although there was a worried catch to her voice.
Robbie took Ryan’s hand and held onto it. “I’m never going to leave you, Ryan. Doing so all those years ago was a mistake. One made for the best of reasons, but a mistake. Actually, ahhh, I was wondering how you would feel if , well, ahh, maybe, if your aunt was willing, we could, I mean I could…”
“You’re going to ask Aunt Janet to marry you?!” laughed Ryan with glee.
Robbie blushed deeply. “Well, there isn’t enough room in this place and the work at the lodge is going really well. I thought, in the summer, we all could move in over there. I don’t know how Janet would feel about that. I mean there is her job and well, she loves this house…and I’m kind of old and grumpy,” listed Robbie.
“Boy, I hope you do a better job when you ask her, mom. That was awful! You want me to do it for you?” teased Ryan to cover her nervousness. On the one hand, she wanted to be a family. On the other, she didn’t really want to have to put up with the abuse from idiots like Stacy. Living in a gay household was sure to make her a target.
“No! You butt out of this. I’ll ask her. Sometime, maybe, when the time is right. I just thought we’d do it quietly. You know, no one needs to really know. It would just be a family thing. What do you think?” asked Robbie searching her daughter’s eyes. I don’t want to hurt any of you but my love for Janet could do just that.
“So instead of you coming out of the closet we are all going to get in?” asked Ryan cheekily, hyper with the tension of having to deal with this day.
Robbie laughed. “No, but I don’t think we need to shock Bartlett too much. Let’s let them get to know us, and in time, they’ll probably figure it out for themselves.”
Ryan smiled, “Sounds like a plan,” she said heading for the washroom.
Robbie winked at her daughter, and picked up the phone, dialing the school. “Hi, Carolyn, it’s Robbie Williams, can I speak to Janet, please.”
“Hang on, Robbie,” came Carolyn’s pleasant voice.
“Hi,” Janet answered anxiously. She had just hung up from talking to the Chair of the Trustees, John, B. for bastard, Bartlett. Her headache was much worse and it was parent interviews tonight! She wasn’t sure she could handle a show down with Robbie too.
“I just phoned to tell you I think you are the greatest and that I’ll try to be objective when it comes to my daughter. I needed some time to calm down before I could say that, though!”
Janet laughed, a rush of relief flooding through her. “I love you. Ryan didn’t do anything wrong that I can see. We’ll just have to ride this storm out. The Chair of the Board is anti gay and works with Stacy’s father at the car dealership, so we’ll have to see… Don’t forget it’s parent interviews tonight. I’ll be home for dinner, but we’ll need to take separate cars because I’ll have to stay to the bitter end.
“Parent interviews? I don’t want to go! You just tell me what I need to know,” whined Robbie sulkily. The last thing she needed was to meet the Nonas in the hall tonight.
“No. You are Ryan’s mother and you need to talk to her teachers. This has nothing to do with me!” stated Janet firmly.
“Why the hell am I sleeping with the principal, then?” Robbie responded indignantly.
“Fringe benefits,” pointed out Janet with a laugh, leaning back in her seat and feeling some of the tension of the day slipping away.
“Mmmmm, like those,” responded Robbie, feeling the warmth of desire building deep in her being. “See you for dinner.”
“Okay. Let Ryan cook. I can’t face another meal of beans on toast,” Janet fired her parting shoot and hung up. Robbie pulled out her tongue at the receiver and hung up too.
Janet never made it home. Carolyn phoned to say she was at a meeting with John Bartlett and to please bring a sandwich when she came for interviews. The last hope Robbie had of faking a headache to avoid the evening faded. She was going to have to do her duty.
Robbie directed Reb’s spoon from her ear towards her mouth and looked at Ryan over her shoulder. “Hey, you’re a good cook”
“Mom, it’s frozen fish, carrots and stuffed potatoes! All I did was heat things up!” pointed out the ever practical, Ryan.
“More than I could do,” confessed Robbie. “Listen, is there anything I should know about before I go to this thing? Have you blown up any labs or anything?”
“Mom!”
“Just asking!” responded Robbie with a laugh and Ryan threw her napkin at her.
Robbie looked at her watch. “I’d better get going. Don’t forget to let Rufus out for a bit, then put on the exterior alarm. Make sure Reb doesn’t eat anything valuable and don’t watch Aunt Janet’s collection of dirty videos.”
Ryan snorted. “You call Simba’s Pride a dirty movie?! In this house, I have to make do flipping through old copies of National Geographic!”
Robbie gave her special daughter a hug and slipped on her parka. The last thing she wanted to do tonight was go to the damn school. She picked up the paper bag with Janet’s dinner in it and headed off.
To Janet’s surprise John Bartlett was very conciliatory. “We don’t want this to go to a board meeting, Janet. Can’t have that,” he said wiping his brow. “I don’t know if you realize this but Ted Peel owns the dealership. I’m just the manager. Ted is married to Olivia Nona, that’s her second marriage, so Stacy is my boss’s step-child.”
Janet’s face showed interest, inside she was sighing. Damn, small town politics! “If you think that puts you in a conflict of interest, John, you can let the rest of the board handle the situation.”
“No, no, Ted, he don’t want it going to the board! He came to me today after his wife called. He don’t want this leaking out to the community. Seems Stacy confessed to beating on the Williams kid and doing the stealing. She’s a smart enough kid to realize she’d better after Debbie blew the whistle on her. According to Ted, Stacy’s a lying trouble maker but you know how mothers are, they just don’t want to see it.”
“That puts us in a difficult position, John. We do need to resolve this issue. I can’t pretend that things weren’t stolen and that there wasn’t an assault here today.”
John Bartlett loosened his tie. “Look, this is what Ted wants. He said he’d shut Olivia up and move Stacy to a school in Toronto. He’ll pay for all the missing stuff, and in return, we let this issue end. I don’t want any trouble from all this.”
Janet leaned back maintaining her poker face; inside she was doing cartwheels of joy. She’d been worried all day that Bartlett would get his teeth into the gay issue and run them all out of town. Now, instead, she had him over the barrel.
“My sister-in-law is a very volatile woman, and she needs to be concerned at all times about her public image. These are very serious charges and I’ve got to tell you, she was furious when she left here today. She has the money and power to bring a team of lawyers from Toronto and crucify all of us. All I can promise you, John, is that I will do my very best to pacify her and comply with Mr. Peel’s wishes.
“I’m sure you are worried. I am. I’ll let you know as soon as I can.” After I let you stew for a few days, you rotten bastard. Janet stood. “Thanks for being so forthright, Mr. Bartlett.”
John Bartlett struggled to his feet, and left, looking a drained and worried man.
Robbie fumbled the list she had been given by a student at the door. Okay, first on the list, Mrs. A Singh, science teacher. Hey, that’s Amanda! Okay, I can handle that! Robbie headed down the hall and found the science lab. She walked in gingerly. She wasn’t used to dealing with Ryan’s schools on friendly terms.
“Hi, I’ve got the seven o’clock appointment,” Robbie said stupidly, standing at the door feeling very warm in her parka.
Amanda got up. “Hello! Come on in, have I got great things to tell you about your daughter!”
“You do!? Hey, that’s good!” beamed Robbie, walking forward, as she shed her jacket. “I can do great.”
In the end, Robbie was the last parent to leave, having stayed to hear what Janet had resolved with John Bartlett. She had been satisfied with the arrangement much to Janet relief, and Robbie had followed her home. Principal and parent walked in to find a worried daughter playing blocks with Reb.
She was on her feet in a second. “Is it all right? Can I stay?!” she asked nervously. Janet and Robbie glanced at each other, belatedly realizing just how stressed Ryan had been about the evening.
Robbie walked over and smothered Ryan in a big bear hug. “The teachers all agree that you are human and that you can stay as long as you stop eating your peas off your knife.” she joked. Into Ryan’s ear she whispered. “I am sooo proud of you!”
Janet smiled and walked over to rub Ryan’s back reassuringly. “Stacy has confessed to causing the problem and stealing. I’ve arranged for a boarding school placement for her in Toronto. That is not to be blabbed around though, okay?”
Ryan beamed, her smile the same white flash of delight as her mother’s. “Okay, Aunt Janet. I knew you’d fix it!” Janet and Robbie took off their coats and Ryan went to put the kettle on for hot chocolate.
When they were all seated around the fire, Ryan announced that she had a surprise. She picked Reb up off Janet’s lap and stood her on the coffee table. “Okay, we’ve been practising all night, haven’t we Reb?”
Reb nodded seriously, adoring eyes looking up at her big cousin. Ryan cleared her throat and Reb did too. Robbie and Janet tried not to laugh. “The letter R by Rebecca Williams!” proclaimed Ryan. “Say, room, Reb”
“Room,” giggled the two and a half year old, and everyone clapped and cheered.
“Say, Rufus.”
“Rufus!” yelled out Reb, her eyes sparkling with the attention she was getting. More clapping and cheering followed with the successful attempt at Ryan’s name.
“Okay, Reb, say Robbie.”
Reb giggled and hopped with joy. “Oby! Oby!” she chanted and launched herself at her aunt. Robbie easily picked her out of the air and twirled her over head with much laughter.
Ryan sat down with a sigh and shook her head in dismay. Janet giggled, “I think your mom will just have to be Oby,” she concluded.
Reb, now snuggled in Robbie’s arms nodded her head, and said stubbornly, “She Oby.”
Janet used the tip of her tongue to tease the corner of Robbie’s mouth. They had got the kids settled and then had shared a shower, taking turns washing each other’s hair. Now they lay warm and relaxed in bed, Robbie on her back and Janet curled around her.
“Did I tell you that Bill Anderson, he’s the Math teacher, said that Ryan is one of the strongest students that he has ever taught.”
“Yes, and you told me that Jason thought she showed talent as a cartoonist, that Amanda felt she could easily follow in her Aunt Elizabeth’s steps and that Milka was impressed by the maturity and depth of her writing,” murmured Janet running a finger over a hard, pink nipple.
“These parent interviews aren’t so bad!” concluded Robbie with a smug grin, pulling Janet in for a hug and kissing her on the forehead absently.
Janet laughed. “You can absorb praise like a sponge, Williams! Talk about smug with yourself!”
Robbie wore a grin so wide her jaw ached. “Hey, that’s my kid!”
“Shut up, Oby, and make love to me,” ordered Janet, kissing Robbie soundly.
Isabelle Selo unfolded the letter again that she had picked up at the post office. She read about how the investigative reporter wanted to meet her. Mr. Lucier sounded like a very caring and nice man. Yet you couldn’t be too careful. There was all sorts of perverts out there. She’d meet him in a public place and not tell him yet where she really lived.
She looked up at the big poster she had on the hall of Robbie Williams. It was the one of her dressed in a black sleeveless T-shirt, looking hot and dirty and carrying a machine gun in her long, strong hands. She liked this poster best of all although she had all of them. She liked the way the sweat beaded on the bulge of her forearm and the way her eyes shone so blue through the dark tangle of hair.
Robbie looked around the crowded room with disinterest. It was the annual Bartlett staff and trustee Christmas party, and it was a bore. Educators were conservative and nice, and they threw really well organized and predictable parties. She thought about some of the parties she had attended in the film industry and smiled.
The man, who had cornered her,was John Bartlett. He managed the car dealership, and he had been going on for some time about the possibility of Robbie’s companies buying off them now that she was settling in town. He was the Chair of the trustees, and Janet disliked him. Robbie disliked him too, just on principle because he was Stacy’s step-father.
Her mind suddenly clicked in to what he was saying. “These teachers have to understand that the tax payer wants value for their money! They’re well paid to work for ten months of the year and it’s a job anyone could do, just standing up there talking. Yet, they’re not getting the job done! Kids today can’t read or write, and that’s a fact! Now if teachers had to work in the real world…”
Robbie lost it. “What the hell do business people know of the REAL world? You sit in your office all day pushing paper with your hand-picked staff. If someone doesn’t live up to your standard, you fire them. It’s not like that in teaching, Bartlett. It IS the real world.
“You get thirty little, very imperfect kids, each one of them with a school bag full of individual needs. You want to talk about the REAL world! When have you had to deal with cases of sexual and physical abuse of children? Or the trauma caused by divorce? When have you had to deal with the Special Needs kid, the emotionally disturbed child, the lice, the neglect, the poverty, the teen pregnancies, and all the other stresses that teachers quietly deal with day after day on top of teaching!? You know dick all about the REAL world, Bartlett!”
Bartlett turned beet red and started to look around nervously, as Robbie’s stage voice carried all over the room. “Every damn adult who gets elected or spawns a child suddenly thinks they are experts on education! Bull! Get a university degree, your college training, and then work in a classroom for ten years and you’ll have something worthwhile to say!”
Carolyn came charging around the corner into the kitchen to find Janet talking to Milka about the new language guidelines. “Janet, come quick! Robbie’s telling Bartlett the truth about education!”
“Oh shit!” whispered Janet, as she put her drink on the counter, and bee lined for the living room.
“When do you think the curriculum gets researched and written? When do you think the marking gets done or the lessons planned?! When do you think the sports teams practise, or the field trips get planned or the concerts are rehearsed? Do you actually think that happens in the classroom?!”
“Ahhh, Robbie could I see you for a moment,” interrupted Janet pulling on Robbie’s arm. “Excuse us, John, won’t you,” she smiled, “I have something I need to show Robbie.”
“Of course, of course.” Bartlett smiled weakly, backing away with relief.
Janet pulled Robbie into the now empty kitchen. “What the hell were you doing out there?!”
Robbie looked annoyed and stubborn. “Telling that asshole the truth!”
Janet sighed, and shook her head, coming over to place her hand on Robbie’s hard stomach. “Robbie, teacher bashing is part of the job. No one in politics is going to admit that they don’t know what they are doing when it comes to setting up educational programs and no parent is going to admit their child is slow or poorly raised. It is always going to be the teacher’s fault.”
“But a teacher with thirty students has less than five minutes of individual time with each child a day! What can they do to solve all the problems that parents dump on them?!”
Janet frowned. “Robbie where are you getting all this stuff?”
Robbie smiled. “I read your manuscript about your first five years of teaching. It’s good. I think we’ll make a movie out of it someday!”
Janet’s mouth fell open and then snapped shut. Her jaw tightened. “Robbie, my manuscript was on disc and in my desk files. I can’t believe you would be so rude as to go through my personal things! Damn it, Robbie, it’s not finished and I’m not sure I want it published never mind made into a movie! It’s very personal!”
“Yeah, I know, that’s what makes it so damn good!” smiled Robbie, in agreement.
“Robbie! What you did was very wrong! You violated my privacy!” snapped Janet, in angry frustration.
Robbie frowned. “Why would you want to have secrets from me?” she asked, in a hurt voice.
Janet rolled her eyes and stomped a few steps away, then turned and came back. “When you were working out your plans for the land you bought, did you tell me right away?
Robbie looked sheepish. “Well, no, I needed to work it out.” She shuffled her feet and a red glow crept up her neck as she realized what Janet was saying. “I’m sorry.”
Janet snorted in annoyance. “You’re sorry I’m upset! You’re not a bit sorry about going through me files!”
Robbie looked put out, “Well, it’s a start!” she answered defensively.
Janet looked at her with cold eyes. “Never again, Robbie. Promise.”
Robbie looked resistant. “What if there was an emergency and I had to go through your things?”
“Promise!”
“Okay, I promise,” Robbie surrendered. Worry crossed her face. “Are you going to stay mad? Did I get you in a lot of trouble?” she questioned belatedly.
Janet gave her a quick hug. “Thanks for defending us teachers. Don’t ever do it again, okay!?”
Robbie nodded, relieved to get off as lightly as she had. I got to learn to see my partner’s rights. This going serious with someone takes a lot of work.
A still sleepy principal reached out a hand from under the covers and snagged the phone. “Hello?”
“They’re here!” came the cheery voice of Mary Drouillard over the line. “George is just unpacking them now! Greta’s T-shirt order is here too. She’s on her way over. George and I have already set two aside for us!”
Janet smiled. Mary never introduced a subject. She just expected people to know what she was thinking. “What is here?”
“Why your snowmobile suits in your racing colours that Robbie ordered for the whole family! Oh! George is holding one up now! It’s lovely, black with a gold slash down each side. You are going to look super! Bartlett will be able to hold their head up with pride this year, I can tell you!”
Janet controlled her emotions long enough to say, “Really! Well, that’s great, and just in time too! We’ll be down later today to pick them up.”
Robbie came into the bedroom, drying her hair with a towel, to run into a small but mighty barrier. “You ordered racing colours?!” Janet hissed.
Big eyes looked out between strands of damp, tousled hair making her look a bit like Rufus. “Yeah. Are they here? I was beginning to think that they wouldn’t get here in time for the winter carnival.”
“You promised me that this would just be fun! No getting carried away! Damn it, Robbie! I was just at a Williams’ funeral where the theme was racing colours! I don’t want to attend another one!” Janet fought to control her emotions. If anything happened to Robbie, she wasn’t sure she could go on.
Robbie pushed the hair off her face, realizing that Janet was really upset. “It’s just an outfit, Janet. Team Bartlett has to look the part.” To Robbie it was just all fun. The show, the competition, it was just all part and parcel of being Robbie Williams. She wasn’t sure she understood Janet’s fears. What could go wrong?
“Team Bartlett?!” fumed Janet, hands on hips.
“Hey it’s no big deal!” protested Robbie. “It seems Bartlett has never had anyone enter the regional races before, so we are sort of the town’s team by default. That’s all. And George said all the other teams had colours so what was I going to do!” smiled Robbie innocently.
“Black and gold!” exclaimed Janet, realizing she was losing ground. Loving a Williams was no easy task. She was starting to realize why Alexandria had divorced herself from her feelings; it was probably the only way to survive.
Robbie wiggled her eyebrows. Janet threw up her hands in frustration. “I want final say. If I think it’s too dangerous then I don’t want you racing. It scares me,” finished Janet her lip quivering.
Robbie pulled her close, not really understanding but moved by Janet’s distress. “Hey, it’s just a small, friendly contest. Okay, you’ve got final say. We Williams will be good. I promise.”
Janet felt some of the tension releasing from around her heart. It was as if Robbie was just attracted to danger. She didn’t want to chain her lover’s free spirit but she did feel the need for placing some checks and balances on the woman. She had a daughter and responsibilities. She wanted Robbie to learn that she couldn’t just live for the minute. “Robbie Williams, you are an olive!” she sighed.
“Mmmmm, let’s have breakfast at Maria’s and go pick up the outfits, okay? We can go to town on the snowmobiles!” laughed Robbie, almost dancing with excitement as she hugged Janet.
Janet smiled, lapping up Robbie’s enthusiasm. ” Okay. Let’s get the kids up.
The four Williams paraded into Maria’s and stripped off the layers of snow wear, their faces red with the cold. Outside, the ever faithful, Rufus sat looking through the window and waiting for the table scraps. The family had deliberately kept the speed of their snowmobiles down so that the determined dog could keep up. Maria bustled over. “Look, look, I am second to own one. Greta brought a box in for me to sell here in the store! These colours suits me, I think!
The group turned to see Maria in a black T-shirt with a gold four centimeter stripe along the shoulders and down the sides. On the left side in gold was the logo of a racing snowmobile. Across the top it read, “Team Williams” and below was written, “Bartlett’s own!”
“Robbie…,” started Janet.
“I didn’t know a thing about it,” cut in the director. Then she smiled. “We’ll take four please!”
“Ahhh, good! They are selling like hot cakes! Greta is using them as a fund raiser for the drama society!” explained Maria bustling off. Janet looked around. Everyone was looking at them. She’d come to expect this but today the other patrons were all smiling and holding up T-shirts or pointing to the ones they were already wearing.
Janet sat down defeated. Robbie and Ryan went around signing the T-shirts. Janet looked over at Reb, who was sitting forgotten in the highchair. “We should have just driven the truck home ourselves the night of the funeral,” Janet sighed. Reb blew a raspberry and laughed at Robbie across the room. “Great! My own daughter has become an olive.”
The day of the carnival was beautiful; clear, calm, and crisp. There were games for the kids and rides on horse drawn sleds. The Lions Club was playing Christmas songs over the baseball park loud speaker and the women’s auxilary were selling hot drinks, and barbecued hot dogs and hamburgers.
Ryan went off with some school friends, and Robbie took Reb on the small Ferris Wheel with Janet, rocking the seat back and forth until Janet ordered her to stop. Then they leapt on the back of a wagon covered with straw, and rode around the lake singing Christmas carols along with a handful of other town’s people.
Back at the carnival, Janet took Reb and told Robbie that she had to go and do her half hour selling at the auxilary bake sale table. “Robbie, look around but please don’t get into trouble!” she insisted.
Robbie looked angelic. “I am here just to have fun like any other Bartlett citizen!” she huffed.
“Be good,” Janet reinforced and hurried off to help the ladies. Robbie walked along checking out the various displays set up by different companies. She saw a handmade cedar picnic table that she wanted to show Janet. They could put it on the porch or down by the lake to use in the summer.
Rounding the corner, her eyes lit up. There ahead of her was her childhood fantasy, a bright red fire engine with its yellow ladder extended! She made a bee line for it. “What about you, Walt? The volunteer fire department needs new recruits. You get to ride on the fire truck and hack through your neighbour’s roof with an axe!” laughed George Drouillard, as Robbie came up.
“Sorry, George, my back’s not up to it!” Walt responded moving on.
“You run the fire department too?!” asked Robbie in wonder, staring at the big, red, fire eating machine with dancing eyes.
“Hi , Robbie. Yup, I’ve been the Fire Chief of the Bartlett Volunteer Fire Department for about ten years now, because I’ve got the only garage big enough to keep old Betsy-Lou in.”
“I want to join.”
George chuckled and scratched a spot above his ear with a finger. “Well, Robbie, I don’t think there is a rule against women belonging but it’s never happened before. You see that ladder, there. You gotta be able to carry a full grown man down it. Not too many women can do that!”
“I can,” stated Robbie, her blue eyes radiating confidence.
“Well,” George laughed nervously. “I don’t suppose we’ll have any trouble finding a volunteer to help you with that test!
Ryan and her friends heard the excitement and came over. There was her mother climbing into yellow, rubber pullovers and big black boots. Standing up on a platform by the ladder was Dave Potts who ran the general store. “Hey, Dave, watch where you put your hands now!” someone yelled up.
“Oh dear,” flustered David, who like his brother, was a shy, middle aged bachelor. He wasn’t at all sure about being carried over the shoulder by the star who had been named one of the most beautiful and sexy women of the decade by People magazine.
“Two dollars says she drops him,” called out someone.
“Five dollars says she gets him down but he dies of a heart attack with a grin on his face!” Everyone laughed and poor David, stranded at the top of the ladder, turned beet red.
“You can’t do this, George! Every man in town will be setting his house on fire and rushing to the second floor!” More laughs and good natured fun followed as Robbie pulled on her work gloves and set her helmet in place.
“Hey, mom!” waved Ryan. Robbie looked over, saw her daughter and smiled. Ryan leaned over the rail. “You show them guys!” Robbie winked and swung up on the back of the truck and headed up.
At the top, she slung David’s arm over her head, crouched and easily lifted the stocky man up on her shoulder. The crowd cheered. David closed his eyes.
This was the hard part, and the crowd fell silent. The other volunteers stood below with the fire net ready. For a second, she was hit by the pressure that she had taken on. That was her daughter down there. She couldn’t fail and she couldn’t fall. Maybe that was what Janet had tried to make her see.
Robbie got a good grip on the ladder with one hand and another on David, placed her left foot securely on the rung and swung out and around so that her other foot slipped onto the rung below. She shifted David into a more comfortable position and headed down the ladder to cheers and whistles from the crowd.
At the bottom, a few of the volunteers helped David, weak in the knees from the experience, down off the truck. Then Robbie jumped down. “You okay?” she asked David, who sat on the fender looking very pale.
“I’m fine. Dear me, nothing like that is ever happened to me before!” he gasped. Robbie laughed and leaned forward and pecked him on the cheek. Lucier, who had missed the ladder descent, had to be satisfied with a picture of Robbie’s pucker and David’s startled face. It appeared on the front page of the paper that Friday with the caption, Hot New Firefighter.
Janet stopped dead when she saw Robbie and Ryan advancing towards her. Robbie was dressed in the Fire Department yellow pants and jacket and Ryan was wearing a fire fighter’s helmet. “Guess what, Aunt Janet. Mom carried David Potts down the fire ladder, and now she’s a member of the Volunteer Fire Brigade!” bragged Ryan. “She’s got a bleeper and everything!”
Robbie stood there with that silly grin she got when she was particularly happy with life and hadn’t a care in the world. Janet closed her eyes and shook her head. Bartlett was never going to recover from Robbie Williams and her daughter. Somehow she had to make Robbie realize that little Bartlett was not Robbie’s personal play ground.
Janet had to admit that Robbie had shown considerable restraint when they walked over, that afternoon, to where the races were being held in the old cow pasture, beyond the Lion’s Club house. Big trailers with bright logos down the side provided storage for half a dozen snowmobiles and a full repair shop. The drivers had teams of helpers working on their machines. Team Williams was this pathetically small open trailer with one black and gold snowmobile perched on top. Their team consisted of the Williams clan and George Drouillard with a Jerry can of gas.
What they lacked in equipment, they made up for in spirit, however. Ryan drove their team entry slowly over to the warm up area with Reb sitting in front of her. The child’s helmet she wore made her look like a little alien. Black and gold homemade banners dotted the crowd and a big cheer went up as they arrived. The Williams clan, all dressed in identical snowmobile suits waved back. How did I get to be part of another Williams orchestrated event? Janet wondered.
Janet wished Ryan luck in the under sixteen race and took Reb to find a good place to stand. Robbie stayed behind with her daughter to review their plans for the race. “Okay, kid. Remember to watch your speed into the third turn. It’s icy over there, and you don’t want to spin out,” cautioned Robbie, checking everything over once again, before letting Ryan move up to the starting line with their snowmobile.
“Okay, mom!” smiled Ryan, with a sparkle in her eye at the thought of the speed and competition to come.
Robbie recognized the look with a sudden spurt of fear. She pulled Ryan’s helmeted head close and spoke into her ear. “You be careful. I want you back in one piece. I love you!” Ryan smiled and gave her mom a quick one armed hug, then moved up to the starting line with the others.
Robbie ran around to stand with Janet at the starting line. “She’ll be okay,” Robbie reassured Janet and herself as she bounced from foot to foot nervously. Janet reached out and rubbed Robbie’s back, feeling the tense muscles under her racing jacket. Robbie was a super mother in her own strange and wonderful way.
Robbie needn’t have worried. Ryan easily beat the other kids without really feeling the pressure to push for that extra bit of speed. A good actor, she hung back and let Ryan enjoy the limelight before going over to wrap her daughter in her arms, and hug the daylights out of her.
The adult competition was a much larger field of competitors. Robbie moved up through the heats, coming in first each time. In the last heat, she was racing in a group of six. The most serious competitor was from Helingone, a community north east of Bartlett. Helingone had got its name from the early loggers who had wintered over there, and who swore it was several miles north of hell.
The residents of Helingone seemed to feel that they had to live down the name of their town by being fiercely competitive. They always won the snowmobile races and the summer regatta. They particularly enjoyed beating Bartlett because Bartlett’s town sign read: “Welcome to Bartlett! We might be north, but at least we’re south of Helingone!” They did not see the humour in this.
Big Jim Ableton was their number one racer. He was a logger by trade and resembled a hard wood tree both in size and intellect from what Robbie could ascertain. He had gone out of his way to pass nasty remarks about the ‘girly’ team that Bartlett was supporting. Robbie meant to wipe the course with him.
They sat in a row at the starting line, revving their engines in anticipation of the flag. They were off with a roar and a blue cloud of exhaust. Robbie let the world fall away until she was just one with the machine vibrating under her. The track tunnelled by in a blur, Robbie conscious only of what lay ahead. One by one, the other snowmobiles fell behind with each lap until it was just her and Jim jockeying for position close to the inside of the track. They came down the last stretch side by side, Robbie slowly edging forward. Fifty feet before the finish line, Jim edged his machine over, touching Robbie’s back treads with his front ski.
The tread jammed for a split second sending Robbie into a wild spin. Jim crossed the line with Robbie spinning over a split second later. She felt the snowmobile tipping and leapt off. Her body was traveling at over a hundred kilometers an hour when it hit the snow. She spun like a top, arms and legs flinging out in all directions, then rammed back first into a bale of hay.
For a second, she lay there stunned. Then she rose up like a mushroom cloud over ground zero. She was going to cut Big Jim down to size, with her two bare hands. Shaking with anger, she took several steps in that direction. Then she caught sight of her family standing there, horror written on their faces. I scared them, she realized. She smiled and waved. She’d get that bastard in the final race.
Janet fell into Robbie’s arms not caring, at that moment, what people thought. “Oh God, Oby! I thought you were dead!”
“That was cool,” Ryan said, covering her own fear in humour. “You looked just like the blades on the helicopter. Bet you hurt!”
“Oby go booboo!” Reb observed, looking up at her hero.
Robbie bent and picked the small child up. “I’m fine Ryan, really. It looked worse than it was. I was just sliding along until I hit that soft pile of hay.” In actual fact, every bone in her body had been jostled and she had some pulled muscles aching that she didn’t even know she had. There was no use upsetting her family though and ruining a perfectly good day.
“I’ll get Ableton in the final,” she promised with a smile. “I’ll be ready for his tricks next time.”
“No,” said Janet and all the Williams looked at her in surprise. “Robbie, you said I could call the shots and I’m doing so. You’re finished racing today. I’m not letting you get hurt in some sort of grudge match!”
“Ahhh, Aunt Janet…”
Robbie touched her daughter’s shoulder and she fell quiet. “I promised your Aunt that if she wanted me to pull out I would. So that’s what we are going to do. The family’s more important than the race,” smiled Robbie, burning inside with frustration. Damn! Why did I make that silly promise!
Just then Big Jim swaggered past. He reached out a hand and gave Janet a slap on the back side. “Hey, girly, anytime you want a real man in your life, you just call. I think I can teach the school teacher a thing or two!” he smirked, as he walked on. Ryan and Janet had to both step in front of Robbie to stop her from going after him.
“Robbie?” said Janet, fuming with the insufferable rudeness of the man.
“What!” snapped Robbie, with more feeling than she meant. She was about one hair’s breath away from murder. No one touched Janet. No one!
“You kick his ass good in the next race!” snarled Janet. For the second time in a few minutes, the other Williams looked at Janet in surprise. Then they all started to laugh.
Ableton had the post position with Robbie to his right. When the flag dropped, they were off to a fast start. This time, however, Robbie stayed close to Ableton just back far enough that she sat in his rear view mirror’s blind spot. Every once in a while he would take a quick look back to see where she was. I’m getting to you, aren’t I, tree stump!?
Just after the last curve, Robbie made her move, dropping suddenly to the inside and burning past Ableton. He tried to move to the outside. Robbie moved with him, keeping him right behind, in her ruts and exhaust. She kept one eye ahead of her, and one on Ableton watching out for his tricks.
Sure enough, he tried to ram her back end. She kept just that couple of feet ahead of him right across the finish line. The crowd of black and gold shirts clapped and hooted their approval. Robbie was pushed on a tide of well-wishes over to the platform to get her trophy. “Thanks, to George Drouillard and my daughter Ryan and the rest of the Williams team and a big thanks to the people of Bartlett for their support!” she yelled out above more applause and cheers.
The Williams clan, Droullards, Greta Corry, and several of Ryan’s friends all sat at one table in the Lions’ Hall and feasted on burgers. It was a tired family that hitched up their snowmobile trailer and headed back to the cabin in the late afternoon. Dinner was a plate of sandwiches by the fire, Janet holding the sleeping Reb at one end of the couch, Robbie at the other and Ryan nodding in one of the chairs.
“Don’t you ever not tell me you are hurt again!” Janet commanded, later that night as she straddled Robbie’s naked backside and massaged her aching muscles. Robbie moaned with pleasure and wiggled her back side between Janet’s naked legs. Janet leaned forward and kissed the back of Robbie’s broad muscular back. “I think you have misinterpreted my nurturing activities,” she whispered into Robbie’s ear.
Robbie growled. An arm shot up and around Janet, and the next thing she knew she was under Robbie. The director kissed her long and deep and hungrily as she lowered her hips between Janet’s legs and moved rhythmically. It was Janet’s turn to moan as Robbie slipped down and did things to Janet’s body that made her go crazy with desire. She was getting close, panting with need, when Robbie’s beeper went off.
“Nooo!,” gasped Janet, burying her head in the pillow as Robbie leaped up and ran to the closet to slip into her clothes and firefighter outfit.
“Sorry, love, I’ll be back. Save my place!” Robbie said as she hopped about getting her rubberized pants on.
Janet threw a pillow at her. Then called out as Robbie headed out the door, “Don’t do a thing, just watch! You haven’t had any training yet!”
Several hours passed, while Ryan, who had been woken by the commotion, and Janet, who was too stimulated to sleep, waited for Robbie to return. They filled in the time baking cookies for Christmas.
Finally, the fire truck, flashing red lights, pulled up at the side door. Janet was there just as Ted Potts raised his hand to knock. “Evening, Janet, we brought Robbie back on account of she was in no good condition to drive.”
Janet paled. “Where is she?!”
“The boys are bringing her along now,” replied Ted, stepping aside so that George Drouillard and Moe Singh could help Robbie in between them.
Robbie was soaking wet and an awful shade of blue. She walked along on stiff legs with her arms around each man’s shoulder for support. Looking up and seeing Janet she said sleepily, “I’m hurt.”
“Oh Robbie! Ryan put the kettle on!” instructed Janet, realizing that Robbie needed something warm in her right away.
“Why thanks, Janet, we could do with a cup of tea,” said George, “I’ll get the rest of the boys!”
The sun was showing on the horizon by the time Janet and Ryan had stripped Robbie of her clothes and got her in a hot bath and then into a sleeping bag on the sofa. She had refused to be put to bed while everyone else was drinking mugs of tea and eating fresh, out of the oven, chocolate chip cookies in the living-room.
“So Larry Butler did a little too much celebrating after the race today, and decided to take a short cut with his snowmobile over Turn Back Bay. ‘Course, the ice there is no good, every fool knows that, what with the winds. Sure enough, the ice breaks up and he’s left a driftin’. He calls his wife, Flo on the cell phone and she calls us out. By the time we get there, his vehicle had slid off into the lake and so had he,” explained George between sips of tea.
“He’d managed to pull himself up on a small ice flow but it was clear he wasn’t long for this world if we didn’t get to him. We tried a few times, but the ice kept a cracken up under us. Finally, Robbie here, bein’ the lightest, slipped into a harness and crawled out to the open water but by that time old Larry was too far gone to care. So damn if the lady doesn’t keep right on a goin’. Swims about ten feet to him, hooks him on to her harness and we pulled both of them back in.” George stopped here to chew a cookie philosophically.
“Larry will be okay. I figure he had too much alcohol in his blood stream to freeze. It was quite a night. Just like one of them Williams’ movies.” Ryan, who was sitting on the floor by her mom, looked up with pride. Janet shook her head. They finally got to bed about six. Reb had them up by seven.
The following week Robbie had to fly down to her office. “Why don’t you invite your sister Elizabeth for Christmas while you are in Toronto?” suggested Janet, as she talked to Robbie on the phone.
Robbie snorted as if Janet was crazy. “My sister?! She only leaves her secluded world to go to physics conferences and then only once in a blue moon. I’m not sure she realizes Canada spreads farther than the suburbs of Toronto.”
“Please,” said Janet. “Family is important and Ryan really wants to meet her famous aunt.”
Robbie’s voice took a pouty tone. “So what is wrong with her famous mother?” she grumbled.
Janet laughed. “Ryan adores you but you are not the scientist!
“Where would we put her? The cabin is over crowded as it is. You practically have to book ahead to have a bath.”
“I’ve got it all worked out. I asked Bill Perkins and he said we can borrow his trailer. It has a good electrical furnace and a reasonable sized bathroom. We can run a power cord from the house. That way if Elizabeth needs some private time she can escape to her trailer. How does that sound?”
“It sounds like you had dinner with Bill Perkins,” accused Robbie.
“No, coffee at Maria’s after the drama society meeting,” confessed Janet. “Jealous?”
“Good. You’ll get back here faster to me. I miss you,” reinforced Janet, knowing that you could only pull the tail of a Williams once before you are likely to get a reaction that is less than funny.
“When, between coffee dates?!” snarled Robbie, partly in jest and partly out of a real need for reassurance.
“I miss you all the time, especially at night when I reach out for you,” she whispered gently, knowing her lover would be thinking the same thing she was.
“Mmmm, I like that. I’ll talk to Elizabeth but I make no promises. I’ll phone you tomorrow. Bye, my love.”
“Bye, darling,” responded Janet with a sad smile. She really would miss Robbie terribly.
Elizabeth wrote a complex equation on a piece of paper and looked at it with a half smile. Physics was so beautiful, pure, loyal to the laws of nature and yet so complex in its structure. It was like dropping a stone into the pool of the universe and watching the ripples of energy create eternity. She wished people could understand enough math to be able to see that beauty. It seemed a shame that only a handful of people in the world could read God’s blueprint.
“Hi.” Elizabeth looked up with a start to see her sister standing there. “Sorry, Elizabeth, are you okay? I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Elizabeth wiped the sweat from her upper lip with a shaky hand. “It’s okay. I usually keep my door locked when my secretary has left, that’s all.”
Robbie nodded. She understood Elizabeth’s fears. “So can we talk?”
Elizabeth’s eyes focused on Robbie sharply. What was going on with her sister? She had read with some surprise that Robbie had at last recognized her daughter. She had also seen an article about Robbie saving Billy’s widow from a criminal. She was glad she lived in the relative safety of the academic world. There was no surprises. She hated surprises. “Of course. What is it you which to discuss?”
“You know how I feel about Janet, Bethy. I wanted you to know that I’ve decided to ask her to marry me. Would you like to join our family for Christmas,” Robbie poured out, before she lost her nerve.
Elizabeth blinked, then blinked again. These were not surprises, they were two whopping big shock blows to her state of well being. Robbie waited. It took the better part of half a minute for Elizabeth to recover. “Love, I understand, is irrational, which explains the lack of logic in the rest of your statements,” she observed.
Robbie nodded. Beth was right. “My daughter Ryan, would really like to meet you. She thinks science is wonderful. She has already blown up a lab and she is only fourteen. Janet can borrow a trailer. It’s like a home on wheels, so you can have all the privacy you want. The cabin is kind of small. It would mean a lot to me, Bethy.” Robbie got out, a bit of sweat forming on her own lip. She hated these meaningful conversations.
Elizabeth did not want to go. She didn’t think she liked kids and she hated strange places, but Robbie had asked her, and if Robbie wanted it then there was no choice. “If you want me to, Robbie, I’ll come.”
Robbie smiled. “That’s great. I’ll take care of you, Bethy, you know I will!” Elizabeth smiled. Robbie always took care of things. Robbie was wonderful. She knew she could trust her.
“Listen, I haven’t actually asked Janet to marry me yet, so don’t say anything, okay?”
Elizabeth frowned. “You do know I do not approve of this relationship, Robbie,” she said, doodling numbers nervously on her paper. “We agreed, that because of our past, involving others in our life was not fair.”
A cloud came over Robbie face and she sighed. “There are days when I don’t either, Bethy. I must be crazy to risk recognizing Ryan and bringing Janet and Reb into my life, but I can’t go back. I don’t want to go back. This is the first time I have been happy in a very long time, Bethy.”
Elizabeth looked down at the numbers that gave her such beauty and pleasure. Robbie should have happiness too.
“Then I will support you, Robbie. I want you to be happy,” promised Elizabeth.
Robbie drove, with a frown, through the wintry streets of Toronto. She hadn’t noticed before how truly dreary winter in the city was. The yellow-grey sky hung low and wet and the snow, piled to the sides of the streets, was pitted with dirt. My lungs probably look like that, reasoned Robbie, pulling a face. She thought about the piles of white, fluffy snow in the north and the clear blue skies. I can’t wait to get out of here.
It had been a busy week and Robbie was feeling tired. The Brian, Gwen, Joe triangle seemed to have resolved itself for the time being thanks to the company’s bank of lawyers. The film was making millions, and was being hailed as the best love story ever. Ernie was making head way in selling nothing to the backers, and she had managed to get her Christmas shopping done.
That had been by far the most exhausting part of the week. It was dangerous out there! She had no idea how frantic and ruthless Christmas shoppers could be. No wonder they threw Christians to the lions! By the end of the week, she had been quite willing to participate in that age old Roman tradition!
Now she was heading her B.M.W., her Stingray never saw winter, over to the island airport to take the company helicopter up to Janet’s. She could hardly wait! Damn, she had missed her family. The last six months of her life had been like a rebirth. Her whole world had changed from icicles to fire. The cell phone rang, cutting into her thoughts. She picked it up off the seat.
“Hi mom!” came her daughter’s voice.
Robbie felt her particular cup of joy spill over. I’ve got one great kid, she thought proudly. “What’s up?”
“I phoned to warn you. Don’t come home; dye your hair, change your name, and move to Argentina.
She might not be able to track you down there.”
Robbie’s eyes widened as she turned into the parking lot of the commuter airport. “Who and why?” she asked calmly, as she punched the button to get her parking ticket. Robbie was used to having people gunning for her.
“Aunt Janet has spent all week watching your movies. She watched the ones you directed and wrote first, and then she started on the earlier ones you acted in. She said they are works of art and clearly show that you should be locked up as a deranged and sick human being.”
Robbie beamed, “Works of art, huh?! Why am I sick and deranged?” she asked, conversationally as she found her spot and pulled in, shoving the car into park while she leaned back to talk to her daughter.
“You killed the dog in Cold Night Walking; she and Rufus took it personally,” explained Ryan. “We all sat around and cried.”
“That’s what you were supposed to do!” protested Robbie. “Is that why I’m in the doghouse?”
“Nope, you’re in trouble because of Female Marines. I quote, ‘Robbie and THAT woman have something going! That Julie Devon is all over her like a rash!’ You’re in trouble.”
“That was ten years ago!” protested Robbie.
“She has big boobs…two of them,” Ryan explained, less than subtly.
“I’m to take Reb to the library this afternoon for Read Along. She wants me out of the house so there are no witnesses. So were you sleeping with Julie Devon?”
Robbie looked at the phone in shook. “What are you, the teen from hell?! You don’t ask questions like that!”
Ryan giggled, “Thought so, you could see the chemistry.”
Robbie snorted, “What would you know about chemistry?! No! Wait, don’t tell me, I don’t want to know. I wouldn’t be able to sleep nights!”
Ryan laughed, “Bye mom! Good luck!”
“Thanks, kid.” Robbie said softly, and hung up. Oh boy, I’m in trouble. Maybe a gift. Is there a store at the island airport?
Janet met Robbie at the door as she ran up the steps, grinning with happiness. “I’m home!” she yelled, and picked Janet up in her arms to kiss her. “God! I’ve missed you!
“Mmmm, I missed you too,” smiled Janet. They kissed again. Long and slow, desire building like a tidal wave.
“Anyone around?” asked Robbie, between kisses.
“No,” came the reply. Robbie carried Janet to the bedroom.
They sat later by the fire, waiting for the kids to come home, Janet snuggled into Robbie’s side and Robbie with a possessive arm wrapped around Janet. “Ahhh, I’ve been watching your movies. They really are good.” Oh,oh, here it comes, thought Robbie. “When you made Female Marines were you and Julie Devon…well…you know?”
“Yes,” stated Robbie. She’d decided that the only way to make their relationship stronger was to be honest with Janet. She was too smart a lady not to pick out a lie, otherwise Robbie might have tried it.
“Oh,” came a disappointed and pained voice. “She’s very beautiful. Is she nice?”
“Yes, she is very beautiful and she was a real pleasure to work with. She’s up beat, funny and a hard worker,” responded Robbie, in fairness.
“ET said there are rumours that she will star in your next movie,” Janet said, rubbing Robbie’s hand with the tip of a tense finger.
“I don’t have a screen play yet. I’m going to take some time off this winter and write. I have talked to Julie though, about the story line, and leaving herself available for the role next year.” The body she was holding went strangely still.
Silence. Janet’s hand stopped moving and she held onto Robbie’s hand tightly.
“Does that bother you?” Robbie asked gently, wrapping her hand around Janet’s.
“Yes.” Janet gasped and started to shake with tears.
Robbie’s heart gave a spasm of pain. She reached around and lifted Janet into her lap and held her close. “Shhh, love, it’s okay. There is only one person I will ever need in my heart and my bed from now on, and that’s you.”
“I’m grotesque!” sobbed Janet, holding onto Robbie tightly and dripping tears down her neck.
“No, you are not! Don’t ever think that or say it again!” said Robbie sharply. She pulled Janet away and forced her to make eye contact by lifting up her head with a gentle hand. “You turn me on. You satisfy me. You have given me more joy and happiness than I thought possible! Do you really think I’m such a low life that I’d cheat on you?!”
“You dumped Tracy Travelli,” mumbled Janet miserably, though tear filled eyes.
Robbie snorted. “Tracy was a convenience. She knew it. I knew it. We were just using each other. Things are a lot different for me now. I’ve fallen in love, deeply in love. I’ve got this…family…I don’t need or want anything else,” Robbie tried to explain, although the words fell well short of what she felt inside.
“Oh, Robbie!” Janet moaned, wrapping herself around her lover again. “I love you so much! Every time you do something dangerous or go away, I feel so vulnerable. I don’t mean to be so jealous and possessive!”
“It’s okay, I kinda like being wanted,” Robbie smiled, holding Janet close. “I work with a lot of beautiful and famous people, Janet. If I act, I’m likely to do a love scene. It’s just business. Nothing more. Sure people come on to me at times, males and females. You have got to know though that you are something special, and I’m never going to risk that.”
“I love you, Robbie,” Janet declared holding on as tight as she could. Robbie made a decision. This was not how she had planned to stage it, there was going to be soft music, a shining Christmas tree, and a quiet drink. Instead, it wasn’t going to be a performance, it was going to be real, here and now with a lover with a red nose from crying.
She slipped Janet onto the couch and went and got something out of her briefcase. Coming back, she sat beside her lover and kissed her softly. “You are my soulmate. I have always loved you, and I always will. Would you do me the honour of marrying me this Christmas?” asked Robbie, her stomach a nervous flutter.
“Oh Robbie, we can’t, the kids, my job…Oh Yes! Yes, Robbie! I love you so much!” Janet responded, feeling warm and loved inside the circle of Robbie’s arms. Robbie took out a blue velvet box and slipped out the ring she had bought. With great reverence, she slipped off the band of gold that Janet wore and slipped in its place her pledge of loyalty and love. For a long time, the two of them said nothing, too overwhelmed with the step they had just taken to find the words to express what they had found together.
“It’s beautiful Robbie. Everything is so beautiful now I’ve found you,” whispered Janet softly.
Robbie smiled. She knew exactly what Janet felt.
Robbie found David Potts sweeping out his small general store right on closing time. “You just made it, Robbie, I was just going to put the lock on the door,” he smiled.
“We gotta talk,” Robbie said seriously, closing the door behind her, and switching the cardboard sign around so it read, closed.
“Oh dear!” exclaimed David, looking truly frightened.
Robbie didn’t look much better. But she’d proposed now, and there was no backing out. “Ahhh, I need a favour. I understand you are the Justice of the Peace in town.”
David smiled in relief. ” That’s right! I bet you want your passport signed. I can take your picture too! I’ve got the camera back there by the meat counter.”
Robbie licked her lips. This is nothing to be ashamed of Williams, just ask the man! Even if he refuses Janet said he could be trusted to keep quiet. “This is a confidential matter,” Robbie clarified.
David frowned. “Well, I don’t think I do things like that! My job is for the public record. Maybe, you should see a lawyer, Robbie.”
Robbie swallowed. “I want to buy a marriage certificate and I want you to marry Janet and me,” Robbie got out in one long sentence.
David looked stunned. “Oh, my.”
“We don’t want it to become a circus. We just want to quietly exchange vows, and adopt each other’s children. Can you do that?”
“Well, I don’t know,” flustered David. “I mean I can, but I never have. Most people go to a minister!” he stalled. Robbie looked at him, one eyebrow up in annoyance and her arms crossed. “Oh! Oh dear! I guess that won’t do, would it?” David bit his lip and then smiled. “You know, I always wanted to be a minister! I’ve got the licenses right over here! Oh, this is so exciting!”
Robbie followed him frowning. “We don’t want a lot of people to know. We don’t want it getting out to the media,” she reinforced.
David stopped and looked at her in shock. “Robbie, I would never tell a secret,” he said, indignantly.
Robbie smiled, this guy was just too cute to be true!
It was Friday afternoon, and Janet had asked Carolyn, Milka, and Amanda to pop into her office before they left. They now sat in a row in front of her desk looking vaguely worried. “Ahhh, this is a personal and confidential matter.” Janet began, feeling embarrassed. “You are not only part of my staff but friends. I want you to know that I’m gay and that I’ve been seeing Robbie Williams.”
She waited. There was no reaction. The three women just sat there with smiles, waiting. Janet cleared her throat and went on. “We’ve decided to get married and wondered if you would feel comfortable in being there.” This time there were cheers and her friends got up to hug and congratulate her.
“We spotted the ring days ago!” said Carolyn.
“We thought you’d never tell us!” groaned Milka
“When is it going to be? Can Bert and Mohammed come?” asked Amanda.
Janet blushed brightly. “Yes, of course they can come if they feel comfortable at a gay wedding. It will be on Boxing Day, at the cabin. Robbie would like it outside, so we hope the weather will be nice. Ahhh, you understand, you can’t say anything. If the media got hold of this it would be a mess, and very hard on the kids.”
“Hey, we can keep a secret! We’re your friends! This is just so neat! Who is doing the ceremony?” babbled Carolyn.
“Ahhh, Robbie is arranging something today,” Janet stalled, not wanting to mention David’s name until she knew he had agreed.
Gwen got an e-mail: This is for Brian and your eyes only, Gwen. Janet and I are getting married on Boxing Day. You two are invited. The ‘copter will bring you up. R.
Gwen shook her head, typical Williams. She didn’t have the nerve to tell her face to face! And where was she going to get a babysitter for three kids on Boxing Day?! They’d just have to go stay with their father and his new live in, because she was not missing seeing Robbie Williams getting her wings clipped for the world! She hadn’t been sure about Janet at first but she had come to realize that the quiet principal was prefect for Robbie.
Christmas was wonderful. Elizabeth, to everyone’s surprise, including her own, felt very safe and comfortable at the cabin. She liked the small coziness of the trailer too. After the rather startling noise and confusion of her sister’s family, she could lie in her bunk at night, in the northern stillness and look at the clear stars out the window. She knew many of them by their name and number and their spectrograms.
She liked Janet. She was like a mother ought to be, friendly, caring, and she could cook too! She liked that. Elizabeth tended to warm some soup in a beaker over a Bunsen burner or stick a frozen dinner in the microwave. They had real Christmas cake, and sugar cookies cut and decorated with icing. There were stockings hanging on the fireplace, even one for her, and all sorts of parcels under the tree. She was glad that she had ordered each of them a gift. It was like the Christmases she had read about but never had.
And her sister was so different! Relaxed and funny and just great with the kids. Robbie was happy at last. That made Elizabeth happy. Ryan and Reb, she found, were fun. Reb liked to sit in her lap and play with her glasses. She called her Annie Beth and her sister Oby! Ryan was full of mischief and could be quite startling in what she would say and do. She was so very much like her mother, Robbie. Yet, when Elizabeth talked about physics with Robbie, she was right there and asked intelligent questions.
Elizabeth nodded in the dark of her trailer. Yes, she liked having nieces. She must find out when their birthdays were and send them a little something each year. Why that monkey, Ryan, had even taken her for a ride on her snowmobile into town to buy extra milk and butter and introduced her to the nice looking man who owned the store. Ryan had told her that he was also the town’s Justice of the Peace and would be the one that married Robbie and Janet. There was a man who could turn his hand to anything.
Christmas Day, Ryan was banging at her trailer door with a coffee at dawn. Elizabeth slipped over to the cabin in her wool housecoat and boots and joined the family around the tree. Janet handed out the presents and wouldn’t let anyone open any until they had been all handed out. Then it was pandemonium!
Once all the gifts had been exchanged with many hugs and kisses, much to Elizabeth’s surprise, they had a breakfast of homemade braided loaves and jam made from the blackberries they had picked that fall. Then they all went to church. It had been…magical.
Janet and Reb had gone for a much deserved nap and Elizabeth sat in the window by the fire watching Ryan and Robbie, down on the lake, rolling snowballs industriously. What in the world were they up to now? Large snow balls gradually formed a semicircle on the lake near the beach. Then, at ninety degrees to the arch a second row of three large snow balls was hoisted into place. Two were placed on the top of these and then one. The semi circle now had central tower.
Elizabeth pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and watched with interest. Two wood benches from the cedar picnic table were carried down and placed inside with an aisle between them. Why they are building a snow chapel! Elizabeth realized. How lovely! Carried by the moment, Elizabeth went and got her coat and helped her sister and niece wet and polish the snow walls until they shone
blue ice.
Later, when Janet joined them, she smiled with delight as she inspected the winter fairy castle under the dome of a robin blue sky. Elizabeth, in a rare moment of insight, took Reb from Janet’s arms and indicated to Ryan to follow her up to the cabin. Janet stood with Robbie and watched the setting sun turn their chapel to soft pink then royal blue. “I love you, Robbie. Thank you.”
“I love you,” Robbie smiled, “And you are welcome.” They walked hand in hand back up to the house.
“Robbie?” came a soft voice in the dark.
“Mmmm,” came the reply.
“Why are you still awake?” Janet asked, rustling the sheets as she moved closer.
“Why are you?” Robbie evaded, kissing a bare shoulder affectionately.
“Because, I’m scared skinny about tomorrow!” admitted Janet, kissing a soft breast.
Robbie laughed. “Me too. I do film, not stage,” she admitted.
“Terrific, all we’ve gone through to get to this point, and now we both have cold feet! It’s a very big step we are taking into the unknown. There could be some real tough moments ahead for us and the kids,” fretted Janet.
“Yeah. There is sure to be. But gays have fought long and hard for the right to enjoy the responsibilities and privileges that legally married couples have always had. We would be foolish to let our fears of what society might say and do stop us from taking this step.”
“I know. We’ve never talked about money or anything. I have a mortgage and…”
“We have a mortgage and we will pay it off.”
“That’s not fair! Why should you pay my debts!?”
“Because we are not going to be a you and me after tomorrow. We’ll be a we. Janet, have you any idea how rich I am?” asked Robbie in amusement.
“Rich enough to have a spare million anyway,” sighed Janet.
Robbie snorted. “Last year, my personnel income, not that of my companies, just mine, was over fifteen million. I think we can afford to pay off the mortgage.”
Janet giggled. “What’s so funny?” asked Robbie.
“Damn, you’re a good catch!” Robbie was obliged to show her just how good.
The ice chapel shone under the clear blue, northern sky. Evergreen trees, bowed with white pillows of snow framed the scene as the guests arrived and took their places. On Robbie’s side sat Gwen, Brian and Elizabeth. On Janet’s side was Mika, Carolyn and Bert, and Amanda and Moe. Bill Perkins was there too. He fancied himself an amateur photographer, and it was his bitter sweet duty to photograph the event from the side lines.
David Potts stood proudly in front of the snow wall. Robbie had wanted to buy him a blue jacket to wear for the ceremony but he had refused. This was his first and possibly only wedding and he planned to do it right, he told her. He had braved the cold in his navy blue, Sunday best suit.
Robbie and Ryan waited nervously by him. They both wore black pants and boots and buckskin jackets in soft cream. Indian bead work in bright blues and reds formed small panels from each shoulder.
Soft Celtic harp music played as Janet and Reb, hand in hand, came down the small aisle. They wore black pants and boots too with matching white Eskimo parkas. Simple native patterns decorated the hem line in the same bold colours as was on the buckskin jackets. The four made a beautiful group as they stood in front of David.
David smiled shyly and then gathered himself together. “Who gives away, this lady?” he asked.
Janet squeezed Reb’s shoulder and the little girl giggled, “I do.” Everyone smiled, and Janet winked at her tiny daughter.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, we are here today, under God’s immense sky, to witness the marriage of these two fine ladies. Marriage is a sacred bond. It does not deal with gender, age or religion but with the love, loyalty and trust between two individuals, such as Janet and Robbie, who choose to join their lives together as one. If anyone knows of any reason why these two should not be wed please speak of it now.” David paused.
“Janet Jean Williams, do you take Robbie to be your lawful partner, trusting in her love, and loyalty to guide you through your life together?”
“Roberta Nichola Williams, do you take Janet to be your lawful partner, trusting in her love, and loyalty to guide you through your life together?
“If you would place the rings on this bible,” David instructed. Ryan took the two simple bands of gold from her pocket and placed them on the white leather bible that David held out. “Robbie, if you would take one and make your pledge to Janet.”
Robbie took the ring and placed it on Janet’s finger. “My love, my loyalty, my trust, always.”
Janet took the other ring and slipped it on Robbie’s finger. “My love, my loyalty, my trust, forever.”
“In this special place, made by Our Lord God, and before these witnesses and friends today, I declare you legal life partners. Please seal these vows with a kiss.”
Robbie leaned down and brushed a shy kiss across Janet’s lips. Their family and friends applauded. Robbie and Janet hugged Ryan and Reb and then accepted the congratulations of David and the others.
Janet and Robbie, now one, led the party back to the cabin to sign the certificate and to cut the wedding cake that David had shown up with that morning to everyone’s surprise. He had baked and decorated the cake himself.
David and Elizabeth took the marriage certificate and carefully folded it and put it inside the bible. They walked over to where Robbie and Janet stood hand in hand and took them aside. “The bible I used today was bought for you by your sister, Elizabeth. In it is your marriage certificate. Best wishes to you both,” he said, giving them the white leather bible.
Tears filled Robbie’s eyes. Unable to speak how she felt, Robbie stepped over and gave her sister a big hug. For the first time in a very long time, Elizabeth didn’t flinch at the touch but instead hugged back gently.
That night Ryan and Reb had a sleep over in Aunt Beth’s trailer.
Janet and Robbie sat for a long time by the fire. They held hands and looked at the flames burning brightly, content to be together as partners. It was a new world and a new beginning.
Continued in Spring Rains | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413207 |
__label__cc | 0.701811 | 0.298189 | The Travel Vertical
Connect Travel 2020 Events: Meet the Whole Family
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What’s New? A Curated Collection of Travel Industry Trends and Disruption Headlines
November 13, 2018 by Laurie Jo Miller Farr Leave a Comment
A curated collection of travel-related headlines range from Amazon HQ2 to record-breaking Thanksgiving travel volume and the promise of 1) better cruise food from Sir Richard; 2) better inflight Wi-Fi from AAL; and 3) better travel writing from The New York Times. Catch up on a roundup of noteworthy travel industry trends and disruption headlines.
‘Twas Only a Matter of Time
The New York Times has a new travel editor and she’s turning the tables, asking readers what they’d like to see covered and how. Reimagining travel writing in the digital age is everybody’s chance to chime in, as Amy Virshup says she’s interested in sourcing more travel content from local writers. Let’s give Amy something to smile about by replying with our great ideas. Read more here.
And Another One Bites the Dust
Lonely Planet subscribers received a notice with their magazine this month.”This is Your Final Issue,” it reads, as the monthly subscribers’ US print edition is shuttered
Amazon announced its HQ2 decision, selecting not one but two locations after a frenzied 14-month process led by the Seattle-based tech powerhouse. Crystal City, Virginia and Long Island City in Queens, New York will be the major corporate outposts, each supporting at least 25,000 jobs. Downtown Nashville, Tennessee gets a consolation prize with 5,000 jobs on the logistics and operations side. About 240 locations sent bids, some on the creative side, such as Tucson’s giant saguaro cactus. “For Austin, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Columbus, Ohio, Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Miami, Montgomery County MD, Newark, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Toronto, and Washington, D.C., the year-long battle for Amazon allowed them to promote their cities and opened up new development opportunities,” says CNN. Read more here.
All Good Things Must…
Following 105 consecutive months of growth, travel to and within the US is set to level off, says U.S. Travel Association. Due mainly to the leisure sector, US travel grew by +1.6% in the 12 months to September 2018, while business-related travel appeared to plateau. The U.S. Travel Association’s international Leading Travel Index predicts that the market will not expand any further in the next six months when “a perfect storm of factors” is expected to suppress international demand. Read more here.
Turkey Trots
AAA projects that over Thanksgiving, 54.3 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home, a 4.8 percent increase—or 2.5 million additional people—over last year. The 2018 holiday weekend will see the highest Thanksgiving travel volume since 2005. INRIX, a global mobility analytics company, predicts travel times in major metros could be four times longer than normal trip times. Read more here.
Cars: An estimated 48.5 million folks, 5 percent more than in 2017, will hit the road between Wed., Nov. 21 and Sun., Nov. 25, 2018.
Planes: The largest growth in holiday travel is by air, at 5.4 percent, or 4.27 million travelers in the skies.
Trains, Buses and Cruise Ships: Travel across these sectors will increase by 1.4 percent for a total of 1.48 million passengers.
Three Strikes, You’re Out
American Airlines has decided to de-install Wi-Fi provider GoGo from at least 400 of its jets. Look for Viasat inflight internet and wireless entertainment to be pre-installed on 100 new Airbus A321neo and Boeing 737 MAX aircraft as well as re-engined A321s and Boeing 737-800s. As of July 2018, American Airlines operates a fleet of 956 aircraft, the world’s largest. Read more here.
Two-Way Road
Euromonitor International predicts China will dethrone France as the world’s number one tourist destination by 2030, based on data collected by the global research company. Tourists from mainland China are also set to overtake Americans to become the biggest group of international travelers. The number of Chinese people taking trips abroad will more than double to 259 million in 2030 from the current 97.5 million. That number will far outweigh the US in second place with 159 million outbound trips and Germany with 138.6 million. Read more here.
Booking.com, the flagship brand of Booking Holdings Inc. (also parent to Priceline.com, Agoda.com, Kayak.com, Cheapflights, Rentalcars.com, Momondo, and OpenTable) is pivoting to emphasize the prepaid hotel model that it basically spurned for most of its history. This means better cash flow because consumers pay when they book. Read more here.
Going, Going, Gone…Again
Fortune magazine has been sold by media conglomerate Meredith to Chatchaval Jiaravanon, a Thai businessman for $150 million cash in its second sale of 2018. Ten months ago, Meredith bought Fortune as part of a $1.8 billion deal that included legacy brands Time, Sports Illustrated, People, and Entertainment Weekly. In September, Time magazine was picked up by Salesforce founder Marc Benioff and his wife for $190 million. “While print is no longer a growth market,” says NBC, “the Association of Magazine Media reported that 27 titles now have a video audience of more than a million per month.” Read more here.
You’re Hired
Floating a new solution to its homeless problem, San Francisco Travel is among the partners proposing to hire the homeless into paths to jobs in retail, hospitality, and tourism. CleanSafe365 is a new broad-based coalition of nonprofits, merchant groups, business districts, civic organizations, and property owners to advocate, ideate, and hold the city’s new African American female mayor and her administration accountable for the pledge to prioritize homeless solutions. Read more here.
Dancing on the Tables
Virgin Voyages is set to disrupt the ubiquitous cruise ship all-you-can-eat buffet. “Scarlet Lady,” launching in 2020 from Miami to the Caribbean, will have 20 all-inclusive restaurants for its 2,770 guests. “No buffet, no main dining room, no forced formal wear, no assigned seating, no assigned dining times,” says Virgin. Sir Richard adds, “We love to create quality products that are fun, fun, fun—and we’re planning to create tables onboard that are strong enough to dance on.” Read more here.
Beyond our Borders
Mexico could be the world’s third nation to legalize pot for recreational purposes, following Canada and Uruguay. Paving the way for legalization, that country’s Supreme Court has deemed marijuana prohibition as unconstitutional. Back in the USA, nine states have legalized the drug for recreational uses, but it is still illegal under federal law. Confusion reigns, for example: At LAX, airport police permit travelers with less than an ounce of weed but the TSA will present a major problem if they find the controlled substance. Read more here.
Shop ‘Til You Drop
Guam CVB gets digitally savvy about shopping, announcing key improvements to its mobile app while banishing paper shopping coupons. The island’s tourist bureau also introduced as eight new social media ambassadors with a fan base of 12 million-plus to highlight the destination’s tax-free shopping experiences. Read more here.
Filed Under: News and Views, Research, Trends Tagged With: AAA, Amazon, Amazon HQ2, American Airlines, Amy Virshup, Booking.com, China travel, Crystal City, Euromonitor International, Fortune magazine, Guam CVB, Jeff Bezos, Lonely Planet, Long Island City, Mexico marijuana, NY, San Francisco Travel, Thanksgiving travel, The New York Times, Time magazine, travel writing, US Travel Association, VA, Virgin Voyages
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__label__cc | 0.725005 | 0.274995 | 13 Stitches Magazine https://13stitchesmagazine.com/
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__label__wiki | 0.798481 | 0.798481 | Welcome to the Catholic Research Resources Alliance (CRRA)
The CRRA is a collaborative effort initiated by eight Catholic colleges and universities to share their resources electronically with librarians, archivists, researchers, scholars, and the general public, all who are interested in the Catholic experience. The mission of the CRRA is to provide enduring global access to Catholic research resources. Our immediate focus is creating access to those rare, unique and uncommon research materials relating to every aspect of the Catholic experience, which are held by college, university, and seminary libraries and archives in North America.
About the Catholic Portal
The Catholic Research Resources Portal, or "Catholic Portal," provides access to rare, unique and/or uncommon materials in libraries, seminaries, special collections and archives. By electronically bringing together resources in many formats from many collections, the Portal enables easy, effective and global discovery of Catholic research resources.
To BROWSE all records currently in the Portal, simply click on the "Find" button above. | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413217 |
__label__wiki | 0.773118 | 0.773118 | 18:02 Call to order, pledge of allegiance, moment of silence for POWs and MIAs.
Chaplain Jim Kelley led the membership in a prayer.
Lists to sign up for the Stand Down scheduled for 30 September were circulated.
Roll Call. All officers were present except Sergeant at Arms Greg Montalvo.
Minutes. Bob Marshall inquired if any present questioned the minutes for the August meeting. In the absence of a challenge, Kenny Williams moved to approve the minutes, seconded by Rick Shuster (unanimous).
Birthdays. The following members have birthdays in September:
Armando Arizmendi Darrol Brown Debbie Coleman
Lige Lambeth Gary Meneley Mike Miller
Thomas O’Brien Daniel Walker
New members. Bob Marshall announced the chapter gained 8 new members since the convention. Present and welcomed to the chapter were William Simenski, Bill Everett, and Thomas O’Brien, and Jim Hanson introduced Robert Johnson.
Guests. The chapter welcomed guests of Terry Hubert, Stephen Kostensius and his wife Amanda. Stephen is a life member and secretary of Chapter 582 (Paradise, CA).
Financial report. Treasurer Bob Marshall presented the financial report. John Sheets moved to approve it, seconded by Rick Shuster (unanimous).
President’s Report. President Bob Sperry requested volunteers to help prepare and set up the Stand Down on Friday 30 September at VAMC. He reported 254 veterans were helped last year and it is possible more will be helped this year. He stated we may need help on Thursday afternoon at the Dugout. He asked volunteers to call him and gave his phone number.
Bob Marshall stated we will need more trucking. Jim Hanson suggested members could volunteer their pickup trucks. Bob Marshall suggested renting a trailer to move the goods. John Sheets moved to rent a trailer, seconded by Kenny Williams (unanimous).
President Bob Sperry introduced the question of how to improve or grow the chapter, sparking an open discussion.
Jim Hanson reported he talked to a member who stopped coming because people were too pushy asking him to volunteer. It was noted this is a service organization. Mike Miller stated outreaches are fun occasions.
Outreach Committee. No report. Outreach chairperson Ron Coleman resigned from the Board of Directors but not from the committee or chapter, but has not been in attendance.
Minority Committee. No report. It was noted that the minority committee is currently without a chairperson.
Website. New member Gerry Wittman reported the website and organization were difficult to find on the internet. Bob Marshall stated the website is still in development and will be for Northern Nevada. Gary Fink reported development is still stalled, waiting for Carson City’s webmaster. Michial Nolan observed the issues delaying the website were relatively trivial. He promised if Gary Fink could provide him with information on what remains to be done, he would contact someone to complete the site.
Horticulture. Jim Hanson reported we have baskets and plenty of veggies to harvest. He reported on the abundant variety and condition of the harvest. The garden is located on Rusty Bolton’s property at 8301 Rocky Meadow Circle, Reno.
Chapter 388 report. Terry Hubert reported for the Carson City chapter. They meet on the 1st Thursday of the month. He reported they won’t be doing the MIA/POW ceremony this year. The chapter will be in the Nevada Day parade on 28 October. They have a trailer and some seats are still available. He stated this parade is a big event in Carson City. Terry stated he would be attending the Veterans Day parade in Virginia City.
Old Business.
Vietnam Memorial. Rick Shuster reported acquisition of the land remains in Limbo.
VVA Convention Report.
Kenny Williams reported on resolutions passed affecting veterans incarcerated. Terry Hubert detailed the resolutions and reported on the Veterans Incarcerated conference. He reported the reelection of President John Rowan and shared his impressions of the Fisher House, their president, and mission.
Jim Hanson thanked the chapter for allowing him to represent them. He reported on the opening ceremony, noting the singers and the amazing stereophonic effect of a Huey flying through the room at full volume. He recognized the Fisher House for their national involvement in veterans’ issues. Jim introduced and reported on the “Last Man Standing” debate on the future and legacy of Vietnam Veterans of America. Jim noted we didn’t sit at 1 table for the banquet, which was his understanding of the format.
Michial Nolan thanked the chapter for his participation. He reported on the keynote speaker, Richard Pimental. Mr. Pimental has two pieces on the Internet on You Tube: his speech at the Miami Beach convention last year and another shorter piece introducing his movie, “The Music Within.” He also shared impressions of the speech by United Mine Workers president Cecil Roberts and General Shinseki as well as his participation at committee conferences. He shared the history of the Bobby J award for homeless vets and noted 2 vets in the area appeared to be eligible for the award. He also spoke to the “Last Man Standing” debate and proposed continued discussion at the next Board of Directors meeting.
The airport greeters were recognized for their contribution, making visitors feel welcome from the moment they deplaned. Rick Shuster, who participated at the airport, reported on how other travelers joined in thanking the vets for their service.
Rick Shuster was recognized for his tireless efforts on behalf of Agent Orange victims. He reported the government now intends to use dioxin-based herbicides to eradicate non-native species in the Northwest.
Booth Report. Bob Marshall reported on the convention booth, reporting fantastic reception and success. He credited Jim Kittrell with helping an out of town Vietnam vet who forgot his medications by taking him to the V.A. Hospital.
New Business.
Home Depot Grant. Bob Marshall stated he applied for a Home Depot grant. If awarded, Home Depot will provide materials and labor to construct a handicapped ramp for a local disabled veteran.
Navy Flag. Bob Marshall reported it will cost $105 to replace the Navy flag lost at a recent event. Mike Miller moved to replace the flag, seconded by Jim Hanson (unanimous).
Bob Marshall stated we need a delegate to represent the Carson City 388th chapter at the Nevada State Council meeting on Sept. 30-Oct.1. Jim Hanson volunteered to go.
Good of the Chapter.
Johann Sprenger announced the University will do a roll call of all Nevada veterans killed in action on Veterans Day. | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413218 |
__label__wiki | 0.549262 | 0.549262 | News Release: RLC Receives 10 More Years of Accreditation
Rend Lake College Final Report — Higher Learning Commission
Higher Learning Commission
Rend Lake College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), one of six regional accreditors in the United States. Accreditation is vital to what we do. It serves as a measure of quality, allows us to access and distribute federal student aid, facilitates the transfer of classes between institutions and more. The Higher Learning Commission is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. HLC determines an institution’s accreditation based on its five Criteria for Accreditation.
There are various methods, or Pathways, through which an institution may maintain accreditation. Rend Lake College is on HLC’s Open Pathway. This involves the preparation of an Assurance Argument to prove the manner in which the college meets the five criteria, as well as submission of a federal compliance filing. In addition, Open Pathway institutions such as RLC must select a Quality Initiative project (see below). A report on this must be compiled and submitted prior to the Assurance Argument submission. Finally, an evaluation team from HLC will visit campus Sept. 24-25, 2018.
30 North LaSalle Street, Suite 2400
www.hlcommission.org
In 2014, Rend Lake College piloted our First Year Experience program as its focus for the Quality Initiative. HLC accepted this report in 2017. Information and articles about our QI are below.
RLC Quality Initiative Proposal
RLC's Quality Initiative Report Accepted by HLC
New orientation project named HLC Quality Initiative Project
RLC staff shares details of the First Year Experience program at the HLC Annual Conference
FYE Orientation classes wrap up service projects
FYE Orientation classes deliver "Flat Stanley" to local grade schools
While it is a voluntary process, regional accreditation is crucial for colleges and universities. The Higher Learning Commission is one of six regional accreditors officially recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Regional accreditors such as HLC evaluate the quality of academic institutions. Through accreditation, colleges and universities are able to offer federal financial aid in the form of grants and loans. More information about accreditation is available from the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
In addition to regional accreditation, some Rend Lake College programs have specialized, or programmatic, accreditations as well. Other programs also are approved by other entities.
Automotive Technology – National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation
Medical Assistant – Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs
EMT Paramedic – Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the Emergency Medical Services Professions
Health Information Technology – Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education
Radiologic Technology – Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology
Institutional Approval – Illinois Community College Board
Associate Degree Nursing – Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation
Cosmetology, Barbering, Esthetics and Nail Technology – Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation
Nurse Assistant – Illinois Department of Public Health
Nurse CE Sponsor - Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation
Physical Therapy Continuing Education Sponsor - Department of Financial and Professional Regulation
Professional Counselor CE Sponsor - Department of Financial and Professional Regulation
Online Programming - National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA)
What is the Higher Learning Commission?
The Higher Learning Commission is the regional accrediting organization for degree-granting institutions incorporated in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, West Virgina, Wisconsin, Wyoming, or federally authorized sovereign nations that are authorized (licensed) by the same state or nation to award higher degrees (associate, baccalaureate, master's, first professional and / or doctoral degrees (both research and professional)). (2012) As stated on the Council for Higher Education Accreditation website.
The Higher Learning Commission is responsible for assuring that colleges and universities in its area meet set standards defined by the five Criteria for Accreditation. Accreditation is an assurance to the public that an institution is doing its job properly. Accreditation lends respect to Rend Lake College’s degrees and certificates, facilitates the transfer of credits to other institutions and affords the college’s access to financial aid and various funding opportunities.
How long has RLC been accredited by HLC?
Rend Lake College has been accredited by the Higher Learning Commission since 1969.
http://hlcommission.org
http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml
Council on Higher Education Accreditation
http://www.chea.org/default.asp
Criteria for Accreditation
Criterion One
Criterion Statement:
The institution’s mission is clear and articulated publicly; it guides the institution’s operations.
Core Component 1A:
The institution’s mission is broadly understood within the institution and guides its operations.
Core Component 1B:
The mission is articulated publicly.
Core Component 1C:
The institution understands the relationship between its mission and the diversity of society.
Core Component 1D:
The institution’s mission demonstrates commitment to the public good.
Criterion Two
The institution acts with integrity; its conduct is ethical and responsible.
The institution operates with integrity in its financial, academic, personnel, and auxiliary functions; it establishes and follows policies and processes for fair and ethical behavior on the part of its governing board, administration, faculty, and staff.
The institution presents itself clearly and completely to its students and to the public with regard to its programs, requirements, faculty and staff, costs to students, control, and accreditation relationships.
The governing board of the institution is sufficiently autonomous to make decisions in the best interest of the institution and to assure its integrity.
The institution is committed to freedom of expression and the pursuit of truth in teaching and learning.
Core Component 2E:
The institution’s policies and procedures call for responsible acquisition, discovery and application of knowledge by its faculty, students and staff.
Criterion Three
Teaching and Learning: Quality, Resources, and Support
The institution provides high quality education, wherever and however its offerings are delivered.
The institution’s degree programs are appropriate to higher education.
The institution demonstrates that the exercise of intellectual inquiry and the acquisition, application, and integration of broad learning and skills are integral to its educational programs.
The institution has the faculty and staff needed for effective, high-quality programs and student services.
The institution provides support for student learning and effective teaching.
The institution fulfills the claims it makes for an enriched educational environment.
Criterion Four
Teaching and Learning: Evaluation and Improvement
The institution demonstrates responsibility for the quality of its educational programs, learning environments, and support services, and it evaluates their effectiveness for student learning through processes designed to promote continuous improvement.
The institution demonstrates responsibility for the quality of its educational programs.
The institution demonstrates a commitment to educational achievement and improvement through ongoing assessment of student learning.
The institution demonstrates a commitment to educational improvement through ongoing attention to retention, persistence, and completion rates in its degree and certificate programs.
Criterion Five
Resources, Planning, and Institutional Effectiveness
The institution’s resources, structures, and processes are sufficient to fulfill its mission, improve the quality of its educational offerings, and respond to future challenges and opportunities. The institution plans for the future.
The institution’s resource base supports its current educational programs and its plans for maintaining and strengthening their quality in the future.
The institution’s governance and administrative structures promote effective leadership and support collaborative processes that enable the institution to fulfill its mission.
The institution engages in systematic and integrated planning.
The institution works systematically to improve its performance.
Chad Copple (co-coordinator)
Dr. Elizabeth Bailey-Smith
Andrea Banach
Shari Carpenter
Gabriele Farner
Hillary Halsey
Buster Leeck
Rob Little (co-coordinator)
Beth Mandrell
Dr. Lisa Price
Lori Ragland
Vickie Schulte
Kim Wilkerson
Terry Wilkerson
Compliance Group
Kim Wilkerson (chair)
Kelly Downes
Kathy Evans
Angie Kistner
Cheri Rushing
Mission Committee
Chad Copple
Rob Little
Kent McKown (chair)
What's Up Committee
Greg Hollmann
Dr. Jeannie Mitchell
ReAnne Palmer
Reece Rutland
Nathan Wheeler
Ark Committee
To tackle IT and information housing and sharing issues
Garrett Collier
Kent McKown
Gina Schenk
Persistence & Completion Academy
Sarah Bilderbeck
Henry "Buster" Leeck (Team Lead)
Jena Jensik
Lisa Price
Kristina Shelton
Natalie Stark
While the Academy is not a required part of the reaffirmation process, it is an HLC function
Additional Support & Documentation
Holly Boyd
Felicia Follmer
The Higher Learning Commission
RLC Administration
Board Minutes & Agendas | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413233 |
__label__wiki | 0.513352 | 0.513352 | World Encyclopaedia of Puppetry Arts
To the reader
History of WEPA 1978-2017
Hard copy edition
Jutta Schubert (2009)
Sabine Moran (2013)
Spejbl and Hurvínek Theatre
Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart
Schaubude Puppentheater Berlin
FITZ! Zentrum für Figurentheater
Frank Soehnle
Johann Georg Geisselbrecht (1762-c.1826)
Alexandre Bertrand (End of 17th-France)
Figurentheater Wilde & Vogel
German professional freelance touring company based in Stuttgart and, since 2009, in Leipzig. The Figurentheater Wilde & Vogel was founded in 1997 by puppeteer Michael Vogel (b.1970) and musician Charlotte Wilde (b.1971).
In 1992, Michael Vogel did an internship at the Divadlo Spejbla a Hurvínka (Spejbl and Hurvínek Theatre) in Prague. He is a graduate (1994-1997) of the Department of Puppetry, Studiengang Figurentheater, at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart (State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart) where he also taught from 1998 to 2006. In 1999, he held a scholarship from the Kunststiftung Baden-Württemberg. Charlotte Wilde studied Music, English and History in Karlsruhe. Since 1997, Figurentheater Wilde & Vogel has toured with their shows for adults and children to more than thirty countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas.
Groundbreaking for the company was their production, Exit. Eine Hamletfantasie (Exit. A Hamlet Fantasy, 1997). Wilde & Vogel create their own free association narratives based on existing texts and music, such as in Toccata. Ein Nachtstück über Robert Schumann (Toccata. A Night Piece on Robert Schumann, 2000). Charlotte Wilde improvises, composes and plays music live for the productions of Wilde & Vogel and other theatres on violin, guitar and keys. She is also responsible for the management and production of the company. Michael Vogel performs all puppetry techniques and usually manipulates in view of the audience. He builds the figures himself, which are never truly “finished”. They are “completed” in the eye of the beholder who ultimately has the freedom of his/her own imagination.
In 2003, Wilde & Vogel co-founded the Lindenfels Westflügel Leipzig, where they organize events and work as artistic directors.
The company also works with artists from other disciplines (actors, dancers, visual artists), as in the show Orpheus Underground (2001) directed by Frank Soehnle. Wilde & Vogel also leads workshops and collaborates with other companies and institutions, including with Akademia Teatralna w Białymstoku (Theatre Academy of Białystok, Warsaw, Poland), Kompania Doomsday Białystok, FIDENA Bochum, Puppentheater der Stadt Halle, Schaubude Puppentheater Berlin (or Schaubude Berlin), Theater des Lachens Berlin, FITZ! Zentrum für Figurentheater (Stuttgart), Lindenfels Westflügel (Leipzig).
Michael Wilde and Charlotte Vogel have lectured in the Department of Puppetry Arts at the Theatre Academy of Białystok (Akademia Teatralna w Białymstoku) in Warsaw, Poland.
Figurentheater Wilde & Vogel has received many awards, among them at the following festivals: International Solo Puppeteer’s Festival Lódz (Poland) in 1998; International Puppet Festival of Adult Puppet Theatre 2001 Pécs (Hungary); International Festival Bielsko-Biala (Poland) in 2002 and 2008; International Festival “Spectaculo Interesse”, Ostrava, (Czech Republic) in 2003; Theaterpreis der Stuttgarter Zeitung in 2007.
(See Germany.)
Vogel, Michael. “Dinge, die einem passieren” [Things that Happen to Someone]. Animation fremder Körper [Animation of Foreign Bodies]. Ed. Silvia Brendenal. Berlin: Theater der Zeit Arbeitsbuch, 2000, pp. 122-124.
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__label__cc | 0.635909 | 0.364091 | WWW Wednesdays – 17th July ‘19
Posted on July 17, 2019 July 16, 2019 by whatcathyreadnext
Fake Like Me is a buddy read organised by publishers, riverrun, taking place over four weeks. You can follow the discussion every Monday evening on Twitter using the hashtag #FakeLikeUs. Set in the art world, it’s a great read so far. The Secret Life of Alfred Nightingale is a book that has lingered far too long in my author review pile. It always feels great to start a book that an author has been waiting a long time for a review. You can find out more about the book in my Q & A with the author..
Fake Like Me by Barbara Bourland (paperback, review copy courtesy of riverrun)
After a fire decimates her studio, including the seven billboard-size paintings for her next show, a young, no-name painter is left with an impossible task: recreate her art in three months-or ruin her fledgling career.
Homeless and desperate, she flees to an exclusive retreat in upstate New York famous for its outrageous revelries and glamorous artists. And notorious as the place where brilliant young artist Carey Logan-one of her idols-drowned in the lake.
But when she arrives, the retreat is a ghost of its former self. No one shares their work. No parties light up the deck. No one speaks of Carey, though her death haunts the cabins and the black lake, lurking beneath the surface like a shipwreck. As the young painter works obsessively in Carey’s former studio, uncovers strange secrets and starts to fall–hard and fast–for Carey’s mysterious boyfriend, it’s as if she’s taking her place.
But one thought shadows her every move: What really happened to Carey Logan?
The Secret Life of Alfred Nightingale by Rebecca Stonehill (ebook, courtesy of the author)
1967 – Handsome but troubled, Jim is almost 18 and he lives and breathes girls, trad. jazz, Eel Pie Island and his best friend, Charles. One night, he hears rumours of a community of young people living in caves in Matala, Crete. Determined to escape his odious, bully of a father and repressed mother, Jim hitchhikes through Europe down to Matala. At first, it’s the paradise he dreamt it would be. But as things start to go wrong and his very notion of self unravels, the last thing Jim expects is for this journey of hundreds of miles to set in motion a passage of healing which will lead him back to the person he hates most in the world: his father.
Taking in the counter-culture of the 1960’s, the clash of relationships between the WW2 generation and their children, the baby boomers, this is a novel about secrets from the past finally surfacing, the healing of trauma and the power of forgiveness.
The Dinner List by Rebecca Serle (paperback, courtesy of Readers First)
At one point or another, we’ve all been asked to name five people, living or dead, with whom we’d like to have dinner. Why do we choose the people we do? And what if that dinner was to actually happen?
Razia by Abda Khan (ebook, review copy courtesy of Unbound and Random Things Tours)
Farah is a young lawyer living and working in London. She’s just ended a long relationship, and her parents are looking for a husband – whether Farah wants one or not. So far, so normal. But at a work dinner, hosted by a dangerously powerful man, she comes across a young woman called Razia, who Farah soon realises is being kept as a domestic slave.
We follow Farah’s daring investigations from the law courts of London to the brick kilns of Lahore, as she begins to uncover the traps that keep generation after generation enslaved. Everywhere she turns there is deep-rooted oppression and corruption, and when the authorities finally intervene, their actions have dire consequences. Farah teams up with a human rights lawyer, Ali, and the two become close… but can she trust him; can they help Razia and others like her; and will they ever discover the explosive secret behind these tragic events? (Review to follow as part of blog tour)
The Mathematical Bridge by Jim Kelly (hardcover, review copy courtesy of Allison & Busby)
Cambridge, 1940. It is the first winter of the war, and snow is falling. When an evacuee drowns in the river, his body swept away, Detective Inspector Eden Brooke sets out to investigate what seems to be a deliberate attack. The following night, a local electronics factory is attacked, and an Irish republican slogan is left at the scene. The IRA are campaigning to win freedom for Ulster, but why has Cambridge been chosen as a target? And when Brooke learns that the drowned boy was part of the close-knit local Irish Catholic community, he begins to question whether there may be a connection between the boy’s death and the attack at the factory. As more riddles come to light, can Brooke solve the mystery before a second attack claims a famous victim?
Motive X by Stefan Ahnhem (hardcover, review copy courtesy of Head of Zeus)
A WOUNDED DAUGHTER. Detective Fabian Risk’s daughter is in a coma at Helsingborg hospital. It’s Risk’s fault for getting her involved in his last investigation – and the guilt is crippling.
A MURDERED BOY. A young Syrian refugee has been killed. It looks like a racist attack – but then more people die across Sweden and Denmark. There’s no link between any of the victims. Is this a serial killer who strikes at random?
A DESPERATE HUNT. In Denmark, Police Chief Astrid Tuvesson must abandon her AA program to lead the investigation. And in Sweden, Fabian Risk is called from his daughter’s bedside and forced back into service. But even with a united team, tracking a random killer is next to impossible…
HOW DO YOU CATCH A KILLER… WHO NEVER STRIKES THE SAME WAY TWICE?
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13 thoughts on “WWW Wednesdays – 17th July ‘19”
nickimags @ The Secret Library Book Blog July 17, 20198:25 am Reply
I saw the shout for the buddy read on Instagram for Fake Like Me so looking forward to your review.
whatcathyreadnext July 17, 20198:45 am Reply
You’ll have to wait until 5th August…
nickimags @ The Secret Library Book Blog July 17, 20199:03 am
noveldeelights July 17, 20199:32 am Reply
I really like the premise of The Dinner List.
BookerTalk July 17, 20199:40 am Reply
it’s Razia that appeals most out of this batch. Though Fake Like Me also sounds promising
whatcathyreadnext July 17, 201910:23 am Reply
Review of Razia coming tomorrow for the blog tour.
BookerTalk July 17, 20196:14 pm
Shall keep an eye open for it…
Sakhile July 17, 20191:41 pm Reply
Fake Like Me and The Dinner List sound interesting. Happy reading
Jen | Books on the 7:47 July 17, 20192:50 pm Reply
The Dinner List sounds intriguing. Is it good?
whatcathyreadnext July 17, 20194:21 pm Reply
I enjoyed it. Here’s the link to my review https://whatcathyreadnext.wordpress.com/2019/07/15/book-review-the-dinner-list-by-rebecca-serle/
Jen | Books on the 7:47 July 17, 20194:40 pm
Julie July 17, 20195:56 pm Reply
The Dinner Lists sounds really interesting and I like the idea.
Here is my post
Laurel-Rain Snow July 17, 201910:45 pm Reply
I am curious about The Dinner List. Here’s my MY WWW POST | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413243 |
__label__cc | 0.736833 | 0.263167 | .@maryshenocarro1 inspires the legal ops movement to get involved in new initiatives and make an impact by joining… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…From DFCowan 2 minutes ago
Barbour Plans a Southern Strategy
Posted on April 8, 2011 by Kempite
Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour has again trekked to Florida where he has visited State Senate and House leaders. He was escorted by Sally Bradshaw, a well known, top advisor of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. During his trip he told reporters, I’ll be in or out by the end of April, but I won’t make a decision until the end of April.”
On Thursday the Mississippi state legislative season ended and so now Governor Barbour, is free to dedicate more time than he already has on the campaign trail a trail which has so far been pretty extensive. Having already hit California, Nevada, Illlinois, Georgia,and Iowa, Barbour has spent a considerably disproportionate amount of time and effort in South Carolina and Florida. In May he is scheduled to make his first appearance in New Hampshire. So while it would seem that Barbour will certainly not be ignoring the first two contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, he is apparently relying on a Southern strategy to propel him the rest of the way through the Republican presidential nominating contest.
While it is still unknown exactly how competitive Governor Barbour will be in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, it is a pretty sure bet that he will quite completive in the two primaries that followSouth Carolina and Florida and that is exactly where it would seem Barbour staked his campaign. Barbour has been concentrating on lobbying lawmakers in both states with personal visits and phone calls, and state and county Party appearances and speeches, since at least October of 2010.
Unless Governor Barbour finds a particular roadblock in South Carolina and Florida expect his decision at the end of the month to be in the affirmative.
Filed under: Haley Barbour | Tagged: 2012 caucus schedule, 2012 election sites, 2012 election strategy, 2012 Presidential Election, 2012 primary schedule, 2012 race for president, 2012 Republican caucuses, 2012 Republican presidential candidates, 2012 Republican Presidential Primaries, 2012 republican primary, about the republican presidential candidates, Anthony Del Pellegrino, Barbour 2012, Barbour bio, Barbour biography, Barbour news, biographies, bios, campaign 2012, campaign tactics, candidate bios, election 2012, gop12, Haley Barbour, Haley Barbour bio, Haley Barbour Biography, Haley Barbour for President, Haley Barbour news, Haley Barbour news Haley Barbour record, Haley Barbour on the issues, Haley Barbour Poll, Haley Barbour videos, Haley Barbour visits Fllorida lawmakers, Haley Barbour visits Florida, Haley Barbour visits South Carolina and Florida, Haley Barbour visits South Carolina and Florida lawmakers, Haley Barbour youtube videos, How is Haley Barbour preparing for a race for President, Is Haley Barbour running for the Republican nomination for President, kempite, Latest news on Haley Barbour, latest news on the republican race for president in 2012, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, political strategy, politics 24/7, Politics 247. U4Prez, race for the white house, Republican caucuses, Republican presidential candidate biographies, republican Presidential poll, Republican primaries, Republican race for president, republican race for the white house, republicans running for president in 2012, Sally Bradshaw Haley Barbour, Sally Bradshaw Jeb Bush advisor Haley Barbour, Sally Bradshwa escorts Haley Barbour, the 2012 presidential campaign, the 2012 presidential election, The presidential election, the republican race for President, WH2012, when will Haley Barbour make a decision on running for President, which Republicans are running for president in 2012, White House 2012, White House 2012 on Twitter, Whitehouse, whitehouse12, whitehouse2012, Who is running for President, Who will win the presidential election, wordpress political blogs | Leave a comment » | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413248 |
__label__wiki | 0.557668 | 0.557668 | ‘Game of Thrones’ Wins Outstanding Drama Series at the 2016 Emmys
Game of Thrones dominated the Iron Throne of the Emmys for the second year in a row. And honestly, who was surprised?
E. Oliver Whitney
Keeler Show Notes for Thursday, April 21st, 2016
Keeler Show Notes for Monday, June 6th, 2016
Kit Harington Apologizes for Lying to 'Game of Thrones' fans
Look, there’s no easy way around it: the Game of Thrones thing we’ve all known was going to happen finally happened at the climax of Sunday’s “Home,” returning a fan-favorite. No longer the subject of intense scrutiny, said favorite has now apologized for lying to …
Kevin Fitzpatrick
Keeler Show Notes for 3/18/16
Kristine Bellino
Keeler Show Notes for 3/1/16
Tuesday, March 1st, 2016
Today is Super Tuesday, and there is so much going on!
'Game of Thrones' Season 6 Footage Debuts in HBO 2016 Promo
HBO has been cranking up the Game of Thrones marketing early for Season 6, first a poster, then a trailer teasing Jon Snow’s return, and before 2015 is even out, we’ve been blessed with the first footage. See Dany’s new digs, and Cersei’s new ‘do in the first offic…
'Game of Thrones' Season 6 Teaser: Jon Snow and Bran Warg?
Did you think Game of Thrones would let us off the hook with just a Jon Snow-baiting Season 6 poster? Welcome to Game of Trolls, as our first official teaser trailer for Season 6 hints that our beloved ex-Lord Commander may yet Warg with his brother Bran!
'The Leftovers' Renewed for Third and Final HBO Season
We’re less than a week removed from the tense and poignant finale of HBO’s The Leftovers Season 2, the cap to a 2015 run already dominating year-end Top 10 lists, though the series’ low ratings suggested an ominous future ahead. Well, there’s good news and bad, as The Lef…
Is Jon Snow Alive?
If you do not know who Jon Snow is just stop reading this post now. You have some homework to do.
Amercian Red Cross Still Has An Urgent Need For Blood an hour ago
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$20 Certificate to Tom Cavallo's Restaurant | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413250 |
__label__wiki | 0.50988 | 0.50988 | Difference between revisions of "Samba/Status"
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1 Samba Project Status
1.1 Development Status
1.2 Roadmap (Where is Samba headed, what are we interested in doing?)
1.3 Functional Areas
1.4 Feature Status on the AD DC
1.4.1 Columns:
Samba Project Status
The intent of this page is to provide an overview of the status of various components, capabilities and features which are a part of the Samba project. The hope is that this page will be a collection point where teams, developers and interested individuals can provide updates as features evolve and mature. This overview is more aimed at administrators and people who intend to install and use Samba than it is a technical rundown of features and development milestones. Hopefully, this document will help answer the question, "Has Samba matured to a point where I can put it to use in my environment, and have it actually help me accomplish what I need to do?"
Samba 4.0 has been released and is at version 4.0.9. Please see the Samba Release Planning page for detailed information on releases. It is also possible to download development copies of the Samba software directly from the "git" repository. Detailed instructions on how to build and set up a Samba4 server can be found in the Samba AD DC HOWTO.
For detailed development status and a current list of bugs, please:
see the Samba Bugzilla tracking site at: https://bugzilla.samba.org/.
join the #samba-technical IRC channel on irc.freenode.net
subscribe to the Samba (https://lists.samba.org/mailman/listinfo/samba) or Samba Technical (https://lists.samba.org/mailman/listinfo/samba-technical) mailing lists.
Roadmap (Where is Samba headed, what are we interested in doing?)
See the Roadmap for a list of current projects being worked on (as opposed to the desired features listed below, some of which are complete and others are not in the near-term roadmap)
Functional Areas
In order to understand the overall status of the Samba4 project, it can be helpful to think of Samba as covering three main functional areas. There is a fair amount of overlap between these areas, both in terms of function and in the underlying libraries, but the areas are:
Domain Support (AD functionality): The core functionality in this area is largely feature complete and stable. There are several sites reporting that they have been using Samba4 as their primary production Domain Controller, in some cases for close to two years. (Think of the "80/20" rule.)
File Server: The Samba4 project actually started out as the "NTVFS Rewrite". (Tridge Slide set from 2003?) This area has been the focus of much of the current development activity, and has been one of the primary blockers to going into "Beta" (or RC) status. Due to the rework of the underlying architecture and code, Samba4 has been significantly behind Samba3 functionality for some time. The "s3fs" effort is a way to move the current Samba3 level of functionality into Samba4.
Tools: There are a wide variety of tools, utilities and scripts that are built to support the creation, debugging and administration of a Samba4 based domain. These tools have seen a great deal of rapid development, reflecting the needs of testing and deployment in a wide range of installations. Most of these tools are command line based, or loadable libraries to be used by third party tools and scripting languages. An interesting note is that, the easiest approach to GUI based management of the domain is through Microsoft Remote Administration Tools.
At a simplistic level, the AD functionality is the most stable of these areas. Prior to the introduction of the s3fs project, it was recommended for installations to use Samba4 as the Domain Controller, and then use the older Samba3.x servers as members of the domain, functioning as the main file servers.
Feature Status on the AD DC
The following table is a high level breakdown of capabilities and features included in Samba4, Samba's AD DC, along with some information on the completeness or usability of each capability. Please note that this is not by any means a complete list of capabilities! In particular, features of Samba when acting as a file server or domain member server are very different.
Please see the end of the table for a rough description of the columns and their intent.
Feature/Capability
Domain Trusts Development planned winbind changes;
NTLM logins across trust Working for DRS replication; NT4 level trusts to a S4 domain working, but not the other way around. In a cross forest trust, Samba server "completely trusts" the relationship -- ie. no SID filtering. NEEDS TESTING. (see also FreeIPA effort) Charles Tryon 29 May, 2012
Winbindd Stable Does not know how to talk to multiple domains (needed for NTLM logins across domain trusts) 29 May, 2012
Domain Logins (Users) Stable
Machine Accounts Stable
Windows 7 Support Stable Windows 7 clients able to join and participate in domain without any "hacks" or special registry modifications. 29 May, 2012
Internal DNS server Working Basic DNS operations working. Internal server is now the default during provisioning, though BIND (v9.9) can also be configured. See the Samba DNS page for more information on selecting the internal DNS vs. BIND. 05 June 2013
Admin Tools Development samba-tool covers most command line functions; GUI administration through standard Windows AD, DNS and other administrative tools. 01 May, 2012
Group Policy Management Stable
NTVFS Development The original core Samba4 file server. Supports POSIX backend; Stackable and async; Does not yet support many of the common smbd attributes. Still in development, but replaced by s3fs as the default file server. To a large extent, this feature has been deprecated in terms of use for file shares. 30 May, 2010
s3fs Working s3fs has now replaced NTVFS as the default in new provisioned databases. Use the --use-ntvfs option to provision to change this. Still working on issues where it fails to correctly set ACLs for group policy objects based on POSIX attributes. Startup issues if previous shutdown wasn't clean. 29 May, 2012
SMB2/SMB3 Working SMB2 / SMB3 Protocol support. Default to SMB3 for max SMB support. This is implemented in both Samba3 and Samba4 through "s3fs". Please see the Samba3/SMB2 page for more details. Stefan (metze) Metzmacher May, 2014
Printing Development Not supported in the "samba" executable. Should be supported at 4.0, with "s3fs" handling spools traffic. 12 June, 2012
DRS Replication Testing DRS replication may fail. (The team is working on getting the To Do list updated.) 05 June, 2012
RODC
(Read Only DC) Development major gap on RODCs at the moment is that we need to record the attributes that we replicate to the RODC. 29 May, 2012
Exchange support Development Very much a work in progress 13 July 2012
Feature: A short name of the feature or capability, such as an interface or AD feature. There may be some overlap between capabilities, and some sort of simple hierarchy.
Overall Status: A high level indication of the state the project is in. A single word is sufficient, but it can be a little longer. This list includes (but is not limited to):
Stable -- the feature may be going through some tweaking, but generally speaking, it's expected to work, at least at a "Alpha" level.
Working -- largely feature complete and working, but still dealing with non-trivial issues.
Testing -- the feature is generally complete, but needs a lot more testing before people can assume it's working. There may be some serious known bugs.
Development -- the feature is being worked on, but still has lots of holes.
Nearing completion -- developers have a clear idea where the feature is going, and have implemented the bulk of it, but it's not really complete.
In Planning -- developers are actively hacking at a design. They have a good idea of a roadmap, but very little work has been done yet.
Refactoring -- Maybe this worked before, but there have been serious deficiencies discovered, and developers are in the middle of tearing out the guts... :-(
Planned -- Recognized as needed, but no one has had time to sit down and begin to lay out a solution.
Out of Scope -- "In your dreams," right?
Dependencies: What other projects, interfaces, features, documentation or resources is this feature dependent on or waiting for?
Notes: This overlaps somewhat with the "Dependencies" section, but should list high level issues which are either holding up progress, or that still prevent the feature from being useful. This may also give known workarounds (e.g., "Fine grained control over shares is not supported by S4 -- use a parallel S3 server instead.")
Contact Person: This is not an exhaustive list of developers or testers involved. It could be a name or two of key person(s) directing this feature, or point person to ask questions. This could simply be a person who is interested in the feature, and acting to keep this status line up to date.
Last Update: When was the last time someone updated this feature? This should serve as an indicator as to how current (read: useful) this information is.
Time Line?? Notice that the list does NOT include a column for "When will this be DONE"!
--Bilbo 01:50, 31 May 2012 (UTC)
Retrieved from "https://wiki.samba.org/index.php?title=Samba/Status&oldid=12779" | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413251 |
__label__cc | 0.61102 | 0.38898 | Home » Software » You are reading »
AMD introduces latest VR graphics technology
John Marco Oscillada March 5, 2015 AMD introduces latest VR graphics technology2015-05-02T05:15:02+00:00 Software 1 Comment
During the Game Developers Conference, AMD made a huge presence to show off its latest advancements in graphics processing, especially when it comes to games. Not only games are given importance, but also on virtual reality technology as well. AMD recently unveiled its cutting-edge graphics technology in improving the VR experience of the future. Named as the LiquidVR technology, AMD is poised to bring an even greater depth and realism to the existing virtual reality experiences, jumping into the future of VR as a mainstream consumer technology.
The LiquidVR technology is an initiative of AMD to enhance the overall VR experience for everyone. AMD put huge considerations in comfort, ergonomics, and performance of the VR technology in its integration to many hardware available on the market today. LiquidVR is a patented and trademarked technology created by AMD to give something the company calls as “presence” – which is simply stated as “a state of immersive awareness where elements within the virtual reality world seem real.”
One aspect of virtual reality technology where LiquidVR has been proven to be beneficial is the reduction of motion sickness by lowering the latency or the “lag” between the user’s movement and the reaction of the elements within the display. By leveraging the power of AMD’s latest graphics hardware and proprietary graphics software, LiquidVR is able to reduce the motion-to-photon latency of less than 10 milliseconds – a very minute numerical value that equates to a better and more comfortable VR experience.
An existing problem in the overall VR experience is achieving a high refresh rate. Simply put, a high refresh rate means smoother graphics, and that means a more lifelike VR experience. As the industry calls it, the refresh rate also equates to the number of frames rendered for every second passed. AMD boasts of their LiquidVR technology to attain a near-lifelike VR experience by taking the refresh rates above 100 Hertz. This feat is made possible by the use of AMD’s graphics processors and advanced software processing to deliver such high frame rates, making the VR experience as photorealistic as possible.
AMD is making its proprietary LiquidVR technology to fit a wide range of VR devices. Not only this technology is compatible for VR head-mounted displays, but also to conventional computers as well to benefit realistic gaming experiences. The graphics company also seeks to make LiquidVR as a stepping stone in the future integration of kinesthetic senses to virtual reality experiences, meaning the future of VR could have a realistic interaction with the physical world while maintaining the so-called “presence” within the virtual world.
For more information on the LiquidVR technology by AMD, please visit the following websites:
http://www.amd.com/en-us/innovations/software-technologies/technologies-gaming/vr
http://www.anandtech.com/show/9043/amds-liquidvr-announced-amd-gets-expanded-vr-headset-functionality
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2015/03/03/amds-liquidvr-technology-signals-new-battleground-for-the-gpu-wars/
Graphics Card Requirements for Oculus Rift Consumer Headset
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https://virtualrealitytimes.com/2015/03/05/amd-introduces-latest-vr-graphics-technology/https://virtualrealitytimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/liquid-vr-polys.pnghttps://virtualrealitytimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/liquid-vr-polys-150x90.png 2015-03-05T06:03:22+00:00 John Marco OscilladaSoftwareamdDuring the Game Developers Conference, AMD made a huge presence to show off its latest advancements in graphics processing, especially when it comes to games. Not only games are given importance, but also on virtual reality technology as well. AMD recently unveiled its cutting-edge graphics technology in improving the...John Marco OscilladaJohn Marco Oscilladaoscilladajm@gmail.comSubscriberFollow John Marco Oscillada on Twitter @maurkopolow for timely updates on VR. You can also reach him at oscilladajm(at)gmail(dot)com for more serious stuff.Virtual Reality Times
About John Marco Oscillada
Follow John Marco Oscillada on Twitter @maurkopolow for timely updates on VR. You can also reach him at oscilladajm(at)gmail(dot)com for more serious stuff.
View all posts by John Marco Oscillada →
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Oculus Rift consumer version set to be available early 2016
The long wait is almost coming to an end. Oculus VR announced that the consumer version … | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413252 |
__label__cc | 0.582599 | 0.417401 | Bodies, Puppies and RPG’s
Andrew H. Walker - Getty Images
The sordid tale of Brian Williams alleged escapades as an apparent super hero posing as a fairly arrogant newsman are coming to a noisy and calamitous end. Williams was finally outed after repeating his now 12 year old lie about being in a helicopter in Iraq back in 2003 that he claimed was hit by enemy fire and forced into an emergency landing. It’s all a lie that was finally ferreted out by actual heros working for the United States military.
But that it seems is just the beginning. Apparently Mr. Williams who is the face and head of NBC news- the number one nightly newscast in America has been spinning tall tales of his extraordinary life as a super reporter for years. Funny considering he already is getting paid millions and really didn’t need to continue inflating his fraudulent resume’.
Some of his accounts, like one in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina when he claimed a body floated past his French Quarter Hotel just defy logic. There was very little flooding in that part of the city and many are saying a body could not have floated by his hotel.
If you look deeper you can find a story of the young Williams saving a puppy from a burning house. Or maybe two puppies depending on which version of Super Hero Williams you have read. Heck maybe he saved a whole town from invading rats by playing his flute too.
The point is this; Brian Williams has zero credibility and I know for many of you this will come as no surprise but it is important and a sad commentary on the state of American journalism. If a complete fraud can occupy the most watched news chair in America- and do it for years there must be a much bigger systemic problem. There is. It results in millions of Americans getting their information from a dubious source to say the least. I mean if Williams call casually lie about being shot down in Iraq and never bat an eye- what else is he willing to lie casually about? Would he lie about Benghazi, immigration, the President or other issues that could be pivotal to you and your family? Of course the answer is yes.
I worked for NBC for years. I know that legitimate stories were routinely ignored while others that had dubious merit were pushed forward because they were ‘sexier’ to management. Those in charge are of course always looking to push the ratings needle and those upstairs demand those higher ratings to sell more ads to increase the bottom line.
In a perfect world I don’t actually think news should be sponsored at all because it compromises the integrity of the process. I don’t even think sports and weather should have sponsors on a local newscast but I am an island of one on this point it seems.
The bottom line is this; Brian Williams and several of the management people around him should be fired. Unfortunately whether or not that happens the bigger problem will not be solved and the reckless, ratings and revenue driven American media will remain largely unchanged. Funny that all this greed and arrogance flows so freely from a liberal bastion that usually looks down it’s collectives noses at the likes of you and me and anyone who puts profit first.
As of now Williams has decided to take a few days away from the job. Williams wrote “As managing editor of NBC Nightly News, I have decided to take myself off of my daily broadcast for the next several days". Excuse me Brian but wouldn't it actually be NBC's show? I guess he is a bit of a slow learner. You would think after all the time he spent with Ghandi he would have a better understanding of humility.
We will now wait and see if NBC News does the right thing and fires Williams for all the right reasons. | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413258 |
__label__cc | 0.727095 | 0.272905 | SchoolIT
StaffAccess
Trustees at Woodside
Staff at Woodside
FOWS
Housepoints
PE and Sports Plan
Safe use of the internet
Whole school targets
Years 1 & 2
Community Interests
Debt Management and Benefits
Numbergym – Specialist maths software for school and home.
www.numbergym.co.uk
Discovery Education Espresso – a cross-curricular digital learning service for teachers and pupils.
https://www.discoveryeducation.co.uk/what-we-offer/discovery-education-espresso
Times Tables Rock Stars – a carefully sequenced programme of daily times tables practice.
https://ttrockstars.com
Teaching History Resources
– Historic Newspapers
http://www.historic-newspapers.co.uk/info/teaching-history-resources/
Support your child at home
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/parents/
Eco-Schools is an international award programme that guides schools on their sustainable journey, providing a framework to help embed these principles into the heart of school life.
http://www.keepbritaintidy.org/ecoschools/
The Global Eye website is the Gold Award winning educational resource for schools to raise awareness of current global development issues. The first edition of Global Eye Secondary went on-line in January 2000, and a separate edition of Global Eye for primary schools was added to the site in September 2000, specifically written for the 7-11 age range.
The site uses high quality images and a range of interactive learning activities to add value to the learning experience of young people, and to encourage them to become actively involved in global issues. All previous editions are accessible through the back issues page.
http://www.globaleye.org.uk
This site provides educational ICT activities linked to the English National Curriculum.
http://www.ictgames.com/resources.html
Features different people, animals, and places with facts, games, activities, and related links.
http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/
Free printable resources for the Letters and Sounds phonics programme. High quality, bright and colourful printable resources designed to appeal to children, plus free online games linked to the Letters and Sounds phases for teaching reading.
http://www.letters-and-sounds.com/
World Atlas is an educational resource for world maps, atlases, and in-depth geography information. Teachers and students: free maps of Europe, USA, Canada, Florida, Caribbean Islands and much more.
http://www.worldatlas.com/
Woodside Primary School
Gittin Street, Oswestry
Shropshire SY11 1DT
admin@woodside.shropshire.sch.uk
View our website Privacy Policy
Claire Bennett, Headteacher
Karen Williams, Associate Headteacher
Louise Jones, Associate Headteacher
Sally Powell, Business Manager
Gordon Channon, Chair of Governors
Charlotte Towne, SENCo
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__label__wiki | 0.696036 | 0.696036 | Read online at https://workersliberty.org/node/34039
Submitted by AWL on 22 May, 2019 - 12:37
Left on PCS election
The victory in the PCS civil service union’s Assistant General Secretary (AGS) election for John Moloney, candidate of the Independent Left and a supporter of Workers’ Liberty, has met diverse responses from the left press.
Socialist Worker, which backed Lynn Henderson, was the first to respond. It emphasised the low turnout (it was low, but higher than last time) and claimed that “Moloney… is against the union’s national campaign for a 10 per cent pay rise”. Not true: John Moloney emphasised pay equality, but not at the expense of a general rise.
The Socialist Party, whose member Chris Baugh was the incumbent AGS, took longer to respond. Both they and the Henderson faction pushed the story that the votes for Moloney were, like their own votes, votes for change, against the status-quo leadership. The SP also, and contradictorily, argued that Baugh’s vote combined with Henderson’s represented a single “Left Unity” vote that shouldn’t have been split (“Left Unity” is the longstanding dominant faction in PCS, and until recently was itself dominated by the SP. Baugh was the “official” LU candidate, but many LU people backed Henderson).
Socialist Appeal backed Lynn Henderson, but headlined its response: “Baugh defeated by John Moloney”. Henderson’s score? No worries, she was “a relative newcomer”. She has been a prominent PCS full-time official for 15 years, and had the backing of Mark Serwotka, general secretary for 17 years. Mostly Socialist Appeal was pleased to see the SP discomfited.
“In the past, the SP activists had played an important role in defeating the right. But increasingly they have put their own prestige above the general interests of the movement.
“However much they put a gloss on things, they will not recover from this debacle”.
Gerry Bates, London
Peace demo at the Gaza border
My friends and I, who are active with Standing Together, came to Yad Mordechai junction near the Gaza border, and raised our voices in protest. We were there, both Jewish as well as Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel. We held signs and chanted in Hebrew and Arabic, and we were demanding a change to Netanyahu’s policy: Safeguarding the future of the Israeli citizens in the South of Israel — goes through negotiations and dialogue with the Palestinian leadership and advancing towards peace.
For us, it’s very clear, that without lifting the siege on Gaza and ending the Occupation — there can never be real security for any of us. Just a non-ending cycle of escalations and cease-fires. As we were standing there, some passing drivers honked in support. Others — in protest.
One driver, spotting our purple bilingual sign that read “Jews and Arabs Together” yelled at us: “If you like Arabs so much, go and live with them”. “Well, I am Arab”, answered the activist holding the sign — Ahmad Abu Mdighem, a fellow member in Standing Together.
We were a few dozen locals in this gathering, which took place far away from the hustle and bustle of the big cities of Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv. Our spirits were high, because our cause is right. The movement’s motto of Standing Together is “Where there is struggle — there is hope”. We won’t give up hope, and we will definitely keep on fighting. Together.
Mark Joffe, Kibbutz Kfar-Aza, near the Gaza Strip
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Bernie Sanders has a proud record both of supporting Israel and of being critical of its...
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Tories plan new curbs on local councils
Boris Johnson is likely to be the enemy of a democratic settlement in Israel-Palestine,...
Solidarity 507, 22 May 2019SWP Socialist PartyBroad lefts and rank-and-file groups Union elections PCSIsrael/Palestine | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413266 |
__label__wiki | 0.626514 | 0.626514 | Bond Projects
2014 Bonds
2014 Bonds Contracts
Bond Housing Projects
The voters approved $6 million for housing/neighborhood development. As of December 31, 2015, two proposals have been approved, totaling $2.85 million, or 47.5%, of the housing/neighborhood development bonds.
Pepper Building
104 W Fourth Street
Bond funding: $1.6 million
The developer, Coe Pepper LLC, is proposing to use the first floor for commercial development, including a restaurant, and convert the upper floors into 54 units of rental housing:
44 one-bedroom/one-bath
5 studio/one-bath
5 two-bedroom/two-bath
Units will range in size from 310 to 786 square feet, and market-rate rents will range from $675 to $1,218 per month.
Affordable Housing Allotment
The developer has agreed to set-aside six of the 54 units (11% of the project) for workforce eligible tenants for a period of time equal to the loan term. The six units will rent for $575 per month and are affordable to households with incomes below 80% of area median income.
Projected total project cost is $7,952,766 and funding sources would consist of bank financing, federal and state historic tax credits, equity from the partners, and the City financing of $1,600,000 in bond funds.
757 North Apartments
757 North Chestnut Street
Bond funding: $1.25 million
The developer, Laurel Street Residential LLC, is proposing to build a 115-unit multifamily rental development, consisting of:
14 studio units
18 two-bedroom units
83 one-bedroom units
Unit size will be 500 square feet for the studio units, 615 to 766 square feet for the one-bedroom units, and 811 to 1,005 square feet for the two-bedroom units. Market rate rents will range from $1,045 to $1,445 per month.
The developer has agreed to set aside a minimum of 25% of the 115 units (29 units) as workforce housing units for households earning 80% of the area median income for ten years, consisting of 14 studio units renting for $757 per month and 15 one-bedroom units renting for $841 per month. After the initial ten-year affordability period, a minimum of 15% of the units (17 units) will be available as workforce housing units for households earning 80% of the area median income for an additional 20 years.
Projected total project cost is $15.0 million, and funding sources would consist of bank financing, equity from an equity partner and the developers, the land grant from the City approved November 16, 2015, and City financing of $1,250,000 in bond funds.
Development Partnership
Laurel Street Residential is partnering with Goler Community Development Corporation (CDC) to develop the remaining parcels in Goler CDC's Patterson Avenue project.
Patrice Toney
Budget and Evaluation Director
Email Patrice Y. Toney, Director
Budget & Evaluation
Bike, Pedestrian & Child Pedestrian Safety Project
Bond Economic Development Projects
Limited Obligation Bond Projects
Revitalizing Urban Commercial Areas Phase III
Sidewalk Projects
Street Resurfacing Contract 1
Street Resurfacing Contract 3A
Street Resurfacing Contract 3B | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413270 |
__label__wiki | 0.938284 | 0.938284 | CJ Cup
Zozo Championship
Bermuda Championship
WGC- HSBC Champions
Mayakoba Golf Classic
The RSM Classic
AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open
Australian PGA Championship
South African Open
Saudi International
ISPS Handa Vic Open
Puerto Rico Open
Oman Open
Qatar Masters
Magical Kenya Open
Hero Indian Open
Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship
WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play
Woods out of Bay Hill due to neck strain
Eight-times champion Tiger Woods has withdrawn from this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill due to a neck strain, the former world No.1 announced on Monday.
Woods, who returned to competition last season after a lengthy recovery from spinal fusion surgery, said he had been dealing with the strain for a few weeks and that he hoped to play in The Players Championship next week.
"I've been receiving treatment, but it hasn't improved enough to play," Woods said in a post on Twitter.
"My lower back is fine, and I have no long-term concerns, and I hope to be ready for The Players."
Woods did not say how he suffered the neck strain but there was nothing about his play at the WGC-Mexico Championship, where he tied for 10th eight days ago, to suggest he was not healthy.
In his only other starts this year, Woods finished in a share of 20th place at the Farmers Insurance Open in late January followed by a T15 at the Genesis Open in mid-February.
The injury is the first setback for Woods since he returned to regularly competing on the PGA Tour in January 2018, which marked the start of a remarkable comeback campaign he capped with a win in the Tour Championship season finale.
While the injury does appear to be anything serious it could garner more attention if he finds himself unable to tee it up at TPC Sawgrass next week for the PGA Tour's flagship event, which is widely regarded as the unofficial fifth major.
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14 days ago 01:03
Woods, who last won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2013, made a run at Bay Hill last year but finished five shots behind winner Rory McIlroy in a share of fifth place after his late charge fizzled with a pair of bogeys at the 16th and 17th holes.
"I'd like to send my regrets to the Palmer family and the Orlando fans," wrote Woods.
"Its connection to Arnold makes it one of my favourite tournaments and I'm disappointed to miss it."
©AP2019
More Golf news
Keith Mitchell snatches maiden PGA Tour title with 'clutch' final hole birdie putt
Golfer reveals life-changing rat poison accident | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413272 |
__label__cc | 0.615295 | 0.384705 | Not everyone in the Antwerp Homicide division is pleased to receive the expert advice of Jasper Teerlinck, a professor of criminal psychology whose curious methods ruffle a few feathers. In Flemish with English subtitles.
Three Oak Campus
Professor T is called to help crack an impossible case...
A Fatal Mistake
Professor T is summoned to help solve a double poisoning case at the university...
The Inspection
The murder of the chair of the school’s inspection team during a shocking robbery...
A law student's disappearance puzzles the team, who slowly uncover a number of secrets...
The Hotel Murder
When Professor T is forbidden from looking into a case, he launches his own investigation.
The suicide of a call girl perplexes the police.
The Mask Murders
An identical crime to a case the commissioner solved years ago is committed.
The Go-Between
Chief Inspector Rabet is confronted with the driver who killed his daughter in a crash.
The kidnapping of a six-year-old boy shocks the police team.
An employee is accused of killing his boss after he's found standing over the body.
A businessman vanishes without a trace just days after a failed attempt on his life.
Murder by Numbers, Part 1
Two bodies are found within days of each other. Will Professor T help with the case?
The team urgently tries to find connections between the murders. | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413275 |
__label__cc | 0.637574 | 0.362426 | Chickens Ducks and Turkeys: A Frugal and Natural Approach to Raising Poultry in Your Backyard - Backyard Farming & Homesteading
Amy Larson
Publisher: Guava Books
Do you want access to your own guaranteed suply of farm fresh eggs? Perhaps you are looking for a supply of meat or an easy, friendly pet for your young children. Chickens and other poultry meet all these needs and more making them amongst the most versatile of all farmyard animals.
Because they are so self sufficient and need very little space to grow healthily many people, even in the city, are starting to keep chickens in their backyard.
Inside You Will Learn:Why poultry are the ideal pet for you;How to raise poultry in small spaces;How to choose a management method for your poultry;What equipment you need to keep your poultry;How to keep your poultry secure;How to choose the right breed for you;How to decide whether or not you need your own rooster;Whether to hatch your own or buy baby chicks;Coping when the babies get home;How to care for your flock as they grow;How to care for your poultry;How to collect and clean eggs;And much, much more
With a little investment and a lot of love you can build a flock that will keep you in eggs and meat for years to come.
Amy Larson was born in Oak Park, Illinois. She graduated with a BS degree in education in Art and History. Amy and her husband raised 4 children in the twin cities. She taught and substituted...
A Joosr Guide to Men are from...
Joosr
In today's fast-paced world, it's tough to find the time to read. But with Joosr guides, you can get the key insights from bestselling non-fiction titles in less than 20 minutes. Whether you want to gain knowledge on the go or find the books you'll love, Joosr's brief and accessible eBook summaries fit into your life. Find out more at joosr.com.
What makes men and women so different that they act, feel, and think like two completely different species? Learn the differences in the emotional needs of men and women, and how mutual understanding can help you support your partner and strengthen your relationship.
From the very beginnings of time we have been puzzled and confounded by the opposite sex. Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus explains some of the confusing behaviors each gender exhibits, translates the conflicting communication styles, and demonstrates how, despite our differences, it is possible to form long-lasting relationships based on mutual understanding.
· How to stop upsetting your partner by offering the wrong kind of support
· Why men and women are two genders, divided by a common language
· What motivates the opposite sex, and how you can satisfy that motivation to improve your relationship.
Eyewitness to the Gods - What I...
The father of the ancient alien theory with more than 65 million books sold reveals everything he has withheld for years.In all his years of service, why didn't Erich von Däniken ever doubt his theory that inhabitants of other planets had come into contact with humanity ages ago, and that they still observe us today? How could von Däniken in all these years say firmly that the UFO phenomenon is real and that people are being abducted by aliens? Why does he repeatedly criticize the official historiography and our religions and thus accept scorn and hostility?The answers to these questions are: Because Erich von Däniken spoke to people who supported his theories. Because people who saw UFOs or were kidnapped by aliens trusted him. And because experts and insiders inaugurated secrets known to only a few people.In this book, the now 81-year-old presents selected eyewitnesses and insiders for the first time, reveals secrets and stories that he has hitherto kept private, and presents reports and revelations that leave one speechless!
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a...
Over 1 million copies sold
In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be "positive" all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people.
For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. "F**k positivity," Mark Manson says. "Let’s be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it." In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn’t sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is—a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is his antidote to the coddling, let’s-all-feel-good mindset that has infected American society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up.
Manson makes the argument, backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to stomach lemons better. Human beings are flawed and limited—"not everybody can be extraordinary, there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault." Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties, once we stop running and avoiding and start confronting painful truths, we can begin to find the courage, perseverance, honesty, responsibility, curiosity, and forgiveness we seek.
There are only so many things we can give a f**k about so we need to figure out which ones really matter, Manson makes clear. While money is nice, caring about what you do with your life is better, because true wealth is about experience. A much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders-and-look-you-in-the-eye moment of real-talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is a refreshing slap for a generation to help them lead contented, grounded lives.
In the Presence of the Master -...
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev
"In the Presence of the Master" is a series of stirring and insightful discourses given by Sadhguru. In his willingness to share, Sadhguru offers glimpses of the profound wisdom that is otherwise accessible to enlightened beings only. Offering the rare possibility to go beyond all limitations, a veritable Guru takes the seeker on a mystical journey towards the ultimate liberation.
In this book, Sadhguru opens up a whole new perspective on “Why suffering?,” a question which has concerned humanity from the beginning of time. In the quest to tackle this problem, man has developed many theories, concepts and dogmata, but still, suffering is omnipresent in this world.
Abrogating the erroneous belief that it is inevitable, Sadhguru delivers insights on the very origin of suffering and discloses ways beyond.
In modern societies, enhancing the quality of our life has become one of our main objectives. In this pursuit, we tend to emphasize on enhancing external situations our job, business, family and the abounding accumulation of material things; in spite of all the efforts, our personal and professional lives are too often painfully lacking happiness and fulfilment.
In this volume, Sadhguru shifts our focus to the inside, pointing out a way to establish a true sense of inner peace and wellbeing by applying “Inner Management.”
In this book, Sadhguru simplifies the many ideas surrounding sex, dispelling the philosophies and theories supporting sex and sexual desire. Sadhguru’s eminent insight and humor takes the reader on an in-depth discussion about sex, revealing its true nature as an expression of unconscious longing to know the divine. | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413278 |
__label__wiki | 0.582771 | 0.582771 | meituan delivery man kills store worker
Meituan Dianping Tech
Meituan Dianping vows to improve after delivery man stabs supermarket worker
Killing sparks social media debate on pressure faced by delivery drivers in China
Published on 23 Dec, 2019 10:00am Coordinated Universal Time
China’s Meituan Dianping said on Monday it will make improvements to its platform after one of its delivery men stabbed a supermarket staffer to death on the weekend, prompting debate on social media over the pressures faced by such workers.
The case was one of the top trending topics on China’s Twitter-like Weibo on Monday and is the food delivery giant’s first big public incident since its initial public offering last September in Hong Kong.
China has in recent years experienced a delivery boom powered by millions of couriers who are employed by companies such as Meituan Dianping and Alibaba’s Ele.me to deliver millions of packages and meal orders around the country.
Meituan drivers in Beijing on April 11, 2018. (Picture: Reuters)
While many customers laud such services for their speed and convenience, there has been a growing debate about the treatment of these deliverymen, who work under tight time pressures and lack medical insurance when traffic accidents happen.
Local police in Chinese city of Wuhan published details of the case on Sunday which involved a 32-year-old delivery man, surnamed Chen, who stabbed a supermarket employee.
Meituan said a quarrel broke out between Chen and the supermarket employee when he had gone to the store to pick up goods for delivery. The stabbed employee later died, local police said.
“After collaborating with the police investigating into our system, there was no complaining calls or bad reviews on the vendor or the delivery man,” Meituan said in a statement on Monday.
“We will shoulder the responsibility, search for the problems and spare no efforts to make improvements to the platform,” it added.
Comments on Weibo were mixed, with some users speculating what pressures might have driven the deliveryman to commit such a crime while others said there was no justification for such actions.
“Delivery men’s job is very toilsome, but it shouldn’t be the reason to kidnap me morally,” one of the most liked Weibo comment about the case read.
“Your work is paid and my money is earned through hard work... You’re the only people who need understanding and sympathy?”
Meituan controlled almost two-thirds of China’s food delivery market as of September, according to research firm Trustdata.
Meituan Dianping | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413287 |
__label__wiki | 0.898963 | 0.898963 | first china-made tesla delivered
Electric cars Tech
Tesla delivers first batch of Model 3 cars made in China
Deliveries come less than a year after construction began for Shanghai Gigafactory
Published on 30 Dec, 2019 7:24am Coordinated Universal Time
Tesla has started delivering Model 3 electric cars built at its Shanghai factory in just under a year since it began work on the US$2 billion plant, a record for global automakers in China, and said it would ramp up deliveries from next month.
The US electric vehicle maker marked the start with an event on Monday where 15 Tesla employees received cars they had purchased, one of whom took the opportunity to propose marriage to his girlfriend after getting his new set of wheels.
A Tesla employee proposes to his girlfriend with a China-made Tesla Model 3 vehicle filled with flowers at a delivery ceremony in the Shanghai Gigafactory on December 30, 2019. (Picture: Yilei Sun/Reuters)
The China-made Model 3 sedans are priced at 355,800 yuan (US$50,000) before subsidies. Imported Model 3 vehicles start at 439,000 yuan for the longer-range version, while the standard range plus model costs under US$40,000 in the United States.
The Shanghai plant, up and running in just 357 days, is part of Tesla’s plans to bolster its presence in the world’s biggest car market and minimise the impact of the US-China trade war.
The automaker, which previously imported all the cars it sold in China, had said it wanted to start deliveries from the Shanghai plant before the Lunar New Year beginning on Jan. 25.
“From now onwards China-made Model 3 vehicles will start running on China’s large streets and small lanes,” Tesla Vice President Tao Lin said at the delivery ceremony which was attended by employees and Shanghai government officials.
China General Manager for the Silicon Valley carmaker Wang Hao said Tesla plans to ramp up Model 3 deliveries in January.
The Chinese government has been supportive of the factory, the first wholly foreign-owned car plant and a reflection of Beijing’s broader shift to open up its auto market.
CHINA PUSH
A China-made Tesla Model 3 vehicle at a delivery ceremony in the Shanghai Gigafactory on December 30, 2019. (Picture: Yilei Sun/Reuters)
Tesla has taken a different approach to the Chinese market, the world’s biggest for electric vehicles with 1.3 million new-energy vehicles sold last year, as is evident from its marketing blitz in the country that is quite unlike anywhere else.
The company and its flamboyant billionaire CEO Elon Musk openly disdain marketing, but in China Tesla has offered racing events and showroom parties.
It is also building service centres and charging stations across China to assure customers of standardised after-sales service, Tesla’s senior executives said, confirming a Reuters report on the plans published last month.
The car maker will double the number of service centres and fast charging stations in China next year, and plans to more than double its after-sales workforce to 1,500 from about 600 currently, the executives added.
Wang also told reporters the plant had achieved a production target of 1,000 units a week, or around 280 cars a day, and that sales for the China-made sedan had so far been “very good”. | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413288 |
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July 2013, 33(7): 3189-3209. doi: 10.3934/dcds.2013.33.3189
Upper semicontinuity of pullback attractors for nonautonomous Kirchhoff wave models
Yonghai Wang 1, and Chengkui Zhong 2,
Department of Applied Mathematics, Donghua University, Shanghai, Songjiang, 201620
Department of Mathematics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093
Received March 2012 Revised August 2012 Published January 2013
In this paper, we consider the upper semicontinuity of pullback attractors for a nonautonomous Kirchhoff wave model with strong damping. For this purpose, some necessary abstract results are established.
Keywords: Pullback attractor, upper semicontinuity, Kirchhoff type..
Mathematics Subject Classification: Primary: 37L05, 35B40; Secondary: 35B4.
Citation: Yonghai Wang, Chengkui Zhong. Upper semicontinuity of pullback attractors for nonautonomous Kirchhoff wave models. Discrete & Continuous Dynamical Systems - A, 2013, 33 (7) : 3189-3209. doi: 10.3934/dcds.2013.33.3189
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Yonghai Wang Chengkui Zhong | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413295 |
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The Kusi Ideas Festival launched by the Nation Media Group
The Kusi Ideas Festival is a two-day, annual conference launched by the Nation Media Group as part of its 60th anniversary celebrations this year, to begin building a “Pan-African ideas transaction market” to capitalise on the opportunities and innovations available to Africa.
Princess Zahra Aga Khan receives prestigious Asia Society Texas Center’s Huffington Award
On 10 October, Princess Zahra Aga Khan, daughter of His Highness the Aga Khan, received Asia Society Texas Center’s Huffington Award in Houston, Texas.
His Highness the Aga Khan hosts Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the Aga Khan Centre
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge joined His Highness the Aga Khan at a special event organised at the Aga Khan Centre, ahead of Their Royal Highnesses’ official visit to Pakistan from 14-18 October 2019.
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Aga Khan Academies' Graduation ceremonies in Hyderabad and Mombasa
Aga Khan receives presidential honour in Portugal
Aga Khan Academy, Hyderabad inaugurated
AKU and Catholic University of Portugal reaffirm cooperation
Patriachate of Lisbon and AKF renew partnership
Agreement between AKU and the Catholic University of Portugal
Foundation stone-laying ceremony of the AKA, Hyderabad
Aga Khan receives Die Quadriga 2005 Prize | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413296 |
__label__wiki | 0.895364 | 0.895364 | CML Lavish D previews Bustdown Touchdown Remix online starring Philthy Rich
It’s been a long run of beef since the release of Mozzy and Philthy Rich’s music video “I’m Just Being Honest”, a diss record that sparked major controversy in Sacramento. Lavish D and Mozzy, two known Rappers who are on opposite sides of Sacramento, have held a long standing beef that has escalated into a multitude of shootings and homicides.
Prior to the release of I’m Just Being Honest, Lavish D tested a slew of Livewire Records artists online, including Philthy Rich. For a moment it seemed like the parade of diss’s coming from Lavish D wouldn’t slow down anytime soon, until a fight that broke loose at a Champs shoe store in Arden mall, in Sacramento, CA with a known Mozzy affiliate and Lavish D and his Stars Gang. Lavish D filmed the altercation and was later convicted and sentenced for his involvement and filming of the incident.
Moving forward to today we have seen a slew of music moves from Philthy Rich and Mozzy, who became a local fan favorite DUO. Fans are disappointed since the breaking of this alliance, and it seems as though it was real “Political Ties”, hardly a friendship built on brotherhood, but rather beef.
As a OG said of the incident, these two were clearly rap friends, which means they are hardly actual friends, but rather a partnership built on beef. Friendships built on beef are temporary friendships which often lead down the line to more beef. One thing for sure, nobody likes to see solid people go to jail, and that does mean nobody wants to see Mozzy, Philthy Rich, or Lavish D inside a cell.
For Lavish D, it’s a hallmark change in direction for his career, as many Bay Area fans are major supporters of Philthy Rich, and a lot of the fans of Philthy Rich are also fans of Lavish D. After Lavish D drops “Speak My Mind”, Lavish D separated himself from being the typical beef artist. He dropped a actual hit and gained position within the ranks of local rap star, gaining a slew of new fans for making a craft hit aimed at the Mozzy and his Mozzy records artists. The single has surpassed millions of views online, and Lavish D has cemented himself afterwards by releasing nothing but hits for the streets. A great site to see from watching Lavish D imprisoned and taking the worst of L’s. You can now see Philthy Rich supporting the diss record.
His latest single “Bustdown Touchdown” has already surpassed 1M views online, and now we can expect a star studded remix starring Oaklands own Philthy Rich! The single’s remix might have a video to match, as Lavish D hinted at a video by showing his fans at a gas Station in Philthy Rich’s neighborhood of Seminary.
Lavish D keeps catching breaks, hopefully the beefs can end and rap business can come back to normal. | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413300 |
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Home > All Collections > 1:8 Scale Models > Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport (2009)
Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport (2009)
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The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport was the roadster version of the ‘standard Veyron’ and was equipped with a transparent roof, taking the experience of open-top driving into a new dimension. With the roof up, the Grand Sport had the same 253mph (407km/h) top speed as the coupé, meaning both driver and passenger could directly experience their surroundings fly past them. Pushing the technical limits of automotive engineering, the car, with its roof down, could still reach 223mph (360km/h).
The previous Veyron’s unique structure meant Bugatti couldn’t just remove the roof; they had to reengineer the passenger compartment monocoque to provide the reinforcement and rigidity required in a roadster. Consequently, the monocoque was reinforced along the sills and transmission tunnel. The monocoque and exterior of the sports car are made entirely of carbon fibre. A characteristic feature of the Grand Sport are the two air scoops on the left and right of the bonnet which provide two functions. First, they provide air intake for the engine and, secondly, they are an elegantly integrated component of the rollover protection system.
Only 150 Grand Sports were ever made, the first of which was auctioned off at its world premiere in Pebble Beach, California, for a tidy sum of over three million US dollars.
This fine scale model has been handcrafted and finished in our workshops with the co-operation and assistance of the manufacturer regarding original finishes, materials, archive imagery and drawings. The use of original CAD and supremely accurate digital scanning of the original car has allowed us to perfectly recreate every detail at scale. Furthermore, the prototype model has undergone detailed scrutiny by the manufacturer’s engineering and design teams to ensure complete accuracy of representation.
The Limited Edition Veyron Grand Sport is available in three colour schemes: white with a coffee interior, black with an orange interior or blue with a cognac interior.
The Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport is limited to only 99 editions.
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Colt Buntline Revolver | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413304 |
__label__wiki | 0.788613 | 0.788613 | Towers of Silence
by Kaushik Patowary Tuesday, December 20, 2016
The Zoroastrians have an unusual way of disposing off their dead. They neither bury them nor cremate them. Instead, corpses are left atop high towers known as dakhma, or Towers of Silence, where they are exposed to the elements and consumed by scavenger birds such as vultures, kites and crows. This macabre funeral practice arises from the belief that the dead are impure, not just physically because of decomposition, but because they are contaminated by the ‘corpse demon’ and evil spirits who rush into the body as soon as the soul leaves. Burial and cremation are thus seen as polluting nature and fire, both of which the Zoroastrians thrive to protect. This reverence towards all things natural has led some scholars to proclaim Zoroastrianism as the "world's first ecological religion."
A defunct Tower of Silence in Yazd, Iran. Photo credit: Photoroamings/Flickr
The Zoroastrian practice of exposure of the dead, known as dokhmenashini, was first documented in the mid-5th century BCE by Herodotus, but the use of towers came much later in the early 9th century.
Towers of Silence have a flat roof divided into three concentric rings where the naked bodies are laid out —the outer ring is for men, the central one for females and the innermost for children. Once the scavenging birds had pecked away the flesh and the exposed bones have been bleached by the sun and wind, they are collected in an ossuary pit at the center of the tower, where lime is added to allow the bones to gradually disintegrate. The entire process takes nearly a year. At the periphery of the dakhma, jutting out from the structure, are four channels through which the remaining material is flushed off by rainwater but only after they have run through multiple coal and sand filters.
The ancient practice survived among orthodox Zoroastrians in Iran until dakhmas were declared a health hazard and made illegal in the 1970s. It is still practiced in India by the Parsi people, who constitute the largest Zoroastrian population in the world. Rapid urbanization, however, have put pressure on the Parsis, and this strange ritual and the right to use Towers of Silence is a much debated issue even among the Parsi community. But the biggest threat to dokhmenashini hasn’t come from health officials or from public protest but from the lack of vultures.
A Tower of Silence, in Doongerwadi, Mumbai, visible from nearby high-rises. Photo credit: Dinodia Photos/Alamy
Vultures, who play an important role in the disintegration of the corpses, have been steadily declining in the Indian subcontinent since the 1990s. In 2008, their numbers fell by a staggering 99 percent that confounded scientists, until it was discovered that a drug administered to cattle is fatal to vultures when they feed on the carcasses. The drug was banned by the Indian government but the vulture population is yet to recover.
With no vultures left, some Towers of Silence in India have installed powerful solar concentrators to dehydrate the body faster. But the solar concentrators have the unintended side effect of keeping away other scavenging birds such as crows during the day because of the heat. They also do not work during cloudy days. So a job that would take only hours for a flock of vultures to complete now take weeks, and these slowly decomposing bodies make neighbors squeamish. Some Towers of Silence, that were originally situated on the outskirts of cities, now lie squat in the middle population centers and had to be closed because of the smell.
Some Parsis have now started preferring cremation.
Printed drawing of 'Towers of Silence'. Photo credit: Wellcome Images/Wikimedia
One of the two Towers of Silence, Yazd, Iran. Photo credit: Fulvio Spada/Flickr
A Tower of Silence in India. Photo credit: poida.smith/Flickr
The pit of a Tower of Silence, Bombay. Photo credit: GSV/Flickr
The two Towers of Silence, in Yazd, Iran. Men on the left, women on the right. Photo credit: Julia Maudlin/Flickr
Photo credit: en.academic.ru
Sources: Wikipedia / Guardian / NPR
Towers of Silence Reviewed by Kaushik Patowary on Tuesday, December 20, 2016 Rating: 5
Tags : Cemetery India Iran Landmarks | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413311 |
__label__cc | 0.739109 | 0.260891 | Android News / All News / Sponsored Game Review: Twin Runners
Sponsored Game Review: Twin Runners
Description: Twin Runners is exactly how it sounds, an endless runner game. Not just any endless runner game mind you, but a well crafted endless runner with heaps of challenge and difficulty and steeped in atmospheric tone and a background soundtrack to match. You control the twin runners, one white block and one black, and your goal is to see if you can get to the end of the level, or see how long you can last, or simply complete the challenge tasks. You have two buttons with which to control the runners, and upon beginning each level you're off to the races.
How It Works: First things first, head to the Play Store and grab this new runner game so you can begin to enjoy fun. Don't mistake fun for an easy go however. When I said Twin Runners was challenging I meant it, and you'll find that out after a couple of levels as it happens fast.
When you first open up the game you'll notice that it was developed using Unity engine, which should be an immediate indicator that while still being very non-complex visually, it looks gorgeous and very polished. Starting the game for the first time will have you beginning "Story Mode," to get the hang of things.
There are three game modes in total, with Story Mode, Challenge Mode, and Endless Mode. Once you finish Story, you can up the ante with Challenge and see if you can last all the way to the end in this intensely long level of hurdles and difficulty. Last but not least is endless, where you can just attempt to see how long you can last, this is the one that gives this game some great replay value.
The on screen controls are easy enough to get used to, as there is only two buttons on screen that you need to use, which includes touching the left, and right quadrants of the screen when required. That's it. Pressing down on the left hand side of the screen will make the runners jump, and pressing the right hand side of the screen will make the runners slide.
The levels start out simple enough, but after the first couple things begin to get a little more rocky and you find yourself trying to doge more blocks. Certain parts of some levels even throw reverse controls at you after you pass through a "gravity reverse" section, switching the jump and slide buttons to make it even more challenging. This trips you up.
The twin runners always perform their actions in tandem, so if one jumps so does the other one. If one slides… you get the idea. This seems easy enough but the obstacles in front of each runner are not always the same, requiring to think fast and think on your feet. Sometimes you have to perform both actions at once. There are also areas that make you speed up, slow down, and pass through multitudes of windows, all which add crafty little elements of difficulty. Twin Runners supports Google Play Games services, and it comes complete with leaderboards and achievements to make things more fun. Sometimes there's nothing like some friendly competition, and seeing how well you can climb the leaderboard can make for a great play session.
Opinion: At first glance Twin Runners looked like a simple game to me and I wasn't sure how much fun I would have playing it, but after watching the video I got intrigued and tried it out for myself. 30 minutes later I had wondered where the time went and I realized that I really enjoyed playing. It was addictive. As stated above, the graphics aren't complex but they're artfully crafted and still look great and polished. I was also very fond of the atmospheric like background soundtrack while playing.
Speed (5/5) – No issues with speed whatsoever while playing, loading, or exiting the game. The actual gameplay is very fluid and enjoyable.
Features (4.5/5) – Twin Runners almost hits on every cylinder here. Offering up three modes of play to keep gamers interested is great, adding leaderboards and achievements through Google Play Games on top of it is brilliant.
Theme (5/5) – While the overall visual style isn't something that screams tons of shaders and advanced lighting effects, the graphics and the levels are polished and extremely well done. Nothing looks out of place.
Overall (4.5/5) – There really isn't anything to not like about this game. It's a fresh look at the endless runner genre, and it offers immensely enjoyable gameplay in such a simple skin.
Amazingly fun
Challenging, difficult at times, and extremely addictive.
Fresh gameplay in a really crowded genre
Sharpens reflexes
Some might find the lack of high resolution lush graphics unappealing
Conclusion: Twin Runners has been one of the best games I have played in a while. If you want a more unique style endless runner, grab Twin Runners, throw on some headphones(if you can)and zone out while you attempt to work your way through levels. The game is free, which is absolutely wonderful, AND… no in-app-purchases. There are ads, but even the ads are handled with care as they pop up what felt like very seldomly for a free title. A great endless runner for anyone who is a fan of the genre, and an excellent example for anyone who is new to the game type. | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413312 |
__label__wiki | 0.955281 | 0.955281 | Android News / All News / Sprint Hits Its Spark Tri-Band LTE Buildout Target For 2014 And Announces 2015 Network Plans
Sprint Hits Its Spark Tri-Band LTE Buildout Target For 2014 And Announces 2015 Network Plans
By Nick Sutrich
For Sprint customers, the coming and going of WiMAX couldn't happen soon enough. The failed wireless 4G standard that Sprint banked on never took hold for a number of reasons and was eventually replaced with LTE as the defacto 4G standard across the world. During this changeover period Sprint announced a new strategy for LTE that was designed to rocket the speeds of its data through the stratosphere with theoretical throughput rates of 1Gbps. That's a great deal more bandwidth than even the best offered by its competitors at around 100Mbps or so. But to build a network with the throughput and integrity of Spark takes a lot of time and a great deal of money. Last year at its Spark announcement Sprint set a goal of reaching over 100 million POPs (or people) by year's end 2014, and it looks like that goal has officially been reached today.
Sprint's Tri-Band LTE network has been dubbed Spark and covers the already existing 1900MHz LTE spectrum that Sprint has been building out, as well as the new 2.5GHz spectrum and the existing 800MHz spectrum taken over from the old Nextel purchase. With these three bands Sprint phones that support spark essentially harness the power of any of these available bands to get the data to your phone as fast as possible. Sprint's 1900MHz LTE network now covers over 260 million people in the US as 16 new markets went live today including Charlotte, North Carolina and Indianapolis, Indiana. Sprint covers over 100 million people in 62 markets with its 2.5GHz spectrum and over 565,000 square miles and 38 million people spanning 27 carriers with its 800MHz spectrum in rural areas. It is this 800MHz rollout that's going to be pushed in 2015, along with the 2.5GHz rollout, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2015.
This is all great news for Sprint customers who have faced increasingly worse network service in parts of the country and are now finding relief in Sprint's new network. Besides spectrum advances and general buildout of what Sprint's been allotted by the FCC, fast backhaul is more important to the expanding network now than ever. Small cells will play a key role in the 2.5GHz expansion in the coming year rather than leveraging things like dark fiber, although that's not entirely out of the picture either. Sprint's executives now work out of the Sprint headquarters in Kansas City under the direction of the new CEO of Sprint, Marcelo Claure.
Nick Sutrich
Nick has written for Android Headlines since 2013 and has traveled to many tech events across the world. He's got a background in IT and loves all things tech-related. Nick is the VR and Home Automation Editor for the site and manages the Android Headlines YouTube channel. He is passionate about VR and the way it can truly immerse players in different worlds. In addition, he also covers the gamut of smart home technology and home automation. Contact him at [email protected] | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413313 |
__label__wiki | 0.518963 | 0.518963 | Barbara Schaffner
American Quarter Horse Permanent Exhibit
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angle-left Barbara Schaffner
Meet the 2018 America's Horse In Art artist.
Barbara Schaffner is an award winning artist creating western and wildlife scenes and carefully researched historic paintings. Barbara works primarily in watercolor and oils, giving full time to her work, except for occasional trips when she is gathering painting ideas, attending shows, or teaching workshops.
Barbara attended West Texas University where she graduated with honors and a Bachelor of Science degree in fine art and art education. She taught in a Texas Jr. High School and several years at Eastern Wyoming College.
A professional artist, Barbara has shown in galleries in seven western states and Canada. A few of her awards and honors include acceptance into the CM Russell Western Art Auction in Great Falls, Mt, the Wyoming Ducks Unlimited Artist of the Year in 2003 in Jackson, WY, the Grand Purchase Award at the Rough Rider International Art Show in Williston, ND, the Purchase Award at the 2 Shot Goose Hunt Art Show and second in the painting category at the Saratoga Art Fest. Barbara’s studio is at the Wyoming Trails Gallery in Wheatland, Wyoming.
Check out her web site at: www.wyomingtrailsgallery.com. | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413314 |
__label__cc | 0.580151 | 0.419849 | Thu 26 Apr 2018 10:53 AM
Dubai start-up offers $3m to anyone who can hack the iPhone
$10m ethical hacking program by Crowdfense aims to develop cyber-defense capabilities for popular software
Ethical hacking, or ‘zero-day’ exploits, use tools that leverage bugs in computer systems that are unknown to system developers, in order to ultimately improve security by identifying them and developing stronger systems.
Dubai-based start-up Crowdfense is offering as much as $3 million for ethical hacking of Android, iOS, Windows and Mac.
The payout is part of a $10m bug bounty program to develop cyber-defence capabilities for popular software. It is the first public programme of its kind to offer a prize that hefty.
Bug hunting, a part of ethical hacking, involves looking for bugs or flaws in code that could be exploited by hackers. It helps software vendors to clean up their code and find mistakes they may have missed.
Crowdfense comprises a global team of cyber-security experts, researchers and lawyers, set to work on some of the world’s biggest cyber-defence challenges in order to introduce higher levels of expertise in the market.
"We work only with the best vulnerability researchers, focusing on very select capabilities with a highly structured and scientific approach," said Crowdfense director Andrea Zapparoli Manzoni.
"Now that this originally underground practice has become a strategic high-tech industry, it is necessary to implement good business processes, checks and guarantees for all the parties involved. That is why we built Crowdfense: the market needed a neutral, reliable, law-abiding, process-driven partner to deliver top-quality active cyber-defense capabilities,” he added.
The company, which took over a year to establish, aims to get its customers the best return on investments, while protecting nations and citizens from a growing spectrum of threat attacks.
It evaluates, tests and improves state-of-the-art active cyber-defense capabilities.
Crowdfense
cyber-attacks
Lubna Hamdan
Expert insight: How to manage downtime
Entrepreneur of the Week: Hakim and Tasneem Boriawala
US firm Voicera acquires Dubai AI start up Wrappup
Souqalmal.com launches cash payment option through UAE Exchange
Dubai's Mumzworld launches 'flexible' jobs to empower working mothers
Start-up roundtable: VAT to the future | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413315 |
__label__cc | 0.528071 | 0.471929 | Microsoft UC Solutions
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Arkadin recognized as winner for the 2019 Microsoft Intelligent Communications Partner of the Year
Arkadin today announced it has won the 2019 Microsoft Intelligent Communications Partner of the Year Award. The company was honored among a global field of top Microsoft partners for demonstrating excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology.
Awards were presented in several categories, with winners chosen from a set of more than 2,900 entrants from 115 countries worldwide. Arkadin was recognized for providing outstanding solutions and services in the Intelligent Communications Partner of the Year category.
The Intelligent Communications Partner of the Year Award recognizes partners with proven expertise in delivering transformative teamwork, calling and meetings solutions with Microsoft Teams. Arkadin was named as the winner for transitioning its communications practice from Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams; complementing its existing portfolio. With this, Arkadin is continuing to deliver end-to-end solutions that are solving customer business challenges and enabling organizations to harness the power of Intelligent Communications with Microsoft Teams.
“Today, employees work in twice as many teams as they did five years ago and there is a growing need for organizations to equip staff with the tools to communicate and collaborate more effectively in the modern workspace. Many businesses already understand the value of moving to Microsoft Teams. However, to realise its full potential and make the move a success, the right partner is needed to support with what can be a complex transition,” said Christophe Reyes, UCaaS Managing Director at Arkadin.
Reyes continues: “We’re thrilled to be named as 2019 Microsoft Intelligent Communications Partner of the Year, as it validates Arkadin’s efforts in delivering Microsoft Teams to businesses globally. It’s an outstanding achievement and a recognition of the value Arkadin brings to its customers in their journey to a smarter workplace.”
Today’s modern workforce requires smart communication and collaboration tools that enable quick and dynamic interaction, available across multiple devices, to drive enhanced employee engagement. With over 17-years of Microsoft experience and over 200 global Microsoft certified members completely focused on Cloud Unified Communications, Arkadin’s core focus is to deliver on the promise that Microsoft Teams offers. It supports its customers throughout the entire journey, ensuring Teams deployments meets the individual needs of each business.
“It’s an honor to recognize finalists and winners of the Microsoft 2019 Partner of the Year Awards,” said Gavriella Schuster, Corporate Vice President, One Commercial Partner, Microsoft Corp. “These companies are successfully leading their industries, building intelligent solutions, addressing complex business challenges and making more possible for customers around the world. I’m honored to congratulate each winner and finalist.”
The Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards recognize Microsoft partners that have developed and delivered exceptional Microsoft-based solutions during the past year.
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With Arkadin Lounge, you can take full control of your conferencing account and get more out of your conferencing services. | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413317 |
__label__cc | 0.550212 | 0.449788 | Anorak News | Wikileaks: Russia’s State Radio Smears Julian Assange
Wikileaks: Russia’s State Radio Smears Julian Assange
WIKILEAKS is back making news for the rest of the media. A load of US State Department cables are about to be leaked. How many? Almost three million. Who’d be a researcher wading through that lot?
The cables are between the US and Australia, and the US and Canada.
Yes, readers, Canada has hit the international news agenda! That big slap on ice and moose between American and Sara Plain rear window is newsworthy. And it’s all thanks to Wikileaks.
Meanwhile, David Gower look-alike Julian Assange is in the UK, reacting to news that a Swedish court has rejected his appeal against a detention order in a rape case.
If he goes to Sweden, Assange will be arrested. Can Sweden be avoided? What about Russia? Assange says Wikileaks has lots of stuff about that country, too. Mindful of that, here’s the Voice of Russia, the state’s radio station telling the world:
His [Assange] culpability for alleged rapes in Sweden has yet to be proven in Stockholm’s courts, but most psychologists interviewed by Western media say that he could’ve done this, given his troubled childhood.
You still don’t think Assange is being smeared? If he is, he might consider himself fortunate. The Russians rarely mess about in matters of military security. It might Best to avoid the sushi in London, Julian…
Posted: 25th, November 2010 | In: Key Posts, Reviews Comment (1) | TrackBack | Permalink | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413322 |
__label__wiki | 0.949826 | 0.949826 | Activists in Berlin attack controversial Holocaust memorial
Plus: Foundation for Contemporary Arts announces inaugural Helen Frankenthaler Award for Painting | and cemetery of high-status Romans discovered in Somerset
Photo: Michele Tantussi/Getty Images
Activists in Berlin attack controversial Holocaust memorial | Twenty members of the Action Artists Committee (AKK) attacked a controversial temporary Holocaust memorial in Berlin on 5 January. Their attempt to remove the statue using a sledgehammer and an angle grinder was interrupted and prevented by the police. The work in question was installed outside the Reichstag parliament building in December by a collective known as the Center for Political Beauty. It consists of an 8-foot column filled with soil taken from the sites of concentration camps, most samples of which had been found to contain the human remains of Holocaust victims.
Foundation for Contemporary Arts awards inaugural Helen Frankenthaler Award for Painting | The Foundation for Contemporary Arts has announced New York artist Kerstin Brätsch as the winner of its inaugural Helen Frankenthaler Award for Painting. The annual $40,000 prize goes to an artist who has demonstrated an experimental approach to the medium. It is given via the FCA’s existing Grants to Artists programme and is underwritten by the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation.
Cemetery of high-status Romans discovered in Somerset | A Romano-British cemetery containing over 50 graves has been discovered in Somerton, Somerset, and several unusual features have led archaeologists to suggest it may have been a resting place for particularly high-status individuals. Most of the graves have been carefully built with a stone lining and sealed with roofing slabs. Several contain jewellery as well as evidence of provisions for the afterlife such as knives, money, clothing and food. The flat placing of the bodies also suggests that locals had adopted a Roman style of burial.
International organisations condemn Trump’s threat to target Iranian cultural sites
Art news daily: 6 January
Lawrence Abu Hamdan receives 2022 Future Fields Commission
Alasdair Gray (1934–2019) | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413329 |
__label__wiki | 0.53589 | 0.53589 | Untitled, Shady Grove, Alabama (Grave Site 37.057) , 1956
Archival digital pigment print
14 × 14 in
Robert Klein Gallery
Courtesy and Copyright of The Gordon Parks Foundation
Considered one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, Gordon Parks was a self-taught photographer, filmmaker, writer, and composer. He is best known for chronicling the African American experience in powerful, poetic photographs. Parks worked for the Farm Security Administration and the Office of War Information before becoming the first black staff photographer at Life magazine. He was the first black auteur to release a major Hollywood film, The Learning Tree (1969), and he later made Shaft (1971) and Shaft’s Big Score! (1972), films that defined the blaxploitation genre. Parks also cofounded Essence magazine. In his photographs, Parks captured both the rich and famous and marginalized communities, especially his own. “I saw that the camera could be a weapon against . . . all sorts of social wrongs,” he said. “I knew at that point I had to have a camera.”
Other works by Gordon Parks
Untitled, Chicago, Illinois, 1953
Jenkins Johnson Gallery
Rhona Hoffman Gallery
Untitled, Shady Grove, Alabama, 1956, 1956
Untitled, Nashville, Tennessee, 1956
Untitled, Shady Grove, Alabama, 1956
Untitled, Mobile, Alabama, 1956
Untitled, Harlem, New York, 1963
Untitled, Alabama, 1956, 1956
Other works from Robert Klein Gallery
Untitled, 1970-1971
Fake Weather, 2017
Untitled, Providence (23602), 1972-1974
1/1/2000, Foster's Pond Millennium, 2000
Dunes, Oceano S-37, 1936
Artist as Ethnographer
Huxley-Parlour
Jewish Boy with Book, 1954
Clark Gallery
Farmer Art Blooding with Family Battling "Dust Bowl" Winds, 1954
Contessa Gallery
Mother and Child in Harlem, ca. 1950
J. Paul Getty Museum
O. Winston Link
The Keith children fishing as train no. 2 passes, Lithia, Virginia, 1955
Danziger Gallery
Colombia (Girl on Floor), 1965
William Christenberry
Wall, Memphis, 1967
Rudy Burckhardt
Broadway Toward Union Square, ca. 1947
Tibor de Nagy
British, 1913–1995 | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413333 |
__label__cc | 0.53582 | 0.46418 | Loyola Schools
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About JSP
Japanese Studies Program
Established in 1966, the Japanese Studies Program is the first Japanese Studies Program in Southeast Asia. Initially, it was the university's response to the felt need to deepen understanding of Japan with which the Philippines has had long historical ties. As bilateral relations developed, the program has sought to expand mutual understanding. Today, the Philippines and Japan endeavor to locate themselves in the milieu of globalization, and the Japanese Studies Program carries on the tradition of contributing to a scholarly approach to the problems and issues concomitant with world development.
With its language and Japan-related courses open to degree and non-degree students from different disciplines, the Japanese Studies Program aims to dvelop graduates who have a global outlook, imbued with a keen understanding and appreciation of one's own culture and of others'; especially those with thich one's culture interfaces. Students who go through the courses of the Japanese Studies Program are expected to be highly competitive, uniquely advantaged, and relevant in work areas of diplomacy, trade and management, research and training.
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Ateneo de Manila University Loyola Heights Campus | Katipunan Avenue, Loyola Heights, Quezon City 1108, Philippines | Copyright 2006-2012 | Ateneo de Manila University. All rights reserved. | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413340 |
__label__wiki | 0.753112 | 0.753112 | Audi S3 Sedan
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The specified fuel consumption and emission data have been determined according to the measurement procedures prescribed by law. Since 1st September 2017, certain new vehicles are already being type-approved according to the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP), a more realistic test procedure for measuring fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Starting on September 1st 2018, the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) will be replaced by the WLTP in stages. Owing to the more realistic test conditions, the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions measured according to the WLTP will, in many cases, be higher than those measured according to the NEDC. Therefore, the usage of CO2 emission values measured according to WLTP for vehicle taxation from 1st September 2018 on can cause changes in this regards as well. For further information on the differences between the WLTP and NEDC, please visit www.audi.de/wltp.
We are currently still required by law to state the NEDC figures. In the case of new vehicles which have been type-approved according to the WLTP, the NEDC figures are derived from the WLTP data. It is possible to specify the WLTP figures voluntarily in addition until such time as this is required by law. In cases where the NEDC figures are specified as value ranges, these do not refer to a particular individual vehicle and do not constitute part of the sales offering. They are intended exclusively as a means of comparison between different vehicle types. Additional equipment and accessories (e.g. add-on parts, different tire formats, etc.) may change the relevant vehicle parameters, such as weight, rolling resistance and aerodynamics, and, in conjunction with weather and traffic conditions and individual driving style, may affect fuel consumption, electrical power consumption, CO2 emissions and the performance figures for the vehicle.
Further information on official fuel consumption figures and the official specific CO2 emissions of new passenger cars can be found in the “Guide on the fuel economy, CO2 emissions and power consumption of new passenger car models”, which is available free of charge at all sales dealerships and from DAT Deutsche Automobil Treuhand GmbH, Hellmuth-Hirth-Str. 1, D-73760 Ostfildern, Germany and at www.dat.de.
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__label__wiki | 0.782696 | 0.782696 | Narrator Hall of Fame
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Showing results by author "Emperor Franz Joseph"
History Speaks, Volume 4
By: James J. Corbett, Sarah Bernhardt, Lillian Russell, and others
Narrated by: James J. Corbett, Sarah Bernhardt, Lillian Russell, and others
Along with historical narrative, hear rare recordings of some of the most iconic people in history, including James J. Corbett, Sarah Bernhardt, Lillian Russell, Emperor Franz Joseph, Gen. John J. Pershing, Edward H. Sothern, Rudolph Valentino, President Coolidge with Charles Lindbergh, Billy Sunday, and Rudyard Kipling. Recording obtained and published by Rick Sheridan.
By: James J. Corbett, Sarah Bernhardt, Lillian Russell, Emperor Franz Joseph, Gen. John J. Pershing, Edward H. Sothern
Narrated by: James J. Corbett, Sarah Bernhardt, Lillian Russell, Emperor Franz Joseph, Gen. John J. Pershing, Edward H. Sothern
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__label__wiki | 0.680111 | 0.680111 | Joel Oppenheimer, Inc.
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Fine Framing
Besler Deluxe Ed. Pl. 99, Eglantine (sweetbriar), Common dog rose, et al
https://www.audubonart.com/shop/product/besd-099-besler-deluxe-ed-pl-99-eglantine-sweetbriar-common-dog-rose-et-al-11292
Hand-colored engraving, 1613
22" x 16-1/2" (approximate)
Original Antique Print
Hand-colored engraving
Hortus Eystettensis, Deluxe Edition
The first large-folio natural history botanical, Basilius Besler’s magnificent work, Hortus Eystettensis (Garden of Eichstätt), is the earliest pictorial record of a specific garden and the oldest of all of the great botanicals. Over 1,000 varieties of flowers are depicted in 367 exquisitely engraved and colored plates.
The first botanical in history to portray flowering plants as objects of beauty, Hortus Eystettensis deviated from non-aesthetic and awkward representations of preceding publications that focused on plants as herbal subjects and set the standard for great flower folios of the following centuries. Wilfred Blunt, noted author of The Art of Botanical Illustration an Illustrated History, writes of the Besler Florilegium,
“The designs are really impressive, and the invention rarely flags; the rhythmic pattern of the roots, the calligraphic possibilities of lettering, are fully explored and utilized ; and the dramatic effect of the whole is enhanced by the noble proportions of the plates, which, when colored make decorations that remained unrivaled until the publication nearly two centuries later of Thornton’s Temple of Flora.”
Work on the first comprehensive botanical garden devoted to flowering plants in Germany was begun in 1596, under the direction of the German botanist and physician Joachim Camerarius the Younger. Eight separate gardens were constructed at Willibaldsburg castle, the residence of Johann Konrad von Gemmingen, the Prince Bishop of Eichstätt. Each garden was devoted to flowers of a different country. Exotic flowers were imported from the Netherlands, Americas, and the Ottoman Empire. Upon Joachim Camerarius’ death in 1598, the Bishop called upon Basilius Besler (1561—1629), a Nuremberg apothecary, for guidance on specimens for the gardens.
Basilius Besler introduced the idea of documenting the vast garden and depicting each plant as it bloomed throughout the four seasons, hence the work is sometimes referred to as the Four Seasons. The Prince Bishop wrote that the Nuremberg apothecary “wishes to have [drawings of his flowers] engraved in copper, printed, dedicated to me and to seek his fame and profit with the book….” Basilius Besler worked on the drawings for 16 years, but most of the colored sketches were made between 1610 and 1612. These were sent to the workshop of Wolgang Kilian in Augsburg to be translated by skilled artists into black-and-white drawings that could serve as templates for the engravings which were executed in Wolgang Kilian’s workshop by a team of engravers. Colorists then carefully hand-colored each engraved plate.
Every antique work of art that you purchase at our gallery or on our website is guaranteed to be authentic and of the finest quality. All of our prints include any conservation work required to assure that your acquisition is archivally stable and will last for generations when cared for properly.
Click here for more Besler prints from the Hortus Eystettensis Deluxe Edition
Specifications for Besler Deluxe Ed. Pl. 99, Eglantine (sweetbriar), Common dog rose, et al
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Joel Oppenheimer in his historic gallery
Joel Oppenheimer Inc. is located in Chicago’s historic Tree Studios. We are passionate about natural history art, offering superb examples of rare works by John J. Audubon, Mark Catesby, Alexander Wilson, Pierre-Joseph Redouté, Dr. Robert Thornton, Basilius Besler, John Gould, Edward Lear, and other important natural history artists.
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__label__cc | 0.681567 | 0.318433 | Triumph Hands Media Duties To Wavemaker Australia
Lingerie and underwear brand Triumph International has appointed Wavemaker to handle its Australian and New Zealand media planning and buying account, bringing the business into alignment with the global media agreement.
The account will be handled out of Wavemaker Brisbane, beginning 1 January, and cover the Triumph, Triumph Triaction and Sloggi brands.
This is the latest in a series of new business wins for Wavemaker Australia over the past 12 months, including Australia Post, Huawei, EB Games, IG Markets and Stratton Finance.
Triumph will continue to leverage its “Together we Triumph” creative direction, which focuses on empowerment, strength and women supporting each other.
Wavemaker Brisbane MD Jane Sullivan (pictured) said: “Triumph is a great brand and we’re looking forward to helping them take the ‘Together we Triumph’ platform to greater heights in Australia and New Zealand. Everyone at Wavemaker Brisbane did an outstanding job in building the confidence of the local Triumph team, allowing us to start this new relationship on solid foundations.”
Alana Jones, senior brand marketing manager at Triumph International, added: “We were impressed by the level of commitment and depth of expertise of the Wavemaker team, and we believe they’re the right agency to help us communicate with our customers in unexpected ways. I’m looking forward to seeing the impact of their data-led consumer journey approach in growing our brands.”
Wavemaker Brisbane’s clients include Domino’s Pizza, Allianz Worldwide Partners, Bond University, Hamilton Island, Tourism Whitsundays, Auto Sports Group and Business Council of Australia.
Triumph wavemaker | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413349 |
__label__cc | 0.510493 | 0.489507 | Are your friends making you broke?
Karen Haywood Queen
May 12, 2011 in Smart Money
The gang at work heads out for lunch every day. Your book club always meets at a high-end restaurant. Your college buddies want to spring for an expensive cruise. Your neighbor just bought a new car and suddenly your 4-year-old sedan looks like a clunker. And of course you need a smartphone and high-end plan to keep up with all these people.
“We live in a society where people are very prideful,” says Danny Kofke, author of “How to Survive (and Perhaps Thrive) on a Teacher’s Salary.”
“It’s difficult to be different. But that’s why people have gotten in financial trouble,” he says. “They want to be like someone else. Even though, behind closed doors, that someone might be up to their eyeballs in debt.”
Remember, real friends want the best for you. “In a real friendship relationship, pressure to spend as much money or spend it in the same way should not be an issue,” says Jan Yager, Ph.D., friendship coach and author of “When Friendship Hurts: How to Deal With Friends Who Betray, Abandon or Wound You.”
So you can say “no” and (probably) keep your friends. Here’s how.
The gang from work goes out to lunch every day.
Why you want to go: It’s a great stress reliever and a way to bond with your co-workers. “Going out to lunch is fun and people like to do it,” Kofke says.
Why going will make you go broke: Even if you keep it cheap at $5 a day, that’s still $1,300 a year. That money could fund your IRA or 401(k), make a dent in your debt or go toward an emergency fund.
Tough choice: Giving it up completely may make you feel deprived.
Instead, try these ideas: Save lunch out for Fridays, Kofke says. That cuts your expenses by 80 percent and gives you something to look forward to. For a similar savings, go every day but tell the gang: “I’m going to bring a brown bag. I’d love to join you and just have a Coke,” he says. That second option requires discretion — don’t flaunt your brown bag at the restaurant. Or eat your sandwich at the office first and then go enjoy your soda with the gang.
Dinner out
Your book club, your best friend, your kids’ sports team — everyone you know wants to make it a habit to eat at a pricey restaurant — and they can afford it.
Why you want to go: You’re building camaraderie.
Why going will make you broke: Sometimes even your share of a pizza is beyond the budget. And don’t even get started on people who don’t chip in their share.
Tough choice: You don’t want to be the party pooper by opting out.
Instead: “Tell your friends, ‘I know you make a lot of money and I’m happy for you,'” Kofke says. “‘I don’t make as much and I’m not going to be able to do these expensive things. How about once a month at my house?'” And make it a potluck.
Your neighbor just booked an expensive cruise. Or your pals from college want to go in on a condo at a pricey resort.
Why you want to go: You deserve a break, too.
Why you can’t afford it: Your credit cards are already maxed out. Or you just paid them off and don’t want to go back into the red zone.
Tough choice: You really, really need a break.
Instead: Suggest a more affordable option or location if you’re traveling with friends.
If you’re just envious of the neighbors’ plans, “get in touch with the positive feeling of going on a vacation but doing it in moderation,” Yager says. “Instead of mirroring that casual friend’s expensive choice, find a more affordable alternative. The goal is the same: achieving a family vacation. But you’ll get it without the financial hardship that might make it hard to enjoy the more expensive vacation.”
Driven to debt
Your 4-year-old sedan was just fine until the neighbors drove home in a shiny red sports car, a gas-sipping hybrid or fancy SUV. Suddenly your car looks old and clunky.
Why you want a new car: For many of us, our image and our cars are inextricably linked.
Why you can’t afford it: A new car selling for $28,800 loses $17,280 of its value in the first four years, Kofke says.
Tough choice: Obviously, you don’t want to drive a car that’s unsafe. But is your car unsafe or just — in your mind — uncool?
Instead: Do the math. “It’s sobering to realize that if you buy a brand-new car, you lose almost $400 a month in depreciation for the first four years,” Kofke says. “That’s like every single week throwing a $100 bill out the window.” Instead of buying a new car, maintain the one you have and keep it clean, he says.
Calling the poorhouse
Your budget is tight. You’re not eating out. You’re living on ramen noodles at home. You’re racking up credit card debt. So what’s up with the bells-and-whistles cellphone with the pricy monthly plan?
“Ten years ago, people didn’t have this psychology of needing to be constantly connected,” Kofke says. “A lot of people claim they don’t have any money but they have high-dollar cellphones.”
Why you want it: You can get directions. You can find the nearest Chinese restaurant. You can let your friends know you’re running late. You don’t want to miss the latest text or tweet.
Why you can’t afford it: Remember, you have a tight budget, Ramen noodles on the menu and growing credit card debt.
Tough choice: You might need a phone in an emergency.
Instead: Try a pay-as-you-go cellphone. That’s what Kofke has. “We don’t feel we have to be constantly connected, but it’s available. If people know who you are and have your home phone number, they’ll get in touch if they need to.”
Last resort: Make new friends
True friends don’t expect you to abandon your values and spend a lot of money frivolously. “Friends care and understand about their friends’ financial challenges — whether they suddenly find themselves with a big bonus from work or out of a job and having to make spending cuts,” says Yager.
Learning to say the words “We can’t afford it” without wincing or shame is a start, Yager says. “But the other statement that should follow is just as important: ‘But we can afford X, Y or Z.'”
If fair-weather friends won’t accommodate your frugal lifestyle, make new friends with similar budgets, she suggests.
“In sociology we call it the reference group theory,” Yager says. “People judge themselves by the group they are a part of. So if a group is making someone feel less-than-successful because they do not have the financial ability to keep up with that friend, then re-evaluate if that is the right group to be in.”
Who cares about what other people think? If you think independently, you’ll have the rich satisfaction of knowing your finances are in good shape. Check out these Bankrate stories on maintaining a frugal lifestyle.
7 retail secrets to know
Budget essentials
Fight frugality fatigue
Retail secrets revealed
Curb impulse buying
7 bad financial choices from ‘Breaking Bad’
Video: Frugalize your utilities
Video: Travel and credit cards
Saving on appliances
Book the best hotel deals
You found a $20 bill — now what?
6 ways conventional wisdom wastes money
5 little cuts for big savings
5 dumb ways to spend money on your kids
5 ways to cut the cost of working | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413350 |
__label__cc | 0.737308 | 0.262692 | Home»Crawl Space Repair
Crawl Space Repair with CleanSpace® Encapsulation System in Montreal, Quebec City, Laval
A dirt, vented or unconditioned concrete crawl space under a home is a very bad idea. The earth has very high humidity in the soil, and this water vapor moves easily into the crawl space and upwards into the house environment.
Damp environments are unhealthy and destructive, creating a place where mold thrives and spreads by producing millions of airborne spores, even though only a rare few of are toxic. Heating and cooling costs are also higher, especially if you have a vented, dirt crawl space. Insects and critters of all kinds love damp environments and wet materials, and rot and decay occur in damp environments and cause structural damage.
The natural airflow in a house is from bottom to top. This sucks the moist air and everything in it up into the living areas of the home. Mold spores, odors, humidity and critters create a very unhealthy environment for people. Many people are allergic to these things and experience a host of symptoms and don't realize that their dirt crawl space is affecting their health.
Now there is a solution to dirt crawl spaces – The CleanSpace® System - developed by Basement Systems, the world leader in dry basement and crawl space technology.
Cracked Foundation Wall in Cornwall, Ontario
This client contacted us initially to fix his humidity problem in his crawlspace, but while we were there, we noticed that there was a very large crack in the foundation wall of the crawl space.
We fixed this issue by installing the PowerBrace system. It consists of zinc coated beams and components. PowerBraces utilize a joist reinforcement that distributes the load evenly. The crawl space is now stable and sealed.
Encapsulation and waterproofing of a crawl space in Godmanchester, Qc
We have transformed this crawl space in Godmanchester, Qc so that it is no longer wet - We encapsulated it all with our CleanSpace vapor barrier membrane and waterproofed everything by installing a SmartSump sump pump system.
At Systèmes Sous-sol Québec, we install only the best sump pump systems available anywhere in the province of Quebec. We have an answer to clogging sump pumps, power failures, torrential rainfall, and much more!
We are happy to have been able to solve these problems in the crawl space. For a free estimate, do not hesitate to contact us!
Encapsulation of a wet crawl space in Saint-Anicet.
Mr. Tessier contacted us for a free evaluation to encapsulate his crawl space. There was already insulation, but it was not made with products designed especially for crawl space.
Our specialist Sam went to Saint-Anicet to give this advice and make this submission.
He recommended the installation of our CleanSpace crawl space waterproofing membrane and the SmartDrain drain that will capture the infiltration of water from the earth. All of this is connected to the Sanidry Sedona dehumidification and air purification system. This area is finally dry and clean and contributes to the circulation of clean air throughout the house.
By George W.
Long Sault, ON
"I live in Long Sault Ontario, I was getting the run around with the..."
I live in Long Sault Ontario, I was getting the run around with the contractors in Ontario so I decided to get the work done by Systemes Sous-Sol. The workers did an excellent job, I couldn't ask for a better job. Systemes Sous-Sol always kept me updated and they did the job on time and at a reasonable cost. Super Happy customer!!!
By Magdalena S.
Bainsville, ON
"I have already recommended your company to friends"
I have already recommended your company to friends
By Mark R.
Notre-Dame-De-L'Ile-Perrot, QC
"This was our second job, we are considering others...good work"
This was our second job, we are considering others...good work
By Wayne R.
Notre-Dame-de-L'Ile, QC
"Presentation and confidence in materials used"
Presentation and confidence in materials used
By Anabela M.
Pierrefonds, QC
"Your crew was very good, dedicated personal. The sales people in office..."
Your crew was very good, dedicated personal. The sales people in office and Peter came to our house. Very informative, thanks.
Systèmes Sous-sol Québec installs the CleanSpace® crawl space encapsulation system in cities of Quebec like: Valleyfield, Saint-Constant, Chambly, Saint-Luc, Granby, Terrebonne, Repentigny, Lachenaie, Laval, Longueuil, Saint-Hyacinthe, Sainte-Julie.
Welcome to the episode two of the All Things "Basementy"! Video series. In this episode, Larry Janesky,... Watch Video
The CleanSpace® Crawl Space Encapsulation System
The CleanSpace® system completely isolates your home from the earth, dramatically reducing the humidity level in the air. Lower humidity levels reduce or, in some cases, eliminate mold growth, rot, and critters from your crawl space, making the entire house healthier.
The liner is a heavy 20-mil-thick material, similar to a pool liner. It is manufactured in seven layers – a blend of high-density polyethylene, low-density polyethylene, and two layers of polyester-cord reinforcement. It is blue on one side and white on the other. The bright white finished side really brightens a crawl space with the available lighting and allows you to easily see that your crawl space is free of mold, insects, and dirt. The CleanSpace® liner is tough enough for you to crawl on it and use your crawl space for storage. Service people can crawl on it without worry of putting holes or tears in the liner. The liner completely stops moisture penetration.
South Glengarry
South Stormont
Mulgrave-et-derry
Systèmes Sous-sol Québec | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413356 |
__label__wiki | 0.515925 | 0.515925 | Bass Coast Post
Home Nov 22
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Next on the wish list
With our new high school and a hospital upgrade ticked off, Cr Clare Le Serve believes our next objective should be a rail service to Lang Lang.
WITH the state election just six months away, several people have asked me whether I intend to stand again. In the 2014 election, I stood as an independent to try and make the seat more marginal. Bass has been a safe Liberal seat for so long that our needs were being ignored by both major parties.
We (I say “we” because without the effort from the community it would have been impossible to fight the two major parties) managed to turn that around at the last election with the Liberal primary vote falling by 10 per cent, which equalled my vote. It meant the Liberal candidate Brian Paynter had to go to preferences to win.
I’ve heard it said that we are being treated much better by the current government because the seat of Bass is now anyone’s to win.
Clearly we’ve been heard in Spring Street but we don’t want to fall into a safe seat again no matter who’s in power because we still have many issues to solve.
I’m still considering the options, including standing for the Upper House on a policy of improving public transport in eastern Victoria. I will stand again if I can see some advantage to the community. If I do, Bass Coast Post readers will be the first to know!
Meanwhile, what an amazing turnaround for our shire in a short time: work has started on a new high school in Wonthaggi, we’ve been promised a major upgrade of our hospital and last month the new Phillip Island health hub opened.
Suddenly we’re seeing the fruition of a lot of hard work over many years. It also shows how important the selection of a new CEO by the previous council was. Every council has pressing needs and worthy projects. We had been patient for far too long. It was time for a more aggressive approach to get what we deserve.
We now have a new team with a fresh approach and a CEO who can knock on doors in Spring Street. We have an advocacy policy and shovel-ready projects. We can go and say this is what we want and we have costed it and this is how much we have to contribute.
The south eastern suburbs are bulging … Bass Coast is next. The growth we’re looking at in the next 20 years is phenomenal. We have to prepare for it and advocate for services we’re going to need.
We’ve been advocating to the State Government for schools and hospitals. To my mind the next step has to be better public transport between Bass Coast and the city. That constant drive on the Monash is wearing for all of us. Bus services are much better than they were but it’s a slow tedious journey.
We have to start looking at train services. We probably won’t ever get them back to Wonthaggi but we need to push to get a train to Lang Lang that could serve Phillip Island, the Waterline communities, Wonthaggi and Inverloch, and South Gippsland.
One of Casey City Council’s top priorities is extending the metro rail line to Clyde to serve the vast new estates, so a further extension to Koo Wee Rup and then Lang Lang is not out of the question.
The opening of the Bass Valley Children’s Centre was a particular highlight for me because this was one of my main aims when I stood for the council in 2012.
As a grandmother, I saw many young families in the Waterline area struggling with the need for long day care and vocational care. I had seen this in my own family over the years and here we were in 2012 and they still faced the challenges of trying to return to work or education when we had no child care other than occasional care at the Bass Valley Community Centre.
The young mums set up a committee. The council at the time told them they had to raise $70,000. People told us it would take 10 years or more. Or even that it would never happen!
They raised $107,000 in a short period of time. If they saw a young mum in the street, they’d ask her to join the group. A lot of them were new young mums who have moved down to the area for more affordable property prices and who really didn’t know anyone. A lot of them had skill sets and they soon had connections.
In the end the children's centre was a combined effort - council, community and the committee of young mums.
It was exciting to work with a group like that. That process taught them what they can achieve. These young women are the emerging leaders who will fight for their community.
That’s what it’s all about. Growing up in Melbourne you’re told not to talk to strangers. When I came to Bass I found you do the opposite. I haven’t shut up since!
The other day I drove from the Eastern fringe of the Clyde development to Koo Wee Rup and it is now only 15km away. Melbourne will be here within 10 years. Remember when, only 20 years ago, Cranbourne was a satellite town of Melbourne? A railroad to Koowie at least is on the cards. There just isn't enough room on the South Gippsland Highway and Monash Freeway these days for the increased traffic. And even just getting to the Monash from Lang Lang is a 30 minute drive.
Frank W Schooneveldt
Cr Le Serve,
I am so glad that you now realise that the Bass Coast is growing, is financially strong and therefore we need to put into place additional infrastructure to meet the needs of a growing Shire.
But is this growth that is now being enthusiastically talked about reflected in the Shire’s Budget forward estimates? If not why not?
Here's a radical idea. Unlike federal and state governments lets not saddle our kids with unrepayable debt based on wildly optimistic forward estimates of growth.
Kevin Chambers
Well spoken Clare..
As much sense as it may seem to make,but I cant see the train line ever coming past Clyde..
It would be just far too expensive to do it especially with the technology required to make it work by the time it would be necessary. EG Look at how the decrepit existing signalling system slows down the existing Metro System.....
And as you proved in the last election, are there enough marginal seats between "Cranny" and Lang Lang to get the pollies attention?? Otherwise "aint nuthin gunna happen".
Stand for the Upper House???, Goodness me Clare wasn't one time enough for you and your family.??..
But more power to your "pen" if you do, for as you know in this, (moved to Melbourne house), we've nearly run out of using your 2014" how to votes" as scribble paper!!!.....
Kev Chambers
Phyllis Papps
Cr. Clare Le Serve needs to be congratulated for having the guts and for standing as an Independent in the 2014 State Govt. elections.
She achieved a 10% vote against three major candidates. The Liberal/Coalition candidate had to go to preferences to win the seat; the ALP candidate (who was very new to the Electorate); and the Greens candidate. But I should add that their Political Party paid for all, or most of their expenses, publicity and promotion.
But what Cr Le Serve achieved was to make sure that the Bass Coast Electorate is no longer a 'Blue ribbon' safe seat. That's why the 'money is pouring in' now in terms of grants by the State Govt. FINALLY the needs of this Electorate are being taken very seriously after all these decades.
AND it certainly will be taken seriously by voters this time in November 2018 at the forthcoming State Govt. elections.
As for Cr. Le Serve's future state policy platform regarding lack of public transport in the South/East Gippsland region, I believe she has the support of many, many thousands and thousands of frustrated residents, Rate payers and holiday home owners (irrespective of age).
Thanks Cr Le Clare & BCP, I want to be optimistic about public transport improvements & hope the rail can extend to Lang Lang. As a side point (experienced yesterday), the vline bus seems pretty expensive nowadays, ~$53 rtn for my partner & I, & a 6-hr roundtrip, making the car less resistable.
p.s. apologies, that’s $66.40 return, not $53
Melissa Hayes
Highly in favour of improving public transport and a train to Lang Lang. Council has an opportunity to unite with City of Casey who are lobbying hard now to get a train service to Clyde.
Commute times are a barrier for people living in Bass Shire travelling for work, and a burden on families. Hence I'm up at 5am writing this! Go Clare.
Totally agree with a train service to Koo Wee Rup then Lang Lang and eventually Anderson in a staged approach as growth warrants it but would need to be a Vline service (express on metro stops) not an extended Metro service (stopping all stations) to ensure time efficiency gains on a trip to Melbourne. An extended train line into South Gippsland could be the catalyst for much needed improved weekend and later night service options to and from Melbourne for South Gippsland.
Clare Le Serve
I would like to take this opportunity to thank those people who have left comments. The need for better Public Transport has been an interesting topic of debate with varying opinions. It will be a conversation that I say, we must continue to have. Regards Clare | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413357 |
__label__cc | 0.738814 | 0.261186 | Results 21 - 30 of 456 for Antennae
New Method Using Nano-Antennas Helps Control Light Propagation in Waveguides
A method to control the propagation of light in confined pathways, or waveguides, has been developed by a team of Columbia Engineering researchers headed by Applied Physics Assistant Professor...
Reprogrammable Origami Tubes May Provide Foundation for Antennas, Microfluidic Devices
News - 28 Jan 2016
Origami, the ancient art of paper folding, may soon provide a foundation for antennas that can reconfigure themselves to operate at different frequencies, microfluidic devices whose properties can...
Applied Nanotech Tests Ballistic, Blast-Resistant Armor Panels with Printed Electronic Antennas
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__label__cc | 0.730847 | 0.269153 | @b92english
Women refugees
Off The Air
"It seems to me that the US has no new initiative for the Balkans at all"
BERLIN -- DPC Senior Associate in Berlin, Bodo Weber, believes that contrary to the appointment of two delegates for the Balkans, America does not have a clear vision
Source: Tanjug Monday, 25.11.2019. | 12:20
Close the entire text of the article here
Ilustracija: Depositphotos/ believeinme
According to Bodo Weber, Senior Associate at Democratization Policy Council from Berlin, the appointment of Richard Grenell as the White House Special Envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue does not mean much stronger US involvement in the coming period to resolve the Kosovo issue.
"In Kosovo, Serbia and the region, the appointment of two special envoys, one Matthew Palmer for the Western Balkans and the other Richard Grenell for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, has been interpreted as a new engagement and that this has put the US administration's focus on the Western Balkans", Weber said for TV show "Freely in Serbian".
However, Weber says that his interpretation of this fact is quite opposite to this.
"The very fact that two special envoys have been appointed in parallel, in an uncoordinated way, Matthew Palmer, not as a Western Balkans representative, not from the Trump administration but only from the State Department, and Richard Grenell from the Trump's White House, in my opinion is a sign that the attention of the US Administration lessens compared to the previous years. This is more like a sign that they no longer have a new initiative", he said.
Weber believes that Grenell, who is also the current US Ambassador to Germany, has imposed himself as a US Presidential Envoy.
"I have no evidence, but I suspect that Grenell has, on his own initiative, asked Trump to give him this important role, which would perhaps push him forward in his career, if he is the one to initiate the agreement, but I don't see a greater involvement of the United States than before. On the contrary, I do not believe that Grenell possesses that kind of expertise and understanding that would allow him to play more significant role. Quite to the contrary, I see that we will have a unity of the European Union that we did not have at the time of (Federica) Mogherini", Weber concluded.
In his view, the policy of the former EU administration on Kosovo was immensely irresponsible.
"European policy was completely privatized by Federica Mogherini and her team of four to five people. This is unique in the history of the common foreign and security policy of the EU, which hasn't got a long tradition, that the negotiation process was fully privatized by the top High Representative in charge of that policy”, Weber assessed.
Make Serbia Great......what a load of hot air from you. Read the following........
Nobody is saying Sadam, Gaddafi, etc, were nice people. And for sure they were guilty of some dreadful things. However, you can't be serious that things are better now after US involvment??? Far more deaths, poverty, terrorism, etc, since America gave them "freedom". And the Americans did not go in for some human rights, democracy, blah, blah, blah. No, they went in for their own interests. Didn't Hilary Clinton say that Iraq was a "great business opportunity" for American.
And if you think the Yanks go in to murder world leaders for the good of the people then explain why they uphold that beacon of democracy called Saudi Arabia??? How is it that they supported Pinochet in Chile? Pinochet was a right wing dictator who tortured and murdered countless number of Chileans.
Please google the speech from earlier this year; Jimmy Carter, AMERICA, THE MOST WARLIKE NATION IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD.
(View from the uk, 29 November 2019 17:53)
# Comment link
Recommend (+7)
Poor comment (-2)
You defend those who kidnap, torture, rape, and murder hundreds of thousand and millions of persons. A lover of murderers and hater of the human race...do you have a soul?
(Make Serbia Great, 29 November 2019 10:36)
My little Albo you are exceptionally dull to say the least but if you have to voice your uninformed opinion so be it LOL.
(sj, 29 November 2019 11:55)
Janey,
By whose narrative?
Your fairy tales of � murderous dictators � are as factual as your � weapons of mass destruction �.
The USA and its long line of murderous Presidents, backed by a military industrial complex, have sowed death and destruction from Vietnam, to Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Panama, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Cambodia, Cuba, Laos, Libya...irregardless of your fake bogeymen or fictitious weapons, and concocted fairytales.
(Zhukov, 27 November 2019 15:47)
Mao Jedong -- 27 million died in labor camps or prisons + 38 million died because of self-imposed famine
Stalin -- 20 million died because of his harsh rule
Saddam and the Ba'ath party -- 250,000 disappeared or murdered
N. Korea -- 2-3 million died during self-imposed famines in the 1990s
Assad -- 117,000 disappeared, the vast majority at the hands of the Assad regime
Zhukov,
Perhaps you should ask Uncle Vlad why is it that half the world�s population is willing to risk their lives to get in the USA to clean toilets for $15 per hour.
(Janey, 28 November 2019 03:18)
Because they don't know that's waiting for them.
Watching American sitcoms fools a lot of people of what life is really like there for the majority, especially the immigrants.
(Peggy, 29 November 2019 02:40)
That's because TV tells people how wonderful things are in the US. They see all those beautiful mansions and are told "and you too can have this if you work hard". Hollywood has been selling this BS for many decades, but when they get there and work for $7.50 an hour then it's not that glamorous. Most are from South America where the US has created hell holes and they think the US will give them the life they deserve.
Go to the US and see how well things are going. I was there in April this year. The numbers living on the streets in California, Florida or New York etc have grown substantially since I was there in 2017.
Janey......dear me, another naive simpleton.
In all honesty do tell us if the middle east is safer, more stable, wealthier, etc, since US involvment?
As for people wanting to come to America to "clean toilets", well, yes they do. Not because they want to but because the western powers have destroyed their economies, no jobs, no prospects, etc. And probably no toilets to clean.
Tell us how many deaths in Iraq since America gave them "freedom"?
Tell us just how well they enjoy US freedom in Libya today?
Read/watch John Perkins "Confessions of an Economic Hitman". Google his 25 minute talk on how the US destroys the worlds economies for their selfish benefits.
Lord, you are so naive and blind that you are making a fool of yourself.
I am happy to see that Mr. Weber has been reading the b92 forums. However, I would appreciate if he asked my consent before regurgitating what I�ve been saying all along.
Those that don't have the intellect or intestinal fortitude to put their point across end up posting using another person's name thinking it funny. Its not; it only makes you look even more stupid.
For all his babbling, Weber proudly announce that he has no evidence to support his rhetoric!
Milosevic, Kaddafi and Assad were murderous dictators.
If and when it comes to another face to face mtng. BELGRADE-PRISTINA rep Serbia must demonstrate leadership nor act as follower.
Out of sitting around the table it only matter to rep Serbia.
The others would be happy to extinct rep Serbia signature.
(Ljiljana, 27 November 2019 09:39)
Is it just a coincidence that Milosevic, Kaddafi and Assad were murderous dictators.
(British, 25 November 2019 21:13)
Serbia !
You must make the initiatives!
(Betsy Lalich, 25 November 2019 20:04)
Of course it doesn�t. The USA�s global theme to destabilize and conquer, witnessed in Yugoslavia, Libya, Syria, and other condemned corners of the globe, is on consistent with any positive �initiative� what so ever.
Haradinaj: I did not want the news to be conveyed to Vucic
Media: Washington appalled by Haradinaj's attempt to pay for meeting appointments
Haradinaj: Vucic demands 950 square kilometres of Kosovo territory
"Russia was prevented from doing what is necessary to solve Kosovo's problem"
Macron: I'll engage myself in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue
"We've waited for 24 hours; we'll know what to do"
Will Belgrade and Pristina reach a legally binding agreement by the end of 2019?
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__label__wiki | 0.55213 | 0.55213 | ← NYJ started sharp right guard saying
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__label__cc | 0.722454 | 0.277546 | Welcome Situated in the heart of Fetcham, the Bell is the hub of the community. Serving hearty, British food from lunch through to supper alongside a wide variety of beers, wines and spirits. Book Now
British, seasonal food Our Head Chef Paul loves to deliver British, nostalgic pub classics. Our menus are packed with fresh, seasonal ingredients; all of which can be perfectly paired with our wines or beers. Take a look what’s on our chefs table this week... Explore our menus
Upcoming events Our diary is packed with events of all kinds, from live music through to masterclasses. Our pub quiz takes place every Monday evening, we advise to book in advance to secure a table for you and your quiz team! Whats On
Private Hire The Bell is perfect for any occasion whether it be a family celebration, gathering of friends or community event. We have a beautiful patio available for hire along with two diverse inside spaces. Explore our spaces
Welcome to The Bell Fetcham
Emma and Team welcome you to The Bell, the hub of the community in Fetcham where guests become friends and neighbours. We’re a spacious, bright village pub graced by a stylish dining room. We pride ourselves on attentive hospitality, delicious freshly prepared nostalgic food, a wide variety of drinks and delivering the personal touch.
Head Chef Paul and his team strive to create a diverse seasonal British menu locally sourced to cater to all customer needs. Our Burger Shack takes pride of place on our patio serving up the best burgers in Fetcham.
The Bell is perfect for any occasion whether it be a family celebration, gathering of friends or community event. Every month, The Bell hosts live music and specially tailored events to showcase our amazing food and drinks.
Locally Sourced Menu
Whether your’e visiting for lunch or dinner, our menu will have something to suit everyone. Our Head Chef Paul has created delicious dishes to keep our menu fresh and seasonal using locally sourced produce. The Bell is a proud community pub serving pub classics, nostalgic dishes and indulgent desserts. Our kitchen is open for brunch, lunch and dinner.
The Bell is perfect for any occasion whether it be a family celebration, gathering of friends or community event. We have a beautiful patio available for hire along with two diverse inside spaces. We look forward to hosting your next celebration!
In Need Of A Monthly Date Night?
We have just the thing! If you didn’t know, we’re pretty famous for our events at The Bell. We host an event every month, and each month they get better and better. We have everything from gin tasting, wine masterclasses and even cake making. We have a variety of events in our pub diary, so check them out now!
Emma and her awesome team are proud to work at The Bell. Our amazing front of house staff and our talented back of house team strive to give you the best service day in day out. We have coffee masters, grape masters, hop masters and events planners within our mitts.
Head chef Paul and his team of chefs work hard to create seasonal British dishes daily from our best in season to our skippers catch. Pop into the restaurant where all our teams Polaroids pictures are hanging proudly!
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Great Mezza event night
Despite being local and a regular, I have not attended an event night but decided to try the Mezza evening with a friend. The canopy style food was so delicious and plentiful as was the refreshments! Met some new people and a really great evening for a very reasonable price. Will definitely be doing more.
Zsar1
Visited The Bell with family (4 adults and 1 toddler) on a Sunday. We booked in advance. Staff were really friendly and the food was delicious – especially the lamb. Car park was full so had to park just opposite but we had no problems with that. Would definitely recommend and will definitely be returning.
I had my birthday gathering at The Bell on Saturday, we had the room on the right which the pub had reserved for us.
The buffet was superb and nicely presented, all staff were very attentive, everyone said what a great evening and atmosphere…definitely would use this venue again without hesitation.
Mrs Bucket
We held our wedding reception at this venue.All we can say is vow
Nothing was too much. The food was more than we could of asked for. The staff were brilliant and we are so glad we held it there.
Our guests were more than pleased as we were. If we need a venue again would make the bell our first port of call
As we said excellent
Lisa & Steve
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__label__cc | 0.577031 | 0.422969 | Triumph show two factory-built specials
Among the new Tiger's and Bonnevilles on the Triumph stand at the Milan motorcycle show today stood two very special, factory-built bikes.
They were given a prime spot all of their own in the centre of the stand which leads us to believe that they weren't just an out-of-hours experiment. From the looks of the bikes and being up close to the bits that matter we can tell that clearly the R&D department have been let off the leash and given free rein to not only design but also create some interesting looking machinery.
They were certainly popular on the stand. Either that or there have been some recent late and alcohol-fuelled nights in Hinckley and if they are experimenting for potential new machinery in the future then we offer our full support and say, "thank you Triumph, please carry on!"
What do we know? Well, the two models can be identified as a bobber and a scrambler. The bobber’s stand-out feature is its reverse twin cylinder engine with distinctive twin exhaust pipes extending over then rear mudguard. The shock absorber built into the tank attaches the seat unit to its own subframe and seems to act as the bike’s sole form of suspension while the remainder of the components are bolted to the frame. A single-sided over-and-under swing arm and instruments built into the fuel tanks are more quirky design features of this very un-Triumph bike.
A spokesman said, "When they fired it up in the car park recently the team behind it were almost in tears".
The scrambler-style bike has a more conventional engine layout within its own bespoke frame. Nitron front forks lead up to a set of raised bars above the top yoke while an apparent LCD-looking display is tucked away in front and almost out of view. The bike has a Nitron rear shock, brown leather saddle with room for two, yet no pillion pegs, as well as a single-sided swing arm and stubby under-seat exhaust. Distinctive when close-up is the bikes' carbon-fibre covered fuel tank which has a Union Flag design beneath a transparent lacquer.
A Triumph spokesman was overheard saying, "We're considering taking it to Tridays next year and racing it!"
Bravo to Triumph for allowing creativity and putting their faith behind the designs and actually building them.
/bikesocial/news-and-views/news/archive/2014/november/triumph-show-two-factory-built-specials
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__label__wiki | 0.702756 | 0.702756 | Practice Teams
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Daniel Lampert
dlampert@bergersingerman.com
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Daniel Lampert's practice focuses on financing, securities, business, domestic and international transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, and aviation transactions. In securities transactions, Dan has represented clients ranging from major Wall Street underwriters and several public clients in IPOs and other offerings and placements, as well as numerous private placement and venture capital transactions.
Dan has participated in many mergers, acquisition and financing transactions, involving both public and private clients. He has also practiced extensively in bankruptcy matters, including extensive collaboration with the firm's Business Reorganization Team in transactional matters. In aviation matters, he has represented various commercial and private jet owners and financing entities in domestic and international transactions, including placing the first Boeing 757 aircraft into Latin America.
Mergers and Acquisitions:
Represented sellers in the successful investment bank led sale of franchised restaurants and related real estate.
Represented luxury audio visual services provider in a successful strategic sale.
Represented a 100+-store franchisee of a national quick-service restaurant chain in an investment bank-led sales process that generated aggregate sale proceeds of more than $200 million. The sales process encompassed multiple transactions with four unaffiliated sophisticated buyers, seven affiliated selling entities, a national franchisor with the power to block or influence the transaction, and assets located in multiple states, leading to a complex transaction negotiation and structure. Advised the client in connection with the marketing process, definitive agreements, and concurrent closings.
Represented Seitlin Insurance (Seitlin & Company and Seitlin Benefits Corporation) in its sale to Marsh & McLennan Agency. Seitlin Insurance, prior to its acquisition, was South Florida's largest privately held insurance brokerage firm and one of the Top 100 insurance brokers in the United States. Marsh & McLennan Agency is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, the world's largest insurance and consulting company. Advised Seitlin Insurance throughout the entire (marketing, letter of intent, definitive agreement and simultaneous signing and closing) sales process and on various corporate and corporate governance issues, including working closely with the Company's ESOP independent fiduciary, financial advisors and counsel.
Represented the owner of a manufacturer and worldwide distributor of HVAC and A/C equipment in an investment bank led process that resulted in a $36 million stock sale to a private equity group. Advised the client and worked with the investment bank in connection with the marketing process, term sheet, diligence, and definitive agreement, including coordination with international offices, to ensure a timely closing before tax rates increased.
Represented seller in $47 million sale of banana groves located in Guatemala to Chiquita Foods. The parties structured the transaction as a stock sale (but based on price and other economic terms more typical of an asset transfer), and included provisions for the seller to manage the groves for Chiquita's consent.
Represented seller in $45 million sale of tomato farms and processing plant to Monsanto Corp. The transaction also included significant earn out payments and negotiations over the accounting and other issues involved in operating and expanding the business sold to Monsanto as a separate unit, adjusting the earn out for potential additional capital investments and other matters.
Represented sellers of Dania Jai Alai in sale of stock to Boyd Gaming. The transaction included complex option, purchase agreement and regulatory issues, including negotiations before Florida's voters approved legislation to allow slot machine gaming at the facility, and after that election, following appellate court rulings questioning the election results. Despite that uncertainly, Berger Singerman succeeded in effecting a timely closing of the transaction.
Represented Farm Stores in $50 million tax-free merger and transaction involving Farm Stores' convenience stores operations and a public company acquisition vehicle. The transaction included complex management, financing and other arrangements to allow the public company to function as a separate unit after the Closing. The proceeds of the transaction financed a ownership transfer, requiring all facets of the complex transaction to conclude at once.
Represented regional oil and gas producer, in $100 million tax-free merger and in later $50 million taxable asset sale.
Represented major supplier of suntan products, in $17 million asset sale.
Represented roof engineering company in $40 million asset sale.
Represented the sellers of Equity Bank and Equitable Bank, in Florida in stock sales valued at $35 and $27 million.
Represented FirstService Corporation in acquiring a publicly held property management companies under earn out pricing arrangements. The transaction involved SEC proxy and other securities requirements and issues, which were complicated by the non pro rata pricing structure for the transaction. Berger Singerman responded to SEC comments on the proxy statement, and obtained clearance and approval for the transaction.
Represented the sellers of a $40 million captive insurance company.
Represented sellers of wholesale and retail divisions of Rolsafe Corporation.
Represented the purchasers of VR Business Brokers, a franchisor of business brokerages.
Represented the purchaser in the organization and purchase of a cruise ship company.
Represented management of a regional Internet hosting company in the sale of the company to a publicly-owned Internet company.
Represented one of the seller of dental practice management company in their $20 million asset sale to Beekman funds. The transaction involved two sellers with widely varying interests and agendas, and Berger Singerman succeeding in achieving a quick and timely sale for our client.
Represented frozen food company in a strategic purchase for $18 million
Represented the purchaser of the Bal Harbour Yacht Club for $30 million. The transaction was structured as tender offer for member interests in the Yacht Club, requiring purchase transaction documents with each Club member, and complicated financing and related arrangements.
Represented pharmacy and software company in a $40 million sale to a strategic buyer. The transaction required the negotiation of arrangements to redeem a minority equity holder prior to the transaction, under agreements that had to close at the same time as the strategic sale transaction. The transaction also included complicated arrangements for the sale of certain executive's personal good will, together with employment and earn out arrangements.
Represented private equity fund in successful acquisition and restructuring of $24 million of senior and subordinated debt obligations of major supplier of car wash systems with international operations; structured acquisition to maximize income tax benefits and realize significant value for client.
Reorganization/Bankruptcy Transactions:
Represented one of the largest independent executive jet dealers in a successful out of court restructuring of more than $500 million of secured debt on aircraft.
Represented the successful plan proponent in a series of reorganization transactions for the largest hotel in Pittsburgh that included our client's acquisition of all the equity in the debtor. These transactions included: (a) restructuring the hotel's senior secured financing under BlackRock Capital's $49.6 million loan, (b) negotiating and implementing a new Franchise Agreement followed by a Hotel Management Agreement with Wyndham Hotels, (c) consummating $8 million of additional financing from Wyndham, secured by the Hotel's equity, (d) placing up to $11 million in junior mortgage financing from our client as Plan Proponent, and (e) resolving other secured and unsecured claims.
Represented Gulfstream International Group and its affiliates in connection with its bankruptcy reorganization, including pre-petition negotiations and agreements for aircraft and engine lease arrangements, debtor-in-possession financing, and ultimately, the sale of the going concern pursuant to a contested auction under Section 363. These transactions involved more than a $50 million of debt and other obligations.
Represented Havens Steel Company, in the bankruptcy sale of its controlling joint venture interest in steel manufacturing plants in China.
Represented Aloha Airlines and affiliates in their Debtor-In-Possession financing from Cerberus and Goldman Sachs and their bankruptcy sale to Yucaipa investment funds.
Represented Corvest, Inc., in connection with its bankruptcy sale of substantially all of its assets to Cerberus.
Represented Pharmed Corporation and affiliates in their sale of substantially all their assets.
Represented jet charter company in purchase of Pacific Jet from bankruptcy.
Represented Venezuelan purchaser of four gas turbines in a $48 million bankruptcy sale by Calpine.
Represented The SCO Group, Inc., (owner of the UNIX computer server operating system) in its bankruptcy transactions with York Capital, Steven Norris Capital Partners, and unXis, Inc.
Represented offshore purchaser of the assets of Tower.com website business in bankruptcy transaction.
Represented Bellsouth as major creditor in connection with the sale of the assets of Supra Telecom to HIG.
Represented Piccadilly Cafeterias, Inc, in its bankruptcy sale of substantially all of its assets.
Represented radio broadcasting company in $80 million loan workout.
Represented computer software company in $300 million workout.
Represented luxury product dealer in $550 million workout.
Represented dairy companies in connection with $100 million loan work out and restructuring.
Represented real estate developer in $120 million workout.
Represented Piper Aircraft in $100 million sale of assets from bankruptcy; and the Piper Aircraft Irrevocable Trust, organized to pay future claims.
Represented Fine Air in $53 million asset sale.
Represented CHS (2nd largest international (non-US) computer distributor in the world) in $32 million sale of assets from bankruptcy.
Represented the seller of an asphalt refinery business in Texas to a major private equity buyer for total consideration exceeding $100 million. Successfully navigated and counseled the client and transaction through complicated negotiations and legal considerations ranging from the private equity buyer’s financing arrangements to the bankruptcy process in which the assets were marketed and sold. Worked with the private equity buyer’s New York counsel, Kaye Scholer, to structure a letter of intent to commence the bankruptcy sale process, including debtor in possession financing and complex and limited exclusivity arrangements, Hart-Scott-Rodino filings, and challenging environmental and title issues. Negotiated the definitive transaction documents and coordinated local counsel’s involvement from the letter of intent through closing and adversarial post-closing matters.
Aviation Transactions:
Represented Piper Aircraft, the leading manufacturer of general aviation aircraft in the United States, in all general corporate and business matters during Piper's 4 year reorganization proceedings, culminating in a $100 million sale of assets from bankruptcy; and the Piper Aircraft Irrevocable Trust, organized to pay future claims. Including in connection with Piper’s out-of-court workout (2003), secured debt restructuring (2005), and sale to foreign interests (2009).
Represented Southern Air, Inc in connection with all matters arising after its 2013 bankruptcy reorganization through its highly successful sale to Atlas Air, including (a) 777 and 737 transactions with its major customer, DHL involving aircraft with aggregate value exceeding $500,000,000, (b) its successful $90 million debt for preferred equity swap, (c) its acquisition of Florida West Airlines, and (d) numerous transactions involving the lease, transfer, lease termination, and financing of aircraft and other business operations.
Represented a jet charter company in the purchase of a 135 operator, Pacific Jet.
Represented Skylink Aviation, an aviation services company, in connection with various matters including its acquisition of a 135 operator.
Represented the manufacturer of Cirrus aircraft in connection with corporate and aviation matters.
Represented Avensa, then the largest private Venezuelan airline, in several aircraft purchase, sale, lease and financing transactions, including the first 757 placed into service in Latin America.
Represented lessors and other parties financing commercial jet aircraft transactions with various airlines, including Aero Mexico, in connection with financing and other transactions.
Represented DHL Aviation, in connection with several cargo jet and jet engine transactions.
Represented GPA Aviation in connection with Latin American commercial jet transactions.
Represented many participants in all aspects of the private aviation market, including purchase, sale, finance and lease transactions with the manufacturers and within the secondary market, charter operations including establishing contractual arrangements for charter operations, and purchase, sale and financing of FBOs and Part 135 operators, aircraft management arrangements, aircraft brokerage, fractional ownership programs and all other private aviation activities and transactions.
Represented international cargo and passenger airlines in connection with their sale to strategic buyers
The M&A Advisor 2011 Turnaround Award Winner, Industrial Manufacturing/Distribution for Protective Products of America
Florida Trend, Legal Elite, Business Law, 2006, 2007, 2009
The South Florida Legal Guide, Top Lawyers, Corporate, Securities and Mergers and Acquisitions, 2007-2014, 2016-2019
Florida's Super Lawyers, 2007, 2014-2015
Miami Review, Deal of the Year Award, 2007
Martindale-Hubbell, AV® Preeminent™ rated
Community Activities / Associations
Writing Program Mentor, Posse Miami
Member, Association for Corporate Growth
Member, Business Law Section of The Florida Bar Association
Prior Affiliations
Stroock & Stroock & Lavan
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
Twenty-one Berger Singerman Attorneys Listed in South Florida Legal Guide as Top Attorneys
South Florida Legal Guide Names 21 Berger Singerman Attorneys as Top Lawyers
Berger Singerman Guides Cargo Airline From Bankruptcy to Sale
Atlas Air Worldwide Acquires Southern Air
Business, Finance & Tax
Distressed M&A and Restructuring
Securities & Capital Markets
J.D., New York University School of Law
Undergraduate, Cornell University
Terms and Conditions of Use/Privacy Policy
© 2020 Berger Singerman LLP All rights reserved. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
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__label__cc | 0.695866 | 0.304134 | BCD Meetings & Events Extends Global Partner Network to Increase Reach and Local Service
Thirteen partner markets including Colombia, Russia and Vietnam added
CHICAGO – February 4, 2016 – BCD Meetings & Events (BCD M&E) increased its global presence by adding 13 partner markets to expand its Global Partner Network and better serve customers needing global scope with local delivery.
The Global Partner Network extends BCD M&E’s reach in 2016 through well-established, expert meetings & events companies around the world which supplement its wholly-owned locations. Recently signed markets include Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Russia, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Romania, Poland, Greece, South Africa and Colombia. These companies are industry leaders in their individual markets and bring specific local expertise to customers needing the leverage and accessibility of a global agency but the customization and expertise in local markets and nuances such as VAT, pricing and legal specifics.
“There is only so much organic growth that can happen at the pace we need to expand,” said Scott Graf, Global President of BCD M&E. “When looking to grow specific markets, we make a strategic decision to either expand our wholly-owned operations or partner with best-in-class local businesses to serve our customers’ specific needs.”
BCD M&E employs a stringent qualification process to ensure its partners understand and adhere to the quality of service that it delivers to customers. Target markets are largely driven by customer demand, and BCD M&E plans to continue its Global Partner Network expansion in key markets throughout the world in 2016.
“There are advantages when partnering with organizations that know the regional and cultural nuances of doing business in certain markets,” said Graf. “We believe that they will help us provide superior, localized service. They, in return, have the benefit of working under a recognized, global brand with extensive resources and expertise.”
“Colombia continues to be a very attractive business center due to its growing economy, its strategic geographical position in the Americas and the vitality that foreign direct investment maintains,” said Andres Mongui Vera, President, BCD M&E Colombia. “For us, becoming a member of BCD M&E is more than joining a leader network. It is a very important and significant step in our pursuit of developing new business strategies that will better position us in the rising industry.” | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413373 |
__label__cc | 0.592553 | 0.407447 | Legend Channel Wins Deal for Sale of Nine Harmonizer Power Management Systems
Company Profile | Follow Company
Burnaby, BC, May 18, 2018--(T-Net)--Legend Power Systems Inc. (TSXV:LPS), a global leader in voltage reduction and management technology, announced today the purchase of nine Harmonizer systems by channel sales partner Haven Consultants International.
Haven has now purchased fifteen Harmonizers from Legend during the last three years for a broad spectrum of clients in eastern Canada.
Of the nine systems purchased, six are destined for a post-secondary learning institution in the Province of New Brunswick. One system was purchased by an airport, and two were purchased by K-12 schools. System installations will be handled directly by Haven.
"Our distribution relationship with Legend Power is a key differentiator and an important competitive advantage for my business," said Michael Parry, President of Haven Consultants. "Legend's unique voltage management solution creates a new business stream without any additional operating costs while offering considerable value to our clients in their quest to save energy and its related costs. We have sold many Harmonizer systems as a Legend distributor and look forward to a long future offering voltage management to our customers."
"Haven was one of the first companies to join the Legend partner network, and Michael Parry has been wonderful to work with," remarked Randy Buchamer, CEO of Legend Power. "Our turn-key training and distributor support processes were largely designed with Haven in mind. They continue to gain traction in the Atlantic Canada region with a variety of customer types ranging from education to municipal facilities. We are very pleased with this long-term distributor relationship and look forward to helping Haven grow substantially in the years to come."
Legend Power offers its voltage management solution using a combination of direct and distribution sales. The Company is actively expanding its distribution network in targeted regions with companies looking to offer unique energy efficiency solutions that compliment their established business model.
About Legend Power Systems Inc.
Legend Power Systems Inc. (www.legendpower.com) is changing the way buildings around the world use power. The company's patented and proprietary technology reduces overvoltage, a natural condition present in power grids around the world. Overvoltage inflates energy costs, damages electrical equipment, and increases the negative impact a building has on the environment. Legend's utility-proven Harmonizer improves the power efficiency of an entire building to reduce total energy consumption and power costs, while maximizing equipment life. The solution provides customers risk free energy savings, improves the value of their physical assets, and enhances their sustainability efforts. As an application with demand side benefits, Legend is also a key contributor toward utility conservation goals. In 2015 Legend was recognized as the top performing cleantech company on the TSX Venture Exchange.
Randy Buchamer, CEO and President
rbuchamer@legendpower.com
Sean Peasgood, Investor Relations
sean@sophiccapital.com
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This Press Release may contain statements which constitute "forward-looking information", including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Company, its directors, or its officers with respect to the future business activities and operating performance of the Company. The words "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements.
Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future business activities or performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that the Company's future business activities may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Such risks, uncertainties and factors are described in the periodic filings with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities, including the Company's quarterly and annual Management's Discussion & Analysis, which may be viewed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although the Company has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results not be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements other than as may be required by applicable law.
Legend Power
Burnaby (CleanTech & Energy)
10-19 Employees In BC (10-19 Employees Total)
Legend Power Systems Inc. is a Canadian company that developed, manufactures and markets a device that saves electrical energy, guaranteed.
1 - 3 of 60 Results New Search
Legend Power Announces Enhancement to Its SmartGATE Platform to Allow Compact & Affordable 'Voltage Boost Capability' for Commercial Buildings
Legend Power Systems Introduces SmartGATE Insights
Legend Power Systems' Enhanced SmartGATE Platform Transforms the Electrical Room
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Burnaby, BC (CleanTech & Energy Tech) | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413374 |
__label__cc | 0.632906 | 0.367094 | Sierra Wireless Demonstrates Next-Generation Intelligent Edge Technology for Smart Grids at DistribuTECH 2019
Company Profile | Careers | Follow Company
Sierra Wireless leads collaboration to commercialize the containerization of applications on edge LTE routers to enable a more resilient, efficient and secure smart grid
Richmond, BC, February 6, 2019--(T-Net)--Sierra Wireless (NASDAQ: SWIR) (TSX: SW), a leading provider of integrated device-to-cloud solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT), along with Duke Energy and Open Energy Solutions (OES) today announced they have developed a next-generation intelligent edge platform to run more complex, centrally managed and containerized edge applications.
This ratified architecture, which enables more resilient, efficient and secure smart grids, will be demonstrated at DistribuTECH 2019, Feb. 5-7, in Sierra Wireless' booth #719.
The robust edge platform leverages Sierra Wireless AirLink® cellular gateways and pioneering work by the Duke Energy Emerging Technology Office (ETO) on the Open Field Message Bus (OpenFMB) standard to provide more decision-making capabilities at the edge, interoperability between the various smart grid elements and faster decision making.
Dr. Stuart Laval, Director of Technology, Duke Energy, said, "Sierra Wireless has been a valued partner to Duke Energy for many years, providing critical connectivity and leading IoT grid communication technology. This joint collaboration will leverage a ratified, robust networking platform with faster edge processing capabilities to enable next-generation applications, including advanced distribution automation and Distributed Energy Resources (DER) integration that are key to delivering on the future of smart grids."
Sierra Wireless, Inc. is hiring.
View their Open Jobs
Sierra Wireless AirLink gateways and operating software provide the critical, secure LTE networking and edge processing capabilities required to securely deploy, connect and manage third party applications for the grid.
The Sierra Wireless platform is based on open standards, enabling more application and grid solution providers to deploy a variety of innovative solutions using AirLink gateways that help utilities manage the smart grids of the future by:
Enhancing situational awareness for faster response times and service restoration;
Integrating Distributed Energy Resource (DER) and Microgrids more efficiently; and
Improving security and interoperability for existing grid equipment and infrastructure.
Tom Mueller, Vice President, Product Line Management, Sierra Wireless, said, "The distributed grids of the future will rely on intelligent edge processing to provide uninterrupted service, while bridging old and new technologies. As the leading provider of gateways to the energy sector, we're excited to build on our track record with Duke Energy of delivering new technologies that improve grid operations."
For more information about Sierra Wireless AirLink gateways, routers and management services, visit:
https://www.sierrawireless.com/products-and-solutions/routers-gateways/.
About Sierra Wireless
Sierra Wireless (NASDAQ: SWIR) (TSX: SW) is an IoT pioneer, empowering businesses and industries to transform and thrive in the connected economy. Customers Start with Sierra because we offer a device to cloud solution, comprised of embedded and networking solutions seamlessly integrated with our secure cloud and connectivity services. OEMs and enterprises worldwide rely on our expertise in delivering fully integrated solutions to reduce complexity, turn data into intelligence and get their connected products and services to market faster. Sierra Wireless has more than 1,300 employees globally and operates R&D centers in North America, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.sierrawireless.com.
"Sierra Wireless" and "AirVantage" are registered trademarks of Sierra Wireless. Other product or service names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, plans and timing for the introduction or enhancement of our services and products, statements about future market conditions, supply conditions, channel and end customer demand conditions, revenues, gross margins, operating expenses, profits, and other expectations, intentions, and plans contained in this press release that are not historical fact. Our expectations regarding future revenues and earnings depend in part upon our ability to successfully develop, manufacture, and supply products that we do not produce today and that meet defined specifications. When used in this press release, the words "plan", "expect", "believe", and similar expressions generally identify forward-looking statements. These statements reflect our current expectations. They are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, changes in technology and changes in the wireless data communications market. In light of the many risks and uncertainties surrounding the wireless data communications market, you should understand that we cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements contained in this press release will be realized.
Kim Homeniuk
pr@sierrawireless.com
David Climie
dclimie@sierrawireless.com
Sierra Wireless, Inc.
Richmond, BC (Wireless)
325 Employees In BC (1000 Total)
Founded: 1993 | Revenues: $500 Million - $1 Billion
Sierra Wireless is the global leader in M2M devices and cloud services, delivering intelligent wireless solutions that simplify the connected world with the industry’s most comprehensive portfolio of 2G, 3G and 4G embedded modules and gateways.
Company Careers
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Richmond, BC-based Sierra Wireless Completes Acquisition of the M2M Group in Australia for $27 Million
Sierra Wireless Announces Planned Retirement of Dave McLennan, Chief Financial Officer in mid-2020
Sierra Wireless President & CEO, Kent Thexton to Present at UBS Global TMT Conference
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Richmond, BC (Wireless Technologies)
Posted: Feb 6, 2019 | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413375 |
__label__wiki | 0.510459 | 0.510459 | You are requesting information from William Meyersohn
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Home > Our Team > William Meyersohn
William Meyersohn
President's Circle 2020
A real estate pioneer and luxury real estate specialist, Bill Meyersohn is an expert in his field. Highlighted through countless media outlets, forums and publications, including Forbes Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Town & Country Magazine, Ocean Drive Magazine and The Miami Herald, Bill’s unparalleled real estate and financial insight is sought out locally, nationally and internationally. A consummate professional, Bill utilizes innovative marketing strategies and sophisticated sales solutions to achieve bottom line results for each customer he serves. A strong negotiator that employs proven advertising resources, Bill has broken numerous sales records including the nationally recognized sale of the Deering Estate to the State of Florida. With a portfolio of local, national and international high profile clients, business leaders and Fortune 500 Corporations, Bill has earned an impeccable reputation and an award-winning record of success. With over $5 Billion in career sales and numerous accolades, including being named as the number one agent in the country during his career, Bill recognizes the importance of giving back to the community through philanthropic service. Honored by the Ronald McDonald House as one of the Twelve Good Men, Bill previously served for over thirty years on the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens Trust, and is currently on the boards of the Coral Gables Trust Company and the Capital Research Center to name a few. He has also previously served on a University of Miami Advisory Board and the Museum of Science.
William Meyersohn's Property Listings
The collection of luxury oceanfront and waterfront real estate throughout South Florida
Warwick Manor #
5,816 s.f. (540.3 m²)
[ See More ]
Grove Hill Tower Condo #903
3 Beds, 3½ Baths
Tara #
Portofino Condo #3159
William's Property Sales
Here is a list of William's most recent property sales, with the most-recent ones showing first. You may resort the list by clicking on any column.
Sold $/sqft
Beds/ Baths
5826 SW 107th St $2,250,000 $2,000,000 6/5½ 8,499 s.f. (789.6 m²)
15620 SW 77th Ct Home $4,500 $4,500 4/4 2,795 s.f. (259.7 m²)
1221 Campo Sano Ave $1,250,000 $1,200,000 4/3 3,536 s.f. (328.5 m²)
630 University Dr $2,339,000 $2,300,000 4/4 Full and 2x½ 4,065 s.f. (377.7 m²)
673 Destacada Ave $2,195,000 $2,000,000 7/7½ 7,054 s.f. (655.3 m²)
Quantum On The Bay 3503 $260,000 $245,000 1/1 0 s.f. (0.0 m²)
11400 SW 67 Ave $3,195,000 $2,800,000 6/7½ 10,457 s.f. (971.5 m²)
7391 SW 156th St $839,000 $819,500 4/3½ 3,813 s.f. (354.2 m²)
Valencia Townhomes 4 $1,400,000 $1,320,000 4/4½ 2,764 s.f. (256.8 m²)
5955 SW 64 Ave $715,000 $700,000 3/2 2,344 s.f. (217.8 m²)
14035 SW 72 Avenue $1,599,000 $1,485,000 5/5 6,131 s.f. (569.6 m²)
2470 SW 19 Terrace Home $2,750 $2,600 3/2 1,250 s.f. (116.1 m²)
Village Of Campo Sano 1 $1,755,000 $1,675,000 3/3½ 3,276 s.f. (304.4 m²)
7485 SW 127 Street $595,000 $480,000 3/2 1,720 s.f. (159.8 m²)
Grovenor House 606 $1,658,000 $1,625,000 2/2½ 1,756 s.f. (163.1 m²)
3900 Loquat Av $1,400,000 $1,250,000 3/3 1,917 s.f. (178.1 m²)
14730 Snapper Dr $1,549,000 $1,495,000 7/6½ 7,127 s.f. (662.1 m²)
5528 San Vicente St $587,000 $557,000 2/1 1,491 s.f. (138.5 m²)
2470 SW 19 Te Home $2,750 $2,600 3/2 1,250 s.f. (116.1 m²)
4066 El Prado Bl $1,095,000 $1,010,000 2/2½ 2,581 s.f. (239.8 m²)
6050 SW 48 St $459,000 $460,000 4/3 2,529 s.f. (235.0 m²)
Portofino Condo 3159 $3,900 $3,900 3/2½ 1,560 s.f. (144.9 m²)
4745 SW 76 Te $1,250,000 $1,250,000 5/3 3,340 s.f. (310.3 m²)
4767 SW 76 Te $1,850,000 $1,850,000 3/3½ 3,909 s.f. (363.2 m²)
3305 S Moorings Wy $8,900,000 $8,650,000 7/7 Full and 2x½ 12,702 s.f. (1,180.1 m²)
Grove Isle Condo BPH02 $5,500 $5,500 3/2 2,398 s.f. (222.8 m²)
Jackson Peacocks 3131 $724,900 $715,000 3/2½ 2,236 s.f. (207.7 m²)
3992 Utopia Ct $1,495,000 $1,405,000 5/5 2,407 s.f. (223.6 m²)
The Gables Club 14F $1,690,000 $1,690,000 3/3½ 2,950 s.f. (274.1 m²)
13001 Lerida St $1,595,000 $1,437,750 3/3 2,930 s.f. (272.2 m²)
8954 SW 206 St $257,900 $257,000 3/2 1,829 s.f. (169.9 m²)
1060 Brickell 2114 $2,950 $2,800 2/2½ 1,278 s.f. (118.7 m²)
The Tower Residences 1103 $825,000 $825,000 2/2 1,530 s.f. (142.1 m²)
Grove Isle BPH02 $6,500 $6,150 3/2 2,500 s.f. (232.3 m²)
6905 SW 75 Av $1,200,000 $1,191,599 5/5½ 5,258 s.f. (488.5 m²)
3643 Royal Palm Av $1,489,500 $1,316,000 4/3½ 3,476 s.f. (322.9 m²)
Oakview Villas 3103 $625,000 $582,500 3/2½ 2,200 s.f. (204.4 m²)
7350 SW 154 Te $749,000 $725,000 4/3½ 3,796 s.f. (352.7 m²)
14035 SW 72 Av $1,495,000 $1,380,000 5/5 6,264 s.f. (581.9 m²)
D-407 $125,000 $120,000 2/1 804 s.f. (74.7 m²)
604 Alcazar Av $549,000 $554,000 3/1½ 1,651 s.f. (153.4 m²)
4211 Anderson Rd $650,000 $656,000 3/2 2,215 s.f. (205.8 m²)
3714 Harlano St Home $3,500 $3,500 3/3 1,758 s.f. (163.3 m²)
The Tower Residences Cond 308 $5,000 $5,000 2/2½ 1,666 s.f. (154.8 m²)
Oakview Villas Condo 3103 $3,400 $3,400 3/2½ 2,200 s.f. (204.4 m²)
6901 Mentone St $499,000 $540,000 3/2 1,870 s.f. (173.7 m²)
Towers Of Key Biscayne A801 $829,000 $885,000 2/2 1,782 s.f. (165.6 m²)
7745 SW 54 Ave Home $10,500 $9,750 7/8½ 6,200 s.f. (576.0 m²)
1200 Blue Rd $2,350,000 $2,300,000 6/6 5,129 s.f. (476.5 m²)
Grand Bay Tower 1204 $2,750,000 $2,600,000 3/5 3,680 s.f. (341.9 m²)
Santa Maria 2603 $1,590,000 $1,485,000 2/2 2,180 s.f. (202.5 m²)
4105 Granada Bl $1,685,000 $1,275,000 6/6½ 8,771 s.f. (814.9 m²)
The Palace C1607 $725,000 $710,000 3/2½ 2,089 s.f. (194.1 m²)
6930 Almansa St $729,000 $700,000 3/2½ 2,357 s.f. (219.0 m²)
5520 Oakwood Ln $1,925,000 $1,925,000 4/5½ 5,777 s.f. (536.7 m²)
1517 Delgado Av $479,000 $486,000 3/2 1,762 s.f. (163.7 m²)
8245 SW 64 St $1,175,000 $1,175,000 5/4½ 4,414 s.f. (410.1 m²)
1525 W 24 St $8,950,000 $8,400,000 7/8 Full and 2x½ 9,696 s.f. (900.8 m²)
8021 Old Cutler Rd $3,316,600 $2,850,000 3/2½ 5,710 s.f. (530.5 m²)
Grove Hill Tower 302 $615,000 $598,000 2/2½ 1,910 s.f. (177.4 m²)
4190 Battersea Rd $1,300,000 $1,175,000 3/3½ 3,427 s.f. (318.4 m²)
Grove Isle BPH02 $1,200,000 $1,075,000 3/2 2,500 s.f. (232.3 m²)
Ritz-carlton 2001 $1,799,000 $1,675,000 3/3½ 2,859 s.f. (265.6 m²)
Grove Isle A810 $1,175,000 $1,060,000 3/3 2,424 s.f. (225.2 m²)
715 Vilabella Av $1,175,000 $975,000 3/3 2,326 s.f. (216.1 m²)
4510 Granada Bl Home $16,500 $15,000 6/7½ 6,834 s.f. (634.9 m²)
1601 W 24 St $4,250,000 $4,250,000 5/5½ 7,202 s.f. (669.1 m²)
5490 Hammock Dr $1,295,000 $1,250,000 0/0 3,284 s.f. (305.1 m²)
834 Andalusia Av Home $4,300 $4,100 4/3 2,928 s.f. (272.0 m²)
1512 San Rafael Av $389,000 $390,000 3/2 1,788 s.f. (166.1 m²)
7401 SW 54 Ct $799,000 $710,000 3/2 1,908 s.f. (177.3 m²)
5825 SW 118 St $1,395,000 $1,050,000 6/5½ 5,652 s.f. (525.1 m²)
Village Of Campo Sano 2 $995,000 $840,000 3/2½ 2,206 s.f. (204.9 m²)
5780 SW 82 St $1,379,000 $1,200,000 6/5 4,823 s.f. (448.1 m²)
6650 SW 123 St Home $9,900 $9,500 7/7½ 7,431 s.f. (690.4 m²)
832 Alfonso Av $985,000 $967,500 4/4½ 3,282 s.f. (304.9 m²)
1221 Campo Sano Av $725,000 $675,000 4/3 3,039 s.f. (282.3 m²)
Atlantis On Brickell 303 $639,000 $565,000 3/3 1,967 s.f. (182.7 m²)
930 Castile Av $985,000 $965,000 4/3 3,545 s.f. (329.3 m²)
17843 SW 77 Ct $515,000 $490,000 5/4 3,864 s.f. (359.0 m²)
Apogee 1502 $4,200,000 $3,750,000 3/3½ 0 s.f. (0.0 m²)
3976 Little Av $1,495,000 $1,200,000 6/4 Full and 2x½ 5,800 s.f. (538.8 m²)
9510 SW 63 Ct $3,350,000 $3,100,000 6/7½ 8,321 s.f. (773.0 m²)
4125 Poinciana Av $1,095,000 $1,000,000 4/3½ 3,239 s.f. (300.9 m²)
Portofino Condo 3159 $487,500 $435,000 3/2½ 1,560 s.f. (144.9 m²)
7420 SW 54 Ct $1,495,000 $1,375,000 5/4 4,400 s.f. (408.8 m²)
Atlantis On Brickell 1906 $540,000 $500,000 2/2½ 1,666 s.f. (154.8 m²)
11015 Girasol Av $2,395,000 $2,125,000 5/5 5,297 s.f. (492.1 m²)
3992 Utopia Ct $995,000 $870,000 4/5 2,773 s.f. (257.6 m²)
Dadeland Walk N/A $384,900 $355,000 2/2 2,044 s.f. (189.9 m²)
1660 Nocatee Dr $1,495,000 $1,425,000 5/4½ 3,810 s.f. (354.0 m²)
Grovenor House 1506 $1,175,000 $1,050,000 2/2½ 1,756 s.f. (163.1 m²)
5901 Maynada St $1,375,000 $1,300,000 4/3 4,013 s.f. (372.8 m²)
441 SW 29 Rd $649,000 $635,000 3/3 2,013 s.f. (187.0 m²)
4157 Poinciana Av $975,000 $930,000 4/3½ 2,540 s.f. (236.0 m²)
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3-4 Impact and risk analysis for the Galilee subregion
3.4.4 'Streams, GDE' landscape group
3.4.4.1 Description
The Galilee subregion includes the headwaters of six major surface water catchments: Cooper Creek – Bulloo, Diamantina, Flinders, Warrego, Burdekin and Fitzroy. Approximately 12% of all streams in the assessment extent are considered groundwater dependent (Table 19). Of the main river catchments, only the Burdekin river basin and the Cooper Creek – Bulloo river basin (Alice River) intersect the zone of potential hydrological change. Most watercourses in the zone of potential hydrological change are contained within the upper catchment of the Belyando River, part of the larger Burdekin river basin.
It is important to note the classification of streams as either groundwater dependent (‘Streams, GDE’) or non-groundwater dependent (‘Streams, non-GDE’) is based on the landscape classification approach adopted for the BA for the Galilee subregion. The methodology that underpins this classification is documented in Section 2.3.3 of companion product 2.3 for the Galilee subregion (Evans et al., 2018b). Information relating to the water source for all streams classified in the Galilee assessment extent was obtained from the Queensland Herbarium’s GDEs and shallow watertable aquifer dataset (Queensland Herbarium, Department of Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts, Dataset 10). This dataset was considered fit for purpose and adopted ‘as is’ for use in the BA without additional scrutiny. However, with the recent advent of the various Digital Earth Australia products described in Section 3.2.3.3, it may be possible to revisit this original classification and enhance the accuracy of the streams classification at some stage in the future (although this could not be done for this impact and risk analysis due to operational constraints).
Almost half of the 6285 km of streams in the zone of potential hydrological change are classed as groundwater dependent (2801 km or 45% of streams in the zone) (Table 19). The ‘Streams, GDE’ landscape group includes four landscape classes that are classified based on water regime (near-permanent or temporary) and landscape position (lowland or upland). Most streams in the zone of potential hydrological change have a temporary water regime. The ‘Temporary, lowland GDE stream’ landscape class includes 2063 km of streams and ‘Temporary, upland GDE stream’ landscape class includes 478 km of streams. The zone also includes 260 km of groundwater-dependent streams with a near-permanent water regime, including 253 km classified as ‘Near-permanent, lowland GDE stream’ and about 7 km classified as ‘Near-permanent, upland GDE stream’.
Surface water – groundwater connectivity ranges from gaining or variably gaining to losing-disconnected (Figure 44). Shallow groundwater may discharge into rivers as baseflow from upward leakage from sandstone aquifers such as the Hooray Sandstone, Hutton Sandstone, Clematis Group and Ronlow beds (companion product 1.1 for the Galilee subregion (Evans et al., 2014, p. 113)).
Figure 44 Conceptual model of a riverine landscape in the Galilee assessment extent showing seasonal variation in streamflow and surface water - groundwater connectivity
GDE = groundwater-dependent ecosystem
Source: adapted from Queensland Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation (Dataset 4), © The State of Queensland (Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation) 2015
Groundwater may also discharge into springs that create outflow pools in rivers. For instance, Fensham et al. (2016) noted that where outflow from Joshua Spring and the House Springs group (both part of the larger Doongmabulla Springs complex) converge, they provide the main water source of the Carmichael River for a distance of up to 20 km (Fensham et al., 2016). The analysis of time-series Landsat data (see Section 3.2 and Section 3.5 for details) indicates that some spring pools (e.g. Moses-Keelback and Wobbly springs pools) over the last 30 years have been temporally persistent during dry periods, providing strong evidence for their groundwater dependence.
Groundwater may also be important in providing moisture for terrestrial vegetation associated with the ‘Streams, GDE’ landscape group. This includes shallow groundwater (<20 m depth to watertable) that is transpired by deep-rooted riparian trees such as river red gums and other species (Section 2.3.2 of companion product 2.3 for the Galilee subregion (Evans et al., 2018b)).
Within the zone of potential hydrological change, annual streamflow shows a high degree of interannual variability (companion product 1.1 for the Galilee subregion (Evans et al., 2014)). Flows in a given year can vary from almost no flow to major floods. Mean monthly flow is also highly variable. Flows vary between months with minimal to no flow from July to October, while most flows occur between December and April. The streamflow regime within the zone is thus characterised as one of dry seasonal flows (Kennard et al., 2010).
Despite the influence of groundwater, the ‘Streams, GDE’ landscape group within the zone of potential hydrological change is characterised by a ‘boom–bust’ ecology. Specifically, diversity in the ecosystem is maintained by natural cycles of river flow and drying, driven by surface water inputs (Sternberg et al., 2015). Although the more arid rivers further west in the Galilee subregion are driven by highly unpredictable rainfall (e.g. Cooper Creek – Bullo River), the ‘boom–bust’ cycle in the Belyando river basin is more predictable and generally follows an annual hydrological cycle (Blanchette and Pearson, 2012, 2013). Ecological processes within the zone operate in an environmental context where there is seasonally predictable summer rainfall, which produces a resource pulse that is followed by a predictable period of drying. The drying phase is relatively consistent, that is, in an average year, uninterrupted by rainfall outside the summer months (Blanchette and Pearson, 2013).
During the months of high rainfall (generally between December and April), dry rivers begin to flow and seasonally isolated water-dependent habitats (e.g. waterholes) are connected. This annual period of in-channel flow, or flow pulses, may be associated with large floods producing overbank flow (see below) or it may occur independently in response to localised rainfall (Sheldon et al., 2010). Flooding occurs at unpredictable intervals in response to periods of very high rainfall (i.e. it is not an annual occurrence). During high rainfall periods, there is overbank flow and the environment becomes a large network of interconnected river channel and floodplain habitat. Overbank floods are used to identify the ‘boom’ phase in Australia’s dryland rivers (e.g. Sheldon et al., 2010).
During the ‘boom’ phase, aquatic and terrestrial productivity is high. Dispersal of freshwater fauna occurs during this phase and important life-history stages are completed. A significant part of the aquatic fauna in this system is capable of long-distance dispersal, with animals recolonising areas from distant waterholes once movement pathways are opened by flooding. Fish are a prime example of such a group (e.g. Kerezsy et al., 2013). At the end of the wet phase, all of the waterholes are likely to be replenished and at their most ecologically productive.
Thus, the ‘Streams, GDE’ landscape group in the zone of potential hydrological change experiences annual in-channel flows each summer and floods at irregular intervals. In-channel flows are important for maintaining connectivity and dispersal of aquatic organisms; however, they do not feature the high primary productivity of overbank floods (Sheldon et al., 2010).
During the months of low or no rainfall (generally May to November) drying of the drainage system produces a series of waterholes and running reaches that have variable connectivity (Pusey and Arthington, 1996). Where the drying causes streams to cease to flow, shallow waterbodies dry out and a chain of pools, isolated pools or completely dry riverbeds result, depending on riverbed geomorphology. As conditions continue to dry, evaporation reduces the depth of each waterhole. Over time, changes to productivity and physico-chemical conditions occur, including changes to dissolved oxygen, conductivity and pH (Blanchette and Pearson, 2013). Groundwater inputs may maintain water levels in waterholes during this ‘bust’ phase.
Waterholes during low-flow or no-flow periods tend to be characterised by high turbidity and limited light penetration. Aquatic food webs in these waterholes are typically driven by energy inputs from filamentous algae that form as a highly productive band in the shallow littoral margins. Phytoplankton blooms and zooplankton may also be important parts of the aquatic food web during the ‘bust’ phase. The algae, phytoplankton and zooplankton support large populations of snails, crustaceans and fish (Bunn et al., 2003).
3.4.4.2 Potential hydrological impacts
Two receptor impact models were developed in the qualitative modelling workshops for the ‘Streams, GDE’ landscape group (companion product 2.7 for the Galilee subregion (Ickowicz et al., 2018)). One receptor impact model focused on the response of woody riparian vegetation to changes in flow regime and groundwater. The other examined the response of a high-flow macroinvertebrate (mayfly nymphs in the genus Offadens, family Baetidae) to changes in the flow regime.
For the ‘Woody riparian vegetation’ receptor impact model, the relevant hydrological response variables are:
maximum difference in drawdown under the baseline future or under the coal resource development pathway future relative to the reference period (1983 to 2012) (dmaxRef)
number of days per year with low flow (<10 ML/day), averaged over a 30-year period (LQD, subsequently referred to in this Section as ‘low-flow days’), using a modelled 10 ML/day threshold to represent a flow threshold of 1 ML/day used during the expert elicitation
mean annual number of events with a peak daily flow exceeding the threshold (the peak daily flow in flood events with a return period of 2.0 years as defined from modelled baseline flow in the reference period (1983 to 2012)). This metric is designed to be approximately representative of the number of overbank flow events in future 30-year periods (EventsR2.0).
For the ‘High-flow macroinvertebrate’ receptor impact model, the hydrological response variables are:
number of days per year with low flow (<10 ML/day), averaged over a 30-year period (LQD)
maximum length of spells (in days per year) with low flow, averaged over a 30-year period (LME), using a modelled 10 ML/day threshold to represent an ecological flow threshold of 1 ML/day used during the expert elicitation.
3.4.4.2.1 Groundwater
Streams classified as ‘Temporary, upland GDE stream’ in the zone of potential hydrological change are located along the western edge of the zone, upstream of the proposed Hyde Park and China Stone coal mines in the north and upstream of the proposed Kevin’s Corner, Alpha and South Galilee mines in the south (Figure 45). Streams classified as ‘Temporary, lowland GDE stream’ intersect and flow downstream of the seven proposed mines in the northern and southern parts of the zone of potential hydrological change.
Most of the groundwater-dependent streams in the zone of potential hydrological change have a temporary water regime (2541 of 2801 km). It is very unlikely that additional drawdown in excess of 0.2 m will affect more than 1597 km of streams classified as ‘Temporary, lowland GDE stream’ and 466 km of streams classified as ‘Temporary, upland GDE stream’ (Figure 46 and Table 21). None of the 260 km of groundwater-dependent streams with a near-permanent water regime are in areas where additional drawdown in excess of 0.2 m is predicted.
The median (50th percentile) estimate of greater than 2 m drawdown due to additional coal resource development is less extensive, potentially affecting 186 km, or 7% of groundwater-dependent streams in the zone (Table 21). Additional drawdown in excess of 5 m is very unlikely to affect more than 173 km of groundwater-dependent streams.
Figure 45 (a) 'Streams, GDE' and (b) 'Streams, non-GDE' landscape groups: location of streams in the zone of potential hydrological change in the Galilee subregion
ACRD = additional coal resource development; GDE = groundwater-dependent ecosystem
Data: Bioregional Assessment Programme (Dataset 9)
Figure 46 'Streams, GDE' landscape group: length (km) of groundwater-dependent streams potentially exposed to varying levels of additional drawdown in the zone of potential hydrological change
Table 21 ‘Streams, GDE’ landscape group: length (km) of groundwater-dependent streams potentially exposed to varying levels of additional drawdown in the zone of potential hydrological change
Landscape class
Length in assessment extent
Length in zone of potential hydrological change
Length in mine exclusion zone
Length with additional drawdown ≥0.2 m
Length with additional drawdown ≥2 m
Near-permanent, lowland GDE stream
Near-permanent, upland GDE stream
Temporary, lowland GDE stream
Temporary, upland GDE stream
Some totals reported here have been rounded.
3.4.4.2.2 Surface water
Roughly half of the groundwater-dependent streams in the zone of potential hydrological change are not predicted to experience changes to the surface water regime (Figure 47). This includes 1095 km of groundwater-dependent streams located in the groundwater zone of potential hydrological change, but outside of the surface water zone of potential hydrological change. There are 753 km of groundwater-dependent streams in the surface water zone of potential hydrological change that are potentially impacted but not quantified. This includes parts of Bimbah, Bully, Dyllingo and North creeks and the Carmichael and Belyando rivers in the northern zone, and Sandy Creek in the southern zone (Figure 48). Potential surface water impacts could not be quantified for these streams as they were not specifically included in the surface water modelling (i.e. no model nodes were assigned to these streams).
In 2042, it is very unlikely that more than 606 km of groundwater-dependent streams will be affected by increases in modelled low-flow days in excess of 3 days per year (Figure 48 and Table 22). This includes parts of Bully and North creeks, and the Belyando and Suttor rivers, in the northern part of the zone and Sandy Creek in the southern zone. Low-flow days are predicted to increase by more than 20 days per year in a 10-km stretch of North Creek in this time period. Coal resource development is predicted to increase the number of low-flow days by more than 3 days per year along 634 km of groundwater-dependent streams by 2102. This includes parts of the Belyando and Suttor rivers in the northern zone and Native Companion Creek and the Belyando River in the southern zone (Figure 49).
Increases to modelled average annual low-flow spells of more than 3 days are very unlikely to affect more than 101 km of groundwater-dependent streams by 2042 (Figure 48). This includes parts of Bully, North and Sandy creeks (Figure 48 and Table 23). In 2102, increased average annual low-flow spells of more than 3 days are very unlikely to affect more than 648 km of modelled groundwater-dependent streams, including much of the Belyando and Suttor rivers and Native Companion Creek in the surface water zone of potential hydrological change (Figure 49).
It is very unlikely that modelled overbank flows will decrease by more than 0.1 events per year along more than 101 km of groundwater-dependent streams in the zone of potential hydrological change (Figure 48 and Table 24). This includes parts of Bully, North and Sandy creeks and the Belyando and Suttor rivers. A reduction of 0.1 events per year means one fewer overbank flow events every 10 years on average. Based on the median estimate, the number of modelled overbank flows per year is predicted to decrease by more than 0.1 along 10 km, 0.05 along 61 km and 0.02 along 121 km of groundwater-dependent streams in the 30-year period preceding 2042. Predictions in the 30-year period preceding 2102 are less extensive; median estimates of the number of modelled overbank flows per year are predicted to decrease by more than 0.02 along less than 10 km of groundwater-dependent streams in the zone of potential hydrological change (Figure 49).
Figure 47 'Streams, GDE' landscape group: length (km) of groundwater-dependent streams potentially exposed to changes to low-flow days per year (LQD), low-flow spells per year (LME) and recurrence of overbank flows per year (EventR2.0) in 2042 and 2102 in the zone of potential hydrological change
There are no results for the 5th percentile of any of the hydrological response variables above in 2042 or 2102. This is because, as shown in Table 22, 23 and 24, there is zero stream length that exceeds any of the specified thresholds for increases in low-flow days, increases in low-flow spells, or decreases in overbank flow events at the 5th percentile of the modelling results.
Figure 48 'Streams, GDE' landscape group: modelled (a) increase in low-flow days per year (LQD), (b) increase in low-flow spells per year (LME) and (c) decrease in overbank flows per year (EventsR2.0) in groundwater-dependent streams in 2042 in the zone of potential hydrological change
Maps show 95th percentile estimates of increases in low-flow days per year (averaged over 30 years) (LQD) and low-flow spells per year (LME) and 5th percentile estimates of decreases in overbank flows per year (EventsR2.0) to illustrate where maximum hydrological changes may occur. A reduction of 0.1 events per year means one fewer overbank flow events every 10 years.
Table 22 ‘Streams, GDE’ landscape group: length (km) of groundwater-dependent streams potentially exposed to varying increases in number of low-flow days per year (LQD) in the years 2042 and 2102 in the zone of potential hydrological change
Length potentially impacted but not quantified
Length with increases of ≥3 low-flow days per year
Length with increases of ≥20 low-flow days per year
Length with increases of ≥200 low-flow days per year
Some totals reported here have been rounded. Columns containing zero values are shown to allow consistent comparison between tables.
Table 23 ‘Streams, GDE’ landscape group: length (km) of groundwater-dependent streams potentially exposed to varying increases in duration of low-flow spells per year (LME) in the years 2042 and 2102 in the zone of potential hydrological change
Length with increases of ≥3 day low-flow spells per year
Length with increases of ≥10 day low-flow spells per year
Length with increases of ≥100 day low-flow spells per year
Table 24 ‘Streams, GDE’ landscape group: length (km) of groundwater-dependent streams potentially exposed to decreases in recurrence of overbank flows per year (EventsR2.0) due to additional coal resource development in the years 2042 and 2102 in the zone of potential hydrological change
Length with ≥0.02 decrease of overbank flows (events per year)
Length with ≥0.1 decrease of overbank flows (events per year)
A reduction of 0.02 events per year means one fewer overbank flow events every 50 years, 0.05 is one fewer overbank flow events every 20 years and 0.1 is one fewer overbank flow events every 10 years.
3.4.4.3 Potential ecosystem impacts
During the receptor impact modelling process, the key hydrological determinants of ecosystem function identified by the experts are related to the existence and connectivity of refuge habitats. Here surface water serves a key role, with detritus and algae the principal resources that support populations of aquatic invertebrates and fishes. Surface water also recharges stores of deep groundwater in confined aquifers and in turn, stores of deep groundwater can contribute to shallow groundwater.
One receptor impact model focused on the response of woody riparian vegetation to changes in flow regime and groundwater. For the ‘Woody riparian vegetation’ receptor impact model, the receptor impact variable is the percent foliage cover of Eucalyptus camaldulensis and Melaleuca spp. in the streams landscape groups. Percent foliage cover is measured in a 100 m transect along the stream, extending from the stream channel to the top of the bank. The transect is at least 10 m wide, increasing to 15 m where more than a single row of river red gum is present during the reference period. The experts’ opinion provides strong evidence that:
mean percent foliage cover would decrease by approximately 5% if groundwater depth decreases by 5 m and all other model variables are held at their median values
mean percent foliage cover would decrease by approximately 10% if the number of low-flow days (LQD) increases by 100 days per year from 177 to 277 days per year and all other model variables are held at their median values
mean percent foliage cover would increase by less than 1% if the number of floods with peak daily flow exceeding the 1983 to 2012 2-year return period (EventsR2.0) doubled and all other model variables are held at their median values.
Uncertainty associated with these predictions increases slightly (i.e. larger credible interval) in the 30-year period preceding 2102. Interestingly, initial percent foliage cover is not a strong predictor of future values in the Galilee subregion. This is at odds with the equivalent receptor impact model in other bioregions where antecedent foliage cover has a strong effect on future foliage cover. However, percent foliage cover in the Galilee subregion is very low – the 90th percentile is approximately 30% with a mean value of about 22%. It is also important to recognise that the relatively modest changes highlighted in the summary above may still be ecologically important given the relatively low baseline condition.
Median estimates of the percent foliage cover under the baseline and CRDP futures ranged from 11% to 44% (Figure 50). Median and 95th percentile estimates of changes in percent foliage cover in the 30-year periods preceding both 2042 and 2102 indicate that there would be a less than 1% change in percent foliage cover compared to the baseline period (Figure 50). There is a 5% chance that percent foliage cover may decrease by 17% to 18% in 2042 and 2102, respectively, due to additional coal resource development.
This is consistent with the modelled changes in groundwater drawdown in excess of 5 m, which are very unlikely to affect more than 6% of groundwater-dependent streams in the zone and changes to low-flow days and overbank flows, which are predicted to affect less than 1% of groundwater-dependent streams in the zone. A change in percent foliage cover of 2% represents 10% for the median estimate of projected foliage cover of 0.2. Hence, these changes are small in terms of foliage cover, but are linked to flower production, nectar production and nectar-feeding animals in the associated qualitative mathematical models.
Figure 50 'Streams, GDE' landscape group: 'Woody riparian vegetation' and 'High-flow macroinvertebrate' receptor impact models showing (upper panels) modelled changes in 2042 and 2102 under the baseline and coal resource development pathway (CRDP) futures and (lower panels) difference between futures in 2042 and 2102
Data: Bioregional Assessment Programme (Dataset 11)
The other receptor impact model examined the response of a high-flow macroinvertebrate (mayfly nymphs in the genus Offadens, family Baetidae) to changes in the flow regime. For the ‘High-flow macroinvertebrate’ receptor impact model, the receptor impact variable is the number of mayfly nymphs (order Ephemeroptera) in the genus Offadens of the family Baetidae (Webb and Suter, 2011). Mean mayfly nymph density is the number of mayfly nymphs per m2 measured in a 2 m x 0.5 m quadrat in riffle habitat, 3 months after the end of the wet season. The experts’ opinion provides strong evidence that:
mean mayfly nymph density would decrease by approximately 7% if mean number of low-flow days (LQD) increases by 20 days per year and all other model variables are held at their median values
mean mayfly nymph density would decrease by approximately 7% if mean annual maximum spell of low-flow days (LME) increases by 20 days per year from 100 to 120 days per year and all other model variables are held at their median values.
The mayfly nymphs in the genus Offadens are known to occur in fast-flowing streams in the upper Burdekin river basin (e.g. the Cape and Campaspe rivers) to the north and north-east of the zone of potential hydrological change (Blanchette, 2012). The species can recolonise within 1 to 2 days of flows but is challenged by more than 14 consecutive low-flow days. Water depth in riffles is assumed to be more than 2 cm for this species. There is no legacy effect in terms of how mayflies respond to changing flow conditions and turbidity is not a driver for this species.
Estimates of mayfly nymph density ranged from a median value of 150 mayfly nymphs per m2 under perennial conditions to a median value slightly less than 50 mayfly nymphs per m2 under very intermittent conditions (Figure 19 in companion product 2.7 for the Galilee subregion (Ickowicz et al., 2018)). The model also predicts that mayfly nymph density under reference conditions does not influence outcomes under the different low-flow conditions in the future assessment years, which is consistent with receptor impact model predictions for other relatively short-lived species (such as Hydropyschidae larvae) in other bioregions.
Median and 95th percentile estimates of the difference in mayfly nymph density due to additional coal resource development in the 30-year periods preceding 2042 and 2102 indicate no change from abundance under the baseline (Figure 50). Results indicate a 5% chance that mayfly nymph density may decrease by up to 12 mayfly nymphs per m2 in 2042 and up to 36 mayfly nymphs per m2 in 2102 due to additional coal resource development.
Overall ecosystem risk that combines understanding from the conceptual model of causal pathways, hydrological modelling and expert opinion was estimated based on the distribution of predicted impacts due to additional coal resource development. As explained in Section 3.2.5, risk thresholds were defined for each receptor impact variable to describe areas ‘at some risk of ecological and hydrological changes’ and ‘more at risk of ecological and hydrological changes’. Assessment units where input data exist for the receptor impact modelling, but the risk thresholds are not exceeded, are considered to be ‘at minimal risk of ecological and hydrological changes’. Streams where hydrological and/or ecological modelling data were not estimated are classed as ‘unquantified risk’. The overall level of risk represents the highest level of risk determined by all relevant receptor impact variables for that assessment unit.
For the ‘Woody riparian vegetation’ receptor impact model, the risk thresholds defined here are:
‘at some risk of ecological and hydrological changes’ decreases of greater than 5% foliage cover
‘more at risk of ecological and hydrological changes’ decreases of greater than 10% foliage cover.
For the ‘High-flow macroinvertebrate’ receptor impact model, these are:
‘at some risk of ecological and hydrological changes’ decreases of greater than 20 mayfly nymphs per m2
‘more at risk of ecological and hydrological changes’ decreases of greater than 30 mayfly nymphs per m2.
The groundwater-dependent streams where there is some level of risk to woody riparian vegetation and mayfly nymph density mainly occur on parts of Sandy Creek downstream of the four proposed mines in the southern mining cluster, and along parts of the Carmichael, Belyando and lower Suttor rivers between the northern mining cluster and Lake Dalrymple (Figure 51). Receptor impact variables were not calculated for 2088 (67%) assessment units for the ‘Streams, GDE’ landscape group. Of the 1034 assessment units where receptor impact variables were calculated for this landscape group, 194 (or 19%) are considered to be ‘at some risk’ and 42 (or 4%) are considered to be ‘more at risk’. Overall, there is some level of risk to 23% of the assessment units with receptor impact modelling, and 8% of the total number of assessment units in the zone when both the quantified and unquantified changes are considered for this landscape group.
Receptor impact modelling integrates understanding from the conceptual model of causal pathways, hydrological modelling and expert opinion to estimate potential impacts to ecosystems, where receptor impact variables are considered to be useful indicators of ecosystem condition. The strength of this approach is that it provides a measure of the relative risk due to the additional coal resource development and emphasises where further attention using local-scale modelling should focus, and also where it is not needed. Prediction of changes to receptor impact variables is ultimately one line of evidence, and any assessment of risk, particularly at a local scale, needs to be considered in conjunction with the broader hydrological changes that may be experienced and the qualitative mathematical models that can describe potential cumulative impacts to ecosystems. The composite risk map for the ‘Streams, GDE’ landscape group shown in Figure 51, for instance, should thus be considered alongside the evidence provided in Figure 45, Figure 48 and Figure 49.
Figure 51 'Streams, GDE' landscape group: level of risk to groundwater-dependent streams due to additional coal resource development
3.1.1 Galilee subregion
3.1.3 Product overview
3.2.5 Categorising risk to ecosystems and assets
3.4.3 'Springs' landscape group
3.4.5 'Streams, non-GDE' landscape group
3.4.6 'Floodplain, terrestrial GDE' landscape group
3.4.7 'Non-floodplain, terrestrial GDE' landscape group
3.6.1 Potential impacts for coal mine developments that cannot be modelled
3.6.2 Potential impacts for coal seam gas developments that cannot be modelled
3.6.3 Summary
3.7.1 Key findings
Data register for product 3-4 Impact and risk analysis for the Galilee subregion | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413398 |
__label__wiki | 0.935824 | 0.935824 | Philadelphia Real Estate News
Edit Story
Parkway Corp. Says It Has Tenant In Hand For 400K SF Center City Office Development
Philadelphia Office View count:
May 17, 2019 Matthew Rothstein, Bisnow East Coast
The parking lot at 20th and Arch streets in Philadelphia, where Parkway Corp. is seeking to build a new headquarters building, as of November 2018
After years without any new office construction starts in Center City, Parkway Corp. is working toward two.
The local developer has won the blessing of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association for a 15-story headquarters building at 20th and Arch streets, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Parkway announced plans for a different ground-up office building at 23rd and Market streets back in March.
At the recent LSNA meeting to discuss the proposal, Parkway Senior Vice President Brian Berson said that the company has a tenant ready to sign a 20-year lease for all 400K SF of the building's office space, though he declined to name it. For the lease to be finalized, City Council would need to pass a zoning change to increase the parcel's allowable height.
Council President Darrell Clarke, whose district encompasses the site, has indicated that he would be open to introducing the necessary legislation if the neighborhood signed off on the project. Thanks to the local tradition of councilmanic prerogative, the rest of council will unanimously approve any zoning legislation a council member introduces for his or her district.
The land at 20th and Arch streets, like much of the land in Parkway's Center City holdings, currently serves as a paid parking lot. It was formerly an Avis rental car location, and part of the property includes a historically protected gas station from the early 20th century. Parkway told the LSNA it will protect and move the building, and that it is working with the Philadelphia Historical Commission to find it a new home.
Parkway President Robert Zuritsky told the LSNA the tenant was still weighing other options for its headquarters, including potential space in other states as well as another parcel in the city within a Keystone Opportunity Zone, according to the Inquirer. The two KOZs with ample space for corporate headquarters are in University City (where Schuylkill Yards is looking for anchor tenants) and at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
The company in question would be open to passing up the tax benefits of a KOZ due to its desire to be centrally located, Zuritsky said. The 20th and Arch site is only a couple of blocks away from Comcast's dual skyscrapers. He also explained that the anonymous tenant already has a presence in Philadelphia but would bring in employees from other offices to the new headquarters.
Zurich-based Chubb Insurance would fit that description, as the Inquirer reports that it is currently looking for new real estate space and has offices in Philadelphia, New York and New Jersey. Chubb owns its current office at 426 Walnut St., and leases extra space a couple of doors down at the former Penn Mutual building. Chubb is the parent company of Insurance Company of North America, which formed in 1792 and was the first firm in the country to insure a building from fire.
Related Topics: brian berson, Logan Square, Parkway Corp, Chubb Insurance, Robert Zuritsky, Logan Square Neighborhood Association, Darrell Clarke
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__label__cc | 0.508435 | 0.491565 | Black Talk Radio News w/ Scotty Reid Blog
BTR News: President Obama Criticized Hillary Clinton Privately Over Private Email Scandal
staff 04/19/2017 No Comments Barack ObamaClinton emailsHillary Clintonnewspolitics
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President Barack Obama talks with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton about his decision to send her to the Middle East while attending the U.S.-ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Nov. 20, 2012. From left are: Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications; Jake Sullivan, Deputy Chief of Staff to the Secretary of State; and National Security Advisor Tom Donilon. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.
BTR News – The new book ‘Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign” written by political news reporters Amie Parnes and Jonathan Allen is based on behind the scenes observations made by the two continues to pull of the mask off the Clinton campaign.
Concerning Hillary Clinton’s damaging private email server scandal that dogged her campaign from the start of the Democratic primaries all the way up to election day, the book says that while then President Barack Obama was publically supporting Hillary Clinton, privately he was criticizing his former Secretary of State for setting up a private email server in the basement of her home and then her handling of the self-inflicted controversy.
An excerpt from the book says that “He (President Obama) couldn’t understand what possessed Hillary to set up the private e-mail server, and her handling of the scandal — obfuscate, deny, and evade — amounted to political malpractice”.
From the start of the scandal, Clinton first said that the server was only used to send email between herself and her husband about topics dealing with yoga and daughter’s Chelsea wedding. After that turned out to be a lie and tens of thousands of State Department related work emails were found on the server, Clinton then started claiming she sent nor received any classified information through the server which turned out to be another lie. Then there was the issue with the non-state issued blackberry Clinton used for work when her team was told she could not by the IT department.
Bernie Sanders has been quiet in regards to the new book and the behind the scenes revelations being made public. Sander’s will forever be remembered for not hammering his opponent on an obvious political weakness but instead famously uttered “The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails,” when the subject came up during a debate between the two.
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__label__wiki | 0.612087 | 0.612087 | Scores of countries signal more ambitious climate plans in 2020
Global carbon emissions
The UK has welcomed news that more than 100 countries are set to boost their plans for climate action this year.
Data gathered by the United Nations’ climate body shows 114 countries have produced a more ambitious set of plans for cutting emissions or have signalled their intention to do so this year ahead of key climate talks in the UK.
It represents a doubling of countries committed to increasing efforts on cutting emissions to meet their pledges under the international Paris Agreement to curb global warming, since a UN action summit in September.
Sustainable food & agricultural systems can help:
⬇️ Reduce the number of poor & hungry⛈️ Combat the climate crisis🌱 Preserve our natural resources
See how @FAO & partners work to promote sustainable food systems. #GlobalGoals https://t.co/46miC7O5sL
— United Nations (@UN) January 14, 2020
In addition, 120 nations have told the UN they have signed off on plans to get to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 or are working towards that target.
The figures have been released at the start of a year when countries are expected to boost their “nationally determined contributions” to the Paris Agreement ahead of “COP26” climate talks in November in Glasgow.
The Paris Agreement, which comes into force this year, commits countries to cutting greenhouse gas emissions to curb global warming at “well below” 2C and pursue efforts to prevent temperatures rising more than 1.5C. above pre-industrial levels.
But on current pledges of national action the world is on course for around 3C of warming by 2100.
December 2019 and 2015 tied as joint warmest at global level in @CopernicusECMWF data record. Europe had warmest December on record, 3.2°C above 1981-2010 average.Temperatures over #Australia very much above averageMore detail from #Copernicus #C3S ➡️https://t.co/lmhxrpmszV pic.twitter.com/kkkk5MIem3
— WMO | OMM (@WMO) January 8, 2020
The UN’s climate science body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, published a report in 2018 which warned of the damaging impacts of temperatures rising above 1.5C.
And it warned that the world would need to cut carbon emissions to “net zero” – so no more is being put into the atmosphere than is being removed
by measures such as planting trees – by 2050 to limit warming to 1.5C.
Claire O’Neill, former clean growth minister who will be president of the COP26 climate talks, said: “I’m pleased to see that 114 countries have now committed to lowering emissions by rethinking their nationally determined contributions in this crucial climate year of 2020.
“This is an increase of more than 60% since September.
“We will now urge countries to develop ambitious plans to deliver these commitments ahead of the COP26 summit in Glasgow.
2019 saw some remarkable developments in #renewables, a central response to #GlobalHeating. @IRENA features 20 stories of how the #energytransition advanced over the last 12 months: https://t.co/JpNkMcc42B #ItsPossible #ParisAgreement #SDGs pic.twitter.com/2oUIWhn9Uh
— UN Climate Change (@UNFCCC) January 7, 2020
“It’s also encouraging to see the number of countries following the UK’s lead, and pledging to develop a net zero plan has doubled from 60 to 121.”
Ms O’Neill added “2020 presents a golden opportunity for countries to show their commitment to achieving net zero by 2050. It’s vital the world comes together if we are to stand a chance of limiting warming to 1.5C”.
The UK has signed up to a legally-binding target to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, but the Government’s advisory Committee on Climate Change has warned it urgently needs to increase action to meet the target.
Developing countries have led the way with signalling they will submit new climate plans in 2020, along with European countries including the UK, France and Germany and nations such as Argentina and Mexico.
Pressure will be on countries such as India, China and Japan to release new targets for cutting emissions. | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413405 |
__label__cc | 0.557249 | 0.442751 | Watermans Park
Helen & Georgina
Coldharbour Road, Gravesend, Kent, DA11 8AB
Price (highest to lowest) Price (lowest to highest) Bedrooms (lowest to highest) Bedrooms (highest to lowest)
The Southwold
The Amberley
About Watermans Park
Located along the bank of the River Thames, the historic maritime town of Gravesend really is a cosmopolitan town. Enjoying a prime position and benefiting from a riverside location, exceptional countryside, proximity to London, ease of travel to Europe and a calendar full of events held throughout the year. There really is something to be enjoyed by everyone!
Gravesend is ideally located for transport links with easy access to the M25, M20 and M2 via the A2. The town features a train station with regular services across Kent and into London, in under an hour. There are multiple bus routes available from the centre of Gravesend, giving residents regular services to Bluewater Shopping Centre, Ebbsfleet International and across Kent and Essex. Watermans Park will be served by the 481 and 483 bus.
A trip to the shops
If a spot of retail therapy is more of what you're looking for then the town centre offers a variety of popular retail stores, independent boutiques and local amenities. Gravesend boasts one of the oldest Chartered Borough markets in Kent and celebrated its 750th birthday in 2018,the market operates 6 days a week. On the edge of town, the Imperial Retail Park boasts large brand retailers. For more comprehensive shopping visit Bluewater which boasts over 350 brand names, 50 restaurants and bars along with a 17-screen cinema. It also holds numerous events and exhibitions throughout the year.
Taking time out
If you wish to find out about the history of the town then the local council offers three historic tours. One of Gravesend's most notable residents was the author Charles Dickens who wrote Great Expectations at the nearby Gad's Hill Place and the Pickwick Papers at Cobham Hall.
There are numerous places of historic importance to visit in Gravesend, including the magnificent Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara; Europe's largest Sikh place of worship. Another notable find is Gravesend's Cold War Bunker with its 13 rooms taking you back in time to the 1950s.
The countryside to the south and east of Gravesend is an exceptional Area of Outstanding National Beauty. Explore the ancient forests of Shorne Woods Country Park or visit the Cyclopark. A purpose built multi sports centre for cycling, running and extreme sports. It also offers a play area and 'safety village' for younger visitors to discover. There is a café onsite alongside spaces to bring a picnic. The borough has two leisure centres. Cascades and Cygnet, both of which provide leisure facilities for all the family.
There are numerous schools in Gravesend. Local Preschools include The Owl Pre-School and Little Explorers Kindergarden and Nursery Woodlands. Junior schools include; Shears Green Infant and Junior Schools, and Saint George's Church of England Primary School. For Secondary schools, options include Northfleet school for Girls, Northfleet Technology College and Saint George's Church of England School.
This is a map of the local area
From M25
• Heading south on the M25, take the A2 exit
signposted Dartford / A225 / Canterbury / M2
• At the Darenth Interchange take the fourth exit
onto the A2 slip road to Canterbury / A2
• Merge onto the A2 and take the A227 exit
towards Gravesend / Wrotham
• Take the first exit onto A227
• At the roundabout, take the first exit onto
Coldharbour Road
• Watermans Park will be found on your right
hand side
From M2
• Heading west on the M2, the road merges
into the A2
• Exit A2 at A227, signposted Gravesend (C),
Wrotham Road / A227
• At the roundabout, take the third exit onto
• At the roundabout, take the first exit and stay
on Wrotham Road / A227
Print maps
Directions from your location:
Click on the marker to get directions to the development from any location or postcode
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__label__cc | 0.685567 | 0.314433 | New Single Breathe on Me, O Jesus - Out Now
Brandon Bee has been playing and producing music since he was an early teenager. He even sold his first car before he could officially drive for recording equipment. Although growing up in a Christian home Brandon didn't take it seriously. He pursued success and the music business. After living and working in Nashville, working out of L.A., Las Vegas, and his downtown studio in Seattle/Tacoma area God grabbed a hold of Brandon's heart. It started out as a simple Worship leading position at a church in Gig Harbor, Wa. (www.calvarygigharbor.com) Quickly, Brandon desired to be more involved in the church and pursued being ordained. Now pastoring is a huge part of Brandon's life. In-between touring and producing he has been a part of 3 other churches in a Pastor role. (www.refugeutah.org), (www.crossroadschurch.net), and currently at (www.calvary-tricities.org)
Through out the years Brandon has produced almost 300 projects and has played close to 1,000 concerts around the world. God continues to call him into places where very few go to minister. He even started a record label with Microsoft designer Derek Hoiem called, Save the City Records, to help starving indie artists use there gifts for Jesus. They have released many artists that have national recognition such as Jekob, Holly Starr, Circleslide, and Stomptown Revival. He also help start another record Label out of Portland, Or area called, Responding Records. This record label specifically releases worship music for churches.
Brandon and his family moved to Italy to be a part of what God was doing in the newly developing European worship music scene. (www.beefamilyforitalia.com) It was a blessed and pivotal time for Brandon's continued development in forming his style of ministry. Brandon's desire is to invoke all tongues and all ages, nations and generations, to worship Jesus. And most importantly Activate creatives to do the work of the ministry. He does this by songwriting, worship leading, teaching God's word, and, especially, with one on one discipleship. Relationship and modeling is key to successful discipleship.
Now Brandon, Leanne and their 7 (8th on the way) kids live in the Tricities area of Washington state. Partnering with a local church is important to Brandon and is blessed to call Calvary Chapel Tricities home. Please pray for continued opportunities to minister in his city and around the world.
*If you'd like to support Brandon, his family, and band please click here to donate.
Production Credits include but not limited to:
Artists Performed with and Conferences & Festivals appeared at:
Check out this interview:
© 2019 by Anchored Creative Arts. Proudly created with Wix.com | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413408 |
__label__cc | 0.607561 | 0.392439 | Branford's Education Hall of Fame
Nominate an Educator
Current Nominations Living
Current Nominations Deceased
Current Inductee guest form
Inductees by Name
Murray-Stolzman Service Award
Susan Spear Library Project
Rita Ceccolini Hennessey
Branford is truly fortunate that school leaders hired Rita Hennessey as an elementary school teacher. Hundreds of Branford students in kindergarten through third grade had the joyful experience of calling Mrs. Hennessey their teacher.
Rita, the daughter of the late John and Mary Ceccolini, was raised in Branford, attended Bran ford schools and was part of the Branford High School class of 1965 where she also was chosen to be part of the National Honor Society. Rita continued her education at SCSU where she received her Bachelor of Science degree cum laude and her Master’s in education.
Rita began her teaching career as a sixth grade teacher in Stonington. After three years, Rita was hired in Branford as a second grade teacher. Rita took a hiatus from teaching for a few years to raise her two children, Ryan and Melanie. During these years, Rita continued to work with children as a CCD teacher at St. George Church in Guilford and as a Guilford Girl Scout leader.
Rita returned to teaching in Branford as a kindergarten teacher and continued her career teaching third grade and then second grade. Rita was a compassionate, kind, calm and generous teacher who valued each child as an individual. She challenged all children academically, taking into consideration their individual needs. Teaching reading was her first love. Rita spent her own money generously to purchase many books to supplement her classroom library so that children could immerse themselves in good literature. Dedication is one adjective to describe Rita. She would remain after school many days constructing learning centers and activities to enhance her classroom. She volunteered to serve on several curriculum committees helping to guide the future of Branford's academic program. Rita was a true "team player" with colleagues. She was available to share ideas and materials and was a valued mentor to new teachers. Rita took advantage of professional development workshops keeping current in new reading and writing programs. She attended many of these conferences during her summer break.
Rita's enthusiasm for learning was contagious among her students. Many children will never forget the information she taught them using novel activities to teach social studies and elaborate experiments to foster science goals. Many parents commented that after conferencing with Rita, they felt she truly knew the children's strengths and weaknesses. Parents also felt secure knowing that Rita was addressing the academic and emotional needs of their children.
Rita, after 25.5 years of teaching Branford's children, retired in 2007. She resides in Guilford with Jim, her husband of forty years. She spends some of her free time volunteering in the Pediatric Department at Yale New Haven Hospital. She occasionally can be seen in Branford classrooms as a substitute teacher. Rita has touched many lives, fostering a love of learning! | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413409 |
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A whirlwind weekend in Venice
Karen Stride
Title photography by Diego Gutierrez
Be charmed by this watery wonderland. With its glistening canals and timeless architecture, Venice has been romancing people for centuries. It’s simply like nowhere else in the world – here’s how to get a taste in three days.
06:40 – Maximise your weekend with an early start
You can fly direct from London Heathrow, London Gatwick and London City to Venice. An early start from London Gatwick on Friday means that you’ll be canal-side long before lunch. If this isn’t your local airport, flights depart from London City at 08:05 and London Heathrow at 08:55.
10:30 – Make a grand arrival
After touching down at Venice Marco Polo Airport, grab your bags and jump aboard an Alilaguna water bus (or a private speedboat if you’re feeling flash) to make the short transfer across the water to Venice. A private transfer will take under 30 minutes, whereas the less speedy (but very reliable) Alilaguna takes just over an hour to reach San Zaccaria (San Marco), costing 15 euros.
11:00 – Dive into the backstreets
The best way to get your bearings in Venice is to get lost. Nip through narrow calli (streets), across waterways (stopping on the bridge for a cheeky selfie) and into bustling piazzas – you’re never far from the water or the chiming of church bells.
12:00 – Cross the canal
Tick off a gondola ride on your Venice to-do list at the traghetto ferry. At just 2 euros this short and sweet journey is a must-do. It’s a quick, useful way to cross the Grand Canal.
If you can’t find a table, grab a glass of Prosecco and dangle your feet over the edge of the canal.
13:00 – Lunch on the go
If you’re pressed for time don’t worry, the Venetians don’t hang around; coffee, Prosecco and cicchetti (bar snacks) are all enjoyed on the go. Enjoy 'sardele in soar' – sweet and sour sardines, and Tramezzini – tiny crustless sandwiches. For something fancier, find Caffe Florian. The world’s oldest café serves its pricy gourmet dishes on silver trays.
14:00 – Take to the water
A ride along the Grand Canal is also a great way of getting to grips with the geography of this amphibious city. Take an Actv water taxi and stand up like the locals for the best photo opportunities, including your first glimpse of the famous Rialto Bridge. The great thing about the Actv water taxis is that you can get on and off as many times as you like. Buy the one- or two-day pass.
Morning traffic
Discover the 'real' Venice in Dorsoduro. Life is cheaper and the waterways are calmer this side of the Grand Canal, plus you'll find Venice's best art in the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and the Gallerie dell'Accademia.
Take a gentle gondola ride through Dorsoduro. © tunart.
15:00 – Hang out with the locals
Get off at Accademia to explore the bohemian area of Dorsoduro. Away from the throng of tourists in San Marco, this quieter neighbourhood feels like a breath of fresh air. If the sun is shining, head to a piazza for some people watching over a refreshing spritz.
16:00 – What’s your favourite work of art?
Venice really is an architectural masterpiece. Without stepping into a museum you’ll be dazzled by the design of its iconic buildings and treated to exquisite Renaissance works in its many churches. Get your art fix at one of the cities prestigious galleries. The Gallerie dell’Accademia and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection are both in Dorsoduro. Displaying work from over 200 artists, including Jackson Pollock, Picasso and Dali, at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection you’ll see some of the world’s best Surrealist, Cubist and Futurist works.
19:00 – Dine alfresco until the sun goes down
Make your way through the picturesque streets to Campo Santa Margherita, a lively square with an abundance of cafes and nightlife – perfect for an aperitif or leisurely dinner. Among the boho student hangouts you’ll find many affordable places to eat. Enjoy cocktails at Margaret Duchamp or fantastic pizza at Pizzeria ai Sportivi.
A hidden bridge
Built in 1600, the Ponte dei Sospiri (Bridge of Sighs) is one of the most enduring symbols of Venice, spawning imitations around the world. Spot it behind Piazza San Marco. Stay at Hotel Orion near the main square.
Spot the Bridge of Sighs, over a narrow canal behind Piazza San Marco. © David Henderson.
The centre of Venice
Always busy, always bustling, Piazza San Marco is the focal point for Venice: it's the city's largest square, and a great place to get your bearings.
Piazza San Marco with the Basilica of Saint Mark and the bell tower of St Mark's Campanile. © Perseomed.
To market
Get up early and pick up picnic supplies at Rialto Market. Look out for regional specialties, like pistachio pesto and white asparagus. Stay near Rialto Bridge at L'Orologio Venezia
Check out local produce and shopping locals at Rialto Market. © funkyfood London - Paul Williams / Alamy Stock Photo.
10:00 – Mingle with the locals at Rialto Market
Head to the Rialto Market first thing on Saturday morning to soak up the bustling atmosphere – it will be buzzing with locals picking up fresh produce and flowers. It’s all packed up by 1pm, so get yourself up and out.
13:00 – Time for lunch
Grab a canal-side spot near the market at Osteria Al Pesador – a prime spot for soaking up the activity of the Grand Canal. If you can’t find a table, grab a glass of Prosecco and dangle your feet over the edge of the canal.
14:00 – Soak up the splendour of Piazza San Marco
Unless you’re planning to visit out of season or at some ungodly hour it’s impossible to avoid the crowds around Piazza San Marco. But to beat the queues pre-book your tickets for Basilica San Marco and St Mark's Campanile. The cathedral is a spectacular amalgamation of styles, built up over time like a historic storybook. Take in the intricate detail of the Basilica San Marco’s beautiful exterior before you go inside. Make a speedy ascent (via the lift) to the top of the St Mark's Campanile for a view over the city’s terracotta sprawl.
Alternatively, hop across the water to the island of San Giorgio Maggiore where the campanile offers panoramic views of San Marco, Doge’s Palace and the Grand Canal.
Skip the line at St Mark's Basilica
15:00 – Get that iconic photo
From Piazza San Marco head towards the Riva degli Schiavoni waterfront. Lined with gondolas and much-photographed, you may feel like you’ve been here before. Not far away you’ll find the Bridge of Sighs – it gets very busy so you may have to wait for a good photo opportunity.
17:00 – An early drink
The Venetian nocturnal scene is more about leisurely drinks and bustling bars. People tend to go out early, straight after work or before dinner. Near Piazza San Marco stand shoulder-to-shoulder with locals in tiny All'Arco or grab a glass of Bellini-to-go from Al Merca, where drinkers spill out into the square.
19:00 – Stroll along the promenade
Cross the bridge to Zattere, a peaceful promenade which is perfect for a stroll away from the crowds. As you walk along the southern shore of the Dorsoduro District you’ll find plenty of dining options – and stunning architecture.
21:00 – Hit the roof
Grab a gelato for your walk back, then cross the water to the island of Giudecca for culture and cocktails at the Hilton Molino Stucky’s rooftop bar.
Book the Hilton Molino Stucky
Burano brights
If you happen to live in one of Burano's colourful waterfront houses, you have to apply for government permission if you want to change its colour. Hope you like magenta!
See rainbow houses along the canals of colourful Burano. © claudio.arnese.
08:00 – Catch the Vaporetto
Get up bright and early and jump on the first boat to colourful Burano. Boat 12 from Fondamente Nove stops at both Murano and Burano. Go all the way to Burano first to avoid the crowds. The journey takes around 40 minutes.
09:00 – Wander around colourful Burano
The brightly-painted houses in Burano are crying out to be photographed – perhaps why it’s always been a haven for artists. Walk through the alleyways, catching a glimpse of the rainbow terraces jostling for you attention along the main thoroughfare. Burano’s history in lacemaking is still evident in the touristy shops, as is the love for seafood in the restaurants that line the main street. This vibrant island was made for wandering and people watching.
13:00 – Try the catch of the day
Make sure you make a reservation to dine at Trattoria Al Gatto Nero da Ruggero, a special seafood restaurant that takes in deliveries from the lagoon’s fisherman several times a day. Share their Burano-style risotto between two.
15:00 – Soak up the local charm of Murano
Jump on a boat bound for Murano. Long-famous for its glass making, this working island is very proud of its heritage. The intricate glass creations range from beads to exquisite chandeliers, with many shops selling the same items. While a glass blowing demonstration or souvenir shopping may be top of many ‘must do’ lists, the real charm can be found in the back streets, learning the stories of the ancient buildings and eating with the locals.
If you don’t want to use the Actv water taxis, you can book a half day tour to Murano, Burano and Torcello, with boat transfer and entry to a Murano glass-blowing factory included.
Book a tour of Murano, Burano and Torcello
A view of the Venice waterfront from the Zattere promenade. © Perseomed.
19:00 – Say goodbye with a spritz
Spend your final evening in the down-to-earth area of Cannaregio. To the north of the Grand Canal, and home to the former Jewish Ghetto, this oft-overlooked area is worth a wander. You’ll find plenty of options for a final spritz before you depart – try Al Timon for the best cicchetti and wine.
23:25 – Buona note Venezia!
Catch a late-night flight back from Venice to London. The 23:25 on Sunday flies into London Gatwick, arriving at 00:30 on Monday morning.
L'Orologio Venezia
The boutique L'Orologio Venezia has luxury interiors and canal-side dining close to the Rialto Bridge.
Book a stay at L'Orologio Venezia
If you’re on a budget, family-run Orion provides authentic Italian hospitality in a great location not far from Piazza San Marco.
Book a stay at Orion
Hilton Molino Stucky
Stay at the Hilton Molino Stucky for lazy summer days around the rooftop pool and hazy evenings spent in the rooftop bar. This eye-catching building is located on the island of Guidecca, but offers a regular water taxi service to Piazza San Marco.
Book a stay at Hilton Molino Stucky
You might like some of these articles
Four inspiring Italian itineraries
Europe's most romantic cities
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__label__wiki | 0.996887 | 0.996887 | WCarey motors to Detroits WXYZ-TV
By BroadCasting & Cable Staff
Bill Carey, former news director at WCBS-TV New York, has joined Scripps Howard's WXYZ-TV Detroit as news director. Carey had left the New York station to work at Internet news site Zatso, but that company closed recently. Before WCBS-TV , Carey was managing editor at CBS-owned WBBM-TV Chicago. "Bill brings with him proven news leadership skills and experience, a winning attitude and sound journalistic decision making," said Grace Gilchrist, station vice president and general manager. He replaces Al Upchurch, who left the job suddenly, citing job-related stress and a too-heavy workload.
Carey said he enjoyed his foray into personal newscasts delivered via the Internet, but that the company ran into financial problems. He is now happy to be with Scripps, "a progressive company that embraces new technology and new media," Carey said. "I have the opportunity to work at the flagship station and still keep a hand in new media. [At Zatso] if we had launched two years ago, people would have thrown money at us. If we launched two years from now, we probably would have been successful. That's where the future is. But timing is everything."
Motivated in Motown
Panasonic has sold a DVCPRO News Automation (DNA) server system to wxyz-tv Detroit.
Robards TV Legacy
Detroit comings and goings
Pappas building TV station near L.A.
CBS tabs Jobe as Detroit news director
Motoring Along
In Detroit, Oprah is queen, retail is king
Fox promotes Murri in Detroit | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413414 |
__label__cc | 0.58477 | 0.41523 | BSFG request Benalla Rural City to retain Tim Bowtell's portrait of Greta Thunberg on the Council Customer Service Centre window
Tuesday 7th January, 2020
To - Mayor and Councillors, Benalla Rural City URGENT
Dear Danny and fellow councillors,
I am writing on behalf of Benalla Sustainable Future Group, and many of the other people in our community who share our views, to earnestly request that Tim Bowtell’s painting of Greta Thunberg is retained on the Council Customer Service Centre window.
We view this painting as a powerful statement that here is a community that cares, not only about the present wellbeing of its citizens, but the future as well. Greta is a beacon of hope for millions of people, both young and old, around the world, and a hero for them as she challenges the world’s leaders to take immediate and urgent action to mitigate climate change.
Climate change action is not a political issue, as some would have us believe. It is an environmental, social, economic and ethical issue, and we are right now experiencing one of the most devastating effects predicted long ago by climate scientists, as a result of the warming and drying of our part of the Earth.
We need to take a stand on the issue of climate change, and what better way can there be for Council to demonstrate their support for action, than to leave Greta’s image on the window.
We understand that the “Window to Window” festival invites artists to paint images related to Christmas, and that those images remain on windows for a period of time at the discretion of the various establishments. We are asking Council to exercise their discretion on this occasion to allow this image to remain. The messages of Christmas are love, joy, peace and hope. What Greta symbolizes is a message of hope for the future and a great love for the wellbeing of the Earth and her fellow humankind.
President - BSFG
'The Time for Political Argy-Bargy is over' Peter Holmes
Originally published in BSFG Newsletter #26 December 2019
"As we approach the end of another calendar year, the evidence grows ever so much stronger that the Earth faces a climate crisis due to human induced activity, and yet, our political leaders still refuse to acknowledge that strong action must be taken to arrest the escalation of the problem.
This year, we have seen fires in the Arctic, the continued melting of the ice caps and glaciers, including the Earth's thickest glacier, sea levels continue to rise, record temperatures around the globe, catastrophic fires in California, and over the past few weeks at home in NSW and Queensland, with the real fire season yet to commence! For the first time, NSW was faced with a catastrophic weather forecast day on the 12th November - a combination of high temperatures, no humidity and high winds, with around 40 fires already burning out of control. Coincidentally, in the same week, the whole of Australia recorded its first ever rain free day!
I am not going to be restrained in what I write about the pathetic and disgraceful lack of leadership we have in this country.
For starters, Deputy Prime Minister McCormack, and his National Party cohort, Barnaby Joyce, should both be expelled from Parliament for their senseless and outrageous comments in the midst of the bushfire crisis in NSW. Prime Minister Morrison refused to be engaged on whether the early onset of the fires and their intensity could in some way be attributed to climate change. "Now is not the time to talk about climate change", he opined!
But Prime Minister, you never want to talk about climate change, unlike your counterpart across the Tasman! You don't want to upset your mates in the fossil fuel industries. You are more concerned with pretending to keep electricity prices down by a few dollars by propping up coal power, than by supporting renewable energy, which will make the planet safer and ultimately, the cost of living cheaper, because renewable energy will be cheaper, and our insurance premiums won't skyrocket, as they will under your disaster laden policies (that's something politicians haven't been talking about).
Why also, is the Labor Party even talking about emulating the Liberal Party's policies, on exporting coal (Albanese's reasoning that, "if we don't do it then another country will, and Australia will miss out", beggars belief), and on renewable energy and emissions reduction, when climate scientists universally are saying this is not within a bull's roar of being enough?
The time for political argy-bargy is over. All parties must come to their senses and show some statesmanship on this crisis. Isn't that what they called it during the World Wars when the world was in the grips of a different crisis?
In the coming weeks, BSFG will be seeking agreement from Benalla City councillors to pass a motion declaring that we have a Climate Emergency, as over 75 local government areas around Australia have already done. This will mean that all management and planning decisions made by Council need to consider the impact on greenhouse emissions, with the aim of reducing and even eliminating them. I ask all members and supporters to be encouraging of this action. Please take whatever opportunity you may have to talk to Councillors and communicate the urgency of the situation.
Finally, I acknowledge that all of us have been contributing our own personal efforts over many years to reduce the levels of greenhouse emissions, and to live a more sustainable lifestyle, but we have now reached the point where micro efforts are no longer enough. Only the macro changes that can be enforced by government legislation and political common sense will now turn the tide.
Greta (and Benalla) in the news!
Tim Bowtell's compelling portrait of Greta Thunberg, painted on the side window of the Benalla Rural City offices in Mair Street for the Window to Window festival, draws from and is representative of Tim's current work. Tim describes being surprised that around 90% of people who spoke to him while he was painting weren't aware of Greta Thunberg, and is pleased that his work has acted as such a catalyst for conversations about climate change. The discussions continued this week in three pages of Letters to the Editor in the Ensign, most of which were about the portrait of Greta, and most of which were postive!
The announcement by Time Magazine of Greta as their Person of the Year a few days into the controversy on social media proved a wonderful endorsement of Tim's choice of a portrait of Greta for his window.
This news item from 9 News Border North East on December 12 includes responses by Benalla Sustainable Future Group's President Peter Holmes and Renewable Energy Benalla's John Lloyd.
'2040' - inspiring positive adaptation to climate change
DELWP Hume has begun a new project to following on from the Hume Road Map project, and is now working with communities to develop a Hume Regional Climate Change Adaptation Plan.
To support community conversations about how best to respond to the impacts of climate change and adaptation opportunities DELWP is offering financial support to communities by covering the film licencing costs for screening the 2040 film, to enable communities to attend free screenings of the film 2040.
On Wednesday 11 December a free DELWP funded screening of the film 2040 was held at BPACC, brought to the community of Benalla by BSFG, Renewable Energy Benalla and Benalla Rural City as part of the Hume Region's climate change adaptation planning. It was a promising injection into community conversations both during the Q&A sessions and with follow up conversations in the community as people who attended greeted each other saying 'I saw you at the 2040 screening on Wednesday night. What did you think?'
DELWP's 2040 initiative is being rolled out across the Hume Region in coming months.
'Q & A' - John Lloyd responds
Tickets still available--free screening of acclaimed film '2040' at BPACC this Wednesday 11th December at 7 pm
I am sending this update to BSFG members and REB followers about the free community screening of the film 2040 from 7.00 pm this Wednesday at BPACC Cinema.
There are still seats left for this DELWP and Council supported screening of 2040. You need to book to confirm your seat either online at www.bpacc.com.au/theatre or call 03 5762 5515.
We have been issued 30 tickets to distribute to contributors and have about 12-14 left if you would like to book through me. These tickets are on the third and fourth rows back from the front of the main central seating area which you can view at the above booking link. Contact me if you would like me to hold tickets for you in this area, or book online for other seating.
BSFG is providing a light supper after the screening which will be tea and coffee and a few nibbles. If you are coming to the 2040 screening are you able to bring in a small plate to provide something to eat after the film? If you can help in this way please reply and let me know by Wednesday morning to assist us with the catering arrangements. At this stage we have bookings for about 140.
Peter Maddock
DELWP HUME Sponsored Screening of 2040 Film, BPACC Benalla, Wednesday December 11 2019, from 7.00pm.
DELWP Hume will be working with communities across the region over the next twelve months to develop a Hume Regional Climate Change Adaptation Plan. To support community conversations about how best to respond to the impacts of climate change and adaptation opportunities DELWP is offering financial support to communities by covering the film licencing costs for screening the 2040 film, to enable communities to attend free screenings of the film 2040.
Concerned about his young daughter’s future, filmmaker Damon Gameau travels the world in search of new approaches and solutions to global warming. Gameau positions himself as a glass-half-full idealist, with his first mission to convince people that they can make a difference. Dividing his focus into key areas, including renewable energy and alternative transportation, with corresponding on the road case studies, he structures the film as a one-way conversation with his four-year-old daughter, who will be 25 when 2040 arrives and, he hopes, part of a brighter and better world. The outlook of the film is refreshing, empowering, inspiring and positive. (2040 review – an idealist’s vision of a healthy Earth, The Guardian, 4 April 2019) https://whatsyour2040.com/
The Benalla Sustainable Future Group made a successful application for financial support from DELWP Hume to screen 2040. With additional support from Benalla Rural City 2040 will screen at BPACC, 57 Samaria Rd Benalla VIC 3672 on Wednesday December 11 from 7.00pm.
Q&A led by Benalla Sustainable Future Group and a light supper following the film.
Bookings are required to see the film and you can book online at http://bpacc.com.au/theatre/ or by calling 03 5762 5515.
Download the flyer.
News update - meeting room change; newsletter articles
We would like to confirm that our screening of the film Point Of No Return this Thursday will now be held in the John Cooper Hall rather than our normal meeting room at the Benalla Uniting Church. This hall will enable a better viewing experience, and it has seating for about 150 and a kitchen for serving supper after the film.
The film is a free public screening and you are welcome to bring along some friends or pass on the event details to people you know; https://www.bsfg.org.au/news/final-bsfg-meeting-for-2019-thursday-28-november-free-screening-of-the-documentary-point-of-no-return. RSVP details in this link including an online RSVP.
Note also that the closing date for submission of articles for our December Newsletter was last Sunday. Articles would still be welcome over the next few days so if you can write about 200 words on something that interests you email it to me and I will forward it to our editor Ian Herbert.
Secretary 0418 135 330
Final BSFG Meeting for 2019 Thursday 28 November, Free Public Screening of the Documentary "Point Of No Return".
The final Meeting of the Benalla Sustainable Future Group for 2019 will be on Thursday November 28th at the Uniting Church, Carrier Street Benalla, opposite the Coles car park.
To finish the year we are screening the film Point Of No Return http://pointofnoreturndoc.com/, the story of the round the world flight by Solar Impulse the solar powered aircraft piloted by Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg who in 2016 succeeded in flying 40,000 km around the world without using a drop of fuel.
This is a free public screening. All welcome, bring along a friend.
In the words of Bertrand Piccard, Pilot and project initiator “Our goal is not to transport passengers. Our goal is to transport a message”. And from director Quinn Kanaly, “At its core, this film is about the perseverance and courage it takes to make difficult decisions when everything is on the line. When we look at the daunting challenge of the global climate crisis, this story of innovation and collaboration offers hope.”
The Solar Impulse Foundation is promoting The Solar Impulse Efficient Solution Label which “seeks to bridge the gap between ecology and economy, bringing together protection of the environment and financial viability to show that these solutions are not expensive fixes to problems, but rather opportunities for clean economic growth”, https://solarimpulse.com/.
Time: 7.15 for a 7.30 start. Prior to the film BSFG president Peter Holmes will update the meeting on local initiatives to declare a climate emergency. The film runs for 1hr 35minutes leaving time for supper after the film.
Although it is not necessary to register your attendance, doing so will assist setting up for the night, in particular the room we use for the screening at the Uniting Church. Register by contacting Peter by Wednesday November 27th; email peter_maddock@iprimus.com.au or sms 0418 135 330. Or submit the online form below the Solar Impulse photo below.
Secretary BSFG Inc.
Registering would assist us setting up for our screening. *
# of additional guests *
Benalla Local Food Network Meeting Wednesday November 6th 2019 5.15pm
The next meeting of the Benalla Local Food Network Action Group is at 5.15pm, Wednesday November 6th at The Farmers Basket Cafe, Nun Street Benalla.
More details Kathryn McQualter 03 5761 4500.
Linking local food to local people.
Download November Flyer
Coming up - the Convoy Film and Book Tour in Albury; a Day in the Gardens; a 'Food and Film' night for BSFG's final general meeting of the year and December's newsletter deadline
There are few events coming on our calendar which you may be interested in attending and possibly assist us with.
1. Next Friday November 1st Bob Brown will be launching the Convoy Film and Book Tour in Albury. Details about this event here, https://www.facebook.com/events/547486569413548/. It may be possible that a later event can be organised at Benalla/Swanpool however this would not be attended by Bob Brown.
2. The Benalla Festival Day in the Gardens is on Sunday November 10 from 9am-3pm. We have booked our stall for this event and would like some assistance on the stall. If you have some time to spare please reply to this email and let me know a time you would be available to assist us.
3. Our final General Meeting for 2019 is on Thursday November 28. The committee have decided to have a more social ending to the year by having a Food and Film night. The film we are going to screen is Point Of No Return, http://pointofnoreturndoc.com/ which promises to be an inspiring film about “the perseverance and courage it takes to make difficult decisions when everything is on the line. When we look at the daunting challenge of the global climate crisis, this story of innovation and collaboration offers hope”, Quinn Kanaly, Director. More details to follow.
4. December Newsletter. Newsletter Article deadline Sunday Nov 24. Please email your articles to me. About 200 words is sufficient.
For the Committee
Renewable Energy Benalla news flash!
A reminder about the final session of Renewable Energy Benalla’s 2019 Energy Efficiency workshops which is on tomorrow night, Monday 14 October, at the Benalla Uniting Church, opposite the Coles car park from 7.30pm until 9.30pm.
This workshop on Energy Monitoring, Solar Power & Batteries will be presented by Kevin Smith. We didn’t get to cover this topic last year so I am also including some people who attended our workshops in 2018.
We will also be mentioning an Energy Efficient Hot Water Bulk Buy. Renewable Energy Benalla and Indigo Power are partnering to offer two best price energy efficient hot water systems.
Reclaim Energy CO2 Heat Pump – 315 litre
Standard installation with rebates - $2000 - $2200
Normal price fully installed approx. $4700
Apricus Evacuated Tube Solar Hot Water – 315 litre
Standard installation with rebates – $3000
For more information, contact Peter Maddock 0418 135 330
Advocacy/Lobbying - Peter Holmes re Proposed Fracking in NT
BSFG President Peter Holmes recently emailed The Honourable Michael Gunner Chief Minister of the Northern Territory about Proposed Fracking in the Northern Territory. Peter was inspired to write this letter after hearing a young girl speak at Katherine in the students Strike for Climate Action while he and Christine were travelling in the Territory.
From: Christine and Peter Holmes
Sent: Thursday, 3 October 2019 10:35 PM
To: 'chief.minister@nt.gov.au'
Subject: Proposed Fracking in the Northern Territory
The Honourable Michael Gunner
Chief Minister of the Northern Territory
On Friday 20th September, my wife and I were privileged to participate with students from Katherine Secondary schools in the students Strike for Climate Action. We were passing through Katherine on our return journey to Victoria.
One of the student speakers at the rally was an incredibly erudite 15 year old girl (unfortunately, I do not recall her name), who spoke with the clarity of message and urgency one would expect of someone many years her senior. She spoke of her concerns for the future of the Northern Territory in particular, and of course the Earth in general, if your Government were to proceed with proposals to open up the Territory to gas exploration and fracking.
Chief Minister, you need to heed the concerns of your young (and older) citizens, as well as the scientists, who are all telling us that we have very few years left to take urgent action to combat the worst effects of climate change. If you were to approve fracking in the Territory, your Government would be complicit in contributing to an impending global disaster. Fracking has been found to have extremely adverse effects on subterranean water supplies, not only because of the huge volumes of water required in each drilling operation, but because of the chemical contamination of groundwater. It has caused many serious human and animal health issues in communities close to fracking operations, and also releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. At this point in history, we need to be drastically reducing our reliance on fossil fuels – not approving projects which condemn our young people to a bleak future.
I write, as President, on behalf of all the members and supporters of Benalla Sustainable Future Group, urging you to refrain from approving fracking in the Northern Territory. Any short-term financial profit that these companies, or your Government, may realise from such activity, will very soon pale into insignificance, compared to the costs associated with repair bills from weather related disasters caused by the escalating carbon dioxide levels the fracking has contributed to, and the costs associated with the health issues the communities will need to address.
For the sake of that 15 year old girl and all her fellow students who are showing courage and leadership in speaking out about their concerns, we as responsible citizens must make wise decisions, even if they may seem to be politically unpopular. There are many other options available to us right now to provide energy and transport into the future, so why not pursue these options as an investment in the future well-being of your young people.
President – Benalla Sustainable Future Group
PO Box 642, Benalla, Vic, 3672
School Strike for Climate Change - Friday 12 noon - King George Gardens, Wangaratta
There will be a School Strike for Climate event in Wangaratta, at the King George Gardens, at 12 noon on Friday.
The King George Gardens are in the centre of Wangaratta opposite the CoStore and Cinema. .
The Age reports that the state government is allowing public servants to take time out to attend climate rallies and is also supportive of students attending rallies.
Renewable Energy Benalla Action Group Convenor
Andrews government gives public servants green light to skip work for protest
Next BSFG Meeting - Thursday September 26th - Guest Speaker Fiona Roberts (DELWP) on the Hume Renewable Energy Roadmap
The next General Meeting of the Benalla Sustainable Future Group will be held on Thursday September 26th, 7.30pm until 9.30pm at the Benalla Uniting Church, Carrier Street Benalla.
Our guest speaker is Fiona Roberts, a member of the Hume Renewable Energy Roadmap project team and a program officer in Community and Partnerships, DELWP, based in Benalla. Fiona will be speaking about the Hume Renewable Energy Roadmap.
The Hume Renewable Energy Roadmap has engaged thousands of people from communities, business and government to hear their views and vision for the future of renewable energy in the region.
The Roadmap identifies regional opportunities for renewable energy in Hume which includes a coalition of community energy groups working to deliver localised energy generation and distribution for community benefit.
Hume also has significant pumped hydro energy storage development potential as well as quality solar resources which have been attracting investment interest. Bioenergy resources are also abundant in Hume with a number of biogas generators operating in the region.
Fiona Roberts has previously worked in the Commonwealth government as a senior policy analyst on a variety of projects including ecological sustainable development and natural resource management for the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Fiona says, "The Hume Renewable Energy Roadmap report brings together what we heard and uncovered and tells our region’s renewable energy story – the past, the exciting things happening now and what the future might hold."
Hear about this Renewable Energy Roadmap and learn about the possibilities for a renewable energy future for our region.
Following the presentation about the Renewable Energy Roadmap there will be a short presentation from John Lloyd about the activities of Renewable Energy Benalla and the role it could play in the energy future for Benalla.
The minutes of our previous meeting held on Thursday July 25th 2019 are attached below.
Supper will be available after the meeting.
Minutes - BSFG Meeting - July 25th 2019
Benalla Local Food Network update
Long term Benalla Local Food Network Action Group members Kathryn McQualter, Peter Maddock and Callum Morrison shared lots of news and discussed many ideas relating to local food networks at their meeting on September 4th.
Kathryn reported on the launch of the North East Local Food Strategy 2018-2022. It is available at http://beechworthhealthservice.com.au/wp-content/uploads/NE-Local-Food-Strategy_2018_2022_Final.pdf
Kathryn was very positive about both the process involved in creating the report and the final product and highlighted its great potential as a resource for community members and groups applying for funding to introduce or expand innovative local food strategies in the North East.
Next meeting Kathryn will report back on a meeting she is attending at Gateway Health on September 17th with Serenity Hill from Open Food Network. Serenity has funding through the Open Food Network to host an event in Wangaratta before July 2020 to ‘connect food producers and eaters, strengthen networks that help connect producers with consumers.’ Other BSFG members are welcome to attend.
Other topics discussed included Kathryn's bountiful garden beds at Benalla Health and the continuing popularity of the Grow Free cart where people can swap their home grown fruit, vegetables and seedlings. The cart is located at the Ray Sweeney Centre 45 Coster St Benalla. The innovative and highly valued 'wicking bed' project was also discussed - Kathryn mentioned that it will soon be time for the annual sharing of seeds and celebration of the wicking garden project at Waminda,
Kathryn is a member of the Benalla Health and Wellbeing group. Kathryn is concerned to ensure that the role a healthy diet, fresh foods and the activity of gardening can have on both physical and mental health, is incorporated in their discussions.
Local good news stories were shared. Kathryn shared information about Good Vibes Wholefoods Benalla's 'Fruit and Veggie Box'. The box, which costs $35, will contain seasonal fresh produce every week. The list will be posted on Facebook @goodvibesbenalla and orders can be confirmed on 0426828788, Main Street Cafe was commended on publishing a list of its local and regional suppliers - not only demonstrating support for local businesses, but a great way to reduce food miles travelled.
The group enjoys catching up and sharing news and views on a bimonthly basis at the Farmers Basket Cafe. They are looking for more action group members particularly in agriculture or environment sector - Kathryn will link with anyone who is unable to attend in person.
The next Benalla Local Food Network meeting will be the Wed 6th Nov 5:15 at Farmers Basket Café Benalla--all welcome
Kathryn McQualter
Coordinator Benalla Local Food Network Action Group
Dietitian Benalla Health 0357612219
Kathryn.McQualter@benallahealth.org.au
Beverley Lee
BSFG Member/Web Team
A Message from BSFG President Peter Holmes - September 2019
"Greetings to all from Broome, and probably by the time you read this newsletter, the AWC property, Mornington, off the Gibb River road, NE of Derby.
After having travelled nearly 4,000 km to get here, I am now starting to feel a bit guilty about burning all that diesel to power our trip! (Just as well we planted lots of trees before we left!) After being (blissfully) out of mobile reception for several days,
I was brought back to earth with a jolt by the plethora of emails from all the various conservation and activist organisations we subscribe to - headlines screaming at me that the ‘Arctic is Burning’, our Pacific neighbours are drowning as seawaters rise, large-scale solar investment is about to ‘fall off the cliff’ because of government policies, etc.
In the past few days, I have learned of two stories, which left me shocked and somewhat angered, by the ignorance and greed displayed in each case. Firstly, at Geikie Gorge, near Fitzroy Crossing, we were told by the Park Ranger that cattle from the neighbouring station had been allowed to invade the National Park to drink from the river, and in the process destroyed the habitat of the critically endangered Purple-crowned Fairy-wren, virtually wiping out the entire local population.
Secondly, we heard that Gina Reinhardt, and other wealthy landholders, were proposing a scheme to use water from the Fitzroy River basin for a large-scale irrigation project - this, in spite of the fact that water levels in this basin are at their lowest in living memory, having endured two very dry ‘wet’ seasons in a row (last year, Fitzroy Crossing had 60mm of rain over the ‘wet’ months instead of the average 600mm). Vast areas of this region are suffering through reduced water table levels, so schemes such as this proposal will further weaken the resilience of the local flora and fauna.
On a positive note, I read, with awe and admiration, the email relating the story of the people of the Negros Occidental province of the Philippines, and their struggles to keep their province coal-mine and coalpower free. I was also encouraged by the plan that Holley and Fin have to encourage people to plant as many trees as possible to absorb atmospheric CO2.
There are many organisations within Australia which are devoting considerable energy to overcome political brick walls (or, more bluntly, plain stupidity and greed) in the fight to counter climate change, and if we support them, vocally and/or financially, they will succeed, because politicians will respond to public pressure.
We need to all start writing letters to newspapers, expressing our frustration with the unwillingness of governments to take the necessary urgent steps to counter climate change, or telephone your local member and record your displeasure with their party's policies. We cannot continue to expect that someone else will do this on our behalf.
I live in hope that common sense will prevail over greed and stupidity!
Peter Holmes
Source: BSFG Newsletter #25 - September 2015
BSFG's September quarterly newsletter (#25) is now available
BSFG's September Newsletter (#25) is now available on the website. .
Peter Holmes, in a passionate' President's Message, emphasises the urgent and continuing need for both individual advocacy/lobbying and support for the organisations devoting considerable energy to overcome political brick walls (or, more bluntly, plain stupidity and greed) in the fight to counter climate change. Also included - Callum Morrison's 'Fifty Years of Playing with Pipes' about his interest in hydrology; a thought provoking article on 'Emissions Levels' by Ian Herbert; a range of stimulating contributions by Peter Maddock - 'Legacy', 'Low Carbon and Loving It', 'Carbon Footprint', '2040, MiniGrids and RedGrid', and 'Another Long Walk for Climate Action' - and a report from Kathryn McQualter from BSFG's Local Food Network Action Group.
Thank you to Ian Herbert for his efforts in putting our Newsletter together. Ian is quite busy yet manages to fit this job into a very full schedule.
The deadline for the December Newsletter is Sunday November 24th. Plenty of time to put pen to paper. E-mail your articles to peter_maddock@iprimus.com.au.
For information, please contact Peter Maddock on 0418 135 330.
BSFG September Newsletter 2019 (#25)
Benalla Local Food Network Meeting Wednesday September 4TH 2019 5.15pm
The next meeting of the Benalla Local Food Network Action Group is at 5.15pm, The Farmers Basket Cafe, Nun Street Benalla. More details Kathryn McQualter.
Reduce Energy Bills and Increase Thermal Comfort
BSFG's Action Group Renewable Energy Benalla is conducting a series of free workshops on how to reduce energy bills and increase the thermal comfort of your home.
August 5 Understanding energy bills and getting the best rate
Electricity contracts, understanding your usage, comparing retail rates. Bring your electricity bills to discuss
August 19 Draught Proofing & Insulation
Locating and fixing draughts. Insulation to improve thermal performance.
September 2 Lighting & Windows
Energy efficient lighting; solutions to poorly performing windows
September 16 Efficient Hot Water Systems, Heating and Cooling
Water heating is a major energy user while heating accounts for 30% of energy bills. Learn about efficient options.
September 30 Appliances & Cooking; Transitioning from Gas
Appliances & cooking account for 30% of energy bills.
October 14 Energy Monitoring, Solar Power & Batteries
Monitoring real time energy consumption.
Advantages of solar power & batteries.
These free workshops will be conducted in the meeting rooms at the Uniting Church in Carrier Street, Benalla, (opposite the Coles car park), from 7:30pm to 9:30pm.
While attending all the workshops would provide the major benefit, some people may wish to only attend some of the sessions.
It is important to register to attend these workshops by emailing info@reb.org.au, indicating the workshops you wish to attend or phone/SMS Peter on 0418 135 330.
Please register by Wednesday 31st July
July Newsletter is now available (and membership renewals due!)
BSFG's Newsletter #24 July 2019 is now available to the public!
Thank you to Ian Herbert for assembling the articles and getting the Newsletter completed, and for contributing some interesting articles on Adani and the Swanpool Environmental Film Festival.
We had intended to have a June Newsletter but time constraints meant we had to make it the July Newsletter. To some extent we were also short of contributions from members for a June deadline, however the July extension has resulted in a most readable and informative newsletter.
The deadline for the September Newsletter is Sunday 25th August so contributions are most welcome.
A reminder that membership renewals are due for 2019-20. One-year membership is $25 per household or $20 if already a member of the Bulk Food Co-operative. A three-year membership is $60. We now have a $5 membership for full time students 18 years and under.
BSFG's July Newsletter
BSFG General Meeting Thursday July 25 2019 Benalla Uniting Church, Managing Queensland Fruit Fly
The next General Meeting of the Benalla Sustainable Future Group will be held on Thursday July 25th, 7.30pm until 9.30pm at the Benalla Uniting Church, Carrier Street Benalla, opposite the Coles Car Park.
Our Guest speaker is Bruce Walker who will be presenting information on Queensland Fruit Fly.
Fruit flies are a significant threat to Victoria’s horticulture industry, affecting production and disrupting trade worldwide. Species such as Queensland fruit fly, are present in Victoria and need effective management to reduce the impact on production and trade opportunities. If we grow fruit and vegetables susceptible to fruit fly we can all play a part in controlling fruit fly.
Topics Bruce will cover include;
Why manage QFF?
* Area wide approach
* Know your enemy
* Options for home gardeners
* Traps in detail
* Orchard and garden hygiene
Bruce is immediate past President of Benalla Rotary. He previously was an agricultural scientist at Rutherglen Research Institute for many years.
We are also hoping to find and screen a suitable short film on food waste.
The meeting will finish with supper, providing an opportunity for further discussion.
Download the Flyer
Swanpool Environmental Film Festival - 15 June 2019
The Swanpool Environmental Film Festival which took place on Saturday 15th June was a great success. We were fortunate to have three guest speakers of international repute who excelled at delivering their knowledge to the audience. Over 200 attended and we had to put up the ‘full house’ sign.
The three subjects covered were the three major problems confronting the world today - nuclear weapons, climate change and how to feed a growing populace. Thanks to Dr Tilman Ruff, Prof Samantha Hepburn and Prof Tim Reeves respectively for coming to Swanpool.
Congratulations were extended to Tilman for being recognised in the Queen’s Birthday honours the week before the SEFF. Tilman already had an AM (Member of Australia) and now has the higher honour of an AO (Member of the Order of Australia) for service to the promotion of peace and to public health. Since 2012, he has been Co-President of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) – an organisation that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985. He was founding Australian and International Chair of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) – awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017. He brought the medal with him for those who wanted to view it. Tilman and his wife Charlotte are landholders in the Lima East valley near Swanpool.
Prof Tim Reeves' talk was titled ‘Food and Nutritional Security - a Grand Challenge for Humankind’. Tim is Professor in Residence at Dookie agricultural campus and was a pioneer of no-till and sustainable agriculture at the Rutherglen Research Institute. He too has worked with many international institutions.
Prof Samantha Hepburn’s talk addressed many of the Australian legal issues around climate change and the Adani mine going ahead.
This year we changed the format a little and had a short film session mid-afternoon. As well as selected
short films it included news reels and a series of slides telling the story of preserving Strathbogie Forest this past year. That’s a good news story because the designated logging coupes in the most precious part of the forest, around Mt Strathbogie and Golden Mount, have now been withdrawn from the Timber Release Plan. The TRP lists the designated coupes which VicForests can log. The next step is to have permanent protection for the forest, preferably by declaring it a Conservation Park giving it the samestatus as Mt Samaria Park.
The film ‘2040’ which concluded the evening was very well received. It looks into the future asking the question how could the planet be if we do the right thing. When taking about sustainable agriculture it gave good coverage of the works of Colin Seiss who was referred to by Tim Reeves in his talk and who has worked closely with the Gecko CLaN and landholders in this region for many years.
Many thanks to all who volunteered to make this day a success, particularly Peter Maddock for all his work getting all the video together. The SEFF is run by the Swanpool Landcare group in partnership with Benalla Sustainable Future group and with support from the Gecko CLaN, GBCMA, Granite Creeks and Benalla Permaculture. We are particularly thankful for the catering provided by the Swanpool Catering Team who excelled themselves once again.
Doctor Tilman Ruff, Ian Herbert, Professor Ian Reeves, Professor Samantha Hepburn
'This is what monumental progress looks like' Market Forces
A couple of years ago, Pablo Brait from Market Forces was guest speaker at a BSFG general meeting.
The following extract from recent fund raising related email from Market Forces, might give hope to those who wish Adani would disappear into the ether.
This is what monumental progress looks like
"Five Korean financial institutions rule out funding Adani. A dozen international insurance companies do the same. The French investment bank Adani hired to sell part of Abbot Point walks away from the deal.
Insurer QBE commits to phase out thermal coal insurance by 2030. Three Singaporean banks and Standard Chartered signal an end to funding new coal power stations.
This is just some of the progress we have made in the past year, all while under increasing scrutiny and threatened by Adani's lawyers, who tried to intimidate us into submission. No chance.
Every day we become more aware of how climate change is impacting us all. From bushfires in winter and in parts of Australia that have never experienced them before, to another angry summer just passed where climate records tumbled.
We’re making progress, but it’s not fast enough to meet our vision of a coal free Australia by 2030, with all of the world's future energy needs met with renewables.
Possible? Yes. Essential? Absolutely.
We're up against a fossil fuel industry desperate to squeeze every last dollar of profit it can while it has the chance. And the re-elected Morrison government has just announced it has a mandate on all existing policies, including climate and energy. Meaning the government has just let itself off the hook over taking action on climate change.
I’m sure it’s no surprise to you when I say we can’t count on our political leaders to save us from climate disaster. It’s up to the community to fight harder than ever for a safe climate future. And our work convincing financial institutions like our banks, super funds and insurance companies to drop their investments in fossil fuels is more critical than ever. Governments won’t act, so we have to."
As an independent nonprofit, Market Forces doesn’t take money from governments or corporations, relying on support from community members so their team can keep their work up. They are currently seeking financial support asking community members to make a tax deductible $3 donation to 'help deliver the next round of wins to move finance and investment away from polluting fossil fuels'. The work of Market Forces is regarded highly by BSFG. BSFG. members and friends might consider including Market Forces in their portfolio of climate change related donations by responding to their current request for financial support. .
A letter to members & supporters from BSFG's incoming President, Peter Holmes
"Dear BSFG members and supporters
Last Thursday, BSFG conducted its 2019 AGM, at which our new committee was elected. I am both
honoured and challenged by members accepting my nomination as President for the
coming year, and extremely grateful to the other incoming members who have accepted positions
on the committee.
At the AGM, I read an extract from Richard Flanagan's speech to the large crowd at the Canberra
climate rally on Sunday 5th May. You can read his full speech by accessing the Guardian website*, and
if you do so, I hope it might inspire you to tackle the climate emergency head on!
Briefly, three comments Flanagan made stand out in my mind.
"After May 18th it matters even more to press whoever wins to recognise this crisis is not an issue. It
is THE issue".
"I am here today to say that there is hope. That the Franklin River flows free and Adani will be
stopped. These things happen, because at a certain point enough people say there are things that
matter more than the politics of money."
"There is no power on this earth that can resist an idea whose time has come. It is a time to act and it is for us to act. Because there is no-one else and there is no other time."
Every day in the news, I read about the arrogance of the politicians who think they have been given
a mandate to implement their climate-wrecking policies and open up new coal mines, put renewable energy projects on the back burner in favour of the fossil fuel corporations that bought them victory, and condemn our children to a world with a bleak future.
And then, I remember Flanagan's words, and it makes me more determined to do something. So I
write a letter to the paper, or I have a serious head-to-head discussion with a friend who is a
conservative voter. On my own, I might reach out to a few people, but with your collective help, we
can do so much more. Politicians will listen to a group with several hundred members, because that
is significant.
If you are one of our long time members, I thank you for your ongoing support, and encourage you
to come along to our bi-monthly meetings (4th Thursday of July, September, November, March and
May). If you are on our contact list, please consider becoming a member - $25 per year - and also
coming along to our meetings, where we try to arrange a varied array of guest speakers or films on
environmental/sustainability issues.
Please check out our website (www.bsfg.org.au) where you will find information about our action
groups, and other articles of environmental importance. There are details on the website about how
you can join BSFG, and I look forward to your support as we try to influence the political debate in
Australia around the climate emergency.
Peter Holmes (President)
*be inspired - Richard Flanagan's Speech '...Will You Stand With Me?'
'Adani - Critical Deadlines' - an important message from the ACF
"I won’t beat around the bush. Our campaign to stop Adani just got a whole lot more complicated.
The Morrison Government won the election with no plan to end to digging up and burning coal.
But we’ve been here before. No-one ever said that taking on nature-wrecking corporations in the most profitable industry in history would be easy.
Right now, Adani and the Murdoch press are trying to spin the election result as some sort of resurgence for love of coal.
We call rubbish. The vast majority of Australians know there is no future for coal. There’s just a handful of billionaires trying to make more money at the expense of everyone else’s children.
Adani’s mine would open the Galilee Basin to eight more climate-wrecking coal mines. If they all went ahead, it would be the biggest expansion of coal mining on planet Earth. And burning coal is the worst cause of climate damage.
Clive Palmer, Gautam Adani and Gina Rinehart are selling false hope to regional communities. The reality?
Coal is on the way out. It’s a collapsing industry without a future. Don’t just take it from us. Last week BHP said burning coal will be phased out “sooner than we think.” China Stone put their proposed coal mine next to Adani’s on hold. And a new report says global investment in coal tumbled by 75% in just three years.
But for Adani, they have too much invested already to give up on the mine. And they’re sniffing out more public subsidies to make their mine scrape through. They are dead-set on digging and burning that coal.
They’re happy to trample the rights of Wangan and Jagalingou Traditional Owners who are in court today challenging Adani’s Indigenous Land Use Agreement.
In coming weeks, the Queensland government will choose – let Adani destroy wildlife and water – or not.
There are two critical approvals the Queensland government just set deadlines for – management plans for endangered wildlife and water. Adani’s previous plans were rejected as inadequate by scientists and the Queensland government.
The water plan was waved through under political pressure by the Federal Environment Minister on election eve, but now must be signed off by the Queensland government.
This Friday, the Queensland government will choose the fate of the finch. Let a billionaire bulldoze the last remaining habitat of the endangered Black-Throated Finch? Or protect this beautiful bird, and everything it symbolises as the “canary in the coal mine”?
Adani’s plan is to destroy critical finch habitat, and then later on protect “offset” habitat on the site of billionaire Clive Palmer’s proposed new mine. That’s the man who decided to, in his words, “polarise the electorate” by dropping $60 million on advertising during the federal election campaign.
On 13 June, the Queensland government will choose to approve or reject Adani’s water management plan.
Adani’s Groundwater Dependent Ecosystem Management Plan (GDEMP) is supposed to protect vital ecosystems – like the Doongmabulla Springs near Adani’s proposed mine site. But expert water scientists have raised serious concerns about Adani’s plans to suck billions of litres of water from Queensland’s precious inland aquifers.
The mining giant plans to drain 12.5 billion litres of precious river water every year, nearly as much as all local farmers combined. It threatens ancient springs – 160 wetlands that provide permanent water during drought. It would also leave behind six unfilled coal pits that would drain millions of litres of groundwater forever.
It’s bad enough that the federal government rushed through this dodgy plan on the eve of the election. But with 65% of Queensland suffering through a worsening drought, for the Queensland government to approve it would be a travesty.
On 18-19 June, ACF will take on the Environment Minister in the federal court.
In our crowd-funded court case, ACF is challenging the federal government because we believe it broke its own laws over the water-guzzling pipeline Adani needs for its climate-wrecking mine. We will also challenge whether the Minister properly considered thousands of public submissions, as required by the law.
We think we have a chance of winning.
I have to be honest with you though that the bad news is that, even if we win, the Minister can re-approve the pipeline by following the “proper process,” which under Australia’s weak current environmental laws, has only weak checks on the destruction of ecosystems and the extinction of wildlife. Under current laws, the Minister does not even have to consider climate change.
I’m sorry I can’t be the bearer of better news. But Adani can’t start digging yet. And our elected representatives’ decisions on water, the finch and climate pollution have consequences.
Birdsong. Crystal clear water in ancient aquifers. Oceans teeming with fish and corals. We hold these things in trust for future generations of children and wildlife. They matter.
Christian Slattery
Stop Adani Campaigner
P.S. To take on the nature-wrecking corporations and the coal industry, people everywhere need to get off the sidelines. That’s why we’ve decided it’s time to scale up our local ACF Community groups from 27 to 70 groups. Real power comes from people working together in local areas AND on coordinated national campaigns.Join a webinar this Thursday 30 May or Thursday 13 June to learn how to join or start a local ACF Community group. | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413415 |
__label__cc | 0.673563 | 0.326437 | MEN AND WOMEN REVERSE AGING PROCESS TO BOOST CAREER
New research released today indicates that nearly a third of UK adults would have aesthetic treatment for a change in job or career, underlining that youthfulness still equates to success in work for many people.1
Survey results also highlighted that 1 in 5 women in the UK have dermal fillers to turn the clock back and retain their beauty while surprisingly, almost 40% of respondents, aged 25-44, said they would have aesthetic treatment if their partner wanted them to.1
This survey was commissioned by Intraline Medical Aesthetics, a new and innovative company who today launch their flagship Hyaluronic Acid(HA) dermal filler products, Intraline® One and Intraline® Two, in the UK.
The anti-aging and restorative products are designed to suit each individual’s aesthetic needs and are manufactured using the finest ingredients for long-lasting natural results. The fillers can be used for everything from wrinkle reduction to contouring and lip enhancement with the benefit of being completely reversible, providing long lasting beautiful results without committing to going ‘under the knife’ or having a permanent treatment.
“I am delighted that Intraline products are now available in the UK, where the aesthetics industry continues to grow from strength to strength. At Intraline, we pride ourselves on bringing a fresh perspective and continual innovation to aesthetic treatments and are committed to providing safe and quality products with fantastic results”, commented Reece Tomlinson, CEO, Intraline Medical Aesthetics.
Until now, 90% of all aesthetic procedures have been carried out on women;2 however Intraline’s research found that UK men are threatening to buck the trend with 25% of survey respondents having dermal fillers to reward themselves.1 Weddings were identified as a key milestone with 1 in 25 women undergoing treatment to look their best on their big day and 10% having a procedure for a significant birthday.
Intraline champions safety standards in the aesthetics industry, and has recently partnered with Derma Medical, a state of the art aesthetic training provider, based in the Royal College of Surgeons.This partnership will ensure that UK practitioners can access the latest training before using Intraline’s products.
Dr Zack Ally, a pioneering physician who leads the Derma Medical team said, “Intraline’s dermal fillers are extremely pure in composition and the unique proprietary spherification technology ensures they have some of the highest molecular densities of any product on the market today. It is exciting to use a new and effective product, produced by a company who truly value the importance of safety and comprehensive training in aesthetic treatments.”
The dermal fillers are the first of Intraline’s treatments to launch in the UK with an expanding product range coming soon. Intraline’s proprietary products are currently available in Canada, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Korea, Russia, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine and United Kingdom. | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413420 |
__label__cc | 0.739964 | 0.260036 | Hilton Head and Bluffton: Home
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Can You Hear Me Now? A wakeup call from your body
Author: Linda S. Hopkins
Believe it or not, the most complex information-processing system on the planet is not your smart phone, computer or notebook. It’s your body. Yet many of us are too busy juggling our lives to tune into its wisdom. When we slow down and listen, our bodies are constantly sending signals: More of this, please; less of that. And when we learn to pay attention, many illnesses and injuries can be avoided. It’s when we rush around and ignore its subtle hints that the body throws a tantrum.
Next thing you know, you’re down for the count, forced to stop and do what is necessary to make your body healthy and happy again. Sometimes it requires a visit to the doctor, testing, bed rest, medication or even surgery, which often means that life as you know it comes to a screeching halt. If only you had listened….
Unless you are a direct descendent of Buddha or one of those highly-attuned fitness gurus or energy healers, you are probably wondering just how the heck you are supposed to go about “listening to your body.” Chances are you are getting some static interference and mixed signals. Stillness is required, and unfortunately some of us wait until we’re sick to be still.
Personally, when I exercise too much (or not enough), slack off on hydration, don’t eat well, or cut my sleep short, my body sends warning signs such as back pain, anxiety, headaches, foggy thinking, and gastrointestinal disturbances. Like yellow caution signals, this amazing machine of mine that works on autopilot, for the most part, begins whispering sweet somethings in my ear: Slow down, drink more water/less wine; eat more veggies/less ice cream; stretch more/sit less; breathe! Seems like common sense, right? And it is.
But how many times, have you tried to outsmart your body by rationalizing bad habits, talking yourself out of going to the gym, or into having that extra cocktail? The waters get murky when the mind and body are out of sync.
According to Dr. James Gordon, Harvard educated psychiatrist and founder of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine, it’s important to note that the mind is not synonymous with the brain. “The mind consists of mental states such as thoughts, emotions, beliefs, attitudes, and images. The brain is the hardware that allows us to experience these mental states,” he said. “The brain and peripheral nervous system, the endocrine and immune systems, and indeed, all the organs of our body and all the emotional responses we have, share a common chemical language and are constantly communicating with one another.”
Awareness of the mind-body connection is certainly not a new idea, but science is finally bridging the gap. “Health and illness don’t happen in a vacuum,” said psychotherapist Andy Roman of the Hippocrates Health Institute in West Palm Beach Florida. “Hidden pain, especially of the emotional and mental flavors, drives us to do whatever it takes to keep us pain-free—hence addictive, unhealthy habits and patterns,” he said. “It takes more than intellectual insight, more than a ‘program’ or ‘system,’ to make lasting positive changes. When it comes to getting well, focusing on ‘what’s eating you’ can be just as important as what you eat.”
Mind-body practices such as meditation, prayer, guided imagery, tai chi, qui gong, yoga and other techniques focus on becoming more conscious of mental states and using this increased awareness to guide us in a healthier direction. Such practices can be helpful for many conditions because they encourage relaxation, improve coping skills, reduce tension and pain, and lessen the need for medication.
Listening to your body and making the mind-body connection does not mean you become paranoid and run to the ER every time you sneeze. It means tuning into your own intuition and deep knowing of what is best for you. Ideally, we would be tuned in all the time, but here are four times when paying attention is especially critical:
• When burning the candle at both ends. In a world that values productivity, many of us feel compelled to push through, often with an extra dose of caffeine and willpower. Over time, the added stress can put your health in jeopardy and even increase your odds of having an accident. At the very least, you may be feeling irritable, anxious and ready to snap someone’s head off. Is this any way to live? While it may be difficult to take a step back or trim down your to-do list, your body is sending you a signal. Ignore it, and say bye-bye to efficiency and production, because you will eventually be flat on your back.
• When in pain. Pain is the body’s way of telling us that something is wrong. The “no-pain, no gain” mentality is often taken out of context, causing athletes and gym enthusiasts to over-train. Warning: Pushing too hard is a path to injury and long-term damage to your body. Pain is your body saying, “Woah!” On the flip side, the body is meant to move, and exercise might be exactly what your body is begging for. A certain amount of muscle soreness can be expected when you workout, especially if you are trying something new. Your body will tell you if it’s the good kind of pain or the bad sort.
• When fatigued. Worn out? Tired all the time? This may be your body’s way of telling you to pay attention to your diet. Sluggishness, frequent illnesses, unexpected weight changes or frequent junk food cravings are sure signs that you aren’t eating right. While nutrition is a complex and tricky topic, it’s a safe bet that more fruits and vegetables won’t hurt and might help. Because your body said so.
• When you just know. It’s easy to ignore our intuition in lieu of a quick Google search. But sometimes the body knows best. If you have a gut feeling something is not right, trust that instinctive wisdom and follow the trail. Make some notes of your symptoms, see your primary care physician, and listen to your body before it says, “I told you so!”
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In September of 2006, Celebrate Hilton Head (CH2) burst onto the scene with a fresh perspective on Hilton Head Island, Bluffton and the surrounding Low Country. At the helm was a team of young women (all under 30!) with no experience whatsoever in the publishing industry. The first year they made up the rules as they went along. CH2 (and CB2 – Celebrate Bluffton and Beyond), has evolved into a well-respected publication with over 150 advertisers and a distribution to over 47,000 locals and visitors each month.
Content ranges from Interesting Islander profiles and arts and entertainment pieces to food and wine topics and Hilton Head and Bluffton Business Profiles. CH2’s Bachelor of the Year Contest has blossomed into a greatly anticipated media event every year with viral marketing (i.e., Facebook, Twitter) contributing to the annual readership of those issues pertaining to the contest and over 700 people attending the Bachelor of the Year party held every October held at a local Hilton Head or Bluffton entertainment spot.
CH2 strives to give back to the community in which they have been so successful by sponsoring charitable events in both Hilton Head Island and Bluffton (Bluffton’s MayFest, put on by the Bluffton Rotary), donating editorial space to worthy organizations (Bold Strokes, Volunteers in Medicine, March of Dimes), and making the Hilton Head Island Rec Center the recipient of monies raised in conjunction with the Bachelor of the Year Contest.
5 Drinks with: Dr. Curtis Hennessey
Seeing Life Without Vision
5 Drinks with The Amazing Zoltan - The world’s greatest animatronic prognosticator opens up on what’s coming our way in 2020.
Salt Your Soul: Shelter Cove Harbour & Marina Introduces Pure Salt Studios
Pure Barre Hilton Head Island: The exercise you need, the connection you crave
Musicians in Bathrooms featuring Zack Stiltner
Rehashing the 10-Year Challenge
Now We’re Talking Therapy Services: Bringing out the best in every child
20 Places to Workout in 2020
Editor's Note: January 2020
Time in a bottle: Put your best face forward with the private label lines at FACES DaySpa
How to Make Your Money Work Harder in 2020
In Search of Purpose
Oh Say, Can you See? Essential maintenance for eye health
2020 Vision: Glasses are the Best Accessory
Sea Pines CSA: Receives Prestigious National Honor for Grounds Maintenance Program
CQ's: Redefining Fine Dining
Explore South Carolina: Hampton
Retail, Restaurants and Real Estate:The three Rs for today’s entrepreneurial women
Beer Talk: Which Brew is for You?
January 2019: Editor's Note
The Fiscal Cliff and You
Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe: Celebrating the way Daufuskie was
A Note From Our Mayors
From Head to Toe: New Year New You!
2019 Women in Business: Pat Sokolowski and Jennifer Sokolowski
C2 Exclusive: Mark Pellegrino Opens Up!
Editor's Note: Because the More You Know...
AUGUST 2012: BEHIND THE GATES | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413428 |
__label__cc | 0.713457 | 0.286543 | CURRY NIGHT AT THE ABBEY STADIUM – NEXT WEEK
Tom Stewart
Enjoy a curry in the Main Stand before next week’s JPT Opener against Dagenham
Barry Corrma, Rogan Josh Coulson and Samosa Beasant are all on the menu next week for Cambridge United supporters, with a special curry and beer deal available for just £10 prior to the clash against Dagenham & Redbridge.
Available to all U’s fans ahead of kick off (7.45pm) next Tuesday, the club will open the doors to both the Premier Travel Hospitality Suite and Dion Dublin Bar located in the Main Stand, with hot and tasty curry being served from both.
As well as the chance to excite the taste buds before the match, the evening also gives the Amber Army the opportunity to sample the club’s all-new hospitality facilities which have been refurbished over the summer period.
Enjoy delicious food in a fun, friendly and relaxed environment before the exciting action begins inside the Abbey Stadium.
Prices are as follows for food on the night:
Curry and a Naan Bread- £7.50
Curry, Naan Bread and a Beer/soft drink - £10
Meanwhile tickets for the U’s first round match against the Daggers are still available online at the following link, over the phone by calling 01223 566 500 or in-store.
Richard Money’s men were drawn against the Daggers on the opening day of the season in the South Eastern Regional section of the competition, and will hope home advantage can help them reach the next stage.
Only the Main Stand and Newmarket Road End will be open for the fixture, with tickets priced as follows in both areas:
Adult - £10
Concession - £5
Junior - £1
Supporters that purchase tickets in advance of the fixture will also receive two loyalty points for the club's priority purchase loyalty scheme. | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413432 |
__label__wiki | 0.993126 | 0.993126 | SportBrumbies
sport, brumbies, ACT Brumbies, Brumbies name change, ACT in the Brumbies name, Brumbies survey, Super Rugby, Brumbies crowds, Brumbies news
Is it time to officially put Canberra back into the Brumbies name to help the club connect with fans? Chief executive Phil Thomson wants to find out and says he will consider reintroducing the "ACT" to the name and brand if supporters want it reinstated. The Brumbies have launched an end-of-season survey to find out how they can attract new fans and keep members happy after a mixed Super Rugby campaign. The Brumbies fired on the field and made it to the semi-finals, but fans stayed away from Canberra Stadium. The club was in danger of recording its lowest average crowd figures in Super Rugby history halfway through the season before a mini revival lifted the figures to 8798 per game. It was the third lowest average since the start of professional rugby 23 years ago and Thomson wants fans to be brutally honest in the survey to help officials find the answers they need. The survey covers everything from membership prices, preferred kick-off times, pre-match entertainment, food and drink options, fireworks and how the Wallabies form impacts Brumbies support. One of the questions could lead to a small, but significant, change after Brumbies officials asked if fans would be supportive of an official reintroduction of the "ACT Brumbies" and if it would make supporters more likely to attend game. The Brumbies dropped the "ACT" from their name several years ago to give the club a broader appeal given its connections to the south coast and regional NSW. It had the opposite effect in Canberra, with some supporters viewing the move as a slight on the capital. "We'll certainly have a look at it and see what the fans think," Thomson said. "We've had feedback from some people about the ACT was removed from the Brumbies. We'd like to get an overall feel to see how important that is to the community and the region. "We'll certainly listen to feedback. We're open to receiving honest feedback from people because we want to try to improve all areas we can control." MORE BRUMBIES NEWS: Super Rugby is one of the only professional competitions in the world where geographical locations are overlooked in names. It has created confusion for some fans given overseas-based teams neglect to recognise their home cities. It is one of the reasons crowd numbers have fallen across the competition following several format and team changes in recent years. Thomson has previously warned continual low crowd figures, and the financial implications, are unsustainable for the Brumbies future It is hoped the Brumbies can capitalise on an on-field resurgence to help lure people back to the ground after the team won eight games in a row in Canberra and set a single-season winning streak record. The loss, however, of star players David Pocock, Christian Lealiifano, Henry Speight, Sam Carter and Rory Arnold will ensure the Brumbies have a fresh challenge in attracting crowds next season. More than 500 people had completed the Brumbies survey in the hours after it went live on Monday night. The survey will be left open for two weeks. "We want to cast a wide net," Thomson said. "We do surveys every year and so does [Canberra Stadium] to get the general feedback of where we need to improve. "At the stage we're at right now, we need to have an open and honest conversation about what we need to do to reconnect with the community. "We were hoping the run of wins at home would lead to a big crowd at the end of the season. The crowds improved slowly, but of course we were hoping for more to support the team. "We need to look at what we can do to get those people to the game." The Super Rugby draw for 2020 will be finalised in the coming months, with the competition expected to start earlier than it has in any season since 1996. That could mean the Brumbies playing their first home game on the last weekend of January, with SANZAAR officials working to accommodate international fixtures.
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July 23 2019 - 5:01PM
Should the Brumbies put the 'ACT' back in name?
Chris Dutton
Is it time to officially put Canberra back into the Brumbies name to help the club connect with fans?
Chief executive Phil Thomson wants to find out and says he will consider reintroducing the "ACT" to the name and brand if supporters want it reinstated.
The Brumbies want to grow their crowd support in 2020. Picture: Dion Georgopoulos
The Brumbies have launched an end-of-season survey to find out how they can attract new fans and keep members happy after a mixed Super Rugby campaign.
The Brumbies fired on the field and made it to the semi-finals, but fans stayed away from Canberra Stadium.
The club was in danger of recording its lowest average crowd figures in Super Rugby history halfway through the season before a mini revival lifted the figures to 8798 per game.
It was the third lowest average since the start of professional rugby 23 years ago and Thomson wants fans to be brutally honest in the survey to help officials find the answers they need.
The survey covers everything from membership prices, preferred kick-off times, pre-match entertainment, food and drink options, fireworks and how the Wallabies form impacts Brumbies support.
One of the questions could lead to a small, but significant, change after Brumbies officials asked if fans would be supportive of an official reintroduction of the "ACT Brumbies" and if it would make supporters more likely to attend game.
The Brumbies dropped the "ACT" from their name several years ago to give the club a broader appeal given its connections to the south coast and regional NSW.
It had the opposite effect in Canberra, with some supporters viewing the move as a slight on the capital.
"We'll certainly have a look at it and see what the fans think," Thomson said.
"We've had feedback from some people about the ACT was removed from the Brumbies. We'd like to get an overall feel to see how important that is to the community and the region.
"We'll certainly listen to feedback. We're open to receiving honest feedback from people because we want to try to improve all areas we can control."
MORE BRUMBIES NEWS:
Rob Valetini proves a point in club rugby
Should David Pocock play club rugby in Canberra?
'I've got my enjoyment back': Slipper
Miller says Brumbies move was a no-brainer
Injury puts Lealiifano Test comeback on hold
Super Rugby is one of the only professional competitions in the world where geographical locations are overlooked in names.
It has created confusion for some fans given overseas-based teams neglect to recognise their home cities.
It is one of the reasons crowd numbers have fallen across the competition following several format and team changes in recent years.
Thomson has previously warned continual low crowd figures, and the financial implications, are unsustainable for the Brumbies future
It is hoped the Brumbies can capitalise on an on-field resurgence to help lure people back to the ground after the team won eight games in a row in Canberra and set a single-season winning streak record.
David Pocock and Josh Mann-Rea have both finished at the Brumbies. Picture: Dion Georgopoulos
The loss, however, of star players David Pocock, Christian Lealiifano, Henry Speight, Sam Carter and Rory Arnold will ensure the Brumbies have a fresh challenge in attracting crowds next season.
More than 500 people had completed the Brumbies survey in the hours after it went live on Monday night. The survey will be left open for two weeks.
"We want to cast a wide net," Thomson said. "We do surveys every year and so does [Canberra Stadium] to get the general feedback of where we need to improve.
"At the stage we're at right now, we need to have an open and honest conversation about what we need to do to reconnect with the community.
"We were hoping the run of wins at home would lead to a big crowd at the end of the season. The crowds improved slowly, but of course we were hoping for more to support the team.
"We need to look at what we can do to get those people to the game."
The Super Rugby draw for 2020 will be finalised in the coming months, with the competition expected to start earlier than it has in any season since 1996.
That could mean the Brumbies playing their first home game on the last weekend of January, with SANZAAR officials working to accommodate international fixtures.
Click or touch here to take the Brumbies survey | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413437 |
__label__cc | 0.605551 | 0.394449 | About Can Tho
Culture and Beliefs
Traditional villages
Can Tho specialties
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NA leader attends ceremony to kick off work on Can Tho historical site
Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan attended a ceremony in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on October 4 to a project to upgrade the Lo Vong Cung historical relic site in My Khanh commune, Phong Dien district.
At the groundbreaking ceremony
The project has a total investment of over 99 billion VND (4.25 million USD) from social sources. It will be carried out from now to 2020.
Speaking at the ceremony, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Duong Tan Hien said Lo Vong Cung connects National Highway 1A with Phong Dien district. It runs through My Khanh, Nhon Ai, Tan Thoi and Giai Xuan communes, and ends at Ba Se highway in O Mon district.
This is a convenient transport route with an important strategic position in the southwest gateway of Can Tho city.
During the resistance wars against French colonialism and American imperialism, Lo Vong Cung was known as a “land of fire”, and held a specially important position from a military perspective.
Many Vietnamese soldiers laid down their lives there, especially in the 1968 Spring General Offensive and Uprising and the historic Ho Chi Minh Campaign that liberated the South and reunited the nation in 1975.
On February 7, 2013, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued a decision recognising the troop transit site, field hospital and weapon cache at Lo Vong Cung as a national historical relic site.
To preserve and promote the value of the site, on April 13, 2018, the municipal People’s Committee approved a project to upgrade it with the construction of a memorial site.
Source: VNA
• New database on Vietnamese land and people (16/01/2020)
• Same-level entrance fees applied for Vietnamese and foreigners (15/01/2020)
• Can Tho welcomed more than 8.8 million visitors in 2019 (10/01/2020)
• Tourism promotional strategy 2020: Connecting key cities with air routes to Can Tho (08/01/2020)
• Visitors to Con Son islet increased over 30% (03/01/2020)
<< < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
d138e792-a9ca-467f-a5e1-e9c6454f62c9
Flower Road to celebrate Spring 2020
PLACE: Vo Van Tan Street and Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Ninh Kieu District.
TIME: From January 21st to January 29th, 2020 (from lunar December 27th, 2019 to lunar January 5th, 2020).
Cultural, artistic, recreational activities for children
PLACE: Luu Huu Phuoc Park and Youth Cultural House in Ninh Kieu District.
TIME: January 20th, 2020 (on lunar December 26th, 2019).
Fireworks display to celebrate Spring 2020
PLACE: Hoa Su Restaurant, Ninh Kieu District.
TIME: Midnight of January 24th, 2020 (on lunar December 30th, 2019).
Art program to welcome New Year's Eve themed “Celebrate the Glorious Party - Celebrate 2020 Canh Ty Spring”
PLACE: Luu Huu Phuoc Park, Ninh Kieu District.
TIME: January 24th, 2020.
Art program to celebrate the new year of 2020
TIME: 19:00, December 31st, 2019.
Bún Gỏi Dà – Little-known Specialty in Western South, Viet Nam
5 famous brands of noodles in the Southwest of Vietnam
Preserve the craft of making traditional cakes
Sweet and fragrant Thuan Hung rice papers
Coffee shop for guests to sit amid an aquarium in Can Tho
Top Must-try cakes at the Southern folk cakes festival
MAP OF CAN THO
Statistic:
Can Tho city is an important gateway for road, waterway and air traffic system. Along the National Highway 1A to the Northeast, Can Tho City is 169km away from Ho Chi Minh City and 60 to 190km away from other provinces in the Mekong Delta. By the end of 2008, flights from Can Tho to Hanoi were put into operation and many domestic flights were operated as well as promoted effectively in 2010. In addition, the city has a relatively flat terrain with rainy season and sunny season along with fresh water all year round. The ecological environment with many canals has portrayed the elegance, kindness and gentleness of Can Tho people.
CAN THO PORTAL
Management Agency: Office of the People's Committee of Can Tho City
Address: 02 Hoa Binh Avenue, Tan An Ward, Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho City
© Quote "Can Tho Portal" as source when reproducing news from this portal. | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413440 |
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__label__wiki | 0.90419 | 0.90419 | Tensions rise in the Big Brother house as McCrae faces the backlash of the two houseguests he nominated for eviction and America chooses the 1st BBMVP!
Helen in the Have Not Room
Big Brother – Houseguest Helen inside the Have-Not room before the first Power of Veto Competition, Tuesday, July 2 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Jessie, David and Candice
Big Brother – Houseguests Jessie, David and Candice before the first Power of Veto Competition, Tuesday, July 2 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Howard and Aaryn
Big Brother – Houseguests Howard and Aaryn in the Have-Not room before the first Power of Veto Competition, Tuesday, July 2 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
McCrae in the PoV Ceremony
Big Brother – McCrae announced the MVP’s choice for the third nominee before the first Power of Veto Competition, Tuesday, July 2 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Jessie and Howard
Big Brother – Houseguests Jessie and Howard before the first Power of Veto Competition, Tuesday, July 2 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Judd Cooks
Big Brother – Houseguest Judd prepares food before the first Power of Veto Competition, Tuesday, July 2 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Kaitlin and Jeremy
Big Brother – Houseguests Kaitlin and Jeremy before the first Power of Veto Competition, Tuesday, July 2 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Spencer and Andy
g Brother – Houseguests Spencer and Andy before the first Power of Veto Competition, Tuesday, July 2 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
First PoV Competition
Big Brother – The houseguests are ready for their first Power of Veto Competition, Tuesday, July 2 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Under the Rolling Pin
Big Brother - The houseguests during their first Power of Veto Competition, Tuesday, July 2 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS
Preparing for Veto
Watching the PoV
Big Brother – The houseguests not participating in the Power of Veto Competition watch the competitors, Tuesday, July 2 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
PoV Winner
Big Brother – Houseguest McCrae after winning the first Power of Veto Competition, Tuesday, July 2 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Delivering the Winning Word!
Big Brother - Houseguest McCrae reveals his word during the first Power of Veto Competition, Tuesday, July 2 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413449 |
__label__wiki | 0.990581 | 0.990581 | Highlights from the Twelfth Episode of Season 13 of CSI
The CSIs need to ace the case involving a rising tennis star. Meanwhile, the CSIs are surprised to hear Hodges is engaged to an Italian bombshell.
"Double Fault"
Henry Andrews (Jon Wellner, left) and Morgan Brody (Elisabeth Harnois) prepare to watch something in this scene. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2012 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Facial Expressions
David Hodges (Wallace Langham, left) watches the expression on Elisabetta’s (Catrinel Menghia Marlon) face as he tries to explain something. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2012 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
David Hodges (Wallace Langham, left) is in ‘take it easy’ mode with Elisabetta (Catrinel Menghia Marlon) because she’s a little upset about something. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2012 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Chris Evert and Lindsay Davenport Guest Star
Former WTA world No. 1’s Chris Evert (left) and Lindsay Davenport each play themselves as announcers in this scene. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2012 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Taking Center Court
D.B. Russell (Ted Danson, left) and Julie Finlay (Elisabeth Shue) inspect a tennis court for clues to find a killer. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2012 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
D.B. Russell (Ted Danson, left) and Julie Finlay (Elisabeth Shue) listen carefully as they piece together clues on the tennis court. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2012 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Examining The Body
Dr. Robbins (Robert David Hall, left), Julie Finlay (Elisabeth Shue, middle) and David Phillips (David Berman) have the task of being the first to examine the body. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2012 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The Dump Site
D.B. Russell (Ted Danson, left) and Julie Finlay (Elisabeth Shue) search for any kind of fingerprints and DNA on the ball machine in which the body was found. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2012 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Serving Up A Clue
D.B. Russell (Ted Danson, left) and Julie Finlay (Elisabeth Shue) each speak to former ATP world tour player and broadcaster Justin Gimelstob about what he discovered while working out. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2012 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Work Hard, Play Harder
Julie Finlay (Elisabeth Shue, right) has just finished hitting some tennis balls with former WTA world No. 1 and legendary tennis player Chris Evert as she interviewed her about the case. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2012 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Acing The Case
Julie Finlay (Elisabeth Shue, left) listens as former WTA world No. 1 and legendary tennis player Chris Evert explains what happened the night before the crime. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2012 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
In The Presence Of A Legend
Julie Finlay (Elisabeth Shue) continued to speak to former WTA world No. 1 and legendary tennis player Chris Evert about what happened the night before a crime that took place on a tennis court. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2012 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
A Star Studded Episode
Tennis Pro Justin Gimelstob (left), 18-Time Grand Slam Champion Chris Evert (center) and Three-Time Grand Slam Champion Lindsay Davenport (right) on the set of CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2012 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Behind The Scenes With A Couple Of Legends
18-Time Grand Slam Champion Chris Evert (left) and Three-Time Grand Slam Champion Lindsay Davenport (right) on the set of CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2012 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
And.... Action!
18-Time Grand Slam Champion Chris Evert behind the scenes on the set of the CBS series CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2012 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Ready For My Close Up
Tennis Pro Justin Gimelstob on the set of the CBS drama CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2012 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Just Another Day At The Office
Behind the scenes with Ted Danson (left) and Elisabeth Shue (right) on the set of the CBS series CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2012 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Behind the scenes with tennis star Chris Evert (right)on the set of the CBS series CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2012 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Faulting On The Returns
Behind the scenes with Elisabeth Shue (right) on the set of the CBS series CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2012 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Netting A Positive Performance
Behind the scenes with actress Elisabeth Shue (left) and tennis star Chris Evert (right) on the set of the CBS series CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION. Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2012 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved. | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413450 |
__label__cc | 0.729183 | 0.270817 | The Walking Corpse
An unfortunate American couple is caught up in a coup by a Banana Republic despot who intends to take over the little island with a horde of zombies.
First Run - February 17, 1974
Repeat - May 5, 1974
Suzanne Grossman
Vinette Carroll
I will say that Vinette Carroll has a very distinctive and creepy voice, almost masculine. In addition to the voodoo lady, she plays (briefly) a stewardess on the airplane. A lot of voice actors do these throwaway parts in radio dramas, but, in this case, her voice stands out so much, I thought maybe at the first that the stewardess and the voodoo lady were the same. In any event, while not perhaps standing up to modern political correctness standards, this was quite an enjoyable action/adventure episode taking place on a presumably Caribbean island where the names are Hispanic but the language is French. Zombies, voodoo.
Vinette Carroll is also in the episode "Mother Love" (1/30/1974) playing the title character. It is an excellent story, and her voice is creepy and she's amazing.
I agree Vinette Carol's voice is haunting - what a performance! Great episode - not a honeymoon that I would like to take!
Zombies, with great characters as both protagonist and antagonist result in a quality episode.
Jaidete Doji
I remember laying in bed with my old am radio with the earphone listening to this story with the covers pulled over my head, some scary stories back then.
Me too, brings back great memories of the 70s. Love the old ads and news reports... seems naive in a way.
A Banana Republic dictator uses an army of zombies to take over a small island country. An American couple on their honeymoon stumble into his plot.
Ricky Blur
A foolish script and insipid dialogue make this one a real clunker.
Travis Kratz
A new husband and wife on their honeymoon encounter an old football friend who is also an heir apparent to the throne of Mauritia, a voo-doo infused country currently in political turmoil.
This one keeps you guessing. The script builds the tension positively wonderfully. The sound effects are top notch for radio. Janny gives one of his strongest performances, keeping us in suspense as we try to figure out if he's a good guy or bad. Lois Smith did just a few episodes, but she gave her all in this one. This was the second time I listened to this show. The first time was right after listening to the god-awful "The Walking Corpse". What a nice surprise this episode was. This was a ready-made story for the radio. It doesn't get much better than this!
Bobby C.
This show is one of my favorite programs, though it's been awhile since I listened to and I'll have to listen again. I say it's one of my favorites because I don't have a great memory yet this one stuck with me. My initial observations include great acting, good dramatic theme and excellent sound effects. The bickering between the husband and wife while trapped in a snowstorm was well done and the "b" story of a killer on the loose built the drama. From the onset, we knew that our characters were going to meet the killer and the drama created by the bloody kitchen added to the effect. I don't recall if the blood was ever explained. As for the third wheel, he took his life in his hands by letting these people think he was the killer and he probably deserved a malpractice suit.
Ross Antonel
I remember listening to this earlier this summer and was appauled at the behaviour of the psychologist, and how the couple just laughed it off. Geez... these days it'd be the basis for a HUGE lawsuit. I haven't listened to it since then but I do remember the 'rich' environment and having stronger than usual mental images no doubt due to the sound effects and descriptive dialogue. As far as the snow goes, I can imagine some pretty intense storms from having lived in the far north in remote fly-in reservations for 5 years and travelling throughout the far north for 3 more years after that in tiny planes. The coldest I have ever experienced with the wind chill factor was -86C, about -122F :xmas: (I think it was something like -46C with 70km/h winds... or -50F with 45mph for those of you still dealing with imperial units - threw off the imperialist monarchy but kept the units of measure... go figure) anyway - a fun episode, will make sure to pay attention to the sound effects when I listen to it again.
R. Allan
What a great episode! I have to admit I really was surprised by the twist at the end. I am usually better at seeing things like that coming! For some reason I didn't pick up on the fact that there was no dead body in the kitchen despite all the blood and the ax. I must improve my listening skills! The bickering between the couple at the beginning of the story was a little too realistic for me! Also, the acting of the psychologist as the killer was very believable. I had a good laugh when said he liked Beethoven's 10th Symphony! Of course we know that there isn't a 10th symphony but that is what makes the psychologist so believable as the killer! I think he went a bit too far but then this story would not have had us on the edge of our seat if he hadn't. I'd also like to point out that we never do find out about the real killer... or perhaps we did? Could the psychologist have been the real killer afterall?
I listened to this episode on a warm evening, so about 11:00 I headed out back to the deck and popped in the CD. After the first five minutes I was jumping at every sound I heard. It brought back a flood of memories, of listening to CBSRMT, around the campfire during the many camping trips my family took. I thought that George Lopes(sp?) did a very nice job of writing very realistic dialogue of a marriage in trouble. I wonder what was going on in his life at the time he wrote this . Like when they met the killer for the first time they are both obviously terrified but the wife still makes a point of telling Jake that “We started back too late thanks to my husband.” Even though she is very scared she doesn't miss the chance to stick it to her husband. The blood in the kitchen really helped drive home the thought that Jake was the killer . Lois Smith was outstanding. The only other CBSRMT credit I can find is for The Sign of the Beast, which had aired 2 weeks earlier. I think it’s a shame that Himan did not sign her to more episodes. She has numerous screen and stage credits, including” Twister" (1996), in which she played Helen Hunt's aunt. I must admit, I had figured out what was really going on near the end of the 2nd act. I think many years of reading thrillers and watching shows like Alfred Hitchcock and Twilight Zone has made it more difficult for me to be fooled by “surprise endings”.
So, was the blood in the kitchen explained? I can't recall and I haven't gone back to listen yet. BTW, great suggestion.
The blood was from a bobcat that the professor surprised in the kitchen.
Ed Beringer
Great to see you! I don't have a pic of Larry Haines but I also noted the WABC station on my version of the program. I'm I crazy or is/was WABC an ABC affiliate? If so, did they really play CBS programs?
Ronnie H.
The WABC recordings are from the 1989-1990 revival. They are an ABC station. They are usually higher quality recordings than normal. WOR was not a CBS Radio affiliate either. They just called it "Mystery Theater"
Arnold Ruff
I wouldn't be surprised if this is the same guy and here's an interesting fact:...according to his bio his birth name was "Larry Hecht". Wonder if he's related to Paul?
Jadelson
This show featured some very good dialogue from all three characters. The way people actually talk to one another. I especially enjoyed the more biting remarks on the part of Jake, a genuinely quirky villain. In fact, I kindof wish he had in fact turned out to be a deranged killer, so quirky that in the end he just lets them go because they have proven they have a reason to live. I also wonder about the family in the valley -- unless it was a bobcat that did them in too, then somebody better figure out who did and catch 'em quick! And straight from that era: "women's lib", and "whoever lives here, is really a BRAIN!" (*wince* at memories of teen angst). Another good show.
Adie B.
I was suprised to see a station use another "vendors" wares. Being from a small town, I assumed all stations that broadcast the CBSRMT were CBS affiliates! Dnagle, I also felt the the program could have been complete had the psychologist actually been the culprit. I like the twist but I think the horror plot was working fine.
T. Lancaster
This is a fun program to listen to. My attention never wandered. I was never confused by what was happening nor did I get the (3) characters confused. These points are important to me as sometimes too many characters and I lose "who's who." Well, it is somewhat not to be believed if you want to look at it seriously. I do not believe that a person would do what the professor did - not in real life. But hey, this is radio drama so the rules are out the window. Since I am licensed to carry a concealed handgun, the professor would have had a major problem had he tried his trick on me, and without a gun, when it comes to the poker incident, he would have not had a chance to have awakened from that. Whoa, I am taking this too seriously. That obviously means that this was a well acted program that got my attention. That's what makes CBSRMT so good and this is an excellent example of a great program.
Definitely one of my favorites. I have listened to it a lot of times, and never get tired of this one. The first time I heard it, it threw me bitg time, where these usually do not. And yes, the writing was great IMO between the husband/wife. I have seen relationships just like that, people taking verbal shots at each other no matter what the situation. The acting was pretty good. Sometimes I think the wife's voice/portrayal is a bit "cardboardish," But I only came to that conclusion after listening to it a bunch of times. Anyway, great pick!
D. Montrees
I liked this show a lot, I listened to it the last time maybe two years ago so it was somewhat fresh. I think that the characters where well acted and the story was well written. Not wanting to ruin the ending yet wanting to comment on it from the perspective of "what the heck was that guy thinking he could have been killed" comes to mind. But then again we would not have a mystery if it was any different. Thats my sorted comments for now.
M. Monteros
I have been listening to the shows in order and just so happened to reach this show when it was the show of the week - go figure. This is one of my favorites so far (out of the 41 I've heard) because it was one of the more believable and suspenseful episodes. The actors did a great job with their tones and conveying their fear and desperateness. Was the trigger on the gun really broke or was saying it was enough to make them give up on the idea of using the gun? I rate this one a 4.
LOVED the plot and the supspense-filled ending...I SWEAR I thought I had it figured out, then I didn't, then I did again...wow! This was one of the episodes I listened to while driving the CD's to my dad's. And the cougar? That was insane! Great acting, wonderful dialogue, and perfect sound effects.
good suspense and twist ending. the acting was top notch and believible. hey, where's the spell check on this thing? anyway, i was surprised at the end but that quickly turned to indignation, ther i go again. i thought that doctor was in for some legal problems.
Nathan Panambers
I remember the episode fondly. Leon Janey does a great job acting out the psycho. However, I do remember thinking the premise that he is doing a psychological study farfetched. Still enjoyed it though........Until Next Time
K. Lipat
I didn't really like this episode. I was listening to it with 3 others I was trying to get to like CRMT. It didn't work too well. The dialogue with the wife being a "woman's lib" type didn't help. Attitudes have changed, in the most part, toward women since the mid-1970's. It was rough to hear the silly remarks toward the wife. And the way the husband was so whipped was tough to hear too. And, unlike usually, I figured out the twist after the first set of questions the psychologist threw at the couple about their life together. That made the twist at the end no twist for me. I wish I hadn't figured it out! Next time I will try to not figure out the ending!
Melanie Jane
While the "twist" ending was a bit to chew on, the ongoing terror and suspense was fantastic. Now I'm going to read what everyone else had to say about this one....
As for The Walking Corpse, it was suspenseful but you basically knew how it'd turn out. So it was more of an adventure episode, not so much mystery or horror. Well developed characters in this one. Vinette Carroll, after practically phoning in her cold-reading performance in "Mother Love," did fantastic in this one, showing real emotion and drawing me into her character. The ending involving her telling someone to "look at the ocean" was particularly poignant, and heart-rending.
I agree with many that Vinette Carroll's work on this episode was MUCH better than her "Mother Love" episode (where she didn't seem to convey much emotion at all). I thought this one was a fairy good episode. It does seem like some of the comments above are for a different episode though.
Yes,I didn't know the know the walking corpse and blizzard of terror was a two parter
I love it when Vinette Carroll says, "My Baybeeee! My Baybee!"
Funny how nobody commented on how "the rotted corpse" is actually based on the real Island Hispañola, divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Haiti known for it's zombie legends, and Dominican Republic for it's sugar cane the Haitians cut. In the story it is San Dorinde and Mauitia, Santo Domingo is the capitol of the Dominican Republic, and Haiti once took over the entire Island until the Dominicans defeated the Haitians. Haiti practices the Voodo Religion and zombies are talked about in quiet tones.
Dr W
Rex, an android grown chemically from proteins and minerals into human form, dislikes being the slave of James Valentine, whose every order he must obey. Though androids are not supposed to harm, lie or kill and crime is unknown on the planet Paragon, Rex suddenly goes berserk, killing a woman. Valentine quickly flies him to another planet, Deneb-Alpha where a scientist, Nicholas Rostov, suspects that Rex has tired of his role and has resorted to violence to prove himself a man.
This is a great episode, creepy but sad. Vinette Carroll played her part well, really added to the darkness of this story. i think it's great how they write these short stories and convey so much in a short timeframe. I listen just for enjoyment so I'm not sure why there are those that complain about little trivial items. It's not that easy to write a radio short story and do it live. Kudos to the writers and cast! | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413451 |
__label__wiki | 0.63787 | 0.63787 | Voices of Death
The apparition of a dead producer Peter Truro returns to haunt the actor Jason Phillips through his television set. The ghost repeatedly asks him to murder his wife Claire. The irate Jason is forced to consult a medium and a psychiatrist but soon gives way to believing the apparition. He must utilize all his resources to save Claire every time Truro aggressively frames the circumstances.
First Run - May 14, 1974
Repeat - December 14, 1974
Mandel Kramer
Evie Juster
Murray Burnett
I still hate it when the villain gets away with his crimes--even if he committed them while dead! Ghost story.
A corporate executive's colleagues think he is losing his mind when he begins to claim to hear strange voices coming from an old crystal radio -- both voices from the past and voices that seem to spell doom for the world. The man decides he must try to save the world from destruction. The problem: only he seems to be able to hear the mysterious voices. I found this story intriguing but the ending was definitely confusing. Genre - Drama/Fantasy
Nerissa Bakers
A radio manufacturing executive discovers an old crystal set of his own design at a garage sale. through the set, he hears a man and a woman discussing the ultimate fate of mankind, with the woman begging for just one more day for the human race. He sets out to convince humanity to change its wicked ways.
Kriston
An actor is tormented through the television set by the ghost of a dead producer who wants him to kill his widow.
Amor Powers
An actor is haunted by the ghost of a director whose wife had cheated on him, and had caused the actor to lose a part in a play. The ghost wants him to kill his wife for breaking her promise to be true forever. The actor is not unsympathetic as he would like revenge over the loss of that choice job. The episode then plays out the actor’s moral battle with his own sense of right and wrong, along with the urging of the ghost.
This is certainly a different episode. Without meaning to, it was a comedy. The banter between Jason and Peter was comical. The ending was predictable to say the least. Still, a good listen. 4 stars.
DAVY JOE
The episode was unique. He only heard the ghost from the tv , however as time went on that darn ghost was mind controlling all over the place. I really did enjoy the production.
Bruce Lozanoff
This episode made me wonder why the ghost didn't do something more directly himself. He seemed to be able to manipulate many people directly, but perhaps it was because the actor was already mad at the woman and he just built it up more. Kind of strange how she sat where the mannequin had been previously. Also, if the ghost could keep the lights from turning on, couldn't he have done something else to kill her? Just questions that came to me. I thought it was still an okay episode.
Enjoyable episode, different type of ghost story. Truro was a good character and really made the episode entertaining by being such a wily ghost! Also liked listening to the old commercials and the news of Watergate, you do need a program to follow the players! | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413452 |
__label__wiki | 0.510432 | 0.510432 | KURIOS - Cabinet of Curiosities
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__label__wiki | 0.503892 | 0.503892 | Allen’s City Secretary adds new features to help citizens access public records.
It’s perhaps the most misunderstood title in city government, but it’s one City Secretary Shelley George wears with pride and good humor.
“I once took a call from a longtime resident asking me to type a letter for her,” shared George, who has worked for Allen for 22 years. “Some people don’t really understand what we do and assume our main job is to answer the phone.”
George and her staff are responsible for much more. They manage Allen elections and ensure candidates and other ballot measures follow the law. They serve as custodians of city records, from contracts to meeting minutes to construction blueprints, and ensure all new laws are properly represented in the City code. They coordinate outreach efforts for the Mayor and council members and help recruit and train members of city boards and commissions.
“It’s a tremendous responsibility,” said George. “We ensure our government is transparent, follows the law and is accessible to the public.”
To help citizens easily find what they need, George spearheaded an effort to move thousands of city documents out of file boxes and onto the internet. Using the Online Records Portal, city ordinances and resolutions are easily searchable by keyword, date or reference number. You can even read public meeting minutes from 1953 to present day, no public information request necessary.
She also arranged the installation of a new voting system used during public meetings. Rather than taking votes by raising their hands, council members now record their votes on touch screens. The results display clearly in council chambers and for citizens watching on Allen City Television.
“Depending on where you were sitting or how the camera was positioned, it was hard for the audience to tell who voted ‘in favor’ or ‘opposed,’” explained George. “This system makes council voting more transparent so all citizens can be informed.”
When the May 2019 charter and school bond election promised to draw large crowds, George worked with Collin County to locate a second election day polling location inside the Allen ISD Service Center, helping voters avoid long lines. In the coming year, the City Secretary’s Office will embark on another big project: working with Collin County to help educate voters about new voting equipment. The machines will record votes digitally and on paper ballots for voters to review—a process aimed at eliminating confusion and preventing fraud.
“Voting is our most important expression of civic involvement,” said George. “On behalf of the citizens of Allen, we are here to make it fair, impartial and accurate.”
⇐Previous Engineering: “We Don’t Just Go with the Flow”Next⇒ Allen Convention & Visitors Bureau: Be Our Guest! | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413456 |
__label__wiki | 0.83452 | 0.83452 | CAMP MAYMAC
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Nothing But The Clothes On His Back
For most of his adult life Cliff worked as the Chief Financial Officer for several large corporations. He often traveled to London, Paris, New York and San Francisco for work. He got so wrapped up in the success of his career that he felt like he didn’t have a greater purpose.
His despair turned into severe depression before he even realized it was happening.
“I went off the deep end,” he said. “I did nothing for two months but sleep.”
He stopped eating. He stopped opening his mail. He stopped going to work.
Instead of getting treatment, Cliff had a terrible thought that alcohol might help him feel better.
“I remember when I picked up that first drink,” Cliff shared. “I said out loud, ‘This is going to end badly.’”
The Final Blow
Not only did Cliff end up in the hospital, but he lost his job and his home. His lowest point came when he fell asleep on the sidewalk leaning against a building. When he woke up the next morning, his backpack had been stolen. He had nothing left but the clothes he was wearing.
That’s when he came to Cityteam.
“I’m 52 and came to Cityteam and started studying the Bible for the first time,” said Cliff. “I started understanding about a personal relationship with a God who loves me. It’s been amazing to discover the peace and purpose I believe He planned for me, which I had never felt before. It’s been a hole inside until now.”
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__label__cc | 0.729454 | 0.270546 | VAMPIRE AUTHORS S - Z
(some violence, mild swearing, kissing)
AUTHOR BIANCA SCARDONI
INCEPTION (MARKED BOOK 1)
Be careful who you trust, for even the Devil was once an Angel.
My name is Jemma Blackburn, and I have a secret. I know vampires are real. I watched one murder my father eight months ago, and even though they tried to convince me it didn’t happen—that I’d lost touch with reality due to the trauma, I know what I saw was real.
Hollow Hills is now the place I call home. It was supposed to be my chance at a normal life. My chance to bury my secret and start over. But everyone around me is keeping their own secrets, whispering lies into my ears like promises, and one of them is about to turn my entire world upside down.
I thought I had it all figured out. I thought I had the answers. I thought I knew who I was. The truth is, I didn’t even know the half of it. There's a reason these vampires are still after me. There's a reason they will always hunt me. Because I'm not human.
I'm the devil they fear and the angel they crave.
Only problem is, I don't know it yet.
INCEPTION is the enthralling first installment in The Marked series. A YA paranormal romance full of atmosphere, supernatural adventure, and jaw-dropping twists that will keep you guessing until the very last page. INVIDIOUS (book 2) is now available!
(mild swearing, sensual kissing, some violent scenes, pub scene with adults drinking)
AUTHOR CHERI A. SCHMIDT
FATEFUL (BOOK 1 IN THE FATEFUL VAMPIRE SERIES)
For Danielle Darcey when the sun sets in London the magic begins, but just as that magic begins her fairy tale romance ends...
A huge fan of Jane Austen, Danielle hopes to find her own Mr. Darcy when she leaves Colorado to attend art school in London. Of course she knows it’s silly to wish for that, naive even. But she’s met enough males who lacked respect for women, a growing trend it seemed. And at nineteen...well... However, on only her second night there she gets lost and is threatened by a stalker who proves to be immune to her martial arts training. Before she is completely overpowered, she is then saved by Ethan Deveroux.
While Danielle does find the romance she seeks in Ethan, he’s no Mr. Darcy. Her hero is held by a spell which fractures their chance at a happy ending. During the day Ethan is closer to mortal than immortal and can date her like any other man. Yet, as the sun sets, the powerful magic of an ancient curse returns and the evil of that spell is revealed. When that magic begins, Danielle's fairytale romance ends because Ethan Deveroux is a vampire.
Fateful is a clean, coming of age vampire romance that blends fantasy and paranormal with a healthy dose of romance and a dash of humor.
AUTHOR ELLEN SCHREIBER
VAMPIRE KISSES (BOOK 1 )
In her small town, dubbed "Dullsville," sixteen-year-old Raven -- a vampire-crazed goth-girl -- is an outcast. But not for long...
The intriguing and rumored-to-be haunted mansion on top of Benson Hill has stood vacant and boarded-up for years. That is, until its mysteriously strange new occupants move in. Who are these creepy people -- especially the handsome, dark, and elusive Alexander Sterling? Or rather, what are they? Could the town prattle actually ring true? Are they vampires? Raven, who secretly covets a vampire kiss, both at the risk of her own mortality and Alexander's loving trust, is dying to uncover the truth.
Ellen Schreiber's spooky and stirring romance tells the story of two outsiders who fall in love in a town where conformity reigns, and ends with a shocking surprise.
AUTHOR SAMANTHA STONE
BENDING NATURE
Julie Sparks thinks life as a teen is difficult, but she didn't realize just how bizarre life would be once three men in Armani suits storm into the museum where she works and try to steal Michael, a famous, winged statue. When one of the men starts to hurt Julie, the statue breaks apart, revealing a beautiful, pale teen. He rips them apart.
Despite how terrified Julie was with how easily Michael killed those men, she falls for his charm and beauty. More men come for Michael. The mystery turns into conspiracy. Julie is in too deep now. She must do everything in her power to not only save her friends and family, but the whole world.
“Set some time aside because you will not be able to put this one down”
AUTHOR JULIE WETZEL
KINDLING FLAMES
After landing a job as assistant to a handsome CEO, Victoria Westernly feels like her life is finally on the right track. But when she discovers her new boss is the city's most powerful vampire, she'll have to decide whether her attraction to him is worth the risk…
(some fantasy violence, romantic tension)
THE OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES:
AUTHOR RASHELLE WORKMAN
BLOOD AND SNOW (BOOK 1 )
Snow White didn't plan on getting bitten by a vampire her first year at the Academy...
She knows three things for certain:
* Chemistry class sucks! Big time.
* She has a serious crush on one of her seven extraordinarily hot neighbors.
* Allowing a complete stranger to feed off her blood isn't a good idea. What's worse? She liked it. A lot
Her first year at Salem Academy, Snow has low expectations. But when the mysterious Chace Charming joins the school, everything changes.
Suddenly Snow is part of a world full of supernaturals and the greatest of them all is after her because she's the fairest in the land. What the hell?
With the help of her best friend and the guys, Snow must find a way to pass her first year without killing anyone. | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413459 |
__label__cc | 0.663352 | 0.336648 | Apply for schools now parents are urged
Apply for your child's school place online as soon as possible parents are urged
Dominic Collis
Online applications for Lancashire school places start today for children either starting primary school or moving to secondary school in September 2020.
Last year 95% of parents applied online for primary and secondary school places.
County Coun. Phillippa Williamson, cabinet member for children, young people and schools, said: "The number of people who chose to apply online last year was really high.
"Online is a quick, easy and secure way to apply for school places.
"The application process goes live today, so I would encourage parents to go online as soon as possible. I'm sure they will find it useful to familiarise themselves with the process and take a look at the admissions criteria of the schools they're considering.
"Unfortunately some applications come in late every year and these simply can't be considered at the same time as those we receive on time. So it is much better to be prepared early, rather than rushing your application close to the deadline. This way there is time to spare to sort out any problems or get any advice.
"It is important to remember as well that having a child already at a school does not automatically mean that a brother or sister will be allocated a place – you must still apply."
Applications opened today and the national closing dates are October 31st for secondary schools, and January 15th 2020 for primary schools.
Children start primary school in the September after their fourth birthday.
For more information go to www.lancashire.gov.uk/schools, where you'll find all the information you need.
Parents can also call 0300 123 6707.
Row over whether Lancashire families in poverty need "education in how to manage money"
Ribble Valley primary school's SATs results annulled due to maladministration
Plastic free shop set to transform Clitheroe's shopping habits
Ribble Valley primary school at centre of probe appoints interim headteacher
Heartfelt tributes to a much-loved Ribble Valley fell runner, long-distance cyclist and caver who died in Cumbria tragedy
Elderly shopper praises Clitheroe's caring supermarket staff after fall
More from Clitheroe Advertiser and Times | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413460 |
__label__wiki | 0.937121 | 0.937121 | FACTBOX-Foreign investment banks with majority stakes in China units
Published Thu, Jan 16 20201:09 AM EST
Alun John
HONG KONG, Jan 16 (Reuters) - The world's biggest investment banks will be able to wholly own their China securities businesses from April 1 as the U.S.- China Phase 1 trade deal accelerates a previous deadline for removing foreign ownership caps by nine months.
International bankers believe a full ownership, or at least a majority control, would allow them to make better use of their global network to win market share in China.
China raised the cap on foreign ownership to 51% in 2018, before which international banks were allowed to hold only minority stakes in their Chinese joint ventures, which typically offer a combination of securities underwriting, broking, research and trading services.
Below is a list of major foreign banks and their stakes in Chinese joint ventures:
** UBS became the first foreign bank to own 51% of its China joint venture under the 2018 rules. Three government-affiliated investment vehicles also hold minority stakes in the company, UBS Securities, in which UBS first invested in 2006.
** HSBC launched its own 51% joint venture in late 2017 under a different set of rules that allow Hong Kong-based companies special access to the mainland. It has partnered with Qianhai Financial Holdings, a local government investment vehicle.
RECEIVED APPROVAL
** JPMorgan received final approval from Chinese regulators in December to set up a new majority owned securities joint venture. JP Morgan Securities (China) has six shareholders, including the Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone Group, which owns 20%.
** Nomura received a final regulatory approval in November for its new majority owned joint venture, Nomura Orient International Securities. It has two partners, including manufacturing and services firm Orient International.
** Goldman Sachs applied for a majority ownership of its existing joint venture, Goldman Sachs Gau Hua Securities, in August 2018, though, unlike most others, it already has operational control of the company. It plans to fold some of the operations of partner Beijing Gao Hua Securities into the JV.
** Morgan Stanley purchased the 2% stake it needed to reach 51% ownership of Morgan Stanley Huaxin Securities in August. The deal still needs regulatory approval.
** Credit Suisse plans to boost its stake in Credit Suisse Founder Securities Ltd to 51% from 33.3% through capital injection, it said in April 2019. The plan is subject to regulatory approval.
PLANNING STAGE
** Citigroup plans to set up a wholly owned securities business in China after completing its exit from an existing joint venture in which it has a minority stake.
** Societe Generale intends to create a wholly owned subsidiary after ditching earlier plans for a joint venture.
(Reporting by Alun John; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
Shanghai Chinafortune Co Ltd
Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone Group Co Ltd
He takes home $4,500 a month. His student loan payment is $2,000 | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413464 |
__label__cc | 0.721997 | 0.278003 | FBI Agent Peter Strzok: Text Message ‘in No Way Suggested’ FBI Would Take Action to Influence Trump’s Candidacy
By Melanie Arter | July 12, 2018 | 1:46pm EDT
FBI Agent Peter Strzok (Screenshot)
(CNSNews.com) – During a joint House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing Thursday, FBI Agent Peter Strzok defended his use of the phrase, “We’ll stop it,” in a text message to his FBI colleague Lisa Page regarding then candidate Donald Trump’s candidacy, saying it “in no way suggested” that the FBI would take action to influence Trump’s candidacy.
“Mr. Gowdy, what my testimony is what I said during extensive asking of this question during my prior interview is I don’t recall writing that text. What I can tell you is that text in no way suggested that I or the FBI would take any action to influence the candidacy—“ Strzok said in response to grilling by House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.).
Gowdy first asked Strzok about how many people he interviewed in the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email server during the first week of August 2016.
GOWDY: Just so the record’s clear, because it’s been a little while, I didn’t ask you the content of those interviews. I didn’t ask you the names of who you interviewed. I asked you whether or not you interviewed anyone from July the 31st until August the 8th, and I find it interesting that the FBI will tell us no interviews were conducted before July 31st. That apparently doesn’t impact an ongoing probe, but between July 31st and August 8th it does. Here’s the good news: I already know the answer to it.
I went and looked at the file. The first interview that I can find is on August the 11th of 2016, which is 11 days after it began, which makes me wonder on August the 6th, so you haven’t interviewed anyone. Your investigating this alleged Russian collusion with the Trump campaign. You’re the lead investigator. You originated the investigation. You’re the point of contact. You drafted the document, and here you are before you’ve interviewed a single solitary witness saying ‘F*** Trump.’
Then that same day your colleague Lisa Page wrote: ‘Maybe you’re meant to protect the country from that menace,’ and you responded, ‘I can protect the country at many levels.’ We’re not even a week into an investigation that you originated, approved, were the contact for. You hadn’t interviewed a single solitary soul until August 11th, and you’re already promising to protect the country from that menace Donald Trump.
And then on August the 8th, you still hadn’t interviewed anyone. You’re eight days into your Russian collusion with the Trump campaign investigation, and you got another text from your colleague Lisa Page. ‘Trump’s not ever going to be president, right?’ And You replied, ‘No, no, he’s not. We’ll stop it.’ By the time you promised to stop him from becoming president, on August the 8th, how many interviews had you conducted?
STRZOK: Mr. Gowdy, so two answers to that. One, with regard to how many interviews had or had not been conducted, I’ve been directed by counsel for the FBI not to answer that question. Second, sir, I think it’s important to take those texts in the context of how they were written and what they meant.
GOWDY: And someone may ask you that question, Agent Strzok, but I didn’t. I asked you how many people you interviewed before you wrote it. If you want to get into context, let one of my other colleagues do that with you. Here’s what I want to know. Who’s the ‘he’ in ‘he’s not?’
STRZOK: ‘He’ is then candidate Trump.
GOWDY: So when you said, no, Donald Trump’s not - in connection with a question – going to become president, what’s the ‘it’ – what’s ‘stop it?’
STRZOK: Chairman Gowdy, that text needs to be taken in the context of –
GOWDY: I’m asking, look, if you want to have a debate over a two letter word, we’re going to have to do that some other time. What and who did you mean by it?
STRZOK: Mr. Gowdy, as I’ve stated, that text was written late at night in shorthand---
GOWDY: I don’t care when it was written. I don’t care whether it was long-hand, cursive. I don’t care about any of that. I want to know what ‘it’ meant, Mr. Strzok.
STRZOK: It would be his candidacy for the presidency, and my sense that the American population would not vote him into office.
GOWDY: Right, right. Well we hadn’t gotten to the will yet. Your testimony is the we’ll is the American people. Is that right? That’s your testimony. The ‘we’ll stop it’ you were speaking on behalf of the American people. Is that correct?
STRZOK: Mr. Gowdy, what my testimony is what I said during extensive asking of this question during my prior interview is I don’t recall writing that text. What I can tell you is that text in no way suggested that I or the FBI would take any action to influence the candidacy—
GOWDY: Agent Strzok, that is a fantastic answer to a question nobody asked. My question to you … Your testimony a couple of weeks ago was the ‘we’ meant the American people, which I found confusing, because on November the 7th, which is the day before the election, you said this. You were concerned that those same American people that you were speaking on behalf of might actually elect Donald Trump president, so you said, ‘OMG, this is F***ing terrifying.’ I think we know what F***ing means. I’m pretty sure we have OMG down too. What was terrifying about those same American people you trusted to stop him in August, not stopping him in November?’ What was so terrifying about that, Agent Strzok?
STRZOK: Mr. Gowdy, I do not have a copy of the transcript. We have not been provided that transcript.
GOWDY: It’s your text. It’s not the transcript. It’s your text.
Strzok then tried to explain that he respected the American electorate’s “right to vote” for the president and that he was simply expressing his personal belief of how he saw the outcome of the 2016 election.
STRZOK: Mr. Gowdy, what I would say in that is one, I was not referring to the American electorate at all. The American electorate, I respect in their decisions and their right to vote is absolutely a cornerstone of our democracy, so in no time did I insult or call into question the judgment or the power of the American electorate. What I was expressing in that text is my personal belief and my personal sense of how I saw and what I believed in the potential upcoming administration.
GOWDY: And see, that’s what I find so confounding, because in August, you blamed the ‘we’ on the American people, that the American people would stop it, because you don’t want it to be you and Lisa Page, and you don’t want it to be the FBI.
What I find confounding Agent Strzok is you were counting on the American people. That was the ‘we’ you referenced in August when you said ‘we’ll stop it.’ But the American people didn’t stop it. He actually won, so then we go to March of 2017, and you’re already talking longingly about him resigning, and then we go to the day that Special Counsel Mueller—well before we go to that, that’s March of 2017. March of 2016, you wrote: ‘God, Hillary should win 100 million to zero, and I’m assuming Hillary would be former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton?
STRZOK: That’s correct.
GOWDY: In March of 2016, weren’t you investigating her for potential mishandling of classified information?
STRZOK: We were.
GOWDY: Had you interviewed her yet?
STRZOK: No.
GOWDY: Had you interviewed more than 30 other witnesses that wound up being interviewed?
STRZOK: I would have to check the case file, but I’ll take your representation –
Gowdy also asked Strzok about what the FBI agent characterized as “hyperbole” in explaining that he knew of no one who would have voted against Hillary Clinton in the presidential race.
GOWDY: Well if she had said something incriminating in your interview that took place months later of her, would she have won 100 million to zero then?
STRZOK: Likely not, no.
GOWDY: Well then why wouldn’t you wait until the investigation was over before you have her, the nominee and winning a general election against an opponent that hadn’t even been named yet? 100 million to zero, Agent Strzok? That’s how bad she should win?
STRZOK: Mr. Gowdy, those personal expressions of my observing the political process of the presidential primaries had no bearing on my actions of any investigation to include the investigation of Secretary Clinton.
GOWDY: You couldn’t think of a single person that would not vote for Hillary Clinton for president? 100 million to zero, Agent Strzok?
STRZOK: Sir, it was clearly hyperbole.
GOWDY: Let’s say it was hyperbole. Let’s divide it by 10. How about we say it was hyperbolic and divide it by 10. 100 million divided by 10 I’m pretty sure is 10 million. Zero divided by 10 is still zero. You couldn’t think of a single solitary person that was going to vote for her for president before you interviewed her and while you were supposed to be investigating her.
STRZOK: Congressman, clearly that’s not the truth. Clearly I could envision millions of Americans who were likely and did vote for then—
GOWDY: Well you wrote it. Did you write it? Did you write that text? Were you under duress?
STRZOK: I did write that, sir. It was a political expression engaging in hyperbole.
GOWDY: We’re going to go into one other time period. May 17th, 2017. Bob Mueller was appointed. Your friend Jim Comey’s been fired, and he’s already leaked the memos to his law professor friend and Mueller of special counsel. Do you remember how long it took for you to start talking about impeachment after Bob Mueller was appointed?
STRZOK: I don’t, sir.
GOWDY: One day. One day, and you are talking about impeachment, and for anyone who may have missed it, the day after his appointment, Agent Strzok, you did it again five days later. Now how many interviews had you done as part of the special counsel team within the first five days of his appointment?
STRZOK: Sir, the same answer as before, I can’t get into details--
GOWDY: Right, and the answer’s also the same. It’s zero. No interviews had been done.
STRZOK: I don’t know if that’s true or not.
Gowdy also grilled Strzok on why he was kicked off of the Mueller investigation. Strzok claimed it wasn’t because of any existing bias, but the “perception” that the text messages might create.
GOWDY: No interviews had been done by August the 8th when you’re talking about stopping him and how terrifying it would be for him to win and you can protect the country, and no interviews have been done before you’re talking about impeachment of the president. No wonder Bob Mueller kicked you off of the investigation, Agent Strzok. My question is, if you were kicked off when he read the text, shouldn’t you have been kicked off when you wrote them?
STRZOK: Not at all.
GOWDY: Well it wasn’t the discovery of your text, Mr. Strzok. It was the existence of your bias that got you kicked off.
STRZOK: No Mr. Gowdy, it wasn’t. I do not have bias. My personal opinions in no way—
GOWDY: Well, why did you get kicked off?
STRZOK: Mr. Gowdy, my understanding of why I was kicked off was that based on the understanding of those texts and the perception that they might create---
GOWDY: Hang on second, perception. You’re saying it was the perception of the 13 Democrats on the special counsel probe, including one who went to what he hoped was a victory party. That’s a perception problem too. They weren’t kicked off. You were. | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413465 |
__label__wiki | 0.621834 | 0.621834 | The Best & Funniest Joe Ledley dances at Euro 2016
06 Jul 2016 By Stuart Ballard
Welsh football fans haven’t been able to cheer on the Dragons for a long time now; this Euros is their only major international tournament appearance since 1958. They’ve outdone themselves now though and are set to play Portugal in the nation’s first semi-final at a major tournament, that’s got to be reason to celebrate! Nothing quite captures the feelings of how the Welsh fans better than the bearded-beauty himself, Joe Ledley. Sometimes words just can’t quite explain the emotions felt and there is only thing for it, sometimes you’ve got to take off your football boots and put on your dancing shoes...
Russia Victory Shuffle
Changing room dance after Northern Ireland
Changing room moves after Belgium
Joe Ledley & Wayne Hennessey winding up Bale | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413476 |
__label__cc | 0.698104 | 0.301896 | General News · 12th September 2017
The Gorge Shellfish “Agreement” is Unenforceable
Mary and Vern Kemp
The Shellfish Noise Restricting “Agreement“ Between Island Sea Farms And The Strathcona Regional District Is Unenforceable.
The shellfish “Agreement“ to restrict the industrial noise in the rural/residential Gorge Harbour states: “The Operator shall ensure that the noise caused by the mechanization and harvesting operations will not exceed 65 decibels at any point in time as measured at the nearest property line.”
"At any point in time" is an unenforceable restriction.
Bob Long, Chief Administrative Officer, of SRD stated in writing in 2005, that “noise bylaws are an ineffective tool for controlling noise issues in the Gorge. and thus will not be pursued by the RD” “Noise bylaws can have unexpected consequences and are largely unenforceable.”
ISF has failed to prove that the noise levels can be reduced consistently. ISF is not voluntarily "respecting the needs of upland residents for a peaceful and quiet environment.” as suggested it should be in the SRD Questionnaire.
The large industrial shellfish operations came to the Gorge in the late 90’s on the premise: "It's Better to Beg for Forgiveness than to Ask for Permission." No zoning permission was sought regarding the extent of machinery or noise. At that time the islanders thought that the zoning bylaws would not permit machinery in the Gorge.
To forgive the industrial noise is too big a concession. The landowners have already conceded their scenic views to acres of shellfish rafts laden, on some tenures, with unattractive smelly shellfish equipment. The noise is pervasive, interrupting thought and relaxation from 9:30am - 5pm most days.They work until 9 pm some nights if there is a machinery breakdown.
In 2012, ISF recognized the need for, and agreed to purchase, if "economically viable”, “a new harvesting vessel that incorporates operational design upgrades to enclose machinery or substantially baffle it” . It was to be “deployed” with in 6 months. The new noise baffling vessel was never deployed and the machinery noise still ricochets around the Harbour. It is intolerable for the other stakeholders on the Gorge, on days of harvesting and other operational days. One new pump has been purchased but the industrial noise continues. There have been higher than allowed decibel meter readings from properties around the harbour, submitted to the RD with no effective noise reduction results.
There are too many variables affecting the industrial noise received at the rural/residential properties, to allow for consistent readings and thus application to the “Agreement” noise restrictions:
(i) weather and the wind, (ii) the state of the equipment repair, (iii) where the machinery is placed on the tenure, (iv) the amount of equipment being used, (v) the amount of surrounding/shielding equipment, and (vi) new or different equipment installed, can all, "at any point in time” alter noise transmission and negate subsequent noise readings from below 65 db to above 65 db or vice versa.
In the “Agreement” #4, it states that the RD will engage in “further mediation” with ISF if there is any non compliance dispute over noise. Also Noba Anderson, our Regional Director’s statement in the Jan/2012 Tideline, promised that further funding would be available, if the mediated “Agreement” failed.
The “Agreement” has failed after 5 years of promises, working-together meetings and discussions.
It is time for the SRD to recognized that the plan by Ralda Hansen, RD Community Service Manager, reported on Feb 2, 2017 is not workable.
She stated “A resolution to the conflict between upland owners and the Shellfish industry over noise from machinery will need to rely on the goodwill and commitment of Gorge Harbour neighbours, Island Sea Farms and other shellfish operators to work together to reach an agreement that works for all parties."
5 years have passed with still untenable noise and minimal voluntary reduction of the industrial noise by ISF.
The Gorge Landowners need support from the Islanders, the Regional District and Island Sea Farms to return the peace and quiet for the Gorge.
“The social pressure through complaints of disruptive noise, the responses to the Aquaculture Questionnaire to enforce the ”Agreement"/Bylaws, muffle the noise, or remove the machinery, have been ineffective. There has been a Stakeholders Committee to meet and attempt to resolve the noise dilemma, but that has not worked either.
The mediated “Agreement” developed by the Regional District and Island Sea Farms (with no Gorge Harbour landowner input) has been ineffective, and demonstrated to be unenforceable for altering the ISF operational noise behaviours.
We are running out of options.
The Cortes Islanders have been very effective in altering the behaviours of Island Timberland.
How can we mobilize this kind of Island energy to alter the behaviour of the Management of Island Sea Farms based on Saltspring Island?
38 year landowner on Gorge Harbour
email Mary and Vern Kemp | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413481 |
__label__wiki | 0.867583 | 0.867583 | Willie Nelson’s Undying Memory of His Son Who Passed Away
Why Jesse James Was Mentioned in Many Country Songs
1980 Flashback: ‘Coat of Many Colors’ Cover by The Judds
The Superior Elvis Presley’s Cover Version of Jerry Reed’s “Guitar Man”
Symbolism: Tex Ritter’s “The Deck of Cards”
Country Artists Dominate The Voice, Five Winners Out of 15 Seasons
By James Lambert | April 15, 2019
Country fans are known to be an avid supporter of the music genre. With this, The Voice has produced five country artists from its 15 seasons. This just proves that country music is still well-loved by the American public.
Contrary to the belief that country music is fading to obscurity, The Voice proves that country artists are the ones to beat. Here is the complete list of winners from The Voice.
via Screen grab from The Voice’s official Youtube account
Country Artists Who Won The Voice
Cassadee Pope was the first country artist to win season 3 of the show. She was on Team Blake and she was the second winner from the country singer’s team. Blake Shelton is proving that he is a good coach, winning the next season with another one from his team.
This time, it was Danielle Bradbery who won season 4 of the show. A back to back win for team Blake and country singers. Let us jump to season 7 of the show wherein Craig Wayne Boyd won, another one from team Blake. After four seasons, another country emerged as the winner.
Sundance Head won season 11 with his bubbly character and strong country flavor in his songs. The latest country artist winner is from the recent season. It is in the person of Chevel Shepherd who delivered heartwarming performances all throughout the season.
The current judges of The Voice via The Voice’s official Facebook Page
Country Music of Today
Country artists dominating The Voice only shows that country music is still well and alive. These artists brought their passion and storytelling to the show. I guess that is why they won.
Country music is known to do a good narration of life through its music. These winners justified it through their performances on the show. And, that’s the good thing about the singing competition shows their global audience.
The show introduces classic country music to people who are not aware of it. As country music becomes widely known, more and more people are loving it. We only hope that more country singers are going to win the show to keep the country music spirit alive.
Tags:15 seasonsCassadee PopeChevel Shepherdcountry artistsCraig Wayne BoydDanielle Bradberylist of winnersSundance headthe voice
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Not “Once A Day,” But All Day Long We’d Listen to Opry’s No. 1 Vibrant Lady, Connie Smith!
Nostalgic “Daddy Sang Bass” by Perkins and Cash Will Keep Your Kith and Kin Intact
“Fist City” by Loretta Lynn: A Knockout Today Just As It Was in the ’60s.
Approved! Every Inch A King, There Will Never Be Another Elvis Presley
(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden: Perfectly Timed for the ’70s and Beyond
Ain’t Flatt and Scruggs’ Ballad of Jed Clampett a Fair Heapin’ Helpin’ of Hospitality?
Country Thang Daily | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413486 |
__label__cc | 0.699441 | 0.300559 | Community News For The Vernon Edition
Hartford Courant |
| Vernon
Christmas Coffeehouse
ROCKVILLE -- Jacob’s Well Coffeehouse, downtown Rockville’s monthly Christian nightclub, will feature a special Christmas program by singer and guitarist Josh Gilbert on Friday, Dec. 13. Doors open at 7 p.m. with music starting at 7:30 p.m. The quaint café-style coffeehouse will be held at The Oasis, a renovated 1800s storefront at 3 Elm St.
Admission and refreshments are free. Dress is casual. The facility is handicapped-accessible. Gilbert has been in Christian music ministry for over 12 years and has performed nearly 1,000 times in 44 states across the USA and Canada. He is a worship leader in Chattanooga, Tenn. For details, visit JacobsWellCoffeehouse.com or call 860-871-6500.
VERNON -- The Town of Vernon Cemetery Commission will participate in the Wreaths Across America ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 14, at noon at Lugg Veterans Field in Grove Hill Cemetery on Hale Street.
Seven ceremonial wreaths representing all the branches of service and the Prisoner of War/MIAs will be placed at the field. Service flags will accompany each wreath as it is placed. Over 1,600 locations in all 50 states, at sea and abroad, will hold wreath laying ceremonies coordinating those at Arlington National Cemetery.
Garden Club Scholarship
EAST HARTFORD -- The East Hartford Garden Club is offering one $1,000 scholarship to any full or part time student who is a resident of Andover, Bolton, East Hartford, East Windsor, Glastonbury, Manchester, Vernon and Windsor Locks, who is majoring in horticulture, floriculture, landscape design, conservation, forestry, environmental sciences, botany and other allied subjects.
Applications with the submitter instructions are available at the Guidance Department of the student’s attending school. All completed applications must be received by April 1, 2020, to be considered.
Hall Library Events
ELLINGTON -- Hall Memorial Library, 93 Main St., presents the following events. The movies for December are Brian Banks (rated PG-13) on Thursday, Dec. 12, at 1 p.m., and One Upon a Time in America (rated R) on Wednesday, Dec. 17, at 6:30 p.m., and Thursday, Dec. 18, at 1 p.m.
Holiday Cookie Sale
VERNON -- The Friends of Rockville Public will hold their holiday cookie sale at the library downstairs in the Peck Room on Saturday, Dec. 14, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Two lb. trays of cookies will sell for $14.
Orders can be made by calling the circulation desk of the library 860-875-5892, ext. 100. Those who do not order ahead can take a chance and purchase trays that are left.
HVCC Seeking Donations
VERNON -- Hockanum Valley Community Council, Inc. is seeking donations of turkey and monetary donations, which may be dropped off at 29 Naek Road, Suite 5a. Visit Hvcchelps.org or call 860-872-7727 for more information.
Ellington Winter Farmers’ Market
ELLINGTON -- The winter season of the Ellington Farmers’ Market will take place at the Indian Valley Family YMCA, 11 Pinney St. The Ellington Farmers’ Market supports low income families with a matching SNAP program. The Holiday Food Festival market will take place on Dec. 21. The market continues every other Saturday through March 14. Visit www.ellingtonfarmersmarket.com for a complete schedule and list of vendors.
Arts Center East Events
VERNON -- Arts Center East, 709 Hartford Turnpike, is hosting the following programs. Call 860-871-8222 for more information.
ACE Signature Artist Members Exhibit: Exhibit Dates are Dec. 8 to Dec. 29. Gallery Hours: Thursday to Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. Arts Center East's Signature Artists are a collection of talented regional artists, dedicated to their craft. This exhibit celebrates their work as well as the artist community at Arts Center East.
Abstract Collage Workshop: Sunday, Dec. 15. Time: 1 to 4 p.m. Cost: $60. Instructor: Heather Neilson. Register online at www.artscentereast.org/classes or call 860-871-8222. Build an abstract collage “painting” by first creating gorgeous collage papers using high quality GOLDEN acrylic paint and various tools to make marks and textures. We will then tear, cut and glue compositions using our papers and other material and ephemera. You will also have the option to incorporate acrylic paint, oil pastels and other mark making tools to complete a 20”x16” canvas.
[Related] Richard Dabate seeks to bar Ellington residents from jury in his upcoming murder trial »
Call For Artists: Wearable Art. Drop-Off Dates for Jurying: Thursday, Jan. 2, 2:30 to 6 p.m.; Friday, Jan. 3, 2:30 to 6 p.m.; Saturday, Jan. 4, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Exhibit Dates: Jan. 19 to Feb. 9. Arts Center East is celebrating all forms of wearable art. From textiles to fashion photography to repurposed trash fashion to hair art, Arts Center East wants to see your creativity and self-expression through wearable art mediums. Whether it is gowns, jackets, hats, jewelry, even seventeenth century wig creations – they want to put it in the spotlight. All entries will be juried and winners will be awarded prizes at the opening. Note: All entries must be delivered ready to be displayed, including dress forms, busts, hangers, etc.
Visit www.artscentereast.org/wearable-art to download the prospectus. Email info@artscentereast.org for more information.
READs Program Seeking Volunteers
AREA -- The Community Renewal Team’s Retired Senior & Volunteer Program is now seeking volunteers age 55-plus to serve in its signature program, READs, for the 2019-20 school year to help children develop better reading skills and foster a life-long love of reading.
The RSVP READs Program is operated as a school-based program where volunteers are partnered with students in local elementary schools, providing reading guidance for one hour per week from October through May of each school year. RSVP READs tutors make reading interesting, fun, and act as positive role models, inspiring their students to read.
This coming school year of 2019-20, the RSVP READs Program will be operating in six local communities: Berlin, New Britain, Manchester, Portland, Vernon and Wethersfield.
[Related] Grant allows Hill-Stead to provide free field trips to to students east of the river »
To meet this need, the program will need more than 230 volunteers to cover the school sites in these six districts.
“Volunteers can let organizers know what weekdays they are available to donate a minimum of one hour per week to help a child develop better reading skills, and which district they can serve in, and they will be placed right away, said Theresa Strong, RSVP Program Manager for CRT.
Volunteers can also choose to serve as a substitute only, meaning they are simply placed on an email/call list, in the event another volunteer is unable to make their one hour weekly commitment.
Contact Theresa Strong to schedule a one-on-one meeting to learn more at strongt@crtct.org or 860-519-3484.
Community Renewal Team, Inc. is the designated Community Action Agency for Middlesex and Hartford Counties and is the largest non-profit provider of human services in Connecticut. Visit www.crtct.org for more information.
BPS Calendar Raises Funds For Community
AREA — Become Part of the Solution, or BPS, raises funds to help people get into men and women’s sober housing from the disease of alcoholism and addiction to other mind altering drugs. BPS is offering a calendar for sale, perfect for holiday gifts, that helps support their mission.
BPS was established in 1991 and is a part of Union Church in Rockville. The group took photos in the local areas of Ellington, Rockville and Vernon. People can purchase the calendar at Kloter Farms Gift Store, 216 West Road, Ellington; or Rockville Pharmacy, 42 Windsor Ave., Vernon. They can also be acquired by emailing reflectandglow@gmail.com or by calling 860-978-8355.
The cost of the calendar is $22, with all profits helping men and women get into sober housing and treatment from drug and alcohol addiction. Since 2017, BPS has sponsored 111 people all over the state of Connecticut. Visit www.bpsrockville.com for more information on BPS.
HVCC Food Drive
VERNON — Hockanum Valley Community Council is seeking help this holiday season, collecting food and donations to help those in need. Visit www.hvcchelps.org or call 860-872-7727 for more information.
Donations help provide turkey, ham, chicken or turkey breast, fresh or instant potatoes, stuffing, gravy, canned yams, sweet potatoes, canned vegetables, canned fruit, brownie or cookie mix, quick bread mix and disposable roasting pans.
[Related] Vernon Superintendent Proposes 1.85 Percent Increase »
Donations may also be sent to Hockanum Valley Community Council, 29 Naek Road, Suite 5A, Vernon, CT 06066.
Holiday Cookie Platters
TOLLAND -- The Friends of the Tolland Public Library are taking orders for their holiday cookie platters. Platters are $14 for a two-pound assortment of holiday favorites. Quantities are limited and pre-ordering is recommended. Orders and payment can be made at the circulation desk at the Tolland Public Library, 21 Tolland Green.
Platters will be available for pick-up on Saturday, Dec. 14, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Tolland Senior Center on Route 74, 674 Tolland Stage Road, not the library.
ELLINGTON -- Children ages five to 12-years-old have an opportunity to practice their reading skills by reading aloud to Healers with Halos Therapy Dogs. These eager listeners will be at the Hall Memorial Library, 93 Main St., on Dec. 14 and 28, between 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
These friendly dogs are specially trained for this and other service events. Children are asked to bring a favorite story or a chapter of a favorite book.
[Related] Community News For The Vernon Edition »
Online registration is recommended and is ongoing. To register, visit www.library.ellington-ct.gov and click on the library event calendar. Choose the date you are interested in, then, click on the sign-up hand. Children will get 10 to 15 minutes to read to one of the dogs. Parents will be asked to wait in the children’s area of the library during the program.
This and all children’s programs are free and open to the public. For more information, call the library at 860-870-3160.
Seeking Food Cupboard Volunteers
ROCKVILLE -- The Cornerstone Food Cupboard is seeking additional volunteers to help process grocery store donations of produce, meat, and refrigerated items on Monday and/or Friday mornings from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Volunteers are also needed to work at the Cupboard when clients are shopping on one or more Saturday mornings each month, from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.
If interested or in need of more information, contact Diana at 860-810-9675. Volunteers should be available on a regular basis for their assigned work days. The Cornerstone Food Cupboard is located at 3 Prospect St. and provides food assistance to over 400 families, representing over 1,000 individuals.
Free Play Group
VERNON -- A free play group, Kidsplay with Grandma and Grandpa, will take place from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Mondays at Foxhill Center, 1253 Hartford Turnpike. The group is an intergenerational playgroup for families with preschool children, led by Guy and Tess.
The group will exercise, blow bubbles, sing, make music with rhythm instruments and play with a parachute. Children will also have the opportunity to practice playing guitar. This unique playgroup gives families the chance to have fun and get to know the residents of Foxhill Center. Call 860-875-0771 for more information.
VERNON – The Chase Family Movement Disorders Center is offering a caregiver support group for individuals who care for people with movement disorders and other neurodegenerative conditions. This free support group is offered on the fourth Tuesday of every month from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the Hartford Hospital Family Health Center, 35 Talcottville Road, in the Chase Family Community Wellness and Education Room.
Latest Vernon
Grant allows Hill-Stead to provide free field trips to to students east of the river
Vernon Superintendent Proposes 1.85 Percent Increase
The Chase Family Movement Disorders Center and Hartford HealthCare Center for Healthy Aging will be partnering to bring support and resources to caregivers of those living with movement and other neurodegenerative disorders. This group will provide an opportunity for caregivers to share their experiences and receive inspiration, guidance and validation. Topics will include: communication techniques, caregiver support, benefits of activities, family dynamics, disease stage, safety issues and concerns. Facilitators are Amanda Brill, LCSW, at the Chase Family Movement Disorder Center, and Jennifer McCaughey, MS, resource coordinator, Hartford HealthCare Center for Healthy Aging. For more information, call Amanda Brill at 860-696-4653, or Jennifer McCaughey at 860-696-4623.
Voices Against Lyme Disease
AREA -- Voices Against Lyme Disease CT would like to start a support group for individuals with Lyme Disease and other tick borne illnesses, including family members and friends. This is in its preliminary stage, so location and specific times will be decided once organizers understand how many people are interested.
[Related] Benefit Concert Planned For School Lunch Aid »
At this point, the group will meet once a month, most likely on a Saturday morning in the town of Windsor. You do not have to be a Windsor resident to attend. There will be no charge for these meetings. If you are interested, email voicesagainstlymedisease@gmail.com or call 860-930-2446. Visit VALDCT.org for more information.
Benefit Concert Planned For School Lunch Aid
Winter protections for your plants
Martin Luther King Jr.’s time in Connecticut was pivotal, but has never been thoroughly documented; about... | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413487 |
__label__cc | 0.668098 | 0.331902 | Cubs shut out by Cardinals as Arrieta struggles
by Colin Halm - Correspondent - Sunday, May 14, 2017 5:33 PM
The Cubs' Jake Arrieta lost his second consecutive start after struggling against the Cardinals on Sunday. Credit: Scott Kane-USA TODAY Sports
ST. LOUIS -- Limited to just four hits on Sunday, the Cubs dropped the second game of three to the Cardinals losing 5-0. Adam Wainwright (3-3, 5.31 ERA) earned the win spinning seven shutout innings, the longest start of the season for him. Kris Bryant sat out for his third straight game with a stomach flu as the offense continued to struggle. Ian Happ started his second game of the season in right field as a couple of Cubs outfielders continue nursing injuries.
Jake Arrieta (4-3, 5.44 ERA) was charged with the loss after he gave up two 2-run homers to Matt Carpenter and Yadier Molina early in the ballgame. Today, Yadier Molina experienced his first multi-homer game since August 2011, when he hit two long balls against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Carpenter's home run was his first hit against Arrieta in the regular season, and it broke a 0-for-28 streak. That is the fourth longest hitless streak of a hitter against a pitcher to start a career since 1974.
The Cubs will go home for a lengthy period of time and are slated to face the Reds, Brewers and Giants. The Giants should be especially helpful to the Cubs as they are currently one of the worst teams in the National League.
Monday’s pitching matchup is going to be Bronson Arroyo (3-2, 5.94 ERA) against John Lackey (3-3, 4.29 ERA). Big John had a great outing last week against the Rockies and his ERA could benefit from another strong outing at Wrigley.
?? https://t.co/VcEymtAFj5 ?? pic.twitter.com/xDJVrmb5Jy
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) May 14, 2017
Send Feedback to Colin Halm: Email | Comment
New Story: Cubs shut out by Cardinals as Arrieta struggles | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413491 |
__label__wiki | 0.694812 | 0.694812 | Cybermodeler Online
Celebrating 21 years of hobby news and reviews
Features & Reviews
Subject & Color Refs
Bronco Models 1/35 Italian CV3/35 Lanciafiamme Tankette Kit First Look
By Michael Benolkin
Date of Review
Italian CV3/35 Lanciafiamme Tankette
Kit Number
Primary Media
Styrene/PE
Nicely detailed kit
MSRP (USD)
The Italian CV3/35 and L3/35 series were developed from the four Carden Loyd Mark VI tankettes imported from England at the end of the 1920s. These indigenous tankettes were designed and built by Fiat and the Ansaldo Company with over 2000 examples built. These vehicles didn't vary much in appearance, each varying in armor thickness and later marks were bolted together rather than riveted.
The vehicle was armed with a pair of 8mm machine guns and powered by a water-cooled Fiat 43 horsepower engine. These two-man tankettes had a maximum speed of 26 mph/42 kph and a range of 78 miles/125 km.
These tankettes were used by Italy, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Hungary, Nationalist Spain, and more. In peacetime operations, these tankettes were useful for developing armored tactics and made for mobile armored machine gun nests, but in combat, the tankettes were not very effective. In the Italian forces, these tankettes were sent into every theater of operations, but due to their poor showing, they were usually abandoned where they broke down and were phased out of Italian service by 1940.
Bronco Models has tooled up a third version of this Italian tankette for an interesting addition to your armor line-up. Molded in desert sand styrene, the kit is presented on six parts trees and one small clear sprue containing the headlight lenses. A small fret of photo-etch rounds out the kit.
If this kit had been produced elsewhere, chances are that you'd have been given the simple 2-3 sprue hull and suspension kit with reasonable exterior detail. This is one of Bronco's AMS kits, which means that the interior of this tank is quite nicely rendered.
Construction begins with the hull interior and the driver's station and gunner seating are installed on the floor, with what appears to be the fuel tank serving as the rear of the driver's seat. No smoking please.
Next comes the transmission and Bronco did a nice job detailing up this gem. The kit captures the shift linkages, the axles, and drive shaft from the rear-mounted engine.
The Fiat engine is next and once again, the detailing is nicely done from the individual spark plugs to the really interesting radiator that comes with the plumbing to/from the engine. The engine mounts to the floor at the rear of the tankette and is partitioned off by a firewall.
An additional partition is added aft of the engine for the mixer pump for the flame thrower. The main gun is replaced with the flame thrower and Bronco has captured this detailing nicely.
With the interior details installed on the floor, the armored sides, front and rear of the lower hull come together and complete basic lower hull. The unique suspension system, rollers, return rollers, and drive sprockets are fitted to the exterior of the lower hull along with some of the pioneering tools.
The track is an interesting variation. Remember the ESCI armor kits with the track molded into sections - longer sections for the flat runs and short sections to wrap around sprockets and return rollers? This is the approach used by Bronco for this kit's track and as small as this track really is, it would have been difficult to render either as 'rubber band' track or individual track links.
As you would expect, the upper hull has separately molded and positionable crew and engine access hatches.
Finally, the trailer is assembled and rigged to follow the tankette as this is the storage tank for the flame thrower's combustible fluid. A rubber hose is also provided to connect the trailer with the pumping system at the rear of the main hull.
Markings are provided for two Italian Army flame thrower CV3/35 examples:
32nd Tank Regiment, Libya, 1940-41
Army exercise, Rome, 1937
This is an interesting variant that Bronco Models has produced and will make for a nice addition to your scale motor pool.
This kit is highly recommended!
My sincere thanks to Stevens International for this review sample!
Notice: The appearance of U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Defense, or NASA imagery or art does not constitute an endorsement nor is Cybermodeler Online affiliated with these organizations.
Copyright © 2020 TacAir Publications, LLC. | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413492 |
__label__wiki | 0.511167 | 0.511167 | ninog - Fotolia
Dyn DDoS attack highlights vulnerability of global internet infrastructure
Last week’s DDoS attack on DNS firm Dyn has highlighted both the vulnerability of the world’s internet infrastructure, and the dangers of leaving internet of things devices unsecured
Published: 24 Oct 2016 14:30
A major distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack that took place on 21 October 2016 and targeted Dyn, a US-based domain name system (DNS) services provider, has drawn attention to the vulnerability of the world’s internet infrastructure to attack, along with the vulnerability of millions of internet of things (IoT) devices.
To date, the 21 October event was the largest DDoS attack to use the Mirai IoT malware code, which was released on an underground forum at the beginning of the month and takes advantage of the generally lax security of IoT devices to compromise those that still use factory default or static usernames and passwords.
So far, Mirai is thought to have been used in a DDoS attack on the website of security expert Brian Krebs, and on French hosting forum OVH, which peaked at over 1Tbps, and may have involved more than 150,000 IoT devices.
The attack on Dyn caused problems for a number of web services and media outlets, including, but not limited to, Airbnb, Amazon Web Services, Boston.com, Box, FreshBooks, GitHub, GoodData, Heroku, Netflix, The New York Times, PayPal, Reddit, Shopify, Spotify, Twitter, Vox and Zendesk.
An attack on the DNS directory system that resolves domain names into numerical IP addresses is a source of concern given it is a fundamental part of the internet’s inner workings. It highlighted just how vulnerable the internet really is, said Thomas Fischer, threat researcher and global security advocate at Digital Guardian.
“It places more onus on the internet infrastructure providers to ensure their security is top of the field, and that they plan for large-scale disaster recovery scenarios,” said Fischer.
Chase Cunningham, networks director of cyber operations at A10 Networks, said: “It was an interesting point to see the bad guys are moving upstream for DDoS attacks on the DNS providers, instead of just against sites or applications.”
DNS security overlooked
Mohit Lad, CEO and co-founder at network intelligence company ThousandEyes, said DNS was too often an overlooked aspect of the internet experience, because if it is unavailable, people simply cannot access the sites or services they need.
It also indicated a troubling trend among service owners to abrogate responsibility for security to third-party providers such as Dyn.
“Any company running its own website may well have its own technology in place to mitigate DDoS attacks, but it’s all for nought if the DNS provider itself is not applying a sufficient enough level of protection to its own servers and datacentres,” said Comparitech.com security researcher Lee Munson.
“Most companies use third-party DNS providers to benefit from the performance and availability of the global infrastructure they usually can’t afford to build themselves. The trade-off is when there is an issue with the DNS provider,” said Lad.
“This highlights the need for companies to work with multiple DNS providers as a best practice to alleviate potential single point of failure issues such as this,” he added.
Read more about IoT security
The EC is planning a security certification scheme for internet of things devices, as the UK Cabinet bans smartwatches amid heightened fears of cyber espionage.
A security researcher who has exposed a series of vulnerabilities in IoT devices says he is concerned about systemic attacks that could take down parts of the internet or national power grids.
Compromised IoT devices have impacted company brand image, customer loyalty and, ultimately, business value. Learn the key points of IoT security.
Richard Meeus, European vice-president of technology at network security provider Nsfocus, echoed this sentiment.
“This attack highlights how critical DNS is to maintaining a stable and secure internet presence, and that the DDoS mitigation processes businesses have in place are just as relevant to their DNS service as it is to the web servers and datacentres,” he said.
David Gibson, Varonis vice-president of strategy and market development, said DNS had, unfortunately, never been built with security in mind, and that this meant more radical action may be needed to address its flaws.
“DNS is one of the ageing technologies the industry is struggling to update, along with one-factor authentication and unencrypted web connections. The list is very long, and the stakes have never been higher,” he said.
IoT blamed again
The attractiveness of the internet of things – which already comprises many millions of devices and will soon comprise billions – to cyber criminals, has been a source of concern among the security community ever since the IoT began to be further rolled out over the past 12 to 18 months.
Many, including experts such as previous Mirai victim Brian Krebs and Bruce Schneier, had suggested large-scale security events involving the IoT were inevitable. The scale of the Dyn DDoS attack will inevitably put this issue front and centre.
“Threat actors are leveraging unsecure IoT devices to launch some of history’s largest DDoS attacks,” said A10's Cunningham. “The immediate solution is for manufacturers to eliminate the use of default or easy passwords to access and manage smart or connected devices.
“Consumer adoption will be tricky, but this change is critical for the greater security of all. This will hinder many of the global botnets created and deployed for malicious use.”
Simon Moffatt, senior product manager at ForgeRock, a provider of access management software, said he hoped the speed and scale of the Dyn attack would refocus attention on the identity and security aspects of massive IoT device deployments.
“The devices themselves need a baseline set of security principles – no hard-coded usernames or passwords, transport layer security where possible, the ability to update firmware and with any computer deployment, and disabling all non-necessary services and ports,” said Moffatt.
“With respect to manually accessing the device, default passwords should be changeable upon initial use, with all root or high-level administration accounts disabled.”
The immediate solution is for manufacturers to eliminate default or easy passwords to access and manage smart or connected devices
Chase Cunningham, Cyber Operations
Chris Sullivan, general manager of intelligence and analytics at Core Security, said companies needed to move immediately to get to grips with large IoT botnets, especially as many of the same devices had access to sensitive enterprise and government networks, and not just consumer services.
“They can be used to launch attacks on those networks from the inside where all of the next-generation firewalls, intrusion prevention and user-based analytics tools won’t even see them,” said Sullivan.
“What is required now is the deployment of systems that don’t try to control the IoT devices, but rather watch and learn how they behave so we can identify malicious activity and isolate them when necessary.”
Since immediate action to secure the IoT is virtually impossible to mandate on a worldwide basis, it looks likely that larger and more damaging DDoS attacks involving Mirai, or other forms of IoT botnets, will be inevitable.
“The really frightening part of this is not that we will be struggling with these new attacks for some time, but that the underlying weakness which makes them successful can and will be used to unleash more serious attacks that steal credit cards and weapons designs, manipulate processes like the Swift global funds transfers, and even destroy physical things,” said Sullivan at Core Security.
Wieland Alge, vice-president and general manager of Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Barracuda Networks, added: “When it comes to the exploitation of IoT devices, the attack on Dyn is the thin end of a very long wedge.
“Among security experts, it’s widely believed that IoT botnet harvesting has been happening for some time. As cyber criminals look for new and sophisticated ways to monetise their crime, it is inevitable there will be more attacks like this to come.”
Read more on Internet infrastructure
Global hacker botnet tops 6 million hijacked devices
DDoS a top security and business issue, study shows
IoT malware: How can internet-connected devices be secured?
By: Nick Lewis
Major DDoS attacks see huge increase, says Akamai
By: Alex Scroxton
Spanish bank applies AI to staff training
Dyn hit by massive DNS DDoS, Eastern U.S. bears brunt... – SearchSecurity
Risk & Repeat: DNS DDoS attacks raise concerns over ... – SearchSecurity
IoT malware: How can internet-connected devices be ... – SearchSecurity | cc/2020-05/en_middle_0097.json.gz/line1413498 |
__label__wiki | 0.740051 | 0.740051 | Hardy Toll Road Connector Requires Major Excavation
Tue April 23, 2019 - West Edition #9
Cindy Riley – CEG Correspondent
The Lorraine project calls for 31,200 cu. yds. of roadway excavation; 171,598 cu. yds. of detention pond excavation; 23,149 cu. yds. of storm sewer excavation; and 8,385 cu. yds. of drilled shaft excavation, for a total of 234,332 cu. yds. of material to be excavated. (Harris County Toll Road Authority photo)
Crews in Texas continue making progress on the Hardy Toll Road Downtown Connector project, a 3.6-mi. toll road extension that will connect the existing Hardy Toll Road from its current southern end at Interstate 610 North Loop to downtown and U.S. Highway 59/IH 69. The project is supported entirely by revenue generated through tolls, and will benefit motorists and the community along the planned corridor.
"It will provide a new connection directly into the Central Business District from north Houston, relieving existing highways of some volume," said Matt Kainer, assistant director of maintenance and construction engineering of the Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA). "The project has been planned for more than 25 years, but until an agreement was executed with the Houston Belt & Terminal [HB&T] and Union Pacific Railroad [UPRR] companies to relocate an existing rail line in 2012, nothing could move forward."
The Hardy Toll Road Downtown Connector will result in increased safety and convenience for drivers and pedestrians, with the removal of the railroad crossings at Collingsworth, Lorraine and Quitman streets. Other benefits include a reduction in train signal noise, less traffic cutting through the neighborhood streets and new landscaping and green spaces.
Kainer said the project was always envisioned to extend into downtown Houston, since the planning of the Hardy Toll Road in the 1980s.
"HCTRA began coordinating agreements for this project with several agencies such as the city of Houston, UPRR, HB&T, BNSF Railway, and Harris County over several years, and about 2010 finally were able to agree to a direction."
Kainer noted that the Downtown Connector project faces several challenges.
"The project corridor runs through an established residential/industrial area, so coordination with all the affected parties will be critical. A few sections will be constructed in narrow ROW. The connection at IH610 will require several closures, elevated work and a sophisticated design.
"The first phase of the project began with the relocation of the Houston Belt and Terminal rail line. Phase I will continue with the construction of three separate grade separations for Collingsworth, Lorraine and Quitman. Currently, these three streets cross the existing railroad tracks at-grade. By constructing grade separations, local traffic traveling east-west will not have to interact with train traffic."
Once construction of all grade separations is finished, HCTRA will begin work on a new four-lane toll road (with two lanes in each direction), scheduled to begin in early 2020. To-date, the railroad relocation and the Collingsworth grade separation are complete. As part of the Collingsworth project, HCTRA constructed an 11-acre-ft. detention pond facility, in order to mitigate any potential impacts from the improvements. During construction, the work was almost entirely excavation-related. Once excavation was completed and the associated storm sewer systems were tied in, the ponds were seeded and watered to establish vegetation to prevent erosion.
The Lorraine project began in February 2019. The Quitman project will move to construction at the same time as the Downtown Connector project, which will start in the first quarter of 2020, and will last approximately three years.
The Lorraine project will actually go under the existing railroad tracks, whereas the Collingsworth project involved building a new bridge over the top of the railroad tracks. Key elements of the project include drilled shaft retaining walls, a storm water pump station and multiple stormwater detention ponds. Kainer is hopeful the weather will cooperate.
"In Houston, we don't typically get weather that's cold enough to impact construction activities. As such, we are able to work year-round without having to take any additional measures to ensure that construction can continue. Rain will always impact roadway construction projects, especially at the beginning when underground work and foundations are constructed. However, contractors in the region are accustomed to dealing with these conditions."
The ROW acquired to construct the Lorraine grade separation consisted of a mix of residential and industrial properties, including some that were abandoned.
"There are four main excavation components to this project — drilled shaft retaining walls, roadway, storm sewer and detention ponds," said Kainer. "Due to Houston's proximity to the coast, as well as the region's generally poor soil characteristics, combined with a high water table, excavation of the drilled shafts for the retaining walls will be done using bentonite slurry."
The Lorraine project calls for 31,200 cu. yds. of roadway excavation; 171,598 cu. yds. of detention pond excavation; 23,149 cu. yds. of storm sewer excavation; and 8,385 cu. yds. of drilled shaft excavation, for a total of 234,332 cu. yds. of material to be excavated.
The drilled shafts are excavated using crane-mounted drill rigs. The rest of the excavation will be handled by tracked excavators. Once the roadway excavation is complete, the paving will be performed using slip-form paving machines.
Regarding the main materials used during construction, said Kainer, "As this is a roadway job, the majority of the material used is concrete. That includes the drilled shaft retaining walls, roadway pavement and storm sewer."
The most time-consuming part of the Loraine assignment also is one of the most critical.
"The quantity of excavation to be performed on this job is quite large, considering the relatively short length of the roadway project. Since a large quantity of the material to be excavated is potentially contaminated, additional steps must be taken to protect both the workers and the public. This adds a layer of complexity to the work, as each load must be properly accounted for to ensure that all environmental regulations are complied with."
According to Kainer, the surrounding community has been generally accepting of the construction activities. The opening of the Collingsworth grade separation was well-received, as it allows drivers to cross the railroad tracks without being delayed by the high number of trains moving through the area on a daily basis.
"HCTRA is dedicated to completing this transportation project to improve mobility in the area, while taking into consideration the surrounding neighborhoods. During construction, the traffic control plan is in place to keep traffic flowing safely though the area, with safe access for pedestrians."
Landscaping for the project will be in accordance with the Texas Department of Transportation's "Green Ribbon Corridor Aesthetic and Landscaping Masterplan." According to the official project website, the intent is to use trees, shrubs and grasses planted along all roadways, if possible, for appearance and increased safety. The plan focuses on plants native to the state, or that have become adapted to growing in the area, in order to reduce maintenance. Existing trees within the construction zone are preserved, when possible.
As for the ongoing construction, Kainer said the lengthy planning and countless hours spent by crews at the job site will be worth it, in the end.
"Once the project is complete, both drivers and pedestrians will have safer, faster access through the corridor."
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